Who will be world number one in ten years? NOMINATE NOW!

There’s a lot of chat about the future of the game; the lack of grassroots development in Britain, the inevitable retirement of some of the biggest hitters, and so on. We have an idea of how things might pan out, but can we actually predict who will be world number one at the end of the 2030/2031 season? This thread is here to find out.

I’m not going to offer a predictable shortlist of my own, but rather ask you each to put forward ONE player. This player is who you think will be number one in ten years. Your nomination must be in before the start of the 2021/2022 season, otherwise it’ll be deemed invalid and you’ll look like a sausage.

I’m not running this as a poll, but please don’t change your mind every few months. Make a decision now, and stand by it.

If you actually hang around for another ten years to see if your prediction was right, well kudos!

Judd Trump

Personally I’m torn between 4 players. But I’m going to put my neck on the line.

Kyren Wilson.

Judd Trump

Zhao Xingtong, the biggest Chinese talent out there

Juddernaut88 wrote:Judd Trump

Judd can't do that due to his poor/faulty cue action. As he gets older, he will miss way more due to that.

Yan Bingtao

What's wrong with Judd cue action? Never noticed it being poor or faulty

Juddernaut88 wrote:What's wrong with Judd cue action? Never noticed it being poor or faulty

Fo real?! He aims at a completely different angle to the line of the shot, and then as he strikes the white the cue comes back correctly on line. It’s like a lateral ‘arc’. If a young player was getting into the game it’s one of the first things their coach would address. I’d imagine he’s far beyond the point where he can effectively take his technique to bits and start again. It’s ingrained now. So he accepts it and just plays that way. He hasn’t done too badly, has he.

The argument (as Johnny alludes to) is that certain shots and certain situations might expose the inherent weakness in that technique. So little delicate rolls, when the pressure is on, for example. Any situation where a dead straight cue action is an advantage might be a problem. And as a player gets older and they find the game harder this could become more and more problematic. We don’t see the issue now, but we might in the future. Playing at pace isn’t a problem for him. But you can’t play everything at pace.

yan bingtao

RONNIE,still playing still the best.

Trump or Bingtao

sas6789 wrote:Trump or Bingtao

Pick one.

Ben Mertens

Judd has got this

Kylian Mbappé.

Kyren Wilson

Yan Bingtao.

I'd love to say some exciting new player. But to be number 1 in ten years time he would need to be making an impact now. And nobody is.

I'm sure Bingtao will be a serious threat to Trump by 2031. But I'm thinking Trump will be number 1. His tactical awareness will continue to grow and should compensate for any decline in his potting.

Prop wrote:

Juddernaut88 wrote:What's wrong with Judd cue action? Never noticed it being poor or faulty

Fo real?! He aims at a completely different angle to the line of the shot, and then as he strikes the white the cue comes back correctly on line. It’s like a lateral ‘arc’. If a young player was getting into the game it’s one of the first things their coach would address. I’d imagine he’s far beyond the point where he can effectively take his technique to bits and start again. It’s ingrained now. So he accepts it and just plays that way. He hasn’t done too badly, has he.

The argument (as Johnny alludes to) is that certain shots and certain situations might expose the inherent weakness in that technique. So little delicate rolls, when the pressure is on, for example. Any situation where a dead straight cue action is an advantage might be a problem. And as a player gets older and they find the game harder this could become more and more problematic. We don’t see the issue now, but we might in the future. Playing at pace isn’t a problem for him. But you can’t play everything at pace.

Well said Prop.
Juddernaut, the idea is that when you're under pressure, the better your fundamentals are, the more chances you have of succeeding.

Running side wrote:RONNIE,still playing still the best.

Big call considering hes only been number 1 for less than 5 months since May 2010.

SteveJJ wrote:

Running side wrote:RONNIE,still playing still the best.

Big call considering hes only been number 1 for less than 5 months since May 2010.

He probably meant in terms of how good he is, not the position he occupies in the rankings.

Anyway, IMO Ronnie will be far too old by then.

Dragonfly wrote:I'd love to say some exciting new player. But to be number 1 in ten years time he would need to be making an impact now.

Is that necessarily true though? Looking at Wikipedia's chronological list of number one players, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry both got there in five seasons, John Higgins in six seasons and Mark Williams in eight. More recently, Judd Trump's first spell at number one was after only seven seasons as a pro.

So I'm going to say it's someone that we've never even heard of yet.

Brian Ochoiski.

Ronnie O'Sullivan.

And his fans will still be insisting that he's declined.

Dragonfly wrote:I'd love to say some exciting new player. But to be number 1 in ten years time he would need to be making an impact now. And nobody is.

I'm sure Bingtao will be a serious threat to Trump by 2031. But I'm thinking Trump will be number 1. His tactical awareness will continue to grow and should compensate for any decline in his potting.

Otherwise they would have to have loads of natural ability.

Ten years before Hendry or Davis became WN1 we'd never heard of them, i dont think Hendry had even picked up a cue five years prior to playing at the crucible.

Guys in their early 20s have become WN1 and can do so again, the game is crying out for someone to come along and take it by the scruff of the neck.

In five years time, I think it'll be either Trump or Yan Bingtao. In 10 years, I'll go with Yan.

Pink Ball wrote:In five years time, I think it'll be either Trump or Yan Bingtao. In 10 years, I'll go with Yan.

Definitely one to watch.

Barry Hawkins

Bazza is going to go into "Beast-mode" for the next decade, sweep up all in front of him and rule the rankings!

If not him, then I'll go for Bingtao.

Right now it very hard to see anyone unknown today being No.1 in ten years time. The circumstances are different to 30/40 years ago. Yan Bingtao is the biggest new name in the last decade and even he's still a long way from being No. 1.