Good Riddance 2020

Thank goodness this year is almost over. Before I even talk about moving away from the goings-on of 2020, I must remind myself that this is a snooker blog.

Snooker Soldiers On

I’m sure many fans were fearing the worst after the Gibraltar Open back in mid-March. Some were even prepared to accept that the World Snooker Championship will be cancelled and to hope and pray that the pandemic will cease like it never happened. But despite it all, Barry Hearn was in the background pulling off a few masterstrokes. Snooker became one of the very first sports to return after the first lockdown restrictions in England. The World Snooker Championship attracted sport-hungry viewers and we are treated to some of the most engrossing matches for a number of years.

Milton Keynes received plenty of flak for being a wearisome and uninspiring place to play snooker. We viewers are incredibly selfish in what we want, refusing to forget that every event is in the same arena. But we forget the importance of these sportsmen making a living, especially when times are tougher now. Imperfection is better than nothing. We are lucky to see snooker being played at all, let alone at a consistently high-quality.

Let us also thank the event organisers, broadcasters, table fitters, Marshall Arena staff, presenters, pundits, commentators, reporters, referees, etc. for being part of bringing every event together. It was far from perfect. But it has been a pleasure to appreciate the sport we love during a difficult time.

CoR’s Awards & Memorable Moments 2020

Usually, this would take two blog articles to cover. But I will keep this brief since there are more important things going on in this article. Just please don’t take this too seriously!

Players of the Year: Judd Trump; Neil Robertson; Mark Selby.

Judd Trump wins the 2020 English Open | Ronnie O'Sullivan

Matches of the Year: Kyren Wilson vs. Anthony McGill (17-16, World Championships); Ronnie O’Sullivan vs. Mark Selby (17-16, World Championships); Neil Robertson vs. Judd Trump (10-9, UK Championship).

Most Promising Players of the Year: Zhou Yuelong; Jak Jones; Pang Junxu.

Tournament Runs of the Year: Ronnie O’Sullivan (World Championships); Stephen Maguire (Tour Championship); Martin Gould (English Open). Honourable mention: Stuart Bingham (Masters).

Tantrums of the Year: Anthony McGill & Jamie Clarke (World Championships); Ali Carter (Masters); Ronnie O’Sullivan (Champion of Champions).

Rivalries of the Year: Judd Trump vs. Kyren Wilson; Ronnie O’Sullivan vs. Mark Selby; Wasps vs. Ben Williams.

Most Surprising Results of the Year: Jamie Clarke vs. Mark Allen (10-8, World Championships); Ben Mertens vs. James Cahill (6-2, World Championship Qualifiers); Lukas Kleckers vs. Mark Selby (4-0, Northern Ireland Open).

Things Will Get Better

2020 has been an incredibly difficult year for a multitude of reasons, as I said before.

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Everyone has their own COVID-19 story. This includes lockdowns, furlough periods, sole isolation, political instability and confusion, and anxiety. Many lost their jobs and tragically their loved ones. COVID-19 is having a significant impact on our lives and well-being and unfortunately, it seems we will continue to be affected by it next year too.

Hopefully, every cloud has a silver lining somewhere. People re-evaluated what they really want in their lives. Many took up new hobbies. Some had more time improving and completing things that they procrastinated over for years. Others reignited connections between family and old friends, bringing people closer together.

But please give yourselves a pat on the back for getting through such a difficult year. We dug deep and reached out to help when we needed to. I hope that things will go seriously well for you soon. You are doing great, trust me.