1918: De Oro versus Otis in Havana

Otis and De Oro step off the steamer, docked at Havana.

Alfredo De Oro, perhaps the greatest cue sports player of all time, met Brooklyn native Charles Otis during a world championship match in Havana in 1918. I've reproduced just above a front page news article that chronicles his arrival in Havana. It appeared in El Mundo, then the principal newspaper in Cuba.  I love the old bowler hats.

It was said that the old lion was ecstatic about his return. Living then in New York City, De Oro had not set foot in Havana for 25 years. A local newspaper man accompaning De Oro on a quick tour of Havana reported that he was  struck speechless by the startling transformations then underway in the Capitol city.

The venue for his match with Otis was the Payret Theater, a regal stone structure built in 1877. That's a picture of it just below. Raised seats were set in the orchestra pit, and more were placed on the stage. Audience members also took seats in the front sections of the theater, as well as in the balconies. The president himself, Mario Garcia Menocal, was among the 2,000 in attendance. It was Menocal who would pin the championship medal, pictured above at right, on the the chest of the eventual victor.

Look for upcoming Untold Stories column about the dramatic contest in Billiards Digest.

The Payret Theater, the venue for the championship match, was built in 1877.

1918: Alfredo De Oro Returns to Cuba

Billiard champ greeted as conquering hero 

After a decades-long absence, Alfredo de Oro, the great Cuban pool and billiards champion, returned in 1918 to his homeland. The Cuban government had just granted De Oro a lifelong pension in recognition of the acclaim he had brought his native land. De Oro, then living in New York City, returned the goodwill by agreeing to play a world championship in Havana. The challenger was Charles Otis, then one of the top U.S. players.

I recently found a reference to De Oro's return to Cuba in a news article that appeared in  The New York Times. Through a little more sleuthing (at the Latin American Studies Library at the University of Texas) I turned up plenty more about De Oro's return, including extensive coverage from Cuba's El Mundo and Havana Post newspapers.

I'll write about my findings in an upcoming Untold Stories column for Billiards Digest. In the meantime, check out this Jan. 18, 1918 copy of  El Mundo. Coverage of De Oro's match against Charles Otis is stripped across the front page. (You'll have to click on it to view it better.)

Some quick background: According to his short bio in the BCA's Official Rules and Record Book, De Oro first gained the pocket billiards crown in 1887 and then went on to win it 31 more times. De Oro also held the three-cushion title ten times between 1908 and 1919. He was born in Manzanilla, Cuba on April 28, 1863. He died in 1948.

-- R.A. Dyer