Two snooker cubicles removed from York Barbican Centre: 2011 UK Championship
After the changes brought in the format of 2011 UK Championship by World Snooker, two cubicles from the York Barbican centre have been removed so that the arena can provide an open environment for
the event to be televised.
The three-walled squash court sized cubicles were disliked by professionals, as they believed that four cubicles at a time in the arena reduced the view of people present at the arena.
The changes in the format of 2011 UK Championship were made on Friday, June 17 according to which the tournament matches, from the qualifiers until the quarter-finals, will be best-of-11 frames with
a single session, the semi-finals will be best-of-17, whereas the final would be a best-of-19 frame encounter.
After the removal of two snooker cubicles from Barbican Centre, it is only left with two tables, so that the matches can be televised properly by BBC, CCTV China and Eurosport. The four-table environment
was also disliked by the players, as they rendered it too uncomfortable.
Seven-time World Snooker Champion, Stephen Hendry commented about the arena environment in 2001 UK Championship, “This is supposed to be the second most important event on the snooker calendar, but
it is like qualifying round conditions out there,”
World number one Mark Williams complained in 2006 during the UK Championship, “It is horrible playing in those kind of conditions. It’s a shame anyone has to play in it.”
Meanwhile, Barry Hearn was happy about the event’s return to York and he hailed the love of York’s people, which became the reason behind the event’s come-back.
While speaking to the local media, Hearn Said, “The people in York are the reason why we are going there. I don’t know what happened before but I know we had a very good time there. The facilities
have been upgraded enormously. There’s a great spirit and we had that from day one with everyone in York. They wanted us to come back and we wanted to come back.”
The 2011 UK Championship will run from December 3 to 11 at the York Barbican Centre and 36-year-old John Higgins will be the defending champion.
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