SNOOKER SCENE BLOG

BOUND FOR BERLIN

2012-01-30T10:00:00.002Z

The German Masters was one of the great success stories of last season.

The tournament was typical of the Barry Hearn ethos: take snooker where people want to watch it.

This is hardly unique to Hearn but it’s amazing it took his arrival to prove what everyone already knew: that there was a huge untapped market in Germany for a major snooker event.

The scenes which greeted Mark Williams’s dramatic victory over Mark Selby, with more than 2,000 people on their feet applauding, were a magnificent end to a week in which the sport was supported by crowds respectful of the game and its players.

Much credit for this must go to Rolf Kalb, who will be MC again this week. Rolf is also German Eurosport’s lead commentator and a snooker evangelist. He laid much of the groundwork over the years by helping to nurture the interest.

I’m sure there will be large crowds again at the Tempodrom in Berlin for this year’s German Masters which, like every tournament, has a number of intriguing subplots.

Selby is world no.1 but his form in major tournaments seems to have gone walkabout. His defeats in the UK Championship and Masters were disappointing, not the fact that he lost but his performances.

Williams has not won a title since his Berlin triumph a year ago and people are beginning to say he is struggling to wrap matches up after some surrendering of big leads. I think Williams has a fine temperament but these notions tend to stick the more it happens.

John Higgins is not yet at the level of intensity this season that he produced in the last campaign. This is a sad time for him, though, as his father died during last year’s German Masters.

Ronnie O’Sullivan didn’t play in Berlin last year but can’t afford to skip this season’s event. He needs a good run in either or both the German Masters and Welsh Open to avoid having to qualify for the World Championship.

Peter Ebdon has all but fallen off the radar after a string of defeats this season but has qualified and will need to call on all those years of experience to arrest any further decline.

Neil Robertson has had a fine season but withdrew from the Shootout with a chest infection. Last year, of course, he nearly missed the trip altogether after mislaying his passport.

Judd Trump will doubtless be a hit with the fans but for the first time has been facing criticism. Actually this is final proof he has arrived in the big league.

Ding Junhui is yet to get going this season. I’d be surprised if he didn’t win a title at some point but it’s not bound to happen.

These are among the principal cast members in snooker’s latest drama. This is one of the great things about having so many tournaments: the storylines constantly change and the characters become more recognisable and identifiable to the audience.

So here’s to another successful and dramatic week in Berlin. Contrary to some listings magazines, Eurosport’s live coverage begins on Wednesday at 9am UK time.

THE HAWK SWOOPS FOR SHOOTOUT JACKPOT

2012-01-29T21:12:00.000Z

Congratulations to Barry Hawkins, a nice guy and a quality player who is £32,000 richer tonight after winning the Partypoker.com Shootout in Blackpool.

Hawkins beat Graeme Dott in the final of the super-fast event, which gave 64 players a chance of scooping the loot over three days.

Barry was once ranked 12th in the world. He has appeared in four ranking event semi-finals without quite making a final.

He has been looking for a step forward for some time and maybe the confidence this will bring will herald a general improvement in fortunes.

The tournament is intended as a bit of fun, but there was pressure on the players in matches which lasted only ten minutes.

The two highlights came today. Martin Gould produced a 135 total clearance, a sensational break given the time pressures.

And Barry Pinches pulled off a dramatic last gasp win over Liang Wenbo, potting the winning ball with a second to spare.

Not everyone or every player is a fan of the Shootout by any means and it perhaps made less of an impact this year.

This is understandable. Last year it was a novelty but novelties soon wear off.

This is why Barry Hearn was right not to listen to those – including players – who called for more of these events or even to incorporate some of the rules into established tournaments.

But I don’t see the harm in the Shootout. It entertained those who enjoyed it, is not a serious threat to snooker as we know it and was a chance for players to get together, however briefly, and have some fun.

The crowds, who were nowhere near as boorish as at Power Snooker, seemed to have a good time too.

The players have been granted two days off before the German Masters – an altogether more serious and significant affair – gets underway on Wednesday.

THE LINKS EFFECT

2012-01-29T08:32:00.002Z

Due to what may best be described as 'technical issues' the links on this blog have disappeared.

Sorry about this. I have started adding the links I can remember but if a link to your site was here before and you would like it restored, email me at snookersceneblog@aol.com.

BLACKPOOL BOUND

2012-01-26T10:14:00.002Z

The Shootout in Blackpool was great fun last year and there is every reason to expect more high jinks when it returns tomorrow, sponsored by Partypoker.com.

Tickets have gone like hot cakes (should that be hotpots?), indeed more have been released, and players are looking forward to another three days of frenetic and, with a top prize of £32,000, potentially lucrative speed snooker.

Unlike six reds (anyone remember that?) and Power Snooker, nobody is spinning that this is the future of the game. Nobody is cueing an imaginary revolution. It is what it is: three days of rapid fire snooker-based entertainment.

One of the great plus points is that you get to see so many players, including those down the rankings not used to a crowd and an atmosphere. Nobody outstays their welcome. Each match lasts just ten minutes.

Last year there was some genuine drama, including Neil Roberton’s last gasp win over Alan McManus and Rory McLeod outrageously fluking the final black against Tony Drago.

Blackpool Tower Circus is a terrific venue, although in time a bigger one may be required to meet demand.

Sky Sports, the great innovators of TV sport, are host broadcasters.

Ronnie O’Sullivan has not entered and Joe Jogia has reportedly withdrawn after sustaining a knee injury which he believes sparked the flurry of bets on him to lose to Matt Selt being investigated by the WPBSA disciplinary committee.

Frankly, the personalities involved are less important than the entertainment they provide. Anyone could win this event, although a cool head is required and was demonstrated last year by Nigel Bond.

The Shootout is about fun outside of all the serious tournaments. It’s about showcasing the game and its players in a different way.

It was a success last year and I have every expectation it will be this season too.

Good luck everyone!

THE GREAT HAUL OF CHINA

2012-01-24T10:03:00.001Z

There will be five ranking tournaments in China next season, beginning with the Wuxi Classic, upgraded from invitation event status, in July.

A new Chinese ranking event in October will carry a top prize of £125,000. In addition, the Shanghai Masters, Haikou World Open and China Open will return.

Players unenthusiastic about travelling to China can of course opt out but it will cost them precious ranking points, not to mention the chance to win big money. As a snooker territory it is here to stay.

China first staged a ranking event in 1990 but it wasn’t until 1999 that it held another.

I was there. It was the China International in Shanghai and featured an all Scottish semi-final line-up.

Billy Snaddon beat Stephen Hendry in one semi but then lost to John Higgins, who beat Alan McManus in the other.

There had been forays to China long before this, some involving Barry Hearn’s Matchroom stable. One time Hearn had been savvy and invited the then WPBSA chairman Rex Williams along, which led to Rex turning up for a photo-shoot on the Great Wall resplendent in a posh cashmere coat.

When Barry reminded him the dress code was supposed to be casual, Rex responded, “dear boy, this is casual.”

Anyway, by 1999 there was clear interest and tournaments were staged again later that year, in 2000 in Shenzhen and back in Shanghai in 2002.

All went quiet as the WPBSA’s resources dwindled but by 2005 the China Open had been revived in Beijing.

This is possibly the best snooker event I have ever attended. It is hard to explain exactly why to those who weren’t there but everything about it was an eye-opener, from seeing the sights of Beijing itself to the snooker and the emergence of a new national hero in Ding Junhui.

That we are now at the stage where there will be five ranking events in China is down to Ding.

He turned 18 that week and was a revelation, beating Peter Ebdon and Ken Doherty in whitewashes before his 9-5 defeat of Stephen Hendry in the final.

It was an incredible triumph and the nation immediately took him to their hearts. More significantly, major companies started to see snooker as a sport they wished to become involved in.

Here in the UK it is still seen as something of a working class pursuit, hence it mainly attracts sponsors associated with perceived working class activities (smoking, drinking and gambling).

In China snooker is regarded as a bit of a cut above, an activity that appeals to the moneyed. Actually, the truth is that is has always been a game enjoyed by all different types of people but China’s image of snooker has led to serious investment and fully funded, underwritten ranking events.

The TV viewing figures are huge and growing the more they show. This is a genuine boom. I have been to a Star table factory in China which runs 24/7 to meet the demand.

Snooker clubs are full and more and more youngsters are taking to the game.

There seems to be something in the national make-up which makes snooker a sport the Chinese take to.

The new Welsh Open sponsor, to be announced soon, has apparently come about due to moves from the company's Chinese office, due to viewing figures for this tournament being so strong.

However, ordinary Chinese people do not earn fortunes and ticket prices for tournaments are high, so when you turn on Eurosport to watch the China Open the hall seems half empty and the assumption is understandably drawn than not many people in China like snooker.

I can assure you this isn’t the case. I’ve seen unlikely players chased down corridors for their autograph as if caught up in Beatlemania.

It’s a little different to schlepping past the swimming pool at the Newport Centre unnoticed.

Chinese tournaments traditionally start with a red carpet parade. The media go nuts when snooker hits town. And sponsors are clearly willing to invest big money for more and more events.

Not all players like this. I have sympathy with those who dislike travelling full stop. Not everyone enjoys flying but the British players should see how lucky they are: Chinese players have to leave their home country for most of the year to come and live in the UK, away from their families, to play qualifiers and PTCs. This is far more of a sacrifice.

I’m afraid there is also a degree of cultural ignorance. More than once I’ve heard a player complain that ‘nobody speaks English over there’ or that ‘the food is all different.’

Actually, in the hotels in which the players stay almost everyone speaks English and you can get just about any sort of food you like.

I once heard a group of hangers-on complaining that the beer in the official hotel was too expensive – as if the thought of going outside and experiencing the varied and remarkable sights on the streets of Beijing was just too much of an adventure.

A more justifiable complaint is the cost of actually getting to China for all these tournaments, although prize money for the Chinese events is on the rise.

The bottom line is this: snooker’s growth and sustainability depends on it becoming a properly global sport. There is money in China, and company bosses want to spend it on snooker.

The circuit remains predominantly British in terms of player representation but it can’t remain this way in terms of the spread of tournaments.

Not everyone in snooker is happy with the fact, but it remains true: there is a whole world out there, and China’s green baize bubble shows no sign of bursting just yet.

ROBERTSON'S TITLE

2012-01-23T00:45:00.001Z

Neil Robertson’s reputation as one of the hardest players in the game was further enhanced tonight by his capture of the BGC Masters in London.

The Aussie is now as tough as they come, an all-round match-player in the Steve Davis/John Higgins mould.

Shaun Murphy will be disappointed that he didn’t score more heavily but there is no disgrace in losing to Robertson, whose all round game has come on leaps and bounds in the last two years.

This is a guy who arrived in the UK for a final shot at the professional circuit with just £500 on him. You won’t hear Robertson moaning about all the travelling necessary to make snooker a proper international sport because he made a huge sacrifice by moving to the other side of the world, away from his family and friends to pursue his ambition to be a top player.

Well, the kid who learned his trade a stone’s throw from the sun-drenched beaches of Melbourne remained ice cool in the capital amid the chilly British winter and becomes the fourth non-British player, after Perrie Mans, Cliff Thorburn and Ding Junhui, to win the Masters.

The scenes afterwards with his partner, Mille, and their young son, Alexander, were wonderful...one for the family album.

That’s now nine TV finals and nine victories, some record for a player who seems most at home when the pressure is on.

Every facet of his game was working well. He has made 38 centuries this season – more than anyone else – and his safety game is rock hard. He is a brilliant potter and so finds ways into frames. It is some package.

I congratulate Neil, a genuinely nice bloke who treats the game with respect. The Masters is one of our majors and it’s been won by a player who has come a long way, both geographically and in terms of the way he has sharpened his game.

He is now one tough nut to crack.

THE FINAL

2012-01-22T08:00:00.001Z

Before the final, a word on the semis, in particular the fall-out from Neil Robertson’s victory over Judd Trump.

I personally have no problem with Robertson’s clenched-fist in potting frame and match ball. This was not a protracted celebration, just a release of emotion.

Equally, I have no problem with the supporters of players shouting out between shots. As long as they don’t put the players off when they are down at the table a bit of audience participation is fine.

Flukes have always been applauded and people who are partisan to begin with become more so as the match wears on.

Robertson had his say afterwards, not about Trump but some of his entourage. Said members of the Trump massive did themselves few favours with some unpleasant tweeting about Robertson in the aftermath. Trump, to his credit, wished the Australian well for the final.

One point that is absurd, though, is Robertson’s ‘slow’ play. Trump is lucky he never had to play the real grinders to grace the snooker stage.

The fact is this: Robertson has made more centuries this season than any other player. He is not a grinder but he is a great match-player who plays to his strengths, not his opponents (there is a difference).

Robertson also seems to enjoy riling his fellow players a little and good on him for that. It’s a game, yes, but also a profession. There’s no reason why everyone has to be friends.

This has been made out to be some great feud but the slightly disappointing truth is this: both Neil and Judd are too nice to get involved in anything as serious as that. All the surrounding blather on Twitter and elsewhere doesn’t change this.

And so to the final...

NEIL ROBERTSON V SHAUN MURPHY
It’s a very difficult final to predict because it involves two proven winners both playing superbly and both good under pressure.

It is Robertson’s ninth TV final. He has never lost one. The Melbourne man also becomes the eighth non British player to appear in a Masters final.

Murphy, like Robertson, had done little of note in the Masters prior to this year but was superb again last night.

It would have been an injustice had he lost to John Higgins, even though the match was very close to going 5-5. Murphy scored heavily, making three centuries, and remained positive throughout.

He always has been ultra confident, but such self belief is understandable given his ability. His technique belongs in a textbook and his poise under pressure is why he’s one win away from becoming only the eighth player to complete the ‘triple crown’ of title successes in the World Championship, UK Championship and Masters.

Prediction: I’m going Murphy to win 10-8 but I really don’t know or, for that matter, care. I’ll just sit back enjoy what promises to be an enthralling encounter.

DAY SEVEN

2012-01-21T11:23:00.001Z

JUDD TRUMP V NEIL ROBERTSON
A repeat of their enthralling UK Championship semi-final, which Trump edged 9-7. He remarked afterwards that Robertson had been slow but it is naive to expect everyone to play the same game as him.

Actually, this is the worst mistake you can make playing Trump.

In the form he is in and with the confidence his success has brought it is going to be very hard to out-pot Trump, as Ronnie O'Sullivan discovered.

Robertson should instead play to his own strengths. He is a fine tactician but also a heavy scorer, a little like John Higgins.

Frustrate Trump if you can because, if you can't, he will take you apart.

That said, the fact Robertson has had to play in a new tip overnight doesn't add weight to the Australian's cause.

Prediction: Trump to win 6-4

JOHN HIGGINS V SHAUN MURPHY
Higgins has got it together for the first time in a big event this season. As professional snooker continues to evolve there are question marks over the three great players of the last 15 years, all 36, but Higgins remains a formidable match player.

Murphy has not been flawless in reaching his first masters semi-final but has at times been superb.

Martin Gould failed to press home his early advantage against him in the first round and Mark Selby made two key errors last night: a bungled safety on the black in frame two and a missed yellow in the sixth.

Murphy is exuding an air of great confidence. He is hitting the ball sweetly and scoring well when in.

The last player to complete the triple crown of world, UK and Masters titles was O'Sullivan by winning at the Crucible in 2001. Murphy has already won two and is closing in on a third.

Prediction: Murphy to win 6-3

TO ERR IS HUMAN...

2012-01-20T09:51:00.003Z

Jan Verhaas made a *ghastly error when he stopped play in the John Higgins-Graeme Dott match last night to correct an error that had not, in fact, been made.

Verhaas had a brain freeze and believed that a foul in which Higgins had caught the brown and then hit the blue should have been worth five rather than four.

He eventually realised and play resumed but Dott, who had been waiting to play his shot, immediately missed.

Dott lost this frame and the match, but it would take a ludicrous stretch of the imagination to blame Verhaas for Dott’s eventual defeat.

The fact is this: Jan is only human and, like the rest of us human beings, is capable of making mistakes.

We all make them. I do, you do, referees do. We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t.

In some jobs it is more serious than others. If Jan were a heart surgeon he would probably be feeling worse this morning than for briefly losing the plot in a snooker match.

Referees are unsung heroes (and heroines). They have to retain concentration for long periods of time and are usually only noticed if they get something wrong.

They are also not paid fortunes – far from it – and have to not only ensure the match is played within the rules but also keep the audience in check and deal with the unexpected.

Snooker has been fortunate to have had many top referees over the years. They have all, at one time or another, done something inexplicable in a match.

Jan is one of the best refs and has been for many years. A cheerful Dutchman, he is a popular figure on the snooker circuit. Friendly, courteous and well liked, he is rightly regarded as a safe pair of white gloves.

He will be embarrassed I’m sure by his mistake but when he walks out at the Ally Pally today he will do so as an official trusted by the players and respected by the game at large.

*EDIT: further investigation of the actual footage reveals that Verhaas's call was, in fact, correct. It should have been five away, not four so his mistake was actually in changing his mind.

DAY SIX

2012-01-20T07:53:00.002Z

It’s getting a bit repetitive to keep saying how impressive Judd Trump is but it doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

He demolished Ronnie O’Sullivan yesterday, as O’Sullivan was the first to admit. It was another big performance on the big stage by the 22 year-old.

It seems absurd now to think that just a year ago people were questioning his talent and his ability to deliver.

Today’s two matches again feature proven winners...

MARK WILLIAMS V NEIL ROBERTSON
These two let me down in my first round predictions by winning. Williams probably should have won more easily against Stephen Maguire but got the job done in the end. Robertson was superb against Mark Allen, whose claim to have ‘lost interest’ was surely a reaction to losing. He actually competed very well.

Williams has always been able to win matches in tournaments where he hasn’t been playing at his best. He has been there, done it, worn the t-shirt and tweeted about it afterwards.

Robertson is yet to reach the Masters semi-finals but against Allen once again proved how strong he is under pressure.

These two left-handed winners of the World Championship invariably come good when the stakes are high. The standard is likely to be, too, but I just feel the Australian will shade it based on what I saw in the first round.

Prediction: Robertson to win 6-4

MARK SELBY V SHAUN MURPHY
Another tough one to call between two good friends. Murphy was brilliant against Martin Gould but Selby’s performance against Stephen Lee was hard to judge.

Lee was poor early on but when he started to come back Selby began to get a little edgy. However, he has won this tournament twice and that has to count for something.

He will also most likely raise his game against Murphy, a player he likes, respects and knows is playing well.

A close encounter is on the cards and Selby has won so many of these in the Masters that he would be favourite if it went all the way.

Prediction: Selby to win 6-5

DAY FIVE

2012-01-19T10:38:00.000Z

JUDD TRUMP V RONNIE O’SULLIVAN
This is a match to be savoured if their last two encounters are anything to go by. Trump beat O’Sullivan 6-5 in the recent UK Championship and 4-3 in the PTC final in Antwerp.

It’s a match which deserves an evening slot to reach the widest possible audience, but will be played this afternoon as this is when the BBC has its main live programme (Hairy Bikers permitting).

Trump is at ease with the big stage and playing the best snooker of his life but O’Sullivan proved against Ding Junhui that he is still a threat in these major tournaments, regardless of his world ranking.

The Masters has been a happy hunting ground for him: four titles and nine finals. 50 centuries in 19 appearances.

This is some record and O’Sullivan will be fully motivated to remind everyone that he is still a force.

Prediction: O’Sullivan to win 6-4.

JOHN HIGGINS V GRAEME DOTT
For some reason Dott is straight back on having played last night (I think it’s been three weeks since Mark Williams’s first round match). He won’t care. Dott proved once again against Ali Carter that he has the nerve to hold firm in these big events.

He has never been past the Masters quarter-finals but beat Higgins 6-4 in the first round last season.

Higgins looked pretty good I thought against Matthew Stevens, although the Welshman wasn’t really at the races.

The reigning world champion admitted to feeling overawed at Wembley but the Ally Pally feels like a more standard venue and this may be the time this season where Higgins starts to come good.

Prediction: Higgins to win 6-4.

DAY FOUR

2012-01-18T12:18:00.002Z

MARK SELBY V STEPHEN LEE
Selby's record in the Masters is superb: two titles plus one runners-up spot in four appearances.

But he fell at the first fence to Mark King last year and went off the boil at the UK Championship against Marco Fu after a fine start in whitewashing Ryan Day.

Selby, though, has to be favourite today. His consistency has been rewarded by top spot in the world rankings and though Lee has made a creditable return to the top 16, the Trowbridge man has not done so with many extended runs in tournaments.

Lee's last match at the Masters was his 10-3 defeat to Selby in the final four years ago. He remains a fine cueist but this will be a test.

Prediction: Selby to win 6-3

GRAEME DOTT V ALI CARTER
Carter has been in the doldrums of late, unhappy with his snooker but talking of retirement.

The tenacious Dott is probably not the player he would have chosen to play in this scenario. The Glaswegian beat him at last year's World Championship, at one point underlining his poise under pressure by winning three successive frames on the black.

Dott is the sort of player who recognises the key psychological points in a match and invariably takes advantage of them. Carter can get frustrated and this is not the best recipe for an Essex victory.

Prediction: Dott to win 6-4

DAY THREE

2012-01-17T11:05:00.004Z

Yesterday in a nutshell: Judd Trump turned it on when he had to; Shaun Murphy was superb against Martin Gould.

And so to today...

JOHN HIGGINS V MATTHEW STEVENS
Higgins regards this as his bogey tournament, despite winning the Masters twice and reaching two other finals.

It does seem to be an all or nothing event for him. From the other 13 times he has played in the Masters and not reached the final he has lost nine times in the opening round.

Higgins has yet to really hit his stride this season. We all know he can, and indeed that he probably will, but it isn't bound to happen today.

Stevens was Masters champion in 2000 but has only won one match in the event since. He is playing in the tournament for the first time since 2007.

The Welshman has done well to get back in the top 16 but is lacking wins over the top players of late.

I think it'll be a close match and, if it is, that Higgins will win.

Prediction: Higgins to win 6-4

NEIL ROBERTSON V MARK ALLEN
This could be a classic. Allen is riding high after reaching his first major final at last month's UK Championship. Robertson has emerged as a fiercely competitive big occasion player.

It's a clash of styles: Allen is fast and attacking; Robertson is attacking but has slowed down and is now as dogged and determined as his late compatriot Eddie Charlton.

They played in the quarter-finals last year and Allen won 6-4. He will be full of confidence after his York exploits and is yet to lose his first match at the Masters in three previous appearances.

His strength is his scoring power but he is also great in adversity, a trait he shares with fellow Northern Irishmen Alex Higgins, Dennis Taylor and Joe Swail.

Robertson took a good break over Christmas, visiting Norway from where his partner hails. When he came back to Cambridge he was unable to practise with Joe Perry as he was in Germany for the PTC.

Robertson had two days of Championship League snooker last week. He was clearly rusty at first but soon hit his stride.

I don't see either player running away with it.

Prediction: Allen to win 6-5

DAY TWO

2012-01-16T11:10:00.000Z

It was a great start to the BGC Masters yesterday: a packed house for an absorbing contest between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ding Junhui.

O'Sullivan's long potting was at times sensational and he responded well after Ding launched his fightback.

Afterwards, there were nice scenes in the BBC studio as Ronnie's son, Ronnie junior, joined his dad for some post match analysis.

O'Sullivan spoke thoughtfully about the future of his career, explaining that he still wanted to play but not to the extent that it becomes an endless slog which he doesn't enjoy.

I thought this made perfect sense. Snooker players tend to be more persuasive when they are speaking cogently and politely rather than indulging in boorish swearing or crass metaphors.

The evening match was a more protracted affair but still dramatic. Mark Williams was coasting at 4-0 up against Stephen Maguire but failed to clinch what seemed a likely comfortable victory and Maguire dug in well to put him under all sorts before the Welshman came through 6-4.

And so to today...

JUDD TRUMP V STUART BINGHAM
There's no real logical reason not to back Trump. He is riding the crest of a wave of confidence and success. He's a big occasion player, cueing superbly - as he proved once again at the Championship League last week - and, perhaps most importantly, hasn't let it all go to his head.

After his talent, the most impressive thing about Judd is his composure. He remains a quiet lad who enjoys what he does and despite receiving bags of publicity, hasn't started believing it all.

Bingham of course beat him 5-1 at this season's Shanghai Masters and is a fine break-builder no doubt relishing his third Masters appearance and first as a member of the top 16.

But he knows this is a very tough draw, although Trump did start his UK Championship campaign slowly before getting better as the event wore on.

Prediction: Trump to win 6-2

SHAUN MURPHY V MARTIN GOULD
Gould becomes the 82nd player to compete in the Masters since it was first staged in 1975. What a proud moment for the Londoner, who loves playing snooker and has improved rapidly over the last few years.

He's never beaten Murphy but Murphy has never done well in the Masters, failing to make it past the quarter-finals in seven previous appearances.

But as with most things there are historical parallels. Dennis Taylor had won only one match in the tournament before he won the title in 1987. Murphy is always going to be a threat in any tournament and had four solid days hard match practice in the Championship League last week.

Prediction: Murphy to win 6-3

THE MASTERS: DAY ONE

2012-01-15T08:00:00.002Z

So the BGC Masters is here at its new home, the Alexandra Palace in London.

The top 16 are fighting for one of snooker’s most sought after trophies. Let’s have a look at today’s two matches…

DING JUNHUI V RONNIE O’SULLIVAN
Their last Masters meeting ended with O’Sullivan sportingly consoling a tearful Ding following a 10-3 rout which included some sensational snooker.

O’Sullivan has struggled for form, motivation and results of late but he has a fine record in this tournament: nine finals and four titles.

Ding I thought was superb last year. He has matured as a player and a person since that Wembley horror show five years ago and was assured in winning the title 12 months ago.

He is yet to really set the baize alight this season but is a class act, capable of turning it on with the best of them.

In most tournaments I would fancy him to come through but this is O’Sullivan’s territory. He usually gets himself up for the Masters and tends to revel in the great atmosphere the packed house is bound to provide.

Prediction: O’Sullivan to win 6-4

MARK WILLIAMS V STEPHEN MAGUIRE
Williams won the title in 1998 and 2003 and has recently returned to the top of the game after a spell in the doldrums.

Maguire has been consistent since winning the 2008 China Open but it wasn’t until last week at PTC12 that he won another televised title.

This is not the reason I am plumping for a Scottish win. Maguire has a good record against Williams; he always seems to play well against him.

I recall they once played in the Welsh Open and Maguire produced a masterclass in foot-on-the-throat snooker, not eye-catching centuries but 50-odd followed by a good safety, keeping the Welshman on the back foot.

I would never write Mark off. He’s one of the all time greats but he is experimenting with a new cue, and that could be a factor either in his favour or not.

Either way, Maguire is full of confidence right now.

Prediction: Maguire to win 6-3

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MASTERS: PART TWO

2012-01-14T09:00:00.000Z

The 1995 Masters marked the 21st staging of the tournament but the final was contested by two players not born when the event began.

Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins, both 19, were two outstanding juniors from different ends of the UK who along with Mark Williams had emerged as players most likely to threaten Stephen Hendry’s dominance of the game.

More than a decade later they would serve up one of the most dramatic of all the Masters finals but in 1995 O’Sullivan cruised to victory, 9-3.

He was in the final again the following year but lost 10-5 to Hendry, who thus secured a sixth and final Masters title.

Steve Davis suffered from flu prior to the 1997 event. He felt rotten and turned up at Wembley not expecting very much but battled past Alan McManus and Peter Ebdon before a 6-1 defeat of Ken Doherty sent him through to the final nine years after his second capture of the trophy.

He faced O’Sullivan, a red hot favourite in a final interrupted early on by a female streaker. It was O’Sullivna who appeared to be streaking away with the match, building an 8-4 lead before it all turned round.

For so many years the villain of the piece in his own backyard, Davis found the crowd increasingly warming to him as he mounted an unlikely comeback and secured one of the most satisfying wins of his career, coming as it did long after his peak. His 10-8 victory was his last major success in a final.

As if the drama of this finish was not enough, Williams and Hendry managed to supersede it a year later. 23 years after John Spencer had edged ray Reardon on a re-spotted black, the tournament once again came down to an extra ball.

Hendry had led 9-6 but Williams rallied to equalise. Hendry had first poke at the additional black, a tricky pot to the left middle which stayed out, leaving Williams a much easier black for victory.

The WPBSA sent his £145,000 winner’s cheque to a different Mark Williams, a Londoner who was also a member. Thankfully, he returned it uncashed.

Ken Doherty featured in the next two finals. He lost 10-8 to Higgins in 1999 but the disappointment of this defeat was nothing compared to what happened a year later against Matthew Stevens.

