Ronnie has beaten Mohamed Ibrahim, the African Champion, by 4-2 to book his place in the second round of the 2023 WST Classic. He will face David Grace next. David beat him by 4-3 earlier this season in the Northern Ireland Open.
Here are the scores
Ronnie played really well during the first three frames. In the fourth, he missed a red with the rest and looked a bit nonplussed at what had happened. After that he started looking at both the rest and his cue, repeatedly, as if he tried to determine whether both were straight. It was clearly playing on his mind and he lost focus. Mistakes crept in and Mohamed, who can play, took full advantage. Being pegged back at 3-2, Ronnie seemed to regain his concentration and played a very good last frame.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has won two invitation titles this season but is yet to win a ranking event, and only the trophy this week would get him into the Duelbits Tour Championship later this month. The Rocket started strongly as runs of 137 (the new target for the £5,000 high break prize) and 104 helped him to a 4-2 victory over African champion Mohamed Ibrahim.
I’m not sure that trying to get to the Tour Championship is high in Ronnie’s priorities just yet. That may change if he goes deep enough this week and reaches the final day. I believe that for now he mainly wants to get fully comfortable with his modified cue and make sure it’s 100% how he wants going into the World Championship.
Here is the last frame, shared by WST on their YouTube channel
It has been a poor season by Ronnie’s standard, no question, but the same is true for most of the top players, as Mark Allen reflected:
Mark Allen suggests “shocking” snooker conditions have played a part in standard dropping
UK Championship winner Mark Allen has ranted about the conditions on the World Snooker Tour, despite enjoying one of the best campaigns of his professional career
Mark Allen claims ‘shocking’ playing conditions have played a big part in bringing down the standard this season.
The 37-year-old from Northern Ireland is the player of the campaign to date, having won three big titles including the UK Championship – and reached another final. But even world No 3 Allen has fielded criticism for the battling and gritty style employed to achieve all that success and already around £600,000 this term.
One of Allen’s main rivals, former world champion Neil Robertson, insisted that: “this year has been so strange – I don’t think anyone has played to a really, really ultra elite standard. Mark Allen has had a sensational year, but he would admit himself he hasn’t played very well. Everything else, I wouldn’t say it’s been rubbish but I think it’s been a poor overall season from everyone. Shaun Murphy has played the best stuff recently.”
There have been 14 different winners on tour this season, and Allen – who will face Mark Davis in the second round of the WST Classic in Leicester – said: “I can only speak for myself. But the conditions this year have been nothing short of shocking. The playing conditions have been terrible. I’ll probably get a fine for that, but it is the case – they have been dreadful.
“That wasn’t the case at the Grand Prix – that was just me being rubbish! But the conditions do sometimes dictate how you play. People laugh and say ‘you said the conditions were bad, and someone else made three centuries in the next session’.
“Every session can play different, and overall this season they have been really poor. It’s no coincidence that the old table-fitters that were here for years and years are no longer here. And now we are getting really bad conditions. Make of that what you will.”
And referencing Robertson’s comments, he added: “I’d agree with Neil. I played some really good stuff at the British Open – up until the final. There have been spells and matches where people have played well – but Shaun at the Welsh and the Players has been the most sustained high-level spell of snooker this season.”Robertson says no snooker player has found an elite standard this season
Responding to the comments, a World Snooker Tour spokesperson said: “Our table fitters are the best in the world. The team includes fitters with extensive experience who have worked on snooker for many years. We have taken this team fully in-house in recent times and have set up our own warehouse and workshop. This is to ensure we have greater control over conditions.
“Playing conditions have improved dramatically in recent years, particularly with innovations such as the anti-static cloth which has helped to virtually eliminate kicks. There has been some outstanding snooker played this season, for example at the Masters there were 30 centuries in 15 matches, and there have already been nine maximum breaks this season.“
Also insisting players were using the same equipment, the spokesperson added: “There has been no change this season in terms of the equipment from our suppliers. Our outstanding tables, cloth and snooker balls help provide the best possible conditions.”
Obviously, I’m not in a position to take sides but indeed the conditions appeared to be rather “tough” and “heavy” quite often throughout the season. It might not be the only factor that explains the unusually inconsistent performances of most of the top players though. The overall rather shambolic structure of the calendar this season probably didn’t help. The top players had very long gaps without competitive action during the first half of this season. That’s not ideal and doesn’t help to “build” a form in order to peak for the major events.
