Championship League: Late entry Selt wins second group

I think you have to see the small amounts of irony in the fact that it was only on Tuesday evening before the Wednesday morning start to group two, that Matt Selt got the call to ask if he could step into the group after the late withdrawal of Neil Robertson (Despite Selt not being close to first reserve, and this time there was enough notice for certain others to make it down). Two days and eight games later however, Matt Selt took the group two crown and booked his place in the winners group with group one winner Barry Hawkins. An odd statistic to come from Selt's run is that every single one of his games win or lose, barring his 3-1 loss to Michael Holt went to deciding frames.

From the rest of the group Judd Trump was the losing finalist to end four decent days at Crondon Park for him, while Marco Fu gratefully took the second chance handed to him by sneaking into fifth place of group one and narrowly surviving elimination, to make the semi-finals before losing to Judd. Ali Carter topped the group at the end of the round robin stages and looked on course for the final when leading Matt Selt 2-0, but Matt battled back to win the final three frames and the match 3-2.

The lucky man this time was Stuart Bingham who finished in fifth place of the group, narrowly avoiding elimination by winning just a couple of extra frames in his six matches. This means that Robert Milkins and Michael Holt were the two players that just fell short on frames won in the end and propped up the table in sixth and seventh to be eliminated. Here's everything that happened yesterday at the Championship League courtesy of the famous Annison notepad:

That's the Championship League over for a week and a half with group three beginning on Monday 19th January with Trump, Fu, Carter and Bingham being joined by Walden, Ryan Day and Mark Davis. What it's time for this coming week though of course is the Masters from the Alexandra Palace in London, and as always that will be an absolute cracker of an event.

I'll be back either later on tonight or tomorrow with my preview with the Masters, and it's going to be one of my biggest and toughest previews yet with so many good title candidates, but also so many tight calls for round one games that you could quite simply flip a coin on, so it'll be important for me to find the right angle on those.

Championship League Group 2 - Day 1

It was a slightly less eventful day at Crondon Park on day 1 of the second group of the Championship League after two days where there wasn't much time to catch your breath with the chopping and changing going on. With Stuart Bingham, Judd Trump, Marco Fu, Ali Carter, Robert Milkins, Michael Holt and Matt Selt in the group you know there would be some even contests and a very even group which is exactly what we have after day one.

Robert Milkins, Michael Holt, Stuart Bingham and Matt Selt all have a point from their opening round robin fixtures, with Holt playing four of his games while the others on a single point have only played 3. Ali Carter is third in the group having won a couple of his opening 3 games, while it's Judd Trump and Marco Fu that top the group having won 3 of their opening four, with Fu's only loss coming against Trump, while Judd's came against Matt Selt who is quickly becoming a sort of bogey player for Trump.

In fact, of yesterday's 12 games in the round robin stages, half of those games went down to a deciding frame in this best-of-5 frames format, which shows it truly is anyone's game on day 2 of the group. Here's exactly how we look today courtesy of the Annison notepad (and today free of mistakes):

 

 

What this all means is that anyone of Carter, Selt, Bingham, Holt and Milkins could really make the semi-finals or get eliminated by finishing in the bottom two. Trump and Fu's advantageous end of day one position probably means that they'll finish nicely in the top four and make the play-offs while i expect that Carter will win at least one of his remaining three to make the top four. I expect Stuart Bingham to survive despite the fact that he does have some tough games today to achieve that, while Matt Selt has a very good chance of survival himself as he looked in good form yesterday. Michael Holt having played a game more looks in big trouble as he can no longer afford to lose a game in reality, while Robert Milkins needs to pick up some wins, but also if he does lose too many of his remaining games he needs to pick up some vital frames, as it may come down to frames won and he's only managed a single frame out of the two matches he's lost so far which is a disappointing return.

 

 

For me Trump is probably playing some of the better snooker in this group and I think he is a cut above the rest, so if he wants it i think he can win this group quite comfortably.

