11.5.12

AWARD WINNERS

A good time – in some cases a very good time – was had by all those who attended the World Snooker Awards at the Dorchester in London last night.

It was disappointing that more top players did not attend but understandable that at the end of a busy season several wanted to spend more time with their families.

Ronnie O’Sullivan was named player of the year by World Snooker and the game’s leading journalists but in a fans’ vote on worldsnooker.com that honour went to Judd Trump.

Stuart Bingham won the performance of the year award for his dramatic capture of the Australian Open, his first world ranking title.

Luca Brecel was named rookie of the year for becoming the youngest player to compete at the Crucible.

The magic moment of the year was Stephen Hendry’s maximum on his final Crucible appearance.

O’Sullivan certainly deserved his awards. He was the only player to win two ranking titles, also won two PTCs and the Premier League and of course ended the season as world champion.

He took part in two of the campaign’s best matches: the final of PTC9, in which Trump beat him 4-3, and the final of the German Masters, where he beat Stephen Maguire 9-7.

I think the best match of the season was the UK Championship final, in which Trump beat Mark Allen 10-8. William Hill probably agree. Barry Hearn last night revealed they will be sponsoring the tournament for another two years.

It was a long but thrilling season of snooker in which several players took their chance to shine.

Allen won his first ranking title. Stephen Lee returned to form in a major way. Neil Robertson added to his title haul, most notably at the Masters.

Some of the older players struggled. Mark Williams didn’t look the same after losing in the final of the Shanghai Masters. John Higgins had a very poor campaign. Hendry took the decision to retire.

There were various controversies, mainly involving people saying things they would later regret but for all the arguments and grievances in the sport, which you get in any sport, it is refreshing that the bad old days of internal politics are over.

There was more snooker on TV than ever before and record audiences were reached around the world.

Live streaming, for so long talked about, finally arrived and brought home the drama of the qualifiers.

Players’ work loads have dramatically increased but so too has the amount of money they can earn.

Hearn is serious about filling the calendar in the manner of golf and tennis. He has made a spectacular impact on the sport – as he will tell you himself – and has been having discussions about even more tournaments in the next two years.

So the season is over but it all starts again next week with Q School. Good luck to all involved in this. It would be good to see some new, young faces coming through.

Like O’Sullivan, I am taking a break, but not for as long. The new season will be upon us very soon, with all the drama that it will inevitably entail.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

judd the new peoples champion. taking over from jimmy

Anonymous said...

forgot to say, blog of the season is superdaves.

thanks david. enjoy your break sir.

Anonymous said...

Pat on the back for yourself Dave, enjoyed your writing, looking forward to hearing from you next year.

Anonymous said...

next year?

Anonymous said...

The world would not be the same without snooker cues of maple and ash.

Anonymous said...

Or the clicking of aramith balls against leather pockets.

Snooker Cues said...

Impressive blog/ I enjoy your write-ups very much, Dave! Enjoy your break.

Master Xperts said...

Snooker Cue Is the most important part of Snooker. Without it you cannot become a Good Player

Anonymous said...

Dave you are an outstanding journalist, a brilliant blogger, and your written work is immense. I enjoy it and the blog very much.

However, I would like to offer some constructive criticism on your commentating skills. I know you're not an ex player, but I think my point is highlighted best when you take the BBC commentary against your own commentary of Hendry's recent 147 at the Crucible. On BBC, and with John Virgo and Dennis Taylor, you are getting a blend of comments about their character, skill, personality, mixed with a lot of comments about how they are going to play the next shot and explaining the options to the viewer. Your commentary, however, is solely based on statistics, how many previous 147's made, there is very little comments on the actual shot taking place (in fact there were none in your commentary against Hendry). There needs to be more of a mix to make it an enjoyable commentary. At the moment guys like Virgo, Taylor and Foulds are considerably far ahead. I'm sure you will take this in the spirit it is meant though and up your game for next season.

Dave H said...

That's your opinion. Commentary is subjective. Everyone has their favourites. My job isn't shot analysis - that's why we have a player in the box.

Anonymous said...

dave, i wasnt 422 and dont know who they are.

i DO think you are a fantastic commentator.

however, youre reply saying "thats why we have a player in the box" is a bit of a farce.

yes, most of the players "in the box" with you are ex players, but they call all the wrong shots.

mike "my apologies" hallet and joe "guesswork" johnson are notorious for it.

they were great players and are both nice guys (met them several times), but theyre absolutely rock bottom as commentators.

unsurprisingly the criticising i put there isnt widespread, because most dont understand simple stuff like reverse side and delicate things, but having a commentator who calls every double a cross double is shocking, even if he was a good pro.

without you and alan macmanus (maybe with one exception) eurosport is a very poor comparison to the bbc.

mind you, the bbc has its fare share of jokers in the box too, but with a larger team, most of the time there are no major gaffs.

if anyone reading this disagrees, go and sit through any random 4 frames with mike hallet or joe j commentating and count the errors and guesswork on offer.

as said, YOU are great. i undertand the analyst and ex pro combo and it would work great at the bbc...like when phil yates is in the box at times at other evernts elsewhere....but on ES, is pants. not fresh pants either!

Ron Florax said...

I strongly disagree with the previous comment regarding Dave's commentary. The BBC commentary is not miles ahead, it heas been the exact same commentary for the past 25 years. They always say the exact same things, seem clueless, irritating and boring. I much prefer Eurosport!

Anonymous said...

a player?

JIMO96 said...

4:22 are you for real? You'd rather listen to Virgo's ridiculous over-excitement and Taylors tired cliche based commentary-for-80-year-olds, than actual fact based info?

I'm no big Eurosport fan but they are improving whilst the BBC's downhill slide gathers pace. Your post did cheer me up though, very laughable(!)

Anonymous said...

Come on Dave - for the Diamond Jubilee can you find a tenuous link between royalty and snooker?

Anonymous said...

I have to say I think posters 4.22 and 11.15am have a point, Dave as a leader commentator your role IS to commentate on shot selection, you can't be a commentator and not do that.