CRUCIBLE STORIES: HEADACHES AND HANDSHAKES

John Higgins and Mark Williams are seeded to meet in this year’s Betfred.com World Championship semi-finals.

They have played each other at this stage twice before and the matches were memorable for two incidents that had nothing to do with the actual snooker.

In 1999, Higgins was defending champion. He had won the race between his contemporaries Williams and Ronnie O’Sullivan to win the world title and overhaul Stephen Hendry at the top of the rankings.

O’Sullivan was brilliant but erratic, his personal life chaotic. Williams was thought to be the junior member of the trio (despite being the eldest) but was rising fast.

His dramatic 10-9 defeat of Hendry on a re-spotted black at the Masters in early 1998 was proof of a big match temperament and the following season he went on a remarkable run, finishing runner-up in the German Masters and then winning the Irish Open, Welsh Open and Thailand Masters.

Williams thus arrived in Sheffield as one of the four favourites – with Hendry, Higgins and O’Sullivan – to lift the trophy. All four made the semis.

My memory of Williams v Higgins has boiled down to one strange interruption on the Friday morning with the match around level. As I recall, Higgins was at the table when he noticed some liquid dropping down on to the table. He pointed up at the Crucible roof to the referee, Alan Chamberlain, who also noticed oil or water drip-dripping on to the baize.

Play was suspended while a humble towel was placed on the cloth to protect it.

I was backstage and it’s fair to say calm did not reign. Officials, technicians and other assorted bods busied themselves to find out what the cause was.

It created a major headache because the exact reason for the leak was not obvious. It allowed Clive Everton to reminisce on Radio 5 Live about the 1973 World Championship when rain – coming through a crack in the roof – stopped play.

Half an hour or so passed before the leak was plugged. It was put down to condensation, an explanation I’m not sure anyone really believed, least of all me and I wrote the press release. More likely it was oil from the TV lighting rig. Either way, I don’t think it ultimately affected the result. Williams, strong all season, won 17-10.

A year later it was Williams v Higgins in the last four again. Again, Williams had enjoyed a fine season, winning the UK Championship and getting to several finals.

But he lost six of the eight frames of the Saturday morning and trailed 14-10 going into the final session.

Williams spent the afternoon as any leading sportsman would: he went out and bought a ‘Billy the Bass’ dancing fish and tormented anyone he could find with it.

I recall the fish danced to Bobby McFerrin’s ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy,’ which could perhaps stand as Williams’s anthem for life. Chilling in the pressroom, he did not bear the countenance of a man about to suffer a disappointing defeat in a tournament he had looked likely to win.

And so to the evening and an odd incident which would affect the result. The two players entered the arena but Williams walked to the table and broke off without shaking Higgins’s hand.

Knowing Mark, I have no doubt this was merely an oversight. He had probably been driven slightly delirious by five hours of Billy the Bass.

To Higgins, though, it felt like a snub and it knocked his thinking. He allowed himself to dwell on it just enough for it to affect his concentration while at the table and Williams, playing as if he had nothing to lose, started to claw back the deficit.

I don’t remember the Welsh left-hander making a string of big breaks but he played good, hard match snooker and potted the pressure balls.

He won 17-15 and then beat Matthew Stevens 18-16 from 13-7 down to win the first of his two world titles.

I asked him after the final how he would celebrate. He said he wouldn’t. This was not entirely untrue. Certainly he didn’t go wild in the aisles because that isn’t his style. Williams is now as he was then: an understated character for whom simple pleasures – family, old friends, cheerful good humour – outrank extravagance or self importance.

The defeat knocked Higgins back. It led to an anxiety about whether he would ever win the title and heralded a string of disappointing Crucible performances that were not resolved until he won again in 2007. He has, of course, now overtaken Williams on total titles.

That they are seeded so highly for the World Championship some 11 years on proves what great players these two are.

I sometimes think the semi-finals are too long but I’d happily watch Higgins v Williams over another four sessions this year.

THE CRUCIBLE COUNTDOWN

All that’s left this season, then, is the biggest tournament of them all.

From now until April 16 this blog will be counting down to the Crucible. If you’ve seen the ‘war’ edition of The Day Today then it’ll be a little bit like that. Nothing else will matter.

I will be writing a series called ‘Crucible Stories.’ These are reminiscences from the tournament over the years, however is not necessarily a ‘greatest moments’ countdown, more a collection of anecdotes, some personal, from the event’s recent past.

