The Neil Robertson Trophy (first 10 days at the Crucible)
We all know it. We're 10 days in, the first two rounds of the World Championship have been completed, and one player is blazing a trail. Can they beaten? Surely not?
The tournament is over. And then they flop in the quarter finals.
While picking the best player of the first 10 days is always a matter of opinion, I thought it would be interesting to see if this is actually a trend that's been borne out over time, or is it all in our imagination? The best way of doing this - though it's by no means fool-proof, particularly when the 'title' has to be shared between multiple players - is to proclaim the player with the best frames differential after rounds one and two as 'The winner of the first 10 days of the World Championship'.
And my hunch has proven largely correct. Since the 32-player format was introduced in 1982, in the 40 editions since, the winner of the first 10 days has only gone on to win the tournament itself on only 12 occasions. Only one player, Stephen Hendry, has done it on multiple occasions: in 1993, 1994 and 1995, and even at that, he shared the title in 1995 with Peter Ebdon and Jimmy White. Hendry also won the first 10 days in 2005 (shared with Matthew Stevens) and 2012, but of course he did not win the World Championship in those years. His five 'wins' are a record.
And the stats suggest you're far better off being just a bit above average for the first 10 days. The third- and fourth-ranked players, most often, are the ones to go on to claim the ultimate title.
It will come as no surprise to hear that Neil Robertson is the joint leader when it comes to winning the first 10 days but then failing to win the World title. He did this in 2014 (shared with Dominic Dale), 2015 and 2019.
It's an unwanted record he shares with two other players. Matthew Stevens won the first 10 days in 2000, 2001 and 2005 (the latter shared with Hendry) but did not win the World title. John Higgins is the other record holder (he failed to convert in 1999, 2002 and 2016), but in his defence, he did convert in 2007 after winning the first 10 days.
Only 10 players in history have 'converted': Dennis Taylor (1985), Joe Johnson (1986, shared with Steve Davis), Steve Davis (1989), John Parrott (1991), Stephen Hendry (1993, 1994, 1995), Ken Doherty (1997), Mark Williams (2003), John Higgins (2007), Ronnie O'Sullivan (2020) and Mark Selby (2021).
Here's the full list of 'winners' in what is, largely, a roll of dishonour:
1982: Tony Knowles (+15) – actual winner was Alex Higgins (+6, eighth)
1983: Kirk Stevens (18) – actual winner was Steve Davis (8, joint fourth)
1984: Terry Griffiths (16) – actual winner was Steve Davis (15, second)
1985: Dennis Taylor (15)
1986: Joe Johnson and Steve Davis (14)
1987: Dene O’Kane (13) – actual winner was Steve Davis (12, second)
1988: Tony Drago (16) – actual winner was Steve Davis (14, third)
1989: Steve Davis (15)
1990: Steve Davis (15) – actual winner was Stephen Hendry (9, fourth)
1991: John Parrott (16)
1992: John Parrott (19) – actual winner was Stephen Hendry (10, joint third)
1993: Stephen Hendry (18)
1994: Stephen Hendry (20)
1995: Stephen Hendry, Jimmy White and Peter Ebdon (14)
1996: Ronnie O’Sullivan (16) – actual winner was Stephen Hendry (8, seventh)
1997: Ken Doherty (12)
1998: Jimmy White (16) – actual winner was John Higgins (6, joint seventh)
1999: John Higgins (17) – actual winner was Stephen Hendry (8, joint sixth)
2000: Matthew Stevens (17) – actual winner was Mark Williams (10, third)
2001: Matthew Stevens (17) – actual winner was Ronnie O’Sullivan (11, fifth)
2002: John Higgins (20) – actual winner was Peter Ebdon (12, sixth)
2003: Mark Williams (19)
2004: David Gray (11) – actual winner was Ronnie O’Sullivan (6, fourth)
2005: Stephen Hendry and Matthew Stevens (13) – actual winner was Shaun Murphy (10, fourth)
2006: Ken Doherty and Mark Williams (14) – actual winner was Graeme Dott (11, sixth)
2007: John Higgins (15)
2008: Stephen Maguire (13) – actual winner was Ronnie O’Sullivan (11, second)
2009: Ryan Day (14) – actual winner was John Higgins (6, joint sixth)
2010: Mark Allen and Mark Selby (14) – actual winner was Neil Robertson (6, joint fifth)
2011: Mark Selby (18) – actual winner was John Higgins (11, joint third)
2012: Stephen Hendry (15) – actual winner was Ronnie O’Sullivan (13, second)
2013: Michael White (14) – actual winner was Ronnie O’Sullivan (11, joint second)
2014: Neil Robertson and Dominic Dale (14) – actual winner was Mark Selby (5, ranked eighth)
2015: Neil Robertson (16) – actual winner was Stuart Bingham (11, ranked fourth)
2016: John Higgins (12) – actual winner was Mark Selby (6, ranked joint fourth)
2017: Stephen Maguire (18) – actual winner was Mark Selby (15, ranked second)
2018: Ding Junhui (16) – actual winner was Mark Williams (11, ranked fourth)
2019: Neil Robertson (16) – actual winner was Judd Trump (5, ranked joint sixth)
2020: Ronnie O’Sullivan (12)
2021: Mark Selby (15)
2022: Mark Williams (17) – actual winner was Ronnie O'Sullivan (14, ranked second)
The tournament is over. And then they flop in the quarter finals.
