Year: 2018

Do you know about WDBS?

Monique Snooker

World Disability Billiard and Snooker? Really? Can you play snooker when you have only one hand, or no hands? When you can stand on only one leg, or even just can’t stand at all? When you don’t see properly? Well yes you can!

I have been at quite a number od WDBS events and those guys are just simply amazing. The creativity these guys display to overcome the hurdles they face are fantastic. The solidarity is heart warming. Many of them are rather isolated socially, most of them don’t have much money being unable to work in a regular environment. For some even this has become their family.

WDBSA has made this short film

If you have the opportunity, come along and watch them live.

Here is their calendar of events:

World Disability Billiards and Snooker (WDBS) has today confirmed its calendar of events for the first half of 2018.

Last year saw five competitive snooker events staged for people falling under up to 36 different disability profiles, a total which is set to be equalled within the first six months of 2018 alone.

With interest continuing to grow both within the UK and internationally, we will continue to provide tournaments for players with physical, learning and sensory disabilities.

Physical disabilities

People with physical disabilities, including wheelchair and ambulant players (Groups 1-5) will have opportunities to play at two new venues in 2018 as we head to Preston and Bruges for the first time.

The first WDBS event of the year will be played at the Elite Snooker Club in Preston from 2-4 February for the J&S Trading Northern Classic, before we stage our first ever event outside of the UK, the Belgian Open from 23-25 March at The Trickshot club.

Sensory disabilities

 The first event of the year for deaf and visually impaired players (Groups 7-8) will be the Parris Cues UK Open, which again will be held at a new venue to the WDBS as we head to Barratts Snooker Club in Northampton.

Home to current top 16 professional Kyren Wilson, the venue boasts over 20 snooker tables and like all WDBS venues is fully accessible.

We will also return to the Cueball Derby for the Paul Hunter Disability Classic between 18-20 May following last year’s tournament which new winners across all participating groups.

Learning Disabilities

We will also stage competitions for Group 6 players at all events alongside our regular Friday open days, subject to sufficient entries being received.

 Six-Red Championship

 We will also return to Redz Snooker Club in Cwmbran for the Welsh Open from 29 June – 1 July following a successful inaugural event at the venue last year.

The event will again be open to players from all eight WDBS classification groups, who will compete against each other with matches to be played under the Six Red format of the game.

WDBS Chairman Nigel Mawer said: “Last year was hugely encouraging for WDBS as we hosted a record number of events and so we are looking forward to be able to offer even more opportunities for disabled people to be able to play snooker competitively in 2018.

“We are particularly looking forward to our first tournament in Belgium, which is another significant development as we look to expand our global presence and attract further international support.”

If you would like to support the WDBS team as an event sponsor please get in touch via our contact form for more information.

Hopefully 2019 will offer even more events. The last one had over 50 entries. And if you are a referee, or a coach, get in touch because there is always a shortage. In the last event, Paul Collier came to the rescue!

Riga Masters 2018 Qualifiers Round-up

Monique Professional snooker tournament

The first event of the season, the Riga Masters Qualifiers, came to a conclusion this afternoon. Here are the results that drew my attention and why, bearing this post in mind

Stuart Bingham was beaten by 4-0 by Niu Zhang. He’s the only participating top 16 player who go beat. Most frames were close, but it is still a surprising defeat, especially given the severe score. Stuart and Ali Carter are the two members of the top 16 who really need to get results from the start this season to stay in that bracket come the Crucible. Ali duly beat Billy Joe Castle by 4-0.

In total contrast, Neil Robertson and Mark Allen looked in great form from the start. Both won comfortably. Kyren Wilson hadn’t it that easy against Dominic Dale, never an easy opponent; the match went the distance. I didn’t watch Shaun Murphy, nor Barry Hawkins so I can’t comment on their form.

From the ones looking to regain a top 16 spot, Stephen Maguire and Liang Wenbo both won by 4-0 with some high scoring. Liang is back with the Grove team this season, with renewed motivation.

I wrote that Rod Lawler, Anthony Hamilton , Nigel Bond and Joe Swail are in an almost desperate position when it comes to their future as professionals. Well, they seem to be determined to put up a fight: all four of them won their matches and will be in Riga!

