When the announcement was made that the WSS ROKiT World Championship would be held at the Crucible next August, it was announced at the same time that both Disability Snooker and Women Snooker would be showcased during the event.

WDBS has now announced who the WDBS players will be, who will play at the Crucible

Disability Snooker to be Showcased at Crucible Theatre

By Matt Huart In Events, General News, WPBSA

Four leading players from the 360Fizz World Disability Billiards and Snooker Tour have earned the opportunity to compete at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield this August for the first time.

To be staged as part of the 2019 ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Championship, the session will take place on the morning of 18 August from 10:00am and feature four highly decorated players who compete regularly on the WDBS circuit.

Among those in action will be Daniel Lee, who plays in the Group 2 wheelchair category and earlier this year was named as the Vic Hartley Player of the Season in recognition of his success during the 2018/19 campaign.

He will be joined by Daniel Blunn, who was born with cerebral palsy and competes as a Group 4 player. Blunn has been a part of the WDBS family since our first event in November 2015 and has to date claimed an incredible eight events, including three during the current campaign.

Representing sensory disabilities are Coventry’s Nick Neale, a six-time winner of competitions for players with visual impairments and deaf player Shabir Ahmed, who has established himself as the dominant player in his category with six titles and was last year recognised at the Deaf Sports Personality of the Year Awards by finishing in third place in the overall voting.

The event will be the first as part of a three-year agreement which will also see disability snooker return to Sheffield in 2020 and 2021.

Nigel Mawer, WDBS Chairman said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for our players to be able to play at the home of snooker and from speaking to them already I know just how excited they are to be able to live their dream and walk out on the same stage as their heroes.

“The event is going to be a real celebration of disability snooker and I would like to encourage all of our players to come along and support those competing and make it a day to remember!”

Tickets are already on sale at the price of just £1.47 when purchased with a full-price ticket to any other session at the ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Championship, so book now to avoid disappointment, by phone 0114 249 600 or online HERE.

The ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Championship will run across four days from 15-18 August 2019 and feature several all-time greats of the game including ‘King of the Crucible’ Stephen Hendry and 10-time ranking event winner Jimmy White.

There will also be a session on the morning of Saturday 17^th August held to showcase the talent on the World Women’s Snooker Tour.

All four players selected totally deserve the honour to be there. Actually there are so many deserving WBDS players that it must have been very hard to select only four. Those guys – and gals – are true everyday’s heroes, not allowing their disabilities to stop them achieving their dreams. Not just those four, but all of them at WDBS. Daniel Blunn is also a referee, in addition to be a player. Some of those players are coaches as well. They are a credit to the sport we love. Come and support them!

At the end of the season, the Top 32 on the ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Tour get together for a final weekend at Crucible Sports & Social Club Newbury 7-9th June. Everyone is welcome for a great weekend to celebrate our season.

A player from each seeds group will be randomly drawn into their playing group for the weekend, top 2 progress to the quarters. Over £3000 up for grabs, and we are supporting a fantastic charity over the weekend. Our competitors are…

Seeds 1-8
Johnathan Bagley, Aaron Canavan, Lee Richardson, Barry Pinches, Rodney Goggins, Leo Fernandez, Stuart Watson, Richard Emery.

Seeds 9-16
Gary Britton, Lee Martin, Sean Lanigan, Gary Filtness, Rhydian Richards, Garoid O’Connor, Mark White, Jonathan Charlton

Seeds 17-24
Sanjay Meghani, Tony Corrigan, Nick Spelman, Karl Townsend, Les Dodd, Simon Dent, Aidan Owens, Neil Craycraft

Seeds 25-32
Stephen Campbell, James O’Sullivan, Dean Venables, Johnny Stevens, Steve Evans, Marcus Lord, Andy Milliard, Levi Meiller

The good news is all the action will be free to watch on www.snookertv.net

The SnowDrop Trust

When a child has been diagnosed with a life-threatening condition, it is devastating news and all too often parents don’t know where to turn to get the extra information, help and nursing support at home, they so desperately need. The Sussex Snowdrop Trust was founded 26 years ago to bridge the gap – and the services we provide for children and their families are even more in demand today than they were then. Nowadays children are at home very quickly after operations, travel daily to hospital for radiotherapy treatment and children with complex needs are at home and cared for by their parents. They need the vital support of a qualified children’s nurse to enable them to cope with the day to day demands of looking after a very sick child. The Snowdrop Care at Home Team of Paediatric nurses and our counselors are the professional friends that our Snowdrop families depend on – day by day – throughout their child’s illness.
The Snowdrop nurses also provide end of life care within the comfort, reassurance, and familiarity of home. Since Snowdrop was founded, nearly all children in our area, who have become terminally ill, have been at home during this very sad time. Parents say that being able to be at home with their child, gives them such precious time together.