opinion

The 2025 Tour Championship Day 5 and some more thoughts about the Ronnie situation

Monique opinion, Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament, Talking point , ,

Yesterday, John Higgins beat Barry Hawkins to book his place in the 2025 Tour Championship final.

Here is the report by WST:

Higgins Into 58th Ranking Final

John Higgins remained on target for a second ranking title within five weeks as he enjoyed a superb 10-7 victory over Barry Hawkins in the semi-finals of the Sportsbet.io Tour Championship.

From 5-5, Higgins pulled away to win five of the last seven frames, making three centuries to come out on top of a high quality contest. The Wizard of Wishaw is into the 58th ranking event final of his career, just six short of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s record of 64. He will aim for a 33rd ranking title when he meets Mark Selby or Ding Junhui on Sunday at Manchester Central, with first to ten frames to capture the trophy and a top prize of £150,000.

After winning the Players Championship in 2021, Higgins went four years without a ranking title, and feared his days at the top table were over, particularly as he struggled to get over the line at the business end of key matches. But landing silverware at the World Open in China last month has made all the difference for the Scot, who turns 50 in May. One of the all-time greats, Higgins is now playing outstanding snooker, mixing heavy break-building with his granite tactical game, and most importantly he is finishing matches strongly. In this form, he will be one of the leading contenders at the Crucible. 

Having shared the afternoon session 4-4, Higgins took the opening frame this evening with a break of 66 to lead 5-4, before Hawkins levelled with a 125. The Englishman had two scoring chances in frame 11 but managed only 12 points and Higgins punished him with 73. Early in frame 12, Hawkins went for a thin cut red to centre but completely missed the object ball and went in-off, handing Higgins an opening which he took advantage of with a sumptuous 144 total clearance, his best of the season and the new target for the £10,000 high break prize.

A safety exchange with two reds on the table in frame 13 was resolved when Higgins escaped from a snooker but left Hawkins the opportunity to clear and close the gap to 7-6. A superb 130 from Higgins restored his two frame cushion, then he dominated a fragmented 15th frame for 9-6.

A missed red to centre was costly for Higgins in the 16th as his opponent made 99 to claw one back. But Hawkins’ break-off in frame 17 left a red close to a centre pocket, Higgins swept over the line with a 107.

“I would love to win this one and be a multiple champion this season, before we go to Sheffield,” said four-time Crucible king Higgins. “In the first session, Barry was hitting the ball well and looking superb, if he had gone 4-2 up he then could have gone 5-3 or 6-2, he was freezing me out. I was delighted to be 4-4, then I knew had to play better tonight, and I thought I played great.

“It was an amazing atmosphere, it reminds me of Alexandra Palace on a smaller scale. It’s an incredible venue and Manchester is a great city. I’m sure Sunday will be even better and I can’t wait.“

Hawkins, who had knocked out Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump, said: “It was a good match, I just had a few loose shots and John punished me heavily, he looked at the top of his game. It has still been a good week but I am disappointed right now.“

It was a good match but I’m deeply unhappy about the outcome. Those who know me, or read this blog regularly, know why. And, no, that’s not going to change ever unless new elements come to light that radically change my perspective on what happened in 2010.

Regarding the second semi-final, due to be played today, I don’t have a “favourite”. I like both players. I would be delighted to see Ding lift the trophy tomorrow but I think that Mark Selby is better equipped to stop Higgins.

Some more personal thoughts on the Ronnie situation …

This is nothing new but for clarity, here is what Ronnie said about his plans, as reported by the BBC :

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t made my mind up, I’ll probably make a decision on maybe 17 or 18 April,” O’Sullivan said on TNT Sports.

“I don’t know when I’m due to play my first match, so I’m going to try and leave myself as much time as possible.

“I’d love to be able to go there and play. I’d love to be able to have the confidence to be able to get my cue out and go and play snooker.

“I just need to give myself as much time as possible to see where I’m at with it, and see whether it’s something I’m going to be able to do.“

…

“It’s been a real struggle,” he added. “I’ve tried to play my way through. I’ve had moments and glimpses where I thought: ‘OK, this is OK.‘

“But on the whole, probably three-and-a-half years out of the last four have been pretty terrible for me and that’s kind of took its toll.

“I kind of got a bit tired. It kind of ground me down to the point where I kind of lost the love for the game.