Apparently Ronnie was interviewed post-match but there are no quotes because, if this is to be believed, his interview was “vetoed”
So that general meeting happened on Wednesday … and the first thing we heard about it was this by Hector Nunns
So the people in charge of the sport wanted to prevent players to voice their feelings or opinions about its future anywhere other than in the secrecy of their internal meetings? Surely that can’t be good, can it?
I can see only one reason for such move and it’s to hide the truth about the real state of the sport and its future. The same happened in 2010. Ronnie was interviewed during the 2010 Masters and basically said that a lot of players were desperate and the the mood on tour was very low. He was criticised by the authorities for saying that and crucified by the fans for putting the game in a bad light. He was only telling the truth as it became plain in the following months, those months that lead to Barry Hearn taking over a sport that was in a terrible state indeed.
Of course, some players did talk as those two pieces show
‘It’s a shame, it’s sad, but I think it has to get cut’ – Jack Lisowski calls for World Snooker Tour to be halved
Phil Haigh Thursday 16 Mar 2023 10:30 pm
Jack Lisowski wants the number of players on tour to be halved (Picture: Getty Images)
Jack Lisowski reckons the number of players on tour should be cut in half as professional snooker is not financially viable for the bottom half of the rankings.
There are currently 131 professionals on the World Snooker Tour, although usually the number is 128 and Lisowski has backed this to be chopped down to 64.
There have been calls from other players for the tour to be cut, with the likes of Mark Williams and Stephen Maguire voicing that opinion, and Jackpot has joined in.
So far this season every player ranked below 50 in the world has earned less than £30,000 in ranking events and Lisowski says it is unsustainable for the lower-ranked players financially.
‘When you look at the tour, there’s been quite a bit of chat about cutting it to 64 because it’s too big. These people are making no money whatsoever outside the top 32. You call yourself a professional snooker player but you’re not making a living off it. I’m starting to think that needs to happen,’ Lisowski said after winning his opening round match at the WST Classic.
‘There’s no way they can support themselves. They’ve got to do other things, get sponsors. I think I now agree with people that we need to cut the tour because it’s just not economically viable for everyone.’
Lisowski feels a strong amateur tour which leads onto a higher-quality, smaller pro tour means everyone could benefit from the change.
‘Even though some players won’t be able to call themselves professionals, they can go back to amateurs and it might actually do them a favour,’ he said. ‘We can get a good amateur tour going, then when they do turn professional they’d be a lot more ready and they’d be making a better living.
‘I think we have to accept with what’s going on in the world at the moment that we can’t support 128 players, it’s too many for the tour. Let’s make it more quality.
‘We could have a more compact tour with better events, marketed better, better set-ups. Just have more quality over quantity. People aren’t making a living. The game’s gone a bit stagnant recently. We’re losing tournaments abroad, the circuit is getting narrower and narrower, it’s just not working.
‘It’s sad for players if they got cut, it would feel like a step back for a lot of players, but I think they’d reap the rewards if they could get back onto a 64-player tour.
‘They call themselves professionals at the minute, but there’s not enough money in it. I think it would be doing them a favour, go back to amateurs, get back on and guarantee themselves a good living. It’s a shame, it’s sad, but I think it has to get cut.’
There is truth in what Jack says but is it the right answer? I don’t think so. The benefits would last only for a short while. Supposing that cutting the tour to 64 would mean keeping only the top 64 on board would probably render the whole tour even more UK centric, older and would make it harder for young players to get/stay on it. It might help for a little while, but you have to wonder what will happen when the current top players, who are putting bums on seat and money in WST’s bank account – the Ronnie, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, Judd Trump, Ding … – will leave. NO, what the game needs is a steady injection AND promotion of young and international talents and to make it interesting and financially sustainable. The 20000 pounds guaranteed allowance is a step in the right direction to help the players but it isn’t enough. Ultimately they want to PLAY, and quality in events organisation will ultimately promote quality in the game through higher motivation of the players.
Where Jack is right is that the tour needs better quality events and that probably means events with a reduced field. But reduced field should not necessarily mean “the top 8, 16, 32” or any other number that would suit the particular venue or format. It could be events for a specific population: the rookies on tour at the start of the season, a youth festival for the under 25, a “Champions event” for the former World Champions, an “European Show” with the mainland Europe players, in European cities. One of the main reasons that makes this nearly impossible for now is the rigid money list ranking system. There are alternatives to the money list that would make this possible as Lewis explained in this piece. A rating system would allow for simultaneous events as well. Of course WST should still make sure that all players get fair opportunities to earn money, but there would be far more flexibility to do so without having a 128 field in every “ranking” event.
