The Chalk - Issue 6 - October 2020 by The Chalk

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SELBY SECURES EUROPEAN VICTORY

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INSIDE >> MAX POTTER >> RODNEY REMEMBERS >> 2020 EUROPEAN MASTERS REVIEW>> BARRY STARK BECAUSE EVERY CUE SPORTS PLAYER NEEDS IT // www.thechalk.co.uk

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04 MAX POTTER 09 CARTOON ENGLISH OPEN 11 DRAW COACH 15 BARRY STARK RODNEY 16 REMEMBERS NEWS FROM 19 THE BAIZE

2020 EUROPEAN MASTERS REVIEW

WHO IS THE GREATEST?

WELCOME TO

ello and welcome to edition number six of The Chalk. We hope you are all keeping safe and enjoy the read. As always thank you for taking the time to subscribe, download, open and flick through the digital pages of the sport’s newest, brightest, freshest publication. Every month we will aim to bring you insight into cue sports from around the globe. In this issue, Monique Limbos writes a comprehensive review of the 2020 European Masters, which saw Mark Selby take the crown after beating Martin Gould in the final Our thanks also go to Steve © who has supplied us with another superb Max Potter page. Max appears to have been a hit with readers both young and old and we are delighted he is back to keep all you entertained. Feel free to give Max a follow on Instagram (@maxpotter_official), he has some great jokes! Rodney Goggins is back with his popular column Rodney Remembers. This month he writes about billards player Walter Lindrum. Tom Moorcroft pens his monthly article and talks about who he thinks is the greatest player of all time. Do you agree with his choices? You can support us online by liking us on Facebook (facebook.com/TheChalkMag) and by following us on Twitter @_TheChalk. Instagram more your thing? Give _TheChalk a follow. Our thanks as always go also to our advertisers and contributors, your support is really appreciated. If you would like to advertise please get in touch by emailing us at info@thechalk.co.uk. If you have any feedback, then please email us at the same address. Happy reading, stay safe and we hope you enjoy The Chalk. The Chalk is designed by JRH Media. james@jrhmedia.co.uk www.jrhmedia.co.uk | 07881237868

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THE 2020 EUROPEAN MASTERS – A REVIEW >> BY MONIQUE LIMBOS - RETIRED MATHEMATICIAN WHO LOVES SNOOKER AND PHOTOGRAPHY <<

ith 127 matches played during the event, it’s impossible to review them all, therefore, again, I will revisit each round whilst focussing on the main talking points. The last 128 Once again, unfortunately, it was the COVID-19 sanitary crisis that produced the main headline on the first day of the tournament. Indeed, two players, Gary Wilson and Daniel Wells tested positive to the virus. Three more players, Elliot Slessor, David Lilley and Michael White had been hanging around with them. All five were withdrawn from the tournament. As a result, Mark Selby, David Gilbert, Duane Jones, James Cahill and Ronnie O’Sullivan received a bye to the next round. Clearly, the fact that there were positive tests, and that some players had not been adhering to the social distancing rules, vindicated Anthony Hamilton’s decision to withdraw from the Championship League Snooker the previous week, on the basis that there were no tests done in that event that week. It seems that it worked as a wake-up call for the governing body because players competing this week in the CLS, are being tested and are required to self-isolated whilst waiting for their test result. This tournament is the European Masters and should have been played somewhere in mainland Europe, but because of the circumstances, it was played in Milton Keynes. However, four young ‘European’ players were invited as wildcards: Brian Ochoiski from France, Florian Nüßle from Austria, Antek Kowalski from Poland and Ben Mertens from Belgium. Only Antek won his last 128 match: he beat Sean Maddockx, a player seen as one of the best young English prospects; The score was 5-3. Brian and Florian made themselves and their country proud, despite being defeated. Brian played Jack Lisowski on the television table and pushed his top 16 opponent to a deciding frame. It’s only experience that got Jack over the line. 4

Florian played Mark Allen on the main table and was beaten by 5-2. It was a very high quality match actually. For the first three frames, Mark Allen produced a break building masterclass. Although Mark made a 104 in the third frame, he didn’t clear the table. With one red remaining, Florian came back to the table. He didn’t try to find snookers. Instead he compiled a nice 35 break to get himself settled and get the feel of the conditions. That was a very mature decision by the 18-year-old Austrian Champion. It paid off, as he won the next frame. After the mid-session interval Mark immediately scored a 114, only for Florian to respond by a 102. His attitude and skills attracted a lot of praise from

the Eurosport commentators. The defending champion, Neil Robertson, was pushed hard by Sunny Akani who could easily have been 4-0 up at the Mid-session interval. He was in control the match. Last year, in this event, the best of 9 matches were played without an interval. Had this been the case this year as well, I’m almost certain that Sunny would have won the match by 5-0 or 5-1. But the Mid-session interval allowed Neil to regroup, and Sunny to reflect on what was happening. Neil won all four frames after the Mid-session interval. We saw the same thing happen last August during the World Seniors final. Judd Trump did inflict a severe defeat

