Here is what we’ve all be waiting for: Ramona’s report on last week-end event !

Snooker Titans Trophy Cluj: a genuine snooker treat

12:30:00 Ramona Dragomir 

It’s been a few days since the mighty Snooker Titans reached the lovely city of Cluj and I am still mesmerized of what happened there.

Ronnie O’Sullivan, Steve Davis, Mark Selby and the amazing Reanne Evans got together in a genuine clash of styles, on 18 & 19 of June at the Polyvalent Hall from Cluj. As expected, it was a genuine treat for all the snooker fans: cracking pots, surprises, a lot of laughter and a tremendous display of snooker skills from all the players.

Everything started with the press conference, on Saturday around 4pm, a perfect moment to watch Steve Davis in his element: making jokes all around about how at his age he is “glad to be alive” nonetheless to be here in Romania and that the most important thing in snooker is “balls” (you may interpret that as you wish hehe).

The opening match featured the names of the current world champion, Mark Selby and the most powerful woman in snooker these days, Reanne Evans; and to be quite honest it was a genuine delight to see them.

The 1st frame landed on a re-spotted black, which was magically potted by Selby who then added breaks of 67, 62, 86 and 84 to go 5-0 before Reanne could win the fifth frame, Mark wrapping it up quite quickly and grabbing the last frame to win 6-1.

The same scoreline was to be the “name of the game” for Ronnie O’Sullivan and Steve Davis who were up next.

“The Rocket” was sure to get a standing ovation (as did Sir Steve Davis in all fairness), top breaks of 85 and 112 getting him a 3-0 lead, before Steve could make a 53 (tremendous shot on the pink!) and get his first frame on the board.

Sadly though, it was also going to be the last, as Ronnie got going with breaks of 43, 97 and 107 to get his place in the final.

The second day of cue action started with the classical autographs session, which was a genuine delight for all the snooker fans who gathered at Nuka Bistro from Cluj, the lads being very happy to take pictures with them and sign their card or book, in my case (thank you Steve!).

But back to more serious matters: the evening started with the likes of Steve Davis and Reanne Evans who played their match on a “best of 7” rule, because Mr “Nugget” had a surprise for the audience: a trick-shot treat.

Needless to say he amazed the audience with his unique sense of humor and made us all fall in love with his jokes. Oh, and the trick-shots were great too. Not that he managed to get too many (as he himself said it), but they were pretty cool to be quite honest.

In the end though, the most important thing is that he captured our attention and that the entire audience was hooked on what this living snooker legend was showing us. And yes, I know it’s a clique, but you can’t buy stuff like that.

During the break, the lovely Sabina Virtosu and her colleague Cassandra Mathews from “The Aces” delighted the crowd with some amazing music.

The last match of the day, which was also the final, featured the names of the five-time world champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan and the current world champion, Mark Selby.

The first to break the ice was Selby, who made a total clearance of 112 points, but Ronnie used a 66 to get the following one and runs of 26 and 45 to go 3-1 up.

“The Jester from Leicester” fought back with breaks of 80 and 96 to draw level, but O’Sullivan put his nose back in front with a great 125 total clearance.

Still, the next three frames were cashed by Selby whose breaks of 44, 93 and 100 proved quite enough for a 6-4 victory over the most talented snooker players of all times.

All four players got a trophy and had to deal with an ecstatic crowd that literally wanted “a piece of all of them”.

The next day the lads (Ronnie & Selby) switched from snooker to tennis, as the organizers took them for a bit of peace and quiet to a tennis field.

Lucky us that we had the chance to see them once more and we bumped into them (Selby, Ronnie & Reanne) at the airport, just before we took off. Well, that’s what I call a true farewell 😉

So, another edition of Snooker Titans Trophy in the can and what an edition it was!

Pure snooker bliss!

Photos by Monique Limbos

P.S. So, so happy to have met Monique!

It was finals day in Cluj and it was a lovely one.

It all started in Nuka Bistro, where the players met the fans and signed item for them.

Then the event proper started, rather early as, with Romania playing in the Euro 2016 in the evening, they wanted everyone to be free before the football match.

Reanne Evans beat Steve Davis by 4-1 in the “small final”. Reanne played great – she had a century too – and Steve who was “miked” entertained the crowd as he only can. He also player trick shots, and cracked jokes, after the match.

You can browse through the pictures here.

Before the final, Sabina Virtosu and Cassie Matthews entertained the crowd with a mini concert, violin and guitar. Their interpretation of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” got people swinging!

In the final, Mark Selby beat Ronnie by 6-4. It was a high quality match: Mark started and finished with a century and, in between, missed a maximum on 96 … Ronnie had a 125, the highest break of the match and a few  other big breaks. It was played in good spirit, players having banter and laugher between the frames. Mark was the better player overall, he played really well, but Ronnie certainly didn’t play badly. He took a lot of spectacular risky shots, got a lot of them, but … missed a few too, as he would. That’s his philosophy about exhibitions: people are there to be entertained, they want a show and he wants to give them exactly that.

