Announcement

**RaNeN** · 19 June 2006, 05:48 PM

The NI trophy? Isnt it new?

**Robert602** · 19 June 2006, 06:27 PM

Not quite, it was new last year. It was held at about the same time in the same venue, Stevens beat Hendry in the final as I recall. It was quite short, early rounds only best of 7 as opposed to the usual best of 9 (presumably that will change now it's a ranker).

Edit: Just to prove I'm not insane, here's the match report for last year's final - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/othe...er/4172120.stm

Edit 2: Thought I remembered a thread on it, here: http://www.thesnookerforum.com/showthread-t_584.html

**Stu4ko** · 19 June 2006, 06:31 PM

The NI trophy was held at the same time last year, but it was an invitational event, only the top 16 players took part I think.
Defending champion is Matthew Stevens, who beat Stephen Hendry 9-7 in the final, but won a tiny prize - under 10 000 pounds as long as I remember.
This year the prize money is much higher and I think some of the younger players can do impact in the late summer in Belfast.

**Stu4ko** · 19 June 2006, 06:32 PM

Oops Robert was faster than me!!!

**Robert602** · 19 June 2006, 06:43 PM

Do you happen to know what the prize money will be next year Stu4ko? I assume it'll go up, but I haven't seen any figures.

There were a few wildcards last year as well as the top 16. It was the debut tournament for the local boy Mark Allen (world amateur champ), he did ok too, beat Davis and Higgins before losing to Hendry. Joe Swail and Robertson are a couple more I remember. Robertson became the first man to beat the reigning world champion Murphy coming back from 4-2 down to win 5-4 in the quarter finals.

**Stu4ko** · 20 June 2006, 09:58 AM

Hmm I don't know any details about the prize money but they'll certainly be higher by much, because it's now a ranking event...
I remember Robertson too, because he beat my Jimmy in the 2nd round

I wasn't able to watch much from the tornament because I was on holiday and I think the time of the year isn't good for the start of the pro season.

**ferret** · 20 June 2006, 10:51 AM

Here is a copy of the official press release sent out by the WSA to all news agencies.

<<New Ranking Event And Prize Money Boost For Snooker Tour.doc>>

News Release

New Ranking Event And Prize Money Boost For Snooker Tour

World Snooker announced the calendar for the 2006/07 professional Tour today, which includes a new ranking event and higher prize money.

The season begins with the Northern Ireland Trophy at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast in August - the first time a ranking event has ever been staged in Northern Ireland. It was staged as an invitation tournament last year and now gains ranking status.

The world's top 32 players plus 16 qualifiers will compete at Belfast's premier venue for indoor sporting events from August 13 to 20.

The calendar also includes the four major events televised by BBC Sport - the Grand Prix, the UK Championship, the Masters and the 888.com World Snooker Championship - as well as the Welsh Open and overseas trips to Malta and China.

Prize money on the World Snooker Tour has swelled by over £400,000 to £3.26million.

World Snooker chairman Sir Rodney Walker said: "I have stated many times that our goal is to increase the number of ranking tournaments and the level of prize money and I'm delighted that we are now in a position to start fulfilling that promise.

"This growth has been achieved through our recent sponsorship and broadcast deals and it is only the first step in the development of the Tour. We intend to continue to boost events and prize money in the coming seasons.

"Hopefully snooker fans and players will recognise today's announcement as very encouraging news for the sport."

World Snooker Tour 2006/07:

Northern Ireland Trophy
Waterfront Hall, Belfast
August 13-20, 2006

Pot Black Cup
Venue To Be Confirmed
September 2

Grand Prix
Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre
October 21-29, 2006

UK Championship
Barbican Centre, York
December 4-17, 2006

The Masters
Venue to be confirmed
January 14-21, 2007

Malta Cup
Hilton Conference Centre, Portomaso
January 29 - February 4, 2007

Welsh Open
Venue to be confirmed
February 11-18, 2007

China Open
Student Gymnasium, Beijing
March 25 - April 1, 2007

888.com World Snooker Championship
Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
April 21 - May 7, 2007

As it says Prize money on the World Snooker Tour has swelled by over £400,000 to £3.26million.

