Northern Ireland’s Robbie McGuigan is the 2024 European Champion in Sarajevo following an incredible Final where he beat Craig Steadman 5-4.
McGuigan just 19 years of age will now become a Professional Player on the WST in the 2024 – 2025 Season after winning a two year Main Tour Card.
The final could have gone either way and the two players were level no fewer than four times until in yet another deciding frame and McGuigan kept his nerve to pot the final couple of Reds to win the title.
BIH President Senad Pehlivanovic and EBSA President Maxime Cassis with the new Champion
Final Referee from Bosnia and Herzegovina Almedin Hodzic and Final Marker Catalin Cojoc from Moldova
Robbie also received a New Titanium Cue from the Newest EBSA Sponsor ‘little monster’ presented by EBSA General Secretary Simon Smith and EBSA President Maxime Cassis.
Runner Up and Silver Medal winner Craig Steadman
Bronze Medal winner Florian Nuessle from Austria
Congratulations Robbie!
About this competition, a player from England was reflecting on Facebook that, a few years back, when facing an amateur from mainland Europe, the UK players almost always won easily, but things have changed radically. That’s good news to me! All the results are available on snooker.org.
Lei Peifan came from 5-3 down to defeat Vinnie Calabrese 6-5 in the final of the Asia Pacific Open Championship to earn a return to the World Snooker Tour after a one-year absence.
The 20-year-old Chinese player came through a strong field of 90 cueists at the Mounties Club in Mount Pritchard, Australia to regain his professional status less than twelve months after dropping of the tour at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
Both Lei and fellow eventual finalist Calabrese stormed through the initial group phase with a clean sweep of victories and an aggregrate frame score of 11-1.
Victories over Adam Waller and Chi Kin Yeung early in the knockout phase saw Lei lose just one further frame as he set up a mouthwatering quarter-final contest with fellow countryman and former WSF champion Luo Honghao.
Lei was able to overcome his toughest opponent thus far as he defeated Luo 4-2, before booking his place in the title match with a 5-2 victory over Hong Kong China’s Wan Nansen Sin Man.
Former professional and recent Q Tour Asia Pacific event winner Calabrese would be his opponent in the final as he lost just four frames in his four knockout matches en route to a meeting with Lei – comfortably defeating fellow Australian Shaun Dalitz 5-1 in the last four.
Calabrese had been in fine form throughout the event, including firing in four centuries and a further sixteen breaks of 50 and over, and he moved to the verge of claiming the Asia Pacific Open Championship title when he moved 5-3 ahead in a race to six.
Lei held his nerve, however, to claim three consecutive frames and dramatically secure both the championship crown and a two-year World Snooker Tour card for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons.
Photos courtesy of the Asia Pacific Snooker & Billiards Federation
Congratulations Lei Peifan
Ronnie News
According to Weibo, Ronnie traveled to Xinchang, Shaoxing yesterday to participate in the filming of a film named “Lovely Home”. At the scene Ronnie admitted that this was a completely new experience for him. He also met many fans.
The film, named “Lovely Home” is produced by the Xinchang County Tourism Group and features a scene where the main protagonist competes with the World Billiards best player. The crew invited Ronnie, the current number one, to Xinchang Stadium for the filming. From what transpired, the film is written and directed by Chen Tianyi – who was born in Xinchang – and stars some famous actors such as He Saifei and Zhang Chenguang. The film is a “family drama” about billiards.
Here are some images shared on Weibo:
And, yes, Ronnie travels by train… he often does actually. He finds it more relaxing than dricving.
Today, Ronnie is playing an exhibition in Hong Kong
I haven’t found much about the outcome yet, but some images were shared on Weibo, as well as news about spectators being unhappy with the organisers about the seating…
Following Ronnie’s withdrawal from the 2024 Welsh Open, David Hendon – who has been around the tour and got to know the circuit and the players for many years – shared this piece on the Eurosport website.
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN, MARK SELBY, NEIL ROBERTSON DESERVE MORE EMPATHY REGARDING EXTERNAL FACTORS – DAVE HENDON
Dave Hendon details why the general public must not forget that snooker players – and sportspeople in general – should not be seen as superheroes, but as human beings. With Ronnie O’Sullivan withdrawing from the Welsh Open due to “anxiety”, and Mark Selby recently opening up about his issues at home, Hendon explains why it’s important to consider “external factors” when analysing their play.
