Bob Marshall (billiards Player) - Career

Career

Marshall's first job was as a hairdresser, and he later opened a successful dry-cleaning outlet. He became the World Amateur Champion for the first time in 1936, and took the title again in 1938. During World War II, he spent four years in the Royal Australian Air Force. In 1951 he again won the World Amateur Championship, and in 1952 was runner-up. In 1953 while playing his regular rival Tom Cleary in the final of the Australian Championship he compiled a break of 702; the then-highest ever made by an amateur in a championship match. This record remained unbeaten until 1984 when Subhash Agrawal compiled a 716 break. He took another World 2nd place in 1954.

In 1962 Marshall was invited to India to compete in the national billiards and snooker titles. He won both.

He entered politics in 1965 when he won the seat of Maylands in the state election for the Liberal party. In 1969 he made a comeback for a series of exhibition matches against New Zealand professional Clark McConachy and regained his Australian title the same year, defending it successfully in 1970 before retiring once again.

In 1985 he won the Australian title at the age of 76. This success encouraged him to travel to New Delhi, India for an attempt at his fifth world title where he won all matches except the final which was taken by rising Indian champion Geet Sethi. The following year he won the Australian title again, his 21st, and retired shortly afterwards: 50 years after his first Australian title win.

His best best break was 1,056 which he made in practice in 49 minutes. In the 1953 Australian championships he made a break of 702 in 37 minutes. He twice recorded seven breaks of 100 or more in a two-hour session and in the 1938 World Championship final in Melbourne, made a break of 335 in just over 15 minutes. He used top-of-the-table techniques for his break-building, and all of his records were made under the "two-pot rule". Other records by Marshall which still stand under the two-pot limitation include: the highest aggregate in two hours play (1,876), four hours (3,391), and a two-hour session average of 118.7.