European Masters Final 2020 – Shorts Thoughts

In a direct contrast to the last European Masters final which saw one competitor claim all the frames, this year witnessed the opposite as the final was played through to its entirety in a deciding contest. Mark Selby, who ended his season strongly found himself up against a fresher-faced Martin Gould, who had only reached two semi-finals since his ranking victory in 2016. Who would end up winning the first ranking title of the new season?

Breakdown

As most would have expected, Selby began the match strongly as he swept the opening mini-session with a 4-0 lead, aided by a 130 and 96 break in Frames 2 and 3; supported by consistent contributions in the other frames to run away with the proceedings. Despite this score, Gould wasn’t making too many errors and his long potting was pretty solid. Thanks to a fabulous clearance of the final red and colours in Frame 5, Gould was able to get himself on the board and reel off the following three frames with breaks of 70 and 131 in Frames 7 and 8.

It was a terrific response from Gould as he seemingly found his form and rhythm that allowed him to reach this final. He commenced the evening session with a 94 and this is where the evening proceedings didn’t allow either competitor to run away with victory. An even exchanging of frames which included Selby making a 113 in Frame 12, and Gould making a 107 in Frame 14 led to a level 7-7 score-line.

Frame 15 turned out to be pivotal as Gould was able to steal from 42-7 down until he reached a relatively simple blue which no one expected him to miss. This would have given him an 8-7 lead and if all things remained the same, would have won him the title. Although, this wasn’t the case. Despite allowing Selby to win this frame, Gould did well to erase it from memory with a 96 break to force a decider. However, it was Selby who would hold his form with a great opening pot to become the European Master.

Afterthoughts

It was a very evenly matched contest with both players making two centuries and six 50+ breaks. And three of those 50+ breaks were above 90. It was a final where neither player was playing poorly, but was able to capitalise on the mistakes of his opponent. It was clear as the evening session progressed that it would run to the wire, and it would be a matter of which player got their chance first in the deciding frame. On this occasion, Selby was the victor as he secures the first ranking title of the 2020/21 season.

This win marks the tenth successive ranking final victory for Selby, who hasn’t lost a final since 2016. It also shows a continuation of form as displayed throughout last season, in particularly, the World Championship. Selby highlighted that he is a goal setter for each new season, and this season’s personal goal would be to reach No. 1. Considering his recent performances, he’s only one or two majors away (along with a few other events) from really closing the gap and reaching No. 2. From then, he can go into the next season and take advantage of Judd Trump’s eroding points. If anyone is capable of accomplishing this, Selby is the guy.

As for Gould, he showed exactly what he’s made of with a formidable voyage to this final. Claiming victories over the likes of Higgins, Bingtao and Trump saw Gould’s best performance since his German Masters win in 2016. Even though he didn’t get the result he was aiming for, being able to run an opponent like Selby to a decider especially after being 4-0 down is a very commendable feat. Gould’s ranking has climbed seventeen places and another performance like this would see him comfortably settled into the Top 32.

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The Difficulty With Popularising Snooker In America

Snooker has become a fairly global sport; and it has spent the past decade or so trying to increase its global presence. However, many fans would agree that there is one region in particular that they would like to see the sport prosper: the North Americas, specifically the US. Given all this time that has passed, why is it such a challenging prospect, trying to break snooker into the States?

One of the main reasons is down to the competition from other sports. Most articles would show you that American Football, Baseball and Basketball are the top sports in the country, with tremendous viewing figures to match. Introducing snooker to this region would mean trying to compete for fans of these sports, which is no easy task. These sports may not be popular internationally, but it’s known internationally how passionate US fans are about them.

Another thing to consider is how favoured the underlying collegiate level sports are in the US – an area which could be considered their own sports respectively, given how involved the fans are. These are all challenges that snooker would have to face, and what pool is currently trying to deal with. Despite pools popularity, most US surveys don’t even have the game in their top 10s. So how could snooker possibly compete with fast-paced, high impact sports that make it seem like a bike ride in comparison?

The answer lies in the problem that snooker faces with breaking into the US – and that’s its perception. Barry Hearn mentioned in an interview a few years ago about how the American psyche is ‘all about results and crash, bang, wallop’, leaning to the impression of US sports fans being excited by the faster paced sports with a quick result. Which means that popularising snooker doesn’t only mean introducing a new sport to viewers, but also trying to ingrain a more patient characteristic into those that would choose to watch.

America certainly has the venues to support some incredible snooker events but there has been difficulty in the past for Hearn in trying to procure broadcasting rights that would make hosting worthwhile. Hearn stated that some sports just don’t translate to other countries which some have to accept. But it certainly means we shouldn’t stop trying. WST were able to take advantage of the growing popularity in China to integrate snooker alongside other sports such as table tennis and badminton. And now China is one of snooker’s most important regions/markets.

How can we make snooker in the US work then? It all comes down to awareness. This isn’t something that can be done quickly either. It’s something that would need to be nurtured into American culture. Eddie Hearn stated in the ‘WST: No Time Like The Future’ video at the beginning of the year how fans would need to be educated on the sport, and the main way this could be done is through the top personalities.

This is how golf remains a top sport in the US and the likes of snooker or cricket have suffered in trying to break through. Golf has a significant volume of American professionals and personalities despite being a sport with a pace similar to snooker. Players like Tiger Woods have led to a raised interest in the sport which is why there are over 24 million Americans that choose to play the sport, regardless of the ruleset.

