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Hi John I want to start off with a few questions away from the table in Shanghai so where better to start than with The Snooker Players Association, from reading in this months Snooker Scene magazine it has been reported that so far over 100 players have signed up but only 35 of the top 64 have signed up so far although The SPA have been promoting the new association for over a year now, can you tell us about the players who have not signed up so far and their reasoning why they have not yet signed up?
What is the birth of The SPA going to mean for the every day fan of snooker?
The SPA is a significant development and has been received very positively by all the players we have spoken to. The SPA has been set up with all levels of snooker player in mind. The future of the Professional, Amateur and social depends entirely on the everyday player. We were all everyday payers once. We intend to open up the membership at differing levels to include all levels of the game. To allow input from everyday players as well as professionals and to prove by action that we are listening.
I have witnessed how popular the game is across the World but I am also conscious that on the whole it is run by enthusiastic volunteers who give their time and on many occasions their money to developing young and new players to the sport. The SPA will be looking at ways of channeling money and support at those levels as well as looking to bring more routes to running ranking events at the Professional level.
The World Series of Snooker has been a great success to date apart from a few minor things in Portugal which we will get onto in a minute, how many events have you got planned for this WSS season in all?
Our aim is to initially stabilise at around 7 including a final that can showcase at the end of each season. The WSS has been a success and we are seeing demand for exhibitions in new territories that prior to WSS would not have been on the snooker Map.
Have the destinations of Germany, Latvia or The USA been considered at all for The World Series?
Yes, we ave had many enquiries from all three, and of course we consider each enquiry on a list of factors and each of the countries mentioned look very promising for the near future.
Is Portugal going to be on the calendar for next year?, there were alot of people complaining about the camera angles on Eurosport and the distance away from the table and the lack of people in the audience although not effecting the actual Snooker it did seem to effect the perception of the games to the viewers.
We were all disappointed with the camera angle and I could give you chapter and verse on the errors made that caused this, but as they say the postmortem never brought the patient back to life. We have learned and whilst we will make many more mistakes hopefully it wont be that one again.
Portugal is definitely back on the map and discussions have started with them again for end of season 2009/10. Regards the audience, for one reason or another tickets were not on sale till two weeks before the event kicked off, The crowds by the final nights were very healthy and very vocal. We also have to bear in mind Portugal was a completely new territory with less than a dozen match tables in the country but they want to develop snooker and you should have seen the magnificent effort and support we received from Portuguese Tourism and The City of Portimao, not to mention the host of local volunteers it was a pleasure. Oh and by the way the players had a ball.
Can you tell me about the sponsor of The world series as some time over the past few weeks all of the branding has gone, was this a time limited deal and is there another main sponsor coming on board?
As you are aware we have been looking at revitalising the site and hopefully with your help we will be re launching the site with a view to having much more interaction with the Snooker World.
Regards the sponsor, I cant say too much about this at present but it was not a match made in heaven. There will be new sponsors for the Series both Title and Associate. There will also be a full re launch of format and structure. We are finalising this right now with new sponsors and Eurosport. Any suggestions from your members will be considered before we go to final sign off.
You like a good game of golf along with a lot of the other pros like Mark Williams, Shaun Murphy, Ricky Walden and Stephen Hendry, do you think the game of golf helps in anyway with you game on the baize or is it just a release to get away from the baize?
I would say it just a nice release, I do like a game of Golf, but I am not at the Hendry, Murphy level YET! For any sportsman or woman what ever you play you want to be competitive, and we have a good few games during the summer, I would say that the snooker help with the golf, certainly at the putting,
What handicap do you play off of?
18
You have tried out 6 reds and 10 reds in The World Series but which do you think produces the batter game?
10 reds, this was a surprise too me but I actually enjoy the format much more than six, as you can still make a century and the balls do split well.
How are you dealing with the climate in Shanghai at the moment?
Like most places when you are at a tournament you dont get a lot of time off, but I enjoy anywhere the weather is nice after the summer we have had in Scotland.
You have been out in Shanghai for over a week now doing your publicity bit but has this helped to adjust to the timezone?
Actually I was invited to do the publicity tour as I did last year with Roewe, it was great fun, but with so much going on this year with the WSS and The SPA I had to decline the pre publicity tour in favour of getting the practice in. I can assure you a whistle stop tour of China is very hard work but fantastic fun.
A reasonably comfortable win against Matthew Selt yesterday, there were a few positional errors by Matthew that let you in for frame winners, do you think that all the factors of climate, timezone and being Matthews first major TV appearance put him off of his game at all?
I am sure it all plays a part and you chalk it down to experience, but Matthew was at the TV stages and I am sure it wont be the last time we see him there. Mistakes are made at every event by all of us, it would be a pretty boring game if we did not.
