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Bre: Продолжаем делиться новостями А обсуждать их надо здесь Ru

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rusel: Snooker: Ronnie O’sullivan Makes Sensational Draw Fix Claim Судя по тексту, статья старая.

rusel: Дейлиэкспресс пишет под надсловом "Ваше здоровье" JIMMY WHITE: HOW IGNORED SIGNS OF CANCER I WOULDN'T have been my own first choice as a pin-up for national Men’s Health week but I think a lot of men are like me. when we’re in our 20s and 30s we think we are indestructible. It never occurs to you that your body might one day not be able to stand up to the punishment you give it and in any case you tend to feel worrying about your health isn’t what real men do. If I’d been left to my own devices I know I wouldn’t be here now. It was pure chance that I needed a medical for an insurance policy and the doctor who was giving me the once over was a young guy of about my own age and not a woman. If the GP had been a woman I don’t think I would have mentioned the lump on my left testicle I’d noticed a few weeks earlier while having a shower. Even then I only mentioned it as an afterthought almost after the medical was over. “oK,” he said. “Get undressed again and let’s have a look.” He didn’t mess about. I had plenty of money at the time and he got me an appointment the very next day with a consultant at a private clinic. “Make sure you keep it, Jimmy, because you need to make sure this isn’t something serious,” he told me. The consultant examined me and said: “You’re coming in for an operation tomorrow. Make sure you don’t eat or drink anything for 12 hours before.” Again, as I suspect a lot of men do when they come face to face with the fact that bad health can happen to them too, I broke down. It was such a shock to realise how close I’d come to ignoring the lump, maybe hoping it would go away or perhaps trying to convince myself it wasn’t anything that really mattered. I was only 33 and I had four young daughters. I found myself thinking: “I love life and I don’t want to die.” However, even as I made my way home to my wife Maureen and the girls, I went straight back into doing the thing men do. they think if they pretend everything is OK it will be. the operation was set for 24 hourslater and yet I said nothing to Maureen about it. I didn’t want to worry her so I carried on as if everything was normal. It was less than an hour before I had to set off for the hospital that I finally told her. It suddenly struck me there was a very small chance something might go wrong and I might not survive the operation and I really ought to let her know what was going on. She wasn’t happy and it wasn’t just because of the seriousness of what was wrong with me. the operation went well but it was clear it had been done not a moment too soon. the surgeon removed not just one malignant growth – there were two of them and they were particularly nasty ones that would have spread very quickly. Given how long it would have taken me to go and see a doctor I suspect my chances of survival would have been slim. As it was, our son tommy tiger was born three years later. obviously I was thrilled by his arrival and he played a big part in helping me change a fairly unhealthy lifestyle. I suddenly found although I still had to be out, usually late into the night playing snooker at competitions and exhibitions, I wanted to be around in the afternoons to be with him. However, what I also say often to my mates, my son is living proof something like this can happen to you and you come through it with everything still in full working order. I think worries on that score are what stop a lot of men from getting themselves checked out. I still go for regular checks to make sure my cancer is in remission. MY lifestyle has slowly got healthier as the years have caught up with me, if only because I just can’t drink all night any more without needing three days to recover. I don’t drink beer or spirits at all. If I have a drink these days it’s a drop of wine or even better, champagne, a treat rather than the old quantity before quality attitude I used to have. It was really brought home to me how lucky I’d been when my big brother Martin died a year after my operation. A year after that my mother lillian died. then my oldest brother tommy began a long battle with lymphoma, another form of cancer. It does seem there’s a weakness in the family although our father tommy died only three years ago at the ripe old age of 88 – so I guess the message is we’re a strong bunch as long as we look after ourselves. Someone who has had a great influence on my lifestyle is Ronnie o’Sullivan, another snooker player with a misspent youth who now goes for a long run every day. I don’t think I’ll be doing that but he has helped me learn to like salad. Possibly the best break my health has had in recent years has been my stint in the jungle in I’m A Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! I lost 22lb in the space of three weeks which amazed me. It was worth all the discomfort just for that. I have put a few pounds back on but I am still about a stone lighter than I was and it feels great. of course the bush tucker diet isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time but what every man can do is take a bit more notice of what his body is saying and talk about anything that worries him to someone who can put his mind at rest instead of pretending it’s not happening. If I was going to give one piece of advice to other men about how to look after themselves it would be this: you can ask to see a particular doctor when you make an appointment. that way you can choose someone you know you’ll feel comfortable with so there’s no excuse for not getting yourself checked out. Jimmy White is backing the Men’s Health Forum charity to encourage men and boys to be more physically active. To learn more about Men’s Health Week which started yesterday and runs until Sunday, visit www.malehealth.co.uk and www.menshealthforum.org.uk

rusel: Есклюзив про смонтированные кадры http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2010/06/18/exclusive-forensic-analysis-points-to-‘cut-and-paste’-in-higgins-‘match-fix’-sting-video-180608/

