Dominant Causier Defends World Billiards Championship Crown
David Causier defeated Dhruv Sitwala 2,948-677 at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall, England to retain the World Billiards Championship title.
The 52-year-old was in dominant form throughout the week as he won each of his knockout stage matches by a margin of over 1,000 points and compiled the tournament high break of 699 in the title match.
Victory at the Landywood Snooker Club completes an outstanding week for Causier, who also won the English Open at the same venue last weekend as part of the World Billiards double-header.
A total of 55 cueists embarked on the Staffordshire venue for the flagship event of the season and Causier stormed through the group stage with four dominant victories that amounted to an aggregate scoreline of 4,197 to 414.
The last 16 saw a shock early exit for 2023 World Championship winner Peter Gilchrist, who fell to England’s Robert Marshall. There was no concern for Causier, however, as a top break of 409 helped him to a comfortable 1,572-299 defeat of John Mullane.
A trio of visits over 200 saw Causier sweep aside Jonathan Marwood in the quarter-final before, in a repeat of last year’s final, he overcame English national champion Robert Hall by a 1,918-824 scoreline.
India’s Sitwala, a former Auckland Open and New Zealand Open champion, was the opponent in the title match after he had dramatically beaten Martin Goodwill by a single point in the last eight and then more comfortably defeated Darren Clark by a margin of more than 1,000 points in the semi-final.
Sitwala was competing in his first World Championship final under the timed format since 2010 and struggled to find any scoring form – registering just a single break of over 100 in the final.
Victory for Causier rarely looked in doubt from the early stages and he had amassed a winning margin of over 1,000 points with 90 minutes remaining on the clock.
He wasn’t finished yet, however, as he saved his most impressive display for the final minutes of the competition by firing in an incredible tournament high break of 699 to finish the match with success by a 2,271 point distance.
Shruthi L Defends Women’s World Championship
India’s Shruthi L beat Anna Lynch from Australia 347-222 to win the Women’s World Billiards Championship title for the second year in a row.
Eight players contested the event and Shruthi L came through the group stage with wins against Eva Palmius, Michelle Cohen and Annette Newman.
The Indian cueist had compiled four half centuries in the opening round, including the tournament high break of 56, and she continued her fine form in the semi-finals as she overcame compatriot Keerath Bhandaal 308-176.
Lynch was the opponent in the title match, having beaten Palmius in the last four, but it was Shruthi L’s day once more as she successfully defended her title with victory at the Landywood Snooker Club.
The next World Billiards event is the Queensland Open which will take place on 21-23 November at the Redcliffe Snooker Club in Queensland, Australia.
