Wuxi Classic 2012 - Day 1

23:47:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Selby takes a good start
The green baize gladiators returned into the arena, this time the location being in far, far away China in the city of Wuxi for the first edition of the Wuxi Classic (as a ranking event, of course).

If last year Mark Selby was leaving this competition after beating Ali Carter in the final, thus winning the event, this year he's started his Chinese race in order to reproduce that previous result.

Ironically enough Selby had to face the man who mercilessly beat him 10-3 at the Crucible this year, Barry Hawkins, but this time things went pretty smoothly for the Leicester player whose neck problems seem now just like a bad memory (90% bad memory, 10% still there, as the man himself admits).

The interval found Selby in charge at 3-1 after hitting in runs of 62, 120 and 57 and although the Pink Army member tried to come back into the match, he didn't manage it entirely, Hawkins winning just one single frame before Selby used a century break of 101 to go one away from victory and an 88 to seal it.

At the opposite corner, a player whose latest achievements have ranked him like a very dangerous opponent, lost his battle in front of wild-card Zhu Yinghui. I'm taking here about Michael Holt who got hammered 5-1 by the 16-year-old local player, almost in the same way Dave Haolrd got the identical 5-1 treatment from Rouzi Maimaiti.

Jamie Burnett obtained a 5-3 victory in front of Jin Long, Rod Lawler beat Li Hang 5-2, while both Robert Milkins and Fergal O'Brien recorded the same scoreline by playing Chen Feilong and Lu Haotian respectively.

Today the action continues with:

7.30am
13 Neil Robertson v Jamie Burnett
WC1 Ken Doherty v Lu Ning
11 Stuart Bingham v Peter Ebdon
18 Mark Allen v Rouzi Maimaiti
 

12.30am
14 Ding Junhui v Mark Davis
WC3 Michael White v Zhou Yuelong
19 Allister Carter v Fergal O'Brien
10 Martin Gould v Jamie Cope

* all hours are UK time

TV coverage:
07:30 - 10:30 British EuroSPort 2 (LIVE)
11:55 - 15:30 British EuroSport (LIVE)
19:00 - 21:00 British EuroSport 2
21:45 - 22:45 British EuroSport

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Wuxi Classic 2012 - the snooker party continues

20:12:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

That's right, if you thought we left China to return to the UK, you couldn’t have been any wronger, because we are staying in. We like China. China is good for snooker and snooker is good for China. 

Well, if we leave aside the fact that the crowd is sometimes overexcited and keeps on screaming and taking photos when the players are performing. Whaaat? It's a fact!

Anyway, moving on to serious matters - here we are at Wuxi taking part at what seems to be the first major ranking event of this season. 

The Wuxi Classic has been turned into a ranking tournament, we had the qualifying rounds at the beginning of this month, we had our  players being shipped to China with or without VISA problems, we have the wild-cards, so ... what's more to be said?

Oh yeah, unfortunately still no Ronnie O'Sullivan in the picture and this time no Matthew Stevens either. The Welshman accused back problems and had to pull out of the event, leaving Joe Perry with one less match to be played and a BYE to the second round.

Last year the event, although it wasn't a ranking one, was won by Mark Selby after a 7-9 scoreline over Ali Carter. This year, Selby, whose neck problems seem to have been 90 per cent sorted out, enters as defending champion and with a lot of pressure to handle considering that last season he took a pretty good start, but didn’t shine the rest of it.

So, without anything else to add, let's get the boys on the baize ... or whatever they say in China!

Monday June 25

7.30 am
WC2 Jamie Burnett v Jin Long
21 Matthew Stevens w/d Joe Perry BYE
WC4 Rod Lawler v Li Hang
WC5 Dave Harold v Rouzi Maimaiti
 

12.30 am
WC7 Michael Holt v Zhu Yinghui
9 Mark Selby v Barry Hawkins
WC6 Fergal O'Brien v Lu Haotian
WC8 Robert Milkins v Chen Feilong

*all hours are UK time

TV coverage:
07:30 - 10:30 British EuroSport 2
11:45 - 15:30 British EuroSport
17:45 - 19:00 British EuroSport
19:00 - 21:00 British EuroSport 2

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Bingham wins again

19:22:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Stuart Bingham does it again!
Stuart Bingham won the first edition of the Asian Players Tour Championship (APTC 1) from Zhangjiagang, China after beating Stephen Lee 4-3 in the final. 

This title comes after Bingham defeated Peter Lines 4-0 in the final of the Pink Ribbon tournament held at the South West Snooker Academy form Gloucester.

The first edition of the APTC started with no less than two days of cue-crossings between players who seemed to have the same name (aka. Zhang), but until the end the amateur players made room for those who have a name in the snooker business.

Still, I can't help of noticing some pretty stable and cool performances from both Zhang Anda and Chen Zhe, the Chinese players reaching the semi-final stages after quite a run, or Tian Pengfei and Mei Xiwen, who survived up until the quarter-finals and the Last 16 respectively.

The finalists: Stu and Stephen
So, even though we had a myriad of Chinese player in this APTC,  the final battle was given between Stuart Bingham and the mighty powerful Stephen Lee. 

Although Stu was the one who broke the ice with a top break of 51, Lee was going to be the player to move two points forward as he easily captured the next couple of frames.

Bingham pulled back a frame with a bit of help from a 67 break to draw level, but once again Lee was taking charge of the match’ faith, this time with a 87 for a 3-2 lead.

The decider started after the reigning Australian Open champion levelled the scoreline at three apiece with a 63, the last frame proving to be quite a thrilling one, the man from Basildon, Essex clearing the blue, pink and black for the final victory of 4-3.

Before reaching the final, Bingham had to face Yang Qingtian, whom he beat 4-3, Jin Long, whom he hammered 4-1, Liu Shuai, whom he mercilessly crashed 4-0, Ding Junhui 4-3 and Michael White 4-2, while his opponent, the grand Stephen Lee had to knock down names like Shi Hanquing by 4-1, Lin Yongzhi 4-0, Zhao Xintong 4-3, Tian Pengfei 4-2 and Chan Zhe 4-2.

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The 2012 Premier League of Snooker

01:10:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

It's that time of the year when after a busy season and a well deserved break we start looking forward at what's coming our way ... snooker related of course. 

