WHERE NOW FOR THE CLASS OF '92?

Twenty years ago in the summer of 1992 as the eyes of the sporting world were about to turn to the Barcelona Olympics, three teenagers were ensconced at the Norbreck Castle Hotel on Blackpool seafront embarking on careers in professional snooker.

There was Ronnie O’Sullivan, of whom much had already been written. A snooker prodigy backed to the hilt by his father, he had cut a swathe through the junior ranks.

There was John Higgins, a quieter Scot, who began playing because his father took him and his brothers into a snooker club one day to give them something to do.

And there was Mark Williams, a left-hander, the son of a coalminer from the snooker hotbed of Wales.

In the two decades that have followed they have won 66 ranking titles between them, including ten world titles. They have each been world no.1. They have each tasted glory and they have each had their low moments.

They are three bona fide legends of the game: the best three players of the current century and still all ranked in the top 16.

But now they are in their late 30s, what lies in store for this formidable triumvirate?

Before I consider that, a dip back into the archives...

The first qualifier back in 1992 was for the UK Championship. They were each successful in their opening matches, played in the Norbreck's grand ballroom.

Higgins beat Ray van der Nouwlan 5-0. Williams defeated Jason Greaves 5-2. O’Sullivan received a walkover and then beat Jason Scott 5-3.

If you don’t know these names, don’t worry. The game had gone open to anyone with the money to enter the year before. There were around 700 professionals but the vast majority fell by the wayside.

O’Sullivan and Williams both qualified for the final stages, successfully negotiating nine rounds to do so.

Williams recovered from 8-3 down to 8-8 with Stephen Hendry but lost the decider. O’Sullivan beat Alain Robidoux but lost 9-8 to Cliff Wilson to be denied a place on television.

The world didn’t have to wait long. O’Sullivan was the first of this holy snooker trinity to make his mark. Just a year later he won the UK title the week before he turned 18.

But problems were already beginning to bubble up, all stemming from his father’s imprisonment for murder. Cut adrift in the world and suddenly in the public eye, O’Sullivan struggled to cope.

Higgins had a far more stable home life and, dedicated and possessing a good snooker brain, won his first ranking title in his third season at the Grand Prix. He swiftly became the first teenager to win three ranking titles. Steve Davis commended him for playing the game “the right way.”

It was Higgins who beat his two contemporaries to the world title in 1998. It looked like he might dominate in the manner of Davis and Hendry but a mixture of factors stopped this: though determined, Higgins was not quite of this mindset. He became a father and enjoyed family life. Plus, there was O’Sullivan and Williams to contend with.

Williams’s first ranking title came in 1996. From the back end of 1998 to 2003 he enjoyed a terrific run which encompassed all the game’s major titles. He became in 2002/03 the only player other than Davis and Hendry to win the ‘big three’ trophies – UK, Masters and world, in the same season.

Since this early flourishing there have been titles and scandals, bust-ups and comedowns, moments of brilliance and times of despair. They have each ridden the snooker rollercoaster and experienced the full range of emotions it has to offer.

Here in 2012, there is a new era. It would have been perfect for all three as teenagers and they would have made hay. But how much longer will they continue at the top level?

In O’Sullivan’s case, it’s hard to say, purely because he currently isn’t playing at all.

He is the reigning world champion but has opted out because he finds the players’ contract ‘too onerous.’

O’Sullivan’s camp tells me Ronnie sees this as a point of principle. He does not want extra money to play in tournaments but believes his worth to the sport means he is deserving of money for promotional activities. Every player’s contract stipulates they must do these activities if asked, but the point is O’Sullivan will be asked more than any other player, because he is the biggest name in the sport.

When will he return? There’s no guarantee he will. World Snooker is not budging an inch and neither is he. The big day is approaching, on August 6. This is the closing date for entries for the UK Championship. If O’Sullivan is willing to miss this tournament then there’s no reason to believe he will play at the Masters or even the World Championship.

Higgins, it should also be noted, hasn’t played yet this season. He is in a position to pick and choose more than players lower down the rankings but this is a big season for him.

Last season, he was poor. He told me at the World Championship launch that he hadn’t practised properly and that he was having a table installed at his house to try and remedy this.

But is the hunger still there? I don’t mean to win trophies – that will never go away – but to practice and practice to maintain his place in the elite at an age when players are supposed to decline.