He was well behind in the match but had a chance to emulate Kirk Stevens by making a 147 at Wembley. Doherty, though, felt his whole body shaking as he approached the final black and it stayed out, denying him the keys to a sports car worth £90,000. It is a shot which still haunts him.

Stevens went on to win 10-8 and a year later was replaced as champion by his great friend Paul Hunter, who breathed new life into the tournament with a series of remarkable recoveries in finals.

He was 6-2 down to Fergal O’Brien in 2001 when he returned to the tournament hotel and, as he put it, ‘put plan B into operation’ with his girlfriend, Lyndsey.

Hunter played great stuff in that final session, a brand of fearless snooker which made him an instant star. He won 10-9 and a year later rallied from 5-0 down to beat Williams also in a decider.

Williams beat Hendry 10-4 to land the final Masters to be sponsored by Benson and Hedges in 2003 but Hunter was back on the comeback trail in 2004, roaring back from 7-2 adrift to edge O’Sullivan 10-9.

Three finals, three comebacks, three deciding frame victories. Hunter gave the crowd their money’s worth, injected drama and style into the tournament and did it all with the grace for which he was renowned. How the game still misses him.

A decade on from their first Wembley final, O’Sullivan beat Higgins again, this time 10-3, to win the 2005 title before their epic 2006 battle.

This was the last match played at the Conference Centre before it made way for a redevelopment but it was a fitting finale: two great players at the top of their games and the final going its full distance.

O’Sullivan led 60-0 in the decider before Higgins produced one of the great pressure clearances, 64 to win it on the black.

2007 brought yet another Masters final for O’Sullivan, this time at Wembley Arena. It was a performance Davis would describe as ‘unplayable,’ an awesome display of snooker which demoralised Ding Junhui, who had begun the event with a 147 and would end it walking off the stage in tears, trying to concede at 9-3 down.

Mark Selby’s run to the 2007 world final helped him secure a top 16 place and therefore a Masters berth. His debut was sensational, three deciding frame finishes before a 10-3 defeat of Stephen Lee in the final, Selby thus becoming the first player since Hendry 19 years earlier to win the title on his debut.

He lost 10-8 to O’Sullivan the following year but then edged him 10-9 in yet another Wembley thriller to regain the title in 2010.

Last year the final featured two Asian players as China’s Ding Junhui beat Marco Fu of Hong Kong 10-4. For Ding it was an exorcising of the demons of four years earlier and further proof of how he has become a big occasion player.

This season’s Masters, sponsored by BGC Partners, will be held at the Alexandra Palace in London. It marks a new chapter for a tournament with a rich history.

The Masters remains a test of the elite, a fascinating duel between the very best the green baize has to offer.

Here’s to more drama, more great snooker and many more fabulous memories…

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MASTERS: PART ONE

2012-01-13T08:00:00.003Z

My Masters history stuff has had to be curtailed due to other commitments (namely all the snooker happening) but this is the first part of a two-part look back at the players who have won the game’s oldest and most prestigious invitation tournament.

When I first began covering the Masters over a decade ago it was clear that the top players of the time regarded it as second only to the World Championship.

In the B&H years it was an event awash with money, and as it was only for the top 16 it felt like an achievement just to be playing in it.

Thankfully any thoughts of opening up into yet another ranking tournament were resisted, and the Masters has maintained its prestige through a long and distinguished history.

The first Masters was staged at the West Centre Hotel in Fulham in 1975 and contested by just ten players. The top prize was £2,000.

It provided a thrilling finish as John Spencer beat his great adversary Ray Reardon 9-8 on a re-spotted black, proving that the game’s best players could serve up drama to compete with the best that other sport has to offer. It was finals such as this which persuaded TV companies that the sport could pull in viewers, which it has certainly done in the 37 years since.

Reardon won the title the following year at its new home, the New London Theatre, but was beaten 7-6 by Doug Mountjoy in the 1977 final, a remarkable achievement by a player new on the pro scene.

Mountjoy had beaten two multi-world champions, John Pulman and Fred Davis, before a 5-3 semi-final defeat of crowd favourite Alex Higgins.

There was something about London that suited Higgins: the big city brashness which attracted loud and enthusiastic audiences, who took the Northern Irishman to their hearts.

They cheered him all the way to victory in 1978 and shared his disappointment in losing to Perrie Mans in the 1979 final.

The ‘78 event had been played under a best of seven format (by no means a modern innovation) but it went up to best of nines and moved to the Wembley Conference Centre the following year.

It was a cavernous arena and the players were reminded that they really were alone out there. It would be the scene of many dramatic battles over the next 27 years.

By 1979 there still had not been a century break in the Masters. Higgins in fact won the high break prize that year with his 132 but lost the final to Mans, who failed to make a 50 all week.

But Mans was a very talented potter, able to knock them in from anywhere and then battle it out in the safety stakes, and this unorthodox style had got him to the world final the previous year.

The Reardon-Spencer era was coming to an end, as a new breed of players swept in led by Steve Davis. But the Masters was one tournament the new king of snooker would fail to dominate.

It was perhaps because, as a Londoner, the hostile atmosphere among fans who should logically have been supporting him was hard to stomach, a typically British reaction against anyone ‘too’ good.

Davis did win the title in 1982 but had to wait six years for his second success and another nine for his third, long after his heyday was over. Needless to say, the crowd loved him by then because he was no longer winning regularly.

Higgins, the darling of the Wembley crowd, lost 9-5 to Terry Griffiths, the reigning world champion, in the 1980 final but won the title for a second time in 1981, beating Griffiths 9-6.

The first three time champion was Cliff Thorburn, winner in 1983, 1985 and 1986, a run of success broken by Jimmy White in a memorable 1984 tournament.

White’s semi-final against Kirk Stevens remains one of snooker’s most fondly remembered matches in terms of atmosphere and drama. Stevens, the man in the white suit, made one of the most stylish maximum breaks ever seen but was beaten 6-4. White would beat Griffiths 9-5 to win the title, his only Wembley triumph.

Higgins was in the final again in 1987, against Dennis Taylor, his compatriot and long time adversary, who had never done much in the Masters before.

Higgins led 8-5. Taylor left the arena and heard that the Higgins camp had already started opening the champagne. A great battler, as stubborn as they came, Taylor dug deep to pull off a dramatic late night 9-8 victory, his biggest since his famous world title triumph two years earlier.

Davis’s second title was also a first: a whitewash in a Masters final, 9-0 over Mike Hallett.

Stephen Hendry joined the top 16 at the start of the 1988/89 season and arrived at Wembley as an authentic title challenger. It was a step into the unknown, a large arena and big, noisy crowd, but it made no difference to Hendry. His self-belief was unshakable and he beat Davis in the semi-finals and John Parrott in the final to win one of snooker’s ‘big three’ titles for the first time.

And so the Hendry years began. A decade later he had won 18 ‘big three’ crowns, including five Masters titles.

He beat Parrott again in 1990 and 1992 but far more memorable was his 1991 success against Hallett, who led the first session 7-0 and had the pink at 8-2 for victory.

He missed, though, and Hendry clawed his way back to win 9-8, a remarkable comeback and further cementing of his reputation as the man to beat.

Hendry beat James Wattana to win in 1993 and arrived in the 1994 final having won 23 successive matches at Wembley.

His opponent was Alan McManus, a fellow Scot who had established himself as one of the hardest players in the game without quite winning the titles to support this status.

It was a closely fought affair and Hendry’s run finally ended with a 9-8 defeat.

It wasn’t the end of his spell of success – far from it – but at around this time a new generation of players were coming through.

The game was changing again and the Masters was set for a new era of thrilling finals and spellbinding snooker.

NEW SPONSOR FOR MASTERS

2012-01-12T14:08:00.002Z

Barry Hearn has secured BGC Partners, a major money brokerage firm, as the new sponsor for the Masters, which gets underway at Alexandra Palace in London on Sunday.

Hearn was visibly buzzing when he imparted this news to the players at the Championship League at Crondon Park this week after doing the deal himself.

A company from the financial sector backing a major tournament in the UK marks a move away from recent reliance on the betting industry, which has been the main source of sponsorship income for the sport in recent times.

The bookies’ money is as welcome as anyone’s, not least because it is a vote of confidence in the integrity of snooker after several high profile match fix stories.

But by branching out into a different sector, it will hopefully prove snooker can appeal to a far wider range of industries.

Hearn and his team seem to have no problem obtaining sponsors. The challenge is to keep them beyond their initial year.

Hopefully BGC will see the benefits of their association with one of snooker’s oldest and most prestigious events.

It’s a new sponsor, new home and new start for the Masters...let’s hope the players put on a show worthy of snooker’s new era.

IT WAS 30 YEARS AGO TODAY...

2012-01-11T08:00:00.004Z

Oldham Civic Centre seems an unlikely venue to play host to sporting history but 30 years ago today it staged a notable snooker first.

Steve Davis, who would dominate the decade, compiled snooker’s first officially ratified 147 break on January 11, 1982 during the Lada Classic.

His opponent was John Spencer, who had himself made a maximum in a televised tournament three years earlier. There were, however, two reasons why the break was not a TV first.

The most obvious was that the TV cameramen had decamped to McDonalds for a break of their own and so did not record it.

Also, the pockets were judged not to be of regulation size and so the 147 was ruled unofficial.

But Spencer himself knew the importance of what he was doing. After potting the pink, he staged a mock faint before getting back up to slot home the final black.

By 1982, Davis and his manager, Barry Hearn, were cleaning up on the table and through myriad off table activities.

Snooker was big TV business in Britain and Hearn exploited the many earning opportunities and began to open up new markets around the world.

Hearn said recently that he made so much money by 1982 that he was considering retirement, indeed briefly tried it until realising that a life of leisure is no match for the thrill of the business world.

So it was that Davis arrived in Oldham off the back of an exhausting overseas promotional trip and was so tired that he was said to be falling asleep at the venue between matches.

His maximum remains a great watch and by no means straight forward. The importance of the occasion is obvious from the commentary, not the solemn punditry of the mellifluous John Pulman but in the over-excited tones of David Taylor, not a regular ITV commentator but drafted in to help out.

To be fair, you could hardly blame him. This was an historic moment and there were to be further iconic 147s from Cliff Thorburn at the 1983 World Championship and Kirk Stevens at the 1984 Masters.

There were eight maximums recorded in the 1980s but the hike in standard, number of players and number of tournaments has seen them become much more common. There have been eight this season alone among the 85 on the official list.

And there have been many, many near misses, none more famous than when Ken Doherty missed the final black during the 2000 Masters final.

Davis is of course still going strong. He was an apt figure to construct snooker’s first official 147 and remains a player so many others still look up to.

It was a slice of history, of snooker magic, and despite the passing of 30 years, remains timeless.

Watch it here.

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

2012-01-09T08:00:00.007Z

The Championship League returns today for its fifth staging with a Premier League place once again up for grabs at the end of the eight groups at Crondon Park golf club in Essex.

I can’t improve on pro Snooker Blog’s excellent preview of the event so will lazily link to it here.

However, a word on the competition as a whole. I’ve heard people question the point of it. Well, the point of it is that it makes money, and there is no reason to axe a profitable event. It’s not as if there aren’t plenty of other tournaments.

It makes money for the players, the organisers, the bookies, the production company, the referees, the venue, the commentators, the table fitters and anyone else I’ve forgotten.

Most top 16 players have once again entered. Why wouldn’t they? What else would they be doing the week before the Masters than practising for it?

Better to get good solid match practice against other top players and be paid for it.

John Higgins, Stephen Maguire and Graeme Dott have not entered but can of course all practice together.

The players are invited according to their rankings but can defer until a later group, as Mark Williams and Neil Robertson have by choosing to play in group 2 rather than 1.

The Championship League has a strange atmosphere because it has no atmosphere: there is no room for spectators and, as it’s set up to be bet on, there could be machinations if there was a crowd as streams are typically 10-15 second behind live action.

Also this week, the Hainan World Open qualifiers take place in Sheffield with 16 spots available for the 32-man final stages in February.

A long term deal to stage the tournament in China is expected to be announced today.

ON CUE FOR GERMANY

2012-01-05T10:00:00.002Z

The final Players Tour Championship event at Furstenfeldbruck in Germany from Friday will decide the final 24 places for the grand finals in Galway in March.

For the first time, the field has been played down to 16 for the three day tournament and it’s an intriguing collection of cueists.

There are three members of the top 16 – Mark Allen, Stephen Maguire and Martin Gould – plus five players who have at one time been top 16 members – Stephen Hendry, Marco Fu, Ricky Walden, Joe Perry and David Gray.

In addition, two players – Andrew Higginson and Michael Holt – are PTC winners this season and another – Marcus Campbell – won one last season.

Of the remaining five players there’s Mike Dunn, a maximum maker this season, Kurt Maflin, a Londoner based in Norway, Xiao Guodong, one of a number of improving Chinese players, and two players who secured main tour spots this campaign through the Q School, Dave Gilbert and David Grace.

Allen would probably start favourite for the title. His run to the UK Championship final last month – and his performance in recovering against Judd Trump – must have left him full of confidence, not a commodity he was lacking in the first place.

All the PTCs are wide open but there is an additional factor in this one in that all matches will be played in front of the TV cameras, where the more experienced players tend to thrive.

The final stages carry big money and big ranking points so those players not already qualified will be busting a gut to do so.

And there is another subplot: if Walden wins the title he relegates Ronnie O’Sullivan from the top 16 at the seedings cut-off for the next three ranking events.

It’s live on Eurosport from 1pm (UK time) on Friday.

Here’s the last 16 draw:

Mike Dunn v Mark Allen
David Grace v Martin Gould
Ricky Walden v Xiao Guodong
Dave Gilbert v Joe Perry
Marcus Campbell v Michael Holt
Stephen Hendry v Marco Fu
Stephen Maguire v David Gray
Kurt Maflin v Andrew Higginson

HANDY ANDY

2012-01-03T10:00:00.002Z

Some snooker players become household names, big stars outside of the sport. In the 1980s you didn’t even have to win anything to achieve this status in the UK.

Some players achieve notoriety for what they say or their activities off the table, even if they aren’t big tournament winners.

And others, the majority in fact, are the foot-soldiers of the professional circuit. They knuckle down, play, try their best and don’t make a fuss.

Many people assume they must be boring, presumably because they haven’t chinned anyone in a nightclub or sworn at someone on Twitter. But they’re not. Everyone is interesting if you look hard enough.

PTC12 this weekend offers the chance for a few of these bit part players to emerge from the wings and take their place in the spotlight

There are only three members of the top 16 in the 16-man draw, although there are also five other players who have at one time or another been part of this elite group.

But it’s an opportunity for a title for those not usually in that position.

One such is Andrew Higginson, in my experience one of the most decent and hard working players around.

Andrew of course won a PTC earlier this season but is still best known for his extraordinary run to the Welsh Open final five years ago.

For once the word ‘extraordinary’ is apt here. Higginson started out in the first qualifying round having pulled up very few trees in a decade on the main tour up to this point.

I remember interviewing him years and years ago at some anonymous qualifier or another. This was before blogs, before streaming, when these events passed off without anyone outside of those playing giving much of a damn about them.

He told me he had recently stopped practising at a snooker club in St. Helens. When I asked him why he replied, deadpan, “because it’s just burned down.” I’ve liked him ever since.

All those years of striving to do well and not really getting anywhere must have sapped his confidence but, for whatever reason, having qualified for Newport in 2007 he found the form of his life.

It was always in there and, that week, it exploded like a bottle of champagne shaken up by an F1 driver.

Higginson beat Marco Fu. He beat John Higgins. He beat Michael Judge. He was in the quarter-finals.

Most observers, no doubt myself among them, patronisingly assumed he had had a good tournament but that Ali Carter would prove a match too far.

Higginson beat him 5-1 and made a maximum in the process. He then defeated Stephen Maguire to reach the final.

What had seemed improbable was now a fairytale demanding only the perfect finish, and it almost came. Andrew fought back from 6-2 down at halfway to lead Neil Robertson 8-6 before the Aussie won the last three frames to win 9-8.

The Snooker Writers Association gave Higginson our Achievement of the Year award for all this and he survived a particularly boozy night in London at our annual dinner (another player ran up a large bill wrongly thinking it was a free bar, but that’s another story).

Since then Higginson has qualified for the Crucible, appeared on TV here and there and worked his way up to 19th in the latest world rankings.

This has not been as dramatic as his Welsh Open adventure but he is now firmly embedded in the top 32 and closing in on the top 16.

Good for him. He’s worked for it. And it rather proves what I’ve long suspected: most players are capable of great things, they just need a mixture of self belief, luck and inspiration to make it happen.

Higginson plays Kurt Maflin in the last 16 of the PTC in Furstenfeldbruck on Friday and whatever happens will be in group 1 of the Championship League next Monday. Later that week he has World Open qualifiers with the Shootout in Blackpool at the end of the month.

A busy time, then, which is how he likes it. Higginson is typical of most of snooker’s foot-soldiers: he loves the game, he wants to play it, he wants to win but losing isn’t everything.

Just as long as there is always another match, another tournament.

DOES BURNOUT EXIST?

2012-01-02T10:00:00.000Z

The answer to my own question is almost certainly yes, it does, but with some qualifiers.

There’s been a lot more snooker of late and a lot more to come before the betfred.com World Championship in April.

You’ll hear talk of burnout and players too exhausted to seriously compete at the Crucible, but what is the actual evidence for this?

Last season John Higgins played in everything he could and was in such good form that he went all the way to a fourth world title.

Ronnie O’Sullivan opted out of quite a few events and was clearly rusty in the run-in to Sheffield.

OK, this is not the most scientific example. Higgins is a great player and could win the world title any year regardless of how much he has played. O’Sullivan was low on motivation and wanted out of the game for good.

However, if you are looking for a likely winner come May 7 surely a player who has been playing a great deal would be a better bet than someone who has been losing early?

Momentum is important in sport because it is linked to confidence. Mark Selby started the season with this very commodity. He won the Wuxi Classic and shortly afterwards the Paul Hunter Classic and then the Shanghai Masters.

But runs come to an end and Selby was a disappointment against Marco Fu at the recent UK Championship. The good news is that players experience peaks and troughs and I’m sure the world no.1 will get going again soon.

Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry were the dominant players of their respective eras and the more they played, the more they won. In Hendry’s case he won five successive ranking events during one particularly purple patch.

But when they weren’t playing in tournaments they were on the exhibition circuit making serious money and, in the case of Davis, conquering new horizons with his manager, Barry Hearn.

This month marks the 30th anniversary of Davis’s 147 at the 1982 Lada Classic, the first in professional competition.

He had in fact just returned from a round-the-world trip so tiring that he was falling asleep between matches.

Later that year he was signing copies of his book in a newsagent’s in Sheffield a few hours before playing Tony Knowles in the World Championship. We all know how that played out.

Hendry, like Davis, was no slouch but he was a young man and had the bloody-minded professionalism to grind it out, understanding that this was his time to cash in on his success. Not many players since have had that same attitude.

But it isn’t really the amount of snooker being played that could lead to burnout – the more you play, the tougher you should in theory be – it’s the travelling.

Flying back and forth to places like China does take a toll. I’m sure many people will feel this is part of sport and, frankly, tough if you don’t like it, but a long season of planes, trains and automobiles can be physically demanding, especially as the calendar isn’t structured like golf and tennis where events in a particular part of the world come one after another.

This year there will be two new ranking events in China, further increasing the air miles top players will rack up.

I know a few players who love all this, and they are the ones prospering, but there will come a time, particularly for older players, where the prospect of another flight, another hotel becomes irksome to the point where it will negatively affect mental attitude.

It’s easy to say they are only playing snooker but not true. They are also investing huge mental reserves into their profession and travelling here, there and everywhere to play.

So burnout is a risk but as more tournaments crop up, there will be more choice and players can better manage their schedules.

And I’d still back a player with momentum come the Crucible than those who have hardly played at all.

2012: THE BATTLES ON THE BAIZE

2012-01-01T13:35:00.000Z

Happy new year everyone.

The great thing about a new year is that it’s a time for looking forward, not back and there is much to look forward to in 2012, indeed in January alone.

From Friday there will be 24 consecutive days of snooker to watch either on television or through internet streaming, a smorgasbord of green baize action with something for everyone.

It starts with PTC 12 in Germany after which the final 24 for the grand finals in Galway in March will be decided.

Then from January 9-12 the Championship League returns for its fifth year at one of snooker’s most unlikely venues, Crondon Park Golf Club in Essex.

There has been much more snooker to play recently but I’m not surprised that most top players have once again entered the Championship League. It’s regular match practice against top quality players and carries good financial reward.

The World Open (which will be best of nines this year, by the way) has its qualifiers from January 11-14. There will be commentary on the final two rounds on liveworldsnooker.tv and the betting sites that carry coverage.

The jewel in the crown this month is of course the Masters, at its new home of Alexandra Palace in London, from January 15-22.

This is one of snooker’s most prestigious titles, a tournament with a rich history and a huge first prize (£150,000).

The next two groups of Championship League are from January 23-26 and then the Sky Shootout, which I thought was a lot of fun last year, rounds things off in Blackpool from January 27-29.

So that’s a jam-packed month of snooker to kick off 2012 and there is plenty more where that came from in the run up to the Betfred.com World Championship in April.

This blog will remain pretty much as it has always been: a mix of news, opinion and historical reflections, a few interviews and thoughts about tournament action. If you have any other suggestions for content feel free to offer them.

It will be a busy year and that can only be good, although players will want to arrive at the Crucible three months from now match sharp but not exhausted.

Like any other year there will be drama aplenty: great matches, shocks, spellbinding breaks, stunning shot-making, nerve-wracking close finishes, twitch-ups, heartbreak, joy and glory.

People will say things in the heat of the moment that they later regret. There will be controversy. There will be arguments. There will be cock-ups. There will be complaints.

In short, there will be snooker, and lots of it.

The battles on the baize will be a rollercoaster of emotions for players, fans and everyone else associated with this great game.

So strap yourselves in and enjoy the ride.

AT YEAR'S END

2011-12-23T09:30:00.000Z

It may be a packed calendar these days but even snooker stops for Christmas as another year draws to a close.

It has been a busy one in the snooker world with new tournaments, new champions and several familiar faces continuing to perform to the highest standards.

John Higgins maintained his golden form of the back end of last year as 2011 began, winning the Welsh Open, the Hainan Classic in China, the Scottish Professional Championship and the World Championship.

It was an emotional time for Higgins. His father’s death hit him hard and he needed the break when it came in May. That he has not been quite as intense since is not that great a surprise.

His old adversary, Mark Williams, won what was arguably the best tournament of the year, the German Masters, which proved that talk of a snooker boom in Germany was no myth.

The crowds turned out in huge numbers in Berlin and witnessed an engrossing final in which Williams outmanoeuvred Mark Selby 9-7. It allowed the Welshman to return to the world no.1 spot, a remarkable turnaround in fortunes having dropped out of the top 16.

His tenure as world no. l ended, though, when Selby overtook him. As if to rub it in, Selby edged Williams 10-9 in the Shanghai Masters final, a match which turned on a bizarre incident in which Selby’s hit-and-hope shot shifted the psychological momentum.

It was proof that sport, for all its skill, can be decided by the unexpected. This, of course, is why it remains so popular with the watching millions.

Williams also lost in a decider to Stuart Bingham at the new Australian Open in Bendigo, 9-8 from 8-5 up. This tournament was an example of the further international reach snooker is now enjoying.

There were many matches to savour this year and a general feeling that the standard of play has increased.

And yet the player who more than any other turned snooker into the attacking game it is today went backwards.

Stephen Hendry lost his place in the elite top 16 and will find it very difficult to regain it.

But 2011 will be mainly remembered as the year a new star was born on the big stage.

Snooker players and fans had been aware of Judd Trump’s audacious talent for years but he had yet to marshal it in any meaningful way.

That changed in Beijing when he combined his incredible potting game with some rock solid safety to win the China Open.

It was a foretaste of what was to come on the biggest stage of them all. In the pressure cooker of the Crucible, Trump was a revelation.

A hero for the Twitter generation, his progress to the World Championship final was a breath of fresh air for the sport.

He ultimately fell short as Higgins, burning with determination, secured his fourth world title. However, the Scot was right to identify Trump as the star of the tournament and a player around whom much of snooker’s future prosperity will be built.

Higgins, Williams and Ronnie O’Sullivan are all now 36. These three outstanding players of the last 15 years broke through during the last major shake-up of the circuit when the game went open 20 years ago.

Now that it is undergoing another transformation, Trump is poised to be its leading light. His UK Championship success earlier this month rounded off a terrific year, for him and snooker.

The players deserve great credit for bringing the sport to life. There is now a distinct group of characters at the top of the game, all fiercely talented, battling for titles. Such is the standard that you can play great in the first round and lose. Any title these days is hard earned.

Off table, Barry Hearn continues to innovate, like a one-man runaway train the players are trying to keep pace with.

There seems to be three categories of player now: those who want to play all the time, those who give the impression they hardly want to play at all and the majority who want to play regularly but preferably without going skint in the process.

There will be more money for PTCs next year, with at least two British PTCs being cut, but expenses are a serious issue and will remain so the more tournaments that are staged in far flung locations.

But this is the problem of starting if not quite from scratch then from a low base. Prize money on the circuit has almost doubled in two years. It will continue to increase but the age of guarantees is over. More than ever, snooker has become the survival of the fittest.

Anyone who believes things were better before Hearn’s arrival needs a serious reality check.

After years of understandable complaints about too few playing opportunities there is a rebuilding process underway but some people seem to believe everything should be perfect immediately.

If the sport had been run properly in the past there would be no need for Hearn to step in at all.

Consider the following from the last year: major tournaments in Germany, Thailand, Australia and Brazil, live internet streaming of every event, record ticket sales, increased viewing figures, more sponsorship revenue, more prize money, more TV events...if people can’t celebrate any or all of these then it says more about them than the current state of snooker.

In 2012 there will be further new events. Hearn and his team are in discussions with promoters in countries including Singapore and Canada. I understand China is likely to get two new ranking events, one with a six figure first prize.

The globalisation of snooker continues apace, years and years later than it could have, but happening all the same.

World Snooker recently revealed that their revenue from overseas television sales five years ago was just £50,000. Now it is £2.5m. This proves that the sport is becoming truly international, although it can only claim this with credibility when the circuit includes more players from outside the UK.

The sport is on a sound financial footing. More care needs to be taken with the structure of the calendar but there is now a momentum behind the circuit, regular snooker not just for players but TV viewers too.

It’s not all perfect. There remains concern about too much meddling with snooker’s traditional elements. The game itself is still the biggest asset the sport has, more than any player.

There is still much sneering in the media, when they bother to cover snooker at all.

There are still rows and controversies and cock-ups and problems...as there are in every other sport.

But there is much to look forward to in 2012, which may prove to be snooker’s busiest year yet.

All that remains for me this year is to wish all you blog readers a very happy and peaceful festive period.

Merry Christmas, happy new year and thank you for reading.

FIRST AMONG EQUALS?

2011-12-20T14:20:00.000Z

Among the more intriguing suggestions from World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn has been his stated intention that all players should start tournaments in the same round.

This is a long term plan and one which will be controversial. It illustrates a divide in professional sport between what is considered ‘fair’ and the commercial realities which sustain the level of prize money available.

An example: the circuit is set to increase to 128 players. However, the Crucible can only take 32 players under its current format.

Therefore, if every player entered the World Championship in the same round we could be left with a field of unfamiliar names.

So what, you might argue. The best will come through, the others will fall by the wayside.

Well maybe. But when snooker is relying on revenue from broadcasters and sponsors, the importance of star names cannot be underestimated. These are the players which draw viewers, interest sponsors and persuade TV companies to screen tournaments.

Ever since a professional circuit was established there has been protection for higher ranked players, but they have earned this by starting at the bottom and rising up the rankings.

For many years the top 32 players in the world were exempt until the last 64 stage, where they usually had to win one, sometimes two, matches to reach the televised phase of ranking events.

This changed around a decade ago after pressure from broadcasters who found several top players were missing from line-ups of tournaments that they (the broadcasters) were effectively bankrolling.

So it was that the top 16 became exempt until the last 32. The knock-on effect of this has been a labyrinthine qualifying system which has arguably made it harder for players to come through, creating stagnation in the game.

Hearn’s argument is that players should not be seeded through to the final stages but earn their place. Top players would doubtless say they have already earned their place by securing such a high ranking.

However, although there is qualifying for Wimbledon, Federer and Nadal don’t get put through to the last 32, they start in the last 128 with everyone else.

The difference, though, is that Wimbledon is televised from this point. For the World Championship to be run along the same lines it would need to be played in a much bigger venue and have its matches dramatically shortened, neither of which would be popular with players or fans.

