Thoughts born from turbulences …

Monique opinion, Snooker ,

The CBSA match fixing verdict …

There is no doubt that the recent publication of the CBSA verdict on the most recent snooker match fixing scandal has sent shock waves through the snooker communities…

The way the BBC presented the news was confusing. The CBSA didn’t change anything to the WPBSA decision/statement. They issued their own verdict, as the Chinese National body in charge of the sport, on the conduct of their own nationals involved in the latest match fixing scandal.

Yes, they were harsher that WPBSA. Some of the players got longer bans, mainly because there was no shortening of the bans on the basis of early admission. On top of that, the CBSA bans them from ALL cue sports, or activities related to cue sports and any level in any form. This probably means no access to practice facilities, no side job as a coach or commentator. In my opinion CBSA is absolutely right in this. Yes, it’s harsh because it will make it extremely hard for them to come back and they will need to find other jobs, at least most of them will, in order to survive through the ban period.

Also, even, if CBSA has no power to change or extend WPBSA bans, their decisions will “de facto” extend those bans, because, to compete in WPBSA events, players must be “in good standing” with their national body as a prerequisite.

The Tour qualification processes …

Unfortunately the story repeats itself every year… Mostafa Dorgham’s win at the 2023 Africa Championship earned him a tour card and awoke the usual “moaning and complaining” social media fest. Every year, tour cards awarded to women, (some) juniors, regional winners … you name it … trigger complaints by (mainly UK) players who feel that they are better that those nominees and that the system needs changing (in their favour of course).

They usually “brandish” the Q-School as the only acceptable route for the main tour. Some of them may add the Q-Tour to that shortlist. They, very conveniently, refuse to see how those two (series of) events are heavily favouring the UK based players, as well as those who were recently relegated. Most of the Q-Tour is played in the UK. All of the “European” Q-School is played in the UK. I asked one of them how many of the UK players would go to the Q-School if it was held in Germany, needing to book hotels for about three weeks, to get a passport, to travel, to find “local practice”, etc… He admitted that indeed many would not be able or willing to afford it and he admitted that the system is biased, which surprised me in a good way . He then suggested that the Q-School should “travel”. There is no chance of that as it would be more costly for WPBSA/WST. At least he accepted my point of view that the UK players are the majority largely because everything is favouring them: all qualifiers are played in the UK, most of the Q-Tour is played in the UK, the Q-Schools are currently only available in the UK except for Asian residents. He was of the opinion that there should be no qualifiers, and Q-Tour should travel a lot more. He’s right but it’s not enough.

Then of course the “nominees debate” turned into a “tour cards for women” debate and it became nasty. So much so that Rebecca Kenna decided to take a break from social media.

It is true that women and players from some areas where snooker is less developed have consistently struggled to make an impact on tour. That, for me, is only a sign that proper development paths are missing for, or sometimes under-used by, certain “populations” of players. That won’t be solved by getting personal and nasty. The various bodies involved in the sport need to look at the root causes of the situation and possible remedies.

Anyway … all this just reinforced my conviction that a radical change is necessary. What I would like to see is a move towards an inclusive rating system that could be used at all levels of the sport. How a rating system works, and some benefits it could bring has already been explained here. Recording every result at every level might appear like a gigantic task, but I’m sure sophisticated IT systems already exists to assist in this task … because that’s actually how the bookies price the matches that are available for betting: they do use a rating system, and they do take into account the probabilities of every possible outcome. If they can do it, the governing body can do it too.

It would make the Q-Schools superfluous. I agree with Lewis when he says that a certain stability is needed when it comes to define who is a professional and who isn’t. People need a minimal financial stability to be able to “support” their family, invest in a house … or prepare for retirement.

So here id how I see the “tour” possibly working with a rating system … without too many radical changes at least for a start.

The tour would be made of 128 professionals. “New” or “Returning” professionals would be guaranteed two years on tour. How they would be selected is to be defined, but I make a suggestion further down in this post.

