My Magical Crystal Ball

I have this Crystal Ball that can see into the future. It can see the whole of 2009 so I think I'll use it to see what's going to happen in the Snooker next year.

January:

The Masters takes place in Wembley with the Wild Card Rounds opening proceedings. Both seeds, Allen and King lose so Walden and Trump go through. There was controversy in one first round match. O'Sullivan Breaks-Off in his match against Joe Perry, but it falls short of the top cushion. Ronnie, clearly angry, picks up his cue and walks off. A random audience member is chosen to replace Ronnie. But unfortunately the three-year-old-boy fails to put up much of a fight, losing 5-0.

The rest of the tournament goes well, with Ricky Walden winning 10-0 against Graeme Dott in the Final. Ricky says he is pleased.

February:

With Tickets selling slowly, World Snooker decide to completely change the Welsh Open, making it a Welsh only tournament. In uproar, all the Professionals (including the Welsh ones) form their own circuit. The WSAABOMSWDTMTAA (The World-Snooker-Are-A-Bunch-Of-Muppets-So-We-Decided-To-Make-This-Association Association). 

World Snooker used the audience-fill-up-missing-players trick from the Masters to fix the Welsh Open. Ryan Giggs defeats the Three-Year-Old Boy 10-5 in a Final watched on TV by 34 people.

March:

World Snooker take legal action against the WSAABOMSWDTMTAA. The WSAABOMSWDTMTAA lose and are forced to disband. The Welsh Open is replayed as normal, with Ryan Day beating Matthew Stevens in an all-Welsh final. The losing Semi-Finalists are Welshmen Mark WIlliams and Dominic Dale.   

Pontins in Prestatyn unexpectedly collapses during qualifying for the China Open. The remaining 16 places in the Tournament go to Chinese Amatuers, who the Chinese Snooker Association claim will all be World Champions.

During the Tournament, the Young Chinese players are incredible, with Farco Mu hitting 5 147's during is Last 16 match with Chiu Luang. The tournament is won by 13-Year-Old Jing Dunhui after he won a Re-Spotted Black Final Frame against Wiang Lenbo. British viewers were unable to watch the dramatic Final however, as the Lacrosse World Championship, which was being broadcast on Eurosport overran. England lost on Penalties.

April/May:   

The Crucible is enlightened with Steve Davis' unexpected run to the World Championship Final, despite his highest break being 32. A lucky draw and the withdrawal of Michael Holt when the Hitman broke both hands on the table after missing a maximum chance helped Steve into the Final. In a two week marathon final with an average frame time of 11 hours, Steve saw off Adrian Gunnell in a match filled with safety play. Both players went through 567 cups of coffee during the match which the highest break was 4. And that was a foul.

After the match, Steve announced his retirement from the game and received a standing ovation, a knighthood and £1 Million for his service to Snooker. Gunnell also announced his retirement but all he received was a retirment confirmation leaflet from World Snooker.

June/July:

Nothing.

August:

The Northern Ireland Trophy is won by qualifier Mark Allen, much to the delight of the local crowds. He beats Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-6 in the Final despite the Rocket hitting 6 147's. Allen hopes he'll move up in the Rankings after falling 50 places last year with poor results.

September: A new Ranking Event, The U.S Open is held. Despite pleads from players to put it into a European area where Snooker is most popular, World Snooker say that the Americans will love it. When no tickets are sold, it is turned into a pool tournament with Tony Drago, back on the tour this year, beating Mark Selby in the final.  

The Premier League starts again with the Shot Clock changing to 8 Seconds. Wildcard Drago starts sensationally, beating Davis, Selby and Championship League winner Neil Robertson in the First 3 Matches.

The Shanghai Masters is won by a Wildcard with Jing Dunhui beating Ding Junhui in an all-chinese final.

October: Snooker is finally shown in HD on BBC HD during Your-Company's-Name-Could-Go-Here Grand Prix. World Snooker fail to find a sponsor in time and are banned from changing the early name. BBC begin coverage with their new team. 

Presenters: Vernon Kay, Sir Steve Davis and Ricky Walden.

Commentators: John Virgo, Ken Doherty, Willie Thorne, Murray Walker.

Fans are annoyed at Walden's struggle to analyse anything, and find Vernon Kay slightly annoying compared to sacked Hazel Irvine. Murray Walkers commentary surprisingly goes down well, saying he adds more excitement.

Ricky Walden wins it but is stripped after it is found that BBC wanted one of their team in the Final and signed a deal with every player to let Ken or Walden win. Despite Higgins' efforts to let Doherty win, Ken was still not good enough. Walden surprised everyone when he actually won the Final. The trophy went to Runner-Up Jamie Cope.

November: World Snooker finally crumple under the pressure and allow the German Open to take place as a new Ranking Event. Unfortunately it clashes with the Premier League. So Ronnie, Selby, Drago and Walden are all forced to withdraw, Ronnie claims he was going to withdraw anyway.

Despite a hampered line-up the German Open is a stunning success with even the Qualifiers (held in Pontins, Berlin) being sell-outs. The crowds love Snooker and World Snooker make £5 Million profits. The crowds fall in love with some German Wildcard as he goes on a stunning run to the Final. He loses to Robertson 9-0 in the Final however.

December: Drago wins the Premier League, beating Walden in the Final.

Sir Steve Davis gets the Masters Wildcard, and he will come out of retirement to play in that tournament.

The UK Championships are won by... Michael Holt! He beats Ronnie in the Final and becomes a 'Hit' with the viewers.

Roll on 2010!