Amateur Hour

[NS Admin]

The professional game has been on hiatus since the Australian Goldfields Open and returns next week with the first European Tour event of the campaign in Riga, which represents a maiden pro tournament for Latvia.



Meanwhile, Ben Harrison (pictured), a 22 year-old from Wiltshire, has won the English amateur championship, snooker's oldest tournament having first been contested in 1916.

Among the previous winners are Rex Williams, Ray Reardon, John Spencer, Jimmy White and Nigel Bond. Ronnie O'Sullivan reached the final in 1991 when aged just 15 but was beaten by Steve Judd.

Amateur snooker is in a healthy state worldwide. The International Billiards and Snooker Federation is comprised of around 70 national governing bodies, a vast network of players and competitions.

However, in the UK, the amateur game lacks the numbers it once did because there are fewer places in which to play. Snooker clubs have shut down at an alarming rate in the last decade. The smoking ban was certainly a factor in this. Snooker clubs have never been solely about snooker. They are also social hubs where people went for a smoke and a drink and a chat and, yes, a game of snooker.

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