2011 Premier League Snooker: New rules devised by World Snooker
Snooker's governing body, World Snooker confirmed the changes in rules of the Premier League 2011 during the World Snooker Championship a couple of weeks ago. The league has been operating according
to the old rules for the past six years but recently, World Snooker made some changes in those rules.
The following amendments will be applicable in the upcoming premier league event in December.
The event will be played among ten players instead of seven.
There will be a four-man mini tournament each week and the points will be awarded for each frame win.
Every player will play in four events, with each event comprising of two semi-finals and a final match.
Each match will be a best-of-five frames match that means a player can earn maximum six points, three from semi-final and three from final.
The first four frames will be played on the basis of a 20-second shot clock instead of the old, 25-second shot clock.
The miss rule has also been amended and now in case of a missed shot, the player will be given three chances to make a legal contact to the intended ball. If the player fails to make a contact, the
opposite player will have a ball-in-hand anywhere on the table. If a match enters into a deciding frame after 2-2 level, the decider frame will be played under Shootout rules. The decider frame will be a ten-minute encounter with first five minutes played with
a 20-second shot clock and the second five minutes played with a 15-second shot clock.
In case of a foul in the decider frame, the opponent will have a ball-in-hand anywhere on the table, in which the player must either pot a ball or make a cushion with the cue ball in each shot.
The £1,000 prize money for each frame win has been removed and now the same prize will be awarded on the highest break every night of the league matches and the play-offs.
The play-offs format will not be changed and the semi-final will be best-of-nine frames; the final will be a best-of-13 frame competition.
The entry list of the ten players involved is as below.
Ronnie O’Sullivan (Defending champion)
John Higgins (World champion)
Ding Junhui (Masters champion)
Mark Williams (German Masters champion)
Ali Carter (Shanghai Masters champion)
Judd Trump (China Open champion)
Neil Robertson (World Open champion)
Shaun Murphy (PTC Finals champion)
Matthew Stevens (Championship League winner)
Jimmy White (World Seniors champion)
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