Editorial
The Data Protection Act
Under the provisions of the above act, it is illegal to store information such as names and addresses in a retrieval system without permission. In other words I am not supposed to keep a list of BQR subscribers on a computer disk if I do not have their permission. I guarantee subscribers that this information will be used for no other purpose than to forward copies of the BQR and possibly from time to time information regarding forthcoming competitions. If any subscriber does not wish to have their name and address in my retrieval system then they should inform me in writing.
Subscription 1993
I am enclosing a subscription form for next year. The subscription will remain at £12.00 inc. postage and packing and I hope readers will feel it worth while to renew.
Geet Sethi - World Champion
BQR heartily congratulates Geet Sethi on his winning the World Professional Championship and on making the highest break in competition since the war (1276.) And so the second of my predictions for 1992 was wrong (Goodwill for the amateur was the first) though I have been leaning more towards Sethi over the last month or two. Mike Russell will be already looking forward to next year and the chance to regain the title he has held since 1989. The championship was originally advertised for Calcutta. It is to be hoped that nobody went there because it was actually held in Bombay.
English Amateur Billiards Association
At a meeting held at the Braunstone W.M.C. Leicester, WPBSA Assistant Secretary Nigel Oldfield outlined proposals for the formation of a new amateur governing body (The English Association for Snooker and Billiards EASB.) Following on from this, Albert Hanson and Derick Townend, as representatives of the proposed English Amateur Billiards Association (EABA) met with Oldfield and WPBSA secretary Martyn Blake in Bristol on the 6th of October. The idea was that the EABA should be left to run the amateur game under the umbrella of affiliation to the WPBSA. This idea was not acceptable to the WPBSA who suggested instead that there should be one seat on the new committee given over to a representative of the amateur billiards world. The Committee of the EASB is to be a two-tier body comprising a five man executive committee and a five man management committee. The executive committee will consist of three representatives of the WPBSA plus Bob Tonge and Bob Mason, whilst the management committee will consist of five appointees of the WPBSA. It is reported that nothing was said regarding elections to this new committee. And so it seems that once again billiards will be tagged on to an organisation almost exclusively devoted to the promotion of snooker. This was unacceptable to the two representatives of the EABA who reported all of this to players entered for the ABC tournament in Northampton. They have decided to go ahead with the running of an English Championship on the assumption that if they don't do it then probably no-one else will. Readers' comments are welcome and will be published as far as possible. Watch this space!
Teesside Boys
I am enclosing the latest edition of the Teesside Boys League handbook. It makes for interesting browsing. Albert Hanson reports that a player called Ron Wilson recently scored 125 points in his half-hour game. Nothing extraordinary until one considers that Wilson is only eight years of age.