Snookerbackers Thursday thought is to Smart looking Snooker players

 Written by Rachael Rodgers

Snookerbacker is a big name in the world of Snooker news and his fun and easily accessible snooker reporting has spread to making sure our favourite Snooker players continue to look smart and dress like gentlemen.  Snookerbacker would like World Snooker to offer free ironing lessons to Snooker players in an attempt to keep our boys looking lovely.

"I feel that creases are indicative of 'shoddiness'. Snooker is a game for gentlemen (and ladies, let's not forget them) and whilst standards continue to slip outside of the baize, we should act as a beacon in the shirt/ironing/crispness world." Says Snookerbacker.

President of crisp clothes is Jack Lisowski who started the campaign by tweeting he was struggling to iron his shirt. Tomorrows campaign is increasing Peter Ebdon's fanbase as he plays against Rory Mcleod in OZ

PTC event 1 Sheffield

 Written by Rachael Rodgers

The first PTC of the season started on Friday, it had to be extended due to the amount of interest in taking part it was reported that it had an increase of at least 50%.
  Monday saw the start of the professional tour seeing the greats of Ronnie O'Sullivan who looked relaxed and happy to be in Sheffield and to be playing snooker again. This was a positive sign especially after last season that saw the Rocket drop down the ranking to number 9 in the world a position many would kill for but one that Ronnie hasn't seen for many years.  This was due to Ronnie's lack of love for the game last season and problems in his personal life.
   Ronnie's first round match was against a returning player Mike Hallett at first fans held their breath as it appeared that teh new confident and happy Ronnie had returned the mixed up and lost player of last season, as he slipped to 2-0 down thankfully the Rocket found his fight and came back to win 4-2. He then at 5 pm met Andy Hicks and saw him at 4-1, the rocket was back playing the same way he did in the 90's when he was the World Champion and World Number 1.  Ronnie finsihed off the late night which had seen game starting to over run by lunch time and had a knock on effect for every match following. Ronnie saw off Bjorn Haneever 4-0 to clami his place in Wednesdays Semi finals where he will meet Martin Gould, who made a impressive come back from 3-0 against Nigel Bond to win 4-3.
 "I don't know how I won to be fair, Nigel should have won 4-0 he deserved to, he lost the game from two blacks off there spot." Commented Martin Gould, his match ended at 12.30 am  he must be happy that he has a day off to settle into the idea of facing Ronnie at 10am.

One player who has captured a lot of attention through the first part of the PTC has to be David Gilbert, who has gone through Q School to join the professional tour, he has put the end to many long time professional players and showen that he more that deserves his place in the professional side of the game.
 David Gilbert put an end to Judd Trump's attempt at winning the PTC beating him 4-1, then seeing off Jamie Cope 4-2 and finally with an extremely late finish he put at end to Jimmy White 4-1.  Personally I think David Gilbert looks as though he is a force to be reckoned with and certainly a player to watch, this season.

Shock results have to be that the top sixteen players, have been booted out int he first rounds Shaun Murphy and John Higgins being the biggest names to suffer an early eviction from the PTC.

The shining star of the event had to be Ronnie O'Sullivan, who took the first event, putting behind him a tough season and being his first win in 6 months. We welcome back the Rocket and look forward to the up and coming events.

Dominic bids good night Vienna

(Taken from World Snooker)

Dominic Dale is moving back to the UK after four years in Vienna in order to cope with his busy snooker schedule.

The former Grand Prix and Roewe Shanghai Masters champion will leave the Austrian capital this weekend and live close to his practice base, the South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester.

Welshman Dale, age 39, had a fine season in 2009/10, winning a PTC event and climbing to No 31 in the world rankings, and hopes to continue that momentum in 2010/11.

"When I had a good look at the tournament calendar last month, I worked out that travelling to and fro from Vienna for the whole season was going to cost me around £15,000," said Dale. "Last season I was paying for flights and then staying in hotels in Gloucester where I practise and hotels in Sheffield for the PTC events and qualifiers.

"To be based anywhere other than the UK is prohibitively expensive because there are so many tournaments now. As the Americans say, it was a 'no-brainer' for me to move back to the UK.

"I will be sad to leave Vienna because I have a lot of friends there. I want to say thanks to the Koo 15 Reds snooker club for the support and friendship I had there. I love the culture in Vienna, the beautiful buildings, the opera house and the cosmopolitan nature of the city. I will miss it but I can still go back on holiday. I'm not a sentimental person so I'm not worried about the move.

"I had a good mindset last season and practising on my own in Vienna wasn't a problem, especially as I would come to the UK a few days before each event and play against other professionals. But I did get a bit jaded here and there from the travelling.

"I have to take an objective view of things because I am a professional sportsman and I want to do well. As a self-employed sportsman you have to consider yourself a business, and from a financial perspective it doesn't make sense any more to live outside the UK.

"The Academy in Gloucester is a great place to practise. The tables there are Championship standard and it's not often in my career that I've had the chance to play on tables like that every day. I still feel that I have another decade as a snooker player and this will help me get the best out of myself. It's up to me to make the best of this opportunity."

Dale is looking forward to the new season with enthusiasm and is particularly keen to qualify for the Australian Goldfields Open in July, which will be the first ranking event ever staged in Australia.

"It's important for snooker to be in Australia, particularly with Neil Robertson as their lynchpin at the moment," said Dale. "We have to look at the future of the game and realise that if it grows there then there could be more events with more prize money.

"If I qualify I won't mind flying economy, I've done it a few times before. You can get a flight for around £1,200 so the players who qualify will still make money, have a great time and get some ranking points. Some of the players sometimes expect too much or get a bit greedy and don't realise the importance of going to play in events like this."

As for his overall targets for the season, Dale added: "I just want to continue to improve. I believe that I'm good enough to beat anyone. I'm fit and dedicated and I feel like a 25-year-old. In terms of the rankings, obviously I want to stay in the top 32 and maybe have a go at the top 16, although the top 20 is more realistic."