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Ssb - nigel bond: Shootout champion
Nigel Bond has had a long, varied career, more successful than most but at 45 knows that he is down to the colours.
It was therefore gratifying to see this genuinely nice man win the inaugural Caesarscasino.com World Snooker Shootout in Blackpool.
Bond made an immediate breakthrough on turning professional, reaching the semi-finals of his first ranking event, the 1989 International.
A year later he reached the Grand Prix final and soon became established as a regular face on TV in the era of Stephen Hendry, the player who most stopped him going on to be more successful.
It was Hendry who beat him in that Grand Prix final and for four successive years at the Crucible from 1993, including in the final in 1995.
In 1996, Bond got a snooker in the decider against John Higgins and ended up beating him 9-8 on the final black to win the British Open.
He also won the 1997 Scottish Masters and reached a career high ranking of fifth but his career was undoubtedly affected by the off-table pressure of having a son, Daniel, born with a heart defect.
A family man, Nigel would have given away every trophy in the world to make his son well again.
His form deteriorated and he eventually dropped out of the top 32.
There have still been highpoints in recent times. In 2006, he beat Hendry 10-9 on a re-spotted black in the first round of the World Championship.
A couple of years ago he won the gold medal in the World Games.
But his Shootout win marks a return to the big time and proves that a good snooker brain, born from experience, is useful for such a format.
Who won this new event barely mattered. This was all about showcasing snooker as a sport that can provide entertainment.
The players, to their credit, embraced it and most fans seem to have been won over.
It will return, of that I’ve no doubt, and hopefully a few of those who watched it believing snooker to be boring will tune into the German Masters this week.
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It was therefore gratifying to see this genuinely nice man win the inaugural Caesarscasino.com World Snooker Shootout in Blackpool.
Bond made an immediate breakthrough on turning professional, reaching the semi-finals of his first ranking event, the 1989 International.
A year later he reached the Grand Prix final and soon became established as a regular face on TV in the era of Stephen Hendry, the player who most stopped him going on to be more successful.
It was Hendry who beat him in that Grand Prix final and for four successive years at the Crucible from 1993, including in the final in 1995.
In 1996, Bond got a snooker in the decider against John Higgins and ended up beating him 9-8 on the final black to win the British Open.
He also won the 1997 Scottish Masters and reached a career high ranking of fifth but his career was undoubtedly affected by the off-table pressure of having a son, Daniel, born with a heart defect.
A family man, Nigel would have given away every trophy in the world to make his son well again.
His form deteriorated and he eventually dropped out of the top 32.
There have still been highpoints in recent times. In 2006, he beat Hendry 10-9 on a re-spotted black in the first round of the World Championship.
A couple of years ago he won the gold medal in the World Games.
But his Shootout win marks a return to the big time and proves that a good snooker brain, born from experience, is useful for such a format.
Who won this new event barely mattered. This was all about showcasing snooker as a sport that can provide entertainment.
The players, to their credit, embraced it and most fans seem to have been won over.
It will return, of that I’ve no doubt, and hopefully a few of those who watched it believing snooker to be boring will tune into the German Masters this week.
More...
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