'Fast Eddie' Charlton plays the Plainland

16 SEPTEMBER, 2003 - It was a dream come true for 16 local enthusiasts this Monday night, when Australian snooker legend Eddie Charlton played the Plainland Hotel.

'Fast Eddie' Charlton, a three-times world championship runner-up and Australian eight-ball champion, enjoyed an evening of eight-ball action at the Plainland during a tour from Sydney to Rockhampton.

As well as pitting himself against the cream of local players - two of whom managed to beat him - Charlton displayed some of his legendary skills at trick shots.

Born in 1929, Charlton was one of the most consistent and hard to beat players from the late 1960s to mid-1980s, ranked at number three for five successive seasons and three times runner-up in the world championships for both snooker and billiards.

The one-time miner turned professional at the age of 34 and a season later won the Australian Professional Championship, a title which he went on to win virtually unbroken for the next 20 years.

He has been the only Australian since Walter and Horace Lindrum to reach the highest level of the game.

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