The money list ranking, or any other “ranking” list, would be replaced by the rating system that would be used across all levels of the sport, including the WWS, the WDBS, the Seniors Tour, as well as all sanctioned pro-am events and competitive amateur events that would meet the required criteria about conditions, fairness and proper, honest competition. The rating system would evolve continuously and would encompass amateurs and professionals alike. This, of course, may and probably will, require the collaboration with national federations like f.i. CBSA

At the end of each season, after the World Championship, the 32 lowest rated professionals who are in the second year (or more) of their tour card would be relegated. They would be replaced by 32 amateurs who would then become pros for at least two years. Those 32 amateurs would comprise at least the 24 highest rated amateurs in the global rating list, provided they accept the invitation. The other 8 places could be used by WPBSA/WST as they see fit for development or commercial purposes, as long as this is still needed. Some could simply be awarded to the next higher rated amateurs in the global rating list.

This way, no Q-School is needed at all. Of course, in such a system the 32 relegated pros would have no way to re-qualify immediately, something that, personally, I see as a positive. The Q-School in its present form brings very little “new blood”. Experience with the professional conditions, and experience full stop, is a massive advantage in the current system. Too much so for my liking.

Now, let’s look at some side-effects such a system could have, for instance for the female players. Imagine that we have an ambitious young woman playing in the women’s tour. She gets to the point where she is about the highest rated player on that tour, but still far from the threshold needed to get on the professional tour. Continuing to compete on that closed tour will not improve her rating because all/most her opponents are rated lower than her. What are her options if she wants to progress, to improve her rating, to, maybe, turn professional?

Personally I’m not particularly adept of the “positive discrimination”. I’m not sure that guaranteeing spots on the main tour to women who are clearly not ready is a good idea in the long term, it doesn’t improve their image, nor does it helps their development and confidence. We see the negative feedback coming already, from fans and from some players, and TBH, On Yee f.i. looked quite dispirited towards the end of the season. So what?

The best option for this young ambitious girl or woman would be to start competing with higher rated players, including men, in order to progress and, hopefully further improve her rating by getting results against them. WSF events, EBSA events, CBSA events … they are open to both genders. Some have special events for women, but the main events are available to both genders and that would be the route to go. Even IBSF events could be considered. Nobody needs IBSF consent to enter matches outcomes into a database I suppose.

The level in those events is probably higher than what the WWS tour currently offers, but not as high as what she would face if thrown on the professional circuit. Winning a few matches in those events would increase her rating and help her build confidence. She could continue to play on the WWS tour as well of course. Once her rating becomes high enough she might get invited to participate to specific “development path” – like the Q-Tour – or get the occasional inclusion to a main tour event as a top-up.

Bai Yulu’s run in the recent Q-School shows that she would be more than good enough to play in those events I mentioned above. There is no reason why other young women wouldn’t be as well but they need to get out of the WWS comfort zone … when they are ready, when they reach a high enough rating to be competitive and feel confident enough to face the inevitable prejudices and occasional hostility; the psychological impact of those negative factors should not be underestimated.

A rating system, correctly applied could provide a huge incentive for female players, but also for other “under-represented” populations in the sport.

Mostafa Dorgham takes the last professional tour card on offer this season

Monique Snooker, Tour News ,

Here is the report by WPBSA

Mostafa Dorgham defeated Mohamed Khairy 5-2 in an all-Egyptian final to win the 2023 African Snooker Championship in Morocco and secure a two-year World Snooker Tour card. 

Having been the runner-up in 2018, it is 27-year-old Dorgham’s maiden African title, and he is set to make his debut as a professional player during the upcoming 2023/24 WST season. 

Organised by the African Billiards and Snooker Confederation and the host nation’s Moroccan Snooker and Billiards Sports Association, several continental championships were contested across 11 days at the Crucible Academy in Casablanca. A total of 140 players in the main event were split into round robin groups with the top two from each advancing to knockout phase. 

Dorgham cruised through his group without dropping a frame before eliminating Rizk Rady and Ahmed Galal both 3-0 in the last 64 and 32 respectively. His path to glory became significantly tougher from there, though, needing to come back from 2-0 down to defeat Ahmed Samir 4-2 in the last 16 and surviving a deciding frame as he ousted Abdelrahman Shahin 4-3 in the quarter-finals.  

On finals day in the last four, Dorgham registered a 94 break on his way to seeing off fellow countryman Mahmoud El Hareedy 4-2. 

