Power Snooker: Success or Failure ?

StalinESQ wrote:Power Snooker Fan Club:

R-ron (chairman)
Witz (vice president)
Bourne (health and safety rep)

Power Snooker: Cue the Revolution?
October 31, 2010 By Bart Harris


It's snooker Jim, but not as we know it ...
Now hear this. Sport generally bores the living daylights out of me but yesterday it blew my socks off. For 8 hours I did little else but watch Power Snooker, a jaw-dropping cross between snooker, darts, stand-up comedy and the Krypton Factor.
Luckily I’m a James Bond fan, which meant that I watched the atrocious Octopussy on ITV4 yesterday afternoon and was therefore around to see the start of the Power Snooker coverage. The pre-match hype suggested it was the most exciting thing to happen since Take That announced their reformation. I dutifully settled into the first round of this day-long tournament.
So, what is Power Snooker? First of all you need to know that before the first match started, between ‘Rocket’ Ronnie O’Sullivan and Belgian wunderkind Luca Brecel, no one really knew how it worked. Certainly the players and officials knew the rules but, this being a new sport, game strategy was almost non-existent. The majority of the studio and home audience were thrown in at the deep end. Thankfully, brilliantly, live commentary was audible to audience and players alike, to explain the rules and stoke the fires. Here is briefly how it works:
Essentially, classic snooker rules apply but there is no time for namby-pambying around. At least two of the nine red balls must make contact with the cushion off the break. Then it’s pretty much a case of clearing up as quickly as possible with the added pressure of a 20-second shot clock and a strict 30-minute match timer. Here’s the real rub though: one of the red balls is a ‘power ball’ (expect a lawsuit from Finish dishwasher tablets shortly). When that gets potted all hell breaks loose. The audience cheer, the stage lights go red and for 2 minutes everything is worth double points. As noted by a number of people this game was made for (and in part, by) O’Sullivan who made the game look as easy as putting marbles in a bag, when in fact it’s anything but.
I feel that perhaps this explanation doesn’t capture exactly how compelling the viewing experience was. I don’t generally clap at the TV but it was hard not to. It’s a truly immersive experience. The players were miked up as were the referees which, in contrast with classic snooker, allowed the players’ personalities to shine through; in particular the extroverted world number two Ali Carter played up to the crowd making chat about his mustard coloured shirt more interesting than it had any right to be.
Debatably the audience were the stars of the show. Such was the energy at the O2 Arena’s sister venue, Indigo2, they got excited about pretty much anything that happened. Notably:

• Cheering when the brown ball got potted
• Shouting at the players (all good humoured)
• Counting down from 10 with the various timers
And my favourite:
• Yelling ‘parakeet’ whenever players used the rest (brilliant)
I could also talk about the beautiful if controversial (judging by some feminist tweeters; it should be noted that the referees were female) Power Girls, Jimmy White’s amazing consolatory trick shot, the sickening colour of the table, the entrance music, Ronnie O’Sullivan saying ‘rubbish’ on live TV, and the bit of tissue hanging out of founder Rod Gunner’s sleeve during the prize-giving ceremony. But I don’t want to bore you.
This was the 2010 Championship with a first prize of £35,000 taken by Ronnie O’Sullivan in a spectacular final against Ding Junhui. The date of the next tournament is unknown but I have to be there.
Finally, a note to the organisers: if you’re going to advertise the Power Snooker iPhone app, make sure it’s available to buy.

case_master wrote:A success for what though? Snooker of power snooker?

I don't think it helps snooker itself apart from giving the players a bit more recognition.

The organisers have done well it seems, fair play to them for making the investment. If they want to develop a series it will be good for the players involved but on the whole I don't see it helping snooker

Monique wrote:It will help snooker as it will attract attention to the game and its top performers. It will also help to dismiss that myth that "there are no characters in the game". And it might, and IMO, will attract a part of the viewers to try and watch the real game, and who knows? maybe even try themselves at it.

Monique wrote:don't be stupid. Yes installing pool tables in every school WOULD help snooker. Of course it would.
Promoting all type of cue sport does help all of them. In Athens I play pool (8-balls) in a club held by Johny Vassalos father.
For those who don't know who he is, he was the 2007 Euro 9-balls champ (he beat Drago in the final). Yesterday the club was full to the extreme. Mainly youngsters. Mainly playing 8-balls. BUT. The owners keep an eye on the kids. When someone is talented he/she is encourages to try other cue sports, with mentoring. 9-balls, carom and 3-cushions (they don't have snooker tables, snooker is a rarity in Greece). It works. They have some really good 3-cushions young players and anyone who watched it knows how skillful a game that is. And to promote it further they offer special bargains for girls, 2 girls playing or a guy playing with a girl and it's half-price.

