Snooker Rankings in 2019 - My Predictions

I read Matt at Pro Snooker Blog’s piece on who he thought would be at the top of the game in five years time and it got me thinking. So I have come up with my own list & in five years I will hopefully revisit it.

1.    Ding Junhui

In Five years I can see Ding being a multiple World Champion and sitting third in the all time century list. His expert cue ball control and added years of experience will make him a formidable opponent. Once he gets over the Crucible hump he could well dominate the game and be pushing himself into the Snooker Mount Rushmore (An American sports thing, basically the top 4 of all time).

World Titles = 2
UK Title’s = 1
Masters = 1
Ranking Titles = 8

  2.  Judd Trump

Judd is in an interesting situation, unlike previous snooker era’s where players have come through in groups Judd is currently the only player in his age group that is established at the time of writing this. As he matures I can see his game becoming more complete & him winning more major titles. I don’t think he will be the most consistent player, however with the new money list it would only take a few big wins a season to maintain a high ranking – something I think he will achieve. Along with Ding I can see Judd joining the elite list of players to have completed the triple crown. 

World Titles = 1
UK Title’s = 1
Masters = 2
Ranking Titles = 6

3.     Mark Selby

The recent World Champion is the best safety player in the game and has consistently shown the ability to win whilst not playing his best. This is the one of the most important strings to his bow; whilst his peers could have a bad day and be defeated, he usually comes through. With the new flat 128 draw at the majority of tournaments, there will be more off days for players. I think he will add another World and UK in the next five years.

World Titles = 1

UK Title’s = 1

Masters = 0

Ranking Titles = 4

4. Mark Allen

It still amazes me that Mark hasn’t had more success by this point of his career. I expect he will become more consistent in the future and win more tournaments. On his game he is almost unstoppable; however we’ve infrequently seen this outside of the Haikou World Open. He will be 33 in five years and I expect him to have reached a World Final in that time while capturing one or two of the other big three titles.  

World Titles = 0

UK Title’s = 1

Masters = 1

Ranking Titles = 4

5. Neil Robertson

Usually as players get older one of the first things to go is their long potting. This leaves proficient long potters in a situation, without change you can gift your opponent frame winning opportunities – something Stephen Hendry was doing a lot in the last few years of his career. Now I expect Neil to continue to develop his Safety game which could counteract a potential drop in his long potting proficiency.  Even at the age of 37, I expect him to be at the top of the game, he is just too good a player to drop out of the top Eight & I anticipate he will be winning more of the triple crown events over the next few years.  

World Titles = 1

UK Title’s = 1

Masters = 1

Ranking Titles =6

6. Xiao Guodong

At this time he is the only young player who has impressed me consistently. At this time he is sitting 23^rd in the rankings & I predict by the end of the 2014/15 season he will be in the top 12. I don’t have him winning any of the major titles in my predictions, however in five years time while some of the others on this list will be right at the end of their proficient title winning career, Xiao will be coming into his peak and could then be landing some of the major trophies. 

World Titles = 0

UK Title’s = 0

Masters = 0

Ranking Titles =3

7. Michael White

I’ve always been impressed with Michael White; he is a fearless player who backs his own ability at the most important phases of a match. So far his progress up the rankings has been disappointed and he looks to have stalled. However when he has reached the flagship event, the World Championship’s he has shown real quality. Once he take’s that quality to every event he enters he will shoot up the rankings and will win a few titles. 

World Titles = 0

UK Title’s = 0

Masters = 0

Ranking Titles = 2

8. Anthony McGill

Scotland’s next big hope is Anthony McGill; he is an exciting young talent who shows maturity beyond his years and an understanding of the game. You can see little bits of Graeme Dott, John Higgins and Alan McManus games imprinted on McGill. At this point of his career I feel he lacks a little confidence in his ability, however when he breaks through I can see him being one of the toughest players on tour to defeat, therefore his high ranking. 

World Titles = 0

UK Title’s = 0

Masters = 0

Ranking Titles = 2

A few others to look out for in the next five years: Jack Lisowski, Kyren Wilson, Liang Wembo, Shane Castle, Ben Woollaston, Kurt Maflin & injury dependent a resurgent Jamie Cope.

Visiting the Crucible 2014

2014 and my third trip to the home of snooker & it didn't disappoint.

After the long train journey from Edinburgh and a quick hotel check in it was time for Sheffield’s best takeaway. An excellent large Brisket Burrito from “Street Food Chef” hit the spot & it’s the perfect pre-snooker session lunch.

