Six-red snooker feature shorter frames, due to fewer red balls. Other formats are being considered as well. It was hoped that the format would revive the popularity of snooker as a spectator sport, in the same way Twenty20 has done to cricket. Jimmy White said that six-red snooker could be one way of helping boost the game's popularity. Ali Carter also said he would be interested in playing the format. The first international tournament in this format was contested in July 2008, with Ricky Walden defeating Stuart Bingham in the final. A six-red tournament was held during the 2009 World Snooker Championship
Sport in Northern Ireland sponsors, television channel Setanta Ireland. It is an all-island tournament, featuring twelve teams, six from the League of Ireland and six from the Irish League. Despite fairly low turn-outs for each jurisdiction's leagues, the Setanta Cup drew relatively successful gate receipts and in five editions has had one winner from Northern Ireland (Linfield in 2005). Northern Ireland's international team, despite a poor run of form in the late 1990s and first few years of the 21st century, and a corresponding slump in the FIFA World Rankings, enjoyed great success in the early and mid-1980s and recently had a revival in