THIS TOURNAMENT IS THE EUROPEAN MASTERS AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN PLAYED SOMEWHERE IN MAINLAND EUROPE, BUT BECAUSE OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES, IT WAS PLAYED IN MILTON KEYNES. HOWEVER, FOUR YOUNG ‘EUROPEAN’ PLAYERS WERE INVITED AS WILDCARDS: BRIAN OCHOISKI FROM FRANCE, FLORIAN NÜSSLE FROM AUSTRIA, ANTEK KOWALSKI FROM POLAND AND BEN MERTENS FROM BELGIUM.

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on young rookie Iulian Boiko, and the worst aspect of it was that Iulian did get opportunities but couldn’t take them at all. He looked overwhelmed and lost out there, even in shock at times. Now, there are so many things that feel wrong to me here. Iulian only turned 15 the day after this match. How on earth is he allowed to play as a professional? When Yan Bingtao qualified for the main tour in 2015/16 he was unable to obtain a UK visa and the reason cited at the time was that he was too young. He had to wait for another year. He was older than Iulian is now. According to what can be found on this UK government page children can only start full-time work once they’ve reached the minimum school leaving age, which is 16. I know that there must be some special provisions regarding sports, but still? Snooker, as a sport, is extremely demanding mentally and emotionally. There is a lot of pressure and no physical release of the tension when sat in the chair. The flat draw system is very brutal, offering no progressive path for development. A lot of adult players have admitted to struggles with mental health issues. I sincerely hope that Iulian has the right people around him to help him through his first years as a professional because that match told me that he isn’t quite ready and a disaster couple of seasons could be very damaging, permanently destroying his self-belief. It’s happened before … sadly enough. John Higgins was beaten by Martin Gould, in a match that went the distance and featured a 50+ break in every frame: 57, 50, 86 and 69 from John, 57, 82, 75, 52, 53 from Martin. The last 64 The main second round talking point was, without a doubt, Ronnie O’ Sullivan’s exit at the hands of a 18 years old rookie, Aaron Hill. Ronnie tried his hardest in this match. He applied himself, gave his opponent due respect. Simply, he wasn’t match sharp, having not played since his win at the Crucible. He improved as the match went on, and may well have won it if it wasn’t for a massive fluke that allowed his opponent to start the 78 winning break. But his young opponent still had to make that break under the circumstances, and he deserves every credit for holding himself together and doing it. Aaron Hill came to this match determined to play his own game,

“THAT COMMENT WAS IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD A SMALL BIT, BUT I DIDN’T WORRY ABOUT IT. I JUST SAID TO MYSELF WHEN HE SAID IT, THAT ONE DAY I AM GOING TO SHOW HIM WHAT I CAN DO. I THINK TODAY WAS THE DAY.” Aaron Hill after his win over Ronnie O’Sullivan

refused to be intimidated and the result was a remarkable victory. This defeat to a 18-year-old tour debutant, coming after Ronnie’s comments at the Crucible about the lack of young players coming through, gave the media a field day. Aaron himself was proud of his victory, but measured in his words. “That comment was in the back of my head a small bit, but I didn’t worry about it. I just said to myself when he said it, that one day I am going to show him what I can do. I think today was the day.” Aaron Hill’s victory, followed by his run to the last 16, had a huge impact in Ireland. It got snooker all over the media in his home country, traditionally a snooker hotbed, but that hadn’t produced such a brilliant young talent for a long time. He might well be the spark that revives the fire of snooker passion in his country. Two more young players, in their first year as professionals, managed to reach the next round. Peter Devlin, 24 years old, beat Mark Williams and Pang Junxu, 20 years old, beat Robbie