 

 

I'll of course be back tomorrow with the news of who did win the group and who'll be in group 3 in a week and a half's time following the Masters at the Ally Pally, a preview of which will be done on Friday and Saturday. 



Championship League: Hawkins beats Bingham to take Group one

Barry Hawkins has won the first group of the Championship League with some fantastic snooker on the way to beating Stuart Bingham in the group one final. Stuart finished top of the group following the round robin stages, having only lost one game to Judd Trump, who ironically was his semi-final opponent. Judd had only won a couple of games to make the semi's but was 2-0 ahead on Stuart before the local man came back to win 3-2. Meanwhile, Barry Hawkins finished third and had a semi-final with Neil Robertson where Barry played very well in winning 3-1 and then winning the final by the same score.

Stephen Maguire was eliminated finishing bottom of the group, while Mark King fell just a frame short of saving himself from elimination, though he was only in as a replacement for Shaun Murphy at the last minute from the groups start, so anything for him was a bonus. Marco Fu was the lucky/unlucky player who finished fifth in the group missing out on the semi-finals but also saving himself from elimination.

Here's exactly how day 2 of group 1 panned out:

Today then sees the beginning of group two where Stuart Bingham, Marco Fu and Judd Trump coming in from group one are joined by newcomers Ali Carter, Robert Milkins, Michael Holt and Matt Selt has also been drafted in at short notice as a replacement for Neil Robertson who oddly chose to withdraw after group one, the reason for which is unknown but we hope whatever it is the Australian is ok.

Stuart Bingham was the strongest man in group one of the league and he was also my group one tip, so I expect him to do well while Judd Trump seemed to find a little bit of form on day two so he'll make a better fist of this group. Marco played quite poorly in group one so could be in some trouble over the next two days, as Holt, Milkins, Selt and Carter are all quality players and it's hard to pick a couple of players from this group that will be eliminated. It will all come down to how well prepared all of these players entering in group two are prepared and how much work has gone in over Christmas. Robert Milkins really struggled in the Championship League last season so that's something to watch out for, while of course Selt is a very late replacement again and it is a surprise to see him drafted in at world number 37, though he is a very good, hard working player so he'll be fully prepared for the next couple of days.


Who knows what will happen over the next couple of days, because so far there's been plenty going at Crondon Park with late withdrawals and even a maximum break on Monday, but i'll of course be back tomorrow with an update at the halfway stage of the Championship League's second group.

Championship League Group 1: Day 1: An eventful day in Essex

As snooker returned for the first time in 2015 on the tour, it was an incredibly eventful day at Crondon Park where it literally all seemed to be happening. First up the news arrived very late to everyone it seemed that Shaun Murphy had withdrawn from the tournament as he has been ill with a virus. That all seemed to happen an hour before play started (despite the fact he actually withdrew well in advance) which mean Mark King stepped in living just 20 minutes from Crondon Park and with a revised schedule we started 30 minutes late at 12.30pm. Once we did get going, there was some on table excitement in Barry Hawkins second match against Stephen Maguire in the second frame where (starting from a fluke) Hawkins was able to make a maximum break at around 3.30pm from my memory, so just three hours into snooker in 2015 we'd already had our first 147.

Now it's time for me to show you a picture I've taken of my (what shall surely become famous) notepad with all of yesterdays results and the as it stands table on written on it. For a little bit of fun you can also try and spot where I was forced to test my new pen after the previous one ran out.

