ROSB Awards - Best shots, breaks and matches from 2015/16!

Well, every respectful award in any Sport happens before the end of the season/year/event, so why not do the same here in my humble Blog? Well to be honest I'm doing it now because I'll be too busy after the end of the World Snooker Championship this year I'm afraid, so I've decided to have FUN awarding some of the best shots, breaks, clearances, performances etc of the season 2015/16.

So here we go:

Fluke of the Season goes to... ROBERT MILKINS!
For the wizardry he made at the Players Championship Grand Final against Barry Hawkins in the Last 16 (WATCH HERE). Well, it's not just the best - or should I say worst? - fluke I saw this season but probably the greatest I'll ever see in my life! The match was tense at 1-1 and the frame was very much alive. If Milkins had hit the jaws and then dropped the Yellow in that middle pocket, it would be "understandable", but it just came back jumping on the table, and it wasn't going in the direction of the pocket until it hits the "head" of the rolling cue-ball and then bounces into the pocket... INCREDIBLE! That's what gave me the idea of doing this.

Long Pot of the Season goes to... DECHAWAT POOMJAENG
(WATCH HERE on 1:56) Well, to play a long pot like that in the Shoot-Out is already a massive thing, but to hit it so well like the Thai did screwing back to baulk is breathtaking. Anyway, it's not quite the Long Pot that has made me give this award to Poomjaeng, the celebration he had after potting it in the beginning of the frame was sensational.
However, that turned out to be Poomjaeng's only point in that Shoot-Out 1st Round game, he lost 1-23 to Rod Lawler.

Surprise of the Season goes to... DAVID GRACE
We had quite a few surprises this season, but I had to pick one so I went for then World No81 David Grace getting into the Semi-Finals of the UK Championship beating Andrew Higginson, Robert Milkins, Jack Lisowski and Peter Ebdon before coming from 1-5 down to beat Martin Gould 6-5 in the Quarter-Finals. Grace then lost 6-4 to China's Liang Wenbo in the Semi-Finals.
Liang himself getting into the Final, Kyren Wilson winning the Shanghai Masters and Rory McLeod winning the Ruhr Open (European Tour event 3) were contenders too, but the fact that before the UK Championship I knew nearly nothing about Grace and had never seen any potential on him made me chose him.

Result of the Season goes to... RONNIE O`SULLIVAN
Nothing a lot must be said, a 10-1 in the Final of the second biggest Snooker event of the World speaks for itself.
O`Sullivan lost the first frame in the Final of The Masters to Barry Hawkins but then won 10 straight frames making 7 breaks over 50 points including a 136 Total Clearance in frame 3 when the match was tied at 1-1. It was O`Sullivan's 6th Masters title matching Stephen Hendry's record.

Safety Shot of the Season goes to... KYREN WILSON
(WATCH HERE on 1:12) This shot was fantastic, playing the red in the jaw with the trouble of the double kiss, with a soft back spin in the white to hit the right hand cushion in the right place to get the cue-ball behind the Brown leaving Jamie Jones in a position he would never escape.
That World Grand Prix 1st Round match was 2-2 at the moment with Kyren needing snookers, and with the help of this snooker he won that frame and it was a body blow for Jones, who also lost the next and was defeated 4-2 after looking strong favourite in frame five.

Break of the Season goes to... NEIL ROBERTSON
(WATCH HERE) Simply the first 147 Maximum Break ever made in the Final of a Triple Crown event. It's already very important for Neil Robertson just because of that, but in terms of winning the match it was very good too, because the match was 3-2 in his favour but Liang Wenbo was getting confidence, that Maximum sort of sealed Neil Robertson's second UK title in my opinion.
Ronnie O`Sullivan's 146 in the Welsh Open was a big contender for this because it did put Snooker in the headlines of all the newspapers, but that was one below Robertson's score and that was only in the 1st Round of the Welsh Open so it's fair to say Neil Robertson's Maximum wins this one.

Comeback of the Season goes to... RONNIE O`SULLIVAN
Not many comebacks this season caught my admiration (must've been because Selby wasn't quite at his best), so I'm choosing one that I think was important against a very good opponent. O`Sullivan won 7 frames in a row from 2-5 behind against Neil Robertson in the Final of the Welsh Open.
Graeme Dott's comeback against Jimmy White from 1-4 down to win 5-4 in the Qualifiers for the China Open was a contender, but Robertson's quality and the importance of a Final got me choosing Ronnie's.

Best Final of the Season goes to... JOHN HIGGINS AND MARTIN GOULD
(WATCH HERE) We had many good Finals this season, like Kyren Wilson beating Judd Trump in the Shanghai Masters 10-9, but this one was fantastic to watch and Gould lost 9-8 but just in a couple of details, he's ultra attacking and Higgins is the best safety player ever, but even though if Gould had played a couple of safeties during the match instead of going to crazy pots he would surely have won his maiden Ranking Event is Australia. However the pain of that Final must've settled when Gould beat Luca Brecel in the Final of the German Masters winning his so wanted 1st Ranking title.

Clearance of the Season goes to... RONNIE O`SULLIVAN
(WATCH HERE) Ronnie O`Sullivan led Mark Selby 5-2 with 4 to play, but everybody knows how good Selby is at coming back from big deficits, and he was starting to build his come back that should maybe win our "Comeback of the Season" award, he won the eighth frame and made a 70 Break in frame nine, but lost position leaving 75 points at the table. The balls weren't perfectly positioned but O`Sullivan knew it was his chance to win frame and match and so he did, pulling out one of the most amazing clearances ever seen, with 73.

Match of the Season goes to... JUDD TRUMP AND NEIL ROBERTSON
(WATCH HERE) The build up for a match between Judd Trump and Neil Robertson is already fantastic, and in this Quarter Final meeting at The Masters they didn't let the fans down, setting the Record for most Centuries made in a Best of 11 match, with 6. That includes the amazing 129 Total Clearance from Judd Trump in the decider, that was his 4th Century of the match after a beautiful opening red cut to the left centre.

Performance of the Season goes to... RONNIE O`SULLIVAN
Ronnie O`Sullivan was never in trouble as he won 36 frames and conceded just 11 to win the Welsh Open for a record equalling 3rd time. He beat three Top 10 ranked players in his three last matches - Mark Selby, Joe Perry and reigning UK Championship and Champion of Champions winner Neil Robertson.

Shot of the Season goes to... RONNIE O`SULLIVAN
(WATCH HERE on 0:44) And I end this awards ceremony in style, giving Ronnie O`Sullivan his fifth statue, and the one everybody was waiting for, the one for the Best Shot of the Season 2015/16.
He was needing snookers and then simply made a marvellous 16 Break to give himself a chance of snookering the reigning World Champion Stuart Bingham in that Masters' Semi-Final, pulling out four amazing shots before getting the snooker he needed. But that Black in the middle from the Green spot in particular was special, it was difficult for itself leaving it alone, but to come off two cushions keeping him a slight chance to keep the break going was fantastic. And then he went on to win the frame for a 5-1 lead that sort of guaranteed him the match that later on he won 6-3, it made that Black even more special.




Obviously it's not very serious, it's just a bit of fun and reflections on the best moments of the season that has just reached it's climax now with the World Championship under way.
We're having the Qualifiers now in Ponds Forge and the Crucible action begins Saturday 16th April, watch live on BBC and follow all the results at Ronnie O`Sullivan Brasil on Facebook.

See you at The Crucible!