Williams. Peter Devlin’s match against Mark Williams went to a deciding frame where Peter scored a 102, his first professional career century. Mark Allen produced a record equalling performance when he scored four consecutive centuries in beating Ken Doherty by 5-0. He now jointly holds that record with John Higgins, Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson, Gary Wilson and Stephen Maguire. I’m not sure when was the last time that none of John Higgins, Mark Williams and Ronnie O’ Sullivan managed to reach the last 32 round of a full ranking event they all entered and played in, all three losing in a deciding frame. It must be a very long time ago, if ever. Amateurs of dark stats, get your Almanacs out … The last 32 and last 16 Those two rounds were played on the same day. It started with the news that Mark Davis had his cue stolen, forcing him to withdraw from the tournament. The cue was later given back, but only after Mark’s withdrawal. Mark Davis’ misfortune meant that Mark Selby was awarded another bye, hence reaching

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the last 16, having played just one match. Last 32 All three successful tour debutants – Aaron Hill, Peter Devlin and Pang Junxu – confirmed their quality by winning their last 32 match: Aaron Hill beat Matthew Stevens, Peter Devlin beat Joe O’Connor in a match that over-ran, and Pang Junxu beat Barry Hawkins. Pang’s victory got next to no coverage at all, which is a shame because Barry Hawkins is one of the hardest match players on the tour and beating him is no mean feat for a 20 years old rookie. Mark Allen was in the mood again: he scored five 50+ breaks - 101, 55, 73, 58, 88 - in his last 32 win over Ashley Carty. Stephen Maguire was beaten heavily by Tom Ford; the final score was 5-1 and, in the five frames he lost, the Scot only scored 38 points. Tom Ford is a very good player but it’s really bizarre: Maguire won the Tour Championship in the summer but since then has been blowing hot and cold and more cold than hot actually. Last 16 Aaron Hill, Peter Devlin and Pang Junxu were all beaten in this round

but have every right to be proud of themselves. Aaron was beaten 5-1 by Yan Bingtao, who scored breaks of 94, 50, 60 and 74 en route. Not bad for a player who is, in my opinion, massively under-rated by the commentators who tend to see him as a bit of a “grinder”. Pang lost to the World number three and defending champion, Neil Robertson, and Peter to Martin Gould who went on to reach the final. It’s worth noting that all three had played in the Championship League Snooker the week before, giving them some experience on the television table. Kyren Wilson and Anthony McGill met in a rematch of their epic semi-final at the Crucible. It wasn’t very close this time. Kyren scored breaks of 120, 56 and 96 to lead by 4-0 at the Mid-session interval. Anthony took the following two frames with breaks of 52 and 75. However, in what proved to be the last frame Kyren embarked on a 147 attempt; he broke down on the 13th black to end his run on 97, but that was enough seal victory. Mark Selby did a “Selby” on Stuart Bingham. Stuart lead 4-1 in the first

“CONSIDERING THAT SIX OR EIGHT WEEKS AGO I WAS ON THE VERGE OF RETIRING AND NOW I’M IN THE FINAL OF THE EUROPEAN MASTERS, YOU COULDN’T MAKE IT UP REALLY.” Martin Gould following his win over Judd Trump.

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frame of the match he missed the 15th red in a 147 attempt, ending up with a break of 112, and he scored a marvellous 132 in the third frame. With his back against the wall, Mark produced breaks of of 114, 72, 64 and 54 to claim victory. Ding Junhui took a leaf off Mark Allen’s own book to beat him by 5-2: they were all square at the Mid-session interval, but the table was Ding’s after that as he produced breaks of 88, 81 and 78, restricting his opponent to just 5 points. The quarter-finals and semi-finals These two rounds were played on the same day. Quarter-finals Judd Trump had lost to Kyren Wilson at this same stage at the Crucible; he got a modicum of revenge over him this time by beating him by 5-2 with runs of 55, 105, 76, 81 and 100. He still trails him by 6-8 in their headto-head, something Judd certainly would love to “put right” . They are not best friends. Mark Selby, who had only played two matches to get to this stage, won five consecutive frames to beat Ding Junhui by 5-1. Ding had started the encounter with a 93 break, that remained the highest of the match. Shaun Murphy ousted the defending Champion, Neil Robertson, in a tense match that went the full distance. Martin Gould needed all nine frames to overcome Yan Bingtao. Semis-finals Judd Trump came into this semifinal as a massive favourite. In his five previous matches, he had won 25 frames and lost just four. The rejuvenated Martin Gould had other ideas though as heat beat the World number one by 6-3. Judd Trump looked a bit fatigued out there, which is strange given that he’s young and really hadn’t needed to work too hard to get to that stage. Speaking to WST after his win here is what Martin had to say: “Considering that six or eight weeks ago I was on the verge of retiring and now I’m in the final of the European Masters, you couldn’t make it up really. “They always say that after a long journey you actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve started to see that light. Since the Crucible I’ve played two days. Most of the time you found me on the golf course, my happy place. “I’m just enjoying myself and I think that is showing with how I’m playing. To win a ranking event is what you play snooker for. Whether it be the World

