How can Snooker globalise?
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by user Alex Holowczak
The other night I posted an article on The Current State of US Snooker.
I wondered what it would take for a US player to get into the professional ranks of the game.
There are several tiers.
The first hurdle, is the open entry US National Championship. You need to get into the Final of that to win a place in the IBSF World Amateur Championship.
That pits 128 of the best players in amateur snooker in the world together. 2 from USA is minimal, traditionally the home nations in the British Isles get the majority of the places. Even European countries like France and Belgium have more representation at the Championship than the USA, which reflects its appeal in those nations relative to the United States. To qualify for pro snooker, you need to be victorious in that competition if you come from the United States.
That's because usually, there are 96 players on the pro Tour. Of which the bottom 24 are not guaranteed their place the following season. Usually, there is a set way to win your place on the tour. The top 8 from the PIOS Tour, a series of events held in England advance, along with the World Amateur Champion. Usually, there are places given out to North America, Asia and Oceania, but usually these wildcards are only 8 players in total. Then come the British wildcards. If there aren't enough holes filled to make 96, usually the rankings are looked at, and the highest non-exempt players make it back onto the Tour.
So if you're American, there are three ways to make it:
- Win the North American Tour Playoffs
- Win the US National Snooker Championship -> Win the IBSF World Championship
- Enter the PIOS Tour -> Finish in the top 8 on the standings
The Amateur World Championship provides a very limited progression method. But taking part in the PIOS Tour is very difficult.
The tour lasts for much of the year, and you need to live as near to Prestatyn in Wales as you can. This is where every event is held. You then need to get a house, and possibly get a job to fund the entry fees or find sponsorship. You'll struggle to get a sponsor if you're not an established name. And if you have a job, you reduce potential practice time. So your game will suffer as a result. Then you'll have to say goodbye to your family for the year, and live in a different country altogether. That's quite a big step to take, especially for a young player.
The easiest way by far is the North American Tour playoffs, but even then you need to get lucky. You'd need to win against Canadian players, who are no mugs, but are traditionally the powerhouses of the North American game. Canada has had a World Champion.
So you'd need to be super confident, super mad, or super at snooker to make your way in the game. If you play to a standard which keeps you around the top 64, you'll make enough money to live happily, but would it be worth the sacrifice of living in a foreign country? In the 1980s, Canadians were prominant on the snooker scene before fading inexplicably. The newer generation saw no benefit in playing in a tour based mainly in the British Isles.
The WPBSA wants to get the game global though. It has tried to tap into the Chinese market lately. China has seen a snooker boom, and is the most represented "overseas" nation on the tours behind Ireland. There will be two ranking events in China in 2007/08, each offering Wildcards into the event, but with no prize money or ranking points. If you try to qualify, then you have to go to Prestatyn still.
But take a middle of the road American. At 18, he discovers his talent. He enters the US Championship, but takes a couple of years to win it. He then struggles to get into the IBSF World Championship, and takes another year or two to secure a win in that. He's 21 by the time he makes the tour. By which time, he may have graduated from college, already in debt anyway. In that state, who would be able to risk coming to Europe to play snooker professionally?
Snooker isn't helping itself in globalisation. It is doing it very badly. I have a possible solution.
The Main Tour is important, so I'd keep that as it is, apart from the fact that I'd put the qualifiers for each foreign event in the country the event is held in.
The amateur game would see the biggest changes. There would be three tours, one for Americas, one for Oceania, Asia and Africa, and one for Europe. The top 8 in Europe (the PIOS can be spread out a bit), the top 12 from Asia and the top 4 from North America would advance to a series of playoffs - these numbers can change if there is a change in taste. Those 24 players would play the 24 that get relegated from the Main Tour to qualify for the Tour. If they win, they make it. If not, they go back into the Amateur game the year after. That would stop poor players making it through. The IBSF World Champion can recieve a bye, and the person ranked 73rd can keep his place on the Tour. This ought to help more people get through from all over the World.
The Main tour would have to be restructured slightly. At the moment, there are 8 ranking events, half of which are outside the UK, a quarter of which are outside Europe. There are two in China, which is fine too, but their needs to be a ranking event in other places too, such as Thailand in Asia and maybe the sub-continent. Also, if there was an event in Australia and maybe South Africa and Canada, it would not only add events to a spaced out calendar, but more importantly, it would assist the non-Brits to get a foothold in the game.
Under the current system, it is hard to see the sport gaining global appeal. It doesn't hold the glamour of tennis - it doesn't have the money - so the game will remain British based for now it seems.
