A good time – and in some cases a very good time – was had by all at the World Snooker Awards at the Dorchester in London last night, the first such bash staged for a decade.
It was attended by a number of players plus various other figures within the snooker world and staged in association with the Killing Cancer charity.
Ray Stubbs, formerly a BBC snooker presenter but now at ESPN, did a first rate job as host. Similarly, Willie Thorne was superb as charity auctioneer.
Entertainment was provided by Chris Difford, who ran through a few Squeeze songs, and comedian and satirist Rory Bremner.
John Higgins was unable to attend due to being in Italy for a family wedding but won the first award of the night, Journalists’ Player of the Year, voted for by the media. Higgins was later announced as the winner of the evening's main award, World Snooker Player of the Year, voted for by a panel which included Stephen Hendry and John Parrott.
Players’ Player of the Year – voted for by the players – was won by Mark Williams, who won my admiration for his elastic interpretation of the dress code.
Judd Trump won two awards. He was voted Fans’ Player of the Year in an online vote and won Performance of the Year for reaching the world final, although as Steve Davis said, he probably would have received this in any case for capturing the China Open.
Trump’s housemate Jack Lisowski spoke well after receiving his award for Rookie of the Year.
Rory McLeod’s fluked black to beat Tony Drago in the Shootout won Magic Moment of the Year and Rory gave an amusing speech in which he promised to play quicker.
Snooker’s new Hall of Fame was unveiled with inductions for the late Joe and Fred Davis, John Pulman, John Spencer and Alex Higgins as well as Ray Reardon, Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis, who received a standing ovation when he took to the stage.
The best speech came from Barry Hearn, the World Snooker chairman, who listed the steps forward the sport has taken in the last year.
It was a very sociable occasion and mercifully free from politics. Everyone knows who is in charge now and anyone with half a brain can see he is doing a good job. There is much to be positive about for snooker players and it was good to see them enjoying themselves after an intensive season.
Then it was all off to a nightclub to continue the celebrations, although at this point the memory began to fade...
8 comments:
What did Williams wear?
Do we have any more info on the ranking event in india?
Has that been officially cofirmed yet?
Mark looked smart enough - jacket and blue shirt but not quite 'black tie'
Nobody seemed to know anything about the India ranking event - I'd advise caution on this story until more concrete details emerge
was ronnie there dave?
Are there any Chinese refs coming onto the circuit?
a more important snooker story is do we know who is going to be in the new snooker loopy song
It sounds as though a good night was had by all, going by the number of people there who were complaining of hangovers the next day! I was sorry I couldn't make it.
This Hall of Fame sounds interesting. I assume it mirrors the principles of its PDC darts equivalent, in that it is not only open to players, but others who have made a significant contribution to the game. On that basis, I would like to recommend the following are inducted as soon as possible:
MIKE WATTERSON: Without this man, the tour as we've known it for the last 35 years or so would not have come into being. He was the man who brought the World Championship to The Crucible after his late wife Carole saw a play there. Later in 1977, he created the UK Championship from scratch, and within a few years had created the British Open, International Open and World Cup. He also sorted out the sponsors and the TV contracts.
The way snooker disposed of his services in the early 1980s was despicable, and those who replaced him were far, far worse at promoting the game. I know Mike still feels bitter about it to this day, and inducting him into the Hall of Fame would be a worthy way of thanking him for his efforts, and would help bring closure to the bitterness he still feels.
TED LOWE: I'm sorry it has come too late for him. He was the voice of snooker for the best part of 50 years, and did a huge amount to put the game on television through his involvement with 'Pot Black'.
CLIVE EVERTON: Yes, he'd be a controversial choice, but he's been the conscience of snooker through the decades of chaos at the WPBSA, and without him, we would never have known about the disgraceful way it operated in such painstaking detail, right up until Barry Hearn's takeover of the game. From a journalistic point of view, he is snooker's greatest ambassador, and I hope he continues working for a long time yet.
Before anyone starts having a go at me, saying I'm some kind of 'Snooker Scene' insider, I've only met Clive once. We exchanged pleasantries at an event in Cardiff several years before I started working as a journalist. My recommendation for his induction is entirely impartial.
BARRY HEARN: For his services to snooker over more than 30 years, with particular reference to the work he's put in to transform the game's fortunes in the most astonishing way over the last 12 months or so. I pay tribute to his foresight, his charisma, and the speed at which he's taken the game forward.
Finally, I'd just like to thank all of you who visited SupremeSnooker.com during the World Championship. It was easily the most successful tournament we've ever had in terms of visitor numbers to our site.
Regards,
Marcus Stead
Editor, SupremeSnooker.com
Great to see that all is rosy in snooker for the first time in 30 years.
Only drawback I find, is the sense of anti climax I have when my copy of Snooker Scene arrives.
I used to look forward to getting my teeth into the political in-fighting that Clive used to unashamedly report on.
Match reports and general snooker news are fine, and are what a snooker mag should be about, but I can't help finding it a little tame, compared to a couple of years ago.
I guess its a small price to pay.
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