The Premier League crossed the Scottish borders for its third outing last night and just like the players, Paul Collier is feeling the effects of a packed schedule.
He revealed all in his latest column for OnCue...
It's been a hectic couple of days to see the very least.
I travelled from my home in Wales to Sheffield on Tuesday night ready for an 8am start at the amateur rounds of the PTC5.
My Premier League commitments meant I couldn't stay until the end, so I shot across to Birmingham for my flight to Motherwell and I'm already back at the World Snooker Academy.
Life is fast-paced for everyone but I can't complain though because Scotland is always a good place to visit for snooker. The Regal Scottish used to be held at the civic centre in Motherwell but because that's under refurbishment and wasn't quite finished for this year's Premier League event, we decided to try a new purpose-built sports venue, and it was relatively successful.
There was a decent crowd in who clearly love their snooker. The only negative on the night was the seating. We set up the venue in the usual way but instead of comfortable chairs, we had to make do with basketball style benches with padding on them.
I think if we come back, that will have to be looked at.
The snooker side of things was flawless. John Higgins only lives a mile or two from the venue and his children actually come here for some of their sports classes. So he really did feel at home and got a fantastic reception.
It was one of the best I've witnessed in the Premier League.
Unfortunately, he couldn't convert that to a win on the evening. It was Neil Robertson who came out on top. I think it's fair to say he's a player who's never looked completely comfortable playing with a shot clock but last night his performance was extremely controlled.
He was regularly running down into his five-second warning, but didn't ever rush. It was arguably the most comfortable performance of the Premier League campaign so far.
I don't know if he's been working on it but he looked excellent.
It was a great night to be involved in.
Really enjoyed it last night. Like you said though Paul the seating was a bit uncomfortable but that aside the night was flawless in a snooker respect.
ReplyDeleteI was in the front row wearing an Australian shirt in support of Robbo, it's fair to say I was in the minority!