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Month: April 2019

The coming season – Press Release

seniorsnooker Tour news

This Press Release was sent out today

ROKiT World Seniors Snooker 2019/20 Calendar Announced

 

World Seniors Snooker has today announced its calendar of events for the 2019/20 ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Tour season.

Headlined by the recently-announced ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Championship which will be played at the Crucible Theatre this August, the season will include a minimum of six major ranking events to be held over the next 12 months.

As well as the World Seniors Championship, the ROKiT UK Seniors Championship won last season by Ireland’s Ken Doherty will return to Hull’s Bonus Arena from 24-25 October.

 This will be followed by a return to the iconic Goffs venue in Ireland next January for the Seniors Irish Masters won this season by Jimmy White, prior to a new One Frame Challenge event at the historic St Georges Hall venue in Liverpool which will celebrate 50 years of the iconic Pot Black which was first held in 1969.

 In April the circuit will head to Plymouth for another new event, the ROKiT Seniors British Open which will pay tribute to the ranking event than was held there from 1994-2000.

 The final event of the season will be the ROKiT 6-Red World Seniors Snooker Championship, which will remain in Northern Ireland but move to a new location in Coleraine. As in 2018, the tournament will carry a £20,000 winner takes all prize and will be held from 5-6 June.

 Tickets on sale now!

 Tickets for next season’s events in Hull, Liverpool and Plymouth go on sale tomorrow (1 May 2019).

 Tickets are already on sale for the ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Championship in Sheffield in August.

 All events include a VIP option to attend a champagne reception, to be attended by all legends who will be competing in that event.

 Amateur qualifiers

 Alongside our major ranking events there will also be new opportunities for our amateur qualifiers than ever before with tournaments to be held across the world.

 Entries will open tomorrow for qualifiers across England, Belgium and Hong Kong, with tournaments also set to return to Canada and Beijing with further information to be revealed in due course. Players can enter events online here.

 We are also delighted to reveal that we are working with the Oceania Billiards and Snooker Federation and the Australian Billiards and Snooker Association to place a qualifier in Australia, as well as the Pan American Billiards and Snooker Association to hold a qualifier in Brazil this season. The winner of both these qualifiers will travel to Sheffield to play in the 2020 ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Championship.

 Provisional ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Tour Calendar – 2019/20

WSS 2019:20 Calendar
 

(Venues and dates subject to change)

JASON FRANCIS

CEO Events that Rok Ltd

Creator of SNOOKER LEGENDS
Chairman of  the WORLD SENIORS SNOOKER TOUR

Shareholder in SightRight Cues Ltd

www.snookerlegends.co.uk

Enter now by clicking here https://www.snookerlegends.co.uk/worldseniors_registration.html

…

Important changes for the coming season

seniorsnooker Event info, Tour news ,

The following changes have been announced on social media by Jason Francis, chairman of WSS

Following consultation with the Players Commission the following recommendations have been made by them which I am largely happy to adopt.

1, Black Ball
For the World Championships and Uk Championships to begin with the respot will be removed with all matches to semi final being best of 5 and from semi finals best of 7. The conditions to allow this are as follows
a, Matches may begin at 9am
b, the competition must be played down to the quarters by end of play Saturday.
c, players should expect much longer days
d, a minimum third referee will be added and their hours scheduled in shifts as no one should be expect to officiate for 12 hours.
e, in order to fund and third referee and potentially another TD to help T BAG the entry fee for qualifiers we run will be increased to £60.

2, Prize Money For the qualifiers we run (predominantly Uk but some overseas) Prize money will be as follows
£700 winner
£400 runner up
£200 semi finals
£100 quarter finals
£100 High Break

3, Consideration for Saturday play will only be considered for players entering from outside the country where the event is being staged. Consideration does not mean a promise and players will need to confirm on entry they are available to play at any time during the tournament specified dates. I am happy to consider requests for Friday play but again this is a request and no promises can be made.

The commission is currently considering some other points.

We will announce the first set of qualifiers on Tuesday with entries opening Wednesday.

ROKiT World Snooker Logo

Crucible Memories – Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White

seniorsnooker Event info

Back to Canada for something very special !

CrucibleMemories2019Poster

And if you can’t maker the trip … fear not you will still be able to watch it!

Indeed this what Snooker@TV announced via mail

No WSS players at the Crucible … except in the studios

seniorsnooker Uncategorized

Eventually none of Michael Judge, Ken Doherty or Jimmy White managed to qualify for the World Championship at the Crucible.

Michael’s conqueror in the last round of the qualifiers, James Cahill, though made the healines on his Crucible débuts: he knocked out the World n°1, Ronnie O’Sullivan out of the tournament with a 10-8 win. Ok, Ronnie was unwell, but it still had to be done!

Ken Doherty is working for the BBC as commentator and pundit, whilst Jimmy White is in the Eurosport studio.

Michael Judge dares to dream …

seniorsnooker Event info, Player info ,

Last Monday Michael Judge didn’t even know that he would be playing in the World Championship 2019 qualifiers. He only was invited because Zhang Jankiang was denied his visa and had to withdraw.

We are one week later and now, he’s won two matches, beating Peter Lines and Xiao Guodong, both in a deciding frame and he’s going to play James Cahill in the last round for a possible place at the Crucible! James is an amateur as well, and this will be the first time ever that an amateur will play in the World Championship main event at the Crucible.

Here are all the results so far!

WC2019QualsDay1ResultsWC2019QualsDay2ResultsWC2019QualsDay3ResultsWC2019QualsDay4ResultsWC2019QualsDay5Results

The other “Seniors” involved didn’t – or don’t – do badly!

Jimmy White and Ken Doherty both won their first match and will play their second round match today. Jimmy is facing Ali Carter, Ken play Scott Donaldson.

David Lilley lost to Eden Sharav in round one, but the match was close. The final score was 10-7.

Jonathan Bagley really struggled with the conditions – very unfamiliar ones for him – during the first session. He progressively improved, but taming a heavy scorer like Thepchaya Un-nooh isn’t easy for anyone. The first session ended on as 8-1 score in favor of “Theppy”. Jonathan did himself proud though: in the second session he battled in true gladiator style and took three frames. He lost by 10-4 eventually but with honors!

 

The WSS ROKiT Sheffield Masters 2019- Joe Johnson is the Master!

seniorsnooker Event info, Player info ,

The tournament was played yesterday over two sessions.

In the afternoon we had three quarter final matches.

Before the session there was a meet and greet for the VIPs, and the opportunity to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Legend’s presence at the crucible with a cake!

Stephen Hendry beat the defending Champion, Cliff Thorburn by 2-0. It wasn’t perfect snooker, but played in great spirit and very entertaining.

Barry Pinches beat Ken Doherty by 2-0, in a fast paced high quality encounter.

Joe Johnson beat Jimmy White by 2-1 (black ball shoot-out). Both were playing well and it went to the wire!

John Parrot unfortunately had to withdraw, due to illness. Aaron Canavan, the Seniors World Champion got a bye!

In the evening session we had the semi finals and the Final.

Again it started with a meet and greet.

SF1: Barry Pinches beat Stephen Hendry by 2-0

SF2: Joe Johnson beat Aaron Canavan by 2-1

The Final: Joe Johnson beat Barry Pinches by 2-1

WSSMasters2019Final-6562

 

All three matches were quality and hard-fought. The Crucible fans responded with enthusiasm, but always respectful.

Stephen Hendry’s endorsed game, “This is Pool/Snooker” was available to play at the Crucible.

The event charity of choice, Eden Dora Trust was present in the Crucible lobby and at the “Meet and Greet”. It’s a great cause, please support them if you can.

Here is the story in pictures

 

Congratulations Joe!

A very important announcement at the WSS ROKiT Masters 2019 Champion’s Dinner

seniorsnooker Event info, Tour news ,

Ahead of the WSS ROKiT Masters 2019, the defending Champion, Cliff Thorburn hosted a Canadian themed dinner, designed by his wife, Barbara.

It had everything: great food, laugher, memories… Cliff Thorburn was duly honoured. Jason Ferguson, representing WPBSA, Mandy Fisher, representing WWS, Nigel Mawer representing WDBS were all present. There was an auction, a raffle, trick-shots …

Here is the story in pictures…

And a very important announcement: The Crucible Theatre will host the WSS World Championship in the future, and this year event will take place mid August. WLBS and WDBS players will be invited in dedicated sessions. And the event will grow in the coming years featuring more players. Tomorrow’s show will be the last “Snooker Legend” show at the Crucible and the tenth since it all started with Alex Higgins in 2010.

Here it is as posted on WPBSA Web Site

Crucible to Stage World Seniors Snooker Championship

11th April 2019

 

With just ten days until the World Professional Snooker Championship hits Sheffield, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) has announced a new major annual snooker tournament that will see the game’s icons go head to head for the ultimate World Seniors title.

The ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Championship is coming to the Crucible Theatre as part of a new partnership with Sheffield City Council to give the city a second major snooker event each year.