rusel: A big break for Crucible lighting

rusel: немного о клубе, где будут проводиться квалы Уорлд Оупен. The Q Club You might have thought that a snooker and pool club that has welcomed John Higgins, Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins and Steve Davis through its doors would be pretty happy with its profile. But the Q Club, in Glasgow’s Charing Cross, found that the Glasgow’s Favourite Business award has done even more to spread the word. The distinctive award is displayed behind the bar, where everyone can see it. “It’s been really good for us, and we’ve had a great response to it from established members and new members alike,” says Sanjay Sharma, who runs the club with his uncle Lake, and his younger brother, Vikas. “We were all delighted to have won - it really meant a lot to us, knowing that so many people took the time and trouble to vote for us.” The club was opened 20 years ago, in 1980, by Lake’s father, Sagli. He had originally bought the premises for use as a centre for the Asian community, but when that plan didn’t materialise, a family friend who lived in Leeds, and played snooker, suggested using it as a snooker club. Sagli knew nothing about the sport, but he went down to snooker star Willie Thorne’s club in Leeds to examine the set-up there. Thorne himself came up to Glasgow to help Sagli establish the new venture. At the time, the family recalls, Glasgow only had dingy public snooker halls. The Q Club was the city’s first licensed club and, despite an original membership fee of £28, it managed to attract no fewer than 600 members in its first week. The club currently has some 4,000 members - but the fee is only £10. Earlier this year, a second Q Club was opened, in Victoria Road, on the South side. The Q Club has been chosen to host one of the pre-qualifying competitions for the new World Open, on Sunday, July 25. Both the Charing Cross and Victoria Road clubs will be used. The tournament is the idea of snooker lynchpin, Barry Hearn, and the inaugural World Open will take place at the SECC in Glasgow in September. Hearn recently told our sister paper, The Herald: “It will be like the FA Cup and will feature plenty of youngsters who have never been in front of the television cameras before.” The pre-qualifiers will give amateur players the chance to mix with professional names. The winner of the Q Club event will join 19 other winners at the professional qualifying rounds in Sheffield in August. At the SECC, the players will compete for the trophy and a prize fund of £500,000. Said Sanjay: “We’re delighted to have been chosen to host one of the pre-qualifiers. There was a lot of hard work involved in getting it, as there were only 20 venues across all of the UK. It has made us really proud.” Forty players have signed up so far. “We’re hoping to get up to 60, which would be excellent,” added Sanjay. “We’ll have all the best players in Scotland, and we understand there will be players coming up from down south as well.” вся статья

rusel: Anti-crime set to pocket top award A snooker scheme for youngsters which cut crime and anti-social behaviour in Church has chalked up a national award nomination. The Tilley Awards recognise crime fighting projects where police, community safety groups and the public work in partnership to tackle community problems. More than 110 projects entered this year’s awards and the Snooker Youth Club project was one of just 11 finalists from across the country. And the scheme has received the backing of six-times snooker champion Steve Davis for all the work it does in the community. Prior to the project, the Church ward saw high levels of criminal damage and anti social behaviour and residents believed that young people from the area were responsible. Consultation showed a lack of local provision for young people and that they wanted somewhere to go that was relatively unstructured and gave them an opportunity to socialise. The partnership was led by multi-agency team ‘YNOT’ in partnership with the Paul Hunter Foundation, and former world snooker champions attended to lend their support. Steve Davis, said: "This fascinating project could be replicated across the whole country. It’s not just about snooker; it’s about educating and inspiring young people.2 Up to 40 young people now attend the snooker club each night and so far the initiative has seen a 13 per cent cut in anti-social behaviour and 27 per cent reduction in criminal damage. Lancashire Youth Offending Team has also reported a 73 per cent drop in first time entrants into the criminal justice system. Hyndburn Inspector Andy Winter said: "This is a fantastic achievement for YNOT and I congratulate them on their nomination for this national award. "It really goes to show that partnership working really can provide huge successes in a community." PC Rob Flanagan, of Lancashire Constabulary, said: "I’m particularly delighted that community workshops have revealed an improvement in perceptions of young people and that young people have a more positive view of service providers locally." http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1301911_anticrime_set_to_pocket_top_award

rusel: Барри Хирн отвечает на вопросы по радио 5 In it he talks about John Higgins, the integrity of the sport and players needing to work harder and embrace the internet

rusel: Willie Thorne talks with the RTN

rusel: Alex Higgins would stride into view looking like a gigolo and moving like Rudy Nureyev . . .Higgins would stride into view looking like a gigolo and moving like nureyev, bow-tie longing to be unloosed So Alex Higgins has died. A great snooker player, a self-hurt man. He was only 61 but after the life he'd had, few were surprised at his passing -- although very, very many are genuinely sad. He'd endured throat cancer and couldn't really eat, even when his sister mushed his food up and tried to feed him at the sheltered accommodation where he lived alone. He'd no teeth, no ease, perhaps no passion to go on. Friends who'd raised over £12,000 to pay his medical expenses will use it to give him a good send off on Monday. Crowds are expected to attend his funeral at St Anne's Cathedral and then in Roselawn Cemetery. After that, books of condolences will be collected in Belfast and Derry, naming the unexpectedly deep sympathy the loss of 'Hurricane' provoked. Higgins comes from the age of vinyl, where he's a collector's edition by any standards. The soundtracks are badass guitar epics like 'Drag Racer' and tinkly piano ragtime by Winifred Atwell. The sights are old-style British television, when families gathered round to watch Pot Black or the World Snooker Championships and you came down for school in the morning to find your da asleep in front of the TV. Higgins was the prince of that stage. He'd stride into view looking like a gigolo and moving like Nureyev. Frilled shirts, dazzling cuff links, a bow-tie longing to be unloosed. Lithe as a panther, wary too, he'd eye up the baize then chase opportunities as a hunter stalks prey. Cigarette poised on lip, smoke vividly unfurling between him and the camera lights, he'd pause, wait, then play so fast and so close to the balk you'd hear the commentator gasp. And pock! He'd done it -- again. Cue crowd erupting, from the edge of their seats. He was obviously gifted but his craft was hard-honed. You got a sense of a man for whom snooker's dynamics were a physics, full of variables and calculations to be weighed and measured, then mastered brilliantly. He'd grafted and learned his trade in poolhalls and urban dens where it was always dark, even in the afternoons. Night clung to him, making him intense, magnetic and wholly televisual. Chasing rainbows was his thing. The snooker colours were red, yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and then that black, which won him two World Championships and made him a fortune at exhibitions. But the money disappeared as fast as he earned it. He drank, gambled, lived a rococo life with cars and girlfriends and all those props people think they need when they're out of sync with themselves. Higgins was catapulted into celebrity without a roadmap. He became its stooge. There was no template for how to behave, as there hadn't been for his compatriot George Best. The soundtrack of his excesses was how Johnny Cash sings in 'Hurt', the Nine Inch Nails song where you harm yourself to see if you can feel. Some people said he and others put cocaine where the chalk should be on their snooker cues but Higgins almost invited demons to become his friends. Apart from his mother and three sisters, his relationships with women were too fraught to last, although he married twice and fathered two children. Some women were drawn to his damage, perhaps hoping they could heal him, but he wasn't for turning. No love was enough. Nothing was. Volatile was the polite word. Abusive was another. One of his lovers attempted suicide. Another, former escort Holly Haise, stabbed him three times after a violent row in 1997. He claimed to love women but bedded so many that none really counted, except his daughter Lauren, whom he'd raised up like a trophy when he won the Worlds in 1982. In his autobiography and in Kevin Burns's True Lives documentary for RTE, Higgins reflected on life and wondered why he was broke. "I can't understand it," he told interviewer Des Cahill. "For the simple reason I was so good for the game." He was great for the game. Higgins's unpredictability, his genius as a player/performer, made snooker so watchable that BBC won millions of viewers on its back. While Margaret Thatcher rose to power and began decimating traditional industries like mining, snooker became the working class revenge. Here were skilled players (without a pedigree, in her sense) who fought like matadors, while ice cubes clattered in vodka glasses and carcinogenic substances behaved with all the political incorrectness of a working man's club. The BBC got such a rush to the head they tried to turn the game into a sport, which meant losing the booze and the fags. Viewer ratings never recovered. More measured times require more measured behaviour than Higgins managed. His descent was spectacular, as documented by the way illness attacked his once-perfect body. The last photos are tragic. Only his eyes held the magic from way back when. Higgins's intensity was double-edged. It made him great and it made him impossible. He observed no limits, so he fascinated as much as he repelled. Those who know the rewards of living sensibly sometimes wonder what it's like on the other side. click here

