Goldflake Grand Slam: Third Series, Third Leg

Hotel Krishna, Holiday Inn, Hyderabad

16th-19th March, 1995

Roxton Reaches for the Top as Russell Withdraws

The Grand Slam Third Leg saw some sensational billiards. The play throughout was of a very high standard. Roxton Chapman finally made the break through that his dedication and ability has promised for some time. After the disappointment of the World Championship, the young Peterborough professional must surely force his way into the top four players, and may well be on his way to the very top. His cause in this Grand Slam was certainly helped by the withdrawal of World No.l Mike Russell, but a 5 - 0 win over Foldvari in the semi was a tremendous feat, and 7 - 4 over Gilchrist in the final equally tremendous. Professional billiards is a very hard game and Chapman's arrival has not made it any the easier for those other players who have aspirations of a top four place.

A very good win indeed for the Leeds professional. Sethi was nowhere near his best which means that he would still be good enough to destroy most players. Well done Williamson.

Mark Wildman is not the player he was (Who is!) and he did very well to take two games from the world champion.

Robby Foldvari 4 Norman Dagley 1

Dagley won the first game well but did not play so well in the subsequent games missing a number of fairly easy strokes. Foldvari is a hard man and needs little encouragement.

Russell, one game behind at the interval, conceded the match declaring himself unable to continue.

A superb win by Chapman who made good breaks in every game. It cannot be over-emphasised that, although the Australian champion has occasionally been known to play badly, any player who beats him, and especially as well as did Chapman, can be proud of his performance. Neither of these players is noted as being particularly fast but it is interesting to note that the games averaged only 33 minutes which is good for this type of match play. Compare this with the 32 minutes average of the Gilchrist - Wildman match, a match involving two players noted for their speed of play.

Williamson must be given credit for making century breaks in the fourth and fifth to make the match 2 - 3 after being subjected to a deluge of breaks from the world champion. The tenacious Leeds professional fought hard and should have won the seventh. He led 145 - 132 but then missed an in-off to give the Middlesbrough man an easy opening to clinch his place in the final.

A wonderful match. Gilchrist had two total run-outs in the first three games, a 97 in the fourth and was still only level. The match possibly turned on the fifth. Gilchrist led 126 - 0 only to see Chapman seize a half-chance to run out. The Peterborough player added the sixth to lead by 4 games to 2 at the interval. He took the first game of the second session to gain a three games advantage, but then sat out a couple of centuries from the champion which cut his lead to just one game. With two such players as these there is little room for error and it was Chapman who was able to get on top in the last two games to achieve a notable victory.

It is not possible to say what the result might have been had Russell been able to continue his match. However, Chapman's wins over Foldvari and Gilchrist, and the manner in which they came about, leave no doubt that the young Peterborough professional need fear no-one.