 

 

 

As you can see from that Stuart Bingham had the perfect day and would already seem to be into the semi-finals with two games left having won all four of his first games. Neil Robertson has won three of his first four games and is also on target for a top four finish while it's anyone's game from the remaining five players for the two other semi-final spots. Barry Hawkins had a nice day after his 147 against Maguire as he won two of his opening three games, but another good day is needed from him today with plenty of players breathing down his neck. Marco Fu and Stephen Maguire were both only able to record one win from their opening four games, with both players beating Judd Trump. Maguire and Fu do play each other so you would suggest that the loser of that game may finish in the bottom two and get eliminated, while the winner has a great chance of making the play-offs. Having only got a late call to play, Mark King had a short but productive day at Crondon Park. He only played two games, which means he has four games in a row today and to take two frames off of Bingham and beat Fu 3-1 was some achievement on little preparation and if he can carry on strong and win half of his games today you'd fancy his semi-final chances. Finally, one man that has it all to do is Judd Trump who has lost all three of his opening games against Robertson, Fu and Maguire and you feel he has to win all of his remaining games to make sure of a semi-final spot, while a couple of wins could save him from elimination in the bottom two places having won 5 frames in those three defeats with two decider losses against Robertson and Fu yesterday.

 

 

That's how everything looks then after day one of the Championship League and who needs to do what on the final day of this opening group. From what I saw I was particularly impressed with Stuart Bingham and Barry Hawkins and in my view it will be one of those two who wins this group, though they will also face good competition from Neil Robertson and Stephen Maguire looks most likely of the others to take the other semi-final place having played ok yesterday and playing King and Fu as his final two games today i expect him to win both and as long as Trump doesn't win his remaining games that should be the play-off line-up. 

We'll see how everything pans out though, and i'll be back tomorrow to let you all know how it's gone and give you a little preview of what's to come in Group 2 of the Championship League.

Championship League Preview

Christmas is over and the new year has rolled in and that means that we have entered the second half of the season and the snooker action is coming at us thick and fast starting with the first couple of groups at the Championship League this coming week. As always the Championship League features 25 players that will compete over 7 groups in order for the 7 winners of those groups to then go into the Winners Group. As I say the whole thing starts on Monday with Group 1 and every group runs across two days at different stages over the next six weeks.

Here is the full list of groups, players and dates for the seven qualifying groups of the Championship League:

Group 1 (Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th January):
Neil Robertson
Barry Hawkins
Judd Trump
Stuart Bingham
Marco Fu
Shaun Murphy
Stephen Maguire

Group 2 (Wednesday 7th and Thursday 8th January):
Ali Carter
Robert Milkins
Michael Holt
+ 4 players from group 1

Group 3 (Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th January)
Ricky Walden
Mark Davis
Ryan Day
+ 4 players from group 2

Group 4 (Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd January)
Martin Gould
Matthew Stevens
Michael White
+ 4 players from group 3

Group 5 (Monday 26th and Tuesday 27th January)
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Liang Wenbo
Fergal O'Brien
+ 4 players from group 4

Group 6 (Wednesday 28th and Thursday 29th January)
Dominic Dale
Peter Ebdon
Kurt Maflin
+ 4 players from group 5

Group 7 (Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th February)
John Higgins
Mark Williams
Xiao Guodong
+ 4 players from group 6

Winners Group (Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th February)
7 Group Winners


As always it's a round robin event where every player plays each other once over the two days before the top 4 in the group go through to the semi-finals and the overall group winner goes into the winners group, while places 6th and 7th in the group are eliminated and the other four remaining players move on to the next group.

Looking at the players we have in the first couple of groups this week it is nice to see Ali Carter competing ahead of his Masters tie with Barry Hawkins, while nine of the ten guys competing across the first two groups also competing in the upcoming Masters event so that could give us a little insight into how they're playing and a hint perhaps as to how they will go in their first round games at the Ally Pally.

My main focus here is looking ahead to the first couple of groups, while I will look ahead to the other groups at a later stage and I will have daily updates with results and as it stands league tables (possibly scrawled onto my famous notepad) throughout the seven groups and winners group.