rusel: REVEALED: Why John Higgins was cleared of match-fixing (because the evidence, including a statement from Mazher Mahmood, told the full story) David Douglas, the former high-ranking Metropolitan Police officer who investigated match-fixing allegations against the world No1 snooker player John Higgins, has spoken in detail for the first time about why he concluded Higgins never intended to fix any match. Higgins was banned earlier this month for six months, and fined £75,000, for talking about betting and for failing to report an approach about illicit gambling. Two other charges relating to fixing and corruption were dropped. Almost inevitably, the stigma of being accused by the News of the World on 2 May of “shaking hands on a disgraceful deal to fix a string of high-profile matches after demanding a £300,000 kickback” means mud will stick, regardless of an independent tribunal’s findings. But Douglas has now detailed how his findings were based on specific and detailed evidence that led him to his conclusions. Some of Douglas’s reasons for concluding Higgins was innocent of any fixing or intent were voiced yesterday as the snooker authorities launched an integrity unit to clean up the sport and make it “whiter than white”, although sportingintelligence now publishes them verbatim for the first time (see below). Additionally, Douglas has explained to sportingintelligence why he believes it was right both for him and for an independent QC, Ian Mill, to conclude Higgins knew nothing about any frame-fixing plot until the moment he was ushered into a room in Kiev on 30 April, where Higgins said whatever he felt necessary to get out, an explanation Douglas and Mill both also believed, again based on an extensive study of evidence. Douglas outlines how his investigation had access not only to every audio and video recording taped during the lengthy News of the World sting on Higgins and his former business partner, Pat Mooney, but also to a “full statement” from the NoTW’s investigations editor, Mazher Mahmood, which helped him reach his conclusion. Asked (in a press conference by a Radio 5 Live reporter) about the NotW’s apparently damning video of Higgins and Mooney talking about losing frames on 30 April, Douglas said: “I think you’re right in using the word that it was ‘apparently’ damning evidence, and I the first thing I’ll say is that when we investigate any complaint then we’re not just going to focus on what’s in the headlines, or what’s in the newspaper or what’s on television. It’s about doing a full and thorough investigation.” Asked whether the video tapes were edited in order to paint Higgins in a much worse light, Douglas said the NotW had given him access to unedited material where he could see the whole context of what happened, and that the tribunal also had access to this. Douglas was satisfied the footage he saw unedited in private was the full footage. He added: “Obviously when it goes on television, we all know that certain things get edited and moved around. That’s why I’m not particularly interested in what went out on the television [from the NotW website], I’m only interested in the original footage.” This was the first official acknowledgement that the NotW ‘evidence’ as presented to the public on its website had been “edited and moved around”, as opposed to unedited and wholly representative of events as they actually happened, within full context. The full text of questions and answers to David Douglas on this subject is below. Douglas in fact praises the News of the World for their cooperation in his investigation, saying they provided him with a room at News International for viewing every piece of evidence, and says: “Mazher Mahmood made a full statement about everything that happened”. That last sentence suggests that even Mahmood himself could point to no evidence of Higgins’ involvement in any fixing plot prior to the fateful 30 April meeting, understood to have been only around 11 minutes long, and which in any case reached no firm conclusion about what exactly was to be fixed, or how anyone was to be paid. Douglas concluded that the NotW “are very clever at what they do”, to the extent that Higgins entered the final, fateful meeting believing there was a bona fide “huge sponsorship deal on the table”. Douglas says: “Therefore when it comes to the final [meeting] you realise John was going in as a rabbit in the headlights. And therefore I’m absolutely confident, absolutely confident, backed up by Mr Mill, that [the tribunal verdict] was the right interpretation.” . Q&A with David Douglas about his investigation and findings in the John Higgins case (Questions 1-4 from yesterday’s press conference; questions 5-6 from post-conference interview) QUESTION 1: Some observers will be puzzled why, given the apparently damning evidence contained in the News of the World tape, which led Barry [Hearn] to suspend John [Higgins] in the first place, what the rationale was for withdrawing the most damaging charge against him, namely that he was prepared to fix frames for money. Why was that charge withdrawn without the evidence being tested? DAVID DOUGLAS: I think you’re right in using the word that it was ‘apparently’ damning evidence, and the first thing I’ll say is that when we investigate any complaint then we’re not just going to focus on what’s in the headlines, or what’s in the newspaper or what’s on television. It’s about doing a full and thorough investigation. And that’s what the players deserve as much as anything else. If allegations are going to be made against them, they deserve to have it fully investigated and that’s what we’ll do, and that’s what I like to think we did in the case of John Higgins. So when you look at everything that happened, the News of the World did a full undercover operation on Pat Mooney and John Higgins. It went on for a long time. And in actual fact when you look at what John did, and what the evidence shows, it shows that John knew nothing about the corrupt throwing of frames etcetera until literally he was just going into the final meeting in Kiev on 30 April, literally as he was just going in there. So when you look at what the evidence said and what charges that could support, then we go where the evidence takes us, it’s as simple as that. Now when you look at the judgement that Mr Mill, who’s a very eminent QC, made at the end of the case, he quite clearly states that having looked at all of the evidence – and Mr Mill had access to all of the tapes, all of the video tapes, all the audio tapes from the News of the World, he had the statements from myself, Mazher Mahmood who made a full statement, John himself, Pat Mooney, everything – he said that he was in no doubt that the WPBSA were right, on the evidence, to charge John with what we charged him with. We will charge people with the offences we believe they committed, and what the evidence shows. We won’t charge people on what we believe other people might be saying about them. . QUESTION 2: There were suggestions that the tape was edited in order to put Higgins in a much worse light than was justified. Is there any truth in that? And if it was the case, why was it not clearly aired in the tribunal hearing? Clearly that would have been to Higgins’ benefit, if he could have demonstrably shown that actually what he apparently said – and he went into great detail about he was going to launder the cash, and joked at the beginning about cameras in the room, this was ostensibly very damning stuff. If he could have shown that there was a much fuller picture that did not come to light in that edited video, if indeed it was edited, that would have been better for him. Why was that not aired at the tribunal? DAVID DOUGLAS: In fact it was aired [in full], before the tribunal, because we were under very strict disclosure rules, as in every investigation. And in fact both respondents, Mr Mooney