BREAK-OFF GATE AT THE CRUCIBLE

Action in the first round of the World Snooker Championship has been smooth so far. Not many big stories as this year all the contenders managed first round wins so the fun is only starting. Even Ronnie O’Sullivan’s annual-Crucible-controversy haven’t happened yet and that might be the only real surprise so far.

Barry Hearn announced his retirement of course, we might talk further about that another day, but the real talking point so far was Williams’ new way of breaking-off - he has been doing this for a few tournaments but it’s got to the highlight now.
Claiming that’s to avoid his opponents potting long balls off his break and winning the frame from there, Mark has been hitting top cushion first and landing in the back of the 15-reds pack. Many have been saying it’s too negative and some claim WST should ban the shot - but I’ll get to that soon.

Well, negative or not he avoids playing the aggressive safety shot and theoretically forces his opponent to play the first aggressive shot by giving up his initiative in the tactical battle. However, I think the two cushions break-off could perfectly get the job done as you’d have your cue ball safely back to somewhere very close to the baulk cushion up to a very high percentage. Williams’ unconventional break just adds another 5-10 shots to the frame.
However, Williams is one of the - if not the - best potters in the game, so you’d feel like he’d take the lower percentage break-off to keep the initiative and play open frames. Also, the funny thing is that after a few stalemate exchanges Williams usually takes his first opportunity to play an aggressive safety shot back to baulk before his opponent.

So why playing it in the first place? Well, I think it might be a message to WST about the amount of negative play seen by up and coming talents down the rankings. These days 100% of the players on tour are capable of capitalising single chances into frame wins and that has turned a lot of those lower ranked players that have too much at stake into grinders through their matches. You’re entitled to do anything within the rules to win a frame, but the sport needs to carry on delivering watchable content for the fans when guys like Ronnie, Higgins and Williams himself decide it’s time to pack it in.


As for if the shot should be banned or not, well like I said I don’t think the shot makes sense so it’ll definitely not be adopted by many, if anyone. It won’t change the game and at this point it has only helped to take snooker into making some headlines. It’s a minor issue but I’m sure even Mark himself would be delighted if the game had some rule reviews about negative play.
Anyway, the World Championship goes on and Mark plays John Higgins in the second-round. Regarded by many - myself included - as the greatest safety player in the game, it’ll be interesting to see how many frames Higgins will win when Mark have the break-off. Watch out!

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