So onto the next round with you playing Mark Williams who played a great game against Joe Swail with his bridge hand in a cast to come out the other side with a 5-3 win, is confidence high going into this match against the left hander form Ebbe Vale?
Great to see Mark back and playing well, it was a tremendous effort given the circumstances. You have to take players with talent like Marks very seriously and this match will be no different. I have to play my game and look for it all being there at the table on the day.
It is funny how the later stages turn out in some of these competitions, if we look at your group 4 stage we have all the Welsh boys (Mark J Williams, Matthew Stevens and Ryan Day), my prediction for the round two matches are your self and Matthew Stevens to come through to the Semi-Finals, if my prediction comes true do you think Matthew who has shown great form in his 5-2 victory over Mark Allen can produce enough of his good game to make a bid for the Semi-Finals?
I am not one for predictions especially at this game. Matt is another great player and I am sure like myself he believes he can win the event but will be focusing on the next match.
Lets talk food, what is the catering like in Shanghai? have you been sticking with what you know and just eating at the hotel or have you been a little more adventurous?
I always try new foods and really enjoy the selection and presentation of the food here. I love fish and you do get a great variety in the local restaurants.
Kids are back to school this week, is your family over with you?
No as you say they are back at school and Oliver just started school this year so as always it will be good to get back home and be dad for a while, Unlike me my kids would rather go to school than the snooker anyway.
Have you been out sightseeing much since being over in Shanghai? (and that does include the golf course
) and if you have do you have any snaps you would like to share with us? (Ricky sent us some images from his trip to The Pearl Tower yesterday)
Not really had much time for sightseeing this trip, first event of the season catching up with some of the boys and getting practice in, sounds a bit boring but I will get out to the local markets but tend not to have a camera with me.
I am gong to leave the last few questions to the members from TheSnookerForum.com but before I sign off I do have to ask you a question that I know all the members want me to ask and that is, when are you going to come and post on TSF, a little birdy has told me that you have popped in every now and then to have a look around.
Yeh lets set that up some time as I do love hearing from snooker fans and enjoy answering live where possible as it gives a much better feel of how we are doing when promoting the sport, also you do tend to find the best questions come from this type of interaction.
Questions from the members on TSF
Bongo - What do you think the most important skill to have for success is?
Commitment and determination. Without either you tend to find that all the skill in the world wont get you over the winning line.
Maija - What's your favourite tournament memory that doesn't involve winning it (or a match / frame)?
I have been lucky as there are so many really special moments and great memories.
I suppose one funny moment for me was in the Grand Prix in Aberdeen 2006, when I was playing Dominic Dale. I was introduced and walked into the arena, but there was no sign of Dominic. He eventually came running into the arena. I found out later he was in the players lounge sitting with my mum and dad watching me come in on TV and saying he was looking forward to watching me play, then the MC announced his name as it was him that was playing me, he made a dash for the arena and after all that just about beat me, I had to make one of the best clearances of my life to win the final frame. Dominic is not known as the spaceman for nothing.
Maija - What are the future plans and hopes for the WSS?
To consolidate the concept, WSS sees itself as a feeder tour, one that boldly goes etc, We want to explore new territories where snooker is either popular or could be made popular. This means we will find a few locations that just wont work, but if we can work with the SPA to build a strategy of finding new venues and playing to new audiences, broadcasting across the world then simply creating opportunities for more ranking events we will feel we have succeeded. If you ever wondered whether this is worthwhile, just ask any of the local players that have appeared on TV playing the best snooker players in the world and you will get a better understanding of The WSS, pehaps that would be a good theme for Snooker Forum, to interview the qualifiers from, Russia, Germany, Poland and Jersey from last year and ask them what it means to both themselves and snooker in their local area. (PM &JH)
Spike - Do you HATE watching yourself on tv and if so why?
No not really but dont get much chance to watch myself as I am usually playing, practicing or doing daddy things.
The Boss - Which of your World Championship titles felt better - your 2nd or 3rd?
Its been well published that the 2nd title meant a lot too me as it was a long time coming. However there is no such thing as a World Title that does not mean everything to a professional sportsman or woman.
Terry Davidson - As a young lad, did you used to play in Reardon's in downtown Glasgow? (I used to practice there with John Rae and Jimmy MacNellan and I remember a young lad named John who used to come in and this John was an excellent player even then, around the age of 13 or so - I'm guessing)
Hi Terry, yes I did and I believe you have been talking with Pat regards Canada and what we can possibly do out there. I still see Johnny, Jimmy around and play a bit of golf with Johnny. He has taken the cue up again and his club, The Lucky Break is just buzzing.
checkSide -If you could give the average club player one piece of advice, what would it be?
