Ssb - the magnificent seventh?

[MySockPuppet]

I’m told by a very good source that it is “99% certain” there will be a seventh ranking event this season.

If so, this is obviously good news, although it will raise the question of whether the ranking points tariffs should have been altered in the way they were as it will skew this season to be more important than last.

That’s a minor point for now. The more tournaments the better as far as I’m concerned.

Indeed, the number of tournaments being staged is increasing as private promoters stage more away from the ‘main tour’.

I’ve noticed a tendency for snooker fans to dismiss anything that isn’t a ranking event as a bit of nonsense that shouldn’t be taken seriously.

Well, Liang Wenbo won £50,000 for winning 110sport’s tournament in Beijing in the summer. I’d guess he took that pretty seriously.

Almost every ranking event started life as a smaller invitation tournament.

This was true of the UK Championship. Indeed, it was true of the World Championship.

But for Barry Hearn and his 80s vision, would there have been fully fledged ranking events in Dubai or Thailand or China?

So the next time you disregard a tournament just because it doesn’t carry ranking points, look back at snooker history and you may want to think again.

Whether an event carries ranking points or not, exposure for the game in terms of visibility cannot be overestimated.




More...

[ja.]

malta..........

[Migtsf]

My guess is this 7th possible ranking tournament is the Malta Cup.

[superaussie]

good news i wonder where it will be held any chance of i being bahrain so robbo can defend his title

[spike]

I dont mind if it's Malta or wherever, it's good news for us fans and of course for Snooker itself..

[Forman]

Great news!! more snooker to watch
i can't imagine they would go back to Bahrain after last year,
Malta seems pretty likely but wouldn't it be great if it was in Europe somewhere, possibly Germany

[superaussie]

Great news!! more snooker to watch
i can't imagine they would go back to Bahrain after last year,
Malta seems pretty likely but wouldn't it be great if it was in Europe somewhere, possibly Germany

i thought bahrain was a huge success

[Forman]

i thought bahrain was a huge success

Oh it was..........










for Robbo fans

[Terry Davidson]

If the WPBSA really wants to encourage snooker and have a very successful tournament then it absolutely has to be GERMANY (foreman, you and I agree yet again).

For those Robbo fans on here, maybe they could say this is a replacement for the Bahrain Open and have him as the defending title holder or something, I don't know but he's just a young lad and could do with the encouragement I guess

Although I would love to see one in Canada I really don't think it would be supported well unless they had a major media splash and lots of TV coverage with big sponsors (a dream of mine I'm afraid).

But please, WPBSA, pick a location which will support snooker, put lots of bums on seats and have good TV coverage (along with good internet streaming for us poor, unfortunate North Americans)

Cheers,
Terry

[Odrl]

That's great news. I bet most of us were quietly hoping this would happen. I assume this will fill the gap in February or early March, between the Welsh Open and the China Open.

I’ve noticed a tendency for snooker fans to dismiss anything that isn’t a ranking event as a bit of nonsense that shouldn’t be taken seriously.

Well, Liang Wenbo won £50,000 for winning 110sport’s tournament in Beijing in the summer. I’d guess he took that pretty seriously.

I feel this may be aimed at people like me, so I may as well respond to this. The stuff that is dismissed by some fans is obviously all the different formats that tamper with the game itself, like the 6 or 10 reds, the oneforseven and to a minor extent the shot clock. Blaming snooker fans for not wanting to watch that is like blaming basketball fans for not wanting to watch a 3on3 streetball tournament. Probably not the greatest example, but I'm sure you get my point.

But why do some tournaments with the full version of the game fall flat? I don't think it's the lack of the ranking status itself, it's the consequences that go along with that. Sometimes you get players with such a different quality level, like the World Series, that it's not interesting from a result point of view. And that's a big part of why we watch sports. Other times, you get two great players, capable of playing great snooker, but for some reason they feel the need to "play to the crowd". So they avoid playing any safety, they open the balls up, sometimes to the advantage of the other player, and they take on low-percentage pots without need. And you don't get those occasions where a player takes his time over a tricky shot, and adds to the drama. And when I see a player like John Higgins playing that kind of game, knowing how close to perfect snooker he can play, it leaves me a bit cold. If I feel the players are not trying their hardest to win, I can't get behind them as a spectator, and I'm sure some other people feel the same way. Now... if you organize an event, put it on TV, and make the players really want to win it, I could care less if ranking points are awarded or not.

And the Beijing International Challenge is a great example. It was organized superbly, with TV coverage, the usual Chinese opening and closing ceremonies, excellent prize money for the winner, and it was made to look "grander" than it was. And that's why the players wanted that trophy, and I found myself excited about the tournament. As I said at the time, I don't ever remember enjoying an "off-season" event as much as that one. And it would be great having more of that kind of events.

Whether an event carries ranking points or not, exposure for the game in terms of visibility cannot be overestimated.

Well yes, any event is better than no event (in most cases), but let's not kid ourselves... It's the ranking events that caused the snooker boom in Europe, the events televised by Eurosport. That's why it's great to have one more. Those events are responsible for the overwhelming majority of "exposure" for snooker. Potential new fans of the game are not going to be won over by the obscure local events, it's the big ones that usualy get them hooked.

If so, this is obviously good news, although it will raise the question of whether the ranking points tariffs should have been altered in the way they were as it will skew this season to be more important than last.

Yes, given that only two ranking events were played so far this season, I don't think many people would mind if the points were recalculated. Any changes would probably be of very little consequence.

[Alex0paul]

My money would be on Bahrain again. The Sheikh who helped organise the event last year is incredibly wealthy and could possibly pay to stage it himself. Given all the money that has been coming from Arab investors into westernised sports recently all it could take is one very rich man to get interested and save snooker.

For me the Malta Cup has absolutley no long term future and would be a waste of money unless there was a major sponsor bankrolling it. Bahrain has a huge potential and although it currently hasn't got a major following in snooker like, for example, Germany at least it has tried to put on a ranking event.

[Migtsf]

I went with Malta Cup because, if my memory doesn’t fail me, it was close from being added to last season’s calendar.

This season Tony Drago is on the main tour, so maybe this could be the extra bit of help that was missing last season, even if it means he gets a wildcard and is excused from qualifying this time.

[wildJONESEYE]

i dont think ranking points should be altered anyway if theres 6 or 10 the tarriff should be the same.

[Mignon]

It may be Malta. Audience-wise it might work for one or two seasons. After that it may start to look very much like the Bahrain arena - posh but empty. I think it's got to be either Germany or (yes, I know ) China.

[Odrl]

It may be Malta. Audience-wise it might work for one or two seasons. After that it may start to look very much like the Bahrain arena - posh but empty. I think it's got to be either Germany or (yes, I know ) China.

I always thought the venue in Portomaso was usually full, even when Drago wasn't playing. But it is a pretty small arena...