The WPBSA has today announced a new Pro Challenge Series of seven tournaments - open to anyone on the main tour - designed to give the players more playing opportunities.
This is good news. Players have justifiably complained that they are left twiddling their thumbs for long periods between tournaments.
If they don’t play in these new events then these complaints become less valid.
I would have preferred the new series to carry ranking status at a lower points tariff than the major events – as I suggested last January – because this would encourage participation from the better known players and thus increase their credibility and the publicity around them.
Now for the controversy: four of these tournaments are played under the standard rules. The other three are using only six reds.
I can’t help thinking it would be better to be one or the other: either the whole thing done properly or the whole thing done as ‘Super Sixes’ if this experiment really must be continued.
However, it was apparently players – Dave Harold and Michael Holt included – who helped come up with the format.
The bottom line is this: more tournaments is A Good Thing. OK, so they presumably won’t be televised but there is scope for internet streaming and anything that creates the impression there is something happening in the game should be applauded.
One of snooker’s problems is that it has ‘fallen under the radar’ of late because of the gaps between tournaments.
Those gaps are gradually being plugged: by the Championship League, the World Series and now this new Pro Challenge Series.
There is also reasonable money available - £5,000 for the winners of the 15 red tournaments and £3,000 for the winners of the 6 reds events.
If that doesn’t sound much to you then it’s more than you’d get for being in the club practising.
There isn’t sufficient money in snooker’s coffers at the moment to put on another three or four major ranking events.
But the new Pro Challenge Series at least means players will be able to do what they are supposed to do: play snooker.
PRO CHALLENGE SERIES DATES:
Pro Challenge 1
28-30 July
Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds
Pro Challenge 2 - Super Sixes
31 August - 1 September
Pontin’s, Prestatyn
Pro Challenge 3
9-11 November
Venue tbc
Pro Challenge 4
4-6 January
Venue tbc
Pro Challenge 5
16-18 February
Venue tbc
Pro Challenge 6 - Super Sixes
16-17 March
Venue tbc
Pro Challenge 7 - Super Sixes
8-9 April
Venue tbc
30.6.09
PODCAST#10...REVIEW OF THE SEASON
The latest Snooker Scene podcast is a review of the season.
This was recorded last month. You can listen to it here.
The next podcast will be Clive Everton answering your questions.
This was recorded last month. You can listen to it here.
The next podcast will be Clive Everton answering your questions.
29.6.09
MAGUIRE EYES THE FUTURE
Stephen Maguire has undergone laser surgery on his eyes.
The world no.2, who had been struggling with his eyesight, didn't fancy trying the glasses made famous by 1985 world champion Dennis Taylor.
Maguire said: “It is what everyone who has had the surgery says, but I really wish I had got my eyesight corrected earlier.
"I used to need glasses for driving and watching TV. Playing snooker I could never get used to the special glasses you needed to wear, so I got by without anything, which was not ideal.
“Last season I felt my eyes strain under the tournament lights. I was aware that my eyesight was not as clear as it could be and I had to concentrate harder to see the pockets.
"I visited Optical Express in Glasgow who recommended laser eye surgery and within two weeks, I had gone through the consultation and had my treatment done.
“It was such a simple process and I’m delighted with my results. I have already changed the lenses in my old glasses to make sunglasses as I have no need for driving glasses anymore.”
The first test for Maguire will be an exhibition event in Beijing on July 7, which includes Stephen Hendry, Mark Allen and Liang Wenbo.
The world no.2, who had been struggling with his eyesight, didn't fancy trying the glasses made famous by 1985 world champion Dennis Taylor.
Maguire said: “It is what everyone who has had the surgery says, but I really wish I had got my eyesight corrected earlier.
"I used to need glasses for driving and watching TV. Playing snooker I could never get used to the special glasses you needed to wear, so I got by without anything, which was not ideal.
“Last season I felt my eyes strain under the tournament lights. I was aware that my eyesight was not as clear as it could be and I had to concentrate harder to see the pockets.
"I visited Optical Express in Glasgow who recommended laser eye surgery and within two weeks, I had gone through the consultation and had my treatment done.
“It was such a simple process and I’m delighted with my results. I have already changed the lenses in my old glasses to make sunglasses as I have no need for driving glasses anymore.”
The first test for Maguire will be an exhibition event in Beijing on July 7, which includes Stephen Hendry, Mark Allen and Liang Wenbo.
QUOTE UNQUOTE
The first snooker player I ever interviewed was a teenage Paul Hunter.
He was very shy, which was fortunate, really, because so was I.
Interviews and press conferences with snooker players are varied experiences. They are often mundane. Sometimes they are emotional. Occasionally they can be explosive.
