Snooker Best Shots 2023 Tour Championship Recreated

Well that is incredible. That is one of the shots of the season. Welcome to Shots of the Season, where we look back through every professional tournament to find the very best shots, and work out which of these is the shot of the season by attempting to recreate all of them as accurately as possible before playing them in the fewest possible attempts. We begin this A-Z of the best shots of the season back in January with Judd Trump at the World Grand Prix, powering in this long blue before screwing 3 times across the table for the pink. Not only did Judd win this match, he made it all the way through to the final, narrowly losing out to Mark Allen in a deciding frame. But what about the shot itself? I remember from back in January this one being difficult, but that it needed more power than spin, and on my 3rd attempt I definitely got into it a little bit too much. I'm trying to come back across topside of the pink here. Because I was trying to hit it so hard, I was really swinging my elbow at this one, but I eventually got it right on my 7th attempt and kept everything straight, and I was pretty happy to get it so quickly. The next shot's from the Welsh Open, as Sean Murphy uses the jaws of the corner pocket to help him pot a red. He doesn't end up in position on the black, so it doesn't help him too much as he already needs snookers, but it's definitely an impressive shot to look at. And a difficult one to play. There was a lot of speculation when Sean initially played this shot about what spin would make the cubeball travel furthest to the right of the bulk cushion, but from what I discovered when I tried it last time, this was mostly just topspin. And the advantage I had over last time is I'd remember which part of the jaw I needed to hit, so I got it a lot quicker, even if it didn't go quite as wide as I would have liked. Mark Selby screwing the cubeball back into bulk at the Champion of Champions and potting a particularly difficult red down the cushion at the same time. This helped him defeat John I thought this was going to be a really tough pot down the cushion, but somehow it went in straight away, so I'm not going to complain about it, I'm just going to continue. Time for the best snooker escape of the year now, starting with Mark Allen, who has to play around 5 cushions here to land perfectly on the yellow. Mark eventually went on to get through to the final of this event, narrowly losing out to Ryan Day. This is our first contender of 4 for the best snooker escape of the season, and it was certainly one of the best shots of the British Open, as you've got to use quite a lot of side here to make the angle. I got pretty close on my 2nd attempt, but just didn't quite hit the yellow and hit it a bit too hard, so I had to dial the speed back a little bit, and on my 3rd attempt, not only did I get the angle right, I also seemed to land right on top of the yellow. Now for a Mark Williams one handed escape at the Northern Open. Mark eventually went on to win this frame, but ended up losing the match to Mark Allen. And Mark Allen went on to win the tournament, so this is a shot that nearly knocked out the eventual champion, although I'm probably only including it in this video because Mark played it one handed, and as you may have seen, this makes things harder, because on my first attempt, I actually found the black. What I'm looking to do here is hit the yellow and get a snooker back using the balls at the top end of the table. I'm not really too bothered on how it happens, but I would like to hit it thick like Mark did and get a snooker in a similar way. However, this just wasn't coming off until my 5th attempt where I got a lot better hit on the yellow, kept the cueball where it was, unfortunately I nicked the green. However, I still just about got the snooker as you can see from this angle. Mark Selby is escaping from a snooker of his own making, also at the Northern Ireland Open, and not only that, he manages to snooker his opponent on the same shot. He goes on to defeat Rhian Evans 4-2, before losing out to Neil Robertson in the quarterfinals. This is quite an awkward shot to even reach, and on my first attempt, I couldn't avoid the blue. However, my 2nd attempt was a lot better, and I nearly dropped right on top of the yellow, however you could see the red down the cushion and the red next to it, so I needed to go again. And I didn't expect to get that close for another few shots, but my 3rd attempt, the weight was absolutely perfect, and I nearly ended up touching ball to the yellow. Ding Xiong Wei is having to screw the cueball into the cushion now to help him put a red over the corner pocket in the 6 Reds World Championships. This is such a crucial shot in helping him defeat Ronnie O'Sullivan, and Ding eventually goes on to win the event. This is probably the complete opposite of the Mark Selby shot from earlier, where I just got down and hit it on my first attempt, but somehow managed to pot it, whereas on this one, I wasn't anywhere near as lucky. I got so close on my first 5 attempts to just potting the red, but it just wouldn't go in. The