The view from our seats

We were in the 2nd row this year and watched as Shaun Murphy constructed a 2-0 lead only to fall apart like an Ikea sofa against Ronnie O’Sullivan. Knowing he should have been 4-0 up at the mid session interval (it was 2-2) he got more and more desperate and handed O’Sullivan the remaining four frames to trail 6-2. It was a strange session, entertaining but not the highest quality. Murphy was excellent to see up close, his technique was by far one of the best I've seen up close & obviously the Rocket is in the same category.

We saw the final two frames of Neil Robertson v Judd Trump on the other side and it was clear Robertson was struggling at this point, Trump finished with a good century to a surprising 6-2 lead.
Strolling back through Tudor Square there was a chance meeting with Mark Selby outside the winter gardens. Wearing his full snooker gear he was far from discreet, even the drunk with his bag of lager took notice.

I took the opportunity to ask the rather stressed looking Mark for an autograph, which he kindly obliged, while my dad failed to take a picture of me and Mark, ending up with a fuzzy picture of a bench – one to treasure. You can see the autograph below, it looks like “Marky” to me but I’m not complaining. As I made my way in the opposite direction Mark was mobbed like a member of One Direction outside the Crucible, unlike Harry Styles though he was mobbed by middle aged men & the recently retired community.

In the evening after a disappointing Barbecue meal at the Smoke Point we settled outside for a few beers. A few tables along from us was a couple of Cockneys who had obviously started a few hours earlier, at one point the conversation flowed loudly along these lines

“I love you man, I hate you, you know what I want to kill you!”

We moved inside as it got dark but those hardy cockneys stayed outside for a good few hours yet, whether they were able to construct any coherent sentences we will never know. Inside, to my delight I found out the bar sold Viru, the best of all Estonian beers I might add. This full flavoured and light beer was the perfect tonic after a long day of Snooker and travel.

We talked about how good the Crucible is and other such Sheffield/Snooker based topics. While at the next table Steve Davis sat having his dinner and conducting a rather long winded interview. As the Viru’s flowed the table on the other side of us was filled, it was only snooker legend Matthew Selt, oh and Stephen Hendry was there as well. I then saw the bar staff wheeling away an empty box of Viru, had I really drunk that many?

Surely they had another box?

Davis joined the Hendry, Selt party and we had a table of 13 World Titles, and Matt Selt.
I couldn't bring myself to interrupt Davis, Hendry & Selt. My old man wasn't so bothered and came back with Hendry & Davis’s autograph. An avalanche of fans then descended on them from the tables around us, while Matt Selt had to sit sipping his cocktail sadly not being recognised. The bad news however was that the bar was out of Viru & the recommended replacement was a poor imitation on Talin's tastiest.

The great Steve Davis

The great Stephen Hendry

A much more relaxed Mark Selby walked in after winning 8 of his 9 frames in the evening session to lead Alan McManus 12-4 overnight. A few celebratory drinks were had as a sure-fire place in the semi final was going to be his. At least he hadn't won that evening, as we had tickets to his side of the table in the morning.

In the morning we saw the final two frames in the McManus v Selby match. Alan constructed a lovely break to win the first but Selby clinched an easy victory in the 2nd. For the remainder of the morning we watched as Ronnie crushed Shaun Murphy. Obviously still mentally scarred from the start he threw away in this match.

A burrito for the train home and our quick trip was complete. Till the 2015 championship!

Mark Selby wins the 2014 World Championships

Leicester’s son dedicates 18-14 victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan to late father.

It was a superb display of match play from Mark Selby to defeat the two time defending champion O’Sullivan. With only one frame winning break on the opening day of the final it was an amazing achievement to only trail 10-7. Winning the final two frames of Sunday night’s session to close to 10-7 was crucial, it kept Mark in contention and he knew he couldn’t play any worse. 

Refreshed on Monday he raced out of the blocks winning all four frames, razor tight match play prevented O’Sullivan from being able to create any chances. They shared the following two frames, both missing several opportunities/frame balls, however most surprising was O’Sullivan’s miss on the pink in the final frame. Only needing to pot a sitter of a pink into the middle pocket, he tried to power it in and get on the black, subsequently missing and leaving it on for Mark. It showed that the afternoon of excellent match play had left O’Sullivan a little jaded. Mark potted the pink and a tough black to win the frame and lead 12-11 going into the evening session. 

