This was Ronnie on Facebook earlier today:

I am very happy to play in the China UK team challenge in Shenzhen along with Ding, looking forward seeing the fans in china on 28th and 29th of July.

So what is this about?

Well, it’s about the Sino-British Snooker Stars Challenge played in Shenzhen on 28 and 29 July 2017, shortly after the Hong Kong Masters, and here are the teams:

Ronnie, mark Williams, Michael Holt, Graeme Dott and Joe Perry for UK, Ding Junhui, Liang Wenbo, Zhou Yuelong, Yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong for China.

More about the format and order of play when I find out …

Mark Selby won the fourth and last, high quality, leg of the series by 6-4 in Munich. He had two centuries 138 and 126 in the two first frames of the match.

That leaves the boys at 2-2 at the end of their German/Austrian tour, with Mark edging it on number of centuries.

There was no Internet at the venue, so, this time Jason Francis wasn’t able to keep us updated on twitter during the event, but himself, Snookerstars, Rolf Kalb, Theo Selbertinger (the referee) and fans (thank you Andrea and Bozena again) made up for it by posting images and “thank you” messages aplenty afterwards.

Here are a few images shared on twitter:

And a short video of Rolf Kalb welcoming Ronnie at the start of the show:

Thanks Stefan for this!

And thanks Bozena for sharing this one:

The only disappointment was that the autograph session was restricted to the holders of VIP tickets. Other than the fact that this was how it was contracted, signing for 800 to 1000 fans would have taken quite some time (understatement alert) and the players were due to fly home in the evening. It was simply impossible to do within the time constraints. But it’s a pity for the fans who haven’t that many opportunities to meet these two great players in the flesh.

The Snookerstars Tour stopped in Dornbirn, Austria, yesterday where Ronnie and Mark were treated to a beautiful scenery as well as gorgeous weather

In the evening, Ronnie won the match by 6-4, having been in control from the start for a change. Here is the (short) account by Jason on twitter:

• Packed in Austria. Ronnie leads 2-1
• Ros leads 3-2 at the interval
• 4-3 Ronnie
• Ronnie 5-3 up
• Ronnie wins 6-4 tonight here in Austria

And a few pictures, shared by Jason, Snookerstars and Rolf Kalb on twitter

There is also a video, shared by Jason on Facebook, showing Ronnie in action, in frame 7, clearly in exhibition mood and enjoying it:

And this was shared on youtube:

Showing 15 years old Florian Nussle playing the double. He made the winning 49 clearance to win the frame.

Today they will be back in Munich, for the last leg of the series. Ronnie leads 2-1. Should he win this afternoon, he wins the series, should Mark win, it will decided by the number of centuries made, and if they are even, on the highest century. As far as I know, currently, Ronnie made a 136 and Mark a 110 and a 147.

It was all Mark Selby yesterday in Hamm as he won convincingly, beating Ronnie by 6-2, and making a 147 in frame 4 to put the cherry on the cake.

Jason Francis (Snooker Legends) shared a video of the final phase of Mark 147 on Facebook. Here it is

as well as this other one, with both player in action, and Theo turning a blind eye on Ronnie’s flying foul:

Jason account of the night on twitter was short(ish):

• Sell out for @Snookerstars
• 1-1 so far here in Hamm
• MARK SELBY 147! In Hamm. Last reds and colours on our Facebook page. Leads 3-1
• Glues his own tip back on, ferule covered in superglue and makes a MAXI! @markjesterselby turn it in jester
• Looking like marks night tonight, leads Ronnie 5-1
• The jester closes out a 6-2 victory over Ronnie here in Hamm 1-1 in the series. Austria tomorrow

Now, Mark might set a new trend here: cake your tip and ferule in super-glue and you become unbeatable!

And here are a few more pictures shared on twitter by Jason, Snookerstars and fans (thanks Bozena and Andrea!)

And today, they will play in Austria and they are already on their way …

Don’t ask me why Ronnie looks like a security man … I have no clue!