The usual drill is to have the winner of the match in, unless the loser is a big name, in which case they have to spend an unpleasant ten minutes fielding questions from the finest flowers of snooker journalism when they’d rather be kicking a cat somewhere.
Some take losing better than others. Stephen Hendry has a few times been rendered completely speechless. Some others resort to swearing or even stomp out.
I have sympathy for this in retrospect. At the time I’m more concerned with how I’m going to pad out 25 paragraphs of purple prose without a single quote.
It’s not always the players who are the problem. When Hendry won his seventh world title in 1999, the post match press conference began with one hack, who had availed himself well but not wisely of the free bar several times during the course of the day, asking him how he’d been feeling on Christmas Day.
Nobody knew why.
Then there’s always the guy from the local paper who wants to ask what the player thinks of the venue just as they are opening up about something interesting.
Most journalists are of course just looking for a story. I’ve always tried to be respectful, although I did once get into a semi-heated discussion with Quinten Hann about his penchant for smashing into the pack.
That’s about as Paxman-like as I get.
In truth, the relationship between players and media is a little cosy. Too cosy, some may argue.
It’s certainly true that, at times, off colour behaviour by players has not been reported.
This is why it was such an irony that one of the only press conferences to take place without a single British journalist present – Ronnie O’Sullivan in China last year – ended up being such a big story.
God bless the internet.
Still, cosy it may be but this is much better than having to jump through hoops just to get a few quotes off someone, as happens in a few other sports.
The players are generally a credit to the sport in terms of how they give their time up for interviews.
I’ve been to press conferences that have threatened to last longer than some matches.
One such featured O’Sullivan after he was knocked out of the 2004 Irish Masters. It was like Jackanory. He couldn’t stop himself. And we lapped it all up: strange and yet profound as it all was.
The funniest part came about 20 minutes in when a German journalist arrived, explained he hadn’t caught the first part of the press conference and asked Ronnie if he could repeat it all.
Thankfully Ronnie declined, otherwise we’d all still be there now.
(This press conference went on so long and was so bizarre that I left before the end, fearing I might have a nervous breakdown at the absurdity of it all).
O’Sullivan can be great value like that, he can also be difficult. I’m sure this doesn’t surprise anyone.
I’ve seen Ronnie laughing and I’ve seen him almost crying, notably in Newcastle in 2001 when he talked darkly of hanging himself from the city centre bridge.
There have been other emotional moments over the years.
I recall a tearful Chris Small dedicating his LG Cup win to his late grandmother.
I well remember John Higgins bristling with anger when he announced he was withdrawing from the 2000 Grand Prix – having just reached the quarter-finals – because of a mix up over dates.
And then there was Hunter after he won what proved to be his last ever match, late one night in York.
Up close he was clearly very ill. That first interview with him felt like a lifetime ago.
Of course, the great shame is that such is the media’s growing ambivalence towards snooker that many of the great quotes and stories simply never made the papers, but maybe I’ll put them all together one day.
I think a lot of it would answer the constant sniping about the lack of ‘characters’ in the game.
He was very shy, which was fortunate, really, because so was I.
Interviews and press conferences with snooker players are varied experiences. They are often mundane. Sometimes they are emotional. Occasionally they can be explosive.
The usual drill is to have the winner of the match in, unless the loser is a big name, in which case they have to spend an unpleasant ten minutes fielding questions from the finest flowers of snooker journalism when they’d rather be kicking a cat somewhere.
Some take losing better than others. Stephen Hendry has a few times been rendered completely speechless. Some others resort to swearing or even stomp out.
I have sympathy for this in retrospect. At the time I’m more concerned with how I’m going to pad out 25 paragraphs of purple prose without a single quote.
It’s not always the players who are the problem. When Hendry won his seventh world title in 1999, the post match press conference began with one hack, who had availed himself well but not wisely of the free bar several times during the course of the day, asking him how he’d been feeling on Christmas Day.
Nobody knew why.
Then there’s always the guy from the local paper who wants to ask what the player thinks of the venue just as they are opening up about something interesting.
Most journalists are of course just looking for a story. I’ve always tried to be respectful, although I did once get into a semi-heated discussion with Quinten Hann about his penchant for smashing into the pack.
That’s about as Paxman-like as I get.
In truth, the relationship between players and media is a little cosy. Too cosy, some may argue.
It’s certainly true that, at times, off colour behaviour by players has not been reported.
This is why it was such an irony that one of the only press conferences to take place without a single British journalist present – Ronnie O’Sullivan in China last year – ended up being such a big story.
God bless the internet.
Still, cosy it may be but this is much better than having to jump through hoops just to get a few quotes off someone, as happens in a few other sports.
The players are generally a credit to the sport in terms of how they give their time up for interviews.
