Ladbrokes has renewed its sponsorship of snooker’s World Grand Prix and Players Championship, and added the new Tour Championship to the series. Those three events will make up the Ladbrokes Series of world ranking events in 2019. The Ladbrokes World Grand Prix will run from February 4-10 in Cheltenham, followed by the Ladbrokes Players Championship […]
via Ladbrokes To Sponsor Trio Of Snooker’s Key Events — newfanzoneblog
Ryan Day insists he’ll only be concentrating on his own matches at this week’s Jojobet.com Gibraltar Open, where his place in next week’s Ladbrokes Players Championship will be at stake. Only the top 16 players on this season’s one-year ranking list will go through to the Ladbrokes Players Championship in Llandudno, which runs from March […]
via Ryan Day – Llandudno (Gibraltar Snooker Open) Place Is In My Hands — newfanzoneblog
Ladbrokes has renewed its title sponsorship of two snooker world ranking events, the World Grand Prix And Players Championship, for another two years. The Ladbrokes World Grand Prix runs from February 6 to 12 at the Guild Hall in Preston, followed by the Ladbrokes Players Championship from March 6 to 12 at Venue Cymru in […]
via Ladbrokes Sponsor Snooker World Grand Prix And Players Championship — newfanzoneblog
Mark Selby has pulled out of next week’s Ladbrokes Players Championship as well as the China Open later this month.
The world number one has withdrawn from both ranking events for personal reasons.
The Ladbrokes Players Championship runs from March 22 to 27 at Event City in Manchester. Selby was due to face Andrew Higginson in his opening match on Wednesday at 7pm.
World Snooker has replaced Selby in the draw with Matthew Selt. The Ladbrokes Players Championship field is made up by the top 24 players from the European Tour Order of Merit plus two from the Asian Tour and six from a combined list. Selt was the highest player on the European Tour Order of Merit, as well as the combined list, not otherwise qualified.
The match between Selt and Higginson will take place at 1pm on Wednesday while the clash between Kyren Wilson and Ryan Day has been moved to the 7pm session on Wednesday. The updated format is attached.
The China Open runs from March 28 to April 3 in Beijing. Selby, who won the title last year, was due to play Darryl Hill in the first round on March 28. Hill will be given a bye to the last 64.
The following tournament is the Betfred World Championship which starts on April 16th in Sheffield.
The draw and format have been announced for the Ladbrokes Players Championship in Manchester, with Mark Selby, Judd Trump, Shaun Murphy and Ding Junhui among the top stars competing.
The world ranking event will be staged at Event City in Manchester for the first time from March 22 to 27 and televised by ITV4. It’s the culmination of the season’s Kreativ Dental Clinic European Tour and Asian Tours, with the leading 32 players coming together to battle for the £100,000 top prize.
World number one Selby faces Andrew Higginson in his opening match while Trump will be up against German Masters winner Martin Gould. Murphy will take on Chinese ace Liang Wenbo while Ding will play David Gilbert. And in a battle of snooker’s rising stars, Michael White faces Luca Brecel.
For the full draw and match schedule see http://www.worldsnooker.com
Tickets are ON SALE NOW and start at just £10, incredible value for the chance to see the world’s best players live. Certain sessions will sell out fast so fans must book quickly. For details see http://www.worldsnooker.com/tickets
Next month’s Ladbrokes World Grand Prix and Ladbrokes Players Championship will both be included in the ranking event schedule for the rolling 147 prize, for the first time.
The 147 rolling prize goes up by £5,000 each ranking event. Ding Junhui made a maximum at the Welsh Open, so the 147 prize for the Ladbrokes World Grand Prix will be £5,000. If there is no 147 at that event then it will go up to £10,000 for the Ladbrokes Players Championship.
Title sponsor Ladbrokes has also pledged to double the prize if a 147 is made at either of those two events.
The rolling prize for European Tour events is £500 per tournament. The current pot of £500 will be rolled forward to next season, when the relevant events will be the Riga Open, Paul Hunter Classic and Gibraltar Open.
The rolling prize for qualifiers is £500 per event and currently stands at £8,500 for the Betfred World Championship qualifiers in April.
