8.10.09

DAY SIX PREVIEW

Peter Ebdon could be the dark horse for the Grand Prix title.

Ebdon doesn't hit top form that often any more but, when he does, he is still a tough, dangerous opponent, as he proved at the China Open last season.

He beat Mark Davis 13-7 in the second round of the 1995 World Championship and should be backed to oust the Sussex cueman once again.

Stephen Hendry v Mark Williams is the glamour tie of the day. Williams impressed against Stuart Bingham while Hendry's concentration held up well during a scrappy contest with Matt Selt.

The pair are good mates but that goes out of the window once they get down to it in the arena.

I'd back Williams - just about - but it's another battle of the legends that should simply be enjoyed.

Mark King performed a Harry Houdini act to beat Ricky Walden but faces another fast, fluent player in the shape of Robert Milkins.

Stephen Maguire has a 6-0 career record over Ding Junhui. Some players have their bogey opponents and, on home ground, Maguire will be full of confidence to extend his hoodoo over the Chinese.

With the ranking points tariffs increased this season following the loss of two tournaments, a good run can see you fly up - Ken Doherty has risen from 55th to 33rd in two events.

The other side of that coin, though, is that a bad start is very costly: it looks like Mark Selby will go to the UK Championship outside the provisional top 16.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm currently watching the Ebdon match. Unfortunately no-one else is, the venue is virtually empty once again for this match.

JAMIE O'REILLY said...

Hi David. As tomorrow, October 9th, marks the 3rd anniversary of the passing of our friend and collegue, Paul Hunter, i thought that it would be appropreate to mark this on the snooker coverage on both the BBC and Eurosport, with a tribute to the great man. Having seen him play countless times on T.V. Also been foryunate enough to have seen him play live in exibitions against John Parrott in 2005, and Jimmy White in 2006, i saw what great potential he had. Chatting to him after the exhibitions I saw what a man he was and it was a pleasure to be in his company. is there a way we can pay tribute tomorrow to a man that deserves it? Thanks david and R.I.P PAUL HUNTER...

Anonymous said...

Nice post Jamie.

JAMIE O'REILLY said...

Hi David. Just to say happy birthday to a legend.Many happy return to Ray Reardon, our friend, colleague and six times world champion of the 1970's/

SupremeSnooker.com said...

Great post Jamie. I still think about Paul at every tournament, knowing he'd be in with a good chance of winning if he was still with us.

As for this tournament, don't write off Mark Williams. He's my dark horse tip!

Anonymous said...

SupremeSnooker.com said...

As for this tournament, don't write off Mark Williams. He's my dark horse tip!

1:43 AM

What a dark horse tip that is! The 3rd favourite in an 8 horse race.

SupremeSnooker.com said...

Not quite so 'dark' now, but I've been impressed with him all week. Havn't seen him play this well for several years.
The draw helps a lot in this tournament, though.