Neil Robertson says ‘absolutely insane’ levy on snooker players ‘just has to go’
Phil HaighThursday 16 Mar 2023 7:01 pm
Neil Robertson hopes for a Players’ Association to fight for changes in snooker (Picture: Getty Images)
Neil Robertson wants to see changes off the table in snooker, including scrapping the ‘absolutely insane’ 2.5 per cent WPBSA levy on prize money.
As the WPBSA tour induction states: ‘There will be a levy of 2.5 per cent deducted from all prize money paid which is paid to the WPBSA and help funds the activities of the association.’
It is not a very popular situation among players on the professional tour, especially with the reduction in tournaments on the calendar since the pandemic restricting earning opportunities.
Ahead of the WST Classic this week, every player outside of the world’s top 50 had earned less than £30,000 this season so far in ranking events, meaning money is tight for lower-ranked players.
Robertson is not short of prize money himself, but thinks that players having to give away 2.5 per cent of their winnings to help fund the WPBSA is crazy and should be stopped, or alternatively the money would be put aside for players’ retirement funds.
‘I believe the sport desperately needs a Players’ Association, a proper, one. So if they see something happening in the game, they will bang their fist on the desk and really fight for the players,’ Robertson said after winning his first round match at the WST Classic on Thursday.
‘There’s a few things still lingering in the game that shouldn’t be there. The 2.5 per cent levy for one is absolutely insane, in my opinion. For me it just has to go. It just doesn’t seem right.
‘If there is a 2.5 per cent levy it should be in a players’ superannuation fund or something when they retire, so the 2.5 per cent they’ve been paying they get that at the end of their career.
‘It doesn’t make any sense for it to go back to the WPBSA when the sport’s so well run and making a ton of money.’
WPBSA of course needs money to function, but does it need to come from the players pocket? And if it stays should the levy be as high as it is? I don’t have a definite answer BUT it seems that there has been a “transfer” of money from the players’ pockets to the shareholders’ pockets in recent years and THAT is NOT right in my opinion. Yes, shareholders deserve a reward for taking risks and investing in the sport, but do they “deserve” it more than the players who actually MAKE the sport? I don’t think so and maybe, with a fairer distribution of the money, the levy could be reduced, or even scrapped.
Profit increase of 150% for World Snooker shareholders in 2020/21
By Craig Edwards, March 8th, 2023
Prize Money falls on WST circuit as dividends soar!
New Figures revealed shareholder dividend increased by 150% in 2020/2021 while Prize money on the World Snooker Tour fell by over 25%.
World Snooker Holding Limited submitted accounts to Companies House for the financial year 2020/2021 that revealed World Snooker shareholders received a bumper dividend increase of 150%. In 2019/2020 WST shareholders received £1,400,000 and the total prize money distributed amongst their membership was just over £12,500,000. A review of 2020/2021 saw shareholders receive a 150% increase to £3,500,000 while the players prize money fell to £9,263,200.
Those published profits of shareholder dividend are in stark contrast to Ali Carter’s comments who said: “Maybe 90% of the Tour are skint”, in the BBC’s Framed Podcast last month after winning the German Masters. In the Podcast, Ali Carter expressed his opinion further, when he added: “The tour should probably be cut. “If you do get your tour card, you’re guaranteed a living, a good living.”
Looking through the money list from the 2020/2021 season revealed WST players had earned a total of £9,263,200 — a fall of 26%. Breaking that down further, it was noticeable the top 20 professionals won £100,000 or over while there were 45 players earning £50,000 or more. Lower down the rankings, pickings were sparse, as Mark King in 65th won £32,250 while Farikh Ajaib occupied 128th with only £4,750 before expenses.
With snooker being drawn in a one-on-one format, the numbers of players derived for the tour are in 32-player increments and with 96th earning only £17,250 before expenses, Ali Carter’s comments seem to offer credence.
Compare those player struggles to make ends meet, with shareholders receiving dividends totalling £3,500,000 there appears a growing disparity between the profits of shareholders and the profits of its players’.
