Top 10 moments of 2022/23 snooker season: Who gets your vote? Ronnie O’Sullivan, Luca Brecel, Jimmy White and Mark Selby
No. 1 – Brecel’s heavy metal snooker bewitches Crucible
World Championship
Top 10 moments of 2022/23: No. 1 – Brecel conquers Crucible with heavy metal snooker
A DAY AGO
While he emerges to the walk-on sounds of Insane in the Brain by Cypress Hill, the intensity of his crash, bang, wallop, all-out attacking style is more like Black Ball Sabbath, Motley Crue with cue in hand as he moves rapidly to the thunderous sound of his own beat.
‘Extraordinary shot!’ – Brecel sinks ‘one of the shots of the tournament’
No. 2 – Referee Marteel confronts protester at Crucible
Olivier Marteel has become used to picking up snooker balls during a storied 17-year career as an elite referee on the main professional circuit, but you can never be sure what the next frame will bring.
Being forced to lift a protester off the old green baize was a new one for the man with the white gloves at the 47th World Championship in Sheffield.
Referee Marteel wrestles Just Stop Oil protestor off table
No. 3 – Captain flies high with German Masters victory
For a man nicknamed ‘The Captain’ due to his aviation ability, appreciating life is the name of the game.
Continuing to fly high in snooker since first turning professional in 1996 has seen him defy turbulence in ways he could never have foreseen.
‘It was nothing short of hell’ – Carter on impact of Crohn’s disease and cancer
No. 4 – Williams sets new maximum record at English Open
“I don’t think I’ve seen two players play that well in a best-of-nine,” said Jimmy ‘Whirlwind’ White, the six-time World Championship finalist, in his post-match assessment of a modern classic in the Home Nations.
Neil Robertson and Mark Williams – two genuine giants of the game – served up a quite delightful feast of snooker in their English Open quarter-final in December that saw both men exhibit the very best of attacking, clinical matchplay brilliance in Brentwood.
‘Absolutely brilliant!’ – Watch Mark Williams’ remarkable English Open 147 in full
No. 5 – O’Sullivan sprints to astonishing century
It was perhaps fitting that 25 years after he produced the fastest 147 maximum in history at the 1997 World Championship of five minutes and eight seconds that had been wrongly recorded at five minutes and 20 seconds, O’Sullivan again embarked up an audacious century break at breakneck speed.
That again prompted much confusion among stopwatches.
His 4-0 win against Bai Langning in the first round of the Scottish Open at Meadowbank Sports Centre in November was a timely reminder why O’Sullivan is the biggest draw in town.
O’Sullivan seconds away from record-breaking century in mesmerising break
No. 6 – Milkins hits jackpot at Welsh Open
For a character known as ‘The Milkman’, seemingly since time began, Llandudno was the land of milk and honey. Robert Milkins began the Welsh Open in the picturesque coastal town in February as an unfancied 125-1 outsider.
When the likeable Gloucester professional somehow burrowed his way to the final against Shaun Murphy, he remained a long shot in a two-horse race at 13/8 with his thoroughbred opponent the 4/9 odds-on favourite.
Watch emotional moment Milkins wins Welsh Open in final against Murphy
No. 7 – Rejuvenated Allen discovers appetite for title success
Mark Allen is the snooker player who shed stones to pile on the pounds.
The most productive campaign of his undulating 18-year professional career ended with the Northern Irishman earning three major trophies, a whopping £683,250 in prize money and reaching a career-high of world No. 3.
The moment Allen ended his wait for a UK Championship title
No. 8 – Hong Kong Masters sets new gold standard
Ronnie O’Sullivan has played at the greatest venues in snooker over the past 31 years, but it is fair to say the vast Hong Kong Coliseum was a stand-alone sporting experience, unique in its bustling brilliance.
A crowd of just under 9,000 – a world-record attendance for a snooker match – witnessed the snooker GOAT complete a 6-4 win over Marco Fu in the Hong Kong Masters final last October.
‘A special one!’ – O’Sullivan collects trophy after winning Hong Kong Masters
No. 9 – Mark Selby compiles ultimate 147 in world final
On the 40th anniversary of the maiden 147 break at the World Championship in Sheffield, it was perhaps fitting that we witnessed the first maximum in the final of the sport’s blue-chip event.
Canada’s Cliff Thorburn famously began his totemic effort in 1983 with a fluke on the opening red while his engrossed opponent Terry Griffiths sucked the life out of a cigarette from his watching brief in a Crucible Theatre chair.
‘Wonderful moment’ – Selby makes history with 147 in Crucible final
No. 10 – Jimmy ‘Whirlwind’ White defies Old Father Time
White navigated four qualifying rounds, including a 6-4 win over 2004 UK winner Stephen Maguire in the third round, to reach the last-32 stage of the UK Championship for the first time since 2010.
In doing so, he became the first figure in his 60s to achieve the feat at the UK since Aussie ‘Steady’ Eddie Charlton in 1993.
‘Come on Jimmy!’ – White given standing ovation on main draw return at UK Championship
Top 10 moments of 2022/23
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World Championship
‘What a champion he’s going to be’ – McManus and White laud ‘sensational’ Brecel
02/05/2023 AT 07:33
World Championship
‘You deserve it mate’ – Sporting Selby hails Brecel after Crucible final
01/05/2023 AT 22:24
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