Snooker

Sessions: 2pm & 8pm

Final – Ding Junhui v John Higgins ref: Eirian Williams

I’m torn. Higgins is my favourite player and although he did win two tournaments last season, he really does deserve to win something this season – also, he’s made it to the semis for every event thus far, so he would be unlucky not to win something. Also, having 3 WCs and 3 UKs would be good.

On the other hand, you have the brightest snooker player. He has already made it to a final this season and he is showing good form like he did four years ago. Not only would winning the UK be good for Ding, but I think it would be good for snooker and snooker in China.

With all that said. I hope Ding wins, but I think John will.

Before Matthews First Round match in Telford he has granted us a interview, so if there is anything you would like to ask him then reply to this thread with your questions and I will ask them for you.

Questions regarding the recent happenings in Sheffield at the AGM have already been prepared for the interview so no need for any of those.

Good question bit I think no..
this is this is very diffucult. snooker player play worse with age not cos of age but cos it’s so diffucult to make yourself training 6-8 hours.. someone who can might play quite well untill his late fourties
but let’s see what Matthew says.

Why do you seem to have close to no ‘killer instinct’? I mean, endless amounts of deciding frames lost, 2 World Championship finals where you were leading by a decent margin and the also not so long ago Irish Masters and Bahrain finals.

Tonight I will be sending an email to a contact at ITV with alll your messages for Jimmy White, I have asked many of the pro players to send me their message for Jimmy and now it is your chance, simply reply to this thread with your message and I will add it to the email, there is a chance that some of the messages will get read out live on ITV2 tonight.

If there is any pro’s reading this and you have not yet got a email from me then please email admin {at} szsnooker.com with your message for Jimmy.

Looking for some advice,was thinking of buying a Craftsmen with pro ash shaft.
But read on this forum that they wax cues.Would you advise to get the cue unwaxed?
My other question,is about something i read on another snooker forum.Saying that craftsmen and mastercraft are the same cues with a different badge on them[think guy said they were imported from asia and finished off here] is this true and if so what company do they get them from?

Hope you can help a newbie

both are good cues – a craftsman with a pro ash shaft is not imported its made on site in kippax leeds.

can always rely on you buddy .
What about the finish,simon recomends the wax finish,whats your opinion.As i know trevor white and mike wooldridge dont finish with wax.
Also do you think the pro ash shaft is worth the 60 pound extra,if you’ve seen one.

Craftsman & Mastercraft are very similiar in terms of quality & pricing & both offer great value for money, but are not the same cues badged differently.

Craftsman have 2 ranges one is made on there premises from scratch one is imported i think & finished here, either way quality is good for the money.

Wouldn’t worry to much about wax etc as long as the finish is done well whatever it is it doesn’t matter, down to personal preference & what feels right which will be different to each of us depending on what experience we’ve had of each.

The 2 makers you’ve mentioned will provide you with a very nice cue at a very good price…….

I have lived in Scotland now for just over three years and although I only play billiards I feel it is time someone without bias gives an opinion on the turmoil in Scottish Snooker.
Having attended meetings and met most of the people involved ,listened to both sides,very aggressive in their condemnation of the other I think it would be impossible to resolve the problems in Scottish Snooker as things stand.
The people charge of Scottish Snooker and the rival association hold deep rooted grudges and I am told this has allways been the case.
Now,after several failed meetings with the WSA to try to resolve matters ,the situation is worse.
This has caused the WSA to withdraw the main tour place available to the seasons top ranked player,and should international status be lost there would be nothing meaningfull to play for at all.
We have two associations claiming to be running things and very little information coming from either.
They have gone from being very active in canvassing support to silence.
Two associations and two tournament calendar’s which add up to nothing.
I am not casting blame on one side or the other but at both.
All are to blame for perpetuating this school playground stuff.
The tragedy is that they are not kids but grown men who cannot bury the hatchet.
Neither side is completely right or wrong and mistakes have been made but if the games in Scotland are to survive I think everyone has to draw a line under all that has happened ,properly join one body and vote.
Democratic change from the inside is the only way.
Most of those I have spoken to seem to think they are helping the game,they are not bad people but they are very stubborn and in fact are ruining billiards and snooker in Scotland.
There are quite a few keen players in the east,Edinburgh for example.
Why are they not involved?
Is it politice again?
Can anyone answer that?
There are many talented and keen players of both games in Scotland.
They deserve better.
Roy Bacon
Scotland

Roy, you are an intelligent man and much of what you say, if not all in fact, is true. I have lost count of the number of times I have posted on various websites that all I want is an open, fair and democratic election run properly.