shot itself relies on a small amount of backspin to square the cueball up off the inside cushion. You very slightly over or under do this, and you miss the red by quite a long way. It's hard to overestimate just how good of a hit this was from Ding, and when I finally got it on my 11th attempt, I was so relieved the white didn't go in the middle pocket. And now I can finally work out which of these was the best snooker escape. Mark Williams's snooker escape was good, but I mostly only put it in because he played it one handed, so only gets 3 angles, whereas Mark Selby's snooker escape back into a snooker was a lot better, so he gets 5 angles, as does Ding Jung-Wei and Mark Allen. Ding Jung-Wei's shot had a crucial pot in it, but I'm giving the winner to Mark Allen, because playing around 5 cushions was a brilliant shot. So upon saying count, managed to pot the red off the yellow and go on to win the match in the WST Classic, an event brought in to replace the Turkish Masters. Because this tournament wasn't on TV anywhere, I didn't get the chance to see any of it, so I don't really have a clue what happened, so I did the only thing I really could do and pick the top 2 shots from a compilation video and just hope that video was accurate. Either way, this is quite a good shot from Nopon, as you have to hit the yellow pretty thin, and it certainly helped him out, as he went on to win the frame and match from here. I thought 4 attempts was pretty good though. Our nominations for Cheeky of the Double of the Year begin with Mark Selby, who not only makes this impressive treble at the British Open, but then goes on to complete a 1-4-7 break at the end of it. Mark then won this match and made it all the way through to the quarterfinals. This is quite a difficult shot because you have to get very close to the pink, and the problem I was having with it is I couldn't stop bouncing the cue ball, and that's why it went a little bit too far when I finally got this on my third attempt. We're back at the Northern Ireland Open again, where Judd Trump has a double on the yellow that's an exhibition shot at the same time. Judd went on to win this match against Rod Lawler, but ended up losing to Aaron Hill in the next. Obviously because I'm right-handed, I can't reach this shot without the rest, and I can't screw back enough with the rest to get up the other end of the table. So I'm having to play this right-handed, and then mirror-flipping the shot later on. The shot itself is a bit awkward, because you have to bounce the cue ball into the yellow to make it go around the black, and I wasn't quite getting it right every single time. But fortunately, when the double finally went in, I got the cue ball right back down the table, although I couldn't quite get the right side of the pink and the blue. Behind closed doors again at the WST Classic, as Hayden Pinney doubles the final black to take a 3-1 lead against Elliot Selesa. And the difference between 3-1 and 2-1 can really change things in a best of 7. The shot itself is all about pace, and not hitting it too hard, and that's what I got wrong on my first two attempts, where I just injected a little bit too much pace into the shot. My third attempt was a lot better, however I'm not sure how it didn't go in. Four attempts is probably a little bit longer than I expected here. Matthew Selle was 3-0 down against Mark Selby before he found this double that allowed him to take his first frame in this year's World Championships. Obviously I played this shot only a week ago in the World Championship video, and all I can remember about it is you had to try really hard to avoid the blue, and somehow it went in on the first try. But which of these was the cheekiest double? Cue the music. So here's how it's going to work. Matt Selle gets three chillies because he played a risk-free shot that resulted in him winning the frame. Hayden Pinney's shot also won him the frame, but it wasn't risk-free, so he gets four chillies, as does Judd Trump, whose shot was more of an exhibition shot than a risky one. But the winner with five chillies is definitely Mark Selby. His shot was definitely the most crucial, as he'd made a 1-4-7 of it. Luca Brassell was also behind Mark Williams at the World Championships before he made this crucial cannon to develop the yellow, which allowed him to go on and win the frame. This was probably the biggest turning point in that entire match. And it's another shot that I played really recently, so I can remember what you had to do. Get plenty of spin on it, but also hit it hard enough so you avoid the blue. As long as you get the spin right and you pop the black, it's all about pace. You have to judge that arc on the cue ball perfectly to get it to go towards the yellow. My third attempt was really close, but not quite right. And my fourth looked on a similar line. I was really pleased to get this one so quickly, and it really helped to remember what I had to do from the week before. Judd Trump found a plant at the Scottish Open that was only accessible off the side cushion. This allowed him to go on and win the match, and eventually make it through to the quarterfinals. This