The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-08-04
MOMENTOUS BILLIARD SHOT
CHAMPION HoPPE TELLS OF AN
 IMPORTANT ONE.


 Rank-Says Force is the Hardest
 Thing to Master in BilIiards--His
 Record Rus.
 William Hoppe, the young champion of the world at IS inch balk line billiards, one shot in, and holder of the worlds record run of 3O7 for IS inch balk line, two shots in, was asked the other day what shot, if any, he consid- cred the most momentous of his career In January last Hoppe defeated Mau- rice Vignaux in Paris and wrested the 18:1 title away from the veteran Franchman. He told of a shot in that game which came as near as any to be- ing turning point in his struggle for premier honors. It was the winning of that game that brought him from the shortclass up to the masters class ranked him among the top notohers.
 "The most important shot, to me, of that game" said Master William, was at the beginning of the second inning of the second half of the contest In Paris there is a recess when one of the players has reached the half way mark in points. The game was close enough, when the second half began, to be either mans. For the shot l am telling you about the balls were lined up, extending diagonally out from the ,{1 lNo1 uyu from the rail and outside the other two The cue ball went from the first ball to the side fail and then to the second ball, catching the second ball on the far edge The shot gave me position, and l ran 93
 If l had missed l would have left position for Vignaux, and the chances are that he then would have caught his stroke first instead Of me. A great deal depended on which of us got his stroke first, and I consider that shot the most important in the game Anyway, he Id not play well after that, and he told me after the game that that shot beat him."
 In the rectn Chicago 1S;2 tournament Hoppe defeated George Sutton, who made the record average of 100 for 1892 in the New York tournament. There was a shot in that game which he thinks as hard as any he ever made. The first ball was frozen to an end rail Near the other end rail and about its middle was the cue ball, The second object ball in a corner just to the right of the one ball. The cue ball was driv- en up to the far obect ball, sliced off the latter to the right and to the ad- jacent end cushion and came back to the second object ball-a one cusion shot It was a shot calling for com plex application of force and a position shot as we'll It gathered the balls and led up to a big run.
 How long did it take me to run 307?" repeated Moppe. About forty min utes, should say. I did not feel much like playing before the game began, but the further it went the better felt, Sometimes a man plays well when he doesn't think he is going to and vice versa. That's one of several things about billiards that are hard to explain. I was little tired when I reached the hundredth count of the run, but not after that. When you get to the 200 mark in a run you feel you can make anything, andthats the way felt in that run.
 There was more applause when reached 250 than when, few shots later. I passed the previous record run, made by Cure Most of the spectators did not know the record run had been beaten. No, I can't say that applause has much effect on me. 1 never see the people in an important match. The balls and the table are all see. The only time I feel nervous is just before the start After the start I'm all right.
 Tt was not the applause that bother ed me in the game in New York In which Schaefer beat me-" continued Hoppe, telling of the contest in which he rallied and almost caught Schaefer at the tape. T lost that game through bad judgement. There was a lineup and I took chance that I should not have taken I thought had the game won sure became too confident and threw the game away. It taught me a lesson, however.
 There is a good deal of strain in billiard contests, but l for one don't feel 1t until it is all over. Then you're apt to be tired and nervous A tourn- ament isn't as trying as a match, be- came you have more chances. The hardest thing a contestant is tourna- ment experiences is to look on as a spectator and see one of your rivals winning whom you want to see lose"
 Asked if he thought any as yet unde. veloped game would supersede the pre- sent IS inch ball-line games, Hoppee replied that he did not. They have plenty of variety in them, and nc other games will take their place al least for a while" he said.
 Figuring ahead? We'll you can't figure more than two or three shots ahead, If you did you wouldn't get the balls where you wanted them. You have to figure further ahead in 1s.1 than in 1872, The hardest thing in bil- lizards to get right is force judgement of force If you get your force righh' there is nothing to 1t. Angles? They come natural to me- But while force is important, another important thing ir billiards is the eye. Often a player misses a shot and he doesn't know why The chances are that it is the eye which can get out of whick in billi- ard sense, just as the stroke can.
 All else being equal results in billi- ards depends on the system employed Personally. I prefer free stroke and