What was Dennis Taylor thinking about as Steve Davis won frame after frame, threatening to turn their 1985 World Championship final into a damp squib?
Taylor played that season in a haze of grief following the sudden death of his mother at the age of 62. He withdrew from a tournament when the sad news came through and was not going to play in the next one, the Grand Prix at Reading, until urged to do so by his family.
Driven by pure emotion, he beat Cliff Thorburn 10-2 to win his first ranking title. A few months later he was facing Davis in snooker’s showpiece match at the Crucible.
Taylor had first seen a snooker table as an excited eight year-old in Coalisland, Northern Ireland. He was from a typically close-knit Catholic family, the bonds of which could not be broken. As Davis piled on the misery, Taylor talked in his head to his mother. Finding calm amid the Sheffield storm, he staged a memorable recovery from 8-0 down to win on the final black of the match.
As he told the Belfast Telegraph in 2020: “That was one for my mum. She was still there helping me. I had her to chat to. It helped to keep me relaxed throughout that final game.”
Taylor’s story underlines something fundamental. The world of modern sport endlessly analyses technique and performance but can often forget the human realities which lie behind every competitor.
In snooker, we routinely obsess about cue actions, a player’s long game, their safety prowess and how many centuries they are knocking in. We rarely stop to consider the external factors which could be affecting all of the above.
Every life is informed by a heady mix of experiences, some exhilaratingly good, some heartbreakingly bad.
It’s no surprise these are widely overlooked because we go to sport to escape the very pressures which burden us in everyday life. But peel back the surface and you will find that snooker players, like anyone else, are human.
Mark Selby has long been regarded as snooker’s iron man, at times impossible to break down, yet he has dealt with considerable pain away from the baize. His parents divorced when he was young and, at 16, his father passed away, leaving Selby to rely on help from friends at the snooker club.
He rose to the top of the sport but has been battling mental health issues stemming from unresolved grief. During the last year his wife, Vikki, has been undergoing treatment for cancer. A close friend of the couple died recently from the same cancer at the age of 44.
Given all of this, how does Selby concentrate on a snooker match?
Perhaps the table can serve as a refuge. In some ways it’s as far away from real life as you can get, a cocoon away from the cruelty of fate where the only concern is whether you can successfully get a ball into a hole.
Selby’s form has dipped this season, most likely because his preparation has been affected by what is going on at home, but the experience has also reminded him of what is important. He told the Metro last week: “Playing does help because it gives me a purpose. I’m doing it for Vikki and [daughter] Sofia, to put food on the table, so I’ve got a drive to keep going for them.”
Neil Robertson has spoken of his wife, Mille’s, struggles with mental health and his pride in how she has overcome them. It was a difficult time for the couple, with Robertson attempting to juggle family with a high profile career.
He told Eurosport in 2020: “I had a few mixed results on the table and people not really knowing why. It wasn’t myself going through those issues, but when you are trying to help someone through them in some ways it can probably be worse because you feel completely helpless in that situation.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan has been through several emotional maelstroms and somehow still come out not only standing tall but arguably stronger than ever.
His father’s imprisonment just as O’Sullivan became a national figure precipitated a spiral of depression and substance abuse. It took him years to find a way to cope. Snooker was both an anchor and a weight around his feet. He needed it but at the same time it exacerbated the very problems he was dealing with.
Even Stephen Hendry, the iceman of the 1990s with a seemingly impenetrable shield of invincibility wrapped around his shoulders, was not immune to real life.
He spent long hours playing snooker as a boy in part as a distraction from his parents’ divorce. In his autobiography, Me and the Table, Hendry writes of this unhappy part of his childhood: “Now, more than ever, snooker is a fixation. I discover that the physical and emotional disturbance caused by the split can be pushed away into a corner when I’m at the table.”
It’s sad to hear exciting talents such as Jack Lisowski and world champion Luca Brecel recently talking about how they are not enjoying their snooker. Lisowski said at the World Grand Prix that he was longing for a break. When Brecel was asked before walking out at the Masters if he was looking forward to it, he sounded as if he’d rather be anywhere else.
To the watching world this sounds strange, but we are only watching. The media, social media, the wider public – all of us – are guilty of judging without really knowing what is going on underneath the shiny surface. Maybe we don’t really want to know, because sport is where we go to escape our own pain.