and Mr Higgins, and Mr Mill QC more importantly, who sat as the chair of the tribunal, had access to all of the material beforehand. The News of the World on a number of occasions allowed me to go into their offices to check that it started where it started, finished where it finished – and I was entirely happy that it [the raw footage] was unedited footage. Obviously when it goes on television, we all know that certain things get edited and moved around. That’s why I’m not particularly interested in what went out on the television [from the NotW website], I’m only interested in the original footage. And when you looked at that [unedited footage], it was clear that it was a continuous recording of everything that happened. Mr Mill was given access to that, and the respondents were given access to that, so you could follow it all the way through. So when Mr Mill made his judgement, he knew exactly what had happened. He knew exactly what was said before the ‘meaty’ part of the conversation in Kiev. He knew what happened afterwards. He knew about the meetings that had led up to Kiev. So he could put the judgement of John into context. And that’s the most important thing of all. Sentencing is a really difficult thing, not just in sports arbitration. You look at any Crown Court trial, and there’s never agreement on what the sentence is at the end of the case, partly because sentencing is a judgement. Fortunately we had one of the best QCs in the country to make that judgement for us, a hugely impressive man, Mr Mill. And also because whoever makes that judgement has access to all of the material, and that’s the key thing. He spoke to John, he spoke to Pat Mooney. He had the ability to check everything for himself. . QUESTION 3: Is there a problem about how to prove guilt [in actual fixing cases]? Most professionals would agree that it’s very easy for a top pro to just miss a pot, to just lose position, to play a poor safety shot. It’s equally difficult to prove that they intended to do so. If a player can say ‘OK you caught me saying damning things on tape but I was in fear of my safety’, how are you actually going to make a charge stick, in reality, however tough the rules are? DAVID DOUGLAS: It’s difficult, no doubt about it, especially proving dishonesty, because it’s a state of mind. With the John Higgins and Pat Mooney case it was slightly different because it was a discussion about what was going to happen, so it’s not something that has happened where you’re looking at the evidence subsequent. But you’re right, in snooker and darts it can be a game of millimetres . . . but in my view you’ll never prove a case just on whether a player missed or didn’t miss a shot. It’s all of the surrounding circumstances. I won’t go into all the things you look at, but you have to look at – Where was the money going on that game? Who was talking to who beforehand? What was said at the time? What happened afterwards? It’s like any criminal case. You don’t have [just] one piece of evidence that proves it for you, you have to put it all together. And that missing by a millimetre is only one part of the equation. . QUESTION 4: In reality that’s going to be very difficult to do? DAVID DOUGLAS: It is difficult. There’s no doubt about it. I’m not saying this is easy. I’m not saying investigating corruption issues is going to be straightforward now that we have Monitor Quest on board. It’s going to be as difficult as it ever was. All I’m saying is that now we have a much better chance of actually proving that because we have the people with the skills to look at that financial profiling, all the telecommunications data, we have people on board now with all the experience. . QUESTION 5: There are people who think that a longer ban [for Higgins] may have been appropriate. DAVID DOUGLAS: I’m entirely comfortable with the investigation leading to the sentence that happened. To me, it’s about investigating thoroughly, and then putting that in front of an independent person. Ian Mill QC – and Lord Stevens and I have seen a number of QCs over the years; we had a court full of them in the Diana inquiry, very eminent people – and Ian Mill QC is one of the most impressive people I’ve ever seen, legally. He had a total grasp of every fact, right down to paragraph numbers, page numbers, the whole thing. He had a chance to speak to John Higgins, to Pat Mooney, he had all the legal submissions. What I’m saying is that [therefore] my view is whatever sentence Ian Mill comes out with is right, because he’s an eminent QC. It would actually be impertinent for anyone else to say ‘You’ve heard all the evidence, you’ve got a lot of experience in sports arbitration, we’re unhappy with your judgement.’ Part of the battle that we have is that people will have seen the News of the World headline, they’ll have seen two minutes on television [a reference to the 3min 37sec edit of Kiev meeting shown on the NotW website], and our investigation is actually about everything but the two minutes. The two minutes is there, it’s on television, everybody’s seen it. The investigation is about everything else so you can put that into context. And I’ll repeat the point, and this was shown by all the evidence: that John was literally walking into that final meeting when Mr Mooney said to him ‘By the way, they may bring up throwing a few frames, just go along with it’, or words to that effect. You put yourself into John Higgins’ shoes when you’re walking in there, with a huge [fictional] sponsorship deal on the table. The News of the World are very clever at what they do, very clever indeed. And what I’m saying is the context is there, and that’s what Mr Mill looked at. . QUESTION 6: People who don’t necessarily understand the scope of your investigation, the layman who just saw the NotW video on the website and the headlines, will probably have doubts forever about John Higgins. Can you elaborate just quite how detailed your investigation was – the scope of what you checked – so that you believed Higgins’ version of events? DAVID DOUGLAS: Because I was allowed to look at ALL of the evidence. Whatever you think of the News of the World, they were helpful [to me]. I was given a room at News International to go through all of the material, all the audio tapes, all the video tapes, all the different angles, everything, start to finish, unedited. I had to go through all of that. And in addition to that, Mazher Mahmood made a full statement about everything that happened. But also when I asked them for things like receipts, copies of invoices, hotel bills, they provided all of that. So there’s a whole load of evidence around this, and what I also had which isn’t in the public domain was Pat Mooney’s statement, and John Higgins’ statement, and when you look at those, it’s very easy to see what happened. To be fair to Pat Mooney, he said ‘Hands up, I didn’t tell John about this until we were just about to go in.’ Clearly there was no collusion between them. They have fallen out. The entire thing, the whole thing [relationship] is fractured. Pat, to give him his due, said John knew nothing about this. And then, because I’ve listened to all the audio tapes, it’s not about 30 April in Kiev, [I know] it’s about Edinburgh on 8 April, it’s about Kiev on 29 April, and you hear conversations going on specifically out of the hearing of John Higgins, so he’s not to brought into this, because they know, fundamentally, they knew he was honest. And therefore when it comes to the final [meeting] you realise John was going in as a rabbit in the headlights. And therefore I’m absolutely confident, absolutely confident, backed up by Mr Mill, that that was the right interpretation. http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2010/09/21/revealed-why-john-higgins-was-cleared-of-match-fixing-because-the-evidence-including-a-statement-from-mazher-mahmood-told-the-full-story-210901/

