The Chalk - Issue 7 - November 2020 by The Chalk

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WELCOME TO

04 MAX POTTER 09 CARTOON SNOOKER 11 BACKER BLOG COACH 15 BARRY STARK RODNEY 16 REMEMBERS NEWS FROM 19 THE BAIZE SHOCKING 23 MOMENTS 2020 ENGLISH OPEN REVIEW

DONATE TO THE CHALK We hope you’ve been enjoying the first six editions of The Chalk, the first ever digital magazine in snooker. As you can imagine it takes a lot of time and effort from everyone here to produce the magazine and we could not do it without the great team of writers who contribute to the columns each month. We never want to set a price for

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ello and welcome to edition number seven of The Chalk. We hope you are all keeping safe and enjoy the read. As always thank you for taking the time to subscribe, download, open and flick through the digital pages of the sport’s newest, brightest, freshest publication. Every month we will aim to bring you insight into cue sports from around the globe. In this issue, Monique Limbos writes a comprehensive review of the 2020 English Open, which saw Judd Trump crowned as champion after another win in Milton Keynes. Our thanks again go to Steve© who has supplied us with another cracking Max Potter page. Max is a great hit with readers both young and old and we are delighted he is back to keep all you entertained. Feel free to give Max a follow on Instagram (@maxpotter_official), he has some great jokes! Rodney Goggins is back with his popular column Rodney Remembers. This month he writes about first year professionals - it is well worth a read. Tom Moorcroft pens his monthly article and talks about snooker’s most shocking moments. Can you think of any other shocking moments? You can support us online by liking us on Facebook (facebook.com/TheChalkMag) and by following us on Twitter @_TheChalk. Instagram more your thing? Give _TheChalk a follow. Our thanks as always go also to our advertisers and contributors, your support is really appreciated. If you would like to advertise please get in touch by emailing us at info@thechalk.co.uk. If you have any feedback, then please email us at the same address. Happy reading, stay safe and we hope you enjoy The Chalk. The Chalk is designed by JRH Media. james@jrhmedia.co.uk www.jrhmedia.co.uk | 07881237868

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THE 2020 ENGLISH OPEN – A REVIEW >> BY MONIQUE LIMBOS - RETIRED MATHEMATICIAN WHO LOVES SNOOKER AND PHOTOGRAPHY <<

he 2020 English Open, the first “Home Nations” tournament of the season, was played in Milton Keynes, under social distancing rules, and without a crowd. Mark Selby was the defending champion. I will be looking at the main talking points, round by round. The last 128 round Once again the Covid-19 crisis made the headlines at the start of the tournament. Prior to the tournament, Gary Wilson had raised the question about the validity of the test for players who had tested positive recently and had gone through the self-isolation period. The previous week, Daniel Wells, who had tested positive at the European Masters, tested positive again at the Championship League Snooker and was withdrawn again. My understanding is that, after considering Gary’s concerns, WST decided not to retest those who had tested positive in the previous four weeks, went into self-isolation, and didn’t develop any symptoms. On the first day, Stuart Carrington and referee Andrew Barklam tested positive to the virus and were withdrawn from the tournament, as was Sam Craigie, who had come in contact with Stuart Carrington. As a result, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Anthony McGill both received a bye to the last 64. On the second day, Peter Lines tested positive and was withdrawn from the tournament, as was his son Oliver, who lives with him. This was particularly harsh on Oliver, who had tested negative, and won his first round match on the previous day. Following those withdrawals, Lu Honghao got a bye into the last 64, and lucky boy Anthony McGill got a bye into the last 32. Peter Lines was particularly aggrieved by the whole situation, as he explained to Phil Haigh writing for metro.co.uk. There was one more walk-over benefitting Alan Taylor, as Mark Williams withdrew for personal reasons. The round yielded a few surprising results. Steven Hallworth, who has just regained his professional status via 4

the Q-school in August, beat the European Masters finalist Martin Gould by 4-1. Martin won the first frame comfortably but was outscored in the next four, despite his opponent scoring only one 50+ break. Andy Hicks beat Scot Donaldson by 4-1, in a match that on frames scores appears to have been very close and didn’t feature a single 50+ break. Sunny Akani beat Stephen Maguire by 4-1, scoring breaks of 57, 72, 71 and 59 en route. It’s fair to say that Maguire has struggled since winning the 2020 Tour Championship in the summer. Jamie Clarke beat Ali Carter by 4-1, confirming his current good form. Simon Lichtenberg from Germany had an excellent 4-3 win over the vastly experienced

Anthony Hamilton, whilst Alexander Ursenbacher from Switzerland, got the better of former World champion, Graeme Dott, winning by 4-2. Other matches delivered the expected winner, but not necessarily in the expected way. Mark Selby whitewashed Fan Zhengyi by 4-0 with an AST of 20.6 secs. Mark has praised his new coach, Chris Henry, for helping him changing his approach and mindset. Speaking to WST, he said: “If you play on instinct it gives you a better chance of playing well. Otherwise you can over-think and that can lead to anxiety and muscle tension. I am trying to just see the shot and play it.” adding “Before, I was getting frustrated and

“IF YOU PLAY ON INSTINCT IT GIVES YOU A BETTER CHANCE OF PLAYING WELL. OTHERWISE YOU CAN OVERTHINK AND THAT CAN LEAD TO ANXIETY AND MUSCLE TENSION. I AM TRYING TO JUST SEE THE SHOT AND PLAY IT.”

