Snooker finally back in OZ

zack01

Barry Hearn confirmed today that the snooker calendar for next season will finally include an event in Austrailia in June.
On top of that prize money for the season will top £6 million pounds!

Snookers rebirth continues!

giant_midget

This will be great for Snooker over there!

They have tables in the RSL clubs over there. I used to always play on them, They charge something like $1 per hour in the meter and do $5 dinners too..great places!

zack01

I first mentioned this over a month ago but here are the details just announced


World Snooker have this morning announced that Victoria will be the province to host the first world ranking tournament down under in July from 18th-24th, with the inaugural Australian Goldfields Open*to be held at Bendigo Stadium until at least 2013.

Former World Champion Neil Robertson has been busy promoting the event and clearly delighted by this he said “This is a long-standing dream come true for me, as I am sure it is for many snooker players and fans in Australia.”

“To have a world ranking event in my home state will be just unbelievable and I hope to get a lot of support.*I know some of the other players are excited about coming to Australia and I’m looking forward to showing them around.” he continued.

“It’s fantastic to see snooker becoming much more of a global game, it looks like we’ll be clocking up a lot of air miles in the next few years!” he quipped.

Robbo is rightly chuffed about this development and added “This is a really special day not just for me but for ALL Aussie snooker fans.”

Yet more exciting developments on the baize.

oneillMan999

Will a trip to Oz be in store Zack?

zack01

That's a tournament I'd really love to go to, I know most of the boys will be in Thailand for the World Cup and will be heading to OZ straight after.
As much as I'd love to go, the locks on the front door might be changed when I got home!!

giant_midget

Iv been to Australia 3 times it is lovely over there. If anyone is thinking of going you would need to be staying for a min of a month so you can get in some sights.

@ Zack....just tell your wife your going out "for a pint of milk" and don't come back....:pac: :pac:

zack01

Looking forward to this event which starts on Monday.A few of the players involved are still in Bangkok fighting it out for the World Cup whilst the majority have made the 28 hour flight to Melbourne then on to Bendigo.
Eurosport are providing coverage of the tournament so middle of the night snooker will be the order of the day for the following week!

Latest news is that Ronnie O'Sullivan has withdrawn due to medical reasons, he made it halfway but at Bangkok airport a neck and shoulder injury was diagnosed, he contacted the WPBSA and he was excused from the event. It's a pity really as he recently won the first event of the season PTC 1 making eight tons en route.
Steve Davis and Greame Dott are the others who have withdrawn.

syngindub

i see our own Ken Doherty is taking a leaf out of Darren Clarkes book. Great win last night against Stephen Maguire. Is this another great career comeback on the horizon?

zack01

He's playing Wenbo next and after the dickie bow business last week in the world cup it should be interesting.
Fancy Ken to do well this week, he's playing good stuff and has a lot of support in Bendigo from his extended family.
He's staying in their home and not a hotel so he's got all the home comforts.

syngindub

zack01 wrote: »

He's playing Wenbo next and after the dickie bow business last week in the world cup it should be interesting.
Fancy Ken to do well this week, he's playing good stuff and has a lot of support in Bendigo from his extended family.
He's staying in their home and not a hotel so he's got all the home comforts.

what was the dickie bow business last week? missed that.

syngindub

^ignore..seen the thread !!

matthew8

zack01 wrote: »

He's playing Wenbo next and after the dickie bow business last week in the world cup it should be interesting.
Fancy Ken to do well this week, he's playing good stuff and has a lot of support in Bendigo from his extended family.
He's staying in their home and not a hotel so he's got all the home comforts.

That will be brilliant TV. I'll be shocked if it doesn't go to pay-per-view.

zack01

Doherty wins 5-4 from 4-1 down, Selby in the quarter finals tomorrow

oneillMan999

What a comeback by Ken from 1-4 behind, looked dead and gone, couple of great wins for him this week, this just might get his confidence back, then again he has the immovable object that is Selby in the quarters, but ye never know!

And what about that match between D Dale and N Robertson!! best match ive seen in a long time.

Arthur Daley

Nice one Ken. Good to see him back on a roll.

oneillMan999

Ken 3-1 up on Selby, can he hold it together to make the semis?? ..

oneillMan999

4-1 now ...

oneillMan999

4-2 now ..

oneillMan999

4-3 now... Ken needs to win this one cause Selby is almost unbeatable in deciders ..

oneillMan999

And Ken wins it 5-3 with a superb 59 counter clearance to book his place in this years Australian Open semi final

zack01

Playing Williams in the semis tomorrow, I knew he would do well this week, he's putting the hours in and most importantly he's got plenty of support in OZ.

scholarswalk

Well done Ken, great for him to get a run in a tourney, its been too long!

Yeah that Dale V Robertson was amazing, great comeback by Neil from 4-1 down to 'win' it in the decider. Until he missed an easy snooker escape allowing Dom to clear up. Poor Dom looked embarrassed to beat the local hero in his home tourney

matthew8

A win for Ken would be brilliant, he needs one to get back on track.

rccaulfield

Wow- Great news- Gwan Ken!

syngindub

i take it that ken is playing tomorrow??
i see that coverage starts at 9am on eurosport. defo going to watch this.
who is in the other semi?

zack01

Murphy v Bingham

matthew8

This one should be a cracker.

oneillMan999

Ken loses 6-2

He never got into the game really and his safety game was very disappointing to say the least.

Hard luck Ken but a good run and a good start to the season.

matthew8

oneillMan999 wrote: »

Ken loses 6-2

He never got into the game really and his safety game was very disappointing to say the least.

Hard luck Ken but a good run and a good start to the season.

Very poor game by Ken. His opening shots were poor too. Williams wasn't great but a few times he got into a rhythm and was unstoppable.

zack01

Agreed his safety play wasn't great and with Williams in that form you just can't be giving him chances like that.So after the first two events that carry ranking points of the new season the PTC and now the Austrailian Open over, Ken's ranking position won't have changed much, I believe him to be in and around 30th place but he will closed the gap considerably on the players in front of him.

matthew8

Well done to Stuart Bingham, he's won it. An incredible final and a brilliant comeback. He came from 8-5 down to beat Williams.

A brilliant tournament, a roaring success, great crowds all week and a good atmosphere. I'm looking forwad to next year already.