by PLtheRef » 20 Jan 2020 Read
These threads always make an interesting read.
After a decade of the 'Hearn' era, snooker finds itself arguably in the best shape it has been since the heyday of the mid to late 1980s. Nowadays, the majority of its knockers in the media are those journalists who show a feigned interest at the start of a World Championship whilst trying to perpetuate a myth of a sport struggling and likewise try to compare viewing figures nowadays with hundreds of channels more to a one-off peak at the conclusion of a gripping World Championship Final in a very different television era, and as proud as snooker should be of having an audience of 18 1/2 million - that shouldn't be the benchmark to which all coverage is compared to.
From a personal perspective, one rule I would like to see is one which would close a potential loophole where a foul might lead to an unintended advantage. - Example - Player A is 32 points ahead with 35 remaining. He pots the remaining red but also goes in off as he does so. This means Player B comes to the table 28 points behind, but with the red having been potted, now needs a snooker which he didn't need before.
What I'd like to see in that scenario is the final red be replaced (either on the highest available spot or directly in the middle between the pink and black spots) so that the player receiving the penalty points isn't at any disadvantage.
From a rankings perspective, I think the OOM system works well enough, though I do feel on principle prize money for different events should be on some sort of comparative scale with the Crucible - i.e. if the World Championship prize is £500,000 for winning 71 frames, then there shouldn't be an event of the same prize money with short-format matches. - As well as this, the Shootout, shouldn't be a ranking event.
From an events perspective, I'm one of is firmly in the camp that the UK Championship has been devalued somewhat by the reduction in the matches nine years ago, and though it is great to see the longer format matches coming back somewhat in terms of two session matches in the later stages of the China Open, International Championship and especially in the Tour Championship, all of these have left the UK looking a little left behind, especially now the Semi-Finals are also over the Best of 11.
If I could change the UK Championship, I would reduce the final field to 64 players in York and play the Last 64 over Best of 11 in the Barbican in the three days before TV coverage started at the Last 32, that would mean you could play on two tables from the Last 32 onwards, or be daring in a venue which could accommodate it and play the matches back over the longer format. At least the Semi-Finals should be extended beyond 11.
With the Masters, I'd like to see the tournament go to nine days and for the Semi-Finals to be played over the best of 17 or 19. There is ample room for it to do so and it'd be a welcome extension.