Canadian Amateur Championships

[bob1]

Very interesting, how the hell did snooker get into such a state over there, it's hard to believe ,when I watched snooker there were loads of Canadians.
Although bad refereeing doesn't only happen over there, my laddie and I went to watch our county final, and one player had potted the pink, so the ref re spotted the pink , but it must have toppled off it's spot so the lad asked the ref to re spot it, well he went to pick it up dropped it tried to catch it ,scattered the reds everywhere, bundles them all back together and so he didn't have a tricky re spot again on the pink put a red on the pink spot and re spotted the pink on the black spot, and just carried on!!

I guess I did not answer your question. I know when the non-smoking law came in it made a big difference and a lot of clubs went
out of business. I know in my own neighborhood with in 2 miles of my home there was probably 8 snooker/pool halls. They are now
all gone. But it must be more then that since you could always take a break and smoke outside. That law came in , in England around
the same time did it make a difference?

[itsnoteasy]

Can't really answer that one Bob, I didn't start playing until after the smoking ban, but I have noticed recently an increase in folk in the club, and a few juniors coming in as well, so fingers crossed we are on an upturn. Those that smoke just go outside, the club is in a little kind of industrial / leisure park so your not in the street smoking, which I guess doesn't make it so bad for them.

[bob1]

Words fail me. I'm genuinely fuming a bit sitting here reading that.

I was mad at the time, because I remember turning to my Friend and saying did you see that? And he said yes the guy
has a temper. The thing that really bothered me at the time, after the ball kicking, was that the Ref latter had the nerve to come over to the owner of the club at the time, John White, and say they were talking to loud when they were not.

[cyberheater]

I was mad at the time, because I remember turning to my Friend and saying did you see that? And he said yes the guy
has a temper. The thing that really bothered me at the time, after the ball kicking, was that the Ref latter had the nerve to come over to the owner of the club at the time, John White, and say they were talking to loud when they were not.

LOL. Your refs are plainly and brazenly trolling you lot. Kick them out.

[itsnoteasy]

I have just started watching it, why isn't the ref picking the balls out?, Terry on that lads break at the start where he lands very near to the black (around five mins in)did the ref call a touching ball? As he doesn't seem to hit it.
The bloody ref doesn't even do the scores, and on the second snooker on the pink, on his second attempt when he hits the black then scatters a few balls around surely that was called a miss, but you took the free ball why was that Terry, at most you were getting red colour, the way the balls were placed.
I agree the first snooker was a miss, I don't even know why the ref got into a discussion with him before the shot, what was he telling him?, surely the ref could see that just a touch more side on that shot just to widen the angle and he could have got a lot closer.

[lesedwards]

We are at the point in Canada where we need a re vamp of all executive, guys that want to put Snooker back on the map. I put my name in for a position on CBSA and they said they did not know me and just voted themselves back in. So there you go. I have tried to make changes with our provincial association and cannot get in there either. But still pushing to make a difference. As far as clubs yes they are all the same, nice cloth and no one looking after it. Hopefully when the Corner Bank opens in Toronto with 8 new Shenders they will look after them. Now on another note talking Snookers if I am not mistaken the reff for Terry's last game was Ernie which plays in the Ontario Senior League where they do not use the miss rule so in other words as long as you make an attempt to hit the OB you are good, count the foul and it is your opponents turn. I think that is the way he looked at both Snookers. They where not even close to being as tough as the one Terry had in an earlier match in the open where he clicked up some 30 points in fouls before he swiped the balls with his cue a conceded the frame. Terry will correct me if I am wrong.

[itsnoteasy]

On the second snooker behind the pink Les, if you play and hit the first ball in front of you that's not even an attempt.

[thelongbomber]

We are at the point in Canada where we need a re vamp of all executive, guys that want to put Snooker back on the map. I put my name in for a position on CBSA and they said they did not know me and just voted themselves back in. So there you go. I have tried to make changes with our provincial association and cannot get in there either. But still pushing to make a difference. As far as clubs yes they are all the same, nice cloth and no one looking after it. Hopefully when the Corner Bank opens in Toronto with 8 new Shenders they will look after them. Now on another note talking Snookers if I am not mistaken the reff for Terry's last game was Ernie which plays in the Ontario Senior League where they do not use the miss rule so in other words as long as you make an attempt to hit the OB you are good, count the foul and it is your opponents turn. I think that is the way he looked at both Snookers. They where not even close to being as tough as the one Terry had in an earlier match in the open where he clicked up some 30 points in fouls before he swiped the balls with his cue a conceded the frame. Terry will correct me if I am wrong.

