Shropshire cueman Adrian Gunnell will not only have to climb from his sickbed for his return to televised snooker this weekend – he will also have to battle against the clock.

Gunnell heads to Blackpool for the Snooker Shoot Out, a new one-frame knockout tournament which features all the world’s leading stars.

It is set to be a fast and furious format, with special rules including a time limit being imposed on frames and every shot.

But Gunnell’s preparations for the event have been undermined after he spent much of last week bed bound suffering from pleurisy.

“When I went out to practice on Monday it was the first time I had left the house for a week,” said the 38-year-old.

“I haven’t been good but hopefully I’m over the worst of it now.”

The inaugural Shoot Out is part of attempts by new snooker supremo Barry Hearn to re-invigorate the sport.

Each frame will last a maximum of 10 minutes. If the frame is not complete, the player with the most points at that stage will progress to the next round.

The shot clock will give players a 20 second limit for the first five minutes of the frame, with that reduced to 15 seconds for the remainder of the rack.

Either a cushion must be hit or a ball potted on every shot, while all fouls will allow the opponent to place the cue ball anywhere on the table.

The random draw has pitted Gunnell against David Morris in the first round, a game which will be staged on Saturday afternoon.

And, while the Telford-based world No 51 isn’t overly-enthusiastic about the format, he admits it makes for a wide-open tournament.

“It’s okay as long as you don’t take it too seriously,” he added.

“It’s not really my cup of tea but it’s only one tournament and there are no ranking points on it.

“I actually think it might encourage people to be a bit defensive. If they get 30 points up with five minutes left, they might just shut up shop to make sure they win.

“It will be interesting to see what happens.”

The tournament gets under way on Friday night with every match up until Sunday night’s final shown live on Sky Sports.

Every member of the field is guaranteed £500 in prizemoney, with the reward doubling for every victory. The winner will walk away with £32,000.

Current world champion Neil Robertson, recent Masters winner Ding Junhui, UK Champion John Higgins and crowd favourites Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jimmy White are amongst the stars in action.

By JAMES GARRISON