By Elliott West
Introduction
The British Open has thrown a somewhat curved ball into the play of snooker this week. Rather than the longer format played in the majority of tournaments, World Snooker decided that the return of the British Open would have some additional spice, allowing all 128 players and amateur invitees, a better chance to have a crack at this rediscovered title.
The best of five formats expose the vulnerability of the top 16 and has already sent many of them packing in round one. Some would argue that in a longer format, many of these surprise victors would have fallen at the first hurdle and the familiar faces of snooker would have prevailed. Hindsight is a powerful thing but the reality is we are where we are and probability still suggests that one of the top 16 will still win this tournament but their chances are heavily slashed.
The 5 Frame Snare
Players such as Barry Pinches and Lukas Kleckers have already caused shocks, knocking out Jack Lisowski and Barry Hawkins. Explosions are caused by the best of fives, a format that only does what it says on the tin, to allow the best player in the match to win. These shorter matches allow no scope for errors and you will quickly be found out if you are not playing well. The best one can do is to take the match to a decider and even then the odds are stacked against both players with each have to fight for survival to progress to the next round.
Perhaps it is time in this modern age of the sport, to embrace diversity because if we don’t, snooker will not move with the times. The cream will always rise to the top but in this situation, it might be a lower-ranked player that performs well. This makes it very interesting and far harder to predict an overall winner. Rather like the Shootout, anyone can win it but this tournament has a more refined way of doing it and doesn’t have the overpowering din of the mentioned tournament audience.
Whoever reaches the quarter-final stages of this contest, deserves their place with future rounds having a best of 11 frames format, the player receiving praise, recognition, a nice few pounds in their wallet, valuable ranking points and the opportunity to have a chance of winning this once again ranking title.
Rather like Marmite, you will either enjoy or hate this format but for the haters, I have a feeling that these best of fives will grow on you. I say this because I have already seen negative feedback turn to positive feedback on social media, a change of heart caused by the enthralling nature of viewing these daily marathons of matches. Not one is the same and each is unique, having the physical and viewing audience, often on the edge of their seats and craving for the next bout. The best of fives are here to stay and expect to see more of them in future tournaments.