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Mark Selby following his win over Fan Zhengyi.

anxious out there, missing balls and getting nervous. Now I’m at ease with everything I’m doing.” Ding came back from 0-3 down, to beat Si Jiahui by 4-3. Ding looked good in the balls, but every other aspect of his game was poor by his standard. Si Jiahui had a good few opportunities to win the match, but failed to take them. Ronnie O’Sullivan found himself 2-0 down, with his amateur opponent at the table, when one shot turned the match on its head: Brian Ochoiski, the 21 years old from France, missed a long pink in the yellow pocket. Brian had been the better player up to that point, scoring a 105 in the second frame, his first century in a professional match. From there however Ronnie made breaks of 51, 133, 55 and 52 to win 4-2. The World champion looked rusty and nervous, especially at the start. Ronnie said something interesting in his WST post-match interview: “Sometimes you have to find the right style of play for a certain opponent. Tonight there was no point in me playing the right shot, because then he didn’t play the shots I thought he would play. So I thought I’d play the same game as him and go for everything.” He still played a number of excellent safeties though. The World number one, Judd Trump had to come back from 3-1 down to beat Louis Heathcote by 4-3. To Judd’s own admission, Louis had chances to win the match but couldn’t take them. In my opinion, Louis collapsed: he was 3-1 up and in the balls, leading by 32-0. He badly under-hit a red that did not reach the pocket, leaving Judd Trump bang in the balls, with the red over a the pocket. Judd made only 9 from it, missing the blue off its spot only three shots later and leaving Louis in the balls, only for Louis to immediately miss a red with the rest. The red didn’t even get near the pocket. Louis impressed in his rookie year, but now he has to fight to stay on tour and that brings a lot of pressure. Aaron Hill, who had beaten Ronnie O’Sullivan in the European Masters first round, lost to the 18 years old Chang Bingyu. The psychology of the match was, of course, totally different. Playing Ronnie, Aaron had no expectations on his shoulders, and probably played with freedom. His victory had a huge impact in Ireland, and attracted massive coverage. Now, he’s carrying the hopes and expectations of many in his country. I hope that it won’t be too much to bear for the young man. Rory McLeod and David Gilbert got involved a heated exchange towards the end of the fourth frame of their

“SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO FIND THE RIGHT STYLE OF PLAY FOR A CERTAIN OPPONENT. TONIGHT THERE WAS NO POINT IN ME PLAYING THE RIGHT SHOT, BECAUSE THEN HE DIDN’T PLAY THE SHOTS I THOUGHT HE WOULD PLAY. SO I THOUGHT I’D PLAY THE SAME GAME AS HIM AND GO FOR EVERYTHING.” Ronnie O’Sullivan following his win over Brian Ochoiski

match. David had fouled on the green, Rory thought he should have been awarded a free ball. The referee and David disagreed. Rory wanted a second opinion, but the referee deemed it unnecessary. Rory was clearly upset but reluctantly accepted the decision. He later cleared from green to black to win the frame for 2-2 and took the next two with breaks of 64 and 46 for victory. About the incident in frame four, David said: “He thought it was a free ball and it wasn’t. Rory tries to be intimidating all the time but it wasn’t a free ball and that was that – the referee called it right. He didn’t intimidate me – you can’t intimidate me – but he tried to put pressure on the referee. Rory said he was disappointed in me – he obviously wanted me to agree with him and I would have agreed with him if I thought he was right. I’m not a cheat in any kind of way. I think he’s bang out of order for saying that but I’m not too bothered either. That’s not the reason why I got beat today – I got beat today because I’m just playing awful and that’s it.”

Rory responded: “It was clearly a free ball. I asked David to come round and have a look and he just flat refused to, he just said he’d take the referee’s word for it. I’ve known David a long time but the etiquette he had in that match, not just in that incident, was horrendous. I’ve never known him to be like that. I haven’t got issues with David now – it’s just a situation which could have been dealt with a lot better by all parties. Why would I try and intimidate him? That’s just not my way. He’s a top 16 player and he’s more intimidating than I would be in that position.” (Quotes source WST) On a brighter note, Ronnie O’Sullivan had turned up sporting glossy pink painted fingernails. He explained that this was to support the “Future Dreams” breast cancer charity: “A friend asked if I would wear it and I thought ‘why not’? I actually really like it. Anything to help the needy and the vulnerable out. It’s good to get behind great causes and great charities. It’s something I have never been involved with before, but I thought it was a great idea. If it helps

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create awareness for breast cancer that can only be a positive thing.” (Quotes source WST) The last 64 round The last 64 round produced more “upsets” and “surprises”, although with the short best of seven format about anything can happen. Steven Hallworth beat Yan Bingtao by 4-3, in a match that featured a 50+ break in every frame. Quite remarkably, six of them were made by Steven who scored 54,63,76,126,52 and 56. The first and fifth of them came in frames he still lost. Ben Hancorn, the English Amateur Champion but a first time professional, beat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh by 4-2. Jak Jones got the better of Jack Lisowski, winning by 4-3 without a single break over 50. Lisowski had breaks of 61, 113 and 122 but still lost. Mark Allen was beaten by 4-0 by Robbie Williams who scored heavily; he had breaks of 80, 70 and 61. Shaun Murphy lost by 4-3 to David Lilley. I wouldn’t say that David Lilley’s win over Shaun Murphy is a “shock”. To his own admission, Shaun came to this tournament without adequate preparation. Indeed, after his first match, which he won, he explained the situation that Irish players have to