To some, it is ephemeral, a distraction to be switched on or off, its performers there for our benefit and entertainment. Others regard sportspeople as superheroes. They aren’t. They bruise like the rest of us.
In a world that could use more empathy, maybe sport is where we should start.
There is not much to add to this and it applies to people around us in every day’s life as well as to our sporting heroes. In particular, this applies to our every day usage of social media. There is that idea floating around that those who earn a lot of money and are “successful” should be happy, have no actual right to feel down. How often have I read about Ronnie that he should “get a real job” or “work down the mine” to know what hardship is. Of course money helps in life but it doesn’t buy you happiness, it doesn’t heal deep psychological wounds. A rather depressed and self-deprecating Ronnie once told me about his money … “it gives me the luxury to go and cry somewhere sunny if I so wish … ”
Words can hurt as much, and sometimes even more, than a physical blow. Being kind(er) costs nothing.
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN CONTINUES TO FLIRT WITH RETIREMENT BUT WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME TO LEAVE SNOOKER, ASKS DAVE HENDON
BY DAVE HENDON
Eurosport’s Dave Hendon looks at when Ronnie O’Sullivan could retire from snooker after his World Grand Prix win, and what ‘The Rocket’ might do next in life if he did step away from the sport. O’Sullivan beat Judd Trump in the final of the World Grand Prix to continue his fine form this season. However, The Rocket has hinted at stepping away from snooker in the near future.
When is the right time to leave the party? On a high and still having fun or well past the time it’s ceased to be enjoyable?
Ronnie O’Sullivan has long pondered this conundrum. It’s a harder question for him because for extended periods of his career, he has been on top of the world and still looking for the exit.
He has now won the last three tournaments he has entered: an eighth UK Championship, an eighth Masters and, last night, the World Grand Prix with a comeback from 4-0 down to beat Judd Trump 10-7.
At 48, some 32 years into his professional career, he is arguably at his most dominant. Yet suggestions of retirement continue to swirl around him, stemming from his own comments and the wider views of the snooker world.
Last week Ken Doherty posited the notion that the game’s greatest ever player could bow out after winning an eighth world title this coming May, an audacious exit at the very top.
Such a scenario could be tempting, but if he can win eight world titles, why not a ninth? Why not 10? He could enshrine a legacy which may remain unreachable for generations. And he may miss it as much as his vast legion of fans would miss him.
O’Sullivan’s retirement threats have been constant and at times comical. His first was after losing to Doherty in the 1994 UK Championship. He was 18.
Many of us have been surly teenagers, so this premature reaction to defeat could be forgiven. However, the threats continued and continued over three decades as he got older.
The downbeat statements left many fans bored, although the media kept reporting his vows to walk away with a straight face. Surely this time he means it, right?
In 2012, it seemed as if he had finally made good on his words, although he stated he would be taking a year off rather than departing the stage for good.
What to do with all that precious free time? O’Sullivan spent a few days working on a pig farm but inevitably ended up watching snooker on TV and by January 2013 was missing the circuit so much that he turned up at the Masters to watch two old foes, Mark Selby and Graeme Dott, doing battle.
He returned to competitive action a few months later and, with a style and nerve only he could summon, retained his world title. He has played a busy schedule ever since.
So what is the reason for the constant flirtation with retirement? You don’t need a degree in psychology to recognise that O’Sullivan has a love-hate relationship with snooker. At times it entrances him. On Saturday night in his semi-final demolition of Ding Junhui he found the perfection he has long searched for. At other times it leaves him in deep depression. He doesn’t feel comfortable and his form deserts him.
The other side of the sport, dealing with media and fans, the expectations of outsiders and demands on his time, the scrutiny and judgements, have always been something O’Sullivan has found hard to tolerate.
It was noticeable how freely he played at the 2020 World Championship, staged almost entirely behind closed doors because of Covid. With hardly anyone around wanting a piece of him, he won a first Crucible crown in seven years.
Two years later he secured a record-equalling seventh world title. His reaction was not one of joy but an outpouring of emotion after a mentally gruelling 17 days. Even after making history he was still left wondering why he was putting himself through this.
There is no playbook for when a snooker player retires. In physical sports, your body decides for you. The green baize game allows for longevity, although aches and pains are still common for players who have spent most of their lives bent over a table potting balls.
