Martin
Gould was the winner of the second UK Players Tour Championship title after
winning a dramatic final, 4-3 against Stephen Maguire, who won the first a few
weeks ago.
This
is Gould’s first title carrying ranking points and helps him to retain his top
16 seeding.
It
was the 2011 PTC series which was crucial in Gould joining the top 16 in the
first place. He reached the Grand Finals but, by the time he knew what was
happening, he’d lost 4-0 to Shaun Murphy.
Gould
worked hard and played well to join the top 16 but, once there, his form
collapsed.
He
perhaps struggled to make the mental adjustment. Having spent so long trying to
become a member of the elite, his mindset changed to being worried he would
drop out again.
Gould
is popular with snooker fans because he is down to earth. He is a fan of the
game and loves being part of the circuit.
His
deadpan demeanour is not reflected in his playing style. He has plenty of flair
and is a fiercely talented potter.
Last
season, he won Power Snooker, a breakthrough of sorts. It is unclear if he will
ever defend this title. Power Snooker organisers told anyone who would listen
that there would be a press launch for its new season in May. It is now August
and nothing has happened. Their official website isn’t encouraging.
But
Gould has now made a significant breakthrough in proper snooker, because
hopefully this win will give him that edge of confidence he was seeking and he
will start to believe that he deserves to belong in the top 16.
Gould
has been working with Steve Feeney of SightRight, a coaching method which has
paid dividends for several other players.
With
greater confidence on his own technique and a tournament win under his belt, it
seems likely he will return to his former role of dangerman.
In
the midst of Gould’s success it was announced yesterday that the SWSA in Gloucester will not
be hosting World Snooker events following the conclusion of PTC4 this season
after what appears to be quite a big fall-out. I will blog about this, but only
after finding out what actually lies behind it.
8 comments:
Shame that there won't be any ranking events at the SWSA after the end of this season. Really hope that Martin gets to keep the Power Snooker trophy forever :)
I love watching this bloke play. He's got close to landing one of these PTCs a couple of times so I'm glad he's finally managed it. I know he won the Power Snooker but I could never take it seriously. Power Shite must surely be gone now? No-one was taken in by the increasingly desperate attempts of the presenters last year that it was the "future of snooker". I know we had the option not to watch it, but I don't think it did the image of the game any favours; it reinforced every negative stereotype about snooker, we're better rid of it.
Surely any sighting issues that Gould has are related to the fact he looks over his glasses rather than through them.
I'm surprised the commentators never seem to pick up on this.
Dave,
Just on another matter, I live in Glasgow, play in the same snooker club as Stephen Maguire, Graeme Dott, John Higgins, Alan McManus, and Marcus Campbell. The place is packed out all the time, the game is popular here, and we have some stars.
Do you think it is an oversight that there has been no major tournaments here in Scotland since the World Open in September 2010 (and none for the forthcoming season other than a low-profile PTC)? Why is there not even a single date in the Premier League for Scotland?
Yes it's good to take the game to Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, etc - but UNDOUBTEDLY the game is more popular in Scotland than in any of those countries. I would say the same about Ireland. Wales has it's Welsh Open every year.
Why doesn't Barry Hearn, say, bring the UK Championship to Scotland, or at least rotate it about the UK? Unlike the Masters and WC, it is a tournament without a historic superb venue, and there would be no loss by bringing it north of the border or to Northern Ireland for a trip.
Cheers
Daniel
I notice that a satellite channel is launching a 24 hour James Bond Channel... if that means ITV4 won't be able to show A View to a Kill and Octopussy once a week will ITV4 bring power snooker back to fill the holes in the schedule?????
I went to watch Power Snooker in London, but only to watch Luca play Ronnie. Anyway, loads of meetings between those two in future hopefully.
Well done to Gould as well, hope this is the end of his dry patch. He showed in the Worlds and in the PTC Final that he's a fabulous potter.
They do! Incessantly!
Yes Daniel I would like to see another major tournament in Scotland
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