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 commentary  team will have to ply their are in separate rooms and verbalise the course of action via their microphones and webcams. This format will have to continue well into the future and these methods will become part of the televised World  Championship if it takes place in July. 64 players are due to take part at the Championship League in Milton Keynes and with only one or two exceptions, the players have been able to get to the venue. This is a tough challenge with swabbing taking place even before they can get to the table to pot a ball and a green wristband shows that a player has tested negative for Corona Virus. The individuals taking part will have to live out of their suitcases and hotel rooms.

The Championship League is being propelled into the starlight with this decision and has come a long  way since its humble beginnings in 2008. Then you had to trawl the internet or You Tube for live streams and was the brainchild of Barry Hearn. Played originally in Crondon Park in Essex, the then venue was cramped and literally had enough space for two tables and a toilet. However that this was a firm favourite for the likes of Stuart Bingham and Judd Trump who flourished here. This tournament has evolved and skipped via the Ricoh Arena in Coventry to the Marshall Arena. Unlike the Premier League, the Championship League has survived and probably because it used a club atmosphere with commentary to shield itself from the winds of extinction. A perfect way to escape from our troubled world and soak up the exhilaration of watching snooker from your front room.

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