ITV and Eurosport pundit Neal Foulds has penned his first column of the new snooker season, reflecting on Ryan Day's brilliant victory at the British Open.
Following Ryan Day's brilliant victory at the British Open on Sunday the season finally feels like it's getting into full swing, and there is much to look forward to for the Welshman and snooker fans alike.
Day is a class act – I’ve always thought that – but I must admit to having held a few concerns about how strong he was mentally, something you just can’t afford in big matches. The way he put Mark Allen away in the final, pulling clear from 7-7 to win 10-7, put those doubts to bed, and you can’t be anything but pleased for him.
His performance on Sunday was in stark contrast to the one he turned in when beating Robbie Williams in a poor semi-final, something he acknowledged himself, and on that display few people would have given him much chance of beating Allen, very much a strong favourite with bookmakers. As it turned out, this game once again proved itself so hard to fathom.
This week also served as a reminder of just how good a player Day is and his victory could prove significant, not just because of the £100,000 in prize money he earned by winning a huge event on ITV, but the platform he has given himself to build on.
He talked on Sunday about being in a dark place when losing in the first round of last year’s UK Championship, but he’s now guaranteed a place at the prestigious Champions of Champions, while he has a strong chance of qualifying for the Masters and also the World Championship as a seed.
"It was special!" 🥺
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) October 2, 2022
Ryan Day beats Mark Allen 10-7 in the @CazooUK British Open final to delight his family and claim the biggest win of his career!#BritishOpen | @ryan23day pic.twitter.com/Gm8t4SGH98
The running theme of last season was the amount of different and shock tournament winners we enjoyed – Fan Zhengyi and Joe Perry two that immediately spring to mind – and perhaps we are in for more of the same this time around. The line-up for the Champion of Champions, one which as of now is without the likes of Allen and Mark Selby, only underlines the point.
Allen and Selby can contend as season clicks into gear
Still, I thought there were some good signs from Allen in Milton Keynes, who looked lean and mean and was arguably the player of the week until things unravelled on the final evening. He’ll be disappointed not to have won, but he really should take the positives – and there were plenty – and look forward to defending his Northern Ireland Open crown in a couple of weeks.
We all know what a force Allen is when he’s at his best and it’s remarkable to think that even with that Belfast success taken into account, his results since had seen him slip down to 14 in the world rankings. He’s back in the top 10 now, where he belongs, and he will be a handful this term.
The aforementioned Selby and Judd Trump were both beaten by Allen, but the former should be really encouraged by his efforts, namely that magnificent 147 maximum break and the dominant display he turned in against Jack Lisowski. He has rarely fired at the ITV events for some strange reason, but I thought he was much more like the Selby of old. It’s still early days in the season, of course, but it was pleasing to see.
Before looking ahead to the Hong Kong Masters which begins on Thursday, I do want to mention the World Mixed Doubles which was a roaring success. The concept was very good, the viewing figures excellent and I think the event showcased everything that is good about our sport.
All eyes were on Ronnie O’Sullivan and Reanne Evans beforehand, but their effort didn’t really materialise and in the end, the pair who struggled on the opening day, Neil Robertson and Mink Nutcharut, produced a memorable turnaround to run out deserved winners.
It wasn’t just about Robertson, either. Mink made a stunning clearance of 74 to help the pair into the final, and as we know, Robertson’s eyes tend to widen when he gets into these finals, where he generally proves hard to beat.
Most of all, it was important that the only full international pairing in the competition won. An Australian male and a Thai female player combining to take down the best in snooker was a terrific advert for the game and shows the health of the sport on a global level.
O'Sullivan heads stellar Hong Kong cast
With the Hong Kong Masters to look forward to, the first time the likes of O’Sullivan and Selby will have played in Asia since 2019, things are looking a little brighter in terms of the possibility of snooker returning properly to that part of the world in 2023. The reports coming out of China are promising, anyway, so fingers crossed.
I’ve played out in Hong Kong and can say that the people there have always loved and supported snooker well. Expect big crowds and a good atmosphere over the four days, and it will be nice to see Hong Kong represented by home hero Marco Fu whose career has been stalled by eye problems and then, of course, the pandemic.
I’m keen to see how he gets on and it is clearly still early days with his comeback, while I’m not too sure what to expect from O’Sullivan either. He didn’t show a great deal when losing to Alexander Ursenbacher last week and we might not see him at his best until the UK Championship and the Masters.
After that, all roads might once again lead to Sheffield. As he proved so emphatically in the spring, a quieter campaign can ensure you arrive at the World Championship fresher than many of your rivals and better prepared for that unique, marathon test. The great O’Sullivan might already have World Championship win number eight on his mind.