Many a snooker player has threatened retirement, usually in the aftermath of defeat. They invariably come to their senses, not least because most have little else to fall back on having been focused on nothing but the table since their childhood years.
Ali Carter is a qualified pilot so he could take to the skies, but the thrill of competition is too compelling to turn away from while he is still playing the sort of snooker that took him close to the Masters title earlier this month.
Hardly anyone actually walks away of their own volition. They are usually dragged off kicking and screaming, often ending up back in Q School trying to start all over again.
Terry Griffiths, the 1979 world champion, dropped out of the elite top 16 in 1996 and retired a year later at the age of 49, but he had a position lined up as head of coaching for snooker’s governing body.
Stephen Hendry, seven times the Crucible king, made the shock decision to retire in 2012 at 43. Like Griffiths, he had dropped out of the top 16 and was finding it hard to accept losing to players he would once have swatted away. But Hendry also had a lucrative job waiting for him, promoting pool in China.
More recently Alan McManus called it a day in 2021 but by then he had long established himself as a brilliant TV analyst. Fergal O’Brien, a professional since 1991, will retire at the end of this season with relegation from the circuit looming. He plans to coach and has joined the Eurosport commentary team.
Notice that all these retired players have remained within snooker. It’s what they know and love. Steve Davis became a musician and DJ but still pitches up at tournaments for studio punditry, as if the link is too deep-seated to be broken.
Hendry of course came back eight years later, accepting a wildcard for the tour. His old rival Jimmy White, 61, has no thoughts whatsoever about packing it in.
O’Sullivan is the world No. 1. He has won four titles this season, losing only three matches the whole campaign. He is closing in on £1m in prize money for the current term and is clearly still feared by the majority of the tour. Given all of that, it would be a huge decision to quit any time soon.
Time catches up with us all in the end. There will come a moment when O’Sullivan actually will retire. Most likely it will only be from professional competition. He can write his own cheques for exhibition, media, and ambassadorial work. He will remain a huge figure in the sport long after he is still chasing titles.
Snooker is O’Sullivan’s anchor. It defines him, whether he likes that fact or not. It is his means of making a good living, of expressing himself, of feeling fulfilled.
Like any long-term relationship, it has its ups and downs but he keeps coming back to it because that first spark of love he experienced when young is still in him.
So even if he does walk away, he won’t be walking far.
The situation in 2012 was a bit more complex than just making good of retirement talk. Ronnie had gone through three extremely difficult years. After splitting with his former partner – Lilly and Ronnie Jr mother – he had got in trouble with the authorities for missing several tournaments, withdrawing last minute or just not showing up. His game had suffered, he had no form, he was in a bad place mentally. Just before the 2011 World Championship, on advice from his then manager, Django Fung, he had started working with Steve Peters, who has helped him enormously ever since. The thing is, his private situation, at the time, was difficult. His former partner was showing no flexibility when it came to visiting his children. He was assigned fixed dated, often at short notice, and it often clashed with his snooker commitments. When he missed a visit, his former partner used it in court against him and he didn’t want to lose his kids. When he missed tournaments, he got in trouble with the snooker authorities. Also, he found the new WST contract too restrictive. So he decided to step away… only to find out after a while that he missed it, and that being idle brought back some bad habits too. Snooker is the only thing he knows, he said that again recently. As David wrote at the end of the piece … he won’t go anywhere far.
Judd Trump added four titles to his collection in 2023, Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy each collected three while the “formidable triumvirate” of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Williams and John Higgins continued to shine at the highest level. Luca Brecel became world champion and Zhang Anda stunned to win the International Championship in what Dave Hendon believes is an “ultra-competitive era” of snooker.
The final balls have been potted on the World Snooker Tour for another year in which, once again, no one player dominated and the various titles were shared around.
For the record, Judd Trump won four tournaments in 2023, Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy each collected three trophies and Ronnie O’Sullivan captured two.
However, the inescapable truth is that the World Championship towers above every other event. Its unique challenge is set by the length of matches, its intimate venue and the enhanced scrutiny the players are under. There is no hiding place at the Crucible. This is where champions are made and pretenders to the throne found out.
Luca Brecel did not feature in much of the pre-tournament build-up. There was no reason why he should. He had never won a match at the Crucible in five previous appearances and had enjoyed a solid if unspectacular campaign as the Sheffield marathon approached.
