It can be cruel what people put themselves through when they are chasing their sporting hopes.

Just ask Gore 20-year-old Shannon Swain - he's about to go without sleep for 24 hours to try help him in his sporting quest.

The Southland snooker ace will head to the world under-21 championships in Ireland later this month.

But with snooker very much a user-pays sport, first Swain needs to ensure he can pay for the trip.

The New Zealand Billiards and Snooker Association aren't able to provide any funding for Swain, and the two other New Zealanders who are heading to Ireland.

It makes it a costly exercise for them to represent their country on the world stage.

This weekend Swain will play snooker for 24 hours straight in a unique way to attempt to raise the funds required to help cover the $5000 alone it is costing him to fly to and from Ireland.

Swain will start his first match at the Gore Town and Country Club at 4pm on Saturday afternoon with the "snookerathon" set to finish at 4pm on Sunday.

People can either sponsor Swain per frame he plays, pay to play a match against him, or just donate some money to help him get to Ireland.

Any person that does donate money will go into a draw to win accommodation at Scenic or Heartland Hotels around the country.

Swain, who said he had great support form the Mataura Licensing Trust, also had another sponsorship request in mind.

"I think I'll need someone to sponsor me some Redbull as well," he joked yesterday as he pondered the thought of going without sleep for 24 hours this weekend.

"The longest I've practised for is probably five or six hours, so, yeah, I'm not sure how it is going to go."

This year will be Swain's fourth and final shot at competing at the under-21 world championship.

He competed in his first under-21 championship seven years ago as a 13-year-old when the event was held in Taupo. He has also travelled to Bahrain and India to compete and now it will be the stamp of Ireland on his passport later this month.

Swain will step onto the world stage in a positive mindset after the 13th-ranked New Zealand player progressed through to the quarterfinals of the New Zealand snooker championships in Auckland last week. Swain met eventual winner Chris Maltby from Waikato in the quarterfinal and went down five frames to four in a tightly fought contest.

Next year's New Zealand championships will be held in Swain's hometown of Gore.

Danny Ryan was the best-performed Southlander at the event, getting through to the top four.

(SOURCE: Logan Savory - The Southland Times, 13/07/2010 retrieved from www.stuff.co.nz - Photo: Sonia Gerken - Southland Times)