Riley’s Northern Open Billiards Championship
North Ormesby Institute, Middlesbrough
9th-13th November 1997
Teesside saw competitive tournament action after a lapse
of eight years, since the Marton Country Club last staged
an event.
The world’s top four players were seeded into the second
round amongst the 28 entrants. Eugene Hughes proved to be
the opening round’s highest scorer, while Bob Close, Alok
Kumar and David Causier found conditions to their liking with
800+ totals in the 2 hour games. Robby Foldvari averaged 45
points per visit in that round.
Chris Shutt scraped home by only 4 points against Arun
Agrawal to set up a mouth-watering clash with World Champion
Mike Russell.
Mike was back in his native Teesside to face the player who
had bettered all but one of his nine scoring records in the
Teesside Boy’s League and who had recently beaten him at
Darley Dale.
Tournament Director Alan Chamberlain reports a spectator
audience of 300 watched the match that produced averages of
45.5 and 55.2. Chris played the game of his short pro career,
but ran out of steam as Mike overtook him in the closing
minutes.
The game produced an aggregate of 1,558 points with the
players scoring at the rate of 13 points per minute.
Hughes dried up against Foldvari, while Roxton Chapman and
Peter Gilchrist almost clocked up four-figure totals.
Regional TV cameras were present for the first of two visits on
the day of the quarter-finals that saw Russell break the 1,000
point barrier, then Gilchrist smash it with a 1,327 score that
included three double and four single century breaks.
Roxton Chapman defeated David Causier with a tournament
best break of 457 when the Peterborough player had looked
destined for defeat.
Geet Sethi was humbled by an impressive Foldvari, but the
Aussie then lost to Gilchrist in the semi-final, while Russell
accounted for Chapman.
An all-Teesside final in the area regarded as the hot-bed of
billiards, brought the TV cameras back to the venue, and
healthy crowds to spectate.
Russell averaged almost 84 points in the opening session to
swamp Gilchrist and end the contest, but thankfully not the
spectacle, as the pair concluded with runs of 440, 233 and
three other centuries in the last session.
Sunday 9th-10th November
| I. Williamson 91 | 424 | (16.3) | M. Kothari 70, 66 | 311 | (11.9) |
| D. Joshi 173, 94, 92, 78, 72, 66 | 778 | D. Sneddon 49 | 431 | (9.8) | |
| C. Shutt 252, 102, 90, 80, 73, 67 | 630 | A. Agrawal 113, 89, 80, 77 | 626 | (25.0) | |
| B. Close 103, 80, 78, 76, 68 | 893 | (26.2) | D. Akolkar | 172 | (5.2) |
| M. Rehani 65 | 527 | (8.2) | M. Ferreira 73 | 466 | (7.4) |
| E. Hughes 166, 129, 96, 85, 71, 98unf | 938 | (26.0) | A. Potikyan 32 | 237 | (6.6) |
| A. Kumar 115, 113, 97, 74, 66 | 879 | (18.3) | S. Naisby 49 | 318 | (6.6) |
| N. Patel 108, 103, 64, 62 | 530 | (12.9) | M. Spoormans 98 | 401 | (9.7) |
| C. Everton 67, 61 | 431 | (13.9) | S. Agrawal 55 | 327 | (10.3) |
| R. Foldvari 132, 127, 113, 75 | 676 | (45.0) | P. Sheehan 95 | 278 | (17.4) |
| D. Causier 85, 65, 63, 127unf | 861 | (20.3) | S. Hardcastle 90 | 402 | (9.3) |
| M. Wildman 62 | 492 | (10.9) | B. Dix 47 | 302 | (6.7) |
| D. Joshi 97, 94, 91, 76 | 835 | (20.3) | M. Rehani 56 | 469 | (11.4) |
| D. Causier 267, 134, 91 | 713 | (25.4) | C. Everton 92, 60 | 423 | (15.1) |
| Geet Sethi 95, 94, 89, 82, 64 | 670 | (20.3) | N. Patel 143, 68, 66 | 487 | (15.2) |
| R. Chapman 184, 150, 149, 106, 85, 65 | 963 | (45.8) | A. Kumar 60 | 258 | (12.2) |
| Peter Gilchrist 222, 208, 125, 119, 95 | 956 | (43.4) | M. Wildman 89 | 344 | (14.9) |
| Mike Russell 230, 183, 125, 92, 74, 62 | 829 | (55.2) | Chris Shutt 224, 165, 112, 85 | 729 | (45.5) |
| Bob Close 158, 103, 65 | 557 | (21.4) | I. Williamson 60 | 320 | (11.8) |
| R. Foldvari 188, 102, 98, 88 | 689 | (32.8) | E. Hughes 34 | 175 | (8.3) |
| M. Russell 306, 148, 144, 86, 77, 69 | 1,020 | (42.5) | D. Joshi 124 | 399 | (16.6) |
| R. Chapman 457, 153 | 712 | (28.5) | D. Causier 167, 151, 95, 73 | 630 | (25.2) |
| P. Gilchrist 204, 204, 203, 166, 113, 102, 163unf | 1,327 | (78.0) | Bob Close | 100 | (5.9) |
| R. Foldvari 262, 102, 80, 79 | 686 | (26.4) | G. Sethi 58 | 139 | (5.1) |
Wednesday 12th November
| M. Russell 208, 166, 94, 68 | 673 | (30.6) | R. Chapman 181, 83 | 448 | (20.3) |
| P. Gilchrist 207, 182, 74, 146unf | 738 | (67.1) | R. Foldvari 138 | 262 | (21.8) |
Thursday 13th November
| Session 1 | M. Russell 366, 204, 173, 93 | 1,091 | (83.9) | P. Gilchrist 112, 106 | 314 | (24.2) |
| Session 2 | M. Russell 440, 174, 121, 61 | 989 | (52.1) | P. Gilchrist 233, 110, 96 | 592 | (32.9) |
| Final Score | M. Russell | 2,080 | (65.0) | P. Gilchrist | 906 | (29.2) |