lhpirnie wrote:Yes, there is pressure on them, but also on their opponents, who are terrified of being tomorrow's headline news.
I'm not against these tour cards in principle, but if they don't win a match for the whole 2 years it might backfire. I remember watching the African Champion Basem Eltahhan play really well against Selby in the UK Championship - only experience prevented him from winning that match. But at the end of his 2 years he'd lost all of his matches, was utterly dejected, and could hardly win a frame. His last match was a 10-0 loss in the first round of the World Championship.
If we get 4 women on tour next season, and they can't beat anyone (except each other), is that really good for snooker? It just discredits the whole venture, and introduces weak points in the draws. Ultimately snooker has to be an elite competitive sport, and handing out tour places too easily makes a mockery of the system. There should be some 'open' tournaments with women, junior, senior (e.g. over 50), regional champions, etc. participating. But not every event. The full tour is punishing.
Oh, agreed. Although I’m not sure being a headline compares to the pressure of ~50% of the planet in your mind, particularly as the headline will to some extent apply to the women regardless of win or lose.
With your Elltahhan example, how many of his matches were televised to the extent that WST seemed to be planning for the future? At least Reanne and On Yee appear to get semi-regular airtime, i.e. any girls watching this, you can mix it and improve on what these women are doing.
Handing out tour cards too easily may be an issue. But I personally would forgo ‘legacy’ cards in an instant before refusing women or Africans or any other potential market.
I think the tour card system needs some overhaul. I’d focus on the likes of Steve Mifsud who take up a place ever year without even entering a tournament before kicking out women who make an effort and suffer admirable losses.
(Just to be clear, I’m not aiming the above at you specifically or suggesting you disagree.)