The glaring statistic is the jump in shareholder dividend paid to World Snooker Holding Limited with the perspective of recent years applied with the knowledge that the dividend was stable between £250,000-£700,000 between 2014 and 2018 for accounts at Companies House. Taking a further look through previous filings revealed a jump from £450,000 in 2018 to £1,500,000 in 2019 which was a noticeable 200% plus increase. Then 2020 saw a slight fall to £1,4000,000 before the huge increase of 2021. It is right we make allowances for crossover periods in accounting of any twelve-monthly period but regardless of that, any 150% increase in shareholder dividends asks a plethora of questions and scrutiny given the falling wages of its snooker professionals.
Image below: Practice routine used by professionals
Snooker Professionals Reactions — Past and Present
One former top 16 player from the halcyon days of snooker in the 80s and 90s, said: “If I was still playing, I’d be asking about this stuff!”
Another top 16 player from the past said: “Why are the players not informed, in my day, you got to see issued accounts from the W.P.B.S.A. at least, even if you didn’t like them.”
Clive Everton, is the former esteemed BBC commentator and snooker historian who owned Snooker Scene for many decades and was well known for his strong investigative exhaustive enquiries, acting as snooker’s fourth estate.
When interviewing the two retired players from the top 16, both mentioned the name “Clive Everton” who often delved into similar issues in the past. One did say, he would try and get in touch with him, but I mentioned he had now retired due to ill health.
There is an overwhelming worry from professionals that speaking out might prejudice their future in the sport. I think they are all grateful for Barry Hearn’s involvement in the sport which has turned the fortunes around in recent years. The London entrepreneur is well known for his huge acumen in the field of promoting professional sport as many boxers, darts players and snooker professionals will testify.
Hearn has taken a back seat in recent times and there’s become a growing resentment building amongst the rank and file at the way the board is handing out “two-year tour cards”.
Image: The Crucible Theatre — home for the World Championship that begins on the 15th of April.
It was easier for the older players to speak out, than for the modern players currently earning a living from the sport but there were several willing to give their thoughts confidentially.
One of the World Snooker player’s when asked about the disparity in the 2020/2021 accounts, expressed dismay, admitting to feeling “shocked”. The snooker professional added: “Being a player on tour, I am downhearted to see that it has been taken out of the players pockets.”
The tour player interviewed continued further when he added: “The other frustrating factor is, that during that season the players had no guarantees, like nowadays.”
The lower ranked professionals have been grateful for the guaranteed income regardless of results. But, for the record, it was an unexpected move and a huge U-turn on Barry Hearn’s policy of only rewarding winners.
Back in December of 2018, Hearn said: “This is a brutal sport, it doesn’t reward first-round losers. “The biggest issue is about opportunity for young players coming in and I want the cream to rise to the top.”
The Shareholders of World Snooker Holding Limited.
Shareholder 1: Matchroom Sport Limited 280,000 = 56%
World Snooker have been asked for comment on the 150% increase in dividend given the player prize pool falling by over 25% but they’ve made no comment so far.
This, of course, is about the 2020/21 season. Since then the decision has been made to guarantee a £20,000 income to all players, which is a big step in the right direction. Nevertheless, the above does indeed raise questions and I’m surprised that WST didn’t express their views on the matter.
As someone who follows trends and news on social media, I have noticed that there has been a lot of similar situations in all economic sectors in post-Brexit UK. Whilst a lot of people struggle badly to make ends meet, many big companies see their profits grow significantly and their shareholders are the main beneficiaries of that growth. Shareholders who invest in a company take risks, it’s normal to reward them properly. But those who do the actual work also deserve proper reward, because, they are ultimately the ones who generate those profits.
Of course, that season there were no tournaments in China, which definitely impacted the players earning opportunities and WST/WPBSA could do nothing about the missing Chinese tournaments, nor about China’s covid policies. But if the money was there why did they not improve the player’s prize money in the remaining tournaments? Especially in the early rounds?
A general Players Meeting has been called for today or tomorrow, I’m not sure. What will be discussed, and whether the above is “on the menu”, I don’t know. Shaun Murphy has urged players to come and participate, especially those (unnamed) who have been “vocal” in recent times. But this meeting has been called at very short notice, it’s to be held today or tomorrow which is the first day of the last ranking event of this season before the World Championship. There is A LOT at stake for many of the players ranking wise. Maybe the matter that needs discussing popped up very recently and is of uttermost importance? If not, then calling the meeting at very short notice is the perfect way to ensure only a few will show up.
