The WineCellars North American Snooker Tour with Shaun Murphy
With the support and sponsorship of winecellars.com, we are excited to announce the first ever WineCellars North American Snooker Tour with Shaun Murphy. The tour consists of two Canadian clubs and two American clubs where Shaun will perform exhibitions. The exhibitions at each club will have Shaun play local players, take pictures, and sign autographs. The frames will be lighthearted, entertaining, educational, and inspiring. Snooker is rising in popularity in the US and rising once again in Canada. This tour aims to fan the flames and inspire current and new players across North America. OX Promotions, a division of OX Billiards organized the tour.
Shaun Murphy is known as “The Magician” because of his creative shots on the baize and uncanny ability to escape brutal snookers. His rookie season as a pro was in 1998 and he is currently a top 10 player ranked 6th in the world. He won the World Snooker Championships (WSC) in 2005 as a qualifier, which is an achievement that’s only been done two other times (Alex Higgins and Terry Griffiths). In 2015 Murphy completed his Triple Crown by winning the Masters. Triple Crown winners are players who have won the WSC, Masters, and the UK Championships. Murphy won the UK Championships in 2008.
The tour has its first stop on June 11th in Calgary, Alberta at The Ranchmen’s Club. The club is a beautiful private and historic social club committed to being a diverse community that enhances the business, family and social aspects of members’ lives. The club’s pro, Albert Kenny, just won the B.C. Open in Richmond B.C. in March, 2024 making it two years in a row. He and other members will play against Murphy. The history of the club and Albert’s presence makes The Ranchmen’s Club the hub of snooker in Calgary and a welcoming environment for Murphy.
On June 14th, Shaun will continue his Canadian journey and play at Star Snooker Club in Richmond, B.C. Eric Lee, the owner of Star hosted some early rounds of the B.C. Open along with the main club, Top 147. The demand for the tournament had outgrown the main venue, and Eric Lee stepped up to offer his club as a second venue. This is a good indicator that snooker is on the rise again in Canada as Tournament Director David Burney had to coordinate two clubs for the tourney. The B.C. area will be clamoring to see Shaun.
The first US tour stop will be June 16th at “the famed” OX Billiards, as Allison Fisher coined it. OX is located in Seattle, WA and is known for hosting top level snooker and pool pros, coaches, and tournaments. Shaun will play ten people in the underground industrial space that has seen the likes of Judd Trump, Ricky Walden, Luca Brecel, Bex Kenna, Mink, On Yee, Jeremy Jones, Allison Fisher, Darren Appleton, Tyler Styer, and more. OX is also home to the World Women’s Snooker US Women’s Snooker Open, Seattle Snooker Open, The Littman Lights Northwest Cup, and the Seattle Nineball Open. The Pacific Northwest is primed for the entertaining magic of Shaun Murphy.
The tour finale will be held June 18th at Embassy Billiards in San Gabriel, CA. Embassy recently held a very successful United States Snooker Association (USSA) National Snooker Championship. It was the largest USSA Nationals indicating that snooker is also on the rise in America. Steven Wong is the owner of Embassy and won his first USSA National Championship at OX in 2022. He has transformed snooker in the LA area for the better, and there is no doubt players will be beating down the door at the club for Shaun Murphy.
WineCellars.com has shown major support for snooker in the US and their sponsorship of this North American Snooker Tour with Shaun Murphy is vital to its success. They were also the 2023 sponsor of the WWS US Women’s Snooker Open and they sponsor the USSA. WineCellars.com has also put their support toward the first American to qualify for the World Snooker Tour, Ahmed Aly Elsayed. Without all the people behind the scenes, participating clubs, and companies like winecellars.com this tour would not happen.