I’ve been to press conferences that have threatened to last longer than some matches.
One such featured O’Sullivan after he was knocked out of the 2004 Irish Masters. It was like Jackanory. He couldn’t stop himself. And we lapped it all up: strange and yet profound as it all was.
The funniest part came about 20 minutes in when a German journalist arrived, explained he hadn’t caught the first part of the press conference and asked Ronnie if he could repeat it all.
Thankfully Ronnie declined, otherwise we’d all still be there now.
(This press conference went on so long and was so bizarre that I left before the end, fearing I might have a nervous breakdown at the absurdity of it all).
O’Sullivan can be great value like that, he can also be difficult. I’m sure this doesn’t surprise anyone.
I’ve seen Ronnie laughing and I’ve seen him almost crying, notably in Newcastle in 2001 when he talked darkly of hanging himself from the city centre bridge.
There have been other emotional moments over the years.
I recall a tearful Chris Small dedicating his LG Cup win to his late grandmother.
I well remember John Higgins bristling with anger when he announced he was withdrawing from the 2000 Grand Prix – having just reached the quarter-finals – because of a mix up over dates.
And then there was Hunter after he won what proved to be his last ever match, late one night in York.
Up close he was clearly very ill. That first interview with him felt like a lifetime ago.
Of course, the great shame is that such is the media’s growing ambivalence towards snooker that many of the great quotes and stories simply never made the papers, but maybe I’ll put them all together one day.
I think a lot of it would answer the constant sniping about the lack of ‘characters’ in the game.
WORLD UNDER 21 CHAMPIONSHIP IN DOUBT
The World Under 21 Championship, due to be held in Kish Island, Iran in August, must surely be under threat following the recent unrest in the country.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office are advising British people not to travel to Iran.
The withdrawal of English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish and Republic of Ireland teams would decimate the field.
Various EU countries are threatening to recall their embassy staff, which would surely rule out a whole heap of other players.
The International Billiards and Snooker Federation, whose website is updated only sporadically, should make a statement about the event.
Remember, it did not take place last year and a decision now needs to be made whether to move it, albeit at very short notice.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office are advising British people not to travel to Iran.
The withdrawal of English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish and Republic of Ireland teams would decimate the field.
Various EU countries are threatening to recall their embassy staff, which would surely rule out a whole heap of other players.
The International Billiards and Snooker Federation, whose website is updated only sporadically, should make a statement about the event.
Remember, it did not take place last year and a decision now needs to be made whether to move it, albeit at very short notice.
28.6.09
SELBY ON THE STATE OF SNOOKER
Mark Selby had been due to take part in last week's State of Snooker discussion but was dropped through lack of time.
However, he has now had his say on his website, where he claims none of the things Sir Rodney Walker has promised have happened, that the governing body should put on tournaments in Europe and that he can't understand why there aren't more sponsors.
What's interesting about this is that Selby is not a player with an agenda or someone who is looking to rock the boat.
He is merely articulating the frustrations of a top player who feels he should have more playing opportunities.
You can read his blog at his website here.
However, he has now had his say on his website, where he claims none of the things Sir Rodney Walker has promised have happened, that the governing body should put on tournaments in Europe and that he can't understand why there aren't more sponsors.
What's interesting about this is that Selby is not a player with an agenda or someone who is looking to rock the boat.
He is merely articulating the frustrations of a top player who feels he should have more playing opportunities.
You can read his blog at his website here.
26.6.09
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER (IF YOU REALLY WANT TO)
OK, so I gave in and joined Twitter.
If you want to follow my pithy bon mots you can do so here.
EDIT: Sorry, I should have made it clear what all this means. You can 'follow' people if you have a Twitter account. I will use mine to post updates from here and there and everywhere.
If you want to follow my pithy bon mots you can do so here.
EDIT: Sorry, I should have made it clear what all this means. You can 'follow' people if you have a Twitter account. I will use mine to post updates from here and there and everywhere.
Q&A: JOHN HIGGINS
A few questions for the world champion...Q: How old were you when you first played snooker?
A: 9
Q: How old were you when you made your first century?
A: 11
Q: How many cues have you used during your career?
A: 6
Q: What’s your proudest moment in snooker?
A: Winning my first world title in 1998
Q: And what’s your worst moment?
A: Losing in the 2000 World Championship semi-finals to Mark Williams
Q: What’s the best match you’ve been involved in?
A: The 1998 world final against Ken Doherty
Q: Who was your boyhood snooker hero?
A: Steve Davis
Q: And who is your sporting hero now?
A: Andy Murray
Q: How do you relax away from snooker?
A: Go to the cinema
Q: What’s your favourite film?