rusel: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/snooker/8127073/John-Higgins-in-the-spotlight-as-WPBSA-sets-up-confidential-hotline-over-snooker-corruption.html

rusel: алкогольные впечатления Хендона с турниров

rusel: АААААААААААААААА какая статья!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Хирн: "Игроки должны подтянуться." Наказания будут драконовскими, потому что я не хочу брать пленных. Это в адрес тех, кто не соблюдает дисциплину, в т.ч. не играет в полную силу или не посещает работу без уважительных причин.

rusel: На топ-снукере появился перевод. http://top-snooker.com/news/1120

rusel: На топ-снукере перевод статьи Сейда Полное ППКС!

GorgonaJS: На всеобщем собрании переизбрали нынешний состав правления. Hendon

rusel: GorgonaJS пишет: На всеобщем собрании переизбрали нынешний состав правления. Hendon На Уорлдснукере резалты голосования. Я их забила в Обсуждении новостей.

rusel: Barry Hearn wants to jazz up snooker, as he has already done with darts. But is he fighting a losing battle? The time was when snooker used to boast a rich variety of contrasting characters, straight from a Damon Runyon short story. There were the grinders, the likes of Cliff Thorburn, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry; the dashers, speaheaded by Alex Higgins, Jimmy White and Ronnie O'Sullivan; and, in the 1980s at least, men such as Terry Griffiths and Dennis Taylor, who looked as if they had seen plenty of life beyond the green baize and were plainly human beings, not automatons. Sadly, though, the sport has lost a lot of that allure, on the evidence of this week's proceedings at the UK Championship in Telford. There have been plenty of close encounters, but most of these have turned into wars of attrition purely as a consequence of the deficiencies of the central characters. Wednesday evening's quarter-final clash between Shaun Murphy and the reigning world champion, Neil Robertson, was typical of why the tournament has thus far been a snooze. At one point, Murphy attempted to leave a snooker behind the brown and misjudged his effort terribly, whereupon his Australian opponent followed suit with another glaring gaffe, as the duo seemingly did their best to gift opportunities to their opponent. The Scottish contingent have hardly glittered either, or at least apart from John Higgins, who has bounced back from his six-month suspension withoit missing a heartbeat. Hendry, a seven-times world champion, who has carried on too long - like Michael Schumacher in F1 - was in such pitiful form at the beginning of the week that his two matches resembled car-crash television. You could hardly bear to watch, and yet there was something horribly compelling about the sight of a man who used to compile century breaks as if it was simplicity itself, but nowadays has so much trouble with his cueing action that it is similar to the "yips" in golf or the "dartitis" which afflicted Eric Bristow. The darts comparison is interesting in another sense. Barry Hearn, a fellow with the populist instincts in sport that Simon Cowell posseses in music, has dramatically transformed the fortunes of those who ply their trade on the oche. There are competitions all over the world, genuine superstars in the guise of Phil "The Power" Taylor, who will be gunning for his 16th world title later this month, and features on the shortlist for the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year award. and Raymond van Barneveld, who is detemined to hunt down the Englishman and end his supremacy. Darts has changed into different formats, introduced shorter matches, racked up the decibel level, and is in positively rude health again. Yet one doubts whether Hearn can achieve similar success in snooker, a game which doesn't lend itself to crowds whooping and hollering, addicted as it is to hushed auditoriums and participants weighing up every conceivable option before playing the percentages, as we witnessed in the protracted battle between Higgins and Graeme Dott, which finished 9-8, but was scarcely a triumph for either man. It hardly helps that the game's most marketable individual, O'Sullivan, spends so much time moaning about how snooker "does his head in"; Taylor, in contrast, has a twinkle in his eyes, as if recognising how lucky he is to be at the forefront of darts' second coming. Why shouldn't he be happy? He has grown rich through a combination of his own sublime skill and Hearn's shrewd eye for the man chance. So has O'Sullivan, but if he can't get excited by snooker, then why should the paying customers flock to the new events on the calendar? All in all, 2010 might prove a watershed for snooker. It was the year we lost Alex Higgins, who, whatever his faults, embodied the showbusiness values which thrilled the punters. It was also the year when John Higgins returned from a ban as if he had never been away, and exposed the shortcomings of most of the rest of the field. The rwo events are unconnected. But they hint at the difficulties facing Hearn in sexing up a pastime which has become a job for the main player http://sport.stv.tv/world-sport/215116-has-snooker-gone-to-pot-for-good/