“That’s why in January, I snapped my cue just in temper, in frustration. I don’t really want to feel like that, so I’ve taken time out. I am just gonna try and fix what I think is the problem before I come back to play serious snooker again.”

So? Ronnie won five titles last season and still feels like he’s been awful for the best part of the last four seasons? That may sound crazy but that’s what depression does to those who suffer from it and it rarely really goes away completely. Mark Selby has been open about that as well. Also, in my opinion, the collapse of his 13 years long relationship with Laila Rouass hasn’t helped. People close to them have reported that, despite the difficulties, there was still a lot of love between them. I’m not sure that, if true, this is making things easier. When a relationship ends in acrimony and bitter resentment, it’s ugly, but it makes it easier to walk away and start anew.

For me, the situation is this: Ronnie is struggling with depression, badly, and feels unable, psychologically, to cope with the demands of his sport. Also the huge expectations that always weigh on him whenever he plays aren’t helping. If that’s the case, not playing is the sensible decision, and definitely far better than walking out mid match like he did at the 2006 UK Championship against Hendry. Nobody wants to see that again.

Many fans are complaining and brandishing the “what if there is an empty session?”. I understand their concerns but as seed number 5, Ronnie is likely to be scheduled to play his first session on the third or fourth day of the tournament, or even earlier but that has happened only once recently. That leaves a bit time for WST to deal with the situation IF necessary. Usually, during the first week, most sessions feature a match that is in its first session and one that is in its second session. When one table “finishes”, the curtain is lifted and the whole Crucible can watch the other table. The only possible “disaster” scenario would be that the match due to finish during Ronnie’s scheduled “first session” is so one sided that only a couple of frames remain to be played. It could happen, of course, but it doesn’t happen that often and given the quality of the qualifiers this year, I would be surprised if we had many one-sided matches in the first round this time.

Where things stand regarding Ronnie…

Monique Interview, Professional snooker tournament, Snooker, Talking point , ,

We are finally getting some news about Ronnie … it’s not great but the very fact that he decided to open up about his struggles is a positive. Here are two pieces reporting what Ronnie had to say about how he feels and what the situation currently is. Thank you Ben for sharing them in commentary.

It seems that we read and look up the same stuff …

In the “Daily mail” by David Coverdale

Ronnie O’Sullivan reveals the chances of him playing at the World Snooker Championship – and opens up on being at the ‘end of his tether’ with the sport

  • Ronnie O’Sullivan has not competed at a tournament since his January meltdown
  • The Englishman snapped his cue and said he was ‘burnt out,’ needing a break
  • Now he has given an insight into his mentality about the World Championship 

Ronnie O’Sullivan admits he still does not know if he will play at this month’s World Snooker Championship – and he will give himself until the day before the draw to decide.

The record seven-time world champion has not competed in a tournament since snapping his cue in anger at the Champions League in Leicester in January.

Explaining his prolonged absence for the first time, O’Sullivan said he needed to take a break because he was ‘burnt out’, revealing he had become ‘scared’ to pick up his cue because of how badly he was playing.

The 49-year-old has since returned to the practice table and is working with coach Gary Filtness to see if he can improve his form in time to make a comeback at the Crucible.

O’Sullivan has been given a provisional seeding of four for the World Championship which starts on April 19, with the draw taking place two days before.

But the Rocket told Mail Sport: ‘If you’d asked me three days ago, I’d have said, “100 per cent I’m playing”, because I found something, and I was like, “Wow, I’m hitting the ball good”.

‘The confidence came back and it lasted for three days, and I was like, “Oh yeah, I fancy it”. But then the last two days, it’s gone downhill. It seems to be one step forward, two steps back.

‘As I sit here, it’s highly unlikely I’ll play in the World Championship. But I’ve got some practice sessions booked in with a very, very good player who is in the top 16 on April 14th, 15th and 16th. So I’m going to give myself until that very last practice session to just see where my game is at.

‘If I think, “You know what, it’s all right”, I’ll probably play. But if it’s like it is today, it’s just not going to be pretty for me.

‘Obviously, I snapped my cue and I’m still trying to find a cue I’m comfortable with, which I haven’t yet been able to do.

‘I’d love to be back playing. I really, really would. Pulling out of tournaments ain’t good for me. It’s not what I want to be doing. I want to be out there competing.

‘The last three or four weeks I’ve been practising a hell of a lot. But at the start of the season I was getting scared to go near the practice table and getting scared to get my cue out of my case.