Looking at group one, as all seven guys in the group are playing in the following weeks Masters, this group gives them an opportunity to get back on the table after Christmas, with some nice practice with every player playing at least six best-of-five frame encounters. Judd Trump was in the best form prior to Christmas and he is the defending Championship League champion. I fully expect Judd to make the semi-finals but whether he wins the group or not is another question, because some people are of the opinion that he likes to play the groups as by staying in longer, you can take a greater amount of financial incentive, but I'm not necessarily saying he will do that this time. Stephen Maguire was also in good form, but you wonder with the Scot whether he would've been working that hard over Christmas and how motivated he will be in this event, as he is more likely to be eyeing it up for good practice. Neil Robertson is another guy that you expect to play well, but he probably won't be too interested in winning the group as a primary outcome, as he looks to just get in some good preparations for a long run at the Masters.

As for Barry Hawkins, Stuart Bingham, Marco Fu and Shaun Murphy you know that they will be eyeing good Masters preparation as well, but these are also the types of players who enter every single tournament with the primary goal of doing as well as they possibly can, and the idea of pure match practice is one that will come as a secondary outcome of being in this event and I fully expect one of these four guys to run out as the group one winner, as that is often the way that the early groups go, as the best players on paper and in form don't always win. Marco Fu has been struggling a bit prior to Christmas and he may be one of the players that struggles over the course of the two days if he doesn't get off to a good start. Stuart, Barry and Shaun are quality players along with Marco and I expect them all to be strong in the opening group.

The key to the Championship League is getting a good start and a good run of the fixtures, because if things aren't going your way on day one, day two could come around and it could be too little too late pick up a place in the semi-finals or avoiding elimination. In terms of group one fixtures: Barry Hawkins plays three games on day one and has the evening off, while Neil Robertson and Shaun Murphy play one game in each of the first second and third sessions to finish day one having also played three games. Marco Fu meanwhile also plays four games  on day one, but two of those four come in the final session of the day in the evening, and Bingham and Maguire also have to play four games on day one and two on day two which means they have to get off to a good start early on to give themselves a chance. Finally, Judd Trump has a similar day to Robertson and Murphy playing just the three games.

If I had to predict a group one winner I'd go with Stuart Bingham because he is the most likely to get off to a good start on day one in order to consolidate a semi-final place.

As I mentioned earlier I will be back after day one with an update showing the results, the day one table and with details of who needs to do what in the final round robin games on Tuesday, so if you have an interest in the event, stick with this blog as I'm a huge fan of the Championship League, and will cover the whole event in full this year because I see no reason not to.

Moment of the Year 2014: The Final Countdown

As with my player of the year feature, we’ve now seen all of my candidates throughout the months of 2014 for my best snooker moment of the year that has just come to a close. Now of course the time has come for me to make my final decision and announce my favourite moment of 2014, so here is the final countdown:

12= Dominic Dale’s Shoot-out win (January) – As good as it was to see the players like Dominic having a bit of fun during the Snooker Shoot-out last year, you can’t class it as proper snooker as such and therefore it was more just a bit of fun and can’t become a serious contender.

11= Neil Robertson thrills home crowd with consecutive home finals (July) – For the second year in succession Neil Robertson was able to thrill his home crowd in Australia by making the final of the Australian Open. However, he wasn’t able to go one step further and win the whole of the event and I wouldn’t even say that that was his best moment of 2014 so it can’t really come close to being mine either.

10= Mark Selby wins in Riga with another epic comeback (August)– Everyone loves a big comeback, and Mark Selby seems to produce them far more often than anyone else does in recent years. Because of this however, and with the fact it was only in a European Tour event it doesn’t make the moment as special as it would’ve been if it would have happened in a full ranking event over a much longer format.

9= Allen gets his revenge with awesome Shanghai fight back (September) - When Mark Allen made his comeback over Selby, earning his revenge, that was a more special moment because the it was in a full ranking event and of course it’s a very special moment for a player when they can earn some revenge over a player who has a put a few over on them.

8= Wildcard Xintong makes Wuxi Classic Last 16 (June) – This moment in the summer again was a lovely moment to see a young Chinese amateur come through the Wildcard qualifiers to reach the Last 16 of a full ranking event. Although, this isn’t the first time Xintong has beaten some top professional players and he has beaten more since so it hardly comes as a surprise that he has managed to do this, and this would certainly have been higher up on the final list if it would have been more out of the blue and stunned the snooker world, but in the end it wasn’t stunning as much as it was a slight surprise.

