Ssb - good news day

[MySockPuppet]

Barry Hearn was at the Crucible today to unveil a raft of announcements for the 2011/12 season.

As revealed on this blog last month, there will a ranking event staged in Australia in July.

This will immediately follow the World Cup in Bangkok, which will be a biannual event.

There will be eight seeded teams - Australia, China, England, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales - from a field of 24. The winning team receives a cheque for $200,000.

There will be a new format for the Premier League next season as it becomes a World Snooker event.

In order that any player can qualify, the ten man field will be filled based on tournaments won.

Therefore, confirmed are defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, Championship League winner Matthew Stevens plus ranking event winners Ali Carter, Neil Robertson, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump.

Ding Junhui qualifies as Masters champion and if one of the above wins the World Championship, Jimmy White will get a call up as world seniors champion.

Sky Sports will screen the Shootout, won this season by Nigel Bond, for the next three years having broadcast a World Snooker event for the first time for seven years in January.

Hearn also revealed talks are underway with Paul Mount to stage some PTCs and/or qualifiers at the South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester rather than having them all in Sheffield, which would mean access for spectators.

Prize money on the circuit will rise above £6m and there looks like there will be 10-11 ranking tournaments, plus the new Brazilian Masters.

Hearn also wants players to come forward to record a new version of the Chas 'n' Dave 'classic' Snooker Loopy, which reached no.6 in the chart 25 years ago.

The mind boggles, frankly, as to who would want to take part in this...but we will see.

So there will be plenty of snooker next season and plenty of reasons to be optimistic in this new era for the game.


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[Odrl]

Ding Junhui qualifies as Masters champion and if one of the above wins the World Championship, Jimmy White will get a call up as world seniors champion.

I wonder who would have got the last spot if Bond won the seniors event and White won the shootout.

[João]

Indeed that's silly.

Why not give it to someone who won a PTC and is not there already? Stephen Lee for example.

[Gerry Armstrong]

Or Mark Selby? I'm not a big fan but he's right at the top of the world rankings, surely he has earned his place?

[Odrl]

Or Mark Selby? I'm not a big fan but he's right at the top of the world rankings, surely he has earned his place?

Well, Selby could potentially finish as number 1 in the rankings without winning an event, so he would miss out on a Premier League spot. It wouldn't have bothered me in the past, as the Premier League was organized independently from the governing body, but it would be somewhat ridiculous now.

[João]

Selby's been there before, if he doesn't earn his place, give the chance to someone else imo.

[Odrl]

Selby's been there before, if he doesn't earn his place, give the chance to someone else imo.

Actually, I would prefer clear rules on who gets the spot, because the people in charge of these choices have repeatedly shown themselves to be either biased or incompetent.

It's just a question of who is next in line on merit, and I certainly don't think the seniors champion is much of a title.

[Gerry Armstrong]

Selby's been there before, if he doesn't earn his place, give the chance to someone else imo.

I think the World No.1 should get a spot automatically whether he's been there before or not.

[Gerry Armstrong]

Actually, I would prefer clear rules on who gets the spot, because the people in charge of these choices have repeatedly shown themselves to be either biased or incompetent.

It's just a question of who is next in line on merit, and I certainly don't think the seniors champion is much of a title.

I agree - it should be clearly laid out BEFORE the season starts as it's a money spinner for the players who get to take part, as well as excellent match practice throughout the first part of the season.

[João]

It doesn't mean much if he's going to be World number 1 as he didn't win any major tournament. The only reason he would be there is because Williams, Higgins and Robertson didn't play all PTC's.

[Gerry Armstrong]

World Number 1 is the player who has performed the most consistently over the prior 2 seasons. I reckon it's an incredible achievement for anyone to reach No.1 in their chosen sport. Anyone who achieves that position thoroughly deserves it IMHO.

[the_Crippler09]

I like how the Premier League places will be decided, it adds even more incentive to win a ranking event.

I certainly dont think the no.1 ranked player should get in just based on that!! Im sure that if u asked any player before the season started which they would prefer... a No.1 ranking or a title im quite sure most would take a title.

And whats wrong with Jimmy getting the last spot?? lets face it, we will see plenty of the likes of Selby and co. in the coming years on t.v, Jimmy on the other hand hasnt many more big time appearances on t.v. Lets not forget what a great ambassador he has been to snooker over the past 20 years and awarding him with a place in the premier League is perfectly acceptable in my view, besides, people WANT to see him !!

[João]

Jimmy has had way too many wildcard invites for The Masters and Premier League. He was embarassed most of the times in recent years as he clearly can't play on TV anymore.

Give it to someone based on merit.

[Gerry Armstrong]

I like how the Premier League places will be decided, it adds even more incentive to win a ranking event.

I certainly dont think the no.1 ranked player should get in just based on that!! Im sure that if u asked any player before the season started which they would prefer... a No.1 ranking or a title im quite sure most would take a title.

And whats wrong with Jimmy getting the last spot?? lets face it, we will see plenty of the likes of Selby and co. in the coming years on t.v, Jimmy on the other hand hasnt many more big time appearances on t.v. Lets not forget what a great ambassador he has been to snooker over the past 20 years and awarding him with a place in the premier League is perfectly acceptable in my view, besides, people WANT to see him !!

Unless the title was the World Championships I'm sure the players would all prefer the no.1 spot.

[Rane]

The real trouble is, if someone wins three titles next year, who is qualified then ? Do we have to dig up a retired Steve Davis or Stephen Hendry (if they are!). In order to get quality matches I would say highest ranked player, and maybe also highest ranked player below 25 ? Or what about making a fill up from the finalists in the PTC finals, that would give another reason for the players to be serious about those tournaments.