Yesterday Ronnie and Mark Selby were in Hamburg for the first of four exhibitions in Germany and Austria with Snookerstars. The event is played under the Eleven-30 format, best of 11 with 30 seconds shot-clock.

Ronnie won by 6-5, from 3-1 and 5-3 down, but Mark was unlucky when his tip came off in frame 10. Both had a century: 110 from Mark, 136 TC from Ronnie.

Here is Jason Francis account on twitter

• VIP with the legend @Rolf_Kalb #hamburg
• Ronnie on the black 1-0
• Mark wins 2 on the spin 2-1 up now
• 3-2 to mark at the interval
• Second half @Snookerstars
• 136 (TC) from ronnie but it’s 5-4 selby at the moment
• Marks tip has come off so he is now borrowing ronnies cue!
• 5-5 and mark has borrowed a local cue for the decider!! #scenes #hamburg #glue
• Ronnie is going to win here 6-5 in leg 1. Mark suffered a tip off in frame 10. Unlucky but great match

Here are a few pictures shared by Jason and Snookerstars on twitter:

No close-ups and I think you can see why. Who else than these two could fill an arena this size for an exhibition match?

Ronnie played an exhibition match against Judd Trump, yesterday evening in Ljubljana, Slovenia in an event that also featured Oliver Lines and Luca Brecel.

Judd won over Ronnie by 5-3 and Oliver Lines beat Luca by 3-1.

This is an article in the Slovenian press, giving an account of the evening. It also features a photo gallery, so make sure you check it.

The automatic translations are not fantastic, so this is how I understand the above mentioned article:

Five times World Champion, 41-year-old Ronnie O’Sullivan , whose rapid style of play earned him the nickname “the Rocket”, and current n°3 in the world, 27-year-old, Judd Trump who plays a similar game to the Rocket, were welcomed to the table by a loud applause of the audience, which comprised fans of all generations from children to grandparents. They played a ‘Best of Nine’, first to five. The first frame was comprehensively won by Trump, and, as well as the next frame, it started with a few safety exchanges after which the players began delighting the audience with great shots, some bad misses and a bit of banter. The third game was won Trump also: being behind, he stole the frame after O’Sullivan missed, and that brought him 3-0 up already. The audience very much wanted the Rocket to win the fourth frame but they also wanted to see if he could improve on his highest break up to then, a very modest 42. The fifth frame was again dominated by Trump, who also impressed with the first century of the evening: he made a 117 to lead 4-1. The sixth frame was won by the most talented snooker player in history, O’Sullivan, and so was the seventh with some nice long shots along the way. The eighth game proved to be the last of the match as Trump won it with a 107 to take the final victory.
After the match they were asked what is most the important thing to become a professional player snooker, and this was the answer: “The most important is to enjoy snooker, to play as well as you can. Otherwise, it is an important practice, practice, practice, five hours a day. ” Trump was already in Ljubljana for the second time. He declared “At first I was surprised because I did not know that this game is so popular here. I think the audience is very knowledgeable about snooker, the reception Ronnie got when he came into the hall, it gave me goosebumps. I hope that we returned to Ljubljana“. O’Sullivan answered questions about role models, not least, because himself also set an example for many young people around the world. “I had role models, of course, I liked Jimmy White, who played fast, aggressive. Later, myself, I wanted to play like Steve Davis, only a little faster.” he added jokingly. About the future, he added: “There are no plans, I only hope that I can stay as long as possible with younger players like Trump“.
The audience in Tivoli, started the evening by warming for two members of the new generation of young players, 22-year-old Belgian, Luca Brecel and Oliver Lines, from England only 21. In a best of 5, first to 3, the latter, who is the son of Peter Lines, a professional snooker player himself, beat the opponent by 3-1. The young audience was impressed with some very attacking shots, especially in the last frame were Brecel played some excellent safeties only for Lines to escape them again and again and finally take the win.
Already last December, Ljubljana had hosted the first event of this series: it featured the world n°1, Mark Selby , Neil Robertson , Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump. It was won by Selby, who, recently became World Champion for the second time in a row and third time in his career.

