New Snooker Format To Be Trialled At The World Championships

Nash · 04-09-2009, 10:41 AM

Posted on BBC Sport:

Quote:

A new shorter form of snooker is set to be trialled at the World Championship in Sheffield later this month.
The reduced version - provisionally titled 'Super6s' - will feature the same number of colours per frame as the regular format but only six reds.
It is hoped the new format will help snooker replicate the success of Twenty20 cricket.
It will be trialled with a contest between a legends team and a rising star side at the Crucible event.
"As an observer of snooker you cannot churn out the same diet year after year," said the chairman of World Snooker, Sir Rodney Walker. "Look at what Twenty20 has done for cricket.
"It has brought in a whole new audience so what we have in mind we think would be appealing to a younger audience.
"The working party who looked into this thought that a six-ball tournament with matches that take an average of six to seven minutes to play, with maybe the best of five, best of 10 frames," he added in the Guardian.
World Snooker has come in for some criticism of late for not doing more to keep the sport fresh or appealing. World number one Ronnie O'Sullivan branded snooker a "dying" sport and called for it's governing body to seek ways to revitalise it.
Two-time world champion John Higgins has been particularly critical of the inability of the WPBSA to promote snooker overseas.
In August last year, the sport's two biggest sponsors - World Championship backers 888.com and Saga Insurance who supported the Wembley Masters - terminated their contracts, costing the game £1.5m.
However, on Wednesday, World Snooker announced online bookmakers Betfred.com had signed a four-year deal to sponsor the World Championship.

Mark~ · 04-09-2009, 03:34 PM

That's not a bad idea, tbh. I love watching Snooker, but it does get a bit boring at times.

Nash · 04-09-2009, 03:38 PM

I'm not really happy about this. It devalues the sport in my opinion.

And if they are going to trial it why at the World Championships? The biggest tournament in the calender. At least trial it at a lesser tournament or create a seperate tournament with these new rules.

Cricket have Twenty20 but they've still kept One Day and Test Matches.

And quite frankly I enjoy watching the marathon matches in the World Championships.

Mark~ · 04-10-2009, 10:11 AM

Yeah, I agree it shouldn't be trialled at the World Championships. That's like testing something for the first time in a World Cup Final.

I still think it's a good idea, though, but hopefully it won't become the ONLY format in Snooker, because as you said, I like watching the epic marathon games too.

New Snooker Format To Be Trialled At The World Championships

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