Comment by Snooker Chat’s Nigel Slater
It was a brilliant Players Championship final on Sunday between the world’s top two.
The quality was lacking at times but it was made up for by close frames and both Judd Trump and Kyren Wilson having to battle it out on a tense occasion in tough conditions.
But the final showed why snooker commentator David Hendon is one of the very best in the business.
Throughout the final, Trump’s break-offs were uncharacteristically below par for a player of his quality.
The very first frame saw Trump’s opening break off canon into the blue. That famous John Virgo saying rings out – “Whatever you do, don’t hit the blue”.
There were at least a couple of more times when Trump was close to hitting the blue on his break-offs.
Hendon told viewers to keep eye on the final break
Eagle-eyed Hendon had noticed this throughout and could tell the match was potentially heading for a deciding frame as the night unfolded. It just had that feel to it.
Hendon told snooker viewers on ITV way beforehand that if a decider was to happen then it would be Trump breaking off.
No surprise then that it was a decider. And no surprise was it to the viewer that the break-off proved important – Hendon had called it spot on.
Trump avoided hitting the blue but the not-so-good break-off allowed Wilson a scoring chance. “In a decider you always want a chance” – as Dennis Taylor would say under the microphone.
Wilson saw a long red on and made it. It must be said Wilson’s break wasn’t the be all and end all – but it did prove important. Wilson scored 33 points to give him the upper-hand in the all important decider.
Fans may tell me it wasn’t the match defining moment – but take away Wilson’s 33 points and it may have been a different picture. In a final frame decider, all of those opening points are crucial. Just ask Steve Davis and what happened to him in 1985!
This final once again demonstrated Hendon’s ability to read a match and call when a moment will stand out. It was great commentary from an excellent broadcaster.
