Although the first-ever World Billiards Championship in India , now in progress at the Great Eastern Hotel under the aegis of the Billiards Association and Control Council of India is scheduled to conclude on Friday next the bottom-ranker was decided on Monday , when Ameen Yunoos , the Champion from Burma , completed his matches in the Championship with a defeat at the hands of Leslie Driffield , the English Champion by 1,954 points to 582 . Yunoos thus conclude with not a single victory to his credit .
While spontaneous sympathy will be felt in the Billiards circle over Yunoos’ failure it must be borne in mind that this was his maiden appearance in the Championship . Never before Burma had taken part in the World Billiards Championship and taking every thing into considerations it must be admitted that Yunoos put up a heroic show in the Championship .
Yunoos failed to register even a single victory in the Championship but that does not anyway belittle his display in the championship . This is not the first year that a bottom-ranker conclude the Championship without a victory . Since the very start of the championships as the British Empire Championship in 1926 every bottom-ranker shared the same fate expect of course in 1938 when A. M. Burke (South Africa) and A. Albertson (New Zealand) shared the last position with one victory each .
There was very little to enthuse over Monday’s match and white Yunoos’ fate was sealed on the evening Driffield was almost assured of his title . Driffield led by 872 points to 256 at the end of the first session . His highest break of the first session was 211 . Driffield mostly struck to losing hazard play and compiled his points very consistently . Yunoos failed to make a break over the fifty mark . Driffield’s breaks for the first session were : 71 , 109 , 113 , 66 , 124 , 109 and 211 .
Driffield had 188 in play at the end of the first session but on resumption he could add only 11 points . He , however , made several more big breaks and the notable among them were 131 , 108 , 53 , 64 and 278 .
TUESDAY’S BILLIARDS
W. Jones (India ‘A’) vs. C. Hirjee (India ‘B’) (5-30p.m. and 8-30 p.m.)