Giants of the baize including Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Shaun Murphy local favourite Mark Selby and defending champion Mark Allen will be in action at the World Grand Prix at the Morningside Arena in Leicester in January.
The prestigious event, with a field of only the best 32 players from the one-year ranking list, will run from January 15 to 21.
…
Player of the season so far Judd Trump gets the tournament underway on the evening of Monday January 15 in a clash with Jamie Jones. The opening round will also see blockbuster battles including John Higgins taking on Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen facing Jack Lisowski.
The full first round schedule is:
Monday January 15
7pm Judd Trump v Jamie Jones Chris Wakelin v Lyu Haotian Followed by Mark Selby v Yuan Sijun Ali Carter v Wu Yize
Tuesday January 16
1pm John Higgins v Shaun Murphy Stephen Maguire v Zhou Yuelong Followed by Gary Wilson v David Gilbert Hossein Vafaei v Matthew Selt
7pm Mark Williams v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Tom Ford v Jordan Brown Followed by Ronnie O’Sullivan v Pang Junxu Barry Hawkins v Cao Yupeng
Wednesday January 17
1pm Ding Junhui v Ricky Walden Noppon Saengkham v Xiao Guodong Followed by Mark Allen v Jack Lisowski Zhang Anda v Dominic Dale
The World Grand Prix is the first of three events in the 2024 Players Series, to be followed by the Players Championship in Telford in February and the Tour Championship at Manchester Central in April.
Following the massive success of the MrQ UK Championship, World Snooker Tour (WST) is pleased to announce MrQ as the new Lead Partner of The Masters, the sport’s greatest invitation event, to be contested by the best 16 players on the planet.
The MrQ Masters will run from January 7 to 14 at the iconic Alexandra Palace in London. Celebrating the 50th staging of this historic tournament, which was first held in 1975, WST is delighted to join forces with MrQ.com for one of the outstanding events of the global tour.
Popular UK-based online casino MrQ launched in 2018 and established a modern, easy to use platform to provide a fun and transparent customer experience.
MrQ’s first partnership with snooker came at the recent UK Championship in York. The event achieved tremendous viewing figures, with a peak audience of 2.6 million for the final on BBC, and a cumulative audience of 14.3 million across the event on BBC and UK Eurosport.
MrQ has now grasped the opportunity to join forces with WST again for another of snooker’s Triple Crown Series. The MrQ Masters will bring packed crowds to Alexandra Palace, with all standard tickets for the 2,000-seat arena sold out weeks in advance.
Judd Trump will defend the title, in a field full of giants of the baize including Ronnie O’Sullivan, Luca Brecel, Mark Selby, John Higgins, Mark Allen and many more.
MrQ’s Head of Acquisition James Booth said: “We were elated by the success of the MrQ UK Championship, we had not fully appreciated snooker’s vast reach and popularity, in terms of its live and television audience. We look forward to seeing this partnership taken to the next level at the MrQ Masters in London.
“We’re particularly excited about getting involved with the fan experience at Ally Pally, renowned as the best of its kind on the snooker circuit, including interactive games. As always we’ll be bringing an extra element of fun for fans coming for a great day out.”
WST’s Chief Commercial Officer Peter Wright said: “We’re delighted to develop this relationship with MrQ, our lead partner for two of the three Triple Crown events this season. Clearly they were amazed by the incredible atmosphere at the UK Championship and the exceptional data that came out of the event, so naturally they were very motivated to extend their relationship with a rapidly growing sport.
“We can now look forward to the MrQ Masters, which in recent years has increased its appeal to become one of the hottest tickets across London. We look forward to working with the MrQ team on this elite event.”
…
I can’t say I’m thrilled… you know my thoughts about bookies and betting in general. It’s a plague…
The 2024 Championship League Snooker line-up has been revealed on the event site.
This line-up will certainly change, it always does. As it stand Ronnie has entered the event, but in the last Group , Group 7.
This event is not everybody’s cup of tea (coffee for me, please) but I like it because the players usually play with a lot of freedom and it’s often very pleasant to watch.
Commission agrees £691,000 regulatory settlement with MrQ
20th September 2023 | By Zak Thomas-Akoo
20th September 2023
The GB Gambling Commission agreed a £690,947 (€798,643/ $853,793) regulatory settlement with MrQ operator Lindar Media for anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility breaches.
The Commission began its regulatory review of MrQ after it made a compliance assessment in September 2022.
