World Championships, a battle of systems?

[exiled]

After many years away from the game I was talked into entering the World Championships in Jersey this year. What a fantastic event it turned out to be, extremely well run and full of very friendly people from every league. There was even a feeling of Deja Vu as Kevin Tunstall won the tournament, just as he did last time I went many years ago.

It was interesting to see the variatons of play as most English players tended to play using the split method whilst the Jersey players, and some English players, went for the more safety conscious method of potting on the 50 pockets.Whilst both are very skillful, I feel, having watched many games using both options it appears that until the Jersey players try to work out the split they are highly unlikely to win the competition as potting reduces the scoring rate too significantly. From a personal point of view I think this is a shame as it would be nice to see one of their guys win (no offence Kevin :)) as they put in so much effort to provide us with a great event.

Am I missing something or does this appear to be the case?

Astute in your observations, there, about the differing styles, but did you observe Guernsey's Trevor Gallienne, who rattles in quick-fire 15ks by doubling the balls into the 50 after his one-up?

Most of us would also name Jersey players Bisson, Ahier, King, Helleur, Barbet, Le Monnier as serious contenders.

The split when mastered can lead to perfect play, but it always carries a slight risk. I once overhead a conversation of former Champ Bernie McCluskey whereby he was recommending the 50/20 split as a safer shot, but of course you won't get a 20k unless you play the 50/100 split, and you have to make sure you are on the right table to do it on !

Vive la difference, I say !

[Chris_Sav]

My view is it's much easier to play the split in Jersey now as the cloth is considerably slower than it used to be. It used to be so fast that the one-up was extremely difficult to control, especially getting side on.

The larger gap between the break balls also meant a greater danger of going behind the fifty on the one-up.

Sav.

[BB Warrior]

An interesting topic of conversation, especially so soon after the World Championships have finished. 8-)

Having only been going out to Jersey for the last 5 years myself, the tables have always been much the same as they were this year.... very good but not as quick as I have heard they were in years gone by.

The split shot can therefore be used there now, obviously it does always carry a certain risk factor in comparison to the "traditional Jersey method" of potting 50's however the reward of higher scores mean that a lot of UK players will now take that chance.

Phil Collins made the first ever 20k break in Jersey this year (20,990) playing the split shot, although I believe that he did also play the 50's for a while towards the end of the break.... in comparison Trevor Gallienne ran the table out for 17,860 just potting in one of his group games which shows the sort of score that can be achieved using that system. 8-)

Looking at the winners during the last 5 years, SirKT (2011 and 2012) certainly split in some of his games, Jim Millward (2010) mostly potted, Phil Collins (2009) split and Trevor Gallienne (2008) played the 50 holes so it shows that perhaps you don't have to split to win the title and I thought it was interesting to see that this year there was a larger representation of "non-splitters" in the later stages of the Tournament than there perhaps has been for many years...

Last 32 Players - 13 from Jersey, 3 from Guernsey, 8 from Sussex, 3 from Oxon, 2 from Berkshire, 1 Bucks, 1 Kent and 1 player from Surrey.

So 16 Channel Islands players in the last 32.... and you can add at least 3 Sussex players (Nigel Senior, Ian Lelliott and Kevin Hall) that I know were not playing the split during their games.

By the time we had reached the Quarter-Finals, there were 3 Jersey Players (Graham Bisson, Dennis Helleur and Bob King), 3 Sussex players (Sir KT, Nigel and Jim Millward) and the 2 Berkshire (Paul Sainsbury and Bernie McCluskey) players left in the competition...... Nigel out-potted Graham Bisson, Paul (splitting) beat Jim (potting) on tricky Table 6, SirKT (splitting?) beat Dennis Helleur and Bob King beat Bernie.

Paul (splitting superbly) then beat Nigel (potting) and SirKT beat Bob King in the semi-finals that then led us to a tremendous final with both Kevin and Paul splitting superbly.... although both had a moment of luck on the way but played superb recovery shots to keep their breaks going. 8-)

To split, or not to split.... that is the question?? :-/

If I ever work out the answer then maybe I will progress a bit further in the competition myself!! ::) ;D ;D ;D

[NigelS]

Hmmm, whether to split or not split in Jersey, it's a great question which I have discussed with my teammates before, and am not sure we have come up with a definite answer!

I think it is great to have both games in your armoury, you may find occasions out there where one game will work better than the other, however the tables are so good that usually both games will work. There is no doubt the split has become easier in the last few years as the cloths have slowed, it will always be the riskier method of playing, the reward of course being the higher scoring power.

I do think though it is possible to win the tournament playing either method, as Dave says there were plenty of players potting or splitting reaching the latter stages of the competition.

