Nick Metcalfe Snooker Column: World Championship far from a classic, but what's the big deal?

If you're aged 40 or over, you'll probably remember a time when Saturdays and Mondays in sport were not labelled Super or Magic.

When we grew up, those days were simply called Saturday and Monday.

Don't get me wrong, I'm in the selling business as much as any other journalist.

The next match, the next tournament, the next Games. We're forever hyping up the next big thing to a hungry sporting public.

But really, when we strip all that away, the more discerning viewer knows that even in this hyped up age there's far more nuance involved.

The 2024 World Snooker Championship, which finished in triumph for Kyren Wilson on Monday night, was not a vintage edition. Sporting Life's snooker expert, Richard Mann, called it one of the worst World Championships in recent memory.

And do you know what, that's perfectly fine.

There's such a temptation now to hail everything as simply wonderful that we can easily lose sight of reality.

Maybe it's a wider thing beyond sport. Let's face it, we're all guilty of promoting the best parts of our characters and lives on social media.

For a long time, I've thought of Facebook as the Match of the Day of the online world. We only tend to share the equivalent of the best ten minutes of the game. The smiles, the laughter, the excitement.

The other eighty minutes or so - the boring and awkward bits, and most pertinently the painful bits - are rarely given an outing.

WATCH: RANKING SNOOKER'S WORLD CHAMPIONS

I noticed during my conversations in Sheffield over recent days that some people were a bit tentative about calling this a prosaic World Championship. I wonder why. Life can certainly be prosaic, so why should a snooker tournament be different?

It wasn't as if there weren't still absorbing, compelling and thrilling moments to enjoy over the last 17 days.

There was defending champion Luca Brecel being knocked out on day one. And then giants of the game like Mark Selby and Mark Williams heading for the exit door soon after.

We had the clash between Stephen Maguire and Shaun Murphy that was pure theatre, all fists pumping and table slamming.

As for John Higgins and his clearance to beat Mark Allen, we'll be talking about that for as long as we're talking about snooker. It was one for the ages.

Favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan was edged out by Stuart Bingham in the last eight. Judd Trump had his dream of a second world title ended by Jak Jones at the same stage.

Indeed Jones kept on proving everyone wrong, all the way to the title match, when he did superbly to win 14 frames from a position of 7-0 behind.

And of course we have another new champion in Wilson, one of the top players of his generation who has long threatened to win on the biggest stages and has now done it in the grandest event of them all.

So we weren't drastically short of good stuff or anything, not at all. It's just that we've become used to more over the years.

To be frank, we were probably short-changed when it came to really close finishes following the first round.

The second round actually felt it was dragging for much of it, with a slightly erratic schedule not helping.

The quarter-finals generally delivered but the semi-finals, which so often provide priceless entertainment, both flattered to deceive as proper contests.

So there were disappointments for sure. Some have suggested the more testing table conditions were a factor. I'm not convinced the two are linked. Anyway, I appreciated the tightness of the pockets during the tournament.

There just weren't enough stellar matches this time round. But I finish by returning to the main point. Why shouldn't a sporting event give us disappointments? You've probably gathered by now that life is full of them.

Let's have confidence in the product and in our pure love of snooker to call it straight when an event doesn't hit the heights.

And above all, don't worry. Another classic tournament will be along soon enough. And we'll probably appreciate it even more.

ALSO READ: Richard Mann's World Championship reflections

New champion Wilson will be ideal ambassador

Kyren Wilson will be a brilliant ambassador for snooker in his year as world champion.

The Kettering man has a decency about him that almost harks back to a different time. It was hard not to feel emotional along with Wilson and his family when he was celebrating his famous victory at the Crucible.

He's a proper snooker man and will be totally aware of the distinguished status this success gives him.

Make no mistake, Wilson will cut every ribbon in the next twelve months and he'll do it with a smile and maybe the odd cheeky quip.

He'll embrace being introduced as champion everywhere too. He said as much following his victory.

You never quite know for sure, but he doesn't seem the type to be weighed down by the sheer gravitas of winning the ultimate prize. He could well thrive over the next twelve months.

This was a heartwarming snooker moment and we should all embrace a fine new champion.

Related snooker links

• Richard Mann's World Championship reflections
• What is the future of the Crucible?
• Ronnie O'Sullivan's maximum breaks
• Watch all the Crucible 147 breaks
• History of 147 breaks
• Snooker's GOAT: O'Sullivan by the numbers
• O'Sullivan: One of a kind
• Ronnie on the unbreakable record
• Best players never to win the world title
• Crucible memories: Ronnie's finest hour
• Crucible memories: Higgins denies Trump
• Crucible memories: White a People's Champion
• Crucible memories: Johnson stuns Davis
• Crucible memories: Foulds' dream debut