Coming back to characters, I think many will have seen an unusual side of Ali yesterday. He's a nice and clever bloke. He's just "dimmed" under normal competition conditions.

Monique wrote:I like it how you thumb up your own ideas. Says a lot about how much you need support
Kids playing pool is 1000% better that kids not playing any cue sports. Keeps clubs open and creates opportunities to promote other cue sports. Would you prefer to see them go for .... eerhh... boxing? Now that's a sport I love hating! (sorry Ron but we DO strongly disagree on this one). Punching your opponent unconscious and getting yourself brain damaged over the long run. Now that's a sport! Although I wouldn't be surprised if those taking it have no brain to damage anyway....

POWER SNOOKER: TRICKS OR TREAT?
As expected, Power Snooker has been variously greeted across a spectrum ranging from those who found it all a bit of harmless fun to those who thought it was the greatest affront to humanity since the bombing of Pearl Harbour.

I would say I was somewhere in between.

The half hour format is ideal for TV because they get to schedule matches and not worry about overrunning.

The powerball is an interesting innovation and I found the action perfectly watchable.

I’m not sure there needs to be a 50 point bonus for a century because this creates such a gulf in the scores that a close finish is unlikely. There were a couple of tight finishes yesterday but not as much tension as there could have been.

The 20 second shot clock invites mistakes and players are yet to fully think through how to approach the game, understandably as it has only just been launched.

Tactically, the player ahead would be best advised to keep the colours on the table as long as possible because the best chance of scoring is when the powerball is in play.

Power Snooker gave Ronnie O’Sullivan a chance to showcase his extraordinary natural talent. I was genuinely pleased for him that he seemed to enjoy it so much considering how low he has often been even after winning at proper snooker.

But one of the appeals of snooker is the variety it produces and Power Snooker is much more repetitive on first viewing.

It’s good to have the crowd interacting with play but while some good natured banter is fine, a baying mob of boorish drunks chanting and shouting while the players are down on their shots is not.

Why on earth would snooker want to encourage such behaviour? Would golf? Would tennis? Would any sport?

It’s always a festive atmosphere at the darts but the audience is told to shut up if they get too rowdy and they do so. At Power Snooker, the referees were instructed not to intervene when the crowd got raucous.

A balance can be struck. I recently watched the 1989 Irish Masters final between Alex Higgins and Stephen Hendry, which I’d never seen before. Played in the bearpit surroundings of Goffs, the atmosphere was tremendous with most spectators of course supporting Higgins but many also cheering for the then 20 year-old Hendry.

At one point late on, Hendry approached the table and the noise got a bit much. The referee, the late John Street, expertly handled proceedings by turning to the crowd and saying: “Thank you ladies and gentlemen. He knows it’s his turn.” There was laughter and then there was silence and the match continued.

Attending snooker events certainly needs to be made more attractive but the game has to also retain a bit of dignity.

I’ll be interested to hear what Barry Hearn thought of Power Snooker. It wasn’t his idea but he gave it World Snooker’s official seal of approval.

Hearn is a populist and an innovator but he is also shrewder than most and he elected not to personally invest in the consortium behind the venture. Will he do so now?

More pertinently, does Power Snooker have a future at all? As ever, the market will decide. It will depend on TV ratings and the financial outlay of staging further events.

The players seemed to enjoy it and I’m not surprised: they were playing for £35,000 for a maximum of 90 minutes work. I don’t blame them for lapping it up.

But traditional snooker has emerged unscathed from this new innovation.

These variants – and a number have come and gone over the years – generally end up reminding fans what it was they liked about established snooker in the first place.

Power Snooker was never intended to replace proper snooker. And it won't

SnookerFan wrote:The constant use of the word Power got on my nerves as all.... During the game, I had a couple of Power Beers. Once I'd had that, I had to stop for a couple of Power Piss-Breaks...

In the evening I ordered a Power-Pizza. My mate still owes me Power-Money for that.

Ps....


POWER!