So, leaving aside the race for ranking points and all the travelling outside the UK’s borders to take part on events, we turn our eyes to a non-ranking, not-very-interesting-event in some people's opinion, caravan-of-snooker-like Premier League competition.

This year the Premier League of snooker, sponsored as always by PartyPocker.com and carefully covered by the Sky Channel in front with Mr Fluffy-Hair Andy Goldstein, looks a bit different, as we shall have ten players placed in two groups of five.

The good thing is that the organisers decided to go back to the round-robin system, so the five players in each group will play each other once with the top two in each group going forward to the semi-finals.

We also have the "six-frames" re-installed, which means that the matches could very easily finish on a draw, the players getting two points for victory and one for equality.

The Premier League evenings will be in number of ten, at the end of them the best four ranked players going to perform in the play-offs; for the semis they' ll play under "the best of nine" frames rule and for the final under "the best of 13".

For every frame won the player gets a total amount of £1,000, while the big winner will go home with a prize money of £50,000.

So, that being said, let's see who are the 10 lucky players that will delight the entire United Kingdom with their snooker skills starting from August 16.

Shanghai Masters Champion: Mark Selby (World Ranked #1)
UK Champion: Judd Trump (#2)
Wild Card: John Higgins (#5)
Brazil Masters Champion: Shaun Murphy (#6)
Masters Champion: Neil Robertson (#7)
PTC Grand Final Champion: Stephen Lee (#8)
Championship League Winner: Ding Junhui (#11)
Haikou World Open Champion: Mark Allen (#12)
Australian Goldfields Open Champion: Stuart Bingham (#16)
China Open Champion: Peter Ebdon (#20)


If you are thinking where is the current PL champion, Ronnie O'Sullivan, I remind you that due to the fact that he's not signed the contract for the new season yet, stating that he's currently on a break, he's been replaced with the wild-card John Higgins.

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Australian Open 2012 (the qualifiers) - Who's going to Bendigo

00:48:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Selt is returning to Australia
Friday saw the end of this year's Australian Open qualifying rounds and with it, we have the  names of the 16 players who will travel to Australia's Bendigo to perform next to the Top 16 ones.

Interestingly enough the first thought that comes to my mind is if Matthew Selt (the player that last year took down both John Higgins and Stephen Hendry in the first two rounds of the event) qualified again. Well, he did!

And odds say he might just try and play his lucky card once more, for he obtained a 5-2 victory over Jamie Jones in order to get his ticket to Bendigo where he'll have to face the one and only reigning champion, Stuart Bingham.

China is being represented by Xiao Guodong, who beat Ireland’s Fergal O'Brien by 5-2, Liam Wenbo who put on end to Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon's run with a definitive 5-1 scoreline, Cao Yupeng who got a straight bye after Anthony Hamilton pull out of the event and Marco Fu, the Hong Kong-man who scored no less than three century breaks (101,121, 134) to win 5-2 over Gerard Green.

The Darling of Dublin flies to Australia
The legends of snooker are also travelling to Australia this year, Ken Doherty retuning to take part in the tournament that saw him reach the semi-finals last year, after whitewashing Michael Wild 5-0. 

Next to him we have Alan McManus, a brilliant player whose name we don’t hear very often unfortunately, the Scotsman beating Robert Milkins 5-2 in order to get his plane ticket, but also Nigel Bond who defeated Mark King 5-4.

Jack Lisowski is also to be seen performing in Bendigo after a 5-2 win over good-old Dave Harold, as well as Tom Ford, who beat the last Thai standing James Wattana 5-4 and Michael Holt who obtained a 5-2 scoreline against Liam Hightfield.

Below you can check the final results:

10am
49) Jamie Jones 2-5 Matthew Selt
50) Ryan Day 5-2 Michael White
51) Fergal O'Brien 2-5 Xiao Guodong
52) Liang Wenbo 5-1 Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon
53) Ken Doherty 5-0 Michael Wild
54) Anthony Hamilton v Cao Yupeng w/o

2.30pm
55) Jack Lisowski 5-2 Dave Harold
56) Mark King 4-5 Nigel Bond
57) Marcus Campbell 5-0 Anthony McGill
58) Tom Ford 5-4 James Wattana
59) Michael Holt 5-2 Liam Highfield

7pm
60) Robert Milkins 2-5 Alan McManus
61) Rory McLeod 5-0 Barry Pinches
62) Jamie Cope 5-2 Liu Chuang
63) Marco Fu 5-2 Gerard Greene
64) Jamie Burnett 5-3 David Gilbert



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Australian Open 2012 (the qualifiers) - Day 3

00:47:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Cao Yupeng moves into the last round
The penultimate day of the Australian Open qualifiers brought the first big surprise, the Thai player Thepchaiya Un-Nooh being eliminated by Matthew Selt with a 5-3 scoreline. Still, for his fellow country-man Thanawat Tirapongpainboon, or simply "Double T", the race is still on as he managed to beat Peter Lines by a tight 5-4 scoreline.

After what Cao Yupeng became the only Chinese player to survive the second day of qualifying rounds, the third one saw not just him getting by into the last round after a 5-2 with Mike Dunn, but also Xiao Guodong, who obtained a hard fought 5-4 victory over Kurt Maflin, and Liu Chuang who beat Pankaj Advani 5-2.

A very interesting cue-crossings happened between two heavy names of the snooker industry, Alan McManus and Tony Drago and as expected the snooker gladiators ended up on a decider, that was proudly won by the Scottish player.

Things started pretty good for Dave Harold who beat the youngster Sam Baird by 5-4, but also for Nigel Bond who saw off Michael Wasley 5-2 and Barry Pinches who continued his good run with a 5-1 victory over Ben Wooollaston.  

Not very good news for Steve Davis' fans though, the player nicknamed "The Nugget" being whitewashed by Michael Wild 5-0.