Determined not to succumb again to pressure on snooker’s most hallowed stage, Brecel behaved as if none of it mattered. He didn’t practice properly, he went out with friends to play darts, got on the beers and generally eschewed conventional preparation.
He arrived feeling relaxed and soon found himself the main character in a snooker fairytale. In every round he could have lost. He won a decider against Ricky Walden, held off Mark Williams 13-11 and produced a remarkable display of potting and break-building to overturn a 10-6 deficit against O’Sullivan, winning all seven frames of their final session.
14-5 down to Si Jiahui in the semi-finals, he produced the Crucible’s greatest-ever comeback to win 17-15. In the biggest match of his life, he raced 3-0 ahead of Mark Selby. Leading 9-8 overnight, he started day two with four centuries in the six frames he won to pull away to 15- 10. Selby turned the screw, recovering to trail just 16-15, but Brecel ended the championship with another century to become the first world champion from continental Europe.
It was a wonderful, scarcely believable, achievement for a likeable and greatly talented player, although it feels like more has been seen of him on Instagram than the tournament circuit since. Brecel has travelled the globe enjoying his landmark victory – and why not? – but his form has suffered through lack of matches and he has failed to qualify for the prestigious Players Series in the new year.
Trump has no such worries. He won the Masters at the start of the year before his season tailed off and ended in a first round defeat to Anthony McGill in Sheffield. During the new campaign, though, he has been a revelation, appearing in five finals already and becoming only the fifth player to win three ranking titles in succession.
This was a remarkable four-week purple patch. It began with a recovery from 7-3 down in the English Open final against Zhang Anda. Trump flew the next day to Wuhan and won the new event there. A week off and it was a flight to Belfast where he battled to victory in the Northern Ireland Open.
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND – OCTOBER 29: Judd Trump of England celebrates with the trophy after winning the Final match against Chris Wakelin of England on day eight of 2023 Northern Ireland Open at Waterfront Hall on October 29, 2023 in Belfast, Northern Image credit: Eurosport
By now, Trump may reasonably have expected to be recognised as snooker’s top dog, having seen off his older rivals, but they somehow continue to perform at the highest level. Williams, 48, won the British Open and O’Sullivan was successful first at the Shanghai Masters and then, in typically eye-catching fashion, at the UK Championship where he became that tournament’s oldest-ever winner 30 years after he had become its youngest.
The third member of this formidable triumvirate, John Higgins, has appeared in four semi-finals this season, winning lots of matches but just falling short of silverware, although he did capture the invitational Championship League earlier in the year.
Allen was the player of the 2022/23 season, winning three titles and reaching the World Championship semi-finals. Already in the new campaign the Northern Irishman has triumphed at the Champion of Champions and the Shootout, transitioning from dangerman capable of picking up the odd trophy to a consistent winner.
In this ultra-competitive era, it is hard for new champions to emerge, but Zhang Anda did exactly that in Tianjin by winning the International Championship, making a maximum in the final. He had beaten O’Sullivan in the semis.
Zhang had been ranked 55th in the first week of October. He began December placed 13th in the standings, an incredible turnaround in fortunes for an apparent journeyman.
Robert Milkins had been drifting into that status just a couple of years ago but his resurgence continued when he won the Welsh Open in February and with it the European series bonus prize of £150,000.
Ali Carter and Barry Hawkins returned to the top 16 with victories in the German and European Masters respectively. However, Neil Robertson failed to win a title in a calendar year for the first time since 2005.
The year ended with Gary Wilson rekindling his love affair with Edinburgh by retaining the Scottish Open, having struggled in the 12 months since his maiden success.
Snooker is a somewhat eccentric sport and there were some bizarre moments during the year. Murphy’s experiment of bringing three cues to each tournament has raised eyebrows and is yet to yield results. Hossein Vafaei trash-talked O’Sullivan in Sheffield and smashed the pack against him early in their second round match before being overwhelmed 13-2. Ding Junhui was docked a frame at the English Open for wearing the wrong-coloured trousers.
Like any sport, snooker has faced its fair share of challenges in the last 12 months. Most seriously, ten Chinese players were banned for match-fixing offences, a desperate and depressing scandal, but China enthusiastically embraced the World Snooker Tour on its return there four years on from the Covid outbreak.
Grumbles continue over the players’ contracts and freedom to undertake lucrative exhibition work, a situation likely to come to a head in coming months, but 17 ranking events plus several invitation tournaments points to a healthy calendar.
