Back in 2000, the BBC recorded an interesting piece called ‘y2cue’ during the World Championship in which the various ex-players present attempted to find the perfect snooker player. Nine years on, with the help of you readers I am aiming to do the same for the class of 2009…
The original panel was made up of Willie Thorne, John Virgo, Dennis Taylor and then presenter Dougie Donnelly and their perfect player was made up of the following elements:
- Potting: Mark Williams
- Break Building: Stephen Hendry
- Safety: Steve Davis
- Technique: Stephen Lee
- Cue Power: John Spencer
- Will to Win: Dennis Taylor
- Snooker Brain: Ken Doherty
- Entertainment: Alex Higgins
I have a feeling that there may have been another category but unfortunately I do not have the recording of that and so cannot be sure.
Looking back, though nine years have since passed, the above list probably has not changed that much at all! As a result what I will be doing over the next few weeks is not looking to identify the all-time perfect player, but instead the best from the players of 2009, at their current levels of ability. This is an important point because while for example Stephen Hendry is for me the greatest break builder of all time, based on his performances over the last couple of seasons he is not quite up there with some of the younger players at the moment and so would not be selected.
As well as posting my thoughts on each category over the next few weeks, I will be placing a poll in each article for you to have your say, while of course you can discuss the topic by leaving a comment too. For now I plan to use the eight categories above, though I may add to the list later on too.
Coming up tomorrow then, potting…
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6 comments
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Glamour says:
August 26, 2009 at 12:57 pm (UTC 0 )
Probably these players are not to be passed if we look at all players peak at these categories. But if we talk about current situation, there are going to be few to keep their places.
matt2745 says:
August 26, 2009 at 1:06 pm (UTC 0 )
Yeah that’s the idea.
I’ll give my thoughts on each category and then stick a poll up and see how it turns out.
bongo@TSF.com (The Snooker Forum) says:
August 28, 2009 at 7:38 pm (UTC 0 )
Here is my choice for 2009:
Potting: Mark Allen (possibly)
Break Building: Ronnie O’Sullivan (possibly)
Safety: John Higgins
Technique: John Higgins
Cue Power: Neil Robertson
Will to Win: Peter Ebdon
Snooker Brain: Ronnie O’Sullivan
Entertainment: Mark Allen (possibly)
Tilly says:
September 22, 2009 at 8:32 pm (UTC 0 )
Potting: Ronnie O’Sullivan
Break Building: Hamilton
Safety: Graeme Dott
Technique: Peter Ebdon
Cue Power: Neil Robertson
Will to Win: Dave Harold
Snooker Brain: John Higgins
João Esteves da Silva says:
November 10, 2009 at 7:57 pm (UTC 0 )
Potting – Neil Robertson
Break building – Ding Junhui
Safety – Ronnie O’Sullivan
Technique – Shaun Murphy
Cue power – Neil Robertson
Will to win – Peter Ebdon
Snooker Brain – John Higgins
Entertainment – Snooker itself
Barbossa says:
December 2, 2009 at 4:22 pm (UTC 0 )
The best ever
Potting: Ronnie O’Sullivan
Break Building: Stephen Hendry
Safety: Steve Davis
Technique: John Higgins
Cue Power: Mark Williams
Will to Win: Peter Ebdon
Snooker Brain: Ken Doherty
Entertainment: Alex Higgins
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