Five-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan has "compared snooker to a 'car boot sale' when put alongside other sports, which he said felt more like shopping at luxury department stores." The Englishman "cruised" into the UK Championship fourth round before giving a "frank opinion" of the image snooker possesses. O'Sullivan said, "Snooker has become a nothing-type sport, but it's still great. They're just putting so much of it out there, it's just cheap TV and a filler for other programs -- snooker has lost respect amongst other sports. You watch Formula One and you see beautiful-looking people. You look at snooker and you think, 'God.' It costs £5 ($6.25) to get in at some of the qualifying events and see a top-class player -- it's like a car boot sale whereas their sports are like shopping at Harrods" (REUTERS, 11/29).
The Int'l Hockey Federation (FIH) on Monday "disallowed the Pakistan team to participate in Men's Hockey Junior World Cup 2016," which is being held in India from Dec. 8-18, over Pakistan Hockey Federation's "inability to meet the deadlines." FIH on Monday invited the Malaysian junior men's team to take part in the event, replacing Pakistan, "even though the green shirts had officially qualified." The int'l body termed it "PHF's fault as it failed to submit visa applications for Pakistani delegation before the official deadline and it's inability to confirm the delegation's accommodation venue before the deadline" (DAWN, 11/29).
The Japan Volleyball League Organization said Tuesday "it will extend the deadline until the end of the year for teams to nominate to join the new Super League." The JVLO said on Sept. 20 the plan for the professional league -- scheduled to start in the fall of '18 -- "will go ahead if six or more teams express their intent to participate" (KYODO, 11/29).
