A few months back, the international governing body for snooker (aptly named World Snooker) announced a new tournament for the pro-circuit - The Indian Open, to be held in New Delhi in the month of October. For the first time ever, a tournament carrying ranking points would be taking place in India !! Immediately I decided that I had to attend it, despite knowing that Ronnie was not going to show up.
Cut to October 14th, day 1 of the tournament. Despite all the ads in the newspapers, I have not been able to find any information about ticket purchases so I show up without one. As I walk down the corridors towards the main playing area I see many faces that I recognize - most of them are ranked within the top 16 in the world! It's quite a humbling experience to be surrounded by all these people, knowing just how good they are at what they do!
Finally I spot a ticket counter, right at the entrance to the main playing hall. I readily pay Rs.1,500/-, for a ticket that allows me to watch all the matches on that day. I see that at 4 o'clock Neil Robertson has a match scheduled. Now me let explain something about Neil Robertson. He is currently ranked world number 1, is a former world champion and my favourite player after Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has a rapid playing style & pots some incredible long shots. In short, he totally kicks ass!! Although the match was at 4 p.m., I decide to quickly wrap up lunch and grab a seat early. So by 2:45 I enter the main playing hall and seat myself in the first row. I am the only spectator to arrive so early :) :) I then wait patiently for 75 minutes as the table is ratified by the officials and the hall starts to fill up. Some official is trying to reserve a few first row seats for some VIP guests but he doesn't bother me. There is no way I am going to relinquish my seat even if he asks me!
Cut to 4 p.m. and the players are introduced. I am sitting not ten feet from the table and just five feet from the players. I see the breaks offs, the safety exchanges, the pots, the expressions, the cluster openers, the snooker attempt, the misses and it just blows me away. I can hear all the subtle sounds and feel the atmosphere which is something TV/YouTube can never convey. I can see that his opponent is a brilliant player but Robertson beats him effortlessly - such is the difference between the top few and the rest of the pros. By the time it's over, Neil Robertson has won 4-1 making three century breaks along the way !! What a treat!! Not to be immodest, but there is a certain amount of proficiency you need to acquire in any game/sport before you can really begin to appreciate the subtle touches & nuances that the pros display. But once you do, then watching a world class player live is really an experience to be relished.
Being a keen player and aficionado, I have followed the game online for many years, but watching it in person was just something else. If you follow a particular sport or player and have not seen a world class match live, I would strongly recommend that you put it high up on your list. It's worth the money, trust me! Neil Robertson is the current world number 1 and pure class. Watching him play blew my mind away. But more than that, it has given me a glimpse into the madness of live watching. I now realize that I cannot even begin to imagine how crazily fantastically insanely awesomely brilliant it would be to watch the mad genius Ronnie O'Sullivan playing in the flesh... I have to plan a Europe trip soon.
Cut to October 14th, day 1 of the tournament. Despite all the ads in the newspapers, I have not been able to find any information about ticket purchases so I show up without one. As I walk down the corridors towards the main playing area I see many faces that I recognize - most of them are ranked within the top 16 in the world! It's quite a humbling experience to be surrounded by all these people, knowing just how good they are at what they do!
Finally I spot a ticket counter, right at the entrance to the main playing hall. I readily pay Rs.1,500/-, for a ticket that allows me to watch all the matches on that day. I see that at 4 o'clock Neil Robertson has a match scheduled. Now me let explain something about Neil Robertson. He is currently ranked world number 1, is a former world champion and my favourite player after Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has a rapid playing style & pots some incredible long shots. In short, he totally kicks ass!! Although the match was at 4 p.m., I decide to quickly wrap up lunch and grab a seat early. So by 2:45 I enter the main playing hall and seat myself in the first row. I am the only spectator to arrive so early :) :) I then wait patiently for 75 minutes as the table is ratified by the officials and the hall starts to fill up. Some official is trying to reserve a few first row seats for some VIP guests but he doesn't bother me. There is no way I am going to relinquish my seat even if he asks me!
Cut to 4 p.m. and the players are introduced. I am sitting not ten feet from the table and just five feet from the players. I see the breaks offs, the safety exchanges, the pots, the expressions, the cluster openers, the snooker attempt, the misses and it just blows me away. I can hear all the subtle sounds and feel the atmosphere which is something TV/YouTube can never convey. I can see that his opponent is a brilliant player but Robertson beats him effortlessly - such is the difference between the top few and the rest of the pros. By the time it's over, Neil Robertson has won 4-1 making three century breaks along the way !! What a treat!! Not to be immodest, but there is a certain amount of proficiency you need to acquire in any game/sport before you can really begin to appreciate the subtle touches & nuances that the pros display. But once you do, then watching a world class player live is really an experience to be relished.
Being a keen player and aficionado, I have followed the game online for many years, but watching it in person was just something else. If you follow a particular sport or player and have not seen a world class match live, I would strongly recommend that you put it high up on your list. It's worth the money, trust me! Neil Robertson is the current world number 1 and pure class. Watching him play blew my mind away. But more than that, it has given me a glimpse into the madness of live watching. I now realize that I cannot even begin to imagine how crazily fantastically insanely awesomely brilliant it would be to watch the mad genius Ronnie O'Sullivan playing in the flesh... I have to plan a Europe trip soon.
I can understand what you went through: witnessing the sport in flesh and blood. For having pushed you into this 'silly sport' (in your words- once upon a time), I am really proud of what has evolved since then.. ;)
ReplyDeleteI am so grateful to you for that man!! All I can say is - Hee Hee Hee :D :D
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