An interesting intro by the BBC in the evening, depicting the Crucible as a Gladiator’s arena while using the score from Batman instead of Russell Crowe’s Gladiator. We then had a line of World Champions next to the table, all very nice except someone should have brought a dinner jacket for Joe Johnson. 

The evening session was much the same as the afternoon, O’Sullivan starting with an impressive large break but then not being able to create opportunities. Selby’s safety throughout was excellent and his long potting consistent, although he wasn’t winning a lot of frames in one visit I don’t remember him missing once in the balls. Therefore he was able to always play a good safety shot if he missed and left no easy chances for Ronnie. 

Unlike previous first time champions I was quite confident that Mark would have no problem getting over the line & I was correct as he sprinted over it. The break in the final frame was a man full of confidence, ready to grab his opportunity. In winning he picked up the biggest cheque in snooker history, a cool £300,000, catapulting him to the top of the new Snooker Money list - looking at the new money list I think the Worlds has too much of a gap over other ranking events, Ding who won five events and isn’t even in the top two on the new ranking system.

 Overall it was a good tournament and much more enjoyable than the previous two. I enjoyed my visit for the quarter finals and have already booked my tickets for next year’s quarters at the time of writing this. The best player won and the overall standard was better than in the previous two years.

I will have a piece about my 2014 visit up in the next few days and we are only a few weeks away from the start of next season.

ITV extend their interest in Snooker

Barry Hearn has just announced a five year extension of the Champion of Champions event on ITV4. Due to the success of last years CoC ITV4 have also signed up for a new non ranking event called the World Grand Prix.

At this stage all we know is that the prize pool will be £300,000 with the winner taking away £100,000 and only the top 32 on the money list will be eligible. The event will make it's debut in early March 2015.

The CoC event will only feature tournament winners this November, winners from EPTC's, APTC will be invited. In the likely event that there isn't 16 individual tournament winners Barry said they would even invite the Shoot out and Seniors champions.

Barry was also very positive about the increasing viewing figures from Eurosport & the BBC during this years World Championship. However he stated he would be having discussions with the BBC over some of their coverage, specifically over the leaving matches at crucial times in order to show a repeat.

World Championship Round 1 review

Ronnie O’Sullivan v Robin Hull

As is tradition the defending champion was the main attraction on the opening morning. His opponent, Robin Hull was the lowest ranked player in the draw, but I thought gave a good account for himself. He looked very solid and did himself justice, however I would have liked to see him cast of the shackles somewhat. He was overly cautious, as lower ranked players usually are, and the Rocket came through a comfortable 10-4 winner without needed to excel. 

Joe Perry v Jamie Burnett

Joe Perry has had an excellent season and would have been feeling confident about making a good start at this year’s World Championships. I’m going to use the old Football cliché – It was a game of two halves – and this match was a great example. The first session was excellent match play from Jamie Burnett while Perry struggled to impose his high scoring game.  Trailing 6-3 overnight, Perry came out hot and won six straight frames, stunning his opponent into submission. Although Burnett was able to stop the run of frames he could only add one frame to his overnight total before Perry completed a good 10-7 victory. 

Shaun Murphy v Jamie Cope

While the quality of the opening week has been questionable the drama hasn’t been and this was one of four deciding frames we’ve had the pleasure of viewing. First of all it’s great to see a rejuvenated Jamie Cope, while he has one of the more unique techniques, when he plays well he’s a superb player. I thought this match was of up and down quality but the drama kept it interesting, in the end Murphy grabbed his opportunity and the lack of big match experience might have cost Cope. Hopefully Jamie continues to get to the later stages of tournaments as he is an asset to the game.

Marco Fu v Martin Gould

Marco was able to avenge his two first round World Championship defeats to Martin Gould while also looking very solid. The Jekyll and Hyde character that Marco often is during a season showed its better side. If Marco can gather some momentum he is one of the few players who aren’t fazed by playing O’Sullivan & they are drawn to meet in the Quarters.

Ricky Walden v Kyren Wilson

I had this down as a shock & felt good after Kyren made a quick start and led 3-1 at the opening midsession interval. From there Ricky fought his way back and the quality just dropped down quite a few notches. By the end neither player could pot more than a few balls in a row, almost breaking the record for the longest frame in Crucible history, finishing 3 minutes shy of the 75 minute record. Ricky was able to crawl over the line but it was very poor performance.

Ding Junhui v Michael Wasley

With five ranking event victories and six finals a lot of people thought this was the year for Ding. 1/66 coming into this against a complete unknown in Michael Wasley we were given my favourite match of the first round. I can’t remember a more mature and surprising performance from a debutant, cool and composed his century to force a decider was one of the bravest and best breaks I’ve seen in a long time. The draw is rather favourable and if Michael was to play at that level again he would be favourite to reach the quarter finals.