“A FEW YEARS AGO I WAS GETTING TO FINALS AND GETTING BEAT, NOT CONVERTING THEM. I’VE GONE ON A RUN SINCE THEN. TO WIN THE LAST TEN FINALS I’VE PLAYED IN IS INCREDIBLE. YOU ARE PLAYING THE TOP PLAYERS IN THE GAME EVERY TIME IN A FINAL.” Mark Selby after his final win over Martin Gould.

Championship or something else, you want to win tournaments. “That is what you turn up for. 128 players turn up, 127 go home and there is one winner. I want to be that one winner.You are never going to get an easy game in the final. “I’m just going to go out there with the same attitude as I had tonight. I’ll enjoy it and see what happens. I’ll just let myself go with the flow.” Mark Selby raced to a 5-1 lead in the other semi-final, but had to fight a mini comeback from Shaun Murphy before clinching it on a 6-3 score. Mark has been working with Chris Henry since last season. Chris is a coach who gives a lot of attention to the player’s mindset and actively promotes positive thinking. It clearly works for Mark who, after the match, declared: “Coming here I was confident from the World Championship, even though it was gutting to lose in the semi-final and get that close. I’ve still taken a lot of positives from it. I think that has shown this week and in the Championship League, I qualified there.” (source WST) The Final Coming into this final, Mark Selby had every reason to be confident. He had

won 14 of the last 15 ranking finals he had played, prevailing in the last nine. Mark started very strongly and lead by 4-0 at the first Mid-session interval, only for Martin Gould to win the remaining four of the session. The writing was on the wall … this was going to a decider and it duly did. Finals are sometimes disappointing, with one or both players being tired and underperforming, but not this one. It was a fantastic match that featured 12 breaks over 50, including 4 centuries: 130 and 113 from Mark, 131 and 107 from Martin. This is what both players had to say after the match (source WST): Mark: “A few years ago I was getting to finals and getting beat, not converting them. I’ve gone on a run since then. “To win the last ten finals I’ve played in is incredible. You are playing the top players in the game every time in a final. “To win ten on the trot is an incredible feat and something I need to be proud of. I always set goals every season. One of my goals is to get back to number one.” Martin: “It’s gutting to have come up short but it was a great final. Both of us

scored heavily and both of us made mistakes. We will pot balls we shouldn’t and miss some we shouldn’t miss. “That is part and parcel of snooker and why sometimes we love to hate it. All I want to do is enjoy playing snooker. If I do that I can produce what I have done this week. There are a lot of positives to take.” Conclusion It was a great tournament in many ways and here are my highlights. • The young European wildcards giving a really good account of themselves • Three rookies reaching the last 16 in their first full ranking tournament, each beating at least one top player • Martin Gould’s rediscovered happiness and revival as an entertaining top player. At his best he’s definitely top 16 material. The lower points were: • Players testing positive to covid-19 and the immediate consequences of it. • Mark Davis’ cue misadventure • Seeing a 14 years old* looking lost and humiliated on television as he played his very first professional match against the World number 1.

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DRAW MADE FOR THE ENGLISH OPEN

he draw for the English Open has taken place with defending champion Mark Selby drawn to play Fan Zhengyi in the first round. World Number one Judd Trump takes on Louis Heathcote in round one, while World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan takes on French 21-year-old Brian Ochoiski. The Open will see all of the top 16 players involved in the event that runs from 12-18 October in Milton Keynes. The first round draw can be seen below: Mark Selby v Fan Zhengyi Chang Bingyu v Aaron Hill Martin O’Donnell v Ashley Carty Jackson Page v Liang Wenbo Joe Perry v Riley Parsons Lukas Kleckers v Hossein Vafaei Ali Carter v Jamie Clarke Mitchell Mann v Liam Highfield David Grace v Paul Davison Scott Donaldson v Andy Hicks Barry Pinches v Andrew Higginson

