Snooker: Ronnie Punished for UK Walkout

Ronnie O'Sullivan has been punished for walking out of last seasons UK Championship in York.

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association's disciplinary committee ruled he had breached rules after in his match against Hendry.

Has has been fined in excess of £20,000!!! The fine comprises of £4,050 in forfeited winnings, £5,000 towards the hearing's costs and an £11,750 fine. Ronnie was also docked 900 ranking points.

Ronnie attended the hearing and his management company, 110sport, issued a statement that said they were disappointed with the decision and would not rule out an appeal. They also said, "We regret the outcome of the tribunal given that certain declarations of a sensitive and personal nature were made by the player and by myself on his behalf. We would have expected the Association to support their member."

I think the punishment is very firm and bordering on fair. It's good to finally see the governing body flexing their muscles and not shying away from punishing one of their star assets for an inexcusable action.

I only hope that if Ronnie appeals, the governing body will not crumble under pressure. This should send out a clear message to other professionals that they have a duty to the paying public and cannot behave in the way Ronnie did. I think 95% of the professionals already know their responsibilites, Ronnie is an exception. But let's not forget that Ding Junhui almost did the same thing in the Masters and I'm certain that if Ronnie's walkout would not have happened, we wouldn't have seen Ding do almost the same thing a few months later.

What are your feelings on Ronnie's punishment?? Please comment below....

Snooker: Prize Money Finally Climbing

I was reading Billiards Boutique today as Pete Williams always has something good to say. He's seen that:

"...prize money will increase by £250,000 this season (assume he means 2008) with over £1 million available at the 888.com World Snooker Championships, including £250,000 to the eventual winner.

The additional prize money will see an increase in the payouts to the winner, runner-up and semi-finalists of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix, the Maplin UK Championship and the SAGA Insurance Masters."

This year was the first time we've seen an increase in the winner's cheque for the World Championships since 2003 when it was at its highest of £270,000. It certainly goes to show how much of a barren spell snooker has had to endure since the banning of tobacco sponsorship.

Going back to 1983 when Cliff Thorburn won the World Championships and in the years running up to 2003, the winner's cheque increased approximately 10 to 15 thousand pounds per year. It's no wonder every kid in a snooker club wanted to be a professional snooker player. I guess you could say that with growth like that, - even though growth was clearly declining - ...something had to give. And it did! People were starting to complain when Jimmy was the only one allowed to smoke in the snooker final. Not only were people complaining at the Crucible, there was a national non-smoking movement gaining pace, and people were complaining all over the country.

2006 was the worst year in recent times for a professional snooker player when the World Championship prize money (or at least the winners cheque) dropped 20% from £250,000 to £200,000 from the previous year. This was, of course, when Embassy were no longer allowed to advertise on the telly and World Snooker were ill prepared in finding a new sponsor. That's one hell of a pay cut! That meant that the winners cheque was the same amount in 2006 than it was 10 years earlier in 1996!! Coincidentally, in those two years, Peter Ebdon was runner-up, sods law, he missed the biggest runner-up cheque by a year. Of course this was a time when professional snooker players were moaning like crazy at the World Snooker Association as they thought - and in some cases rightly - their careers were falling apart around their ears!

If Billiards Boutique is correct, 2008 sees a massive jump in the winners cheque, a £30,000 increase! And last year we saw a £20,000 increase, that's an increase of 10% in 2007 and 13.6% for 2008. The last time we saw a similar kind of increase was way back in 1990 when Hendry beat White in their first final 18-12. That year Hendry took home £120,000, an increase of 14.3%

The biggest increases we've seen in the modern game are in 1973 where we saw the sponsor at the time, Park Drive, increase the winners cheque by a whopping 375%, from £400 to £1,500!! Ray Reardon, the winner that year must have been delighted! Conversly, Alex Higgins, who won the championship the previous year and only a measly 400 quid must have been a bit miffed! And he only won £25,000 in 1982! There might be your reason as to why he's been so bitter and twisted over the years (I am an Alex fan by the way)! More recently in 1993, Embassy increased the winners cheque by 16.7% from £150,000 to £175,000.

Let's hope the prize money stays on the increase for a good few years to come, it should help to attract some real talent.

Oh and by the way, ....it's worth noting that past performance is no guide to future performance!!! :-)

Snooker: WSA Blames Global Warming!

Well, ...I've heard it all now. All the players are complaining about the table conditions, how the balls are "pinging" or speeding up of the cushions and also squaring up. Here's one that I never thought I would hear from the World Snooker Association, they're blaming Global Warming!

A WSA statement read, "The temperature inside the Crucible was above what we consider the optimum as a result of unusually warm weather,"

"We've brought the temperature back to optimum and re-clothed the tables."

According to the Met Office, April could be the warmest since records began. It is true that heat can speed up the table by drying the fine cloths quickly but it doesn't really explain the unpredictable cushions.

Isn't the Crucible air conditioned? Air conditioning is great, what you can do is set it to a particular temperature regardless of the temperature outside the venue. So whether the ice caps are melting, your elderly next door neighbour is freezing to death on his way home from the shops, or Miami is getting hit by a category 5 hurricane, a snooker player can feel quite comfortable in his waistcoat and bow tie. If the Crucible isn't air conditioned, then what are they doing there!?

Let's hope the snooker table conditions improve so we can see some great high quality snooker with no excuses from the players.