Below you can check Day Three list of results:

10am
33) Matthew Selt 5-3 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
34) Michael White 5-2 Mitchell Mann
35) Xiao Guodong 5-4 Kurt Maflin
36) Peter Lines 4-5 Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon
37) Steve Davis 0-5 Michael Wild
38) Mike Dunn 2-5 Cao Yupeng

2.30pm
39) Dave Harold 5-4 Sam Baird
40) Nigel Bond 5-2 Michael Wasley
41) Anthony McGill 5-3 Dechewat Poomjaeng
42) Jimmy Robertson 4-5 James Wattana
43) Jimmy White v Liam Highfield w/o

7pm
44) Alan McManus 5-4 Tony Drago
45) Ben Woollaston 1-5 Barry Pinches
46) Liu Chuang 5-2 Pankaj Advani
47) Gerard Greene 5-3 Rod Lawler
48) David Gilbert 5-0 Martin O'Donnell

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Australian Open 2012 (the qualifiers) - Day 2

13:00:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Barry Pinches wins his first match on the black
The cue-crossings continued yesterday too, the "Thai gang" not finding too much difficulty in flying into the third round, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh beating Adam Duffy 5-3, while Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon hammered Craig Steadman 5-1.

Still, for Passakorn Suwannawat, things didn't go too bright, Mitchell Mann ending the cue battle in his favour with a 5-2 scoreline.

Interestingly enough, the only Chinese player who survived the second day of the Australian Open qualifiers was Cao Yupeng, who beat Alfie Burden 5-2. As for Yu Delu, Tian Pengfei and Li Yan the race ended before it even started.


Kurt Maflin took a pretty good start by obtaining a 5-4 victory over Robbie Williams, while the mighty Maltese player Tony Drago recorded a 5-1 scoreline by taking one Duane Jones.


The day ended late in the night with Martin O'Donnell and his 5-3 victory over David Grace, but also with one of the most exciting matches of these qualifying rounds, starring players Barry Pinches and Aditya Mehta.


There's no secret that Pinches had a really good run during the Wuxi Classic qualifiers (before losing 5-0 to Tom Ford in the last round) and it seems he's determined to continue it, last night the player that won one of the first PTC events two years ago, winning the battle against the Indian player by 5-4, on the black.


On his FaceBook account, Barry said that "22 years as a pro and have not played in a better quality match".

Also with victories written on their forehead, we have Rod Lawler, who beat Mark Joyce by an amazing 5-0 scoreline, Sam Baird who took a great 5-3 start against Andy Hicks, but also Michael White who scored 5-2 by facing Simon Bedford.

 Below you can check Day Two complete list of results:

Round 2

10am
17) Adam Duffy 3-5 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
18) Passakorn Suwannawat 2-5 Mitchell Mann
19) Kurt Maflin 5-4 Robbie Williams
20) Craig Steadman 1-5 Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon
21) Simon Bedford 2-5 Michael Wild
22) Alfie Burden 2-5 Cao Yupeng


2.30pm
23) Andy Hicks 3-5 Sam Baird
24) Yu De Lu 2-5 Michael Wasley
25) Dechawat Poomjaeng 5-4 Tian Pengfei
26) James Wattana 5-2 Fraser Patrick
27) Liam Highfield 5-2 Ian Burns

7pm
28) Tony Drago 5-1 Duane Jones
29) Barry Pinches 5-4 Aditya Mehta
30) Li Yan 1-5 Pankaj Advani
31) Mark Joyce 0-5 Rod Lawler
32) David Grace 3-5 Martin O'Donnell

Today, the battles of cues continue with:

Round 3

10am
33) Matthew Selt v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
34) Michael White v Mitchell Mann
35) Xiao Guodong v Kurt Maflin
36) Peter Lines v Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon
37) Steve Davis v Michael Wild
38) Mike Dunn v Cao Yupeng
 
2.30pm
39) Dave Harold v Sam Baird
40) Nigel Bond v Michael Wasley
41) Anthony McGill v Dechewat Poomjaeng
42) Jimmy Robertson v James Wattana
43) Jimmy White v Liam Highfield w/o


7pm
44) Alan McManus v Tony Drago
45) Ben Woollaston v Barry Pinches
46) Liu Chuang v Pankaj Advani
47) Gerard Greene v Rod Lawler
48) David Gilbert v Martin O'Donnell

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"Mark your words, Allen!"

10:49:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

" Mark your words, Allen!"
Name: Mark Allen

Status: professional snooker player

Issue: press conference statement after losing to Cao Yupeng in the 2012 Betfred.com World Championship


After more than a month from the incident, the WPBSA has made public its decision regarding Mark Allen inappropriate behaviour and comments after losing 10-6 to Cao Yupeng in the World Championship.


The statement reads:


The Disciplinary Committee of the WPBSA has formally considered the case of Mark Allen in relation to his comments in a press conference on Sunday 22nd April 2012 following his defeat in the Betfred.com World Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. In this conference he accused his opponent Cao Yupeng of cheating and said that cheating appeared to be a trait of Chinese players. He named two other Chinese players as being known for cheating.

This follows on from a previous case where Mark was fined £1,000 and warned as to his future conduct for comments he made about China and the Chinese people on twitter.

The Disciplinary Committee found that he is in breach of the following members rules:

1.1 Members shall, at all times (i.e. whether at a Tournament or not), behave in a proper and correct manner consistent with their status as professional sportsmen. Members shall not do anything which is likely to intimidate, offend, insult, humiliate or discriminate against any other person on the grounds of disability, their religion, race, colour or national or ethnic origin, sex or sexual orientation.

1.2 A Member shall not make or cause to be made any statement or commit or cause to be committed any act which in the reasonable view of the WPBSA is likely to bring into disrepute the games of snooker and/or billiards.

He was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 towards the cost of the hearing and was suspended from playing for a period of three months. This suspension will only come into effect if he commits any new breach of the WPBSA Members Rules that are dealt with by the WPBSA Disciplinary process in the next six months. He has also been required to undergo media training.

The WPBSA Disciplinary Committee consider that this behaviour is unacceptable and offensive to China and the Chinese players. Such behaviour will not be tolerated by the WPBSA.

Below, you can watch Allen's press conference from the Crucible
 


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Australian Open 2012 (the qualifiers) - Day 1

10:12:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Double T flies in second round
Yesterday, at Sheffield, the cue-crossings restarted with the Australian Open qualifying rounds taking place for the next four days. 16 players will get to see their Australian dream turned into reality at the end of it and will travel to Bendigo between 9 and 15 of July.

An excellent start for the "Thai gang" in their quest for a plane ticket to Bendigo's Australia, the first day of the qualifying rounds seeing both Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon recording victories, the first named one against Allan "The Assasin" Taylor, whom he merciless crushed 5-0, white "Double T" hammered Adrian Gunnell 5-1.