The reason I said ‘regardless of the ruleset’ was because it has been suggested on a few occasions to play snooker on a smaller, or even a pool sized table to ease snooker into American culture. Changing the foundations of snooker to adhere to a different market changes the sport completely and we all already know snooker’s track record with entertaining viewers as it stands. So I don’t necessarily think this would work. It all goes back to educating the sports fans.

Making the US fans aware of the stars like O’Sullivan, Trump and Selby will at least raise the question to them as to why these players aren’t competing here. Unfortunately, there is no prominent American snooker star that could help in being an ambassador for the sport, similar to the likes of Robertson for Australia, or Ding for China. Sadly, this is potentially the reason as to the lack of young risers taking up an interest in snooker. This underlines the importance of raising the awareness of snooker and its personalities in the US market, and through similar promotion and partnership strategies that were utilised in China, would take a positive step in achieving this.

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History of the European Masters (Open)

After a 9-0 whitewash over his fellow finalist (technically earlier this year), Neil Robertson aims to successfully defend his European Masters trophy as the first non-Championship League event gets under way. Similar to other tournaments, the European Masters has gone through alternative names, discontinuations, and also revivals as we look at the brief history of this long-standing event.

Commencing as the first ranking event held outside the UK, the European Open was successful in lasting from 1989-97, including winners such as Parrott, Davis, Hendry and White. In keeping to its name, the tournament was held in locations around Europe, namely across cities in France, Belgium and Malta. The event lasted until 1997, where it didn’t return until 2001 for another three editions.

At this point, Malta started to become a regular home for the European Open to which the event was renamed the Malta Cup from 2005 onwards. It ran under this moniker for a few years before it was discontinued from the tour for a considerable number of years. Much like today, the European Masters of past had followed a short-match format which consisted of a series of best-of-9’s followed by a best-of-11 and then best-of-17 final.

It was eight years following the departure of the last Malta Cup until we saw the ‘European’ event return to the scene. The snooker environment was flourishing, with growing partnerships and tournaments being established in various locations. This included many countries (including within Europe) getting their own ‘Masters’ or ‘Opens’. In 2016, we would see the European Masters return to the calendar, and take us to places such as Romania and Belgium, where snooker was growing in popularity.

This leads us to last year, where the event was held in Austria and became a part of the European Series brand, which grouped together the European Masters, German Masters, Shootout and Gibraltar Open. The top performer across these series of events would end up securing a six-figure bonus, which in turn ended up going to Judd Trump following his stellar season. The European Series has since seen additions for this season which include the Championship League and the…Welsh Open?

What I particularly like about the European Masters primarily lies in its concept. A roaming tournament which allows players, fans and spectators to experience snooker as well as the locations it is played in provides a fresh perspective and insight to the fans of the sport within that country. The European Masters, whilst it is short-lived under that name, actually dates back several decades and has seen all of the top players lift the trophy.

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Old Snooker Tournaments I Hope Return

Throughout the decades, we have seen many snooker events, both ranking and otherwise, come and go as the game has evolved. Certain events such as the Grand Prix, or various ‘Opens’ have undergone revisions and re-brandings, while others have been discontinued completely. Out of the many events that are no longer on the calendar, I’ve picked a few which I wouldn’t mind seeing return at some point in the future.

Dubai Classic/Masters

Run primarily in the late 1980s and a majority of the 1990s, the Dubai Classic was the only real snooker tournament that took place in the Middle East. It was a location and tournament remembered by many players, including Hendry and O’Sullivan due to the hospitality of the venue. With a distinct lack of tournaments held in the Middle East, there is an opportunity to bring money as well as a unique desert backdrop to a potential revival of this event.

Pontins Professional

This was a tournament which ran in Wales from 1974-2000 and mainly took place after the World Championship. Players would often use this invitational tournament as a way to supplement their income from competition. It doesn’t necessarily need to be this specific event, but I think an exhibition-like tournament such as Pontins would be a great way to close out a season, particularly after a tough grind at the Crucible.

World Doubles Championship

This variant edition of snooker was run throughout the 1980s which offered an alternative to the traditional game that viewers were used to watching. This event was dominated by Steve Davis and partner, Tony Meo as they won four out of the six iterations. Even though we have the World Cup, it would be nice to see an exhibition return of this tournament with a more unique ruleset or mixed doubles concept (male, female or professional, amateur).

Charity Challenge

Most notably known for Hendry’s deciding frame 147 against O’Sullivan, the Charity Challenge brought a refreshing motivation for players during the late 1990s. It was an event in which the prize money won by players would be donated to the charities of their choice. Despite not offering any ranking rewards for players, it would be great to include a tournament that solely focuses on the charitable contributions that could be generated.

More Internationals

What I mean by this is if you look through the 1980-90s, you’ll see snooker tournaments held in incredible locations that you wouldn’t see nowadays. Many countries hosted their own ‘Masters’ events, including the likes of Singapore, Finland, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong etc. I would love to see snooker reach more of these locations but the difficulties with this in the current, packed game is understandable. Perhaps a dedicated series of tours can return to aid with this but for the moment, one can only hope.

What do you think? Which tournaments do you miss and would like to see return one day? Let me know either in the comments or using the socials below!

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