What has been interesting about the PTCs, certainly the televised ones, is that the top players invariably come through and win. I think this would still happen under Hearn’s radical plan, but many would also fall by the wayside.

This would help new faces emerge but could equally lead to a situation where the general viewer doesn’t really recognise anyone due to there being so many different faces on their TV screens.

A player’s perspective on all this will of course depend on where they are ranked. A top 16 player would, I suspect, be appalled by the prospect. Those further down the list would be more likely to relish it, although the idea of playing Judd Trump in the last 128 isn’t really one to punch the air about.

I think Hearn will find it difficult to persuade broadcasters of this shift, regardless of its merits.

If you are paying millions for the right to show a tournament you also have the right to expect the elements which draw in viewers and – like it or not – that includes star names.

But that is not to say the system cannot be altered to reflect these changing times. Perhaps a couple of ranking events should be played like this, preferably all at the venue with no need for qualifying at all.

FORD MOTORS TO PTC TITLE

2011-12-20T11:20:00.002Z

Tom Ford won his second PTC title and the first on television with his 4-3 defeat of Martin Gould in the 11th tournament of the series in Sheffield last night.

It wasn’t a great final but it was a confidence boosting achievement by Ford, a player who has long threatened to break through in a big tournament.

In fact he has nurdled his way up into the top 32, a position he has consolidated with wins in the qualifiers and now has the PTC grand finals to look forward to.

Ford beat Judd Trump and Graeme Dott en route to the final and in the end he finished off well in the decider.

There were the usual online sneers and snipes at the event from people whose main contribution to the sport seems to be to run it down and look only for negatives.

Yes, it was a rather low key affair but it was never originally intended to be played in Sheffield. It was a fallback which ensured television coverage.

And Eurosport’s figures on Saturday were extremely high, which proves that there is a great appetite for any sort of snooker and that the more tournaments that are shown, the more this appetite remains.

Trump is bringing people to the sport, of that there is no doubt. Whenever he plays the figures go up.

But it also seems to be true that viewers want to watch snooker and that who is playing does not necessarily matter.

This has been one of the positives of the PTCs: it has illustrated the strength in depth which exists in the game.

Ford was not among the favourites at the start of play but he took his chance and well done to him.

MAXIMUM EFFORT

2011-12-18T14:51:00.002Z

When Mike Dunn made his maximum break in the German Masters qualifiers a few weeks ago I wrote of how relatively rare this feat still is.

Dunn's was the 79th 147 on the official list. Yesterday Ding Junhui made the 84th.

It was his second in just three days and last night against Stephen Hendry he seemed determined to make another.

This was a risky strategy but it ultimately made no difference as Ding won 4-2. Perhaps he had just got the bug but he could only have split the £500 with himself.

There will be more maximums very soon, of that I have no doubt. The players are playing more often and are thus sharper. In the PTCs they tend to play a more open game.

But what is rarely said is how good the conditions are. These superfine cloths are conducive to heavy scoring.

With the old heavier balls and thicker cloths such feats of break-building would be more difficult, but the game has changed and is more attacking.

Standards rise in all sports. They have in snooker in that more players are now producing high quality stuff.

There have now been 42 maximums on television. This is still not all that many but, obviously, can only increase.

BACK TO SHEFFIELD

2011-12-15T10:00:00.001Z

After the brilliant UK Championship this week’s PTC action is not so much after the lord mayor’s show as after the show that follows the lord mayor’s show.

It will difficult, for instance, for Judd Trump to get himself into the same frame of mind as he experienced in York.

But it is the chance for someone to earn a £10,000 Christmas bonus in Sheffield. That’s in PTC11 at the weekend. First today comes the reduction of the field for PTC12 down to the last 16, which will be played in Germany next month.

And there are of course rankings issues to be decided in both these events. The main intrigue surrounds Ronnie O’Sullivan, who can lose his top 16 place if a combination of Stephen Lee, Mark Davis and Ricky Walden do well.

O’Sullivan has himself done well in PTCs this season and, having already qualified for the grand finals, has not entered the last two, but this has turned out to be a big risk.

The new ranking system does not offer the old protections but O’Sullivan would have been in trouble under any system: from seven major tournaments last season he lost in three first rounds and didn’t play in two other events.

No objective person could argue that he isn’t good enough to be in the top 16 but it is only by playing – and winning matches – that any player will keep their place.

You can follow the various rankings machinations at this excellent rundown at Pro Snooker Blog, whose commitment to this cause is exemplary.

PTC11 is live on Eurosport from Saturday.

NAUGHTY BUT NICE

2011-12-12T01:05:00.001Z

Judd Trump is the latest star to shine in snooker’s glittering firmament but for all the attention cuemen such as he attracts the test of a player is what they achieve on the table.

Trump’s performance today in winning the williamhill.com UK Championship was at times breathtaking. His shot-making, flair and courage under pressure mark him out as the standard bearer for the new era.

He has helped get people talking about snooker again. Who could fail to be entertained by the way he plays the game?

Nobody can say for sure who will win the World Championship. The example of Jimmy White tells us this.

What we can say is that Trump will go to the Crucible next spring as one of the big favourites to land the greatest prize of them all. That he is good enough to is not in doubt.

I first saw him play when he was ten. He won the English under 15 national title at Gateshead and needed the rest for every other shot.

The following day he lost in the English under 13 final and took it badly. This was a good early sign. Even at that age snooker clearly mattered. This was not just a hobby.

When he was 13 I saw him beat Mike Hallett 4-1 to win the spring Open at Pontin’s in Prestatyn.

I suspect he remains the only winner of this huge pro-am to celebrate by going on the swings.

I knew then that he was special. It wasn’t just his talent. There was something in his manner. He was dedicated and seemed to believe in himself. He wasn’t going to be the type to waste what he had.

Much of this is of course down to his family. His father Steve drove young Judd up and down the motorways of the UK every weekend to junior tournaments, in particular those organised by Malcolm Thorne in the East Midlands.

They enabled Trump to improve and get used to competition snooker. He formed friendships and rivalries with players he would encounter in time on the professional circuit.

I never doubted he would make an impact as a pro, but the year he has had has been beyond all expectations.

What has impressed me is the way he has developed his all round game. He has good tactical knowledge, as he displayed in winning the China Open, and is comfortable on the big stage, not shrinking from the limelight but embracing it.

Like most players he suffered some early setbacks on the main tour. The free flowing snooker he had always played was in short supply in the qualifiers, where hard-as-nails seasoned players kept him glued to the back cushion and frustrated him.

It was an apprenticeship all players must serve but led some to question whether he had been over-hyped.

In fact, Trump developed at his own pace. He enjoyed good practice facilities at Keynsham Snooker Centre and support from Derek Curnow but, like many of his age, wanted to reach out on his own.

He moved to Romford where he practises at The Grove and shares a house with Jack Lisowski.

He could not have chosen a better sparring partner than Jack, a level-headed young man dedicated to his snooker.

The image of the ‘playboys’ is mainly ironic. I’m sure they do enjoy themselves – as they should – but snooker clearly comes first.

But he has overcome his early shyness and developed into a confident talker, at ease with the media and their growing demands.

Judd seems to have good people around him. It will be hard not to let some of the attention and adoration go to his head, but in my experience a snooker club is a place where you will soon be given a reality check if you start believing your own publicity.

The tabloids will have their fun with him but the truth about Trump is that he is a nice young man, close to his family, who enjoys playing snooker.

And he is unbelievably good at it.

That Mark Allen could play as well as he did, making four centuries and still losing, shows how impressive a display it was.

With success comes negatives too. He will inevitably invite jealousy, carping about minor things, judgements from those who have never met him, hangers-on and those who want a piece of him for the wrong reasons. But the positives far outweigh all this. He is inspiring people who may have drifted away from snooker or never much been interested before.

The best part of it is this: if Trump’s professional career were a day it would still be morning.

There is still so much more to accomplish.

TRUMP V ALLEN FOR UK TITLE

2011-12-11T10:02:00.003Z

Today’s williamhill.com UK Championship final pits two young, exciting, attacking players against each other in a fitting climax to a brilliant tournament.

Judd Trump has been joined in the final by Mark Allen, who displayed poise, purpose and great sportsmanship last night in beating Ricky Walden 9-7.

The irony of Allen’s comments about Barry Hearn is that he is exactly the sort of player Hearn is looking for to take the game forward.

He has terrific skill and like those other Northern Irish ranking event finalists – Alex Higgins, Dennis Taylor and Joe Swail – is a fighter.

He also has something about him as a person. I was impressed by his behaviour last night when he queried whether a red apparently moved by the referee had been pottable in its original position.

Allen was certainly used to winning before turning professional, which is one of the reasons he made such an immediate impact.

Allen captured the Northern Irish amateur title at every age level and went on to win the European junior title, European amateur championship and IBSF world amateur championship.

In his first match on TV he beat Steve Davis as a wildcard for the 2005 Northern Ireland Trophy. The next day he beat John Higgins.

He has always believed in himself and relishes competition but does not seem to enjoy the life of a professional.

I get the feeling Allen loves playing in big matches, it’s the slog of the circuit he dislikes.

He was reportedly unable to get on the plane to China last season for the Hainan Classic invitation tournament. This led to treatment for depression.

He seems happier now. Terry Griffiths is in his corner, which is a positive, and he has every reason to believe he can capture his first major title today.

Trump of course will be very difficult to beat. I don’t think he has played quite as well as he did at the Crucible but he has demonstrated fine battling qualities alongside his wonderful shot-making.

He really does seem to love everything about life as a pro. He also understands that being a snooker player is about more than just playing. Trump entertains. He interacts with fans on social media. He is a star.

He has had a fine year and it can end on a real high with him joining the list of greats on the UK Championship roll of honour.

This final could be a hard-hat area the way these two play; a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it parade of audacious potting and big breaks.

It promises to be a pulsating end to what has been a memorable week in York.

JUST 17

2011-12-10T12:02:00.000Z

We were reminded last night as to why best of 17s have been so popular.

The standard of the Judd Trump-Neil Robertson semi-final wasn't always the highest but the drama quotient was off the scale.

Credit to Trump for his bottle in the last frame as he avoided a doubtlessly nervy decider. I'm not sure if this was naughty snooker but it was certainly entertaining, not least because the length of match allowed the drama to build through the day.

Today's semi-final pits Mark Allen against Ricky Walden.

Allen is appearing in his sixth ranking event semi and is still yet to win one. Walden is through to his first major semi-final since he won the 2008 Shanghai Masters.

It seems to me Ricky plays better against top players, possibly because he knows that he has to.

When he won in Shanghai he beat Stephen Hendry, Robertson, Steve Davis, Mark Selby and Ronnie O'Sullivan.

This week he has already done for Stephen Lee, Mark Williams and Shaun Murphy and has at times cued superbly.

Confidence is obviously a very important component in snooker. Walden has been in a PTC final, made a 147 and generally grafted out some encouraging results below the radar. He has brought these positives to York.

Allen won everything he could as an amateur and I've never been in any doubt that he will be a winner of major titles as a professional.

He possesses great talent but also great heart. He's a fighter and it's surely only a matter of time before he breaks his semi-final hoodoo.

I think this could be another close match. I hope so. We've seen a terrific tournament already and it deserves an exciting denouement.

BATTLE OF THE LEFTIES

2011-12-09T08:00:00.003Z

Good news folks - the best of 17 UK Championship starts here!

And what a great first semi-final, pitting Neil Robertson against Judd Trump, a battle of the left-handers.

They met of course on the first day of last season's World Championship but that was an entirely different scenario. Robertson was under massive pressure as a first time defending champion and Trump was full of confidence after winning the China Open.

Trump should still be full of confidence after his three centuries yesterday against Stephen Maguire. This was his brand of 'naughty snooker' which I suppose is a bit like sexy football in that you know it when you see it.

Robertson looked very relaxed against Ding Junhui and is having a good, solid season of it so far.

He has the long potting prowess of Trump but is generally more measured. It may all come down to the extent to which young Trump pushes the boat out and how successful he is at this strategy.

He will surely be right to play his natural game and to his own strengths.

Robertson is a big occasion player. He has never lost a TV final from the eight played and this will feel like one: 17 frames in a one table setting against an exciting talent such as Trump.

The stage is set for a potential classic, and the good news is that we get two sessions of it.

Ricky Walden's great run continues and if he wins the title he is in line for a Masters wildcard, as it was stipulated a qualifier would get an invite to the game's leading invitation event if they landed the UK crown.

Mark Allen produced a brilliant finish in a tense and absorbing contest against Marco Fu to reach the sixth ranking event semi-final of his career.

He plays Walden on Saturday in what represents a big chance for a player with a lower profile than many in the game to earn a place in one of snooker's showpiece occasions.

CLOSE QUARTERS

2011-12-08T11:03:00.001Z

So we're down to the last eight of the williamhill.com UK Championship at the Barbican Centre in York and the race for the title is still wide open.

Judd Trump, still standing despite a couple of scares, faces Stephen Maguire, who has at times looked superb.

Neil Robertson and Ding Junhui, the game's two outstanding non-British players, clash cues in what could be a terrific battle.

Ricky Walden is through to only his third major quarter-final since he won the 2008 Shanghai Masters and tackles Shaun Murphy, much relieved to beat Martin Gould 6-4 from 5-0 yesterday.

Mark Allen played very well to see off Ali Carter and Marco Fu finished strongly against Mark Selby, who must have been disappointed by his performance.

Carter didn't take the defeat well. He announced his retirement on twitter, effective from the end of the season.

I've heard too many players say they will retire over the years to take this deadly seriously as the vast majority never do.

Most probably want to but what else will they do? In Carter's case, of course, he could fly planes but I suspect when the disappointment subsides he will have a rethink.

The huge numbers of people who have been watching at the Barbican are interested in the snooker but nothing gets a sport wider media coverage like a good old fashioned ruck.

The Allen-Barry Hearn rumpus is rumbling on in frankly hilarious fashion. Hearn calling the Northern Irishman a 'silly little boy' and Allen responding by wearing a gag to his post match press conference last night.

This is all essentially flim-flam but you'll have noticed the newspapers are full of this every day.

Speaking of which, Mark Williams was tweeting between frames yesterday, a practice which will no doubt be banned on the basis that it runs the risk of people enjoying themselves.

Mark's tweets were pretty ripe but they made me laugh because I could imagine him saying them out loud.

We should accept the players for the people they are, rather than trying to mould them into a series of dull clones.

Yes, the corporate image of snooker is important but if we cry out for 'personalities' we shouldn't deride the players for showing some.

WEDNESDAY IN YORK

2011-12-07T11:31:00.000Z

The Judd Trump-Ronnie O'Sullivan match lived up to its billing with a wonderful afternoon's entertainment.

It seems whenever these two meet there simply aren't enough frames to savour the majestic potting, break-building and drama they serve up between them.

O'Sullivan was unlucky to suffer that kick in the deciding frame because it looked like we were heading for a re-spot finish.

Afterwards there was another retirement threat from O'Sullivan, who first said he would quit the game after losing to Ken Doherty in the 1994 UK Championship quarter-finals at the age of 18.

I've heard it many times since but one thing I would say is that whenever Ronnie has said it, I think he has believed it.

He may well want to walk away but perhaps the fear is this: if he does quit and still doesn't find what he's looking for without snooker, what then?

He talked about the lonely life on the snooker circuit, which it certainly can be. After the best part of 20 years slogging around I can well understand why Ronnie isn't looking forward to more of the same.

Something tells me he won't be short of offers as he searches for a partner, though.

Trump has ridden his luck this week - as often happens to players who end up winning the title.

The same could be said for Ding Junhui, who survived a second successive deciding frame finish to see off Matthew Stevens, who was nicely in during the last but missed a black off its spot.

At night, John Higgins didn't look his old self but Stephen Maguire was superb in building a 5-1 lead. Higgins started to come back at him but Maguire held on well to win 6-4.

It's about time he won another major title. His last was three and a half years ago but Maguire looks highly tuned in this week.

Neil Robertson is having a cracking season and did for Graeme Dott 6-3 in last night's other match.

The second round is completed today. Mark Williams stuttered against Joe Jogia and faces in Ricky Walden a player who has seen his confidence return.

Shaun Murphy will have to contain Martin Gould, for whom confidence is at an all time high having joined the top 16 and won £25,000 in the recent Power Snooker.

Mark Selby will be favourite against Marco Fu but Ali Carter v Mark Allen is harder to call.

Meanwhile all the off-table nonsense continues to swirl around. Mark Allen has been reported to the WPBSA's disciplinary committee following his outburst on Monday, not for his comments but for the language he used.

If every player who swore in press conferences, interviews or on social media was fined then World Snooker could fund at least one full ranking event.

And I'm always a little wary of the old catch-all charge 'bringing the game into disrepute.'

I've been waiting years for someone to bring snooker into repute.

DAY OF CHAMPIONS

2011-12-06T09:02:00.000Z

Another very interesting day in York has left us with a stellar line up for the williamhill.com UK Championship.

Judd Trump looked vulnerable against Dominic Dale, who played good match snooker to build a 4-2 lead before Trump enjoyed some outrageous good fortune on the way to winning 6-4.

In frame seven he had two flukes, including a ludicrous one on a pink, which helped turn the match. There seem to have been more timely flukes in this tournament than any other all year.

It sets up a mouth-watering encounter today with Ronnie O’Sullivan, just one of many seriously enticing second round matches at the Barbican Centre.

Ding Junhui struggled in the first round against Mark Davis but has a good record against Matthew Stevens, who scored heavily in beating Marcus Campbell on Saturday night.

Neil Robertson beat Graeme Dott in the 2010 World Championship final, which dragged on until close to 1am. The good news this time is that neither will be knackered after 17 days of snooker and their contest could be a thriller.

The same goes for John Higgins’s match against his fellow Scot, Stephen Maguire, who has a good record in this event and is capable of matching Higgins in the hard snooker stakes.

So today features eight players who between them have won 11 UK titles and nine world titles.

Mark Williams is probably glad of a day off after almost buckling last night against Joe Jogia.

The key word here is almost. Williams came through in the end, much to the delight of the legions of people who seemed to have backed various accumulators of which his match was the last.

Williams often does this: plays patchy stuff early in a tournament and then gets better and better. He’s still wonderful to watch when he’s playing his best and still a real dangerman for the title.

The venue has been packed out and the tournament is proving so popular that extra tickets have been released to meet demand.

But this is snooker and therefore it wouldn’t be right if someone hadn’t had a bleat up about something.

Yesterday it was the turn of Mark Allen, who expressed the view that Barry Hearn is ruining the sport and should go.

I don’t know Allen or profess to know what he wants from the game but I’ve been working in snooker for 14 years and there has never been a time when all the players have been happy.

There are either too few tournaments or too many. They are either too long or too short. There are either too many in the UK or too many abroad. The calendar is either too spaced out or too hectic. The top players are either getting too much money or should get more. It’s either unfair that all the matches aren’t on TV or unfair that the matches aren’t longer and played in cubicles.

And so on and so on and so on.

By the way, this isn’t limited to the players. On my very first day in the media centre I witnessed two seasoned journalists arguing about who had the best chair.

It taught me well and I have moaned about pretty much everything ever since, the main difference being that, quite rightly, nobody pays any attention to what I say and that I know a good thing when I see it.

Allen said that Hearn was making snooker too much like darts, with drunks shouting out. In fact, this has only happened at the Shootout – a huge rater for Sky – and Power Snooker, an independent promotion which Allen will presumably not be playing in again.

Hearn has not done himself any favours by being so publically dismissive of the players but they claimed they wanted more tournaments and he is working very hard to provide them.

If certain players worked as hard at their games and being professional in every sense of the word they may be more successful.

The main problem is that snooker players aren’t used to be being told what to do. Previously if they didn’t like the guy in charge they voted him out and replaced him with someone else, who they also then voted out before repeating the process over and over again until almost every potential sponsor had lost interest.

That was the environment that led to Hearn taking full control of the sport, without any prospect of being ejected. If the players had run the game properly there would have been no need to turn to him in the first place.

Anyway, all that is a sideshow. We have a fascinating tournament in progress and this is all the general public is interested in.

And there is much to grab their interest in York this week.

SEEDS FAIL TO SCATTER

2011-12-05T07:30:00.003Z

It was another day of terrific entertainment at the Barbican in York as the williamhill.com UK Championship once again provided value for money.

Mark Selby did for Ryan Day in no time at all, winning an edgy first frame and then motoring as Day struggled.

Ronnie O’Sullivan played some sublime stuff in dispatching legend Steve Davis 6-1, potting a yellow in one frame with the cue ball in the jaws of a baulk corner pocket which had to be seen to be believed.

The first, and so far only, top 16 casualty was Stuart Bingham, beaten 6-4 by Marco Fu. The key frame here was the sixth in which Fu was called for a foul when leading by 61 with 59 on, meaning Bingham could win.

The Aussie Open champ set about clearing up but lost prime position from green to brown, missed the brown and a grateful Fu made it 3-3.

Buoyed by confidence, he went for his shots and his eventual victory was not a huge upset given his record.

Ali Carter v Robert Milkins wasn’t great fare but victory clearly meant a lot to Carter. At night, Martin Gould came through against Peter Lines and Shaun Murphy survived a bit of a mid match scare against an obviously promising Li Yan.

The first round concludes today. Centre stage in the afternoon session are Judd Trump and Dominic Dale, who will be hoping to continue the recent form he showed in reaching the final of PTC10.

Mark Allen would be expected to come through against Adrian Gunnell, as would Mark Williams against Joe Jogia.

However, Stephen Lee’s match with Ricky Walden could well be much closer. Walden looks to have come back into form and, like Fu beating Bingham, it would not be a big shock if he triumphed.

Crowd support has been terrific, although some people have commented on the Barbican’s squeaky stairs.

Off table noise is always a bone of contention in snooker because it is quiet most of the time.

There was once a match at the Crucible where an elderly couple were sat in the front row, the wife eating a bag of sweets.

It led the late, great referee, John Street, to turn to the husband and remark: ‘Sir, could you please keep that bag quiet.’

Thankfully no offence was taken.

SNOOKER ROCKS THE BARBICAN

2011-12-04T09:40:00.000Z

An enthralling first day's play at the williamhill.com UK Championship proved that snooker can still do what television sport is supposed to: provide great entertainment.

The quality of snooker was high, there was plenty of drama and, just as importantly, it was packed out at the Barbican Centre in York.

The UK Championship was always well attended at York and I'm sure it would have been for best of 17s, but it's equally true to say that the best of 11s, though hard to swallow for diehard snooker fans, did not put the general public off. Today is a sell-out.

The first two matches went the distance. Ding Junhui fluked the final pink to beat Mark Davis 6-5, harsh on the Sussex professional but he was man enough to admit afterwards that he had missed his chance to win 6-4 and also missed a straight blue with a chance to clear in the decider.

Similarly, Rory McLeod missed the black off its spot with a good opportunity to beat John Higgins in their decider and was later another victim of a fluke as the defending champion scraped through.

It seems that after all the PTCs the top players have come to York focused for a really big event and that was certainly the case for Graeme Dott and Neil Robertson, each serene in making progress against Matt Selt and Tom Ford respectively.

Matthew Stevens made breaks of 140 and 136 while Stephen Maguire played good, hard match snooker and potted some vital pressure balls to see off Stephen Hendry.

It looked as if the five times champion might pull it out the fire after rallying from 3-1 down to 3-3 but the odd shot here and there lets Hendry down these days.

Today's big match pits Ronnie O'Sullivan against his boyhood hero, Steve Davis, who hasn't beaten him for 13 years.

Li Yan, the unknown quantity having qualified in his first season, faces Shaun Murphy, the 2008 champion.

And there's a very interesting start as Mark Selby, the world no.1, meets Ryan Day.

Some great snooker ahead, then, and what undoubtedly adds to it is the atmosphere. When people want more calling out and noise they are ignoring the power of reverential silence. It is forbidding and adds to the pressure, reminding players that they are out on their own.

When punctuated by bursts of applause, the odd gasp and even an embarrassed cough or two it ramps up the dramatic tension.

But there was one incident yesterday that reminded everyone that for all the various points of view and petty squabbles in snooker, it really is just a game.

Marcus Campbell had travelled for years to tournaments with his friend, Martin, who died suddenly yesterday in the tournament hotel.

To his credit, Marcus still played but his mind was obviously not on snooker. My condolences go to him.

DAY ONE AT THE BARBICAN

2011-12-03T08:00:00.000Z

Rory McLeod often gets stick for the pace at which he plays but it’s only three years since he made three successive centuries against Ronnie O’Sullivan in the UK Championship and, as his results show, he is a dangerous player.

John Higgins found his concentration sorely tested by playing McLeod over three sessions at the Crucible last season before ultimately coming through. Their match in York today is only best of eleven but Higgins has not yet come to life during this campaign and can’t afford to let McLeod start to boss the style of match.

Not that this will be easy to do against Higgins, who has enough class and patience to see off the McLeod threat.

It would be a surprise if Mark Davis, who perennially seems to be on the brink of joining the top 16, beat Ding Junhui, but not a huge one.

Ding won the UK title in 2005 and 2009 and is an awesome break-builder and great front runner.

Davis, then, needs to get on top of him early on. Very easy to write, not so easy to do against a great talent like Ding.

Neil Robertson has had an excellent time of it in the PTCs and will be expected to come through against Tom Ford, a player who has got himself into the top 32 but not someone who has often produced the goods on TV.

Matt Selt is much improved in recent seasons but it seems like an age since he was in the quarter-finals of the Australian Goldfields Open (it was actually July).

He’s up against the iron-willed Graeme Dott this afternoon, a player as tough as anyone and particularly good at winning the key psychological frames, the ones that hurt.

Some people feel Stephen Maguire’s match with Stephen Hendry is the tie of the round. When they played at last season’s Welsh Open, Hendry kicked off with a maximum, after which his game all but disappeared.

Maguire can be a little erratic but has a very good record in the UK Championship and will probably be too strong for Hendry.

When Maguire was a teenager he spent many hours practising with the then world no.1, picking balls out and learning about top level snooker. But that was a long time ago and fortunes have changed for both men.

Tonight’s other match pits Matthew Stevens against Marcus Campbell. I remember watching Marcus win their World Championship final qualifying round match in a decider not so long ago but this is on television, where Stevens would be expected to come to the fore.

There is apparently no partition between tables at the williamhill.com UK Championship, which is good for spectators as they can keep an eye on both tables but, I suspect, not entirely to the liking of all the players.

WHO WILL BE THE DUKE OF YORK?

2011-12-02T12:00:00.001Z

So the williamhill.com UK Championship is here and we’re set for a fascinating nine day’s snooker.

It’s been three months since the last full ranking event. No disrespect to the PTCs, Premier League etc but this is what it’s all about: a major tournament, the game’s top players and all the drama and subplots that ensue before the winner is crowned.

There has been much fulmination about the reduction from best of 17s to best of 11s and I’m sure there will be plenty more.

Well, not from me. I didn’t agree with the change but that won’t stop me enjoying the tournament. It is what it is, it's not going to change now so just try to enjoy it.

The one good thing is that all matches are now televised, which is fairer than playing half on TV and half round the back in a cubicle.

Although fewer frames in theory means the lower ranked players have a better chance against the top seeds, we saw last season in the best of five World Open that qualifiers had several chances to cause upsets but felt the pressure of TV attention.

I’d be very surprised if the winner on Sunday week did not come from the list of usual suspects.

There are many questions to be answered...

Can John Higgins find that intensity he displayed last year to defend his title?

Can Ronnie O’Sullivan transfer his Premier League form into a fifth UK victory?

Can Neil Robertson maintain his excellent performances so far this season?

Can Stephen Hendry or Steve Davis, in that hoary old cliché, roll back the years?

Can a rank outsider have a good run?

Some have raised eyebrows about the BBC times, but it will still be on the red button (one channel on Freeview) and the BBC website.

There is also extensive live coverage on Eurosport and live streaming on liveworldsnooker.tv for those outside Europe.

York is a lovely place, particularly just before Christmas. It’s great to have snooker back at the Barbican.

And it’s great to have another major tournament on our screens. So wrap up warm, and enjoy the snooker.

BARRY HEARN INTERVIEW

2011-12-01T12:20:00.000Z

Barry Hearn is not a man troubled by uncertainty.

“I always listen to other people’s opinions but if I disagree with them then I disregard them immediately,” he told me.

The interview was conducted as the World Snooker chairman dashed between meetings. It was just another day for Hearn: up early, into work and on with business, a business which has been incredibly profitable since Matchroom was founded over 30 years ago.

Hearn rode the crest of the snooker wave in the 1980s before conquering new lands, some of them mainstream like boxing and others niche such as poker and fishing. He carries with him a first rate reputation as a wheeler and dealer, gregarious front man and lover of innovation.