I will also be looking at a few stats in an attempt to predict what might happen on the table, but I’m not going to get too much into making a case for this player or that because you all know who the likely winners will be and why.

One thing I do believe: unless, for some unlikely reason, the conditions are bad, this year’s World Championship, coming off the back of a season of intensive action, will be one of the best we’ve ever seen.

There are a number of players playing really well and it means the 17 day snooker marathon will be not only as fascinating as ever but also a fine spectacle.

Let the countdown begin...

A STAR IS BORN

Judd Trump’s capture of the China Open title in Beijing today proves he is the real deal.

It was a wonderful final. Trump and Mark Selby compiled three centuries apiece, the tactical play was strong and there was some terrific long potting from Trump.

The 21 year-old thus becomes the youngest ranking event winner since Ding Junhui won the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy at the age of 19.

Trump has long been regarded as a rising star. Now, he has arrived. This is very good news for snooker: a new, young face who plays the game in an entertaining way.

Part of his transformation has undoubtedly been moving to Romford. Trump practises at the Grove, also home for Ronnie O’Sullivan, Liu Song, Matt Selt and Jack Lisowski, with whom he also shares a house.

What is significant is that Trump is now standing on his own two feet. I’m sure his mother’s cooking is preferable to what he and Jack can conjure up between them but he has struck out on his own, an important step for any young adult.

He has learned not only about snooker but also about life itself.

Plus, he is getting a higher quality of opposition in practise to help him improve further than he would have got in Bristol.

His match with Neil Robertson on day one of the Betfred.com World Championship always looked tasty.

Now it pits the reigning Crucible champion against the winner of the last ranking event before the biggest tournament of them all.

What a way to start the 17-day marathon of the green baize.

SELBY V TRUMP

What a day for Judd Trump, the biggest of his young career.

He took the opportunity yesterday to hit back at those who had criticised him for not making faster progress.

Well, many people talk a good game but, unlike them, Trump plays one. He did so again yesterday in the semi-finals against Shaun Murphy, employing a mature approach and playing the percentages.

I’m pleased for Judd and his family, particularly his dad, Steve, who clocked up hundreds of miles on the motorways driving him to junior tournaments every weekend, toughening him up for competition.

Murphy was unhappy with all the cameras and phones going off. He’s right. It’s patronising to say that that’s the culture in China and the players should accept it. Spectators are specifically told – many times – to turn them off and should do so.

Mark Selby’s impressive fluency against Ali Carter only emerged in patches against Ding Junhui.

His semi-final victory took a long time to complete. Too long, in fact, for Ding who said afterwards that Selby’s slow play had done him in.

Actually, if a match goes scrappy or gets bogged down then it’s up to the player who doesn’t suit this style of play to force the pace or open things up.

So the China Open final is an intriguing battle between Selby, looking for his second ranking title, and Trump, seeking his first.

Both these players benefited from the commitment to the game of Malcolm Thorne, who ran all those junior events that gave them a chance to play and a chance to improve.

Malcolm died in January but he would be very proud to see these two lads going head-to-head in Beijing.

SO TO THE SEMIS

A fine week's snooker in Beijing has left us with four quality semi-finalists.

Mark Selby was yesterday superb. Positive, attacking and highly composed he produced one of his best performances of the season to beat Ali Carter 5-1.

Three centuries were testament to his heavy scoring. Now on 42 for the season, he is poised to join Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan as the only players to record 50 or more tons in a single campaign.

He's always been popular in China. I remember years ago after he played a match he spent a good hour or two in Cue Zone playing games of pool with some Chinese fans. That sort of thing goes a long way.

But, of course, his opponent will have most of the support. Ding Junhui, the champion in 2005, is through to the China Open semi-finals for a second successive year.

It was classy stuff from Shaun Murphy as he put John Higgins to the sword but despite those three top quality displays, the player who impressed me most was Judd Trump.

It was the big performance on the big stage we have been waiting for. He outplayed Peter Ebdon in all departments, including safety play, and took out the match with great poise.

Trump made an interesting admission in the week: that he had underestimated the quality of the players lower down the rankings when he first turned pro.

This was perfectly understandable. He was so used to winning as a junior that he must have felt he would carry on. All around him he was being talked up as the next big thing.

He's found the reality of life on the circuit different but has still done well - very well - for a player of his age.

Last season he earned just over £80,000. Not bad for a 21 year-old.

Some say "if you don't do it by 19, you won't do it at all."

