Neal Foulds snooker column: Jack Lisowski the toast of Belfast as ITV prepares to say goodbye

The dust has now settled on Jack Lisowski’s brilliant maiden ranking title success at the Northern Ireland Open, but it’s not a night I’ll forget in a hurry – nor do I want to.

It’s a great story, it really is. Talent fulfilled on one of most enjoyable nights commentating I can remember in a long time. We’ve had some memorable finals in the last few years, but in all honestly, there are few I’ve enjoyed more than this one in Belfast.

Jack winning is obviously the story. He gets a lot of stick from punters, pundits and the media, but none of it has ever meant a great deal because he’s a one-off. A unique talent, perhaps one of the most gifted players on tour right now. But he’s been an enigma, too.

Something has been missing for too long, but the stars aligned last week and everything came together for this terrific young man, a genuinely lovely lad, who suffered heartbreak following the death of his father in March. I think that, coupled with those previous final losses, made Sunday night all the more special.

A final to savour in Belfast

The final itself was a wonderful match, we shouldn’t forget that. The first four frames weren’t anything to write home about, but in the evening session especially, the standard was top drawer with both players producing the levels of dazzling play we are used to seeing from them.

It’s not often you are sat in the commentary box feeling every shot and almost playing those shots with the players. You could see it in the audience, too, and there was genuine affection for Jack from all inside Waterfront Hall.

The way Jack plays his snooker – that effortless style of his, the ability to pot balls and make breaks in a way very few can – has always drawn people in. But it’s no secret that he has on occasion fallen to pieces, and we’ve certainly not seen the best of him in big finals until Sunday.

Who knows if those events off the table gave him a new purpose, or an even greater resolve, but you can’t argue with what he did when it mattered. He beat all types of players, top-class ones, from Mark Selby to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Kyren Wilson, and then of course, his best friend Judd Trump in the final.

He always said that when he did eventually to win a tournament, he wanted to do it the hard way, and to overcome Judd at the last hurdle, a player who has beaten him in many of those previous finals, was the icing on the cake and an achievement he should be very proud of.

The scenes at the end of the match were special. It’s clear that Judd has been a wonderful friend to Jack and his reaction to Jack winning was one of many good things to come out of the day.

Trump all class in defeat

Judd is another who has received plenty of criticism over the years because of some of his post-match interviews, but frustration at losing big matches comes with the territory of being a serial winner and you never saw Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis taking defeat well. Winners don’t care much for losing.

So, with that in mind, it must be said that Judd’s conduct at the end of this match, and the same when losing to Ronnie O’Sullivan in the World Championship final in 2022, was exemplary. He’s a class act and snooker is lucky to have him.

I must also mention the tournament itself. The Northern Ireland Open is now the crown in the Home Nations Series Crown. The Welsh Open is a good second, an event with great history and one that in many ways stands alone, but Belfast puts on a real show year on year and the crowds there are just fantastic.

The Belfast punters have long loved their snooker and have always had their favourites, from Alex Higgins to Dennis Taylor, and more recently hometown hero Mark Allen. But there was real love Jack on Sunday and the crowd certainly helped make the night all it was.

Snooker is in the blood of these people and the Northern Ireland Open is one of the highlights of the season every year. Roll on next time.

Sad farewell to ITV

Things move thick and fast at this time of year, though, and the International Championship in Nanjing starts on Sunday. This is a big event, in many ways the Chinese equivalent to the UK Championship with the best-of-11-frames matches from the start.

Ding Junhui is defending champion and I do think he’ll go well again, especially with so many withdrawals due to illness or injury. We won’t see Mark Williams for starters, and my good pal Ken Doherty has had to pull out despite recording that fine win over Stan Moody in qualifying.

The following week, it’s the Champion of Champions which I’ve always felt was one of the best tournaments around. It’s a proper event, this, and you invariably get a high-class winner who has had to do it the hard way. Let’s hope Williams is fit and able to defend his title.

Regretably, the Champion of Champions will be the last event covered on ITV, with Channel 5 taking over thereafter and building on their involvement with snooker.

On a personal note, there is a real sense of sadness here as I’ve adored my time covering snooker on ITV with Jill Douglas and the rest of the team.

We’ve worked hard to try and build up the events we’ve covered and I hope we managed to do that over the years. It was a great pleasure, but I know that all good things must come to an end. Hopefully Channel 5 can take up the mantle and do the sport justice.

When things change, it does remind you how lucky we are as snooker fans that the BBC has supported snooker through thick and thin despite so much competition for television time. It’s been a long-standing commitment to the sport and the BBC has done a wonderful job with it.

The relationship between the BBC and snooker is a precious one, and I know the players still value those tournaments very highly. As we all do. Let’s hope that association continues for many years to come.

As for the present, myself, Jill and the rest of the team will hope to sign off in style. I can’t promise you a story like the one Jack gave us in Belfast, but this great game of ours can usually be relied upon to come up with something special.