A: Grease
Q: What’s your favourite TV show?
A: The Wire
Q: What’s your favourite band?
A: Oasis
Q: What’s your favourite song?
A: The Masterplan by Oasis
Q: What’s your favourite book?
A: Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
Q: What’s your favourite type of food?
A: Seafood
Q: What’s your favourite drink?
A: Water
Q: What’s your favourite holiday destination?
A: Mauritius
Q: Who would you least like to be stuck in a lift with?
A: Alex Higgins
Q: What are your remaining ambitions in snooker?
A: Just to win my next tournament
SIX APPEAL
The draw has been made for next month's Sangsom 6 reds event in Bangkok, Thailand.
Won last year by Ricky Walden, the 2009 tournament includes Crucible finalists John Higgins and Shaun Murphy as well as the likes of Matthew Stevens, Ryan Day, Ken Doherty, Mark Williams and Jimmy White.
I understand it is likely highlights will be shown on British TV later in the year.
You can view the draw here.
Won last year by Ricky Walden, the 2009 tournament includes Crucible finalists John Higgins and Shaun Murphy as well as the likes of Matthew Stevens, Ryan Day, Ken Doherty, Mark Williams and Jimmy White.
I understand it is likely highlights will be shown on British TV later in the year.
You can view the draw here.
SHE LOVES IT (YEAH, YEAH, YEAH)
If you wrote out a million names of people likely to attend the PIOS at Prestatyn, Heather Mills would be unlikely to be on it.
Yet, she's been there for the last two days.
Mills, the former wife of Paul McCartney, is dating a snooker player.
It must be love if she's prepared to travel to North Wales for a taste of the green baize action.
Yet, she's been there for the last two days.
Mills, the former wife of Paul McCartney, is dating a snooker player.
It must be love if she's prepared to travel to North Wales for a taste of the green baize action.
25.6.09
PIOS LATEST
Jack Lisowski, this season's WPBSA Paul Hunter scholar, has reached the semi-finals of the first Pontin's International Open Series event of the new campaign.
Lisowski defeated John Astley 5-3 this morning and faces German Patrick Einsle later today for a place in the final.
You can read more about Jack here.
The other semi-final is between former world under 21 champion Gary Wilson and Liam Highfield.
What's encouraging is that all four semi-finalists are young. Indeed, today is Lisowski's 18th birthday.
UPDATE: Lisowski has beaten Einsle 5-0 and so is in the final.
Lisowski defeated John Astley 5-3 this morning and faces German Patrick Einsle later today for a place in the final.
You can read more about Jack here.
The other semi-final is between former world under 21 champion Gary Wilson and Liam Highfield.
What's encouraging is that all four semi-finalists are young. Indeed, today is Lisowski's 18th birthday.
UPDATE: Lisowski has beaten Einsle 5-0 and so is in the final.
24.6.09
READ ALL ABOUT IT
I'm told that Ronnie O'Sullivan will publish a new volume of autobiography next year.
Ronnie was published in 2003 and was a bestseller.
Presumably the new book will cover such on table achievements as two world titles, two UK titles and three Masters titles.
Off the table, it is likely to cover O'Sullivan's walkout against Stephen Hendry at the 2006 UK Championship, his behaviour at the China Open press conference last year, the death of Paul Hunter and the upcoming release of his father, Ronnie senior.
For what it's worth, I enjoyed Ronnie. All autobiographies are self serving but there was plenty of interesting stuff in the book, not so much the snooker bits but off the table, particularly about O'Sullivan's experiences in the Priory Clinic.
I have no doubt the new book will sell very well.
Ronnie was published in 2003 and was a bestseller.
Presumably the new book will cover such on table achievements as two world titles, two UK titles and three Masters titles.
Off the table, it is likely to cover O'Sullivan's walkout against Stephen Hendry at the 2006 UK Championship, his behaviour at the China Open press conference last year, the death of Paul Hunter and the upcoming release of his father, Ronnie senior.
For what it's worth, I enjoyed Ronnie. All autobiographies are self serving but there was plenty of interesting stuff in the book, not so much the snooker bits but off the table, particularly about O'Sullivan's experiences in the Priory Clinic.
I have no doubt the new book will sell very well.
23.6.09
THE STATE OF SNOOKER: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
I thought it was a decent programme, although it needed to be longer to properly explore the issues.
Fair play to Lee Doyle for having the guts to front up and put the WPBSA's side in the absence of its chairman. Even he had to admit that the game has been mismanaged over the years.
But Steve Davis's contribution was the most interesting. He was right that the WPBSA's various competiting roles and effective monopoly position in running ranking events is holding the sport back, not individual personalities.
He spoke of the new players' union as being a possible springboard for change and wrestling away some of the power the governing body has.
