Snooker Champs Competing in World Nineball Tour's UK Open

JAM

JAM

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World Snooker Tour stars Jack Lisowski, Gary Wilson, and David Lilley will all take on the World Nineball Tour at the 2023 UK Open Pool Championship set to take place at the Copper Box Arena in London from May 30 to June 4.

Lisowski will also join the punditry team for the final two days live on Sky Sports, and he’s looking forward to the challenge ahead: “I am looking forward to it, I think it’s a cool challenge and really like the look of the World Nineball Tour. Judd (Trump) had a go last year and he did ok, hopefully, I can do better than him! Chances of winning – probably close to zero but I am looking forward to it. At this stage, I am not sure about my pool skills, I will have to learn as I go, hopefully, I’m a quick learner!”

Meanwhile, Gary Wilson will compete in the tournament for a second year in a row after getting a first taste of it last year where defeat to two-time world champion Albin Ouschan ended his run. Since then, the WST No. 15 is a ranking event champion having won the Scottish Open last December having beaten Ronnie O’Sullivan, and Kyren Wilson on the way to the final. Wilson will loosen up ahead of the UK Open with a trip to Glasgow for the WNT Ranking Scottish Open from 26-28 May. The Tyneside Terror will meet fellow Brit Joe Granville in the opening round: “I haven’t played much since then but perhaps I’ve had less time on the table than last time. I will go to Glasgow in the Scottish Open to get some action. It will be a bit of a warm-up for me. I will try and enjoy it. I’ve got some experience in understanding what the tables are like, and I think that should help and I will know what to expect. I enjoyed doing it around the snooker, I feel I could do some damage if I get it going. I like the prospect of doing something different and maybe I could earn some prize money on the World Nineball Rankings!”

2022 World Seniors champion Lilley meets Scott Hunter in the first round with a potential tie with either two-time World Cup of Pool winner Mario He or Adam Lewis in the offing if he can see past his opener.

Source: World Snooker Stars to Take On Nineball


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they can do some damage in early rounds for sure, but the time is gone where they could make a steve davis run to the semis. pool has become so much more specialized, with its breaking, jumping and kick safes.

of the three i'd give the tyneside terror the biggest chance of a decent run, he played last year and did well until he faced albin. and he's playing the scottish 9-ball starting today.
 
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skogstokig said:
they can do some damage in early rounds for sure, but the time is gone where they could make a steve davis run to the semis. pool has become so much more specialized, with its breaking, jumping and kick safes.

of the three i'd give the tyneside terror the biggest chance of a decent run, he played last year and did well until he faced albin. and he's playing the scottish 9-ball starting today.
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I am a huge fan of Gary's. He endured 6 years off the Snooker Tour and took jobs as a taxi driver, a barman, and a production line worker in a frozen foods factory before grasping his second chance. He said, "I dropped off the tour and I wasn't good enough to get back on. I was having all these uncertain times when I didn't know if I was going to be a pro again. "I was desperate to get back on the tour and just scrape a living." And he was the comeback kid defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan and a few others when he entered the snooker ring again. Winning the Scottish Open last year was his first title. I think he's currently ranked 13, subject to check.

It will be interesting to see how Gary fares against Ralf Souquet tomorrow at the Nineball Tour's Scottish Open.

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he's a tough cookie. a hard watch sometimes, but when his offence is working he has good pace and hits them ridiculously hard
 
Pretty excited for this. Wilson is a talented player who is capable of causing a few small surprises.
Lisowski is one of the most talented snooker players on the tour. Capable of potting them off the lights when on form, but has not quite lived up to the huge hype as of yet.
Jack survived cancer at a young age and certainly plays like he is just happy to be playing. :)
 
JAM said:
World Snooker Tour stars Jack Lisowski, Gary Wilson, and David Lilley will all take on the World Nineball Tour at the 2023 UK Open Pool Championship set to take place at the Copper Box Arena in London from May 30 to June 4.