Main Tour debutants Joe O’Connor and Ashley Carty won their first ever match as professionals. Very well done to them. Luo Honghao and Adam Stefanow both lost but nevertheless gave a good account of themselves. Luo was up against Neil Robertson, who played really well, and Luo managed to battle back from 3-0 down to 3-2, but eventually lost by 4-2. Adam played the always hard to beat Rory McLeod and made him work very hard: the match went to a decider.

The young ones, already established on the tour, who I expected to climb this season had mixed results with Elliott Slessor, Lyu Haotian  and Sunny Akani losing whilst Yan Bingtao, Zhou Yuelong and Jack Lisowski won. That said Sunny Akani lost to Oliver Lines who is of course a very talented young player himself and the match went to a decider. Elliott Slessor lost 4-1 to Marco Fu and this is Marco’s first win since his eye surgery. Marco has it all to do this season and this is a very positive sign. Also, Marco joined the Sightright team, like Mark Williams did a year ago and we know what happened!

Speaking of players returning to form after injury, Ricky Walden had a convincing 4-1 win over John Astley.

You will find all detailed results on Cuetracker and on snooker.org. The latter has also links to the youtube videos of the matches that were streamed.

Belfast, Ireland – 30 June 2018

Monique Snooker Legends event ,

Ronnie won the last leg of the Irish tour 2018 in Belfast yesterday evening, beating Mark Allen by 5-1 over the whole series.

Big thanks to Conor O’Boyle the organiser, who kept me updated throughout. Much appreciated!

Here is his report on what happened yesterday evening:

Hello! Yeah, absolutely amazing. Mark started off with a century against Stephen Dempsey, and Ronnie then knocked in a century against Robbie McGuigan (Mark Allen’s stepson who had a maximum in practice and is only 13). The match then started with Ronnie taking a 3-1 lead. Ronnie had two centuries. After the interval Mark had back to back centuries to level at 3-3. Mark got in first in the 7th frame and broke down on 47, Ronnie cleared with a brilliant 78. The next frame Ronnie potted a great long red and made a maximum, incredible. He potted two plants during the break to keep it going including an extremely difficult one to the middle pocket early on in the frame. Pure class and I have the full video on my Facebook page 😃

And he also kindly shared those pictures:

Conor also shared a video of Ronnie’s 147 on his facebook page

as ell as another version, from a different angle thanks to Silvry! 

And another short video found by Rodkor, sampling the atmosphere at the event

And this concludes a fantastic series of exhibitions …

Monaghan, Ireland – 4 June 2018
Letterkenny, Ireland – 5 June 2018
Drogheda, Ireland – 6 June 2018
Wexford, Ireland – 7 June 2018
Mulligar, Ireland – 25 June 2018
Limerick, Ireland – 26 June 2018
Cork, Ireland – 27.06.2018
Kilkenny, Ireland – 28 June 2018

Ding and Higgins in Tibet …

Monique Snooker exhibition ,

I promised to talk about exhibitions, and these ones, involving Ding Junhui and John Higgins are certainly worth mentioning.

Indeed, as reported on weibo, Ding and John are in Tibet. Here is the (automatic google) translation of the article:

Lhasa Public Welfare Joy Launch Ding Junhui Shu Bao Xi Jin Sixiu Tibetan Dance

Star Online  Posted on 2018-06-30 15:01:45 Report
Number of readings: 946

Superstar Online News 2018 “Ride” Snooker “Fighting to the Peak” series of charity events was first held on the morning of June 30 in Beijing Middle School in Lhasa. The event was hosted by the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation and the Tibet Development Foundation for Assistance, the Tibet Autonomous Region Sports Bureau, China Vision Sports Entertainment Co., Ltd., the Lhasa Sports Bureau of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and Daqing Guoyu Culture Media Co., Ltd. Group Co., Ltd. provides public welfare support for snooker events; it is worth mentioning that this is a world-class snooker tournament.

