Following his recent two-year suspension from the main tour, Joe Jogia has today given an interview to the Mirror, where he has claimed that he has both witnessed and been approached in respect of match-fixing, citing the 2011 PT4 event in Germany as once instance.
You can read the quotes in full here.
You can also read analysis at Snooker Scene Blog and Snookerbacker.com, on a story that no doubt has more mileage in it yet…
On 25th July 2012 at a WPBSA Disciplinary Hearing, Joe Jogia was found to be in breach of the Members Betting Rules in relation to his match with Matthew Selt at the Sky Snooker Shoot Out in Blackpool in January 2012. The circumstances were that a large number of bets were placed in the Leicester area by two persons known to Joe Jogia on Selt to win the match.
While the Olympics may currently be taking centre stage for many people around the world, there have nevertheless been a couple brief snooker stories today, as tweeted by @ShamoonHafez of the BBC.
The first concerns today’s entry deadline in respect of the UK Championship, dubbed by some as ‘d-day’ for Ronnie O’Sullivan, who as of yet remains ineligible to compete in World Snooker events due to his ongoing contract dispute with the governing body. With questions being asked as to whether either Ronnie or Barry would back down ahead of the deadline, the latest as tweeted by Shamoon would appear to be as follows:
“Looks like more time is needed to negotiate Ronnie O’Sullivan’s contract. Meant to sign today, but deadline for UK is now tomorrow. #snooker”
Watch this space.
In other news, despite Joe Jogia’s original statement to the effect that he would not be appealing his recent two-year ban, it now looks as though he has made a u-turn, Shamoon tweeting as follows:
“Joe Jogia says with the help of the Snooker Players Association, his appeal against 2-year ban will be heard next Tuesday (14 August).”
Will he succeed? With the hearing little over a week away, at least Joe will not have long to wait in order to find out…
Rumours had been rife on Twitter during the day, but it has now been confirmed by World Snooker that following his hearing today before the WPBSA Disciplinary Committee, Joe Jogia has been banned from competing in the game of snooker and billiards until following the 2014 World Championship, effectively ruling him out for the next two seasons…
Big news tonight as World Snooker have issued a statement to the effect that Joe Jogia has been suspended from competing on the professional circuit, pending a formal hearing on the 25th July 2012 in relation to his scheduled match against Matt Selt at the Sky Shoot Out earlier in the year. Click below to read the statement…
Following the conclusion of the German Masters yesterday, there is just one event remaining for the players to earn precious ranking points that in some cases could make the difference between having to win one, two, three or four matches to qualify for the Crucible – or none at all.
Click below for my look at who has to do what ahead of the Welsh Open qualifiers which start this Wednesday…
A short post this evening to round-up a few matters arising from the last couple of days, starting with Masters champion Neil Robertson who has today rounded off a memorable period by taking victory in Group Three of the 2012 Championship League, defeating Mark Selby 3-2 in the group final. He now joins Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump in what is shaping up to be a tasty looking winners group already.
Elsewhere, interesting news from Snooker Scene Blog where it has been confirmed that next season there will be no fewer than five full ranking events to be held in China, with the upgraded Wuxi Classic and a further event in October joining the three staged this season.
Interestingly it is reported that the new October event will carry a top prize of £125,000, a figure topped only by the World Championship and Masters tournaments. Given the mooted move to a money-based ranking list at some point in the future, compared to the sums currently being offered by some of the other ranking tournaments on the calendar, the importance of the Chinese events is plain to see.
Finally, the WPBSA have also released a statement today concerning unusual betting patterns ahead of the match between Matt Selt and Joe Jogia at this weekend’s Shootout tournament. Click here to read the statement in full.
The final part of my trio of ‘best of’ articles sees me take a look at the most improved players of 2011, an award won by Martin Gould in 2010 who is again one of the leading candidates this time around…