Vera Selby, the first winner of the World Women’s Snooker Championship back in 1976, has died at the age of 93.
Selby, from Yorkshire, was an early pioneer in women’s cue sports, as a player, referee and TV commentator. In 2016 she was awarded the MBE for services to sport.
After landing her first world title in 1976 by beating Muriel Hazeldine 4–0 in the final, she won the event again in 1981 at the age of 51 with a 3-0 defeat of Mandy Fisher. She also won the World Women’s Billiards Championship eight times between 1970 and 1978.
In 1982 she was part of the BBC commentary team at the World Championship. Selby continued to play and coach well into her 80s. In 2016 she took part in Women’s Day at the Crucible.
Shaun Murphy wrote on social media: “I didn’t get to meet Vera Selby, but she was one of the pioneers of Women’s Snooker and an early trail-blazer for girls and women who followed. May she rest in peace.”
Reanne Evans added: “I’ve just been told that Vera Selby passed away last night age 93, so sad. I had the pleasure meeting Vera in Sheffield, doing a few interviews together. God bless Vera.”
WST and the WPBSA thank Vera for her tremendous contribution to our sport and send condolences to her friends and family.
Article by WST.
I had the pleasure to meet Vera in Sheffield, in 2016, during that year “Women’s Day”. The Women’s Day traditionally happens during the World Championship and that year was held in the Winter Garden. Vera was a truly remarkable women, she loved her sport, In 2016, she was still very active and… she still could play! She claimed that snooker was what kept her in good health: walking around and bending over the table kept her physically fit and flexible she said.
Here are some pictures I took on that day
As you may have noticed, the picture used by WST is a crop of one I took on that day … (no credits though)
My thoughts are with Vera’s family and friends in these difficult moments. Rest in peace, Vera.
Ashley Carty has not been invited to the 2023 World Championship qualifiers and, like Balvark, I find this very surprising. Also surprising to me was how Ashley, who qualified for the Crucible in 2020, plummeted down the rankings. In this interview he explains what happened
Ash Carty is back on the World Snooker Tour after traumatic time set him back
Phil Haigh Wednesday 8 Mar 2023 7:53 pm
Ash Carty picked up a crucial win at the Q Tour Playoffs on Sunday (Picture: Andy Chubb/Sheffield Sport)
It was a painful end to his previous stint on the World Snooker Tour, but Ash Carty is back and feeling better than ever as he prepares for another crack at the professional circuit.
The Yorkshireman won the Q Tour Playoffs on Sunday, beating Farakh Ajaib, Hamim Hussain, Ross Muir and then Florian Nussle in the final to earn himself a two-year tour card.
Still only 27 years old, Carty had four years on tour before falling off last year and is thrilled to bounce straight back, especially without having to go to the notoriously difficult Q School.
‘I’m absolutely buzzing,’ Carty told Metro.co.uk. ‘It’s relief more than anything, to do it so soon, the last thing I wanted was to have two, three, four years off tour. It’s nice to be back on within one season.
‘Avoiding Q School was the main thing, to avoid that at all costs because it’s just absolutely brutal, anything can happen and it’s just not a nice tournament to be in.’
Carty looked to be making progress on the professional tour, reaching the Crucible in 2020 with some fine qualifying wins over the likes of Jimmy Robertson and Rob Milkins before putting up a good fight in a 10-7 loss to Stuart Bingham on the sport’s greatest stage.
From there it was somewhat surprising to see him drop off tour last year, but after failing to come through Q School, he hinted at off-table troubles.
Ash tweeted in June last year: ‘Gutted to have fell off the tour and not gained my place back on.
‘The last 6/7 months for me away from the table have been awful to say the least, thankfully things have been getting better slowly and I can start to focus fully on snooker again & to try and get back on the tour.’
Speaking about that tough time now, Carty explains that snooker was far from his chief focus as his father’s life was in jeopardy for months at the time.
‘My dad was seriously ill during my last season on tour, thankfully he’s getting better now but he was in hospital for about four months,’ Ash explained.
‘He had Covid, he was in intensive care for two months, then he had a stroke which put him in hospital for another two months.
‘For the first two months I wasn’t sure if he’d make it or not, so snooker took a back step completely. I was still turning up to tournaments, I actually got a couple of good wins, I beat Maguire and a couple of others, but I wasn’t practicing at all really, just an hour a day while that was going on.
