The first of a series of occasional column's
by Pro9.co.uk's Cue Expert, Simon D'Vali.
Featuring:
Tommy Donlon
Simon D'Vali
July 2006
Tommy Donlon
What’s in your Case???
Here we have an interesting idea I have plagiarised from Billiards Digest. Lets find out what the contents are of cue cases belonging to players up and down the country. When I first started playing, I never knew what to put in my cue case, what would come in handy, what would be invaluable. I will be asking these questions of players and share the information with all the members of Pro9. You never know, the information here may just make a single addition to your own cue case that would result in a win or an advantageous situation during a match.
Click on "Read More..." for the details.
To start with, lets look at the contents of the case belonging to one of the UKs finest players... Tommy Donlon...
Cues:
Cue case: Buffalo 4x8 soft case
Playing cue: Unique Meucci cue made for Tommy by Bob Meucci himself, Meucci shaft
Break cue: Maxton jump/break cue with a Meucci shaft
Jump cue: Lucasi spliced jump cue
Spare Meucci shaft
Accessories:
Small green bottle of talcum powder
Box of Blue Master Billiard chalk
Cue papers
Bottle of Q Clean
Box of small English Pool tips
Bag of 13mm Pool tips (unidentified)
Billiard glove
Tip cube
Joe Porper Tip cutter
Tip tapper
Tip remover knife
Bat-wing cue rest
2 boxes of very fine sand paper
False nail glue (‘….its better than super glue for tips’)
The extension of Tommy’s old English pool cue (?).
Here are the contents of my own cue case...
Simon D'Vali
Cues:
Cue Case: Dennis Swift 2x4 Envelope style
Playing cue: Barry Szamboti custom, 19.3oz, Predator 314 shaft with Moori Medium tip
Break cue: Predator BK with a stack leather wrap, 16oz, with a standard BK shaft with Moori Power tip and a BK2 shaft with a phenolic tip (Charlie Williams old break cue)
Jump cue: Mark Bear custom spliced jump cue with a purpleheart shaft and phenolic ferrule/tip combo (Rodney Morris’s old jump cue).
Accessories:
Billiard cloth
Metal Sandman
Billiard glove
Tip-pic
4 blocks of Blue Master Billiard chalk
2 phenolic ferrule/tips
Mixed bag of Moori tips
Leather shaft burnisher
Wood tip burnisher
Bat-wing cue rest
Bottle of contact lens eye refresher.
This is what I bring to every tournament I enter. Two things to note, the contact lens refresher is an essential item for all contact lens users. You could be playing matches all day (sometimes 10 to 12 hours), the lens refresher just helps get the moisture back to your eyes….and two…the Bat-wing cue rest…..I once played a doubles tournament with 98 entrants and in the quarterfinals, me and my partner (Richard Underwood) faced a really bad chinese snooker. Richard took a bat-wing out of his case, something I didn’t have in my own case. I potted the ball using the Bat-wing, and cleared the remaining balls. We eventually won the tournament. Without the Bat-wing, I am pretty sure it would have cost us that quarterfinal and with it, the tournament! When I play pool, I never leave home without one now. That’s why I was happy to see one in Tommy’s case……..cool!
That’s it for now, more players to follow in the coming months. Watch this space for Daryl Peach and Raj Hundal.