**Robert602** · 20 June 2006, 11:01 AM

I did actually link to that article and mention the £400,000 in my first post ferret. Sorry for the confusion, I was referring specifically to the prize pot for the NI trophy since Stu4ko had indicated he thought it'd go up.

I don't think they've released any specific breakdown yet though. It'll be interesting to see (because £400,000 is quite a bit of money) whether it goes towards restoring the WC to it's former levels or just boosts the minor tournaments. If I was Sir Rodney I'd have been tempted to put on a couple of extra small tournaments if I found myself with that kind of surplus.

**chrisfinch** · 22 June 2006, 12:04 PM

Good to see more ranking events but it's ONE!!!
Really, the British Open needs to be added and one more, maybe.

As the WSA don't fancy it, could we see Matchroom Sport induct a World team cup for next year? They already do the same in Pool, and I think it'd go weel with the Premier League.

**cueman** · 22 June 2006, 01:00 PM

Whilst its nice to see the addition of the N.Ireland tournament as a ranking event I still think the calendar is disappointing. I don't think the players will thank the WSA by starting off in early August and then having to wait 2 months before the Grand Prix and then another 2 months until the UK championships.

One of the biggest problems that players complained about last season was the gap inbetween tournaments and how it was difficult to maintain consistancy when they aren't playing competitive snooker for a few months.
This problem has not been addressed and surely it would have been better to start the season later and put the N.Ireland tournament in October or November which would have balanced the season out well. There would have been on average 1 tournament per month and that would work well for the players because they could have a week or two off before they start practicing for the next event.

Hopefully there will be another tournament fitted in somewhere, not January/February as that seems a bit crammed but around November time. I think the clash of the 9 ball world championships may have had something to do with it though.

**Robert602** · 22 June 2006, 01:28 PM

Sky Sports/Betfred/Barry Hearn may have had something to do with the early season gaps as well, they'll want plenty of space to plan the Premier League around I'd imagine.

I do think it's important to remember that for the vast majority of players there are qualifying tournaments to play in, so the season's not quite as sparse as the final stages calendar makes it look. For those that are neither in the Premier League nor outside the top 16/32 though, it's going to be a quiet year.

Do you think the gaps last season might have been a contributing factor to the shake-up of the top 16? The likes of Day, Bingham, Robertson and Hawkins had plenty of match practise in qualifying rounds and that might have helped them be quicker out of the blocks in the TV stages, moreso than usual.

**MattWilson** · 22 June 2006, 04:25 PM

That def had something to do with it Robert. Stevens takes ages to get going in a match/season and apart from NI trophy he had another poor season and will do well to stay in the top 16 this year, provisionally ranked in the 30s.

MW

**cueman** · 22 June 2006, 05:27 PM

I don't think that Barry Hearn or his Premier league would have had anything to do with the dates on the calendar as that has nothing to do with the WSA as its a non ranking event. If anything the premier league would have to work around the ranking event calendar not the other way around.

I think the lack of tournaments over the last couple of seasons have had a massive impact on the shake up of the top 16. It must be a big advantage to play qualifiers and get the extra match practice and confidence that goes with it, though its not to say any qualifier is guaranteed to win through to the TV stage. I think Hawkins, Robertson, Bingham would have gotten into the top 16 regardless because they are good enough but players like Stevens, White etc have suffered through a lack of match practice and confidence.

**Robert602** · 22 June 2006, 07:11 PM

McManus is another one who quietly underperformed last season, fallen out of the top 16 for the first time in I think 13 seasons. He made it pretty clear he was looking forward to some cubicle match practice.

When I mentioned Hearn and co, my reasoning was that the Premier League is a very popular event, and therefore good for promoting snooker. Whether it's a WSA event or not the WSA ought to be reasonably accomodating where possible towards anything that helps the sport. Maybe not, I'm only guessing, and I agree that the WSA will prioritise their own events above anyone else's wherever there's a conflict.

Announcement

WSA main tour calendar 2006/07

WSA main tour calendar 2006/07

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