Ding - Higgins Tibet 2018

At 10:00 on June 30 in the morning, Vice Chairman of China Soong Ching Ling Foundation Dunquan, Deputy Secretary-General Aid Tibet Development Foundation Songshi Zhen, Beijing State-Ju Lee Chun Holdings Ltd chairman save the country, Reid Holdings Ltd chairman Huangyu Bing, etc. Leaders and world’s leading players in the 80s, “China Dragon” Ding Junhui with 13 large ranking champions and “Wizards” with 4 world champions joined as the ambassadors to enter the city of Lhasa Beijing Middle school sports hall. The

Ding Higgins Tibet 2018

Throughout the course of the activity, two snooker star with the same students had a very pleasant interaction: not only quiz on general knowledge of snooker, Ding Junhui and Professor Higgins also personally pitched snooker combat skills, even They also took a counter-attack against the killing. The two star players showed a completely different temperament on the playing field, playing the best of their ability, provoking children’s laughter and screaming, and the scene atmosphere was continuously pushed to a new climax. In addition to interacting, they also donated snooker tables and other billiard equipment to the school.
The students on the other side also prepared wonderful performances for the guests. There are not only fashionable modern dances but also Tibetan folk dances. Tibet is known as the “sea of ​​song and dance,” and Higgins from a foreign country was deeply attracted by this beautiful dance. He could not help but take out his mobile phone to take pictures. At the end of the event, the enthusiastic children invited guests to join in, so everyone danced in a circle and laughter filled the entire Beijing high school.
In fact, this is not the first time Ding Junhui has been to Lhasa. He joined his family and went into the nearest place to heaven a year ago. Unlike previous travels, Ding Junhui, who traveled as a public welfare ambassador, took on different responsibilities and had different hopes: “Snooker is a quiet and focused sport. With the development of billiards in Tibet We hope that more children will join this healthy sport and that they will reap the joy of growing up.”

Ding Higgins Tibet 2018

This is probably the highest altitude ever attended Higgins snooker activity, and has 43-year-old “witch doctor” admits that for him really is not a small challenge: “Last night I could not sleep over and over again, intolerable headache But today I saw such enthusiastic children. They are fantastic. I’m proud of them.” In the last Tibetan dance, Higgins was very devoted and also jumped like a model, and he spoke with impatience: “I’m a great dancer and I’m jumping very well!” (Mr. Alex)

And there were more images shared on weibo as well.

Now, I know that the way China has treated Tibet and its people has not always been friendly and fair, far from it. Things have happened there in the past that were really atrocious, be it about the people’s rights, their living conditions, the crushing of their culture and traditions, the environmental damage and more. But I do hope that as China evolves – even if there is a lot of things that need to be done and improved yet – Tibetan people and their culture will find their rightful place in the country. I hope – and believe – that initiatives like this one are a sign that we are getting there, or at least closer. So, well done Ding and John.

And, just as a reminder, our European past is far from perfect: think Crusades, Inquisition, pogroms, Shoah, colonialism, slavery (including massive deportation of Irish Children to English rules territories in 17th and 18th centuries), countless wars and destructions … Actually, our present is far from perfect.

Post-WW2 China was devastated by floods, epidemics, extreme poverty and ignorance for most of its citizens and political disarray. The challenges the country was facing were gigantic. The ones they face today are still huge. Mao Zedong’s revolution was brutal, caused a lot of death, suffering, and injustice. But so was the French Revolution if you come to think of it. I don’t ever condone or excuse violence and hatred, but I do believe that the answer to it isn’t returning violence and hatred.  So I’m glad to see initiatives like the one above, even if it’s only a drop in the see…

Those to watch in 2018/19

Monique Professional snooker tournament

The title of this post might be slightly misleading, as I don’t intend to look into those players who I expect to make a break through by winning a tournament in the 2018/19 season. Instead I want to look at what could happen ranking wise and who might break into the top 16, or be in danger to drop off the tour, early as it is to do such exercise.

The new season is about to start next week, with the Riga Masters Qualifiers in Preston. Matt Huart, of course, is on the ball, or should I write on the numbers, as he has published the current provisional seedings and the provisional end of season rankings .

The first thing to notice is that Alan McManus is currently holding the 64th place with 86900 points, so I expect that a player will need about 90000 points to stay on tour at the end of the season. This means that everyone in their second year from place n° 68 (Gerard Greene) and below will need to improve massively to stand any chance to keep their tour card by breaking into the top 64. Only three “second-year” players currently not in the top 64 are in a good position to do that, provided they keep their standard at the level of the 2017/18 season: Ken Doherty, Sunny Akani and Martin O’Donnell. All three are well inside the top 64 in the current provisional end of season rankings.