It isn't true. Players mature at different rates. Ronnie O'Sullivan won his first ranking title at 17, Stephen Hendry at 18, John Higgins 19, Mark Williams 20, Shaun Murphy 22.

Age, though, is not the key but rather how quickly players learn the right way to play. Some take longer than others.

Trump has matured as a player and this suggests he can still make a breakthrough appropriate to his talent.

THE MAGNIFICENT, ER, EIGHT

You could make a reasonable case for any of the eight China Open quarter-finalists to win the title.

John Higgins, Shaun Murphy and Peter Ebdon are all world champions. Ding Junhui is a former winner while Stephen Lee, Mark Selby and Ali Carter have won ranking titles. Judd Trump is a fearsome talent and regarded as a dangerman by his fellow pros.

But the man to beat remains Higgins, as he has done since returning to the circuit last November.

His application and sense of purpose seems unshakeable and, allied to the best all round game of the era, it makes the Scot near unbeatable when he’s playing at his best.

I think John would admit that in recent years he wasn’t that bothered by the Chinese events. In fact, he only really got motivated by the bona fide majors.

The possibility of losing his playing rights has focused the mind, though. He now treats every frame of every match of every round of every tournament the same.

Murphy has come from behind twice in successive rounds to take his quarter-final place but doesn’t yet seem to be scoring as heavily as he needs to. However, he relishes the big occasion and the chance to put an end to Higgins’s great run may well inspire him.

Ebdon expertly undid Neil Robertson yesterday and will surely fancy doing the same to Trump.

Trump is often criticised for going for everything but he needs to play his natural game against Ebdon, rather than getting sucked into playing in a manner he doesn’t like and will come off second best in.

Lee has had a great week already and, to use the hoary old commentary cliché, his ‘Rolls Royce’ cue action has got him motoring towards his first major title in five years.

Ding – who turns 24 today – wasn’t at his best against Stephen Hendry but didn’t need to be. The seven times world champion, after a bright start against Matthew Stevens, reverted to more recent type and found it hard to take advantage of what chances came his way.

Selby v Carter is a repeat of the Shanghai Masters semi-final from earlier in the campaign. Carter is aiming to become the first player to do the Chinese double in the same season and if his match with Selby isn’t close I’d be surprised.

MARK ALLEN BATTLES DEPRESSION

Mark Allen has revealed he is battling depression.

The world no.11 is receiving professional help in a bid to combat the condition, which he believes has in part developed because of the nature of life on the circuit.

"We all live out of suitcases and, for me, it's just come to a head," Allen told the Irish Mirror.

"I suppose, if I look back on certain things in my career, this has been coming for a long time. But more recently I've really felt more down than I ever have.

"Some days I wake up and I just can't be bothered, I don't have the motivation to do anything.

"It does get very lonely when you're looking at the four walls of a hotel room for most of the year.

"I've been a professional for a few years now and all I've done since then is play snooker, I've known nothing else.

"If I knew what the problem was then I would have sorted it, but I've been seeing a counsellor to see what the problem is.

"It helps to talk about how I'm feeling because when you're on the road, or at a tournament, you don't really have the chance to tell anyone how you're feeling.

"I'd say I get on with 99 per cent of the other players, but to be honest everyone has their own routines and being a snooker player is a very lonely life."

More particularly, snooker is an individual sport. Yes, the players have people in their corner but no team-mates to share the load.

Snooker is also intense. It moves slowly and although it doesn't take huge physical effort, it requires immense mental energy.

Ronnie O'Sullivan, most famously, has suffered from depression for many years. More recently Graeme Dott has also received treatment for this much misunderstood condition.

I listened last week to Geoffrey Boycott, the former England cricketer, giving his ill informed views about a player who had been diagnosed with depression. It was clear some people still think it's a case of 'just cheer up.'

That's a bit like telling someone with a broken leg to go and run a marathon.

I'm not that surprised by Allen's revelation. Down at the Championship League he was very subdued and spent most of his time while not playing staring at films on his laptop but seemingly not really watching them.

I understand he simply couldn't get on the plane to play in the Hainan Classic.

It's a sad situation for such a talented young man to find himself in. I hope he can get through it and rediscover his joy not just for snooker but for life itself.

DING V HENDRY: THE BEIJING RE-MATCH

Ding Junhui's remarkable 9-5 victory over Stephen Hendry in the 2005 China Open final spearked the snooker boom that has enabled the game to expand into China.

Ding turned 18 that week and a star was born. Very quickly he won two more ranking titles before his demoralising defeat to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2007 Masters final and the general level of expectation on his young shoulders caused him to take two steps back.