‘I got to the end of my tether with my game. Now I’m just focusing on getting that fixed because if I don’t get that fixed, there are no ournaments.’

And in “The Sun” by Rob Maul

OUT OF ROCKET FUEL? 

‘Couldn’t keep going on’ – Ronnie O’Sullivan undecided on playing Snooker World Championship and is ‘SCARED’ to practise

O’Sullivan admitted he still hasn’t found a cue after snapping his previous one

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN admits he has felt “scared” to go near a practice or match table during his enforced snooker break.

In an exclusive SunSport interview, the Rocket, 49, remains undecided if he will play at this month’s World Snooker Championship, which starts on April 19.

The decision to appear at the Crucible will hinge on THREE key practice sessions the days before the action starts in Sheffield on Easter Saturday.

He regrets his meltdown in January when he snapped his cue in anger at a low-key event in Leicester – and he is struggling to find a suitable replacement.

O’Sullivan, who has pulled out of FIVE tournaments in 2025, said: “I’ll make a decision when I feel like I’m ready to make a decision. That will be it.

“I know I have nothing to prove. But I was getting to the point where I was scared to even go near a table.

“Not even the match table, just a practice table. And that has been going on for a long time.

“I tried to play through it. I tried and I tried and I tried. I was getting no enjoyment out of it.

“Even that season when I won five tournaments, it was just hard. I couldn’t keep going on struggling.

“At some point you’ve got to try and enjoy the game. I can only enjoy it if I’m playing half decent.”

O’Sullivan – currently ranked fourth in the Worlds seeding pot – will play another pro over three days and how he feels then will influence his decision whether to appear at the Crucible for a 33rd consecutive year.

The seven-time world champion said: “I’ve got practice sessions booked up on the 14th, 15th and 16th.

“I’ll make a decision after those three good sparring sessions that I have arranged.

“Until then, I’ll be working as hard as I can to try and figure out the problem.

“It’s hard. It’s really hard. I never thought I’d be in this situation where I didn’t feel like I’d have the confidence to go and play to be honest with you.”

A race against time is on to locate the cue that will make him competitive over 17 gruelling days of action in South Yorkshire.

At the start of this year, after he lost 3-2 to Chris Wakelin at the behind-closed-doors event Championship League, O’Sullivan took his equipment and broke it in half – and then stuffed it in the bin!

His pal Robbie retrieved the cue and O’Sullivan laughed: “Unrepairable. It’s a bit of memorabilia now. It’ll be getting sold off.

“I literally don’t have a cue. I still haven’t found one that I’m comfortable with. Still just trying out different ones. Trying to find one that I like.

“I’ve probably changed my cue maybe four, five times. On two or three occasions, I found one straightaway.

“On the other two occasions, it has taken me sometimes a year to find one.

“I do regret it really. Because it was my cue. It’s hard to find another one.

“What happened was just coming. I have done it before. And it’s not the game, it’s me really.

“I’ve just been struggling for so long now. I just couldn’t do it anymore to be honest with you. I couldn’t. And I’m still struggling now to be honest.”

O’Sullivan, who turns 50 this year, has pulled out of the Masters, German Masters, Welsh Open and World Grand Prix, citing “medical grounds”. 

The long-term snooker expert for TNT Sports insists the issues are with his technique and are affecting his ability to strike the ball straight.

He said: “It got to the point where I was struggling with the game. I always call it snooker depression.

“Call it stage fright. Call it whatever you like. It starts to affect you mentally.

“Listen, that’s why I snapped my cue, I just couldn’t take it anymore.

“I don’t want to put myself in a situation where I feel like that could happen again.

“I need to find the love for the game, to find that passion.

“I’m not bothered about winning and losing. I never have been.

“I’ve always been more, ‘Where’s my game at?’ If my game is alright, then cool.

“If it’s terrible, I can leave that for one, two, three, four months. But I can’t live for three, four years of struggling and just grinding it out.

“It was just no fun to be honest with you. I’m trying to unravel it.

“If you’d asked me the question, ‘Do you think I’ll ever get to a point where I feel comfortable enough to go and play?‘

“Well, the answer two days ago would have been probably ‘maybe’. If you ask me today, after the last two practice sessions, I’d say absolutely not.

Gary Filtness is someone Ronnie has a lot of respect for. That’s no guarantee of success but it certainly helps. At least we now know where things stand. Also, Ronnie had spoken about going to Riyadh, end of next week to work with Nigel Bond. Nigel is also someone he trusts and an excellent coach. Fingers crossed something positive comes out of this!

