Year: 2015

Another great club night – Raven Hotel, Shropshire

Monique Snooker Legends event

Ronnie was yesterday in Raven Hotel, Shropshire for another club night organised by Snooker Legends and co-hosted by Lee Gorton, Ricky Waldens’s manager

RavenHotel

Ronnie won all 8 of his one frame matches and made 2 131 in the process

RavenRonnieReanne

Ten times Ladies World Champion Reanne Evans was a guest.

RavenExho1

Today, Lee Gorton pui this on Facebook:

Ronnie O Sullivan top break was 131 last night at the Raven. He had 2 of them along with numerous 70s and 80s. Complemented by John Virgo and Michaela Tabb it really was a truly memorable night to see Ronnie so relaxed in a club environment and playing like God. I am told we are pretty much sold out for Friday. Again can’t wait.

Tonight Ronnie will be in North Wales, at Beaumaris Leisure Centre. It’s sold out already.

There will be a special guest … Jason Francis on twitter:

Looking forward to welcoming Liverpool’s Joe Allen tonight who will challenge Ronnie. As a Liverpool fan guess who I’m more interested in!

Ronnie beats Stephen Hendry by 6-2 in Belfast Waterfront

Monique Snooker Legends event

It was full house tonight in Belfast Waterfront for the Snooker Legends, with 2000 people in the audience.

Ronnie got a great reception, you can watch it here:

Here is how the match unfolded (source Jason Francis on twitter):

  • Tough start for both players, table lightening. Ronnie takes it 1-0
  • Stephen made 63, Ronnie clears with 71! 2-0
  • Ronnie 14 red 14 blacks!!! 112 break 3-0
  • Another maxi attempt fails at 88 but it’s 4-0 Ronnie
  • 4-2 now as Stephen wins another one
  • Tight 7th frame but Ronnie wins it 5-2
  • Ronnie wins 6-2 tonight

    • Michaela Tabb posted this picture on twitter:

    Biggest crowd at a snooker event for years in the UK! Selfie time 😉

    And she provided some unexpected entertainment as well …

    In all my career, I chose tonight to chalk up a first – falling down the stairs in front of 2000 people! #embarrassing

    And this is the final word from Jason Francis:

    1800 in but @ronnieo147 @SHendry775 @MichaelaTabb @dennistaylor147 sat and met EVERY ONE of them #class #fansfirst

    Mark Allen was in the crowd as well and tweeted this after the show

    Great night last night @Snookerlegends Great show with the two greatest players ever. Hard to beat a Belfast crowd too!! 1800 people! Wow!!

    Ronnie will not defend his Champion of Champions title

    Monique Professional snooker tournament

    Ronnie has declined his Champion of Champions invite.

    Here is what was published ob WSA site today:

    Monday 12 Oct 2015 04:11PM
    Ronnie O’Sullivan will not play in this year’s Champion of Champions after the two-time winner of the tournament, reprised in 2013, turned down his invitation to defend the title.

    His place in Group 1 will be taken by the highest-ranked player on the World Rankings after the conclusion of the International Championship who has not already been seeded into a group.

    O’Sullivan’s decision not to play in the Champion of Champions opens the door for Ruhr Open winner Rory McLeod, who will now be assured of an invite to play in the event. The winner of the International Championship will receive the final invite.

    World Champion Stuart Bingham, the beaten finalist in the inaugural Champion of Champions in 2013, will play the opening match on Tuesday, November 10 against an unseeded player to be drawn into Group 3 once the field is complete.

    Group 1 action takes place on Wednesday, November 11 where Joe Perry will be joined by the highest ranked player not already seeded after the International Championship.

    Thursday, November 12 sees Neil Robertson and Crucible runner-up Shaun Murphy both in Group 4 action while World No.1 Mark Selby begins his Champion of Champions campaign on Friday, November 13 where he is joined in Group 2 by Barry Hawkins.

    Each seeded player will play an unseeded opponent in a best-of-seven group match in the afternoon session with the two winners clashing over 11 frames in the evening.

    The four group winners will proceed to the best-of-11 semi-finals on Saturday, November 14 before Sunday, November 15 sees a two-session final played over 19 frames.

    Fifteen players have already received an invite to the 16-man tournament with the winner of the International Championship in Daqing, China to join the field.

    Tickets for this year’s Champion of Champions are now on sale at The Ticket Factory from just £10. Standard priced tickets for the weekend sessions are now sold out, but in anticipation of extra seats being released a waiting list has been set up at http://www.championofchampionssnooker.co.uk/tickets/.

    Champion of Champions features winners of tournaments in the preceding 12 months. Promoted by Matchroom Sport, this is the third year of snooker’s new showpiece event.

    The tournament will start with a quartet of four-man groups, with the winner of each group progressing to the semi-finals. The final on Sunday November 15 will be over 19 frames.