Also taking a pretty awesome start were Sam Baird who beat Jamie O'Neill 5-0 and Michael Wild who obtained the same result by taking on another Q School graduate, Daniel Wells.

Returning to the Asian players, Aditya Mehta and Pankaj Advani get their second round ticket after Aditya beat Lee Spick 5-2 and Pankaj won 5-1 over Justin Astley.

Late in the night, Rod Lawler just managed to squeeze  pass Belgium's prodigy Luca Brecel and secure his place in the next round with a 5-4 result.

Below you can check Day One complete list of results:

10am
1) Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-0 Allan Taylor
2) Hossein Vafaei Ayouri v Mitchell Mann w/o
3) Ben Judge 0-5 Robbie Williams
4) Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon 5-1 Adrian Gunnell
5) Daniel Wells 0-5 Michael Wild
6) Cao Yupeng 5-2 Paul Davison


2.30pm
7) Sam Baird 5-0 Jamie O'Neill
8) Chen Zhe 1-5 Michael Wasley
9) Tian Pengfei 5-1 Joel Walker
10) Zhang Anda 3-5 Fraser Patrick
11) Ian Burns 5-2 Sean O'Sullivan

7pm
12) Michael Leslie 2-5 Duane Jones
13) Aditya Mehta 5-2 Lee Spick
14) Pankaj Advani 5-1 Justin Astley
15) Luca Brecel 4-5 Rod Lawler
16) Martin O'Donnell 5-2 Jeff Cundy

The battle of cues continues today with:

Round 2

10am
17) Adam Duffy v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
18) Passakorn Suwannawat v Mitchell Mann
19) Kurt Maflin v Robbie Williams
20) Craig Steadman v Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon
21) Simon Bedford v Michael Wild
22) Alfie Burden v Cao Yupeng
 

2.30pm
23) Andy Hicks v Sam Baird
24) Yu De Lu v Michael Wasley
25) Dechawat Poomjaeng v Tian Pengfei
26) James Wattana v Fraser Patrick
27) Liam Highfield v Ian Burns

7pm
28) Tony Drago v Duane Jones
29) Barry Pinches v Aditya Mehta
30) Li Yan v Pankaj Advani
31) Mark Joyce v Rod Lawler
32) David Grace v Martin O'Donnell
* all hours are UK time

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Australian Open 2012 (the qualifiers)

16:35:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

'Is snooker back?'
On Tuesday we are going back to Sheffield where all the action is happening, the cue action that is. The lads will be competing again, this time for a place in the second edition of the Australian Open that's taking place between 9 and 15 of July, where else than Down Under.

Last year the event was a pretty huge one, the snooker fans being absolutely delighted to see their favourite players performing AT LAST in their country, while for Neil Robertson it was a total blast to play in front of his home crowd.

Stuart Bingham managed to lift the trophy at the end, after beating Mark Williams 9-8, this being the Englishman's first ranking event title.
Things also went pretty smooth for the Irishman Ken Doherty, who managed to reach thew semi-finals stage, where he sadly lost 6-2 to Williams.

This year things promise to b even crazier that last year and I mean that in the best possible way, so here we go with the first step, the qualifiers.

Best of luck to all the players involved and may the best 16 earn their ticket to Australia!

Below you have Day One match schedule:

10am
1) Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v Allan Taylor
2) Hossein Vafaei Ayouri v Mitchell Mann
3) Ben Judge v Robbie Williams
4) Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon v Adrian Gunnell
5) Daniel Wells v Michael Wild
6) Cao Yupeng v Paul Davison


2.30pm
7) Sam Baird v Jamie O'Neill
8) Chen Zhe v Michael Wasley
9) Tian Pengfei v Joel Walker
10) Zhang Anda v Fraser Patrick
11) Ian Burns v Sean O'Sullivan

7pm
12) Michael Leslie v Duane Jones
13) Aditya Mehta v Lee Spick
14) Pankaj Advani v Justin Astley
15) Luca Brecel v Rod Lawler
16) Martin O'Donnell v Jeff Cundy
* all hours are UK time

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Bing is Pink

10:03:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Bingham - the 2012 Pink Ribbon champ
Stuart Bingham became the third Pink Ribbon champion after winning 4-0 over Peter Lines. It's been almost an year since Bing won his last tournament (which unlike this one was a ranking one - aka. the Australian Open), but I'm sure this "pinkish" title means as much as the one he conquered last year.

Bingham started his pink journey on Thursday with a 4-1 win over Chris Wakelin, then it followed a hard fought battle of cues with one of the bravest Pink Army's soldiers Mark Davis, whom he beat 4-3,  then he returned to 4-1, this time his victim being Alfie Burden only to end in the semi-finals after a 4-0 victory by facing Gerard Greene.

With three pink soldiers down, Stu didn't seem to find any trouble at all in defeating another one, Mark Allen by 4-0 to book his place in the final.

Here, he meet with Peter Lines, against who he managed to obtain the same 4-0 victory carefully sustained by two century breaks (103 and 131) and a half one (50) in order to lift the third Pink Ribbon trophy after Michael Holt and Mark Joyce.

Stuart Bingham and Paul Mount
And so we see the conclusion of another successful pink event, an event that has all its proceeds going to support Breast Cancer Charities. An event that is looked at with a lot of interest by the players, especially since this year we had a pretty large number of players registering to take part in it.

Congratulations to Stuart Bingham and to all the players that decided to perform in this event putting the idea of rising awareness about a very cruel disease above any financial interests.

Congratulations also to the South West Snooker Academy in front with Mr Paul Mount and his brilliant pink team of soldiers not only for managing to put together their third Pink Ribbon tournament, but also for making the Academy a place where snooker feels at home.

Photos courtesy of Monique Limbos

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Wuxi Classic 2012 (the qualifiers) - Who's going to China

15:43:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Kenny goes to China
Friday saw the end of this year's Wuxi Classic qualifying rounds, actually the first qualifying rounds of the history of this tournament, since this is the first year it becomes a ranking one, so now we are in possession of the names written on the plane tickets to China.

First of all, let's take a look in the legends gang. Oh yes, here he is: "The Darling of Dublin" Ken Doherty and his unique laughter that can easily be transformed into a fancy ringtone. Really, I love the man to bits, so I'm not making fun.

Back to serious matters now: he managed to win 5-3 over a pretty revived Jack Lisowski and secure his spot in this season’s first ranking event, hence we shall see the Irish player in Wuxi at the end of this month.

