David Causier
Although the sport of billiards may be considered nothing more than a pub pastime to many outsiders, there is no doubt that for those involved and there are more people playing than you think, it is a competitive discipline that means so much more.
This was a feeling that was certainly evident during the recent Welsh Open and with 55 of the best billiards players entered into the tournament draw, 54 of those would have wanted to make sure they avoided one person in particular.
That person was none other than David Causier and after successfully winning the previous two tournaments on the current World Billiards circuit, he was undoubtedly the favourite to scoop victory at the Terry Griffiths Matchroom in Llanelli, Wales.
This venue staged what was a level 3 world ranking event and with everyone either looking to either secure their lofty status or move up the ladder, there would certainly be no love lost across the course of the tournament.
Not only that, but this was the first time that billiards had come to the Terry Griffiths Matchroom and after what was on show recently, it surely will not be long before this particular sport returns to Wales.
Going into the tournament, Causier possessed a hot streak across the summer of 2021, and this came courtesy of wins at both the Jim Williamson and English Open events. A pair of victories that set him up nicely for the event in Llanelli.
While such was the quality of his winning performances in both Leeds and Reading respectively, that any sportsbooks covering this event would not have offered much in the way of outright victory odds.
Especially as the Teesider made light work of those who were paired against him in the round robin group stage and after winning each of his first four matches, qualification for the knockout phase was as easy as it could be.
Such was the level of Causier’s control against his opponents, he managed to register two centuries, three double centuries and an effort of 343 along the way – a range of scores that suggested he was only heating up at this point.
With the group stage behind him, the last 16 lied in wait and with Terry Azor standing in the way of a hat-trick of World Billiards wins, he was disposed of with relative ease by a score of 756 to 181.
Nathan Mann was the next in line and his hopes of at least a Semi-final berth were ended, as the cool Causier made light work of his latest opponent by registering a win of 591 to 175.
The Semi-finals were up next, and this was arguably the man in question’s best performance of the lot and after recording a sensational win of 1040 to 169, it sent a warning sign to whoever his fellow finalist would be.
During the victory over Mann, a staggering run of 399 was added to the scoreboard – that being the highest overall break of the tournament and alongside that, were impressive tallies of 228 and 273 to boot.
The path to a third successive circuit victory only had one more hurdle and standing in the way of even further glory was none other than Rob Hall – the man that also lost out to Causier in the recent English Open.
Hall, who got the better of Peter Sheeran in the other Semi-final, was unfortunately no match for the man who he shared the table with and with a break of 237 being the highlight of the final, it was three in a row for the seven-time World Champion.
Another silver medal was all that could be afforded to the world number 3, as the dominant force in the sport today ran out a comfortable 738-270 winner and you would have to say this Welsh Open victory was deservedly so.
Of course, that was not the only prize on offer and in the Challenge Cup, John Mullane faced Andrew Carter in what can be considered a rather tense final, one that saw the former win by a slender 170-156 ito lift the trophy.