But he’s been a lso beenworking with Lee Walker recently

Here is the Lee Walker’s interview also shared by Ben in commentary

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s coach reveals ‘hope’ ahead of World Snooker Championship decision

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s coach, Lee Walker, opens up about working with the seven-time world champion as fans wait to see if the Rocket will take part at the Crucible

By Mark Whiley Sports Reporter

It remains to be seen whether Ronnie O’Sullivan will play at the World Championship(Image: Getty)

Snooker coach Lee Walker has lifted the lid on working with Ronnie O’Sullivan as the Rocket ponders whether to play at the World Championship. Three years after going level with Stephen Hendry on seven world titles, it remains to be seen if the Rocket will show up for the 2025 showpiece, which begins on April 19.

O’Sullivan briefly returned to action in January at the low-key Championship League, only to smash his cue in frustration and withdraw before his final group match. He promptly withdrew from the Masters, where he was due to defend the title, and a series of other tournaments.

The 49-year-old is on the official entry list for the Crucible, but it remains anyone’s guess as to whether he will take part. Unhappy with his game, perfectionist O’Sullivan enlisted the help of Mark Williams’ long-time coach, Walker, earlier this season. That relationship is still ongoing as fans await the Rocket’s Crucible call with bated breath.

“We’re still working together but he’s taking a bit of a break at the moment,” said Walker in mid-March in an interview for Reach’s World Championship preview publication.

“We’ll just wait and see whether he comes back and plays at the World Championship. Hopefully, if he does play in the World Championship, he can feel a bit better and get back to doing what he does best, which is potting balls.”

O’Sullivan hasn’t played competitive snooker since January(Image: Getty)

While Walker has had just a handful of sessions with O’Sullivan so far, he described them as “incredible” experiences.

“It’s different to Mark because we’re very good friends and have practised together for years. I know what I’m seeing there,” explained Walker, a former World Seniors champion.

“I’ve played Ronnie a couple of times but had not actually seen what he does close up. I’ve had four or five sessions with him, and I enjoyed every one.

“He was first-class with me in every session we did. To see a player like that up close, everybody can learn different things from watching him.”

Williams had no issues with Walker linking up with one of his great rivals. Walker revealed: “He told me to do it. He basically said, ‘When a player like Ronnie asks you, there’s only one answer’.”

While O’Sullivan’s immediate future is uncertain, Walker insists it would be foolish to write him and fellow ‘Class of 92’ members Williams and John Higgins off.

“If he [O’Sullivan] never plays again or never wins another tournament, he’ll still go down as the greatest player who’s ever played the game,” said Walker. “This is what separates the likes of Ronnie, Mark and John from most other players.“

John has just won again [at the World Open] after a few years of not winning. People said he’d never win another tournament but you can never write these guys off. They’re just incredible.

“I’m sure Ronnie will eventually want to get back to it. I think everyone, firstly, wants to see him feeling good and then getting back to what he does best.”

I had just seen that same interview myself.

I’m not sure what to make of all this.

It’s obvious that Ronnie is truly struggling with his mental health at the moment and probably isn’t really fit to play. It’s not the first time it happens. Of course, we don’t know if the state of his snooker is the only thing weighting on his mind. Because a person, like Ronnie, is a “public figure” doesn’t mean the “public” has any right to know what’s going on in their private life and nobody knows what’s going on in other people’s life unless they share their concerns, fears or sorrows. Also, Ronnie has previous with depression. His documentary was very revealing in that regard. We just have to accept that it is what it is – as he would put it himself – and hope for the best.

David Hendon speaks about what he saw from Ronnie at the CLS, and his withdrawal from the Masters

Monique opinion, Professional snooker tournament, Snooker, Talking point , ,

David Hendon was, still is probably, in Leicester where he comments on the action.

Following Ronnie’s withdrawal from the Masters, and reading peoples’ reactions to it, David decided to explain what he witnessed during Group 3 at the 2025 invitational CLS: you can listen to it here.

Thank you David for sharing this and your balanced views on what happened.

And, yes, it’s a concern.

Snooker News – 8 January 2025 … and more rant

Monique opinion, Professional snooker tournament, Snooker ,

The 2025 Championship League Snooker Invitational continued on Monday and yesterday with Group 2.

The group was won by Si Jiahui, and Jak Jones, the runner-up made his first professional 147.

