Matchroom Sport reveals line-up for the 2011 PartyCasino.com Premier League Snooker – Snooker News
Matchroom Sport has revealed the line-up for this year’s PartyCasino.com Premier League Snooker, which is going to commence on Thursday, August 18, with a dramatic new format.
The field has been increased from the traditional seven players to ten in order to accommodate the winners of every major event in the snooker calendar. The new line-up is mentioned below.
1. Ronnie O’Sullivan (Defending Champion)
2. Mark Williams (German Masters Champion)
3. John Higgins (World, UK and Welsh Open Champion)
4. Ding Junhui (Masters Champion)
5. Neil Robertson (World Open Champion)
6. Ali Carter (Shanghai Masters Champion)
7. Shaun Murphy (PTC Champion)
8. Judd Trump (China Open Champion)
9. Matthew Stevens (Championship League Champion)
10. Jimmy White (World Senior Champion)
All players will appear as a subject to their contract and the seeding have been made on the basis of their end season World Rankings. The defending champion, however, was assumed as the Number One seed.
Chairman of World Snooker, Barry Hearn, commented on the exciting new format of the League, which is going to enter its record breaking 26th season.
He said, “Last season was a watershed year for snooker and one of the consequences has been the incredible standard of play, and the number of players now operating at the very highest level of the sport. With the Premier League moving forward with an expanded
field, it seemed only right to invite the winners of every major championship last season. With Ronnie attempting to win his tenth League title, he will be facing stiff competition from the likes of Higgins, Williams, Trump, Ding, Robertson and Murphy.”
Hearn was also delighted to have the Whirlwind, Jimmy White, playing in the League. While speaking on his inclusion, he said, “We've even managed to include the World Seniors Champion in the qualifying line-up and I'm sure over the quick fire format, Jimmy
will cause a few surprises.”
The event which has total prize money of 210,000-pounds will go on for ten days in a row. All matches will be contested in best-of-five battles.
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