About

Chris Gaynor in action at Woking Snooker Centre in Surrey, UK

What is SnookerZone?

SnookerZone is a site designed to create interest in the game of snooker and get people to give this wonderful game a try.

Our aim is to…

Advise,
Educate,
Review,
And have the odd bit of fun, too.

How SnookerZone Came About: That Lightbulb Moment!…

From a very early age, I’ve loved snooker. It all started when my parents got me an 8ft table in my early teens and had it in the garage, initially, (nothing surprising there).

Then I became hooked on playing it in a small games room after the table was moved out of the garage! I soon became hooked on playing and watching it. One of my early memories was watching Nigel Bond win his ranking title at the 1996 British Open whilst playing in the Games Room!

As you imagine, life got in the way for a few years but you never fall out of love with the game! Anyway, I’ve always dreamed of having a snooker website but didn’t want to just set one up and be just another run-of-the-mill snooker blog reporting on the pro game!

Whilst searching for products to help improve my game, I realized! There’s no-one online doing full reviews of products and showing and telling people what’s going on with them!

And then, last year, I was invited to the South West Academy in Gloucester by a Michael Waring of Snookerhub fame, to do some reporting on the English Association of Snooker and Billiards English Amateur Championship, and, after one eventful evening of discussion about where the game was going and what gaps there were in the online space, SnookerZone was born!

We’re based in Surrey, UK, but with BIG ambitions for the website.

How SnookerZone Can Help You…

Here at SnookerZone, we provide you with all the information on the products in one place, with detailed promotional reviews and explanation tutorials on how each product works and the pros and cons.With the site, you won’t need to hunt around the net to find the products. They will be all in one place, a dictionary of snooker products–with news and reviews.

Small Gesture, Big Heart…

We just want to see more people enjoy this great game! And for youngsters to be able to try it out and become lovers of the game!

Part of this is to help organisations have access to products, they might not know where to get. We donated chalk to a children’s group in Scotland. Every little donation helps to be able to help people grow this great game. See tweet of thanks from the Children’s Wood below…

Thanks to @chrisgaynor2 for donating chalk to our youth club. We can get a game of snooker tomorrow night! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/ymxQOh1hBC

— The Children’s Wood (@childrens_wood) 3 February 2019

The SnookerZone Mission Statement.

There are four key principles that SnookerZone prides itself on…

Identifying the problems you may be having as a starter snooker player…
Informing you on what products are available that will be able to help improve your game…
Advise you on what products may suit your game…
And, educating you on these products so that the end result is your game improves faster AND you gain confidence, much like ours have…

In summary, from this website you’ll:

Get reviews of the latest products on the market plus information about old ones
Receive news about the latest products coming…
Get to know some of snooker’s best coaches through exclusive Q&A chats in the Coaching Zone
Be kept up to date with what’s going on in this sub-niche of snooker…

About the SnookerZone writer

Chris Gaynor enjoying himself! And he got to get his hands on Snooker’s oldest trophy since 1916 at the English Amateur finals weekend in Gloucester in 2018 as a writer for Blasting News.

GENERAL LIFE CV TO DATE

Chris Gaynor, 41, is a writer/journalist with up to 15 years experience writing for the web on various publications, including the Surrey Advertiser, Woking News and Mail et al. His writing has also been in the High Court used as evidence in an Employment Tribunal featured on The-Latest.com. He also has National Council Training Journalism certificates (the industry standard qualification), a PGDip in Law at Holborn College, and a degree in English and Creative Studies at Portsmouth University.

One of his favorite stories he wrote many moons ago when shadowing a reporter at The Surrey Advertiser who let him do the story, was a story about a couple celebrating their long marriage, and the question he asked, was, what was the secret to a successful union? Their response was quite simple: a partnership between two people is based on not just love, but trust, compromise, and accepting and loving them for who they are, warts and all.

Chris has worked in a Legal Firm in New Malden called Lyons Davidson Solicitors where he was a LAW COSTS DRAFTSMAN helping as part of a team to cost bills for the clients.

He has also had work experience at THE HAYMARKET PUBLISHING GROUP in London, where he did a brief stint on helping the team out at Inside Soap behind the scenes as a runner.

