New World Snooker Tour unveiled
Well, after months are waiting, here it is. Some changes have been made, we now seem to have a twelve-tournament Players Championship, which is a positive step in the right direction. Unfortunately, these events have not been given a reduced ranking status, and instead carry no points at all, which worries me slightly. However, if well organised, it's a fantastic oppurtunity for more playing oppurtunities. It will culminate in a finals series in March.
Unfortunately, what I have read is quite vague, and doesn't seem to explain the tournaments. There's a six-reds championship in Thailand that will take a 8-days to run-off, but I know little about the stature of player involved, and whther it's any different to the tournament that took place in Thailand last year.
The Grand Prix is renamed the World Open, which I think is a nice bit of re-jazzing. Again, I don't know if there are any other changes to the tournament, but judging by the fact that it is still over 9 days, I doubt it. That's a disappointment, as I felt it was a good oppurtunity for an FA Cup style event, much like the UK Open in Darts, and the renaming raised hopes for me. I also felt it should have been held in October, and not September, as we now have no ranking events in October or November. It will be held in the SECC, which is a far better venue than the Kelvin Hall, by what I've read.
The qualifiers will now be held at the Academy in Sheffield, rather than Prestatyn. It sounds a fairly positive move to be honest, although I don't know much about either venue.
I for one, am disappointed the UK Championship hasn't been changed. It's still going to be crammed into nine days, and held in Telford, which isn't good enough. If anything, this tournament needed extending. It also looks like we're going to have to put up with the ridiculous four-table format, which completely undermines the second biggest tournament.
We're going to have a Seniors World Championship... and idea I like a lot actually. For the nostalgics out there, it's a great blast from the past. It's only over three days, so it's a bit of harmless fun really.
A Sky Sports shoot-out over three days at the end of January. I love the idea. Sounds like a quick-fire one frame knockout, which is cut-throat and pretty good entertainment. Obviously one of these is enough, any more than that and it ruins the spectacle, but I think it's a good, positive, entertaining idea.
I have also read on Boards.ie, that Hearn plans on rewarding players for their current achievements rather than over the current two-year system. Great, that's all I can say. I don't know how reliable the source is, but if true, it's a fantastic change that's badly needed.
Also on a positive note: The Masters and World Championship are left untouched. I would have been in favour of some slight refurbishing of the former, but leaving the holy grail as it is, well that's just great news. It's snooker perfection.
Anyway, the full tour:
MAY
28-30 Seniors World Championship qualifiers (Cue Club, Bradford)
JUNE
2-6 Wuxi Classic (China)
18-20 Player Tour Championship 1 (PTC1) (Academy)
JULY
9-11 Player Tour Championship 2 (PTC2) (Academy)
18-25 6 Red Championship (Thailand)
30 – 1 Aug World Player Tour Championship (WPTC1) (tbc)
AUGUST
3-6 Shanghai Masters Qualifiers (Academy)
13-15 World Player Tour Championship (WPTC2) (tbc)
21-24 World Open Qualifiers (Academy)
26-29 Euro Players Tour Championship (EPTC 1) (Germany)
SEPTEMBER
2 Premier League
6-12 Shanghai Masters (Shanghai)
16 Premier League
18-26 World Open (formerly Grand Prix) (SECC, Glasgow)
30 Premier League
OCTOBER
1-3 Euro Players Tour Championship (EPTC 2) (Europe)
7 Premier League
8-10 Players Tour Championship 3 (PTC3) (Academy)
14 Premier League
15-17 World Player Tour Championship 3 (WPTC3) (tbc)
21 Premier League
22-24 Euro Players Tour Championship (EPTC 3) (Europe)
28 Premier League
NOVEMBER
4 Premier League
5-7 Seniors World Championship (Cedar Court Hotel, Bradford)
5-7 Player Tour Championship 4 (PTC4) (Academy)
11 Premier League
12-14 Euro Players Tour Championship 4 (EPTC 4) (Germany)
13-20 Asian Games (Guangzhou)
18 Premier League
19-21 World Player Tour Championship 4 (WPTC 4) (tbc)
23-30 UK Championship qualifiers (Academy)
27-28 Premier League Finals (Potters)
DECEMBER
4-12 UK Championship (Telford International Centre)
JANUARY
3-6 Championship League
9-16 The Masters (Wembley Arena)
18-21 European Masters qualifiers (Academy)
24-27 Championship League
28-30 Sky Shoot Out (tbc)
FEBRUARY
3-6 European Masters (Berlin, Germany)
8-11 Welsh Open quals (Academy)
14-20 Welsh Open (Wales)
22-25 China Open qualifiers (Academy)
28 – 3 Mar Championship League
MARCH
4-15 Betfred.com World Championship qualifiers (Academy)
17-20 Players Tour Championship Finals (tbc)
21-24 Championship League
28 March–3 Apr China Open (Beijing)
APRIL/MAY
16 April – 2 May Betfred.com World Snooker Championship Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
Unfortunately, what I have read is quite vague, and doesn't seem to explain the tournaments. There's a six-reds championship in Thailand that will take a 8-days to run-off, but I know little about the stature of player involved, and whther it's any different to the tournament that took place in Thailand last year.