So what happens next?
One of two things. Remember, it is the players and nobody else who have the voting power.
Firstly, they will listen to Davis, understand that a governing body that has to be a members' club can't also be the game's prime promoter and the WPBSA as we know it now will be broken up.
Or, they will decide that they are happy with how snooker is right now, trust the WPBSA board to deliver any change that is needed and stick with how the sport has historically been run.
All my experience in snooker tells me that they will do the latter.
But sometimes desperate times lead people to defy expectations.
I think the coming months may deliver a few surprises.
Fair play to Lee Doyle for having the guts to front up and put the WPBSA's side in the absence of its chairman. Even he had to admit that the game has been mismanaged over the years.
But Steve Davis's contribution was the most interesting. He was right that the WPBSA's various competiting roles and effective monopoly position in running ranking events is holding the sport back, not individual personalities.
He spoke of the new players' union as being a possible springboard for change and wrestling away some of the power the governing body has.
So what happens next?
One of two things. Remember, it is the players and nobody else who have the voting power.
Firstly, they will listen to Davis, understand that a governing body that has to be a members' club can't also be the game's prime promoter and the WPBSA as we know it now will be broken up.
Or, they will decide that they are happy with how snooker is right now, trust the WPBSA board to deliver any change that is needed and stick with how the sport has historically been run.
All my experience in snooker tells me that they will do the latter.
But sometimes desperate times lead people to defy expectations.
I think the coming months may deliver a few surprises.
THE STATE OF SNOOKER - TONIGHT
The BBC Radio 5 Live State of Snooker discussion takes place tonight at 9pm.
You can listen here.
If you have any comments to make about the programme, feel free to leave them below.
You can listen here.
If you have any comments to make about the programme, feel free to leave them below.
PAST MASTERS#6
Next in our series on former professionals, a likeable Yorkshireman who stood on top of the snooker world.
When Joe Johnson was scraping a living working for the gas board, he may have allowed himself to dream of making it at professional snooker.
Then again, in the 1970s the game had little money and few professionals. Players made most of their cash in exhibitions or money matches.
Johnson built a reputation as one of the leading amateurs from the Yorkshire region but even after reaching the 1978 world amateur final did not want to turn pro.
He didn’t think there was a living in it.
What changed his mind was Terry Griffiths’s 1979 Crucible triumph at his first attempt, which seemed to suggest the old order had been blown away and new players could make their mark.
And so, at the age of 27, Johnson joined the professional circuit, which consisted of only two tournaments open to all.
In 1983, Johnson reached the final of the Professional Players Tournament, a ranking event, where he was edged 9-8 by Tony Knowles.
He was a semi-finalist in the 1985 Mercantile Classic and had quietly made his way into the top 16 by the time of the 1985/86 season.
A comfortable 10-3 defeat of Dave Martin at the Crucible was followed by a 13-6 victory over Mike Hallett, who had beaten the defending champion, Dennis Taylor, in the opening round.
He had a poor record against Griffiths, his quarter-final opponent. When he trailed him 12-9, Johnson’s fairytale run looked set to end but he put together a brilliant four frame spell, including two centuries, to come through a 13-12 winner.
In the semi-finals, he beat Knowles 16-8, earning him a meeting with Steve Davis, who was aiming to make amends for his dramatic black ball defeat to Taylor the previous year.
As an amateur and in money matches, Johnson had the beating of Davis. He also knew that all the pressure was on the former champion whereas he, as the underdog, could go out and enjoy it. He had a career best £42,000 coming his way even if he lost.
Johnson was easy to support: a likeable family man, he was genuinely unassuming and clearly loving his moment in the spotlight.
He wore a distinctive pair of pink and white shoes and enjoyed huge support in his native Yorkshire as he kept pace with Davis, ending the first day of the final level at 8-8.
He led 13-11 going into the final session and then turned it on to complete an 18-12 victory and become champion of the world.
This was at a time when snooker was the no.1 sport on British television and Johnson was thrown headlong from a life of anonymity into the world of celebrity.
He was in demand for exhibitions and personal appearances, was the subject of This Is Your Life and had photographers follow him around the world.
A singer in a local band, he released a record, 'Bradford's Bouncing Back' for the appeal following the Valley Parade fire that claimed the lives of 56 football fans.
There’s something like 20 players who have only won one ranking title but, because Johnson never won another, some people attempt to do down his Crucible victory. But they ignore a number of key points.
Firstly, he reached the final again the next year. Indeed, he came the closest of any first time, Crucible champion to defending the trophy.
He entered the final session of the 1987 final 14-10 down to Steve Davis and pulled back to 14-13 before losing 18-14.