The Ladbrokes World Grand Prix runs from March 8-13 in Llandudno, followed by the Ladbrokes Players Championship at Event City in Manchester from March 22-27. Tickets for both are on sale now, for details see http://www.worldsnooker.com/tickets
Official 147 occurrence year by year:
1982: 1
1983: 1
1984: 1
1987: 1
1988: 2
1989: 2
1991: 2
1992: 5
1994: 1
1995: 2
1997: 3
1998: 3
1999: 10
2000: 7
2001: 3
2002: 1
2003: 3
2004: 2
2005: 2
2006: 2
2007: 6
2008: 7
2009: 2
2010: 7
2011: 9
2012: 11
2013: 6
2014: 8
2015: 6
2016 (so far): 2
Mark Selby won his first title of the season by beating Martin Gould 4-1 in the final of the Gdynia Open in Poland, the final event of the 2015/16 Kreativ Dental Clinic European Tour series.
Gould had been going for his second title of the month having won the German Masters three weeks ago, but he was outplayed in the final by world number one Selby, who captured the trophy and 25,000 Euro top prize.
Until now it had been a barren campaign for Leicester’s Selby, his best runs taking him to the semi-finals of the International Championship and UK Championship. Today’s victory gives him a shot of confidence going into the crucial last few months of the season.
There was a significant consolation for Gould as his run to the final earned him a place in next month’s Ladbrokes Players Championship.
Londoner Gould won the opening frame of the final before Selby hit back to win four in a row with breaks of 92, 69, 51 and 62.
“It’s nice to get a win under my belt,” said 2014 World Champion Selby. “I rode my luck a bit in this event, I should have lost to Luca Brecel in the last 32 when I was 3-0 down and came back to win 4-3. But it’s rare to have a tournament where you steam-roller everyone, when you win a title you often get through a match you should lose. I will go into the next event with a lot more confidence.”
The tournament was the final qualifying event for both the Ladbrokes World Grand Prix and the Ladbrokes Players Championship, two ranking events to take place in March.
Gould started the event in 73rd place on the Kreativ Dental Clinic European Order of Merit but his final run saw him leap into the top 24 and gain a place at the Ladbrokes Players Championship, which will take place at Event City in Manchester from March 22 to 27.
The line up (subject to entries) will comprise the top 24 from the European Order of Merit, plus two from the Asian Tour and six more from a combination of the two Order of Merits. Matthew Selt was the player squeezed out by Gould.
The Ladbrokes World Grand Prix runs from March 8 to 13 at Venue Cymru in Llandudno. The top 32 players on a ranking list running from the start of the season to the Gdynia Open have qualified. Stephen Maguire clung on to the 32nd and last spot throughout the event in Poland. Andrew Higginson could have knocked him out by winning the tournament but lost 4-2 in the semi-finals to Selby.
The full lists of players who have qualified for each event are below, and the draws will be announced shortly. Tickets for both events are ON SALE NOW – for details see http://www.worldsnooker.com/tickets
Ladbrokes World Grand Prix:
John Higgins
Neil Robertson
Kyren Wilson
Martin Gould
Liang Wenbo
Mark Allen
Mark Selby
David Gilbert
Judd Trump
Marco Fu
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Luca Brecel
Joe Perry
Shaun Murphy
Ben Woollaston
Matt Selt
Ryan Day
Ding Junhui
Michael White
Barry Hawkins
Ali Carter
Michael Holt
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Mark Williams
Stuart Bingham
David Grace
Graeme Dott
Tom Ford
Jamie Jones
Tian Pengfei
Peter Ebdon
Stephen Maguire
Ladbrokes Players Championship:
Barry Hawkins
Marco Fu
Mark Allen
Rory McLeod
Ali Carter
Shaun Murphy
Ding Junhui
Mark King
Ryan Day
Tom Ford
Michael White
Tian Pengfei
Mark Selby
Mark Williams
Ben Woollaston
Ricky Walden
Mike Dunn
Liang Wenbo
Martin Gould
Dominic Dale
Andrew Higginson
Michael Holt
Kyren Wilson
Judd Trump
Jimmy Robertson
Alan McManus
David Gilbert
Sam Baird
Luca Brecel
Graeme Dott
Robert Milkins
Mark Davis
The Gdynia Open was also vital for players battling to earn new World Snooker Tour cards if they finish the season outside the top 64 on the main ranking list. Malaysia’s Thor Chuan Leong secured his place with a run to the last 16 while Mitchell Mann, Scott Donaldson and Anthony Hamilton also won vital matches to earn spots in the current list of eight players:
Thor Chuan Leong
Ian Burns
Lee Walker
Mitchell Mann
Aditya Mehta
Scott Donaldson
Hammad Miah
Anthony Hamilton
World Champion Stuart Bingham is determined the get the results he needs at the Gdynia Open this weekend to book a place in the Ladbrokes Players Championship.
