NEWS FROM THE SOUTH

Burgess Record in Portsmouth

Dave Burgess was hardly a surprise winner of the recently held annual
Portsmouth billiards championship, he had after all won the title for
the previous eight years. It was the manner of his victory and the high
breaks that caught the eye. In his semi against Steve Kearns, Dave made
a break of 193, a record for the event, at his second visit to the table and
further runs of 76, 70, 67 and 51 ensured a 500-103 victory.

In the final against local stalwart Stan Pitts, honours were even at the
halfway stage with no significant contributions from either player when
Dave embarked on a break of 259, breaking the record for a second time
that day and leaving him just 18 points short of his eventual victory
target which was secured at his next visit to guarantee a ninth successive
title by the margin of 600-292. What makes this achievement even
more noteworthy is that business commitments as an international
sales director mean that Dave is abroad on an almost weekly basis and
therefore hardly ever has the time to practice let alone get any
competitive matchplay!