Lisowski will also join the punditry team for the final two days live on Sky Sports, and he’s looking forward to the challenge ahead: “I am looking forward to it, I think it’s a cool challenge and really like the look of the World Nineball Tour. Judd (Trump) had a go last year and he did ok, hopefully, I can do better than him! Chances of winning – probably close to zero but I am looking forward to it. At this stage, I am not sure about my pool skills, I will have to learn as I go, hopefully, I’m a quick learner!”

Meanwhile, Gary Wilson will compete in the tournament for a second year in a row after getting a first taste of it last year where defeat to two-time world champion Albin Ouschan ended his run. Since then, the WST No. 15 is a ranking event champion having won the Scottish Open last December having beaten Ronnie O’Sullivan, and Kyren Wilson on the way to the final. Wilson will loosen up ahead of the UK Open with a trip to Glasgow for the WNT Ranking Scottish Open from 26-28 May. The Tyneside Terror will meet fellow Brit Joe Granville in the opening round: “I haven’t played much since then but perhaps I’ve had less time on the table than last time. I will go to Glasgow in the Scottish Open to get some action. It will be a bit of a warm-up for me. I will try and enjoy it. I’ve got some experience in understanding what the tables are like, and I think that should help and I will know what to expect. I enjoyed doing it around the snooker, I feel I could do some damage if I get it going. I like the prospect of doing something different and maybe I could earn some prize money on the World Nineball Rankings!”

2022 World Seniors champion Lilley meets Scott Hunter in the first round with a potential tie with either two-time World Cup of Pool winner Mario He or Adam Lewis in the offing if he can see past his opener.

Source: World Snooker Stars to Take On Nineball


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Fun times for an official railbird! I don't believe that snooker players will have enough table time to adapt to pool but one of those things I wouldn't mind being wrong about. One thing for sure, if a snooker player gets going we will see some fantastic safeties and escapes.

It seems to me that the snooker players are playing better on a snooker table in the last ten years or so. Much of that improved play would translate to a pool table. Some tough choices to make though. Stick to the cue you know or go to a pool cue? Ronnie O tried both in the IPT. He played well but nowhere close to his snooker skill level. Had he played only pool for a few years he might have been a monster on a pool table to match anyone.

I hope the snooker players have nice runs, and get beaten in the end of course!

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
Fun times for an official railbird! I don't believe that snooker players will have enough table time to adapt to pool but one of those things I wouldn't mind being wrong about. One thing for sure, if a snooker player gets going we will see some fantastic safeties and escapes.

It seems to me that the snooker players are playing better on a snooker table in the last ten years or so. Much of that improved play would translate to a pool table. Some tough choices to make though. Stick to the cue you know or go to a pool cue? Ronnie O tried both in the IPT. He played well but nowhere close to his snooker skill level. Had he played only pool for a few years he might have been a monster on a pool table to match anyone.

I hope the snooker players have nice runs, and get beaten in the end of course!

Hu
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levels have risen in snooker for sure, but that's true for pool as well. pool players are specialists, in breaking, jumping, pushing, kicking safe. no snooker player is going to overcome that if he doesn't dedicate himself to pool full time.
 
ShootingArts said:
Fun times for an official railbird! I don't believe that snooker players will have enough table time to adapt to pool but one of those things I wouldn't mind being wrong about. One thing for sure, if a snooker player gets going we will see some fantastic safeties and escapes.

It seems to me that the snooker players are playing better on a snooker table in the last ten years or so. Much of that improved play would translate to a pool table. Some tough choices to make though. Stick to the cue you know or go to a pool cue? Ronnie O tried both in the IPT. He played well but nowhere close to his snooker skill level. Had he played only pool for a few years he might have been a monster on a pool table to match anyone.

I hope the snooker players have nice runs, and get beaten in the end of course!