Self confidence is not something lacking in the Hearn repertoire and neither should it be. Yes, he talks the talk but his record proves he has also walked the walk.

But an increasing number of players are finding cause to criticise him as the wind of change runs through professional snooker. John Higgins last week reportedly claimed the UK Championship had been ‘ruined’ by the decision to reduce it to best of 11 frames from its traditional best of 17.

It is a change that has left many appalled, but Hearn sighs deeply before answering the charge that the game’s second biggest event has been downgraded.

“This is a great example of why snooker players should play snooker and leave commercial decisions to people qualified to make them,” he said.

“You have to take note of moving trends and remember that the customer is always right. The viewing figures and ticket sales are our customers, are what we listen to.

“I don’t want to say we were fortunate that the BBC signed a new contract but let’s put it this way: we are grateful of their support.

“For the UK Championship they wanted a result in every session and best of 11 was actually stretching it as far as we could.

“People may not like it but across all sports there is a move towards faster action. We have never got near to the ticket sales we have achieved this year. People know that they will come and see a result.

“It sounds to me like John Higgins is completely removed from reality. He’s a great player and is entitled to his opinion but we’re a commercial sport. If he and others want bigger prize funds then they have to live in the real world.

“To be honest, what they want is almost immaterial to me. I have to transform snooker and I know what I’m doing. If that sounds big-headed, well, tough. I’ve been doing it for 35 years and I’ve been successful.”

What, then, of the World Championship, which currently runs for 17 days over long matches where it sometimes takes days, never mind sessions, to reach a result?

“We will leave the World Championship virtually untouched because it’s proved itself,” said Hearn, who featured in a famous Crucible cameo when he barrelled across the stage in 1981 and nearly knocked Steve Davis over after his young charge became world champion for the first time.

“It’s a bizarre tournament in a way, the fact you can play a match for three days, but it works.

“But you can’t expect nothing to change otherwise the game will die. If that happens the likes of John Higgins will have to get a job, and they won’t like that.”

Hearn tells me he has a “skin like a rhinoceros” but he does sound genuinely frustrated when I raise the subject of complaints about the PTCs.

“What people don’t seem to understand is that we have a proper commercial plan,” he said. “It’s a five-year plan and the PTCs are here for five years. We haven’t even reached the end of year two yet and they’re already moaning. Wait and see where we are after five years.

“Peter Ebdon got it right two years ago. He told the EGM they were giving me control of the game forever. Correct, and I know the way to go. I know exactly what I’m doing because I’ve done it in darts and elsewhere.

“The PTCs will evolve over time. Players complain about them but they forget they are sharper than ever because they’re playing all the time and they forget that winning the £10,000 first prize – which is a lot of money to a working man – qualifies towards playing in a bigger tournament where the first prize is £75,000.

“The European PTCs have been a great springboard to showcase the game in Europe and explore the market there. Those events will grow but we need the players to support them.”

Hearn says he takes an hourly interest in the fast moving administration of the professional circuit. “Yes, I make mistakes,” he admitted in a rare moment of self reproach. “As Aneurin Bevan [politician and founder of the National Health Service] said, if you haven’t made 11 mistakes before breakfast then you’re still in bed. But I have so many ideas and most of them are good.”

One such idea will not go down well with top players. Hearn’s long term plan is to have all players start in the first round in all tournaments, as happens in the PTCs.

How he will sell this to broadcasters who want the big names guaranteed on their screens is another matter, but Hearn believes snooker has been a cosy closed shop for too long.

“I will eventually move it so that every player comes in at the first round stage, no seedings, no exemptions,” he said. “There’s been too much protection in this game. It’s a long term project and top players won’t like it but it’s much fairer, just like the new ranking system is.

“Eventually everyone will play in the first round. The sport hasn’t been vibrant enough, there have been too few new faces coming through. It’s been a closed shop largely and there have been too many obstacles.

“This will be good news for the new players and youngsters but I also believe the prize money structure should change. There should be more given to winners and less lower down.

“When the history books of snooker are written, the few years before I took over will be looked at as snooker in its death throws. It was going nowhere.

“So many things were being done because they had always been done and people seemed content to basically just divvy up the money and keep everyone sweet.

“It was run like a boys’ club. In five years time the sport will look completely different. There will be a tournament every week, just like golf, just like tennis.”

In the face of all this, I suggest the bullish Hearn isn’t bothered by public criticisms from leading players, but he disagrees.

“I am bothered by them because they are damaging. These negative comments have a direct commercial impact with sponsors,” he said.

“It seems to me a lot of top players would rather be at home in bed than go out to work like the rest of us.

“The players job is to keep their mouths shut and play snooker. Mine is to provide them with the opportunities to do that, which I am doing.

“You can’t just take from life. You have to put in as well. If it means the inconvenience of playing in lower prize money tournaments then so be it. They should think about the bigger picture, about where the sport can go.

“Some of them seem to want everything now. Well, that won’t happen but at the end of five years the sport will have been transformed. The prizes will be there for those who want them and are prepared to work for them. Some players seem to think I should just send them a cheque every month.

“I know I can do it, but the players have to play their part too. I may sound over confident but that’s 35 years of being successful for you.”

Snooker, though, is a difficult and cut-throat sport. Many players are left out of pocket through the expense of travelling to tournaments that do not carry large financial prizes.

Does Hearn have sympathy? Up to a point.

“It’s tough, of course, but at the end of five years there will be a tournament every week and the players can choose what they want to play in,” he said.

“I don’t mind people losing money playing if that’s their chosen path, if that’s what they want to do with their lives, but it’s my responsibility to give them the chances and reward them if they are successful.

“In golf, if they get their tour card they know it will cost them £70,000 a year in expenses and if they don’t make the cut they won’t get paid but if they do well they will become very wealthy. That’s sport. We’re not here to protect anyone but we should reward people who do well.”

If what Hearn says is right then snooker in 2015 will indeed look very different: a 12-month global circuit featuring tournaments big and small.

It may be that some big names get swept away in this revolution, but this has happened before. 20 years ago when the game went open many of the familiar faces from the boom years of the 1980s disappeared and were replaced by young stars, some of whom are now approaching veteran status.

Ray Reardon, in fact, retired in protest at the influx of new stars, each turning professional based on paying entry fees rather than ability.

The sport has done well to survive the various troughs of recent years. It went through some bad times but is still standing, and with European and Far Eastern interest is set to flourish again.

This is how professional snooker is now: changes, challenges and a hectic playing schedule, plenty for people to adapt to and much to be questioned as well.

We can judge the success of the Hearn plan when it is complete but one thing is clear: whether people in the snooker world agree with him or not, he isn’t going anywhere and he isn’t going to change course.

That’s never been the Barry Hearn way.

PTC12 AND MATTERS ARISING

2011-11-30T10:00:00.002Z

PTC 12 in January will consist of only 16 players at the venue in Fuerstenfeldbruck, Germany due, apparently, to the unsuitability of the venue to hold the usual 9-10 tables required for these events. I understand this anomaly came to light at a recent site visit by organisers.

The WPBSA’s response was to announce a reduction of the field down to 16 immediately before PTC 11 in Sheffield in the week following the UK Championship.

They then announced a ‘consultation’ with players, the result of which is to stick to the original plan.

Although this is all rather unfortunate there are a couple of upsides: 1) all matches from the last 16 onwards will be on television and streamed; 2) UK based players losing in the early rounds will not incur the same level of expenses going to Sheffield as they would in Germany, although this isn’t much consolation to German amateurs.

Leaving aside the point that the venue should surely have been checked out much sooner, the WPBSA had to do something and I would say have come up with a reasonable solution, although the ‘consultation’ should surely have come before announcing alternative dates, not afterwards.

This taps into something I’ve been hearing about rather a lot. Not so long ago players were sent a letter on various matters, one of which was that the WPBSA staff preferred communication via email because HQ ‘is not a call centre.’

No it isn’t. But equally the players pay membership fees and should reasonably expect genuine queries to be dealt with. We’re talking here about their professional lives, the way they earn their money to provide for themselves and their families.

One of the problems is that World Snooker’s staff have been cut down to the bone – at a time where there is more to do than ever. In my experience they are not underworked, certainly not the officials out on the circuit who slave away in tournament offices for little thanks.

I know some players now find dealing with the governing body a bit impersonal, especially those being fined for tournament withdrawals without getting any sort of hearing.

And the situation surrounding PTC 12 seems to underline something many people are saying: that there are too many PTCs.

However, many of those coming up with easy solutions are not in possession of the full facts. World Snooker has contracts with Eurosport and Perform based on supplying a particular number of tournaments to be broadcast or streamed, so cutting back is not the simple option many assume.

Personally, I would suggest eight PTCs – five in Europe and three in the UK (with at least two of those in Gloucester) – with money saved by scrapping four put into the remaining eight.

But that’s easy to say. The commercial realities do not necessarily allow such changes [I of course haven’t seen the full contracts so am not fully sure how this stacks up].

Meanwhile, well done to Ricky Walden for compiling a 147 break in PTC10 yesterday, and to David Gray who did so in qualifying earlier in the week.

It was probably inevitable after I mentioned how relatively rare maximums are that we should have had three in a single week.

JOHN HIGGINS INTERVIEW

2011-11-29T10:00:00.005Z

John Higgins grew up watching Steve Davis and marvelling at his achievements and the clever, calculating, formidable way he played the game.

So when Davis referred to him as “the greatest player ever” after the Scot’s fourth world title victory last May, Higgins was understandably overjoyed.

“To be honest that meant more to me than winning trophies,” he told me. “I know a lot of people won’t agree with him. They’ll say Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan or Steve himself, which is fair enough.

“But for me to hear that from Steve, who was and remains my hero in snooker, was really special. He’s a complete one-off and an inspiration.”

Higgins, like Davis before him, plays the classical game. He always knows the right shot and, though it might not always come off, almost always plays it.

He took a dim view of the recent Power Snooker, in which many of the finer points of the game were discarded. “In the words of Sir Steve Redgrave, if you see me anywhere near it again you have my permission to shoot me,” Higgins said.

“Credit must go to Rod Gunner for getting it on. It’s good for young players but it wasn’t my thing at all. I won’t be playing in any more of them.”

And as a traditionalist, Higgins is also unhappy that the forthcoming UK Championship has been reduced to best of 11 frames from best of 17.

“I’ve always played best of 17 at the UK Championship and it’s lost prestige now. It’s more like the Masters in my eyes,” he said.

“Barry Hearn is doing a great job as chairman of World Snooker but I wished he had spoken to the players first about this, because most aren’t in favour. He hasn’t given a proper reason yet for the change.

“I would rather have played a best of 17 qualifier to get to York than go there for best of 11s. I know the BBC want the top players guaranteed, but in the past they chose four players to play on TV in the last 32 and maybe could have done that again.

“Barry is a great promoter and doesn’t need to be coming to snooker players to check 99% of his decisions, but this is one he should have asked us about.

“I think Barry thinks people’s attention spans in the UK can’t handle longer matches. But I think you could lengthen matches in other countries. I hope we have a longer format tournament somewhere abroad.”

Higgins stresses he is not about to join the increasingly vocal group of players complaining about various aspects of Hearn’s tenure.

“Barry is the best man for the sport and snooker is moving in the right direction. I would give him 8/10 so far,” he said.

“Our sport couldn’t have got much worse but there was an appetite out there, in Europe and elsewhere, for the game. It just took someone with the skill to make it all work, which Barry has.

“If someone rang up to get a tournament on in Brazil he’d be on the first plane over there to get the deal done. He has an ego as big as Don King’s, so he wants to do as well as he can, for himself and the game. That’s what we need.”

Speaking of Brazil, Higgins did not enter the new invitation event there in September, citing the crowded calendar. Hearn publicly criticised him and other players for not supporting this new tournament.

“Barry took a pot-shot at us over Brazil, and probably rightly so because you do need top players to go to new places, but he’s made mistakes as well with the calendar. He’s trying to grow the sport but he has to try and manage the calendar better, otherwise you will get players not going.

“The game is heading in the right direction but it will involve more travelling, and you don’t enjoy that so much as you get older. The future of the game is the younger players, like Judd Trump. They don’t mind travelling so much but the top players will be picking and choosing the tournaments they play in.

“With my ranking, in the next couple of years I can do that, but if you fall down, like Ronnie O’Sullivan has, you don’t get so much of a choice because you don’t want to drop out of the top 16.”

Higgins returned to the circuit just over a year ago following his suspension and played like a man possessed, winning six titles big and small including the world and UK titles.

He put absolutely everything into every match, a level of commitment that it was impossible to sustain, particularly after the end of season break.

“It all frazzled my brain,” he said. “I put so much into my professional life that my personal life suffered.

“After the World Championship it was as if my brain exploded. I couldn’t have kept that intensity up and it’s taken a while to get back on an even keel.”

At 36, he is not at an age where snooker players improve. Usually they are entering some sort of decline by now, although there is no evidence of that with Higgins.

Like Davis before him, his all round game should keep him in good stead to compete at the top level for many more years, if he has the appetite to do so.

“Someone pointed out to me that I’ve won world titles in three different decades, which is some achievement. But I know I will be falling away soon,” he said.

“You want to fight it off. You want to be trying to fight to improve, but you know it’ll happen because it happens to every player. Like a golfer losing your length off the tee, you notice it happening with certain parts of your game.”

As for York, his UK Championship defence starts against Rory McLeod, a methodical, tough as old boots campaigner who Higgins battled against in a lengthy second round tie at the Crucible.

“You know what you’re going to get with Rory,” Higgins said. “At the Crucible I saw what he did to Ricky Walden in the first round, the way he got into his head, and I knew I couldn’t let him dictate the match against me.

“I think Rory deserves great credit for getting through the qualifiers. He rarely loses a qualifying match. He doesn’t seem to play as well at the venues but I think he will do one of these days. But you have to concentrate on playing your game your way.”

The way Higgins plays is still what most players aspire to. His ‘slow’ start to the season is a bit of a myth. He’s already done enough to qualify for the PTC grand finals and, of the two full ranking events, he’s been in a quarter-final.

There is no reason to believe he won’t come right for the big events of which, despite its reduction in frames, the UK Championship remains a test of skill and nerve and a prestigious title to win.

“I’m confident in my form,” Higgins said. “The PTCs are mainly about jockeying for position to get into the finals but top players tend to raise their games for the major tournaments.”

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE UK CHAMPIONSHIP: THE 2000s

2011-11-28T15:13:00.003Z

And the pattern continued as the new decade began with John Higgins, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Williams winning the first three UK titles between them.

Higgins had been replaced as world no.1 by Williams but beat the Welshman 10-4 in Bournemouth shortly before flying off to get married.

By the time of the 2001 UK Championship, O’Sullivan had become world champion, later than his two great contemporaries but, like them, the fulfilment of a great potential.

For once, the top eight in the world rankings all reached the quarter-finals in York in a great championship, which included 9-8 wins from 8-4 down in the last eight in one memorable night for O’Sullivan against Peter Ebdon and Williams against Stephen Hendry.

O’Sullivan would beat Williams in the semis while Ken Doherty came through against Stephen Lee, but the expected dogfight in the final never materialised as O’Sullivan turned on the style to blow away the Irishman 10-1. As Doherty put it: “He completely embarrassed me, just destroyed me.”

O’Sullivan’s title defence would end at the hands of Drew Henry the following year but Doherty once again reached the final, this time against Williams, who won their long, absorbing battle – a portent of the world final to come later in the season – 10-9.

Matthew Stevens had been in the group of players to come through after Higgins, O’Sullivan and Williams and despite his capture of the Masters and some near misses in the World Championship was yet to win a world ranking title.

He finally put this right by winning the 2003 UK title, beating Hendry 10-8 in a final in which each player played well in spells before being pegged back by the other.

The 2004 UK Championship was distinguished by having not a single top eight player in the quarter-finals. It was a strange event to be at because, from very early on, the winner seemed clear.

Stephen Maguire had reached the British Open final in Brighton shortly before York and beat O’Sullivan on the opening day with a first rate performance.

As various top stars fell by the wayside it was hard to see the Scot losing in the form he was in and he swept through the field, demolishing David Gray 10-1 in the final.

The 2005 event was the 25th anniversary of Steve Davis’s first UK triumph but few could have expected the great man to feature so prominently.

In fact, he played as well as he ever did. He produced a great finish to beat Maguire 9-8 from 8-6 down, 145 total clearance and all, and then beat Doherty and Hendry to reach a tenth UK final, 15 years after his ninth.

It was a fairytale run but did not have a fairytale ending. Ding Junhui, the 18 year-old China Open champion, beat him 10-6 in the final.

Ebdon’s 2006 capture of the UK title brought the curtain down on a high quality final few days, which included his excellent semi-final win over Higgins.

In the final, Ebdon defeated Hendry, who had reached the semis in bizarre circumstances after O’Sullivan prematurely conceded their quarter-final match trailing just 4-1.

A year later and O’Sullivan was UK champion for a fourth time, beating Maguire 10-2, although his big test came in the semi-finals where, held to 8-8 by Mark Selby, he made a 147 in the deciding frame.

Speaking of deciders, Shaun Murphy outlasted Marco Fu 10-9 to win the 2008 title after a war of attrition, which finally ended when he fluked match ball.

The 2009 final should have gone to a decider too but Higgins missed what appeared to be a routine brown against Ding, who duly beat him 10-8.

However, Higgins would secure a hat-trick of UK titles in 2010 after an improbable 10-9 victory from 9-5 down to Williams.

He is one of 17 men to have won the UK Championship in its 34 stagings. In this time it has changed sponsors and venues and trophies but remains a prize much cherished from among the array of silverware available on the professional circuit.

The UK Championship has a prestige that can’t be denied and a history that can’t be erased, even if the format has been changed in 2011.

RONNIE O'SULLIVAN: PREMIER LEAGUE MASTER

2011-11-27T21:54:00.000Z

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s capture of a remarkable tenth Premier League title tonight reconfirms him as the king of the shot-clock.

Ding Junhui didn’t enjoy much luck but he was also well below his best and O’Sullivan played confidently, his long potting particularly strong.

He has now won this title seven times in the last eight years. The 20 second shot-clock favours him because of his quick, instinctive snooker brain but this is not the whole story.

I think the League also appeals to O’Sullivan because of the nature of the format. This restless spirit gets easily bored and loathes hanging around in hotel rooms for days at a time during longer tournaments. Many other players feel the same but handle the boredom better.

The Premier League, by contrast, is a series of one night stands: pitch up, play, go home. O’Sullivan in fact went home after his semi-final win on Saturday evening before returning for the final.

Ronnie is 36 next week. He remains a fascinating figure, who seems to attract unquestioning love and vitriol in equal measure.

Both viewpoints are as hidebound as the other. The only way to assess someone’s personality and career is objectively.

In my objective opinion Ronnie is the most charismatic snooker player I’ve ever met, probably the best too in terms of sheer skill.

He is a complex man and I wouldn’t claim to understand him but I like him and I respect him for his ability, his achievements and his entertainment value.

I think sometimes commentators can be too gushing about him – doubtless I have been guilty of this – but he does play the game in a particularly attractive way, and there is more often than not the sense of a wider drama, that something, anything, may happen.

This heady mixture is what draws the crowds and the attention. Snooker would go on without him but would miss him badly.

What’s interesting, though, about the Premier League is that it doesn’t seem to have a bearing on any other event. It’s out on its own. O’Sullivan won the title last year but then lost in the first round of the UK Championship.

He needs to do better at York next week because his top 16 seeding for later in the season is not yet guaranteed.

There aren’t 16 better snooker players than Ronnie in my view but a combination of withdrawals and early round defeats have left him needing some solid performances to stave off an unthinkable relegation from the elite bracket.

His career has been one of peaks and troughs. There have been seasons when he’s been unstoppable and those where he has looked like he’d rather be anywhere other than on a snooker table, with results to match.

The good news for his many fans this season is that he has already won two PTCs from three finals, is consulting with Dr Steve Peters and seems focused.

Whatever he says, he can still play this game to a standard most can only dream of.

He will probably find the tenth PTC of the season, already underway in Sheffield, difficult to be totally motivated for (and won’t be alone in that) but it will be interesting to see what he does at the UK Championship.

And as everywhere else, all eyes will be on this authentic superstar of the green baize.

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE UK CHAMPIONSHIP: THE 1990s

2011-11-27T12:12:00.000Z

When Steve Davis, who reigned for a decade, met Stephen Hendry, the boy who would be king, for the 1990 UK Championship crown it was clear that this was no ordinary final.

The two players entered Preston’s Guild Hall arena to the strains of Tina Turner’s ‘Simply the Best.’ At two decades remove few could argue it was an apposite choice.

It was an engrossing match, perhaps the best ever UK final, and Davis got his nose in front at 15-14 before Hendry demonstrated why he became what he became.

Clearing up with 57, Hendry potted a great all-or-nothing blue with the rest under pressure and went on to take the decider with a break of 98.

It was not only the fact that he potted the blue, it was his self belief, his unshrinking desire to take it on, regardless of the consequences of missing.

John Parrott reached the top perched between two eras, as Davis began to fade and Hendry took over. Parrott possessed great nerve and a competitive spirit which helped him become world champion in 1991, and he emulated Davis and Hendry by winning the UK title in the same calendar year as his Crucible triumph.

Parrott beat Jimmy White 16-13 in the final. It was the latest defeat for White in a major final but he would have his moment in the sun in 1992 when he turned the tables on Parrott, beating him 16-9.

On the trophy, it reads: ‘1992 – Jimmy ‘Whirlwind’ White’, an exception for the most popular player in the game.

In 1993, the decision was taken to reduce the final from two days to one, from 31 frames to just 19.

But this in no ways undermines the extraordinary achievement of Ronnie O’Sullivan in winning the title at the age of just 17.

O’Sullivan had been groomed for stardom from a young age and given every advantage in his quest for glory, but snooker is an individual game out in the arena – you against the other guy – and in this case the other guy was Hendry.

Displaying maturity beyond his years, O’Sullivan took the game to the world champion and beat him 10-6. Amid all the many, many words written about him, he isn’t lauded enough for this.

The 1994 UK Championship final produced a break building record that still stands to this day as Hendry compiled seven centuries, although his margin of victory over Ken Doherty was 10-5.

This was Hendry at his relentless best: long red, ton, job done. A year later he drubbed Peter Ebdon 10-3 to win UK title no.4.

A fifth would follow in 1996 in the most high profile match he would ever play against John Higgins, whose consistency and mature game was marking him out as someone who could take over from his fellow Scot as snooker’s top dog.

Hendry scrambled through 10-9. He reached three more UK finals but failed (so far) to equal Davis’s record of six titles.

In 1997, O’Sullivan beat him again but, mired in depression, he withdrew from the 1998 event, which Higgins won with a 10-6 defeat of Matthew Stevens.

The tournament produced a remarkable first round reverse for Hendry, 9-0 to Marcus Campbell. He would go on to win a seventh world title at the end of the season but there were signs that, as the decade drew to a close, his reign, like that of Davis ten years earlier, was coming to an end.

Mark Williams won the 1999 UK title, beating Stevens 10-8 in the final. The last three UK Championships of the 90s had been won by O’Sullivan, Higgins and Williams: the three players who between them would dominate the game as the new millennium dawned.

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE UK CHAMPIONSHIP: THE 1980s

2011-11-25T12:00:00.012Z

Though it may not have been apparent at the time, Steve Davis was in the right place at the right time: a talented young snooker player turning professional just as the sport was beginning to move forward.

A student of technique, he had something less definable, a quality of personality which enabled him to retreat into his own mind when the chaos of snooker, with its heady mix of skill, pressure and luck, was all around him.

Barry Hearn, his gregarious manager, had the opposite persona to his shy young charge. Hearn came from a working class background but went into accountancy on his mother’s advice: “you never meet a poor one” she had told him.

He purchased a string of snooker clubs and in Davis identified a rare character, and someone who would work as hard as was necessary to achieve his goals.

They were part of the Romford mob, a brash crowd who would reap the financial rewards of a sport swiftly demanding serious TV time.

In 1980, the BBC upped its coverage of the UK Championship from three days to nine. Davis won it, beating Alex Higgins 16-6 in the final. It was the first of more than 80 titles he has won thus far.

A demonstration of his growing confidence and status came in the semi-finals where he demolished Terry Griffiths 9-0.

In the 1981 final Davis, already world champion, steamrollered Griffiths again, 16-3, to defend his title.

Griffiths got some sort of revenge in 1982, beating Davis 9-6 in the quarter-finals, and in the final edged Higgins 16-15 from 15-13 down in what one newspaper dubbed ‘The Shoot-out at the UK Coral’ – the bookmakers having come in as title sponsors.

The 1983 final still provides great memories for Higgins’s loyal army of fans. If snooker was a soap opera than Higgins was Dirty Den: mad, bad and dangerous to know. Davis, on the other hand, was Ken Barlow: boringly dependable.

The point, though, is that while Den was killed off (twice, in fact), Barlow is still going strong to this day.

In 1983, it looked as if the player given the ironic nickname ‘Interesting’ would prevail after Davis raced into a 7-0 lead.

But Higgins was never better than in a fight and he roared back, his supporters with him for every ball, to win 16-15, one of his greatest ever victories and one of snooker’s most pulsating finals.

The rematch came a year later but fizzled out, Davis winning 16-8. He was deep in trouble in the 1985 final against Willie Thorne, who led 13-8 only to miss a straightforward final blue and lose the frame.

Davis scented blood and launched his own fightback, winning 16-14 in a defeat that almost came to define Thorne’s career.

A fifth UK title came Davis’s way in 1986 when he defeated Neal Foulds 16-7 in a tournament best remembered for Higgins’s headbuttting of the tournament director, which led to a £12,000 fine and five-tournament suspension.

A sixth title was secured when Davis beat Jimmy White 16-14 in 1987, which he described afterwards as “the highest standard match I’ve ever played in.”

It was ten years since Patsy Fagan had won the inaugural UK Championship and collected a winner’s cheque for £2,000. Davis’s prize was £70,000, a sign of how snooker had gone forth and multiplied in the intervening decade.

Indeed, it seemed as if Davis’s run of success would go on and on. However, a few weeks before his sixth UK triumph, an 18 year-old Scot named Stephen Hendry had won the Grand Prix.

Hendry had many of the same qualities Davis possessed: self assurance, a strong work ethic, in Ian Doyle a canny manager and, of course, the talent on the table to succeed.

He swept Davis away 9-3 in the 1988 semi-finals but his coronation was not to be. Doug Mountjoy, at 46 and ten years on from his first UK title capture, instead authored a remarkable fairy tale by winning it again.

Dropping down the rankings and apparently into the autumn of his career, Mountjoy went to see Frank Callan, a Blackpool fishmonger and astute coach who set about rebuilding his game.

After the first day, the final was poised at 7-7, but Mountjoy pulled away in style, winning all seven frames of the third session and compiling three successive centuries.

Hendry recovered to 15-12 but Mountjoy duly completed an emotional 16-12 victory.

Hendry’s time would come, though, and indeed did a year later when he won the last UK title of the 1980s with a 16-12 defeat of Davis.

He had beaten him before but never over this distance in a match of such importance.

It was symbolic of the changing of the guard at the top of snooker: the Davis era of dominance was over and the Hendry years had begun.

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE UK CHAMPIONSHIP: THE 1970s

2011-11-24T19:39:00.000Z

The countdown to the UK Championship starts here! (apart from all the other places it has started).

In four articles I will provide a brief history of the tournament, divided into four decades: the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

The UK Championship was born in 1977 and first played at the Tower Circus in Blackpool.

Let us pause for a moment to consider what the professional game was like in those days. There were no calls for fewer tournaments or a better structured calendar: there was no calendar, really, to speak of, just a small handful of events for low prize money.

However, the BBC’s interest in tournament snooker was growing. Having already agreed to provide full ball-by-ball coverage of the forthcoming World Championship, they elected to screen the final of the UK Championship.

It was originally solely for players from the UK and Ireland and hence did not become a ranking event until 1984 when it was opened up to all (and renamed the UK Open, incidentally, although it reverted back to its original name in 1992).

That first final was between Patsy Fagan and Doug Mountjoy, who had already won the Masters and beaten John Spencer, Willie Thorne and Alex Higgins to reach the UK final.

Fagan was a talent not long out of the amateur ranks, hardened by money matches and ready to make his way as a professional. He won 12-9. His reward was £2,000.

A year later the tournament relocated to Preston Guild Hall, which would become as synonymous with the UK Championship as the World Championship became with the Crucible.

Fagan lost in the first round to David Taylor, aka the ‘Silver Fox’, who reached the final where he was beaten 15-9 by Mountjoy.

The 1979 UK Championship will be remembered for a bizarre incident which left John Virgo doing an unplanned sprint through the Guild Hall’s adjoining shopping centre.