Also Irish and also with a secured spot in the tournament is Fergal O'Brien who applied the same 5-3 scoreline, but on Gerard Greene. The Irish team is now complete.

Ebbo to return to China
Peter Ebdon, the player that put on quite a show last time he was in China (aka. he won the 2012 China Open tournament), is due to be seen in Wuxi this month after beating Matthew Selt by 5-4, while one very-eager-to-compete Dave Harold closed his "snooker deal" with Mark King on the same result to start the season with the right foot.

Pink Army's brave soldiers, Barry Hawkins, Mark Davis, Michael White, Joe Perry, Robert Milkins and Dominic Dale have all grabbed a place on the plane leaving for Wuxi, after Barry defeated his pink comrade Jimmy Robertson 5-4, Mark took care of seeing off Rory McLeod by 5-3, Michael sent home the "Sheriff of Pottingham" 5-4, Joe hammered Thailand's Passakorn Suwannawat 5-1, Robert whitewashed Welshman  Ryan Day 5-0 and Dom ended on a tight 5-4 result with Peter Lines.

With a great start, but not very lucky during their last battle of cues were Kurt Maflin, who lost 5-4 to Michael Holt and Barry Pinches who got crashed 5-0 by Tom Ford.

Below you have the last day list of results:

10am
49) Barry Hawkins 5-4 Jimmy Robertson
50) Jamie Cope 5-4 Aditya Mehta
51) Peter Ebdon 5-4 Matthew Selt
52) Ken Doherty 5-3 Jack Lisowski
53) Marco Fu 2-5 Jamie Burnett
54) Mark Davis 5-2 Rory McLeod
 
2.30pm
55) Anthony Hamilton 4-5 Michael White
56) Jamie Jones 2-5 Rod Lawler
57) Tom Ford 5-0 Barry Pinches
58) Mark King 4-5 Dave Harold
59) Fergal O'Brien 5-3 Gerard Greene

7pm
60) Marcus Campbell 5-4 David Gilbert
61) Joe Perry 5-1 Passakorn Suwannawat
62) Michael Holt 5-4 Kurt Maflin
63) Ryan Day 0-5 Robert Milkins
64) Dominic Dale 5-4 Peter Lines

Congratulations to all the players that took their cues out of the closet and participate in these qualifiers, as for the winners ... see you all in Wuxi lads!

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Wuxi Classic 2012 (the qualifiers) - Day 3

10:19:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Whirlwind out
We've kind of got used to see the 'Chinese gang' doing well during the qualifying rounds, but by looking at yesterday's scorelines things change ... and they change a lot.

Xiao Guodong, Liang Wenbo, Li Yan and Liu Chuang have all lost their chance to return to mother China as Wuxi Classic active participants, at the same time the Pink Army members continuing their strategic assault.

Jimmy Robertson managed to see out the "007 Agent" of snooker Nigel Bond in quite some trouble and beat him by 5-3, Michael White hammered Xiao Guodong 5-1, while Robert Milkins took a great start and obtained a hard fought 5-4 victory over Liu Chuang.

For the legends though, things didn't go as planned, both Jimmy White and Steve Davis failing to start this season with the right foot. "The Whirlwind" was not even left to blow his mighty cue action over the green baize, India's Aditya Mehta taking care of that with a 5-1 scoreline, while Kurt Maflin denied "The Nugget's" Chinese dream to happen by beating him 5-3.

Good start for young Lisowski
End of run for the "dream wildcards team", both Tony Drago and Luca Brecel missing their plane to Wuxi, after Jamie Burnett beat Brecel 5-4, while Drago was defeated 5-1 by one-very-back-to-form Jack Lisowski.

Barry Pinches continued his very impressive run with a 5-2 victory over Scotland's Alan McManus, at the same time, good old Dave Harold taking quite a good start and beating Alfie Burden 5-4.




Below you can find Day Three complete list of results:

10am 
33) Nigel Bond 3-5 Jimmy Robertson
34) Jimmy White 1-5 Aditya Mehta
35) Matthew Selt 5-3 Simon Bedford
36) Jack Lisowski 5-1 Tony Drago
37) Jamie Burnett 5-4 Luca Brecel
38) Rory McLeod 5-3 Mark Joyce

2.30pm
39) Xiao Guodong 1-5 Michael White
40) Liang Wenbo 3-5 Rod Lawler
41) Alan McManus 2-5 Barry Pinches
42) Dave Harold 5-4 Alfie Burden
43) Gerard Greene 5-1 Li Yan


7pm
44) Anthony McGill 4-5 David Gilbert
45) Ben Woollaston 1-5 Passakorn Suwannawat
46) Steve Davis 3-5 Kurt Maflin
47) Robert Milkins 5-4 Liu Chuang
48) Mike Dunn 1-5 Peter Lines

Today the final battle begins with:

Round 4
10am
49) Barry Hawkins v Jimmy Robertson
50) Jamie Cope v Aditya Mehta
51) Peter Ebdon v Matthew Selt
52) Ken Doherty v Jack Lisowski
53) Marco Fu v Jamie Burnett
54) Mark Davis v Rory McLeod


2.30pm
55) Anthony Hamilton v Michael White
56) Jamie Jones v Rod Lawler
57) Tom Ford v Barry Pinches
58) Mark King v Dave Harold
59) Fergal O'Brien v Gerard Greene

7pm
60) Marcus Campbell v David Gilbert
61) Joe Perry v Passakorn Suwannawat
62) Michael Holt v Kurt Maflin
63) Ryan Day v Robert Milkins
64) Dominic Dale v Peter Lines
* all hours are UK time

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Wuxi Classic 2012 (the qualifiers ) - Day 2

12:34:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Drago comes back for victory against Duffy
The second day of the brand new ranking event due to take place in China at the end of this month, found the Q School graduates in not such a great form, although their start wasn't bad at all.

So with a not-going-to-China-just-yet ticket we have Martin O'Donnell, who lost 5-3 to Alfie Burden, Paul Davison who experienced the same result by playing against David Gilbert, Michael Wasley who was hammered 5-1 by one very-eager-to-compete Thai Passakorn Suwannawat, Joel Walker, who was defeated by an ingrate scoreline of 5-4 by a more experienced Peter Lines, but also Chen Zhe who was crashed 5-0 by Simon Bedford.

