2016/2017 Season Review

At the start of the season I put a little something together, looking at some of the new tour players, new events on the calendar and in general my three players to watch. When the new season begins after Q School is completed on the May 20, with qualifiers for the Riga Masters and China Championship starting on May 31, a similar blog with more players to watch, info on new players and tournaments will be produced. Before then, this blog will comprise a re-cap of the season, those that have dropped off tour and those that have been saved by other means and an evaluation of my players to watch.

TOUR SURVIVAL: 

As always when a season comes to a close, players will be leaving the tour and some will be starting again from £0 on the ranking list. Those that will be leaving the tour, unless they can get back on via Q School, are:

Dechawat Poomjaeng (Poomjaeng has not taken up the opportunity to enter Q School)
Joe Swail
Martin O'Donnell
Jamie Cope
Jamie Burnett (Having not competed on the tour since July 2016 Burnett has also decided not to enter Q School)
Allan Taylor
Sean O'Sullivan
Paul Davison
Sanderson Lam
Zhang Yong
Duane Jones
Sydney Wilson
Darryl Hill
Fraser Patrick
James Cahill
Gareth Allen
Igor Figueiredo (Igor only entered the World Championships in the 2015/2016 and could not make up lost ground in the back half of this season.) 
Hamza Akbar (Akbar has been handed a 'special dispensation' meaning he will be given a new two year tour card for 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 seasons. This will be instead of an America's tour card as no All America's Championship took place this year. Further details )
Michael Wild
Jason Weston
Hatem Yassin (Yassin failed to win a single match in two years as a professional and has not entered Q School) 
Itaro Santos (Santos failed to win a single match in two years as a professional and has not entered Q School) 

Meanwhile, the following players have managed to regain their playing rights for next season having finished in the top 8 not already qualified for next year via the 1 season money list: 

Akani Songsermsawad
Rhys Clark
Robin Hull
Rod Lawler
Ross Muir
Nigel Bond
Eden Sharav
Ian Burns

HONORARY TOUR CARDS: 

- After dropping off of the tour this year Ken Doherty and Jimmy White have been offered honorary tour cards to continue competing on the tour for the next two years.



SEASON REVIEW: 

To start looking back at the season, here are all of the events that took place, the winners as well as the runner-up and final scoreline.

Riga Masters - Neil Robertson defeated Michael Holt 5-2
Indian Open - Anthony McGill defeated Kyren Wilson 5-2
World Open - Ali Carter defeated Joe Perry 10-8
Paul Hunter Classic - Mark Selby defeated Tom Ford 4-2
Shanghai Masters - Ding Junhui defeated Mark Selby 10-6
European Masters - Judd Trump defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-8
English Open - Liang Wenbo defeated Judd Trump 9-6
International Championship - Mark Selby defeated Ding Junhui 10-1
China Championship - John Higgins defeated Stuart Bingham 10-7 (Non-Ranking event)
Champion of Champions - John Higgins defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-7 (Non-Ranking event)
Northern Ireland Open - Mark King defeated Barry Hawkins 9-8
UK Championships - Mark Selby defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-7
Scottish Open - Marco Fu defeated John Higgins 9-4
The Masters - Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated Joe Perry 10-7 (Non-Ranking event)
German Masters - Anthony Hamilton defeated Ali Carter 9-6
World Grand Prix - Barry Hawkins defeated Ryan Day 10-7
Welsh Open - Stuart Bingham defeated Judd Trump 9-8
Snooker Shoot-Out - Anthony McGill defeated Xiao Guodong
Gibraltar Open - Shaun Murphy defeated Judd Trump 4-2
Players Championship - Judd Trump defeated Marco Fu 10-8
China Open - Mark Selby defeated Mark Williams 10-8
World Championships - Mark Selby defeated John Higgins 18-15


Plenty of ranking event winners there. First off Anthony McGill put in a very good performance to win his first ranking title at the Indian Open. A fabulous effort from him. After Neil Robertson won the Riga Masters playing some brilliant snooker and scoring very heavily, it has probably surprised many that this was his only title of the season. Ali Carter was able to get back into the winners circle and the world's top 16 with victory in China at the World Open. Joe Perry was unlucky to lose out in that final, and had he won his season would have turned out much differently to the loss in the second qualifying of World qualifying that saw his season come to a close.

