Top snooker players to watch in 2012 – Part 1
The sun has risen in 2012 with new hopes for the snooker fans that they will be watching some of the best performances this year. At the same time, this new year will also be crucial for many top potters in the world, especially the old ones, because they
are seeing several new faces emerging from nowhere to challenge them and some of those new cuemen have even beaten them quite easily in a clash.
No doubt 2011 was the year of amateurs. The world did see some of the finest young talents popping up in every major event. The recent addition of different minor and major tournaments in the snooker calendar has surely opened the doors to the young blood
and they have proven themselves worthy of appreciation.
Rise of new talent day-by-day is a good gesture for the game and most of the credit undoubtedly goes to the newly appointed chairman of World Snooker, the innovative Barry Hearn. He not only expanded the game but also gave various opportunities to the youngsters
to polish their snooker skills. Hearn has played a key role in taking the game of Snooker to the next level and the heights of popularity it has earned today.
As 2012 has begun to greet the cueists from around the world with some exciting snooker events, starting from one of the Triple Crowns, 2012 Masters at Alexandra Palace, where all top competitors of snooker will gather to take the glory. The snooker fans
across the globe will be hoping for some thrilling clashes this year as the following are some of those players who can actually do just that.
Judd Trump
Before the 2011 China Open, everybody knew England’s Judd Trump as an amateur who took part in lower rank tournaments and did not produce any big run in major ranking events. It all changed when this man came out of nowhere and lifted his first major ranking
title after ousting the sharp Mark Selby 10-8 in the final of the 2011 China Open.
Nobody could believe that a mere qualifier will ascend in such a tremendous way and will sweep all top guns of snooker including the former World Snooker Champion, Peter Ebdon. Trump sprang up incredibly after the Chinese victory and stunned everyone after
he reached the final of the 2011 World Snooker Champion against Scotland’s John Higgins.
However, playing Higgins in the final of Crucible glory wasn’t as simple as it looked. The 22-year-old lost to the Magician 15-18 but won many hearts with his scintillating performance. One after another, he crossed all hurdles easily to become one of the
toughest challengers in the world. He did come down a bit after the conclusion of the 2010-11 Snooker Season but did not lose his focus at all.
The Ace revamped his performance in the Players Tour Championship (PTC) Event Two and won the minor ranking tournament beating Ding Junhui 4-0 in the final. The second success of Mr. Haircut 100 was another PTC victory when he defeated none other than Ronnie
O’Sullivan in the final of PTC 9. After PTC, there was no notable achievement of the Englishman except a couple of Premier League wins.
He finished 2011 in wonderful fashion, as he clinched his first ever UK Championship title. He was outstanding throughout the tournament beating Dominic Dale, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Maguire, Neil Robertson and finally Mark Allen.
Trump is definitely on top of his performance and now has got a tremendous amount of confidence after winning the 2011 UK Championship. The Bristolian will be worth watching in the 2012 snooker year as he will undoubtedly bring fireworks.
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