Mark Davis and Marcus Campbell would appear to be
late bloomers judging by their steady progress over the last 2-3 seasons.
They had both been saddled with the dread tag
'journeyman' for years before finally breaking into the top 32.
They have done it by consistently making it through
the qualifiers and then getting some good results at venues and in PTCs.
With so many tournaments now, consistency is
rewarded and confidence can be found. Both Davis and Campbell turn 40 this year
but are experiencing the best spells of their careers.
They are through to the quarter-finals of the Wuxi
Classic today. Davis faces Graeme Dott, whose 85 to kill off the decider
against Rod Lawler yesterday included a good, do-or-die brown into the pack.
Campbell meets Mark Williams, who has started the
new season better than he finished the last.
If Davis and Campbell are to make the next step up
then these are matches they need to win, against proven tournaments winners.
Neither has ever been in a ranking event semi-final
before but in snooker, no matter the age, no matter the career background, it's
never necessarily too late if you believe in yourself.
10 comments:
You can't begrudge Davis or Campbell a bit of success but we are repeatedly fed the line that the standard today is so much better than ever before. Really? These 2 are journeymen, and both were crushed on their last visits to Sheffield when it really mattered. What a last 4 the Chinese public could be treated to Bingham v Davis and Campbell v Milkins. Then again, its likely that the last 4 in Australia will be even worse. Keep up the great work Barry.
great to see and now davis is in the semi final id like cambell and milkins to win their matches to see how this pans out..will it be bingham 3 in a row..in 2008 or 2009 i seen stuart bingham play in fergal o briens lucan racing classic near Dublin, he got a 147 and was awarded 500 euro..a few years later he is in the elite of snooker.In saying that i always knew he was good since he trashed hendry about 10 years ago in world championships, speaking of Hendry why IS HE STILL RANKED WHEN HE IS RETIRED????
its surprising how well Marcus is doing he has a huge weakness break building wise the better breakbuilders down the rankings like gilbert, mcgill, lisowski, m white could learn a lot from marcus
What on earth happened to Dott today?! That's a bad loss.
The standard is higher than ever , ask any pro on the tour ! They are playing better than ever because they have been given more opportunity to play in more tournaments . There are very few players who ate getting the ' rabbits in the headlights syndrome' against top players anymore because they are getting more opportunities to play against them . The gap is smaller than ever between the top and bottom players .
Two Questions about Eurosports coverage this afternoon
1. If other Eurosport regions were showing Williams v Campbell, why couldn't the commentary be on the UK Eurosport Player?
2. Why didnt the Eurosport Player offer a choice of tables this afternoon?
And while I'm at it - why is The Eurosport snooker commentary on the Sky satellite still a second or two behind the pictures. Anybody know?
Well done to both Davis and Campbell. Still think Walden or Bingham are going to be the winners but nothing would be a surprise now.
In other news, must be the first time you've ever blogged about someone and they haven't lost the next match, right Dave?
I don't think the standard is improving, I think it's more the case younger players just aren't coming through. Who has emerged in the last few years as title winners? Trump and Allen, and that's about it. The talent just isn't there to replace the current players. I'm sorry, but players don't improve at 40; yes regular play has improved consistency a bit but look at the QF line-up—29 year old Walden is the youngest player. Higgins and O'Sullivan aren't playing the standard of snooker they were at the turn of the century but yet have won five of the last six world championships. Snooker's decline in the mid 90s obviously impacted on the grassroots of the game, and now it's catching up with the pro game. The standard is higher than ever LOLOLOLOLOL!!!
Btw, Hendry is presumably still ranked because he hasn't resigned his professional membership. He may have retained his tour place too in case he fancies a crack at the world championship next year.
It would be wrong if Hendry is still ranked so he can come back on tour..He is the games greatest and if he comes out of retirement which I dont think he will he should enter q school and get a two year card..??I hope bingham wins the wuxi or marcus cambell..
841 dont talk shite
its a two year ranking, so he still has points.
points he has earned.
the lights are on but theres nobody home
Post a Comment