History of the British Open

The British Open makes a return to the snooker calendar after being absent for over a decade and a half as the event finds a home in an already packed calendar for 2021/22. The long running, near two-decade tournament has been won by all the greats of the 1980s/90s and will now see the current generation of players attempt to add their names to the impressive list before them.

The British Open was branded and introduced in 1985 to add to the handful of ranking events that existed during the 1980s. Similar to most ranking events, The Open followed the format of a series of short-form matches, culminating in a best-of-17 final (with the exception of the earlier editions of the event).

It’s an event that has been won by all the great names that you can think of going back to the golden decades of snooker – Davis, Hendry, White, The Class of ’92, Paul Hunter and more. Hendry and Higgins share the most British Open trophies with four each, claiming almost half of the victories in this tournament during its original tenure.

If you’re a fan of maximums, the British Open seems to be a breeding ground for the perfect break. The tournament has seen six maximum breaks achieved, three of which were compiled during the 1999 iteration. These were made by Stephen Hendry, Graeme Dott and Jason Prince (in qualifying).

The British Open had a significant presence in Derby from 1985-94 before moving to Plymouth until 2000. For the final few years that the British Open existed, it moved across various locations such as Newcastle, Telford and Brighton. If WST can adhere to the name of the event and have it held at various locations across Britain each year, I think this would be a great sight for the tour.

Whether you’re a fan of the decision to add another event to the calendar will depend which perspective you view it from. If you’re a player, then you’ll probably relish a further opportunity to make some money and win an event. Alternatively, it could be seen as another event that players are obligated to compete in thus burning them out even more. If you’re a fan, you’ll probably view this is the same manner. Or you’ll be delighted at the fact that you’ll be able to watch some more snooker.

This is more of a display of the change in management as Barry Hearn stepped aside from his governing responsibility as Chairman and passed the mantle to Steve Dawson. I would imagine this being the first of a series of ideas that Dawson plans to implement in order to plant his flag and make his mark. My question is, will the newly revived British Open be included as part of Home Nations series?

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Snooker Rankings Update (End of Season 2020/21)

As the 2020/21 season came to an end, we’re going to look at the movements in the rankings and how the World Championship has had an impact on the positions of those who ventured far within the tournament. Once again, the rankings highlight just how far ahead the Top 4-5 players are against the rest of the pack under the prize money system. But the race for No. 1 may be closer than you think…

The most interesting aspect of the rankings lie at the very top, primarily between Judd Trump and Mark Selby. This year’s WSC proved to be significant to the rankings because Trump would have lost his points from his 2019 WSC win, whilst Selby has now gained a stronger position for two years thanks to his triumph. This change has closed the significant gap that Trump had over second place to just under £100,000. Which, to these guys, is the difference between winning a ranking event or two. Selby and Trump now have ample motivation going into next season, so it’ll be fascinating to see to comes out on top.

Shaun Murphy and John Higgins have swapped places at 5 and 7. Murphy’s run to the final boosted his rank while Higgins saw the last of his WSC final points from 2019 erase from his status. Higgins would have seen a more drastic drop in his rank had it not been for his dominant performance at the Players Championship.

Neil Robertson and Ronnie O’Sullivan see drops in their rankings by one place as a result of Selby’s win. There isn’t much that separate these two but there is a substantial amount separating them from Trump and Selby. O’Sullivan is in a vulnerable position with regards to his ranking if he isn’t able to either win a major, or a few ranking titles to maintain his position. Given his current and recent form, do you think either of these is likely? Most of the points carrying O’Sullivan’s position come from two seasons ago so these will start to evaporate as next season progresses.

The disparity between positions 8-16, as always, remain close and within 100,000 ranking points. A ranking event win for any of these players along with a strong remainder of the season will see a dramatic rise in their ranking. But easier said than done, right? The same competitiveness exists in and around the Top 16 position. There’s going to be a lot of movement between players around this rank as each tournament progresses.

The players I’d be keen to see how their performances plays out next season are Jack Lisowski, given how he effectively doubled his points earned this past season. Also, Yan Bingtao as he will see his points from 2018/19 start to fade away. Unfortunately, his magnificent win at the Masters did nothing to benefit his rank so he remains at No. 10. David Gilbert fell out of the Top 16 at the end of the season as he and Gary Wilson’s impressive semi-final performances at WSC 2019 have been deducted from their point’s total. Lastly, Bingham is one of those players who are better than what their rank indicates, so I’d be surprised if he doesn’t win anything next season.

What do you think? Who do you predict will end next season as No. 1? Who will win the most events? And who will win the major events?

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Is Mark Selby an All-Time Great?

Following Mark Selby’s big win at the Worlds, many are left debating whether this cements his legacy among the elite as one of snooker’s all-time greats. Selby will humbly tell you that he wouldn’t consider himself at the same level of those handful of individuals who stand at the very top, but let’s look at his accomplishments and see how they stack.

