After the highs … here come the lows

Players going missing …

Ding Junhui

Quite incredibly for a player of his talent, Ding didn’t go past the quarter finals in any ranking event this season, and he only reached that stage once. He did better in invitational events, reaching the final in the 2018 six-reds World Championship, and the semi-finals in the 2018 Shanghai Masters and the 2019 Masters. The puzzling question is: why? The way he played in Sheffield, I had the feeling that his heart wasn’t in it, that neither the belief, nor the desire were there. Ding has been elevated to national hero status since he won the China Open at just 18, and with the glory came huge expectations and huge mediatic pressure. When I write huge, I mean really, really huge.  Has it been too much, too early and for too long ? I believe it has.

But, there may be more. Ding has lost his mother two years ago, in January 2017; they were very close. At the Crucible that year, he beat Ronnie in the quarter finals and then gave Desmond Kane from Eurosport a very emotional interview. Ding then lost in the semi finals to the eventual champion, Mark Selby, the same man who had beaten him in the final the year before. Since that defeat, something seems to be broken. Or maybe, his priorities have changed. He’s a father now. After losing to Judd Trump this time – in the second round – Ding was all smiles at the thought of being reunited with his little daughter. Maybe, it’s just a case of life being more important than snooker for him nowadays, and the realisation that it can’t be taken for granted.

Mark Selby 

Mark Selby’s case is different, but somehow even more surprising. He won the World Championship in 2017, hurt his foot over the summer and since has gone missing, in the UK and in Europe at least. A winning Mark Selby still seems to “exist” in China: he has won the 2018 China Championship this season, the 2017 International Championship and the 2018 China Open last season. Meanwhile, during the same two years he hasn’t been able to win two consecutive matches in any of the triple crown events in his home country. He is playing well in patches, but the consistency is gone. The confidence is probably gone too. The desire is there though, Mark’s strong reaction to the bad shots and misses during his match against Gary Wilson was both uncharacteristic and revealing.

Yes, Mark, the fans are just as nonplussed as you are yourself.

Yu Delu, Cao Yupeng, David John and Jamie Jones

Those have actually gone missing, all of them being hit with suspension and ban over match fixing or failure to report related approaches.

Here are some articles and WPBSA posts related to those cases:

Yu Delu and Cao Yupeng match-fixing: Chinese pair banned in snooker corruption scandal

Yu Delu and Cao Yupeng snooker match-fixing: Inside story on Chinese pair

WPBSA Disciplinary Hearing Finding: David John and Jamie Jones

Jamie Jones says suspension was ‘horrendous’ after being cleared of match-fixing

That players still haven’t learned from previous cases – and the punishments coming with them – is quite baffling. Do they believe that they are smart enough to will get away with it? Or are they in such despair that they are ready to take such a risk? I can only suppose that this is not a “one answer fits all” situation. Cao Yupeng and David John clearly weren’t winning enough at the time they were approached to make a living out of their snooker. I’m just stating a fact, not excusing them, but it may explain why they were vulnerable to the approach. Yu Delu wasn’t in such desperate situation though. Yu is actually the only Chinese player without “academy” background, he was basically a hustler before turning pro. Jamie Jones didn’t fix any match, nor did he bet on snooker but he made himself an accomplice in the David John case.

Independently from the background of each case, every of them is damaging to the sport and, unfortunately, human nature being what it is, scandals usually get more space than positive news in the media.

Also, whilst I perfectly understand that zero tolerance is the only way corruption can be fought out of sport, I can’t help but feel a bit sorry for Cao and Jones. After that bad spell, Cao had been obviously working hard, and had recently reached his first final. Jones, to his own admission, didn’t think clearly under the circumstances and I guess that a culture of “not grassing on mates” played it part in his indecision. Jones’ ban ends on October 10, 2019. He was ranked n°39 when he was suspended, he has now dropped off the tour. He’s not entered the Q-school, most certainly because his ban doesn’t allow him to do that, and that means that, effectively, he can’t be back on the tour before the 2020/21 season. I’m not sure that this is entirely right.

The return of the “toiletgate”

Barry Hearn in his most recent announcement has come back with the totally daft idea that toilet breaks should be “monitored”, most certainly with the idea to put restrictions on them as the next step. I thought that this nonsense had been buried for good, not so.

