Ebdon's Fit Enough To Take On World
Ebdon's Fit Enough To Take On World
The World Snooker Championship can seem to go on forever. The tournament, which enters its sixth day today, will not finish until Monday, May 7.
Players find it difficult to maintain concentration with long days to fill between matches. The 2002 champion Peter Ebdon, now a Dubai resident, won his first-round match 10-7 against Nigel Bond last Sunday night, but doesn't begin his second-round match against either Stephen Lee or Mark Selby until this Sunday.
The players have different ways of combating the boredom. Seven-time champion Stephen Hendry, will go through his practice routines and then chill out in the press room, watching matches while sharing a joke with journalists.
Some stay in their hotel rooms. Others, who don't live 5,500km away like Ebdon, just go home.
Ebdon likes to get away from the claustrophobic atmosphere of the Crucible Theatre, venue for the championship for the past 30 years, to practise elsewhere.
Until recently that meant a trip to a dingy local snooker club, where there might be a decent table – if you could find it through the cigarette smoke.
That has all changed since the World Snooker Academy was opened last year at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield's Don Valley, a short taxi ride from the Crucible.
The academy has eight championship standard tables in sound-proofed rooms – and no bars or ashtrays.
“The image of snooker is changing,'' academy director Keith Warren told BBC Sport. “The academy is what the game needs. This is snooker for athletes.''
Ebdon, who has lived in Dubai with his wife Deborah and children Ruby May, Ethan, Tristan and Clarissa since 2005, epitomises the new image.
His preparation for this year's World Championship has been second to none. He left Dubai nearly a month ago to practise with sparring partner, China's rising star Ding Junhui, at the academy. He also makes full use of the institute's gym and pool facilities to stay supremely fit, which, according to Ebdon, is a key to success in this marathon. “The conditions are fantastic – as good as you would find in a ranking tournament,'' he said.
“I try to peak for Sheffield. I'm as fit as at any time in my career,'' said the 36-year-old, who swims a mile every day to build the stamina required for the 17-day slog. “I feel good. I've been here for weeks, practising a lot. I find it quite hard to practise on my own, it can be boring. I much prefer playing best of nine against someone in a match situation.''
Other Side Of Ebdon
- Ebdon is an expert on equine breeding.
- He studied Latin and Ancient Greek at school.
- He is a devotee of Napoleon Hill's classic motivational book Think and Grow Rich and presented a copy to each of 116 pupils at the school he attended as a teenager, Highbury Grove in north London.
- Passionate about music, Ebdon played the oboe at school.
- He has sung on two pop singles.
- Peter Ebdon and his family moved to Dubai in 2005 and he loves it. “It's a fantastic lifestyle there and a much safer environment for the children to grow up in,'' he said.
World Championship
Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England
Dates: April 21-May 7
Length of matches: Best of 19 frames (1st round) up to best of 35 (final).
Prize money Winner: £220,000
Runner-Up: £110,000
Losing Semi Finalists: £42,000
Losing Quarter Finalists: £22,000
Last 16: £14,000
Last 32: £10,600
High Break: £10,000
Maximum 147 break: £147,000
You can watch live coverage of all matches on the internet at www.bbc.co.uk/sport