Virgo was through to the final – the biggest match of his career against the then world champion, Terry Griffiths.

He was doing well, too, leading 11-7 and requiring only three more frames for victory in the final session. However, the BBC’s Grandstand programme had requested a 12pm start rather than 1.45 – as it had been all week – and Virgo had not checked the schedule.

Having failed to show up at the venue he was phoned at his hotel some 15 miles away not long before the start. A manic dash to the Guild Hall ensued by he arrived 31 minutes late and was docked two frames.

Griffiths, always a sporting sort, campaigned on Virgo’s behalf but to no avail. Hardly surprisingly the Welshman won the first two frames and was thus level at 11-11 going to the interval.

Still unhappy that he could win in these circumstances, Griffiths knocked on Virgo’s dressing room door during the break and suggested they split the prize money, a well intentioned gesture that was nevertheless met with a blunt response from Virgo: “you haven’t won it yet.”

Griffiths led 13-12 but Virgo, his composure now restored, won the final two frames for his unlikely 14-13 victory.

The first prize was still only £4,500. Clearly, snooker was still growing in popularity but was yet to receive the huge cash injections that would see the sun shine permanently on the sport and its top players in the decade to follow.

Two men in particular would bask in the riches soon to be on offer. Mountjoy’s title defence had ended in the first round to a 22 year-old ginger-haired lad named Steve Davis, backed by his garrulous manager, Barry Hearn.

As one decade ended and a new one began, they were poised to change snooker forever.

THE BOY DUNN GOOD

2011-11-22T21:33:00.000Z

Mike Dunn’s 147 break in the German Masters qualifiers tonight proves two things: that the standard throughout the ranks is high and that maximums are still relatively rare.

There are a number of players who have been on the circuit a while who get routinely written off as ‘mediocrity’ or ‘deadwood’. People ask what they have done for snooker.

Well the answer to that is this: they have played it. True, professional sport relies on its star names for commercial appeal but snooker would be nothing without the many foot-soldiers who comprise the tour.

They can all play to a much higher standard than many realise. Hopefully the introduction of streaming for the qualifiers has illuminated this. Just because they aren’t all tournament winners doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be respected.

(Neither, incidentally, should they be artificially propped up. Money in sport should be earned through performance.)

Dunn had never previously made a maximum in a tournament but will now be placed on a list of players, some legends, others long since forgotten, to have achieved the perfect run.

We are fast approaching the 30th anniversary of snooker’s first officially ratified 147 break, made by Steve Davis at the Lada Classic in January 1982.

Since then there have been hundreds of thousands of frames of professional snooker played around the world, yet Dunn’s 147 was only the 79th maximum in the game’s history.

Make no mistake: it is still a very difficult thing to accomplish. In a match environment more so.

Ken Doherty says that the biggest regret of his entire career is his missed black for a 147 at the Masters at Wembley in 2000. He has woken up in the middle of the night thinking about it.

Cliff Thorburn became world champion in 1980 but he is still best known for making the first 147 at the Crucible in 1983.

Whenever Kirk Stevens is mentioned so is his white suit and maximum break at the 1984 Masters.

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s five minute, 20 second maximum at the Crucible in 1997 is rightly talked about as a remarkable exhibition of skill.

Dunn’s 147 was not made in such lofty surroundings but it is still a significant personal achievement.

It’s a shame so many people immediately began to bellyache about the fact there is no financial prize for making one in the qualifiers, as if everything has to be about money. Dunn didn’t make the break for cash (though he would obviously welcome it), he did it because it’s a holy grail in our sport.

Whether there should be a prize or not, the feat of accomplishing a maximum break in competition is one all snooker players aspire to and most don’t achieve.

So Dunn can be proud to have done so.

THE POWER OF GOULD

2011-11-21T01:00:00.002Z

So Power Snooker is over for another year and, once again, has divided opinion pretty sharply.

I can only give my honest verdict, which is this: I thought it was better than last year but still don't think it is pitched right.

There are two aspects to Power Snooker: the game itself and the environment in which it is played.

The game can be entertaining if the match is close, as the final was. However, if it is one-sided then it peters out and the crowd loses interest.

In this way there is an unlikely correlation with billiards, whose timed format very often produces one-sided matches. Close finishes, on the other hand, are exciting.

It is snooker with some tweaks. As I've said before, as long as this is isolated to one-off events such as this then I have no problem with it.

But the mob of boorish drunks in the crowd add nothing but irritation to proceedings. They were not as bad as last year but for someone to loudly shout out "miss" while Martin Gould was on the green (which he duly did) was a disgrace.

It is a fallacy that reverential silence equals no atmosphere. In fact, the opposite is true. A hush descending at the Crucible adds to the atmosphere, to the feeling that something important is at stake, and thus intensifies the pressure on the players.

There's nothing wrong with crowds interacting more and getting excited but the comments that are apparently hilarious when you're drunk and shouting out in the arena don't come across this way on TV.

Snooker has always had a strong female following, not all of whom will be impressed with the use of page 3 girls to 'sex up' the event. In fact, by marketing Power Snooker at beery lads a large section of potential viewers are isolated.

Why should snooker dumb down at all? Why not instead take the game upmarket?

There is evidence on the continent of Europe that it increasingly appeals to an affluent, sophisticated demographic, and these people are the ones with money to spend.

This isn't the future of snooker, as some have claimed, but it may have legs as a sideshow if viewing figures are strong enough.

If Power Snooker organisers have the money and the players want to play in it then good luck to all involved.

And this debate will not matter a jot to Gould. Neither should it. He should be justifiably proud of winning a TV title and particularly in standing up to the pressure as Ronnie O'Sullivan, who grew stronger all day, twice missed the Powerball when well placed to defend his title.

Newly installed in the top 16, Gould is improving all the time. With the UK Championship and Masters to look forward to, he was full of confidence before a ball - power or otherwise - had been struck in Manchester.

Gould arrived apparently not knowing the rules or caring much, just determined to have a good time.

He leaves with £25,000 and a title. Not bad for what was basically a weekend jolly.

WHO'S GOT THE POWER?

2011-11-18T13:14:00.000Z

Power Snooker returns in extended form this weekend with the whole of the world’s top 16 taking part in its second staging.

Good for them. It’s a chance to win £25,000 in just two days without the intense pressure of championship snooker. It’s a chance to have some fun.

You can never tell what will be popular. Jimmy White tweeted Philip Schofield yesterday with a picture of the line-up for Tenball, an ITV innovation 20 years ago presented by Schofield that ultimately failed to catch on.

Like Power Snooker, Tenball took the traditional elements of snooker and attempted to speed things up with new rules, extra balls etc.

Schofield’s reply to White on Twitter was: “I thought it would make us all rich!”

Power Snooker may well make various people rich but it depends on public support. What matters at the Trafford Centre in Manchester is not how full the arena is but how many of the people there have bought their tickets rather than been given them.

Viewing figures will also determine levels of sponsorship support in the future, though I understand Power Snooker is well backed already.

As for the action, Ronnie O’Sullivan is defending champion and an obvious favourite again, although the format also favours other fast, instinctive players such as Judd Trump or Mark Allen.

To be honest, it favours all of them because they are all talented potters, and that it what this variant of the game is mainly about.

Mark Williams could be struggling, though. He has injured his ankle, which is severely swollen. Perhaps he could emulate Alex Higgins, who won the 1989 Irish Masters after breaking his ankle.

The tournament is screened live in the UK on ITV4 with some coverage also on Eurosport International for those on the continent.

Power Snooker website.

BJORN FREE

2011-11-17T10:00:00.007Z

I was sorry to see Bjorn Haneveer retire from the professional circuit, as I would be for any player.

Snooker players tend to start out very young and dream of glory. Most don’t attain this in the way they had hoped: winning the World Championship or another of the game’s big trophies.

This is the way of dreams: for most they will remain mere fantasies but, as John Lennon put it, life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.

Then again, he also said ‘I am the egg man, they are the egg men, I am the walrus, goo-goo-g'joob’ so his profundity was something of a moveable feast.

Bjorn was a very talented amateur. I was in Riga when he won the European amateur title in 2001, a very competitive event the final of which was played live on local TV.

His best ranking as a professional was 53rd. He reached two ranking tournament last 16s and is Belgium’s best ever player.

However, snooker is biased towards the Brits. All the successful non-British players – Cliff Thorburn, James Wattana, Ding Junhui, Neil Robertson, even Ken Doherty – moved to live in the UK, where all the qualifiers are held.

Haneveer did not, and it is perhaps true to say that he failed to kick on because of this. He looked like a player who could certainly join the top 32, but it never quite happened.

Everywhere I look I read he is quitting because of the expenses he incurs. But this is only partly true.

He is not being forced off the circuit because of poverty. It’s just that he can earn more money commentating for Belgian Eurosport and by running his own carpentry business.

Credit to him for this. Many players have absolutely nothing to fall back on.

Now a father, Bjorn has reassessed his priorities and come to the decision that he can best provide for his family by concentrating on areas other than playing, which is always a perilous business, particularly with the standard through the ranks as high as it is.

But the brutal truth is this: sport is not a charity. It’s about excellence. It’s about achievement.

Every top player started at the bottom and worked their way up. They did so because of their talent, nerve and determination. Some complain that the leading players are too protected but there was no protection in place as they climbed the rankings. It was because of their results.

If snooker had been managed properly for the last three decades the world no.53 could well earn a six figure salary, but it wasn’t and they don’t.

Haneveer may feel he should have achieved more, although I still say his non-British status loaded the dice against him from the start.

I also think the qualifying system is too labyrinthine. The German Masters has only three rounds rather than four, which may be a better model than the current one.

I wish Bjorn well. He is a very good player from a country which clearly loves snooker.

He probably won’t miss the stress of the qualifiers, even if there is nothing quite like competition for a player of his ability.

BACK AFTER THE BREAK

2011-11-15T12:40:00.000Z

The merits, or otherwise, of Power Snooker are a matter for debate but the event, which returns this weekend, does mark the re-involvement of ITV.

It put me in mind of their coverage of snooker in days gone by, when the game was a constant presence on terrestrial television.

It was inevitable after the BBC’s ratings success in showing snooker that ITV would want a slice of the action.

Tournaments were therefore invented to fill this demand and so began an age in which the calendar was comprised of a series of events in regular slots, usually with regular sponsors and venues. For this reason, the tournaments came to have meaning and developed their own personalities and, over time, histories.

Mention the Mercantile Classic to those of a certain age and they will recall it provided Willie Thorne with his only ranking title, or that Jimmy White beat Cliff Thorburn 13-12 in the final after needing a snooker on the pink.

ITV’s main presenter in the 1980s was Dickie Davies. He was ITV’s version of the BBC’s Des Lynam, and every bit as suave and professional, just generally with lower quality sport to introduce.

In this vein, the snooker ITV broadcast was generally regarded as less important than that shown on the BBC, although this was only because the corporation got there first, so their events came to be seen as the really important ones.

ITV had a very strong commentary team, led by John Pulman, who had a voice like velvet and a style so laidback you wondered if he needed to be nudged in the ribs to keep him awake.

He once commentated with Dennis Taylor at the Yamaha Organs tournament, where a player equalled the highest break, the prize for which was provided by the sponsors.

When Taylor pointed this out, Pulman replied: “Yes, Dennis, but what can you do with half an organ?”

Pulman’s great friend and co-commentator was Rex Williams, the debonair former world billiards champion who played snooker at the top level well into his 50s.

They were augmented by the irreverent Mark Wildman, Ray Edmonds (before he jumped ship to the BBC) and Jim Meadowcroft (after he jumped ship from the BBC).

Taylor typically realised that he could earn money and boost his profile by commentating long before most players. He was a regular member of the team before he became world champion and continues for the BBC to this day.

ITV got some great ratings for their so-called lesser events. One of the reasons was that they often had best of 25 three-session finals which ended on Sunday afternoon: no 8pm starts and late night finishes.

They also shared coverage with Channel 4 and so were able to hand over when it was time for something else, but when Michael Grade took over at C4 he scrapped their snooker contract and, a year later, ITV won live Sunday afternoon football rights, which was the beginning of the end of the best of 25 finals.

In fact, in 1989 they reduced their coverage from four tournaments a season to three and dumped the World Doubles in favour of the World Matchplay, an invitation event designed to challenge the World Championship with its big money and best of 35 frames final.

By now Tony Francis had replaced Davies as the main presenter and budgets began to be cut so that, for instance, the Mercantile Classic was only shown on one table.

In those days the top 16 came in at the last 64 stage and to get through to the one table last 16 stage would have to win two matches. The Mercantile was played just after New Year. Most players hadn’t practised and there were often shocks.

So it was that one year ITV’s first live match was Silvino Francisco v Mark Rowing.

I recall at about this time they changed their opening titles sequence to an arty, black and white thing, a rather pompous innovation in truth, and started to struggle with scheduling decent hours.

Maximum breaks were rare. So rare that when one came along the presenters could hardly hide their excitement.

When James Wattana made his at the 192 British Open, the then presenter, Nick Owen, opened the programme by telling everyone it had been “a very special day here in Derby.” That rather gave the game away by the time Wattana reached 40.

As an aside, I saw Owen not so long ago in my local Sainsbury’s. I considered taking this matter up with him but thought that, after the best part of two decades, I should probably let it go.

ITV’s scheduling problems were complicated by the fact that they were a network of regional television companies, so coverage varied depending on where you lived.

Eventually, snooker was dumped altogether and Sky began to take over the tournaments ITV had pioneered. Sky’s coverage was excellent – and live – but to a much lower audience and snooker began to recede a little in the national consciousness.

There were a couple of comebacks. The Charity Challenge provided something different, where players played for prize money not just for themselves but also for designated charities.

The presenters were Eamonn Holmes and Anthea Turner of GMTV, who one year had had a bit of a spat in the press shortly before they were to host the snooker. The atmosphere backstage was colder than the latest series from David Attenborough.

When ITV Digital (anyone remember that?) launched, ITV set up their own sports channel and, not unreasonably, needed some sport to put on it.

Snooker came courtesy of the Champions Cup, a tournament for winners of the previous season’s titles, and Nations Cup, a team event, each of which ran for three years.

ITV’s coverage of Power Snooker proves that, like Sky, they want something different, not just lesser tournaments which otherwise resemble the BBC’s majors.

ITV4 would be a great platform for a proper snooker tournament, though. Darts, football and boxing have all proved popular on the channel and snooker fits this demographic.

Maybe if Power Snooker is successful then ITV will consider it. I hope so. They played their part in making snooker so popular in the first place.

TRUMP THE FEARLESS DOWNS O'SULLIVAN

2011-11-14T00:13:00.001Z

In the blink of an eye it was over, but the memories of what happened will linger long.

Judd Trump’s 4-3 victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final of PTC9 in Antwerp tonight was close to snooker perfection: two charismatic, flair players demonstrating bags of guts, taking on their shots, knocking in all manner of long balls, making big breaks, displaying strong tactical nous, serving up visceral drama and all in front of a huge, enthusiastic crowd who lapped up every minute.

What more could the sport want? Well, only more frames. The match barely lasted 75 minutes but, for this brief time, Trump and O’Sullivan captivated the audience both in Belgium and watching around the world.

David Cameron once famously said to Tony Blair, “you were the future once.”

Ronnie must have seen in Judd the player he once was: the new kid on the baize, taking on the big boys with his talent and his panache. Fearless and walking the tightrope between audacious and dangerous in his shot making.

O’Sullivan is still brilliant when his mind is right, as it was all weekend. He missed a black off its spot in the second frame and was soon 3-1 down but responded in awesome fashion with back-to-back centuries.

Trump, though, was still going for his shots to the end. The only shame was that the winning ball was a fluke, but snooker is a mad game and its richness comes from such unexpected, often cruel, moments.

O’Sullivan had no complaints. He was gracious afterwards having more than competed. It bodes well for his many fans this season.

It’s a delight to see Trump not only owning the big stage as a player but being so relaxed as a man too. He has come out of his shell since moving to Romford and now occupies that crowd pleasing bracket where O’Sullivan has for so long dwelled.

And once again, a European crowd showed their voracious desire for top level snooker. As in Germany and Poland, the Belgian fans turned out in force and made the occasion even more special.

As I wrote last week, there’s nothing wrong with snooker as a game, especially when it is played like this in front of a crowd who appreciate what they are watching.

It was style. It was class. It was wonderful.

THE FINAL DAY

2011-11-13T08:00:00.006Z

Another busy and well supported day of snooker in Antwerp has left us with an intriguing last 16 line-up at Players Tour Championship event 9.

Eight of the remaining players are ranked inside the top 16. World finalists John Higgins and Judd Trump were among the winners yesterday and were joined by Matthew Stevens and Martin Gould.

Aditya Mehta flies the flag for India, former PTC winner Tom Ford is still going strong and Andy Hicks is also through, after a surprise win over Mark Selby, his second in fact over the world no.1 in PTCs this season.

Mike Dunn has also survived to the last day, despite a poor run of results following a stay in hospital.

In fact, Dunn was so disappointed by his failure to win a frame at the UK Championship qualifiers last week that he tweeted his career could be over.

I guess it proves that as long as there are more frames to play, there is always a chance that things can turn round.

This ultimately is why so few players actually do retire. It’s not just that they often have little to fall back on, it’s the feeling that something, eventually, might start to happen for them.

Dunn’s reward for going to Belgium and carrying on is a TV meeting with Higgins this morning, whose moustache for Movember is coming along nicely.

Including the Premier League he has won five matches out of five sporting the ‘tache, perhaps like Samson he would be advised not to shed it at all.

COLOUR MY LIFE WITH THE CHAOS OF TROUBLE

2011-11-12T05:41:00.000Z

A very interesting and entertaining day’s snooker left us with several well known faces through to the last 16 of PTC9 in Antwerp.

The Michael Holt-Shaun Murphy was typical of why I enjoy watching snooker. The standard wasn’t world beating throughout, but this is the point: it was dramatic and the unexpected was what sustained the interest.

You can admire sport when it is a continued stream of excellence, but when mistakes creep in and a bit of twitching too, snooker comes into its own.

I enjoy watching a century break as much as anyone, but give me a good old scrap on the colours as well.

While you’re there, give me flukes and miscues and misses and self-inflicted trouble. Sport is not science, it’s chaos, just like life. It’s a test of skill but also psychology. Snooker comes into its own when the doubts and difficulties increase.

But back to excellence. Ronnie O’Sullivan played a starring role as he lost only one frame in 13 played to coast into the last 16.

At times he was simply brilliant and he did what TV sport is supposed to do: he entertained.

But the test for O’Sullivan, as for any snooker player, will come when he is properly put under pressure.

This was a test that Graeme Dott once again passed yesterday, winning all three of his matches in deciding frame finishes, including from 3-0 down to Liang Wenbo.

Dott is one of the best pressure players in snooker. Many wilt when it really matters but the Glaswegian seems to grow stronger, and this has been one of the keys to his success.

Neil Robertson also demonstrated his guts and determination by recovering from 3-1 down to beat Kurt Maflin 4-3 in the last 32.

Some younger players made it: Michael White, who is having an encouraging season, Davey Morris and Jack Lisowski.

Stephen Lee and Alan McManus, two vastly experienced campaigners, completed the line-up from the top half of the draw.

Today, the likes of Mark Selby, John Higgins, Ali Carter, Judd Trump and Mark Williams enter the fray.

The two leading locals, Luca Brecel and Bjorn Haneveer, will also be centre stage, Haneveer against Jimmy White.

There were large, enthusiastic crowds in Belgium from early on yesterday and I’m sure this will continue through to the conclusion of the tournament tomorrow night.

Players have justifiable concerns about the PTC series regarding the financial drain on their resources, but for snooker fans these events have been a breath of fresh air.

And if they do grow into bigger tournaments for bigger money then they will have been well worth it.

HERE COME THE BELGIANS!

2011-11-10T19:03:00.000Z

The ninth Players Tour Championship event of the season is underway in Antwerp in Belgium, with the big boys coming in tomorrow.

The right and wrongs of the PTC series have been endlessly debated so I’m going to concentrate on the actual snooker, which is supposed to be what it is all about.

One of the undoubtedly positive aspects of the PTCs is the varied cast of characters you get to watch, veering from all time greats to complete unknowns and all those in between.

I dare say we’ll see Bjorn Haneveer, who is hanging up his cue after the tournament. Put simply, Bjorn can earn more commentating for Belgian Eurosport and his carpentry business than playing snooker.

But he goes out on a high...a meeting on Saturday with a certain James Warren White on home soil.

It’s terrific to have snooker back in Belgium, something of a hotbed for the sport 20 years ago before – guess what – the old WPBSA fell out with the then promoters.

John Parrott, Mike Hallett and James Wattana all won the old Humo Belgian Masters before the European Open was taken there, first won by Jimmy White in 1992.

Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry also won this ranking event on Belgian soil before the country was effectively abandoned by the governing body.

Haneveer never quite broke through in the way he threatened to do. He was an excellent amateur and did get to a couple of last 16s in ranking tournaments but never got higher in the world rankings than 53rd.

The new Belgian hope is Luca Brecel, who like many a young player who is talked up by others has to try and shrug off the weight of expectation being placed on him.

All of the televised PTCs have so far been won by top players. It seems that a crowd and the lights and cameras really do make these less of a leveller.

Eurosport’s coverage begins tomorrow at 11.45am UK time and the TV table is also available on the Eurosport Player, liveworldsnooker.tv and various streams.

40 YEARS OF THE CRUCIBLE

2011-11-09T14:27:00.000Z

Happy birthday to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, which opened its doors 40 years ago today.

It has been the host venue of the World Championship since 1977. Mike Watterson, the promoter back then, had been looking for a new place to hold the tournament and his late wife, Carol, returned home from seeing a play at the Crucible and mentioned it could be ideal.

The rest really is history...rich history. So many iconic images and moments that have fascinated, thrilled and shocked spectators and television viewers.

It is in many ways an unlikely sporting venue: a provincial theatre on a street in the middle of Sheffield city centre.

But snooker is an unlikely television favourite. The significance of the World Championship rapidly grew after that 1977 event but the Crucible very quickly seemed to gel with what made TV snooker special.

When I first went there to watch as a boy the Crucible was a rather shabby building and I couldn’t believe how small the actual playing arena was.

When I began working there I realised how cramped it was backstage and how little room there was to actually play out on the floor of the theatre.

But in fact this has been the Crucible’s great strength: the claustrophobic atmosphere it creates. Snooker is a mentally demanding sport and the oppressive, uncomfortable Crucible arena has seen many an implosion down the years.

Recently the Crucible has been refurbished but has lost none of its allure for snooker fans. For many, the trip to Sheffield is an annual pilgrimage of an almost religious kind.

The tournament is guaranteed to continue there until at least 2015. After that, who knows?

Market forces dictate most decisions in the world of business but I rather agree with Steve Davis, who has played on snooker’s most famous stage a record 30 times. He said that there would have to be a very good reason to throw away all the history associated with the Sheffield theatre.

Time will tell. For now, happy birthday to the Crucible, a theatre of snooker dreams and of nightmares, the one venue where everyone wants to play, a hallowed ground for players and fans, and a house of wonderful snooker memories.

RETURN OF THE MAC

2011-11-08T08:00:00.003Z

In this busy week of snooker, the UK Championship qualifiers at the South West Academy in Gloucester take centre stage.

Already putting in the hours has been Ian McCulloch, who has won his first two matches in tight finishes, first edging Luca Brecel 6-5 on the black (after getting a snooker on the pink) and then making an 86 break in the decider yesterday against James Wattana. His reward is a meeting today with Steve Davis.

Ian has always been a grafter, a heavy practiser and it is possibly all this effort that has led him to have neck problems which have seriously affected his form.

He always seemed to play well on TV and reached two ranking finals and the 2005 World Championship semi-finals.

This got him into the top 16 for the first time but Shaun Murphy’s capture of the title wasn’t enough to push Murphy into the elite group and, as the world champion is automatically seeded second in major tournaments, it effectively pushed McCulloch down to 17th.

This was rotten luck as he missed out on the benefits of being a top 16 seed: namely not having to pre-qualify for the final stages.

But he has always been industrious off the table. He does some broadcasting work and playing snooker is no longer everything to him, so although his main tour place is under threat he has other things to fall back on.

Davis of course is back in action just two days after his defeat to Darren Morgan in the World Seniors Championship final.

Steve is playing some good stuff this season. He seems to be really enjoying it again and making a big effort to maintain his pro status. In fact, he said last week he wants to play into his 60s, like his namesake Fred.

Davis won the first of his six UK titles 31 years ago when it was a non-ranking tournament. He was in every UK final bar two in the 1980s.

As a callow youth, I remember being particularly excited by the 1990 final he contested with Stephen Hendry at Preston Guild Hall, which went to a deciding frame.

In those days it was played over two days and 31 frames, so there was plenty of time for the momentum to shift. Davis led 15-14 but Hendry made a typically brave dish in the 30th frame and won the decider.

Hendry was already world champion at this point but the match was in some way symptomatic of the changing of the guard at the top of the game: the Davis years over, the Hendry era beginning.

Of course Hendry himself will be in action tomorrow, against Gerard Greene or Jimmy Robertson.

The only upside for viewers of him not qualifying is that he will be heard on BBC commentary, which he will be doing much more of this season. Of course, this won’t be any consolation to Hendry himself.

Elsewhere in the draw, it seems the Chinese contingent is quietly making progress this season. There is a bunch of them playing today: Tian Pengfei, Cao Yupeng, Li Yan and Xiao Guodong, as well as Liang Wenbo.

The qualifiers are hard, nervy and difficult to enjoy. It’s just about getting through, and the standard of snooker is such that you can play really well and still lose.

For this reason, good luck to all involved.

DARREN MORGAN: WORLD SENIORS CHAMPION

2011-11-06T22:19:00.000Z

Darren Morgan is a proud man with snooker running through his veins. His capture of the Wyldecrest World Seniors Championship in Peterborough tonight will mean a lot to him, not least because he beat Jimmy White in the semi-finals and Steve Davis in the final.

Morgan has not played on the professional circuit for a few years but still competes below the radar on the amateur scene, where he has had success in international seniors events.

He decided not to attempt any comebacks as a pro but proved he still has the appetite for competition by completing an impressive victory over Davis from 1-0 down.

Morgan was world amateur champion in 1987 and reached eighth in the world rankings.

He never won a ranking title, losing in two finals, but triumphed 9-8 on the black over Davis in the 1996 Irish Masters.

Darren won various events which were then discontinued: the Welsh Professional Championship, original One Frame Knockout and Pontin’s Professional Championship.

As owner of a snooker club, Morgan gets the chance to play regularly and although snooker has frustrated him at times, he will never lose his love for the game.

I enjoyed the tournament. It was nice to see the old stagers out there again and overall the event should be judged as a success.

The snooker wasn’t always of the highest quality but the players were competitive and there was a good mix of fun too.

There was also packed house for every session, and you can’t argue with that. There is clearly a market for seniors snooker.

The whole thing was slickly packaged by Sky Sports, as you would expect. It’s worth recording how pioneering their early coverage of snooker was in the 1990s, which in turn had an effect on the BBC, whose coverage in those days was a little staid by comparison.

But Sky’s understandable desire to make their events different has led to rules being introduced which nobody asked for.

The 30 second shot-clock added nothing to the tournament other than a stern rebuke from Cliff Thorburn and the ‘beeps’ putting off White at a crucial moment in the first frame of his semi-final against Morgan.

And there were farcical scenes in the other semi-final between Davis and John Parrott when Parrott was informed after two misses that a third would result in Davis being able to place the cue ball anywhere on the table during the first frame.

The two players were unaware of this rule. After a lengthy consultation with referee John Williams, who had the rules in his pocket, Davis declined to put the cue ball in a position where he could pot a red.

This was sporting of him but the incident underlined the dangers of messing around with a game which has more than proved its worth over the course of the last century.

There have been rules changes over the years – the miss rule an obvious example – but by and large the game of snooker is the same now as when Joe Davis won the first world title 84 years ago.

Snooker has had many problems and will doubtless still have them but one thing that has survived intact is the game itself.

It is the game that fascinates as the cast of characters changes over the years. And the game is bigger than any of them.

If you start messing around with it then you risk devaluing the very thing that drew everyone to snooker in the first place.

When you say this you get labelled a ‘traditionalist.’ Good, I take that as a compliment.

It is the traditionalists who stand up for snooker in the face of cheap, cosmetic attempts to dumb it down, which thrive despite there being no actual evidence that this is what people want.

I’m not against variant events. Just as other sports look for new audiences by providing a more ‘fast food’ version so can snooker.

So by all means have your Power Snookers and your Premier Leagues and your Shootouts.

But the championship game is the only true test and the only version which should be taken seriously. Once this version starts being diluted then, frankly, the sport will lose its credibility.

