Snooker 2022

[sevendaughters]

I think I'll have a bit of that. I've not been to Embra for a while.

The other week I went to the European 3-Cushion Championships near Den Bosch in the Netherlands. Really great experience. It's much less desolate and reverential than snooker; they pipe in music, you can chat, and there's waiter service. Played quite a bit all over Europe too, it's bloody hard.

[Wayman C. McCreery]

World Mixed Doubles coming in September!

As one of the few major sports where men and women can compete together on an equal footing, snooker will showcase its inclusivity in September with the BetVictor World Mixed Doubles.

The pioneering tournament will see the world's top four men – Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump, Mark Selby and Neil Robertson – each paired with one of the top four women – Reanne Evans, Ng On Yee, Nutcharut Wongharuthai and Rebecca Kenna.

Televised live by ITV, the invitation event will take place over the weekend of Saturday September 24 and Sunday September 25 at the Marshall Arena at MK Stadium in Milton Keynes. Ticket details will be announced soon.

The random draw will take place in advance of the event, with one man drawn to play alongside each woman. The four pairs will compete over two days in a round-robin format, followed by the final with the winning team to be crowned inaugural champion.

Each round-robin match will be four frames, with all frames to be completed. Teams will score one point for each frame. At the end of the group phase, the top two teams will go through to the final, which will be best of seven frames. The two players in a team will make alternate visits to the table (rather than alternate shots).

Session times are 1pm and 7pm on both days. Each of the first three sessions will feature two group matches, so all eight players will be in action. The final will then take place on Sunday September 25 from 7pm.

The players:

Ronnie O'Sullivan – current World Champion, world number one and crowd favourite
Judd Trump – 2019 World Champion known for his flamboyant style
Mark Selby – four time Crucible king and current world number three
Neil Robertson – the best player of the 2021/22 season, winning four titles
Reanne Evans – the most successful ever World Women's Snooker player with 12 world titles
Ng On Yee – three-time World Champion and one of Hong Kong's most famous sport stars
Nutcharut Wongharuthai – up-and-coming talent from Thailand who won her first world title in 2022
Rebecca Kenna – women's world number four and multiple title winner

This will be the first televised mixed doubles snooker event since 1991 when Steve Davis and Allison Fisher joined forces to win the title in Hamburg.

WST Chairman Steve Dawson said: "This is the first time that a mixed doubles snooker event will be broadcast live on free-to-air television so it's a very significant moment for our sport.  We're delighted to partner with ITV and BetVictor for this fantastic tournament.

"Snooker is a game for everyone, regardless of age, gender and nationality, and we have proved this with the expansion of our tour and of the sport at grassroots level. There is no reason why men and women can't compete together and we are thrilled to have – for the first time – four women on our professional tour in the coming season.

"The BetVictor World Mixed Doubles will be an opportunity for the eight players to compete in pairs, creating a different dynamic to the usual individual formats. It will be fascinating to watch both for the live audience and television viewers.

"We look forward to delivering a high quality event and we hope to make this a regular fixture on the circuit."

Global Sponsorship manager Sam Boswell from sponsor BetVictor added: "We're proud to be sponsoring the BetVictor World Mixed Doubles in September, it's an event that showcases how the game is for everyone, and we look forward to growing our presence in world snooker by supporting this unique tournament."

https://wst.tv/snooker-breaks-new-ground-with-betvictor-world-mixed-doubles/

[EOLAN]

Any note on how the doubles will play out. Does a player from Team A play each player a frame against each member from Team B. Or will they have alternate breaks?

[Wayman C. McCreery]

"The two players in a team will make alternate visits to the table (rather than alternate shots)."

Seems like the best way to do it.

I really hope this is a success. The announcement seems to have had a very positive reaction on social media, and only one in ten men are making the same joke about inviting Mark Allen so he can pair up with Reanne.

[Blue Jam]

This looks like it'll be a lot of fun to watch, I'm in. As a woman who was too scared to join a snooker club earlier in life I hope this is a success too.

Wonder if Ronnie'n'Reanne will pair up and we'll get a nice display of ambidexterity.