Emerging from the other side of the draw was former professional and two-time finalist Khairy, who also topped his group and subsequently recorded victories against former champion Amine Amiri (last 64) and Hatem Yassen (quarter-finals). In the other semi-final, Khairy eliminated Morocco’s Hamadi Zerkani 4-2 to book another final berth. 

Khairy was on course for a remarkable hat-trick having already claimed two titles during his trip. The 41-year-old pipped Shahin (Egypt) 6-5 in the final to win the African 6-Red Snooker Championship and completed a double when he defeated Houssin Maazouz (Morocco) 4-1 in the African Seniors Snooker Championship. 

For the fourth time in the past five editions, the final of the main championship featured two Egyptian cueists, with both of this year’s finalists coming from the capital city Cairo. Khairy made the better start by taking the opening frame although Dorgham strung together the next three for a 3-1 lead.

The deficit was halved when Khairy gained frame five, but Dorgham was not to be denied the biggest prize of his career to date as he won the following two frames for victory.  

Dorgham is now set to join compatriot Mohamed Ibrahim – winner of this title in 2022 – on the sport’s top tier over the coming months. 

Khairy scored the tournament’s highest break for an effort of 119.

In an all-Moroccan final, Bennani Hind defeated Yasmine Yathrib 3-0 in the final to win the African Women’s Snooker Championship. 

Congratulations Mostafa Dorgham !

The event was played at “The Crucible”, in Casablanca, Morroco. It’s a very nice club where I had the pleasure to take pictures at an exhibition featuring Ronnie and Jimmy. We were made to feel very welcome.

A lot of matches were streamed on the (Morroco) Association Nationale de Billard et de Snooker Facebook page.

It’s not the first time I watch matches involving players from Africa, and, this year I could see a big improvement in the quality of the snooker on display. It’s still not at the level of the UK/European best amateurs but it’s improving steadily.

It’s the Africa Championship but most players were either from North Africa or South Africa (the country). Central (black) Africa was largely absent. There are many reasons for this of course: cultural, economical … and climatic as well probably.

I liked it that often, at the end of the match, players embraced … a bit like in tennis,

As often with streaming on facebook, there was a chat going with the streaming. I couldn’t watch everything of course – especially as my Internet failed for several hours yesterday evening – but I didn’t see nasty comments on those chats I followed, contrary to what is so often the case on other streams. People were supporting their favourites, but in good spirit.

Also, the women’s game in Africa is still far from the level required to be competitive even in WWS tournaments. But, contrary to what happens so often when WWS matches are streamed, those men who were following the matches in the chats were very supportive. I didn’t see disparaging comments at all. Nothing in the line of “women are inferior, will never make it, should stay away from the sport”. Quite the opposite, there was praise for good shots and encouraging comments. The girls were sporting the “normal” snooker attire. I didn’t see any with a scarf on their head, nor any comment suggesting they should wear one. And all this is quire remarkable considering that North Africa’s is predominantly influenced by Islam and traditions are still very strong.

Congratulations to all involved

The CBSA issues their own punishments on the 10 Chinese players involved in match fixing

Monique Disciplinary matter

Here is the CBSA announcement:

as translated by google translate

The Chinese Billiards Association’s violation of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association

Code of Conduct Punishment decisions for Chinese players

10 Chinese professional snooker players participated in the World Professional Snooker Event hosted by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), and violated the WPBSA code of conduct by manipulating the results of the game, Beijing time on June 7 The WPBSA announced the penalty decisions for the 10 players. In order to rectify the past and learn from the past, the China Billiards Association, in accordance with the “Sports Law of the People’s Republic of China” and the “China Billiards Association Professional Players Committee Management Regulations” Article 22 and Article 32 and the “China Billiards Association Disciplinary Guidelines and Penalties According to Articles 5, 7 and 10 of the Regulations, the 10 players will be punished as follows:

  1. Liang Wenbo and Li Xing are punished with a lifetime ban, and they are prohibited from participating in all billiards matches and activities in mainland China in any form and in any capacity.
  2. Lu Ning will be suspended for 8 years until December 6, 2030. During the suspension period, he is prohibited from participating in all billiards events and activities in mainland China in any form and in any capacity.
  3. Suspend Yan Bingtao for 7 years and 6 months until May 11, 2030. During the suspension period, he is prohibited from participating in all billiards events and activities in mainland China in any form and in any capacity.
  4. Chen Zifan will be suspended for 5 years until December 20, 2027. During the suspension period, he is prohibited from participating in all billiards events and activities in mainland China in any form and in any capacity.
  5. Zhang Jiankang will be suspended for 4 years and 5 months until May 1, 2027. During the suspension period, he is prohibited from participating in all billiards events and activities in mainland China in any form and in any capacity.
  6. Bai Langning will be suspended for 4 years until December 6, 2026. During the suspension period, he is prohibited from participating in all billiards events and activities in mainland China in any form and in any capacity.
  7. Zhao Xintong will be suspended for 2 years and 6 months until July 1, 2025. During the suspension period, he is prohibited from participating in all billiards events and activities in mainland China in any form and in any capacity.
  8. Zhao Jianbo will be suspended for 2 years and 4 months until April 7, 2025. During the suspension period, he is prohibited from participating in all billiards events and activities in mainland China in any form and in any capacity.
  9. Chang Bingyu will be suspended for 2 years until December 7, 2024. During the suspension period, he is prohibited from participating in all billiards events and activities in mainland China in any form and in any capacity.

For the record those were the WPBSA/WST decisions

the other players concerned.

  1. Liang Wenbo has been given a lifetime ban from snooker and is to pay £43,000 in costs.
  2. Li Hang has been given a lifetime ban from snooker and is to pay £43,000 in costs.
  3. Lu Ning has been given an 8 year suspension, reduced following early admissions and his plea of guilty, to 5 years and 4 months until 6 April 2028. He is to pay £7,500 in costs.
  4. Yan Bingtao has been given a 7 year and 6 months suspension, reduced following early admissions and plea of guilty, to 5 years until 11 December 2027. He is to pay £7,500 in costs.
  5. Zhao Xintong has been given a 2 year and 6 months suspension, reduced following early admissions and his plea of guilty, to 1 year and 8 months until 1 September 2024. He is to pay £7,500 in costs.
  6. Zhao Jianbo has been given a 3 year and 6 months suspension, reduced following early admissions and his plea of guilty, to 2 years and 4 months until 7 April 2025. He is to pay £7,500 in costs.
  7. Chang Bingyu has been given a 3 year suspension, reduced following early admissions and his plea of guilty, to 2 years until 7 December 2024. He is to pay £7,500 in costs.
  8. Bai Langning has been given a 4 year suspension, reduced following early admissions and his plea of guilty, to 2 years and 8 months until 6 August 2025. He is to pay £7,500 in costs.
  9. Chen Zifan has been given a 7 year and 6 months suspension, reduced following early admissions and his plea of guilty, to 5 years until 20 December 2027. He is to pay £7,500 in costs.
  10. Zhang Jiankang has been given a 4 year and 5 months suspension, reduced following early admissions and his plea of guilty, to 2 years and 11 months until 1 December 2025. He is to pay £7,500 in costs.

Interestingly there is no “shortening” of the suspension period in the CBSA decision. As a result many of them will be prevented to play in China for longer than in the UK.

PlayerSuspended until in the UKSuspended until in China
Liang Wenboforeverforever
Li HangforeverForever
Yan Bingtao11 December 202711 May 2030
Lu Ning6 April 20286 December 2030
Zhao Xintong1 September 20241 July 2025
Zhao Jianbo7 April 20257 April 2025
Chang Bingyu7 December 20247 December 2024
Bai Langning6 August 20256 December 2026
Chen Zifan20 December 202720 December 2027
Zhang Jiangkang1 December 20251 May 2027

Also, providing that the translation is correct, I wonder if “activities” includes “practicing in a club”. Coaching I’m sure will not be an option to them.

Unless those players have means to support themselves in the UK and provided that their visa stays valid or is renewed, they will have to go back to China. If they can’t even practice, I can’t see them coming back, except, maybe, Zhao Xintong, Zhao Jianbo and Chang Bingyu. Zhao and Chang could enter the Q- School to try to re-qualify for 2025/26, Zhao Xintong for 2026/27 the earliest.