Here is the report shared by WST:

JONES JOINS 147 CLUB, BUT SI WINS GROUP

Jak Jones made the first official maximum break of his career at the BetVictor Championship League Snooker Invitational on Tuesday, however he finished runner-up in Group Two to Si Jiahui.

…

Jones’ perfect break came in the third frame of a 3-0 victory over Chris Wakelin during the group phase, in which he also made breaks of 81 and 119. Wakelin failed to score a single point in the fixture as Crucible runner-up Jones showed his break-building calibre. It’s the 209th maximum in snooker history and seventh of the 2024/25 season so far.

China’s Si finished top of the group table with five wins out of six, followed by Ali Carter, Jones and Wakelin who all notched three wins. In the semi-finals, Si came from 2-1 down to beat Wakelin 3-2, making breaks of 94 and 77 in the last two frames. Jones saw off Carter 3-1.

Welshman Jones took a 2-0 lead in the final, but Si stormed back to 2-2 with runs of 101 and 94, then got the better of the decider to book his place in February’s Winners’ Group. Before that, the 22-year-old can look forward to a debut in next week’s Johnstone’s Paint Masters, and Si will head to Alexandra Palace full of confidence with a series of wins under his belt.

Group Three gets underway on Wednesday with World Champion Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby and Ronnie O’Sullivan joining the action.

Broadcast Information
Fans can watch the action unfold globally, with comprehensive live coverage available on two tables throughout the tournament. Table One will be streamed live on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel and available to UK viewers as well as on Rigour in China and Viaplay in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Iceland. Table Two will be streamed live on the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel, accessible to fans worldwide.

All results are available on snooker.org.

I’m coming out once again regarding WST “broadcast” information… and It’s not just about this event. I live now in Greece. Table 1 is geo-blocked in Greece despite the fact that there is no other way to watch it without a vpn. Next week the Masters will be played. Again I will have no means to watch it without a vpn. We have a television, with 40+ different channels available but only BBC news is part of the available packages. 1HBOmax is now the replacement platform for the ES player … but again, I need a vpn to use it because it’s not available in Greece. Vpns don’t come for free and you must know how to set them up. Over the last years WST policies, and broadcasters policies have made it increasingly difficult and costly for me to watch the snooker. IF the people in charge at WST really want the sport to be truly “global” and grow in new regions, these policies have to change. They won’t develop a growing interest in the sport if more and more people are prevented to watch it unless they have some IT stuff knowledge and are willing to pay. Quite the opposite, they will lose viewers in places were it used to be easily accessible.

  1. Some more channels are available via satellite TV. However, on top of the associated costs, there are restrictions on that too. In most traditional villages, satellite plates are not allowed. ↩︎

Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry assess Ronnie’s form and motivation ahead of the UK Championship

Monique opinion, Professional snooker ,

Steve Davis

‘So be it’ – Ronnie O’Sullivan claim made as snooker legend gears up for UK Championship

Ronnie O’Sullivan is bidding to win a record-extending ninth UK Championship, with snooker legend Steve Davis admitting that different rules apply to the Rocket.

By Nick Murphy

Steve Davis has dismissed any doubts over Ronnie O’Sullivan’s drive and determination as he aims for a ninth UK Championship crown.

The Rocket has skipped several tournaments this season, including the Wuhan Open, the British Open and the Northern Ireland Open, all due to medical reasons. He’s since returned to the baize at the International Open and the Champion of Champions, ahead of his latest appearance at the Barbican.

Davis isn’t the slightest bit worried about O’Sullivan’s hunger as he looks to add another UK Championship trophy to his collection, two decades on from his first. And he’s suggested the Essex potter, who takes on Barry Hawkins in the first round in York, is in a league of his own when it comes to managing his tournament schedule.

“I think it’s worked well for Ronnie the last couple of years he’s been doing it,” Davis revealed in our UK Championship snooker preview, out now. “He doesn’t have anything to prove, so he doesn’t need to play in every event. There is a problem with getting enough ranking points so that he stays at the top end of the game.“

“I don’t think Ronnie would want to be in a situation where he has to qualify for the Crucible. He has to play in events to stay in the top 16 if that’s still a motivating force. But different rules apply to Ronnie, he’s absolutely paid his dues within the game,” reports the Express.