Back on the "winners' camp" both Luca Brecel and Tony Drago continued their terrific start. Brecel managed to leave out of the competition the powerful Thai player Dechawat Poomjaeng by winning 5-4, while Drago put on quite a fight to come back from being lead 3-o down and win the battle of cues against Adam Duffy by 5-3.


Maflin is ready to meet the Nugget
A very impressive victory was obtained by Barry Pinches who whitewashed China's Tian Pengfei 5-0, while Norway' Kurt Maflin continued his good run and took down another player, this time Andy Hicks playing the victim role, in order to set up his next match with the one and only Nugget of snooker, Steve Davis.


The two players from Thailand whose names are not even possible to write on the scoreboard (because are soooo long), Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon (also known as Double T), lost their chance to move forward in the competition, Jimmy Robertson being responsabile for the exit of the first named one by 5-0, while another pink soldier, this time Michael White, sent home the second named one by 5-3.


Below you can check Day 2 list or results:


10am
17) Jimmy Robertson 5-0 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
18) James Wattana 1-5 Aditya Mehta
19) Simon Bedford 5-0 Chen Zhe
20) Adam Duffy 3-5 Tony Drago
21) Dechawat Poomjaeng 4-5 Luca Brecel
22) Mark Joyce 5-3 Fraser Patrick

2.30pm
23) Michael White 5-3 Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon
24) Yu De Lu 4-5 Rod Lawler
25) Barry Pinches 5-0 Tian Pengfei
26) Alfie Burden 5-3 Martin O'Donnell
27) Li Yan 5-2 Adrian Gunnell


7pm
28) David Gilbert 5-3 Paul Davison
29) Passakorn Suwannawat 5-1 Michael Wasley
30) Andy Hicks 1-5 Kurt Maflin
31) Liu Chuang 5-4 Craig Steadman
32) Peter Lines 5-4 Joel Walker

Today the action continues with:

Round 3
10am
33) Nigel Bond v Jimmy Robertson
34) Jimmy White v Aditya Mehta
35) Matthew Selt v Simon Bedford
36) Jack Lisowski v Tony Drago
37) Jamie Burnett v Luca Brecel
38) Rory McLeod v Mark Joyce

2.30pm
39) Xiao Guodong v Michael White
40) Liang Wenbo v Rod Lawler
41) Alan McManus v Barry Pinches
42) Dave Harold v Alfie Burden
43) Gerard Greene v Li Yan


7pm
44) Anthony McGill v David Gilbert
45) Ben Woollaston v Passakorn Suwannawat
46) Steve Davis v Kurt Maflin
47) Robert Milkins v Liu Chuang
48) Mike Dunn v Peter Lines
* all hours are UK time 

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Pink the Third

23:53:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

The Pink Ribbon trophy awaits for its new owner
I hope you realise that is that time of the year when snooker goes pink. Back in Gloucester, at the lovely South West Snooker Academy, the players change their dressing code and give up on wearing those black and elegant waistcoats to try something more "girlish" - a pink polo t-shirt.

It's the third year when the Pink Ribbon tournament is taking place, with all its proceedings going to Breast Cancer Charities. A noble cause "sponsored" by the biggest names in the snooker industry and a genuine show not just of snooker, but also of raising awareness over a very cruel disease.

The first edition of the Pink Ribbon tournament saw Michael Holt lifting the trophy, while the second one was almost going to have the same result. Still, in the end, Holt lost the chance to defend his title and Mark Joyce left the venue covered in glory.

What will happen this year? Who's going to be the next Pink champion? Who's going to play snooker, as well as militate for a noble cause by doing so?

During 7 and 8 of June, the amateur rounds will take place, while the next two days are being reserved to the heavy names, the professional gladiators of the green baize.

Maybe the first prize is not a fabulous amount of money (£2,400), but this is not the point here. The point is to have as many participants as possible hence, as much money as possible for charities.

So, where we go with the third edition of the Pink Ribbon tournament. Gooooo Pink!

For more info about the match schedule and who's playing against who, click here.

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Rocket Ronnie delays launch into new season

23:37:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Rocket lauch? Not just yet ...
The 2012 World Championship:

O'Sullivan announces that he "might, might" retire from playing snooker in the near future. Shocking news? Not really, he's said it before. A few days later though, he goes on and wins the bloody thing and lifts the most desired trophies of all with a huge smile on his face, next to a mesmerized Ronnie Jnr, who was there with him in the arena to celebrate his dad's forth victory at the Crucible.

The press conference after the World Championship:

Ronnie is still continuing to say that snooker and a packed season don't work very well for him and that his family comes first. He still loves playing, but ... taking some time off, might do him some good. Retiring thoughts? He's still seriously considering it, but doesn't want to make any rush decisions just now.

Present time:

A shocking statement is being released on Grove Snooker's web-site, the Rocket saying that:

“I have decided not to enter any tournaments for the time being including this year’s Premier League and forthcoming WPBSA ranking events."

“I have not signed the player’s contract as I feel the contract is too onerous and am in a stage of my career where I don’t wish to make this commitment."

“I still want to play snooker and visit those places around the world such as China where snooker is enthusiastically received and adored."

“I hope to remain involved in the sport in some way in the future.”

A few hours later World Snooker Ltd. replays: 

World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn today confirmed that all players on the World Snooker Tour for the 2012/13 season have signed the official players' contract, other than Ronnie O'Sullivan, who is therefore not currently eligible to compete in any World Snooker sanctioned event.

The contract was prepared and agreed in conjunction with the WPBSA and following consultation with the Snooker Players Association.

Hearn said: "As much as we will miss Ronnie O'Sullivan in World Snooker events, we simply can't make exceptions for one player's individual requirements. Our duty is to treat all of the players equally."

"Ronnie is at liberty to enter our events and play on the circuit at any time, once he agrees to abide by the rules of the players' contract."

Ronnie and his forth world title
The conclusion? Well, that's a toughie. Mainly because I'm not a mind reader and because Ronnie is known for changing his mind.

Still, this time he seems pretty serious and determined in his beliefs. He's not announcing retirement, but he's announcing that he's not going to say "Yes" to travelling and snookering from Paris to Bangkok this forthcoming season.