Stephen Maguire v Sunny Akani Rod Lawler v Farakh Ajaib Zhou Yuelong v Chris Wakelin David Lilley v Eden Sharav Shaun Murphy v Robert Milkins Mark Allen v Mark King Gerard Greene v Robbie Williams Kurt Maflin v Peter Devlin Jordan Brown v Lee Walker Yan Bingtao v Alan McManus Martin Gould v Steven Hallworth Anthony McGill v Sam Craigie Noppon Saengkham v Oliver Lines Lei Peifan v Brandon Sargeant Barry Hawkins v Igor Figueiredo Soheil Vahedi v Joe O’Connor David Gilbert v Rory McLeod Daniel Wells v Mark Davis Zhao Xintong v Pang Junxu Tian Pengfei v Mark Joyce Neil Robertson v Lyu Haotian Judd Trump v Louis Heathcote Amine Amiri v Yuan Sijun Michael Holt v Jimmy White Zak Surety v Lu Ning Mark Williams v Allan Taylor Simon Lichtenberg v Anthony Hamilton

Gary Wilson v Iulian Boiko Ricky Walden v Billy Joe Castle Nigel Bond v Ashley Hugill Graeme Dott v Alexander Ursenbacher Ben Woollaston v Alex Borg Stuart Bingham v Fergal O’Brien Xu Si v Ken Doherty Matthew Selt v Jamie Wilson Gao Yang v Kacper Filipiak Kyren Wilson v Dominic Dale John Higgins v James Cahill Fraser Patrick v Connor Benzey Jimmy Robertson v Chen Zifan Peter Lines v Luo Honghao Ding Junhui v Si Jiahui Ian Burns v Luca Brecel Tom Ford v Xiao Guodong Jamie Jones v Duane Jones Sean Maddocks v Ben Hancorn Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v Stuart Carrington Jak Jones v Elliot Slessor Jack Lisowski v Li Hang Michael White v Zhao Jianbo Matthew Stevens v Jamie O’Neill Ryan Day v Mark Lloyd Ronnie O’Sullivan v Brian Ochoiski

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COACH BARRY STARK >> www.patreon.com/barrystarksnookercoach <<

RESIDENT COACH BARRY STARK GIVES HIS MONTHLY ADVICE TO THE CHALK READERS Here at The Chalk we are delighted to have Barry Stark as our resident coach. Every month we will feature two videos from Barryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s YouTube page to help you improve your snooker game. To watch the videos just click the images below.

In this tutorial Barry explains the effect when striking the cue ball with side. This short video demonstrates the pronounced effect when striking the cushion and it becomes running side or check side.

Barry continues to talk about the effects of a small amount of side and large amount of side and why you need to allow for deviation, caused by side, when aiming your shot. BECAUSE EVERY CUE SPORTS PLAYER NEEDS IT // www.thechalk.co.uk

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RODNEY GOGGINS LOOKS BACK AT WHAT PULLED HIM INTO SNOOKER

0 years ago, HTV Wales showed a documentary one mid-week night, Billiards: A Potted History. In it Clive Everton went through the history of billiards from the invention of the game right up to the then present day 1989. One man shone out to me like a shining star in the grainy black and white footage they showed - Walter Lindrum. In the documentary it showed him making a break of 100 and explaining each shot as he went along. When he made the century break, the interviewer said in his upperclass English voice, “Very good Walter, and how do you make a thousand break?” The natural easy going Australian replied “You just make them with nine more hundreds” with the ease of a man completely at home on the billiard table. From 11 years of age to even today, I wanted to know more about this billiard player. I would read up on him, look at old footage through the years and to this day I’m enthralled and fascinated with him. Walter Lindrum was born into an itinerant family in Kalgoorlie, Australia in 1898. The family, who ran a billiard saloon, had a strong interest in billiards. His father, brothers and nephews were all decent competitive players. A natural right-hander, Lindrum, lost his right forefinger in a mangle when he was a young boy, which resulted in his father teaching him to be a lefthanded cueist. An ambidextrous child

Walter Lindrum. Picture from Wikipedia

prodigy; he made his first century at the age of twelve; turned professional at thirteen; and made his first thousand break at fifteen. His strict taskmaster of a father would lock him inside the billiard room

A NATURAL RIGHT-HANDER, LINDRUM, LOST HIS RIGHT FOREFINGER IN A MANGLE WHEN HE WAS A YOUNG BOY, WHICH RESULTED IN HIS FATHER TEACHING HIM TO BE A LEFT-HANDED CUEIST. 16