John Higgins v Alan McManus

Alan has had a good few months and defeating John Higgins 10-7 in this match will surely top it so far. From the start he controlled the match, creating openings with excellent safety and not taking any risks while in the balls. Higgins was very slow to get going and it wasn’t until he was 9-4 down he reeled off three straight frames with good breaks. At this point it looked like Alan was stumbling and Higgins would complete another memorable comeback, however it didn’t materialise and he had left himself too much to do. Instead of being dismayed by an early exit, Higgins was portraying a much more positive outlook, claiming he was getting close to being a threat again.

Stuart Bingham v Ken Doherty

I must admit I gave Doherty very little chance in this match, I thought Bingham was a good draw for him but Ken had only won three matches in ranking events this season. Inspired by his surroundings Ken was excellent against an under par Bingham and won 10-5 after being 3-0 down. Now due to face another older player in McManus this is the classy match player part of the draw & I’m very much looking forward to Doherty v McManus.

Judd Trump v Tom Ford

This looked like a good match on paper but ended up being very scrappy with uncharacteristic misses by both players. Trump crawled over the line and will need to improve if he has serious thoughts about winning the title. 

Stephen Maguire v Ryan Day

Many had picked Ryan Day to cause an “upset” in this one; they were correct however it was a lot closer than I expected. Maguire has been struggling with a lower back injury and I’ve been disappointed with his season, having fallen before the quarter final in seven of the nine ranking events he entered this year. In this match though Maguire played looked a lot better & Ryan Day had to play very well to get over the line. In the decider he was the more aggressive player and created his own chance and took it very calmly. 

Mark Allen v Michael Holt

Fighting with food poisoning against a tough opponent in Michael Holt, Mark was able to get over the line with a comfortable 10-4 victory. Both fiery characters this match was more entertaining off the table than on and Allen will be hoping for a quick recovery before facing Robertson in round 2.

Neil Robertson v Robbie Williams

Neil looked very fluent in his first round victory over Robbie Williams, adding three centuries to his season total; he now stands four short of a ton of centuries. This was a very professional performance, something that we’ve become very accustomed too with Robertson as he ran out a 10-2 winner.  

Also Barry Hawkins completed a routing 10-4 victory over Dave Gilbert & Ali Carter defeated Xiao Guodong 10-8. It just felt a little too early for Xiao and Carter was able to exhibit more maturity.

Dominic Dale’s return to form continued with a 10-5 victory over Mark Davis, although he really struggled to get over the line at the end.  Mark Selby & Michael White had an entertaining first round, eventually Selby clinched a final frame victory but I was impressed for the second straight year with Michael White, he needs to sharpen his safety but he looks fearless. 

The first round lacked quality but was very entertaining; I expect the quality to increase in the 2^nd & I’m particularly looking forward to Marco Fu v Shaun Murphy & Neil Robertson v Mark Allen.

2014 World Championships Preview

The final pieces of the 2014 World Championship draw were completed today at lunchtime.

In short the already very tough bottom half was strengthened even further while the top half is looking more and more predictable.

Robin Hull, the lowest seed to qualify, has the daunting task of facing two time defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan on Saturday. This
already looks like an impossible task and a potentially kinder opening draw for the Rocket.

I picked out four players I thought were the ones to avoid before the draw: Xiao Guodong, Kyren Wilson, Michael White & Martin Gould. The unfortunate seeds to draw these players are Ali Carter (v Xiao), Ricky Walden (v Wilson), Mark Selby (v White) & Marco Fu (v Gould).

There will be an all Scottish affair after John Higgins was drawn to face his former mentor Alan McManus, good friends off the table this will prove to be a tough but enjoyable match for both players.

Tom Ford v Judd Trump and Ryan Day v Stephen Maguire are both very enticing first round encounters in the already stacked bottom half. I fancy Trump to progress in a tight match. Given Maguire's current form he might be another seed to fall to the three time Crucible quarter finalist Day.