I have been seeking this since my attendance at the Sept 07 board meeting of SSL.

I thought it was going to happen the other week when Mr. Cameron shook the hand of the WSA representative. We know outcome of that “agreement”.

Legal opinion was provided on the voting procedure and ignored, quite simply, with dwindling support the former board now consider democracy to be ” mob rule”.

I’d go in a room tomorrow and have an election, anyone who would not is afraid of democracy, the question, is WHY?

Oh and as for democracy, the snooker players have voted with their feet!

A very helpful and unbiased post Roy and you hit the nail on the head, thank you.

A few weeks back i was looking on the ‘British film institute’ website and had a look to see what footage they had on 1970s Snooker. They had a good amount of old footage some dating back from 1971 to around 1990 but i’m sure they have more recent footage. I made an appointment not so long ago with the BFI to look at various matches and to make notes at their research centre in London. A couple of matches that i got to see were the 1978 Daily Mirror Champion Of Champions plus the 1978 Dry Blackthorn Cup between Alex Higgins and Ray Reardon. Of course there is a fee to see these tapes but for me it was well worth it. The site is worth a look at if your interested in the early days of Snooker. Just thought i’d tell my fellow members incase any of you are indeed interested.

What was Ronnie O’Sullivan ’s rank when he qualified at WSCH 1993. It doesn’t appear on the main topic concerning this problem.

God, I’ve read this as a “Ronnie O’Sullivan’s Prank”.

It was his rookie season so he didn’t have a rank.

From memory, during the qualifiers in Blackpool, that would take the entire summer and applied to all tournaments, his performances were so good that he shot from number 800-something to 57.
I’m only relying on memory and can’t check right now but I don’t suppose I’m very off.

There were not quite as many as that on the tour that year but it was about 600 odd and you are quite right, Ronnie ended the season ranked 57th.

Mark Williams and John Higgins also made their debuts that year along with Stephen Lee. It was Lee who was the second best “Rookie” ranked 101 with Williams 119th and Higgins 122nd.

O’Sullivan, Ronnie (England) 5 December 1975

Year Rank Prog./ Apps. MP MW ML M% FP FW L F% Highest break No. of 100s Prize Money
1993 415 0 1 17 7 10 41.2 79 £8,000
1994 57 1 1 32 13 19 40.6 86 £15,000
1995 9 QF 2 1 55 31 24 56.4 112 2 £29,000
1996 3 SF 3 1 85 50 35 58.8 139 9 £60,000
1997 8 1 1 41 22 19 53.7 147 2 £181,800
1998 7 SF 3 1 78 45 33 57.7 141 5 £66,000
1999 3 SF 3 1 86 49 37 57.0 135 7 £68,000
2000 4 0 1 19 9 10 47.4 130 5 £13,000
2001 4 Ch 5 0 110 71 39 64.5 139 9 £250,000
2002 2 SF 3 1 83 49 34 59.0 132 8 £76,000
2003 1 0 1 16 6 10 37.5 147 1 £184,000
2004 3 Ch 5 0 103 71 32 68.9 131 13 £250,000
2005 1 QF 2 1 63 34 29 54.0 137 4 £26,000
2006 1 SF 3 1 89 47 42 52.8 140 6 £50,800
Total 14 43 31 12 72.1 877 504 373 57.5 147 71 £1,277,600

I stumbled upon a bit of trivia a couple of months back.

As you probably know the game was invented in the nineteenth century by some British army officers in India. The man who is credited with inventing it was called Chamberlain. So what? you probably say. Did you know that he was the grandfather of Neville Chamberlain, the UK Prime Minister in 1939 who tried to appease Hitler and was eventually replaced, I think, by Winston Churchill?