face because of the Covid-19 crisis: “For myself and the other players from Ireland, when we travel home from England we have to stay in our houses. I’ve had two weeks between the European Masters and this event without being able to hit any balls. It’s hard to then come here and try to perform to a high level.“(Quotes source WST). Also, David Lilley has an excellent record in the amateur game. He’s also a mature, experienced player. There were a number of remarkable comebacks as well. David Grace beat Andy Hicks by 4-3, from 0-3 down with breaks of 96, 63 and 90. Andrew Higginson defeated Sunny Akani by 4-3, from 1-3 down, finishing the match with breaks of 80, 71, 51. Xu Si came from 0-3 down to defeat Matthew Selt, aided by breaks of 88, 64 and 84. Zhou Yuelong found himself 0-3 down to rookie Farakh Ajaib, came back to 3-3 with breaks of 96, 77 and 103. He then won a close, very long hard-fought decider. Farakh is certainly one “rookie to watch” this season. The World number one, Judd Trump had to fight back from 3-1 down again to beat Yuan Sijun by 4-3. Trump compiled breaks of 73, 83 and 67 in the last three fames, denying his opponent

a single point. He was happy with the way he finished the match: “Today was better from 3-1 down, I had to earn it, I’m happy with the way I finished the game. It was nice to produce my best snooker under pressure. I always believe in myself. The form is there and hopefully it will click into gear tomorrow.” (Quotes source WST) The World Champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan played ok to beat Ryan Day by 4-1 but was still not happy with his cue action: “I’m still looking for a cue action, I think as snooker players that’s all we really do. We’re always trying to find a way to try to hit solid shots and play in an efficient mode.” (Quotes source WST) The last 32 and last 16 rounds Those two rounds were played on the “middle” day of the tournament, the Thursday, also knowns as “moving day”. The last 32 round, played in the morning and afternoon, went pretty much according to seeding, with two exceptions. Matthew Stevens beat Ronnie O’Sullivan by 4-1. Before this match, Matthew had only beaten Ronnie 3 times in 12 attempts in full ranking events, and, the last time it happened

“TODAY WAS BETTER FROM 3-1 DOWN, I HAD TO EARN IT, I’M HAPPY WITH THE WAY I FINISHED THE GAME. IT WAS NICE TO PRODUCE MY BEST SNOOKER UNDER PRESSURE. I ALWAYS BELIEVE IN MYSELF. THE FORM IS THERE AND HOPEFULLY IT WILL CLICK INTO GEAR TOMORROW.” Martin Gould following his win over Judd Trump.

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Judd Trump following his win over Yuan Sijun.

was in the last 32 at the 2015 Welsh Open, which is amazing because it was the same stage in a tournament with an identical format. Matthew played exceptionally well, finishing the match with a 98% pot success, having missed just three balls in the five frames they won. He had breaks of 58, 73, 51, 54 and 116 en route to victory. Robbie Williams, ranked 104, beat Kurt Maflin, ranked 28, by 4-2. Maflin is a very heavy scorer on a good day, but not the more consistent player on the tour. Maybe worth noting as well, is the fact that for the third time in a row, Judd Trump had to come back from 3-1 down, to win by 4-3. This time it was against Michael Holt who had several excellent opportunities to win the match but failed to take any of them. In particular he had the balls nicely spread and the table at his mercy in frame five. In practice he would have cleared up 99.99% of the time. The last 16 round was played in the evening and produced two surprise winners in Jak Jones and Robbie Williams. Jak Jones had a 4-3 win over Matthew Stevens who couldn’t back his victory over the World Champion with a win over an unheralded opponent. That said, Jak is not an easy opponent. He’s young but quite methodical. He can score heavily although he didn’t in that match. His AST was over 34 seconds and he managed to dictate the pace: Matthew who had an AST of 22.7 seconds against Ronnie dropped to an AST of nearly 30 seconds against Jak. That, and the fact that beating Ronnie must have taken a lot out of him, without much time to recover, probably explain Matthew’s defeat. By the way, it’s not a “tactic” by Jak, it’s his natural pace. Robbie Williams, who beat Anthony McGill by 4-1 to earn his third quarterfinal, is an extremely capable player, who reached the semi-finals of a ranking event, the Indian Open, in his second season as a professional, but hasn’t really delivered to his true potential for some reason. The quarter-finals This was the line-up at the last

8 stage, featuring five of the top 7 players, along with the outcome of the matches: Mark Selby 5-2 Zhou Yuelong Neil Robertson 5-2 Robbie Williams Judd Trump 5-1 Kyren Wilson John Higgins 5-1 Jak Jones The only real surprise probably is how one-sided the match between Judd Trump and Kyren Wilson was. Those two have a rivalry and their matches are usually hard fought. Judd Trump himself was surprised by the way it went: “It was a strange game, I made some good breaks but I felt edgy. Kyren gave it to me really, he was well below his usual level and he missed more long pots than he would usually miss in a season. I went into my shell a bit, I got too negative waiting for chances. I’ll have to be more positive tomorrow and play better because John is close to his best.” (Quotes source WST) Neil Robertson scored three centuries on his way to victory, including a 140 that proved to be the highest break of the tournament. Mark Selby produced no fireworks but was happy to win: “I didn’t play great today but I’m happy to win. The bit of luck you need seems to be with me this week. It would great to win the first two ranking events this season, the fact that it hasn’t been done for 30 years shows how tough snooker is.” (Quotes source WST) John Higgins summarised his victory over Jak Jones with these words: “Jak struggled today and I picked up the pieces.”(Quotes source WST). It was Jak’s first ever quarter final, and his first match on the television table. Prior to the match, Ronnie who was in the Eurosport studio, had explained how and why the main television table plays differently to the other tables: the stronger television lighting changes the way the players need to aim, and the heat from it makes the table much faster. He had suggested that players like Jak, who are not used to those conditions, should be allowed a couple of hours of practice on the main table ahead of their match. The semi-finals All four semi finalists were top 8 players but there was more: for the