I recognise that World Snooker have to be alive to commercial pressures, particularly from television companies who effectively bankroll the circuit, but very much hope the established game of snooker as we know it, which has provided entertainment, drama, heartbreak and joy for so many, will outlive us all.

HIGGINS V TRUMP IN SKY SHOOTOUT

2011-11-06T15:39:00.001Z

John Higgins v Judd Trump is the pick of the matches in the first round of the Sky Shootout, the draw for which was made today.

Higgins and Trump of course clashed over 35 frames in their Crucible final last season but their meeting in Blackpool next January will last a maximum of ten minutes.

Other standout ties include Mark Williams v Steve Davis, Neil Robertson v Jamie Cope, Stephen Hendry v Jack Lisowski and, in a repeat of last season's final, defending champion Nigel Bond v Robert Milkins.

The one surprise is that Ronnie O'Sullivan, the best player under the shot clock format, has not entered.

It may be that with his top 16 position under threat, Ronnie is concentrating on the ranking events, although this is merely my own speculation. Players don't have to enter tournaments if they don't want to.

FULL DRAW:
Mark Selby v Joe Perry
Mark Williams v Steve Davis
John Higgins v Judd Trump
Neil Robertson v Jamie Cope
Ding Junhui v Barry Hawkins
Shaun Murphy v Fergal O’Brien
Ali Carter v Matthew Stevens
Stephen Maguire v Anthony McGill
Graeme Dott v Alan McManus
Stuart Bingham v Liu Song
Mark Allen v Rory McLeod
Stephen Lee v Peter Lines
Martin Gould v Peter Ebdon
Mark Davis v Mark Joyce
Andrew Higginson v Liang Wenbo
Stephen Hendry v Jack Lisowski
Ricky Walden v Liu Chuang
Marcus Campbell v Xiao Guodong
Mark King v Dominic Dale
Marco Fu v Barry Pinches
Ryan Day v Joe Swail
Tom Ford v Jimmy Robertson
Ken Doherty v Michael Holt
Anthony Hamilton v Jimmy White
Robert Milkins v Nigel Bond
Gerard Greene v Jamie Burnett
Matthew Selt v Joe Jogia
Mike Dunn v Michael White
Jamie Jones v Adrian Gunnell
Dave Harold v James Wattana
Tony Drago v Andy Hicks
Ben Woollaston v Alfie Burden

OLD BOYS NETWORK

2011-11-04T10:00:00.005Z

Good luck to all those taking part in the Wyldecrest World Seniors Championship in Peterborough this weekend.

I was in Bradford last year and it was a lot of fun seeing some of the players from snooker’s golden TV age of the 1980s back in action.

This year the age limit has been increased from 40 and over to 45 and over, although last year’s final featured two players, Jimmy White and Steve Davis, who comfortably cleared this hurdle.

They will start among the favourites again, although Davis has a tricky opening round tie against Tony Drago.

The other likely title contender is Nigel Bond, although I wouldn’t write off Darren Morgan’s chances as the Welshman, though no longer on the tour, still plays regularly.

John Parrott also put up a good showing last year and I’m sure he will have been practising in readiness for this year’s event, which carries a top prize of £18,000.

It would be a big shock if some of the real veterans were successful. It’s 31 years since Cliff Thorburn won the World Championship and he is up against 69 year-old Doug Mountjoy, a twice UK champion.

Dennis Taylor and Joe Johnson, world champions in 1985 and 1986 respectively, will also find it tough against opposition more used to modern conditions.

There are two players for whom this weekend will be a real novelty. Steve Ventham has not played on TV since Junior Pot Black in 1983 and his first round opponent, Karl Townsend, has never before done so.

Best of threes seems short for a World Championship and the 30 second shot-clock is completely unnecessary - although it will apparently only come into force ten minutes into a frame - but I hope it goes well. There’s no reason why seniors snooker shouldn’t have a future, particularly with the players currently heading towards the qualifying age.

The World Seniors Championship is live all weekend on Sky Sports4.

HENDRY HEADS TO THE QUALIFIERS

2011-11-03T09:20:00.000Z

Terry Griffiths believes Stephen Hendry will be fired up by being back at the qualifiers.

This in itself is interesting as the minute Griffiths dropped out of the top 16 he chose to retire rather than slog round the anonymous qualifying events after many years as one of the game’s leading players.

He was 49. Hendry is 42. I agree with Terry that Hendry will be motivated. He is a proud man, but this is no guarantee of success.

It’s the first time in 23 years that he hasn’t been a member of the elite group but, as those with long memories will know, not the first time in this period he has had to play qualifiers.

The top 16 used to have to qualify for tournaments outside the UK, although Hendry has not gone through this for some time.

That the UK Championship is first up won’t make much difference. It’s a great event but when you’re not at the venue that means nothing. For everyone it’s a nervy, testing business and Hendry has now joined the ranks of well known faces condemned to endure it.

Who is Stephen Hendry?

He’s a complex man, driven by a desire to succeed that seemed to override every other emotion. He had no interest whatsoever in snooker until his parents bought him a small table one Christmas and yet within a fortnight had made a 50 break.

His manager, Ian Doyle, instilled in him both professionalism and toughness, an attitude which helped Hendry win and also ensured he behaved in a manner befitting a leading sportsman.

The public didn’t always like him due to the monotony of his successes but they admired and respected him. Hendry is the last snooker player to get anywhere near winning BBC Sports Personality of the Year, finishing in the top six in 1999.

In this video, Hendry talks in matter of fact fashion about the greatest career of them all. He was never one to dwell on his triumphs, only ever looking forward. His personal scrapbook of memories must be bulging but it’s clear a few are a genuine source of pride.

He modelled himself on Steve Davis and has been the only player since the Nugget to fully throw himself into life as a snooker professional, with everything that entails.

It’s not just his game or his achievements that make him the greatest, it’s his attitude, which would have stood him in good stead at any point in the sport’s history.

I can’t speak highly enough about his achievements. Some of them are receding into memory, as if they were never that important to begin with, but make no mistake, he was a remarkable player, certainly the best ever under pressure, which is where it really counts.

And Hendry would have been the best in any era because he wanted to be the best. He made the sacrifices necessary to be the best.

There were no off table dramas or distractions. He lived a life consumed by snooker. He played in just about every tournament he could, did loads of exhibitions and built an aura that still stands to this day, even if his form has deteriorated.

His sporting idols are the great winners. He has no time for underdogs and the sentiment that surrounds them.

He took great satisfaction from winning but the trappings of success never overwhelmed him. He was never lazy or content to be, say, a five times world champion when he could be a six times world champion.

Such sportsmen are rare. The majority are happy with any success, and the financial rewards it brings.

Only a few are driven to be even better. And these are the ones who achieve true greatness.

Here’s what Ken Doherty says about Hendry in his new autobiography, Life in the Frame, which gives a good summation of both the player and the man:

“I first met him when he was 14...He understood exactly where he was going and what he was going to achieve in the game. He looked the business and he played sublime snooker even then but he was aloof and he stayed like that to an extent. He wanted to separate himself from everyone else and develop an aura. It’s a great thing to have and it’s the way you’ve got to be to get to the top but it means isolating yourself from everyone else and that’s not something that comes easily to most of us.

“Stephen is the best player I’ve ever played against. At his best, he was awesome, better even than Ronnie O’Sullivan. His long potting and break-building were out of this world and his safety game, when he used it, was strong as well. The only way I could beat him was by breaking him down, playing good match snooker and trying to frustrate him. It felt like you had to hide the cue ball in your pocket to keep him out and stop him scoring. Just when you thought you had him in trouble on the bottom cushion he would pull out a pot from nowhere and make a frame winning break.”

Doherty knows this better than most having been on the receiving end of Hendry’s record seven centuries in the 1994 UK Championship final.

Those days are over. For the 2011 UK Championship, Hendry will have to qualify. He will surely play his match in the main arena at the South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester, which will be a help compared to, say, a tight cubicle in Sheffield with no atmosphere.

But it is still a long, long way from the years of glory when he was the man to beat.

Hendry is still good enough to beat most players on the circuit, however he no longer beats the top players with enough regularity.

Precisely how much longer Hendry has left I wouldn’t want to say. Davis has been written off many times and keeps bouncing back.

Indeed, I remember asking Steve ten years ago if he was going to retire as he had just dropped out of the top 16.

The great man fixed me with an old fashioned look and patiently explained that, actually, he enjoyed playing regardless of his ranking.

I’m not sure Hendry is the same in this respect, but I tend to agree with Ronnie O’Sullivan, who said last week that Hendry needs to change his attitude and, if he can, lighten up a little, not put so much pressure on himself.

After all, he has nothing to prove to anyone.

CHRIS TURNER

2011-11-01T13:16:00.002Z

Chris Turner, who has died suddenly, had a deep love of snooker and maintained an excellent website providing a wealth of statistical information.

Chris had been collating these for many years and was still updating his site days before he passed away.

I often used it myself as a resource and Chris was always helpful when clarifying and cross-checking a stat.

He never sought the limelight but, in his quiet way, he made a significant contribution to ensuring the game’s key achievements were recorded for posterity.

My sincere condolences go to his family.

EDIT:

Chris's son, Andy, has contacted me with the funeral arrangements.

The funeral will be at:

Vinters Park Crematorium
Bearsted Road,
Maidstone,
Kent,
ME14 5LG

Attendees are then invited to join the family for refreshments afterwards at:

Tudor Rose
Chestnut Street
Borden
ME9 8BT

In place of floral tributes the family would prefer anyone wishing to pay their respects to donate to the British Heart Foundation via funeral directors R High & Son, Bayford Road, Sittingbourne, Kent ME10 3AD. 01795 472958

UK FORMAT: WHAT DO THE PLAYERS THINK?

2011-10-31T12:12:00.000Z

The final stages of the UK Championship has been played over best of 17 frames since its second staging in 1978 but this year is reduced to best of 11s.

Many observers have had their say about this, myself included, but what do the players think about it?

With the qualifiers getting underway next week in Gloucester I asked some of them to find out. It’s not really a representative sample, but their views are still interesting.

Mark Williams won the UK title in 1999 and 2002. He was runner-up last year to John Higgins.

He started out fiercely deriding the format change: “I think it’s terrible. There are a lot of tournaments now and there’s no reason to mess with the big ones. Will the World Championship be next?”

The change saves money on outside tables and allows the BBC to cover every match from the last 32 onwards.

Williams is glad the tournament will now be played entirely in a TV set-up, but is still against the reduction in frames.

“I think it’s right to play it on two tables because nobody wants to be in a cubicle,” he said. “It’s probably fairer the way they’ve done it but it should have been left as best of 17. Best of 11 is another sprint and there are enough sprints already.”

Dominic Dale, a student of snooker history, had no time whatsoever for the changes.

He said: “I think reducing the frames takes a lot of the prestige away. Maybe they should give the tournament fewer ranking points if there are fewer frames. All of the players will be against it because it makes the tournament more of a lottery, but as usual the players come second.”

In fact, not all of the players are against the alteration in the format. Stuart Bingham, this season’s Australian Open champion and a generally positive sort, had no problem with it.

He said: “It’s good because the last 32 will all be televised. I’ve heard a few other players talk, saying you shouldn’t change the UK and World Championship because it means anyone can win them, but the World Open was best of fives and the final was Neil Robertson and Ronnie O’Sullivan. The UK has always been the second biggest ranking event. Some think it’s harsh to change it but you have to get with the times and I think it’ll be good.”

In theory, a shorter format gives players outside the elite a better chance, although most tournaments are won by the best players regardless of the format.

Andrew Higginson, who won a PTC earlier this season, should, by this logic, be all for the changes. Except he isn’t.

“I understand why it’s been done, so that all the last 32 matches can be shown on television, but in my opinion the prestige of the tournament has gone down,” he said.

“There are certain tournaments you shouldn’t change and this is one of them. I say that even though under a shorter tournament you have a better chance against the top players because they have less time to settle.”

It’s seven years since Stephen Maguire won the UK title at York. The tournament returns there this season after a gap of five years but the Scot is aghast at the best of elevens.

Maguire said: “They’ve ruined it. I can understand it from a TV point of view but the UK Championship used to be the second biggest tournament on our calendar. Now it’s been reduced to 11 frames and the person running the game said he wouldn’t change the big events. A year in and he has.”

So there we are, a flavour of player feeling, albeit from a very small group of players. I agree that best of 17s gave the UK Championship a certain prestige that will be lost by making it more like a bog standard ranking event.

But regardless of whether players, pundits and fans agree with the format changes, I imagine everyone will just get on with it when the tournament starts on December 3 and if the quality of snooker is high, as it usually is, then there's no reason why it can't be an enjoyable week.

DING V O'SULLIVAN TO LAUNCH MASTERS

2011-10-28T17:03:00.002+01:00

The Masters will start in mouth-watering fashion in January with defending champion Ding Junhui facing four times champion Ronnie O’Sullivan at the tournament’s new home, Alexandra Palace.

The pair famously met in the final at Wembley Arena in 2007, where O’Sullivan’s superb performance delivered a severe mental blow to Ding’s confidence.

But that was all forgotten last season as he became the first non-British player for 25 years to win the game’s most prestigious invitation title.

His 10-4 victory over Marco Fu in the all Asian final brought the curtain down on the Wembley era of the Masters. The Ally Pally is a bigger venue and, crucially, the event remains in London.

Other interesting first round matches include Neil Robertson v Mark Allen, John Higgins v Matthew Stevens and Shaun Murphy v Martin Gould, the only debutant this year.

I hope the Masters is never made into a ranking event. Its prestige comes from the fact that it is purely for the elite top 16, a reward for being the best players in the world, and long may that continue.

MASTERS DRAW
Ding Junhui v Ronnie O’Sullivan
Judd Trump v Stuart Bingham
Neil Robertson v Mark Allen
Mark Williams v Stephen Maguire
Mark Selby v Stephen Lee
Shaun Murphy v Martin Gould
Ali Carter v Graeme Dott
John Higgins v Matthew Stevens

KEN DOHERTY'S STORY

2011-10-27T10:00:00.017+01:00

Life in the Frame, out now, is the story of Ken Doherty and how he rose from humble beginnings to stand on top of the snooker world.

I shall declare an interest immediately: I helped Ken to write the book. He is a snooker player, not a journalist but all of the stories in the book are his; all of the opinions are his.

Some are surprising. He is critical of some players while at the same time staunchly defending Alex Higgins, whose behaviour was worse than anyone who has come along since.

But Ken’s back story explains why. His moment of revelation came when he was a 12 year-old sat with his dad watching the TV as Higgins won the 1982 world title.

Enraptured, it made the boy Doherty want to be a snooker player. The following year, his father died and it seemed to instil in Ken the notion that life is short and he should pursue his passion.

To this end he took the decision a few years later to leave Ireland, where he had emerged as the best amateur in the country, to live in the UK, leaving behind the family with whom he has always been close.

This was a sacrifice which paid off and has informed his general attitude since. He is grateful to snooker for the life it has given him.

Ken grew up with his parents and three siblings. They had to leave their first house due to a campaign of persecution by their landlord and ended up in a three room house shared between the six of them.

But it was a happy family and Ken found in Jason’s, the club in which he would perfect his snooker skills, a second home.

His autobiography does not follow the celebrity staple: a recitation of all the mistakes said celebrity has made while asking for understanding from the reader.

It is in part a diary, which Ken kept when he found himself back at the qualifiers, his playing career under threat.

He discusses his amateur days in Ilford, his early years on the professional circuit, his world title triumph, that missed black at the Masters, his epic 2003 Crucible adventure, what really happened when he was thrown off a Malta airlines flight for being drunk, the John Higgins affair and his views on other players.

But it isn’t just a snooker book. There’s the story of how he met his wife, Sarah, tales of hanging out with U2, what happened when he met the Manchester United team after his 1997 world title victory, his views on art and life in the spotlight.

Ken has never just been a snooker player. He is someone inquisitive about the world. He enjoys travelling and his spare time.

There is also a section in the book in which those who know him best – family, friends, former manager Ian Doyle among them – give their views on him.

Most coalesce around the view that he’s a good bloke, a bit lazy and should have won more.

Ken’s view is that, yes, he could have won more but, equally, he could have won less.

These days Ken lives in a very nice house in Dublin with Sarah and their young son, Christian. Having been out with him, it’s apparent how well known and liked he is in Ireland.

He hasn’t lived a blameless life (who has?) but as an ambassador for his country he has been exemplary.

That he hasn’t been a hell-raiser or had some Hollywood-like ‘journey’ of redemption doesn’t mean he isn’t interesting. Anyone who knows Ken knows he is by far one of snooker’s most interesting characters.

He has come a long way since sitting on that couch watching Alex Higgins win the world title. He dared to dream that one day he could do the same and, through his own efforts, that dream came true.

A couple of places where you can buy Life in the Frame:
Amazon
Waterstones

MADE OF STONE

2011-10-25T13:20:00.000+01:00

The Mount Rushmore national memorial was carved into the South Dakotan mountain side 70 years ago to commemorate four legendary US presidents.

What if snooker were to have a similar monument to the players who have best served and represented the sport?

Of course, it isn’t going to happen unless some lunatic is let loose with a chisel on Snowdon, but that doesn’t mean we can’t discuss who should appear on such a memorial.

The rules: there is only room for four players. In fact that’s the only rule.

So here are the main contenders, considered objectively, not based on personal favourites...

Joe Davis was the father of professional snooker. It was he who saw its potential in the age of billiards. It was he who began the World Championship, buying the trophy still presented to this day using half the original entry fees from the inaugural championship in 1927.

Davis won the world title 15 times in succession before retiring from the professional game in 1946. His style of play was the textbook followed by many who took up snooker in his wake.

Ray Reardon was the most successful player of the 1970s as the professional game was revived and started to receive TV attention.

He was six times a world champion, having not had the chance to play professionally at the early age modern players now do.

Alex Higgins was a firebrand and a rebel and these characteristics, coupled with his electrifying style of play, brought a new audience to snooker, attracted television coverage and sponsorship and helped lead to a burgeoning professional circuit.

In the snooker soap opera of the 1980s, he was a much loved villain who put the sport on the front pages and kept up the remarkable levels of interest.

Steve Davis lived a much more placid life and was completely dedicated to being the best, which he was for a decade.

Davis has won more titles than anyone else and is still capable, into his 50s, of producing high quality performances. As an ambassador for snooker, he remains unsurpassed.

Jimmy White’s enduring popularity and cheerful optimism in the face of many knocks means he is still a draw more than 30 years after turning professional.

Never a world champion, he won ten ranking titles, including the UK Championship, plus the Masters and has provided many a fan with the sort of emotional rollercoaster ride which means they remain loyal to him long after his peak.

Stephen Hendry raised playing standards and ushered in a new era of attacking snooker. He has won more of what matters than any other player.

There were 90 ranking events played in the 1990s. Hendry won 27 of them, just under a third of the total. He is still more than 100 centuries ahead of the field.

Ronnie O’Sullivan is a rare natural talent whose brand of entertaining snooker has drawn many new fans to the game during the last 15 years.

Perhaps the best break builder snooker has ever seen, his many controversies have only added to his status as flawed genius but his achievements stand for themselves.

John Higgins has proved himself as the toughest match-player of the current time, with four world titles to his name and an almost innate knowledge of every aspect of the game.

Brilliant under pressure, he remains every bit as difficult to beat as when he first emerged two decades ago.

I realise some will argue for others, such as Fred Davis, John Spencer and Mark Williams, but this is the list from which I will select my four.

The first face who earns a place in our imaginary mountainside is Steve Davis.

It is hard to believe now the attention he had in the 1980s, when snooker bestrode TV sport like a colossus – and Steve did the same on the green baize.

He never went off the rails, never shirked from his professional responsibilities and, despite the odd famous slip-up, just kept on winning.

He could have walked away happy with hit lot but, such is his love of the game, that he carried on and is still delighting fans now, as well as providing inspiration for a whole group of much younger players.

Davis was always the model player to look up to. He is to snooker what Jack Nicklaus is to golf.

The second face the carvers had better set about constructing is that of Hendry, who decided from a frighteningly young age that he was going to be the best.

Sport thrives on the fluff and intrigue that surrounds it, but the true test of greatness is achievement. For this alone Hendry deserves his place, but the quality of snooker he has produced down the years speaks for itself.

My third face will be that of Alex Higgins. He didn’t win as much as Reardon but he had an alchemy that meant he was an absolutely vital figure to snooker’s growth and development.

People admired the Reardons and Spencers but they loved Higgins. Many hated him too, but nobody who watched him play could fail to be excited by his charisma, his shot making and his theatrical style of death-or-glory snooker.

So one face left to be carved and, for me, it should be O’Sullivan.

It was Joe Davis’s misfortune not to be playing in the colour television age. Snooker owes him a huge debt of gratitude but that is not the whole story.

He created the professional game but he also killed it when he retired but continued to play exhibitions. Everyone knew the best player in the world wasn’t in the World Championship and it was eventually discontinued for a decade before being revived, largely due to the efforts of Rex Williams.

In truth, professional snooker had two beginnings. The first was under the auspices of Davis in 1926. The second was in 1969 when the World Championship reverted from challenge system to knock-out and Pot Black began. It was this latter beginning which was more significant to the sport as it is today.

Reardon’s modern day tally of world titles was equalled by Steve Davis and surpassed by Hendry. He may have won more than Alex Higgins but Higgins’s contribution off the table cannot be overlooked.

The only mark against White is that he never won the world title, which has to count him out.

John Higgins is a great player but ultimately O’Sullivan has been responsible for keeping interest levels up in an era in which snooker’s survival as a top level sport has been under threat following the loss of the tobacco millions.

New viewers around the world watching snooker for the first time on TV have been drawn in by O’Sullivan, whose talent and changeable personality have created a heady mix and sustained the game in the media. He is, by any definition, a star.

So my four for snooker’s Mount Rushmore are Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, Alex Higgins and Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Something tells me not everyone will agree with these choices.

ROBERTSON WINS AGAIN

2011-10-23T22:17:00.000+01:00

Neil Robertson lost only two frames to reach the semi-finals of the Alex Higgins Trophy, demonstrated his great poise under pressure to edge Mark Allen in a decider and did a proper number on Judd Trump to secure the title.

Robertson, who has developed into a real hard match-player, dictated the style of the final from the off and managed to tame the brilliant Trump, unlike all the players the 22 year-old swept aside during the tournament, though both players struggled with conditions.

Alex Higgins was an excellent safety player, although few ever mention that. He had to be because he played in an era where safety was a key part of the game.

Robertson used to be more of an out-and-out potter but has toughened up his game over the last few years and his record in TV finals speaks for itself: played eight, won eight.

Neil always strikes me as a positive person who looks for the best in any situation. It is rare to see him let frustration get to him in the arena, all great assets for a snooker player.

As he said afterwards: “When you look at what’s going on in the world you realise there are worse things you could be doing than playing snooker.”

So the Australian wins his second Players Tour Championship title of the season and is clearly going to be a handful as the campaign continues.

Trump spoke well afterwards. He has blossomed as a player and a person since moving to Romford and standing on his own two feet.

He’s a credit to the sport not just for the way he plays but in his general conduct. Whatever anyone thinks of the structure of the tour and all of that off table stuff, there’s no doubt the game has a good bunch of lads representing it at the top level.

However, there are still many rumblings backstage about the fact that most players are losing money travelling to play in these PTCs.

That isn’t going to go away and what makes it worse is that it’s one PTC after another at the moment with no big events in between.

But that’s another issue. The night belongs to Robertson, an authentic world class talent and, even more importantly, a winner.

THE RACE FOR THE TITLE

2011-10-23T08:51:00.000+01:00

What a shame that a tournament named in honour of the people's champion has failed to attract the people to Killarney.

The Alex Higgins Trophy has been full of interesting snooker with a good line-up for the last day. Hopefully the crowds will improve.

Ireland has always been a snooker hotbed but new events notoriously struggle, regardless of what promotion has been done.

Still, it should be a very interesting day with eight members of the world's top 16 still going strong.

Of these, Mark Selby, John Higgins, Neil Robertson and Judd Trump must be the favourites.

Mark Allen is also worth following, Northern Ireland's best prospect since the heady days of the Hurricane and Dennis Taylor.

Ken Doherty won three deciding frame finishes yesterday to book his last 16 place, including against Ali Carter in the last 64.

Doherty forced the decider by doubling the re-spotted black the full length of the table, after which he seemed destined to win the match.

Ken was a big pal of Alex Higgins and would dearly love to win a title named after him. He plays Alan McManus this morning, who he beat in the final of the 1993 Welsh Open, his first ranking event win.

ALEX HIGGINS TROPHY UNDERWAY

2011-10-21T06:55:00.001+01:00

After a day of amateur qualifying, the televised phase of the Alex Higgins Trophy - PTC8 - gets underway today.

The first TV match is Mark Williams v James Wattana followed by John Higgins against Ian Burns and Ronnie O'Sullivan v Aditya Mehta.

The TV element makes these PTCs slightly harder to predict than those played behind closed doors, albeit with streaming.

Mark Selby won the first televised PTC earlier this season and Neil Robertson the second.

It is likely another established name will win this one, though who that will be is anyone's guess.

Perhaps it will be O'Sullivan. He has already captured two PTCs this season and, though he described them as 'pointless' on Twitter yesterday, they do of course carry points that will help boost his ranking.

I suspect Alex Higgins would have approved if O'Sullivan won the first title bearing his name. I remember Ronnie winning the Irish Masters in Dublin one year and Alex going out into the arena to congratulate him.

They are cut from the same cloth, snooker wise: entertainers with vivid back stories. Box office, in short.

Good luck to all involved. Killarney is a picturesque setting, although arenas look much the same to TV audiences wherever tournaments are staged.

Here is the Eurosport schedule.

MAIN TOUR INCREASED TO 128

2011-10-20T10:44:00.000+01:00

The professional circuit will be increased to 128 players under plans announced today by World Snooker.

When Barry Hearn was bidding to become World Snooker chairman among the lies spread by his enemies was that he would cut the main tour to 32.

By increasing it, he recognises the potential for snooker to grow and is also backing the potential of new players to make their marks.

Cruciallly, new tour players will get their ticket for two years, allowing them more time to bed down and relaxing some of the pressure.

This is a vital step because so many talented players seem to have fallen through the cracks, trying in vein to keep their tour cards in one season when the rankings are based over two.

The other change being discussed as part of an overall review - though not yet agreed - is to change the ranking system so that it is based on prize money won rather than the completely arbitrary points tariffs currently in use.

This would peg the rankings to the market value of each tournament, reflecting how much sponsorship money they attract and therefore what they are worth.

It would be a controversial move for many but easier to understand for the general public and arguably fairer.

I think tournament winners should receive considerably more than the guy who finishes runner-up.

One thing, though: if the list is to be determined by prize money then every player on the circuit should be rewarded financially, including those who lose in the first qualifying round.

The precise details are clearly yet to be ironed out, and the players will no doubt want their say before a decision is taken.

WHAT'S AGE GOT TO DO WITH IT?

2011-10-19T17:41:00.000+01:00

Give or take a couple of weeks it is 25 years since Rex Williams became the oldest player to appear in a ranking final.

Williams was 53 when he faced Jimmy White for the Grand Prix title at the Hexagon in Reading. White beat him 10-6 but it was a fine achievement by one of the sport’s elder statesmen.

The old guard who helped make snooker such a successful TV sport in the 1980s were gradually forced off the stage by younger players who in turn raised standards.

One such player was Ronnie O’Sullivan, the youngest player, at 17, to win a ranking title.

Ronnie told today’s Independent that he wants to become the first 40-something since Ray Reardon to win the World Championship. This would mean him winning the title in 2016, only five years away.

Is this possible? Could a player win the world title in their 40s?

It depends on the player. John Higgins is 36, as is Mark Williams. O’Sullivan will be in two months.

These three have proved to be every bit as good in their 30s as they were in their 20s.

Reardon was 45 when he won his sixth world title in 1978 and people forget how close he ran Alex Higgins in the final four years later when he was 49.

The Welshman is the oldest winner of a ranking title. He was 50 when he captured the 1982 Professional Players Championship.

It’s also worth mentioning that he beat Steve Davis – at the time the undisputed king of snooker – 5-0 in the first round of the 1988 British Open at the age of 55.

The game has changed since Fred Davis reached the World Championship semi-finals at 64 in 1978 but this is still a remarkable feat given the stamina required, particularly in the days of hard as nails snooker.

Fred last qualified for the Crucible in 1984 when he was 70. At 77 he won two qualifying matches for the Mercantile Classic.

He played his last match as a professional at the age of 79 to bring a pro career of some 57 years to a conclusion.

That is a series of accomplishments that it is very hard to see being emulated.

Steve Davis has, of course, continued to defy conventional wisdom by producing highly creditable performances into his 50s.

