The latest chapter in a series of articles looking back at each campaign from the Crucible era.
After several years of disruption, the 2022/23 snooker season initially carried the sense that the professional game had finally returned to something resembling normality.
The calendar was expansive once more, and the lingering effects of the pandemic appeared to be receding into the background.
China was the obvious outlier, and the sport would go through another entire campaign without a visit to its mainland.
This setback with what had become snooker’s most important market coincided with a couple of other major issues that threatened the game’s long-term popularity in the country.
First was the rapid development of Chinese eight-ball – or Heyball – with huge increases in prize money and participation figures, including many players from the world of pro snooker.
Even more damaging, however, was a supersonic scandal involving ten Chinese snooker players that threatened everything the sport had worked so hard to establish in the country.
In October of 2022, it was announced that the WPBSA had suspended Liang Wenbo amid an investigation into match-fixing offences.
The former English Open champion had just returned from suspension after being in court earlier in the year for a serious domestic assault incident, but that was just the beginning of his troubles.
By January of 2023, another nine Chinese players were suspended – among them 2021 UK champion Zhao Xintong and 2021 Masters winner Yan Bingtao.
The story dominated the snooker stratosphere for the remainder of the 2022/23 snooker season before the investigation’s outcome was revealed just after the World Championship in June.
A disgraced Liang and fellow long-time professional Li Hang were deemed to be the ring leaders and both were banned for life, the most severe punishment ever handed out in the history of the game.
Zhao, who had risen to a career-high world ranking of number six following his wins in the previous season’s UK Championship and German Masters, was ultimately cleared of the more serious match-fixing charges.
But the promising talent was found guilty of being a party to another player fixing matches in addition to betting on snooker, and he was handed a 20-month ban that resulted in his relegation from the circuit.
The entire affair left people’s trust in the Chinese snooker community at an all-time low, and there were lingering doubts about whether the sport in the country would ever fully recover.
Little did everyone realise at the time that while snooker in China may have hit rock bottom, its biggest boom ever was just around the corner. But more on that later.
On the green baize, it was business as usual during the 2022/23 snooker season with titles being dished out to a lot of the usual contenders.
The most prolific winner was Mark Allen, who enjoyed the best period of his career to date with a terrific three-month stretch from October to January.
The Pistol reached the final of the British Open only to lose 10-7 to Ryan Day but soon after successfully defended his Northern Ireland Open crown on home soil.
Allen then fought back from 6-1 behind to beat Ding Junhui 10-7 in the final of the UK Championship to secure his second career Triple Crown title.
At the turn of the new year, Allen also pipped Judd Trump in a deciding-frame thriller to clinch the World Grand Prix title in Cheltenham.
Considering all the silverware that he had accumulated in recent years, Trump was enduring one of his quieter spells.
Major success, though, did materialise with the Englishman prevailing at the prestigious Masters at the Alexandra Palace courtesy of a thrilling 10-8 defeat of Mark Williams.
A lot of the other events on the calendar were part of the BetVictor European Series where there was a £150,000 jackpot bonus on offer to the most consistent performer across the eight counting ranking tournaments.
Gary Wilson and Chris Wakelin scored maiden ranking triumphs with their respective victories at the Scottish Open and the Shoot Out.
Elsewhere, Kyren Wilson, Ali Carter, and Mark Selby each got their hands on silverware at the European Masters, the German Masters, and the English Open.
With nobody able to dominate, the series came down to its last leg in February and the Welsh Open at the Venue Cymru in Llandudno.
Carter held a narrow advantage nearing its climax, but a 9-7 win for Robert Milkins over Shaun Murphy in the Welsh Open final ensured that the Milkman delivered on a whopping £230,000 payday – the BetVictor bonus plus the £80,000 for glory in Wales.
Murphy had been expected to come out on top and admitted that he let a golden opportunity slip from his grasp, but the Magician was just getting started.
By the time the Crucible came around two months later, Murphy was undoubtedly regarded as the best player in the world based on current form.
The Englishman orchestrated a couple of tremendous weeks of play to end both the Players and Tour Championships with a brace of ranking titles.
Murphy was one of the outright favourites heading into Sheffield and he even had aspirations of challenging for the world number one position, but the fourth seed suffered a shock 10-9 reverse to qualifier Si Jiahui in the opening round.
Much of the focus in that year’s championship, of course, surrounded defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan and his first attempt to land a record-breaking eighth Crucible crown.
O’Sullivan hadn’t challenged much in ranking events during this period, but he was a Champion of Champions for the fourth time in his career after beating Trump in Bolton.
Success also came at another invitational event, the Hong Kong Masters where a record 9,000 fans attended to watch O’Sullivan beat home favourite Marco Fu in the final.
At the Worlds, it was looking good for the Rocket when he reached the quarter-finals with ease before establishing a 10-6 lead over Luca Brecel.
But a nightmare third session saw his form crumble, with the Belgian Bullet taking full advantage to win all seven remaining frames of the contest.
Brecel then produced one of the all-time great comebacks as he recovered from a 14-5 deficit to crush the hopes of 20 year-old Si in a swashbuckling semi-final.
Selby, chasing a fifth world title and fresh off winning the WST Classic in his hometown of Leicester, was a formidable opponent in the final.
In an enthralling and high-quality battle, the Jester compiled an incredible 147 break – the first ever to be made in a World Championship title-deciding bout.
Brecel, however, was playing with a freedom rarely seen before in the game.
The 28 year-old began the 2022/23 snooker season with victory in the behind-closed-doors Championship League, but an 18-15 triumph over Selby meant that he ended it decorated as the sport’s newest world champion.
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This Snooker Seasons series will continue in the future.
Featured photos credit: WST