By Elliott West
“I won for my dad”.
Mark Selby speaking after his win against John Higgins.
Introduction
Celebrating its tenth year since being brought back to the snooker calendar, the Champion of Champions is definitely one of the best tournaments of the season outside the Triple Crown events. First played way back in 1978, this tournament has never lost its superior varnish since the dust covers were taken off it by Matchroom Sport in 2013. Originally played at Wembley Conference Centre in 1978 and the New London Theatre in 1980, this event retains the fighting spirit of its first two winners, Ray Reardon and Doug Mountjoy. Unique due to being the only time these season champions gather together to slug it out for the ultimate crown, the Champion of Champions helped relaunch snooker into the ITV schedule and one that is highly praised by players, fans and pundits.
This cauldron of drama never fails to disappoint and this year comes from the University of Bolton Stadium with a winner’s share of £150,000. Last year Judd Trump was triumphant, defeating John Higgins 10-4 in the final to claim the magnificent silver bowl trophy. This year’s tournament is slightly different in terms of playing conditions as all matches will be played on a Rasson table instead of a Star one and the favourite player at the outset to win the crown has to be Mark Allen after winning the Northern Ireland Open for the second year in a row.
Swan Song
Lee Walker who produced a spirited performance against Jimmy White, winning 5-4 to claim the World Seniors title, drew Mark Selby in the first match of the tournament. Lee who was elevated to passenger status, as Mark Williams had to drive him there in a rare driving moment, had a tear in his eye when he entered the arena after losing his highly supportive father in July and staring down the barrel at the fact that this would probably be his last professional appearance. Walker who now mainly works with a number of players on the SightRight method, couldn’t hold back the force that is Mark Selby. As Mark Williams watched from a back seat in the auditorium, Selby quickly put Walker to bed, inflicting a 4-0 win over his opponent.
Afternoon Success
In the other afternoon match, John Higgins was up against the impressive Iranian snooker player, Hossein Vafaei who claimed the Snooker Shootout title has an excellent record of wins against Higgins but couldn’t quite keep up with his Scottish opponent on this occasion. Losing 4-2, Hossein should still be proud of his efforts and the great work he has done to promote snooker in Iran and globally especially after his many struggles to attain visas to play in numerous tournaments.
This afternoon’s success would be short-lived for Higgins as when he came to play Selby in the evening session, he couldn’t hold back a reinvigorated opponent. Mark who hasn’t won a ranking title for eighteen months and is only here due to ranking points, could well be a possible contender for the title if he continues in this form. He seems to be coping well after a recent neck injury and counselling after an admission that he is still suffering from depression since losing his father during the early part of his life. So it was nice to see another win in this tournament for The Jester winning the match emphatically, 6-4.
An Evolving Story
On Day 2, Neil Robertson was up against Fan Zhengyi in the afternoon session of day 2. The favourite Robertson should have breezed this match but his Chinese opponent wasn’t in the mood for a loss. At 2-2, it looked like the match could go either way but Fan went on to pull the game out of the fire to win 4-3, producing the first shock of the event. The Chinese player would have to wait several more hours to see who he would be up against in the evening session, either Ryan Day or Kyren Wilson.
