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Young Players / Rankings after the World Championship

Postby mick745

Barry Hearn seems to be criticising young players generally and Ding Junhui in particular, saying they are 'soft':

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/44034922

Looking at the world rankings, Mark Selby still Number 1 player in the world although this may be under threat next season. The 1992 intake occupy places 2-4:

Ages in brackets

1. Mark Selby (34)
2. Ronnie O'Sullivan (42)
3. Mark Williams (43)
4. John Higgins (42)
5. Judd Trump (28)
6. Ding Junhui (31)
7. Barry Hawkins (39)
8. Shaun Murphy (35)
9. Kyren Wilson (26)
10. Neil Robertson (36)
11. Ali Carter (38)
12. Mark Allen (32)
13. Stuart Bingham (41)
14. Anthony McGill (27)
15. Luca Brecel (23)
16. Ryan Day (38)

These players represent the elite, the top echelons of the game, the ones the casual and potential new fans will see the most often.

Only three of these players were born after 1990 whereas six were born in the 1970s - Do you think this age profile of the top players is a good thing for the long term future of the sport?

Incidentally 7 of the youngest eight players on the rankings are from China - with another couple youngsters at least from that country coming on tour next season, Luo Honghao and Fan Zhengyi.

Re: Young Players / Rankings after the World Championship

Postby SteveJJ

If Barry classes Ding as a young player then we are in trouble!

Perhaps the Chinese takeover of the sport that has been much mooted will happen more due to the numbers of youngsters coming through rather than the quality of their play.

Re: Young Players / Rankings after the World Championship

Postby SnookerFan

Not sure I take much of what Hearn says seriously. Just likes the sound of his own voice, for the most part.

But looking at the top-16 there, that is worrying. Only four players under 30.

Ten of the top sixteen are over 35.

There must be something in it.

Re: Young Players / Rankings after the World Championship

Postby Dan-cat

I know how much you love comparisons to other sports SF... I was chatting to a colleague and he says the same thing is happening in cricket.

I blame the internet / smart phones = inability to focus properly anymore/minute attention spans

Re: Young Players / Rankings after the World Championship

Postby KrazeeEyezKilla

I think the problem is that the boom in the 80's spawned such a large generation of good players that it was always going to be difficult for the smaller numbers that have been coming through in the last ten years. A lot of these older players aren't that old, they are still in their early 40's so it's not like they are pensioners like some of the players that were around years ago. Davis, White, Hendry and others were still playing at a reasonable standard into their 40's but they were being outnumbered by the much larger generation that followed them. With fewer people playing Snooker now the younger players are the ones being outnumbered.

Re: Young Players / Rankings after the World Championship

Postby SnookerFan

Dan-cat wrote:I know how much you love comparisons to other sports SF... I was chatting to a colleague and he says the same thing is happening in cricket.

I blame the internet / smart phones = inability to focus properly anymore/minute attention spans


rofl

It's not that I mind comparisons, per se.

More that I don't like this suggestion that we're all addicted to tennis, or that we can't understand what a pundit says about snooker unless it's compared with something else.

Yours wasn't suggesting we weren't understanding what would happen, unless we compared it to cricket.

Re: Young Players / Rankings after the World Championship

Postby mick745

I thought I would do a comparison withe the top 16 ranked golfers, a sport where you might expect to find a similar age profile maybe, and a sport which supposedly has many fewer youngsters taking it up:

1. Dustin Johnson - 33
2. Justin Thomas - 25
3. Jon Rahm - 23
4. Jordan Speith - 24
5. Justin Rose - 37
6. Rickie Fowler - 29
7. Jason Day- 30
8. Rory mcilroy - 29
9. Hideki Matsuyama - 26
10. Patrick Reed - 27
11. Brooks Koepka - 28
12. Paul Casey - 40
13. Sergio Garcia - 38
14. Tommy Fleetwood - 27
15. Henrik Stenson - 42
16. Marc Leishman - 34

It is immediately obvious that the average age is much lower, only 2 players in their 40s, 9 players in their 20s. This is a sport where there shouldn't be any barrier to age, and experience would count for a lot.

Re: Young Players / Rankings after the World Championship

Postby The_Abbott

Dan-cat wrote:I know how much you love comparisons to other sports SF... I was chatting to a colleague and he says the same thing is happening in cricket.

I blame the internet / smart phones = inability to focus properly anymore/minute attention spans


agree.

Productivity in this country has not risen since 2008. So it isn't just in sport.

I think older people (over 35!) are more dedicated and professional and have a stronger mind to tackle pressurised situations.