The six-reds World Championship has been postponed.
Here is the announcement by WST:
Tuesday 30 Aug 2022 01:14PM
The Six Red World Championship, which was due to take place in Thailand from September 5 to 10, has been postponed.
Our partners in Thailand have advised us of the postponement and we are now working with them on finding new dates.
Unfortunately this postponement is due to circumstances beyond our control.
This is not great. It doesn’t as a surprise to me however. The signs were there, and the simple fact that, so close to the date, no draw was available was definitely a bad sign. How were the selected players supposed to organise their travels as such short notice?
Ad the impact on the players …
The result from this is that there will be no professional snooker at all for nearly four weeks, and the next event involves only 8 players… For those who haven’t qualified for the 2022 British Open, they will have to wait until the 9th of October for an opportunity to play. How are those guys supposed to make a living from their job, especially considering the cost of living crisis? Barry Hearn has always defended his position about not paying the first round losers anything, citing golf as THE example. Well Barry, here is news for you…
Snooker doesn’t have that sort of money, but a lot of players would be very happy with a much more modest guaranteed salary.
The Jamie Hunter discussion
Jamie Hunter, who, last week-end won the inaugural US Women Snooker Championship in Seattle is a transgender women. Her win has triggered some negative/agressive comments/discussions on social media.
Jason Ferguson has taken a very firm stance about this
Basically Jason Ferguson says that the “transgender issues” don’t apply in snooker because it’s not a sport where muscular strength is important.
I’m with Jason on this and Jamie hardly looks like Arnold Swartzenegger anyway … I’m aware of another transgender woman, a much stronger looking person, playing on the women’s pool tour and I’m a bit uneasy in her case. Strength does play a role in pool, notably for the break-off, which is an important shot in the discipline.
I have no idea how Jamie Hunter is trans: because of undergoing treatment, testosterone suppression, or just deciding to be a woman from now on (I know “identify as a woman” is the right expression). And I accept that snooker is precision sport, but cuepower does matter and it’s always pointed pout that Mink for example, despite all her tactical nous and good play, lacks cuepower: OK that can be compensated, but it is a lot easier if no compensation is needed.
I personally have my misgivings about the women’s tour and wish to see women who aim for the main tour if only to see if they can truly compete or there is some real physiological difference that prevents them. On the other hand I do take the point about women needing a safe space as of now and wonder how it is helped or hindered by letting trans people in (especially, because some people claim on twitter that Jamie unsuccessfully tried for the main tour before settled for the women).
Yes, Mink lacks cue-power, and so do some of the men, Zhang Anda for instance. Both are very short and maybe that’s a factor. Jamie may have tried for the main tour unsuccessfully but that proves nothing. I very much doubt that a person would transition just to win some trophies on a tour that doesn’t offer much in terms of money or fame. And there are more people around who tried for the main tour – that is not a “men” tour, it’s open to all – and failed than people who actually succeeded, including many big guys.