He turns 24 tomorrow and will play Hendry again later today for a place in the Beijing quarter-finals.

Hendry is not the player he was then but produced a first rate display to whitewash Matthew Stevens on Monday and, battling for his top 16 place, remains dangerous.

Ding should probably have lost to Kurt Maflin but it's often the case that players who survive a first round scare grow stronger as they make the most of their reprieve.

Judd Trump reached the semi-finals of the 2008 Grand Prix but has done little of note since on TV. He admitted yesterday that this had got under his skin but, at 21, there is obviously time to turn things round.

He will need his wits about him, though, against Mark Davis, a highly experienced player full of confidence who played very solidly to see off Stephen Maguire.

Neil Robertson has, surprisingly, never been to a quarter-final in China and has lost to Peter Ebdon there twice in the last year.

Ebdon, who won this title two years ago, remains reliably tough, although inconsistent. One thing that has always played on his mind is the playing conditions and they have been superb this week.

Ricky Walden has beaten John Higgins twice but both victories came over six years ago and Higgins, though not at his very best, competed well against Nigel Bond yesterday.

Mark Selby got sucked into yet another grind against Tian Pengfei but ultimately came through and should find his contest with Robert Milkins to be more free flowing.

Ryan Day beat Ronnie O'Sullivan for the second tournament running. O'Sullivan played as if it were an exhibition - he even wore his exhibition shirt - and looked thoroughly bored and dispirited in the press conference afterwards.

Maybe the Crucible will inspire him but he is clearly out of love with snooker, or at least proper competition snooker, right now.

Day faces Stephen Lee, him of the miracle 5-4 win over Mark Williams earlier in the week.

Wildcard Li Hang has already beaten two world champions - Ken Doherty and Graeme Dott - and now faces another, Shaun Murphy, who, like the other two, is on a hiding to nothing.

THE JOHN AND RONNIE SHOW

An extraordinary day's snooker in Beijing on Tuesday saw Mark Williams make four centuries and still lose 5-4 to Stephen Lee, who made one of the finest clearances imaginable to win the decider, including the final black using the rest.

Meanwhile Ding Junhui roared back from 4-1 down to beat Kurt Maflin 5-4, Shaun Murphy recovered to defeat Joe Perry and Marcus Campbell edged out Mark Allen in a decider.

Mark davis played really well to beat Stephen Maguire while Chinese wildcard Li Hang landed the scalp of a second successive world champion as he followed his defeat of Ken Doherty by beating Graeme Dott.

All this and John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan are yet to play. The duo enter the fray today. Higgins will be heavy favourite to beat Nigel Bond, a man respionsible for inflicting on the Scot one of his most disappointing defeats.

It came in the final of the 1996 British Open in Plymouth. Bond needed a snooker in the deciding frame, got it and won on the black.

Higgins has been so focused and so relentlessly reliable since his return from his suspension that he has to be favourite to win in Beijing this week.

But despite the season he's had, you can never count out O'Sullivan's chances. He has looked demotivated and disinterested for much of the campaign but if he's in the mood, he can still turn it on.

It's good news that he's travelled to China at all. He always draws a huge crowd there. Then again, he went last year and didn't seem to try.

Ryan Day beat him in the Welsh Open and, like Lee and Matthew Stevens, seems to have rediscovered some form of late.

So some great stuff so far and I've no doubt it'll continue today. Things are bubbling up nicely for the greatest test of them all just around the corner...

VINTAGE HENDRY

Stephen Hendry was the star of the show on day one of the Bank of Beijing China Open, beating Matthew Stevens 5-0 in just 66 minutes.

Stevens has been in great form of late but Hendry limited him to just nine points during a performance reminiscent of his peak.

He began with a century - as he often seems to - but, this time, kept it going rather than immediately fizzling out.

Just as one swallow doesn't make a summer, so one excellent performance doesn't mean he is suddenly back to his best but it must have given him great heart.

Hendry has always performed well when his back is to the wall: 8-2 down to Mike Hallett in the 1991 Masters final, 14-8 down to Jimmy White in the 1992 world final and even 9-7 down to Zhang Anda at the Crucible last year.

Now, he knows he needs a good finish to the season to retain a place in the elite top 16. Maybe that will spur him on to end the campaign strongly.

Stephen Lee has not had the best draw for either of the last two tournaments of the season. He has John Higgins to look forward to at the Crucible and today faces Mark Williams, the defending champion, in Beijing.

