U.S. snooker
- Thread starter couldnthinkof01
- Start date
Ways to do it:
(1) Have a streaming channel that is similar in content to the old ESPN2, the channel can host some of the Matchroom events, as well as the SkySports Snooker events from Europe, mixed in with some bowling, darts, etc... Filler material can be older broadcasts of that some stuff, similar to what can be found on YouTube.
(2) Somehow get snooker into the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, since the US is guaranteed to have a team due to being a host (so no need to qualify). For added benefit, convince Judd Trump and Mark Selby to move to the USA by in 2023, in time to be naturalized US citizens by 2028 (Ronnie O'sullivan might be a bit old by 2028).
(1) Have a streaming channel that is similar in content to the old ESPN2, the channel can host some of the Matchroom events, as well as the SkySports Snooker events from Europe, mixed in with some bowling, darts, etc... Filler material can be older broadcasts of that some stuff, similar to what can be found on YouTube.
(2) Somehow get snooker into the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, since the US is guaranteed to have a team due to being a host (so no need to qualify). For added benefit, convince Judd Trump and Mark Selby to move to the USA by in 2023, in time to be naturalized US citizens by 2028 (Ronnie O'sullivan might be a bit old by 2028).
Raph Cleary
Active member
Yea, I can't find anything about a professional tournament in England, that was won by an American.
the only thing I can find about an American winning a snooker tournament in England, was the English Amateur Championship won by U.S
Harry Lukens in 1918.
English Amateur Championship - Wikipedia
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Besides Steve Mizerak, did any other us pool pros try snooker?
I know Mosconi had a few exhibitions against Rex Williams, but those were just exhibitions. I've heard Cowboy Jimmy Moore was a good snooker player but never heard of him playing in big tournaments. Did Harold Worst try his hand at snooker? I know Corey Deuel and Alex P each won their national...
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Sadly, it is near on impossible for snooker to take off in the US.
Snooker still lives off of the back of Barry Hearn's genius realization in that the general public will only watch snooker if people care about the players and who wins. You will notice snooker tournaments almost always a have a little segment on players living their lives outside of snooker and you can see Matchroom trying to mimic that with pool. I thoroughly recommend watching The Rack Pack and Gods of Snooker on Youtube. They outline perfectly the growth and dynamic between snooker players and the general public during snooker height of popularity in the late 70's through to 90's. Everyone in the UK has heard of Judd Trump and Ronnie O'Sullivan, hell my 76 year old mum still watches all the snooker tournaments on tv.
The truth is to become a touring pro snooker player who is half way competitive, you need talent and to start playing/practicing properly for hours a day from a very early age. There are literally 1000's of players in the UK who have made multiple maximums who did not cut it as a pro snooker player. The facilities/competition are just not widely available in the US, for a US based player to make it as a competitive pro snooker player.
There are of course some exceptions to the rule, such as I heard that Thepchaiya Uh-nooh didn't start playing until his late teens, but it is definitely rare.
P.S. US Snooker needs to do away with the pro miss rule. It is absolute nonsense to have that rule for average club players.
Snooker still lives off of the back of Barry Hearn's genius realization in that the general public will only watch snooker if people care about the players and who wins. You will notice snooker tournaments almost always a have a little segment on players living their lives outside of snooker and you can see Matchroom trying to mimic that with pool. I thoroughly recommend watching The Rack Pack and Gods of Snooker on Youtube. They outline perfectly the growth and dynamic between snooker players and the general public during snooker height of popularity in the late 70's through to 90's. Everyone in the UK has heard of Judd Trump and Ronnie O'Sullivan, hell my 76 year old mum still watches all the snooker tournaments on tv.
The truth is to become a touring pro snooker player who is half way competitive, you need talent and to start playing/practicing properly for hours a day from a very early age. There are literally 1000's of players in the UK who have made multiple maximums who did not cut it as a pro snooker player. The facilities/competition are just not widely available in the US, for a US based player to make it as a competitive pro snooker player.
There are of course some exceptions to the rule, such as I heard that Thepchaiya Uh-nooh didn't start playing until his late teens, but it is definitely rare.
P.S. US Snooker needs to do away with the pro miss rule. It is absolute nonsense to have that rule for average club players.
In the past the rule has been omitted from most rounds of the US National Championships. I think it has been used in some semi-finals and finals.
The problem is what to do if the rule is not used. There are players who will not make a best effort to hit a ball on.
They should use the old "best effort" rule. Where it is only called a miss if a player does not make a genuine attempt or plays it too slowly to hit the ball. After three obviously non genuine attempts it is loss of frame.
That being said I played in hundreds of amateur tournaments in the UK (that were a higher standard than the US Championships) and we never played the miss rule and I can honestly say that I never saw an occasion where it was deemed a player wasn't making a genuine attempt at the ball. In some junior tournaments I played in, we also had etiquette lessons before the tournament started.
I saw a couple of occasions in the 2022 US Snooker Championships where a player got a lucky snooker and made 40-50 points from it and won the frame. That changed the whole mindset of the tournament and made players play a more defensive game. Subsequently there were no high breaks in the whole tournament.
Dont forget the gambling aspect aswell. I have friends who live in the UK and theyve told me that while snooker is not as super popular as it was 2 decades ago(its still very popular), the gambling aspect makes it so that it will still have plenty of people watching tournaments regardless.