The review found failings in the online bingo and igaming operator’s processes for stopping money laundering and protecting people from being harmed by gambling.
It also found that Lindar Media had breached several of its Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). These ranged from AML to social responsibility failings.
The Commission said that, based on these failures and considering the operator’s actions since the assessment, it had agreed a £690,947 regulatory settlement with Lindar Media. This money will be directed to social responsible causes.
Findings of the compliance assessment
The GC outlined the specific failings it had found in Lindar Media’s compliance assessment. These included weaknesses in its implementation of AML policies, procedures and controls.
The regulator also discovered shortcomings in its responsible gambling policies, procedures, controls and practices. It highlighted failures that extended to its reporting as to when key events took place.
Other deficiencies included Lindar’s head of regulatory compliance taking additional management posts without Commission approval.
The operator also did not advertise its products in a socially responsible way. Finally, it failed to make its required research, prevention and treatment contributions to an organisation supporting those harmed by gambling.
“You win some, you lose some”
Responding to the regulatory settlement, Lindar Media said that the breaches happened during a time of growth for the business and that safer gambling policies had been improved since the time of the failures.
“My focus since 2022 has been centred around maturing the day-to-day operations through the development of the senior leadership team,” said Lindar Media chief executive Savvas Fellas.
“We’ve implemented scalable processes that provide consistency as we grow and built technology-driven models that underpin compliance and safer gambling promises to our players; all of which are aligned with our mission of offering progressive, value entertainment – with delight and transparency,” he added.
Money laundering and terrorist financing failures
Licence condition 12.1.1(1) says licence holders must assess their money laundering and terrorist financing (ML and TF) risk.
The Commission said MrQ failed to have an appropriate assessment for these risks. This was because it did not assess risk relating to customers, their means of payment, or additional inherent and emerging risks.
The ML and TF assessment also did not address key risk factors. These include customers associating with higher risk countries, along with a disproportionate spend relative to their wealth and business arrangements taking place in unusual circumstances.
Other risks not accounted for related to a customer being the beneficiary of a life insurance policy as well as when a customer is a foreign national applying for residence in return for transfers of capital.
The Commission also said Lindar breached licence condition 12.1.1(2) which outlines the operator’s responsibility for putting in place ML and TF controls.
Lindar failed to have appropriate measures in place. This included the company’s practice of automatically assigning a “low” level of ML risk to new customers.
The Commission said that, at this point, there would be not enough information to give them a rating. It assessed there was an over-reliance on financial triggers to identify and maintain ML risks.
The Commission also noted that financial thresholds for ML were too high, thereby allowing customers to deposit and lose more than £10,000. The regulator said this “did not appear to be sufficiently risk-based”.
MrQ’s social responsibility breaches
MrQ’s licence condition 15.2.1(4) makes clear licensees must notify the Commission within five working days after a key event takes place.
The operator did not inform the Commission promptly when its head of regulatory compliance left the position in June 2022. As such, the regulator found that the business was in breach of the licence condition between 20 June and September 2022.
The online bingo business also failed to comply with paragraphs 1a, 1b and 2 of the Social Responsibility Codes of Practice 3.4.1 (Customer Interaction).
These rules outline how licensees must interact with customers in a manner that minimise the risk of customers experiencing harms associated with gambling.
Lindar Media failed to identify customers at risk of experiencing gambling harms. Its financial and safer gambling triggers “were not always effective”, especially when dealing with customers depositing at a high velocity.
Disproportionate spend relative to personal circumstances was not considered until large amounts of money had been lost. When MrQ did consider personal circumstances, it did so using County Court judgements and bankruptcy data which was not always effective.
MrQ’s advertising failures
The Commission criticised the company for allowing its agents to use cartoon imagery to advertise the business. This is because of its appeal to children.
Surely such association is much more damaging to the sport’s image, and hence its future, than a handful of top players opting out of a rather minor event in favour of an unstreamed exhibition in China, earning some money whilst sparing themselves a tiring back and forth trip across several time zones…
Any player making two maximum breaks during this season’s Triple Crown Series will be rewarded with a massive £147,000 bonus.
This new initiative applies to the 2023 MrQ UK Championship, the 2024 Masters and the 2024 Cazoo World Championship. A player who makes two maximums (either a 147 or 155) in either the qualifying rounds or the final stages of those three tournaments will earn the huge bonus.
