This is WST report about what happened yesterday at the 2023 Scottish Open Qualifiers.
Whirlwind Set For Edinburgh
Jimmy White scored his first match win of the season with a thrilling 4-3 defeat of Welshman Duane Jones at BetVictor Scottish Open qualifying.
The ten-time ranking event winner enjoyed a strong 22/23 season, which saw him earn a fresh two-year tour card thanks to his performances on the one-year list. However, as of yet, he hasn’t quite carried that into the current campaign.
Having trailed 3-1 this afternoon, White took the fifth frame and then made a crucial 61 in the sixth to set up a decider. He controlled the final frame and earned his place in the final stages in Edinburgh, which kick off on December 11th.
Last week’s BetVictor Northern Ireland Open runner-up Chris Wakelin showed no signs of a let up in form, scoring a 4-2 win over Mark Joyce. Wakelin composed breaks of 72, 66, 67 and 71 to ensure his progression.
Jordan Brown top scored with a run of 130 in his 4-2 win over Adam Duffy and David Gilbert came through a final frame decider to beat Jak Jones 4-3.
Aaron Hill earned his place with a 4-1 win over close friend and mentor Ken Doherty, while 2015 World Champion Stuart Bingham whitewashed Michael White 4-0.
It’s hard not to love Jimmy White who, at 61, is still loving the game, still trying hard and still playing some decent stuff most of the days. I understand why he’s making the headline of this report.
What I don’t accept though is WST – WORLD Snooker Tour – once again totally excluding the non British/Irish players from their report. Do they know that there are snooker fans outside their island(s)? Do they care? I wonder. I doubt it very much.
Yesterday’s results can be found on snooker.org.
SEVEN non British players were in action yesterday, FOUR of them WON their match: Lukas Kleckers from Germany, Xu Si from China, Thepchaiya Un-nooh and Manasawin Phetmalaikul from Thailand. NOT ONE of them is mentioned in the above report. NOT ONE! Manasawin Phetmalaikul, a rookie ranked number 123, beat Ben Woollaston, the number 45 and a former ranking event finalist, and … nothing. NOTHING. If it were Stan Moody it would probably be the headline. Not that Stan wouldn’t deserve the exposure, he would but it should not be because he is English but because he played well and won… and therefore the four above deserve it just as much.
… and meanwhile Willo is in China playing Chinese pool. Good on him!
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
I’m afraid that’s the way modern media works. They may claim to support values like ‘diversity’ or ‘inclusivity’, but they do so only in a totemic way (i.e. ‘virtue signalling’). If Mink Nutcharut had won her match, it would certainly have been a story.
Nowadays, it all revolves around social media approval ratings, and they have calculated that the overseas players don’t generate as many ‘likes’ as players known to largely British respondents.
But in a week where Dechawat Poomjaeng has quit due to lack of adequate sponsorship, it would appear that overseas players need all the exposure they can get.
Yep, at least some parts of modern media work that way. More fundamentally, they expect to cash in on the celebrity value of celebrities they hope to create, while also striving to give the boys from the home team a leg up and leaving Those people to rot in a news blackout.
I’ve long wondered who is writing these pathetic reports of little to no informational value, until I realized it doesn’t matter. It’s done with the assent, possibly on the orders, of the WST management – otherwise it would have been changed in no time. We get to observe the very limited, narrow view the WST has of snooker. It’s safe to assume that, say, the Chinese watch that (along with other preferential treatment for the home team), are at least as dismayed about it as we are, and they may well decide that the WST is best kicked to the curb, if they haven’t done so already.
All told, it’s stupid, thoroughly unfair, and a disservice to snooker.