Try and play players that are better than you as often as possible, I spent most of my early days picking balls out of bags for Stephen Hendry and eventually found myself getting more time on the table as I learned playing the best.
What is the birth of The SPA going to mean for the every day fan of snooker?
The SPA is a significant development and has been received very positively by all the players we have spoken to. The SPA has been set up with all levels of snooker player in mind. The future of the Professional, Amateur and social depends entirely on the everyday player. We were all everyday payers once. We intend to open up the membership at differing levels to include all levels of the game. To allow input from everyday players as well as professionals and to prove by action that we are listening.
I have witnessed how popular the game is across the World but I am also conscious that on the whole it is run by enthusiastic volunteers who give their time and on many occasions their money to developing young and new players to the sport. The SPA will be looking at ways of channeling money and support at those levels as well as looking to bring more routes to running ranking events at the Professional level.
The World Series of Snooker has been a great success to date apart from a few minor things in Portugal which we will get onto in a minute, how many events have you got planned for this WSS season in all?
Our aim is to initially stabilise at around 7 including a final that can showcase at the end of each season. The WSS has been a success and we are seeing demand for exhibitions in new territories that prior to WSS would not have been on the snooker Map.
Have the destinations of Germany, Latvia or The USA been considered at all for The World Series?
Yes, we ave had many enquiries from all three, and of course we consider each enquiry on a list of factors and each of the countries mentioned look very promising for the near future.
Is Portugal going to be on the calendar for next year?, there were alot of people complaining about the camera angles on Eurosport and the distance away from the table and the lack of people in the audience although not effecting the actual Snooker it did seem to effect the perception of the games to the viewers.
We were all disappointed with the camera angle and I could give you chapter and verse on the errors made that caused this, but as they say the postmortem never brought the patient back to life. We have learned and whilst we will make many more mistakes hopefully it wont be that one again.
Portugal is definitely back on the map and discussions have started with them again for end of season 2009/10. Regards the audience, for one reason or another tickets were not on sale till two weeks before the event kicked off, The crowds by the final nights were very healthy and very vocal. We also have to bear in mind Portugal was a completely new territory with less than a dozen match tables in the country but they want to develop snooker and you should have seen the magnificent effort and support we received from Portuguese Tourism and The City of Portimao, not to mention the host of local volunteers it was a pleasure. Oh and by the way the players had a ball.
Can you tell me about the sponsor of The world series as some time over the past few weeks all of the branding has gone, was this a time limited deal and is there another main sponsor coming on board?
As you are aware we have been looking at revitalising the site and hopefully with your help we will be re launching the site with a view to having much more interaction with the Snooker World.
Regards the sponsor, I cant say too much about this at present but it was not a match made in heaven. There will be new sponsors for the Series both Title and Associate. There will also be a full re launch of format and structure. We are finalising this right now with new sponsors and Eurosport. Any suggestions from your members will be considered before we go to final sign off.
Originally Posted by ferret
You like a good game of golf along with a lot of the other pros like Mark Williams, Shaun Murphy, Ricky Walden and Stephen Hendry, do you think the game of golf helps in anyway with you game on the baize or is it just a release to get away from the baize?
I would say it just a nice release, I do like a game of Golf, but I am not at the Hendry, Murphy level YET! For any sportsman or woman what ever you play you want to be competitive, and we have a good few games during the summer, I would say that the snooker help with the golf, certainly at the putting,
What handicap do you play off of?
18
You have tried out 6 reds and 10 reds in The World Series but which do you think produces the batter game?
10 reds, this was a surprise too me but I actually enjoy the format much more than six, as you can still make a century and the balls do split well.
How are you dealing with the climate in Shanghai at the moment?
Like most places when you are at a tournament you dont get a lot of time off, but I enjoy anywhere the weather is nice after the summer we have had in Scotland.
You have been out in Shanghai for over a week now doing your publicity bit but has this helped to adjust to the timezone?
Actually I was invited to do the publicity tour as I did last year with Roewe, it was great fun, but with so much going on this year with the WSS and The SPA I had to decline the pre publicity tour in favour of getting the practice in. I can assure you a whistle stop tour of China is very hard work but fantastic fun.
A reasonably comfortable win against Matthew Selt yesterday, there were a few positional errors by Matthew that let you in for frame winners, do you think that all the factors of climate, timezone and being Matthews first major TV appearance put him off of his game at all?
I am sure it all plays a part and you chalk it down to experience, but Matthew was at the TV stages and I am sure it wont be the last time we see him there. Mistakes are made at every event by all of us, it would be a pretty boring game if we did not.
So onto the next round with you playing Mark Williams who played a great game against Joe Swail with his bridge hand in a cast to come out the other side with a 5-3 win, is confidence high going into this match against the left hander form Ebbe Vale?
