The fast and the furious of snooker - Power Snooker

The 2010 Power Snooker Champion - Ronnie O`Sullivan

Yesterday the grand and luxurious event named Power Snooker had its world premiere. And it was such a joy to be part of it (and when I say this it means that I watch it on the telly :-P)!
The O2 Arena was filled with people who were very anxious to see their snooker idols perform all day long and I think they enjoyed every moment of the game....especially at the end when too much drink made them too loud for my taste :-P Well, that’s something to be worked on, on future editions. Let’s keep it fun and entertaining but let’s not make a not a football match out of it. ;-)


Anyway, putting aside the constant noise, Power Snooker was definitely a blast that most of the viewers enjoyed watching. I know I did! :-))
This edition started with the match between the magnificent Ronnie O`Sullivan and the prodigy Luca Brecel. And what a better match to start with, since this competition seems to have been made for Ronnie :-)).
A 20 minutes shot clock, that crazy Power Ball that once potted, triggers a 2 minutes run of doubling the points received for every potted ball, and the Power Zone (that we got used to hear from the referee’s mouth so may times) that means that you receive twice the points for your pots, as well. And, of course that if you are in that 2 minutes time and you pot a ball with the cue ball being in the Power Zone, that means that your points will quadruple! I just love this word! :-)))


So, needless to say that the match between Ronnie and Luca ended with the Rocket’s victory, right? To be more precise the score was 338-196 for O`Sullivan, who became the first semifinalist. Whooohoooo, for the Rocket! :-))

The Jester and The Captain`s clash

The next match on the board: Mark Selby and Ali Carter. I was a fun match to watch as we all know that “The Jester from Leicester" is a true entertainer and "The Captain" knows how to capture your attention, but in the end we still had to have a winner...and that winner was Ali Carter. The final score 206-222 for Carter. It was the tightest match of the competition!


"The Whirlwind" was next as he took on "The Chinese Sensation", Ding Junhui. Ding looked very happy and he had a constant smile on his face, which was pretty odd, since the guy is an "ice figure", as for Jimmy ....he received the warmest welcome of the day from the existed crowd. It’s such a joy to see Jimmy is loved and respected by the true fans of snooker! The match ended on a 315-246 score, for Ding....who seemed to rise from the dead, for he was in such a poor form lately, but not yesterday! ;-)
The last match of the knock-out stage was the one between Neil Robertson and Shaun Murphy. A pretty tight one, but in the end Shaun won with a 317-274 scoreline. The World Champion was out of this competition. That was a shock, to be honest!

The Legend - Jimmy White

The evening started with the semis, the first one having Ronnie and Ali on the run for a place in the final and the second having Ding and Shaun as the mighty Power Snooker knights. It was as easily as always for 'The Rocket" to win 490-234 as for Ding...he booked himself also a place in the final with a 263-132 scoreline over "The Magician".
But before we were to see who was lifting this first edition’s trophy, Ali Carter and Shaun Murphy were playing to establish the third and forth place. Ali, or "The Mustard Man" as people were calling him, because of his shirt’s color, won with an amazing 299-102 score over Murphy to cash his £ 8,000 prize (if I’m not wrong) and wave us from the 3rd place.


So this was it, the big final! Ronnie O`Sullivan was to fight Ding Junhui. And it was pure madness, as the crowd was screaming like hell every time the Power Ball was potted and also for the brown one and singing for every player when they were on the table. Too loud, I think. Anyway, this didn’t stopped Ronnie from taking the lead with a beautiful 572 - 258 score over Ding and claim his Power Snooker title. Not to be rude or anything, but did you expect anyone else to win this? I mean, it’s "The fast and the furious" of snooker for crying out loud! It had Ronnie’s name written all over it! This competition is made for the fast and Ronnie is by far one of the fastest snooker players in the world...so, he won it fair and square! ;-)


What more can I say? Power Snooker is very entertaining and great fun to watch. It’s like watching an action film and you get so lost in it that it’s impossible not to like it. It’s like you’re being eaten by the telly when you watch it. It has a new and exciting format, it has great names, it has all the perfect ingredients for a day of snooker. And the fact that each match lasts only 30 minutes, gives you the time to grab a bite :-))) 

View from the top - Power Snooker

Lately a lot of words have been written on the subject that snooker needs to be changed and that the World Championship semis or even the big final will need to be shortened. I don’t agree! Power Snooker is fun and everything, but it’s just that....Power Snooker! Classic snooker and to be more precise the World Championship it’s a true test of vigilance, patience, strong nerves and strength and it should remain the same.
Let’s not mix them but try and enjoy them both, shall we? ;-)


In the end I want to give my sincere congratulations to the organisers and to all the players, but most of all to the Champion - Ronnie O`Sullivan! He did it! :-)