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Legends of Snooker

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Sheffield is no stranger to hosting snooker events and this city has hosted the World Championship since 1977. On the 9th April, 2021, the city will welcome back two of the absolute legends of the sport Jimmy White and John Virgo. The event to be hosted at the OEC, will be a mix of conversation and savouring the atmosphere with a three course meal. These leading lights will be accompanied by Sky Sport’s Jade Slusarczyk and compered by a rising star, Colin Phillips. This is definitely a once in a life time experience for any snooker enthusiast who wishes to spend some time in the presence of the “Whirlwind”. Not only will they get to see first hand, Jimmy White but also hear about the experiences of this London born snooker player who accumulated ten professional titles in his long and established career. This is a moment of magic that should not be missed and will be a delight for the audience on the night. John Virgo or more fondly known as “JV” has had a wonderful career as a com
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The light at the end of the Table

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Snooker has been living in the wilderness since the start of the Corona virus pandemic. However after  a lengthy darkness, the sun is at last rising on televised snooker. With the government announcement that non contact sport can resume, The World Snooker Tour has made a bold step by dipping its toe in the water and holding The Championship League. Moving the venue to Milton Keynes, this tournament is a perfect way to kickstart the sport and bring some form of normality back to the green baize. This is a strange situation for snooker fans who haven’t heard the clink of snooker balls stop since the war years and the Gibraltar Open has shown that snooker can be successful even if an audience isn’t present behind closed doors. Stringent measures have of course had to be put in place to even get snooker out of a locked cupboard and this includes a self isolating bubble for players, mass testing for all involved and have to stay for the course of the event and in one hotel. Even the comm
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The Theatre of Dreams

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“The melting pot of ideas” Introduction Nestled in the middle of the bustling city of Sheffield, lies the Crucible Theatre. A building that has become a bastion of Yorkshire culture, the building has inhabited the main square since 1971. Often referred to as “The Crucible “, the building has hosted many plays and musicals and some sports including snooker’s World Championship since Mike Watterson’s wife went to a play at the theatre and told her husband that it would be a great place to hold future tournaments and the rest is history! Situated just off Norfolk Street, the building is instantly recognisable with its rectangular structure, bright facade and bold signage. When you arrive at The Crucible, it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and leaves you with a lasting memory. The Early Years The Crucible Theatre was built by M J Gleeson, a building company that specialises in urban regeneration. Constructed to replace the Playhouse Repertory Theatre in neighbouri
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Canada’s Finest

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Cliff Thorburn is one of the most recognised faces in snooker, a man who started as a hustler in Canadian pool halls, Cliff made the courageous decision to find fame and fortune in the United Kingdom. Travelling with Kirk Stevens and Bill Werbeniuk, the “Grinder” as he affectionately became known, went on to win the 1980 World Championship, beating Alex Higgins, 18-16 and achieved a memorable 147 and the Crucible in 1983. He also won the Masters three times.This Canadian trailblazer has over time been able to adapt to the changing game and has gone to be part of the Legends and now World Seniors snooker tour. Memorably, Thorburn was the last person to play Alex Higgins before his untimely demise. Recently Cliff has branched out onto social media, creating his own Facebook page. Thorburn was born in the same year as my Mother, 1948 and so this must have been daunting for a 72 year old but I have been very impressed with how he has adapted to using the phenomenon of social interaction
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He who dares, wins!

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Snooker has had to go into sporting hibernation during this pandemic but thankfully the BBC has filled the seventeen day, World Championship void with airings of previous finals. As an avid fan, this is great way of being able to relive these sporting moments, much of which I spent behind a cushion or the sofa when my nerves couldn’t take the pressure. One such example was the 1992 World Championship final between Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White. Having watched all the clashes between these players, I had to cast aside my Jimmy White t shirt and pretend this was being played from scratch and what a belter of a match it was. However and it is a big however, usually in a classic match, there is always what is called a “turning point”  and in this epic it came in frame 24 when Hendry 14-9 up and had to pot the brown off the side cushion across the nap. This was probably one of the greatest shots seen on live snooker but for some reason the BBC cut it out of their highlights of the match
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Shooting from the Hip

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The Snooker Shootout has become a regular event on the snooker tour calendar with past winners including Nigel Bond, Michael Georgiou and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. The Watford based tournament is fast and frenetic as all 128 players are pitched against each other in a hybrid form of snooker and pool that attracts a noisy audience and produces an unexpected winner at the end of the few days played. The creation of this tournament has attracted praise and criticism, especially with the recent addition of it being classed as a ranking event with valuable points attached to the winner. Born out of the Pot Black and Power Snooker formats, the Shootout has managed to survive and has prevented the other two from making a comeback. As excitement builds for this competition next week, I would like to argue the case for this fixture and why it should remain part of the calendar. Having been a snooker fan for over thirty years, I have seen many changes in snooker with players and tournaments crash a
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Judd’s Judgement

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In a recent interview with Phil Seymour for BetVictor, Judd Trump expressed his concern for the future of the UK youth game, saying that few players were breaking through into the professional tour, describing them as “struggling”. He went on to say that he thought that China was championing the market with many of the Chinese field expected to make up “ half the top sixteen in the next five to ten years”. Trump went on to say that he believes he could be playing for the next fifteen to twenty years and already has Ronnie’s 1,000 centuries’ record in his sights, confident that he can possibly make 1,500 career centuries. Perhaps a bold statement but one that looks viable with his current form, having already won last year’s World Championship and looking dominant in the current German Masters. Once considered to be a player who led a lavish lifestyle, posting tweets from Dubai or driving fast cars, the player has scaled down his “downtime”, concentrating on match preparation but st
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