THE LG CUP - Preston
Winner: Mark Williams
Final score Mark Williams 9 - John Higgins 5

The World Number 1 and World Champion Mark Williams captured the first tournament of the year at Preston's Guild Hall. It was in many ways a remarkable victory. In the first two rounds he never played anywhere near his best and it was only his match temperament that got him through. From the quarter finals onward his play improved and by the time he met John Higgins in the final he was at the top of his game.

They do say that you should judge how good a player is, not on his best game, but how good is his worst. Mark Williams proved once again to me that he is the best match player in the game today and will be the man to beat in the forth coming season. Other positives to take out of the LG Cup were John Higgins, Ken Doherty, Matthew Stevens and Jimmy White.

John Higgins played probably the most consistent of anybody during the tournament. His marvelous maximum break in the final definitely the highlight. However may I take this opportunity to apologise for maybe getting a little excited during that break. When John missed the twelfth black I came in to wrap up the frame but in the corner of my eye I could see the black coming off the side cushion and heading for the corner pocket. As it got closer I found myself, just like everybody else in the Guild Hall, shouting it in. Once you are up there it's very hard to calm down, so I hope I didn't spoil anyone's enjoyment of what was, for me, a magical moment. My good friend Peter Aliss, the best in the business, has always told me not to get to excited. Sorry Peter but I was so involved and try as I might I could not help getting carried away.

Another highlight of the tournament was Matthew Steven's defeat of Ronnie O'Sullivan. If only Matthew could produce those performances more consistently, then he will definitely win his first ranking event very soon. Speaking of consistency, nobody could accuse Ken Doherty of not being that. The Dubliner once again proved what a hard man he is to beat and he looks as though he's going to be in for another great season.

I must also make mention of Jimmy White. It has to be said he should have beaten Ken Doherty but he can take an awful lot of positives from his performance. I think it's no coincidence that Jimmy's back working with his long time friend Alan Bell. Alan was with Jimmy when he was playing his best snooker a few years ago and I shall be keeping a close eye on Jimmy's performance in the British Open in Brighton.

Another player to watch at the moment is Stephen Hendry but for different reasons. Having played all his life with the same cue, to have to get used to another one at this stage in his career will be very hard. The Scotsman has proved himself time and time again to be arguably the best player of all time. It will be interesting to see how he copes with this latest challenge to his ability.