Whirlwind will go down a storm in the jungle

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:28:41 -0800

As soon as I heard Jimmy White was going to be on 'I'm a Celebrity, Get me Out of Here' I thought he'd have a chance to win it.

He's great fun and a real character around tournaments, and there's no reason at all why he shouldn't do really well in the jungle. ...

Snooker players are human too

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:30:54 -0800

I was due to play in the Pro Challenge Event Series 3 in my hometown of Leicester next week, but did not make the draw because I forgot to send off the cheque!

Robbo has come of age

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:01:56 -0800

I have not blogged since Neil Robertson won the Grand Prix and I have to say the way that he won that event was very impressive.

I lived with Neil for a year when he first arrived in the UK. We were both living in Leicester and practised a lot together and even at that early stage you could tell he was going to be a great player. ...

I'll bounce back

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:14:00 -0800

The Grand Prix ended for me with a first round defeat to Ken Doherty and obviously I'm disappointed because I wanted to have a good run in this tournament.

However, I'm not too disheartened about things; I still feel I'm playing quite well. I played two or three shots badly at big times and the run of the balls went against me at other times but these things happen in snooker. ...

Liang's the real deal

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:19:22 -0800

I played Liang Wenbo the other day in a couple of practice matches and I got to see up close what a talented player he is, because I have never actually played him in a competitive match.

I was also in Shanghai when he got to the final of the Masters and it really provided a great buzz around the place. It was great for China and also for snooker in general to have one of the local players doing so well. ...

No excuses for Bingham defeat

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:04:02 -0800

I'm still in China at the Shanghai Masters where I suffered a disappointing 5-3 defeat to Stuart Bingham in the first round.

I just did not get involved in the match, I started slowly and that allowed Stuart to get an early lead which helped him go on and win the match.

To be fair to him, he punished my mistakes, and I did not have that many chances as the match developed. ...

Bring back the Nations Cup

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:36:01 -0800

Recently I competed at the Paul Hunter Classic tournament in Germany and it was a good event as always - we know what to expect from it at this stage.

However, there were some problems this year. It was very hot in the arena which made it difficult for cueing and I think a lot of the players would tell you the same thing. ...

Why no ranking in Germany?

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:50:53 -0800

I've had a long summer break and spent plenty of time relaxing. I didn't even pick up my cue until this week when I finally started practising again and will I look to sharpern up my game this weekend at the Paul Hunter Classic in Germany.

My summer's not been too bad but it could have been better. ...

Domestic bliss!

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:26:24 -0800

I've had my fair share of unusual experiences in the last week or so, some of them good and some of them, well, different!

My girlfriend Vikki has been poorly and was forced to spend a few days in bed recovering, leaving me to do all the chores - I've been a house husband.

It's a completely different world to snooker, I've been running here, there and everywhere, doing all the cooking and the cleaning. ...

Snooker in a state

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:27:10 -0800

There was an interesting debate about the state of snooker on BBC radio last week. I was due to take part, but unfortunately was left hanging on the telephone as they ran out of time because of the tennis headlines - specifically Andy Murray's first-round win at Wimbledon.

There were lots of valid points made and, to the most extent, I agreed with Steve Davis. But also fair play to Lee Doyle for representing the WPBSA. ...

Mark Selby (UK)