Winning the Worlds has tied Selby at fourth on the majors list alongside John Higgins – only surpassed by the Trinity that is Davis, Hendry and O’Sullivan. That alone would normally be sufficient to warrant a claim to be an all-time great considering the (deserved) praise that Higgins frequently gets. However, I think those that aren’t necessarily fans of Selby’s playstyle tend to dismiss how well he’s actually done.

Being able to win a tournament isn’t easy in this day and age, let alone a major event. Even more impressive, and something I consider a player must have to be viewed as a great, is winning each major at least twice. Selby has 4 WSCs, 3 Masters and 2 UKs to his name. Technically speaking, this means that I considered Selby an all-time great even before his recent win. And I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with that, because I knew that Selby was going to win another world title.

The stats clearly justify Selby’s position as an all-time great but the manner in which he’s done so is also something to be considered. He’s already established a legacy as someone who won’t go down without a fight and has partaken in a number of classics where he’s shown just this. In fact, one of my favourite things that I would hear would be when online commenters talk about Selby being 100 points behind and still coming back to the table to play for snookers. Whilst funny, I think of it as a positive characteristic.

Some may call him a torturer or grinder but the way I see it is Selby controls the game how he wants it and is able to feed off the weaknesses of his opponents when they become frustrated and start making mistakes. Every sport is like that. No one goes into a match with the intention of losing and after years of watching Selby play, you’d think players would still be better prepared for it. And if you ask any of these fans/players whether they’d switch snooker brains with Selby, they would take it in a second.

And he does have an underrated snooker brain. I think ‘Sat Nav Selby’ is his most appropriate nickname. When you’re in trouble, I don’t think there is any other player many would choose to have at the table (check out his epic snooker/safety battle against Marco Fu at WSC 2016). And when it came to pressure shots, there are fewer that buckled less than Selby.

A lot of people weren’t fans of Davis and his style when he was in his prime yet he’s considered as one of the all-time greats, without question. It seems like time will be one of those factors where people may consider Selby as an all-time great down the line. He still has plenty of years ahead of him and many more titles which will only further support his claim to be considered among the greats.

However, if you look at what he’s accomplished as it stands, you can’t deny that Selby is at the very least one of the greats of the modern era. Undisputed World No. 1 for over four years, held the No. 1 spot for seven seasons, fourth on the all-time majors list and a fortress on the snooker table where he wouldn’t give his opponents a single inch. So yeah, I think Selby’s pretty good.

What do you think?

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Mark Selby World Snooker Championship 2021 – Shorts Thoughts

The World Snooker Championship has just wrapped and Mark Selby has reached the mountaintop once again as he claimed his fourth world title, last winning in 2017. When Selby last won the WSC, he was at the height of his powers showing his best form with multiple ranking titles each season and winning three championships in four years. Since then, Selby’s success dwindled leaving many to wonder whether he’d be able to reach the summit once more.

Selby had a relatively faultless journey to the title with comfortable victories over Kurt Maflin, Mark Allen and Mark Williams up to the quarter-finals. It wasn’t until he faced a qualifier in Stuart Bingham who gave him his first real signs of trouble. Despite not being in the Top 16 (at the time), Bingham is a problem for any top seed. Bingham’s attacking playstyle almost negated the effects of Selby as he almost ran him all the way to another semi-final decider.

Consistent long-potting, break building and always formidable match-play carried Selby through to the final. However, it wasn’t until his second session against Shaun Murphy where prime Selby really shone through. Prime Selby is the guy who dictates the pace of the match to go how he wants. Prime Selby is also the guy who doesn’t give his opponent a single inch. Prime Selby is methodical, lethal and a blockade for anyone who he comes up against. And from the second session of the final, Murphy experienced just that.

The most impressive thing about Selby is how he doesn’t crumble under the pressure. When it comes to the difficult pressure shots, Selby doesn’t miss. He is probably the most reliable, under pressure potter there is. He did begin to lose his long potting a little when he got closer to the finishing line when Murphy was closing in, but Selby’s patience along with the damage he did throughout the contest was enough to see him through to his fourth world title.

There aren’t any players that I think would have withstood the impact of Mark Selby in that final. I think Judd Trump would have made for a good matchup given the contrasting styles, but I feel that Selby would have gotten the better looking at both players form during the tournament. Ronnie O’Sullivan’s approach last year may be the only way to stop Selby in his tracks, which Bingham almost honed in during the semis, but at the end of the day, the WSC is a test of patience. And Selby has this in absolute abundance, which is why he was my favourite going into this year. He hasn’t won the most events this season, but he didn’t need to. He’s won enough and played well enough over the past couple of seasons to put himself in good stead.

And now Selby is among those considered the greatest. Four WSC’s puts him ahead of Williams and level with John Higgins. If he didn’t lose in the semi last year (which really, he shouldn’t have), then it’s safe to presume he would have won last year as well. Nevertheless, there can be no argument as to the legacy Selby has created for himself. The modern day Steve Davis, Peter Ebdon, whoever you want to compare him to; Selby has forged his name into the history books by playing the game the best way he knows how.

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