Snooker player advances to World Championships

by Kelly Waterhouse

ALMA

Snooker champion Terry Davidson is cued up to represent Canada in the World Amateur Snooker Championships (Masters Division) being held in Sofia, Bulgaria from Nov. 24 to Dec. 2 at the Princess Hotel in downtown Sofia.  

“It’s always been a dream of mine to compete in the World Amateurs as I get to meet and play against the best amateurs in the world under great tournament conditions with good facilities and referees for every match,” Davidson said.

The selection criteria for the championships are taken from the Canadian Seniors Championship (over 55) and provincial ranking in the Open Division where the player is over 55 years of age.

“Over the 2011/12 season in our 10 provincial ranking tournaments, usually played in Toronto, I was ranked as the number one senior player for Ontario,” Davidson said. “In the previous year I was also ranked top senior although the World’s was held in Syria and I elected not to go due to the civil unrest at that time.”

He explained that the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) holds the World Amateurs in different locations all over the world each year, with competitions that feature an open men’s division (no age limitation), masters division (over 40) and ladies.  

While the championship was originally scheduled for Cairo, Egypt, Davidson said the organizers moved the competition to Bulgaria due to the political situation this past year in Egypt.

“In addition to myself, Barry Larone of Sudbury will also be competing for Canada.  Barry is the third ranked senior in Canada from the 2012 Canadian Senior Snooker Championships results,” he said.

Davidson notes that this year’s event will feature 16 match tables installed into the Princess Hotel, with brand new match cloths and approved new tournament balls set up to be exactly the same as a professional level tournament set-up.

“There are usually over 70 countries represented with, of course, Britain leading the charge although the players from Thailand and China, where snooker is very popular, are starting to challenge Britain’s leading position,” said Davidson.

“One certain way to improve is to play very good players and every player in this competition has qualified through their own national qualification system so they are the best of the best and this will be invaluable training as far as my own playing abilities go.  Plus I will be able to network with representatives of over 70 countries and get my name out there internationally for my coaching business”

For Davidson, the first challenge is to raise the funds to get to the championships.

“The cost for the whole thing will be around $4,000, but I’m looking for any help I can get.  There is no financial support from the Canadian Billiards and Snooker Association, so the Canadian players are left to fund everything themselves whereas players from most of the other snooker countries receive some financial support from their national associations,” Davidson said.

“The Canadian Olympic Committee qualifies cue sports as a full sport but does not provide any funding via Sports Canada since they only assist in the more TV-friendly sports,” Davidson adds.

While he prepares to head to Bulgaria, he hopes snooker fans will follow his success online at www.ibsf.com.

Davidson invites anyone wishing to pass along good luck messages to contact him at terrydavidson45@gmail.com.

October 19, 2012