2016 UK Championship

[the lone wolf]

It's easy to toot a horn and get people to notice you...
What ROS needs to understand that change begins within the self.

Would schools serious tell ROS to F off if he wanted to do a few exhibitions, clinics and talks to their pupils? The publicity only would have many head teachers drooling.

Promoting the snooker is not just up to the governing body. It's a job for everyone! :snooker:

[the lone wolf]

He was talking about the state of the game, saying:

Clubs are closing down
No new UK players are coming through
The standard at the bottom of the tour is poor
Tournaments should focus on the top 32 (he suggested 5/6 invitational events for the top 16/32 and 10-12 ranking events I think)
He also said most tournaments should move to China (which I could have sworn he was previously against) due to the prize money they are willing to offer (but only for tournaments containing the top players)

Steve Davis sitting next to him did not look impressed at all!!!

Thanks vjmehra :snooker:

[vjmehra]

Imagine getting good on 4 inch pockets then going to a club with 5 1/4 inch pockets! We call pockets buckets and there is only an eighth or two of an inch difference. Club pockets are around 3.5 and template pro pockets are 3 1/3 I think.

Yeah, American pool is a strange game in a lot of ways, it always feels like you should never miss...but of course its the same for your opponent, so that adds to the dynamic.

I wonder if the future could be Chinese 8-Ball, which looks like a pool/snooker hybrid almost, I'm sure if the prize money was big enough even Ronnie would give it a go, Selby got to the final 2 years ago after all!

[itsnoteasy]

A normal club American pool table typically has much bigger pockets than 4.5 inches...that would be considered 'tight' even on a 7 footer!

In a club they are as wide as 5.25 inches, typically around 5 inches and a tight 9 foot table would be 4.5 - 4.875 inches.

That said, some people on AZ say they've got them tighter, down to 4.25 and even 4 inches (from the factory not shimmed).

Imagine getting good on 4 inch pockets then going to a club with 5 1/4 inch pockets! We call pockets buckets and there is only an eighth or two of an inch difference. Club pockets are around 3.5 and template pro pockets are 3 1/3 I think.

[vjmehra]

They don't make the pockets any smaller on the small tables, not the ones I've played on anyway, ridiculous pockets. What they do do on a lot of smaller American pool tables is make the white bigger so it goes through the mechanism on coin operated tables, don't bother even trying a screw shot.

Or heavier and the same size...which is also a bit weird to play with!

That said, I'm sure the Americans think English pool is just as weird!

[vjmehra]

Out of curiosity, do they make the pockets smaller on a seven footer? Surely they can't have 4.5 inch pockets on a seven foot table, there would be more pocket than cushion.

A normal club American pool table typically has much bigger pockets than 4.5 inches...that would be considered 'tight' even on a 7 footer!

In a club they are as wide as 5.25 inches, typically around 5 inches and a tight 9 foot table would be 4.5 - 4.875 inches.

That said, some people on AZ say they've got them tighter, down to 4.25 and even 4 inches (from the factory not shimmed).

[jonny66]

They don't make the pockets any smaller on the small tables, not the ones I've played on anyway, ridiculous pockets. What they do do on a lot of smaller American pool tables is make the white bigger so it goes through the mechanism on coin operated tables, don't bother even trying a screw shot.

[itsnoteasy]

On AZ Billiards everyone complains about how its difficult to play on a 9 foot pool table these days as everywhere now has 7 footers...and they are a bit bigger than we are!

I think its not unrealistic, that snooker clubs become even sparser unless something is done :-(

Out of curiosity, do they make the pockets smaller on a seven footer? Surely they can't have 4.5 inch pockets on a seven foot table, there would be more pocket than cushion.

[PatBlock]

He wants to come down to the club I play at , loads of kids playing and in the local leagues as well .

I've got the son of a former professional playing for my team , and he is only 14 years old . There are other teams with youngsters in as well that play in 2 different leagues .

Is your club in Surrey? Maybe the picture isn't quite so rosy in less affluent areas of the country?

-

[trains]

He's right about the snooker clubs closing down, but that's not world snooker's problem, or their fault. The smoking ban and the rise of the video game as number 1 activity for kids put paid to them.

Didn't see the interview but I would lay some of the blame at World Snooker's door,they know full well there is a gross lack of pro standard tables up and down the country yet they haven't held a PTC in Britain since 2012 and Jason Ferguson seems to act like PTC's never existed in the first place.
Honest open transparency at its finest I'd say !!

[itsnoteasy]

He wants to come down to the club I play at , loads of kids playing and in the local leagues as well .

I've got the son of a former professional playing for my team , and he is only 14 years old . There are other teams with youngsters in as well that play in 2 different leagues .

Is that in London Neil, because he did specifically mention clubs shutting and no youngsters or grass roots down there.

[Neil Taperell]

He wants to come down to the club I play at , loads of kids playing and in the local leagues as well .

I've got the son of a former professional playing for my team , and he is only 14 years old . There are other teams with youngsters in as well that play in 2 different leagues .

[vjmehra]

So what has ROS said today? :snooker:

He was talking about the state of the game, saying:

Clubs are closing down
No new UK players are coming through
The standard at the bottom of the tour is poor
Tournaments should focus on the top 32 (he suggested 5/6 invitational events for the top 16/32 and 10-12 ranking events I think)
He also said most tournaments should move to China (which I could have sworn he was previously against) due to the prize money they are willing to offer (but only for tournaments containing the top players)

Steve Davis sitting next to him did not look impressed at all!!!

[vjmehra]

Yep, the biggest snooker hall in Aberdeen "lost their license" a few years back. It's now being turned into luxury flats. This is happening to all the old music venues as well, closed down and turned into flats. So that people can stay in their flats and play video games while listening to Spotify I suppose.

On AZ Billiards everyone complains about how its difficult to play on a 9 foot pool table these days as everywhere now has 7 footers...and they are a bit bigger than we are!

I think its not unrealistic, that snooker clubs become even sparser unless something is done :-(

[jonny66]

I think property prices are the biggest issue there, snooker tables require a lot of space and today in anywhere near a town/city centre land is very expensive. Its likely that the rental costs are to high for many businesses to justify their existence sadly.

They are probably stuck with 2 options:

1) Up table and/or drink prices, reduce the number of customers and end up closing down anyway
2) Close down now and still have some cash in the bank

Its negative, but probably not far from the truth.

Yep, the biggest snooker hall in Aberdeen "lost their license" a few years back. It's now being turned into luxury flats. This is happening to all the old music venues as well, closed down and turned into flats. So that people can stay in their flats and play video games while listening to Spotify I suppose.