first time ever in a ranking event, all four semi-finalists had completed the Triple Crown, and they had also all held the World number one position. Unsurprisingly, both semi-finals were close affairs. Neil Robertson put an end to Mark Selby’s title defence, beating him by 6-5. To his own admission Neil had most of the run of the balls, but, thought that his own mindset and attitude was the decisive factor. In his post-match with WST he declared: “I was lucky in the last frame when I missed the long red and didn’t leave Mark anything. Then he had a chance but he rolled up to the yellow to snooker me. When I had a similar chance I went for the brown because I’d rather lose a match going for a pot than playing safe.” John Higgins had looked the strongest player for most of the match, but eventually lost by 6-4 to Judd Trump, as mistakes started to creep into his game, possibly because of the pressure and the memories of five consecutive previous defeats to Judd. Judd honestly acknowledged how the match unfolded: “I felt I was outplayed, John scored heavier than me, I was just winning the scrappy frames to hang on. If I had gone two frames behind I probably would have lost. He missed a couple of balls from 4-3 and in the last frame he was unlucky to finish in an awkward spot, then he showed great sportsmanship to own up to the foul.” (Quotes source WST) Players owning up to fouls nobody else had seen is one of the most beautiful traits of this sport we love. The Final Judd Trump, the World number one, and Neil Robertson, the World number three, offered us a fantastic final, that deserved - and went to - a deciding frame. Judd produced two centuries, 125 and 114, to win by 9-8, from 8-7 down. He had been 7-4 down at a point. This victory brought Judd’s tally of ranking events to 18, level with Mark Selby and Neil Robertson. Quite remarkably, Judd has now won the ten last ranking finals he’s been playing. This win also made him the first player to win three Home Nations events.

ONCE AGAIN, SNOOKER HAS PRODUCED DRAMA, EXCITEMENT, HUGE ENTERTAINMENT AND STORIES. THAT’S WHY WE LOVE IT! BECAUSE EVERY CUE SPORTS PLAYER NEEDS IT // www.thechalk.co.uk

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POPULAR SNOOKER BLOGGER @SNOOKERBACKER PENS HIS REGULAR COLUMN

’ve recently started rearranging my CD collection, I’ve had them up in the loft for years but decided recently to invest in some half decent audio equipment and get them down again on some new shelves. Get me. I’ve got hundreds of CDs, mostly from the 1990s and early noughties before music ended so given I have the memory of a geriatric goldfish it was like a whole new world of discovery to me becoming reunited with them. Of course, I remembered having the ones I used to play almost daily like all my Smith and Bowies, Happy Monday’s Pills ‘n’ Thrills and my lovesick favourite Some Friendly by The Charlatans. But such was my addiction to buying anything I even remotely liked I’d

creative way of explaining my complex relationship with the sport and why sometimes, I leave it in the loft for a bit before getting it down, dusting it off and enjoying it all over again. For me at the moment, Milton Keynes symbolises the loft. Try as I might I just can’t seem to switch on to the snooker in its current format. I’m sure the standard of play is excellent, in fact the small snippets I have reluctantly managed to catch verify this, but the lack of atmosphere has now, as I feared it might, closed the lid on the box for a little while, just as it did for me around the late 90s for a few years. One of the ways I switched that around was to start my blog in 2010, I’d found myself with a newly

IT’S MY CREATIVE WAY OF EXPLAINING MY COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SPORT AND WHY SOMETIMES, I LEAVE IT IN THE LOFT FOR A BIT BEFORE GETTING IT DOWN, DUSTING IT OFF AND ENJOYING IT ALL OVER AGAIN. forgotten probably 60% of them, so I’ve spent a good few weeks reacquainting myself with some real bangers. Why am I telling you this, I hear you cry? Have you lost your mind, man? Isn’t this column supposed to be about snooker? Well, yes I have and yes it is. It’s my

charged interest in the sport again, which coincided with a rebirth of the sport under Barry Hearn and a good few betting scandals to get my investigative teeth in to, those were the days. I even started a national amateur tournament which grew and grew over

the five years it ran to a scale I could never have imagined. My interest in the professional game remained strong and I was even allowed backstage at the biggest events in the sport, I was even invited back! I travelled to Ireland, Germany and Hungary as part of my new found second job and was having the time of my life, making new friends and the odd enemy along the way. But I knew this couldn’t last forever and perhaps this period of crowdless, soulless events comes at just the right time for me to walk away for a bit and come back refreshed when the crowds are allowed back in and we can all start enjoying this and all other things like we used to. Perhaps my relationship with snooker can be best summed up in the words of my second Snookerbacker Classic Champion, David Gray, who after winning my event (beating some bloke called Kyren Wilson in the final, not sure what happened to him) told me that to him snooker was like a mistress rather than a wife; he knew it was bad for him but somehow he just couldn’t walk away for good. A much better analogy than my dusty old loft. I’m still not sure why I bought 3 Kula Shaker albums though.

