The World Professional Championship 1992

Radion Plaza Club, Sheffield (September 5th)

Indian Summer

Professional Billiards returned to the excellent Radion Plaza Club for two legs of the Radiant Grand Slam and the qualifying round of the World Championship. The final rounds of The Championship will be held in Bombay from the 29th September to the 3rd of October. There were 26 entries including ex World Snooker Champion Alex Higgins. The top six players in the ranking list were exempted from qualifying. In the event Higgins and Fred Davis OBE withdrew. This gave Leeds professional Paul Cavney and Liverpool's Dave Barton first round winner's money and the trip to India without striking a ball in anger. It was perhaps not too surprising that Higgins should withdraw, but it is arguable whether or not Fred Davis should have entered as it is generally thought that the veteran ex World Champion would not have made the journey had he qualified. The pity of it is that what spectators there were deprived of the pleasure of seeing this great player in action who, though approaching eighty years of age, is still able to demonstrate the art of classical billiards. The honours were largely taken by the Indians. There were five Indians entered and all five qualified, these five, together with the exempted Geet Sethi, will take six of the last sixteen places. An Indian Summer indeed, a veritable Indian Take away.

Hugh Nimmo played reasonably well but Devendra Joshi was a little too good. With the result beyond reasonable doubt the game fizzled out in the second session.

Michael Ferreira is but a shadow of the player he was, mainly, one suspects, from a lack of practice. But he was still too good for David who confesses to finding difficulty in adapting to the playing conditions.

If anyone should wish to know what it feels like to be hit by an avalanche then they should ask Des Heald.

And if Des won't tell them then maybe Bill Turner will!

Dave Seddon played pretty well and out-pointed Murphy in the second session. Murphy had done the damage in the first.

In some ways Patel v Everton was the most interesting match of the day. It was certainly the closest and the most hard fought. Nalin Patel had a slender interval lead. Clive Everton had his heart set on a trip to the sub-continent and struggled grimly to get on terms - 60 was a good lead! With a quarter-of-an-hour to go the difference was just 30.

Patel managed to work a couple of openings from which he compiled two painstaking red-ball thirties to book his place in the last 16. There was more safety play in this match than in all the others put together.

And if neither Des Heald nor Bill Turner will tell you then Howard Griffiths will. Bob Close showed good form and made the day's highest of 207.

Mark Wildman challenged strongly towards the end of the first session but faded in the second. Kothari played one stroke that could well claim to have been the shot of the day. See diagram below.

A beautiful slow screw stroke by Manoj Kothari. The cue-ball travelled over two feet to the pocket whilst the object ball (red) crossed the table to leave excellent position.

The Final Stages

Holiday Inn Hotel, Bombay,

September 28th-Oct 2nd, 1992

Sponsored by Gold Flake

Thousand-Break Sethi takes the Title

The World Professional Championship saw play reminiscent of the great days of billiards as Geet Sethi steam-rollered the opposition on his way to the title producing the highest break in competitive play since the war - 1276, and breaks of 576 and 818 in overwhelming Mike Russell in the final. The most spirited opposition was provided by Australian Robby Foldvari who made a his best ever in competition of 683, and lost his semifinal match with Sethi by a mere 251. There was great public interest in the Championship and extensive media coverage. Chairman of the Players Committee Mark Wildman reports that the event will be sponsored from, and played in, India for the next three years. This is good news for the top professionals. Billiards enthusiasts will wish them well and keep their fingers crossed that the preliminary round will continue to be played in England.

Russell in good form

Russell must have played pretty well in this match. Michael Ferreira tells the tale:- "Mike Russell in a scintillating burst of scoring had me fidgeting in my chair and occasionally rolling my eyes heavenwards as he rocketed to a 757 mid-point lead. Russell was playing with the supreme confidence of a man who has put in long hours of work at the table, who enjoys what he is doing and derives immense satisfaction from shining as an artist. He was particularly impressive when with the aid of breaks of 204,148 and 269 in succession, each of them a gem, he bludgeoned me into a spineless submission, a pusillanimous over-weight has-been, who has no business playing as a professional if circumstances preclude him from putting in the necessary hard work. I was pathetic; I cannot even offer the excuse that I did not get a chance or that the balls did not roll kindly for me." Michael Ferreira, "Times of India." Oct.2nd.1992.

A close run thing

This was a match which was in doubt until very near the end when Dagley missed a pot red from the spot when going smoothly and let Gilchrist in to finish the winner by just 120 points. Dagley at 62 is still a very hard man to beat. Gilchrist did well to get past him to a semifinal with his old friend and rival Russell.

Sethi Sensation

All other of the day's games were overshadowed by Geet Sethi's tremendous effort of 1276 - a world record under the current rules.