7= Murphy wins in Gdynia with 147 (February) – Back in February when it took place this was an incredibly special moment for Shaun Murphy to win his first title of any kind since November 2011 and to do so, with a maximum 147 break in the earlier rounds but on the very same day nonetheless. However, like Robertson’s run to the Australian Open Final, in my view it wasn’t even his most special moment at a European Tour event in 2014, and has to therefore be slightly lower down on my list.

6= James Cahill beats Ding on the way to UK Last 16 (December) – This was a fantastic run just a few weeks ago from the youngster (18 at the time this took place) and he would’ve been absolutely thrilled to not only beat Ding Junhui on the big stage under the TV lights, but also to beat two very solid players in King and Higginson to get to this stage and that’s what made it more of a special moment for me as this wasn’t so much of a one-off. It was an epic encounter too with Ding Junhui and a rollercoaster of emotions for Cahill throughout and that for me has to put it in the top half of my countdown.

5= Wasley stuns Ding in Crucible epic (April) – In comparison to Cahill’s run and his victory over Ding Junhui in a major ranking event, I have to rate this one higher for a number of reasons. Firstly, to make the World Championship Last 16 he had to win a total of four qualifying matches (including one over Robert Milkins on a re-spotted black). He also had to go and beat Ding Junhui on the television over a much longer format of best-of-19 frames and when the Chinaman was on a rich run of form making him an even bigger favourite to beat Wasley in that match.

4= Ronnie O’Sullivan wins Welsh Open with a 147 to finish (March) – Any Ronnie O’Sullivan 147 is special, but to make one in a ranking event final, in the frame he needed for victory just puts this one right up there with the best he’s ever made. Also, some of the shots that he had to pull off towards the end of the break (the shot from last red to black a particular highlight) and to finish by switching hands and grinning to pot the final black left handed showed how much he enjoyed making the break and how much he was just enjoying his snooker, and it was a great moment to watch on the TV as I did, but an even more special one if you were lucky enough to be there.

3= Shaun Murphy’s crazy day in Mulheim (November) – This day in the life of Shaun Murphy was an incredibly special one and possibly one of the most exciting and topsy turvey days that we’ve ever seen in a European Tour event making this moment all the more special. He showed great character to come back from a missed  final green and a missed final blue on maximum attempts earlier in the day to make a great maximum in the final under heaps of pressure and he played one of the best maximum shots I’ve ever seen on the 15^th black. To go with it all he won the title, which was consecutive European Tour events for the Magician and I may have the biased opinion (as a massive fan of Shaun’s) but it was easily one of the best moments of 2014 and therefore had to make it high up on my moments of the year list.

2= Robertson finishes the season with 103 centuries (May) – When this moment took place, you knew that not only this was a very special moment like all of the other ones on this list, but what makes this one unique compared to the previous ones on the countdown is that when we watched Robertson make the 100^th 100 of the season we were watching history unfold as the first man ever to do this (let’s be honest no-one else had even come close) but it will take an even more special moment for this astounding record to be broken, but who knows what the future will bring. In the here and now this is an incredible moment just thinking about it, and one that deserved to be in the top 2 of my moment of the year countdown.

1= Ali Carter wins on return in Hong Kong (October) – Finally, my Moment of the Year for 2014 was that incredible moment when the inspirational Ali Carter came back after treatment for Lung Cancer over the months previous, competing in his first tournament of any kind to win the Hong Kong exhibition Cup. What made this moment special is that he had to beat seasoned professionals at the very top of their games in order for this to happen, and the reaction it got from him and everyone else over social media was amazing and I couldn’t have been happier to see it happen. In fact, to put the whole thing into perspective for me, this moment was that special and sits above the rest that much for me that when writing the original October moment of the month piece on this and taking about how inspirational Ali is, it honestly brought a tear to my eye. I really do hope that there are a lot more moments like this for Ali to come, because after everything that’s happened he deserves to have some happy times and a bit of luck for a change and I like to wish Ali in particular all the best for 2015.