While picking the best player of the first 10 days is always a matter of opinion, I thought it would be interesting to see if this is actually a trend that's been borne out over time, or is it all in our imagination? The best way of doing this - though it's by no means fool-proof, particularly when the 'title' has to be shared between multiple players - is to proclaim the player with the best frames differential after rounds one and two as 'The winner of the first 10 days of the World Championship'.
And my hunch has proven largely correct. Since the 32-player format was introduced in 1982, in the 40 editions since, the winner of the first 10 days has only gone on to win the tournament itself on only 12 occasions. Only one player, Stephen Hendry, has done it on multiple occasions: in 1993, 1994 and 1995, and even at that, he shared the title in 1995 with Peter Ebdon and Jimmy White. Hendry also won the first 10 days in 2005 (shared with Matthew Stevens) and 2012, but of course he did not win the World Championship in those years. His five 'wins' are a record.
And the stats suggest you're far better off being just a bit above average for the first 10 days. The third- and fourth-ranked players, most often, are the ones to go on to claim the ultimate title.
It will come as no surprise to hear that Neil Robertson is the joint leader when it comes to winning the first 10 days but then failing to win the World title. He did this in 2014 (shared with Dominic Dale), 2015 and 2019.
It's an unwanted record he shares with two other players. Matthew Stevens won the first 10 days in 2000, 2001 and 2005 (the latter shared with Hendry) but did not win the World title. John Higgins is the other record holder (he failed to convert in 1999, 2002 and 2016), but in his defence, he did convert in 2007 after winning the first 10 days.
Only 10 players in history have 'converted': Dennis Taylor (1985), Joe Johnson (1986, shared with Steve Davis), Steve Davis (1989), John Parrott (1991), Stephen Hendry (1993, 1994, 1995), Ken Doherty (1997), Mark Williams (2003), John Higgins (2007), Ronnie O'Sullivan (2020) and Mark Selby (2021).
Here's the full list of 'winners' in what is, largely, a roll of dishonour:
1982: Tony Knowles (+15) – actual winner was Alex Higgins (+6, eighth)
1983: Kirk Stevens (18) – actual winner was Steve Davis (8, joint fourth)
1984: Terry Griffiths (16) – actual winner was Steve Davis (15, second)
1985: Dennis Taylor (15)
1986: Joe Johnson and Steve Davis (14)
1987: Dene O’Kane (13) – actual winner was Steve Davis (12, second)
1988: Tony Drago (16) – actual winner was Steve Davis (14, third)
1989: Steve Davis (15)
1990: Steve Davis (15) – actual winner was Stephen Hendry (9, fourth)
1991: John Parrott (16)
1992: John Parrott (19) – actual winner was Stephen Hendry (10, joint third)
1993: Stephen Hendry (18)
1994: Stephen Hendry (20)
1995: Stephen Hendry, Jimmy White and Peter Ebdon (14)
1996: Ronnie O’Sullivan (16) – actual winner was Stephen Hendry (8, seventh)
1997: Ken Doherty (12)
1998: Jimmy White (16) – actual winner was John Higgins (6, joint seventh)
1999: John Higgins (17) – actual winner was Stephen Hendry (8, joint sixth)
2000: Matthew Stevens (17) – actual winner was Mark Williams (10, third)
2001: Matthew Stevens (17) – actual winner was Ronnie O’Sullivan (11, fifth)
2002: John Higgins (20) – actual winner was Peter Ebdon (12, sixth)
2003: Mark Williams (19)
2004: David Gray (11) – actual winner was Ronnie O’Sullivan (6, fourth)
2005: Stephen Hendry and Matthew Stevens (13) – actual winner was Shaun Murphy (10, fourth)
2006: Ken Doherty and Mark Williams (14) – actual winner was Graeme Dott (11, sixth)
2007: John Higgins (15)
2008: Stephen Maguire (13) – actual winner was Ronnie O’Sullivan (11, second)
2009: Ryan Day (14) – actual winner was John Higgins (6, joint sixth)
2010: Mark Allen and Mark Selby (14) – actual winner was Neil Robertson (6, joint fifth)
2011: Mark Selby (18) – actual winner was John Higgins (11, joint third)
2012: Stephen Hendry (15) – actual winner was Ronnie O’Sullivan (13, second)
2013: Michael White (14) – actual winner was Ronnie O’Sullivan (11, joint second)
2014: Neil Robertson and Dominic Dale (14) – actual winner was Mark Selby (5, ranked eighth)
2015: Neil Robertson (16) – actual winner was Stuart Bingham (11, ranked fourth)
2016: John Higgins (12) – actual winner was Mark Selby (6, ranked joint fourth)
2017: Stephen Maguire (18) – actual winner was Mark Selby (15, ranked second)
2018: Ding Junhui (16) – actual winner was Mark Williams (11, ranked fourth)
2019: Neil Robertson (16) – actual winner was Judd Trump (5, ranked joint sixth)
2020: Ronnie O’Sullivan (12)
2021: Mark Selby (15)
2022: Mark Williams (17) – actual winner was Ronnie O'Sullivan (14, ranked second)
Last edited by Pink Ball on 21 May 2022, edited 1 time in total.
-
Pink Ball - Posts: 22309
- Joined: 07 April 2015
- Location: Galway city, Ireland
- Snooker Idol: You are a banker
- Walk-On: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkfgIUiCiUQ