Neal Foulds is back with his first column of the snooker season and has much to discuss, including rumours Belfast could step in for the Crucible in 2029.
We move into what is always a period to savour for snooker fans very much in a similar position to where we were at the same stage last season – with the game looking fiercely competitive, still without a clear, dominant force, and with Crucible chat once again dominating the rumour mill.
In many ways the start to the latest campaign has been a curious one, just as it was last season which initially saw a different tournament winner every week. And this time around, the only man to have won two events thus far is Jak Jones, winner of the Championship League and British Open.
The battle for the world number one spot has seen Judd Trump dethroned, but the player currently sitting at the top of the rankings, Zhao Xintong, isn’t in the best of form himself right now and has yet to taste the winning feeling this term.
Judd helped himself to a huge prize when winning the invitational Shanghai Masters, but that offered no ranking points, and his last ranking title came at the German Masters in February.
Wu back on song in Shenzhen
World champion Wu Yize would currently appear to be the biggest challenger to Xhao, and he did very well to win so soon after his Sheffield heroics by taking first prize at the recent Shenzhen Open.
Earlier in the season, Wu had displayed classic symptoms that many first-time world champions tend to exhibit, and I don’t think he has found it particularly easy to get back to focussing on snooker. He isn’t the first and he most certainly won’t be the last.
He worked so hard to win in Sheffield and perhaps could’ve done with a longer break afterwards, with much more of his time now eaten up with PR work and the fact everyone wants a piece of you when you are world champion, especially a Chinese one.
I wouldn’t say he was at his sparkling best in Shenzhen, but the draw opened up nicely and he was very good when dismantling Judd in the semi-finals, before winning a final against Yuan Sijun he was always likely to.
That will have given him a huge boost, and I wonder if he might just be brewing for something special, perhaps a big performance at the UK Championship in York where the BBC cameras will back on him for the first time since May.
It’s Wu's birthday today, and it’s remarkable to think he’s still only 23 years of age and already very much the future of the sport. We send him our best wishes – he certainly has plenty to celebrate at the moment.
Wilson searches for points as Carter bags big prize
Sadly, that hasn’t really been the case for Kyren Wilson, and I’ll be tracking his progress with keen interest over the coming weeks.
It was only in January when Kyren picked up first prize at the Masters, but just as with Judd in Shanghai, that does nothing to help your ranking, and Kyren has endured a lean run, bar that Masters victory, over the last year.
He has a big chunk of points to come off his ranking before this season’s World Championship, and it’s not beyond the realms of possibility the 2024 champion has to qualify for the Crucible in April, unless his performances pick up dramatically.
I’m sure they will, but qualifying for the Players Series would appear a major priority, with the UK Championship carrying even greater importance for Kyren this year.
That is another reminder of just how competitive the tour is, and how hard it is to win these tournaments, which is why we must gave Ali Carter a huge amount of credit for winning the English Open in his forties, the seventh ranking event success of what has been a terrific career.
I’ve seen some comments recently suggesting Ali has underachieved in the game, but winning seven tournaments is no easy feat, along with reaching two World Championship finals, and when he’s healthy and playing well, he’s very close to elite.
Winning in Brentwood, which is close to home for Ali, clearly meant a lot to him, and it was a wonderful performance when taking everything into account, from his great escape against Zhou Yuelong to beating one of the very best ever in Mark Williams in the final. Well done to him.
Beware Trump as fans wait on O'Sullivan and Allen
It’s round two of the Home Nations events next week and back to Belfast for the Northern Ireland Open.
This is a terrific event, one of my favourites, and while the Home Nations tournaments have drawn a little bit of criticism over the years, Northern Ireland is usually exempt from that, with Belfast invariably delivering.
The tournament is always well-received, and always well supported by the locals who love their snooker and, of course, have such a rich history with the sport. But maybe the biggest compliment I can pay this event is that very few players like to miss it.
Judd has made the tournament his own over the years, winning four times and reaching the final in each of the last two years, losing to his great mate Jack Lisowski on an emotional night 12 months ago. I wouldn’t rule out this being the week where Judd puts it all together again.
When I talk about players not wanting to miss Belfast, Ronnie O’Sullivan is clearly the exception to the rule, as he is with most things, and it has become the norm that we see so little of him on these shores nowadays.
At the time of writing, he’s still in the draw, so it would be a huge boost for everyone if Ronnie does play next week, where the fans always give him a warm welcome and would dearly love to witness his genius live.
And that’s even more so the case with Mark Allen, a local hero in this part of the world and hopefully on track to make his first appearance since losing that heartbreaking semi-final at the Crucible back in the spring.
I won’t pretend to know the full reason as to why we haven’t seen Mark since, but I’m sure I speak for all snooker fans when I say that on a human level I hope he does compete after what has evidently a tough time for him away from the table.
He’s drawn against his good pal Jordan Brown in his first match, which I’m sure would be one both players, and the locals, would savour. Fingers crossed we see Mark back on the table and pushing hard for that third Northern Ireland Open victory.
Belfast rumour makes perfect sense
One of the things that has made the Northern Ireland Open the tournament it is today is the venue at the Waterfront Hall, which isn’t huge, but always creates a fantastic atmosphere.
It feels like the spectators are on top of the players here, which isn’t dissimilar to the Crucible, and we’ve had so many memorable nights in this venue.
As with Sheffield, the Northern Irish adore their snooker, so it should come as no surprise to see hear the rumour mull whirring in recent days about the possibility of Belfast stepping in for the Crucible in 2029 when the planned 18-month redevelopment begins on the famous, old venue in South Yorkshire.
I don’t have the inside line on this one, sadly, but I’ve heard plenty of whispers about it in recent days, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised were the rumour to be confirmed as fact before long.
What I will say is that World Snooker Tour could do a lot worse.
The venue is fantastic, the snooker fanbase is already there and would welcome the idea with open arms, while the city of Belfast is just a fantastic place to spend time in, with so much to offer. With two airports close by, the idea makes a lot of sense and certainly has legs.
Who knows, we might hear something more concrete when the snooker circus returns to Northern Ireland next week for what is always a memorable week.