Lee has played very well this season but Williams clearly has his mojo back. His victory over Ding Junhui in last year's China Open final was his first in a ranking tournament in four years. He has since won the German Masters and came within a whisker of landing the UK crown.

Joe Perry is one of those players well capable of causing an upset against Shaun Murphy, whose Twitter updates suggest he has found sleeping difficult in Beijing.

Similarly, Mark Davis could cause Stephen Maguire problems, particularly as Maguire's pre-tournament focus has been - happily - affected by the arrival of his third child.

CHINA IN THEIR HANDS

The tournament that immediately precedes the World Championship is traditionally overshadowed by it, for no other reason than its slot in the calendar.

Inescapably, everyone is talking about the Crucible and the players are thinking about it, at least those who have qualified are. It is 13 years since the player who won the last title before Sheffield triumphed in the World Championship itself.

It's better now than is used to be when first the British Open, then the Scottish Open took place just a week before the Crucible.

And the Bank of Beijing China Open has grown in prestige, now offering a first prize of £60,000.

This tournament went into abeyance for three years until 2005 when World Snooker staged it again on a one-year deal. To their great relief it was won by Ding Junhui and has since been fully funded by the Chinese organisers.

The one downside to this is that they still insist on Chinese wildcards, whose continued presence in the event is unfair on those who have battled through qualifying.

For instance, Kurt Maflin won four matches in Sheffield to secure his TV debut but now has to play Cao Yupeng before he can take on Ding.

At least the organisers have seen sense this year by putting on two first round matches on the opening day. Stephen Hendry faces the in form Matthew Stevens while world champion Neil Robertson faces Barry Hawkins.

There will be no Jimmy White, though. Apparently White travelled to China on a single entry visa but then went to Thailand for exhibition work which meant he was not allowed back into the country.

This gives wildcard Tian Pengfei a walkover to play Mark Selby in the last 32.

Eurosport - who don't select which matches appear on the two main TV tables, just to head off that annual moan - will be showing live action on both its channels all week, although this varies depending which country you live in, so check local listings.

It's an interesting line-up and, despite its proximity to the World Championship, will doubtless be won by one of the usual suspects.

John Higgins, who won the recent Hainan Classic, has to start favourite again as he hunts down a fifth title of the season.

It looks like Ronnie O'Sullivan will be playing, but he is in a brutal quarter of the draw and starts out against Ryan Day, who beat him at the Welsh Open.

Local support will be for Ding, who finished runner-up to Mark Williams last year.

STEVENS BACK WHERE HE BELONGS

So Matthew Stevens will be in next season's Premier League after his 3-1 defeat of Shaun Murphy in the Championship league final last night.

It marks the latest step in what has been an excellent few weeks for the Welshman: a Welsh Open quarter-final, last gasp win over Fergal O'Brien in World Championship qualifying and semi-final spot in the PTC Grand Finals.

Stevens dropped out of the top 16 in 2007 but will be back for the next seedings cut-off point. Good. It's where a player of his ability and class should be.

He was one of the young stars, along with Paul Hunter and Graeme Dott, who turned pro in the wake of O'Sullivan/Higgins/Williams in the mid 1990s and became leading players.

Stevens, like Jimmy White, is unfairly talked about in the main for what he hasn't won rather than what he has.

It is fact, of course, that he has lost two close world finals, both of which he could have won, as well as three close Crucible semi-finals.

However, little is made of the close Masters and UK Championship finals he won.

If you read Snooker Scene's interview with him at the start of the season you will know he made a concerted effort this year to apply himself.

Like Stephen Lee, another player of proven quality, he has found the changes in snooker to have helped him rediscover his form.

Put simply: he is playing so often that he has been able to sustain this form for a lengthy enough period to achieve meaningful results.

I'm glad he's doing well again, not just because I enjoy watching him play but because he is a nice guy who has taken a couple of serious off table knocks.

Matthew's father, Morrell, died in 2001. He was his biggest supporter, travelling everywhere with him.

“It took me at least two years to come to terms with him dying,” Stevens told Snooker Scene.

“I couldn’t face up to it. I didn’t want to practise and I was just going out drinking all the time, trying to block it out.

“The last thing I wanted to do was play snooker. He used to go to every tournament with me and it just didn’t feel the same. It still doesn’t.”

Then, in 2006, his best friend, Hunter, lost his long, painful battle with cancer, another devastating blow which must have had an effect on his game.