Legends such as Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White join a field of 20 players from 16 countries who will battle it out over four days to see who will lift the World Seniors Championship trophy.

Also for the very first time, within their four-day stay, a session will be dedicated to showcase the talents of the World Women’s Snooker (WWS) Tour and the World Disability Billiards and Snooker (WDBS) Tour.

Jason Ferguson, Chairman of the WPBSA said: “It’s great news to place the World Seniors Championship in the venue where our legends created their legacy.

“Being able to use the event to also showcase the talents of the women’s and the disability tours sends an important message for our sport and also opens up the dream of playing in the Crucible Theatre for everyone.”

The event takes place from 15-18 August at the Crucible Theatre Sheffield, home of the annual World Snooker Championship since 1977.

Paul Billington, Director of Culture and Environment at SCC, said: “We’re delighted to bring a second major snooker event to Sheffield, the true home of the sport. Many of the legends who will take part in the ROKiT World Seniors Championship made their name in our iconic Crucible Theatre, where this new tournament will also take place.

“As well as the chance to watch legends from the men’s game, this event showcases women’s and disability snooker at the highest level opening up the game to a whole new audience.

“We look forward to welcoming snooker’s elite and many visiting fans to Sheffield for what promises to be a thrilling showdown.”

The competition will see 20 of snooker’s best-loved personalities play over 12 sessions across four days. Tickets go on sale for all 12 sessions on Thursday 18 April.

Tickets to the women’s and disability sessions can be purchased for just £1.47 with any full price World Seniors ticket.

Tickets will also be available for a VIP meet experience with senior players, that will be held on the final day.

All tickets will be available at http://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

and the poster!

WSSWC2019Poster

Meanwhile, remember, this is happening at the Crucible today!

SixREdsBelfastDraw

Jonathan Bagley was playing yesterday at the World Championship 2019 Qualifiers at the English Institute of Sports. He was beaten 10-4 by Thepchaya Un-Nooh, but did himself proud. Jonathan really struggled at the start of the match in  those unfamiliar conditions. He trailed 8-1 at the end of the first session, but the match had been closer than the score suggested especially after the MSI. This showed in the second session: “Theppy” needed only two frames, but Jonathan made him work for them, winning the first mine session by 3-1.

Another WSS player was at the table as well. Michael Judge beat former World Seniors Champion Peter Lines by 10-0, in a match that lasted over 10 hours and finished at nearly 3 am…

Play Stephen Hendry’s “This is Snooker” at the Crucible !

seniorsnooker Event info, Player info ,

Yes, you read it right! Here is the story:

Five days ago, VooFoo Studio announced “This Is Snooker” featuring snooker legend, Stephen Hendry. Here is the unedited press release:

Birmingham, United Kingdom – 4th April 2019. VooFoo Studios and publisher Double Eleven today announced This Is Snooker, a genre-defining cue sports simulation featuring seven-time world snooker champion, Stephen Hendry, will be coming soon to PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the Nintendo Switch™ console and Windows PC.

 

Former world number one for nine seasons, Hendry is widely regarded as one of snooker’s greatest ever players. Stephen features in the game as both an AI opponent and expert mentor in a series of exclusive ‘Cue Tips’ videos designed to help improve your real-life and in-game snooker skills. Players will also be invited to play-through a series of arcade scenarios that challenge you to recreate defining moments in the snooker legend’s record-breaking snooker career.

VooFoo Studios has worked meticulously with Hendry to recreate his unique characteristics and attacking style of play in-game and to enhance their ability to create totally believable cue-sport physics in a stunningly realistic simulation of one of the world’s most exciting and competitive sports. Also featured in the game is world-renowned professional snooker and pool referee, Michaela Tabb, whose familiar voice brings authority and authenticity to the in-game referee.

“Working with one of the world’s greatest ever snooker players has helped us create an incredibly realistic cue sports simulation” said Shaun Read, Game Director at VooFoo Studios. “We’re very excited to have Stephen involved, his input has enabled us to really fine tune the game mechanics to make This Is Snooker by far the best cue sports simulation we’ve ever made.”

Stephen Hendry commented: “I’m really proud to be involved in the development of such an ambitious recreation of snooker. I’ve been really impressed with just how realistic This Is Snooker is and the level of detail that has gone into making it look and feel so real.”

This Is Snooker has been developed from the ground up using VooFoo Studios’ completely revamped proprietary game and physics engine. “The unique new set of tools at our disposal has enabled us to do things we’ve never done before that will take the game and genre to a whole new level,” stated Mark Williams, Technology Director at VooFoo Studios. “Our new engine has allowed us to create unrivalled levels of graphical fidelity and hyper-realistic, true-to-life ball physics, we’re confident we’ve created the most technically advanced cue sports game ever made.”