He has interviewed a BBC employee in journalism, and a talented musician, and written many scoops, including one on UFOs.

Chris has travelled to various countries around the world, including Australia, and parts of Europe, and has been to many places in the UK. His favorite country is Italy, and he loves Curry and Italian Food. He has been a fan of snooker since a young lad and has watched the World Championships avidly.

He also engaged in some work experience in Romania, working in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Brasov, where he had the opportunity to write about Dracula Castle (Bran Castle) in a small village outside of Brasov, called Bran. It was an eye-opener crossing the fields and seeing how people lived in that small village.

Chris has also experienced a wide variety of life, from sleeping on trains in Europe with a friend, to experiencing luxury hotels and food from potato soup in Romania, to luxury Fish soup in Sirmione,Italy.

All these experiences as well as other life experiences, both good and traumatic, shape a person and create an all-rounded person who appreciates the little things as well as the big things.

He loves CSI, Crime Scene Investigation. He loves films and one of his favourite films, there are many, is with the actor DENZEL WASHINGTON – DEJAVU and American Gangster. He likes the film Chef.

He also works as a team with his family role doing administration and helping out with technology issues and as a general secretary at home.

DREAMS…

To travel one day to JAPAN. To fly in a Helicopter, and, of course, to see more snooker events and potentially win a local tournament, hopefully at his home club, Woking. Seeing an exhibition or two in the future at Woking would be great!

SNOOKER LIFE…

In his snooker, he has interviewed top players, including Neil Robertson at The Ice Video Game Conference in London in 2018, Joe Perry, Joe O’Connor at Gloucester, and a feast of top amateurs and players at a local level and on some of the Amateur Tours such as the World Women’s Snooker Tour, which he feels needs more promotion. He has interviewed Jasmine Bolsover at his home club Woking.

SnookerZone has covered the Snooker Legends 900 Seasons 1 and 2.

PLAYING SNOOKER LIFE SO FAR…

He has reached the semi-finals of the Handicap tournament at the Woking club where he was two blackballs away from playing the Woking star Jasmine Bolsover in the handicap final. He has been a proud member since 2015.
He has played in the Cuestars Seniors Over 40s, twice, where he almost won three matches off scratch.
He has played in the 2023 Bob Mason Open and almost won a match there.
He plays regularly in the tournaments at Woking.

His favourite player is MARK WILLIAMS and is enjoying the Mark Williams rest featured in the Snooker Legends 900. A very innovative piece of equipment by the three-time World Champion.

In fact, WILLIAMS, JIMMY WHITE, STEPHEN HENDRY, et al, are the quintessential role models of why you should keep going and never give up regardless of what age you are and what level in the game.

He has been to see snooker at The Crucible, The Masters, and at small venues, including the Surrey Snooker Academy in West Byfleet, and has seen exhibitions at the Walton Snooker Centre in Hersham, where he saw Jimmy White with a friend, and has also seen the English Amateur Championship in Gloucester in 2018 (see pic).

Finally, he brings his individual passion, enthusiasm, and desire to help promote amateur snooker in any way he can through SnookerZone and beyond.

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU ALL…

Well done to everyone who tries out this great game and tries to see how far they can go in it. It’s not always about the winning or the losing, it’s about the learning. Snooker, and, indeed, sport, can teach you so many lessons that can shape your present and future life.

And congratulations to those who appear on TV in snooker and give it a go in the 900. SnookerZone may try out in the qualifiers next season.

WHAT SNOOKER HAS TAUGHT CHRIS GAYNOR SO FAR…

LEARN, LEARN, LEARN from every win, every loss, and when you do win, whether it’s a tournament or even just a match, or even a frame, continue to stay humble and respect everyone you play regardless of their ability or talent. Leave your ego at the door, ALWAYS.

And, above all else, ENJOY IT!

Finally, and very finally, it goes back to the old cliche, KEEP BELIEVING IN YOURSELF. YOU ARE ENOUGH. YOU ARE WORTH IT. AND YOU ARE GOING TO ACHIEVE WHAT YOU SET OUT.

Thanks

SnookerZone writer Chris Gaynor