SNOOKER STARS HEADING FOR EDINBURGH

Defending champion Stephen Lee will be joined by snooker’s top players at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh in April for the 2003 Regal Scottish.

The World Snooker ranking event, which carries prize money of Ł597,200, begins on April 5 and concludes with the best-of-17 frames final on April 13. The tournament will be televised by Sky Sports, with coverage starting on April 7.
Tickets for the event go on sale on February 24.

Last season’s Regal Scottish, held at the Exhibition and Conference Centre in Aberdeen, produced a series of shock results, with Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Williams, John Higgins, Ken Doherty and Paul Hunter all knocked out before the quarter-finals.

Lee, from Trowbridge in Wiltshire, came from 5-1 down to beat Nigel Bond 6-5 in the semis then enjoyed a 9-2 thrashing of David Gray – playing in his first final – to take the title and the Ł82,500 first prize.

“I played some very good snooker on my way to the final, particularly in knocking out Steve Davis and Jimmy White and coming back to beat Nigel Bond,” said 28-year-old Lee. “It’s not often you play an inexperienced player like David Gray in the final so I had to take my chance to win it.

“The crowds are always excellent in Scotland. I haven’t been to the new venue in Edinburgh but I’m sure the support will be just as good as it was in Aberdeen.”

Lee was snooker’s most consistent player last season, winning the LG Cup and Regal Scottish and gathering more ranking points than any other player. He has found success harder to come by this term and has won just three matches in the first four ranking events.

“I have been practising just as hard as I was last season but I seem to keep coming up against people playing out of their skin,” said Lee. “There’s not much you can do when that happens – you just have to sit in your chair and hope that your luck changes.

“A few of the other top players, including Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins, have also been struggling this season – it does happen in this game.

“My main target at the start was to defend one of the titles I won last season. I didn’t manage that in the LG Cup so I will be trying hard to win the Regal Scottish again.”

Ben Chambers - 25/2/2003