Also, Johnson suffered major health problems, including a number of heart attacks, which seriously affected his career.
But it should also be remembered that he was coming towards the end of his career when he won the world title. He was 33. Most players start declining in their mid 30s.
However, the most important point to make is this: nobody flukes the world title. It has always been difficult to win but Johnson beat two of the best players in the game at that time – Griffiths and Knowles – and then the best player of the entire decade in the final.
His triumph was witnessed by many millions of TV viewers and he still gets recognised to this day. He could not have chosen a better time in snooker history to become world champion.
His other major title victory came at the 1987 Scottish Masters. He also won the 1990 European Grand Prix and reached the semi-finals of the 1987 UK Championship where he missed the pink on 134 with a maximum waiting.
Johnson coached the young Paul Hunter and Shaun Murphy and carried on playing as he slipped down the rankings but his professional career was effectively ended when he broke bones in his foot in 2003.
He won Seniors Pot Black in 1997 and currently commentates for Eurosport where his insight comes from being one of only 22 players to have had their name inscribed on the famous silver trophy since the World Championship began in 1927.
When Joe Johnson was scraping a living working for the gas board, he may have allowed himself to dream of making it at professional snooker.
Then again, in the 1970s the game had little money and few professionals. Players made most of their cash in exhibitions or money matches.
Johnson built a reputation as one of the leading amateurs from the Yorkshire region but even after reaching the 1978 world amateur final did not want to turn pro.
He didn’t think there was a living in it.
What changed his mind was Terry Griffiths’s 1979 Crucible triumph at his first attempt, which seemed to suggest the old order had been blown away and new players could make their mark.
And so, at the age of 27, Johnson joined the professional circuit, which consisted of only two tournaments open to all.
In 1983, Johnson reached the final of the Professional Players Tournament, a ranking event, where he was edged 9-8 by Tony Knowles.
He was a semi-finalist in the 1985 Mercantile Classic and had quietly made his way into the top 16 by the time of the 1985/86 season.
A comfortable 10-3 defeat of Dave Martin at the Crucible was followed by a 13-6 victory over Mike Hallett, who had beaten the defending champion, Dennis Taylor, in the opening round.
He had a poor record against Griffiths, his quarter-final opponent. When he trailed him 12-9, Johnson’s fairytale run looked set to end but he put together a brilliant four frame spell, including two centuries, to come through a 13-12 winner.
In the semi-finals, he beat Knowles 16-8, earning him a meeting with Steve Davis, who was aiming to make amends for his dramatic black ball defeat to Taylor the previous year.
As an amateur and in money matches, Johnson had the beating of Davis. He also knew that all the pressure was on the former champion whereas he, as the underdog, could go out and enjoy it. He had a career best £42,000 coming his way even if he lost.
Johnson was easy to support: a likeable family man, he was genuinely unassuming and clearly loving his moment in the spotlight.
He wore a distinctive pair of pink and white shoes and enjoyed huge support in his native Yorkshire as he kept pace with Davis, ending the first day of the final level at 8-8.
He led 13-11 going into the final session and then turned it on to complete an 18-12 victory and become champion of the world.
This was at a time when snooker was the no.1 sport on British television and Johnson was thrown headlong from a life of anonymity into the world of celebrity.
He was in demand for exhibitions and personal appearances, was the subject of This Is Your Life and had photographers follow him around the world.
A singer in a local band, he released a record, 'Bradford's Bouncing Back' for the appeal following the Valley Parade fire that claimed the lives of 56 football fans.
There’s something like 20 players who have only won one ranking title but, because Johnson never won another, some people attempt to do down his Crucible victory. But they ignore a number of key points.
Firstly, he reached the final again the next year. Indeed, he came the closest of any first time, Crucible champion to defending the trophy.
He entered the final session of the 1987 final 14-10 down to Steve Davis and pulled back to 14-13 before losing 18-14.
Also, Johnson suffered major health problems, including a number of heart attacks, which seriously affected his career.
But it should also be remembered that he was coming towards the end of his career when he won the world title. He was 33. Most players start declining in their mid 30s.
However, the most important point to make is this: nobody flukes the world title. It has always been difficult to win but Johnson beat two of the best players in the game at that time – Griffiths and Knowles – and then the best player of the entire decade in the final.
His triumph was witnessed by many millions of TV viewers and he still gets recognised to this day. He could not have chosen a better time in snooker history to become world champion.
His other major title victory came at the 1987 Scottish Masters. He also won the 1990 European Grand Prix and reached the semi-finals of the 1987 UK Championship where he missed the pink on 134 with a maximum waiting.
Johnson coached the young Paul Hunter and Shaun Murphy and carried on playing as he slipped down the rankings but his professional career was effectively ended when he broke bones in his foot in 2003.