rusel: With John Higgins enjoying a day's respite prior to attempting today to convert his 36th appearance in a ranking final into his 22nd title, the second semi-final of the UK Championship here saw Mark Williams, seeking his third UK title eight years after his second, take a 5-3 interval lead over Shaun Murphy. Earlier in the week, Williams described his win over Stephen Hendry as "the worst I've ever played as a professional" but managed to raise his game when it was most needed to end the giantkilling run of Mark Joyce, the world No 60, 9-7 in the quarter-finals. Yesterday, Williams performed rather better and Murphy rather worse than he did in eliminat-ing Neil Robertson, the worldchampion, in the last eight. Out of the blue, Murphy won the 2005 world title as a 150-1 qualifier but, following his triumph at theCrucible, sank back somewhat unobtrusively into a group of leading players until he won the UK title here two years ago. Some of the gloss was taken off his capture of the 2009 Premier League title by Ronnie O'Sullivan's admission that he had competed in the Norwich Half Marathon on the morning of the final – "to test myselfphysically ad mentally" – and hehas become the most forthrightcritic of behaviour he considers inappropriate for a player ofO'Sullivan's standing. "Pathetic and unprofessional" was Murphy's assessment of O'Sullivan at first declining to pot the last black to complete a 147 in September's World Open until the referee persuaded him to do so. "It was disrespectful to the peoplewho had paid to watch him play,"he said. Murphy is not the only player who believes that the circuit revolves around O'Sullivan to an unacceptable degree, although he cannot reasonably complain that he played in front of a handful of spectators this week while the other side of the arena was packed to see O'Sullivan, who remains the game's top box-office attraction. More legitimately, Murphy criticises O'Sullivan and other leading players who have not supported the new Players Tour Championship. Murphy has played in all 12 of the minor ranking events the PTC comprises, topping its order of merit, while O'Sullivan withdrew from 10, some without prior notice, an omission likely to lead to disciplinary action. Barry Hearn, the chairman and majority shareholder of World Snooker, is particularly keen for top players to support PTC events in Europe, a project in which, he says, "we're all in this together". "David Cameron says that and it's true," said Murphy, a committee member at his local Conservative club. "In snooker it's about time some of the people who can row do some of the rowing." click here

rusel: Snooker: Widnes ace Andrew Higginson sets sights set on reaching top of snooker world rankings

rusel: Барри дает советы, как сделать футбол белее белого. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/snooker/2010/12/17/barry-hearn-let-s-clean-up-football-the-same-way-we-have-cleaned-up-snooker-86908-22789480/ Тоже предлагает горячую линию...

rusel: Widnes ace Andrew Higginson sets sights set on reaching top of snooker world rankings WIDNES whirlwind Andrew Higginson is well on his way to becoming one the world’s most feared and respected snooker players. The 33-year-old West Bank potting-machine returned home from the last 16 of the televised UK Championships with his reputation strengthened following a hard- fought nine games to five defeat at the hands of outstanding world number one Neil Robertson. Higginson is now 23rd in the snooker world rankings after having disposed of former World Champion Peter Ebdon and Dominic Dale at the tournament in Telford. But he is not content to stop there and now has his sights set firmly on breaking into the top 16. Not before a well-earned festive break though. Higginson said: “I was pleased to get to the last 16 and to be beating Dominic Dale in the qualifying round really set me on my way as he’s been there and done it. “Ebdon beat me two years ago so it was in my mind that I owed him. When he’s on form he’s the most dangerous player around and nothing on the table is safe. “It wasn’t the greatest match but I remember thinking that if I kept close to him I would win, which I did. “I’ve played Robertson six times now and the score between us is three all. “He doesn’t like playing me but he has always won the big games that everybody sees! “He played the best snooker of his life and didn’t miss a ball in the first seven frames, so what can you do? “I was just glad to pull it back from 7-0 to 9-5 to avoid a whitewash.” He added: “But it doesn’t faze me playing the top players as all of them are beatable and I’ve proved it in big matches. “I’ve beaten one of the greatest players ever in John Higgins on the big stage and made maximums on the telly. “Some people think I’m mad but I go into every tournament trying to win it! “I’m going to have some time off next week then get back on the practice table.” Over the past year or so Higginson has begun to show the type of consistency to back up his confident claims, after having finished in the top 16 of the last three major snooker championships; the Shanghai Masters, the World Open in Glasgow and now the latest UK event. And while admitting that life on the road as a professional snooker player can be a lonesome affair at times, Higginson is happy to have made some good friends- as well as good progress, on the world circuit. “I enjoy the travelling and have got to see some great parts of the world, like China and Europe. “Sometimes its demoralising when your in your hotel room just waiting. But there’s a bit of a gang of us now, who go and have a game of darts or go out to eat and drink “People are going to think I’m a right name dropper now– but the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Alan McManus, Steve Maguire, Graham Dott and Marcus Campbell are all great blokes. “John Higgins is too and its been a shame to see him go through what he’s been through lately – as he was put in a really awkward position (regarding a charge of bringing the game into disrepute following match-fixing allegations). “Ricky Walden from Chester is probably my best mate on the tour. “I’m quite laid back and try to have a laugh with them all when we’re playing too as it helps me to relax and play better but others have a different approach and you have to respect that.” Higginson will head to Sheffield tomorrow to take part in a qualifying match for the German Open in Berlin in January. He will also take part in the PTC Order of Merit Grand Finals in Dublin in March after finishing 20th out of 400 competitors from around the globe.