Great to see Mark back and playing well, it was a tremendous effort given the circumstances. You have to take players with talent like Marks very seriously and this match will be no different. I have to play my game and look for it all being there at the table on the day.
It is funny how the later stages turn out in some of these competitions, if we look at your group 4 stage we have all the Welsh boys (Mark J Williams, Matthew Stevens and Ryan Day), my prediction for the round two matches are your self and Matthew Stevens to come through to the Semi-Finals, if my prediction comes true do you think Matthew who has shown great form in his 5-2 victory over Mark Allen can produce enough of his good game to make a bid for the Semi-Finals?
I am not one for predictions especially at this game. Matt is another great player and I am sure like myself he believes he can win the event but will be focusing on the next match.
Lets talk food, what is the catering like in Shanghai? have you been sticking with what you know and just eating at the hotel or have you been a little more adventurous?
I always try new foods and really enjoy the selection and presentation of the food here. I love fish and you do get a great variety in the local restaurants.
Kids are back to school this week, is your family over with you?
No as you say they are back at school and Oliver just started school this year so as always it will be good to get back home and be dad for a while, Unlike me my kids would rather go to school than the snooker anyway.
Have you been out sightseeing much since being over in Shanghai? (and that does include the golf course
) and if you have do you have any snaps you would like to share with us? (Ricky sent us some images from his trip to The Pearl Tower yesterday)Not really had much time for sightseeing this trip, first event of the season catching up with some of the boys and getting practice in, sounds a bit boring but I will get out to the local markets but tend not to have a camera with me.
I am gong to leave the last few questions to the members from TheSnookerForum.com but before I sign off I do have to ask you a question that I know all the members want me to ask and that is, when are you going to come and post on TSF, a little birdy has told me that you have popped in every now and then to have a look around.
Yeh lets set that up some time as I do love hearing from snooker fans and enjoy answering live where possible as it gives a much better feel of how we are doing when promoting the sport, also you do tend to find the best questions come from this type of interaction.
Questions from the members on TSF
Bongo - What do you think the most important skill to have for success is?
Commitment and determination. Without either you tend to find that all the skill in the world wont get you over the winning line.
Maija - What's your favourite tournament memory that doesn't involve winning it (or a match / frame)?
I have been lucky as there are so many really special moments and great memories.
I suppose one funny moment for me was in the Grand Prix in Aberdeen 2006, when I was playing Dominic Dale. I was introduced and walked into the arena, but there was no sign of Dominic. He eventually came running into the arena. I found out later he was in the players lounge sitting with my mum and dad watching me come in on TV and saying he was looking forward to watching me play, then the MC announced his name as it was him that was playing me, he made a dash for the arena and after all that just about beat me, I had to make one of the best clearances of my life to win the final frame. Dominic is not known as the spaceman for nothing.
Maija - What are the future plans and hopes for the WSS?
To consolidate the concept, WSS sees itself as a feeder tour, one that boldly goes etc, We want to explore new territories where snooker is either popular or could be made popular. This means we will find a few locations that just wont work, but if we can work with the SPA to build a strategy of finding new venues and playing to new audiences, broadcasting across the world then simply creating opportunities for more ranking events we will feel we have succeeded. If you ever wondered whether this is worthwhile, just ask any of the local players that have appeared on TV playing the best snooker players in the world and you will get a better understanding of The WSS, pehaps that would be a good theme for Snooker Forum, to interview the qualifiers from, Russia, Germany, Poland and Jersey from last year and ask them what it means to both themselves and snooker in their local area. (PM &JH)
Spike - Do you HATE watching yourself on tv and if so why?
No not really but dont get much chance to watch myself as I am usually playing, practicing or doing daddy things.
The Boss - Which of your World Championship titles felt better - your 2nd or 3rd?
Its been well published that the 2nd title meant a lot too me as it was a long time coming. However there is no such thing as a World Title that does not mean everything to a professional sportsman or woman.
Terry Davidson - As a young lad, did you used to play in Reardon's in downtown Glasgow? (I used to practice there with John Rae and Jimmy MacNellan and I remember a young lad named John who used to come in and this John was an excellent player even then, around the age of 13 or so - I'm guessing)
Hi Terry, yes I did and I believe you have been talking with Pat regards Canada and what we can possibly do out there. I still see Johnny, Jimmy around and play a bit of golf with Johnny. He has taken the cue up again and his club, The Lucky Break is just buzzing.
checkSide -If you could give the average club player one piece of advice, what would it be?
Try and play players that are better than you as often as possible, I spent most of my early days picking balls out of bags for Stephen Hendry and eventually found myself getting more time on the table as I learned playing the best.
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