    Qualifying events take order of precedence with the 14 major tournaments on the World Snooker schedule in the first group of events. The second group comprises six Euro Tour events and the third group has three Asian Tour events. The final group is the three tournaments – Shoot Out, World Seniors and Six Reds – that fall outside the other three groups.

    This comes as no surprise to me and I believe that the announcement made last week, written in such a way that many fans (and even fellow players) actually believed he had entered, has actually killed every possibility of a change of mind from Ronnie. He very simply hates to be used and didn’t want the fans to be mislead.

    Club night in Newry and another 147

    Monique Snooker Legends event ,

    Ronnie was yesterday in “The Cue Club”, Newry in Northern Ireland and gave the audience another night to remember.

    Ronnie was in great form as he treated the audience to a 102, a 140 and … a 147 again.

    A fan recorded the last balls of that maximum and you can watch that here:

    Exhibition (11.10.2015.): Ronnie O’Sullivan 147

    No need to say, the crowd was thrilled.
    After the show, Ronnie signed autographs for the fans.

    He’s in Belfast Waterfront tonight, playing Stephen Hendry, in front of over 1800 persons, the largest audience at a Legends event to date.

    Midweek Matchzone n°19 – with Jonathan Adams

    Monique Radio or Television Show

    Midweek Matchzone n°19 is available on PhoenixFM

    MidweekMatchZone19

    Chris and Ronnie were joined in the studio by Paralympian Jonathan Adams. We spoke about his career and his involvement in new body World Disability Billiards and Snooker.

    Earlier today, Jonathan said this on twitter:

    Thanks to @phoenixfm for a great Midweek Matchzone with myself alongside @ChrisHood_Sport & @ronnieo147 Sport is universal language!

    Ronnie clarifies his position regarding the Champion of Champions 2015

    Monique Professional snooker tournament

    Following the announcements yesterday on the Champion of Champions website, and Worldsnooker website, number of fans jumped to the conclusion that Ronnie will definitely be playing in the event.

    Ronnie has just come out on twitter, stating that he has NOT entered the event (for the time being at least):

    I don’t want fans buying tickets for Coventry thinking I’m playing. I said I hadn’t entered weeks ago. Nothing’s changed

    BTW Worldsnooker has now changed it’s announcement, and here is the new version:

    World Champion Stuart Bingham will break off snooker’s Champion of Champions tournament in Coventry next month with Judd Trump also in opening-day action at the Ricoh Arena, live on ITV4.

    Bingham, the beaten finalist in the inaugural Champion of Champions in 2013, will play the opening match on Tuesday, November 10 against an unseeded player to be drawn into Group 3 once the field is complete.

    Thursday, November 12 sees Neil Robertson and Crucible runner-up Shaun Murphy both in Group 4 action while world number one Mark Selby begins his Champion of Champions campaign on Friday, November 13 where he is joined in Group 2 by Barry Hawkins.

    Each seeded player will play an unseeded opponent in a best-of-seven group match in the afternoon session with the two winners clashing over 11 frames in the evening.

    The four group winners will proceed to the best-of-11 semi-finals on Saturday, November 14 before Sunday, November 15 sees a two-session final played over 19 frames.

    Fifteen players have already received an invite to the 16-man tournament with the winner of the International Championship in Daqing, China to join the field. If the Euro Tour and Asian Tour events prior to the Champion of Champions are won by players already qualified, then Six Reds World Champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh will join the field.

    Group Fixtures

    Tuesday November 10, Group 3 (first match at 1pm)
    Stuart Bingham v To Be Drawn
    Judd Trump v To Be Drawn

    Wednesday, November 11, Group 1 (first match at 1pm)
    TBC v To Be Drawn
    Joe Perry v To Be Drawn

    Thursday, November 12, Group 4 (first match at 1pm)
    Neil Robertson (4) v To Be Drawn
    Shaun Murphy (5) v To Be Drawn

    Friday, November 13, Group 2 (first match at 1pm)
    Mark Selby (2) v To Be Drawn
    Barry Hawkins (7) v To Be Drawn

    Tickets for this year’s Champion of Champions are now on sale at The Ticket Factory from just £10. Standard priced tickets for the weekend sessions are now sold out, but in anticipation of extra seats being released a waiting list has been set up at http://www.championofchampionssnooker.co.uk/tickets

    The participation of all players is subject to contracts being agreed.

    Champion of Champions features winners of tournaments in the preceding 12 months. Promoted by Matchroom Sport, this is the third year of the showpiece event.

    Qualifying events take order of precedence with the 14 major tournaments on the World Snooker schedule in the first group of events. The second group comprises Euro Tour events and the third group has Asian Tour events. The final group is the three tournaments – Shoot Out, World Seniors and Six Reds – that fall outside the other three groups.