‘I was going to tournaments and I wasn’t sharp, I wasn’t thinking about snooker at all, it was a really tough time for me. Thankfully now he’s on the mend slowly and I can concentrate on snooker a lot more now, but then I didn’t want to play snooker at all.’
The really tough time off the table brought bad habits into Carty’s practicing which he didn’t get rid of until very recently when his friend gave him a talking to.
With his dad’s health improving, Carty needed to get back to the grind and has been putting in the hours on the table and on the road, which has paid off already with his Q Tour Playoffs victory.
‘I wasn’t practicing, I got into a bad habit and not even doing good practice when I was in the club,’ he explained. ‘I was doing that for probably a year and it was only three months ago that my friend who runs the club where I play had an honest chat with me.
‘He told me I wasn’t practicing hard enough and it hit me a bit. I went home that day, thought about it and realised he was right.
‘I changed a lot from then, I’ve been doing a lot of fitness, getting up at 6am and going for a run, my friend has been coming to the club and picking balls out for me, that’s really helped. I feel a lot more sharp, doing intense practice, maybe two hours non-stop, not going on my phone after doing a line-up, that’s no good.
‘That was just after the Q Tour had finished. I finished 13th and I thought, “I’m a lot better player than this, I need to sort myself out if I want to get back on tour.” Since then I’ve just felt really good, in myself as well. I’ve noticed a big difference in my game, feel a lot more confident and sharp.
‘Even my time on tour, I wasn’t practicing as hard as you have to to get to the top, which I’ve realised now. I’ve got to improve a lot more to get where I want to be, but it’s been a good kick up the backside.’
With a reinvigorated attitude to practice and some wins under his belt, Carty is feeling good about his game again and is ready to take on the tour once more.
‘I do feel confident,’ he said. ‘This season off the tour has helped a bit. If you’re on the tour and not winning many matches then your confidence is rock bottom.
‘I feel a lot more confident now, I think it’s done me good having a year off the tour, winning matches and getting confidence back. I’ve proved before what I can do, it’s just doing it more consistently.’
Carty is also taking inspiration from his good pal Joe O’Connor, who he came up with in the junior ranks and has now watched him shine this season, reaching his first ranking final at the Scottish Open.
‘This season he’s been unbelievable and that’s inspired me,’ said Ash. ‘I’ve been good friends with him for years and we’ve always been at a similar level.
‘As juniors I was even a little bit better than him, so to see what he’s doing, it’s inspiring. I know I can do that as well.
‘That’s where I want to be, I want to be back at the Crucible. I want to do what Joe’s doing, getting to quarters, semis, finals of big ranking events.’
Before he returns to pro status next season, Carty heads to the European Amateur Championships in Malta this weekend as he looks to add some more silverware to his collection and return to the tour in style.
First of all I want to wish Ash the best, on tour of course, but in his private life as well.
Next… a word for the conspiracy theorists who believe that covid was just a cold, measures to attempt to contain the spread of it were unnecessary and the vaccine did nothing: read what happened to Ash’s father.
Ash is only 27. His father is unlikely to be a frail old man in his 90th, is he? Yet he spent two months in intensive care.
The same happened to two close friends of my husband. One, in his early 60th, eventually survived, but one of his lungs is completely destroyed. The other one died. He wasn’t even 40. He was a professional sportsman (track and field).
Covid is NOT a cold. Covid can cause clotting that destroys your organs. Covid can fool your immune system that then attacks your own body. The more recent strains are milder, more contagious but milder. That’s how viruses evolve. What happened with COVID had happened before, most notably with the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918. Then as well the virus evolved from an animal disease.
The confinement measures were necessary at the start of the pandemic, until the virus got better understood and adequate treatments were found. That said, it wasn’t necessary for them to last as long as it did. And completely isolating elderly, fragile persons for months – many with dementia – was inhumane. They needed to be protected but they equally needed human contact and love. There is a balance to be found in everything and it wasn’t found. Same when it comes to visiting very ill people in hospitals, or attending one’s child birth.
The vaccine doesn’t prevent those who get it from catching the disease, nor does it prevent from transmitting it. It does however protect from the worse symptoms and hence reduces both mortality and morbidity. The global stats prove it did that. The vaccine against the flu works similarly. All my kids got the vaccine against measles -it was mandatory at the time in Belgium – and all three still got the disease but in a milder form without pulmonary complications. That’s what it’s about. It doesn’t suppress the disease but it helps preventing the worse case scenarios.