Personally, I think this is a very mature way of saying what you really want, rather than sign a contract and then start pulling off from events that don't suit your personal schedule. I think it's an honest and clear way of saying what you really want and expect.

On the other hand, snooker is not going to stop because of Ronnie even if it feels like a blasphemy. The sport will carry on and although there's no doubt the fans will be disappointed no to see the Rocket in action, there are so many other great characters in the game ready to keep the show going.

What's really important here is that O'Sullivan is not saying "OK, I had enough with you people, so I quit", which is a big step considering his latest statements, but that he doesn't want to accept a contract terms and then break the rules causing more controversy around him.

Will this be the end of Ronnie as a snooker player (thriller music on the background) ??? Well, I won't go that far ... just yet.


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Wuxi Classic (the qualifiers) 2012 - Day 1

11:10:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Luca on loose with two century breaks in his 1st match
The first day of the Wuxi Classic qualifiers saw the recent Q School graduates taking a pretty good start ... well most of them. 

For Chen Zhe, Rod Lawler, Martin O'Donnell, Paul Davison, Michael Wasley and Joel Walker things worked out for the best, while for the very "musical" Robbie Williams, Sam Baird, Sean O'Sullivan, Daniel Wells, Ian Burns and Jamie O'Neill the smell of victory is yet to be felt.


Along with the ones that won their first match, was Belgium's prodigy Luca Brecel, who beat Daniel Wells 5-1 (hit two century breaks in the process: 122 and 108), scoreline also registered by Tony Drago against Sean O'Sullivan.


"The Chinese team", a team that we all know has the habit to always take a pretty good and stable start during each qualifying rounds, wasn't at its best yesterday, the only player that survived being Chen Zhe and his 5-4 victory obtained in front of Pankaj Advani.


Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in action
As for Zhang Anda and Cao Yupeng, they both lost their first match, Anda 5-3 to Rod Lawler and Cao 5-4 to Joel Walker.


However, "Thailand's team" scored its first points this season, with both Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon (boy, that was hard to type!) winning over their opponents Robbie Williams and Ian Burns respectively. Have to say that Un-Nooh had a great 136 break, the highest break of the qualifiers, so fat.


Other victories were recorded by India's Aditya Mehta, who beat Sam Baird 5-2, Norway's Kurt Maflin who obtained a 5-3 result in front of Jamie O'Neill, but also by Craid Steadman who defeated Michael Wild by the same scoreline.


Below you can check Day One list of results:


10am
Round 1
1) Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-2 Robbie Williams
2) Aditya Mehta 5-3 Sam Baird
3) Pankaj Advani 4-5 Chen Zhe
4) Tony Drago 5-1 Sean O'Sullivan
5) Luca Brecel 5-1 Daniel Wells
6) Hossein Vafaei Ayouri v Fraser Patrick w/o

2.30pm
7) Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon 5-3 Ian Burns
8) Zhang Anda 3-5 Rod Lawler
9) Tian Pengfei 5-4 Duane Jones
10) David Grace 2-5 Martin O'Donnell
11) Ben Judge 1-5 Adrian Gunnell

7pm
12) Michael Leslie 2-5 Paul Davison
13) Liam Highfield 4-5 Michael Wasley
14) Kurt Maflin 5-3 Jamie O'Neill
15) Craig Steadman 5-3 Michael Wild
16) Cao Yupeng 4-5 Joel Walker

The action continues today too, with the following matches:


Round 2
10am
17) Jimmy Robertson v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
18) James Wattana v Aditya Mehta
19) Simon Bedford v Chen Zhe
20) Adam Duffy v Tony Drago
21) Dechawat Poomjaeng v Luca Brecel
22) Mark Joyce v Fraser Patrick

2.30pm
23) Michael White v Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon
24) Yu De Lu v Rod Lawler
25) Barry Pinches v Tian Pengfei
26) Alfie Burden v Martin O'Donnell
27) Li Yan v Adrian Gunnell


7pm
28) David Gilbert v Paul Davison
29) Passakorn Suwannawat v Michael Wasley
30) Andy Hicks v Kurt Maflin
31) Liu Chuang v Craig Steadman
32) Peter Lines v Joel Walker
* all hours are UK time

Don't forget that you can see the lads in action on www.sportlemon.tv

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Photographing a photographer – Interview with Monique Limbos

23:10:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments


There’s a lot of controversy about who’s the author of ”A picture is worth a thousand words” quote, but I guess we can all agree that the person who said that was so right.

Still, Monique Limbos’ pictures are worth more than just a thousand words, because they manage to convey all the happiness and all the drama that happens during a snooker match. They capture the true essence of what’s going on the green baize, the thrill, the sadness, the grimace, the joy, the “tear in the eye”, the triumphant look, the losing look, the competitive animal inside the player.

Many of us had the chance to actually feel like we were there, inside the arena, taking part of the snooker show, as we clicked on her pictures. Many of us felt like we were inside the press conference room at the Crucible as we were listening to her uploaded files on Sound Cloud. Many of us are using her pictures to write out articles, to share our thoughts about a simple match or an entire tournament.

We’ve got used to see Monique almost hiding behind that huge and heavy camera of hers; maybe even have taken for granted her contribution to this beloved cue sport, never asking who’s really behind that camera and what her story is.

Today, you have the chance to know the person Monique Limbos as I try to “photograph” her in this article. The close-up reveals her early passion for photography, her very interesting encounter with snooker, her journey through a “world ruled by men” and her incredible devotion not just to photography, but also to people.


When photography meets snooker

Photography was a very early discovery for Monique, but it soon evolved into something that has changed her life. As for her encounter with the cue sport that we all love and cherish, it happened back in 2004 when snooker came knocking at her door during a rainy day in Greece. The rest is history.

Monique recalls how it all started …

“When I was 10, I had a very serious accident that limited my activities for several years, so my family offered me a Kodak Instamatic 100. That was in the spring of 1965. I fell in love with photography there and then.”

“Later, in high school, I had a teacher who was passionate about photography and organised free workshops, on his own initiative. That's how I learned the basics about how a camera works and how to “construct” an interesting image.”

“More recently, when my children became grown-ups and I had more time for myself, I followed proper training during the weekends and started to work in the lab and in the darkroom as well.”

“I now have my own darkroom and still love to work with black & white films that I can process myself from beginning to end.”