one's really annoying, because it's nowhere near as easy as it looks to hit the correct red at the right speed. And if you miss, you scatter all the balls everywhere, and it takes quite a while to put everything back. So I was relieved to get it on my third attempt, but could I see the black from here? The answer was, it would just about go through the gap. Time for CJ Wade's ridiculous plant against Anthony McGill at the World Championships. This certainly helped him go on and win a close match against Anthony. When I played this in the World Championship video, it miraculously went in after just two attempts, so I was wondering how many shots it would normally take me. So I'm now wondering if it's even that difficult. Maybe it's just really easy. Time for Ronnie O'Sullivan's cannon from the Welsh Open now. This gave Ronnie a frame-winning opportunity, and he eventually progressed all the way through to the quarterfinals. This is pretty difficult to recreate, because the white would have stayed over the pocket with Ronnie's shot, but another red hit it back up the table. I was fortunate as well on my second attempt, because I managed to pot it cushion first, which got me way back up the table. I was almost out of position it went so far, but still managed to pot the green in the middle pocket. A tough shot with a good amount of fortune involved. Our first weird rest shot of the day comes from Tepchara Anu, who manages to use the rest to help him bridge over the blue and pot the yellow against Mark Allen in the Scottish Open. Tepchara eventually wins this match and gets through to the semi-finals. Playing a shot like this isn't too difficult, as long as you wait for the rest to stop wobbling. The other problem I encountered was I started putting the rest a bit too far up in the air, and because you're playing it with sides and you're striking down on the cue ball, this made it pretty difficult to pot the ball. So on my fourth attempt I got it a little bit lower, and that made the pot a bit easier, but I lost the cue ball. The fifth attempt was a little bit better, the cue ball still went a long way away, but it was easily pottable from this position, so I wasn't too worried about it. Another power screw shot, this time from Ali Carter as he defeats Joe O'Connor in the semi-finals of the Players' Championships. The only way I can play this on my table is to use a cue ball that's very slightly lighter, but it's only 5 grams lighter, so I still have to hit this really well to get the backspin on the cue ball, and it's still a little bit of a tough pot from this position. That said, I was a bit disappointed not to get more of these, but on my fourth attempt when I finally got it, I got the backspin right as well, so I ended up in position on the green where I intended to. A brilliant cannon on the reds from Jack Lasowski of the German Masters as he goes on to eventually reach the semi-final. You have to be really accurate to get the cannon here, and I'm not sure if it needed it, but I was playing it with a small amount to make the angle, and what I discovered is if you don't put the black in the centre of the pocket, you'll go very slightly to the left or the right of the reds depending on which side you missed it to. I remember saying when I first tried this shot it was surprisingly difficult, in fact at this speed it was difficult to even pot it consistently, and I just couldn't quite get the cannon right. It took me a number of attempts, but on my seventh I managed to have enough angle to just about cut it in. Tom Ford is digging down with the cushion now to pot an excellent length of the table red at the UK Championships. Tom would eventually go on to reach the semi-finals of this tournament. This shot made a big difference, and it's a really tough pot before you start digging down at the cue ball. Fortunately for me, the balls hug the rail towards the end of this cushion, so I knew I just about had to get it close, but it's still difficult to get it into that position, so four attempts was really good from here. Joe O'Connor needs to pot a tough red down the cushion at the Scottish Open against Neil Robertson and get on at least the blue to be able to win the frame. Not only does he manage to do this, he manages to defeat Neil and eventually make it through to the finals of the tournament. The good thing here is because the red's on the cushion, a small amount of right-hand side will help the cue ball come back, but it's still difficult to pot the ball, so two attempts from here was really good, I must have been cueing well. And if you want to help improving your cueing, why not have a look at Ronnie O'Sullivan's Rocket Method, and you can get this at a further 5% discount if you use the promo code BREAK. Paul Wollaston was faced with a tough long pink 3-1 down in the World Championship qualifiers. Not only does he manage to get down and pot it, but he eventually goes on to win the match. All I can remember when I tried this a few weeks ago is I kept hitting it into the cushion, so I remembered that and I got very close on my first attempt and somehow potted on my second, was really pleased with