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Ssb - and so it begins
Wellthe talking wasn’t quite over. Indeed, it’s always been thus. In the lastcouple of days before the World Championship a kind of hysteria builds and allsorts of things get said.
There’sthe inevitable ‘there’s no characters in the game any more’ pieces written byjournalists who bring not expertise but ignorance in publications which suddenlyremember snooker exists once a year.
Playerssay all sorts of things too, most usually forgotten by the time play actuallystarts.
However,Mark Williams hit the headlines yesterday for a derogatory tweet about theCrucible. In fairness to Mark, he has always thought this about the legendaryvenue, but in the cold light of day the tone of his comments appeared unnecessarilyharsh. The Crucible is where everyone who picks up a cue wants to play.
Thisharms Williams’s reputation more than snooker’s, although it also reveals muchabout the modern media.
Itseems anything now written on Twitter is regarded as great truth, as if spokenunder oath in a courtroom, rather than what most of it is: throwaway nonsensegenerally not meant to be taken seriously.
Whatis meant to be taken seriously is the actual snooker, which finally begins thismorning.
I’vealready given an in-depth rundown of the matches and won’t repeat all that, butit is interesting how hardly anyone is tipping John Higgins this year.
Thisis because Higgins has had a poor season by his own high standards. But he alsobelongs to a generation whose best days are surely behind them.
Higgins,Mark Williams and Ronnie O’Sullivan are by no means finished yet, quiteobviously, but time is running out for them to add to their haul of Crucibletitles.
I’vespoken to a few former players about the phenomenon of decline. They tend toall agree that it comes about through a mixture of reasons: changing eyesight,decreased desire to practise and a greater inability to cope with pressure.
Thelatter is why so many players slow up. Peter Ebdon is often accused of draggingout matches deliberately but much of it is actually calming the nerves beforeplaying the shot.
DominicDale is quite perceptive about this in his column for next month’s SnookerScene. He says you can get down and, in your natural rhythm, be ready to playthe shot but that your brain can be a few seconds behind, not ready, which iswhere difficulties begin: a clash between your technique and your mind.
Welook at top snooker players and are fooled into believing the game must beeasy, because they make it look easy.
Butit isn’t. We know this whenever we have ourselves picked up a cue.
Wealso don’t see when we watch snooker the serious doubts and insecurities in aplayers minds, only the product of them.
“Howcould he miss that?” is a common cry when watching a match on TV. The actualanswer, given the difficulty of the game and the pressure on a player is, “quiteeasily.” Perhaps the question, given what is at stake, should be, “how could hepot that?”
Playingsnooker can bring great riches but it is also a lonely, mentally exhaustingprofession. The 32 players gathered in Sheffield over the next 17 days are anelite that, for all they may say or do to frustrate, deserve respect.
I’msure they will entertain us greatly this coming World Championship.
More...
There’sthe inevitable ‘there’s no characters in the game any more’ pieces written byjournalists who bring not expertise but ignorance in publications which suddenlyremember snooker exists once a year.
Playerssay all sorts of things too, most usually forgotten by the time play actuallystarts.
However,Mark Williams hit the headlines yesterday for a derogatory tweet about theCrucible. In fairness to Mark, he has always thought this about the legendaryvenue, but in the cold light of day the tone of his comments appeared unnecessarilyharsh. The Crucible is where everyone who picks up a cue wants to play.
Thisharms Williams’s reputation more than snooker’s, although it also reveals muchabout the modern media.
Itseems anything now written on Twitter is regarded as great truth, as if spokenunder oath in a courtroom, rather than what most of it is: throwaway nonsensegenerally not meant to be taken seriously.
Whatis meant to be taken seriously is the actual snooker, which finally begins thismorning.
I’vealready given an in-depth rundown of the matches and won’t repeat all that, butit is interesting how hardly anyone is tipping John Higgins this year.
Thisis because Higgins has had a poor season by his own high standards. But he alsobelongs to a generation whose best days are surely behind them.
Higgins,Mark Williams and Ronnie O’Sullivan are by no means finished yet, quiteobviously, but time is running out for them to add to their haul of Crucibletitles.
I’vespoken to a few former players about the phenomenon of decline. They tend toall agree that it comes about through a mixture of reasons: changing eyesight,decreased desire to practise and a greater inability to cope with pressure.
Thelatter is why so many players slow up. Peter Ebdon is often accused of draggingout matches deliberately but much of it is actually calming the nerves beforeplaying the shot.
DominicDale is quite perceptive about this in his column for next month’s SnookerScene. He says you can get down and, in your natural rhythm, be ready to playthe shot but that your brain can be a few seconds behind, not ready, which iswhere difficulties begin: a clash between your technique and your mind.
Welook at top snooker players and are fooled into believing the game must beeasy, because they make it look easy.
Butit isn’t. We know this whenever we have ourselves picked up a cue.
Wealso don’t see when we watch snooker the serious doubts and insecurities in aplayers minds, only the product of them.
“Howcould he miss that?” is a common cry when watching a match on TV. The actualanswer, given the difficulty of the game and the pressure on a player is, “quiteeasily.” Perhaps the question, given what is at stake, should be, “how could hepot that?”
Playingsnooker can bring great riches but it is also a lonely, mentally exhaustingprofession. The 32 players gathered in Sheffield over the next 17 days are anelite that, for all they may say or do to frustrate, deserve respect.
I’msure they will entertain us greatly this coming World Championship.
More...