He won Seniors Pot Black in 1997 and currently commentates for Eurosport where his insight comes from being one of only 22 players to have had their name inscribed on the famous silver trophy since the World Championship began in 1927.
22.6.09
TAKING THE PIOS
Today sees the start of the first of eight Pontin's International Open Series events at Prestatyn.
This is effectively the game's secondary tour and eight players will earn promotion to the professional circuit for the 2010/11 season after the last PIOS tournament next May.
Among the starters in event 1 is Brian Morgan, who spent six seasons in the top 32 and was runner-up to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 1996 Asian Classic.
The last I heard of Brian after he was relegated from the main tour two years ago was that he had followed his fellow Tiptree pro Ali Carter in taking to the skies to train as a pilot.
He obviously fancies chartering a course back onto the pro circuit as well.
You can follow all the action on Global Snooker.
This is effectively the game's secondary tour and eight players will earn promotion to the professional circuit for the 2010/11 season after the last PIOS tournament next May.
Among the starters in event 1 is Brian Morgan, who spent six seasons in the top 32 and was runner-up to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 1996 Asian Classic.
The last I heard of Brian after he was relegated from the main tour two years ago was that he had followed his fellow Tiptree pro Ali Carter in taking to the skies to train as a pilot.
He obviously fancies chartering a course back onto the pro circuit as well.
You can follow all the action on Global Snooker.
19.6.09
JUST THE TICKET
It has been announced that the UK Championship is returning to Telford next season.
I would draw your attention to the paragraph towards the bottom of worldsnooker.com's story, which reads 'Tickets bought from unauthorised sources may not be valid and admission to the event may not be permitted.'
There are a number of online ticket agencies offering tickets for snooker tournaments.
Do not, do not, do not buy tickets from them. Only purchase tickets from the official ticket supplier as stated on the World Snooker website.
There is an online agency currently selling tickets for the Northern Ireland Trophy. This tournament is not taking place.
These people do not deserve your money and buying tickets from them will only end in disappointment.
I would draw your attention to the paragraph towards the bottom of worldsnooker.com's story, which reads 'Tickets bought from unauthorised sources may not be valid and admission to the event may not be permitted.'
There are a number of online ticket agencies offering tickets for snooker tournaments.
Do not, do not, do not buy tickets from them. Only purchase tickets from the official ticket supplier as stated on the World Snooker website.
There is an online agency currently selling tickets for the Northern Ireland Trophy. This tournament is not taking place.
These people do not deserve your money and buying tickets from them will only end in disappointment.
POST 1,000
I want to use this pointless landmark to stick up for snooker.
Is there any mainstream television sport that regularly takes such a battering?
Yet it continues to weather the storm and defy the merchants of doom.
Snooker the game is a bit like the blackbox recorder on an aeroplane: even when the rest of the aircraft is destroyed it’s still intact.
So what is the current state of snooker?
The answer is in two parts. Most people in the UK think only of snooker in the UK, where it has undeniably declined in popularity over the last 20 years.
But this is starting from an unbelievably high watermark. Snooker in the 1980s regularly drew television audiences of more than 10m, a very difficult figure to maintain.
These days it’s generally 2-3m. TV has changed and so all audiences have come down. Also, no honeymoon period will last forever. Snooker’s viewing figures in Britain are satisfactory but not extraordinary.
However, snooker clubs have shut down at an alarming rate, to a large extent because of the smoking ban. Snooker is no longer seen as being fashionable and fewer young people play it compared to the boom years.
But there’s a whole world out there. In China, there is a boom and it’s resulted in two fully funded world ranking events. In Europe, the TV coverage from Eurosport has created a huge market of new snooker fans, which for reasons unknown is not being exploited by the governing body.
In short: snooker in the UK is struggling a little; snooker around the world has never been so popular.
That won’t stop newspaper columnists sneering at the sport from afar. Some hate it because of its working class image. Some hate it because they don’t consider it a sport. None of them ever come to tournaments to see what it is like up close.
Many sportsmen have gone to the Crucible over the years to watch the World Championship and they are always in awe of the skill on show. Snooker gets the respect from other sports it lacks from the media in general.
I like Andy Murray and shall support him at Wimbledon. He is on the front cover of this week’s Radio Times. Indeed, he’s everywhere at the moment.
Yet his victory at Queens Club last week attracted a peak viewing audience of 2.6m. Last season’s Wembley Masters final peaked at 3.1m, but try telling newspaper sports editors that.
The space they give to snooker in British newspapers has declined to such a shockingly low level that it has disappeared beneath the radar.
You often hear that there are ‘no characters any more.’
What does this actually mean and why does it matter?