WPBSA Qualifiers Announced For Cazoo World Championship
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) and World Snooker Tour have announced the qualification criteria for the 16 amateur qualifiers who have earned the right to compete at the Cazoo World Snooker Championship in Sheffield next month.
This year’s qualifying rounds will return to the English Institute for Sport, Sheffield from 3-12 April 2023. The field will include professionals ranked outside of the world’s top 16 following the Duelbits Tour Championship and amateur top ups from the 2022 Q School Order of Merit.
They will be joined by 16 leading amateur players, based upon their achievements at recognised international competitions during the current season. These include the World Snooker Federation Championships, the WPBSA Q Tour and the World Women’s Snooker Championship.
Jason Ferguson, WPBSA Chairman said: “It is always an honour to be able to announce our WPBSA qualifiers who will compete at this year’s World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.
“This year’s field contains an exciting array of talent, from some of the most talented juniors in the world. These include our WSF champions Hai Long Ma and Stan Moody, as well as vastly experienced former ranking event semi-finalists Martin O’Donnell and Daniel Wells, who throughout a period off tour have demonstrated that they can still compete at the very highest level.
“The strength of these qualifiers reflects the current strength of the amateur game globally and the prestige of each of the qualifying pathways. The WPBSA has a robust and well-developed global system, which provides direct access to the World Snooker Tour for elite performers.
“There can be no prouder moment for these players, their families and their supporters, than to see that through their exceptional performances they will join snooker’s greatest stage, the Cazoo World Snooker Championship.”
Filips Kalnins – 2023 WSF Junior Championship Semi-Finalist
Martin O’Donnell – 2023 WPBSA Q Tour Winner
Liam Graham – 2023 EBSA European Under-21 Championship Winner
Bulcsú Révész – 2023 EBSA European Under-18 Championship Winner
Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan – 2023 World Women’s Snooker Champion
Ross Muir – 2023 WPBSA Q Tour No.2
Daniel Wells – 2023 WPBSA Q Tour No.3
Billy Castle – 2023 WPBSA Q Tour No.4
George Pragnell – 2023 WPBSA Q Tour No.5
Farakh Ajaib – 2023 WPBSA Q Tour No.6
All players selected will appear subject to acceptance of their place and any travel restrictions in place. Any replacement players will be selected from a reserve list to include performances at World Snooker Federation, Q Tour and recognised regional events.
Any current professional players who do not enter the tournament will be replaced from the 2022 Q School Order of Merit.
There is clearly a bigger focus on the young talents this year and that’s good. Indeed the 2023 EBSA European Championship is still underway in Malta – you can follow it here – but WPBSA din’t wait to know the winner of that competition to name their qualifiers. There is also a clear confirmation that snooker is on the rise in Easter Europe with three teenagers from the area in the field.
Scotland’s Liam Graham defeated Iulian Boiko 5-2 in the final to win the 2023 EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championship and earn promotion to the World Snooker Tour for the first time in his career.
Organised by the European Billiards and Snooker Association, this year’s staging was held at the Dolmen Hotel in Qawra, Malta and hosted by the Malta Billiards and Snooker Association.
A total of 96 players representing 30 different nations took part in the event, hoping to join a list of former champions stretching back to 1997 and including professional ranking event winners Mark Allen, Michael White and Luca Brecel.
Graham, an 18-year-old from Glasgow, breezed through his round robin group earlier in the week, winning all three of matches and not dropping a single frame. However, he needed to show his mettle during the knockout phase as he won the final two frames to oust 12-year-old Matvei Lagodzinschii (Ukraine) 4-3 in the last 32, before coming back from 3-1 down to deny Riley Powell (Wales) 4-3 in the last 16.
In the quarter-finals Graham dispatched Artemijs Žižins (Latvia) 4-2, and then ended the challenge of Ryan Davies (England) 4-1 in the final four with the aid of a 78 break.
Coming through the other side of the draw was former professional Boiko, who created history by becoming the first Ukrainian to reach the final of this prestigious championship.
The 17-year-old – who also eased through his group without relinquishing a frame – recovered from being behind in his opening three knockout matches before a more comfortable 4-0 success against Robbie McGuigan (Northern Ireland) in the semi-finals where he crafted runs of 79 and 75.
Having earlier deposited the opening frame of the title match, Graham also won frames three and four to go 3-1 up heading into the mid-session interval. On resumption, Boiko produced a break of 101 to reduce his arrears, but the Scottish teenager won frame six, and then potted a long pink followed by a tricky black in frame seven to secure the championship.
