Here we are, the snooker season starts again! I had done the build-up and the talking points of the 2020/2021 season earlier. You can view the article by clicking here.
But in this article, I will chat about the players to watch out for. The list could go on and on. Martin O’Donnell, Elliot Slessor, Yuan Sijun, Jamie Clarke and Iulian Boiko for example. Last season I mentioned a few players to watch out for. Among them, Scott Donaldson became a Championship League winner, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Zhao Xintong jumped into the Top 32 and Joe O’Connor made it to the Top 64 within his first two-year professional card. You can view my last year’s edition by clicking here.
Anyways, same as before: I will pick six players outside of the Top 32 who I think will make a grand impression this season. Let’s go!
Luca Brecel – Last Season Rank: 38
A number of us expected Luca Brecel to take snooker by storm when his first ranking title in the 2017 China Championship. He became the first player from mainland Europe to win a ranking event. But despite flashes of brilliance in the 2019 Masters and the 2019 China Championship, he almost disappeared. Because he lost so many ranking points, he dropped 23 places last season to No. 38 in the world. A ranking too low for a player of his calibre.
After lockdown started, Brecel won the Championship League last season. It was pretty impressive. Despite winning just three matches, he won the final frame against Ben Woollaston to win the title. However, he failed to reach even the final qualifying round, losing to Fergal O’Brien. The 25 year-old has so much potential to go back into the Top 16 again. He’s lost too many first round matches last season and needs to cut that out.
Sam Craigie – Last Season Rank: 58
I heard a lot about Sam Craigie over the last few years. Neil Robertson once said that his game is the standard of the Top 16. After he dropped off the tour for a second time, he qualified via Q School. This time he reached the Top 64 within his two-year card. His top performances include reaching the quarter-finals of the 2019 China Open, defeating Ryan Day, Ali Carter and Liang Wenbo along the way. Craigie also reached the third round of the 2019 Indian Open and the 2019 Welsh Open too.
I saw him play for the first time in the 2020 Championship League last season. The first frame I saw he hit a 131 century break and it was a pleasure to watch how his played. The only downside to this season coming is the number of points he will drop. He earned £66,000 points two seasons ago and just £32,500 last season. Craigie is one of the few who decided to join SightRight. We will see how the pair work. But SightRight is responsible for the recent success of Mark Williams, David Gilbert and the revival of Stephen Hendry. Exciting!
Louis Heathcote – Last Season Rank: 82
Louis Heathcote had a very successful rookie season. The furthest round he reached was the Last 32 in the 2019 English Open, beating Jordan Brown and Adam Stefanow. He also caught some impressive scalps, such as Noppon Seangkham, Ryan Day and Hossein Vafaei. He impressively defeated Ali Carter in the World Championship Qualifiers. In the end, Heathcote won the prestigious award of Rookie of the Year!
Ronnie O’Sullivan’s recently said that Louis Heathcote is one of the few young players whoo “have what it takes to hang around.” Heathcote said that his comment has given him extra motivation to take his game to the next level. A compliment from Ronnie O’Sullivan is like gold dust to young snooker players. But he needs to reach the Last 64 or else he is forced to find a different route to obtain a fresh two-year card. Or worse, go through Q School again. No one wants that.
Jamie Jones – Last Season Rank: N/A
It will be odd to see Jamie Jones at the bottom of the rankings and starting from zero. It seems a while ago he was a World Championship quarter-finalist and No. 29 in the world. Unfortunately, he was suspended for failing to report that corrupt approach, which caused him to fall off the tour in 2019. Now, with the worst year of his life behind him, Jones attempted to return to the professional ranks at the 2020 WSF Open. Jones qualified for the main tour by beating 2018 Snooker Shoot-Out champion Michael Georgiou 4-0. The 32 year-old from Neath says that “I made positive choices away from snooker and I’m proud and raring to go.”
Goodness knows how long it will take for Jamie to return to the high-ranking form he was in. Perhaps the two-time ranking semi-finalist might not be the same player. But he returns with a different to the game, considering the circumstances his career was taken from him. I think Jamie will be very dangerous. Indeed, it will be an uphill battle for rise up the rankings in such a talent field, but I bet he is the player the seeded professionals won’t want to draw against in the first round!
Aaron Hill – Last Season Rank: N/A
Aaron Hill will make his debut as a professional snooker player this season! He arrives with a lot of pedigree and deservedly so.
Hill defended his EBSA European Under-18 Snooker Championship crown last season by beating Sean Maddocks 4-1. If that wasn’t enough, Hill went one further and won the U21 title in the same event! By being victorious against Englishman Hayden Staniland 5-2, Hill received his first tour card. The Irishman made some professional appearances later in the season too. He reached the third round of the Snooker Shoot-Out, breezing past amateur Robbie McGuigan and future World Championship finalist Kyren Wilson. He participated in the World Championship Qualifiers, losing to professional Chen Feilong in the first round.
It is always difficult how someone will perform as a professional for the first time. Last season, Heathcote and Jackson Page made very decent strides in their rookie seasons. The tour is incredibly tough. Don’t forget, it took Zhao Xintong his second two-year card to reach the Top 64! With compatriots Fergal O’Brien and Ken Doherty back on tour, Hill won’t have the added pressure of his country on his shoulders. I think Hill has the potential and skill to be the next Rookie of the Year!
Andrew Pagett – Last Season Rank: N/A
When Andrew Pagett announced his retirement after the 2014 World Snooker Championship Qualifiers, he doubted he would ever join the tour again. But after several attempts, Pagett returns from his exile in the amateur wilderness. Pagett attempted to qualify for the main tour via Q School, WSF Open, and The Challenge Tour. Though he reached three finals during his Challenge Tour campaign, he finished third behind Ashley Hugill and Lukas Kleckers. Pagett finally got his breakthrough in the 2020 European Snooker Championships, where he beat Finn Heikki Niva 5-2 to turn professional again.
It’ll be interesting to be what a shock to the system players like Pagett can be. Pagett claimed that he is a better player than he have been in the past and has the game to shoot up the rankings. But will his experience help him? Other seasoned pros are struggling to get a few wins under their belts such as Andy Hicks and Alex Borg. On the other hand, Nigel Bond has surprised many by reaching the quarter-finals of the UK Championship last season! Pagett sound be a handful!
It’s extremely difficult to predict anything about players lower down – I successfully predicted only 1 out of the 16 qualifiers for the WC! It’s especially difficult now, after the many disruptions this year.
I’ve been watching Sam Craigie for a few years, and he occasionally plays a brilliant match, but there is no consistency, as his one-year ranking of 76 demonstrates. To say that he is ‘top-16 standard’ is ridiculous. He may have top-16 potential, and I really hope he can realise that as he’s an attractive player to watch, but at best he’s a late developer. Let’s hope he has a couple of good runs and retains his top-64 place.
I agree that it will be interesting to see how Aaron Hill and Jamie Jones get on, for different reasons. I very much like Heathcote, one of the players I chose to follow in 2019-20. He has attributes which he can really build on. I do think it’s up to top players to give encouragement to younger players, which hasn’t happened very much recently. I’ve made this point before, regarding some hurtful things that were said about Yan Bingtao. If snooker doesn’t have a future, then names like ‘O’Sullivan’ and ‘Hendry’ will become forgotten, rather like ‘Newman’ and ‘Lindrum’ from billiards.
Unfortunately Andy Pagett has been seriously ill, and it’s not clear when he can resume his professional career.