On January 6th 2013 David Bowie shocked the world by releasing a new song that he had recorded in complete secrecy. A new album would follow shortly afterwards & it would be lauded by critics & fans alike as a marvelous return to form for the ever illusive artist. It was that first song though that kept coming to mind as I watched The Masters unfold last week.
"Where Are We Now?"
Well firstly lets start with the positives. Judd Trump last night won a second Masters title with a 10-8 victory over Mark Williams. In a wonderful final, that at various times swung one way then the other, it was Trump who held his nerve at the business end to claim his 4th Triple Crown. In doing so Trump again showed the all round aspects of his game that he has developed over the last number of years. The Trump of even 5 years ago would not have won that final. He will now be hoping this victory proves to be a much a springboard to his career as his victory here in 2019 was.
Unfortunately though, great and all an occasion as yesterday was, there is a cloud hanging over the sport at the moment which could have major repercussions for the sport for years to come.
I refer of course to the the match fixing/betting scandal that has engulfed the sport with 10 tour professionals currently suspended pending the conclusion of the investigations ,this number includes top stars Yan Bingtao & Zhou Xintong. World snooker chairman Jason Ferguson has stated that these lengthy & thorough investigations are nearing their conclusion & not all players will face the same charges, but even at that, we are still a long way from reaching an end to this saga.
Exactly what all this will mean going forward is impossible to tell. The global pandemic has already left us with no tournaments in China for the last 3 years & although things are opening up there again, we can't be sure, should the investigation conclude that these 10 Chinese players are guilty, just how that would be received by the authorities over there. This coupled with Dings recent comments, which were before this all broke, you get the feeling the snooker boom in China could be coming to an end & a return to what we had pre Covid is far certain.
The other thing highlighted by potential long term absence of these players, is again the real lack of young talent breaking through in the game. In The Masters, with a field that comprised of the top 16 players over the past two seasons, the youngest opponent that Judd faced this week was 42yr old Ryan Day, Indeed it would have been hard to avoid a 40 something in a draw that included 9 of them. The youngest player was Luca Brecel at 27.
By contrast I had a look at The Masters that took place at the time that Bowie song was released. That tournament in January 2013 was won by a 29 yr old Mark Selby & the oldest participant was Mark Davis aged 40. Also there, was a 23 year old Judd Trump, who already had one world final appearance & a UK Championship title to his name. 10 years on we are yet to see another talent emerge who even threatens to reach the levels Judd has.
The fact is we have relied on the "class of '92" for a long time now, but with them all now heading towards their late 40's we can't continue to expect them to carry the sport on their shoulders. Behind them the likes of Robertson, Selby & Murphy are also now entering the autumn of their careers & the next generation of Trump ,Allen & Ding are all now older than greats like Davis & Hendry were when their best days were behind them. After that I fail to see where the next champions are going to come from.
All in all we are facing in to uncertain times & the prospect of a very hard decade to come. Hopefully some real stars emerge soon & I suppose one thing that the last few seasons have shown its that, if you do establish yourself, you can have a lot longer a sporting career than the vast majority of professionals in other sports.