First of all I see absolutely no evidence that toilet breaks are being abused. In the very vast majority of cases, on the TV table, the player taking a break is back before the balls are set and the commercial break is over. Mid frame breaks are a rarity. Players do drink a lot during matches, often they are under a lot of stress too, and not everybody has a strong bladder (or bowels). Occasionally players might go out briefly just to collect themselves. Is that an issue? I don’t think so. Surely, if a player were to seem to abuse the situation, and there is a suspicion of gamesmanship, the situation can and should be left to the responsibility of the referee? Players suffering from a minor health problem, might be advised to tell the referee privately before the match starts maybe. Anymore than that is completely unnecessary and could lead to embarrassing and humiliating situations.

This one gets my annual “Golden Turkey” award.

The conditions

The tables, and the conditions have been a constant talking point again this season. At times during the World Championship – the biggest event of the season – they were shocking. It was a pings and kicks festival. So much so that it attracted harsh criticisms in post-match interviews from players who had just won, so it wasn’t “moaning”. John Higgins was quite radical about it: he would have table 1 put to the fire if he had it his way. Seriously, is there no way to fix those issues? I have been around the tour for long enough to know how hard the fitters work, and for very long hours deep into the nights as well. If they are to blame, then it can only be because they are under-staffed. If so, recruiting more of them is a good way to invest the sports money. If not, then other factors should be seriously taken into consideration, tables, rails and cloth being the obvious candidates for scrutiny.

The obsession with meaningless statistics: AST and centuries

At times, listening to commentary, you would think that snooker is all about making centuries, and that they are the ultimate measure of “high standard”. Whilst centuries are nice to watch – and good for the supported charities – they are only one aspect of the game and my feeling is that they are over-hyped recently. There was barely a frame played by Judd or Neil where their season century tally wasn’t put forward. This is NOT a dig at Judd or Neil, it’s being tired of the constant emphasis put on that aspect of the game. For the record, when Ken Doherty beat Stephen Hendry in the World final in 1997, his highest break was 85, Hendry had made 5 centuries but was beaten by 18-12 which was quite a damning score.

The other thing is AST, average shot time. I, personally, hate deliberate slow play, and I do think it IS an issue with some players and should be tackled. However, the tools for that exist: it’s in section IV of the rules. Nothing more is needed. BTW, a high AST isn’t necessarily a measure of deliberate slow play, and very long matches are not necessarily those where players have a high AST. Many factors come into considerations. There is no denial that every fan who has been following the sport closely knows that matches are likely to drag when they involve certain players, but it’s because of their style of play and shot selection much more often than because of their AST. And you can’t really put rules into place to “ban” certain choices of shot, can you?

The players of the season

Judd Trump

Judd won the 2018 Northern Ireland Open, the 2019 Masters, the 2019 World Grand Prix  and the 2019 World Championship this season. By becoming World Champion, he became only the 11th player to achieve the Triple crown, and, if it wasnt enough, he broke a record in the World Championship Final by becoming the first player to have seven centuries in a World Championship final. This is by far his best season ever, and it’s all because a much welcome change of attitude: working harder than ever in practice, less partying and showing off and, in competition, playing a more measured game, still very attacking, but supported by very strong safety skills.

Ronnie O’Sullivan

Ronnie had a record-breaking season, winning five tournaments: the 2018 Shanghai Masters, the 2018 Champion od Champions, the 2018 UK Championship, the 2019 Players Championship and the 2019 Tour Championship. In the process, he broke a good number of records: he became the first player to have won the UK Championship 7 times (Steve Davis has 6), and by doing so he also became the first player to have won 19 Triple Crown events (Stephen Hendry has 18). He made it to two more finals, at the 2018 Northern Ireland Open and at the 2019 Masters, losing both times to Judd Trump. He passed the symbolic bar of 1000 centuries, the 1000th one, a 134 being scored in the last and winning frame of the Players Championship 2019. By winning the Tour Championship 2019 he equalled Stephen Hendry tally of 36 ranking titles and returned to World n°1, despite a reduced schedule. Plus … well,  of course, there was a 147, his 15th, at the English Open 2018. Working with Eurosport ahead of the World Championship he called this season in a series of mini interviews. It’s a real shame that it all ended in a disappointing first round exit in Sheffield caused by ill-health.

