Lee Gorton is well known on the Whitchurch snooker scene and for the past two years he has managed the career of snooker player Ricky Walden. Now both are working together to launch a new snooker hall.

Gorton has been helping Walden move up in his snooker career and last October Walden bested Ronnie O’Sullivan to win the final of the Shanghai Masters. Walden had been using the Chester Snooker Centre to practice for the past year and when Gorton called him to let him know it was up for the taking he jumped right in.

Gorton commented: “When I got the call from the owners I phoned Ricky and he said it was a really good idea and that we should go for it. Ricky has got massive experience of playing in venues across the UK and I’m from a snooker background as well. I’ve been playing the sport since I was 13 and I’ve managed Ricky for two years. This is the next step for him, going into business. We’re all very excited and we feel we can make a real go of the place.”

The old Chester Snooker Centre will now be called the Q Bar and Walden will compete in an invitational exhibition to officially open the snooker hall on July 3rd.







- 2009-06-26