Monday, 6 July 2009

Denis Wood - Day Two

Back to Birmingham for the Plate Match.

I played really below average. I lost and only scored 99 points. But quite glad as it did mean I could watch the main draw matches.

Mike Russell was playing he was staggering he just seemed to be able to place the ball anywhere and score. He never moved out of position more than an inch or two. He ran in a 400 followed by a 300 another 300 at 200 and a few 50-90 in the same 90 minute game.

I wont go into details about the matches as it's all on the ebos web site. But Roxton played fantastic, Mike and Geet were dazzling. The standard was so high I realise I am just floundering and hacking around on the table when I play.

Still it was one of the most enjoyable weekends I have had for some time. All the staff did well. The refs were good. Peter Cooper makes me laugh he is always so happy and full of life.
Clive Scott as usual was a super TD. He seems to make that job look so easy.

Finally Thanks to Paul for giving us the chance of the competition on behalf of his dad. It's due to him I had the chance to play Geet Sethi, world champion. It's something to tell the grand kids about. I may have lost to him but at least I won the String and was ahead for the first 5 minutes.

Saturday, 4 July 2009

Denis Wood Memorial Birmingham

Off to Birmingham to play in this new Open Comp. I arrived at 9.15am and Saw Paul Wood the sponsor waiting outside. I introduced myself to him later in the day. He seems a lovely man very keen on sports and so was his dad.

My targets for day were to win a game or at least score 100 or more in each game.

First game playing Paul Snowden. He was a little rusty not having played for 6 weeks. But he was still to good for me at the half way stage we were level on 70 points each. he began to find his form and pulled away with a couple of 40 breaks. The highest I got was 23.

Result Paul Snowden 232-140

My second game was against Geet Sethi. I was prepared for an absolute thrashing. We strung off to see who would start, I WON. He broke off and I scored 14. He missed again and I scored 25.
I played another shot missed and he knocked in 107, followed by 87, 43,59, 37,44.

Final Result Geet Sethi 447-128

Played Mick White next I had not seen him play but he was quite a steady player. I ran in breaks of 25,26,31. He got several 40 breaks. Nice chap though he had quite a bit of running but deserved to win.

Final Result Mick White 300 - 196

My next match was against Michael Williams, one of the Juniors coming through into the senior ranks. He played very a nice game always looking to get to the top of the table. I played fairly well against him holding him to a level game after 45 minutes. He had a nice 52 break and followed it with a 36. I had 38,26,29. At the end it was only his last two breaks that separated us.

Geet was on the table next to me playing Mick White. He hardly missed a shot running away by 700 points after getting a 300 break and another two 100 breaks. Awesome.Perhaps I did OK against him in that case.

I refereed a couple of matches Tina Owen-Sevilton v Eddie Fielding. Tina can really pot not bad at Billiards she got a couple of nice 30 breaks. She was just beaten by Eddie who got a nice 50 off an outrageous fluke.

I also refereed Phillip Welham and Joe Graham. The match was very scrappy. After 30minutes Phil Knocked in a 65, and followed it with a couple of 30's and a 49. In 20 minutes he had pulled away 200 points. Very nice touch he has especially around the top of the table.

Back to Birmingham in the morning for the plate matches. I was a bit upset as I would have booked a hotel for the night if I had known there was going to be a plate. I had already checked this with Paul Dunning. Still it's only a bit of fun. I think there was a bit of an outcry that there wasn't a plate. At least I will get to watch the finals.

Still I scored over 100 in each match so I was delighted. Just wish I could have won a game.

As an additional note Paul Snowden also knocked in a 100 break against Mick White.

Friday, 3 July 2009

Practice Again

When for a game with Mark last Night as my final practice before Saturday. Again we had and hour of snooker and an hour of Billiards.

It was very hot and humid in the club. Mark had a 37 and a 52 in the first frame. I got a 33 and went in off the pink in the second. He won 3-1.

I played him the hour at Billiards. I told him we would play as if in a match with no talking just playing. I set off like a train with lots of little 10-20 breaks and played really safe when I missed. I got to 100 and he had only scored 10. The game went messy and I neither of us could score.

I eventually won 200-102. I was a little disappointed but happy to get some practice. The only difference is if I miss on Saturday I may be sat down for a very long time.

Wednesday, 1 July 2009

Palace Snooker Club

Went to the Palace Snooker Club, Woodley for a game with Mark Carrington. Table 5 has just been recovered. We played Snooker for 2 Hours and Billiards for 1 hour.

I played really well at snooker he won 6-2. I lost 3 game where he clear the colours to win. I have a few 20-30 breaks but hardly missed a ball on and played some really nice safety my short back swing seems to be working lost a little power but made up for by more accurate potting in particular in the middle bags.

