www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文
China / Sports

Asian expansion on the table

(China Daily) Updated: 2017-03-23 07:40

Women's game puts China in the frame following Singapore sojourn

SINGAPORE - When Dennis Taylor pocketed the final black to defeat Steve Davis in the 1985 World Snooker Championship final, 18.5 million British television viewers were glued to their sets at half past midnight to witness the sport's most defining shot.

The Northern Irishman upset the odds after two days of gripping drama to topple three-time champion Davis 18-17 and help snooker reach the zenith of its popularity in a match that is still talked about 32 years later.

In a similarly engrossing outcome to the Ladies' World Snooker Championship in Singapore on Monday morning, Hong Kong's Ng On-yee pocketed the final pink to edge out India's Vidya Pillai on her way to a 6-5 triumph and a second global title.

 Asian expansion on the table

Ng On-yee of Hong Kong takes aim during her Ladies' World Snooker Championship semifinal victory over England's Reanne Evans in Singapore on Sunday. Ng went on to beat India's Vidya Pillai in the final to claim her second world title. Yong Teck Lim / Reuters

The tense finish is where the similarities end, however, as unlike the packed house at The Crucible all those years ago, a scattering of hardy souls at the venue and 3,365 viewers watched Ng seal victory on a live YouTube stream at 1:30 am.

The 26-year-old spent 12 grueling hours at the table to first beat 11-time world champion Reanne Evans in a final-frame decider before grinding down Pillai in a war of attrition, fueled by a box of energy bars and an unrelenting will to win.

For a sport played on tables, the top women have been feeding on scraps for decades.

The fact Ng's success barely made the sports pages is evidence of how much work the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association needs to promote the women's game.

Jason Ferguson is chairman of snooker's governing body and the former professional, undeterred by the challenge ahead, is unwavering in his mission to turn the women's tour into a profitable venture through exposure and participation.

"It's only our first year looking after the women's tour but we have already seen an increase in prize money and activity," Ferguson said at the Lagoon Billiard Room, venue for the world championship.

"The women's game was run originally by a voluntary organization, predominantly in England for many, many years. There's only so much volunteers can do and we needed to put some infrastructure in place to make it work."

Chinese focus

Perhaps aware of the popularity of cue sports in Asia, the WPBSA gambled on taking the women's finals out of Britain for the first time in more than two decades, and Ferguson believes there is a strong enough case to keep the event in the region.

"With the help of a local promoter we've managed to bring the world championship to Singapore. I have to say it has opened my eyes a little bit in terms of the number of players that want to compete in this part of the world," he said.

"We are looking hard in this region at the moment, particularly this event. We are more likely to move it around Asia in the future, possibly China," Ferguson said when asked if a return to Singapore for 2018 was likely.

"China for me has been an exciting development. I have seen it grow from the beginning and we now have a successful academy in Beijing that churns out champions. That proves that with the right facilities, you can create great players."

For today's players, though, the trip to Southeast Asia was fun but expensive.

Germany's Diana Schuler, for example, said that competing on the circuit was more a labor of love, and that the $370 she won for reaching the last 16 would only soften the blow to her bank balance.

Ferguson, however, is confident that greater participation will lead to greater entertainment, ultimately resulting in more revenue and stemming the talent flow away from the sport in search of better possibilities.

"The one thing that we have worked out is that if we can provide entertainment that people will want to watch then the television and viewers will come," he said.

"We have had some great players, like Allison Fisher and Kelly Fisher. These women could compete on the open tour but we lost them to American pool because they had more lucrative events to play both in the US and Asia.

"Once they started winning money, they've tended to stick to it.

"We have to make sure we provide both opportunities to compete and prize money where a core number of players can compete regularly on a full-time basis."

Agence France-Presse

 

Highlights
Hot Topics

...
主站蜘蛛池模板: 一级一级特黄女人精品毛片 | 亚洲视频中文字幕在线 | 国产成人综合91精品 | 久久精品中文字幕免费 | 免费福利入口在线观看 | 精品三级国产 | 99九九精品视频 | 性配久久久| 青青热久久国产久精品秒播 | 特级a欧美孕妇做爰片毛片 特级a欧美做爰片毛片 | 日本一区二区在线 | 欧美做爰野外在线视频观看 | 在线播放亚洲美女视频网站 | 7777在线 | 亚洲一区二区三区高清网 | 一级毛毛片毛片毛片毛片在线看 | 91精品国产综合久久欧美 | 欧美高清色视频在线播放 | 国产成人精品一区二区秒拍 | 国产成人精品在线观看 | 精品在线视频一区 | 9l国产精品久久久久麻豆 | 亚洲成人第一 | 日韩天天摸天天澡天天爽视频 | 欧美久久久久久久久 | 免费看欧美一级特黄a毛片 免费看片aⅴ免费大片 | 亚洲欧美另类日本久久影院 | 欧美一线不卡在线播放 | 国产伦精品一区二区三区免费 | 中文字幕在线观看亚洲日韩 | 国产精品国产 | 乱淫网站| 91精品欧美一区二区三区 | 久久精品国内一区二区三区 | 美女一级毛片免费看看 | 泰国情欲片寂寞的寡妇在线观看 | 亚洲天堂在线观看视频 | 全国男人的天堂网 | 日本69色视频在线观看 | 欧美成人爽毛片在线视频 | 久久高清一区二区三区 |