Williams is always talking himself down. In many ways, Mark has never changed. He’s always been a bit cheeky and a fan of winding people up but, underneath it all, is thoroughly decent.

The way he responded to dropping out of the top 16 showed how good he can be when he’s fully determined. He got back to no.1 and is still third at the time of writing.

The bottom line, though, for these three men – all fathers – is that they don’t want to be playing snooker every week, not at this stage of their careers.

I’d fancy any of them to come good in a major tournament but the events which take place a little below the radar understandably don’t get the juices flowing in the same way, and it is because of this that they may slip down the rankings.

And it will happen eventually because it happens to every player. The question is how long it will take.

O’Sullivan, Higgins and Williams were products of the 1980s snooker boom on British television. They were inspired by the heroes of this golden age.

The boom ended and fewer young players have come through the ranks. Those who have are yet to emulate the achievements of these three remarkable players.

Personally, I hope they all continue at the top level. Between them they have been responsible for some of the most memorable moments of snooker's recent history.

They are three very different men in terms of personality but they are united by their status in the sport.

20 years ago they displayed great promise. They have each delivered in ways which will never be forgotten.

MAGUIRE'S PTC TRIUMPH

With his unshaven appearance and iron determination, Stephen Maguire looked mean and moody for the final of UK PTC1 in Gloucester last night.

He was not, in fact, magnificent as well throughout the whole match, which grew increasingly edgy as it progressed, but he held his nerve to beat Jack Lisowski 4-3 on the final black to win the title.

Lisowski, who hung on with two good clearances along the way, was set to win but, needing green and brown in addition, missed the yellow from its spot.

This was pressure. He was within touching distance of his first professional title. Nerves overcame him.

He is in good company. He isn’t the first to have done this and he certainly won’t be the last.

Ronnie O’Sullivan said recently: “The only players I played who never choked were Stephen Hendry and John Higgins.”

In fact, even they, at times, missed pressure balls. Higgins did so against Mark Williams in the 2000 World Championship semi-finals. Hendry lost 9-8 from 8-4 up to Williams in the 2001 UK Championship semi-finals.

Lisowski will have been gutted last night and most probably gutted this morning. Hopefully in a couple of days he will be able to take the positives.

After all, he beat Judd Trump and Williams – ranked second and third in the world – in successive matches.

He displayed great guts, a positive attitude and self belief right up until that last scoring visit in which he missed the yellow against Maguire.

Lisowski is a fine prospect and exactly the sort of player snooker needs: attacking, exciting and articulate.

He enjoyed a good debut season in 2010/11, which culminated in him being named Rookie of the Year at the World Snooker awards.

Last season was not so good. He found himself becoming too caught up in his ranking position.

I’m told he also pegged his practice routine too much to that of Trump. This is understandable but the two players are at different stages of their careers and need different things. Trump is already a top player; Lisowski is still playing qualifiers.

This season he is doing things differently. He is already seeing the benefits. He is only 21 and there is plenty of time for him to recover.

As for Maguire, it was at Gloucester last year where I interviewed him about the PTCs.

He wasn’t a fan, saying: “I feel like a bit of a prostitute, turning up for these events because I have to.”

Last night, his quotes were less negative: “I think everyone has realised now that the ranking points from the PTC events are important. Plus £10,000 is a lot of money to be won in a weekend. It’s easy to be up for it on the final day.”

The point is, whatever job you do you will find aspects of it that you don’t enjoy. You have a choice to either complain about it or look for the positives.

Maguire has done that. He has now qualified for the Grand Finals, which could have a top prize as high as £100,000.

He hasn’t won a full ranking event since the 2008 China Open. He came very close last year, losing tight finals to O’Sullivan at the German Masters and Peter Ebdon at the China Open.

Law of averages suggests Maguire will land a big title soon. He’s playing well enough, but the problem is that so are plenty of others.

The circuit moves on this week to Sheffield at the Shanghai Masters qualifiers, which start tomorrow.

GLOUCESTER CALLS

The Players Tour Championship was part of Barry Hearn’s plan to get the players back doing what they said they wanted to do: play.

Now in its third year, the first UK PTC begins today with the amateur rounds before the professionals enter on Friday.

The British PTCs were not a laugh-a-minute affair for players hanging around waiting for spare tables in Sheffield until past the midnight hour but they will surely go down better at the South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester.

