So following the conclusion of the 2010 World Championship the 2009/10 season is now at an end and here now is your opportunity to vote for your player of the season here at PSB…
As you will see from the selection of players in the above poll, my list is not necessarily about who you think has been the best player this season as in that case it would be tough to look far beyond Ding Junhui or John Higgins, but about who you think has done an impressive enough job to be your player of the season.
Starting with the obvious, Neil Robertson is an obvious candidate having won the World Championship for the first time earlier this month, plus the Grand Prix back in October following arguably the match of the season against John Higgins in the semi-finals. Speaking of John Higgins, despite his disappointing finish to the campaign, his metronomic consistency up until that point which saw him reach at least the semi-finals of four consecutive ranking events to finish as world number one must also put him into contention.
Despite what for him was a below par campaign, Ronnie O’Sullivan did win a ranking event this season as well as reaching the final of the Premier League and Wembley Masters, losing out in the latter to a returning to form Mark Selby who must also be in contention as a result. Ali Carter too also played well, particularly towards the end of the season as he launched a spirited defence of his Welsh Open title.
But what about Ding Junhui? His World Championship campaign may have ended at the last 16 stage but thanks to his terrific performances during the remainder of the season which saw him reach three ranking event finals, winning the UK Championship in Telford, Ding actually ended the season as number one on the list for 2009/10.
Moving away from the obvious names, the likes of Ken Doherty, Graeme Dott and Mark Williams also deserve a mention here I feel as following their recent problems which have seen them fall out of the top 16 (though Mark and Graeme are now back there of course), all were much improved this season as they look to return to the very top end of the game. Mark in particular having won his first ranking event since 2006 at the China Open is looking to be close to his very best and now back inside the top eight, his route to the business end of tournaments should be that little bit easier next season.
Many of you may have expected to see both Mark Williams and Mark Selby up among my contenders but Mark Davis may at first glance appear to be a more surprising suggestion. Having enjoyed by far the finest season of his career to move up inside the top 32 for the first time and up to 17 on the one-year list however, Mark has really moved himself up a level at the age of 37 and it will be interesting to see whether he can maintain this form next season.
Finally I have mentioned both Zhang Anda and Tony Drago as potential candidates. For Zhang it is largely on the back of his superb run at the World Championship which was ended cruelly by a vintage three frame burst from Stephen Hendry to get him over the line following a deciding frame, while Tony enjoyed a remarkable return to the main tour as he won 17 matches! While they may not be inside the top 32 or even the top 48, both of these players certainly made an impression this season.
So there you are, the players mentioned above would be my suggestions but you can nevertheless vote for any player in the above poll by entering the name of your choice in the ‘other’ box.
Looking back over the entire season my choice would probably come from Robertson, Ding, Williams and Drago, with Neil just about shading it thanks to winning two of the four ‘major’ tournaments on the calendar including the biggest trophy of all.