To Qualify or not to Qualify?
If you ask any player in the modern game what is their least favourite experience and the response would be the qualifiers. Whether you are a player who is fighting to get onto the tour or remain on it, the nerves start to jangle when they have to travel to a venue where in reality they would rather escape through the nearest fire exit. History has produced the likes of the Norbreck Hotel or Prestatyn holiday camp where players were cramped into qualifying cubicles in large, cold rooms for hours on end, playing multiple opponents that ultimately could lead to defeat when they crawl though, mentally battered and bruised to the first round.
Another location that has made the headlines in recent days is the Barnsley Metrodome. This is a place that people loathe to travel to but unfortunately if they want to get to the first round of the China Championship, this is a must. With qualifiers come heartache and several of the greats have fallen by the wayside as a result. Early casualties have been Stuart Bingham beaten by Northern Ireland’s Jordan Brown, 5-3 and Ali Carter lost to Alexander Ursenbacher from Switzerland. Bingham especially has a few qualifying scars this season with Bingham losing two of three of the first events of the season. He also missed out on the Riga Masters. The 2015 champion will now have to wait for the Six Reds Championship in Thailand at the start of September and the Shanghai Masters the following week for a chance to win more silverware.
Other players who nearly fell over the snooker precipice are John Higgins who crawled across the line against the rejuvenated Andy Hicks, 5-4 and Barry Hawkins who found himself behind in his match against Barry Pinches but fortunately came back in the match to win, 5-3. However it wasn’t to be the same outcome for Jimmy White who sadly lost to the rapidly improving Hossein Vafaei from Iran. White twice led in the match 3-1 and 4-2 but Vafaei reeled off the last three frames to win 5-4. This left White still trying to reach the first round of a 2019/20 event. Better news for Jimmy is that he has reached the final day of the World Seniors at the Crucible in Sheffield.
Unfortunately qualifiers are a must for players and the cruel aspect makes or breaks a player. Some might agree and others not with the system but it definitely creates players that are hardened to the knocks of snooker and can inevitably progress a player to the new or established territory of the match tournament setup. Any player’s career will have ups and downs but it the wins that they want to remember and not the defeats. This sport can be cruel but any player knows that they will have to play out of their skin to raise a trophy. Otherwise they will be buried beneath the snooker history books of time, a distant memory and forgotten.
Another location that has made the headlines in recent days is the Barnsley Metrodome. This is a place that people loathe to travel to but unfortunately if they want to get to the first round of the China Championship, this is a must. With qualifiers come heartache and several of the greats have fallen by the wayside as a result. Early casualties have been Stuart Bingham beaten by Northern Ireland’s Jordan Brown, 5-3 and Ali Carter lost to Alexander Ursenbacher from Switzerland. Bingham especially has a few qualifying scars this season with Bingham losing two of three of the first events of the season. He also missed out on the Riga Masters. The 2015 champion will now have to wait for the Six Reds Championship in Thailand at the start of September and the Shanghai Masters the following week for a chance to win more silverware.
Other players who nearly fell over the snooker precipice are John Higgins who crawled across the line against the rejuvenated Andy Hicks, 5-4 and Barry Hawkins who found himself behind in his match against Barry Pinches but fortunately came back in the match to win, 5-3. However it wasn’t to be the same outcome for Jimmy White who sadly lost to the rapidly improving Hossein Vafaei from Iran. White twice led in the match 3-1 and 4-2 but Vafaei reeled off the last three frames to win 5-4. This left White still trying to reach the first round of a 2019/20 event. Better news for Jimmy is that he has reached the final day of the World Seniors at the Crucible in Sheffield.
Unfortunately qualifiers are a must for players and the cruel aspect makes or breaks a player. Some might agree and others not with the system but it definitely creates players that are hardened to the knocks of snooker and can inevitably progress a player to the new or established territory of the match tournament setup. Any player’s career will have ups and downs but it the wins that they want to remember and not the defeats. This sport can be cruel but any player knows that they will have to play out of their skin to raise a trophy. Otherwise they will be buried beneath the snooker history books of time, a distant memory and forgotten.
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