Snooker has been dying a slow death for quite a while now. Is this the answer? " It’s a ’snooker revolution’ according to the team behind Power Snooker, ITV’s new Twenty20-style reboot of the green baize game for younger viewers. Launched this morning, it didn’t take the ever-entertaining Ronnie O’Sullivan long to put the boot into the hushed reverence of the World Snooker Championhip at the Crucible, Sheffield, where the Essex man has triumphed on three occasions. Responding to Beehive’s question about the potential impact of Power Snooker’s one-day tournament of quickfire, 30-minute frames, Ronnie said: ‘I like having a one-day event. A lot of players just want to pitch up and play. To be honest, I find the World Snooker Championships quite a bore. 17 days in Sheffield, it’s draining. I just want to enjoy myself playing. I don’t want to be told what I can and can’t do.’ All good stuff but a little uncomfortable for the man sitting next to Ronnie – Barry Hearn, the new boss of World Snooker and the driving force behind Power Snooker. The BBC World Championships are still one of his crown jewels. ‘I haven’t signed the BBC contract yet,’ complained Hearn, imagining the headlines. ‘The flagbearer of my world championships says its a bit of a bore. It’s not a bore, it’s just a different game.’ That’s why I love Ronnie, offered Barry, ‘because he’s so left-field.’ Audience interaction will be actively encouraged, instead of the ’shhing’ of the Crucible. The Power Snooker tournament will take place at the IndigO2 on October 30, and broadcast live by ITV4, making a return to snooker. Each frame last a maximum of 30 minutes and whoever has the most points wins, if the final black isn’t potted. There are fewer balls, a Power Ball, which when potted means every ball potted counts double for two minutes. Bow ties are out, the players will wear designer gear and be mic-ed up. Ronnie is particularly pleased that there will be a 20-point penalty for taking more than 20 seconds over a shot. He said: ‘The shot clock is a fantastic idea. There should be more of this here. We’re not stuck in the 70s anymore. I think the players are really up for it. Some people like the long endurance games. This is giving more excitement and keeping the players on their toes.’ Hearn said the relationship between ITV and snooker could be extended, although he accepts the BBC has given viewers many nights of high drama from the Crucible. After fighting a battle to win control of World Snooker, his job is to revitalise a sport by promising the players more money, find a young audience and deal with the betting allegations made against players like John Higgins to show people that snooker is clean. He also reckons Power Snooker can lift Britain out of recession gloom and, in a bizarre opening to the press conference, recommended the assembled media invest in a copy of his favourite film, The Lawnmower Man. With celebrities like Kasabian backed up to support Power Snooker it could be the popular TV spectacular that Hearn needs to reinvent the game. Cue the revolution." I would definitely watch this. It could become huge
The rules of the traditional game of snooker apply, subject to the following variations: Nine reds are racked in a diamond, with the point of the diamond next to the pink. The middle red is the PowerBall, once potted, this triggers a two minute PowerPlay during which every ball potted counts double – if a shot is missed during a PowerPlay, the clock stops and the player’s opponent inherits the remaining time. Each game lasts half an hour; the clock starts when the reds are broken, and stops as the final black of each frame is potted. A shot clock limits players to twenty seconds for each shot. If the twenty second shot clock is exceeded, there is a 20 point penalty and the player still has to take the shot. Points count, frames don’t. The most points scored after half an hour wins. When a player breaks, two or more reds must hit a cushion otherwise the player’s turn ends. The area behind the baulk line is the PowerZone – if the cue ball is struck from within the PowerZone, any colour potted counts for double and during a PowerPlay, quadruple. A century break in any frame is worth 50 bonus points. If this is repeated in the next frame, 100 bonus points. If this is repeated in the third frame, 200 bonus points. The “ball in hand” principle applies following a foul shot. The cue ball can be positioned anywhere in the PowerZone. The game will end after the half hour playing period and the player with the most points wins.
Wonder will many players give this a go?? There is alot of younger players on the circuit now, so if this proves to be succesful i could spell the end for the older players who prefer to drag games out..
I think most of them will. Snooker has been losing viewing figures + sponsorship money for a long time and fewer players are taking it up now. There used to be loads of places to go and play a few frames when I was younger... now theres only one or two. Something had to be done to revitalise the sport. Pot Black was fairly popular many moons ago... I reckon Power Snooker will be something similar.
Ronnie won the first Power Snooker tournament (unfortunately, one of the many sponsors was the s*n) I saw a few minutes of it and it looked good... female refs, noisy crowd, fast paced game. One downside seemed to be when a player was so far ahead on points he couldn't lose, but they had to continue playing till the 30mins was up. [YOUTUBE]AtwE5fbhHnI[/YOUTUBE]
I seen about 15 mins of it on Saturday night and I tought they were just making the rules up as they go along. I know that they are trying to make snooker more appealing to people but for me I would not be a great fan of this new idea. Give me traditional snooker anyday.
Watched the final there on youtube, Actually thinks it better now, not as good as standard but more exciting anyway. Wonder why they never asked Peter Ebdon to play?