I started the weekend by looking at the prospects of Scotland’s four top 16 players during the 2010/11 season and now I conclude that piece by looking at the remaining five Scots on the tour…
After Graeme Dott who is currently ranked 13th on the official list you have to go all the way down to number 37 to find the next Scot on the circuit, Hamilton’s Jamie Burnett. After a strong 2008/9 campaign in which he qualified for four venues including the World and UK Championships, 2009/10 was more of a struggle as he reached just one, the Grand Prix where he lost out to Ronnie O’Sullivan.
So what about 2010/11? The unfortunate thing for Jamie is that the infamous betting scandal dating back to his match with Stephen Maguire during the 2008 UK Championship continues to hang over his head 18 months on. Whether this contributed in any way to his disappointing results over the past year only he will know but with all those points gained during the previous season soon to fall off, he needs a quick start if he is to retain his place in the top 48 by the end of the season. As much as he will be keen to achieve success on the table however, I suspect that if he were to be cleared of wrongdoing in relation to ‘that’ match with Maguire then that would be the biggest battle that he could win…
Next up meanwhile comes Marcus Campbell who after 19 years as a professional begins the season at a career high ranking of 40 following a very consistent 2009/10 campaign. Highlights included victories over Judd Trump in each of the first two ranking events followed by a 10-9 victory against twice finalist Matthew Stevens at the World Championship qualifiers to make it back to the Crucible.
Marcus’ aim for this season now has to be to push on and break into the top 32 for the first time in a similar fashion to how Mark Davis has done so this year and following two decent runs in the PTC events held so far this season, he remains well placed to do so.
While Marcus is on the way up however, the third man on this list, Alan McManus is a player who is on the slide and now faces a battle if he is to retain the top 48 place that he has held since his debut season on the tour back in 1990/1.
At 39 years of age it is no surprise to see that Alan is no longer the player that he was during his 1990’s peak but to see him struggle as he has done during the past few years since falling out of the top 16 is a shame. Having changed his cue last summer some wondered whether this might have sparked a return to his old form but to date it has not yet materialised.
Like Marcus though he has enjoyed a decent start to the season’s opening PTC events and it maybe be that he will be a player to benefit from the increased playing opportunities available this season. If he can get off to a good start and retain his top 48 status then he may have one more opportunity to work his way up the rankings. If however he cannot hang on to that status then he may become embroiled in a battle to retain his tour status before too long…
Finally come Anthony McGill and James McBain, both new to the tour for this season (although James has been on the tour in the past), and both needing as many points as they can get if they are to stay there in 2011/12. Both have started the season well so far, in particularly the talented young McGill who has already shown his potential by reaching the quarter-finals of the second PTC event last week and will be hoping for more of the same as the season progresses…