The Snooker Shoot Out is back in Blackpool this week for the first time since 2015, with the Tower Circus likely to serve up a raucous atmosphere.
The unique event on the snooker calendar sees one-frame matches played with a time limit of 10 minutes and under a shot clock.
Not only is the game itself different, but the atmosphere could not be more contrasting to the studious silence of a ‘normal’ snooker match.
The crowd can be vocal throughout, with fans shouting and chanting during matches, creating – for snooker – a seriously rowdy atmosphere.
The players are in comfortably close enough proximity to hear what the fans say and former professional Anthony Hamilton recalls one particular comment which has stuck with him.
Not only was the abuse from the crowd memorable, but it was all part of a very stressful day for the Sheriff of Pottingham in 2012.
‘It was one of the early Shoot Outs when we used to play at the Blackpool Tower. Brilliant place, it was,’ recalled Hamilton.
‘I never do this, I never travel on the day of a snooker match but because it was the Shoot Out and I wasn’t playing till about 7.30pm I thought, sod it I’ll go up in the morning from London to Blackpool. Its a long way, but it’s only the Shoot Out so who cares?
‘I get in the car, do about 40-50 miles. Next think I know I see a copper behind me with the lights on telling me to pull over. I thought it was weird because I wasn’t speeding. It turned out I had no insurance!
‘I thought I definitely had insurance, it was only like 300 quid a year! But he said I hadn’t, I’m driving without insurance.
‘So he takes the car, leaves me and my friend on the side of the road, on the M1 on the hard shoulder near Northampton and we’ve got to get to Blackpool.
‘I phoned the tournament director and told him I was stuck in Northampton and asked what happens if I don’t make it to Blackpool? He said it’s a £1,000 fine and I’ll forfeit my £500 guaranteed money. So I’ve got to get there!
‘So taxi into Northampton, to catch a train to Leeds, to catch another train to Blackpool, then another taxi to the venue. I get there without about three minutes to spare before my match against Jimmy White.
‘I was getting changed in the taxi, still sweating, I break off in the frame and somebody shouts at me: “You fat c**t!”
‘I’m thinking, this is not the best day that I’ve ever had in my life. What a lovely day!’
Hamilton actually one that frame against the Whirlwind and did have success at the Shoot Out, reaching two quarter-finals before his retirement earlier this year.
On the uniquely chaotic experience of the Shoot Out, he said: ‘I love-hate it.
‘We all love the idea of it till we do it and then we get very nervous when playing out there.
‘The amount of adrenaline you’ve got running through your body during that frame is more than you’ve ever experienced as a snooker player. It’s absolutely mad.’
The 2025 edition gets underway on Wednesday afternoon, with a winner crowned on Saturday night in Blackpool.
Snooker Shoot Out draw and schedule
Wednesday December 10
First Round
1pm
Ethan Llewellyn vs Yao Pengcheng
Steve Wardropper vs Florian Nuble
Stuart Carrington vs Zhao Hanyang
Lan Yuhao vs Joel Connolly
Michael Holt vs Ashley Hugill
Chatchapong Nasa vs Stan Moody
Mark Davis vs Pang Junxu
Jiang Jun vs Robbie McGuigan
Mateusz Baranowski vs Ken Doherty
David Lilley vs Ali Carter
Martin O’Donnell vs Tom Ford
Ricky Walden vs Ryan Davies
Dylan Emery vs Mitchell Mann
Leone Crowley vs Amir Sarkhosh
Zhang Anda vs Julien Leclercq
Long Zehuang vs Luca Brecel
7pm
Joe O’Connor vs Duane Jones
Haydon Pinhey vs Allan Taylor
Ishpreet Singh Chadha vs Dean Young
Iulian Boiko vs Hatem Yassen
Shaun Murphy vs Patrick Whelan
Xu Yichen vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Ashley Carty vs Bulcsu Revesz
Elliot Slessor vs Louis Heathcote
David Gilbert vs Matthew Stevens
Mahmoud El Hareedy vs Gary Wilson
Jimmy Robertson vs Matthew Selt
Ben Woollaston vs Ben Mertens
Chris Wakelin vs Zhou Yuelong
Sanderson Lam vs Jonas Luz
Fergal Quinn vs Jordan Brown
Umut Dikme vs Ryan Day
Thursday December 11
1pm
Wu Yize vs Marco Fu
Cheung Ka Wai vs Liam Graham
Noppon Saengkham vs Xu Si
Chang Bingyu vs Liam Pullen
Lyu Haotian vs Fan Zhengyi
Michael Szubarczyk vs Jamie Jones
Wang Yuchen vs Kaylan Patel
Jak Jones vs Huang Jiahao
Ng On-yee vs Mark Allen
Ross Muir vs Zhao Xintong
Jackson Page vs Lei Peifan
Riley Powell vs Daniel Wells
Yuan Sijun vs Gong Chenzhi
Mohammed Shehab vs Reanne Evans
Artemijs Zizins vs Vladislav Gradinari
Ellise Scott vs Bai Yulu
7pm
Oliver Lines vs Mark Lloyd
Daniel Womersley vs Alexander Ursenbacher
Sam Craigie vs Si Jiahui
Stephen Maguire vs Farakh Ajaib
Hossein Vafaei vs Haris Tahir
Robert Milkins vs Liu Hongyu
Aaron Hill vs Liu Wenwei
Ian Burns vs Liam Highfield
Stuart Bingham vs Jack O’Brien
Oliver Brown vs Jimmy White
Antoni Kowalski vs Sahil Nayyar
Gao Yang vs Steven Hallworth
Zak Surety vs Kreishh Gurbaxani
Chris Totten vs Connor Benzey
Liam Davies vs Anthony McGill
He Guoqiang vs David Grace
Friday December 12
1pm
Round two
7pm
Round two
Saturday December 13
Finals day
