"The pockets are playing a little bit too generous" - Michael Holt chimes in on table debate

It is not uncommon for players and fans to discuss playing environments and equipment, but there have been several very public observations and comments about the tables from high profile names in recent months.

Back in the spring, ‘only’ 63 century breaks were made during the main venue stages of the 2024 World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre - the lowest amount compiled there in a decade - citing suggestions that the tables were perhaps playing too difficult.

Earlier this season, Mark Allen was very critical in his assessment of a table he played on at the British Open in Cheltenham, saying during a TV interview after the match that the conditions were “absolutely embarrassing” and that “the table needs to be burned.” A few days later on the same table, Allen crafted a maximum 147 break.

Career Triple Crown winner Shaun Murphy indirectly responded to Allen’s criticism of the equipment and table fitters saying “I think some of the criticism from fellow professionals has been nothing short of rude and amateurish” and in relation to playing conditions Murphy said “The truth of the matter is they’re either difficult or more difficult.”

Another talking surrounding tables has been the suggested generosity of the pockets when it comes to certain events played in China, with a plethora of century breaks registered in recent tournaments there.

Last year (2023) following the Wuhan Open and International Championship events held in the Far East, former world champion and world number one Neil Robertson labelled the tables as "an absolute joke” and that “they were like club tables.”

12 months on, the International Championship moved to a new host city in Nanjing, but Australian Robertson brought up the same issue again saying: “The pockets are definitely on the over-generous side. A lot of the skill is taken away. It just means the safety game is so important to create that first opportunity. I’ll be bringing it up at the Players Board.”

Now, 2020 Snooker Shoot Out champion Holt - who is back on the professional circuit this season having won the UK/Europe Q Tour rankings race last term - has given his opinion on pocket sizes in China in a recent video on his ‘michaelholtcoaching’ Instagram channel.

Holt concurs with Robertson’s evaluation and says it’s an issue that should be sorted. The Englishman also explained in his video how different variables can affect tournament tables.

“There is a template, they are always cut the same. Same rubbers, cut and the fall. Same balls, same cloths, and they’re all brand new. They play similar all the time.

“The biggest variable is sometimes the conditions. As far as the weather, if it’s warm and dry they play a lot slipperier so they play a bit easier. If they’re damp they cause a bit more friction and become a bit tighter.”

The 46-year-old reiterated how tight the tables are in general on television for World Snooker Tour events and that ‘99% of the time’ they are tighter than club tables. However, Holt subsequently said: “saying that, the tables in China, the pockets are playing a little bit too generous.

“I think you’ve heard Neil (Robertson) say it lately. The players chitter chatter amongst themselves and we accept that they are maybe playing too big.

“You see some of the scoresheets from China; if the players get the balls open, they’re brilliant, they’ll just make those tables look a bit silly really which has been happening quite a lot. You see some mad scoresheets - I mean, they can do it anyway, but it’s happening a lot.”

Holt summarised by saying that it would be better if the conditions were less forgiving: “It does affect the mindset of the players, which will again make them play better because of it. But I think the game is better when it is more of a test. Definitely, I think World Snooker are probably going to try and sort that out because some of those scoresheets are a bit daft, really.

The pockets are playing a bit big in China, but hopefully it will change because the game is a better spectacle like that.”

The next event in the Far East is not until the end of February with the 2025 World Open, although the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship takes place in the Middle East just before Christmas.

At the recent International Championship, 92 century breaks were made at the main venue in Nanjing, with a semi-finalist there Xu Si compiling a maximum 147 break.

The previous event in China - the 2024 Wuhan Open which had a shorter format - yielded 82 tons at the venue. Runner-up Si Jiahui constructed a 147 in his last four victory over world number one Judd Trump.