Published by Double Eleven and developed by cue sports masters Voofoo Studios, This Is Snooker will include the previously announced title This Is Pool and will be available as the This Is Snooker – Pool Deluxe Edition, in a content-packed, complete cue-sports experience. This Is Pool will also be available to purchase separately. Play every major type of cue sport in six painstakingly-detailed locations with full pool and snooker career modes, mini games, trick shots, practice mode and extensive local and online multiplayer modes in a truly immersive cue sports simulation.

This Is Snooker – Pool Deluxe Edition is coming soon to PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the Nintendo Switch™ console and Windows PC.

this-is-snooker

The good news is that if you are coming on Thursday to the WSS ROKiT Seniors Masters 2019, ‘This Is Snooker “– featuring Stephen Hendry, will be playable at the Crucible when the doors open to the public and also during the intervals! 

Here is the trailer!

 

Surely you can’t miss that?

WSS ROKiT Tour players dare to dream about the Crucible

seniorsnooker Event info

Worldsnooker has today published the draw and format for the World Championship 2019 Qualifiers.

Five WSS players are involved in the event, and need to win three matches to earn a spot at the Crucible in less than two weeks time.

Jimmy White

Jimmy’s first match will see him play Ross Bulman from Ireland, 17 years old and European Championship under 21 finalist. Ross is clearly a good prospect but will have to overcome a number of hurdles: he’s not used to the professional environment, he may not be used to play on Star tables and, he’s probably rarely played a multi-session match if ever, and, of course, he will be aware that he’s playing a legend of the sport. It’s certainly intimidating. For those reasons I make Jimmy a heavy favourite to win his first match in Sheffield. That match is scheduled on Friday 12 April, and Saturday 13 April 2019, at 2pm.

Here is Ross in action during the last European under-21 championship, against another good prospect, Julien Leclercq from Belgium:

Should Jimmy win this match, he will face the winner of Ali Carter v Paul Davison. That’s a very hard one! If he gets through that, waiting for him is the man who will emerge from this group of four: Michael White, Andy Hicks, Yuan Sijun and John Astley.

David Lilley

David  has been playing in everything: the WSS tour, the Challenge tour, and as a top up, in the Main Tour as well. His first opponent will be Eden Sharav and this match will be played to completion on April 11, 10 am and 7 pm. Should David win, he will be up against the winner of Ricky Walden and Alfie Burden. Then, wating for him could be Zhou Yuelong, Robin Hull, Liam Highfield or Hammad Miah.

Jonathan Bagley

Jonathan will need to brace himself for the fast and furious as he has been drawn against the Shoot Out 2019 champion, Thepchaya Un-Nooh. That match is scheduled fo  Wednesday, April 10, 2019, 10 am and 7 pm. This means that Jonathan will probably miss the ROKiT WSS Masters Gala Dinner which is a shame, although “Theppy” is not known for detaining his opponents for unduly long times, win or lose! Jonathan may still be able to join us, to celebrate or to find solace in great company. To be honest, I don’t rate Jonathan’s chances too high. I’m afraid that Thepchaya might have too much potting power for him … well, for most actually. He’s one I fancy to make it to the television stage at the Crucible. But should Jonathan survive the blitz, his next opponent would be Mark Joyce or Billy Joe Castle, with one of Billy O’Connor, Joe Swail, Jimmy Robertson (reigning European Masters champion)  or Chen Feilong waiting next. Tell me about a tough group!

Igor Figueiredo

“El Tigre”, the reigning Pan American Champion, is set to play Mark King first. That match will be played on Friday 13 April and Saturday 14 April, 2pm. It’s a clash of styles. Igor is flamboyant and, when on song a very heavy scorer, Mark King is a hard match player. I believe that Igor has a real chance here but he will have to work very hard for it and be patient too. Should he win Igor would play Lu Ning or Alan Taylor next. And, then, should he get past Lu or Alan, he may face another WSS player in ….

Ken Doherty

Ken’s first match will be against Andy Lee. That match is scheduled on Saturday 13 April, 10 am and 7 pm. It is, in my opinion a very winnable match, and it would probably be enough for Ken to regain his professional status. However, Ken’s next opponent would be either Scott Donaldson or Craig Steadman and both have shown very good form last week in Beijing, with Scott reaching the semi finals, whilst Craig sent the defending champion, Mark Selby, home.

Good luck guys!