Nice fact …. if it was correct. Unfortunately there is no connection between the two men.

Neville Francis Fitzgerald Chamberlain, of snooker fame, was born in 1856, and produced only one daughter, Nora Mary Chamberlain. She married Lord Wigram in 1912. Neville Chamberlain (Prime Minister) was born in 1869, son of Joseph Chamberlain. The two Chamberlains were very nearly contemporaries.

Then I apologise unreservedly. It was in a book which I thought was a reliable source. I wouldn’t ever submit erroneous information to any site. There is already enough dubious stuff on the net. Maybe a moderator could oblige us all by deleting the entire thread.

World Snooker is delighted to announce that Teenage Cancer Trust has become one of its official charities.

Teenage Cancer Trust builds specialist units in NHS hospitals where young people with cancer can be treated with others their own age in a positive environment.

To mark this relationship, World Snooker has invited teenage snooker player Jack Lisowski, who recently underwent treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, to the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship, where he will present the Junior Pot Black trophy.

The 17-year-old from Churchdown near Cheltenham battled the disease for almost a year, but is now in remission and was recently able to return to playing snooker.

“When I first found out I had cancer, I was petrified,” said Lisowski. “Then it sinks in and you realise you have to fight it. I was lucky to have my family around me. I had chemotherapy 16 times over an eight-month period. You’ve got to experience it to know what it’s like. It knocked me down and I constantly felt sick.

“At the time I was diagnosed, I had just left school and was ready to start snooker as my main career. One of the first things I thought of was that I would have to quit snooker. Once the chemo was finished, I still had to go through radiotherapy, but I was able to start playing again, which felt brilliant.”

Remarkably, within two months of resuming regular practice, Lisowski reached the final of a tournament on the sport’s secondary circuit, the Pontin’s International Open Series, and also reached the semi-finals of the European Under-19 Championship.

“My game is back to where it was when I was diagnosed,” he said. “I am mentally stronger as a player now because whenever I get frustrated with my game, I remind myself that there’s a lot more to life.

“I’m delighted that World Snooker has chosen Teenage Cancer Trust as one of its official charities, as hopefully this will help to raise awareness. Cancer can affect people of all ages so if you have any doubts, go to your GP. I found a lump on my shoulder one day so I went straight to my doctor, and the next day I was diagnosed.”

Junior Pot Black is staged each year during the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship, with the best up-and-coming under-16s from around the UK and Ireland competing for the title. The final will be played on Thursday, April 23 in the Crucible arena. Lisowski, who was Junior Pot Black runner-up in 2007, will then present the trophy to the winner.

Simon Davies, Chief Executive of Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “We are very excited to be working with World Snooker. Their support will be a great benefit to many young cancer patients, helping Teenage Cancer Trust to raise awareness of this often-neglected group. So far we have built enough units within NHS hospitals for half of young people diagnosed with cancer to have access to the dedicated, specialist support they need. Our aim is to build enough units so that, by 2012, every single teenager will be treated on one.”

Notes to editors:
Each day in the UK, six teenagers will find out they have cancer – that is almost 2,000 new diagnoses every year. These young people often get a raw deal, receiving hospital treatment in inappropriate facilities catering for children or the elderly.

Teenage Cancer Trust understands that teenage cancer requires specialist care and knows that young people have a much better chance in their fight against cancer if they are treated by teenage cancers experts, in an environment tailored to their needs. So the charity is working every day to make that happen, building specialist units in NHS hospitals.

Teenage Cancer Trust units aren’t like ordinary cancer wards. Everything about them has been designed to give teenagers the very best chance of a positive outcome. The charity estimates that, with the units they currently have around the UK, around half of teenagers diagnosed with cancer now have access to the dedicated, specialist support they provide. But Teenage Cancer Trust’s aim is to build enough units so that, by 2012, every teenager will be treated on one.

The Weston Park Teenage Cancer Trust unit in Sheffield opened in 2002 and has five beds. Teenage Cancer Trust also funded the development of a new conservatory extension for the unit which opened in September 2007.