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to practice daily for anything up to ten hours a day. He often only gave the young Lindrum two balls to play with. Commenting on his unusual marathon practice sessions in later years, he said “four hours to eight hours is the difference between falling down at five hundred and making a two thousand break”. For years he resided in Australia, polishing and perfecting his craft. With this singular obsession pumping through him since he was a child, he grew up to be a strange and aloof man. He had a complete indifference to money, appointments and women (he married three times). It is said genius is bordering on madness. With Lindrum this was definitely the case. In 1929, Englishman Willie Smith, (twice World billiards champion in 1920 and 1923), was invited to play the Australian in a three match challenge series in Sydney, Australia. With the series tied at one match apiece, the match had to be abandoned due to the tragic death of Lindrum’s girlfriend, Rosie Coates, who was involved in a car crash two months earlier. Just before the abandonment, Rosie asked Lindrum to make a 2,000 break for her. He went out in the next session and made a 2,002 break. Years later he would comment proudly that it was the greatest break he ever made. On her deathbed, the Australian married his sweet-heart love. In September 1929, still very much grieving, he was persuaded and encouraged by his family and Willie Smith to leave Australia and set sail on the S.S Café to travel to England to challenge the best players in the world. When he arrived in the British Isles, he slaughtered the native opposition, which comprised of top players of the elk of Joe Davis, Tom Newman and New Zealand’s Clark McConachy. In the 1929/30 and 1930/31 sessions he made 67 breaks and 65 breaks of over a thousand or more respectively. He broke the highest official break again and again, eventually raising the bar to 4,137 in 1932. He would spot Davis, Newman and McConachy seven thousand points start in in a fortnight’s match, and would beat them easing up. In the modern day, that would be like O’Sullivan giving his arch-rivals, Trump, Robertson, Higgins and Williams four blacks start in a game of snooker and beating them. Willie Smith was

once given a cheque for £500 by his betting friends to take Lindrum on in a challenge match. He set fire to the cheque and told them to keep their money. Lindrum was rock steady on the shot, with hours of drilled practice but one technical flaw, his left elbow was very inward, almost like Joe Swail, but it never bothered either of them, and with the results that they got who could argue. With all these great breaks and record feats, Lindrum had to implement a deadly proficient method of break building, known as top of the

Newman reckoned that Lindrum couldn’t spot him 7,000 points and win. Early on, Newman, who had won the World Championships five times in the early twenties, went 9,000 points clear of his contemporary, and looked set to win the eagerly awaited clash, guaranteeing his backers a large return. Within four visits to the table, Walter Lindrum put a stop to all that, displaying his immense genius to all and sundry by making runs of 2,835, 451, 1,796 and 2,583, eventually beating Newman by more than 1,300 points in the two-week long match.

after in terms of the challenge match, contracts and exhibitions afterwards but it blew up in smoke. The Australian was a difficult man to deal with when it came to contracts, making impossible and ludicrous demands of money, which left the Englishman, stranded in Australia for nearly a year. Davis was forced to play money matches and exhibitions just to afford his fare back home to England. Lindrum, with little else to prove, withdrew more and more into himself, eventually retiring from competitive play. He relinquished his world title

Walter Lindrum showing his cueing action. Picture from Wikipedia

table play and nursery cannons. This is what killed billiards as a popular sport – the same predictable laborious repetitions over and over again. The billiards associations tried introducing rule changes to curb Lindrum and the top players of the day (Davis, Newman and McConachy) pleaded with Lindrum to open out his play to more all round, but Lindrum was a stubborn man and refused. The public he maintained, wanted to see big record breaks, in hindsight this was to the detriment to the game. Another interesting aspect of his play was the speed and urgency of his breaks. He held the world’s record for a century in 29 seconds, and a thousand break in 26 minutes. Tournaments betwee the big four, as they were universally known were commonplace. In one of these events, the 1931 International Gold Cup Final, Tom Newman and the fluent Australian maestro met.

Playing snooker never entered the equation for Lindrum. He occasionally played and made centuries, but if he really tried, reckoned Joe Davis, fifteen times World Snooker Champion and four times World Billiards Champion, he would have been the greatest at that as well. Strangely, the Australian phenomenon didn’t play in the World Billiards Championships until 1933, due to being tied into contracts and money disputes. When he eventually did play, he inevitably won, beating Joe Davis 21,815 – 21,121. After 1933, he didn’t return to England ever again,. The challengers had to go out and play him (in 1934) to his home country, Australia. He was defying anyone who wanted to challenge him for the World Championship “to come and get it”. He beat Joe Davis and Clark McConachy in Australia for the World title. Lindrum had promised Davis would be looked

in 1950, subsequently only playing exhibitions and charity events. He raised half a million pounds for the war effort for the Australian Military Services in the Second World War. In 1951 he received a MBE; it was followed by an OBE in 1958. In July 1960 he died at the age of sixty-one from food poisoning. In 1998 he was inducted into Australia’s Sports Hall of Fame. Walter Lindrum once said that he doubted there would ever by another player like him. This wasn’t an arrogant statement; he was just questioning whether anyone else would be willing to put in the painstaking effort of practising for anything up to fourteen hours a day like he had done. Unquestionable he will go down in history as one of the greatest cueist and exponent of billiards ever seen, even though he unfortunately caused the demise of his chosen sport as a public entertainment through his dominant play.