WST Chairman Steve Dawson said: “There is nothing quite as exhilarating in snooker as a maximum break, those moments bring us to the edge of our seats. And we’re making that achievement all the more special this season during our Triple Crown events.
“We’d love to see at least one player make a 147 at the MrQ UK Championship which would give them two more tournaments to chase the bonus. Last season we saw maximums from Kyren Wilson and Mark Selby at the Crucible – imagine the thrill if there was an extra £147,000 on the line!
“The skill level in snooker now is higher than ever and we expect this new prize will give the players extra motivation to go for maximum breaks.”
The bonus would be awarded in addition to the high break prizes for the individual events.
Up to three players could win this bonus, for example if three different players each made two 147s then they would each win £147,000. Or if one player made six maximums then he would bank £441,000!
The counting events are:
MrQ UK Championship. November 18-23 (qualifying rounds) and November 25 to December 3 The Masters. January 7-14. Cazoo World Championship. April 8-17 (qualifying rounds) and April 20 to May 6.
Looks great he? Well the snooker.org team had a good look at the stats. In the history of the game so far, a player having 2 maximum breaks in the course of those three events happened only once, in 2007/08 when Ronnie had one against Mark Selby in the 2007 UK Championship semi-finals, and another one in the last 16 of the 2008 World Championship against Mark Williams. In total there was never more than three maximums made during those three events combined in a season, and, other than Ronnie’s “double”, they were always made by three different players. So, this, in my eyes is just a publicity coup, as WST probably looked at the stats and know that the “risk” they are taking is very, very small … No player in their right mind will take the risk to go for a maximum in the second most important ranking tournament of the season, unless, maybe, if they are so far behind that they have forfeited any serious hope to win the match in progress.
Dechawat Poomjaeng’s WPBSA membership has lapsed therefore he is no longer a professional player on the World Snooker Tour and has been removed from the world rankings.
Dechawat last competed on the circuit at the 2023 Cazoo World Snooker Championship, reaching the second qualifying round in Sheffield. He has confirmed that he will not return to the Tour during his existing two-year tour card for personal reasons and we wish him all the best for the future.
Jonas Luz ousted fellow Brazilian Fabinho 5-4 in a gripping final to win the 2023 Pan American Snooker Championship held at the Rio de Janeiro Yacht Club.
Victory for the 37-year-old from Esteio-RS means he will be nominated for a two-year professional World Snooker Tour card.
Organised by World Snooker Federation member the Pan American Billiards and Snooker Association (PABSA), this year’s event featured players from Canada, the United States of America, Mexico and the host nation Brazil. The entrants were drawn into eight round robin groups of five, with the top two from each pool qualifying for the concluding knockout rounds.
Luz finished second in Group 8 having won three of his four matches; his only defeat coming against former professional and table topper Itaro Santos (Brazil).
The eventual champion survived a deciding frame finish as he came from behind to defeat recent Pan American Seniors Championship finalist Zico (Brazil) 3-2 in the last 16 before a more comfortable 3-0 success against Charlie Brown (Canada) in the quarter-finals.
On Finals Day in the last four, Luz pipped Rafinha (Brazil) on the colours in the deciding frame for a 4-3 win.
Emerging from the other side of the draw was 41-year-old Fabinho who didn’t drop a single frame as he came top of his group and then dispatched Ajeya Prabhakar (USA) 3-0 in the last 16.
In the last eight, Fabinho produced a big upset as he eliminated pre-tournament favourite Igor Figueiredo (Brazil).
Ex-professional Figueiredo – winner of this tournament in 2019 – was going for a title double in Rio having won the Seniors category earlier in the week. Things were going according to plan for the 46-year-old as he compiled a 114 clearance in the opening frame of his quarter-final tie, but Fabinho claimed the next three frames – including a break of 88 in frame three – for a memorable 3-1 win.
Fabinho then ended the hopes of Daniel Holoyda (USA) 4-0 in the semi-finals, top scoring with a 55. In the previous round, Holoyda – who has dual Polish-American citizenship – defeated Santos 3-0.
In the best of nine frames title match, Fabinho took the opening two frames on the colours but Luz responded (48 break, frame three) as he levelled up at 2-2 heading into the mid-session interval.
A 47 break from Fabinho in frame five looked like putting him back in front but Luz crafted a green to pink clearance to go ahead for the first time, although two efforts of 40 in frame six got the Paraná cueist back on level terms.
Luz went one up with two to play before Fabinho sent the contest all the way with a break of 54 in frame eight as he left his opponent pointless.