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RESIDENT COACH BARRY STARK GIVES HIS MONTHLY ADVICE TO THE CHALK READERS Here at The Chalk we are delighted to have Barry Stark as our resident coach. Every month we will feature two videos from Barryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s YouTube page to help you improve your snooker game. To watch the videos just click the images below.

In this tutorial, Barry shows a practice exercise to improve your stun shot and positioning play which will help improve your break building game.

Making the next shot as easy as possible by controlling the cue ball is the essence of good snooker play. In this Barry Stark Snooker Coach tutorial, Barry shows a practice routine using a line of reds. BECAUSE EVERY CUE SPORTS PLAYER NEEDS IT // www.thechalk.co.uk

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RODNEY GOGGINS LOOKS BACK AT WHAT PULLED HIM INTO SNOOKER

couple of weeks ago, the Irish snooker community’s eyes were all on Cork’s Aaron Hill playing and eventually beating reigning World Champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-4 in the second round of the European Masters held in Milton Keynes. Like all youngsters and new blood coming into professional sport, it’s great to see them pulling off an odd shock here and there. Nevertheless, stripes still have to be earned, but it does the game no harm to see the established player get beaten, and it gives the game good coverage on the back pages of the papers, and more importantly, people on the street want to talk to you about this potential new star. Since I began writing this article, I have talked about great games and champion personalities that would have excited me through the course of my life. This month I am going to go through the players that made a mark in their first season as a professional with titles or a famous win, starting from the modern era; returning to the knockout World Championship in 1969 and ending just before the game went open in 1991. In 1969 John Spencer won his first World Professional Championships at his first attempt 2 years, after turning professional. In an eight man field sponsored by John Player, this was his first major. Spencer defeating defending champion, John Pulman in the first match 25-18. He then dismantled Rex Williams in the semifinals 37-12, before overcoming Marcus Owen in the final 37-24. The final was held at the Victoria Halls, London. Fast forward three years on in 1972 with the emergence of Irishman, Alex Higgins who repeated what Spencer did three years previously by winning the World title at his first attempt. In the process, Higgins became the youngest ever World Champion with an age of 22 years and 11 months. On his way to the title he defeated Jackie Rea (19-11), John Pulman (31-23), and Rex Williams (31-30) before defeating the established champion Spencer in the final, 37-32. Nothing would ever be quite the same for snooker with the Hurricane’s driving force coupled with BBC’s Pot Black. Welshman, Doug Mountjoy received a wildcard for the 10 man Benson and Hedges Masters held in February 1977; a tournament usually reserved for 16

the very best in the game. Mountjoy had only turned pro a few weeks beforehand, and received this wildcard entry on the basis of his World Amateur win in November 1976 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Tournament organisers felt he was ready to go to join the game’s elite, I don’t think they realised how ready he was, he carved through the field defeating John Pulman (4-2), Fred Davis (4-2) and Alex Higgins (53), before defeating current World Champion Ray Reardon 7-6 in a dramatic last frame battle on the pink in the final. On the back of this win, he went to the Crucible with high hopes in April of that year, especially when he defeated Alex Higgins in the first round 13-12 on the final black. However, he succumbed to another Irishman Dennis Taylor, 13-11 in the quarter finals. Irishman, Patsy Fagan, a stellar amateur who progressed and hardened his game throughout London, turned pro in October 1976. By late 1977, he had won the new Super Crystalate UK Championships and the Dry Blackthorn Cup, held at Blackpool and an iconic future snooker venue, the Wembley Conference Centre. First time winner of the UK, Fagan, defeated Jackie Rea (5-1), Fred Davis (5-0), Jim Meadowcroft (5-4), John Virgo (9-8) and defeating another newbie pro, Doug Mountjoy 12-9 after which he

Jimmy white

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received the trophy from the great Joe Davis. Fagan quickly added the Dry Blackthorn Champions Cup defeating John Spencer and Alex Higgins to claim the title. Arguably the finest first year professional still to this day that was captured on television came on the scene in 1979. Welshman Terry Griffiths had a fair shaky start in his debut match when he played in the 1978 Coral UK Championships. When he led World Billiards Champion Rex Williams 8-2 in a first to 9 encounter, he looked set to round off the win, but the unthinkable happened, and Williams, gritty as they came won the encounter 9-8. Reeling from the match, and thinking he wasn’t good enough for the professional game, Griffiths went into the World Championship qualifying rounds, merely bidding to qualify and get his face on television as he felt it would help him to get a few exhibitions. Qualifying started with victories over Bernard Bennett (9-2) and Jim Meadowcroft (9-6) respectively. This got him into the 16 man field in the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, where he would face the previous year’s finalist, and newly crowned Benson and Hedges Masters Champion, South African, Perrie Mans. Griffiths defeated him 13-8 in the first round, and then strung together a roll of great results, defeating the People’s Champion, Alex

