By Elliott West
“Most noticeable about his style is his compactness, so like Walter Lindrum, and the shortness of his back-swing, hardly more than a couple of inches.”
Fred Davis
Introduction
Robert James Percival Marshall was a noted Australian amateur billiards player. Born on 10th April,1910 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, the same town as another legend, Walter Lindrum. He won the World Billiards Championship in 1936, 1938, 1951 and 1962 and was runner-up three times.
Marshall dominated amateur billiards before and after the Second World War with a career that spanned six decades, broken by retirements in 1963 and 1970 followed by come-backs.
Life History
Bob Marshall’s first job was as a hairdresser and he went on to set up a successful dry-cleaners. With a love for cue sports, he turned his hand to billiards and soon became the World Amateur Champion or Empire title for the first time in 1936 and then for the second time in 1938. After a interval in which he joined the Royal Australian Airforce during World War Two, serving for four years, Bob subsequently picked up his cue again and soon won the 1951 World Amateur Championship, and in 1952 was runner-up.
In 1954 he took another World second place but did compile eleven century breaks and in 1953 while playing his adversary, Tom Cleary, in the final of the Australian Championship, compiled a break of 702, the highest ever break made by an amateur in a championship match. This record stood until 1984 when Subhash Agarwal compiled a 716 break. The break took him just 37 minutes and his personal best was 1056 in 48 minutes. Matthew Bolton went on to beat these records, 809 (2017), 736 (2014) and 831 (2012). In 1962, Marshall travelled to India after being invited to play in their national billiards and snooker championship and went on to win both.
In 1965, Bob turned his hand to politics and stood in the state elections for the seat of Marylands for the Liberal Party, winning the seat and holding the seat from 1965-1968. However he returned to his true love in 1969 and entered a series of exhibition matches against his old rival, New Zealand’s Clark McConachy and regained his Australian title the same year, defending it again in 1970 before retiring again.
In 1985, Marshall won the Australian title at the age of 75. This win inspired him to travel once again to India and went to New Delhi for an attempt to win his fifth world title. Bob won all his matches but was defeated in the final by India’s Geet Sethi. A final where the Australian led the match for the first two hours of the six hours final. The following year, he won the Australian title again, his 21st, and retired shortly afterwards, a win that came fifty years after his first title.
Marshall used top-of-the-table techniques for his break-building and all of records were under the two-pot rule. Other records by Bob that 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.
Snooker
As a snooker player, Bob Marshall took part in four Australian amateur finals and was Australian National Champion in 1956. His best break was 139.
Awards and Honours
In 1963, Champion was named Western Australian Sportsman of the Year and in 1980 was awarded the Order of Australia. He was also inducted into the Western Australian Hall of Champions in 1985. Marshall had a medal named after him, called the Bob Marshall Medal after his sad passing, aged 93 in 2004. This medal is awarded each year by the Australian Billiards and Snooker Council.
Summary
Australia has produced many sports heroes and it is fitting that Bob Marshall is remembered as one of them. A man who could turn his cue to billiards or snooker, he reigned the Australian baize for over sixty years, retiring several times but always ready to make a comeback. Someone who hated playing in smoke-filled rooms, raising the issue of passive smoking. An Australian legend and one that was worthy of sharing a platform with Walter Lindrum.
