Over the festive period I posted three polls, seeking to find your best match, best player and most improved player of the year 2012 and today I take a look back at the results…
- O’Sullivan 9-7 Maguire (German Masters) – 32%
- Higgins 10-9 Trump (Shanghai Masters) – 30%
- Carter 13-12 Trump (World Championship) – 14%
Taking a narrow victory in the best match category was the excellent contest between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stephen Maguire, which saw the Scot take the early advantage, with three century breaks in the first four frames, before O’Sullivan came back to take his first ranking event title in over two years.
Also gaining a large share of the vote was the final of the Shanghai Masters between John Higgins and Judd Trump, while it was another defeat for Judd which took third place, as he lost out in a decider to Ali Carter at the last 16 stage of the World Championship.
Looking at the ‘other’ votes that were received, outside of my suggestions, there were multiple votes for Mark Selby’s comeback against Neil Robertson at the quarter-finals of the UK Championship, as well as Ronnie O’Sullivan’s win against the Australian at the same stage of the World Championship.
Other matches to receive nominations included Mark Allen v Mark Selby at the Haikou World Open, Ronnie O’Sullivan v Ali Carter at the Crucible final, Luca Brecel v Michael Holt at the World Championship qualifiers, Shaun Murphy v Luca Brecel at the UK Championship and Mark Selby v Shaun Murphy at the UK Championship. There was also a vote for ‘Mehta v Pinches’ at an unspecified tournament.
- Ronnie O’Sullivan – 46%
- Judd Trump – 24%
- Stuart Bingham – 10%
Topping the vote with almost as many votes as everyone else put together is 2012 World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, who despite playing relatively little snooker during the year, was able to also add the German Masters title to his CV.
Finishing as runner-up is Judd Trump, while Premier League winner Stuart Bingham takes third, ahead of Mark Selby and Neil Robertson.
Again there were a wide range of ‘other’ votes, particularly for the ever-improving Mark Davis, while Dave Harold, Alain Robidoux, John Higgins, Stephen Hendry, Dominic Dale, Matthew Stevens, Simon Bedford, Ali Carter, Kurt Maflin, Mark Allen, Willie Thorne and Luca Brecel also received votes – some I suspect more seriously than others!
- Luca Brecel – 50%
- Mark Davis – 22%
- Cao Yupeng – 12%
Taking a fairly comprehensive victory in this category is young Belgian Luca Brecel, who took half of the overall vote, no doubt thanks to his brilliant runs at the UK and World Championship tournaments.
His closest competitor was Mark Davis, whose improvement was demonstrated by appearances in three full ranking event semi-finals, having previously never appeared in one prior to 2012, while Cao Yupeng’s consistent runs to the venue stages of events earned him third spot.
There were relatively few ‘other votes in this category, though those cast were in favour of Stuart Bingham, Ian Burns, Jamie Jones and Kurt Maflin.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote!