Day 6 - Snooker is for crazy people

That is for sure. It's a mad game, frustrating, difficult one minute, easy the next, and lady luck plays a hand as well. My match with Finland's Jyri Virtanen didn't get off to the best of starts, the match venue was changed and I didn't get the message so had a wasted trip and back to the club venue. Not to worry, I don't think my game was all there and it was always going to be a hard match against a very strong opponent. I lost the match 3-0 despite two close opening frames. I was disappointed not to give Jryi a better match, and I told him in the bar later on I would appreciate the opportunity to play him again, who knows we may meet in the knock out stages at some point. This was my first time meeting Jyri and I like him, a good guy.

When I am not playing this week, we have been talking snooker either in the lobby or at the practice tables. We had a very lively discussion on Wednesday night together with a cool beer.  Peter, Nico, Bernard, Janie and others, about ways to make the game more accessible for players and more. It was an enjoyable way to pass the evening, and I have to say some really good suggestions were put forward by Janie, her knowledge of the game immense.

Jager Mojito - very nice, yes

While it is ALL snooker  for the majority of the time, we are allowed to leave the confines of the Dedeman Princess Hotel on occasion and yesterday we did just that. It was a balmy Saturday in Sofia, why not. John and I found another fantastic little restaurant in the city centre, called the Funky Kitchen which was very enjoyable, although there was no music. From there we had a cocktail or two in the Bar Flight which makes one of the nicest Jager Mojito's I have ever experienced (it was my first one) lol.

Back to the hotel and Oleg has arranged a party bus to take all the players to Student City in Sofia. As it is only 10.30pm we have 1 hour travel around  the city, with some sights and some drinks servered on board. Once we arrived it was clear that this is a place that never, ever sleeps. There are a wide variety of clubs for all music tastes, from traditional Bulgarian music, hip-hop, dance and jazz. We decided on the hip-hop as it was closest to the bus and we were only going to stay for one...like that was going to happen. Our evening finished (I think) at around 05.00am this morning, thankfully my match is not until later tonight. 

What a way to spend a Saturday evening in Sofia, a very memorable experience and one I would do again. Oleg, you are a legend. Thank you my friend.

Day 2 - Sports Minister breaks off

We had a VIP at the opening ceremoney today, Bulgaria's very own Sports Minister Svilen Neykov who 'broke off' to officailly anounce the start of this years European Snooker Championships.

Under no pressure whatsoever from the assembled press, in case your wondering no, he didn't miscue, although the cue ball did fail to reach the baulk cushion. It was a great start to the event though and a credit to the organising committee for securing such a high profile politician to officially open the tournament.

Svilen Neykov Bulgarian Minister of Physical Education and Sports tells the waiting press about the growth of snooker in Bulgaria, and outlines what  exactly went wrong with that break off.

My colleague John McIntyre has had a stressful days travel today, he couldn't make the trip yesterday as the flight was full, and instead had to travel on his own but thankfully made it ahead of his match with Darren Morgan of Wales. John lost 3-0 but it was a tough ask given just 30 mins to get prepared.

My tournament started at 5pm with a tough match against the gritty Marcel Bera from Romania. Marcel pots a lovely long ball and in truth I didn't give him enough respect, taking on too many 50-50 chances. He punished me like any good snooker player should. My 2-0 lead evaporated and he levelled at 2-2 before we were escorted off the table to make way for another match. The break was just what I needed, winning the decider comfortably.

John and I finished the evening with a glass or two of wine and some 'spag bol' before calling it a night. Another day over, just glad to get a win under my belt.