The tournament starts tomorrow … and the WSS players are well represented in the draw! The venue is ready and the players are practicing. Richard Emery, Rodney Goggins and Lieven Vanthournout were amongst the ones first on the tables this afternoon.

Good luck to all involved!

Here are some images taken this afternoon:

It was a brilliant night in Lincoln as Jimmy White played seven of the best local players, and a lucky raffle winner. The latter didn’t have much time at the table as Jimmy concluded the event with a brilliant century. Jimmy defeated them all…

The evening started with a meet and greet, followed by a delicious buffet.

Dennis Taylor got the action underway with some trickshots and jokes, before things started in earnest under the supervision of Michaela Tabb.

There was an interval after four frames, during which a raffle was organised: great prizes were on offer, including the possibility to play a frame against Jimmy.

Matt Huart, representing World Disability Billiard and Snooker, was presented with two cheques. It’s always a great thing when we can have fun and support a worthy cause at the same time. This was certainly the case here!  

After the interval, action resumed. The evening concluded with a Q&A. Jason Francis, acting as a moderator, passed the audience questions to both Dennis and Jimmy. They spoke about their career, with passion and humour.

Thank you to all involved in organising and making this a great night: Mr and Mrs Coton, Jason Francis, Dennis Taylor, Jimmy White, Michaela Tabb, and, of course, the local players and everyone who attended!

These are the photos…

I also took pictures of the various VIP groups, at the table, and all the players handshakes.

Anyone wanting them, please email JimmyandDennisinLincolnJan2019@aol.com (not case sensitive).  Nigel Coton will contact you. He can supply hi-res pictures  from £10+postage and all profits will go to WDBS.

If you want any of those shown on this page in high res, please contact Nigel Coton, using the email address above and specifying the picture “name”. The latter will appear when you over over the pictures in the gallery below. I will make sure he can supply them to you, at the conditions stated above. Again, all profits will go to WDBS.

I believe that exhibitions are just as important for the promotion of snooker as competitive tournament. They offer a more relaxed and fun approach to the sport and are a perfect introduction for a younger audience who, maybe, has not yet the maturity and attention span required for more “serious” snooker.

When exhibitions also support charities, they deserve all the publicity they can get! So in the coming days, I will try to promote events that mix snooker, enjoyment and charity!

The “Legends” are doing a few in the coming weeks and months

Here is the first:

It is organised by Nigel and Ali Coton, who organised and hosted  similar events with Ronnie O’Sullivan, in May 2017 and February 2018. Nigel is a disabled snooker player himself and he’s very aware that many disabled players aren’t as well off as he is himself, many of them are on benefits, and struggle badly with the costs associated with the events, even if they are kept to a minimum. One of those disabled players – who I won’t name – told me that the WDBS tour had become his family and massively helped him out of social isolation and depression. He’s not the only one in that situation. So, please, come and support these events. And Lincoln is a great place for a city trip as well!