Higgins happy with new players group
September 30, 2008
Snooker legend John Higgins is happy about the launch of the first ever snooker players assocation.
Higgins thinks that the group of players will bring some needed experience into the higher levels of the game and move the sport forward.
Higgins believes that the start of the players association is long overdue, and is a big development in snooker. Most other big sports have a players assocation and its about time that snooker had one.
Michael Holt pulls fights back to beat Jimmy White
September 26, 2008
Michael Holt managed to pull off a fantastic comeback to beat Snooker Legend Jimmy White in the qualifying for the Snooker Grand Prix.
Holt lost the first three frames in the match and was facing defeat against snooker legned Jimmy but managed to storm back with two century breaks to beat a distraught Jimmy White 5-3.
Holt was surprised to be 3-0 down in the game, but admitted that Jimmy played some fantastic snooker and was well deserved his lead. In the past Holt might have crumbled at 3-0 down but with the experience he has gained over the last few years Holt produced some fantastic snooker to win the match. He turned the game on its head with fantastic breaks of 102 and 105 to draw the match level.
In fact in the first three frames Holt only managed to rack up 10 points! Having beaten crowd favourite Jimmy Holt will now face Michael Judge who beat him in last years qualifying round. The final stages of the qualifying rounds are due to take place in Glasgow from October the 11th to October the 19th
O’Sullivan to play Premier League Snooker In Carlisle
September 25, 2008
O’Sullivan is set to play in Snooker’s Premier league event in Carlisle. Last year the people of Carlisle filled the Carlisle Sands Centre to see their snooker hero perform, this year looks like more of the same.
O’Sullivan the current World Champion and Premier League snooker holder is looking forward to the event and performing infront of the Carlisle crowd again. There are also some other cracking games taking place in the event including Joe Perry vs John Higgins which will be shown live on Sky Sports.
The event managers and local Carlisle people are enjoying the prospect of being on Sky Television once more and gaining more of a national profile on the city.
Snooker’s Gambling Problems
September 23, 2008
Snookers governing body has stated that they are concerend about the future of the sport due to the recent allegations of betting patterns on snooker matches.
The Gambling commission has even started an investigation into suspicious betting on the Peter Ebdon vs Lian Wenbo match. Edon was 5-0 down in the match and this downturn in form lead to an enquiry into the betting associated with the game
Ebdon stated after the game that the heavy gambling on snooker games including his own is not something that bothers him, he simply goes out to win every game he plays.
The betting problem is creating further issues for snooker which is still realing from the pull out of Saga Insurance and 888.com which has rocked the sport. Snookers governing body have however declared that they don’t think there is a major problem with betting but they will need to remain forever vigilant.
Mark Selby opens new Snooker club
September 19, 2008
Mark Selby was in Bridgewater the other day to officially open up their new snooker club. Mark made the journey to open the club from Leicester.
The newest snooker club in Bridgewater will offer members the option of both playing snooker and pool.
Mark even played a few frames with some local snooker talent in the area, no doubt impressing them with his great ability around the table.
Mark hopes that the new snooker venue will further encourage local people to take up the game, and hopes the club will persude more and more young locals to take up the game.
The owner of the club was happy that such a good young snooker player took time to open the club and help further promote the club to the local community.
Womens World 8 ball champion appears on Snooker Curcuit
September 18, 2008
Lynette Horsburgh the womens world 8 ball pool champion has made a guest appearance on the snooker curcuit. Lynette played some fantastic snooker narrowly losing out 3-1 to world number 2 in the quarter final of the tournament.
Lynette was quite pleased after her performance as she didn’t have high expectations of making it that far in the tournament. Lynette enjoyed playing snooker again and admitted that if the game was like it was today she would not have stopped playing
Lynette followed up her appearance in the tournament by competing in the World ladies Billiards and Snooker UK Championship. She performed well in this tournament as well making it to the semi finals before being beaten by Reanne Evans in the semi-final.