WHEN SCOTLAND’S STEPHEN HENDRY RECEIVED HIS PROFESSIONAL STATUS IN 1985, HE BECAME THE YOUNGEST EVER PROFESSIONAL AT THE TIME AT 16 YEARS OF AGE. A LOT OF PLAYERS IN THE GAME SAID HE WAS TOO YOUNG, AND THEY LOOKED TO BE CORRECT WITH THEIR OBSERVATION WHEN THE YOUNG SCOT WON ONE OUT OF FOUR MATCHES EARLY ON IN THE 1985/86 SEASON. Higgins 13-12 in an incredible quarter final match. His opponent’s went from the ultimate attacker in the game in the quarters to a stone wall defensive player in the semi-final - the steady Australian player, Eddie Charlton. Griffiths was not to be denied, and he toppled Steady Eddie 19-17 and then getting the better of Dennis Taylor 2416 in the last ever three day final held. A new nationwide hero had emerged and his life forever changed. In 1980, the hottest prospect on a snooker table arrived on the scene. Hailing from Tooting, London youngster Jimmy White had already become the youngest ever winner at the time of the World Amateur Championships in Tasmania at 18 years of age. At 17, he had won the English Amateur Championship the previous year. A natural heir to the Higgins’ throne, he quickly made his mark as a professional by qualifying the 1981 World Championship, defeating Bernie Mikkelson 9-4 before edging out Jim Meadowcroft 9-8. There for the second year in a row, there was a 24 man field at the Crucible. The draw wasn’t kind to White. He would play and lose to eventual Champion Steve Davis 10-8 in the first round, after White was 8-4 down. Nevertheless, he had shown enough to earn a place among in the game’s elite. He took up the challenge early the following season, when he quickly added two new tournaments on the calendar to his CV. At the Langs Scottish Masters, he overcame Ray Reardon (5-4), Steve Davis (6-5) and Cliff Thorburn in the final 9-4. He became the youngest winner of a professional event at 18 with this success. After a first round exit from Rex Williams (5-1) in the Jameson International, he crossed the Irish Sea where he won the Northern Ireland Classic, when he defeated Cliff

Thorburn 5-2, Doug Mountjoy 9-8 and Steve Davis 11-9. Those successes were followed up by the three big tournaments, where he reached two semi-finals and a first round exit. If The Whirlwind thought that by beating Davis in Scotland and Northern Ireland that he was his equal, he got a rude awakening at the Coral UK Championships in 1981 losing 9 nil to The Nugget in the semi-finals. He went out to Eddie Charlton, disappointly in front of his home London crowd, in the first round of the 12 man field in the Benson and Hedges Masters but he had a great run at the Crucible that year, where he defeated Cliff Thorburn 10-4, Perrie Mans 13-6, Kirk Stevens 139, only ending up on the wrong side of maybe the most famous World semifinal ever to Alex Higgins 16-15. Neal Foulds, another Londoner, from Ealing, turned professional in 1983 created havoc in the World Championships in 1984, wrecking Alex Higgins’ chances 10-9 in the first round, eventually losing to Doug Mountjoy 13-6 in the second round. That same season John Parrott from Liverpool turned pro and had a great run of success at the turn of the year. In the Lada Classic he saw off Doug Mountjoy 5-4, Alex Higgins 5-2, Tony Knowles 5-1, before eventually losing to Steve Davis 5-4 in the semi-finals. At the Embassy World Championship, he wrecked Tony Knowles’ chances of becoming World Number one at the end of the season, defeating him 10-7 in the first round. His hopes of going any further were dashed however in the next round when Dennis Taylor beat him 13-11. Both players, Foulds and Parrott had shown enough throughout the season to suggest that they had a great future ahead of them. When Scotland’s Stephen Hendry

received his professional status in 1985, he became the youngest ever professional at the time at 16 years of age. A lot of players in the game said he was too young, and they looked to be correct with their observation when the young Scot won one out of four matches early on in the 1985/86 season. However, he came alive in the second half of the season, when he won four matches in the Mercantile Credit Classic, only losing 5-4 to Neal Foulds. He tasted success by winning the Scottish Professional Championships overcoming Matt Gibson in the final 105. Hendry then battled his way through the minefield of qualifying for the World Championships in 1986. In his last three qualifying games, he defeated Paddy Browne 10-9, Wayne Jones 10-8, and Dene O’Kane 10-9. At the time he became the youngest ever competitor to play at the World Championships at 17. His debut at The Crucible, although short-lived, was creditable, losing narrowly to Willie Thorne (10-8). Looking at three players who had great early success we begin with Martin Clark who turned pro in 1987. He whitewashed Dennis Taylor 5-0 on ITV television in the last 32 of the Fidelity International, in his first ever tournament, but then got beaten by Joe O’Boye in the next round 5-2. Canada’s Alain Robidoux turned pro in 1988, winning the first pro tournament he had ever competed in - the Canadian Professional Championships, beating Jim Wych 8-4 in the final. He brought his good form into his second ranking tournament, the Rothmans Grand Prix. Here he went through a host of players at the Hexagon venue. His first victim was John Virgo 5-1, before seeing off Tony Meo 5-0, Doug Mountjoy 5-4, and Nigel Gilbert 5-4. His run ended in the semi-

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finals where he lost to a rejuvenated Alex Higgins 9-7. Nigel Bond turned pro in 1989, claiming the English Amateur Championships just before he went pro. In his third ever points tournament the BCE International (which unfortunately for Bond was untelevised), he hit the ground running, reeling off victories against Paddy Browne 5-0, Cliff Thorburn 5-4, Silvino Francisco 5-3, Steve James 5-0, John Parrott 5-2 before Stephen Hendry put a stop to his gallop in the semi-finals by the odd frame 6-5. Thailand’s James Wattana also turned professional in 1989. Big things were expected of the Thai, especially when he won the World Amateur Championships in Sydney, Australia the previous year. In his second professional ranking event - The Asian Open, held in his home city of Bangkok, he breezed past Mike Hallett 5-3, Doug Mountjoy 5-2, Silvino Francisco 5-2 and Terry Griffiths 5-0 before losing against Stephen Hendry 9-6. At the time it was the youngest ever professional final, with Hendry being 20 and Wattana being 19. The first time I ever clapped eyes on him was his fourth professional tournament, the Rothmans Grand Prix, he had already beaten Silvino Francisco 5-2 and Willie Thorne 5-3. He played a man by the name of Paul Gibson, beating him 5-3 and then he competed a quarter final victory over