And what of the various close defeats? Have they formed an edge of uncertainty that has made winning further close games more difficult?

“It’s hard not to think what could have been," Stevens said. "I’ve lost so many close matches at the World Championship and I do find myself replaying certain shots in my mind.

“I remember missing a black off the spot when I was well ahead against Mark and he was brilliant after that. I thought I played well against Shaun but he was inspired.

“It’s tough to take but you can’t change anything. That’s how sport is.”

Indeed it is and the future is suddenly much sunnier.

Stevens is off to China tomorrow. His only problem is that he has been playing so much that he has been unable to obtain a visa and so has had to drive to Manchester to get one today.

Like most other things he has taken this in his stride. He is just happy to be back where he belongs.

THE BIG INTERVIEW: JIMMY ROBERTSON

There are two Robertsons at the Crucible this year. Neil, of course, is defending the Betfred.com World Championship title.

Jimmy Robertson, on the other hand, is an unknown quantity whose run to the final stages came out of the blue – certainly for him.

“I was ill in bed a few days before the qualifiers,” he said. “It was one of those flu like things where every part of my body ached. I didn’t expect much when I got to Sheffield but seemed to play well from the start.

“I’m just really happy. My phone was non-stop with calls and texts afterwards. Hopefully this will be the first time I’m at the Crucible but not the last.”

After tight wins over Xiao Guodong (10-9) and Tony Drago (10-8), Robertson faced the vastly experienced Ken Doherty in the final qualifying round.

Doherty, champion in 1997, led 6-3 at the halfway stage and logic dictated that, with all his years in the game, he would close out victory.

“I didn’t have that much to lose. Ken would have been favourite but I felt I played all right in the first session, even though I was behind.

“My aim was to win three of the first four frames and get it back to 7-6 but in fact I won all four, he started missing and I managed to come through.”

Robertson, who turns 25 the day after this year’s World Championship ends, began playing at the age of eight and also pursued a career as a junior football and had trials for Crystal Palace before snooker won out.

He first turned professional in 2002 at the age of just 16 after winning the WPBSA’s junior play-offs, one of the varied paths to joining the main tour that have been employed over the years.

He won his first ranking event match but failed to win another and was immediately relegated.

Robertson was perhaps too young for the big time but his game was also severely hampered by a mysterious attack of the shakes.

“I had it for three or four years,” he said. “Everyone gets a little shaky when they are nervous but I found myself shaking when I was practising on my own.

“I couldn’t understand what it was or why it was happening.

“I went to see a specialist, who said it may have been a condition called dystonia, which causes your muscles to go into spasm but it could also have been because I was doing weights at the gym.

“I stopped doing them, talked it over with a few people and eventually it went away.

“I didn’t talk about it for ages because it was embarrassing for me. I was shaking so much that I couldn’t hold my cue properly and could barely see the balls.

“I thought people were looking at me, wondering what was going on. After it cleared up, though, my snooker started improving.

“I still get the odd shake now and again but it’s nowhere near as bad as it used to be.”

Robertson, who won the English amateur title in 2009, owns a snooker club, O’Sullivan’s in Bexhill-on-Sea, which his parents run for him when he is at tournaments or practising.

They will have to undertake a few more shifts come April 16. He has never been to the Crucible to watch but, alongside this year’s other debutant, Andrew Pagett, will become one of 179 players to have competed there since the World Championship moved to Sheffield in 1977.

HEARN'S GLOBAL VISION GATHERS PACE

The much trailed World Cup has been confirmed for Thailand from July 11-17.

It will feature 20 two-man teams. The players for each team will be selected according to their ranking position.

For example, if the current ranking list were used this would mean John Higgins and Stephen Maguire for Scotland, Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy for England and Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens for Wales. Thailand, as host nation, will have two teams.

The event will be sponsored by PTT, the state-owned energy company, and EGAT, the electricity generating Authority of Thailand. It takes place at the World Trade Centre in Bangkok.

Barry Hearn travelled to Thailand last week to finalise details, the latest in a long line of innovations his stewardship of World Snooker has brought about in the last year.

And it gets better. World Snooker says it is in advanced discussions for a new ranking tournament outside the UK in late July. I understand this could turn out to be in Australia.

That would be a huge step forward. An Australian Open was announced way back in 1989, the only snag being that it ended up being played in Hong Kong.

Hearn clearly believes that snooker’s future rests on its global potential, which has never been properly realised.

