Playing Conditions – A Cause For Concern?

YorkarenaA year ago at the UK Championship, the talk throughout the first week was dominated by that of the suitability of the venue given the shift to a flat 128 format and in 2014, it has been a similar story, with both the sports hall and main arena coming under fire at various stages of the tournament.

Just as we thought that the subject had been exhausted however, Ronnie O’Sullivan injected fresh life into the discussion following his victory against Peter Lines last night, criticising not only the four-table arena set-up, but perhaps more significantly, the table that he had played his match on.

While last year the debate very much centred on the use of the sports hall, this time the debate seems to be far more wide-ranging, with conditions generally coming under fire and I therefore wanted to take a look at a few of the key talking points, with quotes from various players during their press conferences this week so far…

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Closing In On The Cut: December 2014

RobertsonDing

With the advent of flat draws in snooker, not all of the mid-season seedings revisions that we see in the sport are as important as they once were, but as we head into this week’s UK Championship at the Barbican Centre in York, there are a number of key placings to be determined ahead of the December revision.

In particular, we have a three-way fight for the world number one ranking, while there remain places available at the Masters in January. Click below for a round-up of the various permutations following the ET4 event and links to all of the important lists…

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UK Championship 2014: Tournament Preview

Barbican

Following a weekend in Germany for the Ruhr Open, the snooker circus heads to York on Tuesday for the start of the second most prestigious ranking event on the calendar, the UK Championship in York.

Click below for my thoughts on the tournament in general, as well as the shape of the draw and confirmation of which opening round matches will be streamed prior to the start of the televised stages at the weekend…

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