WST has been successful in boosting ticket sales by at least 10% for every event bar the Shootout, which moved venues. For the first time, all standard tickets at January’s Masters are sold out in advance. Eurosport’s viewing audience for the recent UK Championship was up 20% on last season. New young players are starting to emerge, including British teenagers Stan Moody, Liam Pullen and Liam Graham.
The consistently high standard the players produce and the distinct narratives surrounding them, plus better promotion and use of digital media, have led to increased interest in a sport strong on navel gazing but less good at celebrating its own achievements.
The fact is, as the New Year dawns professional snooker retains a formidable presence on television and digital platforms. It has weathered various scandals and controversies, all of which are secondary to the fascinations of the game itself.
Let’s end by remembering some of the year’s most dazzling moments: Selby’s historic maximum break in the World Championship final. Murphy’s 147 against the clock at the Shootout. O’Sullivan’s astonishing dash for the line from 7-7 with Ding in the UK final. Brecel cradling the famous silver trophy on the Crucible stage.
All golden memories still fresh in the minds of snooker fans, who eagerly await 2024 and all it has to offer.
Of course David works for British Eurosport, but it’s still a shame that he only names the British upcoming teenagers and doesn’t mention the other promising young players, from Asia and mainland Europe. He also avoids mentioning the terrible “live scoring fiasco”. Other than that, it’s a great article. Thank you David.
Following the release of the latest episode of the OneFourSeven podcast, David Caulfield has published a very interesting piece on his blog.
Amongst other things he shares Shaun Murphy’s views on Ronnie’s withdrawal
“I’ve seen lots of things written about this,” Shaun Murphy said on the latest episode of the OneFourSeven Snooker Podcast.
“I’m curious. I want to understand and gauge the temperature and opinion of the snooker fraternity.”
“I think there’s quite a bit of misunderstanding here. No one is obliged to play in anything.
“Obviously he and I don’t see eye to eye on many things – everyone knows that – but he’s not obliged to play in anything.
“He’s well within the rules to withdraw from any event that he wants to. The reasons he gives? That’s a different subject.
“But he actually hasn’t done anything wrong by the letter of the law from WST’s point of view, so I’m confused where the narrative comes from.
“I think there is a nuanced difference between someone like Stephen Hendry, who has a tour card and chooses not to enter tournaments, versus someone who enters tournaments and withdraws last minute.
“Those two things are slightly different, and if you look at it from the point of view of the first reserve in this case, who is Anthony Davies’ son Alfie, he got the call to go to Edinburgh four or five hours before – it was completely undoable.
“Now, if O’Sullivan knew he had no intention of going and withdrew last minute, that’s not very good, because that obviously spoils the opportunity for young Mr. Davies.
“But you have no option in these cases but to take the player at their word.
“O’Sullivan has again cited health concerns, and I go back to what I said in the podcast a few episodes ago, he has had it really bad in recent times.
“He has been really poorly. He has been really ill, and to be that ill and to pull out of that many events on medical grounds, and then still turn up and win the UK Championship is incredible really.
That coming from Shaun, who admittedly often disagrees with Ronnie, does put things in a different light. Most of us only see the players on television, or from afar in the arena. But players like Ronnie and Shaun, who have been on tour for over 25 years and regularly meet at events, it’s different. They see each other close-up and away from the cameras. If Shaun says that Ronnie has been in ill health in recent months, then surely that’s true. They are not close friends, why would he lie about this? Of course, it’s worrying and it makes Ronnie’s UK victory even more extraordinary. So, yes, get well soon, Ronnie, or at least better, fingers crossed!
Shaun also speaks about what is at stake as the new board elections are about to take place
Murphy was also asked about his opinions on the ongoing saga between the World Snooker Tour and its players concerning contracts, players’ rights, and the possibility of a breakaway tour.
“This thing isn’t going to go away – the serious battle between the players, and the WPBSA players’ body that represents them, and WST with their players contract.”
“This isn’t going anywhere. It’s only going to increase in velocity and in seriousness, because these two parties are going to clash over this.
“I’m not sure which way it’s going to go. It’s a big week this week in snooker politically. We’ve got the AGM of the WPBSA and the elections to the WPBSA Players Board.
“Such is the interest in this – normally you have to crowbar players into these meetings and nominations – there are three spots available and there are seven candidates.
“That’s the first time in history that there are more candidates than spaces.