So many countries – Canada, Dubai, Belgium, Holland and Thailand to name a few – have been visited and then dumped by previous administrations.

We saw huge crowds in Berlin for the German Masters and the last two days of the PTC Grand Finals in Dublin proved snooker is still popular in Ireland.

At this rate there will be at least ten ranking tournaments next season, plus various invitation events, including the new Brazilian Masters, and the World Cup, a picture so rosy as to have been unimaginable just two years ago.

Not content with all this, Hearn has turned his attention to Killing Cancer, a charity the governing body will support by helping to raise £250,000 over the next three years.

Surely all Barry will soon have left to tackle will be world peace...

CRUCIBLE DRAW MADE

Neil Robertson will start the defence of his Betfred.com World Championship title against Judd Trump at the Crucible on April 16.

The first round draw was made this morning:

Neil Robertson v Judd Trump
Marco Fu v Martin Gould
Graeme Dott v Mark King
Ali Carter v Dave Harold
Ding Junhui v Jamie Burnett
Peter Ebdon v Stuart Bingham
Stephen Hendry v Joe Perry
Mark Selby v Jimmy Robertson
Mark Williams v Ryan Day
Jamie Cope v Andrew Pagett
Mark Allen v Matthew Stevens
Stephen Maguire v Barry Hawkins
Shaun Murphy v Marcus Campbell
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Dominic Dale
Ricky Walden v Rory McLeod
John Higgins v Stephen Lee

At first glance, the two form players this season, John Higgins and Mark Williams, have been handed tough opening round ties.

However, neither Stephen Lee nor Ryan Day would have wanted to draw them. Lee has long regarded Higgins as the best player in the game and the form the Scot has shown this season means he remains favourite for the title, even though the Trowbridge man is playing much better this season than he has for a couple of years.

Robertson v Trump should ensure an entertaining start to the championship.

Ronnie O'Sullivan has a good record against Dominic Dale but Mark Allen is unlikely to be doing cartwheels at the prospect of meeting an in form Matthew Stevens.

The two rookies, Jimmy Robertson and Andrew Pagett, will just be happy to be there. Robertson has a very tough match against Mark Selby but Pagett may fancy his chances against Jamie Cope, who tends to blow hot and cold.

SHAUN'S SHOW

Shaun Murphy’s capture of the inaugural Players Tour Championship Grand Finals tonight was just rewards for a player for whom playing snooker is never a chore.

Murphy topped the PTC order of merit. He played in some events even after it was clear he had qualified for Dublin.

I like to see those who make the effort to show up, even when they don’t have to, receiving the spoils. Murphy fully deserves his £60,000 winner’s cheque.

His best performance in the tournament came at the quarter-final stage when he recovered from 3-1 down to beat Stephen Lee 4-3.

These were three world class frames from Murphy. He played superbly and did not lose a frame thereafter.

Bad luck to Martin Gould but a career best cheque for £25,000 will be some consolation.

Gould will be back in action on Monday morning in another Barry Hearn promotion, the Championship League (I’m guessing Martin won’t be calling for any future EGMs).

And so the first ever PTC series is over. The final was watched by a huge crowd in Dublin and clearly it is here to stay, presumably with a few tweaks here and there.

At the end of the day it’s more snooker, and that is to be welcomed...Championship League, China and then the Crucible, the next few weeks are full of green baize action.

ALL GOULD

Hats off to Martin Gould for reaching his first televised semi-final in Dublin today.

Gould beat Michael Holt 4-2, winning a scrappy fourth frame on the pink before making breaks of 96 and 100 to ease into the last four.

The Players Tour Championship Grand Finals came along just at the right time. Gould has just qualified for the Crucible and will be in Beijing too so has every reason to be full of confidence.

His deadpan demeanour belies an extremely attacking game. I note he'swatched back the first two sessions of his second round match against Neil Robertson but not the last, in which he'd lost eight of the nine frames.

This is what's known as taking the positives, and a positive frame of mind is absolutely crucial.

Gould is due to be in action on Monday mornuing in group 7 of the Championship League in Essex so if he does win the title would be advised to delay the celebrations.

ALEX'S LAST STAND

Alex Higgins would have turned 62 today.

It seems fitting that the professional snooker circuit is in Ireland on such a day. It was at Goffs in County Kildare that Higgins won his last major title, the 1989 Irish Masters.

It was not long after he had broken his ankle after falling from the window of his flat following a row with his then partner.

Higgins was thought to be a fading star. His opponent in the final, 20 year-old Stephen Hendry, was very much in the ascendancy.

