Last weekend our National Coach PJ Nolan was invited by World Snooker to be the lead coach on the opening two days of the WPBSA Cue Zone at the Winter Gardens during the 2015 Betfred World Professional Snooker Championships in the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
World Snooker are responsible for delivering Cue Zones at all major TV events and the objective is to promote the World Snooker Coaching Programme. The Cue Zones are a showcase for the general public to play on a professional Star match table that is used during all World Ranking Events.
This year the World Snooker Coaches continued to wear the official purple polo shirt which is in association with their official charity the Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice. PJ was joined in the cue zones on the first day by fellow World Snooker Coach Reg Davis and on the second day by Joseph Mejia who travelled from San Francisco in the United States of America to be part of the cue zone this year.
PJ said ‘’ The atmosphere around the Cue Zone and the Crucible was incredible and he would like to thank World Snooker head of coaching Chris Lovell for inviting him back to lead the Cue Zone on the opening two days ”
Throughout the weekend hundreds of players attempted PJ’s routines and they were awarded Gold medals and World Snooker Certificates. Each clearance the player received a medal. This year PJ had the pleasure to meet twelve boys from the Mark Selby Academy and all the young jesters played great shots and PJ believes a few of them can develop into top players over the next few seasons.
PJ also had the pleasure to meet team Brazil in the cue zone which included Pro Brazilian Player Igor Figueiredo who reached the final qualifying round of this year World Championship. PJ said it was great to see how much they love the game and it goes to show how much the game has gone worldwide since Barry Hearn has taken over world snooker and PJ believes it is only going to get bigger and bigger over the next few years.
Former RIBSA Chairman Jim Leacy was also at the cue zone showing off his skills and he produced a spectacular clearance to show he still can play the game to win a medal. Finally PJ would like to thank all the team at World Snooker Ltd, Jason Ferguson, Chris Lovell and his fellow World Snooker Coaches for making the two days so enjoyable again and he is already looking forward to returning in 2016.