Graham is the third Scot to win Europe’s premier junior snooker competition, and he is set to realise his ambition of competing on the sport’s top tier with a World Snooker Tour card for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons.
I really like the 6-reds format and if the shoot-out is ranking I can’t see why an event under this format can’t be. It presents the players with different challenges to what they face in 15 reds snooker. The frames are quick – most of them anyway – and that makes this format suitable for events with an initial round-robin phase. This could help new and young players as they would be guaranteed to play several matches against opponents of different strength and various “styles” and it wouldn’t drag as much as the ranking Championship League or the forgettable “Pro Series”.
In this particular event, most matches were streamed one way or another: on ES/Discover+, on YouTube and on Facebook. It can be done. It should be done for all events, on all tables.
A massive effort was made by the Thai organisers to ensure that all players felt welcome and valued. Although the main focus was on table one, all the tables were in the same arena, in the central space, with seats all around the “playing area”. Such setup contributes to a good atmosphere. It also ensures that no player feels “relegated” on that “last table”, far away from the limelights, where only a man and his dog sit watching … if you are lucky”.
About Ronnie’s performance
Ronnie came to play in the 2023 six-reds World Snooker Championship, having never played under that format before. He really wanted to do well but lost in the last 16 to Ding Junhui, the eventual Champion and a player who has lot of experience with the 6-reds format and had a lot of success in this event before as well. Ding has been in the final three times, winning it twice. Basically, up to and included the semi-final, he bossed everyone.
Hereafter are excerpts of an article by Eurosport. It contains quotes from Ronnie, about the event, about snooker in Asia, about his friend James Wattana, and about the way he currently sees his future. The latter of course may change over time, as, for him and all of us, life and new experiences constantly shape our dreams, expectations, hopes and capabilities.
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN REVEALS WHERE HE WANTS TO END CAREER AFTER REACHING LAST 16 AT SIX RED WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP
Ronnie O’Sullivan has revealed he would like to finish his playing career in Asia after reaching the last 16 of the Six Red World Championship in Bangkok with a 5-2 victory over Stan Moody on Wednesday. He also praised former world No. 3 James Wattana for his “massive” contribution to the growth of the sport in Thailand. Stream the Six Red World Championship.
….
“The six reds is scary, the frames are over so quick,” he told reporters. “One mistake and it is game over. You get someone in a snooker with the reds open and they are bang in trouble if they don’t get it right.
“I wanted to experience it and I am very glad I came. I plan my year well in advance, there can be priorities, and everyone has the chance to invite me to their tournaments.
“I can’t go to them all, but I am happy to be here this year. I’d like to finish my career off in Asia, snooker is more popular here than anywhere, Thailand and China, Hong Kong.
“In Covid it was impossible but my sponsors like to see me in Asia – they are the No. 1 events they want me to play in. So in the future I may skip events in the UK to play the majority here.”
O’Sullivan also praised three-time ranking event winner Wattana for raising the profile of snooker in his home country.
“I played James out here in his peak,” he said on WST. “I played him in a match and we had to stop for the adverts and he was on every advert, Nescafe, Thai Airways, and I was sitting there thinking this geezer is unbelievable.
“I’ve never ever hung out with anyone so famous. When he was in his prime, he couldn’t go anywhere and needed a security police escort to go everywhere.
“He’s been massive for Thai snooker. Thailand snooker is very strong. They’ve got some fantastic players and that is because of James and what he has done in the game.“
Not everything is great in Asia, far from it, but I can understand why Ronnie likes it so much over there. The life is very different from what it is in Britain. The smells, the colours, the food … everything stimulates the senses, for good and sometimes, truth to be said, for not so good. It’s much closer to the mediterranean way of life than to what people experience in the north of Europe. As Laila, gently teasing Ronnie, once put it: “He’s so Italian!”.
You only need to watch the first minutes of this video shared by Jason Ferguson to understand what I mean. I starts with a stroll through the local open market.
The first minutes of this video show the open market near the venue
The reception players get in Asia, the hospitality, the decorum around the events … all of it make the experience very special. The players are made to feel valued. I’m certain that Ronnie was extremely disappointed to lose early.
Here are some more snippets – quotes and images – shared by Jason Francis:
Jason is already thinking about a series of exhibitions with Ronnie around Asia…
Ronnie O'Sullivan 