Clan-Members » three months or three years, or not at all, is irrelevant

Snookers governing body is not doing enough to encourage ethnic minorities to take up the sport, the games only black professional player has claimed.World No.52 Rory McLeod hit out at the lack of diversity at an amateur level and accused World Snooker of being more interested in the glamour of major events than growing the sports reach.What World Snooker are bothered about is the prize money and sponsors. That is it, McLeod told the BBC. You need black people in the snooker clubs for starters]Parents are pushing their children towards an education rather than telling them to be a professional snooker player.There is a lot of moving around in snooker, too. You have to travel and stay over at places. If you dont have money for that then you cant do it.There could be a lot more [black players] but the opportunities are not there. Most snooker players have money and support behind them, to have that in the snooker business for black people is not something that exists.McLeod, 45, spent a decade on a secondary tour on which another black player, John Clouden, also appeared in 1994 and 1995, but snooker is yet to see any other black professionals.World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association chairman Jason Ferguson defended his organisations record of promoting the sport and insisted snooker was working hard to improve participation levels outside snookers heartland.We have equal opportunities in the sport and there are no boundaries for participation, he said. If you are good enough, you can make it on the tour.We need to reach out to those areas in the world that we are not yet there. Africa is one of those we are working on right now. Petr Cech Jersey . Brandon Morrow allowed five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. 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Ive seen plenty of world champions go -- and in some cases, come back again -- but never have I witnessed a departure like this one.The world of F1 media spent Friday reeling as schedules, plans and programmes were swept aside by the news from Vienna. No one saw it coming. In a business driven by rumour accelerated into inaccurate fact by social media, there had not been a single suggestion that Nico Rosberg would make the trophy he craved most his last.The new world champions exhausted state in the Abu Dhabi media centre on Sunday evening said two things. Here was an indication of the intense pressure, not just during the final 10 laps as his lifes work had come under a threat he could do little about, but of a mental battle that had actually begun with recovery from the crushing defeat by Lewis Hamilton in the U.S. Grand Prix in September 2015.And despite the appearance of fatigue, there was a feeling that once the relief of finally achieving that dream had been realised over the coming hours and days, Rosberg was going to march into 2017 more confident than before with the crown on his head and the monkey off his back.As it turns out, the one thought in his mind was getting back his life with his wife sitting quietly and happily among the journalists in the audience. Vivian knew he was likely to retire. But no one else had an inkling at that stage. Not even his father as I later chatted to Keke and recalled Las Vegas 34 years before when the first Rosberg name went on the championship trophy his boy had just won the right to hold.Keke knew all about the stress Nico had been under earlier that evening. He was familiar with the fallacy of not needing to win and only score points supposedly making the race comparatively straightforward. In Las Vegas, Keke onlyy required two more points; fifth place being good enough on 25 September 1982.ddddddddddddou cant believe how difficult that is, Keke recalled. There were concrete walls all round that stupid track and you were afraid of someone doing something stupid and pushing you into one. Your nerves are raw. Mario [Andretti] had a suspension failure and [his Ferrari] nearly hit me. That would have been it. Championship gone! I could hardly watch the last few laps today. I knew exactly what Nico was going through. Now he can enjoy himself next year. Hes earned it after a season like this one.Nico, a man very much at ease in his own skin, was soon to decide that he had earned the right to something else. Whether he regrets that in three months or three years, or not at all, is irrelevant. It was a brave decision, one that will later spare us the frequent discomfort of watching a former champion continue to fight the passing of years as well as hungry competitors almost half his age.Rosberg, in turn, will not have any concern over the easy but inevitable social media sneers about a championship won only because of Lewiss bad luck. The championship was over 21 races, the winner being the driver with the most points. Luck does play a part; Keke will admit that. But there is no asterisk listing caveats by his name on the championship trophy. And there will be none against the winner 34 places higher on the silverware.Lewis Hamilton may be the fastest man out there, but Nico Rosberg is the 2016 world champion. He applied himself and worked exceptionally hard for it. He deserves that accolade just as much as respect for making such a dignified exit. ' ' '