In a tense deciding frame for the title, whilst on a break of 43 Luz potted the third-to-last red – the ball that would leave his opponent needing a snooker – but went in-off at the same time. However, with that red ball now off the table, Fabinho needed penalty points, and his task was made even more difficult later on when he fluked a red that he didn’t want to pot. Luz later sank the final red to confirm the biggest accolade of his career to date and earn qualification to snooker’s professional circuit for the first time.
World number 68 Sanderson Lam came from 3-1 down to beat former European Masters winner Fan Zhengyi 4-3 and qualify for the final stages of the BetVictor Scottish Open.
Lam is in good form at the moment, having already qualified for next week’s International Championship. The Englishman also scored a fine win over 2010 World Champion Neil Robertson during a run to the last 32 of the BetVictor English Open.
Having battled back to force a decider, Lam got the better of an exchange on the final pink, depositing it and a tricky cut back black to book his place in Edinburgh.
China’s Si Jiahui came from 3-1 down to beat compatriot Tian Pengfei 4-3. (Tian) Si composed breaks of 71 and 50 in the last two frames to get over the line.
Zhou Yuelong put on a brilliant performance to beat Anthony Hamilton 4-0. Breaks of 75, 129 and 134 saw China’s Zhou storm to victory.
Former Scottish Open finalist Cao Yupeng scored a 4-2 win over David Lilley, while Noppon Saengkham whitewashed Rebecca Kenna 4-0.
Anthony McGill earned his place in the final stages of his home event with a 4-0 win over Australia’s Ryan Thomerson, while Matthew Selt beat Dylan Emery 4-1.
Snooker in CRISIS with Mark Selby, John Higgins and world champion Luca Brecel leading a player mutiny – as Ronnie O’Sullivan brands governing body’s stance ‘b****cks’
Selby, Higgins and Brecel are among five players to have snubbed a key event
The trio have shunned this month’s Northern Ireland Open to play in Macau
Mark Selby, John Higgins and world champion Luca Brecel are leading a player mutiny – handing an embarrassing snub to snooker bosses.
Four-time world champions Selby and Higgins plus the reigning Crucible king Brecel – along with Ali Carter and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh – have shunned this month’s official Northern Ireland Open.
Despite threats of legal action from World Snooker Tour, the five decided not to enter Belfast and opt instead for a lucrative Macau exhibition.
WST bosses sent first emails and then strongly-worded letters claiming if the players took part in Macau they would be breaching contracts, harming the game and facing disciplinary action.
But lawyers representing the players reckon the threats are baseless since they did not enter the Northern Ireland event, and believe they are just doing what they want on their own time.
Both John Higgins (left) and world champion Luca Brecel have shunned the Northern Ireland Open
And world No1 Ronnie O’Sullivan, himself playing in a Shanghai exhibition this month, has backed the ‘Macau Five’ – describing WST’s stance as ‘b*ll*cks, trying to scare players like that’.
Many of the players involved are furious over what they see as heavy-handed tactics. Part-organiser Victoria Shi, owner of a Sheffield academy, has also been threatened with action.
Selby, who has suffered badly with mental health issues in recent years, is understood to have requested he receive no further correspondence on the matter.
This comes with another highly-paid unofficial event featuring O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Mark Williams, Jack Lisowski and Ding Junhui looming even sooner this month in Shanghai.
The Shanghai exhibition takes place during the Northern Ireland Open qualifying event. Top-16 players involved could still appear at the final stages given their opening rounds are held over.
But WST were also unhappy with big names playing this event – believing it will leave the qualifiers in the shade. They originally banned the players from taking part – before softening their stance.
And they issued similarly threatening letters to players insisting they keep all involvement in Shanghai quiet demanding a social media and news blackout – and participation in Belfast, for which only Williams is confirmed.
The player-power situation presents a huge challenge for the governing body going forward, with big-name stars openly flouting their authority – and lawyers no doubt licking their lips.
With Chinese tournaments back in the calendar this season after three years following the Covid pandemic, WST had been hoping for a smoother ride in 2023-24.
But after those years of reduced earnings new opportunities are opening up in the Far and Middle East. Players want to cash in – leading to the current row.
And events of the week have highlighted a chasm between the best players and the game’s rulers. There has even been hushed talk of a boycott of January’s prestigious Masters.
O’Sullivan has been among those fiercely critical of some aspects of the way the tour is organised, the venues used in the UK, and the treatment of the players outside Asia.