Doug Mountjoy 5-2 before losing to Dean Reynolds in the semi-finals 9-7 after being 7-3 up. I thought I was seeing a future World Champion in Wattana. 1990 brought two teak tough matchplayers way beyond their years, Ireland’s Ken Doherty and Scotland’s Alan McManus. McManus, the English Amateur Runner Up to Northern Ireland’s Joe Swail losing out 13-11. However, he did win his national Scottish Amateur title, just before getting his professional status. By the time of the Stormsteal UK Championships in 1990, McManus was flying into the semi-finals, losing out to the current champion, Stephen Hendry 9-5, but not before a famous 9-6 victory over Jimmy White in the quarterfinals. McManus then competed in the Benson and Hedges Master Qualifying tournament where he won, gaining his place at Wembley Conference Centre as a wild card in the 18 man field for the 1991 Benson and Hedges Masters. He also got to the last 16 of the Mercantile Credit Classic, where White gained revenge on him 5-1 score line. The Scot then qualified for the Crucible, where he accounted for Willie Thorne 10-8, before going down to Terry Griffiths in the second round 13-12. A lot of expectation surrounded Ken Doherty after doing the elusive amateur double, winning both the World Under 21 Championships and World Amateur Championships

in 1989. He made his professional television debut in January 1991, when he defeated Eddie Charlton 5-1 in the last 16 of the Mercantile Credit Classic before losing to eventual winner of the event, Jimmy White 5-3 in the quarterfinals. In the Tulip European Open in Holland, he went as far as the last 16 before losing to Neal Foulds 5-3. He would subsequently receive a wild card for the Benson and Hedges Irish Masters; he defeated Doug Mountjoy 5-3 before bowing out to Jimmy White 5-3 in the quarter-finals. He then qualified for the World Championships, getting a tough draw for a debutant, only losing to number 2 seed Steve Davis 10-8, after being 4 nil down and 8-6 up. At the start of the 1991/92 season the game would forever change. It went open. If you had the money to pay the entry fee for tournaments and professional status, in you came. Within five years you could see who could swim and who couldn’t, with the standard going up and up. In came the likes of Peter Ebdon, Joe Swail, the famous ‘92 class, Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Stephen Lee, followed a few years later Matthew Stevens, Paul Hunter, David Gray, Graeme Dott. But that’s a conversation for another day. As we have seen, alot of professionals hit the ground running on their first season. Long may it continue.

james@jrhmedia.co.uk | 07881 237868

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REANNE EVANS MADE AN MBE Reigning world women’s snooker champion Reanne Evans has been made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. The 12 times world champions revealed she thought it was a joke when she got the good news. Speaking to the BBC Reanne said: “Being honoured will hopefully help give the women’s game a bigger platform, she said. “It’s been getting more and more popular, with bigger sponsors and we’re playing around the world now, so

hopefully this will be a stepping stone to move forward. “People always ask, ‘did you expect to get something like this’, but I’d say ‘no way’.” “It’s still little me from Gornal just playing snooker”. “I’ve never been one to praise myself, but when you get recognition from people outside the sport maybe it’s a bigger deal than you think.” Everyone at The Chalk would like to congratulate Reanne for this recognition of her work in snooker.

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We hope you’ve been enjoying the first six editions of The Chalk, the first ever digital magazine in snooker. As you can imagine it takes a lot of time and effort from everyone here to produce the magazine and we could not do it without the great team of writers who contribute to the columns each month. We never want to set a price for the magazine, or charge, but we also understand selling advertising is hard at the moment, so we have added an option to donate to The Chalk via the donate button below to help with our costs. We hope you understand that we love providing the content and magazine but we need to start covering costs. The Chalk Team

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KAKOVSKII AND NECHAEVA DEFEND RUSSIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

van Kakovskii and Anastasia Nechaeva retained national titles in Russia last month at the Star Klassik venue in Tyumen. The promising Kakovskii continues to dominate the domestic scene as he won his sixth Russian Snooker Championship in the past seven years. He didn’t drop a single frame throughout. The 21-year-old from St. Petersburg made a string of breaks, including a 111 as he topped his group and qualified for the knockouts where he defeated Sergey Samokhvalov 2-0 in the last 16. He registered runs of 65 and 67 as he eliminated Sergey Bolotin 3-0 in the quarter-finals and then repeated that scoreline against Kirill Zhizduk in the last four. In the final Kakovskii faced 17-yearold Andrei Karasov who progressed courtesy of a deciding frame black ball finish over Aleksei Koren in the other semi-final tie. However, Kakovskii’s experience proved too much and

with efforts of 107 and 61 he ran out a comfortable 5-0 victor. Earlier this year Kakovskii showed glimpses of what he is capable of when taking three frames off Jimmy White on the TV table at the Betfred World Championship in Sheffield. Nechaeva lost just one frame as she claimed her seventh Russian Women’s

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Snooker Championship and her fourth in a row. The 27-year-old – who reached the final of last year’s EBSA European Women’s Snooker Championship in Serbia – defeated teenager Aleksandra Riabinina 3-0 in the final. Thank you to Ryabinin Sergey for his help in compiling this article.