On to the Billiards we played for 1 hour. I played quite well up to 100 getting a few little 10-15 breaks. Mark played steady getting to 40. He was really trying to play Billiards rather than pot which is him normal game. He amazed me with some really nice cannons and a few nice half ball losers around the pink area.

I got going and ran in 25, a couple of shots later I ran in 38 which was a really nice break as I lost his white but managed to carry on. Mark at the next visit ran in 33. Again a really nice well structure break with a mix of cannons, losers and a bit of potting.

I finished 250-155. Mark is beginning to get to grips with the game as an ex-snooker pro you only have to show him a shot once.

Really happy today I played really well my eyesight seems clear cue action seems really to be working.

Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Birmingham Draw

As expected I have a tough draw at Birmingham. All the groups are very hard.

My group is as follows:
Paul Snowdon - Thrashed me before
Geet Sethi - Past World Champion. What else is there to say?!!
Michael Williams
Mick White - both very active on the ABC Circuit they both win quite a few rounds and the plates.

Still my target is to win a game.(Doubtful) or score 100 points in a game either will please me.

I will have to get a bit of practice in this week ready for the weekend. A period of quiet reflection is needed. I have not seen the last two play but they have racked up a few breaks in the 70-90 mark. Paul has recorded a few 60-70breaks this season but I can't help feeling if he gets going he will really pull out a big break after all he plays with Billy Bousfield.

My main job is to learn from them and rack up another few hours practice.

Disley Golf Club, High Lane, Stockport

I had an interesting meeting last night at Disley Golf Club last night with Geoff Yeoman. He is the Captain of the Billiards Team. They play every Thursday 200 up. It is handicapped +/-5 after each win or loss. I had made enquiry's regarding all the local leagues to see if any wanted an extra player for the coming season he is the last to get back to me.

We had arranged to meet and play so he could see me and get an idea of my playing level to formulate a handicap for me and to see if I wanted to play. The table was very nice, an old Ashcroft Table the club got it in 1920. We played 200 up and in the first half I caught him cold I ran in 19,26,24,21. Virtually straight away each time missing a stupid ball to carry the break on. On 26 I missed a simple pot red at top of the table with the white just near the black spot.

He did get going and started to score quite well with 12,17,18 to begin a come back. He was clearly an experience player and was doing everything to stop me scoring. He had good sight of the half ball shot and played mainly cannons where my game is tending to be red ball play in particular middle bag losers.

I eventually won 200-120. I didn't feel that good as I had missed out on a few chances. I found out he had not played for several months. He was quite happy with my game and said they would be happy to have me on the team. I cannot make up my mind which team to play for I think the Macclesfield League will have the higher standard of players but the Stalybridge League will have less travelling and my Friend Mark will play Snooker whilst I do the Billiards.

I will have to think long and hard about this one.

Monday, 29 June 2009

Denis Wood Birmingham

I have entered the Open Comp in memory of Denis Wood at Birmingham. I had not received any information so I contacted Paul Dunning who told me the entry list was on Billiard Junkies Web Site.

I have just had a look at the list and I am more than a little horrified. It's a list of who's who in Billiards and tucked away in there is me!. There are lads here who think a 100 break is normal. I will be the worse player entered but it's a bit of fun I may even learn something.

I was reading an article about Dhruv Sitwala on the Internet this morning where he gives an interview to a local paper (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/anxiety-to-win-is-killing-my-chances-sitwala/480548/1) it's worth reading as it gives me hope he states that it takes 6 years just to become an average player.

One of the problems with Billiards is that you never see the hundreds of players who play the game but are average or below, they just play in the local clubs and leagues and never really do anything to improve their game, They just turn up and play. I tend to only be looking at the good players all the time as it's only the good players that appear in the major tournaments and on video on the Internet. This tends to give my confidence a bit of a bashing when I shouldn't beat myself up these guys have been playing for years at the top level.

Saturday, 27 June 2009

Leagues Everywhere

Not played much lately I have not really had the time. I thought it would be a good idea to do a few weeks work to give me a bit of extra spending money for Florida.

It's a bit of a shock actually going to work but managed to put a little away over the past 5 weeks to pay for the spending money we need.

I have been looking for players or teams to play on and I have signed up for St Peters in the Stalybridge Church League starting in September. It's funny because I also contacted Norman Routledge a contact from Paul Dunning who plays in Macclesfield. He passed my details on to the Team captains and I have been contacted to a chap called Geoff from Disley which is only a few miles away to arrange a game and see if I can play for them. I am going to see them on Monday they play 250 up and you gain or lose 5 points on each win or loss.

This has put me in a bit of a position as both teams play on a Thursday and I want to play for them both. Still I will see which league has the best players and go with that as the criteria. The only thing is the St Peters lot are a really nice bunch of lads I have got to know them well over the past month or two.

