Snooker Loopy

China has in recent years become a hotbed of snooker. The Chinese people have embraced the game and brought the sport in their culture and schools. The ethos of starting young is prevalent across the country and snooker is part of the Chinese school curriculum. Unlike the United Kingdom that has sadly ignored the youth market for many years due to underinvestment and the mass closure of snooker clubs, China is constantly striving to produce a new Ding Junhui. This is born out when you watch snooker on television and often see players under the age of 18 competing. The recent victory for Yan Bingtao in Riga, shows that the Chinese talent on the circuit is slowly bubbling to the surface. Many of these players who were produced in China now reside in the United Kingdom, living in places such as Sheffield where there is an academy. These young men or often teenagers come to this country knowing little or no English and met by a culture that is very different from their own. However the c...

So on this last day in Riga, 8 players remained to fight it out for a chance to reign in Latvia. Play began and the results made it clearer of who get to the semi-final stage. Interestingly no top seeds remained in this stage and so the great Kurt Maflin was pitched against the Chinese player, Luo Honghao. Perhaps the pressure of progressing so far in the tournament got to Luo because he failed to make an impression in this match and his Norwegian opponent built on his great form so far and blew  the young player towards the exit door, winning the match comfortably, 4-1. Similarly Mark Joyce again kicked into gear, pushing Selby’s slayer, Stuart Carrington into the airport terminal for an early flight. The weight has definitely been lifted on these players as they can now show their worth, skills that that are largely overshadowed when the likes of the snooker elite play well. Joyce proved this by notching up a 4-1 win with a 68 break in the last frame. 4-1 seemed to be the fla...

Well this tournament is not failing to disappoint.After the controversy of the Luton flight, Mark Selby managed to get two unprecedented walkovers in a day to reach the last 33 stage of this competition and matched up with Graeme Dott today. Dott looked fearless and looked like he was going to win the match but like a finder he is, fought back and won four frames on the spin to win 4-3. He now will face Joe Perry or Stuart Carrington in the last 16. Jack Lisowski drew a tough cookie, the Welsh potter, Daniel Wells who is currently ranked 58 in the World rankings. Wells had a good run in the Scottish Open and was eventually beaten by Mark Allen. Lisowski is an infuriating player to watch because we know he is from the same mould as his great friend Judd Trump but his performance is often flaky on the television tables. Wells took the first frame with an impressive break and didn’t leave many options open for Jack. However before long, the tables turned and Lisowski produced a quality ...

So the wait is finally over and players have travelled far and wide to lock horns in Riga, Latvia. After the recent taster of the World Cup, the meat and bones of the season starts here and fans will not be disappointed as most of the top players are here to jostle for the top prize on Sunday. Over the course of the weekend, I will be giving daily reviews of some of the televised matches and reporting on the highs and hopefully not too many lows of this great tournament that players praise and enjoy to travel to. However there was a sting in the tail as 8 players including last year's winner Neil Robertson and Robert Milkins was  left stranded at Luton airport after their plane was grounded. First up was a refreshed Ricky Walden who had the youthful Chinese player, Yuan Sijun in the draw. Despite a great start from Walden and within a whisker of winning the first frame, Yuan came back at him and took the frame in the colours. Then it was on to the second with Ricky missing an eas...

Anthony Hamilton has long been a serious force in snooker and ask any current or past player about this man’s snooker credentials and you will get a glowing report. On the practice table, Hamilton is lethal and often dominates the table with century plus breaks. He is a fast player and will always punish his opponent’s mistakes. However despite this promise, Anthony has always been below the radar and until his fabulous victory at the 2017 German Masters never reached his full potential. Berlin was an emotional time for him and his parents as it was here that he finally raised some silverware and put a career win on his Curriculum Vitae. What should have been a springboard to further success fell flat and Hamilton has been scratching around ever since for tournament progress. The main reason for Hamilton’s decline is his eyesight and this was highlighted in a recent World Snooker interview. Anthony admitted that he has had corrective eye surgery, replacing his natural eye lenses with...

Barry Hawkins is one of the most accomplished players on the main tour but a recent boating accident left him with a broken rib.Hawkins described the incident to the media saying:  “I  got onto the boat, I wasn’t even drunk, but I came onto the boat and missed the last step and went over and smashed my side on something.” “It’s only just getting better and that was five weeks ago. So I wasn’t able to practice or play at all really, I just turned up.” Barry’s injury has had a detrimental effect to the start of his season with a shock 4-1 defeat to Jamie O’Neil in the Riga Masters qualifiers and had to  suffer with pain in his match against Jimmy White, battling through with a 5-3 win to qualify for the International Championship. Hawkins of course wanted to qualify for both and so has mixed emotions to the start of the season but tried to make the most of it by saying: “I got through the one I really wanted to get through in,’ continued the world number nine. ‘O...

Judd Trump has proved all his doubters wrong by raising the trophy at this year’s World Championship. The player who once tied himself in knots with self doubt, has managed to conquer his mental demons and refine his game. Unlike before, he now reigns in his shots and doesn’t attempt a pot for the sake of showmanship and instead plays safe when the game requires it. Trump was a different player in the World Championship and treated us to snooker that few players could ever play in a match let alone a seventeen day tournament. Described by Dominic Dale as a “modern day Alex Higgins”  Judd now believes in himself and the gift he has, a turnaround that he cites to now having his brother, Jack travelling with him. Jack. A necessity for any player who has to experience the loneliness and self critique of being a snooker player. Now that Trump has formulated a method to overcome his shortfalls, that barrier to true success should fall. However we all know that snooker doesn’t work like...