There are more tables at the SWSA than in Sheffield and also room for spectators, which should guarantee a better atmosphere, particularly in the main arena.

If I were a youngster mad keen on snooker I would want to go along and watch. What a great chance to see big names in action as well as rising stars.

Liveworldsnooker.tv and affiliated betting websites offer coverage, with commentary on the final day.

European PTCs, which are televised, tend to be won by regular tournament winners. The UK ones have been won by players a little further down the rankings.

It’s a chance for someone to win £10,000, plus ranking points and a huge boost of confidence.

Meanwhile, Hearn’s Matchroom organisation is this week celebrating its 30^th birthday. I trust Barry hasn’t got sentimental and given anyone the day off.

It was a stroke of luck that one day a young ginger-haired introvert called Steve Davis walked into one of Hearn’s snooker clubs, but he would have been successful in some sphere or other in any case.

Hearn is a shrewd businessman with his finger on the pulse of what the general public wants, largely because he has never lost the common touch.

But his main asset is his charisma. When he walks into a room he owns it. He has built a remarkable sporting empire, finding niches and spotting openings long before anyone else.

Poker, pool, fishing, ten pin bowling...all have made him money. His stewardship of the PDC has seen darts reach new heights and, now in his 60s, he has come back to snooker in a big way, throwing his energies into revitalising the circuit.

He has attracted criticism from some. Not everyone likes the way he talks but Hearn has talked the talk and also walked the walk. Most of his critics have not.

Hearn has done it with the loyal support of his staff, hard workers but always courteous and good fun.

He and Davis made each other rich. There was one major hiccup when Stormseal, who Hearn brought in to sponsor the UK Championship when he promoted it, went bust and he had to cover the prize fund himself.

But since then Matchroom has gone from strength to strength and Hearn doesn’t seem to have lost any of his enthusiasm or his capacity for hard work.

He is an ideas man. They don’t all work but it’s better than having no ideas at all.

Snooker once distrusted Hearn and feared he was getting too big for his boots. He became disillusioned and went off to boxing and other sporting realms.

How times change. The game badly needed his return to give it a kick-start. He has done that but the job isn’t complete.

He said he had a five-year plan. We are starting year three. It’s amazing how many people can’t grasp this and want everything to be perfect immediately.

The UK PTCs have been scaled back, sensibly, and funds put into other events.

The circuit is busier than it has ever been. That in itself is a fact worth celebrating.

Eventually, I suspect the UK PTCs will be reduced further and probably scrapped altogether if there are enough bigger tournaments to fill the gaps.

In the meantime, good luck to everyone at the PTC this week.

50 UP

By capturing the Australian Goldfields Open yesterday, Barry Hawkins became the 50^th player to win a full ranking event.

Here is the list of 50 winners by number of titles:

36

Stephen Hendry

28

Steve Davis

24

John Higgins

Ronnie O’Sullivan

18

Mark Williams

10

Jimmy White

9

John Parrott

Peter Ebdon

6

Ken Doherty

Neil Robertson

5

Ray Reardon

Ding Junhui

Stephen Lee

4

Stephen Maguire

Shaun Murphy

3

James Wattana

Paul Hunter

2

Cliff Thorburn

Dennis Taylor

Tony Knowles

Doug Mountjoy

Alan McManus

Graeme Dott

Dominic Dale

Ali Carter

Mark Selby

Judd Trump

Ricky Walden

1

John Spencer

Terry Griffiths

Alex Higgins

Willie Thorne

Silvino Francisco

Joe Johnson

Neal Foulds

Tony Meo

Mike Hallett

Steve James

Bob Chaperon

Tony Jones

Dave Harold

Nigel Bond

Fergal O’Brien

Chris Small

David Gray

Matthew Stevens

Marco Fu

Stuart Bingham

Mark Allen

Barry Hawkins

Some great names here and a few surprise winners too. It should also be pointed out that the UK Championship did not become a full ranking event until 1984, which thus diminishes the tallies of players such as Davis, Griffiths, (Alex) Higgins and Mountjoy.

Indeed, it wasn’t until 1982 that any event other than the World Championship counted towards the world rankings, well past the prime of Reardon and Spencer.

The youngest winner remains O’Sullivan, who won the 1993 UK Championship the week before he turned 18.

The oldest was Reardon, who was 50 when he won the 1982 Professional Players Tournament.

