Premier League Dates Announced
MATCHROOM SPORT have announced the schedule for the 2009 PartyPoker.com Premier League.
The matches get underway on September 3 and will once again be screened live on Thursdays by Sky Sports, and ends with the final on November 29.
Ronnie O'Sullivan defends his title and kicks off his campaign on the opening night at the Penrith Leisure Centre in Cumbria against Marco Fu from Hong Kong. Neil Robertson and Judd Trump, who won the Championship League to qualify will contest the other match.
The competition features seven of the greatest stars in the game contesting for one of snooker’s most prestigious invitational events.
The Premier League, now in its 24th year is the only major snooker tournament played using a league format.
There will be two matches per fixture (except in Llandudno on November 19) and each match is played over six frames. The players will be awarded two points for a win and a point for a 3-all draw. Following the round robin section of play, the top four players will qualify for the play-offs in November at the Potters Leisure Resort in Norfolk.
Six of the current top ten in the world rankings are taking part including world number one O'Sullivan, who has won the Premier League an impressive eight times, and current World Champion John Higgins.
Shaun Murphy, who Higgins beat in the Crucible final in April, returns to the event for the first time since 2005, while former winner Fu is also back after a resurgence in form saw him move up to eighth in the rankings.
Seven-time World Champion Stephen Hendry is also included, Australian Neil Robertson will be making his second appearance in the Premier League, while Trump qualified through the ultra-competitive Championship League earlier his year.
2009 PartyPoker.com Premier League Snooker
(all events run from 7.30pm to 11pm apart from the one in Llandudno on November 19. This begins at 6pm and finishes at 11pm)
Full schedule here...