The season really kicked into gear at the Shanghai Masters as Ding Junhui earned another win on home soil and his first ranking event win for the best part of two and a half years. Then Judd Trump had the first of his hot spells in the season, winning the European Masters with a nice comeback in the final against Ronnie O'Sullivan, losing out in the English Open final to Liang Wenbo, and the semi-finals of the International Championship to Ding. This was certainly the first of two parts in the season that helped the bookies decide he was worthy of being one of the favourites for Sheffield.

A mention needs to be given to Liang Wenbo, another of this season's first time ranking winners. November was mainly about John Higgins as he took the back to back invitational titles with exemplary performances in the China Championship and the Champion of Champions. The signs were all out in force at this stage that he could have the run that followed at the World Championships.

In Northern Ireland there was a very special moment for Mark King as he won his first ever ranking title, and then gave a very emotional interview with his family straight after the final. A third ranking title for Marco Fu over at the Scottish Open closed out 2016. Fu probably could have won more but the story of his career will surely be inconsistency. While this season has been pretty good in the second half, he did not pass the last 32 in a ranking event until the UK Championships.

The new year started in a fashion that many would have expected. Another Masters title for Ronnie O'Sullivan. It is his seventh triumph in London overall coming from his 12th Masters final. A simply incredible record in an event as big as this one. If he plays for three more seasons then you would not write off his ability to make that ten Masters title.

Another first time winner came at the German Masters with Anthony Hamilton brushing the field aside. Ali Carter, Stuart Bingham, Barry Hawkins and Mark Selby were amongst the victims for Hamilton that week, and what made the win even more incredible was the fact that he started the season with a fresh two year tour card and £0 on his ranking after dropping out of the top 64 at the end of the 2016 World Championships. Barry Hawkins then showed some very strong form at the World Grand Prix as he denied Ryan Day the chance to add his name to the first time winners list in the 2016/2017 campaign. This was Hawkins third full ranking title and probably his biggest one so far.

The final home nations event of the season belonged to Stuart Bingham. Bingham managed to hold off Trump in the final and win a deciding frame to win the Welsh Open and his first ranking title since becoming world champion in May 2015. A long wait for Bingham but one that made this one even more special. Shaun Murphy showed some of his best snooker in Gibraltar, winning one of the smaller events on the calendar but one that still counts as a full ranking event and led to Murphy's seventh career ranking title. These 'European Tour' style events seem to suit Murphy, winning three in 2014 when they were minor ranking and making the final of the Paul Hunter in 2015, so he has to be a front runner for these weekend expeditions.

Again this point in the season was another hot spell for Trump. Having taken back to back runner-up cheques at the Welsh Open and Gibraltar Open but he soon put that right by winning the Players Championship straight after. Overcoming O'Sullivan on the way and clawing his way back into the final from 5-2 down he made another statement of intent ahead of the world championships. However, things did not end well for him in Sheffield. After saying he was worthy of the bookies favouritism and that he would win easily against Rory McLeod in round one, he fell to McLeod 10-8. Some people say he looked to be struggling with back or shoulder pain, but as he seemed to have a lot less talking to do after his loss (skipping the press conference) it is always hard to tell.

The season as ever belonged to Mark Selby. Three massive victories winning the International Championship, a second UK Championship title and the small matter of a third world title in his back pocket. These wins along with the China Open and Paul Hunter Classic and a runners-up cheque at the Shanghai Masters saw the world number one affirm his place at the top of the rankings. In all he collected £859,550 from the 2016/2017 season alone, and on the two year ranking list he has smashed the million pound barrier and then some, reaching £1,298,425 for the last two seasons. A truly phenomenal effort from a player who is dominating the rest in these big events and finding a way to peak at exactly the right times in the year.


PLAYERS TO WATCH: END OF YEAR ASSESSMENT

At the start of this season I picked out three young players who I thought would be ones to look out for during the 2016/2017 season. While all three had some nice results to show and some high points during the year, one stood head and shoulders above the rest.

