Travis Perkins Sponsor the UK Championship
September 2003

Great news that the UK Championship has a new sponsor. Travis Perkins, one of the UKs leading Builders Merchants, has signed a three year contract.

The Championship will be played at the Barbican Centre in York. The dates for this year's event has been scheduled for November 18-30th, which is where it used to be in the calendar. For the last few years, it was moved to December which meant it coincided with the Pantomime season. Fortunately that won't happen this time and I'll be able to do the commentary. Don't forget to log on for my views on this event nearer the time!

If that was good news, then it was the opposite for ladies snooker and men's billiards. The association has decided to withdraw their subsidies of both these events.

In the case of men's billiards, I think this decision is long overdue. Lots of money has been put in over the years and many efforts to promote the game. Unfortunately, it is not a spectator sport and when they changed the rules to try to make it more popular, they ruined the game. I think billiards will always be played in clubs and the skill required to play it well makes it a very difficult game to master. But the bottom line is, the top players make it look so easy, it's not that entertaining to watch.

As regards Ladies Snooker, this is slightly different. The name of the Association was changed a few years ago to World Snooker. If it wants to be seen in that light, then I don't see how it can drop the Ladies Game. A lot of ladies play and watch the game and although it may not attract the same crowds as men's snooker, I feel the cost of keeping it going was well worthwhile.

In my time on the Board, decisions were made with maybe not enough thought. Maybe this is an example here - please let us know what you think.

click to send your feedback