Cliff Thorburn visits Paul Hunter Foundation
September 17, 2008
Snooker legend Cliff Thorburn has made a surprise visit to the Paul Hunter Foundation in Accrington.
Cliff Thorborn was a snooker legend in the 1980′s and became the 1980 Snooker World Champion. Cliff was also the first person to make a 147 break at the famous snooker arena in the same year.
Cliff was involved with in various games at the Accrington Snooker venue, and presented the winners with trophies,
A 12 year old player taking part in the event even managed to beat Cliff, and for the honour he was presented with a Paul Hunter snooker cue. The representitives for the Paul Hunter Foundation were overjoyed at Cliff’s presence in the event, and now understand why Cliff is the true sportsman that he is
Higgins VS O’Sullivan Rivalry
September 15, 2008
It was Higgins VS O’Sullivan the other night in Snookers Premier League. Games featuring these two players are always good to watch, you can almost guarantee a high quality game between these two snooker legends.
Higgins VS O’Sullivan had their first professional match way back in 1992 when they both turned professional. The first serious match between the 2 players was back in 1991 when they played each other in the Junior World masters with O’Sullivan the hot favourite.
Higgins however beat him in this match and went on to win the Junior title that year. Both players progression from the Junior game was outstanding but it was Higgins who was progressing quicker.
O’Sullivan was not helped by family matters away from the table, his dad was sent to jail and O’Sullivans game suffered because of this. Higgins form was getting stronger and stronger and in 1998 he won his first world title.
Compared to Higgins O’Sullivan’s career path has been much more controversial, having threatened to walk away from the game on a number of occassions, saying that ‘he had fallen out of love with the game’. Thankfully though O’Sullivan stayed playing the game, which is great for this fans and the game ityself.
In the late 90′s Higgins was looking like a true champion, but his career took a slight decline due to not practicing the game as much as other players like Stephen Hendry.
O’Sullivan by this time had come out of a clinic for depression and was a tranformed man. He battled his way to win his first World Championship in 2001. After the match Higgins and O’Sullivan found a new respect for each other often commenting on each others fantastic snooker ability.
O’Sullivan is now world number one and has overtaken Higgins in overall Snooker titles won, but when they play against each other its still anyones game. Higgins however is still a great player and is currently 5th in the world rankings, so it looks like their rivalry is going nowhere yet.
Selby makes wildcard in PartyPoker.com event
September 12, 2008
Mark Selby has been awarded the wildcard for the Partypoker.com Premier League event.
Selby faces Ding Junhui in his first two matches, both of which are due to be played live on Sky Sports.
The second game of the event will see John Higgins play Ronnie O’Sullivan, so it looks like we will all be in for a treat.
Sely was awarded the wildcard for the event after his superb performances in recent tournaments, which have seen Selby rise to number 4 in the world rankings. Selby will be wanted to put in some good performances in the premier league, especially knowing that the top prize could be as much as £80,000 for the winner
In contrast to Selby, Ding has been playing poorly recently, however when you are only playing six frames against your opponent is this tournament its litterally anyones game.
One other thing Sellby will need to get use to is the fast past of the premier league, and the quick 25 second a shot rule which might throw him off.
Snooker targets younger fans
September 10, 2008
Snooker has always been perceived as an older mans game. The modern game has gone some way to attracting younger snooker fans, this is mainly due to younger role models such as Ronnie O’Sullivan.
The upcoming generation of snooker players will have a big part to play in helping to attract more and more younger fans. Players such as Jamie Cope and Daniels Wells are doing their part to help promote snooker to a younger audience
Snooker should be a game for all people, no matter what the age. The issue snooker use to have is that their are no ‘characters’ that can help attract younger fans. Characters with charisma and attitude that young fans love to watch.
Mark Selby has helped change this, as he has a strong personality and shows emotion when playing the game, something which has to be admired and is very watchable. To help promote the game further Snookers World Body should get their names known more on and off the table. This can only be done with a heavy marketing campaign using traditional advertising as well as newer younger marketing methods such as email and internet marketing.