Neil Robertson

Neil Robertson won three events,  the  2018 Riga Masters, the 2019 Welsh Open and the 2019 China Open. He was also runner-up three times, at the 2018 International Championship (losing to Mark Allen), the  2019 Players Championship and the 2019 Tour Championship (losing to Ronnie O’Sullivan in both). It was quite a remarkable turnaround for Neil who, at the start of 2018, missed the Masters because he was out of the top 16 and is now n°4 in the rankings. Off the table issues – video games addiction, family issues – had caused his level to dip, but he overcame his addiction, now actively trying to help others who might be caught in it, and living a happy family life – compounded by the birth of a baby girl – gave him the impetus he needed and rekindled his appetite for competition and winning.

Most improved player

David Gilbert

David had lost his tour card at the end of the 2010/11 season and managed to requalify immediately through the Q-school. He struggled badly. Eight years later, he’s in the top 16, finishing the season at n°12 in the rankings. He has played in two finals this season: the 2018 World Open where he was beaten in a deciding frame by the reigning World Champion, Mark Williams, and the 2019 German Masters where he lost by 9-7 to Kyren Wilson. He reached the top 16 for the first time, starting as a seed at the World Championship. Having never won a match at the Crucible, he reached the semi-finals, losing by 17-16 to John Higgins. He was unlucky to get a kick whilst in the balls in the deciding frame. Hard work pays off. David also made a 147 this season, the 147th 147 actually, at the Championship League Snooker … in front of his opponent and the referee. And, maybe best of all, David remains a very humble, unassuming guy, who has conquered the heart of many fans!

Rookies of the season

Joe O’Connor

Joe, aged 23, managed to reach the last 32 five times in his maiden season as a pro, and reached the semi finals at the 2019 Welsh Open. Having started at the very bottom, he climbed to n°75 in the rankings. During the season he beat his fair share of top 16 players: John Higgins (2x), Ding Junhui and Kyren Wilson.

Luo HongHao

Luo, only 19 years old, managed to win his first round match in 8 out of  the 16 tournaments he played. He reached the quarter finals at the 2018 English Open, losing by 5-3 to Ronnie O’Sullivan, but having beaten Neil Robertson and Anthony McGill en route. Luo managed to qualify for the Crucible in his first season, beating Marco Fu, Robbie Williams and Tom Ford to get there. Starting at the bottom, he finished the season ranked n°81.

Match of the season

That has to be the 2019 Tour Championship semi-final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump for me. Having been heavily defeated – 10-4 – by Judd in the 2019 Masters Final, Ronnie trailed 6-2 and 8-5 and was never in front in the match before winning by 10-9 in a dramatic deciding frame. That match had everything, great snooker, flukes, unexpected fouls, twists and turns. It was probably the closest and hardest fought match of the season, and a great come-back.

The 2019 World Championship Final was very high quality, but because Judd Trump was able to build such a big lead in the second session, it lacked that element of tension and drama that the above match provided aplenty.

Magic Moments

Ronnie mixing with the crowd after his  2018 UK Championship victory. This was an unexpected, unplanned, spontaneous, joyful celebration with the fans from someone who has so often looked down on himself even in victory.

The final moments of the 1000th century, with the crowd on its feet, involved and cheering on every shot. Ronnie going in-off on the last black, Neil Robertson in stiches and the camaraderie …

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh winning the 2019 Shoot Out with an awesome break and lost for words with joy after winning his first title. I strongly object to the Shoot Out ranking status, but Theppy was awesome and it meant so much to him. It was quite endearing.

Best decision

Giving Leo Scullion the honour to referee the 2019 World Championship Final. It couldn’t happen to a more deserving person. Leo is a great referee, a simple, humble and lovely man who takes immense pride in his duties as referee. He’s respected and he’s loved by his peers, and by the fans. We almost lost him to cancer, and here he is, standing at the Crucible, to take care of the final.

He did a great job. Of course! That was never in doubt!