Ken Doherty is an interesting case as he’s looking to regain his professional status “proper”, not an “invitational tour card”. If he does, he will lose the right to play on the World Seniors Tour unless rules change. Ken has been a pillar figure when it comes to promoting the newly created Seniors tour so it will be interesting to see what happens there.

Looking at the ones currently in the top 64, and based upon a 90000 points target, Rory McLeod, Daniel Wells, Scott Donaldson, Fergal O’Brien, Dominic Dale, Stuart Carrington, and Marco Fu are in serious danger if they don’t improve on their 2017/18 results. Marco Fu is currently n°18, but he has 239625 points to defend and, with ongoing eyesight problems, that’s a huge challenge.

Veterans Rod Lawler, Anthony Hamilton, Joe Swail and Nigel Bond are in almost desperate positions and will almost certainly drop off the tour come May 2019. I can see Joe and Rod taking on the Seniors tour though.

Looking at the young ones in their second year, for me, Alexander Ursenbacher, Xu Si and Yuan Sijun are the most likely to improve and stay on tour, if not by breaking into the top 64, at least by earning a new tour card via the one year list.

Amongst those in their first year, I believe that Luo Honghao, Elliot Slessor and Sam Craigie have the best chances to build themselves a significant “points cushion”, putting them in a good position to break into the top 64 next season, or maybe even this season (Luo and Elliot in particular).

That’s for the survival battle.

What about the top 16, and qualifying by right for the Crucible 2019?

Pushing things to the extreme, I’ll say that currently only four players are guaranteed to be at the Crucible by right (provided they enter the tournament): Mark Williams, Ronnie, Mark Selby and John Higgins. All the others could mathematically fall short although it would take something very unfortunate and unexpected for Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, Kyren Wilson and Shaun Murphy to find themselves outside the top 16 come April. The others are in a battle and that’s particularly true for Ali Carter and Stuart Bingham who are n°21 and n°25 respectively in the provisional EOS rankings.

The ones who are not currently in the top 16 but have a very good chance to be there come April, provided they keep the standard they had in 2017/18 are Graeme Dott, Jack Lisowski, and Yan Bingtao.

 

 

Kilkenny, Ireland – 28 June 2018

Monique Snooker exhibition ,

Ronnie has now won the Irish Tour 2018 series against Mark Allen as he leads by 4-1 ahead of the last leg to be played in Belfast tomorrow. Here is Conor’s report on the evening.

Fifth leg in Kilkenny started off with Ronnie making a century against his amateur. The match against Mark started then and Ronnie had back to back centuries to take a 2-0 lead. Ronnie took the next to stretch the lead to 3-0 and Mark had a fantastic century clearance to reduce the deficit at the interval to just two frames at 3-1. Mark came quickest out of the blocks after the interval taking the next two frames to level at 3-3 which included a wonderful 105 break. Ronnie however got in first in the next two frames with some incredible safety and long potting to close out a 5-3 win with a 137 total clearance and a 98 in the last two frames. John Virgo had prior engagements so the great Tony Knowles stepped in as trickshot maestro and MC. Last night of this tour on Saturday night in Belfast!

And he also shared those lovely pictures with us …

Once again thank you Conor!

Cork, Ireland – 27.06.2018

Monique Snooker exhibition ,

Fourth night out of six, and Ronnie leads Mark Allen by 3-1 in their exhibitions tour …

Here is the organiser, Conor O’Boyle, report on yesterday night

Good night again with Ronnie winning 5-3. Four centuries in the match, two for Mark and two for Ronnie. Ronnie had a maximum attempt and just lost position on his last red which rattled in the jaws. Great crowd and atmosphere tonight and it was JV’s last night of the tour as he has other commitments but Tony Knowles is here and taking over for the last two nights! Now 3-1 to Ronnie in the series with two nights left, Kilkenny on Thursday and Belfast on Saturday 😃

And Conor also shared a few images. Thank you Conor!

And here is Ronnie’s last red miss (thanks to Rodkor for finding this!)

Also Ronnie did an interview with Gary Spike OSullivan and Kevin Byrne and this, I suppose, can only be about boxing …

Anyway, going by what he shares on his Instagram, Ronnie is loving the Irish Tour, his snooker, the interview, the interviewers, and … the food (who would have thought? lol)