Stephen Lee banned for 12 years

Stephen Lee has been found guilty of match fixing and will face a 12 year ban and £40,000 worth of fines. 

The former World number five was found guilty of fixing results in a number of matches across four tournaments during the 2008 and 09 seasons. 

Matches Stephen Lee Fixed

2008 Malta Cup: Conspired to lose to Ken Doherty and Marco Fu, as well as losing to Neil Robertson by a pre-determined score, with the match ending 5-1 to Robertson. 

2008 UK Championship: Agreed to lose the first frame in matches against Stephen Hendry and Mark King. 

2009 China Open: To lose to Mark Selby by a set score, Selby winning 5-1. 

2009 World Championship: That Ryan Day would win by a pre-arranged score, Day winning 10-4. 

A winner of Five ranking events and a mainstay at the top of the game for the last 15 years this has obviously put Snooker in a bad light again. The case, being described as "the worst case of snooker corruption we've seen" has been extremely thorough with Lee being suspended for almost a year while it was being built. 

Lee was an amazing talent who was renowned for his silky smooth cue action, regarded as one of the games underachievers given his natural ability. After 12 years he could make a comeback but at the age of 50 it wouldn’t likely end well and he would be long past his best playing years. 

Snooker will move on from this and the season has effectively just got properly going, from now on there is tournaments happening weekly and it’s a very exciting time for the game.

Ronnie O’Sullivan wins Paul Hunter Classic

It was a return to the winners circle for World Champion O’Sullivan last night as he was at his imperious best in defeating Gerard Greene 4-0.

After an early exit to Peter Lines at his last PTC event there were no such shocks as he defeated Mark Selby, Anthony McGill and Stuart Bingham on the final day.

An engrossed German audience were captivated by all four days play but it was O’Sullivan who really caught their imagination and they responded with an extended standing ovation after the final.

Famously it was against O’Sullivan that Paul Hunter completed the third of his thrilling Masters Final comebacks, from 7-2 down to win 10-9 in 2004. This great European event proudly carries the much missed Paul’s name.

It was a poor event for many of the top stars with Neil Robertson, John Higgins, Stephen Maguire and Judd Trump all falling in the early stages. Not ideal preparation for the Shanghai Masters which starts on the 16^th of September.

Interview with Chris Small

I’m very happy to announce that this week I got to interview former LG Cup Champion Chris Small for BeyondtheBaize. 

When did you start playing snooker?

 

When I was eight I got a half size table for my Christmas and from that moment I was hooked.

Who were your snooker heroes growing up?

 

My Snooker heroes were Alex Higgins and Jimmy White.

You are the youngest person to win on your Crucible debut, but you struggled at the Crucible throughout your career, what do you put this down to?

I think I put too much pressure on myself at the Crucible. I also didn’t have the best preparation for three of my visits. I had an injection in my head which gave me double vision and the other times were to do with my back. One year it was painful during my match and the other I had no practice leading up to the event. 

Can you explain what the main problem was with your back and why you were forced to retire from professional snooker in 2005?

I have a disease of the spine which causes inflammation. It’s very painful and allows no flexibility, which meant I could not reach shots properly and after a session of snooker I felt like I had run a marathon.

In 2002 you hit the big time with your outstanding victory in the LG Cup, demolishing John Higgins & Ronnie O’Sullivan en route to the final. Is this the highlight of your career and what clicked that week?

This was definitely the highlight of my career. I just totally believed in myself and knew I was winning the event before the John Higgins match. I had total self belief and thought I was the best in the world at this moment and it showed in my performance. More importantly I had a steroid injection just before the event started and had no pain at all so this must have been a big factor.

It must have been immensely frustrating following your breakthrough ranking title for your condition to worsen and for you to slip down the rankings. What do you believe you could have achieved in the following seasons?

Well I made the semi of next event and probably should have won that. So it would have been probably more of the same. I always looked at myself as a top eight player who could win ranking titles but my back held me back without doubt. I got to 12 in the world and held a ranking title with a bad back, so I will let people decide themselves what I could have achieved if I was healthy like every other player. All I wanted was to have the same chance as everyone else but that was never going to happen.

Who was your toughest opponent?

I would have to say Mark Williams. He was the only top player I never defeated, but he was a class player.