My advice to anyone is play the way you are comfortable playing, confidence is the key to this game, and if you are more comfortable potting or splitting than that will be your answer.

Thats the beauty of Jersey that you don't really get anywhere else - the dilemma of which method you use, which makes it the best tournament in my opinion and the hardest to win. As for me, having had my best Jersey ever, I still don't know what I will do next year, I suppose I have got 12 months to think about it!

[Q]

Nov 17, 2012 10:02:17 GMT BB Warrior said:

To split, or not to split.... that is the question?? :-/

If I ever work out the answer then maybe I will progress a bit further in the competition myself!! ::) ;D ;D ;D

and maybe I will manage to progress to Sunday for the first time ::)

What I find fascinating about the subject is that with all the young talent about and their unquestionable technique and potential - and ambition -, no young player (ie. under 30 years of age) has so far managed to win the World Championship. The one exception being Phil Collins in 2009.

Have a look at wikipedia's list of the finalists dating back 30 years:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_billiards

Of the 60 names, only 3 youngsters have ever made it as far as to become the runner-up: Steven Sheard (2011), Nick Barnett (1998) and K.T. himself 25 years ago in 1987.

By contrast, in the past the competition has been won by a 70-year-old (Peter Noel).

This suggests that one vital ingredient counts..........Experience. Which must be a great source of comfort for the likes of Paul Sainsbury and Nigel who have come close but must surely believe that their time will come.

[Q]

Experience.... and confidence...

Personally when I go to Jersey I always go with the INTENTION of splitting, I split in my practice games and everything is fine... then I line up for my 1st round game and the nerves kick in, I chicken out of the split and try to play a potting game (in my opinion MUCH harder) I then normally get out of position early on and thats my weekend finished.

I wish I had the courage to play my normal game, I know that I'll never win but I would so like to show that I can be something other than an also ran.

[exiled]

Hello Keith,

Its easy when you ask the right questions, didn't expect to get quite the debate going that has happened. Got some very good replys though. For anyone else picking up on this at no point was the question asked in a way that was to suggest that potting was less skillful than splitting as I think they are both difficult at times. And in no way would I ever suggest that potting is banned, no more than splitting should be that is far too negative an approach and the variety is what makes this tournament so good. In Reply to tommo's comment I did watch most of the Jersey players at some time, but not Trevor Gallienne, but looking at his scores maybe he is the most likely to get success and if I get back I will look forward to watching him (hopefully not as his opponent).

Phil

Moved from the Oxford league board!

...silly boy Phil. ;)

[bigtj]

Certainly food for thought and I agree with Nigel both games in the armory is great to have as some stages you do need to revert to the 50 play, especially when defending a lead. Both games are talented and to watch a true of the spot player such as Trevor is a joy to behold, equally to watch the top players play the split with such precision is also great.

Whatever you feel comfortable with must be the rule of thumb, but I do know that some players suffer as they cannot decide which game to play and have to go outside of their normal comfort zone. All this is what makes this game what it is.

Also as was proved in the doubles final, their can be as much excitement for the spectators in a tight to and fro final ( even though probably not for the players), think when you look at the split of players in the latter stages the argument will roll on as good cross section of both styles.

[BB Warrior]

Nov 18, 2012 9:56:28 GMT bigtj said:

Also as was proved in the doubles final, their can be as much excitement for the spectators in a tight to and fro final ( even though probably not for the players), think when you look at the split of players in the latter stages the argument will roll on as good cross section of both styles.

But Tony, the question remains.... is it a "split" of players.... or a "pot" of players....? :-/ ;D ;D ;D

[Sir Chancelot]

I marked Nigel's final game in the group stages in Jersey.
He switched styles during the match, firstly potting until he had secured a decisive lead against Terry Kenny.
He then switched to the split and really motored, looking more relaxed and used to the split.
Very impressive :D

[exiled]

I think that confidence is definitely the key, I hadn't played for 11 years before going this year. I managed to find a table near Alfreton in derbyshire to practice on and got to the stage where I hit double figure breaks without a problem. As with you as soon as I pulled the bar in the tournament the nerves took over and my play was really poor. Still a great weekend though.

Nov 18, 2012 23:29:31 GMT exiled said:

I think that confidence is definitely the key, I hadn't played for 11 years before going this year. I managed to find a table near Alfreton in derbyshire to practice on and got to the stage where I hit double figure breaks without a problem. As with you as soon as I pulled the bar in the tournament the nerves took over and my play was really poor. Still a great weekend though.

The Clock Inn ??   Or the Corner Pin at Morton ?

[Chris]

Sadly I can only pot myself.

I cannot master the split but have the pot. I can do it if it accidentally sets up for me.

Maybe one day ::)