Hendry has of course retired and thus cannot improve on his 36 titles and Davis has not won a ranking event since 1995. O’Sullivan is not playing at the moment so (John) Higgins is best placed to encroach on Hendry’s position at the top of the list, but still needs to win 13 more ranking titles to overtake him. At the age of 37, this seems unlikely.

BARRY POTTER'S MOMENT OF MAGIC

You won’t hear a bad word said about Barry Hawkins and his humility in the moments which followed his victory in the Australian Goldfields Open today was a genuine delight to witness.

The enormity of what he had achieved only seemed to register with Barry as he was being interviewed in the arena. Mention of his wife, Tara, and young son, Harrison, threatened to bring forth a flood of tears but he just about held it together.

Like last year’s nice-guy winner in Bendigo, Stuart Bingham, Hawkins has more than put the years in. He was one of those players everyone knew was good enough to win a big title but this was no guarantee he would actually do it.

In fact, he played superbly in the final. He was positive, went for his shots, took the game to Peter Ebdon and refused to let him dominate.

He outplayed him in every department. Right to the end he tried to win rather than closing the shop, worried he would lose.

As a teenager, Barry was an office junior. His life could have been very different: perhaps more stable but also a lot more boring.

Because though sport is unpredictable, precarious and often gut-wrenchingly disappointing, it can also throw up days like this, the memories of which will last a lifetime.

It’s been a long trip for Hawkins and the other snooker foot soldiers who have supported the three events played in China, Thailand and Australia.

He heads home today with his first world ranking title and the confidence to push on this season and get himself back in the top 16.

Barry isn’t one for tweeting or controversy or complaining. What he does is plays snooker, and today he played the match of his career.

Well done to him.

HAWK SWOOPS INTO FINAL

A squawking crow could be heard somewhere in the Bendigo arena yesterday and tomorrow’s final will feature the Hawk.

At his fifth time of asking in a ranking event semi-final, Barry Hawkins today reached his first final with a high quality 6-4 victory over Mark Davis.

Hawkins is nicely settled in his private life having just got married and, judging by his suntan, the honeymoon was not spent in his native Kent.

This personal contentment may well have taken some of the pressure off the world of professional snooker. Also, Hawkins landed £32,000 last season for winning the Shootout, a televised event played against the clock.

Regardless of the nature of this tournament, it must have given him a boost of confidence, not to say bank balance.

The clock will tick away to its heart’s content when Peter Ebdon gets stuck in as he attempts to win a tenth ranking title, which would take him level on the all time list with Jimmy White in joint sixth place.

But Ebdon’s sedate pace of play isn’t why he’s in the final. You can play as slow as you like but you still have to pot the balls that matter.

He’s there because he isn’t missing much. He seems to have played better as the week has gone on.

Ebdon has only beaten Hawkins once in six ranking event meetings. But few players have greater self belief or deeper reserves of mental energy.

All that organic carrot juice seems to have made him even tougher, as if that were possible.

If Hawkins wins then it will be similar to last year when Stuart Bingham triumphed: a first time win for a popular player who has more than put the years in.

The crowd for the last couple of days has been excellent. The Australian snooker community get one chance a year to see the sport close-up and have embraced it.

Why? Because they are fans of the game, not cheerleaders for particular players. Neil Robertson’s exit, though disappointing, made no difference.

Let’s hope they get a final as absorbing as last year’s.

THE FU ENIGMA

Marco Fu is through to the semi-finals of the Australian Goldfields Open.

There are few leading players harder to predict. Fu is world class at his best but there are also times where he fails to turn up, in a snooker sense.

Snooker, albeit the players’ livelihoods, is a game. Its various successes and failures are very public.

Life, on the other hand, happens largely away from the prying eyes of the media and fans.

You can look at a list of results and wonder how player X could possibly have lost to player Z but this does not factor in any personal issues which may have affected performance.

Fu was one of a number of players who were managed by 110sport, which fell apart last year.

The financial worries this must have caused certainly will not have helped any of the players involved.

More happily, Marco has got married to his girlfriend, Shirley. I remember when she came to the Championship League in the depths of the British winter. She’d never seen snow before and while we were sat around indoors whining about the weather, she was outside taking photos.

Marco has long been one of snooker’s good guys. You won’t hear him having a go at people in private, never mind in public.

His problem, all through his career, has been consistency. At his best he can beat anyone. At his worst he can look average. There is often little middle ground in his performances.

