PowerSnooker - the beginning of a new era

04:10:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments


It is said that the human mind never rests. Not one single minute, not even a second...this crazy machinery called brain is constantly working, keeping us alive, creating new ideas, new perspectives, new dreams. Some of those great ideas will never see the light, they will remain locked inside our mind, but some of them will become the next best thing.

PowerSnooker, is one of those crazy, yet amazing ideas that is being put to life as we speak. The concept of introducing a "new snooker" is maybe strange for many, but innovative for others. The creators of PowerSnooker, Rod Gunner and Ed Simmons have tried to bring something fresh and exciting to the world of snooker. A sport that is pretty much "boring" as Ronnie O`Sullivan said referring to the World Championship. Now, I’m not saying that I agree with him, but a revolution is needed from time to time, and this brand new snooker is going to be a blast! :)

So, what’s up with this? Do we have new rules, new ways for focusing, new strategies, new playing aspects? Well, let’s just say that it will come as a total surprise for many of you. So, this is how it works: first off all you have to forget that we have 15 pretty red balls. That’s history! PowerSnooker plays only with 9, which are disposed in a diamond formation next to pink. In the middle of these 9 balls, we have the "PowerBall"; this is more important to the game than the black one is now, for it can bring you more points.

The diamond formation
The first shot or the break shot from the beginning of the game must generate that at least two red balls hit the cushion, otherwise the opponent will have his turn. Pretty strange, right? And I haven’t even started yet! :P
Every shot must be made within a 20 seconds time-limit; if this doesn’t happen the player will receive a 20 point-penalty but still has to do the shot properly.

Potting the PowerBall triggers a 2 minute PowerPlay, when the value of every potted ball is doubled. If in this time, the players fails one shot, the remaining time will be used by his opponent. So you better move carefully but also quickly! :) The area behind the baulk line is the PowerZone – if the cue ball is struck from within the PowerZone, any colour potted counts for double and during a PowerPlay, quadruple.
What about the breaks? Well the more, the better, because for a century break the player will receive 50 points, if this performance is repeated in the second frame he gets 100 points and in the third frame 200 points.
"The ball in hand" rule applies after a foul and will give the opponent the opportunity to place the cue ball anywhere in the PowerZone area.
One frame is scheduled to last only 30 minutes and after the time has run out the player with more points is the winner. So, it is not about the frames, it is about the points. ;)
Here, you can see the presentation video.



The O2 Arena
Since the new revolution has a very alert rhythm, who was better to promote the new game, but Ronnie "The Rocket" O`Sullivan. He is known to be one of the most fastest players and if you take into account that he hit a spectacular break of 147 in just 5 minutes and 20 seconds...than, well I rest my case! :))
So, the big premiere will take place on October 30 at the London O2 Arena and great names from snooker have already annunciated their participation: Ronnie O`Sullivan (it was only normal :P), the Chinese Ding Junghui, the current world champion Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, Ali Carter, the wonder-boy Luca Brecel and the legend of snooker, give it up for the man, "the Whirlwind"- Jimmy White, ladies and gentlemen! ;)


It’s hard not to be happy for this event, when you see Ronnie’s excitement. "It is going to change snooker. The crowd will love it and the public will enjoy it. I cannot find a flaw in it. You just want some excitement in your life and this brings excitement.” said "The Rocket".
And if you were to think about it, this project has the total support of Barry Hearn, the World Snooker chairman, who if you ask me is a visionary and I’m sure he’ll succeed in promoting snooker all over the world.

So, what’s a Snooker Loopy to do? Only to applaud this wonderful initiative and wait to see and become part of the new era, where snooker is just CRAZY! ;)

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