2001 British & UK championship from today

By Geet Sethi

MIDDLESBROUGH, NOV. 28. The 2001 British and UK Billiards championship commences from Wednesday at the North Ormesby Institute here in Middlesbrough. This is the land of Mike Russell and Peter Gilchrist and Billiards is followed with a passionate zeal in and around this sleepy industrial town, which has been unable to ward off the insidious ill effects of an industrial slow down.

But the activity in the world of billiards in Middlesbrough and the Teeside area is in sharp contrast to the industrial slowdown. Chris Shutt and Peter Sheehan have followed in the footsteps of their illustrious predecessors, Gilchrist and Russell, emerging as the new hopes thanks to a well-structured 'Boys League', which encourages competition and exposes the upcoming players to high quality billiards.

The £ 15,000 British Open, which commences on Wednesday and concludes on December 1, is to be played on a time format with all games up to and including the semifinal of one two-hour session, while the final will be played over four hours. The UK Championship commences on December 2 and will conclude on December 10.

The venue for the final in the UK Championship will be shifted to York, where the facilities of the ongoing UK Snooker championship will be utilized. The UK Open is to be played on a new format with all games up to and including the semifinal to be played over a best-of-seven games of 100 points and the final over best- of-nine games of 100 points.

Mike Russell, defends his title in the British Open with a second round match against the winner of Paul Bennett and India's new hope Dhruv Sitwala. With Sitwala exhibiting superb form in the IBSF world billiards championship in Christchurch, New Zealand, earlier in September this year, one would expect him to come out unscathed against Bennett. His ability to construct 400+ breaks notwithstanding, it is hard to visualize him unsettling the highly competitive and in-form Russell. The world no.1 continues to reign supreme, having consolidated his number one ranking in professional billiards for the fifth successive years despite finishing runners up in the world championships.

Russell will, in all probability, run into either Australia's Robby Foldvari or Ashok Shandilya, our own fiercely competitive cueist with a happy-go-lucky attitude towards both, life and sport. To pick the quicker of the two cueists is not at all taxing on the intellect, with Foldvari's deliberations and tactical astuteness well documented. However, it is hard to predict the winner of their match with their strengths and ability on the table evenly balanced.

One cannot foresee Russell being troubled by either of these two. But, in the semifinal, the 35-year-old will run into either Chris Shutt or myself. While Shutt uses the exuberance of youth combined with his flair to lethal effect, I seem to have rediscovered my enthusiasm for competitive billiards and have once again built an appetite for the big breaks with my recent title victory in the IBSF World Billiards championship.

Yet, the outcome of the encounter (assuming that both clear the second rounds) remains as difficult to predict as the Foldvari- Shandilya match. Even though Shutt and myself have a reasonable record against Russell, one would slightly favour Russell in the semifinal.

The lower half features Peter Gilchrist, Roxton Chapman, David Causier, Nalin Patel and Devendra Joshi. While Joshi fights Causier in the second round for a berth in the quarterfinals, Patel, ranked 7 has a better chance to occupy his nominated place as he meets the winner of Ian Williamson and Andrew Sage. Gilchrist, the current world professional champion has his work cut out. He first needs to dispose of Peter Sheehan and then runs into Roxton Chapman in the quarterfinals.

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