When he first broke through he quickly replaced James Wattana as the leading Asian player but has since been usurped by Ding Junhui.

He has had a lot of coaching in his time and this may have knocked his natural rhythm, but at his best he is a very heavy scorer.

At the World Championship last season he was poor, well below his best. But his record against the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins proves how good he can be.

Humble in victory or defeat, Fu will take either on the chin whatever happens this weekend.

If he does win the trophy it will hopefully be a springboard for a productive season to come.

THE LAST EIGHT

It’s fair to say things didn’t go as hoped for tournament organisers in Bendigo who were holding out for a Neil Robertson v Ding Junhui final in the Australian Goldfields Open.

Ding lost a 5-4 marathon to Peter Ebdon while Robertson, the home favourite, lost 5-1 to Mark Davis.

Robertson came out flying, making an 88 break in the opening frame. He was nicely in on 39 in the second when he suffered a violent kick on the black.

From there, the match turned. Davis grew in confidence and uncertainty bedevilled Robertson.

Full credit must go to Davis, who is now playing the best snooker of his career at the age of 39, when most players are in decline.

He now plays Martin Gould, appearing in his first ranking event quarter-final since the 2011 PTC Grand Finals.

Gould does not seem to have adjusted well to life in the elite top 16, perhaps now looking over his shoulder rather than straight ahead.

But a tense win over Cao Yupeng in the decider has given him every chance of progressing from the top half of the draw.

The other quarter-final in this half pits Barry Hawkins against Matt Selt.

It was in Bendigo where Selt reached his first ranking tournament quarter-final 12 months ago. He has now reached his second. His own brutally honest assessment is that he hasn’t played well yet, but he will have played better and lost so he should just take it.

The newly married Hawkins is one of those players long capable of winning a major tournament without ever quite having done so. He did win the Shootout last season, which was high profile but does not carry the prestige of a ranking title.

All four players in the top half must surely be fancying their chances. Davis is probably favourite on current form but it remains wide open.

In the other half, Shaun Murphy is the next to experience the ‘Force’ that is the redoubtable Ebdon.

Murphy is a patient sort. Even if things get dragged out, he is capable of scoring heavily and even Ebdon can’t slow him down from his chair.

Stephen Lee faces Marco Fu, wildly inconsistent but, it would seem, playing well this week.

These two played in the final of the 1998 Grand Prix at Preston. Lee’s performance that day was sensational. He made two centuries and eight half centuries to win 9-2.

Here we are 14 years later and he will start favourite again, although Fu is a player who you feel is never far away from delivering a really high quality performance.

SLOW NEWS DAY

Judd Trump is an unlikely person to be at the centre of a Twitter storm.

A polite young man, he is not one for courting controversy.

He didn’t enter the Australian Goldfields Open but must have been watching on Eurosport earlier today when Peter Ebdon took nearly five hours to beat Ding Junhui 5-4.

“How Peter Ebdon is allowed to play that slow is a joke,” was Judd’s observation on Twitter.

Within seconds he was being roundly insulted for stating his opinion.

It seems odd that members of the public can spend all day, every day on Twitter or internet forums criticising and commenting on every aspect of a player – their playing style, their appearance, even their personal lives – but when a player himself ventures an opinion he is treated to vitriol.

Trump remained silent when other players used Twitter to openly state he was lucky and therefore not as good as people have said.

Last time I looked he was second in the world rankings and UK champion. Not bad for a 22 year-old.

It’s natural he will attract jealousy: he’s young, talented and popular. Not everyone likes the ‘playboy’ image he has cultivated but this is mainly ironic.

And, anyway, he can live his life however he chooses.

Of course, even moderately paced potters will seem slow to Trump because he plays the game so quickly.

Ebdon is archly methodical. His average shot time today was 38 seconds, compared with Ding’s 26.

There is no slow play rule in snooker. There is a rule which covers time wasting, in the discretion of the referee who can warn a player to hurry up.

I can understand how a player such as Trump would be frustrated watching a much slower player but I also feel Ebdon deserves immense credit for the effort he makes.

It’s not always pretty but his record speaks for itself: world and UK champion, nine ranking titles, more than 300 century breaks.

If everyone played the game the way he did then snooker would not be the commercial prospect it is but there is surely room for different playing styles, different approaches and, yes, different speeds.

There should also be room for different opinions, and Judd Trump is as entitled to his as anybody. As a player, he has an insight worth listening to.

