Players Arrive in Beijing for the China Open
March 30, 2009
Snookers Top players have now arrived in Beijing for the long awaited China Open. The China Open is a high profile ranking event which precedes the World Snooker Championships in Sheffield in just a few weeks times. The performances at the China Open will give the public a good idea of who which players are confident and playing at the top of their game.
Players involved at the China Open include World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan and local star Ding Junhui who will be looking to perform well at his local tournament.
All the players have been practicing hard including last years runner up Shaun Murphy who has been playing very well on the practice tables. This of course does not mean a great deal as many players who perform well on the practice tables often don’t perform at the tournament.
Snooker legend Stephen Hendry has admitted his form is ‘not good’, which has been put down to a lack of practice and distractions away from the table. Mark Selby however is very confident of performing well at the tournament and is excited at the prospect of playing in a tournament with so many good young players. This includes up and coming local Chinese players like Liang Wenbo and Peng Fei, who will feel the pressure to put on a big performance at there home tournament.
Trump win Championship League
March 28, 2009
Jud Trump has won the championship League Snooker which earns him a promotion to the coveted Premier League which begins again at the end of the summer.
Judd has been playing brilliantly all week but looked like losing against Selby after initially being 2-1 down. Selby however made some critical mistakes and lost position when he had a match winning chance. Judd took advantage of the mistake building a nice 64 break to win the match and the league.
Judd had to beat Stuart Bingham in the semi final, and was a worthy winner. How do you think Judd will fare in the snookers Premier League?
Rileys to cut 200 jobs
March 26, 2009
Rileys Snooker Club has closed 30 sites and cut 200 jobs due to a massive loss in profit margins, and large debt. This has forced Rileys to go into Administration.
The administrators however are confident that the other 129 clubs around the country are secured. This is due to selling the companies large assets. Some of Rileys assets have been brought by another company called Valiant Sports, which even include some of Rileys old directors
Rileys had been facing financial difficulties for quite some time now, and has found it tough to get new punters into the clubs. The closure of the clubs is not good news for snooker, as it means less and less young people will have the place to take up the game than ever before.
Mark Selby steps up the pace for the World Championships
March 25, 2009
Selbys best performance at the Crucible was a runner up to John Higgins two years ago. Selby will be hoping that he can reach the final again and go one better and lift the title he has been waiting for his whole life.
World Championship Snooker on The Wii!
March 24, 2009
The Nintendo Wii has brought many popular games into your home. The motion simulator enables people to enjoy tennis and bowling in the comfort of their own front room!
Well the good news for snooker fans is you can now player snooker on the Wii. World Championships 2008 using a new technology called Infinite Worlds, this makes the game look so good you might even believe that you are playing at the crucible
The game also features a ‘real mode’ which actually allows the players to walk around the whole table and look at all the angles before committing themselves to a shot.
The new controls allow users to take shots far more accurately than before, providing a better user experience. The game features all the top players in all the top competitions, and is proving a real must for snooker fans
New Crucible Near Completion
March 23, 2009
Visitors to the theatre will get the opportunity to view the development work first hand, and the crucible is even having a one of event of souind and entertainment to mark the end of the first phase of the development.
The event will include some great entertaoinment including comedy and music. The World Snooker Championships are then contested in April before the Crucible closes for a while to finish the renevation work. The famous theatre will then have a grand re-opening in November 2009 which I am sure you are all looking forward to.
Championship Snooker Returns this Monday
March 21, 2009
The last qualifying matches in Championship Snooker take place on Monday, and there are still seven players who will be facing their last chance to qualify to play Premier League Snooker.
Only the winner of the qualifiers will advance into the final stages, the other six players will be leaving the competition.
The competition is going to be tough with great players like former world champion Steve Davis, and the experienced Graeme Dott still in the running. Welsh favourite Matthew Stevens is also a difficult man to beat.
Other players involved include Joe Swail the Welsh Open runner up and Liang Wenbo who has been playing fantastically recently.
The winner of the group will join players such as John Higgins, Mark King and Joe Perry in the winners group. The overall champion will secure a place in the 2009 Premier League Snooker Competition
Steve Davis Donates Full Size Snooker Table
March 19, 2009
Steve Davis amazed young snooker players at a youth centre in Blackpool by visiting the centre and donating a full size snooker table.
Davis who has won the Snooker World Championships six times presented the table to the youngsters to help improve the facilities at the youth centre
A spokesman for youth centre was thrilled at the generosity of Davis. She was also happy that all the young players got the chance to mear there hero, and help improve their snooker skills.
Davis stated that he wanted to help youth clubs, because there are far less youth centres nowadays than there was was Davis learnt his trade at his local youth centre. Davis wants to give youths the chance to become the best player they can, and that means improving the facilities where possible.
Most players at the youth centre were thrilled to get advice from Steve, and will be hoping that he pays them a visit again some time soon.
Snooker Stars Pledge Support For Comic Relief
March 17, 2009
Stuart Bingham and Ronnie O’Sullivan have both given their support to Comic Relief. The snooker aces were game for a laugh for the event whilst practicing at Binghams snooker base in Southernhay.
Both players love Comic relief and are certainly use to being amongst the reds! Both players meet in the first round of the World Championships next month, and favourite O’Sullivan will hope not to end the game red faced!
Bingham was disappointed with his practice session and admitted that if he plays as badly at the crucible he is definately going to fall over at the first hurdle.
Even if Bingham plays to the best of his ability, the chance are he will still lose to O’Sullivan. It will be different on the big day when nerves will hit both players, but Bingham will know he will need to play the match of his life to win
Stephen Lee Qualifies for the World Championships
March 13, 2009
Stephen Lee has successfully qualified for the Snooker World Championships. Lee managed to grab a place in the World Championships after one of the best breaks in his career.
It has been a tough 12 months for Lee as he has slipped down the rankings and out of the top 16 players in the world. This has meant that Lee like any other player out of the top 16 would have to qualify for the World Championships.
Lee stated that he ‘could not even consider’ not going to the Crucible this year. After beating Judd Trump many players stated that this that was the best performance they have ever seen from Lee, full of determination drive and focus, things which have all been missing from his game recently.
Lee has been drawn against Ryan Day in the first round, and is on the right side of the draw to possible meet his good friend Ronnie O’Sullivan in the Quarter Finals if he gets that far
Lee knows that snooker just as any sport is about confidence, and admits that recently he has found it hard to find. But now he has some of his confidence back he is confident he can make it back into the top 16, and perhaps more importantly enjoy playing the game again.