That’s all from me on my Moment of the Year countdown, and I don’t think anyone can honestly argue with my winning snooker moment of 2014 being Ali’s comeback victory in Hong Kong, and if anyone disagrees I hope they have a very good reason is all I can say. I’m sure there will be plenty more magical moments in the game of snooker in the year to come, and if all goes to plan you can expect this feature to return at the end of 2015.

Player of the Year 2014: The Final Countdown

We’ve seen all 12 candidates now and looked back at all of the months and the players that impressed me the most in each. Now though, it’s time for me to put my money where my mouth is and decide on the final order and my number one player of 2014. So, without further stalling it’s time to start the countdown.

12= Oliver Lines (October) – As I said in the original piece Oliver is a magnificent young player, but having only joined the main professional tour in May and only having a couple of decent runs it’d be tough to say that he is right up there in the top 5 or 10 best players over the whole of 2014.

11= Stephen Maguire (December) – Stephen Maguire may have had a good end to the year with runs to the semi-finals in the Ruhr Open and the UK Championship before winning the Lisbon Open and a semi-final at the Masters got him off to a good start in 2014, but for the most part Maguire was struggling with his game and his form and admitted that himself at the time. So again, in terms of pure consistency and quality throughout the year Maguire isn’t quite up with the best.

10= Ricky Walden (November) – Again, with Maguire, Walden’s 2014 was good in patches but not consistent throughout. Failure to qualify for certain tournaments like the German Masters both in 2014 and for 2015 will disappoint him as will the manner of his UK Championship Last 16 exit 6-0 to Bingham just a month after his International Championship title, but all things considered Ricky can still be very happy with what he achieved in 2014 but hopefully 2015 will see him add some extra consistency to his game.

9= Joe Perry (June) – As well as Joe Perry’s June run to the final of the Wuxi Classic he was also able to make the semi-finals of the Welsh Open and the quarter-finals of both the German Masters and Players Championship Finals and he pushed Ronnie O’Sullivan to the limit in the World Championship Last 16 but wasn’t just able to get over the line. Joe’s top 16 ranking for now is looking pretty solid for now, but a poorer back end to the year is the only reason he isn’t higher on my list.

8= Mark Allen (August) – An early semi-final appearance at the World Open and a quarter-final place in the PC Finals would have pleased Allen and coupled with runs to the final of the Riga Open, Shanghai Masters and International Championship and of course winning the Pau Hunter Classic Allen’s 2014 looks pretty impressive. The only thing that was missing was stronger runs at the Triple Crown events, and winning a big ranking title and converting more of those finals into trophies and if he could’ve done that he’d be right at the top of the list, but unfortunately he couldn’t. However, he’s set a great platform to have another very strong year on 2015.

7= Stuart Bingham (September) – Stuart Bingham has had another incredibly impressive year. As well as his Shanghai Masters victory in September making him Player of the Month, he was also able to make the UK Championship semi-finals for the second year running and looks to be one of the few players who can consistently cause Ronnie O’Sullivan problems. Meanwhile, another two victories on the Asian Tour demonstrates that his “have cue will travel” attitude is paying dividends. For me, the one thing missing for Stuart is a title in the UK or Europe to add to all of his titles on the Asian Tour and in ranking events overseas.

6= Ding Junhui (February) – Ding had a couple of titles at the German Masters and China Open in 2014, but the back half did become a struggle for him with only an Asian Tour title to his name along with a Shanghai Masters semi-final. It could be said I’ve been harsh in not putting Ding higher up this list, but his failures to even qualify for the Wuxi and International is very disappointing and Last 32 exits at the World and UK Championships are also not expected from a player of his calibre. All things considered then he may be the new World No.1 but there is a lot of work for him to do to stay there and perhaps that can be done in 2015.