Do you still keep in touch with any of the players & have a quick best of nine?

No I’m not in touch with any of the players now which is a shame and my back isn’t up to a best of nine anymore.

What do you think of the new revolution in snooker and the full schedule the players have now?

I think it’s brilliant. You can pick and choose your schedule and decide how busy you want to be. I would have loved it. Travelling the world most weeks and earning good money.

Can I get a few predictions from yourself for the readers, who do you think will win the big three titles this season 

UK= Ronnie O’Sullivan

Masters= Neil Robertson

World’s= Ronnie O’Sullivan

You recently returned to coaching in and around Edinburgh. This must be the next best thing to playing, being able to help the next generation?

Absolutely, it is the next best thing!

I love helping people with their game and seeing them delighted when they achieve things they thought weren’t possible.

I’ve been playing snooker once a week for a long time, with a high break of about 25. Have you any little tips that I and the readers could employ to be more consistent?

 If you are a beginner I would say work on the technique first; i.e. cue action & stance while staying still when delivering the cue in a straight line. Then try and get better at potting balls. I always tell people to take their time when aiming in the standing up position as this is where you virtually pot the ball. Then you can move onto the positional side and cue ball control. Learn the basics first. 

If anyone reading this blog is interested in a finding out more about your coaching sessions where should they look?

www.chrissmallsnookercoaching.co.uk

Finally, what is the state of Scottish Snooker at the moment; do we have many top players coming through and any potential World Champions?

Well most of the top amateurs have just turned pro but there is a good young lad called Dylan Craig who has just won the European U18s. I have just started working with him and think he can go far if he puts in the hard work

Fingers cross for him and the other lads!

Australian Fair

On Monday we return to Bendigo, a small town North of Melbourne for the Australian Open. There is a good line up this year with Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Ding Junhui and defending champion Barry Hawkins all competing.

In the final year of its contract the viewing figures will be heavily scrutinised over the next week to see if this it’s worth it’s place on the tour. I’m hopeful that the Australian Open will continue but the event could maybe benefit from being held in a more major location. A quick check of the Wikipedia page for Bendigo shows that snooker gets a mention, however the defending champion is still listed as Stuart Bingham and not updated to Barry Hawkins.

 Australians are very proud of their sport stars and their phenomenal history of hosting top quality sporting events. Neil Robertson is another they can add to their list and hopefully over time they will discover his immense talents in this lesser known sport.

Play begins are 10:00 on Monday morning and will be shown on Bet365 website and others online sources.

At this point I would like to wish Ali Carter well in his recovery from Testicular Cancer.

Interview with Ross Muir

Ross Muir successfully negotiated his way through Q School last weekend to earn his two year professional tour card. Ross, from Musselburgh in Scotland, will be competing with the world’s best players in the coming weeks and months and Beyond the Baize was lucky enough to get a few minutes of his time.

Firstly congratulations Ross! How do you feel after the weekend’s success?

To now be competing on tour against some of my idols is a dream come true for me. I feel like I have qualified for the tour via the toughest possible route so I am really looking forward to seeing how I get on.

You practise with fellow Scottish Professional Marcus Campbell, has this helped your development?

My game has progressed so much over the last few months and I can’t thank my practice partner Marcus Campbell enough for the support and help he has given me. I have learned so much from him and I can’t wait to get started with my new calendar.

When will your first tournament be?

The Wuxi Classic will be my 1st pro tournament next Monday, so I have a few days off to recharge and I’ll get back on the practice table and work my socks off.

Moving away from the weekend’s success, what age where you when you started and how did you get into the game?

I started aged 10 in my local club in Musselburgh. At the time I was a goalkeeper for Salvesen boys club and I was scouted by Celtic football club. I loved playing pool and one day my dad said “why don’t you give snooker a go?” and I just fell in love with the game. I had a recurring wrist injury so had to give up football and took up snooker as it was the other game I loved.

Did you watch much snooker growing up and were you inspired by anyone?

Growing up I always enjoyed watching the World Championships on the TV and I was inspired by the likes of Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Neil Robertson

What age were you when you made your first century?

It was a week after my 12^th Birthday in a club in Broxburn.

What would you say is the biggest strength in your game?