I went to St Peters on Thursday, I played Phil the Captain beat him 100-12. However I did suffer my first defeat. One of the other players Mark turned up he was a much better Billiards Player. I beat him 100-40 in the first game having had a 29 and a 20. But in the second game I scored 16 on my first visit and had positioned both balls for middle pocket losers. I decided to play the white ball first pushing it down to the top of the table position and then I missed the red in the middle. I had played so well to get the balls in this position and fluffed it.

This put me off and before I knew it Mark had got a few little runs and 12,13,16. I just went to pieces and the harder I tried the worse it got. He beat me 100-71. I made it up later beating him 150-80 but he can play a bit.

I have just realised the Denis Wood Memorial Open is on in Birmingham next week. I had forgoten about that one I had sent my cheque off a couple of months ago I must buy a new waistcoat as mine is rather small. I must spend as much time as I can getting some practice in. I am getting lots of little breaks but I am always breaking down around the 30 mark. I can't understand it I know what I want to do I just miss really stupid shots that I get 10 times out of 10 in practice.

You know it never rains when it pours. I have been contacted by Derrick Hey from the police tournament he is from a small village called New Mill, near Holmefirth which is 16miles away over the Woodhead pass he has a vacancy on the billards team. They play on a Tuesday, it's a bit of a trek, the Woodhead is 1500ft high so if it snows during the winter it might be little hard to get to I suppose I could go the long way round over the M62. Still I have said Yes. Things are looking up for my first full year of Billiards.

Monday, 15 June 2009

8 Shot

Went to St Peters on last Thursday as a couple of the Billiards team were going in for a game.

I had not met them before so I went and introduced myself to them and had my first game with Stuart. The game was a little bit strange with the ball never really running well for either of us. I kept getting 10 and 15 breaks with a high of 21 but nothing to shout home about. Stuart was hopeless getting only single figures. Somehow I always left him very awkward.

I ran away 150-31.

I had to wait for my next game and the standard for a league is rather poor the next two lads were also hopeless. Eventually Mike ran in a 26 mostly from Pot reds and won 150-48.

I was then up to play Mike. He went for a thin cut after I made a really poor breakoff and missed and went straight in the bottom pocket. I spotted the balls and played the long loser from the middle spot. The table is slightly wider so I moved my ball over 1inch from my normal spot and it flew in the bottom came round the angles and left me on with an in off in the middle. Nice!!

I got 21 and missed a simply red pot in the bottom. I had got my arm going and scored 10+ on every visit. I then ran in 27 to finish the game. No really good breaks but again I thrashed him 150-25.

I am afraid the standard of the league is going to be so poor that I am not going to learn anything from the other players. I know the handicap will level things out but I am not even an average Billiards player yet. I am still working on and learning about the game. I suppose all I can do it try to play the best game I can and ignore the other player completely, treat the table as the opposition.

I did acheive a notable shot in my next game with an eight shot. I went for a long cannon off the red with the red in mid table and the white on the near the bottom left pocket. I hit the red got the cannon and the red bounced off two cushions and into the middle my yellow glanced off the white and went in off in the bottom. If my maths is correct that's 2 for the cannon, 3 for the pot red and 3 for the in-off the red (even though it actually went in off the white I think its the first ball that it hits which counts).

Final score 150-52 to me. I understand my handicap will be -50 to start off with so even that should not be a problem although it goes up or down 5 points with every win or loss.

One of the lads said to me that I was the best Billiards player he had ever seen. I was a little surprised at this as I have only just taken up the game but I realised that they have not had anyone to show them how to play properly. The game is all about the shots and angles and where you leave the balls for the next shot. I read in one of the online book and John Roberts that a player can play for 30 years and never be any good but if they had some coaching regarding the shots and positions to play for they would be able to beat any average player in a club.

So even with my basic knowledge of the game I can beat most average club players. Which also explained how I always lose to more experienced players. They hit the ball the same as me but know the best way to play from a given position. They may still break down but just score a few more than me from the same position.

Wednesday, 10 June 2009

Summer Break

Not much to report on the Billiards or Snooker front. Season has ended for both games. It's now a waiting game for the new season in September. I have been up to St Peters, Stalybridge a couple of times although there has not been anyone to play.

I was quite glad as I wanted to get used to the table. It is a very old Thurston table it has a date of 1897 on the plate underneath. It is certainly a very strange table I have measured the table, the length is spot on but it is about 1.5inches wider than a modern table. It still plays very well and has a very fast cloth but the pockets are cut in a strange way unlike any other table I have played on.

The cloth is very quick but has quite a decent nap, so that any side on the ball really bites in.

I have knocked the balls about and had several 40 breaks in practice, I will have to wait until september for a match though, My cue is great with the new tip, it's really playing well no miscues and the talisman tip hardly needed bedding in.