The Spaceman did it his way again

"Wow, did I just play a century or what?" Dominic Dale smiled and looked surprised when one of his easier trick shots received a generous round of applause by the audience. At a packed Revue Bar in the heart of Vienna, The Spaceman demonstrated his skills - on and off the snooker table. Though he did not sang his rendition of I Did It My Way this time like he did after winning last month's Shanghai Masters, the Welshman was obviously having a good time, and so was his audience. With a great sense of humour, he showed a nice series of trick shots and later took on local amateur players for a couple of frames.

..."The disappearing shot - if the balls don't disappear, I will!"...

Dale started his exhibition with half an hour of trick shots. Well, was it half an hour? "I always say that my trick-shot routine lasts between 30 and 45 minutes. Depends on how many attempts I need on a shot." And then, after failing: "You know, my exhibition routine is good for bar sales. Because it takes me so long to make the shot." Regular viewers of trick shot events were familiar with most of Dale's shots. So, there was the shot which makes the cue ball and two object balls go into the pocket. "I call it the disappearing shot - if the balls don't disappear, I will!" And of course, a lady from the audience was asked to lay down on the table and hold a piece of chalk in her mouth with the black ball on it, and Dale would try to pot it by striking the cue ball upwards. Just before hitting the shot, he asked her: "Sorry Katharina, what was your highest break again?"

..."Sorry Katharina, what was your highest break again?"...

The Dominic Dale exhibition was a cooperation between Köö Billardcafes and snooker club 15Reds, and also marked the official start of the Künstlerbüro Snooker-Team exhibition tour around all of Vienna's snooker clubs.

© text & pictures: Eric Willemsen [Vienna]