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Paul Collier in discussion with Ronnie O’Sullivan

World Billiards has announced that Paul Collier has joined its Board of Directors from 1st September 2020. A referee on the professional World Snooker Tour since 1992, Collier has established himself as one of the most respected officials in cue sports, having taken charge of finals at each of snooker’s ‘Triple Crown Series’ events, including title deciders at the World Snooker Championship in 2004 and 2016. The Welshman also played an integral role in the two-year process which saw the most significant rules update across snooker and English billiards in recent years, culminating in the launch of the new Rulebook in August 2019.

As well as snooker, Collier has English Billiards and Nine-Ball refereeing experience, having previously presided over the final stages of the official World Professional Championship in both sports. Paul’s knowledge and experience as a Referees Assessor and Tournament Director (TD) for the World Snooker Tour will be of great assistance to the current referees and TDs at all events organised by World Billiards. Collier was a keen amateur Billiards player in his local Chepstow and Forest of Dean League in the early 1990s and boasts century breaks in practice at both snooker and billiards. Paul Collier said: “I have regularly followed results of all English Billiards

events since my time playing in the Chepstow League and although not particularly well supported in my area over recent years, the passionate following that the sport attracts in other parts of the UK means it deserves far greater exposure. “Hopefully, with my connections within the cue sports world, I can help the three-ball game realise its true potential and continue to develop both in the UK and on a worldwide level.” Jason Colebrook, World Billiards Managing Director said: “ Paul, with his experience and expertise in cue sports event management, as well as refereeing, will be a valuable addition to World Billiards. Welcome aboard Paul.”

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WPBSA WELCOMES HENDRY RETURN

he World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) has welcomed the decision of World Snooker Tour to award seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry an Invitational Tour Card from the start of the 2020/21 season. The decision follows a successful run at the recent World Seniors Snooker Championship which saw the 51-yearold defeat current tour player Nigel Bond and 2018 Seniors champion Aaron Canavan to reach the semifinals, before losing 4-2 to old rival Jimmy White at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Despite his defeat, both those within the game and fans at home were impressed by the form of the Scot – who hit seven breaks over 50 during the tournament – and Hendry himself has said that he “really enjoyed” competing again at the tournament.

WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson believes that the rekindling of Hendry’s competitive spirit at the tournament underlines the importance of the World Seniors Tour as part of the WPBSA’s Sport Development structure. “I am delighted to see that Stephen has decided that now is the time to compete once again at the highest level of our sport,” said Ferguson. “Few players have contributed to the success of our sport as Stephen Hendry during the modern era and it is with open arms that we welcome this great champion to the World Snooker Tour once again.” “It is also important to acknowledge the role that the World Seniors Snooker Tour, a project instigated by the WPBSA prior to its launch at the 2018 World Championship, has played in his decision. During the years following his retirement in 2012 there were few

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opportunities for players like him to continue playing competitively following life on the professional circuit. “With many older professionals either having fallen off the main tour, or approaching that stage of their careers, it was vital that we provided them with another means by which they can continue to play the game they love competitively. In Stephen’s case, his enjoyment gained by returning to the baize has led to his return to the WST circuit and I have no doubt that the World Seniors Tour will continue to provide a springboard for more of our sport’s former champions to bounce back on the professional tour.” The ROKiT Phones World Seniors Snooker Tour continues this November with the staging of its recently announced Qualification School tournament.

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WPBSA LAUNCHES INTERNATIONAL SNOOKER COACHING COURSE ACCREDITATION

he World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is pleased to announce the launch of a new process through which regional and nationally recognised coaching schemes around the world can receive WPBSA accreditation. The new process aims to further the development of snooker coaching around the world, supporting existing coaching schemes run by recognised bodies by incorporating key elements of the WPBSA Coaching Programme. This will include the Safeguarding and Child Protection training developed by the WPBSA through its partnerships with UK Coaching and the NSPCC. Accredited courses will receive equivalent stats to the Level 1 WPBSA Snooker Coach qualification, with successful coaches becoming eligible to progress to the 1st4sport Level 2 and Level 3 courses, subject to the entry criteria of each course.