rusel: I was thinking about a robbery to get money to gamble

rusel: Loveable Cockney crooners Chas ’n’ Dave could not have put it more perfectly when they sang the line “Snooker loopy nuts are we”. The catchy hit record appeared to sum up the mood in the 1980s of the British public, who appeared to be captivated by the green baize game and the characters in waist coats who played it. Chief among the protagonists of that golden era of the sport was Dennis Taylor. The Irish star was already a household name due to his famous ‘upside down’ glasses, but he was propelled onto a different stratosphere the moment he was crowned snooker world champion in 1985. His 18-17 win over Steve Davis in the final at the Crucible Theatre has been billed as the greatest ever. Taylor’s famous black-ball final frame victory certainly captured the hearts of an intrigued audience as a conservative estimate indicates that more than 18 million people tuned in to watch the drama unfold well into the early hours of the next day. Taylor admits, even now, hardly a day goes by without somebody tapping him on the shoulder and asking him about his greatest moment. The 62-year-old Irishman may have long since retired as a professional, but recollections of him holding aloft his cue after sinking that final elusive black and his finger-wagging triumphant celebrations live long in the memory. Taylor, who lived in Blackburn for more than 30 years, said: “Somebody is always going to mention it wherever I go. I never get fed-up talking about it. It’s something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life. “It the final that everybody remembers.” While the final was remarkable for its black ball ending, it perhaps overshadows Taylor’s amazing comeback against Davis. The Nugget, who at the time was the world number one and already a triple world champion, was a red-hot favourite going into the final against the 36-year-old Taylor. After the opening session of the final, Davis was justifying his billing as the favourite as he won every frame to go 7-0 in front. However, from looking like he was heading for a humiliating defeat, Taylor dug deep and somehow clawed his way back. Davis still appeared to hold the upper hand, though, when he forged ahead to lead 17-14. But Taylor refused to accept defeat and fought back once again to take the final into the deciding frame. Beset by tension and nerves, both players were unable to stamp their authority on the final frame as it turned into a scrappy affair. Once again, Taylor found himself behind in the score and Davis needed just the brown to leave his bespectacled opponent needing snookers. However, Taylor downed a marvellous long brown before knocking in the blue and pink. He tried to double the black a couple of times before finally getting a chance to sink it after Davis failed in his attempt to cut the black in the bottom left pocket. Said Taylor: “My fightback was just all about determination. I was 8-0 down, 9-1 down. “I was two down with three frames to play. but I still felt I could win it. “With the final frame, the two of us, Steve and I, had never been in that situation before. “I tried a double...treble on the black. “The one Steve missed which left me on was a lot more difficult than people think. “It’s fair to say I took a lot more time on that final shot than I would have normally took.” Back when Taylor was world champion, the sporting landscape in the UK was a lot different. Football had an image problem and was in the doldrums due to hooliganism. And 24-hour sports channels such as Sky Sports were a figment of the future. With so much snooker on terrestrial TV it meant players like Taylor, Alex Higgins and Jimmy White, to name just a few, became superstars. The players certainly played up to the cameras and Taylor admits the game is a lot more serious now than it was back in his day. The increase in prize money means players are much more detached from the watching public. “You’ve got to remember there was only four television channels when we played,” he said. “We used to get nine or 10 million watching us and there was 18.5million for the final in 1985 between me and Steve. “There is more money in the game now. This year’s winner of the World Championship won £250,000 where as I got £60,000 when I won it. “I think it’s a trend in all sports. There’s not the same characters like a McEnroe in tennis or a Lee Trevino in golf. “But I think anybody would love watching Judd Trump or Ronnie O’Sullivan play.” While the game has evolved since Taylor’s day, he still feels he and all the other stars of his era would be able to compete in the modern game. “There’s not a lot of difference between today and my day,” he said. John Higgins has won four world titles and he is very similar to the great Ray Reardon. “He’s a very good tactician and if you make a mistake, he will come in and take advantage just like Ray used to. There will never be a better way to play the game. “Stephen Hendry is the greatest that’s ever played. “John Higgins is in the top three or four. “Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis are the top two but Higgins is going right to the top. “But I think the younger players nowadays go for more longer pots than what we did 30 years ago.” Taylor admits he is a big fan of this year’s beaten world finalist Judd Trump, who lost 18-15 to Higgins. He added: “Judd Trump has been a revelation. I have been quoted in many of the national papers has saying he is the greatest potter the game has ever seen. “John Spencer was one of the greatest potters in the game and you go through to Alex Higgins, Jimmy White Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Williams – all great potters – but Judd’s the best of the lot. “But it was a great final. John Higgins did remarkably well. Judd missed a tricky blue which could have seen him go four frames ahead. “But he’s great for the game. He looks like he’s out of a boy band with his hair cut. “Hopefully it will encourage more youngsters to take up the game.” Taylor’s famous glasses were a by-product of his loss to Welshman Terry Griffiths in his only other appearance in the World Snooker final in 1979. He added: “I should have won it in 1979. I beat the great Ray Reardon, Steve Davis and went on through to the final. “I was 15-13 up in the final but eventually lost to Terry Griffiths 24-16. “I remember I had a pair of contact lenses in and they were hurting my eyes but I kept them in. “After that I got the old glasses made. “I had pretty bad eye sight and I used to take my glasses off to play. “But certainly without the glasses, I would never have won the World Championship in 1985. “They’ve become quite famous, even in places like Tokyo when I went there – people were asking about these famous glasses.” Taylor will be going back to his former hometown next Friday when the Snooker Legends Tour arrives at King Georges Hall, in Blackburn. Some of the game’s former greats such as Jimmy White, John Parrott, Cliff Thorburn and John Virgo will be back back on the table hoping to entertain the crowds. Taylor admits he is particularly looking forward to returning to Blackburn. He said: “I lived in Blackburn for 32 years. I moved there because I got work there. I lived with my aunt in Darwen. “The last time I played there in the Snooker Legends Tour, I won it. “I beat Jimmy White in the final – I hadn’t played in over 10 years. “There was 700 watching and it was good to get out there and play in front of an audience and compete and have a bit of fun as well. “Like I say I played well the last time I played in Blackburn. I think I hit a 70 and 100 break. “I didn’t think I would be able to knock a century break in again after not playing for over 10 years.” http://www.lep.co.uk/sport/other-local-sport/dennis_is_still_snooker_loopy_1_3358284

