Robert James Percival Marshall, OAM (10 April 1910 – 23 February 2004) was a noted Australian amateur player of

English billiards English billiards, called simply billiards in the UK and in many former British colonies, is a cue sport that combines the aspects of carom billiards and pool. Two (one white and one yellow) and a red are used. Each player or team uses a diffe ...

. He won the World Amateur Billiards Championship in 1936, 1938, 1951 and 1962 and was runner-up three times, as well as a national

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

champion. Marshall was born in

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...

, the same town as another legend of the game,

Walter Lindrum Walter Albert Lindrum, Order of the British Empire, OBE (29 August 1898 – 30 July 1960), often known as Wally Lindrum, was an Australian professional player of English billiards who held the World Professional Billiards Championship from 1933 ...

. Throughout his career he was compared favourably with Lindrum who, in 1954, himself declared that Marshall was one of the greatest amateur players he had ever seen. Ten years later, the contemporary English

professional Fred Davis said of Marshall, "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." Marshall dominated amateur billiards before and after the war with a career that spanned six decades, broken by retirements in 1963 and 1970 followed by come-backs.

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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he spent four years in the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

. In 1951 he again won the World Amateur Championship, and in 1952 was runner-up. He took another World 2nd place in 1954. In 1953 while playing his regular rival Tom Cleary in the final of the Australian Championship he compiled a

break Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...

of 702; the then-highest ever made by an amateur in a championship match. This record remained unbeaten until 1984 when

Subhash Agarwal Subhash Agarwal (born 28 July 1948) is an Indian professional player and coach of English billiards and snooker. A National Snooker Champion of India, he was the runner-up in the 1983 amateur IBSF World Billiards Championship, losing to Michael Fe ...

compiled a 716 break. Matthew Bolton has since broken those records with breaks of 809 (2017), 736 (2014) and 831 (2012). 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 The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

.Western Australia Parliamentary Library In 1969 he made a comeback for a series of exhibition matches against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

professional

Clark McConachy Clark McConachy (15 April 1895 – 12 April 1980), often known simply as Mac, was a New Zealand professional player of English billiards and snooker. Life and career McConachy was born at Glenorchy in Otago in 1895. He was the New Zealand ...

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 75. This success encouraged him to travel to

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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, Marshall actually led after the first two hours of the six hour final.''Western Australian Hall of Champions'' inductee booklet (2006).

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australian Institute of Sport The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1983 by the Government of Western Australia to support athletes in Western Australia. The founding director was Wally Foreman who held the position for 17 ye ...

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 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 Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, 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.

Snooker

As a snooker player, he contested four Australian amateur finals, and was Australian National Champion in 1956. His best break was 139.

Awards and honours

In 1963 he was named Western Australian Sportsman of the Year, and in 1980 was awarded the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(OAM). He was inducted into the Western Australian Hall of Champions in 1985. He served a single term as the Liberal member for Maylands in the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

from 1965 to 1968. Since his death at the age of 93, the memorial Bob Marshall Medal is awarded each year by the Australian Billiards & Snooker Council. His biography ''My Life and Times'' was written with Cyril Ayris and Ross Haig. Awarded the Australian Sports Medal on 2 November 2000.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Bob 1910 births 2004 deaths Australian players of English billiards Australian snooker players Cue sports players from Western Australia Western Australian Sports Star of the Year winners Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Sportspeople from Kalgoorlie Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia World champions in English billiards 20th-century Australian politicians Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Military personnel from Western Australia