2016/2017 SNOOKER AWARDS – PART 2 – Cluster of Reds Snooker Blog

What? All the players are at the World Snooker end-of-season ceremony? Well, might as well finish this thing off….

For PART 1, here it is: 2016/2017 SNOOKER AWARDS – PART 1

MATCH OF THE SEASON

I feel slightly cheap since it is easy to pick a match from the World Championship match, but this one takes a biscuit.

It was an incredible contest with five tons and 18 50+ breaks. Only one frame in 23 didn’t have a 50+ break. This was the match everyone was hoping for, since both are class players who respect each other in the highest possible way. The reasons why this was a match of the season for me are because it was a high-quality match, it’s tightly contested, excellent safety and ended with this heart-warming embrace the two. This shows how much how far Ding has come after being in tears after losing 9-3 to Ronnie in the Masters final.

Can’t get too much better than that.

SURPRISE OF THE SEASON – SCOTT DONALDSON

I have been a fan of Scott Donaldson because he seems to be one of the few young players that has more of a safety game rather than the likes of others who attempt to pot the first ball they see. In this first two-year stint, he was so unlucky to finish No. 65, especially when Robbie Williams pipped him to the post by qualifying for the Crucible. A further two years weren’t as successful, finishing No. 81 but saved about by his performances in the PTCs & APTCs.

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This time he really upped the ante and not many saw it coming! Before qualifying for the Shanghai Masters and the European Open by beating the likes of Peter Ebdon, Stuart Bingham and Luca Brecel along the way, he reached the Last 16 of the Northern Ireland Open. Then probably the most surprising run of the season: beating Lisowski, King, Jimmy Robertson, Mark Davis and whitewashing Zhou Yuelong before losing to Trump in the semis of the Welsh Open. Beating five opponents ranked higher than you is some feat.

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Donaldson finishes ranked No. 65 but this time he won’t care. He is only in his first year of his new tour card and can only go up and up. We will see more of this fella!

Nominations: Akani Songsermsawad, Chris Wakelin, John Astley

PLONKER OF THE SEASON – ALFIE BURDEN

This is a special award to someone that is not only careless but has completely buggered up massively, otherwise known in England – a plonker. And I can think of no deserving snooker player than Alfie Burden.

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Why, I hear you ask? At the start of this year, has been given a six-month ban (which is suspended for a year) for betting in snooker matches. Nothing major enough to make Stephen Lee wince especially since Leo Fernandez was banned for 15 months at the start of the season following corruption charges. But Alfie bet on 86 snooker matches between 2006-2016, including his own. It was only when he admitted it and his bets weren’t used to fix matches or anything fraudulent that he was given a lighter sentence. What I love about this is that World Snooker happily revealed that his betting record was ‘largely unsuccessful’ losing £2,995 over the ten-year period.

So he is a plonker for not only was he reprimanded over something that he should know better after Lee’s extortionate 12-year ban for fixing matches. He is also here because he is really shit at betting.

Nominations: Leo Fernandez

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SHOCK OF THE SEASON – HAMMAD MIAH vs. RICKY WALDEN

Got to be Trump vs. McLeod surely?

Actually, no. It was a huge shock but let’s not forget that on one hand, Trump badly injured his shoulder and it exacerbated as the match went on; and on the other hand, McLeod qualified for the Crucible before twice, reached the second round and won a title himself.

That means I had to dig deeper. In the end, I came up with two alternatives: Reanne Evans beating Robin Hull 10-8 or low-ranked Hammad Miah defeating Ricky Walden 10-7? We all know that Reanne is a quality player and if she faced this year’s Ken Doherty than him two years ago, then she would win comfortably. But few expect to death someone of Robin’s calibre. Hammad was 5-0 down to Ricky Walden and are so far apart in the rankings that it is so surprising that someone who won three ranking events can lose it.

In the end, though it doesn’t have as much shock value, Miah vs. Walden gets the nod for me. Note to a snooker player: raising a baby drains the hell out of you!

PLAYER OF THE SEASON

It’s Mark Selby. Every man and his dog knows that. Do I really need to explain why now?

5 ranking titles – the third man to do so before Ding and Hendry. 6 finals. Includes 2 Triple Crown events. First person to go past 1,000,000 points in two seasons. In the World Championship final, he came back from 10-4 down to win 18-15. One of only 4 players to defend their WC crown.

I know there is more but enough is said. There’s no contest.