Professional News

WBA Calendar 1999-2000

World Championship

Tuesday 3rd - 8th August : Taj Residency Connemara, Madras, India

UK Championship

Monday 22nd - 26th November : Harrogate Spa Hotel, Harrogate, UK

Northern Open

Monday 29 November - 3rd December : North Ormesby Institute, Middlesbrough, UK

World Matchplay

Tuesday 29th February - 3rd March : Centurion Hotel, Radstock, UK

The WBA have advised that these dates are still provisional and may be subject to change.

The World Championship will once again be under the sponsorship of Florsheim, the shoe manufacturer and the event will carry a total prize fund of £45,000. This year, the championship will return to a fixed points format with all rounds being 1,000 up, the semi-finals 1,500 up and the final 2,000 up. An unusual feature will be the timing of the intervals for these matches. In the final, for instance, an interval will not be taken until one player reaches 1,500 or the joint score totals 2,000. In the heat of Madras, this may make the event something of a test of endurance for some players.

A fixed-points format will be applied to all the tournaments this season and was introduced to overcome a perceived advantage which could be gained by players who deliberately slowed their game.

To reinforce this, a new ruling will also be introduced to specifically address time-wasting and slow play. The WBA have announced that it will come into force in time for the World Championships. As we go to press, no further details of the rule have been released.

The England v India test match that was due to be played during mid July in India has now been postponed until after the 1999 Florsheim World Championships. It is hoped that this will now take place in Bombay either late September or early August.

Lindrum Masters

The multi cue-sports tournament, the Lindrum Masters, has once again attracted an international field who will compete at the North Sydney Anzac Memorial Club, Cammeray, Sydney, between 10th-13th August 1999. The players are:

 Australia
 Eddie Charlton, Quinten Hann, Stuart
Lawler.
 England
 Roxton Chapman, Steve Davis, Peter Gilchrist, Joe
Johnson, Mike Russell, Willie Thorne, Jimmy White. 
Germany
 Oliver
Ortmann. 
India
 Geet Sethi.
 New Zealand
 Dene O'Kane. 
Scotland
 John
Higgins.
 USA
 Mike Massey, Jim Rempe.

Football Supremo joins WPBSA

Former Teesside lad, Peter Middleton, has been appointed Chief Executive of the WPBSA (Photo courtesy of Snooker Scene)

Further to the re-election of Rex Williams as Chairman and Ray Reardon as Vice Chairman, the WPBSA have further boosted their Executive strength by appointing Peter Middleton as their new Chief Executive. Middleton, 59 years-old, who is currently the Chairman of The Football League took up his appointment on 1st June 1999. Middleton comes to the job, which he will share on a part-time basis with his Football League duties, with an impressive background in business and sport.

An ex-Teesside lad, Middleton went to school in Middlesbrough and his early life included a five year spell in a monastery. He then spent 16 years with the Diplomatic Service before joining Midland Bank International as Head of Business Operations in 1985. Other positions in the business world include Chief Executive of the Thomas Cook Group, Lloyds of London and Solomon Brothers International. He took up his post as the first independent Chairman of The Football League (which excludes the Premiership) in November 1998.

One of his first public functions came on 5th July when he announced the resignation of WPBSA Secretary Martyn Blake and Development Manager Terry Crabb.

WBA Ranking Positions

After some internal discussion, the official WBA ranking list for the 1998/99 season was eventually issued on 15th March 1999 and resulted in the following placings. Last year´s positions are in brackets :

As mentioned in the previous issue of the ABP, a new ranking point system was applied during this season which resulted in a tournament winner receiving 21 points as opposed to just five points in previous years. Winners of earlier rounds have also had their points proportionately increased.

So, although the overall position is calculated on three years results, those who had a good season in 1998/99 have made significant improvements. Most noticeable amongst these is Peter Sheehan, who has risen from No.28 to No.11. Indian players, Ashok Shandilya and Devendra Joshi have dropped out of the important top eight, with their places being taken by Chris Shutt and Nalin Patel.

It is known that some of the professionals, Peter Gilchrist and Mike Russell amongst them, were in favour of back-dating the new points system to cover all qualifying years. This would seem logical at first sight, but it is understood that “legal problems” have prevented what may have been viewed as back-dating the entry terms and conditions of these events.

The new-look top eight seedings anticipate quarter-final pairings of Geet Sethi v Roxton Chapman, Peter Gilchrist v Robby Foldvari, David Causier v Chris Shutt and Mike Russell v Nalin Patel.

Darley Dale

The Darley Dale professional invitation event will be held at the Mechanics´ Institute on Sunday 14th November 1999. As mentioned in the previous issue of the ABP, a new ranking point system was applied during this season which resulted in a tournament winner receiving 21 points as opposed to just five points in previous years. Winners of earlier rounds have also had their points proportionately increased.