As long as opinions are expressed without undue personal malice or in a defamatory way then players have as much right as anyone else to tell us what they think.

TAKING CARE

“We’re not machines and I think people forget that sometimes. We’re humans and we all suffer from nerves and a bit of trepidation and a bit of worry.”

So said Shaun Murphy after struggling to get over the winning line in the first round in Bendigo against Marcus Campbell.

He’s absolutely right, of course. Players are not robots, though some have played so well for such sustained spells at times that they have appeared to be remote controlled.

It’s also true to say that when commentators point out the human frailties of players, said players often don’t like it.

‘Careless’ is a word that has, unlikely as it seems, taken on cult status on Twitter due to its gross overuse in commentary.

However, careless is an apposite word to describe a failed pot missed not because of pressure but through lack of concentration: insufficient care taken leading to a mishap.

This type of missed pot typically follows two or three really good ones where the player has to concentrate. Perhaps subconsciously they feel they have done the hard work and inwardly relax. Blacks off spots with the cue ball ideally placed are unmissable for top players and thus often missed because they have let up on concentration.

Put simply: because the player cannot envisage missing, he takes it for granted. By taking it for granted and not giving 100% to the shot, he misses.

Other pots are missed because they are difficult, because of a kick or miscue or because there is an edge of pressure on them: frame ball, or when a player is attempting to make a clearance.

These are the kind of situations where the natural human emotions of which Murphy speaks come into play. It is only the superhuman who repel them with great regularity, and these are the players who win multiple major titles.

Many players are remembered for the balls they missed: Willie Thorne’s blue when 13-8 up to Steve Davis in the 1985 UK final; Davis’s overcut black at the end of the 1985 world final; Ken Doherty’s final black on 140 in the 2000 Masters final etc.

None of these were ‘careless.’ They were all missed under pressure.

Davis said that when he came to the table to attempt his black his arms felt like they belonged to someone else.

It is the sudden conscious thought that the shot is important and the dread consequences of it going wrong that forces a player to play it not naturally but by thinking exactly what they are doing.

Jimmy White snatched at a black when well placed to win the deciding frame of the 1994 world final against Stephen Hendry because the significance of the moment had dawned on him.

Murphy himself has been doing some commentary for Australian TV. I haven’t heard him but suspect he’s a natural. He has a good vocabulary and is obviously a top player with first hand knowledge of how modern snooker is played.

I don’t know if he has yet used the word ‘careless’ but, if he has, he will not necessarily have been wrong.


The problem is not the word itself but its repetitious use. It is worth remembering that there are a number of other words which mean the same thing.

CAO MAIN MAN

Perhaps the most unfortunate aspect of Mark Allen’s comments about the Chinese at the Crucible was that it overshadowed a significant breakthrough appearance by Cao Yupeng.

He had played superbly to reach the final stages, pulling off victories over Kurt Maflin, Dave Harold, Nigel Bond and Tom Ford.

Several Chinese players are auditioning for the role of understudy to Ding Junhui. Liang Wenbo seemed to have got the part – indeed almost overtook Ding in the rankings – but has fallen back again.

There are various contenders: Xiao Guodong, Li Yan, Tian Pengfei and Yu Delu among them.

But Cao has made good on his fine finish to last season by qualifying for the Australian Goldfields Open, where he plays Ali Carter today.

It’s one thing to get good results in the qualifiers, quite another to do so consistently at the main venues and another still to do so on TV. This is what separates a top 16 player from the rest.

So Cao’s progress will depend on how he fares in matches such as the one awaiting him today, against the world finalist.

Shaun Murphy, as a very young professional, was someone who always impressed me in the qualifiers but took a few years to break through at the venues.

When he did, of course, it was sensational and he’s looked comfortable in the limelight ever since.

Shaun plays Marcus Campbell today, a potential banana skin after Campbell’s first ever semi-final appearance at the Wuxi Classic.

I like Marcus because he looks like someone who’s spent plenty of time in a snooker club. I’m wary of PR initiatives based on selecting young, good looking players to ‘freshen up’ the appeal of the game (anyone remember the Hotshots? No, didn’t think so.)

No, give me Campbell and his old school manner, his green baize pallor any day. He’s a stubborn presence on the table and has the capacity to be a cult hero off it, already the ‘pride of Dumbarton', a boast not everybody can make.

