SINGAPORE – Regrets he has had a few but all’s well that ends well for Singapore’s top billiards player Peter Gilchrist, who signed off the 2022-23 season with his seventh title of the campaign.
On Friday, the 55-year-old pipped India’s Dhruv Sitwala 1,500-1,441 in a captivating final to win the Pacific International Billiards Championship at the Yarraville Club in Melbourne and a cheque for A$3,000 (S$2,757).
Gilchrist had been in top form since Tuesday, qualifying for the knockout rounds after winning all five of his Group A matches.
He received a bye into the quarter-finals, where he beat India’s Dhvaj Haria 900-406. He was on fire in the semi-finals with a 1,200-209 victory over home favourite Steve Mifsud, who had eliminated India’s defending champion Sourav Kothari 900-879 in the earlier round.
However, in the final, neither player really got going, although Sitwala went into the break 760-588 up.
The see-saw battle continued and the Indian world No. 18 looked on course for the 1,500-point target.
However, he fell out of position and missed a tricky in-off red, allowing the experienced Gilchrist to mop up with an excellent break of 219 to add to his titles in New Zealand (two), Singapore, Australia, Scotland and Ireland, and finish his season on a high.
Gilchrist told The Sunday Times: “This is sports – I felt this was the easiest game in the world in the semi-final, but the conditions changed and I wasn’t playing as well in the final. That said, I got the 200-plus break when I needed it most.”
He could also look back fondly at making 11 finals, but bemoaned the big ones that got away in May when he lost the SEA Games billiards men’s singles final to Myanmar’s Pauk Sa 3-0 and then the World Matchplay Championship quarter-final to England’s world No. 1 David Causier 6-5.
Gilchrist felt changing his customary layered tip to a one-piece press tip from Straits Paradigm worked to help him land the Irish Open and the Pacific International crowns.
However, he still needs to work with his coach Stuart Green on his potting and stance as he looks forward to next season, which should start in New Zealand in August.
He added: “Potting used to be my strong suit but it’s been letting me down recently.
“At my age, I also tend to get a sore back if I play for too long, so I’m also looking to change my approach to ease my backaches.
“I still want to win everything. But first, I want to take time off billiards for a bit, spend some time with my wife Dorothy and 10-year-old daughter Ysabel and have a nice five-day holiday in Krabi.”
