Another Classic Between Mark Williams & Ronnie O’Sullivan, Sadly, Props Up Snooker's Cheats.
It’s my contention that the likes of Mark Williams and Ronnie O’Sullivan are allowing themselves to be ripped off by the governing body and that their talents are inadvertently propping up the cheats and criminals within he professional snooker ranks.
Williams and O” Sullivan are world-class snooker players. By definition, a world-class snooker player has to excel in every aspect of the game by which they earn their daily bread. Potting, break building, cue ball control, strategy, safety, match temperament, the ability to handle stress, mental strength, emotional fortitude and a winning mentality: O’Sullivan and Williams, in all of these categories, are right and left handed mirror images of each other. Naturally gifted? Check. Ferociously competitive? Check. Teenage prodigy? Check? Serial winner? Check. Multiple champions of the world? Check.
I suspect that O’Sullivan and Williams always try to win regardless of whether they’re playing best friends, parents, siblings, lovers, wives or their own children at cards, football or table tennis.
Coming second place is not an option for them. For over throaty years, ever since they both turned professional in 1992, O’Sullivan and Williams have been throwing haymakers at each other. Their wins and losses against each other have resulted in lost tournaments and earned them world championships.
The Williams/O’Sullivan matches are characterised by a single constant. When they play each other, no matter what is at stake, neither of them ever backs down from taking on a difficult shot. Irrespective of their respective form or ranking, they give their all when they play against one another. It’s fair to say that over the course of their careers, their ongoing rivalry has attracted thousands of ticket buyers to venues all around the world and captivated millions of TV viewers
The O’Sullivan/Williams rivalry and, of course, their matches against the likes of Ebdon, Doherty, Higgins, have historical significance The present health of the game owes much to these two players. Young boys and girls have been inspired to take up snooker as a profession after watching them compete. Broadcasters are willing to commit hours of their schedule to snooker because the likes of Williams and O’Sullivan are virtually guaranteed to attract solid ratings. Sponsors agree to fund torments because they have faith the likes of Williams and O’Sullivan will deliver quality matches.
A good analyst would struggle to determine how much revenue these two men have generated for their sport over their long careers. Income that supports the salaries and resources of the governing body. The Governing body recently chose to subsidise the income of lower-ranked players; this policy was clearly a broad attempt to fend off corruption amongst vulnerable players. Let’s think this strategy through.
The governing body money accrued from sponsorship deals, television contracts, box office receipts, marketing efforts and licensing deals.
The profit is generated because competitive, top-ranked players perform so well that their efforts attract sponsors and retain public interest in the sport.
The subsidy could have been added to the prize money of every competition and incentivised the top players to play against each other more regularly.
Instead, this money is going to low-ranking players, whose performances are generally so poor no one wants to pay to see them. Many of the lower ranked players should not be professionals, and should compete in a professional tier that is operate from the main tour, or simply play as amateurs.
The subsidy go to low-ranked, poorly performing professionals, many of whom have been exposed as either cheats or by not exposing illegal approaches allowed cheats to go undetected.
Subsequently, honest, completive snooker players are paying for the privilege of having criminal parasites feed off their performances, integrity and legacies.
Snooker is experiencing a strange, unpredictable, murky period. A lot of bad actors s are invested in keeping it that way. Let’s hope the players wake up and decide to stop working for so-called professionals who shouldn’t actually be in the sport.
samjhere@icloud.com