Archive for August, 2010

Ronnie O’Sullivan insists he has nothing to prove to anyone

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531 days
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Some people love him, some people hate him, but when Ronnie O’Sullivan picks up a cue everyone knows he has an extraordinary talent on the snooker table.

The three-time champion of the world says he has nothing to prove and is focusing on the future of the game. “I don’t feel like I’ve got anything to prove to anybody, other than the obviously high standards I set myself – which I don’t believe to be high, they’re just standards I believe to be achievable,” he said speaking to Sky Sports.

O’Sullivan had dropped to world No.3 in the official rankings, but after a series of wins in the recent Players Tour Championships, he has now climbed up to second. However, the Rocket says he would rather help the development of youngsters in the sport than concentrate on reclaiming the world No.1 spot from John Higgins.

“Getting to No.1…it would be nice but I’m not going to break my neck. Winning another world title…it would be nice but I’m not going to break my neck. I just enjoy giving back to the sport. I hope there are moments of joy that I can bring to people that watch the game. I hope there are moments I can help other young players achieve their dreams coming into snooker – I hope there’s something I can give back to the sport in that way.

“Not because I want to be seen as a goody two-shoes that wants to be seen as the ambassador of snooker, because it’s not like that at all. But working with young players coming through who want to be the best and who want to win tournaments.

“I would like to, in some way, set up a facility where they can come and practice and play with me and I can show them what worked for me and try and add on a bit of advice,” said O’Sullivan.

He has made nine 147-maximum breaks in his career and is a winner of 22 ranking tournaments. Also, he lies second in the all-time century break list with over 600, behind Stephen Hendry, who has nearly 750. When given the chance, he takes it, and there is no one better than O’Sullivan when he break-builds.

The 34-year old has always contemplated the possibility of walking away from snooker, but since the arrival of new World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association chairman Barry Hearn, the ambidextrous entertainer has found a new lease of life, thanks to Hearn’s transformation of the sport.

“As far I’m concerned, I just want to be involved in snooker as long as I can. If it ain’t competing then it’s going to be from the sidelines and still being involved in trying to give back to the sport that I love – but it sometimes doesn’t come across like that,” O’Sullivan added.

He is a genius when he plays, but that genius comes with many flaws. He famously walked out on a match against Stephen Hendry in the UK Championship in 2006, and en route to winning his second world crown in 2004 gave a two-finger gesture to the crowd. He comes across as a player who loses interest very easily, but according to O’Sullivan it is far from that.

“Sometimes people think ‘well why is he doing it if he hates it that much?’ I love it that much I get frustrated with it. But you know what, people are going to have to put up with that and just get used to me because I probably won’t be going away soon,” said O’Sullivan.

So, fans of O’Sullivan, you can be reassured from the man himself that he will not be putting his cue away for good just yet.

Snooker without the Rocket wouldn’t be the same would it?

Barry Pinches the win from Ronnie O’Sullivan

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539 days
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In snooker, many expect a Ronnie O’Sullivan win, but obviously Barry Pinches didn’t read the script.

The man from Norwich defeated O’Sullivan 4-3 in the final of the fourth event of the Players Tour Championship to collect the top prize of £10,000 at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield.

O’Sullivan only dropped four frames and was the form player en route to the final, beating the likes of Dominic Dale, Marco Fu, Judd Trump, Mark Selby, Ken Doherty and Ryan Day.

Pinches though enjoyed a fine win over Mark Williams in his semi-final clash and had a fairly easier passage to the final, overcoming Liu Song, Matthew Selt, Jak Jones and Chan Ze.

Three-time world champion O’Sullivan took the opening frame with a break of 60, but Pinches hit back immediately with a knock of 50 to level the match. O’Sullivan then took a 3-1 lead with contributions of 83 and 58, but Pinches claimed frames five and six to go only one behind.

Looking like he would take the victory, O’Sullivan broke down on a break of 47 when 26 points ahead, and Pinches held his nerve to clear the table and take the match to a deciding frame. Momentum fully with the 40-year-old, Pinches took the title with a match-winning clearance of 64 to upset the odds.

“I’m not usually very good in deciding frames so I was delighted to make a good break,” said the player, officially ranked 57 in the world.

“I’ve made a couple of technical changes this season, but the main reason my results have been good is that I’m enjoying the game, and practising hard because I’ve always got something to work towards. To come to these PTC events and play in terrific conditions against top-class opponents is just fantastic, I can’t praise these tournaments enough.”

Pinches earned less than £20,000 on the circuit last year, but already in these four events he has clocked up a total of over £17,000. “The money is very significant for me, and so are the ranking points,” he said.

The man who has never been beyond the quarter-final stages of a ranking event heaped praise on his opponent as well.

