Mike Russell scoring an emphatic 4120-784 victory over Singapore's Peter Gilchrist, provided overwhelming proof of his dominance in the three ball sport with an immaculate and praiseworthy 1137 break scored towards the concluding minutes of the second two hour session in the six hour final.
With this victory in the 2010 time format IBSF World billiards championship, the Englishman completes a grand double and takes his tally of total world titles to 12. He has nine World professional titles and three IBSF World titles.
Having already compiled three breaks over 700 and three over 600 in the build up to the final, Russell knew deep down that he would eventually realise the dream that has alluded him in an extraordinary career which has spanned 22 years.
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In these years he has scored innumerable breaks over 700 and 800 and one break of 900 but has never managed to break the four figure mark. It was a huge treat for the fans and budding Indian junior players who were assembled here for the National billiards and snooker championships, which are being simultaneously played at the PYC Gymkhana.
Lull before the storm
By his own admission Russell said he played rubbish in the four-hour semifinal against Pankaj Advani. But then that match proved to be the lull before the storm.
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Playing with calmness, an even pace, fluent rhythm, blinkered focus and with a lovely touch, Russell gathered the balls at the top and playing his floating white top table started compiling the big one.
He was in trouble only thrice in the break. At 700 he had to play a difficult in-of into the centre pocket by imparting a lot of side into the cue ball and then at 803 his cue ball came on the cushion and he extricated himself from that position with a difficult red pot into the top corner pocket.
The third time was at 1137 when all three balls came in a straight line at the top of the table and he missed an attempted pull back in-off into the top pocket.
The 1000 mark came in 62 minutes and he had occupied the table with deep concentration for 68 minutes to compile the 1137. That he failed to better either the 1276 made by Geet Sethi in the 1992 World professional championship or the 1346 recorded by Gilchrist in New Zealand in 2008 in the New Zealand Open was a travesty of justice.
That he will break both these benchmarks seems almost certain.
One would have thought that his appetite and hunger for the big breaks would have been sated and he must have been mentally drained and exhausted after such a mammoth effort.
But Russell followed this break with yet another 735 and yet again with a 439. He had already constructed runs of 281, 324, 281, 420 and 265 earlier in the first three hours.
The result (final): Mike Russell 4120 (281, 324, 281, 420, 88, 265, 1137(visit 16), 735(visit 17), 176, 439(visit 27) bt Peter Gilchrist 784 (192, 124, 124).