The Gdynia Open in Poland runs from Friday to Sunday and it’s the final event of the 2015/16 Kreativ Dental Clinic European Tour series.
The top 24 on the final Order of Merit will be sure of a place at the Players Championship, which takes place at Event City in Manchester for the first time from March 22 to 27, with a top prize of £100,000 up for grabs.
Bingham currently stands 23rd on the list and in danger of being overtaken by players behind him. He faces Fraser Patrick in his opening match on Saturday morning.
“I know I probably need to win two matches to be safe for the Players Championship,” said Bingham. “It won’t be an easy first match as Fraser beat me 4-0 the last time we played. But I’m going there with the intention to win the tournament. There’s no point following other results to see who might overtake me in the top 24, I just need to go and win matches myself.
“I’ve always been one to play in as many tournaments as I can so I want to make sure of my place in Manchester. It’s a big event with huge prize money and it’s one of the main tournaments in the build-up to the World Championship.”
Basildon’s Bingham has not won a title since lifting snooker’s most famous trophy at the Crucible last May. Semi-final runs at the Shanghai Masters, Gibraltar Open and The Masters are his best showings so far during the 2015/16 campaign.
“It has been an up and down season,” said the 39-year-old. “I have been disappointed with some of my results. This week I made three 147s and a 145 within five frames in practice so it shows I am still hitting the ball well. I just need to prove it on the match table.”
The top 24 from the European Tour Order of Merit will be joined at the Players Championship by two players from the Asian Tour Order of Merit plus six more from a combination of the two lists.
The tournament in Manchester will be televised by ITV4. Tickets are ON SALE NOW and start at just £10, for details visit http://www.worldsnooker.com/tickets
The full line up of players will be confirmed after the Gdynia Open.
LADBROKES HAS signed a deal with Barry Hearn’s World Snooker to sponsor both the World Grand Prix and Players Championship tournaments for this year.
The deal gives the bookmaker exclusive naming rights to the tournaments due to take place in Llandudno between the 8th and 13th of March (Ladbrokes World Grand Prix) and Manchester between the 22nd and 27th of March (Ladbrokes Players Championship), with both competitions broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK.
For both tournaments, Ladbrokes will double the bonus paid by World Snooker to any player for a successful 147 break.
The agreement follows on from Ladbrokes’ backing of the Masters tournament at Wembley in 2012 and bolsters the bookmaker’s portfolio of sporting sponsorships which already includes Rugby League’s Challenge Cup and the Scottish Professional Football Leagues.
Snooker’s popularity as a betting sport continues to increase, particularly in-play, with almost 80% of total stakes in 2015 wagered during matches.
Kristof Fahy, Ladbrokes CMO said: “We’re bolstering our sponsorship portfolio all the time and the addition of two popular snooker tournaments will serve us well. We are building our brand in a sport which has proven in-play betting appeal. Sponsorship at Ladbrokes is much more than sticking ribbons on a trophy and we’re looking forward to working with World Snooker to raise the profile of these events even further.”
World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn added: “We’re delighted to bring in Ladbrokes as title sponsor for both of these world ranking events. They are a fantastic team and we look forward to working with them.
“Both the Ladbrokes World Grand Prix and the Ladbrokes Players Championship will see many of the world’s best players competing for a prestigious title and a top prize of £100,000. The fans watching live in the arena as well as the millions watching on ITV4 will see snooker of the highest quality.”
The Ladbrokes World Grand Prix at Venue Cymru in Llandudno will feature 32 leading players from a one-year ranking list. Judd Trump beat Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final last year.
The Ladbrokes Players Championship comes to Event City in Manchester for the first time and features 32 players from the European Tour and Asian Tour Order of Merits.
Tickets for both tournaments are on sale, for details see http://www.worldsnooker.com/tickets
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