    Champion of Champions 2015 Qualification List

    1. 2014 Champion of Champions (Nov) – Ronnie O’Sullivan: 1
    2. 2014 UK Championship (Dec) – Ronnie O’Sullivan
    3. 2015 Masters (Jan) – Shaun Murphy: 2
    4. 2015 German Masters (Feb) – Mark Selby: 3
    5. 2015 Championship League (Feb) – Stuart Bingham: 4
    6. 2015 Welsh Open (Feb) – John Higgins: 5
    7. 2015 Indian Open (March) – Michael White: 6
    8. 2015 World Grand Prix (March) – Judd Trump: 7
    9. 2015 Players Championship (March) – Joe Perry: 8
    10. 2015 China Open (April) – Mark Selby
    11. 2015 World Championship (May) – Stuart Bingham
    12. 2015 Australian Goldfields Open (Jul) – John Higgins
    13. 2015 Shanghai Masters (Sept) – Kyren Wilson: 9
    14. 2015 International Championship (Nov)

    15. World Cup (June) – Zhou Yuelong: 10
    16. World Cup (June) – Yan Bingtao: 11

    17. Ruhr Open (Nov) – Shaun Murphy
    18. Lisbon Open (Dec) – Stephen Maguire: 12
    19. Gdynia Open (Feb) – Neil Robertson: 13
    20. Riga Open (July) – Barry Hawkins: 14
    21. Paul Hunter Classic (Aug) – Ali Carter: 15
    ———————————————————————————————–
    22. Ruhr Open (Oct)
    23. Bulgarian Open (Nov)

    24. Asian Tour 3 (Jan) Joe Perry
    25. Asian Tour 1 (Oct)

    26. Six Reds World Championship (Sept) – Thepchaiya Un-Nooh: 16
    27. The Shoot Out (March) – Michael White
    28. World Seniors Championship (March) – Mark Williams

    Champion of Champion 2015 Groups line-up announced

    Monique Professional snooker tournament ,

    The following information has been published both on the Champion of Champions website and the WPBSA website :

    World Champion Stuart Bingham will break off snooker’s Champion of Champions tournament in Coventry this year with Judd Trump also in opening-day action at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, live on ITV4.

    Bingham, the beaten finalist in the inaugural Champion of Champions in 2013, will play the opening match on Tuesday, November 10 against an unseeded player to be drawn into Group 3 once the field is complete.

    Defending Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan is set for action on Wednesday, November 11 with Joe Perry also in Group 1. Thursday, November 12 sees Neil Robertson and Crucible runner-up Shaun Murphy both in Group 4 action while World No.1 Mark Selby begins his Champion of Champions campaign on Friday, November 13 where he is joined in Group 2 by Barry Hawkins.

    Each seeded player will play an unseeded opponent in a best-of-seven group match in the afternoon session with the two winners clashing over 11 frames in the evening.

    The four group winners will proceed to the best-of-11 semi-finals on Saturday, November 14 before Sunday, November 15 sees a two-session final played over 19 frames.

    Fifteen players have already received an invite to the 16-man tournament with the winner of the International Championship in Daqing, China to join the field. If no player who hasn’t already qualified wins one of the Euro Tour or Asian Tour events prior to the Champion of Champions then Six Reds World Champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh will join the field.

    Group Fixtures

    Tuesday November 10, Group 3 (first match at 1pm)
    Stuart Bingham (3) v To Be Drawn
    Judd Trump (6) v To Be Drawn

    Wednesday, November 11, Group 1 (first match at 1pm)
    Ronnie O’Sullivan (1) v To Be Drawn
    Joe Perry (8) v To Be Drawn

    Thursday, November 12, Group 4 (first match at 1pm)
    Neil Robertson (4) v To Be Drawn
    Shaun Murphy (5) v To Be Drawn

    Friday, November 13, Group 2 (first match at 1pm)
    Mark Selby (2) v To Be Drawn
    Barry Hawkins (7) v To Be Drawn

    Tickets for this year’s Champion of Champions are now on sale at The Ticket Factory from just £10. Standard priced tickets for the weekend sessions are now sold out, but in anticipation of extra seats being released a waiting list has been set up at http://www.championofchampionssnooker.co.uk/tickets/.

    The participation of all players is subject to contracts being agreed.

    Champion of Champions features winners of tournaments in the preceding 12 months. Promoted by Matchroom Sport, this is the third year of snooker’s new showpiece event.

    The tournament will start with a quartet of four-man groups, with the winner of each group progressing to the semi-finals. The final on Sunday November 15 will be over 19 frames.

    Qualifying events take order of precedence with the 14 major tournaments on the World Snooker schedule in the first group of events. The second group comprises six Euro Tour events and the third group has three Asian Tour events. The final group is the three tournaments – Shoot Out, World Seniors and Six Reds – that fall outside the other three groups.

    I wish to draw your attention to the statement in bold (the bold highlight having been added by me): “The participation of all players is subject to contracts being agreed.”. As far as we know, Ronnie hasn’t returned a signed contract (yet), which means that his participation is no certainty.