Yan Bingtao - One of the first things I stated was that rookie Yan Bingtao would have two years to get inside the top 64 on the main ranking list which would keep him on the tour. He has smashed that target in the first year by finishing 56th on the ranking list and 27th on the one season list. There is a genuine chance that he could end his second season on tour inside the world's top 32 if he carries on, but after this season the expectations have risen rapidly. By Christmas he had already made the last 16 in four events (Riga Masters, Paul Hunter Classic, English Open and Northern Irish Open) and the last 32 at the International and UK Championships (the two biggest money ranking events outside of the world championships). The German Masters was his best run of the season, making it all the way to the quarter-finals and stamping his place in the World Grand Prix (for the best 32 ranked players of the season to that point). The fun did not stop there as he toppled world champion Mark Selby to reach the last 16 in Wales and ended the season with a flourish by winning his three qualifying matches for the world championships. At the Crucible he won his first frame with a century break and pushed Shaun Murphy to the limit, with the 2005 world champion enjoying yet another close battle, this time finishing on the right side a 10-8 winner. It was his win against Murphy in the 2015 Champion of Champions, his first match TV match on UK soil, that really showed me what he was capable of and now no-one could doubt that he is a very hot prospect.

Zhao Xintong - Fellow Chinese player Zhao Xintong did not quite reach the same heights but he certainly has a lot of positive points from which he can build. His best run saw him make the last 16 of the German Masters, narrowly losing out there to eventual runner-up Ali Carter after beating John Higgins in the qualifying event. Zhao also pushed Ronnie O'Sullivan all the way at the English Open and showed a lot of what he could do in that match, as well as making the last 32 at the Riga Masters and Gibraltar Open. If Yan was a thorn in Murphy's side through the season, it was Mark Williams that Zhao pushed close a few times. In China Open qualifying Williams won 5-3 from 1-3 behind in a tournament he went on to make the final of. Just before travelling to Beijing Williams met Zhao again in Gibraltar coming through 4-3. Having narrowly missed out on automatic world championship qualification, the Welshman then drew Xintong in the first round of qualifying. From a position of 4-0 in front Williams then found himself 7-5 down before winning the final five frames to win 10-7. There's still a lot of room for improvement and I expect a few deeper runs from Zhao next season and ultimately believe he will finish in the top 64 to retain his tour card.

Sam Craigie - Craigie won the least of the three players I picked out but by no means was his first season on tour a bad one. He came out of the blocks very early on in the season with a win over Marco Fu on the way to the last 32 at the World Open. In International Championship qualifying Craigie led Neil Robertson 5-3 before narrowly losing out in a deciding frame, which showed some promise even if he did not earn the win. At the Northern Ireland Open he had a front row seat for one of the better short format performances of all-time. Craigie lost 4-1 in the last 64 there to John Higgins who made a maximum 147 break along with breaks of 130 and 137. At the UK Championships he overcame newly crowned Irish open champion Mark King in round one before again losing narrowly to eventual quarter-finalist Luca Brecel in the last 64. He unfortunately suffered a few first round exits in the back half of the season, including in world championship qualifiers where he had the incredibly tough draw of Yan Bingtao. Despite that Craigie led 8-4 at one stage before losing the final six frames and the match 10-8. For a first year back on tour that is a learning curve but we have seen before that he has the talent to do big things in the game and I think we will see more of that next season.



WORLD SNOOKER AWARDS

Just to round off my end of season review, here's a look at who took home trophies from the world snooker awards dinner.

World Snooker Player of the Year - Mark Selby
Snooker Writer's Player of the Year - Mark Selby 
Fans Player of the Year - Mark Selby 
Rookie of the Year - Yan Bingtao
Performance of the Year - Anthony Hamilton (For winning the German Masters)
Magic Moment of the Year - Mark King (For winning the Northern Irish Open)

Hall of Fame Inductions - Jimmy White and Clive Everton 

More domination then for Mark Selby as he took home the three big awards. There is no surprise that Yan Bingtao was named rookie of the year as he was the stand out player in that regard. Overall though it was nice to see recognition for Hamilton and King, while I am actually surprised that Jimmy White and Clive Everton were not already in the hall of fame so that was probably a little overdue.


That is all then for the 2016/2017 snooker season but it will not be long before we go again with another new season, and looking at some of the names that will be joining the tour this year it is one that I am already excited for.