On the second day of their exhibitions tour in Germany, Ronnie, Jimmy and Jason stopped in Berlin and delighted the fans in the iconic Tempodrom. Ronnie won again, this time by 6-3. Jason still hasn’t got his luggage back, so there was some more shopping too, this time for T-shirts.
The Tempodrom was packed again and the players got a fantastic reception
And some photos, shared on social media by Jason, Snookerstars and fans
Also, yesterday, I wrote that I couldn’t find the report on day 1 of that 2008 event in Hamm. Well Grump is much smarter than me because they found it. Thank you Grump!
Snooker stars hit Hamm
As reported by Monique over at The Snooker Forum, a three-day exhibition over in Germany began yesterday and it sounds like a lot of fun was had on day one…
To view Monique’s thread over at TSF please click here or read on here:
“Day 1 And so the three day event started yesterday and it really hit Hamm!
It is great to be there with Perry and Sunflower and more members of ROS forum 😆 nice to put faces on the login names, meet the real people. Sunflower told me that the owner of her hotel had to refuse 50 guests only yesterday. That’ s how big snooker is in Germany…Before the event I went there walking to be sure to find my way in the evening and I met Ken Doherty on the way. Ken is a charming and very kind man and we had a friendly chat. He told me how good the conditions and the venue were and how glad he was to be there. Unfortunately, he said, he has to go back to UK today (Saturday) because tomorrow he has a party: his son is one year old already! Time is flying. He also confessed he didn’t like Bahrain, not the tournament, the place: better Irish rain and green than sun and desert! 😉
On the evening we got two “serious” matches first.
Mark Williams vs Chris McBreen and Barry Hawkins vs Patrick Einsle.
Both Brits went through on an identical 5-3 score. But the locals (Chris is from New Zealand but lives in Germany) made them seriously work for it!
Patrick in particular led 1-0 and 2-1 before Barry really got going and narrowly he failed to force a decider. Chris didn’t let go easily, coming from 2-0 down to 2-2 and, at 4-3 for Mark, fighting a long battle for snookers. As I was going from one match to the other, taking pictures, I´m not sure about the scores, but I think Mark made the only century of the evening in frame 2.Next part was more entertainment. Shaun Murphy and Ken Doherty battled … in “Big Break” style. The challenges were:
1. First to pot ten reds
2. Colours on “random” spots (the audience “voted” them) and pot them all in order
3. Regular snooker but make a maximum of points in a limited time frame.
Ken came victorious out of challenges 1 and 3. Shaun went “pouting” and almost walked out 😉 … the audience didn’t let him though.
They then played three frames of snooker, Shaun clearly the best but Ken the crowd favourite 😆 It was 2-1 for Shaun … Ken taking the second frame with the help of an outrageous fluke and shameless about it.It was a great evening, great fun. Lots of adolescent boys, enthusiastic crowd. Why isn’t WPBSA investing more in mainland Europe? I can’t get it!
Today the event is sold out, tomorrow also …
I’m looking forward to it.
Next report tomorrow…”
The part in bold … wasn’t in bold in the original text. The reason I did highlight it here is, well …
I wrote this some 15 years ago, it baffled me, and looking at those videos above it still baffles me. The situation hasn’t changed and the question still stands unanswered
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Let’s not mince words here.
Looking at continental Europe outside of Belgium, there is some flickering here or there, but certainly not local snooker heroes promising valiantly to storm the main tour, and up the rankings. One Boiko does not a European snooker summer make, arguably not even a spring, and Nüßle seems to be knocking on doors not inclined to open. As to Germany, Kleckers never stood accused of delivering the kind of performances attracting (let’s be reasonable here) tens of thousands of devoted fans and hundreds of fresh, young talents to the game.
If memory serves, the recent ranking tournaments in Germany all had difficulties attracting sponsors, filling the venues, and turning a profit. These form the drudgery part of snooker, the real work, mostly by not-so famous players, not the raucous Snooker parties as described in the 2008 event in Hamm (or the recent exhibitions, for that matter), when snooker celebrities did battle for show, and blowing off steam in the ranks wasn’t just permitted but encouraged. Tournaments, highly disciplined, are a vastly different affair, and far less attractive to the partying crowd.
Assuming there’s nothing nefarious going on, it’s a business decision: If they are assessing there’s no profit to be made, and most matches are going to be played before (half) empty ranks, no one is going to invest on top of the already struggling events. For that investment to happen you need a bustling national snooker scene along with a sizeable crowd of spectators willing to fill a venue not just for a day or three, but for two weeks, and with a solid understanding of the game. For all of the above – that’s not meant to say something derogatory, or insulting. Just respecting the facts as I discern them.
Grump, I have traveled as a photographer to dozens of ranking events over a course of about 6 years. The ones in mainland Europe were always well attended, even the PTCs. Be it in Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, Belgium, Latvia, Poland or Portugal the crowd was there. So that argument does not hold water. There were usually more fans at each and every event from the start than what you see in the early stages of the home nations. The sponsoring was an issue though and that’s mainly because WST strong association with the bookies. Betting is heavily regulated in most European countries, and IMO rightly so as it’s a very shady industry. I have personally tried to help some top players (top 16) finding “local” sponsors for events in Germany and Belgium. Local businesses didn’t want to be associated with a sport mainly supported by the bookies. At one event in Poland we were put an ultimatum: remove the sponsors banners or the local television will not broadcast. Things have been relaxed a bit recently but it’s still an issue. And don’t tell me there are no other options. There are. There were other sponsors in the past, and I’m not about tobacco here. Sponsors coming from the Insurances business, footwear, food industry, mechanical engineering.
A lot has been said about the recent match fixing issue, but IMO the very strong association of WST with the betting industry is sending a very unhealthy and confusing message around.
I certainly defer to your knowledge about attendance.
On the other hand, it’s then hard to explain why the ranking events in Germany are struggling to cover costs, and why the much-heralded yearly event in Turkey died an ignominious death after just one instance. At the very least, the above doesn’t bode well for increased investment, or does it?
As noted before, I wholeheartedly agree on the detrimental influence of the bookies. It so happens I don’t find used car peddlers that much more reputable.
I have a very good idea why events with a huge attendance – like those in Belgium – were still struggling with costs. I was involved in the organisation of the first PTC in Belgium. I do not wish however to embark in a detailed explanation here, for a number of reasons. But, if you have the opportunity to discuss with Paul Mount, or someone close to him about why he embarked into building a full arena at SWSA only to stop working with WST a few years later and closing his academy, dismantling the arena and snooker rooms… you could understand why events that should actually be profitable, struggle to break even at least from the point of view of those who actually organise them.