Les, Patrick Guigui from Montreal has made an attempt at trying to become the recognized association in Canada. See more at www.snookercanada.ca. There are issues with provincial associations as well. Here, we have somehow lost our association all together and there is no indication things will change.

[lesedwards]

On the second snooker behind the pink Les, if you play and hit the first ball in front of you that's not even an attempt.

Yes I agree. As far as I am concerned Terry should have won the match. If the refs cannot interpret the ruling properly they should not be there or they need to get rid of the miss rule. At my Snooker club in my basement...LOL we play the 3 miss rule. If you miss it three times then we carry on. My Son gets pissed if I make him shoot it any more then that. Terry was screwed on it both ways once when the Snooker was on him and twice when he laid the snooker. I would either walked from the table like someone else said or I would have taken a swipe at the balls and the ref would have been picking balls all over the floor.

[lesedwards]

Les, Patrick Guigui from Montreal has made an attempt at trying to become the recognized association in Canada. See more at www.snookercanada.ca. There are issues with provincial associations as well. Here, we have somehow lost our association all together and there is no indication things will change.

I did speak to him a while ago while the Richler Cup was on. Maybe I will have to talk to him again.

[thelongbomber]

I did speak to him a while ago while the Richler Cup was on. Maybe I will have to talk to him again.

When talking with him ask about official representation with World Snooker. There seems to some disagreement about who actually is supposed to represent Canada. Snookercanada.ca says it's The Official Governing body for snooker, while the CBSA says it is the official governing body for cue sports and Olympics. There really should be ONE body that represents the country, holds competitions provincially, and gathers the best each year.

I think what Patrick is doing is good, but I'm not happy that some USA players were invited to the last competition. If it's a governing body for Canada, why were USA players invited.

[cmccool]

When talking with him ask about official representation with World Snooker. There seems to some disagreement about who actually is supposed to represent Canada. Snookercanada.ca says it's The Official Governing body for snooker, while the CBSA says it is the official governing body for cue sports and Olympics. There really should be ONE body that represents the country, holds competitions provincially, and gathers the best each year.

I think what Patrick is doing is good, but I'm not happy that some USA players were invited to the last competition. If it's a governing body for Canada, why were USA players invited.

Mayur - totally disagree with you on 2 points. When the "Official governing body for snooker in Canada" makes no mention of a Canadian Amateur Championship - then they clearly are not interested in promoting snooker. They are only interested in promoting their version.

Also - too few good snooker players in Canada, especially on the west coast. Bring on the Americans. The more competition the better for you as a player and snooker as a sport.

Cliff

[robertmac]

I tried to watch both the amateur and senior matches but
the video was pausing and not working very often. The
guy named Randall was kind enuff to say that he was doing
his best to fix the problem but he was the only one trying
and he also had to referee as there was a shortage. Its sad
when one guy is left to try his best with no help at all.
The CBSA failed miserably in running this tournament in
my opinion.

[lesedwards]

I tried to watch both the amateur and senior matches but
the video was pausing and not working very often. The
guy named Randall was kind enuff to say that he was doing
his best to fix the problem but he was the only one trying
and he also had to referee as there was a shortage. Its sad
when one guy is left to try his best with no help at all.
The CBSA failed miserably in running this tournament in
my opinion.

They failed but will not let any new comers in. Just a big click. I mentioned on Friday when I was there what to do. Put a password on the Router while the tournament was on to prevent everyone from using their wireless internet. But who am I? Just one person that wants to promote Snooker. I would like to see a mini tour setup that plays on a regular basis also.

[the montrealer]

HI You call this the Canadian Amateur Snooker Championship when only 33 players showed up and 20 players are from Ontario. In the Old days we had at least 4 players from each Province and the host city had maybe 8 players

Also in those days prize money was much greater then in this Canadian Snooker Championships/

I can give you breakdown of prize money that was given in 2004 won by Alain Robidoux

1st prize was $5,200.00 plus Ring Alain Robdoux
2nd prize was $3,300.00 Tom Finstad
3rd and 4th was $1,600.00 Kirk Stevens and Jim Bear
5 to 8th was $700.00 Zeigler Brady Gollan Bernatchez Cliff Thorburn

Today prize total money was around $10,000.00 and $4600.00 going to the Worlds
Amateur which includes Hotel and Flight.

That is why the good players like John White Thorburn Stevens Chaperon Robidoux
Finstad Bernatchez did not play in this Tournament because prize money was not that great

It cost you $350.00 to play in this Tournament plus Hotel and Travelling expenses total about
$900.00. So in order for you to break even you have to win the Tournament and make a few dollars and if you come second you break even