He has even in the past suggested the possibility of a breakaway tour – which today sounds less fanciful than it did.
WST were accused earlier this year of attempting to gag players and bar them speaking to the media about a large meeting discussing the future of the sport.
But on this occasion it appears any similar attempts have backfired, with the players involved calling WST’s bluff over both Macau and Shanghai.
O’Sullivan, the sport’s biggest draw, has led calls for players to be able to maximise their earnings.
On the Shanghai exhibition, he said: ‘There is absolutely no reason to try and stop me and other players going to Shanghai during the Northern Ireland qualifiers.
‘That is a small event, we are not involved, and we could still play in the final stages with our matches being held over.
‘Players are just trying to earn money, it is their choice. And they are realising their value. They are trying to restrict us. Those involved in Shanghai were sent letters advising them not to play.
‘I know for the tournament in Macau players were also sent even stronger threatening letters telling them it was in breach of their contract.
‘That with an opportunity to play in an official tournament they were turning it down and choosing to go somewhere else, and it was damaging for the sport.
‘It is b*ll*cks, trying to scare players like that. It’s wrong and I am glad they have taken a strong stance.
‘This is about players being able to earn what they can, and choose how and when they play. They can enter a tournament – but they don’t have to.
‘They used to try and tell me what to say, until I got a really good lawyer who kicked back at them. If they want to play silly games, we can all play silly games.’
WST were asked a number of pertinent questions, and given the opportunity to respond to the story. A spokesperson would say only: ‘WST does not publicly discuss private conversations with the players, or share contractual information.’
I’m not sure why this is seen as a “mutiny”. My understanding was always that players are not obliged to enter any event, and can play in what they want in their “free” time provided that it is not televised or streamed, unless they get permission from WST. After all they are essentially self-employed, although the guaranteed 20000 pounds may have changed that situation slightly. But, as far as I know, the players don’t get anything from WST/WPBSA, when they retire, so they need to secure their financial future whilst they still can. Higgins, Selby and Carter are all over 40 and in the last part of their professional career.
The streaming/television restriction was applied with sometimes ridiculous rigour in the past, notably when Paul Mount was forced to stop streaming the Pink Ribbon, a big charity pro-am, raising funds to support breast cancer research and care, that was happening in the middle of the summer when nothing else was on or even close to happen. But this is much higher profile and it does clash with a WST event.
What has changed of course in recent years is that, even if promoters do not stream or televise events, fans are now taking and sharing a lot of images and videos over social media providing huge exposure totally out of the control of the governing body.
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) and the Asia-Pacific Snooker and Billiards Federation (APSBF) are today delighted to announce the launch of the new Q Tour Asia-Pacific Series as part of the WPBSA Q Tour Global during the 2023/24 season.
The Asia-Pacific region becomes the first to join the newly expanded WPBSA Q Tour Global, which will culminate in a 24-player playoff, with three places on the professional World Snooker Tour to be won from the start of the 2024/25 season.
As in previous seasons, the playoff will feature a minimum of 16 players from the UK/Europe rankings, who will now be joined by up to eight international qualifiers – including one from the Asia-Pacific region – from across the globe.
ASIA-PACIFIC SERIES
To encompass three recognised tournaments across the region, the Asia-Pacific Series will operate its own ranking list with the top ranked player following the third event to qualify for this season’s Q Tour Global Playoff next spring.
The qualifying events will be:
Bob Hawke AC Open Snooker (12-15 October 2023)
New Zealand Open Snooker
Dr Clem Jones AC Open Snooker
Events will be open to players born in, or resident in the Asia-Pacific region for a minimum of six months.
“PROVEN TRACK RECORD”
Jason Ferguson, WPBSA Chairman said: “I am excited to welcome the APSBF to the WPBSA Q Tour Global and to provide this additional opportunity for players in the Asia-Pacific region to qualify for the World Snooker Tour.
“Frank Dewens and his team have a proven track record of hosting high-quality tournaments, none more so than this year’s WSF Championships in Sydney which were well-supported by players from the region and beyond.
“I look forward to welcoming the successful player to our new Global Playoff, where they will compete among the best amateur snooker players in the world to join our professional circuit.”
Frank Dewens, APSBF President said: “We are extremely excited and honoured to be included in the WPBSA Q Tour Global. This will provide opportunities for the players within the APSBF to qualify for the World Snooker Tour.”
