De Oro’s Mark to Stand a Long Time.
Alfredo de Oro, the world’s champion at three-cushion billiards, has experienced the thrills of victory in many hard-fought matches, but it is doubtful if any of his performances afford him greater satisfaction than his world’s record run of 13, made in his match with George Moore, for the three-cushion title, at New York, recently.
Previous to this, the best mark of the veteran Cuban in a title match was ten, but now that he hoisted the mark three points, it may stand for a long time. The present season has been productive of some phenomenal performances at the angle game. Early in the season, Pierre Maupome, the Mexican expert, ran eighteen in a practicing game at St. Louis, and a little later August Kieckhefer, champion of the Interstate Three-cushion League, made a run of seventeen points in a game at Milwaukee.
Quite as remarkable as these two big runs was the performance of Harry Wakefield, one of San Francisco’s leading experts, who in a game against a coast amateur scored fifty points in twenty-two innings. Wakefield started With 5, 5, 2, 5, and then electrified the crowd with a run of fifteen on his next trial, giving him thirty-two points in five innings. He made forty-six points in sixteen innings, and in the seventeenth inning scored three, missing his fiftieth point by a whisker. His opponent played five safety shots in succession, so that it took Wakefield five more innings to count his remaining point. Among those who saw the performance were Joe Carney, former three-cushion national champion, and W. H. Sigourney, the well-known balkline amateur.
With the big Interstate Three-cushion League affording[Pg 63] the sixteen contestants every incentive to practice, some great performances can be looked for.
This prediction also applies to the balkline stars playing in the Champion Billiard Players League and to those who are not. The contestants around the big circuit are getting more billiards this year than any set of players have enjoyed in the history of the game in this country.