TSB - Potting the cash: O’Sullivan

[ferret]

Former three-time world snooker champion Ronnie O’Sullivan claims he feels ‘blackmailed’ into playing in smaller tournaments that now carry crucial ranking points but little prize money. The cash alone is not worth the hassle, was his gist. So how come he will be playing in next month’s quirky Power Snooker event in Manchester, which has more .....

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[Neil Taperell]

Ronnie is getting paid just to turn up ....they do this in golf all the time . It's only to ensure a decent TV audience .
But he needs to play in the lesser paid events to improve his ranking . As previously said the players need to take a look at themselves , we don't want to go back to the old days of only a few tournaments per season .

[trains]

Hopefully BH implements just 2 rounds of qualifying with the expansion to 128 to get to the last 32 of all events just as with ptc's now thus saving expenses for players without sponsors.
1-64 v 65 - 128 then the 64 v themselves for the tv last 32,the elite of the top 16 including Ronnie can make this without too much trouble.
As for 'blackmail' if all have the same no. of qualifying rounds through the season he's got nowt to worry about as his ptc order of merit would get him back on tour anyway,he can still pick and choose what ptc's he wants to play.No invites to the Masters and Prem League? I doubt it somehow.

[gavpowell]

His argument was, as I understand it, that these tiny tournaments shouldn't carry ranking points, thus necessitating players' attendance. It's certainly a bit odd when the Masters is an invitation event but these tiny PTCs are ranking events.

So it's a ranking event with hardly any cash.

Power Snooker, meanwhile, is a tournament in which he is the defending champion, worth a decent chunk of cash to him and is before a good-sized audience.

The PTCs seem very soulless to be honest, even though the basic idea was a good one.

[trains]

His argument was, as I understand it, that these tiny tournaments shouldn't carry ranking points, thus necessitating players' attendance. It's certainly a bit odd when the Masters is an invitation event but these tiny PTCs are ranking events.

So it's a ranking event with hardly any cash.

Power Snooker, meanwhile, is a tournament in which he is the defending champion, worth a decent chunk of cash to him and is before a good-sized audience.

The PTCs seem very soulless to be honest, even though the basic idea was a good one.

Cutting to the chase how many of the unrelated public give a monkeys about a lot of pro players including the top 16 outside of ROS? Soulless or characterless is how they'd probably define most of if not virtually all the tour,at least the ptc's gives him a chance to stay on tour without worrying about his top 16 place which outside probably half of the 16 is a little too protected anyway with the tiered ranking events rounds.
The ptc's give equal banana skins for all,soulless maybe with the empty seats but thats a promotional problem,the tournaments are just as watchable as ranking events which are cluttered with boring waits for the next sessions.

[Craig Franck]

I seem kind of lost reading the replies above

was the original post not saying that ronnie is being paid to play in power snooker when other players are not? what does this have to do with ptc events ?

[gavpowell]

Because he was quoted earlier in the week criticising the decision to add ranking points to tournaments as small as the PTCs, yet is playing in a novelty tournament with no ranking pointsa at stake. So the article is essentially saying Ronnie's entiely motivated by money, which blatantly isn't true.

It's c alssic tabloid story though - a lot of weasel words "Other players are said to be fuming" - which other players? Said by whom? I'm pretty sure a lot of the players know Ronnie brings in a boatload of support/money from the casual fan, so I can't imagine many of them are fuming, and they can always opt not to play.

[magicman]

I don't see the problem with Ronnie being paid to turn up for what is a non-ranking event. This non-event is little more than an exhibition, and almost every player makes money from exhibitions dependant on how many 'bums on seats' they can pull in.

There are no invites to the Masters anymore, it's just the top 16, and because of that it obviously can't possibly be a ranking event.

The PTC's are the fairest tournaments of the year as shown by winners such as Ben Woollaston and Marcus Campbell who frankly under the current system stand little chance of winning a 'proper' ranking event. I think they're very watchable too as, like trains said, there's no waiting around for next sessions, matches follow on quickly and most of, if not all, the best players in the world are competing. The players almost dictated the current 'blackmail' system themselves by not turning up last year. Top players should be able to qualify for the end of year PTC Grand Final where their prize money is decent, off-setting the lack of funds in the 'qualifying' events, and lesser players have to look at it as great match practice, a better chance of actually winning a pro event and a chance to get used to TV conditions. ALL players must try and realise that the current situation is hopefully temporary and some of these PTC's may become fully blown events in the near future.

[Neil Taperell]

The PTC's are the fairest tournaments of the year as shown by winners such as Ben Woollaston and Marcus Campbell who frankly under the current system stand little chance of winning a 'proper' ranking event. I think they're very watchable too as, like trains said, there's no waiting around for next sessions, matches follow on quickly and most of, if not all, the best players in the world are competing. The players almost dictated the current 'blackmail' system themselves by not turning up last year. Top players should be able to qualify for the end of year PTC Grand Final where their prize money is decent, off-setting the lack of funds in the 'qualifying' events, and lesser players have to look at it as great match practice, a better chance of actually winning a pro event and a chance to get used to TV conditions. ALL players must try and realise that the current situation is hopefully temporary and some of these PTC's may become fully blown events in the near future.

Spot on mate . Well said .

[liquidsymphony]

you're right magicman , ptcs are the best way for low ranked players to achieve more than in longer format venues
and it's nice to see new faces on tv . concerning what Ronnie said , well ... it's not the problem of him being right or
wrong but the way he sometimes says things . for low ranked players ptcs are crucials to stay on the tour but seems to
cost them more money than what they get .

[CoachGavin]

I think perhaps Ronnie prefers just to have the whole tour in england so that he can go home every evening and chill and still get paid vast sums of money and still keep his ranking. The problem is that sport does not work like this. I think you have to look at the PTC's as future big ranking events especially the european ones but this cant happen immediately. To me the sport seems much better than a year or two ago. Yes expenses to go abroad are high but with all the events about the CHANCE is their to make some decent money, even the lower pros. 2 years ago the lower pros didnt have a chance to make any money. Just my opinion.

[PatBlock]

@ neil taperell, Absolutely right.

Also, to hear professional sportsmen complaining about how little money they earn, particularly in the 'current economic climate', is cringeworthy. To have the ability and opportunity to play for a very good living, is way beyond most people's wildest dreams. And I think it's probably fair to say that ROS isn't short of a bob or two.

-

[miscuehamburg]

Besides all benefits said above, the PTCs have considerably raised the general standard of play in the past 1 1/2 seasons.

Of course life was easier for the Top 16 in the past. But there wasn't much perspective for the game then. To speak about 'blackmailing' seems to me a bit harsh. But -what the heck- it's typical Ronnie

[Rane]

Neil Robertson mentioned in his post match interview that the current PTCs is a part of raising the money in the game, and therefore we wouldn´t hear him complaining, and by my opinion thats what it´s all about.

I do certainly understand if a sponsor consider it an extra time, if he has to sponsor a sport where the most hyped player don´t really know if he bothers to show up, and when he does either complain about not getting enough for making a 147 or says that he feels blackmailed to play.

[wildJONESEYE]

Neil Robertson mentioned in his post match interview that the current PTCs is a part of raising the money in the game, and therefore we wouldn´t hear him complaining, and by my opinion thats what it´s all about.

I do certainly understand if a sponsor consider it an extra time, if he has to sponsor a sport where the most hyped player don´t really know if he bothers to show up, and when he does either complain about not getting enough for making a 147 or says that he feels blackmailed to play.

well paying a top player to shut up and play is definitly blackmail lol