Back in 2000, the BBC recorded an interesting piece called ‘y2cue’ during the World Championship in which the various ex-players present attempted to find the perfect snooker player. Nine years on, with the help of you readers I am aiming to do the same for the class of 2009…
The original panel was made up of Willie Thorne, John Virgo, Dennis Taylor and then presenter Dougie Donnelly and their perfect player was made up of the following elements:
- Potting: Mark Williams
- Break Building: Stephen Hendry
- Safety: Steve Davis
- Technique: Stephen Lee
- Cue Power: John Spencer
- Will to Win: Dennis Taylor
- Snooker Brain: Ken Doherty
- Entertainment: Alex Higgins
I have a feeling that there may have been another category but unfortunately I do not have the recording of that and so cannot be sure.
Looking back, though nine years have since passed, the above list probably has not changed that much at all! As a result what I will be doing over the next few weeks is not looking to identify the all-time perfect player, but instead the best from the players of 2009, at their current levels of ability. This is an important point because while for example Stephen Hendry is for me the greatest break builder of all time, based on his performances over the last couple of seasons he is not quite up there with some of the younger players at the moment and so would not be selected.
As well as posting my thoughts on each category over the next few weeks, I will be placing a poll in each article for you to have your say, while of course you can discuss the topic by leaving a comment too. For now I plan to use the eight categories above, though I may add to the list later on too.
Coming up tomorrow then, potting…