“It’s not that he doesn’t love the game. He’s been playing for so long and it’s incredible what he’s done, but if he doesn’t want to play in events because he’s got other things to do or that makes him stronger in the main events then so be it.“

Davis continued: “I think that’s great. The worst thing is if you’re playing events because you feel like you have to and you’re just going through the motions. That’s not the right mental state to be turning up in a tournament for, you’re unlikely to get the best out of yourself.“

Although the World Championship isn’t until well into 2025, the conversation inevitably shifts to O’Sullivan’s pursuit of an eighth snooker title. Davis doesn’t think that surpassing Stephen Hendry’s record is O’Sullivan’s primary driving force, despite how much he’d love to achieve the milestone.

“I do feel that he’d love to get an eighth, that would be something that would give him a buzz,” Davis concedes. “But in order to do that you’ve got to remain relevant and competitive. If it is the case that it’s the only thing on his mind, it would be difficult to play for the rest of the season.“

“It’s proof that he’s still entering tournaments that he still loves the game.”

Stephen Hendry

Stephen Hendry issues blunt Ronnie O’Sullivan verdict ahead of UK Championship defence

Stephen Hendry has given his verdict on Ronnie O’Sullivan’s chances of enjoying more Triple Crown glory as The Rocket prepares to begin his defence of the UK Championship

By Mark Whiley

Stephen Hendry insists it would be “stupid” to write off Ronnie O’Sullivan at the UK Championship.

By his own admission, The Rocket’s powers are on the wane and he has skipped several tournaments already this season, citing medical issues. However, it’s still less than year since O’Sullivan won eighth titles at the both the UK Championship and Masters, taking his overall Triple Crown tally to an incredible 23.

An eighth world title, which would see him go out on his own ahead of Hendry, continues to elude him and looks less likely as each year passes. However, Hendry argues that more major tournament success for O’Sullivan cannot be ruled out if he can get somewhere close to his brilliant best.

“On his day, when he plays his best, he’s still the best player in the world,” Hendry told Mirror Sport ahead of tournament, where he will be on punditry duty for BBC.

“But those unbelievable performances are becoming fewer and farther between. It would be stupid to write him off because if he plays at his best, he will do it [win the big tournaments]. But there’s no doubt it’s going to get harder the older he gets.

“You’ve got Judd Trump, who’s turning into a winning machine and Kyren Wilson is having an incredible season as world champion. There’s so many great players out there. If Ronnie plays his best, he probably still is the best player. But he doesn’t do it that often.”

With other interests in the game, Hendry, who retired for a second and final time earlier this year, feels O’Sullivan’s competitive juices have faded. The five-time UK champion added: “He’s always looked at other things beyond [competitive] snooker.”

“He’s got an academy in Saudi Arabia, he does a lot of exhibitions in China which makes him a lot of money. So maybe the competitive side is not as high up in his priorities as it used to be.

“It’s going to be interesting to see if he apples himself to tournaments likes the UK Championship, the Masters and the World Championship.”

Personally, I have no great expectations. I expected Xiao Guodong to cause Ronnie problems in the CoC and was proved right. That said Ronnie played better than I expected and Xiao went on to reach the final. So, maybe, that defeat isn’t as significant as I thought it was right after that match.

Barry Hawkins is a very, very solid match player but hasn’t a great record against Ronnie. We can only wait and… hope.

The 2024 British Open – Poor conditions, poor crowds

Monique opinion, Professional snooker tournament, Snooker ,

I would like some feedback on this one, by people who attended the event, and people who play the game and are able to express a meaningful opinion about the way the tables play in this event, and played in recent events.

Mark Allen has been very critical about the conditions

‘The conditions out there are absolutely embarrassing’ – Mark Allen

Antrim snooker player blasts tables at the British Open championship.

THE FOLLY OF LEAVING doors open to drafts was exposed at the British Open snooker championships, when Mark Allen lost his cool with the state of the tables after his 4-3 win over Gary Wilson.

Speaking to ITV after his match at the Centaur Arena at Cheltenham Racecourse, the Co Antrim man got a few things off his chest.

“The conditions out there are absolutely embarrassing,” Allen told ITV.

“It’s some of the worst weather outside and they’ve left the massive transport doors open. It’s so cold, it’s so humid, out there.”

He got on a roll then, proclaiming, “The table needs to be burned.

“The cushions are unplayable, uncontrollable. It was heavy. The speed was decent.

“There are new guys doing the tables this year and they’re clearly not up to it.”

World Snooker then issued a response, saying in a statement, “Our table-fitting team has been consistent for some time and works to the highest standards.