“Depending on who gets through the candidacy and the nomination process, if certain members find their way onto that board, that could cause WST a headache going forward.
“I know a few of the players who have put themselves forward have this as one of their key mandates to try to get a fairer and better deal out of WST.
“You know, we want a review of the contract. We want it looked at, we want to sit down and talk. It’s going to be interesting.”
So … it’s not just “some spoiled celebrities” … it’s the WPBSA representing the players vs the commercial body, WST. Note that Shaun, who is by no means an anarchist, uses the words “fairer” and “better deal”. That suggests that even him, known to be respectful of the authorities, finds the contract too onerous and too restrictive.
Interesting times ahead for sure …
David Caulfield on his blog always tries to be fair and expresses balanced opinions. I can only recommend any snooker fan to follow it, especially if they are Irish.
I’m grateful to David and a few others who regularly write about the most interesting topics discussed in the numerous snooker podcasts that are now available to the snooker fans… provided they aren’t partially deaf 😉 THANK YOU!
Yesterday was the “première” of Ronnie’s film, “the Edge of Everything” and, from what transpired, it was certainly a mediatic success with some well known figures attending the event, along with Ronnie’s family and friends.
From what transpired, Judd Trump attended as well. Good on him.
It was not necessarily a treat for O’Sullivan to watch back himself, though, with the documentary offering a really intense look at his life and the experience of competing under the pressure of the World Championship at the Crucible.
The documentary follows O’Sullivan’s campaign at the 2022 World Championship and at times, specifically in the final against Judd Trump, the level of pressure is enormous, with the Rocket admitting he was struggling badly to deal with it.
The 47-year-old says things were actually not as bad as they appear on film and seeing himself in that state was tough to watch.
In a video posted on Instagram, O’Sullivan said: ‘To give you a little insight, it’s quite sort of live, not staged, warts and all. I have watched it and I must admit it was quite weird to watch yourself in them moments.
‘I can honestly say it didn’t feel anywhere near as bad as it looked. It was a hard one for me to watch back. But don’t worry for me, I’m all good, I’m healthy, I feel great, I’ve loved every minute of my life. I do love the pressure, I enjoy it. I thrive in it. I just find it hard to contain it.
‘I’m getting better and I’m learning. It is a skill but I do deliver, evern under the most extreme pressure and you’re going to get to see that in his documentary. Live, not staged, warts and all.’
Clearly seeing himself suffering on screen has had an effect on O’Sullivan, also posting on X: ‘I look back and I think, “wow, how have I got through that?” It’s so important to look after your mental health!’
Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything is available exclusively in cinemas across UK & Ireland on November 21 and launches on Prime Video on November 23.
There were a few short snippets of the film shared on social media in the last couple of days.
Also these:
The 2023 UK Championship Qualifiers…
Today, the lat round of the 2023 UK Championship qualifiers will start with eighth matches. They will be covered extensively in “Judgement Day” style.
Veteran Ken Doherty remains on course to reach the last 32 of the MrQ UK Championship for the first time since 2014, as he upset the form book with a 6-4 win over Chris Wakelin in the penultimate qualifying round.
Wakelin was runner-up at the recent Northern Ireland Open but couldn’t reproduce that form as he was knocked out by 54-year-old Doherty, who was runner-up in this event in 1994, 2001 and 2002.
From 2-1 down, Ireland’s Doherty won three frames in a row to lead 4-2. Wakelin battled back to 4-4, but Doherty got the better of the last two frames and now faces a Judgement Day clash on Thursday afternoon with China’s Yuan Sijun, who top scored with 135 in a 6-5 win over Alexander Ursenbacher. All winners on Wednesday and Thursday will go through to the final stages in York, which start on Saturday.
“Chris has been playing well so I was just delighted to be keeping pace with him,” said 1997 World Champion Doherty. “I made some good breaks. I’m as surprised as anyone! It would be fantastic to walk down those stairs at the Barbican, but this game is difficult and the last round here will be tough. I’m still a competitor and I love that side of the game.”
Stephen Maguire, the 2004 UK Champion, showed signs of a return to form in reaching the quarter-finals of the recent International Championship and he rattled in breaks of 124, 75, 140, 77 and 115 in a 6-4 defeat of Ashley Hugill.
