Snooker Shoot Out

The Snooker Shoot Out is a professional ranking snooker tournament played under a variation of the standard rules. The 2017 event was the first time the tournament was staged as a ranking event.[2] Michael Holt is the current champion.

Snooker Shoot Out
Tournament information
VenueWatford Colosseum
LocationWatford
CountryEngland
Established1990
Organisation(s)World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£171,000[1]
Current champion(s) Michael Holt

History

Single frame snooker competition was a staple of early televised coverage of the sport, and largely responsible for bringing the game to the mainstream of British sport, primarily through the BBC's popular Pot Black programme. Extended televised coverage of longer professional tournaments, however, had caused the format to become jaded, with the last Pot Black tournament taking place in 2007.

A similar event known as Shoot-Out was first held in September 1990, when, except in the final, all matches were decided over a single frame. With the demise of Pot Black, the event returned in 2011 with several innovations, and was renamed to Snooker Shoot Out.[3] It was sponsored by CaesarsCasino.com.[4]

It was a one-frame shoot-out with a random draw, where the winner is given £32,000. The top 64 players in the world rankings contested the tournament, which was shown on Sky Sports and ITV4. The 2011 event was the first time that Sky Sports had shown a World Snooker event live since 2004.[5][6] From 2011 to 2015 the event took place at the Circus Arena in Blackpool.[7][8][9][10] The event was sponsored by PartyPoker.com in 2012,[11] by Betfair in 2013,[12] by 888casino in 2014,[13] and by Betway in 2015.[14] The tournament was held at the Hexagon in Reading for 2016.[15] From 2016 to 2018, the tournament was broadcast by ITV and was sponsored by Coral.[16][17][18] In 2017, the tournament became a ranking event for the first time, open to all 128 professional players.[19] At the end of the season, the players voted to keep it as a ranking event.[20] From 2017 the tournament was staged at the Colosseum in Watford.[21][22][23] In 2018, the event agreed a long-term deal with Eurosport and Quest to broadcast the event in the United Kingdom until 2026, beginning with the 2019 Snooker Shoot Out.[24]

The event is notable for its wildcard entries, with female players Reanne Evans, Emma Parker, Nutcharut Wongharuthai and Rebecca Kenna entering the event over the years.

Format

Rules by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association:[25][26]

  • Every frame lasts a maximum of 10 minutes.
  • There is a shot clock. For the first 5 minutes of the match, players have 15 seconds per shot, but for the last 5 minutes this is reduced to 10 seconds.[27] Prior to 2013, the shot clock was set at 20 seconds per shot for the first 5 minutes and 15 seconds for the last 5 minutes.[25] Failure to strike the cue ball within the time allowed results in a minimum 5 points penalty or the value of the ball 'on', whichever is greater. Prior to 2018, it was always a 5 points penalty.[28]
  • Players must hit a cushion (with any ball) or pot a ball with every shot.[27] Prior to 2013 either the cue ball or the object ball needed to hit a cushion.[25] Failure to do so results in a minimum 5 points penalty or the value of the ball 'on', whichever is greater. Prior to 2018, it was always a 5 points penalty.[28]
  • All fouls result in ball in hand.
  • Players 'lag' for who breaks off.
  • In an event of a tie the blue ball shoot-out determines the winner. The blue ball is placed on its spot and the player can place the cue ball anywhere within the D before attempting to pot the blue (winner of lag decides who goes first). The blue ball must be potted directly, i.e. without a fluke.

Winners

Year Winner Runner-up Final score City Season
Shoot-Out (non-ranking)
1990[3] Darren Morgan Mike Hallett 2–1[n 1] Stoke 1990/91
Snooker Shoot-Out (non-ranking)[29]
2011[7] Nigel Bond Robert Milkins 1–0 (62–23) Blackpool 2010/11
2012[8] Barry Hawkins Graeme Dott 1–0 (61–23) 2011/12
2013[9] Martin Gould Mark Allen 1–0 (104–0) 2012/13
2014[10] Dominic Dale Stuart Bingham 1–0 (77–19) 2013/14
2015[30] Michael White Xiao Guodong 1–0 (54–48) 2014/15
2016[31] Robin Hull Luca Brecel 1–0 (50–36) Reading 2015/16
Snooker Shoot Out (ranking)
2017[32] Anthony McGill Xiao Guodong 1–0 (67–19) Watford 2016/17
2018[33] Michael Georgiou Graeme Dott 1–0 (67–56) 2017/18
2019[34] Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Michael Holt 1–0 (74–0) 2018/19
2020[35] Michael Holt Zhou Yuelong 1–0 (64–1) 2019/20
2021 Milton Keynes 2020/21

Century breaks

Total: 22

Records

  • Michael Holt has both played (32) and won (23) the most matches in the tournament's history
  • Paul Davison has entered the tournament 6 times without winning a match
  • Robin Hull has the best winning record in terms of percentages, winning 87.5% of his matches (7 out of 8 played)
  • When it comes to the winners trying to defend their title, 4 of the winners have lost in the 1st round the year after winning the trophy; the best performance by a defending champion was by Barry Hawkins, who reached the quarter-final stage
  • Barry Pinches, Nigel Bond, Rod Lawler, Alan McManus and Ken Doherty all competed in the original event back in 1990, and will be taking part in the 2021 tournament

Notes

  1. The final was best of three frames.

References

  1. https://wst.tv/tournaments/snooker-shoot/
  2. http://www.worldsnooker.com/tickets/2017-coral-shoot-out-snooker/
  3. Turner, Chris. "One Frame Shoot-Out". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  4. "Caesarscasino.com sponsors Snooker Shoot-out". crunchsports.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  5. "Sky to televise World Snooker Shoot-Out". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 17 May 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  6. "Sky To Televise World Seniors Championship". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  7. "Day Three in Blackpool". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  8. "PartyPoker.com Snooker Shoot-Out (2012)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  9. "Betfair Snooker Shoot-Out (2013)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  10. "888casino.com Snooker Shoot-Out (2014)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  11. "Partypoker.com Sponsor Shoot-Out". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  12. "Betfair Backing Shoot-Out". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  13. "Shoot-Out To Be Sponsored By 888casino.com". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  14. "Betway To Sponsor Shoot-Out And Seniors". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  15. "Reading To Host Snooker Shoot-Out". World Snooker. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  16. "ITV4 To Televise Snooker Shoot-Out". World Snooker. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  17. "Coral To Sponsor Snooker Shoot-Out". World Snooker. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  18. "Coral Extends Shoot Out Title Sponsorship". World Snooker. 15 August 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  19. "Snooker Shoot Out Becomes Ranking Event". World Snooker. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  20. http://www.worldsnooker.com/players-vote-keep-shoot/
  21. "Watford To Host Snooker Shoot Out". World Snooker. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  22. "Snooker Shoot Out Returns To Watford". World Snooker. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  23. "Snooker Shoot Out Returns To Watford". World Snooker. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  24. "Snooker Shoot Out Here To Stay As Eurosport And Quest Agree To Take Over As Host Broadcaster". World Snooker. 30 April 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  25. "Rules". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 9 June 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  26. "Snooker Shoot Out Competition Rules" (PDF). World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  27. "Rules". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  28. "Snooker Shoot Out 2018 Competition Rules" (PDF). World Snooker. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  29. "Hall of Fame". Snooker.org. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  30. "Betway Snooker Shoot-Out (2015)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  31. "Coral Snooker Shoot-Out (2016)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  32. "Coral Snooker Shoot Out (2017)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  33. "Coral Snooker Shoot Out (2018)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  34. "Shoot Out 2019". World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  35. "Shoot Out 2020". World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
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