The launch follows successful pilot courses trialled by the European Billiards and Snooker Association (EBSA) in Serbia and Portugal at which 30 coaches from 18 different countries received training. Chris Lovell, WPBSA Head of Coaching and Training Development said: “As the official world governing body for snooker the WPBSA is committed to support the coaching of our sport across the globe. Through our new accreditation process we can recognise the good practice that is currently being delivered and offer additional support to enhance snooker coaching, in particular the promotion of the safety of children and adults at risk around the world. “I would also like to thank PJ Nolan and all of the coaches who took part in our pilot courses in Serbia and Portugal for their support.”

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WHO IS THE GREATEST SNOOKER PLAYER OF ALL TIME? >> BY TOM MOORCROFT <<

t’s a topic which really needs no introduction. For years people have been discussing who the greatest snooker player of all time really is, quoting their ability on the baize, their attitude off the table and the state of their trophy cabinets. Ronnie O’Sullivan It’s impossible to talk about snooker without mentioning this giant of the sport. The 44 year old legend has graced our television screens for the last 29 years as a professional, working his way through the ranks and achieving all there is to achieve. When we talk about trophy cabinets he truly has the best in the business, with 6 World Championships, seven Masters titles and numerous others. He may be the greatest player to ever pick up the cue, but the only thing that makes me hesitant would be his attitude off the table. It’s understandable that someone of his calibre would flaunt it, it comes with the territory. However, his demeanor often lets himself down, and I don’t know if he’s the best ambassador for the sport.

a younger age). He now offers his punditry to several channels throughout the tour, lending his experience and nuggets of wisdom in some of the sport’s biggest games.

boast however, winning numerous ranking titles and earning the title of ‘greatest snooker escape ever’ (if you don’t know what I’m on about, give it a google, you won’t be disappointed).

Steve Davis Speaking of ‘nuggets’ this player, nicknamed ‘The Golden Nugget’ held such a high quality of play as he approached retirement. Like a fine wine, Steve Davis started his career off in a fiery manner and kept that determination until his retirement, even making it to the QF stages of the World Championship at the age of 52. He had 38 seasons in the topflight prior to his retirement, and despite his ironic nickname of ‘interesting’ he’s offered invaluable analysis and a few laughs working with the BBC’s snooker coverage. He’s also one half of that fantastic 1985 black ball final, which makes him worthy of a nomination (although I’m afraid Taylor hasn’t made the cut, sorry Dennis!)

Joe Davis It’s safe to say that if I didn’t grow up with Hendry I definitely didn’t grow up with Joe Davis. The man who’ll be forever ingrained in the snooker annals as the father of the sport, he dominated the early game, winning the first 15 World Snooker Championships. He also boasts being the only player to never lose a World Championship game - a stat which I can’t imagine will be matched in the modern game. He helped organise the competition too, which has gone on to provide snooker fans with countless memories over the last 100 years.

Jimmy White The greatest player to never win a World Championship. Jimmy White is often noted as providing a vibrant, fluid style of play to the sport, and inspiring a lot of its future talents. I think if it wasn’t for players like White, we wouldn’t have the likes of Trump or O’Sullivan, so for that reason snooker fans would forever be indebted to ‘The Whirlwind’. His legacy isn’t all he has to

Alex Higgins Alex Higgins. The Hurricane. The People’s Champion. There isn’t really anything I can write which will do the man justice. He helped turn modern conceptions of snooker on their head, making it exciting and, akin to Joe Davis, popularising the sport. There are simply no words to describe the magic that occurred when he approached the table and, given his unfortunate death in 2010, now is the time to talk about Higgins, watch his old games and keep his legacy alive, as one of the greatest players to ever grace the sport.

Stephen Hendry Another safe option in this debate would be Stephen Hendry. I must be honest, I haven’t really grown up with Hendry like I have Ronnie, but his reputation as a dominant force throughout the 90s makes him deserving of the title. He has the nickname ‘King Of The Crucible’ for a reason, winning the World Championship seven times and winning his first as young as the age of 21 (making me question why I didn’t pick up a cue at BECAUSE EVERY CUE SPORTS PLAYER NEEDS IT // www.thechalk.co.uk

Michaela Tabb

Snooker Legends

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