I have a really strong all round game and enjoy both break building and tactical battles.

Do you have any goals for your debut season?

I am not setting myself any targets for my 1st season on tour but I will give every event my all and I know if I find my game I will do well.

Is there a venue you would love to reach this season?

Yes I would love to play at the Crucible again, last time I played there I won the junior pot black.

This season the tour introduces the new flat 128 format draw for most events, do you think this will help young players like yourself?

Yes I believe this is a great change and will benefit up and coming players.

I want to wish Ross all the best in his upcoming years on the professional circuit and thank him for his time. 

Visiting the Crucible

Visiting the Crucible

View from the Top of the Crucible

I had been a snooker fan for as long as I could remember, well over 15 years but it took me until last year to finally visit the Crucible. Long had I waited, too long some might say and they would be right, but why?

For millions it’s an annual tradition to watch the World Championships on the BBC and since 1977 it has been at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Like Wimbledon and the Masters at Augusta it’s special because it’s the same unforgettable venue. Year after year new memories are created in the same small space. Fans remember Cliff pausing near the end of his memorable 1983 147 break to wipe his brow. On the same side of the arena O’Sullivan threw his chalk into the audience after his 5 minute 20 second maximum in 1997. In more recent years on the other side we've seen Mark Williams in 2005 and Ali Carter in 2008 make maximum breaks.

Crucible Front at night

After an amazing trip last year I had to come back and this year I did. I had tickets for both tables over two days of the quarter finals. I had booked the day they went on sale in July 2012, which was a ridiculous amount of time before the event. However this had allowed me to get two seats in row five on both sides, bang in line with the middle pockets.

Last year we drove from Edinburgh and this year we tried the train, coming from Edinburgh it’s an enjoyable train journey lasting just under four hours. The advantage we found was we were less fatigued and the train station is ideally located within a five minute walk of Tudor Square & the Crucible.

Winter Gardens and Cue Zone (Picture from 2012 WC)

BBC Studio in Winter Garden

Tudor Square (Picture from 2012 WC)

Tudor Square has been renovated a lot in recent years and looks the part these days with the Crucible at one end and the Winter Gardens at the other. The city centre is very nice and is home to several nice reasonably priced hotels, restaurants, bars and shops. The Winter Gardens is home to the Cue Zone. Where the BBC studio and pundits live during the day, you can look around and take pictures. It’s a nice building and good shelter if the weather turns, with a cafe at the far end.

Crucible Foyer

The View from the Front Row

Entering the Crucible for the first time is an exciting experience; the walls are wrapped in images of past champions and historic moments. The foyer is minimal, a few stalls selling programmes and a small bar area but there is a buzz before a session.

The first thing that hits you as you enter the arena and look down is how small it appears. Now I know everyone says this but it really is noticeable and you can’t imagine there are 900+ seats. The steep tiered seating means every seat has an excellent view.

The seats are comfortable and with ample leg room, although if it’s a long session you may want to stand up in between frames. I bought myself a headset to listen to commentary during the session, which is a little bit of struggle to get going at first and for the first few minutes you are scared you have it too loud, but it does improve the experience. A programme and a headset set me back £11 and I think a bottle of water was £1.75 so it wasn't too expensive.

Quick tip: Keep your headset if you plan to return as it’ll still work next year.

After Rob Walker warms up the crowd and the players come out the divide goes down an eerie silence descends on the arena. You then really realise how close to the action you are, people in the front row can literally reach out and touch the players. It’s this intimacy that really allows everyone to enjoy the enormous skill this great game of snooker requires and the little touches of genius the top players demonstrate in each frame.

Player Entrances from my seat. 

I would highly recommend making the trip to Sheffield for anyone who enjoys watching snooker, it really is a very enjoyable experience and the city has a great atmosphere during the Championships. 

Highlights of the Crucible trip: Willie Thorne eating breakfast alone in the hotel dining room while Parrott - who wore out the floor walking between his seat and the pastry table - and Hazel Irvine sat a few feet away. Who would have guessed that Thorne liked a full English breakfast? Oh and Ronnie wasn't bad either. 

A Few pictures from my trip.

Barry Hawkins v Ding Junhui 3rd Session

Hawkins is Victorious!

Michael White

BBC Studio