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Ssb - rory roars...and other news
So well done to Rory McLeod for winning the Masters qualifying event.
His career seems to have blossomed much later than you would expect. Rory’s 38 now but in the last year made three successive centuries against Ronnie O’Sullivan at the UK Championship, qualified for the Crucible for the first time and is now Wembley bound.
A Wellingborough boy of Jamaican parents, McLeod now lives in Qatar.
During the Masters qualifiers he spent time between matches listening to verses from the Koran in an attempt to relax himself. It obviously worked and he now waits to see whether he will play Mark Williams or Mark King.
This will depend on who the other wildcard is. Liang Wenbo is hot favourite and will surely only miss out if there is a shock winner of the UK Championship.
You will recall McLeod and King played out a long, often tedious match at the World Championship last season that went into an extra session, so if they are paired together again I fear for the sanity of whoever is making the decision.
Better to pair McLeod with Williams and King with Liang.
Not that Rory will care who he plays. Snooker professionals at all levels are well used to the setbacks and disappointments that inevitably come as part and parcel of a sporting career.
This, though, is a moment to relish.
The Masters is the game’s most prestigious invitation tournament and to many players second only to the World Championship in terms of prestige.
Stephen Hendry won it a record six times and has appeared in a record nine finals.
He likes a record, does Stephen, just as he likes a trophy.
On Sunday he won his 74th in defeating Ken Doherty 5-3 to win the first 110sport Legends event in Glenrothes.
I can report it was a fun weekend, although the action was serious as the old warhorses locked horns once again.
I was alarmed by the sight of a frail Alex Higgins unable to produce any sort of form but cheered by Cliff Thorburn’s warmth towards him and the Canadian's general charisma.
Hendry was a fitting winner, given that his legendary status can’t be questioned.
He remains snooker’s greatest ever player. Tony Drago, with whom I did some commentary, also pointed out that he has profoundly changed snooker.
“Stephen is the most attacking player I have ever played. All the players who have come since have copied him,” he said.
While we were enjoying ourselves in Scotland, Ricky Walden was out pounding the streets as he completed the New York marathon in a time of four hours, 17 minutes.
That sounds pretty good to me and Ricky raised around £1,500 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Meanwhile, the WPBSA board member, Jim McMahon, made an attempt to broker peace in the civil war afflicting Scottish amateur snooker and came very close but the old order, having agreed on a way forward with the rival group, reneged on it at the last minute.
The WPBSA understandably withdrew from the mediation process and have now taken away the main tour place for Scotland.
While I was in Scotland I heard nothing but bad things about those who have been running Scottish Snooker for the last few years.
Their actions have now resulted in the young Scottish players they are supposed to be representing suffering the ignominy of not having a place on the circuit to play for.
If this doesn’t galvanise action north of the border, surely nothing will.
Next up in November is Pro Challenge Series event 3 in Leicester, followed by the UK Championship qualifiers.
Also, the IBSF world amateur championship takes place in India, starting on the 15th.
Snooker fans may also want to tune into ITV’s jungle-based humiliation-fest I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here.
More...
His career seems to have blossomed much later than you would expect. Rory’s 38 now but in the last year made three successive centuries against Ronnie O’Sullivan at the UK Championship, qualified for the Crucible for the first time and is now Wembley bound.
A Wellingborough boy of Jamaican parents, McLeod now lives in Qatar.
During the Masters qualifiers he spent time between matches listening to verses from the Koran in an attempt to relax himself. It obviously worked and he now waits to see whether he will play Mark Williams or Mark King.
This will depend on who the other wildcard is. Liang Wenbo is hot favourite and will surely only miss out if there is a shock winner of the UK Championship.
You will recall McLeod and King played out a long, often tedious match at the World Championship last season that went into an extra session, so if they are paired together again I fear for the sanity of whoever is making the decision.
Better to pair McLeod with Williams and King with Liang.
Not that Rory will care who he plays. Snooker professionals at all levels are well used to the setbacks and disappointments that inevitably come as part and parcel of a sporting career.
This, though, is a moment to relish.
The Masters is the game’s most prestigious invitation tournament and to many players second only to the World Championship in terms of prestige.
Stephen Hendry won it a record six times and has appeared in a record nine finals.
He likes a record, does Stephen, just as he likes a trophy.
On Sunday he won his 74th in defeating Ken Doherty 5-3 to win the first 110sport Legends event in Glenrothes.
I can report it was a fun weekend, although the action was serious as the old warhorses locked horns once again.
I was alarmed by the sight of a frail Alex Higgins unable to produce any sort of form but cheered by Cliff Thorburn’s warmth towards him and the Canadian's general charisma.
Hendry was a fitting winner, given that his legendary status can’t be questioned.
He remains snooker’s greatest ever player. Tony Drago, with whom I did some commentary, also pointed out that he has profoundly changed snooker.
“Stephen is the most attacking player I have ever played. All the players who have come since have copied him,” he said.
While we were enjoying ourselves in Scotland, Ricky Walden was out pounding the streets as he completed the New York marathon in a time of four hours, 17 minutes.
That sounds pretty good to me and Ricky raised around £1,500 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Meanwhile, the WPBSA board member, Jim McMahon, made an attempt to broker peace in the civil war afflicting Scottish amateur snooker and came very close but the old order, having agreed on a way forward with the rival group, reneged on it at the last minute.
The WPBSA understandably withdrew from the mediation process and have now taken away the main tour place for Scotland.
While I was in Scotland I heard nothing but bad things about those who have been running Scottish Snooker for the last few years.
Their actions have now resulted in the young Scottish players they are supposed to be representing suffering the ignominy of not having a place on the circuit to play for.
If this doesn’t galvanise action north of the border, surely nothing will.
Next up in November is Pro Challenge Series event 3 in Leicester, followed by the UK Championship qualifiers.
Also, the IBSF world amateur championship takes place in India, starting on the 15th.
Snooker fans may also want to tune into ITV’s jungle-based humiliation-fest I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here.
More...
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