“The weather in the area has seen unprecedented rainfall over the last couple of days which can negatively influence the conditions.

“We have raised the issue of an open door with the venue.”

Allen has since clarified his remarks on X, formerly Twitter, this morning, writing about his interaction with interviewer Rob Walker, ‘After having some time to calm down I’d like to apologise to @robwalkertv for that interview. My anger wasn’t directed at him and he definitely deserved a better interview. My frustrations were 100% at the conditions which frankly haven’t been anywhere good enough this season.’

Indeed it seems to me that the conditions in general this season have been suboptimal. I have seen a lot of players this season staring at the table in incredulity after shots went astray.

And it seems to me that the fans haven’t exactly been “crowding” the venue. Most matches I watched were not on the main table and the “crowd” watching was very small, only a few people really. Also it’s been like that in early rounds in previous events as well. It’s only at the final week-ends1 that things get better.

  1. And for some player(s) when they elect to play… ↩︎

Food for thoughts … 10 June 2024

Monique opinion

The first ranking event of the season starts in a few hours. The summer hiatus comes to an end and I want to share a few thoughts about some of the things that happened during the “break”.

A lot of exhibitions were organised during the late spring, both in Asia and in mainland Europe. More than I can remember ever before certainly. They were very well attended and some additional dates had to be added for the European “leg” such was the demand. They “sold out” in no time. WST seems to have relaxed the restrictions on those events quite a bit, which is good. . This is probably the result of the renegotiation of the players contract, under pressure of the players representatives. Giving more visibility to those exhibitions has certainly not caused the sport any damage, quite the opposite.

A number of snooker players were/are in China, playing in a Heyball event with a prize money worth over 200000 pounds for the winner. Amongst them, two former World Champions Stuart Bingham and Graeme Dott.

In recent days I have been watching a lot of the 2024 nine ball pool World Championship and I think snooker could learn from them. I did like the setup in Jeddah a lot. I also like the double elimination system, as it gives every player a guaranteed two matches. One of the players who lost his first match, made the most of his second chance and reached the SFs. The field is much younger than in snooker, and much, much more international. Events are organised all around the globe – no UK centrism here – with events coming in Hanoi, the USA and Germany in the summer. I which snooker was much more like that. Of course, pool is easier to learn at a basic level than snooker, the tables are smaller too. It’s cheaper and probably economically more profitable for clubs to invest in pool equipment rather than in snooker equipment. Even so, I think it would be worth to analyse the reasons behind their success … especially are they are not even shown on television, at least not in our part of the world.

Then the was this post on facebook by Tim Dunkley, one of the most respected coaches in the UK:

I WAS reminded this morning of what I said a year ago when eight past or present members of the Saturday morning junior leagues at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club were called up by England for the 2023 Home Internationals.

“We will never be able to repeat this achievement,” I declared.

How wrong can you be. This week eight past or present members of the Saturday morning junior leagues received invites for the 2024 Home Internationals.

All eight started their competitive careers in our Under-13 League. So for those players struggling to make a bridge hand or trying to hit the cue-ball in a straight line or even yet to pick up a cue for the first time, commitment and hard work could lead to you donning a waistcoat with a gold three-lions badge. It happened with these eight.

The Chandlers Ford SC Under-13 League runs from 9-11am every Saturday. The Under-19 League runs from 11am-1pm every Saturday. We also run junior competitions from 11am-3pm on every weekday during every school holiday.

Time now to prove that these eight were once beginners. Pictured are: Asten Sahota, Ellise Scott, Harry Wyatt, Oliver Sykes, O’Shay Scott, Riley Ellis, Ryan Spratt and William Thomson.

First of all, well done to Tim and his team: they do a great job to bring kids of both genders to snooker and have done that for many years. One name in that list caught my attention, I put it in bold. Ellise is a 13 years old girl. I checked the HIBSF site and there doesn’t seem to be a women event on the menu. So I can only suppose that Ellise has been deemed good enough to compete in the open event, on par with the boys belonging to the same age group. And it appears that another young girl will compete for Scotland: Sophie Nix. I’m not sure it’s happened before and it shows that, although there is still a lot of work to do to bring more girls to snooker and nurture their talent, the WWS tour has a real purpose and there are clubs and coaches ready to invest themselves to the task.

There are currently 125 players on tour. One more qualifying event is to be played in Australia in July. Invitational tour cards, if any, are yet to be announced.