5= Shaun Murphy (March) – Shaun Murphy’s game was very much down in the dumps in January but in 2014 as a whole he has managed to turn things right around again, winning three European Tour events, the Gdynia Open in February, Bulgarian Open in October and November’s Ruhr Open as well as his first full ranking title for three years in March at the World Open and three 147’s is a record for any player in a calendar. For him to continue his progress a really big title in the UK would be very nice and I certainly think he can get one in 2014.

4= Neil Robertson (April) – As well as his record breaking century of centuries, 2014 saw Neil Robertson defend his Wuxi Classic title in June, make the Australian Open final in July, the China Open final in April (with flu) and the World Championship semi-finals losing a tight battle with Mark Selby. Robertson will be disappointed not to have done better in defending his UK title and early exits in the International Championships and PC Finals were again slightly disappointing but he’s been very consistent overall. To maintain these levels of performance Robertson needs to build a stable base in the smaller European Tour events in order to build up his best form for the big events so he can perform consistently across all events throughout the year but there is no way that you can criticise the Australian’s 2014.

3= Mark Selby (May) – The main reason Mark Selby is at no.3 in my player of the year list is because of his big performances once again on the big stage. Winning the World Championship is plenty good enough as a reason for him to be in the top few players of 2014, finally proving that he can win at the Crucible and he continued his Masters dominance by making another final at the Ally Pally in January. He hasn’t let his performance slip either in the European Tour events winning the Riga Open and making the latter stages in Furth and Sofia. Mark is a superb player and a very hard worker for someone and he’s done superbly in 2014 as he does every single year showing his high level of consistency, which is even more impressive given the fact that snooker is certainly not as natural for him as the likes of O’Sullivan, Trump and Murphy to name a few. The key for Selby is to keep going in 2015 and continue reaching the latter stages of the big events.

2= Ronnie O’Sullivan (January) – Some of you may be very surprised that Ronnie O’Sullivan is not my player of the year. In 2014 he won the Masters very convincingly in January, the Welsh Open in March, made the World Championship final again in May, won the Champion of Champions in November and the UK Championships to end the year making two 147’s and closing in on Stephen Hendry’s centuries record. However, this is the high standard that Ronnie O’Sullivan has set himself over the last 2 years and when he’s at his very best you would expect him to win all of these titles that I have mentioned, and as astounding achievement as all of this is I just wanted to look elsewhere when thinking of who I really thought was an outstanding performer in 2014.

1= Judd Trump (July) – Yes that’s right ladies and gentleman, my Player of the Year for 2014 is Judd Trump. Judd’s year really got going in February when he made the German Masters final, and that seemed like the moment when things turned around for Judd because he had really been struggling badly with his game in 2013 for the most part and he was finally returning to his best and this had taken a really large amount of hard work. What followed was the Championship League title in March, a World Championship quarter-final in April where he was very unlucky to lose out to a strong Neil Robertson, who he did manage to get his revenge on by winning the Australian Open title in July, his first ranking title for 20 months which is a long time for someone of Judd’s class. He continued his big performances by making the Paul Hunter Classic final and the Ruhr Open semi-final on the European Tour before losing out in both of the Champion of Champions and UK Championship finals where he was well ahead of the rest of the field, apart from Ronnie who is still just that bit better than the left hander, but Trump has made a lot of ground up on him this year, and that is exactly why Judd is my player of the year for the resurgence and improvement he has shown to battle and find his best form again, and then cash in on this in all events across the field. It is inevitable in my mind that 2015 will bring more big titles.

That is all from my player of the year countdown in 2014, well done to Judd Trump for winning that title, but also a big well done to the other 11 players that were selected by myself to make it onto this list. The question is now… which 12 players will be the ones to impress me most in 2015? Well there is a lot of snooker to be played before I decide that and I’m looking forward to every single minute of it.