The crowds weren’t great early on yesterday but the fare wasn’t either. It was much better for Neil Robertson’s win over Nigel Bond.

Tournament organisers of course want full houses but they are more interested in TV figures, and this event is going round the world.

Still, it was good to see Dave Jackson, a stalwart of the front row of the Crucible for more than two decades, sat with other devout members of Australia’s snooker community.

No cynicism or sniping from them, just a pure love of this great game.

THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ

There was heartbreak for local hero Neil Robertson in Bendigo last year when he lost 5-4 to Dominic Dale in the second round of the Australian Goldfields Open.

Worse still, he lost after Dale got the snooker he needed on the final pink.

Even worse still, Neil’s mother was in the audience and, afterwards, in floods of tears. Dominic, in his humane way, apologized to her but I’m not sure that made any difference. It was not a popular result.

Robertson is one of the main reasons this tournament is on at all. After he won the world title in 2010, negotiations began between Australian promoters and the new Barry Hearn regime.

The result was the first world ranking event staged in Australia.

In the build-up to the tournament, Robertson has once again been doing his best to spread the word in a part of the world where snooker is still finding its way.

Outdoor sports rule in Oz. Robertson’s boyhood pals were all out playing Aussie rules, rugby and cricket while he was indoors in his father’s snooker club in Melbourne.

His story is well known: turned pro at 16, spent a couple of years on the tour, fell off, won the world junior title, was given a wildcard and arrived in the UK with £500 in his pocket determined to give the game one more go.

His rise to the top is an inspirational story. Players who don’t like travelling should consider the sacrifices Robertson has made to achieve his dreams.

He is now nicely settled in Cambridge with his partner and their young son and is, of course, one of snooker’s very best.

Last season, he won the Masters. Like many I thought he could win a second world title but in the second session against Ronnie O’Sullivan he was a mere spectator.

Robertson isn’t easily intimidated but O’Sullivan did what so many have tried and failed to do: got him under pressure.

Hopes are high in Bendigo that he can go all the way this year. He starts out today against Nigel Bond, who he beat in the first round last season.

I think one of Neil’s great strengths is that he always accentuates the positives, always looks for the best in any situation, even defeat. His glass is neither half full, nor half empty: it’s full to the brim.

Combine this with sublime long potting, heavy scoring and an iron tactical game and you have quite a package.

The Australian snooker community is rightly already proud of him. There would be no more popular winner this week.

ALL GO FOR BENDIGO

The Australian Goldfields Open, which starts tomorrow, is the second world ranking event of the season.

It was won last year by Stuart Bingham, who recovered from 8-5 down to beat Mark Williams 9-8.

This was the greatest day of Bingham’s snooker career and a popular win for a player who has always supported the game by playing in tournaments big, small and long forgotten.

He’s back, of course, as defending champion but seven top 16 players have decided not to enter.

This is their right. Entry to tournaments has never been compulsory and if you feel you don’t need the points, or that it’s too far to travel, then you are free not to go.

But this doesn’t mean the tournament should not be on at all, despite what Mark Allen says.

There are many complaints about this and that behind the scenes. There always have been. Some are legitimate and others seem more spurious.

What annoys me, though, is that so many people think everything should be perfect immediately and forget why we are where we are.

When Barry Hearn took over in 2010, he did so because the game was going nowhere. It had stagnated.

He said he had a five-year plan to revive it. This is year three. The plan is still being rolled out.

New markets are being tried. Some will work, some will not, but it’s better than having hardly any events at all.

Of course everyone would want more prize money and for things to be ‘better’ full stop but tournaments have to be built up. Most events on the calendar now are being built up from scratch.

It is likely several of the European PTCs will grow into becoming fully fledged ranking tournaments, but these things take time.

I can understand players thinking mainly about the here and now because it is their livelihoods and a big tournament in three years time doesn’t pay the mortgage in 2012.

Sport as a career carries potential riches but also great uncertainty and anxiety, disappointment and frustration.

But is also about opportunity, and for one of the 32 players (plus two local wildcards) in Bendigo there is the chance to win a ranking title.

The most important player there as far as the organisers are concerned is there own Neil Robertson, closely followed by Ding Junhui.

There are a few what might be termed old sticks – Peter Ebdon, Ken Doherty, Alan McManus and Nigel Bond – and younger prospects such as Jack Lisowski, Xiao Guodong and Cao Yupeng.