[shoulders]

MIIILLLLK-IIIIIIIIIIINNNNSSSS!!!!!!!!

[billyandthecloneasaurus]

Mark Williams liking Terfy shit on twitter, noooo

[shoulders]

Mark Williams liking Terfy shit on twitter, noooo

There had to be more to him than unapologetically liking takeaways, winding up World Snooker and moaning a lot. It seems opportunist to use this as a springboard but I always found the attempt at minor-mythologising over someone who is basically a boring out of shape old cunt that doesn't fit World Snookers desire to appear slick a bit artificial, as though it needed to be there due to an underlying lack of interest elsewhere.

[sevendaughters]

Mark Williams liking Terfy shit on twitter, noooo

of all the sports where it doesn't even fucking matter

[shoulders]

This makes Operation TurdFlush even more vital.

[sevendaughters]

British Open qualifiers announced for next week in my hometown of Wigan. I could act as desolation guide to any of the players if they like.

[Blue Jam]

^^^ Oh please do 7D. It will be appreciated by me at least.

Mark Williams liking Terfy shit on twitter, noooo

This is even worse than Reanne Evan liking After Life.

Really I'm surprised Mark Williams even has an opinion on this. Golf, Wales, snooker, takeaways... is there any room in his snooker brain for anything else?

[Wayman C. McCreery]

Mark Williams liking Terfy shit on twitter, noooo

Unless I'm mistaken it just seems to be the one Sharron Davies tweet. And he doesn't even follow her.

https://twitter.com/sharrond62/status/1553350417173684224?s=21&t=y9ylXfs-90Scikwr77RSSg

While her tweet is unpleasant, I can kind of see how someone who's unaware of the issues might find it wryly amusing and tap the like button if it's retweeted onto their timeline.

While I'm not sure we should hold out much hope that Willo is going to lead the fight for trans liberation, he's a long way off becoming the Banana of the Baize.

[Blue Jam]

For MJW every shot is a banana shot.

[Blue Jam]

Wonder if Ronnie'n'Reanne will pair up and we'll get a nice display of ambidexterity.

Mixed Doubles draw is oot. Dream team of Ronnie'n'Reanne confirmed:

https://wst.tv/tournaments/betvictor-world-mixed-doubles/

[sevendaughters]

Ng just beat Ken Doherty in the British Open quals. She's never won a main draw match but this is her second win over a fella.

I went to the first two sessions in Wigan on Tuesday but the fan set-up was terrible. Cavernous wooden bleachers with hard benches. Uncomfortable and far from the action, which was frequently poor (Mink-Chen Zifan probably the shittest pro match I have ever seen, and I remember watching random early rounders in the late 80s).

[Morrison Lard]

European Masters just started on Eurosport 2.
Wonder if Milkins is tanked up yet ready for his match tomorrow.

[Blue Jam]

Watching Trump vs Ashley Hugill now. Some creative combing strategies on both sides.

[Blue Jam]

Trump's still going to be combing strategically when he's down to his final strand. Not long now:

[Blue Jam]

Wetherspoons vs Dominic Dale is getting amusing.

[The Culture Bunker]

Hope Milkins has kept a lid on his celebrations tonight, given it seems he has an early start tomorrow.

[Blue Jam]

Saw a bit of Milkins' match earlier, he was reassuringly vertical.

[The Culture Bunker]

Perhaps the effect of a late afternoon "sharpener" in the bar beforehand?

Shouldn't joke about it, really, but I'm a shallow sod and amused by the idea of a snooker player who improves the more booze he drinks.

"I need to be at least four pints in to just pick up me cue!"

[Blue Jam]

"Ohhhhh I am a cider drinker..."

[Blue Jam]

Judd mate, it's time to throw in the towel:

[The Culture Bunker]

The Steve McClaren-esque hair island doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

[shoulders]

Strategies having a mare

[Blue Jam]

Trump vs Farakh Ajaib gone to a dethider, blimey!

[Blue Jam]

C'mon Farakh lad, don't piss it away

[Blue Jam]

Well this is turning out to be an entertaining wee knockabout.