this one. We've got a Louis Heathcote shot coming up next after we find Olly in Cannock, which is nicely in the middle of that. There we go. This is a shot from the German masters that effectively won him a deciding frame. Now he may have been playing into these balls directly rather than off the top cushion, but because that's how he got the shot, that's what I'm trying to do as well, which is going to make things difficult because there's that red on the top cushion that's a lot in the way down there. And I discovered this shot wasn't quite as easy as I thought it was going to be, especially when you're trying to use an exact amount of side spin and it makes the pot difficult. Eventually I started getting close to this one, but I just couldn't quite get the right amount of side spin until my fifth attempt. I just slightly missed the black, but still left the red on into the middle pocket. Stuart Bingham's opening up his masters campaign with a big long pot against Kyron Wilson. Not only was Stuart going to win this match, he made it all the way through to the semi-finals. This is another power screw shot, so I'm going to be using the same cue ball trickery as I was before, except this time the ball's closer to the cushion, which means I can use a little bit of side spin to help the white come back and I don't have to come back quite so far. It still makes the pot a little bit harder, so I was really happy to get it after just three attempts, even though I may have put it a little bit too straight this time. Now onto the Luca Brussel rest shot from the masters. Luca isn't quite tall enough to be able to reach this shot, but can't also find a stable place to position the rest, so has to put it on the side cushion. He manages to make a brilliant pot here and get in position on the brown, but eventually loses the frame and match to Ronnie O'Sullivan. I remember the problem being before, that if you hit this one a little bit too hard, you made the cue ball bounce and that stopped it backspinning, and that's exactly the same problem that I was having here. I just couldn't get enough backspin on it whilst getting the white to come across the table back to where I was for the brown, at the same time as getting topside of the middle pocket. I kept bouncing it when I hit it hard enough, and when I didn't hit it hard enough, obviously I wasn't coming back far enough. And of course the pot is incredibly difficult. Eventually I finally got one where I screwed the cue ball back and potted the ball at the same time, but unfortunately I didn't quite manage to get across the table on any of these shots, and there was nothing I could do. When I played the shot hard enough it bounced, and if I didn't make it bounce, then I couldn't hit it hard enough. Eventually I had to settle for one where the cue ball struck low of the middle pocket. I still came back nicely for the brown and it looked fairly good, but it's not quite the shot I was wanting to play. Ding Jiu Wee's in a lot of trouble now. The wrong side of the red and 9-3 down against Kyron Wilson in the Tour Championships. But not only does he manage to get the cue ball round the table far enough to pot the red, he actually pots it and wins the frame. It doesn't help him out in the match much, but at least he gets another frame on the board. I remember initially overcomplicating this one where you just had to play it with a lot of topspin and right hand side, and it went fairly well on my second attempt. I got back to about the same position that Ding did, and it's probably a little bit easier for me to pot along the cushion, so I didn't fail in potting this one. So to the results, because it's the end of the season I've selected what I believe to be my top 4 shots, and if you go down into the description you can vote on your favourite so long as I remember to do it. And that starts with Sean Murphy, who played the shot off the angles to pot the red. Didn't really go anywhere, but is a good shot nonetheless. Or you can vote for this shot from Tom Ford that helped him beat Luca Brassell in the UK Championships and made a big difference to his tournament. Or even Ben Willison's ping from the World Championship qualifiers. This one made a big difference and is probably one of the best pots of the season. And finally Luca Brassell's rest shot. Again this one made no difference whatsoever, but was a spectacular looking shot. So what have we learnt from all of this? Well despite the fact that I keep playing his plants really well, apparently I keep pronouncing CJ Wei's name wrong. Ronnie O'Sullivan is supposedly moving to China, Jimmy White's just won his 4th Senior World Championship so congratulations on that, and falling asleep on a snooker table is ill-advised and incredibly painful. Oh whose idea was this? Don't forget to vote on your favourite shot of the season. If you want to see me recreating shots from the World Championships, then have a look at these two videos as it's the World Championships and the qualifiers. And remember don't just watch play, and make the commitment to becoming a better player by subscribing to the channel and visit the website. See you later!