THE odds were heavily stacked against him but bookmaker Trevor Gallienne proved to be the best of 225 players to become the new World Bar Billiards singles champion. Having previously won the title in 1989, he repeated his success in Jersey to become Guernsey’s second reigning world champ alongside Andy Priaulx.
‘It’s a great feeling to win it again. It was a very, very long, tiring tournament,’ he said yesterday, as he made his triumphant journey back to the island with the trophy.
‘The standard is very high and it’s a tournament that all the top guys aim for. It’s just nice to register a second victory - I have come close recently on a few occasions before losing in the semis.’
He beat former three-times champion Jim Millward from Brighton in the final - having played eight matches to lift the coveted crown.
Gallienne scored 17,490 points to his opponent’s 11,440 over two games.
Millward had been the beaten finalist in the previous two world championship finals.
‘In the two games we effectively had two shots each - the final was a great final,’ Gallienne said.
‘You have to play reasonably well to win this and there are only a handful of people who have won it more than once.’
About 40 of the UK’s top 50 ranked players were unable to wrestle the title from the 51-year-old bookie who won the £1,000 top prize.
And he had no plans to wager a bet with his winnings.
‘I’m going to invest it wisely,’ he said.
‘Anything can happen in bar billiards,’ he said.
‘There are possibilities to lose a big break all the way through your games and unless you register a decent break you are in danger of losing your match.’
On the down side, Gallienne and Bob Le Moignan lost their grip as world pairs champions as they were knocked out in the third round.
The plate championship was won by Phil Collins of Surrey, who defeated Jersey’s Dave Gallichan in the final.
But there was success for Jersey in the pairs championship won by Nigel Ryall and Graham Bisson of Trinity Arms.
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