And here are a few more pictures, posted by Jason Francis, Django Fung and fans on twitter:

Here is what we’ve all be waiting for: Ramona’s report on last week-end event !

Snooker Titans Trophy Cluj: a genuine snooker treat

12:30:00 Ramona Dragomir 

It’s been a few days since the mighty Snooker Titans reached the lovely city of Cluj and I am still mesmerized of what happened there.

Ronnie O’Sullivan, Steve Davis, Mark Selby and the amazing Reanne Evans got together in a genuine clash of styles, on 18 & 19 of June at the Polyvalent Hall from Cluj. As expected, it was a genuine treat for all the snooker fans: cracking pots, surprises, a lot of laughter and a tremendous display of snooker skills from all the players.

Everything started with the press conference, on Saturday around 4pm, a perfect moment to watch Steve Davis in his element: making jokes all around about how at his age he is “glad to be alive” nonetheless to be here in Romania and that the most important thing in snooker is “balls” (you may interpret that as you wish hehe).

The opening match featured the names of the current world champion, Mark Selby and the most powerful woman in snooker these days, Reanne Evans; and to be quite honest it was a genuine delight to see them.

The 1st frame landed on a re-spotted black, which was magically potted by Selby who then added breaks of 67, 62, 86 and 84 to go 5-0 before Reanne could win the fifth frame, Mark wrapping it up quite quickly and grabbing the last frame to win 6-1.

The same scoreline was to be the “name of the game” for Ronnie O’Sullivan and Steve Davis who were up next.

“The Rocket” was sure to get a standing ovation (as did Sir Steve Davis in all fairness), top breaks of 85 and 112 getting him a 3-0 lead, before Steve could make a 53 (tremendous shot on the pink!) and get his first frame on the board.

Sadly though, it was also going to be the last, as Ronnie got going with breaks of 43, 97 and 107 to get his place in the final.

The second day of cue action started with the classical autographs session, which was a genuine delight for all the snooker fans who gathered at Nuka Bistro from Cluj, the lads being very happy to take pictures with them and sign their card or book, in my case (thank you Steve!).

But back to more serious matters: the evening started with the likes of Steve Davis and Reanne Evans who played their match on a “best of 7” rule, because Mr “Nugget” had a surprise for the audience: a trick-shot treat.

Needless to say he amazed the audience with his unique sense of humor and made us all fall in love with his jokes. Oh, and the trick-shots were great too. Not that he managed to get too many (as he himself said it), but they were pretty cool to be quite honest.

In the end though, the most important thing is that he captured our attention and that the entire audience was hooked on what this living snooker legend was showing us. And yes, I know it’s a clique, but you can’t buy stuff like that.

During the break, the lovely Sabina Virtosu and her colleague Cassandra Mathews from “The Aces” delighted the crowd with some amazing music.

The last match of the day, which was also the final, featured the names of the five-time world champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan and the current world champion, Mark Selby.

The first to break the ice was Selby, who made a total clearance of 112 points, but Ronnie used a 66 to get the following one and runs of 26 and 45 to go 3-1 up.

“The Jester from Leicester” fought back with breaks of 80 and 96 to draw level, but O’Sullivan put his nose back in front with a great 125 total clearance.

Still, the next three frames were cashed by Selby whose breaks of 44, 93 and 100 proved quite enough for a 6-4 victory over the most talented snooker players of all times.

All four players got a trophy and had to deal with an ecstatic crowd that literally wanted “a piece of all of them”.

The next day the lads (Ronnie & Selby) switched from snooker to tennis, as the organizers took them for a bit of peace and quiet to a tennis field.

Lucky us that we had the chance to see them once more and we bumped into them (Selby, Ronnie & Reanne) at the airport, just before we took off. Well, that’s what I call a true farewell 😉

So, another edition of Snooker Titans Trophy in the can and what an edition it was!

Pure snooker bliss!

Photos by Monique Limbos

P.S. So, so happy to have met Monique!