Not sure how many snooker players were there today, but I have just finished a day at Riley's in Whitefield where the NW Individual Qualifying round took place in which I have not competed for over 20 years!
Local star player Craig Steadman was there among other notable talent such as Michael Wild, Kamran Ashraf, Simon Fitzsimmons and more local young talent. I managed to win 3 matches, 3-1, 3-0 and finally 3-2 to qualify for the final stages later in the year. I think I managed to bring my final opponent down to my level a little by keeping him pegged on the back cush quite a lot, which I needed to do as my positional play all day left a lot to be desired, however, given how little practice I get nowadays I was very pleased to knock in some good balls, a few small breaks here and there, best of the match was only 45 I think but it proved enough with me finally winning by potting the brown. Can't wait for the finals now, I will have my new Mike Wooldridge cue then, hope it brings out my best form....I'm gonna need a few miracles hahahah.
Craig Steadman was the other qualifier on the day, I just hope I don't draw him in the finals !

What a fantastic after noon of snooker at the snooker shootout in Blackpool on saturday where me and some of my pupils enjoyed some great action. First up was Tony Drago who won in 5 minutes!....brilliant, great performances from some great players and a rousing reception for Stephen Hendry. Local pro Ian McCulloch stepping in for the absent Neil Robertson took a little stick from the blackpool locals but held his nerve to run out a convincing winner, I just wish we could all be there for finals day on Sunday. I have included a few photos of me and a few people back stage, where I was lucky enough to find myself at one point. 
Lucky boy even managed to get my photo with the gorgeous Michaela Tabb! 

Trying to find good Pro-Am competition is like finding a needle in a haystack, however Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds held a very good one over several qualifying weekends in July, which I attended on 2 occasions. On both occasions I lost in the first round, firstly 4-3 to Jamie McArdle from Manchester, I was winning 3-1 but didn't have the killer instinct to get the job done and Jamie went on to qualify for the finals weekend. Secondly I lost 4-2 to Kamran Ashraf, who I am familiar with from the Preston League, again I played OK, but too many missed opportunities means you don't progress too far, however I enjoyed the matches and look forward to more of them.

Ok so me and Jamie went to bolton snooker's thursday night knockout last night, with a first round defeat still smarting from last week I got drawn in the pre-lims again, with a small adjustment to my handicap of 2 bringing me down to -13.  I had to play Dwayne again for the 3rd time on the trot, giving him more start than before??...25 this time, anyway after a dour frame I managed to clear the last 3 balls to win by 4 and into the 1st round proper.
How many????......63 start I had to give in round 1 against a young lad called tom, to be fair he has not been playing long & he can pot balls but not off the back cush! this frame was easier than I thought and I was in front with 5 reds left on, so into the 2nd round which was in fact the Q/F. 
In the Q/F I had to give 30 start to a player from the 1st Div of the bolton league who on reflection should have been off around the same as me, maybe 5 or 10 start but 30 proved too many. It's really difficult to give a good player that start when they can play good safety off the back cush, seems a little harsh buy hey I did have 2 good chances to put a good break together only to fail miserably with the pace of the table, like I had done all night to be honest, so I can't complain.
Jamie fared little better than me going out in the Q/F to Phil, giving him 22 start, which to be fair is rubbish, they should have been off levels, the h'cap for phil is all wrong, that's all I'm saying.
Maybe next time??

Amateur players will have the chance to earn a place on the World Snooker Tour via this season’s Players Tour Championship.

At the end of the 2011/12 season, the top eight on the final PTC Order of Merit, who have not already qualified by finishing in the top 64 of the world rankings, will be handed a place on the 2012/13 Tour.

This replaces the criteria used for the 2011/12 season, where only Tour players among those eight players on the Order of Merit were eligible.

World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn said: “This is another step towards opening the game up, giving everybody a chance to qualify and making sure we have the best players on the professional Tour.

“Last season there were some fantastic performances in the PTC events from amateurs such as Daniel Wells and Michael Wasley, and this time we are rewarding amateurs and giving them every encouragement to enter the PTC events.

“We are going into new territories with the PTC series this season and hoping to broadcast some of the European ones on Eurosport. The players are realising now that these events are not to be missed and I hope to see record numbers.”
The first four events in the series are now open for entry – all the details can be found in the entry pack which can be downloaded at worldsnooker.com. DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO BE PART OF THE PTC SERIES. THE CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES IS JUNE 7TH.

There will be 12 events in the PTC series, six in the UK and six in Europe. Players will be listed in the Order of Merit according to how much money they have won, with the top 24 to go through to the Grand Finals.

maximum white...genius!