9 thoughts on “News from the Snooker – 31.10.2023”

1. On average, Kenna scored fewer than 10 points per frame. Mink, today, scored just above 20. The latter, with a frame score of 70, got within a whisker of winning a frame, but did not. That’s all merely from scrutinizing the results.

   Now, they have every right to be and remain on the main tour. It was always clear that the leap from the women’s to the main tour would be huge, and expectations at the beginning should not be all that high. On the other hand, much has been made of the enormous benefits women are to derive from their participation on the main tour, benefits not available through other means. These benefits, one would think, should show up in the form of, over time, improving results. I see no improvements.

   The experience women make is, with few exceptions, one of being unable to qualify for the main stage. That doesn’t seem a way to settle in. Instead of hoping for better, I am starting to ask why they are doing that to themselves. No one, really, will gain confidence, a sense of “I am right where I am supposed to be”, undergoing this ordeal – and that’s even before taking into account the howlers in the (a-social media) ranks gleefully remarking, “Serves you right”. I still cannot answer that question. It’s all expenses, getting clobbered, and being confronted with a substantial performance gap that doesn’t seem to narrow. It’s also not a way to gain the confidence required to bring one’s best to the table.

   It’s disconcerting – very much so.

   • Another reason why I don’t enjoy the snooker tour these days very much. 😦 I expected nothing of Kenna or Evans, but had hopes for Mink, Baipat and Bay Yulu, all of whom expressed a desire to play on the main tour, instead of poking balls on the women’s tour, neither have they spent too much time on the women’s tour to have their game irrevocably damaged by it. I did not expect much, but at least winning a few matches and certainly not to break down all the time when seemingly making a reasonable break. As if they expected to lose no matter what. There was a time when I thought they mature a little later in snooker than men, as their games in their 20s was very similar to that of 16-.year old boys, but as the talented boys made the change and improvement, these women continue lagging behind them. I don’t watch much of the women’s tour, but watched the US Open final between Mink and OnYee. I thought Mink played great there: she scored, she made breaks. It did not depend on who her opponent was, because once she was in, she played the table. I find it very sad she cannot replicate it on the tour, not even after one year. I hate the social media denigrating them, but increasingly fear there is a point to it. Very disturbing.

     • There are a few important differences Csilla. First of all, most of the time the women don’t play on star tables, fitted to main tour standards. Second, when playing on the women’s tour, they know that they are likely not to be punished, should they miss. This means that they don’t get the same pressure. Third, whatever Jason Ferguson and co want to say, there is a definite physical component in snooker. Mink, Baipat and Bai are all frailer, and smaller than most if not all of their male opponents. There are shots they physically can’t play because they are petite and don’t have the power men have. Also they need the rest more often than most. Somehow that puts them in a no mans land. They are too good for the women’s tour as it is, they need stronger opposition to get better and Mink in particular HAS got better even if it hasn’t translated into main tour wins. I’m not sure what the answer is though… Do you know what happened to Serena Williams? She’s no doubt the stronger woman to ever play on the tennis women tour. She once accepted a challenge to play against men… and couldn’t’ beat anyone in the top 200 … she wasn’t strong enough, she wasn’t tall enough.

     • I can very well relate to a lot of the above. Except, Evans just beat, this September, both Ng On Yee and Bai Yulu at the UK Championships – 4:1 each time. So, I don’t quite understand why your comments on her are so dismissive.

       As to Monique: Navratilova, imperially lording over female tennis back then couldn’t win a single set against her coach, #300 something in the world ranking. But, tennis is way more physical, and physically demanding than snooker, so the differences should be proportionally smaller. Moreover, insofar as snooker has a physical component, that’s, in large part, a disadvantage that can be reduced by training. So, these thin arms should go and be replaced by something decidedly more muscular. That takes time, and effort, certainly, but if they want to compete with the big boys, that excuse shall be dismissed. Rather, they should get to work, pushing weights and all.

     • I’m sure they do Grump, but unless they take male hormones they will never develop the kind of muscles men have… and that comes with other consequences. Jamie Hunter who is a transgender female said that her hormonal treatment drastically reduced her muscular strength and that now she can’t lift anywhere near the weights she was lifting before going through it.

     • It is all very sad. If I remember correctly, Mink did not use the rest that often in the US final, I was quite impressed with that. As to being small: Moody is a rather small guy and he IS adapting a lot faster and a lot better. I do realize that missing shots on the women’s tour is a lot less fatal than on the main tour, but after a year I would have expected Mink to toughen up mentally and get used to the professional standard table. Tennis IS much more physical and it is also a reactive game as you have to be able to handle what your opponent throws at you. Here that factor at least does not play. I don’t know, I was just so happy to see them get the tourcard, especially because the women’s tour is rather terrible, But frankly, the current state of affairs is quite disheartening.

     • My comment on Evans, Grump? I have the impression, that Evans’ only ambition is to be a good woman player and beat other women, but I don’t see she is in any way trying to adapt to the main tour. In a way being in her late 30s and having spent her snoooker-playing time mainly on the women’s tour, I think it damaged her game enough not to be very useful on the main tour. If anything, I find it worrisome for Mink and Bai Yulu that they lost to her so bad. But as it is just one match, I try not to jump to conclusions. But being the flagship player of women’s snooker, it is very bad IMO to see her results (I mean, a lack thereof) on the main tour.

     • Sure, no woman can beat a top-trained man in physical power. Also, that isn’t necessary. I still wouldn’t advise any average man to get into a melee with Serena. He’d end up badly clobbered. But, accelerating a cue much faster than the feeble powers of “petite” women ordinarily allows, that can be improved, with enough of an effort put behind it.

       On the other hand, no one has ever accused Trump of lack of cue power. Does he come across as a man of bulging muscularity? For to me, he does decidedly not. So, it would appear, it’s a matter of the right kind of training (speed and maximum strength are quite different things), and, perhaps even more importantly, controlling the shot – or the cue – even when on maximum acceleration. Still, I agree, not every last aspect of gender differences may be overcome. Yet, it is also exceedingly possible to narrow that gap, so as to broaden the realm of possible shots.

       Finally, women may well in the end have to develop their own game, find different shots not requiring male strength, and different tactics to get there. They may end up in a place on an equal footing by dint of playing a smarter game than men do. I, for one, would be looking forward to that.

       As an aside, thinking back at what I have seen during the last week, I lost count of how often the object ball jumped right back out of the pocket because that *** *** *** *** thought nothing other than a cue ball at the speed of sound would do. That’s easily the most obvious kind of male nonsense women could avoid emulating. Or so I thought.

       ….

       As to Csilla: I, too, fear Evans missed some formative years, years when boys make the biggest strides toward extending and completing their game, spending time on things like, say, earning an income (not off snooker) or rearing kids. However, I find not even a shadow of a hint of evidence for the suspicion she’s any less than fully committed towards competing on the main tour, even though she has just one single knock-out win to her name thus far in this season – which incidentally puts her above all other women in the ranking. So, yes, she’s a 12 time world champion, and not easily dismissed.

     • Judd is quite tall. He has not bulging muscles, but he’s the “dry” type, lean body. Lisowski is similar. (I have seen them both in their shorts… there were no changing rooms at the PTCs ). Both of course go to the gym regularly. Ronnie has mentioned quite a few times why Judd’s unorthodox technique allows him to play shots most other can’t. He’s not hitting the white like the others do, he’s “whipping” it, a bit like a spintop and his “timing” is exceptional. I’m not sure that can be taught.