26.7.07

RUSSELL'S ONE OVER THE EIGHT

Mike Russell won the world billiards title last week. Barely a word of this appeared in the press, of course, because billiards is even less visible as a sport than it was 20 years ago, when it was hardly visible at all.

Asked in the 1980s why the sport couldn't ever be as popular as snooker, Matchroom boss Barry Hearn said: 'there's not enough balls.'

Despite its lowly status (the professional game now has only one competition a year) it's good to know that the proud tradition of incompetence that cue sports can boast applies in the three-ball game.

Russell's name has been engraved on the trophy for a ninth time. Odd, this, as he's only won it eight times.

It transpires that although there was no World Championship in 2000, his name was put on the trophy in any case.

Why? Don't ask me. I sometimes wonder if our sport is just one elongated episode of 'Lost' in which nothing ever makes any sense.

Now that this precedent has been set, perhaps it's time to honour the late, great Joe Davis and add his name to the world snooker trophy for the five years from 1941-1945 that the championship was not held because of the war, thus making him a 20 times winner.

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