Davis, 54, is not just hanging on. He is still playing well, as he proved when he reached the semi-finals of PTC6 in Poland a few weeks ago.

He said before that event that he was taking things seriously again, which suggests he has been practising.

I remember interviewing him at the 2005 Malta Cup, where he said he would be practising hard for the upcoming World Championship as it was the last to be sponsored by Embassy and he wanted to produce a good performance.

I have no doubt my reaction would have been along the lines of, ‘yeah, whatever’ but not so long afterwards there was Steve in the quarter-finals.

He reached the same stage of the World Championship last year. Such is his great knowledge of matchplay snooker that I wouldn’t rule out another appearance at the Crucible for the circuit’s oldest player.

Age is not the key factor here. Davis has looked after himself. He is fitter than a number of players younger than him.

And he has the pure love of the game, the endless fascination with it, to carry on. His latest challenge appears to be proving all those wrong – myself included – who thought he would be on a slippery slope after he dropped out of the top 32

Snooker is not a physical sport but does require high degrees of concentration. There are other factors, most notably changing eyesight, which are age related and older players sometimes find that their nerve is not as strong as when they were young and fearless.

Outside life intrudes, too. Players have families and other interests and pressures whereas when they’re young it tends to be snooker, snooker, snooker.

Sometimes they burn out. I remember interviewing Stephen Hendry after he had won his seventh world title at the age of 30 and part of his intensity, which he had put into breaking the modern day record, seemed to have gone. He still won tournaments of course but was never quite the same again.

But age should not be regarded as an impediment to success in snooker. If players still have the desire then there’s no reason why they shouldn’t extend their careers into middle age.

Look at Phil Taylor in darts – 51 and still brilliant, still the man to beat.

So can O’Sullivan be world champion at 40? It’s impossible to say but there’s no immediate reason why not, although he will have to keep playing in all the other tournaments to ensure a Crucible seeding. He will have to retain a desire for week in, week out snooker, otherwise his world ranking will go down.

The slog of the circuit, particularly with so many new events, generally becomes less appetising for older players.

Higgins and Williams, both of whom are proficient at mixing it in the safety/scrappy stakes, will surely still be going strong in five years time.

In some ways it’s easier for them now than it was for the players of their age 20 years ago.

Back then the top stars had the likes of Ronnie, Mark and John coming through, kicking over the old order and taking their places among the elite.

There are many talented young players out there now but few seem to be making the sort of strides these three did.

So these ‘veterans’ are not looking over their shoulders at what’s coming in behind them in the same way players 20 years ago were when the game went open.

For O’Sullivan to be world champion at 40 would be a fine achievement, not least because it would come more than two decades after his first ranking title.

But snooker is one of those games where players can enjoy the sort of longevity physical sports simply do not allow.

It comes down to how much they want it, how hard they are prepared to work and what they make of their opportunities.

All of which applies however old you are.

RED OR PINK? WPBSA CONCLUDE INQUIRY

2011-10-17T20:32:00.002+01:00

The WPBSA inquiry into the incident which turned the Shanghai Masters final has been concluded.

You'll recall Mark Selby played a high speed 'hit and hope' escape from a snooker trailing Mark Williams 9-7. It was not immediately clear whether he first made contact with a red or the pink.

The referee, Eirian Williams, studied replays on an arena monitor before ruling it was red first.

Mark Williams believed it was pink first and blamed (referee) Williams for him subsequently losing 10-9.

Jason Ferguson, the WPBSA chairman, said: "Whilst this inquiry was not to establish which ball was hit first, we have now analysed footage of the incident and whilst we would still say that the analysis is inconclusive, there is overwhelming opinion that the cue ball struck the red first. With this in mind we believe the referee's original decision not to call the foul was correct.

"In these situations the WPBSA rule (Section 5 Subsection 1 (c)) states:
'If the referee has failed to notice any incident, he may at his discretion take the evidence of the marker or other officials or spectators best placed for the observation, or may view a camera/video recording of the incident to assist his decision.'

"The question does raise itself as to whether a player has the right to call for this analysis. The WPBSA rules also clearly state that 'the referee shall be the sole judge of fair and unfair play', and therefore it is ONLY the referee that can ask for assistance either from the scorer, spectator or video replay if available.

"Formal guidelines on the interpretation of this rule will now been issued to referees by WPBSA Director of Rules Alan Chamberlain.

"The WPBSA also felt that some of Mark Williams's comments about the referee following the match were unfair; however we are pleased to report that Mark has since issued a formal apology to referee Eirian Williams."

So Eirian Williams has been vindicated. Personally I didn't think he did anything wrong in the first place. He was just trying to come to the right decision.

His job as referee is to ensure the players play to the rules and to adjudicate on decisions such as this, which was difficult and bound to be controversial.

On viewing various replays, it seemed to me that Selby had just caught the red first.

(Mark) Williams was disappointed that he had let the incident affect him but, in the heat of battle, these things happen. I'm glad the WPBSA have brought no action over a few comments made minutes after the final ended.

Snooker is fortunate that such controversies are rare. In general, the top referees are respected by the players and officiate with the utmost professionalism.

It is a shame that this incident overshadowed the final but such things happen in all sports. At least this has been resolved with the minimum of fuss.

THE ONE AND ONLY

2011-10-17T10:00:00.019+01:00

One name guaranteed to be on the trophy for PTC8 this week is that of Alex Higgins, after whom the tournament has been named.

The 2009 six reds World Championship staged in Killarney was the last tournament Higgins competed in before his death last year so it is fitting that this same venue is paying tribute to him (even more fittingly, his last appearance with a cue was for Snooker Legends at the Crucible).

There have been more successful and better players but none more iconic than this Northern Irishman, who played a greater role than any other individual in dragging snooker up from its lowly status as a folk sport to a prime time television entertainment.

Higgins was a one-man soap opera living a tumultuous life of excess which garnered huge media attention but his contribution on the table should not be forgotten or underestimated.

He may not have set out to change the world of snooker but he did. He brought one thing to the game above all else: the people.

And the people stood by him as his rollercoaster life unravelled in full public gaze.

These days, Higgins would probably be considered to have a mental illness and be treated appropriately. 30 years ago he was simply regarded by many in the sport as a menace.

Patience, tested severely over the years, finally ran out for the WPBSA in 1990 after the volley of abuse he directed at Dennis Taylor at the World Cup and the punch he landed on Colin Randle, press officer at the World Championship.

Higgins had got himself back into the top 16 for the 1990/91 season but was banned for the whole of it and never recovered.

Maybe he should have been given more help, although it is true to say that many who tried to help him had it thrown back in their faces.

In his interesting new book 'Who Was Hurricane Higgins?', Tony Francis reveals that the WPBSA offered him a bungalow rent free for the rest of his life - but that he turned them down.

That was Alex. He was his own man, entirely unconcerned by how others saw him. He was a renegade, a one-off, and this only strengthened his appeal.

As Francis points out, people like Higgins are exciting from a distance. To have to deal with him up close on a tournament-to-tournament basis was not a lot of fun for officials, many of whom couldn’t wait for him to lose.

Example: he once turned up for some qualifiers at the Norbreck in Blackpool and asked an official to look after something until he had finished playing. It was a gun.

There are more stories about Higgins than any other player. Many of them are extraordinary and most are true.

He could be a frightening figure but intoxicating (and sometimes intoxicated) too.

His legend will only grow with the passing of the years. For all his faults – and he had many – Alex Higgins was a gift to snooker and it is entirely right that a tournament such as this remembers him.

TROUBLE IN PARADISE

2011-10-14T11:08:00.000+01:00

Things have changed markedly in the last year and a bit, most would say for the better.

More tournaments, global expansion and a feeling that the game is on the up have created a mood of optimism.

But you don’t have to look too far beneath the surface to find players unhappy with various aspects of their professional lives.

In short: the Barry Hearn honeymoon appears to be over.

I was in Gloucester last week for PTC7 where I spoke to a number of players, some off the record and some, like Stephen Maguire, in an interview.

Maguire, to his credit, has always spoken his mind, as he did again when I asked him for his views on the PTCs.

“I don’t enjoy them,” he said. “You play in a cubicle with no audience and no atmosphere. We play for years to try and get out of the cubicles and now we’re back in them. It’s hard to play well in that set up but you have to keep coming for the points.

“I’ve lost all respect for the ranking system. All anyone is looking at is the cut-off points and if I won’t drop down then I won’t play in a PTC.

“I feel like a bit of a prostitute, turning up for these events because I have to. Some of us got stick [from Hearn] for not entering tournaments because we wanted more time with our families. It’s up to me if I choose not to enter an event. If you don’t want to play you shouldn’t be forced into it.

“If you travel anywhere now you’re out of pocket unless you do really well.”

So what do we make of this?

A spoilt sportsman who doesn’t know how lucky he is or the heartfelt concerns of someone who feels he isn’t being treated in a manner worthy of his status?

As usual, the answer lies somewhere in between the two.

First of all, it’s important to point out that Maguire isn’t the only player who feels this way. Other top stars share his view and even some reasonable, sensible players lower down the ranking list are unhappy that they are shedding out large amounts of money with little prospect of serious return.

One described the European PTCs as “buying ranking points.” Most likely players will lose money on a trip to, say, Warsaw but can’t afford to miss out because of the points the events carry.

I think Maguire makes a good point about the cubicle set up. He’s right that players work hard to become free of that environment and to end up back there is a comedown.

Gloucester is a much, much better environment to play than Sheffield but still does not have the atmosphere of a big TV tournament.

But when Maguire talks about being ‘forced’ to play he is actually just articulating what many people feel about their jobs.

Most of you reading this now will know the feeling of waking up in the morning and really, really not wanting to go to work. But you do because you have to put food on the table. In that sense you don’t have a choice.

And snooker players, as in any other profession, will sit round with their colleagues complaining about having to do it. Go to any workplace and this is what you will find.

In fact, top snooker players who earn good money do have a choice, but not playing could be to the detriment of their ranking position, which is the trap Maguire is talking about.

A teacher cannot pick and choose what days they work. They can’t decide not to teach a particular class because they feel it’s beneath them.

The difference, though, is that teachers are not required to go to countries like China at their own expense to work.

The globalisation of snooker is a good thing for the sport and its future but it has left many players out of pocket with mounting expenses.

While it may be true to say they all have the same chance to win the top prize, it is equally true to say they are not all going to win it.

Most will bow out early and not even break even at the European PTCs, all of which increases the pressure of when they are actually playing. PTC11, due to be staged in Europe, is apparently to be held in the Badminton Hall in Sheffield, which will at least reduce expenses for British based players (i.e. the vast majority).

All that said, there is a great deal of money to be made playing snooker and when top players end up skint it is usually because of bad choices they have made, either spending money recklessly or putting their faith in shysters determined to rip them off.

This is why players desperately need independent financial guidance, ideally initiated through a structure at the WPBSA.

Maguire is not a lone voice but by no means everyone agrees with him. One lower ranked player told me that “the top players have been overpaid for years and shouldn’t be complaining.”

Another expressed astonishment that players were carping only two years after they were playing in just six or seven tournaments a year.

Shaun Murphy has said that he plays in just about everything because he wants to “create a store of memories” he can pass on to his children and grandchildren, and that he won’t do that sat at home.

Many other players are enjoying the opportunity the PTC affords and relishing the busy season in progress.

One of the problems is that many top players had it sweet when tobacco firms pumped millions into the game. For instance, Mark Williams won £270,000 – snooker’s biggest ever first prize – for becoming world champion in 2003. After local tax of 46% was withdrawn from his runners-up prize at the Australian Open he says he was left with roughly £9,000, out of which he had to pay his expenses.

It’s fair to say he wasn’t impressed and it’s easy to see why. Some players are openly saying they won’t be going to Australia next year.

And expenses are going to mount. After Christmas, running into the World Championship, there is a succession of tournaments in foreign climes.

This is all to the good in my opinion but it is vital that the structure of the tournament calendar is looked at, otherwise players will – understandably – not be playing in certain events.

At the back end of February the players are expected to go to China for the World Open, possibly on to India for a new tournament, then back to Europe for the PTC grand finals, then back out to China and then back to Britain for the World Championship. All this in the space of five or six weeks.

Other sports have, for instance, an ‘Asian swing’ so that they play a succession of events in a particular region.

This would surely be better in snooker, although of course Hearn and his team is having to largely start over again after years in which the sport drifted aimlessly.

His attitude is to get as many tournaments on as possible and, in fairness, this is what the players have asked him to do.

And players, like many other people, are motivated by financial gain. Personally I see nothing wrong with this.

But they need to be honest about it. Some of the players who skipped the Poland PTC didn’t do so to spend more time with their families: they were in China playing in an unsanctioned exhibition event.

Flying around the world is less arduous when you are being well paid for it.

Only hardcore snooker fans, in the minority, involve themselves in every aspect of tour structure and the minutiae of the circuit. Most just enjoy watching the game and are happy with the increased amount of tournaments and the opportunity to see more players.

However, some of the players who vociferously supported Hearn’s coronation are now finding that the game has become a runaway train they are finding hard to keep up with.

There is much to adjust to and so complaints are inevitable and understandable, but I think everybody has to realise that snooker is not premier league football or golf or tennis. Those sports attract vast amounts of sponsorship revenue. Snooker, which has always suffered from cultural snobbery, does not. It depends mainly on betting firms, most of whom do not pay fortunes. With the world economy how it is, sponsorship is going to be harder and harder to obtain.

Therefore not every new event is going to be like the World Championship. Major tournaments are not going to fall from the sky, replete with huge prize funds.

For this to change the sport has to be built up again, and the players are key to this. Things are not perfect – and the schedule is going to create more problems – but what is the answer? To go back to how it was before? Does anyone really want that?

Players said they wanted more tournaments. They have them. They aren’t all ideal by any means and they don’t all make financial sense, but one thing Hearn can’t be criticised for is doing what he was asked: to get events on.

Maybe the moral of the story is this: be careful what you wish for.

POWER SNOOKER RETURNS

2011-10-12T18:57:00.000+01:00

With so much happening in the game over the last year, Power Snooker seems like a distant memory.

However, out of nowhere it is back. Next month a two-day event in Manchester will launch what is believed to be a grand prix series of several tournaments, which suggests Power Snooker organisers have received substantial investment.

The first event divided opinion sharply. Some thought it a bit of harmless fun in which players could show a different side to their personalities, others a moronic waste of time aimed at the lowest common denominator.

The top 16 have been invited – at rather late notice – to play next month. An ominous line in the invitation letter informs them that if they don’t accept they will be ineligible for any future Power Snooker tournaments.

With a first prize of £25,000 – and possibly much more to come – it is unlikely many players will turn down the invite.

The two days will be broadcast on ITV4. World Snooker’s attitude is that they should not deny their players a chance to earn more money, providing Power Snooker and such innovations do not clash with existing tournaments.

Many sports have these distracting off shoots. Indeed, as I wrote after the Power Snooker launch, that’s exactly what snooker originally was – a game devised from other cue sports.

It is never going to replace traditional snooker but we live and die by the market and, if sufficient interest exists, then it may be able to establish itself as a diverting attraction set aside the game we all know and love.

RONNIE IN THE PINK

2011-10-09T20:55:00.000+01:00

Ronnie O’Sullivan tonight became the first player to win two Players Tour Championship titles in a single season with a 4-2 defeat of Matthew Stevens in Gloucester.

I was there on Friday and O’Sullivan was focused and committed from the start.

He travelled down with Damien Hirst, a fellow artist, and conducted himself in exemplary fashion, signing autographs, posing for pictures and generally being professional.

Why shouldn’t he, you may well ask. That’s what pro snooker players are supposed to do. And you’d be right.

The point is, though, that there were no distractions for him. His mind was concentrated fully on the job in hand. He went there to win and that's what he did.

I watched a couple of his matches in the arena and it was clear how seriously he was taking it. His disappointment at bad shots was obvious and he couldn’t have tried harder.

O’Sullivan got his reward in the end and well done to him. He remains snooker’s leading attraction and I'm pleased to see him enjoying himself and playing some good stuff again.

He also knows he can’t afford to take any tournament carrying ranking points lightly with his top 16 place under constant threat this season unless he gets some major points on board.

If he can remain in this frame of mind he has every chance of doing so.

Uniquely, the players wore pink polo shirts to raise money and awareness for breast cancer charities.

It was an emotional few days for South West Snooker Academy owner Paul Mount, after whose sister the Kay Suzanne trophy was named.

The final was played on the fifth anniversary of Paul Hunter’s death and it was therefore fitting that his best friend on the circuit, Stevens, had such a good run.

And as play was progressing today, cancer claimed another victim among the snooker fraternity as Dave Coleshill, the long time TV lighting technician, passed away.

Big Dave was a cheerful, reliable figure backstage with many friends on the circuit. His name won’t be known by many snooker fans but he played a very important part in the way the look of TV tournaments evolved over the last 25 years.

The players are the shop window of the game but there are many others who make it a professional sport, and Dave was one of the biggest characters at any tournament. He will be sadly missed.

THINK PINK

2011-10-05T17:44:00.000+01:00

The seventh Players Tour Championship event of the season is underway in Gloucester with the top players coming in on Friday.

There have so far been six different winners of the first six PTCs. There were of course 12 winners from 12 events last season.

Of the six who have so far triumphed, four have been players associated with winning major titles: Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Mark Selby and Neil Robertson.

The South West Snooker Academy is a better venue than the academy facility at Sheffield, not least because there is room for spectators.

But PTC7 is unique for a very special reason: it is raising awareness for breast cancer.

The players will wear pink polo shirts and the trophy has been named in honour of Kay Suzanne, the sister of SWSA Paul Mount owner who sadly died from breast cancer.

By chance, the final falls on the fifth anniversary of the death of Paul Hunter, who fought gamely against cancer for 18 months before passing away at the age of 27.

Other players have suffered from this appalling condition, including Jimmy White, Alex Higgins and Doug Mountjoy. Jack Lisowski was diagnosed with cancer at the age of just 16 and has thankfully beaten it.

Several popular figures backstage have also been lost to us because of cancer, including Malcolm Thorne, such an important figure in the development of young careers, earlier this year.

Many if not most of you reading this now will have family members or friends who have had to go through the ordeal of chemotherapy, sometimes without success.

So snooker can be proud of its players and as a sport that it is using this event in a positive way for a positive cause.

It is worth remembering that there are more important things in life than potting balls.

Read more about the pink PTC here.

OLD GUNS GO FOR IT

2011-10-03T13:14:00.001+01:00

The BBC finally killed off Last of the Summer Wine, presumably because there are only so many times old men can rattle down a hillside in a tin bath before people realise it wasn’t funny to start with.

World Snooker, though, are supporting the game’s old – or older – guard by staging the World Seniors Championship, now for over 45s as opposed to over 40s as of last year.

Seeded through to the televised phase are several legends of the sport – Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor, Cliff Thorburn, John Parrott and the defending champion, Jimmy White, among them.

And there’s an intriguing selection of old faces taking part in the qualifying competition at the South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester later this month.

Mike Hallett, still playing in PTCs, is there, as is David ‘silver fox’ Taylor, former top 16 members David Roe and Gary Wilkinson and several Welsh players.

Of these, I am pleased to see Doug Mountjoy back in action because he authored one of snooker’s greatest fairytales when he bounced back from a lengthy spell in the doldrums to win the UK Championship in 1988 at the age of 46.

He outplayed Stephen Hendry in that final. At one stage he made three successive centuries, which in those days was a rare feat.

Doug led something like 15-7 before Hendry threw everything at him but Mountjoy held on to win 16-12.

It was an emotional moment and he then remarkably went and won the next ranking tournament as well, the Mercantile Classic.

Mountjoy’s resurgence continued when he reached the 1991 Dubai Classic final but his career was effectively ended by ill health. Cancer forced him to have a lung removed.

He has been practising recently with Mark Williams. It would be nice to see him qualify for the TV stage.

In that Mercantile final Mountjoy beat Wayne Jones, who has also entered the Seniors.

It was a poor match between them back in 1989 but one of the reasons for this was because of their closeness. Mountjoy was something of a mentor to Jones and they found it hard to play each other, particularly in such an important occasion as a major final.

Tony Chappel, another familiar Welsh name from the late 1980s/early 90s, has also entered, as has Steve Newbury, who like Chappel reached a ranking event semi-final two decades ago.

I once saw Newbury play Terry Griffiths. I’m not saying it was a bad match but the referee spent the entire mid session interval sat in the arena with his head in his hands, although I don’t claim this is representative of his career.

Darren Morgan is good enough to win the whole thing. He is a former Irish Masters champion and tough as old boots in his day. Hopefully no boxers will be in the audience to put him off.

Patsy Fagan was the first winner of the UK Championship in 1977 before his career was ended partly by a horrible case of the ‘yips’ when using the rest.

Patsy disappeared from the scene for a while but is now back in his role as president of the Snooker Players Association and as a coach.

There’s also former slimmer of the year Les Dodd and various lesser known names hoping to get through to a spot on TV.

I can’t say I entirely approve of the seniors format – best of threes is short for a ‘World Championship’ and a 30 second shot clock is a bit of a joke, not least because one of the attractions of the tournament is the banter, which will be limited if players are on the clock – but I am pleased to see these guys being given the chance to remind everyone that the sport of snooker is not just for the young.

They all did their shift at the coalface of the game and I hope they enjoy their return to the limelight, however fleeting it may be.

ROBERTSON IN POLE POSITION

2011-10-03T00:59:00.002+01:00

Well done to Neil Robertson for his superb performance in winning PTC6 in Warsaw tonight.

It was a typically composed, ruthless display from a player who is yet to lose in a televised final.

Everything I think about Neil can be read in my season preview on him here.

The tournament was really well attended, proving that it is not just Germany but Europe as a whole that represents a huge market place for snooker.

In the past it has not been explored to anything like the extent it should have been but clearly it will play a major role in the future.

As in Germany, the Polish crowds are knowledgable, enthusiastic but also respectful.

They got to witness a very dramatic last day in which it looked like Steve Davis may go all the way to another final.

As it transpired he just came up short, losing 4-3 to Ricky Walden in the semi-finals.

But Davis seems to be enthused by snooker again while players who have replaced him in the upper echelons of the world rankings stayed away.

Maybe, by no means for the first time, they will look to Davis for inspiration once more.

The next PTC will be staged in Gloucester this week.

THE JUDD AND JACK SHOW

2011-10-01T08:52:00.000+01:00

After a day of mismatches on the main table, PTC6 in Warsaw was brought to life last night by two exciting young guns and the oldest potter in town.

Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski, housemates and practice partners, survived scares in the last 64 before eventually taking their places in the last 16 tomorrow.

Trump was hit by an inspired Tian Pengfei comeback but finally potted a terrific pink in the decider which was worthy of winning any match.

Lisowski won his first match on TV as a professional by edging out Australian Open champion Stuart Bingham 4-3.

These two talents are a breath of fresh air for the sport. They play an attractive, attacking game but also have personality and are committed to interacting with their fans on social networking sites such as Twitter.

Snooker has been around a long time but Judd and Jack truly belong to the modern age and the game will look to them to pull in the next generation of fans.

When Steve Davis was about their age he was turning professional in 1978, a very different time for the game.

The idea of playing a professional tournament in Poland back then would have been laughable.

But at the age of 54, Davis has also booked his last 16 place, despite his trusty old cue going missing on the flight over.

Thankfully it has been returned to its legendary owner, who continues to defy the conventions of sport by pulling out good results long after his prime.

Davis said this week that he is working hard again. He has always loved a challenge and his latest is to remain on the circuit and halt the slide down the rankings.

He will stay in the top 48 when the new seedings are announced on Monday and although snooker players usually keep on falling when they begin a decline, if anyone is going to buck the trend it will be Davis, whose lifelong love affair with snooker shows no signs of abating.

He already has the MBE and OBE. How about a knighthood for this old warhorse of the green baize?

HEADING TO THE POLES

2011-09-29T16:40:00.001+01:00

Poland has for a number of years now been an area in which snooker has become increasingly popular.

As in Germany, new fans have been created by the exposure of the game on Eurosport and I’m sure there’s great excitement in Warsaw for PTC6, which began today, with the professionals coming in tomorrow.

For this reason it is a shame so many of the sport’s top players have decided to give it a miss.

Those who have gone have the chance to gain valuable ranking points ahead of the first seedings revision of the season.

The top 16 on Monday will be at the Masters, so it’s a big few days for players such as Martin Gould and Mark Davis, who are battling for a place in the elite group for the first time.

In the various other bands, too, the race for places is on. There is no material difference between being ranked 17th and 32nd but a world of difference if you are 33rd and not 32nd.

The value to snooker of the British PTCs, certainly in Sheffield, is open to question, although they do provide players with the playing opportunities they have been calling for.

But the European PTCs, which carry television coverage on Eurosport, are important. There may be a full blown ranking event in Warsaw one day but most events – the World Championship included – have started on a small scale and then grown.

Poland of course have their own players, including teenager Kacper Filipiak, who impressed in the World Cup.

Like all youngsters he has a lot to learn but there’s no better way than to be rubbing shoulders with the leading professionals.

A word of caution, though, when it comes to scheduling, and this links back to the World Series, which also visited Warsaw.

The best sport is competitive. A series of processions on the first couple of days do not provide drama or entertainment.

Therefore, matches chosen for the television should be competitive, not a series of slaps handed down by top players to plucky amateurs.

I would personally rather watch a couple of middle ranking pros playing each other than a member of the top 16 hammering an unknown 4-0.

Of course, that’s easy for me to write. In the real world, with commercial concerns, it isn’t so simple.

It’ll be interesting to see who comes through the pack this weekend. The likes of Judd Trump, Stephen Maguire, Shaun Murphy and Ali Carter must be fancying their chances with many of their leading rivals not present.

But the most important thing that can happen is that Polish snooker fans have their emotional investment in the sport repaid so that they want to come back and watch again in the future.

FROM ZERO TO HERO

2011-09-27T10:38:00.000+01:00

What’s the biggest shock result of all time?

Many would argue Tony Knowles’s 10-1 demolition of Steve Davis in the first round of the 1982 World Championship remains hard to beat in this particular pub discussion.

Indeed, Davis’s surprise defeat of John Higgins in the 2010 World Championship would have to be up there, as would his reverse to Joe Johnson in the 1986 Crucible final.

A shock is so-called because nobody saw it coming. It can only feature a really big name.

For this reason, Stephen Hendry’s 9-0 defeat to Marcus Campbell in the first round of the 1998 UK Championship in Bournemouth has to rate very highly on the Richter scale of unfathomable results.

True, it was a pre-televised match, and thus more of a leveller. Also, Campbell had beaten Hendry at the Scottish Open the previous season.

And Hendry had been going through an unproductive period by his standards. He lost the 1997 world final to Ken Doherty and was bundled out of the first round in 1998 by his old foe, Jimmy White.

Even so, 9-0? Hendry losing to anyone 9-0? You could have named your own price at the start of the day.

I was there. The match was played over two afternoons. On the first of them, I can guarantee it took a while for anyone in the pressroom to even notice anything was happening.

Without wishing to shatter illusions, journalists tend not to be glued to the scoring monitors every waking moment.

By the time lunch has been eaten, the racing pages digested and all petty arguments got out of the way, usually about who has nicked whose chair or some such issue of great import, the matches are well underway.

I don’t remember much about that first afternoon but I’d imagine someone deigned to glance up at the monitor when Hendry was 3-0 down and remark that he’d have to pull his socks up.

It was best of 17. There was still plenty of time for him to get going.

At 5-0, the first mutterings of a shock result would start and at 8-0 at the end of the session the obituaries would be hammered out on every laptop in the room.

Hendry had staged many comebacks in his time but this would have been beyond the means of Lazarus.

He lost 9-0 the following day and we all piled into the press conference, fearing the worst.

This was a man who took to losing like Admiral Nelson took to arm wrestling.

However, he’d clearly had time overnight to accept his fate and think through the ramifications.

He spoke eloquently about the need to go back to the drawing board, to pull his game apart and rebuild it.

Looking back, losing 9-0 did him a favour. Had it been, say, 9-3 he may have been able to persuade himself that it was just one of those things, a bad day at the office.

But he was a proud man and to lose 9-0 to anyone was a humiliation.

It didn’t take long for Hendry to get it together again. In fact, he won a small tournament in Malta the following week.

By the time of the World Championship he had won the Scottish Open and Irish Masters. At the Crucible he would produce one of his best ever performances to land a seventh world title.

He was at his highest ever peak, but it started with one of his greatest ever lows.

It's arguable whether Hendry's defeat to Campbell ranks as the biggest shock of all time but, in terms of the effect it had on him and therefore the history of the game, it could well be the most significant.

