The second and concluding part of the story of the man who has been called the greatest amateur player ever. Billiards Quarterly review thanks Mr Stephen White and, "The West Australian."
Titles aside, perhaps the most remarkable thing about the remarkable Bob Marshall is the way he has been able to find his best form after long lay-offs from the game. His first retirement, due to recurring arthritis in his knees and hip, came in 1963. He made his first comeback in 1969 after the death of his wife Jean. On his way back from a holiday with his mother in Japan he called to stay with an old friend, Keith Lord, in Sydney. Keith encouraged him to start playing and after about a month he started to find his feet again. "It's like anything you love," said Bob, "If you give it up and then restart you very quickly get the bug again. I stayed with Keith for about a month and played a lot of billiards. Unknown to me the Australian championships were being held in Sydney at that time and the West Australian Billiards Association sent me a telegram saying that I had been unanimously selected to represent WA at the 'Nationals." Bob won the title, and again in Perth the following year before retiring once more, again because of the pain from his arthritis. He remarried in 1973 and because his new wife, Ethel, didn't like billiards he was quite happy to keep away from the game. That all changed when Ethel died of cancer in 1983.
Encouraged by his third wife Jean, Bob decided to return to the game in 1984, but operations to remove his arthritic right knee and left hip joints, and an operation to remove a melanoma, (skin cancer,) "The size of my fist," from his shoulder, delayed his return until 1985.
By the time he was fit enough to play he had only six weeks left for practice before the West Australian Championships, but though he was, "Not going really good," he, "Managed to scrape through and win." By the time the National Championships came round in Tasmania, ha had managed to get a few more weeks of practice and again, "Scrambled in." The Nation's title, his 21st, came 50 years after his first.
Bob, then 75, was invited to play in the World Championship in New Delhi, India. Despite being very ill before and during the flight to India (he late discovered he had suffered two bleeding ulcers) he managed to reach the final before being beaten by the Indian Geet Sethi.
Bob sometimes wonders how his billiards career would have panned out had he taken Walter Lindrum's advice and turned professional. "I remember Walter urging me to turn Pro. He said I should go to London and play full-time and within twelve months he would put me up against Joe Davis, Tom Newman, Willie Smith, and the rest of the Pros over there. But how could I? I just couldn't pack up work. I had a family (He has a daughter Bobbie, and a son Ian) to support. "but I wonder how far I could have gone if I had lived in England and had been able to play full-time. I would surely have been a better player. As it was I only played for half a year. During the Summer I would be out with my family down at the beach swimming and surfing. Then, toward the end of the Summer, I had all my winter firewood delivered and I chopped it and stacked it all ready for the cold months ahead."
"The Australian Championships were always held in the first week in September and round about Easter, when the cool weather started, I'd start practicing seriously and I'd play right through the winter. I'd usually pack up again in November and enjoy the Summer in the outdoors.
Until his latest operation Bob was playing billiards at home with a close friend about once a week.
He did come out of retirement last year however when he was talked into entering the Third Australasian Masters Games in Brisbane, Queensland, he won the over-65s billiards title with a stunning display that left his final opponent, Queensland Billiards champion Ron Moore, 65, totally demoralised. His 781 - 251 triumph included a break of 216. An hour later he switched to snooker and again proved the master by beating South Australian Don McLeay 3 - 0 in the final.
But perhaps the most important aspect of his trip to Brisbane was the discovery of a young Queenslander, 15 year-old Rhys Cochrane, who could be a player to watch. Bob says he is so good he just might be another Lindrum. After watching him in action Bob was so impressed that he took him back to Perth for some private instruction. And he is adamant he has the potential for greatness. "I think that after all the years I've been looking, we've finally hit the jackpot. This boy is quite amazing. He's got wonderful ball sense, he's so athletic and appears to have exactly the right temperament. He makes breaks of 100 and 200 like no-one I've seen. He could be another Lindrum. I've been looking for someone like Rhys all these years and I really do believe that he could be a future world champion.He plays golf of a three handicap but for some reason he prefers to have a cue in his hand - and what's more he is far more interested in billiards than in snooker.