“About three years ago, certain circumstances in life made me take a important decision. I retired from my job as an IT Expert, working for an International Organisation, in order to become a snooker photographer full time.”

Although for many years, photography remained just a hobby and not the major path in her life, something changed when snooker became part of the equation.

And for Monique it was all about equations as her academic background is actually one where numbers, perimeters and angles mix perfectly.

“My main training in university was maths and especially geometry. I'm just in love with it, angles, physics of the balls, the lot.”

“It's not just snooker, it's all forms of billiard games. Three-cushion billiards fascinates me, always has. That's what was played in the “cafés” when I was a kid.

“I discovered snooker later, around 2004. I was in Athens and the weather was just awful. I'm not a television addict, but I was really bored and switched it on. The Welsh Open was under way. I got hooked.”

However, it was not until 2007 when photography and snooker actually met and became a team. Being a snooker fan for some time now, Monique embraced the possibility of watching the “snooker show” live, so she travelled from Belgium to Poland to see the masters of the green baize in action.

“My first event was in Warsaw, were John Higgins, Mark Selby, Graeme Dott, Steve Davis and four Polish amateurs were playing in what proved to be the “prototype” of the World Series.”, Monique remembers fondly

“I brought my camera, snapped around, loved the experience and loved the result.”

“A few months later I asked Matchroom Sport if it was OK for me to come and take pictures at the Premier League. It was in Grimsby and Ronnie was playing. I was already a moderator on his website.”

“They accepted and their official photographer briefed me very kindly, about what to do and not to do, and how to move around in a professional snooker event. I will never be able to thank them enough for giving me the opportunity.”


A Rocket fan

One of the things I really admire in a person is their ability to know when to hit the switch button from being subjective to being objective. And being a snooker fan, with being a fan of a certain player often get mixed, the result not being a very pretty one.

With Monique that’s not the case, for although she’s the moderator of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s official website, you won’t detect any rude or out of place comments made from her by addressing one of the “Rocket’s” opponents. She’s above all a snooker fan, so she acknowledges the tremendous work the players do, their talent and passion.

A few months after becoming a member of O’Sullivan’s website she was asked if she could offer assistance.

Since then she’s been doing a terrific job taking care of the place were Ronnie’s fans and sometimes enemies meet, although not everyone understands the common sense concept.

“Sometimes it's difficult to find the right balance between allowing people to express their views and make sure that due respect is given to Ronnie's opponents.”

“It's a player's official site, but it's also a fan site. Understandably some of them are a bit biased.

“And then Ronnie has his haters, as well as his lovers. There is no need to be a member to comment on the main page of the site. After defeats or ... well, some controversy ... I've sometimes spend long nights moderating or deleting inappropriate posts.”, says Monique.


On the road

It’s not a secret that snooker likes travelling, especially if we take a good look at the recently ended season. And with snooker travel players, referees and photographers.

More than one player has expressed their concerns about having a too packed season with so many tournaments being staged all around the world.

But for Monique travelling is fun and is something she has in her blood. The snooker caravan is her favourite transport vehicle and she’s preparing to actually travel outside the continent this season.

“I'm a traveller", says Monique with a smile on her face.

“I'm always ready to prepare my bags – it doesn't take me long – and be on the road. So I've no problem with it. My only regret is that last season was so busy that I couldn't take the time to visit the places where we stayed properly. I like to combine some “tourism” with my snooker whenever possible.”

“I will be in Shanghai next September. I'm really looking forward to it.”

For those not fortunate enough to go at the Crucible this year, but follow Monique on FaceBook, you could see that during this year’s World Championship Mark Jones (snooker player Hannah Jones’ father) took some pretty interesting pictures of Monique and her sophisticated equipment.

Makes you wonder how she manages to carry that heavy camera from country to country, from venue to venue and work in an environment that’s mostly dominated by men.

But for Monique, there’s something she’s done all her life, and to quote one of Frank Sinatra songs “and may I say, not in shy way”, her only concern being to do her job properly.

Monique confesses that: “I've always been in professions dominated by men. IT is even worse than sport photography in that respect actually.”

“But I never had any problem with anyone as a photographer.”

“Indeed, equipment is seriously heavy. I'm probably stronger than I look and there is always at least one gallant man in each train.” she happily concludes.


“Developing” the photographer

To conclude this article, I’ve chosen to develop the latest four clichés of this beautiful film that Monique was so kind to share with us, by using some questions. Let’s see what she got to say about her most memorable snooker moments and about how she likes to spend her, often very little, free time.

1. Until now, what was your favourite snooker event?

“That's a hard one! I love taking pictures in the Premier League. The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed, and it was my first real experience of pro snooker as a photographer, and a very good one.”

“But the World Championship is special. The tension is just incredible for 17 days, it's running high on emotions from start to finish. And I love Sheffield.”

2. What was your most wonderful v. most terrible experience as a snooker photographer?

“Not so much as a photographer, but as a media person, the most terrible experience was to be there, in the media room, when the Higgins-NOTW scandal came out.”

“The last semi-final was still under way and we were asked to keep it quiet. But everyone was in shock.”

“People like Steve Davis, Janie Watkins and Clive Everton were profoundly saddened and worried for the future of the sport. How not to be when snooker is relying so much on betting companies for its sponsoring and its integrity is so seriously challenged?”

“Also, a lot of us were concerned about Graeme Dott's reaction. He was still playing, knowing nothing of the scandal involving his management.”

“I can't really choose the most wonderful one. There were many. Being alone in the spare commentary box and taking pictures when Steve Davis beat John Higgins at the WC in 2010, the tension was almost unbearable, everyone in the Crucible was living it with Steve. “

“Being on the floor when the players were introduced for the last session of the 2011 World Championship final. The atmosphere was just incredible.”

“Ronnie's happiness and emotion when cradling his son and the trophy after this years’ final and the little boy ecstatic look at his father when the “confetti” were falling on them. And more ...”

3. Have you ever tried to play snooker?

“Yes. I'm crap! Still love it. My highest break is 25 ... still don't know how I managed it.”

4. What do you like to do in your free time?

“I love to cook, when I have time to do it properly.”

“I love to walk, randomly, in towns, on markets, in the woods, in harbours, along rivers, and take “candids”.

”I used to read a lot, still do, mainly “whodunits”.

“I'm also interested in history and archaeology. I love puzzles of all sorts, but mainly mathematical puzzles.”


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