The Grand Prix is renamed the World Open, which I think is a nice bit of re-jazzing. Again, I don't know if there are any other changes to the tournament, but judging by the fact that it is still over 9 days, I doubt it. That's a disappointment, as I felt it was a good oppurtunity for an FA Cup style event, much like the UK Open in Darts, and the renaming raised hopes for me. I also felt it should have been held in October, and not September, as we now have no ranking events in October or November. It will be held in the SECC, which is a far better venue than the Kelvin Hall, by what I've read.
The qualifiers will now be held at the Academy in Sheffield, rather than Prestatyn. It sounds a fairly positive move to be honest, although I don't know much about either venue.
I for one, am disappointed the UK Championship hasn't been changed. It's still going to be crammed into nine days, and held in Telford, which isn't good enough. If anything, this tournament needed extending. It also looks like we're going to have to put up with the ridiculous four-table format, which completely undermines the second biggest tournament.
We're going to have a Seniors World Championship... and idea I like a lot actually. For the nostalgics out there, it's a great blast from the past. It's only over three days, so it's a bit of harmless fun really.
A Sky Sports shoot-out over three days at the end of January. I love the idea. Sounds like a quick-fire one frame knockout, which is cut-throat and pretty good entertainment. Obviously one of these is enough, any more than that and it ruins the spectacle, but I think it's a good, positive, entertaining idea.
I have also read on Boards.ie, that Hearn plans on rewarding players for their current achievements rather than over the current two-year system. Great, that's all I can say. I don't know how reliable the source is, but if true, it's a fantastic change that's badly needed.
Also on a positive note: The Masters and World Championship are left untouched. I would have been in favour of some slight refurbishing of the former, but leaving the holy grail as it is, well that's just great news. It's snooker perfection.
Anyway, the full tour:
MAY
28-30 Seniors World Championship qualifiers (Cue Club, Bradford)
JUNE
2-6 Wuxi Classic (China)
18-20 Player Tour Championship 1 (PTC1) (Academy)
JULY
9-11 Player Tour Championship 2 (PTC2) (Academy)
18-25 6 Red Championship (Thailand)
30 – 1 Aug World Player Tour Championship (WPTC1) (tbc)
AUGUST
3-6 Shanghai Masters Qualifiers (Academy)
13-15 World Player Tour Championship (WPTC2) (tbc)
21-24 World Open Qualifiers (Academy)
26-29 Euro Players Tour Championship (EPTC 1) (Germany)
SEPTEMBER
2 Premier League
6-12 Shanghai Masters (Shanghai)
16 Premier League
18-26 World Open (formerly Grand Prix) (SECC, Glasgow)
30 Premier League
OCTOBER
1-3 Euro Players Tour Championship (EPTC 2) (Europe)
7 Premier League
8-10 Players Tour Championship 3 (PTC3) (Academy)
14 Premier League
15-17 World Player Tour Championship 3 (WPTC3) (tbc)
21 Premier League
22-24 Euro Players Tour Championship (EPTC 3) (Europe)
28 Premier League
NOVEMBER
4 Premier League
5-7 Seniors World Championship (Cedar Court Hotel, Bradford)
5-7 Player Tour Championship 4 (PTC4) (Academy)
11 Premier League
12-14 Euro Players Tour Championship 4 (EPTC 4) (Germany)
13-20 Asian Games (Guangzhou)
18 Premier League
19-21 World Player Tour Championship 4 (WPTC 4) (tbc)
23-30 UK Championship qualifiers (Academy)
27-28 Premier League Finals (Potters)
DECEMBER
4-12 UK Championship (Telford International Centre)
JANUARY
3-6 Championship League
9-16 The Masters (Wembley Arena)
18-21 European Masters qualifiers (Academy)
24-27 Championship League
28-30 Sky Shoot Out (tbc)
FEBRUARY
3-6 European Masters (Berlin, Germany)
8-11 Welsh Open quals (Academy)
14-20 Welsh Open (Wales)
22-25 China Open qualifiers (Academy)
28 – 3 Mar Championship League
MARCH
4-15 Betfred.com World Championship qualifiers (Academy)
17-20 Players Tour Championship Finals (tbc)
21-24 Championship League
28 March–3 Apr China Open (Beijing)
APRIL/MAY
16 April – 2 May Betfred.com World Snooker Championship Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
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Tubberlad - Posts: 5009
- Joined: 02 October 2009
- Location: Ireland
- Snooker Idol: Ronnie OSullivan
- Highest Break: 49