“I’m also really pleased to beat Ronnie as I’d lost all three matches we’d played before. It’s great to see him supporting these events, he doesn’t need the ranking points but he just gets a buzz from playing the game.”

Newspaper hands over tapes in John Higgins scandal

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552 days
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The Sunday newspaper the News of the World has handed over all of the video recordings used during the sting operation of snooker player John Higgins and his manager Pat Mooney.

On May 2nd, the scandal was revealed on the day of the world championship final at the Crucible. The footage shows Higgins and his manager in a Ukrainian hotel in Kiev talking about the best way to cover up the money he receives and how easy it would be to decide the outcome of a frame. It reveals Higgins with his manager Mooney agreeing on a price of £261,000, to throw frames in four separate matches in the World Series later this year.

The matter was thoroughly investigated by David Douglas, a former Metropolitan police chief superintendent, now in charge of disciplinary matters on the board of the World Professional Snooker and Billiards Association (WPBSA). The case has now been passed on to an independent dispute resolution service Sport Resolutions (UK), with an outcome set to be decided in early September. Higgins is currently suspended from all WPBSA tournaments, but a decision should be made before the first ranking tournament in Shanghai on September 6th.

Reports suggested the News of the World were reluctant to hand over all of the filming fearing that Higgins and Mooney could take legal action, but the publication had denied any such occurrence. Higgins and Mooney face charges of match-fixing, bringing the game into disrepute and accepting or pretending to accept a proposition related to gambling on frames.

Both Higgins and Mooney have denied any wrong-doing, and a spokesman for Higgins said: “Throughout this process we have avoided being drawn on speculation or conjecture. Given there is a quasi-judicial procedure ongoing, it would be wrong for us to comment. We are completely focused on clearing John’s name in relation to the accusations of match fixing.”

Snooker legend Alex Higgins passes away

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552 days
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Two-time world champion Alex Higgins passed away on Saturday at the age of 61 after 12 hard-fought years battling against throat cancer.

Born in Belfast, “Hurricane” Higgins burst onto the professional circuit at the age of 22, and won his first world championship at his first attempt in 1972, beating John Spencer 37-31 in the final. His quick style of play accompanied with flair and flamboyancy around the table caught the eye of the public, who were seeing someone different to the traditional snooker player.
With an unorthodox technique, Higgins revolutionised snooker throughout the 1980s, packing out audiences whenever he played and making the sport extremely popular. In 1982, he would beat Ray Reardon 18-15 in the world championship final at the Crucible, lifting his second world title.

His life was plagued with controversy both on and off the snooker table. He once punched a World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) official, head-butted a tournament director and threatened to have fellow Northern Irishman Dennis Taylor shot. As well as a heavy drinker and smoker, and an excessive gambler, he had divorces from two women, Lynn and Cara, and was stopped from seeing his two children Lauren and Jordan.

Towards the end, Higgins’ health rapidly deteriorated. He only weighed around six stone, and resorted to eating baby food because he had no teeth. Money had been raised so he could have teeth implants, but that will now be used to pay for Higgins’ funeral.

WPBSA chairman Barry Hearn said: “He was one of snooker’s great champions and one of its great characters. He did so much to make snooker popular and drag it out of the doldrums in the early 1970s. He didn’t always see eye-to-eye with the authorities, but there is no doubt that the sport owes him for where it is today. He will be sadly missed by the players who knew him and of course his friends and family.”

Higgins beat Jimmy White in the semi-finals 16-15 en route to his second world crown, and produced one of the greatest breaks in snooker history, a 69 clearance when he was 15-14 down and the score at 59-0. The passing of a snooker great has saddened White. “I was crying all yesterday [on Saturday]. I’m absolutely devastated. I was in awe of him. I didn’t always agree with what he did but I loved him. I have lost a friend and I will remember him forever. Alex took snooker in the 1970s to the heights which it reached in the 1980s – that was all down to him.”

Even though Taylor felt the full force of one of Higgins’ diatribes, he insists all is in the past. “The argument between us is history now. We had a lot of good times together as well. Alex and I go back many years. We are virtually the same age so we came up through the snooker ranks together. Alex was a complete one-off, a special talent. There will never be another Alex Higgins.”

Three-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan revealed the reason why he picked up a snooker cue was because of the Hurricane. “Alex Higgins was one of the real inspirations behind me getting into snooker. He is a true legend and should be forever remembered as being the finest ever snooker player.”

Steve Davis felt Higgins was “a breath of fresh air” which brought the public to watch snooker. “To people in the game he was a constant source of argument, he was a rebel. He was an inspiration to my generation to take the game up. I do not think his contribution to snooker can be underestimated. He was quite a fierce competitor – he lived and breathed the game, very much a fighter on the table.”

The original “People’s champion” , Hurricane Higgins has left his mark on the green baize.

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