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LINDRUM: THE UNCROWNED KING >> The launch of Lindrum: The Uncrowned King written by Janne (Jan) Lindrum <<

eleased via Amazon on October 31st Lindrum: The Uncrowned King is a wonderfully detailed insight into what can only be described as Australia’s (perhaps the world’s) greatest sporting family dynasty. The Lindrums were a family of champions, mainly in billiards and snooker, but also in primary industry (winemaking), entertainment (dixieland jazz) and authorship. There were five world champions in the same discipline in only four generations, Horace Lindrum was the last member of the Lindrum billiard playing aristocracy. Whilst most in the cue sports world will be familiar with the name Walter Lindrum, or perhaps more recently the snooker aficionados will recognise Horace Lindrum’s name from the annals of World Snooker

Champions (title holder in 1952) , they will, no doubt, be astounded to learn that two earlier generations of worldclass Lindrum champions carved a pathway to what is a “unique” record of ground-breaking sporting firsts. The book written by Horace Lindrum’s daughter, Janne, charts the arrival of her great-great- grandfather, Frederick Von Lindrum I, to Australia in the mid 1800’s. He became the Australian Professional Billiards Champion and collecting the First Gold Medal for South Australian Shiraz in London, through to his son, Fredrick II, a national champion in his own right and possibly the greatest ever billiards coach. Then on to the unsurpassed achievements of his grandsons Fredrick and Walter Lindrum, their many tragedies and political interventions to ultimately

tell the story of his great-grandson Horace who was hailed as the most travelled sportsman of his era – the original Boy from Down Under. Who, despite tragedy, war, family upheavals and controversy waved his family flag on the world stage for a remarkable 50 years. In what is a unique, intensely human generational saga, Horace’s daughter captures the spirit of a family’s success, the trials and tribulation of her father’s truly extraordinary life and shines a bright light on the great men of the game and the women in their lives. Visit Lindrum.com to discover more about the family, the history and the Lindrum Legends. Lindrum: The Uncrowned King is available in paperback or Ebook from Amazon via Lindrum.com

Horace ‘The Kid’ (left) with his uncle Walter, grandfather Frederick William Lindrum II and uncle Frederick William Lindrum III.

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SHOCKING SNOOKER MOMENTS >> BY TOM MOORCROFT <<

ven the gentleman’s game has its off days. Here are a few of the most shocking moments to ever grace our favourite sport...

Stephen Lee ban It’s a name which many my age may not be familiar with, and for good reason, as this snooker player received a 12-year ban after being found guilty of seven counts of match fixing. The former world number 5 was found guilty of fixing games in such competitions as The Malta Cup, the UK Championship, the China Open and the World Championship. He’ll be able to return to a life of snooker in 2024, although many believe that his fate is sealed. The late Willie Thorne described it as a “life sentence”, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he never pops up on our TV screens again. Ali and Ronnie argy bargy I don’t know how much you could say this was a ‘shocking’ moment, but it certainly surprised a few people. Ronnie and Ali have never really got on, and this match was the perfect arena for their dominating demeanours. Ronnie’s swagger and Ali’s underdog character in this match made for fantastic viewing, but I don’t think we expected a little outburst from Ronnie as he shoved into Ali Carter on his way back to his seat. Ronnie exclaimed “That’s for being Mr Angry”, and when asked by the referee to calm down revealed a classic one-liner: “I’m as cool as a cucumber”. I can’t imagine he was that cool at the end of the match,

however, as Ali Carter went on to win in emphatic fashion, finishing 13-9. Needless to say, I can’t wait to see these two face-off against each other again - although with social distancing I think shoving is the least of our worries! Ronnie walking out against Hendry I must admit this was a little bit too early for me to remember, but from years of going through a catalogue of history’s snooker matches this one sticks out to me. Ronnie has lost his head a couple times at the snooker table (one time I remember covering his head with a towel as a result of the blindingly slow pace of Peter Ebdon), but this one really does take the cake. It was the UK Championship Quarter-Final, he was only down 4-1, and he played a very poor positional shot, trying to land on a red after pocketing a black. After missing the red he swiftly shook Stephen Hendry’s hand, shook the hand of referee Jan Verhass and walked out, head in his hands. Dennis Taylor said, “something’s gone wrong with Ronnie’s head”, and I’m sure many will admit the Ronnie that conceded that game is different from the 6x World Champion we’ve come to know. Black ball final Can it really be a ‘snooker moments’ article without thinking about this final? I mean 18.5 million people in the UK alone tuned in to watch frame after frame, witnessed the deadlock at 17-17 and the subsequent final black which, for reasons

NEEDLESS TO SAY, I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE THESE TWO FACE-OFF AGAINST EACH OTHER AGAIN - ALTHOUGH WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING I THINK SHOVING IS THE LEAST OF OUR WORRIES! unknown to many, just didn’t want to pot! I truly wish that in my lifetime I’ll get to witness something as incredible as this event, and I think that both Taylor and Davis will admit that taking part in that final was perhaps the highlight of their career. Dennis Taylor ended up taking the spoils after winning the final frame, with the match surpassing 14 hours and 50 minutes of stupendous snooker!

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Tony Knowles

Snooker Legends

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