Games-Gilchrist on cue for more billiards glory in adopted home

By John O'Brien SINGAPORE, June 7 (Reuters) - The hushed silence hanging over the compact arena was suddenly broken by a huge roar as Peter Gilchrist scored the winning points in his Southeast Asian Games English billiards final, the victor pausing to soak up the adulation in his adopted home. Continuing a journey that started in northeast England and has found a welcome base in Singapore, via a brief diversion in Qatar, Gilchrist is a genuinely world class billiards player and is hoping to add more golds to his ever-expanding tally. The 47-year-old is a three-time world champion in the three-ball cue sport in which points are awarded for pots, canons and in-offs, and the race to 500 format is a relative sprint for a man who once amassed 1,346 points in a single visit. After claiming his fourth gold in as many SEA Games appearance since first representing Singapore in the 2009 event, Gilchrist could win three more golds with the doubles, team and shorter version of the singles event still to come. "I was losing early but got my head right and got some help from my coach and it worked out well," Gilchrist said on Sunday after a break of 196 gave him a 501-291 victory over Vietnam's Nguyen Thanh Binh. "I didn't play my best so it's nice to win knowing that I can improve. I know that when I am playing well, I am pretty much one of the best players in the world, so I just needed to keep faith in myself." HOME BOOST Middlesbrough-born Gilchrist admits he has enjoyed every minute of his time in Singapore since arriving in the city-state more than a decade ago and has no plans to move on anytime soon. "I came to Singapore in 2003 to become the national billiards and snooker coach," he told Reuters. "I started off as a player and would travel to India a lot as the sport is very popular there. I then went to Qatar to coach there and then Singapore got in touch with me and asked me if I was interested in coaching here... which I was. "I never expected to stay so long but I am still here." Gilchrist gave up his British citizenship in 2006 and began to represent Singapore almost immediately and with a partner and young daughter now a big part of his life, he is likely to continue racking up SEA Games golds for his adopted homeland. "It was great to win in front of my home fans, gave me a real boost," he added. "I had a chance to practice, know what the tables are like as well as the conditions. The last final was in Myanmar and I beat a local. He had a crowd of 300 or 400 cheering and clapping all my misses. So it was great to have the crowd on my side." Looking ahead to his next three events, Gilchrist has set his sights a little lower than the head of his local federation but remains confident of at least finishing the tournament with two more gold medals. "The cue sports president of Singapore said I should win all four events I am involved in but I said I'll try and get three, so we'll see who is right," he added. (Editing by Patrick Johnston)