The Paralympic Games is a popular event, and snooker was on the agenda from 1960 to 1988. It did not feature in the 1980 games, however. Now Mickey Chambers, a disability snooker champion, is petitioning for the sport to be reinstated as soon as possible. This wish is also backed by the World Disability Billiards and Snooker governing body, who have confirmed that their long-term vision includes getting snooker back into the Paralympic games.
Bring Snooker Back
As NDIS providers on the Gold Coast, we understand how important it is for anyone with a disability to be able to identify with athletes at all levels. Snooker is just as important as any other sport, and for many people, including Chambers, it has given them a chance to be involved in something they love. Speaking on BBC Essex’s podcast Framed, Chambers said, “The Paralympics is ultimately where we want to be. We do have some professional players who are ambassadors, for example, Shaun Murphy, who’s very keen on helping us try to promote the sport and get Paralympic status, which would be great. Ultimately, everybody does want us to get us back there, and I’m sure the more we keep doing – and what we’re doing at the moment is amazing anyway – then we will be there as quickly as possible.”
The Chance to Play at the Crucible
The Crucible is the holy grail of snooker venues, and Mickey Chambers said that when he last played there in 2019, although he lost to Daniel Blunn as part of a Disability Tour Championships, the experience of playing at the crucible was unbelievable. Chambers has a love for all sports and also played in the England football amputee team at an international level. He is a left-leg amputee, and although he has since retired from his international career, he does still play domestically for the Arsenal team and Wisla Kraków, which is a Polish team. Although snooker does not currently feature at the Paralympics, there are lots of tournaments, and he has an impressive 11 wins under his belt.
Changes in Sport
Part of the reason that Chambers decided to leave football was that he felt that his body was struggling. Snooker is less demanding on the physical body, and he also spoke of his desire to let younger players step up and make their mark in the disability football scene. It has been a long career as he first debuted for the English team in 2004 when they took on Brazil. He was player of the year three times and, in his last World Cup outing, scored 11 goals in five of his games. There are certainly plenty of snooker games to focus his attention on, including the upcoming Belgian open and looking further ahead to tournaments in Ireland and Germany. While he enjoys all of these outings, he and many others in the game will continue to campaign to see snooker returned to the Paralympics as soon as possible.