Tony Knowles: There are one or two characters in snooker still but it's different now

18/09/2023 16:45

Tony Knowles was one of the stars of snooker’s golden age and while he feels the game can still boast some standout characters these days, the drive to succeed has overtaken the need to entertain.

Steve Davis was the consistent winner of the ’80s, while Jimmy White and Alex Higgins were the wildest of snooker’s wild children, but Knowles both picked up some brilliant results and some memorable tabloid headlines along the way.

It is often claimed that snooker does not have the characters in the game it enjoyed in its pomp, but while there may be fewer, the idea that there are none is daft.

Ronnie O’Sullivan remains the world number one, the sport’s biggest name and unquestionably a character, while world champion Luca Brecel grabbed headlines during his Crucible run for some good old fashioned partying.

On the Belgian’s boozing through the World Championships, Knowles laughed: ‘He’s following in the footsteps of a few other people there!’

A fan of the world champ, TK added: ‘He’s a very good player and he will still improve. Tactically there’s a few loose shots in there every now and again, he does throw his cue at things if he can’t think of the shot. But other than that, as a fluent attacking player, he’s got all the shots you need.

‘He’s got the nice fluent action, full weight of the cue through the ball so can manoeuvre it and make it do things.’