And of course we have to wait and see it criminal charges will be pressed in China, which I do expect given the country stance on betting. Some of them could well end up in jail, like Liu Song.

Snooker News – 20 June 2023

Monique News, Snooker ,

There isn’t much going on in snooker at the moment, although this is going to change in less than a week.

So, this is a bit of a “lazy” post sharing some news and suggestions to fill the “snooker gap”.

Stephen Hendry’s Cue Tips is Stephen’s YouTube Channel and there is a lot of interesting stuff as Stephen interviews and “challenges” fellow snooker players.

One of the recent videos features Ronnie taking the “Tough Table Challenge”

Ronnie doesn’t do particularly well, bur maybe Stephen is a bit guilty of distracting him throughout. In deed the chat about how they go about break building, Luca Brecel’s and Judd Trump’s unusual technique and why it could become a trend, their cues and more… I was quite baffled to hear that Stephen keeps his cue in the boot of his car, no matter the temperature or humidity level. As a result the said cue is anything but straight … I know that Stephen allegedly never recovered from the loss of his original cue. It was bent as well, but still 🤔

WST has announced that BetVictor will sponsor no less than 8 tournaments this season, including The European and German Masters and the four Home Nations events. Those tournaments will once again form a “Series”. The money list leader after these eighth events will earn the £150,000 bonus.

Following the success of the three “Ronnie and Jimmy” exhibitions over the week-end, Snookerstars have announced a “Live Tour” with Kan Doherty, John Higgins and Mark Williams in 2024. They will play in Hamm and in Munich. The announcement did not mention the dates and, although it said that tickets were already available on the Snookestars website, I couldn’t find them. Anyway… this should be good!

An interesting multi-discipline initiative by the WCBS

WCBS Gears Up For Its First Ever Championship

The WCBS is all set to host its first-ever Championship in Ankara, Turkey from 20-23 July 2023.

A 4-day competition will see 6 teams compete against each other across the disciplines of Carom, 10-Ball Pool, Heyball, and Snooker.

Ahead of the competition, please refer to all the important information released by WCBS here –WCBS Championship Info_Updated_3rd May 2023

 Player List

 Match Schedule

WST is of course not involved, instead their “rivals” the IBSF are part of WCBS, World Confederation of Billiards and Snooker. All the same, I find the idea interesting and there are some familiar (amateur) names in the draw.

I must admit that I had never before looked at what Heyball (Chinese Pool) is like.

I must say that I was rather astonished reading the second “chapter” of the rules

2. Method Of Play

(a) Chinese Pool game is played with 15 object balls from No.1 to No.15 and the cue ball. If one player chooses No.1 to No.7 (solids) then the other player must choose No.9 to No.15 (stripes), and vice versa. The shooter remains at the table as long as he continues to legally pocket his group of balls, and he wins the rack by pocketing the 8 ball.

(b) When a male player encounters a female player, the female player receives a handicap that her last ball within a rack will be removed from the table by the referee; When a male player under the age of 14 encounters a female player, it shall be an even game with no handicap; When a male player under the age of 14 encounters a male player, it shall be an even game with no handicap.

So female players are “de facto” considered weaker than male players and it’s in the rules… 😮 🙄

Ronnie and Jimmy in Munich – 18.06.2023

Monique Snooker exhibition ,

Ronnie and Jimmy were at the Krone Circus for the third and last of their series of exhibitions in Germany this month. Ronnie won again, this time by 6-3 (thanks Thomas for the info).

There was a “Meet and Greet” organised in a “Beer Garden” before the exhibition proper

There was merchandise at the venue

Some images of the match

And two short videos

Introducing Ronnie
Ronnie puts Maike to work … as he dons the white gloves

The second video shows what I believe was the end of the match, going by the crowd’s reaction and Ronnie’s and Maike’s demeanours.

The pictures show a 5-1 score in favour of Ronnie. All of it were shared by Snookerstars and Jason Francis on social media.

Ronnie and Jimmy in Berlin – 17.06.2023

Monique Snooker exhibition

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

Jimmy enters the Tempodrom – 17.06.2023
Ronnie enters the Tempodrom – 17.06.2023

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!

So here it is

Snooker stars hit Hamm

 matt2745 snooker

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