LEFT HANDED PLAY
The Sportsman, Tuesday 29 June 1915
Leaving William Mitchell out of the question, the best left-handed player amongst the first-class players is Inman, and it is a strange fact that his great ability in this direction in not more generally recognised. There is no player who makes difficult shots from the left side of the table so well, and last week against Gray, when the balls were running badly for him, he several times extricated himself by this highly valuable adjunct. Some time since an amateur, a great enthusiast, who plays very well, and once accomplished a phenomenal performance at snooker pool in scoring 115 points out of a possible 147, said that he would like to play Inman a match, the champion to be restricted to the left hand. Inman accepted the conditions, and a few days afterwards, when the amateur looked in at Thurston’s, made a number of remarkable shots with the left hand. I would not care to suggest that Inman might have obtained some of them with the right hand, or that it was his desire to leave his prospective opponent doubting, but it had such an effect upon the amateur that when further approached on the subject of the match he had lost his keenness. It is a point in Inman’s game that should not be over-looked, whilst the value of being able to play well with the left hand is an invaluable professional asset.
Inman, however, is not so good at the left hand as Mitchell, who, I suppose, is still in South Africa. He was equally good with both hands, and as he hated the rest and all the other tools of the game, had to play a good deal with his left hand.
CANNON.