Snooker: UK Championship te York van 4/12 tot 17/12.

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December 9
BBC One, 1305-1630
BBC Two, 1800-1930, 0000-0200

December 10
BBC Two, 1330-1430, 1645-1900, 2245-2330

December 11
BBC Two, 1330-1715, 2315-0100

December 12
BBC Two 1330-1715, 1900-2000, 2315-0200

December 13
BBC Two, 1400-1715, 1900-2000, 2315-0000

December 14
BBC Two, 1330-1715, 1900-2000, 2315-0000

December 15
BBC Two, 1330-1715, 1900-2000, 2300-2330

December 16
BBC One, 1420-1630
BBC Two, 1630-1730, 2100-2230

December 17
BBC Two, 1430-1730, 2000-2300

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NEW REFS ARE READY FOR YORK

23 Nov 2006 10:04:00

Two of World Snooker's new referees will officiate professional matches for the first time at the UK Championship. There are plenty of new faces among the refereeing fraternity this season - 12 in total.

And two of them, Belgian Oliver Marteel and Jean-Pierre van Vlerken of Holland, will be on duty at the Barbican Centre in York. The duo were among nine officials whoofficiated in matches during this month’s Masters qualifiers at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield.

"It’s imperative that we get more referees coming through the ranks," said tournament director Mike Ganley. "These guys have been in the system and assessed for about two years now. "They’ve officiated at PIOS events and the next stage was the Masters which obviously featured Main Tour players. "The next level is to elevate them to the Main Tour and Oliver and Jean-Pierre will get their opportunity in York."

The nine new ’gloves men’ are: Jurgen Gruson, Rene Tinge, Andrew Yates, Ben Williams, Andrew Cherry, Greg Conginilio, William Bridge plus Marteel and van Vlerken.

Dutchman Jan Verhaas and Welshman Eirian Williams, two of the games most respected officials, have been keeping an eye on their colleague’s progress. They have taken on the assessing role previously held by Lancastrian John Newton, who retired at the end of last season.

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Murphy buoyed by snooker talent

Former world champion Shaun Murphy believes snooker has a bright future as a result of the flood of young talent who have come to the fore recently. The 2005 Crucible winner, speaking ahead of the UK Championship which begins on Monday in York, said it was important to bring new players through.

"I think snooker must be one of the best sports for having young up-and-coming talent," he said. "If we can bring in more young people it protects the sport for many years."

The 25-year-old added: "Neil Robertson and Jamie Cope, who battled it out in the Grand Prix final, are two fantastic players - and I think that's just what the sport needs. "Not only that, it's just what our country needs - and I think it's a very positive thing."

Murphy reckons that Australian Robertson, in particular, is good for snooker.

"You only have to look at people like Ian Poulter in golf to see, from the business side, what kind of revenue people like that must generate," said the world number five. "It's a great thing to have, and I think golf would be weaker without Ian Poulter - and snooker would be weaker without Neil Robertson. "I really like the way Robertson plays."

Murphy starts his UK Championship campaign a week on Thursday when he faces one of Scottish duo Alan McManus and Marcus Campbell. Victory would set him up with a possible tie against former champion and last year's finalist Steve Davis.

Ding Junhui, who won the crown in 2005, will play either Ryan Day or fellow Chinese player Liu Song in the second round, when he enters the competition along with the rest of the top 16. Ronnie O'Sullivan will face either Ian McCulloch or Ricky Walden, while Stephen Hendry will find himself up against Robert Milkins or Dave Harold.

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O'Sullivan claims White whitewash

Ronnie O'Sullivan overwhelmed Jimmy White 7-0 to win his third consecutive Premier League title at the Wythenshawe Forum on Sunday. World number three O'Sullivan compiled breaks of 122, 93, 73 and 113.
The comprehensive win saw O'Sullivan become the first player since Steve Davis in 1989 to win the league title on three straight occasions.

"I got off to a great start and put him under pressure straight away," said O'Sullivan, who turns 31 on Tuesday. "After that I began to flow. You never know in snooker how any match will go so I was taking nothing for granted."

O'Sullivan's victory gave him his 35th career title but his first since beating Stephen Hendry 6-0 in the Premier League final 12 months ago. He defeated Mark Williams 6-0 to win the title during the 2004-05 season and has now won it six times in total, equalling Hendry's record.

White was appearing in his first final since winning the 2004 Players' Championship after beating world champion Graeme Dott 5-4 in the semi-finals on Saturday.

"I didn't settle," White admitted. "If you let Ronnie get on top of you it can be demoralising. That's what happened. I had no table time and against Ronnie that makes things impossible."

Following the final, tournament sponsors Betfred and the tournament organisers Matchroom made a Ŗ10,000 donation to the Hunter Foundation, set up in memory of Paul Hunter, the three-times Masters champion who died of cancer in October.

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Op maandag 4 december 2006 16:05 schreef mitt het volgende:
En vanaf zaterdag pas op de tv

Dat Harold nog meedoet

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Selby storms past Parrott in York

John Parrott's UK Championship hopes ended in a crushing first-round defeat as he was thrashed 9-1 by Mark Selby. The 1991 world champion, down to number 42 in the rankings, was unfortunate to find himself 4-1 down. But he hardly got a look-in thereafter as Selby took frame six with a break of 104 - after an earlier 110 - and a 59 and a 57 made it 7-1 at the interval. Further breaks of 71 and 63 secured the 23-year-old from Leicester a second-round meeting with Peter Ebdon.

It was a disappointing way for Parrott to exit the tournament, after he had battled through qualifying. But the Liverpudlian believes Selby can go on to make a big impression at the sport's second biggest tournament.

"It was very harsh for me to be 4-1 down," said Parrott. "But I've no complaints from that point on. You will be hard pressed to see anyone play better this week. Mark was pretty much exemplary - from 4-1 to 9-1 I didn't get a shot, and the nature of this sport is that you can't pot any balls if you don't get to see any. It will be another day for him against Peter Ebdon, though. Certain styles suit some players and not others, and I'm sure he will get a much tougher game off Peter than he had against me."

Selby, runner-up in the 2003 Scottish Open, enjoyed probably his biggest win when he knocked John Higgins out of this year's World Championship. "I've got a lot of confidence at the minute," said the world number 28. "I won the World 8-Ball Pool Championship in the summer - I know it's not snooker, but it gave me a lift confidence-wise."

David Gray also enjoyed a comfortable passage on Monday into the second round, beating fellow Englishman Barry Pinches 9-2. Welshman Ryan Day rattled off five frames in a row from 5-4 down to overcome China's Liu Song 9-5, completing victory with a break of 130. Mark King also progressed with a 9-4 win over Adrian Gunnell.

Joe Perry is on course to join them after opening up a 7-1 lead in his match against Michael Judge, one of four matches resuming on Tuesday.

Mark Selby 9-1 John Parrott
Stuart Bingham 7-7 Rory McLeod
Ryan Day 9-5 Liu Song
David Gray 9-2 Barry Pinches
Mark King 9-4 Adrian Gunnell