Goffs showring created a unique atmosphere still much missed by players and everyone else on the circuit.

They pulled for Higgins, of course, although Hendry also had his fans. It was a great match which the Hurricane finally won 9-8.

Unfortunately for him he was required to play in the World Championship qualifiers in Preston the next day and, though he was certainly playing well enough to mount a challenge at the Crucible, was beaten by Darren Morgan.

As time passes after his death, the myths and legends around him will grow.

One thing will never be in doubt, though: Alex Higgins was a great snooker player.

LAST CHANCE SALOON

Of the 23 players taking part in the PTC Grand Finals, 12 will also be at the Crucible.

For the rest – apart from Mark Davis and Gerard Greene, who have qualified for the China Open – Dublin represents a last chance saloon to rise up the rankings this season.

It’s that time of the snooker year again: if you’re still in the World Championship you are walking tall, the hat on the side of your head. If you’re not, you’re down in the dumps. The game’s biggest event is just around the corner and you’re not in it.

It makes a big difference in mindset. The season traditionally ends with the World Championship so if you’re already out the temptation, whether conscious or not, is just to go through the motions in any remaining event.

But the Grand Finals carries 3,000 points to the winner – plus the small matter of a £60,000 first prize – so the campaign could still end on a real high for one of the non-qualifiers.

Even so, the players with the momentum are those already booking their hotels for Sheffield.

One such is Matthew Stevens, who plays Greene tonight.

Stevens is the perfect example of how the increase in tournaments has helped players rediscover their touch.

The Welshman has always been a great talent but in previous seasons found it hard to get any confidence on board due to the stop/start nature of the schedule.

Like Stephen Lee, another former ranking event winner, he has found that playing more has seen his form return.

Now it seems he is playing all the time. Even if he wins the title on Sunday he will be at Crondon Park next Monday for a possible four days of Championship League, then straight on the plane to Beijing and, a fortnight after that finishes, the Crucible beckons.

Stevens will be full of confidence, all due to a single ball, the black he potted to beat Fergal O’Brien 10-9 in the final qualifying round.

After potting it he did something out of character: clenched his fist and screamed with delight.

That’s what it means to be Crucible bound, and that’s why the players headed there are likely to be the ones to watch over the next few days.

THE PTC'S GRAND FINALE

The field for the partycasino.com Players Tour Championship Grand Finals, which start tomorrow, features a smattering of star names, some established players and a few rank outsiders.

The PTC series was a major cornerstone of the changes introduced by Barry Hearn: 12 tournaments worth £10,000 (or Euro) to the winner of each with a Grand Finals worth £60,000 to the eventual champion.

Most players embraced the chance to compete for such prize money, earn ranking points and get invaluable match practice.

It wasn’t a perfect first year. Many players feel the set up in Sheffield is far from ideal – snooker fans who can’t get in to watch would doubtless agree.

Hearn admits it was a mistake to limit qualification for the Grand Finals to players who had played in at least three UK and three European PTCs.

This meant that even though Ding Junhui and John Higgins won titles and finished inside the top 24 on the order of merit, they are not eligible to go to Dublin.

Among the other well known faces missing are Neil Robertson, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and Ali Carter.

Mark Williams, Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy are there but Stephen Maguire has withdrawn due to his wife’s imminent delivery of their new baby.

There were teething problems this season but once something is established it can be changed. Next season’s PTC standings are likely to be determined purely on a money list.

And anyway, this was a straight meritocracy. All players came in at the first round stage and the 24 players in Dublin deserve their places.

The Grand Finals represent a great chance for some of the game’s lower ranked players, such as Joe Jogia, Jamie Jones, Jack Lisowski and Barry Pinches.

On one point, though, I believe a mistake has been made. All matches are best of seven, including the final. Fair enough, this was the format for all the PTCs but a best of seven final for £60,000 seems far too short. It should be at least best of 11 to provide a sufficient test.

It will be interesting to see to what extent Irish snooker fans take to this tournament, the first carrying ranking points staged in the Republic for six years.

It’s St. Patrick’s week so attention may be turned elsewhere, although tickets for the weekend are apparently selling well.

Overall, the PTC series has been a welcome addition to the calendar. There is plenty of scope for it to grow in future years, particularly in Europe.

It’s worth remembering that the World Championship itself started off so small scale that the trophy still competed for today was bought using half the entry fees from the original championship in 1927.

You have to start somewhere and the next few days represent another chance for points, money and glory.