And finally, if you happen to be in Cluj, take some time to walk through the old town. My friend and myself did and here is the (photographic) result …

Enjoy! We did!

Ronnie, Mark Selby, Reanne Evans ans Steve Davis – 24 World titles in total – are in Cluj this week-end for two days of exhibitions.

Yesterday, they first met the press,  and all of them insisted that snooker should be about enjoyment as well as winning. Ronnie confirmed that he will play in the European Championship, here in Cluj come October. All players also streesed how welcome rthey were made to feel in Romania and how wonderful the hospitality is.

You can browse through the press conference pictures here.

Next came the match betwwen mark Selby and Reanne Evans. Mark won by 6-1, but the match was closer than the score suggests. There was no century.

You can see the Mark Selby v Reanne Evans match pictures here. 

Finally Ronnie played Steve Davis and beat him by 6-1. Ronnie had two centuries, a 97 … and missed a maxi. He declined to have an interval …

Pictures of the Ronnie v Steve Davis match (Monique Limbos)

With a hindsight, maybe Ronnie’s reason for skipping the interval was … hunger.

It was late already and the next thing we knew on twitter was him posting:

Great to be back in Romania, 1st match done now in an amazing Italian restaurant

(pictures by himself and Jason Francis)

Today, I’m traveling to Cluj for the Snooker Titans exhibitions this week-end. I’m not the only one … Ramona Dragomir – “Snooker my Love” – is more than ready for it too and she wrote this great article on her blog.

Thank you Ramona for this great read! And I can only recommend every snooker lover to follow Ramona’s blog regularly, very well written and interesting.

The Snooker Titans are ready for Cluj! Are you?

21:15:00 Ramona Dragomir 

Just a few more days until the Snooker Titans Trophy will kick off in Cluj Napoca with some of the biggest names the game of snooker has: Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby, Steve Davis and Reanne Evans.

After the raving success that this event has recorded starting with its first edition back in November 2015 when Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stuart Bingham, closely “watched” by Michaela Tabb, were the stars of the show, and continuing with the April event (2nd & 3rd) when the same O’Sullivan returned with la crème de la crème (aka. Stephen Hendry, Jimmy White and Mark Williams), the Snooker Titans Trophy is getting on the road and reaching Cluj Napoca.

So, on 18 and 19 of June, the Romanian public will get spoiled with the likes of five-time world champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan, six-time world champion & snooker legend Steve Davis, current world champion Mark Selby & the one and only 11-time world Ladies champion, Reanne Evans.

The event will take place in one of the most prestigious locations from Cluj, the Polyvalent Hall, where the European Open will also be staged in October this year.

The Snooker Titans Trophy Cluj will start on Saturday 18th of June with the clash between Reanne Evans and Mark Selby and will continue with Ronnie O’Sullivan facing Steve Davis.

On Sunday, 19th of June, we will see the players that lost the day before get together in a magical display of snooker, only to end the day with the Final, that will bring together Saturday’s winners.

All matches will be played on best of 11 rule, the one in charge of what happens in the arena being the Romanian ref, Alex Crișan.

The man behind this event, Mr Adrian Thiess (from McCann/Thiess Events and who was kind enough as to offer us a few words) regards this event as, first of all, as a great way of getting an honest feedback from the Transylvanian audience, especially since this is the city that will stage one of the most important ranking events in World Snooker calendar – the European Open (3-9 October), and second of all, as a much-waited-for gift for the snooker lovers that were promised to see Ronnie O’Sullivan in November last year, but unfortunately due to some regretful circumstances weren’t granted their wish.

As for the first ranking event to be staged on Romanian soil, the same Adrian Thiess says:

“It’s not an important event just for Cluj Napoca, but also for Romania as a country. To be part of the World Snooker calendar is something pretty huge.”

“Cluj will benefit from this because it’s a serious contestant for becoming the European Cultural Capital in 2021 and I strongly believe that such an event will boots its chances.”

Mr Thiess has also huge plans outside Romania, the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ding Junhui being part of a series of exhibition matches that will be staged throughout the month of August across China.

But back to our beloved Snooker Titans Trophy Cluj. The event will continue with “the same pattern”, the snooker lovers being able to get an autograph from their idols, on Sunday from 11 am, at Nuka Bistro as part of an official autograph session. What more can you wish for?

As for the tickets, they are still available on eventim.ro so be sure to buy yours for this a truly unique opportunity.

To see the legend Steve Davis play against the most gifted snooker player, Ronnie O’Sullivan, but also the current world champ Mark Selby and the “ladies hero” Reanne Evans it’s definitely one of those rare occasions that pop-up into your life.

SML blog will be there, so please be sure to keep in touch here, as well as on Twitter and Facebook to find out the lastest news.

See ya all in Cluj Napoca! #RomaniaLovesSnooker

Photo credit (ROS): Monique Limbos