HAPPY HIGGINSON

2011-09-25T22:44:00.000+01:00

Andrew Higginson’s capture of the fifth Players Tour Championship title of the season in Sheffield tonight was a good win for a good guy.

Higginson defeated the reigning world champion, John Higgins, 4-1 in the final to land the first title of his professional career.

These PTCs are of course tests of skill but also of stamina. Andrew can be very proud of his achievement.

After a decade on the fringes, he broke through at the 2007 Welsh Open by going all the way from the first qualifying round to within a frame of winning the title.

Higginson beat a series of top names and made a televised 147 en route before Neil Robertson denied him 9-8.

He hasn’t done anything as eye-catching since but has quietly worked his way into the top 32 and a top 16 place isn’t out of the question.

The next PTC will be in Warsaw this coming week, after which the ranking list will be used to determine seedings for the UK Championship.

I’m a defender of the PTCs. They have got the professionals doing what they should be doing: playing.

However, it remains to be seen how much longer they can be staged at the academy in Sheffield.

Play on Saturday night finished at something like 2.30am. There are no spare tables and earlier matches overran.

Players attract criticism for complaining about things but they are professional sportsmen and should not be expected to have to hang around for hours – until all hours – like this, especially as they have to be back playing at 10am the next morning.

The current World Snooker regime has been lumbered with the academy premises by the last one.

They want to utilise it, which is fair enough, but most people would agree the South West Academy in Gloucester, where PTC7 will be held, is a better venue for such tournaments.

BRAZIL GLORY FOR MURPHY

2011-09-19T10:01:00.000+01:00

Shaun Murphy's capture of the Brazil Masters title was an historic achievement for him as he became the first player to win a professional tournament in South America.

Murphy was awesome, whitewashing Graeme Dott 5-0 in just 64 minutes.

Dott did have a chance to win the second frame but missed the last red and, after that, weakened as Murphy grew stronger.

The 2005 world champion rounded off with a 139 total clearance, the highest break of this new event.

It's no great surprise that players such as Murphy and Mark Selby are flourishing in this new era. Apart from being great talents they also have the right attitude: embracing new events and playing as much as they can.

Murphy has a good record in these smaller events in foreign climes because he treats every tournament with the same respect.

I enjoyed this new tournament and hope it grows in the future. It wasn't perfect but new events never are.

The test will be whether the Brazilian promoters have made money and the strength of the TV figures, which will in turn determine sponsorship in the years to come.

There's no respite for the players. The Premier League pitches up in Motherwell this week and PTC5 gets going in Sheffield.

You can follow results, news and opinion on all this on worldsnooker.com, www.snooker.org and all the blogs and other sites which provide such good coverage of snooker online.

But not on this one as we are heading into annual hibernation for a week, after which we will return to the usual green baize matters of great pith and moment.

HENDRY SAILS INTO LAST FOUR

2011-09-18T12:46:00.000+01:00

Stephen Hendry's 4-0 victory over Ali Carter to reach the Brazil Masters semi-finals proves that he can still play the game, it is just inconsistency and concentration that have been letting him down of late.

To 2-0, Hendry played really well. Carter's head went in the third when he potted a red, attempted to roll up to the brown, left it short and, put back in, got down and lashed the cue ball off the side cushion and into the reds. That was 3-0.

His poise didn't really return and Hendry gratefully took advantage to sail through by way of whitewash.

Apart from winning the 110sport Legends event in Glenrothes two years ago, Hendry has not been in a final since the 2006 UK Championship.

He needs to beat Shaun Murphy to remedy that, no easy task but not an impossibility either.

The other semi-final is a repeat of the 2006 world final between Graeme Dott and Peter Ebdon.

That was a right old grind of course and Ebdon seems to be in the mood for similar this week but Dott played well in beating Brazilian wildcard Igor Figueiredo in the previous round and can contend with whatever is thrown at him.

EAGER FOR IGOR

2011-09-17T08:16:00.000+01:00

Igor Figueiredo is a man with a big heart and, as he demonstrated in beating Jamie Cope in the first round of the Brazil Masters, bags of talent.

The local fans are obviously looking to him for more success in today's quarter-final against Graeme Dott.

Igor first came to prominence when he ran Alfie Burden close in the IBSF world amateur final and last season he appeared in the final stages of the World Open.

Life on tour is difficult for all new professionals but particularly those from overseas.

The new tournaments are all very welcome but they come with additional expenses and, without a sponsor, it is tough for many players to keep going.

There are riches to be made for snooker players but most professionals are not rich or even close to it.

You don't have to go too far down the ranking list to find people struggling to make ends meet.

Of course, this is the same in most walks of life and certainly true in professional sport which is, and always has been, the survival of the fittest.

But snooker needs characters like Figueiredo, who has been unable to play in a single main tour event this season.

He must be very proud, though, to be representing his country in Brazil itself in the first professional tournament ever to be staged there.

Crowds improved yesterday and they saw victories for Shaun Murphy, Ricky Walden, Ali Carter and Stephen Hendry, who broke down on 113 as he attempted to equal Ronnie O'Sullivan's record of 11 maximum breaks.

So the quarter-finals feature seven ranking tournament winners...plus Igor, the local man hoping to spring an almighty upset this weekend.

PLAYING THE LONG GAME

2011-09-16T11:35:00.000+01:00

The glass half empty brigade had a field day yesterday following a poor crowd turnout for the first session of the Brazil Masters.

Literally within minutes of the tournament starting the internet was telling us all the things that had been done wrong and all the places snooker should go to instead of Brazil.

In the age in which we live, perspective plays second place to opinion.

Not for me. I'd like to see the viewing figures at the end of the tournament before deciding whether it has been a success or not.

Ticket sales were never going to be high. This is a private promotion by a Brazilian company who had originally planned to stage the tournament in bustling Sao Paulo but moved it to Santa Catarina, an exclusive resort miles from anywhere.

It is safe to assume a shedload of tourism cash persuaded them this was a good idea.

You see, promoters like to make a return. It's this thing called business.

This was nothing to do with World Snooker but if you've read the September issue of Snooker Scene you will know that Barry Hearn is going to Brazil to "have a chat" with the promoters about a few aspects of the tournament.

It would certainly make more sense to play it in one of Brazil's big cities - if it is economically viable.

Clearly ticket prices are too high, although crowds improved for Igor Figueiredo's match against Jamie Cope last night.

However, as in most things, history tells us that all this is nothing new.

I was reminded that the first year of the first ranking event in Germany failed to bring out the crowds to such an extent that John Parrott was moved to comment: "I was put off by a crowd disturbance. She moved."

Similarly, the early Chinese events struggled to pull anyone through the door - not that that's ever been the sole indicator of the success of a tournament in any case.

We've had one day of professional snooker in Brazil. It's a bit early to write off an entire market just because it hasn't all been perfect so far.

MARK SELBY: WORLD NO.1

2011-09-15T10:00:00.019+01:00

What has been largely ignored in the shadow of the red or pink controversy is that by winning the Shanghai Masters, Mark Selby has become only the ninth player to be the official world no.1 since the rankings were introduced in 1976.

It is a formidable list to join: Ray Reardon, Cliff Thorburn, Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Neil Robertson.

Selby will play his first match as the newly installed top dog against Stuart Bingham at the Brazilian Masters in Florianopolis today.

He was one of many young players who benefited from the dedication of Malcolm Thorne, the snooker club proprietor and organiser of junior tournaments for more than two decades, who very sadly died earlier this year.

It was in these weekend events that Selby tested his game against the country’s best juniors, including his good friend Shaun Murphy.

He has had his fair share of off table problems to be dealt with. He lost his father when still a teenager. Selby also got mixed up with a manager who later served him with a writ before a match at the Welsh Open.

Snooker players, particularly those who have a little success when young, tend to be a trusting bunch, often far too trusting.

Having turned professional in 1999, Selby’s first real breakthrough came in Shanghai in 2002 when he reached the semi-finals of the China Open.

He beat a 14 year-old Ding Junhui in the wildcard round and then Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan to reach the last four before losing to Anthony Hamilton.

Just 18, he was not worldly wise. This was the tournament where he tried to arrange transport for an afternoon match despite it being the early hours of the morning.

But it was also the tournament where I first saw the genuinely nice side of Selby. In Shanghai, there was a Cue Zone where the Chinese played on snooker and pool tables.

Selby went up there in his own time to play frames against the punters, something that would have meant a lot to them.

He has remained this way: likeable, reliable and professional, even though he often struggles in interviews to be as relaxed as he is behind the scenes.

The ‘Jester’ image is completely contrived and based, basically, on a rhyme but he is a young man who clearly enjoys life as a snooker professional, which is presumably why he plays in so many events.

Selby reached his first ranking final in 2003, losing a long, low quality Scottish Open dogfight with David Gray 9-7.

His form disappeared soon afterwards but returned by 2006 when he shocked Higgins in the first round of the World Championship.

A year later he recovered from 12-4 down against Higgins to only 12-10 heading into the last session of their world final before losing 18-13.

In 2008, Selby became the first player since Stephen Hendry in 1989 to win the Masters at his first attempt, winning three matches 6-5 to reach the final.

Several times since I have described him as a master of brinkmanship, winning close matches under pressure.

He did so at the 2008 Welsh Open, coming from three down with four to play to beat Ronnie O’Sullivan and repeating the same feat against O’Sullivan at the 2010 Masters.

Selby has, of course, lost many close matches too. Indeed, it may be because so many of his matches go close that he hasn’t won as many titles as he’d like.

I’ve read some appalling things about Selby from people who have never met him. It is fair enough not to like a player’s individual playing style but this should not reflect on them personally.

You won’t meet many better people in snooker than Terry Griffiths and he played – with all due respect to Griff – a somewhat methodical game.

Selby’s main problem seems to be he does everything right: he is dedicated, he is professional, he tries to treat people properly. And on the table he tries to win, which is the point of playing professional sport.

These should be attributes to be applauded, not derided.

Maybe it wouldn’t be such a problem to people if he wasn’t so good. Last season he made 54 centuries, a record. At the Crucible he made six against Hendry, a record for the World Championship.

Who gets to decide how snooker should be played anyway? There are long established rules of the game. As long as a player keeps within them then it is their choice how to approach each frame, each shot.

Selby said last season that he thought he had become too negative in the latter stages of tournaments.

He has an excellent tactical game but the balance needs to be struck between attack and defence in the way John Higgins has accomplished to such great effect.

Selby has now won two ranking titles. His consistency over the last two years has been rewarded by his no.1 ranking.

A warning, though: when you are world no.1, the only way is down. The work shouldn’t stop. If anything it should increase.

And in Selby's case I suspect it will.

BRAZIL HERE WE COME

2011-09-14T10:00:00.001+01:00

The new Brazilian Masters has been a long time coming.

It was Barry Hearn’s Matchroom that first took 15-red snooker to Brazil in 1985 when Steve Davis played a televised exhibition against the national champion, Rui Chapeu.

Brazil has a history of playing on smaller tables with ten reds so this was something of a novelty.

In the 1990s, it was rumoured that Brazil would stage the World Cup but this all fell through.

At the Wembley Masters in 2004 I attended a press conference in which two Brazilian promoters, as well as the then WPBSA chairman, Sir Rodney Walker, announced a new tournament in Recife.

Very exciting it sounded, too, the only snag being it never happened (leading to cruel pressroom wags to call it a Recife for disaster).

This time around, things have been done properly. The problem, though, has been securing a date in the increasingly over-crowded calendar.

Players just back from Shanghai are having to jet out again almost immediately, although the overriding reason for no-shows is financial. Snooker Scene knows of leading players who have asked for more money to go.

But it’s an invitation tournament. Players are free to either accept the invitation or not. It’s not as if they don’t have plenty of snooker to play elsewhere throughout the season.

Davis is going, indeed was requested by the Brazilians who remember his exhibition a quarter of a century ago.

Stephen Hendry will also be on the trip, as will Mark Selby, who has just won the Shanghai Masters.

Former world champions Peter Ebdon, Shaun Murphy and Graeme Dott have accepted their invitations.

The tournament also represents a good chance for players a little outside the elite to win a TV title.

It is being played in Florianopolis at an exclusive resort, the choice of the Brazilian promoters.

In this month’s issue of Snooker Scene we publish a letter of concern from a British ex-pat who lives in Brazil.

He believes the venue is too secluded and the ticket prices too high. Coupled with the lack of so many star names and the fear is the audience attendance will be low.

I hope not. This is a new market and an exciting step for snooker, albeit into the unknown.

It’s one of those events where the identity of the eventual winner is less important than the spectacle the players jointly put on.

Good luck to those involved.

WPBSA INQUIRY INTO RED OR PINK CONTROVERSY

2011-09-13T11:17:00.002+01:00

The WPBSA are to launch an inquiry into the incident in frame 17 of the Shanghai Masters final which Mark Williams has blamed for him losing the match.

A statement read: "The match was stopped for several minutes while referee Eirian Williams had to make a difficult call as to whether Selby had hit a red or the pink first when escaping from a snooker.

WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson called for the inquiry following comments made by both players after the match.

The inquiry will be led by Ferguson and former referee Alan Chamberlain and will include statements from both players and the match referee.

Ferguson said: "I want to make very clear from the outset that this inquiry is not part of any disciplinary procedure and has no effect on the outcome of the match. Mark Selby is a deserving champion and won the match fair and square. Our rules state that any decision by the referee is final.

"However, through this inquiry we will look to establish tighter guidelines for referees when such difficult decisions need to be made.

"A further statement will be released once the inquiry is complete."

I'm pleased to hear no disciplinary charges will be brought against (Mark) Williams for what were heartfelt but heat of the moment comments immediately after the match.

Mark still believes it was pink first and still believes the incident cost him the title. Whether others agree with that or not, he is entitled to believe it.

Certainly, the incident did swing the momentum Selby's way but it was a very difficult decision for the referee, Eirian Williams, as indeed it would have been for any official in the same situation.

I also credit Ferguson for not just brushing all this under the carpet and for releasing a statement immediately, which certainly wouldn't have happened in days gone by.

However, whatever the result of the inquiry, it won't change the result.

WILLIAMS BLASTS WILLIAMS

2011-09-11T23:20:00.000+01:00

Mark Williams has blamed referee Eirian Williams for his Shanghai Masters final defeat to Mark Selby.

Williams claimed the incident in the 17th frame (which I detail in the post below this one) had cost him the title.

He said: “I was robbed. The referee made such an appalling decision.

“I was right behind it and 100% it hit the pink first. He said it did then he turned around and said he didn’t see it.

“It’s an absolute joke. It cost me the tournament. The balls should have gone back. I don’t mind losing to anyone but the ref has cost me the title, no question.

“It was plain to see that he hit the pink. We didn't need to play it back. We should get Stevie Wonder to referee next time.”

Strong stuff, then. But if you watch the footage, (Eirian) Williams calls the miss after consulting with the players and walks over to (Mark) Williams to ask him if he will take it, which he could have done immediately. Selby, after all, had accepted the decision.

(Mark) Williams appears to ask for the freeze frame, only to be told that World Snooker do not have that facility at this tournament.

Selby then comes over, someone mentions a replay on an arena TV monitor and they turn to study it. At this point the earlier certainty it was pink first dissipates.

It was hard to tell on the replay but it looked like red first to me watching at home. However, Mark Williams was obviously a lot closer than I was and isn’t usually the sort to blame anything other than himself for defeat. TV replays are sometimes misleading.

I understand his frustration. Remember, these quotes were taken down literally minutes after the defeat.

There was no doubt his general demeanour changed dramatically after the incident and he was still seething at the end, which is very unlike him.

But it was a very difficult call for the referee to make, even after they had consulted the replays.

All a referee can do in that situation is give an honest opinion: which is what Eirian Williams did.

He also did his best to come to a decision that was agreed on by both players, although obviously Mark Williams sees things differently and, of course, the miss had been given and then retracted, which further confused matters.

I've known Eirian for a long time. Indeed, he had a cameo role in what remains one of the funniest things I've ever seen on the snooker circuit - in Shanghai nine years ago when Selby, jetlagged and confused, tried to hail a taxi to the venue at 1.30am, believing it was the afternoon. Eirian had to point out it was, in fact, pitch black outside.

He is a referee of integrity. Whether it was red or pink is a debate that, I suspect, will never be solved to the satisfaction of everyone.

If Eirian made a mistake it was perhaps in taking so much time but, again, all he was trying to do was come to the right decision.

However, he did actually originally call a miss, which (Mark) Williams could have taken without himself asking for further evidence.

I know (Mark) Williams doesn't see it that way and I respect that too because it was a strange, frustrating incident which had a huge bearing on the result, and the match arena at a key stage of a major final isn't always the best place for clear thinking.

Who is to say if they had put the balls back Selby wouldn't have fluked one and cleared up? Stranger things have happened.

This was an unfortunate incident at a vital time in the final. It reminded me a little of the John Higgins/Ronnie O'Sullivan UK Championship semi-final two years ago, which also threatened to turn on a difficult rules decision.

All in all a rather unedifying end to a gripping contest.

SELBY EDGES SHANGHAI THRILLER

2011-09-11T18:31:00.001+01:00

Another tournament, another incredibly dramatic final and, ultimately, another disappointment for Mark Williams.

Having lost 10-9 from 9-5 up to John Higgins in last season’s UK Championship final and 9-8 from 8-5 ahead to Stuart Bingham in the Australian Open final two months ago, Williams was beaten 10-9 having led Mark Selby 9-7 in the Shanghai Masters.

But those bald facts do not do justice to a tension-filled finale to the tournament, which ground on until 12.45am.

There were twists and turns right through the final but it turned on a bizarre incident in the 17th frame.

Williams looked set to win at this point. He was the more relaxed of the two and held a 47-5 lead and snookered Selby tight behind the brown, with the reds everywhere.

Selby, not knowing how to get the cue ball safe, played a hit and hope but it wasn’t immediately clear whether he had hit a red first or the pink.

Eirian Williams, the referee, thought red. Williams thought pink which Selby, in his sporting way, accepted, as did the referee.

But Williams [Eirian, that is] wanted to check the replay. This went on for several minutes as it was unclear to the naked eye which ball was contacted first. The referee, rightly in my opinion, insisted it was the red.

So Williams came back to the table and there was only a half chance waiting - Selby having been very lucky with his escape - which he missed.

Selby eventually won this frame and the whole psychology of the match swung in his favour, with Williams not quite the same again.

The Welshman still had chances to win, missing a green off its spot in the 18th frame after fluking a snooker from out of a snooker on the last red. It may have been a bad contact on the green, but by now it looked as if Williams was simply fated not to win.

In the decider, snookered while trailing 32-0, he took a wild swipe at the cue ball, a sign of his frustration and that even the most ‘laidback’ of characters feel pressure and disappointment.

He didn’t even let Selby finish his winning break, but snooker is a game that takes a heavy mental toll.

So a tough old match and ultimately a great victory for Selby, who once again went right to the brink.

It is only his second ranking title but everyone knows how good he is. It was surely inevitable that he would win another eventually.

As for Williams, the three close defeats are strange. This is a twice world champion and someone who once edged Stephen Hendry on a re-spotted black in a decider in the Masters.

His temperament is usually strong but snooker is an unforgiving sort of game, a curious mix of high skill and luck, where the unexpected can play its part in affecting a player’s thinking.

And it is this, particularly over a longer match where there is time for shifts in the psychological balance of power, that makes it such a fascinating, and often infuriating, sport to play and watch.

THE FINAL: WILLIAMS V SELBY

2011-09-11T06:28:00.002+01:00

Well the engraver can at least start work early on the trophy after Mark Selby and Mark Williams made it through to the Shanghai Masters final yesterday.

Selby blitzed a badly below par Mark King 6-0 but Williams was forced to fight through a lengthy encounter with Neil Robertson 6-5.

This finished at gone midnight. After his press conference and factoring in the travelling time back to the hotel Williams would not have got to bed much before 2am, and of course there’s no guarantee what time he would have got to sleep ahead of a long and difficult final.

So Selby is certainly more refreshed for today’s best of 19 frames final but he is also under a little pressure, having won only one of his previous five ranking tournament finals.

And of course he lost 9-7 to Williams in last season’s German Masters final, a real tough battle in Berlin.

The added spice for today’s match is that these two players are duking it out to be world no.1, although for each the title will be far more important.

Williams was in the season’s first ranking final but lost 9-8 in the Australian Open to Stuart Bingham from 8-5 up.

Selby has been ultra consistent these past couple of years but the test of greatness in any sport comes down to what you have won.

He certainly has the talent to win a great deal but so far has just one ranking title to his name.

It seems likely to be a close final pitting Williams, perhaps the most laidback of all of snooker’s top guns, against Selby, a true professional who visibly works hard for every point.

A clash of styles, then, and hopefully a compelling finish to the week, although the table was a clear cause for concern in last night’s semi-final. Let’s hope it doesn’t wreck the showpiece finale.

ON YOUR MARKS (AND NEIL)

2011-09-10T06:35:00.000+01:00

Mark King hasn’t appeared in a ranking tournament semi-final since the 2006 Grand Prix but his dogged, determined style has paid dividends at the Shanghai Masters this week.

He kept his head yesterday while Anthony Hamilton lost his, clashing with a TV cameramen as King beat him 5-2.

It’s seven years since King reached his second ranking event final at the 2004 Irish Masters, which was seven years after his first at the 1997 Welsh Open.

He has beaten his opponent today, Mark Selby, at the 2008 World Championship and in last season’s Masters.

Selby will start favourite but like all the players this week has been affected by the sticky conditions that has made fluency difficult.

Nevertheless, his recovery from 4-2 down to Shaun Murphy yesterday was a trademark demonstration of his poise under pressure, growing stronger as the pressure came on and finishing off with a century.

Neil Robertson looked really up for his match with John Higgins and the Australian impressed with his general attitude and performance.

Higgins was loose, though, and his safety game wasn’t as strong as normal. China, for whatever reason, just doesn’t seem to inspire him.

Mark Williams has coasted through for the loss of only one frame but is yet to be put under any real pressure.

Robertson will do that for sure, but Williams has plenty left in the tank.

ANTHONY ON THE MARK

2011-09-09T06:02:00.002+01:00

If Pottingham actually existed, they would be hanging out the bunting after their Sheriff, Anthony Hamilton, shot down Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Shanghai Masters yesterday.

And he played some terrific snooker to do so, an impressive win not least because he had only previously beaten O’Sullivan once in their nine previous meetings.

Anthony’s a good bloke. Dry and laconic, he doesn’t hesitate to hold forth on his own shortcomings.

I remember sitting in Shanghai listening to him admitting he’d ‘bottled it’ in losing 9-8 from 8-5 up to Mark Williams in the 2002 China Open final. He made it clear it was his fault: not the table, bad luck, an injury, a spectator or anything other than his own tightening up as the winning line approached.

Hamilton has always enjoyed playing snooker, even if there are aspects of the circuit he doesn’t like.

“I’m constantly thinking about life after I drop off the tour,” he told Snooker Scene earlier this year. “I’m worried about it but I’ve no idea what I would do.”

Victories like his yesterday will help stave off any such relegation for a while and are a reminder why he puts in all that effort. He is one of the best players never to win a ranking title. That may change this weekend but there are some real big hitters left in the draw.

The last two world champions – John Higgins and Neil Robertson – play each other while Mark Selby faces comeback king Shaun Murphy, who followed his victory from 4-1 down to Dominic Dale with one from 4-2 down to Mark Allen, aided by a 143 total clearance.

Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens, who contested the world final 11 years ago, will clash cues again for a semi-final place.

Conditions in Shanghai haven’t been the best but this is most likely down to atmospherics, and there’s nothing that can be done about that.

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS GOULD

2011-09-08T06:07:00.000+01:00

There was an extraordinary finish to Martin Gould’s comeback victory against Ding Junhui yesterday that served to underline the dramatically unpredictable nature of snooker.

Gould was snookered on the blue in the eighth frame but, coming off the side cushion, knocked it in and got a full ball contact on the black, which left him on the pink.

However, in doing so he pushed the black to the side cushion and was left with a really tough pot using the rest for victory.

And typically for Gould, he didn’t shrink from taking it on. There was nothing lucky about this winning pot. It was superb and capped an unexpected recovery after he had struggled so badly in trailing 3-0.

The packed house at the Grand Stage weren’t exactly delighted to see Ding go out but had witnessed the sort of theatre that has kept so many snooker fans coming back for more over the years.

Gould will now play Matthew Stevens for a quarter-final place after the Welshman beat Stephen Lee 5-2.

There was a time where Stephen Hendry playing on table three would have been regarded as sacrilege, but this is 2011 and the seven times world champion is struggling.

His 5-1 defeat to Robert Milkins effectively relegates him from the top 16 after 23 years.

Hendry doesn’t want any sympathy. He admitted that his game is nowhere at the moment and that he’ll have to qualify for the UK Championship.

(On a point of pedantry, he has had to qualify for various events overseas since joining the top 16 in 1988 because the elite group weren’t always seeded through to the venues.)

This will be tough for Hendry to take but maybe with the pressure of not trying to hold on to a top 16 place lifted he will find some form. Or maybe not. I don’t think the qualifying environment will provide him with much inspiration.

Anthony Hamilton has beaten Ronnie O’Sullivan only once in their nine previous meetings. He made three centuries against Stephen Maguire but he will have to beat O’Sullivan on a TV table in front of a partisan crowd, no easy task for the Sheriff of the well known mythical land of Pottingham.

One of the best matches of the day is likely to be John Higgins v Stuart Bingham. Higgins was efficient enough in dispatching Mark Davis but his concentration seemed to go walkabout midway through the match.

Bingham was superb in beating Judd Trump 5-1, making two centuries as he continues to ride the crest of a wave of confidence that has come his way since landing the Australian Open crown two months ago.

Neil Robertson, who beat Liang Wenbo, has never been past the last 16 of a ranking event in China, a strange anomaly he will be hoping to change when he tackles Michael Holt, who put away Graeme Dott in an encouraging result yesterday.

TRUMP'S TV BLACKOUT

2011-09-07T05:36:00.000+01:00

Let’s get the first complaint of the day out of the way good and early: it is wrong that Judd Trump’s match against Stuart Bingham hasn’t been given a TV table.

World Snooker have been handed a gift in the shape of Trump: an exciting young player who plays an attractive game but, crucially, someone who is also a winner.

That’s why he features on posters and advertising literature. But none of that is any use if he isn’t seen as widely as possible.

The governing body comes up with all manner of expensive marketing wheezes to promote the sport but there are much better ways of spreading the word...and many of them are free.

And Bingham won the last ranking title, so a case could be made for this being the tie of the round.

The reasons for the snub are two-fold. First, the hugely popular wildcard round took an entire day out of the schedule. Also, and needlessly, the top half of the draw was played yesterday and the bottom half today.

There’s no need for this. The best matches should be chosen for TV. One of the main functions of televised sport is to provide entertainment. That’s why it’s televised.

John Higgins, as world champion, and Mark Williams, as world no.1, have earned the right to play on TV, as has crowd pleaser Ronnie O’Sullivan and the two Chinese stars Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo. I’d put Trump in that list too. He’s a massive attraction in China after winning in Beijing and his Crucible exploits.

More thought needs to go into formats and schedules. Mind you, this is the tournament that four years ago put Higgins v Mark Selby – a rematch of that year’s world final – on an outside table.

And relax...

O’Sullivan certainly entertained yesterday but his victory over James Wattana was little more than an exhibition as the Thai struggled badly.

There was no sign of how O’Sullivan would respond if put under pressure, but he looks in good shape both on and off the table.

Selby’s match against Nigel Bond tested the patience of even hard core snooker fans. Selby scrapped through, although to be fair to the players they seemed to have a large amount of kicks, thunderous ones at that. This could be down to humidity and therefore little can be done about it.

Usually you only have to play better than the other guy to win. Shaun Murphy yesterday played worse than Dominic Dale for most of their match but still won.

This is a credit to Murphy’s attitude. He didn’t bang his cue or smack the table or generally allow frustration to overwhelm him.

He just stuck in there as Dale began to fade and it’s one of those matches players who win titles often scramble through before improving.

So to today...Higgins faces Mark Davis, who is now a top 16 player after 20 years on the tour (although he needs to stay there until the end of the month to be seeded through to tournaments).

Higgins won the first ranking event played in Shanghai 12 years ago but does not have a great record in China, although I’d still expect him to come through.

Mark Williams, who got stuck in a lift for 45 minutes on Sunday, will hopefully make it to the table in time to play Andrew Higginson.

I trust Ding Junhui and Martin Gould will produce some entertainment in the second session in what is likely to be an open match, in which Ding can expect plenty of chances.

Another interesting match features Neil Robertson against Liang Wenbo. Robertson has never done much in China while Liang is enigmatically difficult to predict. He was runner-up two years ago but has since struggled badly.

Oh, and there’s Trump v Bingham as well.