Imagine...
Watching more than one hundred of the World's best Snooker players all in one venue?
Getting up close and personal with your favourites...
Soaking up the atmosphere of high quality drama that unfolds between two players playing on a 12ft by 6ft snooker table, live, where anything can happen!
If you struggle to get tickets each year for snooker's holy grail of venues such as The Crucible, currently going on, then you should go and Watch live snooker up close and personal at qualifying events next season.
Qualifying events offer the perfect solution to this conundrum.
Here's 6 great reasons why you should consider your next snooker outing to a qualifier.
The Advantages
1) More Snooker to Watch
With over 100 players to watch on view, it's like being in a chocolate factory and having access to all the candy.
You will experience first hand the amount of talent being paraded on show at qualifying events and you will see a mixture of up and coming talent as well as the veterans of the game in action.
You'll get a chance to see talent emerge such as Lyu Haotian, the 20-year-old currently in his debut at the Crucible now, and, who amazingly breezed past Marco Fu in the first round at The Crucible making currently made two debut centuries along the way (see video above).
Or how about watching a veteran like Jimmy White compete and still mix it with the best such as Joe Perry, who also came through qualifying this time and comfortably beat the World Number One Mark Selby at the weekend!
Or, how about watching live a player like Liang Wenbo miss out on making snooker history and the drama of almost making two 147s in the same match at the EIS.
Be a part of the action and feel like you are in the match!
2) Meet the Players
If you go and watch a qualifying event in either Barnsley, Wigan, Preston, or Sheffield, you will be so close to the action, you can almost touch the players with your hands!
In fact, the quality of being able to see the action up close means you can see the incredible technique of the players, as well as the action of the table itself.
Feel Part of the Action
This is something that big sporting venues cannot offer - barring The Crucible which is a very "intimate" venue from some of the other main sporting venues.
And the Crucible must be on your bucket list if you are a true snooker fan!
3) Price and Availability
Having been to Ponds Forge and the English Institute Of Sport venues in Sheffield for the World Qualifiers, I can say the price for taking a trip to a qualifying event is well worth it.
For £11 general admission to the World qualifiers, you can watch as much or as little snooker as you like and effectively, watch it all day and all night.
The general admission ticket is for all day and there are also offers for a three day ticket which saves you a few pounds if you decide to go for three days or more.
Who wouldn't want to stay to see your favourite player qualify for the Crucible or indeed see a new player make his debut at the Crucible by qualifying?
4) Venues Close to Hotels
Venues such as Ponds Forge International Sports Centre and the English Institute of Sport are within walking distance of hotels in the area.
In fact, the English Institute of Sport, which held this year's World Championship qualifiers are within walking distance of a Premier Inn and an Ibis budget hotel which offer deals on half board and full board.
Book in advance to be guaranteed a room.
If you can't get tickets to go to the Crucible, then watching live snooker at the World qualifiers is an alternative and a great experience.
5) Meet Like Minded Snooker Fans
Going to qualifying events you will meet like-minded snooker fans and be able to communicate with them about the beautiful game and maybe even exchange emails or numbers to meet up for a game or two in the future.
6) Learn from the Best
Are you a budding snooker player? Then being able to see live snooker up close and observe players and their shot selection as well as their technique can really aid your learning experience of the game.
Watch carefully how players approach a shot and observe how they behave around the table, and take what you learn and try to implement into your own game!
Finally, enjoy the experience and see you next season at one of the qualifiers!
Keep an eye on the World Snooker website for details of next season's qualifying events.