12.3.09

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

Over the next four days, Clive Everton and myself will be commentating for Eurosport 2 on the Agipi Masters of 3 cushion billiards.

What is that, you may ask?

Well, the answer is one of the most skillful of all cue sports.

Carom billiards is played on a pocketless table, therefore there is no potting.

There are three balls - a cueball and two object balls. A player scores a point by making contact with the first object ball, taking it round at least three cushions and then cannoning the second object ball.

(You can come off three cushions and play a cannon from one object ball to the other as well).

This is a very tough game to master and Eurosport 2 will be covering all four quarter-finals, the semis and final live.

The coverage starts today at 5pm. Times of coverage vary over the four days depending on which country you are in.

For more details, visit the Agipi Masters site.

If you've never seen it, tune in and I suspect you will be impressed by the skill on show.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

I watched some of the coverage of the last weeks on ES 2 and also the livestream of the world team championships in Viersen last weekend. I was really impressed! It is sometimes unbelievable to see what they are able to play.

Anonymous said...

Snooker without pockets!

My kinda game, I thought!!

But having watched it for a bit last week, at least in snooker I've got a chance of fluking a red.

Anonymous said...

I can watch this on my eurosport player, right? I hope that is possible.

Unknown said...

I love carom - and watching the world's best players, most of whom come from Europe, is an education

but I still think Pyramids is the hardest cue sport discipline

although I'm sure some people will vote for Kaisa as the hardest with its tiny pockets!

Anonymous said...

Will this be the coverage where you get an overhead replay of every shot with the path of the white shown and cushion numbers 1, 2 and 3 numbered?

Whatever, I shall be tuning in because I'm a snooker fan but I was introduced to 3 cushion last year through Eurosport and I'm hooked. It's fantastic. Tobjorn Blomdahn is my favourite.

Anonymous said...

Is Clive still going to commemtate on at least part of the World Champs? Also does it have any sign of a sponsor yet?

Anon said...

I've played carom before, it's not that easy at all. I find snooker easier than carom.

Anonymous said...

I love snooker, have heard of carom and totally adore Monty Python. So, Dave, great post title and best of luck with the commenting.:)

*in very small letters: Dare you to start the coverage by saying "It's...it's...CAROM!":)

Anonymous said...

my favourite of all cuesports

been waiting for this all week dave

cheers

SS

Anonymous said...

global - id say uniard is the most difficult :)

ss

Anonymous said...

I am told they put gold in the butt of their cues in this sport to make them heavier.
This is why the cues often go walkabout.

Anonymous said...

The first match was an absolute beauty!

Anonymous said...

it was a good match. good quality through most and good tension.

ss

Anonymous said...

The pockets seem tight to me.

Anonymous said...

that was funny, honest

Anonymous said...

I have to say I very much dislike the way Hendon and Everton talks as if carom was this new curiousity. It might be to the British people but it certainly is not to the rest of Europe or indeed the world. Their voices are heard in some 30-50 countries, most of which carom is by no means a new thing. Perhaps Eurosport should consider bringing at least one comentator who actually know something about the sport??

Anonymous said...

i think they do ok and are talking about the sport as its "new-ish" to eurosport, which it relatively is and so wont have much of a following on there yet, which may build.

carom fans (like me) wouldnt need to listen to any commentator, even if they were an expert, to enjoy.

everyone has personal preference.

your opinion is a valid as others, but i say they do ok....and clive, much that i am not a fan of him, does know about billiards, even though its a different type of, its essentially a "same" mindset.

55

Dave H said...

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy our commentary. We deliberately commentated for new viewers and I reject the insinuation that we know nothing about the sport. Clive knows more about cue sports than most people have forgotten.

We both enjoyed today's action very much. The game is one of huge skill and both matches were close and thus extra fascinating.

I'm already looking forward to tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Well maybe I was a tad harsh, I didn't mean to insult anyone. Both you and Clive do an absolutely terrific job on all other fronts, think nothing else. But it's obvious that you two don't have that much experience of carom, so I wonder why not pair one of you with someone with a little more 'expert' knowledge? Anyway, it was some good, excting carom played indeed. Can't wait until evening match tomorrow, arguably the match of the round, with my compatriot, world record holder, title defender and generally legend of legends Torbjörn Blomdahl.

Anonymous said...

On Eurosport Germany we had Rolf Kalb and Martin Horn and they did their job very good. It was interesting to hear the comments of such a high ranked and experencied player.

Anonymous said...

nice backtrack hegeland. and well said dave (i was the comment to hegeland previously).

clive hasnt forgotten more than i know though, but then you did say "most people", so well chosen words

roll on later today. ty again

ss

Anonymous said...

I will not be able to see this match. I hope someone can record it and put it on youtube or similar. ??

Anonymous said...

I've tried to play this game, it's impossible! How the heck do they do it.

Anonymous said...

Great coverage this weekend - thanks. I can't wait to see the final on my eurosport player. I tried dumbing it down to 2-cushions on my pool table and it still seemed incredibly difficult.