Hu
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Good point about what cue they use. Mark Gray still uses a snooker cue and I sometimes play with my snooker cue now and can play pretty decent with it. I think for upper echelon snooker players (which Lisowski and Wilson definitely are and Lilley not too far behind) they have the cue action to be able to use a snooker cue and play pretty well. The one thing that they might not want to do is risk using their money making cue to hit boulders.
 
Maybe I missed it someplace and couldn't tell for sure in the Facebook clip, but is he using a snooker cue?
 
Personally, I'm happy to see Gary Wilson advancing the charts and doing well. He will have his hands full, of course, with FSR.

That said, I am miffed and actually a little surprised to read and hear many pool subject-matter experts, fans, railbirds, and others express their opinion that having a snooker pro in the mix at the UK Open is a downer for pool and does not help the sport.

How about the empty seats in the audience in the TV and live streams? What does that illustrate for the sport of pool? Nobody seems to address this issue and skips over it as if it's a non-issue. For me, the audience interaction is a large part of the excitement of watch pool matches. I enjoy the polite applause after a good shot or the cheers after a successful jump-shot. The oohs and the aahs that you hear in snooker matches is missing in the UK Open, and for me, it is very, very noticeable.

I guess I am in the minority. I think it's great having Gary there.
 
JAM said:
Personally, I'm happy to see Gary Wilson advancing the charts and doing well. He will have his hands full, of course, with FSR.

That said, I am miffed and actually a little surprised to read and hear many pool subject-matter experts, fans, railbirds, and others express their opinion that having a snooker pro in the mix at the UK Open is a downer for pool and does not help the sport.

How about the empty seats in the audience in the TV and live streams? What does that illustrate for the sport of pool? Nobody seems to address this issue and skips over it as if it's a non-issue. For me, the audience interaction is a large part of the excitement of watch pool matches. I enjoy the polite applause after a good shot or the cheers after a successful jump-shot. The oohs and the aahs that you hear in snooker matches is missing in the UK Open, and for me, it is very, very noticeable.

I guess I am in the minority. I think it's great having Gary there.
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Absolutely, sport (or at least individual sports such as tennis, golf, pool etc.) are all about creating a narrative, snooker had that in the 1980's (less so now) and pool manages to dig that up for the Mosconi Cup, but having snooker pro's compete is good as it creates conversations and due to human nature naturally creates rivalries (pool purists vs snooker traditionalists etc.)!

The dream for Matchroom would be a pool pro beating a snooker pro in the final!
 
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JAM said:
Personally, I'm happy to see Gary Wilson advancing the charts and doing well. He will have his hands full, of course, with FSR.

That said, I am miffed and actually a little surprised to read and hear many pool subject-matter experts, fans, railbirds, and others express their opinion that having a snooker pro in the mix at the UK Open is a downer for pool and does not help the sport.

...

I guess I am in the minority. I think it's great having Gary there.
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if you mean mr panozzo i think his reasoning is that pool is not as easy as it looks and that should show when snooker players enters events like this. and i think that is emily's reasoning as well.

but i'm with you, if you win you deserve to win. simple as that. it's also not quite as simple as a snooker player shooting his way to L16. gary wilson has dedicated himself more than the other snooker players and obviously practiced, he likes the game. gary also had a comparatively cushy ride to L16. naoyuki is a scalp but naoyuki can be fickle. FSR is adios amigo..
 
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JAM said:
I guess I am in the minority. I think it's great having Gary there.
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You may be in the minority but certainly not alone. I don't think the snooker players or other cue sports professionals can beat pool players at their own game without devoting more time to pool than they can take from their main pursuit but it is fun to see them try.

Hu
 
gary didn't fare so well this time, out in L64 instead of L16. he's a factor when he enters these events, but his jumping and kicking needs improving. i will say this though, he does show some of those slow as molasses players that it's not as hard as they make it out to be.

bingham seems to wanna try his hand at 9-ball in germany:

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stuart beat earl and rodney in some youtube stream in thailand a while ago, but then rodney got back at him. looks to have been playing before so my guess is better than trump/lisowski but worse than gary.
 
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