Entry for the Bob Hawke AC Open is open now via the ABSC website with a closing date of 29 September 2023.
WPBSA To Host Landmark New Player Support Programme
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) and WPBSA Players have today announced the launch of the WPBSA Player Support Programme, to be held on September 15 and 16 at the prestigious Lilleshall National Sports Centre.
The groundbreaking new event promises to be a transformative experience for over 40 professional snooker players and will be hosted by the renowned sports broadcaster, Rob Walker, and is proudly presented in association with Taom Billiards.
Over 40 current professionals from all around the world are set to take part in the weekend, including rising stars Julien Leclercq and Ben Mertens from Belgium, China’s WSF world champion Ma Hailong as well as England’s Stan Moody and Liam Pullen, who both joined the Tour this summer.
They will also be joined by the four current women professionals on the circuit including reigning world champion Baipat Siripaporn and 12-time queen Reanne Evans and a host of players making a return to the tour including WPBSA Q Tour number one Martin O’Donnell and Q School graduates Alexander Ursenbacher, Andrew Pagett and Stuart Carrington.
During the two-day event, the next generation of snooker stars will receive comprehensive support and guidance from WPBSA Players on a wide range of critical subjects, including integrity, match-fixing prevention, mental health and wellbeing, media training, financial management and career transition.
Guest speakers will include well known figures from across sport and experts from the world of business who will take the stage to share their experiences and insights, offering invaluable advice to aspiring and established players alike.
“Best preparation possible”
Jason Ferguson, WPBSA Chairman, said: “I am hugely excited by the launch of the WPBSA Player Support Programme as we aim to provide our next generation with meaningful and practical support at the start of their professional careers in our sport.
“I know from my own experience just how big a step up it is coming from the amateur game. Not only on the baize, but equally so off the table, where there is so much to learn. It is our vision that this new programme will provide players new to the tour with the best preparation possible for their respective journeys.
“And for players who might be returning to the tour, or have re-qualified via Q School, the message is the same and I am confident that everyone taking part will be able to take something valuable from the two days.
“I would like to thank our teams at the WPBSA and WPBSA Players, as well as recognise the support to be provided by Taom Billiards and the Professional Players Federation, which demonstrates the commitment of key stakeholders to the future of our sport.”
Brendan Batson, Chairman of the Professional Players Federation (PPF), expressed his enthusiasm for the initiative, saying: “It is vitally important that players know their sport’s rules on betting. Integrity education is essential for all professional players and will help protect them from the devastation that match-fixing scandals bring to reputations and careers. The PPF is delighted to support the first WPBSA Players Support Programme.”
Ken Doherty, Chairman of WPBSA Players, said: “Professional sport can be tough. Our commitment to supporting snooker professionals on issues such as personal and professional development, and welfare is unwavering. We believe that a healthy and well-supported player community is the cornerstone of a thriving sport. Together, we are cueing up a brighter future for our players, ensuring they have the support and resources needed to excel both on and off the baize.”
This event started yesterday and the first reactions from participant were very positive, going by what I was able to read on social media.
Here are some images, shared on social media by WPBSA:
For several years now I have tried – with not as much success as I wished – to promote the Seniors Snooker Tour. I feel it’s important, I feel that as much as it is important to develop the game by supporting young aspiring players, it’s equally important to give those who have served the game for years, and older players in general, a good platform, allowing them to continue to play competitively and enjoy the game they love.
Someone like Lee Walker who dedicated his whole life to the sport probably got the best “reward” for his efforts by winning the Seniors World Championship at the Crucible in front of his family. Other deserve that chance too. Maybe I feel this way because I’m 68 and still feeling full of energy with many projects? Maybe, but I’m not the only one and life doesn’t stop when your hair turn grey.. or white.
Jason Francis created such a “playing platform” … the Seniors tour, that was later taken under the umbrella of WPBSA. Pre-covid the Seniors tour was thriving, but last season there was just the one “main event”, the World Championship at the Crucible. That tour needs rebuilding. There is a demand for it.
As you can see only amateurs can enter the qualifying events … what happened?
Well … here is a screenshot of (part of) the conversation Jason Francis had on Facebook with some very unhappy older professionals. That conversation explains a lot.
I know for certain that Jason’s proposal – the one he refers to in that conversation – comprises many more events. But he can’t promote them properly if people don’t find recognisable names in there, and if he can’t promote them, of course, they would be financially unsustainable.