Whatever the rules it was a wonderful effort. The "Times of India":-

"Sethi had made 633 at the end of the first session. He had a slight hiccup when playing a wafer-thin cannon with his extension. But for that he would have had a thicker contact and missed out on the historic mark. This was around 400. The other edgy shot was a double kiss cannon. In the second session it was smooth sailing till the eight hundred mark when the strain seemed to be telling, a mild attack of asthma adding to his problems. Seeing a red pot on Sethi appeared set to take it on, then changed his mind and settled for a cannon as well. Two short of the nine hundred came another squeak when the cue-ball hit the jaw before sliding in. This evoked gasps from the spectators and a pause from Sethi. Subsequently he had it easy for he had gathered the balls at the top of the table and went on remorselessly till he broke down on a simple pot red and sank to the ground in dismay. Bob Close who had been sitting for nearly eighty minutes went to shake Sethi's hand and added a touch of humour saying, "I had better get my white moving. It's been in one place all night - behind the spot."

It seems that until Geet Sethi started on his break there was nothing in the game and both players had been playing rather poorly.

Foldvari well on top

Foldvari played a pretty solid game to outpoint Williamson 2 to 1 in a low-scoring match. Williamson is reported as being, "Indisposed." An indisposition that is said to have plagued a number of the English players. Foldvari would have been favourite to take this match anyway and that is to show no disrespect to Ian Williamson who is a very good player indeed.

Gilchrist's great effort - the fateful kick

Mike Russell took an early lead which he held for the rest of the match. But only just. The defending champion seemed to have plenty in hand as a half-dozen good century breaks (two doubles) took him to within twenty minutes of a place in the final. In situations like this Peter Gilchrist has been known to indulge himself in some billiard table flights of fancy to amuse the spectators. Not this time. Michael Ferreira takes up the story, "Just 25 minutes before the end with the scores reading 1370 - 1056 in Russell's favour, Russell faced with a series of double baulks kept firing his ball into a pocket to restrict Gilchrist's scoring opportunities and this tactic was proving right. Suddenly Russell changed his mind and left his ball on the table behind the baulk line. That nearly proved fatal as Gilchrist seized the opportunity to pile up a relentless sequence at the top. Sixteen points away from Russell's total and with just enough time to bridge the gap, Gilchrist had a most cruel kick which saw his break terminate at 301. A shaken Russell went to the table and scored another 6 points before the bell rang for his third successive entry into the final." Michael Ferreira, "Times of India," Oct 3rd, 1992.

Gilchrist made no complaints. Russell had six times, "Run a coup," before leaving his opponent the chance to score, and had shown signs of being below form.

"No-one could have foreseen that he would have a break like that, a shaken Russell said after the match." "Times of India," Oct 3rd.

Great break by Foldvari. Sethi's closest game

The BQR has many times referred to Robby Foldvari as possibly the most technically correct player in the world, we have also said that if he would just speed his game up a little, he would also be one of the most attractive to watch. Well on this occasion he did just that. The Australian found himself well behind as Sethi started with a 128 and followed with successive efforts of 220, 126, 112, 66 and 140 which is pretty good going by any standards. It was in the second session that Foldvari took the bit between his teeth scoring a magnificent break of 683. An earlier 394 by the Indian player was enough to see him to an eventual 250 point win. Foldvari's break is reported as being almost totally by the floating-white method. The Australian praised Sethi by saying that the Indian played the better and deserved to win. Sethi said that it was the fastest he had seen Foldvari play - as fast as himself. If Foldvari could get sufficient billiards then it would surprise no-one if he took the world title again.

Sethi routs Russell to become first Indian World Professional Champion

Geet Sethi became World Billiards Champion on October 3rd, 1992. He beat the man who has been described as the finest player to emerge since the war and who has dominated billiards for the last four to five years. He did it before a packed Regency Room at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Bombay, and with millions of his compatriots looking on. He did it in style and provided Mike Russell with the unusual experience, for him, of spending long periods in his chair sitting out a succession of huge breaks. The Englishman did not play well making only three centuries with a top of 212, but as he said himself, "It's difficult to play well when you have been sitting out for half-an-hour." He does have a point, his experience of sitting out is very limited. Russell took an early lead with 77 and 212 but Sethi's reply of 576 kept him in his chair for 35 minutes, whilst a 141 and a 255 kept him there for another half-hour. The climax came in the second session when the Indian looked for all the world set for another thousand but broke down at the simplest of cannons at 818. Operating at the spot end, the Indian played a top-of-the-table cannon a fraction too slowly:-

"Amazingly, Geet missed a gentle cannon at the top with the two object balls just an inch apart when the cue-ball, struck at dead pace, drifted slightly off course." Michael Ferreira. "Times of India." Oct 4th, 1992.

Ferreira also reported that he thought that Russell did not play too badly but was frozen out for long periods. Sethi's performance was described as breathtaking. It must have been.

What they said:-

"He played Great Billiards." Robby Foldvari

"Considering that he was playing in his first World Pro Final and against a man who was also in excellent form, and with the pressure of home country expectations heavy on his shoulders, his performance was breathtaking." Michael Ferreira

"Superb. There was just no-one to touch him all week." Mark Wildman

"There's not a lot I can say. It certainly gives you a lot to think about." Roxton Chapman

"Sethi's was a triumph of technique, concentration, and will-power." Pradeep Vijayakar (Billiards Correspondent Times of India).

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