Monday 26 July 2010

Victory in Vienna for resurgent Lee

Stephen Lee fired out a warning to the snooker world that he's on his way back up the rankings.

He beat Belgium's Bjorn Haneveer 5-4 in the final of the Vienna Open on Sunday.

The tournament, which was also competed in by pros Dominic Dale, Robert Milkins, Andy Hicks, Tom Ford, Matthew Selt, Liam Highfield and 15-year-old sensation Luca Brecel, could prove a massive milestone in the return to form of the world number 23.

The Wiltshire potter has not recovered since dropping out of the top 16 at the end of 2007/8, but his legion of followers have always kept faith with him.

Renowned for his silky smooth cue action and supreme cue balling timing, Lee is still a firm fans favourite on the circuit, but has struggled to deliver and even threatened to quit the game following his exit from the 2008 world championships.

His victory over Mark Allen at last year's UK Championship suggested he was on his way back.

But he didn't build on that result and lost in humiliating fashion to Stephen Maguire in the first round at the Crucible later in the season.

I've seen enough to suggest that Lee still has a game good enough to compete. All that stands in his way is his motivation to practice, and determination to hang in there when he falls behind in matches.

Since Barry Hearn took over the sport and gave the players more tournaments, Lee seems to be one person who has grasped the chance to play more regularly. He's been entering the PTC events, performing pretty well and looks like he's rekindled his love for the game.

With the new rolling ranking system in place, this means players like Lee, can quite quickly push up the pecking order.

Many more performances like this, albeit against lesser opposition, and we should see Lee back up where his natural ability says he belongs.

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