rusel: SCOTLAND'S top sports management firm have gone bust after winning £709,000 of taxpayers' cash to sell snooker to China. Bosses of Stirling's 110 Sport Group - who represent the world's top snooker stars - called in the liquidators days ago. An insider yesterday claimed the scheme to sell online snooker coverage to Chinese customers - backed by Scottish Enterprise with a fortune in public money- brought on the firm's financial collapse. He said: "It was an idea built on sand. Quite simply, there was no way that sufficient numbers of people in China would pay to view snooker on their mobile phones. "The big question is why Scottish Enterprise handed over £709,000 of public money on such a scheme." http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2011/05/15/taxpayers-lose-700k-after-sports-agency-try-to-sell-snooker-to-chinese-and-goes-bust-86908-23131727/

rusel: Emirati team hope for winning break at snooker's World Cup Bangkok reaffirms its sport tourism credentials

rusel: Snooker review 2011

rusel: О Криссе Смолле. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/snooker/snooker-chris-small-launches-coaching-career-after-long-lay-off-1-2622471

rusel: http://www.eurosport.ru/vladimir-sinitsin_blog46/blogpostfull_post460266.shtml?function

Лапка: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/snooker/joe-jogia-snooker-star-says-1727410 .. и что дальше..

rusel: http://snookerhq.com/2013/03/06/and-were-back/

Lady Unfogettable: Вроде бы сюда. http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Snooker-Leicester-s-Ben-Woollaston-reveals-lucky/story-18769721-detail/story.html#axzz2RBinwhUV

rusel: http://sporta.bg/?load=OtherSports%3A%3AArticle&sportId=68&id=1060269 КАК БОЛГАРИЯ ПРИВЛЕКЛА РОННИ О`САЛЛИВАНА Президент болгарской федерации по снукеру Олег Велинов рассказал сайту Sporta.bg, как он сумел убедить Ронни О`Салливана выбрать PTC VICTORIA BULGARIA OPEN одним из 10-ти турниров, на которых он будет играть в сезоне 2013-2014. Как известно, у Ракеты спонсорский договор, согласно которому он должен выбрать 10 соревнований для участия, и именно наше РТС будет его дебютом для новой компании. "С Ронни О`Салливаном получилось несколько сложно. Он сказал, что едет в Болгарию, что ему понравилось здесь. Доволен условиями, которые мы, как организаторы, ему предложили, будет участвовать в "Шоу Слави" в пятницу. Я тот, кто привел в ход все по его прибытию. С другими игроками не было никаких проблем. В снукере есть одна звезда, и это - Ронни О`Салливан, остальные вообще не ведут себя, как звезды, это вполне нормальные люди. Не будем забывать, что это - Ронни О`Салливан, он может заболеть и не сесть в пятницу на самолет," - все таки предупредил Велинов. "Турнир для меня будет успешным, если опять до финала дойдут два сильных игрока из топ-16. Так будет лучше всего. Если Ронни в финале, еще лучше. Ронни будет играть предельно мобилизираванно, потому что не будет просто терять время на участие в таком малом количестве турниров. Так что он будет стремиться извлечь максимум из наградных фондов. Это его первый турнир в настоящем сезоне. Я поехал в Крусибл и там встретился с Ронни после его полуфинала с Джаддом Трампом. О`Салливан пригласил меня встретиться и поговорить. После того, как я поехал к нему в Чигуелл, мы все обсудили за 30-40 минут, договорились обо всем. Коммуникация шла с ним на прямую, что хорошо, т.к. не было мениджеров. Полно людей, которые хотят его представлять, но не представляют. Звонят и говорят: "Я его представляю в той или другой части света,"-но в сущности, только хотят положить в карман комиссионные. На самом деле точно в тот момент у Ронни не было мениджера, он появится только в начале июня," - закончил интервью о посещении Болгарии Ракетой президент федерации.

rusel: A Young Man's Game?

rusel: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/sport/10846829.UK_Snooker__York_bonus_is_target_for_three_time_champion_John_Higgins/ http://www.espn.co.uk/snooker/sport/story/262927.html http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/other-sports/snooker/john-higgins-says-future-snooker-2875008 http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/other-sports/snooker/uk-snooker-championship-stephen-maguire-2881271

Лапка: BREAKING NEWS!! @BarryHearn reveals where the 2014 UK Championship will be held http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0ZdPsmlXnk не смотрела, но возмущаюсь...

rusel: Звезды снукера на благотворительном гольф-матче. Деньги - в фонд Пола Хантера. http://www.accringtonobserver.co.uk/news/hyndburn-goes-snooker-loopy-6560376 Фотки - супер!

Лапка: http://elitesnooker.com/threads/4058/ Перевод прессконференции Хирна.

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