Stephen Hendry as a commentator

This short is more of a shout out and a nod to the 7-time-World-Champion-turned-commentator, Stephen Hendry. I know there are others that will agree with me in saying that Hendry provides excellent commentary on any game that he voices over. But in my opinion, he is arguably the best commentator of the lot right now; and has been for quite some time.

No one else can provide the insight that Hendry does – don’t get me wrong, other commentators on both BBC and Eurosport’s team can do the job, but there aren’t any that can call the shots like Hendry does. He will precisely call the next sequence of shots long before a player has gotten down for their first shot.

I think one of the things that makes Hendry so good is that he doesn’t focus on superfluous catchphrases. He’s more concerned with the technicalities of the game and the match he is calling. He looks more at the fundamentals as to why a shot was missed or poorly played and can really get into the mind of the players. And who better to be able to read the situation a player is going through than someone who has ‘been there, done that’?

I must give an honourable mention to Steve Davis and Alan McManus on commentary as well. Steve, for the incredible humour he brings to a match (which often pairs well with Hendry’s personality) and Alan for his unique insight and delightful little expressions that he comes out with.

Brief history of The Crucible

Formerly, the World Snooker Championship didn’t really have a permanent place to call home for the tournament. Previously, the tournament (and all the equivalent names and formats for it) was held at locations scattered primarily throughout the UK. Locations involved London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Nottingham. The only exception to this was when Australia hosted the WSC in 1971 and 75.

The selection of The Crucible can be primarily attributed to the late Mike Watterson; or rather, his wife Carole Walker. Mike was a former snooker player himself, and not too bad either considering he was a top 64 resident in the rankings. However, the choice of The Crucible as the staging ground for the World Championship came from when Carole went to see a play at the arena and considered it fit to house the tournament. A few phone calls and a measuring tape later, the WSC has its new and improved venue.

The Crucible was opened in 1971, and as much as I like to imagine that its sole purpose is to house the World Championship every year; it actually hosts a variety of activities and performances throughout the year. The versatility of the venue as well as the ability to seat almost 1000 people within eye-shot of a snooker table must be chief among the reasons as to choosing Sheffield and The Crucible over other competing locations.

Sounds like smooth sailings from 1977 then, right? Well, considering it has been 42 years of The Crucible hosting the WSC annually, it hasn’t been the easiest ride. The Crucible has faced a lot of competition and criticism, mainly when it comes to whether the World Championship should continue to be held there. In 2005, Sheffield topped cities like Liverpool, Preston and Newcastle to remain as hosts of the WSC. Fast forward to the 40th anniversary where it was announced that The Crucible will retain host privileges until 2027.

So whenever discussions come up about changing the venue or potentially moving from Sheffield I always think, ‘Why?’ It’s been over 40 years with countless historical moments; like the black ball final and 5 mins 20 secs, just to name a couple. It’s already been long established as THE place for snooker’s biggest event. Sheffield’s economy has benefitted tremendously since 1977 because of WSC. So I say, why change?

Marco Fu vs Luca Brecel Round 1 WSC 2017 - Instant Classic

Watching the Round 1 match between Luca Brecel and Gary Wilson this year just took me back to the World Championship in 2017 where a similar sort of match occurred between Marco Fu and Luca Brecel – again, in the first round.

Much like the match against Wilson, Brecel’s match against Fu went right down to the wire – the main difference being that Brecel was 7-1 up against Fu, as opposed to being 5-4 and 7-5 up against Wilson. What could possibly go wrong, right?

I should preface this by saying that I am a huge Marco Fu fan. He is one of my favourite players on and off the table. So, seeing him go 7-1, then 7-2 down at the end of the first session was quite difficult to watch, despite how well Brecel was playing. I almost didn’t end up watching the next session because I figured, ‘what’s the point?’ But fortunately, I did.

Fu had to win at least 3 of the first 4 frames at the very minimum to keep himself in the match. Displaying his typical traits of class, resolve and ability to compile breaks, Fu did exactly this. Following the interval, Fu levelled at 8-8. I mean, he showed this comeback fight against John Higgins in the Scottish Open in 2016, so if anyone could turn around a 7-1 deficit, Fu would definitely be a top contender.

Brecel managed to take himself within one frame of victory but unfortunately, wasn’t able to clinch the match – although he did have his chances. A shot that stuck out in my memory is a brilliant cushion-first shot that Fu played to pot a red in such a high pressure situation where he could have easily fouled and left the entire table on for Brecel.

Nevertheless, Fu did end up winning the match and securing a place in Round 2 and if you have watched this match (which I highly urge you do), you have no idea how much more drama there was in Fu’s second round match against Neil Robertson that year.

Three Players I hope do well at the World Championship (2019)

Originally, this was the ‘five’ players who I hoped would do well in this year’s World Championship but unfortunately, two of them didn’t make it through the qualifiers. And thus, we now have the three players who I hope make some distance in the tournament.

Jack Lisowski

A player that I’ve grown quite fond of over the last few years. I like to consider him as ‘Judd Trump without the ego’. Has bundles of talent but just needs more experience at the big events. Debuting at the Crucible in 2013 but more recently, making his second appearance last year at WSC 2018. Unfortunately, having suffered a near white-washing defeat to John Higgins in the second round, I’m hoping Lisowski makes some distance in this year’s championship.

Ding Junhui

Having reached the final in 2016 and the semi-final in 2017 (only to lose to Mark Selby on both occasions), Ding is considered one of the most deserving players that can win the World Championship. A player with one of the largest fan base of supporters, there will be plenty, including myself, who will be rooting for him to make it to the final. He’s done it before, and he can definitely do it again.

Barry Hawkins

You can’t just not like Barry Hawkins. He’s a player you always want to do well, and you know what: he has. He’s made the semi-finals of the World Championships almost every single year since 2013 (obviously making the final in ’13). Seriously. The man is a season ticket holder of the WSC semi-finals. Hopefully soon enough, maybe even this year, he’ll get to the final and eventually lift that trophy!

Honourable mentions: Neil Robertson, Luca Brecel (slightly outdated but not at the time of writing), David Gilbert, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (now just recently outdated - what a match though)