Hossein Vafaei fired runs of 133 and 109 as he whitewashed Martin O’Donnell 6-0. Stuart Bingham’s hopes of adding the UK title to his World and Masters crowns will have to wait another year as he lost 6-2 to David Lilley.
Matthew Selt fired runs of 84, 59, 127, 52, 95 and 73 as he saw off Dylan Emery 6-4, wile Anthony McGill top scored with 89 in a 6-3 defeat of He Guoqiang. Zak Surety sprang a surprise 6-3 victory over Scottish Open champion Gary Wilson, while David Gilbert’s top break of 93 helped him beat Julien Leclercq 6-1.
Joe O’Connor made a 68 clearance, from 53-0 behind, in the deciding frame to beat Oliver Lines 6-5. Germany’s Lukas Kleckers, enjoying his deepest run in this event, top scored with 105 as he beat Ryan Day 6-2.
Once again this report focuses mainly on the older players – known figures – and on the UK/Irish winners. Lukas Kleckers is the only “non UK/Irish” winner mentioned despite the fact that Hossein Vafaei, Lyu Haotian, Pang Junxu, Zou Yuelong and Yuan Sijun all won as well.
Meanwhile, this article by the BBC , confirms that Ronnie faces disciplinary sanctions for supporting the “Macau” players. I know that Grump will disagree, and I’m ok with that, but personally, I’m still firmly of the opinion that self-employed players should be allowed to take the best offers for them. WST argument is that their absence is detrimental to their business. Possibly, but why? Mainly because they still rely on UK/Irish players nearing their 50th for their main promotion… as the above article shows again. Those players were always going to age, and, as they near the end of their career, they were always going to look for future opportunities away from the main tour. It’s normal, it’s wise on their part and it was totally to be expected. In addition to that, they should remember how Barry Hearn grew to fame: by taking the then top players for exhibitions/tournaments all over the world and away from the “established” tour. That’s how he grew the game and, as such, he has no right to criticise those “current” players who see opportunities away from the WST tour because that’s exactly what he did at the time and it did the sport no harm, quite the opposite.
Ronnie O’Sullivan documentary finally gets release date on Amazon Prime Video
Phil Haigh – Friday 27 Oct 2023
Ronnie O’Sullivan won his record-equalling seventh world title in 2022 (Picture: PA)
The film documenting Ronnie O’Sullivan’s seventh World Snooker Championship win is finally set for release, hitting cinemas on 21 November, before launching on Prime Video two days later.
The Rocket granted cameras extensive access to his Crucible campaign last year, which helpfully ended with him lifting the world title for a seventh time, equalling Stephen Hendry’s record.
O’Sullivan was followed everywhere in the build-up to the event and throughout the tournament, even wearing a microphone during matches, so ‘Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything’ is set to be an incredible insight into the world of the greatest player the sport has ever had.
David Beckham’s Studio 99 has produced the documentary, with the Manchester United icon involved in live Q&A with O’Sullivan when the film is exclusively released in cinemas, before landing on Prime Video on 23 November.
On his motivation for the documentary, O’Sullivan said: ‘My highs and lows have been well-documented by the media but I felt like now was the right time to do something more definitive – something that I can look back and reflect on as I contemplate retirement.
‘Going into my 7th World Championship I wasn’t sure I had it in me but allowing the cameras in ended up driving me on in many ways and gave me a different perspective.’
The Rocket gave some clues on what to expect during the 2022 World Championships, which eventually saw him beat Judd Trump in the final.
‘I’ve given complete access to the point where if you put a fly on the wall and followed me for 17 days, that’s basically what happened,’ O’Sullivan said.
‘They’ve been in my dressing room, they’ve been in my hotel room before and after matches and sessions. I embraced it because whatever I get involved in, let’s just make it the best I could possibly do.’
He also said before the 2022 tournament got underway: ‘If I’m going to get bombed out in the first round, I couldn’t give a monkeys.
‘The documentary isn’t about me trying to win a world title. If it happens, great. If not they’ll have to put up with a first-round exit. They’re the business guys behind it, I’m just an actor.
‘The reason I’m doing it is because of everything I’ve done in my past. It’s a chance for people to watch someone they’ve followed for years.
‘Let them see the pressure, the stress, the good and the not-so-good
Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything is available exclusively in cinemas across UK & Ireland on November 21 and launches on Prime Video on November 23. Theatrical release includes LIVE Q&A featuring Ronnie and very special guests.
