Amateurs playing the PTC's

[whitespider]

In people's opinion how good do you have to be to be able to play competively in the Qualifying Rounds on the PTC Euro Tour?

When I say competively I mean realistically being at the standard in order for you to have a chance of progressing to the last 128 of the PTC's.

You can obviously pay £100, turn up and get soundly beaten as it's open to all but what's the general standard of the amateurs taking part?

[cyberheater]

A mate of mine who regularly makes +50/60 breaks goes to these now and then and gets annihilated.

Seems you need to be a regular century maker and have experience of playing with the championship balls and the super fast Star tables to have any sort of chance.

[Neil Taperell]

You need to be playing on Star Tables regularly i would think and knocking in Centuries on a regular basis . Almost the standard or a young up and coming player or a player trying to get back into the top 128 . If you get my drift .

[bolton-cueman]

A mate of mine who regularly makes +50/60 breaks goes to these now and then and gets annihilated.

Seems you need to be a regular century maker and have experience of playing with the championship balls and the super fast Star tables to have any sort of chance.

totally agree.... there is a huge difference in being a good club player and the level in those events.

Some of the lads I know are like your mates knock 50+'s in for fun but get destroyed at that level. Scary snooker!

[cyberheater]

totally agree.... there is a huge difference in being a good club player and the level in those events.

Some of the lads I know are like your mates knock 50+'s in for fun but get destroyed at that level. Scary snooker!

Yep. He said one of the last games he played. Every time he came to the table the white was welded to the top cushion. In one frame he managed to get a long red and got a 50 break and missed. The other guy cleared up.

[alabadi]

yep I know someone who can make 80s and tons but can break down on 50s , he said the standard is very high. one miss and you might never get back to the table

[Terry Davidson]

I think it's all about getting used to the speedy cloth and the 1G balls. Unfortunately most amateur players almost never get tables with new #10 cloth although they can play with the 1G balls all the time. That cloth makes a huge difference and it has to be gotten used to but in a club environment even the #10 will slow down drastically after a bit of use.

If an amateur player is serious enough to want to play in the PTCs then I recommend he tries to get a match table in his club with Hainsworth Precision cloth although he would likely have to subsidize the cost of the cloth as the Precision will wear out fast in a club and will have to be changed frequently.

Of course, there is the other fact that most amateur players don't get a chance to play pros all the time under pro conditions and that is what they have to do if they want to compete effectively.

[ace man]

The result would be the same if pro players came to clubs of those amateur players.

[j6uk]

thats right. the only dif would be that of the exposure to conditions

The result would be the same if pro players came to clubs of those amateur players.

[dieselman147]

You need to be playing on Star Tables regularly i would think and knocking in Centuries on a regular basis . Almost the standard or a young up and coming player or a player trying to get back into the top 128 . If you get my drift .

Theres your answer...

[Neil Taperell]

That's twice i've been correct today

[trains]

The only thing I'll add to this,like as if it isn't reasonably apparent anyway,is that since the PTC's began in 2010 I don't think any amateur who was never a pro before has ever qualified onto the tour via winning enough matches in the PTC's in a season,so that qualifying branch that World Snooker offered I don't think has ever been taken by anyone without prior pro experience.
So if you're looking to get onto the tour -statistically at least if I'm not mistaken - it's probably best to just go for the Q School,particularly as its hardly cheap to get flights and accomodation on continental Europe.

[svendh]

In Germany the standard in the first amateur rounds isn't that high. Also the first round are played at local clubs and not at the venue itself. There is no #10 cloth or table heating at this clubs. We once had a bloke playing Ronnie O'Sullivan on the TV table and this guy makes a 50 every now and then.

[cyberheater]

In Germany the standard in the first amateur rounds isn't that high. Also the first round are played at local clubs and not at the venue itself. There is no #10 cloth or table heating at this clubs. We once had a bloke playing Ronnie O'Sullivan on the TV table and this guy makes a 50 every now and then.

What a wonderful experience for him. Was it televised?

[svendh]

yes of course - it was the tv table. sadly i cant find the videos on youtube