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Is the first crown a hurdle?
Winning your first professional title will make a snooker player remember for a lifetime. Of course, many people have never experienced the feeling of relief and ecstasy after winning the first title, never become the last person, never lifted the trophy.
The closer a player gets to victory, the more stress they face. We often hear people say "if he gets the first title, he's going to win more." "There are talented athletes in every sport who have failed to make a breakthrough in their lives.
Coach Chris Henry is the coach of Selby and Murphy, the runner-up winners of last year's World Championships. Henry has an idea of regulating the psychology of his players, which is based on neuroscience: repetition and habituation can help the brain normalize potentially difficult situations. He believes that the most intense competitive scenarios can be simulated under practical conditions, which may be the key to success.
"A lot of it is subconscious. There's something in the brain called PCM — the mechanism of mental control. It's basically like a performance thermostat. Imagine you're in a room and you want to make it warmer, you turn the thermostat to 22 degrees and the heating turns on. Once the temperature reaches 22 degrees, however, the thermostat realizes this and cuts off the heating. Our subconscious has a certain degree of performance and achievement, and if our performance has a tendency to go beyond our own assumptions and beliefs, it is difficult to go beyond that standard.
"For example, if someone is about to achieve their first shot of breaking a hundred, they start to get very nervous. The brain is unable to recognize the performance of this level. That's when the part of the brain called the amygdala comes into play. Its job is to protect a person from potential dangers, or away from something it doesn't recognize.
"What we're going to do is create a 'memory file' to bypass it. We can do this when practicing because the subconscious mind doesn't know what's real and what's not. At the 2002 World Championships, I worked with Alberton when he defeated Hendry in the final. We used to be in his mother-in-law's garage, imagining and role-playing about winning a world championship. Because he had previously lost to Stephen at Crucible, he often imagined beating him in the final. Incredibly, we looked at the results of the draw and found Stephen in the other half. In the end, it was really Stephen who appeared in the final and Peter achieved his ultimate goal. ”
In recent years, several veterans have achieved their first career titles. At the 2016 Northern Ireland Open, Mark King made his dream come true 25 years after turning professional, beating Hawkins 9-8 in a tense final. (Related reading: [Billiards News] Mark King looks back at the 2016 Northern Ireland Open final)
"I was prepared for a long time before I won the Belfast title and fantasized about my family in it. That's all for me, everybody is there and it feels amazing. That's what you're fighting for, and I've seen Selby and Higgins take their families to power after winning the championship. I said I wanted to experience this kind of happiness too. That week, I was the best, I won the championship, I got the trophy, I experienced those feelings. It's great to have no more disappointments and no need to start over. ”
"I'm still playing because I want to win again. I don't want to just take the bonus. There are a lot of people who feel like I can't win the title again, they think that that week belongs to me, and I can't do it again. I wanted to silence them, and I wanted to do it again, to prove that it wasn't a flash in the pan. ”
Similar to Kim, Hamilton spent 26 years chasing his first crown. Prior to the 2017 German Masters, Hamilton was always considered "the best player among the unwinned players". But everything was rewritten in this game, and he won 9-6 in the final to Carter.
In fact, Hamilton and King almost met in the 2016 Northern Ireland Open final. Hamilton unexpectedly touched a white ball at a crucial moment in the semi-final decider, losing 5-6 to Hawkins.
"The decade before the German Masters was good and I've actually accepted the reality of not having a championship without even thinking about it. I started suffering back injuries at the age of 35 and I realized I wasn't going to win the title. I don't worry about it anymore. ”
"The semi-final with Barry [Hawkins] was the first time in 10 years that I felt like I wasn't completely useless. I wasn't the old guy I am now, who only fools around. At that time, everything suddenly appeared, and I became a good player again. I can control myself. Yes, I touched the white ball and lost, but I felt like I could play another day right away. It was a great feeling, and it was transformed in Berlin. ”
"Winning the championship with my parents present is a fairy tale and I can take this to the grave. If you think of this process as a sports movie, that's too cheesy. I was in good shape and continued. Snooker players with confidence and acumen can perform greatly. ”
After Hamilton realized his dream of Berlin, when people mentioned "the best player who has never won a championship", they began to mention Gilbert's name, especially after the 2018 World Open finals were overturned by Williams 9-5 to 9-10 and the 2019 World Championship semi-finals lost to Higgins 16-17. But now, everything is cloudy and foggy.
"I think I can finally laugh, which is rarely the case when I hit snooker. It's great to go back to the club and finally not have to listen to my fellow countrymen beating me up year after year. They couldn't say anything, the black and white words were right in front of them, and I was the champion. ”
"It doesn't matter whether it's a single limited time event or a British Championship, winning is winning. I don't get carried away and say it as if I've read every self-help book. Now I want to win again, as to whether it will happen I don't know. I will continue to work hard and strive for progress. ”
The new year has arrived, and achieving the first career title is undoubtedly the New Year's goal for many players, including naturally the two-time ranking round-four player Slather. But Slather believes that if you can look further than the first crown itself, then the breakthrough of the first crown may not be so annoying.
"If you want to be a multiple ranking champion, then the first title or something shouldn't be a problem, the pressure to win the title is always there. Looking at people like Williams and O'Sullivan who have won the championship many times, it doesn't matter whether they win 1 or 10. They are hungry for victory and always want to win more. ”
"They're the best players ever, but just as important is their strong desire to win more. You have to aim, and if you miss it, you miss it. I think a lot of people's goals are too conservative, to win a title or get to a final and make them happy. If you don't set your goals well, then I can't understand why you're playing. ”
It is worth mentioning that Slather is one of the few players to lead O'Sullivan in the record of hand-to-hand combat, including a 6-2 in the first round of the 2018 China Open, although O'Sullivan played 147 in the match (72nd of the star billiard table).