IF WORLD TITLE WAS GIVEN TO THE BEST PLAYER IN SNOOKER (PART 1)
What if instead of having the traditional World Championship at the Crucible in the end of each season, snooker gave the title of world champion to the player who had had the best season on tour?
There are a few sports that actually don't have a world championship and we measure who's the best player in the world by their achievements through the year, usually looking at who leads the world ranking. In snooker, we do have a World Championship and we know how huge it is to the sport and how much players' seasons are measured by their performance at the Crucible. However, here we're going to rebuild snooker history as if the World Championship had never existed and whoever had the best season was World Champion. Note that we're not simply considering who's led the world ranking or won more tournaments - it's about the importance of the titles won and the consistency of the player in reaching finals throughout the season too.
I've been following snooker for about 12 years now, but I've made a lot of research and I'm sure the past winners will be very accurate as well. We're starting with season 1977/78, because that was the first season the UK Championship was played and the Triple Crown series begun.
PART 1 (1977/78 to 1998/1999)
If a player has been elected the season's best player for multiple times the amount of times will be in brackets, and if such player eventually won the real world title at the Crucible that season it'll be marked with an asterisk.
1977/78: Alex Higgins
Higgins won four titles out of 12 played this season (always excluding the World Championship), including the Masters in London.
1978/79: Doug Mountjoy
A close call once Ray Reardon had a very good season as well, but to have the UK Championship to come with his three titles this season narrowly gives this one to Mountjoy.
1979/80: John Virgo
No one would've guessed Virgo in this list but he was on a roll in 1979/80. He won three titles including the UK Championship. In these three finals he beat Terry Griffiths, Cliff Thorburn and Ray Reardon, who were the other big considerations I had for this season.
1980/81: Steve Davis *
Steve Davis arrives to the scene and wins the UK Championship. That kickstarted a season which saw him win four titles.
1981/82: Steve Davis (2)
It's all Steve, as the English wins seven titles including both the UK Championship and the Masters.
1982/83: Steve Davis (3) *
Davis would not reach the final of either the UK Championship or the Masters this season, but he took home 6 trophies and also shared with Tony Meo the world doubles championship.
1983/84: Steve Davis (4) *
Again Steve missed out on the Masters and the UK Championship titles - the latter lost in a final frame decider. But as Jimmy White and Alex Higgins (Masters and UK champions respectively) didn't carry that form to the rest of their seasons, Davis' 6 titles this season plus the world doubles again gives him this one.
1984/85: Steve Davis (5)
Black ball final? Never heard of it. 5 wins in six finals for Davis this season which includes another UK makes it an all-Davis decade so far.
1985/86: Steve Davis (6)
Jimmy White becomes a threat but Steve still has the edge. His 5 titles out of 8 finals include the UK Championnship and the Grand Prix, as well as the World Doubles with Tony Meo again.
1986/87: Steve Davis (7) *
Dennis Taylor had an amazing season, but unluckily for him Davis was just too good. Nine finals and 7 titles which include the UK Championship and the World Doubles yet again.
1987/88: Steve Davis (8) *
Just too good. 7 titles in 7 finals including both the UK Championship and Masters.
1988/89: Steve Davis (9) *
Watch out for Hendry, but it's still the Davis show. Although he didn't make the final of the UK Championship or the Masters, the Grand Prix was one of his 6 titles in eight finals this season.
1989/90: Stephen Hendry *
Steve Davis was still great with five titles including the Grand Prix, but Hendry took the game by storm. The Masters and the UK were two of his 7 season titles. The Scot was also runner-up on another four occasions.
1990/91: Stephen Hendry (2)
8. Yes, eight titles for Hendry this season in eleven finals. Those titles of course, include the Grand Prix, the UK Championship and the Masters.
1991/92: Stephen Hendry (3) *
7 titles in eleven finals again for Hendry. The Scot added the Grand Prix and the Masters to his silverware collection.
1992/93: Jimmy White
In the most balanced season for a long time, the Grand Prix and UK Championship titles help to give this one to Jimmy White by a small margin.
1993/94: Ronnie O'Sullivan
This is an incredibly close call between Stehen Hendry (6 finals, 4 titles), Steve Davis (5 finals, 3 titles) and Ronnie O'Sullivan (4 finals, 3 titles). I'm only giving it narrowly to Ronnie because coming from out of the top 16 he won the UK Championship and the British Open, more important titles than Hendry's and Davis' that season. I didn't take that into consideration, but it was also Ronnie's second season as a professional and he was 17 at the start of it.
1994/95: Stephen Hendry (4) *
Normal services resumed. Five titles in six finas which include of course, another UK title for Hendry.
1995/96: Stephen Hendry (5) *
Maybe Hendry's best season ever, saw him win the Scottish Masters, Grand Prix, UK Championship and Masters. He won all of his finals this season.
1996/97: Stephen Hendry (6)
Out of his 7 finals, Hendry won five titles this season which included the UK Championship and the Welsh Open. Stephen was also part of Scotland's World Cup winner team that season.
1997/98: Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)
In a bad season for Hendry by his own standards, Ronnie took advantage and won three titles including the UK Championship and the Scottish Open. Ronnie should've had an even better season had his Irish Masters title not been taken off him for failing a drug test (marijuana).
1998/99: John Higgins
Although Stephen Hendry and Mark Williams had excellent seasons, 4 titles and two runner-up runs did it for John Higgins. The Scot wins include the UK title and the Masters this season.
That's it for part one. A lot of dominance from Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry although some of you may be surprised that actually Davis dominated the 80's more than Hendry dominated the 90's. But Hendry is not done yet, part two will see seasons 1999/00 to 2009/10 and it promises to be an even more interesing read as that decade was even more balanced. Stay tuned!
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