Baize craze

I'm absolutely loving the snooker this year, and I'm delighted that there's a still a week to go! I have it on in the background while I'm doing things, and it's easy to keep up-to-date without being too distracted. (You soon hear if something great happens because the crowd make that delicious 'ooooohh' sound, at which point you can give your full attention to the screen and catch the replay.) Yesterday I sat with my knee up on the sofa and watched it all day, and I was so chilled and relaxed by bedtime that I had the best night's sleep I've had for years. It's just so damn meditative.
McGill is still the guy I want to win, but by the time you read this his Championship could be over because at the time of my typing this he is 10-6 down to Judd Trump. As a side note, by the way, JUDD TRUMP sounds like a name of a character from a comic book. He'd be a nerdy lad with glasses who gets picked on because of his silly name, then at the age of 16 he would be stung by a radioactive insect and become a super-strong bully-bashing crimefighter overnight. His alter ego would be THE TOXIC WASP, or something similar.

Anyway - back to the snooker table....
My new favourite player to watch is the no.16 seed, Yan Bingtao, because he might well be the coolest guy on the planet. He glides around the table like he's a leaf being carried along by a stream. Everything he does looks effortless, as if he's controlled by an external force and is supremely confident that he'll end up exactly where he's supposed to be.
I'm disappointed that Noppon Saengkham has gone out, because he was a joy to watch. He's a bit too young and too inexperienced to win the thing, but he was a breath of fresh air. Such an original player. The commentators would recommend three shots that he might take on and then he'd do something completely different and amaze them.
It's a bit boring that the same old names keep getting through to the later stages of these big tournaments, but one thing I am delighted about is that everyone seems to be relaxed and enjoying themselves. Too often in the past, snooker has been a boring slogfest of unsmiling, safety-first bore barons. I don't know if it's the joy of having crowds back and actually being able to do what they love and play properly again, but most of them seem to be showing a bit of emotion around the table and letting their personalities shine through. I hope that carries on right through to the Final.

RC 25-4-22