quantumofsport.com

Snooker must broaden its horizons as White, Ding make early Masters exits

“I’d go back, but only to see Ronnie”, was the remark from one member of the audience leaving Wembley Arena after the first day of the 2010 snooker Masters. It is a worrying comment on the current state of snooker if the sport is relying above all other supposed star attractions on one big draw – Ronnie O’Sullivan – to pull in the crowds.

The inclusion of veteran Jimmy White as a wildcard in the Masters was presumably an attempt by the powers-that-be to generate an extra wave of interest. But the gamble failed. White was exasperatingly below/past his best in losing 6-2 to Mark King, frequently running out of position or missing easy balls. It was, frankly, rather sad to see this snooker great produce a performance that was a mere shadow of the Whirlwind of old and one that utterly failed to justify his invitation to the tournament. There was a decided air of terminal decline about it as far as White’s snooker career is concerned.

White was of course never going to be able to revive snooker’s fortunes single-handedly. The lesson for those trying to revitalise the sport is that it is no longer good enough to fall back on the old local heroes, whether or not they are accompanied into the arena by rock music. It is time to move on. White’s wildcard could have been given instead to a promising young player (e.g. Judd Trump) or to an overseas talent: Liang Wenbo of China seemed to have a good case and probably would have boosted global viewing figures more than White. Not taking this approach was a missed opportunity and sent the wrong messages for the future.

Meanwhile, Liang’s compatriot Ding Junhui, who was in the tournament but crashed out in disappointing fashion 6-1 to Mark Selby in his opening match, explained afterwards that he had not had enough time to prepare: “I was busy in China [over the Christmas period], I played in a Chinese ranking tournament and did some things for sponsors. I didn't get back until January 4th so I only had four days to practice. I'll be working hard now to be ready for the Welsh Open.” Perhaps Ding is just not comfortable at the Wembley venue. Still, admitting to not being fully prepared due to other commitments is hardly a ringing endorsement of the Masters – which, though non-ranking, is billed as snooker’s premier invitational tournament – from the player who in December won the UK Championship, the second biggest event on the calendar.

So what to do about the future of snooker? Well, this correspondent has said it before and will say it again: the World Championship, snooker’s biggest prize by far, is pivotal. And in the interests of promoting a more global vision, I repeat the following idea: the World Championship could be staged alternately between the Crucible in Sheffield and other international venues – perhaps, say, having it at the Crucible every four years with, given sufficient interest, the Far East, the Middle East and North America staging it in between; or at the Crucible every other year and alternating between the others. Snooker is a marvellous game – but it will lose its way if it allows itself to become too parochial.

Sports calendar: The Big 10 for 2010

Having taken advantage of one or two quieter moments over the festive season to scour the schedules for the year ahead, quantumofsport.com is proud to present its brand new “Sports calendar 2010”. As ever, it will be a busy 12 months in the world of sport, with a range of top events competing for our attention. The calendar represents our (non-exhaustive) selection of what to look out for. We’ve also picked out – here below – ten of the biggest sporting occasions of the year, restricting ourselves to one entry for each sport we cover on a regular basis: it’s The Big 10 for 2010. Let’s hope there’s plenty of drama in store…

Feb 6-Mar 20, Six Nations rugby (for N. hemisphere fans at least!)
Feb 12-28, Winter Olympics, Vancouver, Canada
Apr 17-May 3, snooker World Championship, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
May 16, Formula 1 Monaco GP (or any other between Mar 14 and Nov 14!)
Jun 11-Jul 11, soccer World Cup, South Africa
Jun 21-Jul 4, Wimbledon tennis
Jul 3-25, Tour de France (starting in Rotterdam and Brussels)
Oct 1-3, Ryder Cup golf, Celtic Manor, Wales
Oct 3-14, Commonwealth Games, New Delhi, India
Nov 25->, Ashes Test cricket series Australia v England

For the full calendar, click here.

Jimmy White: last chance saloon for the Whirlwind at 2010 snooker Masters

Every so often the time comes to bid a fond farewell to a sporting hero, and January’s Masters snooker tournament may prove to be just such an occasion for legend of the green baize, Jimmy White. The Whirlwind has been granted a controversial wildcard for the event that runs from January 10 to 17 at Wembley Arena, London, giving him what looks for all the world like one final fling at the snooker big-time. Will the veteran cue-man be able to grasp the opportunity and use it as a springboard to a fairy-tale Indian summer, or will it be an appearance that signals the end of a brilliant – yet tantalisingly incomplete – snooker career?

6-red snooker: the new Twenty20 cricket?

As it says on the tin, it is played with six reds instead of the usual 15 and some say it could be snooker’s answer to quick-fire Twenty20 cricket. The inaugural 6-Red World Championship is to kick off tomorrow in Killarney, Ireland (15 to 18 December), and – in view of the recent debate about whether snooker needs to spice up its act (Snooker: towards a brave new world) – the event will be a timely opportunity to assess the credentials of this faster form of the sport. Exhilarating spectacle or not a true test of skill? In the snooker blogosphere, reaction to the 6-red variant ranges from those who see it as “farcical rubbish” to those who are happy to give it a chance. For this correspondent’s money, it does look rather ‘mickey mouse’ – especially with memories still fresh of the sort of drama that the 15-red original served up in the latter stages of the UK Championship that has just come to a conclusion. But one shouldn’t prejudge these things. You never quite know where they will lead – and it will be interesting to see what coverage the 6-Red World Championship generates (or not) in the mainstream press...

Snooker: towards a brave new world

What is happening to snooker? Amid claims that the sport has lost its lustre, plans were unveiled recently for a new, expanded World Snooker Tour. Then just days later the chairman of World Snooker was voted out and promoter Barry Hearn was set to be installed as the new snooker chief – immediately talking about a fresh approach and faster formats.

World Snooker said of its Tour idea that the intention was “to capitalise on the burgeoning interest in professional snooker in many countries around the world, and develop snooker’s professional circuit in a way similar to that of global sports such as tennis and golf”. The concept would envisage staging at least 15 ranking tournaments every year – a big increase on the mere 6 on the calendar in 2009/2010. Hearn has meanwhile said he would have a masterplan ready to show the players by the time of the World Championship in April 2010.

All this means the corridors are likely to be buzzing with speculation about the future of snooker at the UK Championship, regarded as the sport’s second biggest ranking event, which starts tomorrow in Telford (December 5-13). The question is: do we need to be worried about snooker’s state of health? If so, would a new international circuit or other masterplan be the right response? And what about the destiny of the World Championship?