Sachin Tendulkar is a great batsman. How is he a ‘character’ and why does he need to be one?
Let’s take a name from the 80s – how was Tony Meo any more of a character than, say, Ali Carter, who has been successful despite suffering from Crohn’s Disease and is a qualified airline pilot?
When people talk about ‘characters’ what they actually mean are people they recognise and can relate to.
It is true that if you are a casual viewer you may be confused between today’s top players. This is because they all pretty much play the same way. They have all modelled their games on the way Stephen Hendry played in the early 1990s. There are differences between individual technique but almost all of today’s top players are ultra attacking and can be hard to tell apart.
This is why their individual personalities must be encouraged to come through. Threatening players with disciplinary action for speaking their mind works against the interests of the sport.
I’d like to think snooker has a golden future but it’s impossible to make such a prediction.
It remains a fascinating game. It has touched the heights of popularity with the viewing public that many other sports can only dream of. When have golf, tennis or cricket ever got 18m viewers?
It’s has been big before and it can be big again, maybe not in the UK but as a global sport.
That’s what everyone who reads this blog wants and that’s why we should all continue to stick up for snooker.
Is there any mainstream television sport that regularly takes such a battering?
Yet it continues to weather the storm and defy the merchants of doom.
Snooker the game is a bit like the blackbox recorder on an aeroplane: even when the rest of the aircraft is destroyed it’s still intact.
So what is the current state of snooker?
The answer is in two parts. Most people in the UK think only of snooker in the UK, where it has undeniably declined in popularity over the last 20 years.
But this is starting from an unbelievably high watermark. Snooker in the 1980s regularly drew television audiences of more than 10m, a very difficult figure to maintain.
These days it’s generally 2-3m. TV has changed and so all audiences have come down. Also, no honeymoon period will last forever. Snooker’s viewing figures in Britain are satisfactory but not extraordinary.
However, snooker clubs have shut down at an alarming rate, to a large extent because of the smoking ban. Snooker is no longer seen as being fashionable and fewer young people play it compared to the boom years.
But there’s a whole world out there. In China, there is a boom and it’s resulted in two fully funded world ranking events. In Europe, the TV coverage from Eurosport has created a huge market of new snooker fans, which for reasons unknown is not being exploited by the governing body.
In short: snooker in the UK is struggling a little; snooker around the world has never been so popular.
That won’t stop newspaper columnists sneering at the sport from afar. Some hate it because of its working class image. Some hate it because they don’t consider it a sport. None of them ever come to tournaments to see what it is like up close.
Many sportsmen have gone to the Crucible over the years to watch the World Championship and they are always in awe of the skill on show. Snooker gets the respect from other sports it lacks from the media in general.
I like Andy Murray and shall support him at Wimbledon. He is on the front cover of this week’s Radio Times. Indeed, he’s everywhere at the moment.
Yet his victory at Queens Club last week attracted a peak viewing audience of 2.6m. Last season’s Wembley Masters final peaked at 3.1m, but try telling newspaper sports editors that.
The space they give to snooker in British newspapers has declined to such a shockingly low level that it has disappeared beneath the radar.
You often hear that there are ‘no characters any more.’
What does this actually mean and why does it matter?
Sachin Tendulkar is a great batsman. How is he a ‘character’ and why does he need to be one?
Let’s take a name from the 80s – how was Tony Meo any more of a character than, say, Ali Carter, who has been successful despite suffering from Crohn’s Disease and is a qualified airline pilot?
When people talk about ‘characters’ what they actually mean are people they recognise and can relate to.
It is true that if you are a casual viewer you may be confused between today’s top players. This is because they all pretty much play the same way. They have all modelled their games on the way Stephen Hendry played in the early 1990s. There are differences between individual technique but almost all of today’s top players are ultra attacking and can be hard to tell apart.
This is why their individual personalities must be encouraged to come through. Threatening players with disciplinary action for speaking their mind works against the interests of the sport.
I’d like to think snooker has a golden future but it’s impossible to make such a prediction.
It remains a fascinating game. It has touched the heights of popularity with the viewing public that many other sports can only dream of. When have golf, tennis or cricket ever got 18m viewers?
It’s has been big before and it can be big again, maybe not in the UK but as a global sport.
That’s what everyone who reads this blog wants and that’s why we should all continue to stick up for snooker.
18.6.09
THE STATE OF SNOOKER...CONTINUED
Sir Rodney Walker will not now be taking part in the BBC Radio 5 Live 'State of Snooker' discussion programme next Tuesday.
Apparently he has to attend a dinner instead.
I think this probably says more about the state of snooker than anything he would have said on the programme.
Apparently he has to attend a dinner instead.
I think this probably says more about the state of snooker than anything he would have said on the programme.
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