Graeme Dott to play Marco Fu is not the draw Ronnie O’Sullivan would have chosen for himself at the Shanghai Masters.
He hasn’t beaten Dott in over four years and is 8-8 on career meetings with Fu.
However, O’Sullivan is capable of sublime snooker anywhere against anyone and has already started the season in impressive fashion, making three straight centuries at the Premier League last week.
Ronnie injured his back on arriving in China but has been practising without any apparent problem.
It’s a myth to suggest O’Sullivan never does well in China. He’s won the China Open twice and was runner-up in Shanghai last season.
He starts the new campaign trailing John Higgins in the provisional rankings. Don’t be fooled into thinking he doesn’t have pride when it comes to the world no.1 spot: he’d love to keep it for another year.
First up it’s Shaun Murphy against Michael Holt.
Many people feel that Murphy is a good bet for a long run in most events. Then again, they say the same about Mark Selby and he was a first round loser yesterday.
Mark Allen against Matthew Stevens should be interesting although, alas, it is not on TV.
In fact, Selby, Allen and Ali Carter – who went to Shanghai early to promote the tournament – have all been put on non-TV tables.
If snooker really wants to foreground these players then they need to be in front of the cameras more.
7 comments:
Why is live scoring on World Snookers website so consistently poor? What is the point of having it if it keeps freezing EVERY SINGLE SESSION for at least an hour every time? Soooooo frustrating...
they are never going to put Selby Allen or Carter on ahead of a local player or a defending or world champion- and rightly so.
Simple: get rid of the wildcard round. Did you see the crowds on day one? The event has outgrown the need for wildcards. Chinese fans want to see the top players, not just their own players.
So you have an extra day to show players such as Carter, Allen and Selby.
Everytime the scoreboard goes down, telephone WSA and let them know. Hopefully they will soon get bored. I dont think enough people complain often enough.
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Dear Dave
It is sad about Mark Selby going out so early, as he was being “bummed” up as snookers David Becham.
Mark was always a reliable player on the Leicester and Leeds Sunday sixteen tournaments along with Murphy and Ricky Walden. I hope the lad hasn’t already reached his limitations with the cheap and daft popularity of younger “snooker viewers” because he can put more than three balls together.
Mark and his connections were talking as if he (Mark) had the game “sussed” and ready to conquer worldwide!
To quote that great man again Dave: Albert Einstein. You really don’t understand something, if you can’t explain it to your Grandmother. Mr hey you.
Don't think your attempt ill-advised attempt at employing 'foreground' as a verb went unnoticed - for shame!
Any attempts at correcting the language of others should be made with a flawless sentence...
Anyway, I agree that we don't need wildcards. The first thing my colleague said to me yesterday was "did you see those crowds"...
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