There are also the dependables, players such as Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy, who play in everything.

In another week, in another part of the world, let’s hope they all put on a show which will best reflect the positives about the sport.

Coverage starts on Eurosport and liveworldsnooker.tv on Monday.

THE JOY OF SIX

Six reds snooker has kind of been forgotten in the maelstrom of the last couple of years.

It was once held up as being the innovation that would 'breathe life into snooker' but it never happened. What breathed life into snooker was having someone build up the circuit. There never was anything wrong with the traditional game.

However, six reds is popular in Thailand and in Bangkok this week a World Championship takes place featuring a number of big names.

Judd Trump is there, as is Mark Williams, Mark Selby (who won the title in 2010), Shaun Murphy, Stephen Maguire, Steve Davis, Jimmy White and both Ricky Walden and Stuart Bingham.

Mark Davis, who won a version of this title when it was played in Killarney in 2009, is also taking part.

For the uninitiated, six reds snooker is as it sounds: six reds rather than 15. In theory it is quicker - although a right old grind between two players who can't pot a ball will last an age no matter how many balls are on the table.

There are two important rule changes, firstly to the miss rule:

- There will be no more than five consecutive Foul and a Miss calls at any one time.

- After four consecutive Foul and a Miss calls, the referee will warn the offending player that should a Foul and a Miss be called again the following options are available to the non-striker:

(i) play himself from where the balls have come to rest;

(ii) ask his opponent to play from where the balls have to come to rest;

(iii) place the cue ball anywhere on the table, but this option cannot be taken if play has reached the “snookers required” stage.

And also a fundamental change when it comes to the old roll-up after a potting a red:

- A player cannot snooker behind a nominated colour at any time.

The top prize works out at around £40,000, plus it's on the way to Australia where the Goldfields Open takes place next week.

It's also on Eurosport all week, starting at 9am BST this morning.

HEY RICKY YOU'RE SO FINE

Stuart Bingham today made a maximum break and two other centuries and was beaten 10-4 in the final of the Wuxi Classic.

Snooker can be a strange game like that. An amateur in a club would, in theory, have a chance of beating a professional if the pro had an off day.

Yet nobody from a running club is going to beat Usain Bolt over 100 metres unless the great man pulls up with an injury.

In snooker, you can play brilliantly for spells but still lose. Bingham would surely swap his third career 147 for the title.

Walden's success is his second world ranking title, four years after his first. I suspect it won't be that long until his third.

He didn't make the big breaks that Bingham did but he was superior in broken play. A match is often remembered for high breaks but every frame counts.

Bingham has played a lot of snooker already this season. While that has got him bang in form, there could be a bit of fatigue setting in too, especially as he had four deciding frame finishes this week.

He now has another fortnight's snooker to come, first at the Six Reds World Championship in Bangkok and then in Bendigo where he defends his Australian Goldfields Open title.

Walden will be in them too. Full of confidence and £75,000 better off for the best possible start to the season.

BINGHAM V WALDEN

Stuart Bingham and Ricky Walden are hands down two of the nicest guys on the circuit.

They love their snooker. They love the cut and thrust of competition. They love being professionals.

They are also both winners already. Bingham landed the Australian Open title last season. It’s four years since Walden captured the Shanghai Masters.

Since then, Walden did not push on in the manner many, perhaps himself included, expected. He did get into the top 16 but dropped out again. Last season ended in a 10-2 defeat to Jamie Jones in the final qualifying round of the World Championship.

However, the rolling ranking system still saw him return to the top 16 and he has a chance now to well and truly bed himself in.

How different it could have been this week. In the last 16, he led Joe Perry 4-0 and 64-0 but missed frame and match ball. An hour or so later it was 4-4 on the black, which a relieved Walden potted for victory.

Against Marcus Campbell in the semi-finals Walden was ultra positive, going for his shots and refusing to be dragged into a tactical battle. This is surely the way he will approach the final.

Bingham is on a roll of course, having won the Pink Ribbon pro-am and APTC1 in the last few weeks. He has won four deciders to reach the final, making 134 in the last to see off Mark Davis, who rallied from 4-0 down to lead 5-4.

Bingham had in fact not been past a last 16 since winning the Aussie Open last year but, like Walden, has hit the ground running this season.

This could be a very entertaining final between two players who are evenly matched.

And, whatever happens, you know they are going to enjoy being centre stage.