The older Legends he started his tour with – Dennis Taylor, Cliff Thorburn, John Parrott, Steve Davis … – are no more available, either because they decided to retire for good because their game isn’t anymore where they want it to be, or because they have developed totally different interests in life.
People like Ken Doherty, Stephen Hendry, Marco Fu or the reigning Seniors World Champion, Jimmy White are currently prevented to enter or play in those events. If the situation doesn’t change, Jimmy will not have the opportunity to defend his title come May.
So why doesn’t WST agree to allow some of his older pros, who are outside the top 64, to play on that tour? Maybe allowing players over 45 only? I’m sure Jason would be OK with that.
I can’t really come up with an explanation, or any sort of rationale to it, especially as Jason is absolutely adamant that the Seniors events will not clash with main tour events.
World Championship semi-finalist Si Jiahui will lock horns with 1997 World Champion Ken Doherty at the BetVictor European Masters later this month in Nuremberg, following the completion of the second-round draw.
The Darling of Dublin has been handed a tough assignment against the Chinese sensation, who reached the quarter-finals at last year’s tournament, after the pair advanced through July’s qualifying event in Leicester.
Elsewhere, there’s an all-Welsh clash as Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens go head-to-head. And 12-time Women’s World Champion Reanne Evans plays David Gilbert.
The top eight seeds, including Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump, are yet to play their first-round matches, with their ties being held over until the opening day at the Kia Metropol Arena. …
Kyren Wilson won the title last season, beating Barry Hawkins 9-3 in the final, and his first-round match is against Scotland’s Dean Young, one of eight players to make it through this summer’s Q School.
Jason Ferguson has been working on more international events (Picture: Getty Images)
The World Snooker Tour calendar for this season is not complete yet, with more events set to be added, confirmed WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson.
After three pandemic-hit seasons, there has been an encouraging return to China for this campaign, with the Shanghai Masters, Wuhan Open and International Championship on the calendar after no events in the country since 2019.
This was welcome news for players who had felt earning opportunities were frustratingly low with the loss of the big-money Chinese events due to Covid.
Ferguson says there will be more good news to come too, with gaps in the calendar later in the season promised to be filled.
March is currently a quiet time of the season, with the Six Red World Championship running from 4-9 and the World Mixed Doubles from 30-31, but we can expect at least one event to fill that void.
‘We’ve so many opportunities on the go at the moment,’ Ferguson told Metro.co.uk. ‘There’s a lot going on in the Far East, the Middle East, Europe.
‘We’re probably going to run out of dates rather than events, the way things are going. It’s already getting to that point now, where we’re looking at longer term calendars and we’re becoming very tight for space for major events, which is great.
‘We’re not finished this season. There’s a few gaps in March which will be filled in so there’s still more to come. Lots going on. What we’re trying to do is put bigger events on. You can put events on just to fill gaps but we’re really trying to up the game.’
There is hope that there will be expansion in Europe as well as China, especially given the remarkable World Championship success of Belgian superstar Luca Brecel.
The thrilling triumph for the 28-year-old over Mark Selby in the Crucible final will hopefully create a surge of popularity in snooker in Belgium, ideally leading to a major event in the country.
Ferguson confirms that discussions are ongoing, as they are with numerous countries, but details on progress are light at this stage.
Luca Brecel’s World Championship win should usher in a wave of popularity in snooker in Belgium (Picture: Getty Images)
‘I’m excited about the international space for snooker, it’s growing a lot,’ he said. ‘It’s pleasing for me as someone who’s been out on the frontline, pushing it in every corner of the world, it’s great to see how it’s expanding.
‘Belgium is one of the territories we’re talking to and there’s ongoing discussions all over Europe.’
There is something of a gap in the WST calendar right now as European Masters qualifiers finished on 29 July and British Open qualifying begins on 14 August.
Snooker was ALWAYS popular in Belgium. Our Federation is quite big actually considering that Belgium is a small country. The likes of Ben Mertens and Julien Leclercq don’t develop overnight. Only this week there has been a national 6-reds Soot-out event … which was the perfect fun event for this time of the year!
Let’s hope that Jason’s promises translate in actual events, and preferably, not events hosted by countries where snooker is barely ever played but are after sports-washing.
World Championship semi-finalist Si Jiahui will lock horns with 1997 World Champion Ken Doherty at the BetVictor European Masters later this month in Nuremberg, following the completion of the second-round draw.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 