My Predictions in full are

    Ronnie O'Sullivan 10    v     3        Robin Hull          
    Joe Perry       10     v       5    Jamie Burnett          
    Shaun Murphy     10    v     5    Jamie Cope          
    Marco Fu     10    v     6    Martin Gould          
    Barry Hawkins     10    v     4    David Gilbert          
    Ricky Walden     8    v     10    Kyren Wilson          
    Mark Davis     8    v     10    Dominic Dale          
    Ding Junhui     10    v     2    Michael Wasley          
    Mark Selby     10    v     7    Michael White          
    Allister Carter 9    v     10      Xiao Guodong          
    John Higgins     10    v     7    Alan McManus          
    Stuart Bingham     10    v     4    Ken Doherty          
    Judd Trump     10    v     8    Tom Ford          
    Stephen Maguire 6    v     10    Ryan Day          
    Mark Allen     10    v     6    Michael Holt          
    Neil Robertson     10    v     5    Robbie Williams

In recent seasons we've seen a lot of top seeds fall, however this year I've only picked four to fall from 16 matches.

I think the quarter final line up will be

Ronnie O'Sullivan v Shaun Murphy
Hawkins v Ding Junhui
Xiao Guodong v John Higgins
Judd Trump v Neil Robertson

Semi's

Ronnie O'Sullivan v Ding Junhui
John Higgins v Neil Robertson

This is what I think might happen, but it's also a bit of dream semi final line up. The best players of the last 15 years and the new two best players in the world. I would actually pick both the older World Champions in Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins to meet in another World final, one that would surely be a classic, and a 5th World Title for the Wizard of Wishaw.

The Curious Case of Mark Allen

Good memories and good form.

Mark Allen is a phenomenal snooker talent, however without this good run in the World Open he was staring at a possible qualifier for a place at the World Championships in five weeks.

It was in Haikou two years ago he went on one of his many twitter rants about the venue & the surrounding area, however in riling himself up, he produced some of his best snooker and won the tournament. Last year there was none of the previous rants but the high quality snooker remained and he defended his title.

This season he has hardly set the world alight, so when his need was at it's greatest he has summoned his form from nowhere and is now in tomorrow's semi finals. Talent isn't a problem, application and motivation I couldn't say however there have always been up and down players in the game, he has the feel of a Matthew Stevens, will have a few exceptional tournaments but will we be left feeling disappointing when the dust settles on his career. I hope more than anyone that this is incorrect, I find him one of the most engaging characters in the game and his on table action is among the best our sport has to offer.

So tomorrow he will face Shaun Murphy, who has re-gained his confidence - the key to Murphy's attacking game. I would fancy Allen to win after today's self-assured display against Higgins. However the big questions isn't about this weekend with Mark Allen, it'll be about the following three tournaments and whether he will go back into his shell or continue his good form?

O'Sullivan wins Best Picture at the Welsh Open

There are a lot of arguments about how the standard at the top of snooker has gotten worse, this may or may not be true. However I would argue that the standard bearer, Ronnie O'Sullivan, is actually playing the best snooker of his career at the moment. His opponents are mere shadows of their normal self when they play him, allowing him to flow graciously around the table. Mesmerizing his millions of fans and envious compatriots.

Sunday provided another moment of genius for the already 3 hour Oscar winning drama that would be his highlight reel. A 7 minute 25 seconds 147 in the final frame of the final, admittedly the score was 8-3 at the time and the risk was worth taking. Along the way he hit some of the most beautifully executed shots, technical feats that Alfonso Cuaron would have been proud of. The left handed red into the green pocket where he screwed back perfectly for the black was impossibly difficult in an exhibition, let alone the last red of a 147. Stephen Hendry on twitter called it "one of the best shots he's ever seen", nothing else needs to be said.

I'm listening to Coldplay's new single Magic while writing this and it feels very apt. I've never been O'Sullivan's greatest fan, however I'm a fan of snooker and there is no denying he brings more moments of magic than most.

I suppose I should get some stats out of the way:

3rd Welsh Open Title (Joint most wins with John Higgins & Stephen Hendry)
12th Maximum break (now top of all time 147 list)
26th Ranking Event (3rd on his own now, only two behind Steve Davis & 10 behind Hendry)

Ding reached another final in this remarkable season he is having, having won 39 of his 43 ranking event matches this season he is making a charge at Neil Robertson's number one ranking. I was glad we saw a smidgen of his limitless talent tonight when he won the opening two frames with superbly crafted centuries. Sadly it was all too late and a slow, nervy start in the afternoon cost him dearly.

The tournament as a whole was excellent in the latter stages. I still stand by my original opinion that the early rounds should be played away from the venue, they are dull and it's not fair for players to be traveling long distances in the middle of a tournament.

Next up is the Haikou World Open, where Mark Allen has reigned supreme for the previous two years. Can the Antrim potter make it a three peat.