So thankfully our attention turns to matters on table and the small matter of the start of the new season.
A number of leading players are in China for what used to be called the Jiangsu Classic, won first by Ding Junhui and then last year by Mark Allen, and is now the Rundili Wuxi Classic.
I'm glad to see the round robins have been kicked into touch and it is now straight knockout.
The tournament is guaranteed for another three years and talks are ongoing to make it into a ranking event from next season.
The format is here.
I'll post up the results when they come in.
First round:
Stephen Hendry beat Xiao Guodong 5-3
Marco Fu beat Liang Wenbo 5-2
Tian Pengfei beat Mark Selby 5-3
Ryan Day beat Yu Delu 5-4
Quarter-finals:
Shaun Murphy beat Stephen Hendry 5-1
Mark Allen beat Marco Fu 5-3
Ding Junhui beat Ryan Day 5-2
Tian Pengfei beat Joe Perry 5-1
Semi-finals
Shaun Murphy beat Mark Allen 6-1
Ding Junhui beat Tian Pengfei 6-0
Final
Shaun Murphy beat Ding Junhui 9-8
25 comments:
Why is Joe Perry seeded ahead of Hendry and Selby??
No idea. Answers on a postcard please.
Maybe they thought he was the guy out of Aerosmith?
It was initially Ali Carter who was supposed to play instead of Perry (see GSC). I suppose it's because Ali is higher in rankings than Hendry and Selby and they couldn't be bothered to change the draw...
Surprised it is not on EuroSport 2 as it was last year. I imagine too many commitments at the weekend.
It wasn't on last year. It was on two years ago but didn't prove to be a ratings hit.
Monigue is right - Ali pulled out last min and The Gentleman was a lst min replacement who literally filled his spot. The draw & schedule already done so lucky old Joe!
MngrSteve
I think the event being in the summer is probably a turn-off for a lot of people, there is nothing like watching snooker when it is miserable outside!!
I have seen the revised betting for the World Seniors and if you want Alex Higgins or Dennis Taylor you can get them at 150-1. Anyone fancy those prices?!! The value lies with Bond at around 10-1.
ah, the return of Brannon and his nonsense and inaccuate comments. surprised he never blamed the mistake on chris this time.....
ty for the blogs this last week dave, breath of fresh..
Yeah Jamie I was gonna say the same thing, it's probably because people don't want to stay in and watch snooker on the 3 days of sunny weather we get here in the UK every year. Doesn't take a genius.
Surely if this does become a ranker it won't be held in June?
What do people make of the ranking points allocations for the PTC? 2000 points to the winner seems quite a lot for what is a minor event. I support the PTC in general and the provision for some ranking points, but was expecting something more along the lines of 500/1000 points. You make them worth too much then the top players will have no choice but to enter and squeeze out the guys lower down the rankings, and this was meant to be an earner for them. The old Strachan Challenge events were worth 10% of a standard ranker and I thought that balance was right.
The PTC is worth £180k (for winners) and 27000 points (£6.67 per point) and by comparison the ranking circuit last season was worth £570k (for winners) and 44000 points (£12.95 per point).
By my reckoning the PTC events should be worth 1000 points to make the ranking points roughly the same value.
Well Taylor is better odds than Higgins at 150-1 - Taylor has been playing in a couple of legends events winning one and making a couple of centuries. In the short format, he may win one match, but hard to see him winning the lot - but 150/1 is nice!
Jimmy perhaps?
Betty - I often agree with most of your points.
If Hearn had said weeks or months
earlier that the PTC's were going
to contribute to the official ranking list,then I would have
been more in favour of his proposals than I was initially.
In fact,I think 2,000 pts for the
PTC events is decent value & the
correct balance overall - if it
increases participation then it's
done it's job.
I actually believe the PTC Finals
event should have upgraded to
5,000 pts (3,000 pts seems smaller than it should have been)
If the Wuxi Classic were to become
a ranking event & it regaining
TV coverage & higher audiences -
then a move to anytime between
September-March would be advised.
Then again,the days of most players
having the usual 3 or 4 months
summer break is over.
Snooker is finally an all year round sport with many new &
exciting opportunities for the
players & surely the game will thrive with such a buzz & excitement that now pervades it.
And another event next month in China as well http://www.110sport.tv/News/561-110SPORT_EVENT_SET_FOR_CHINA_NEXT_MONTH.aspx
Snooker © The Fine Art Method
A secret is wasted if not shared
Hi Dave
How are you! Thanks lad for your freedom of speech policy. Long may the Dave Den “Snooker” blog continue?
Now that there is “kisses and cuddles” guidelines all round some blog members could be rendered speechless and not knowing who it’s now safe to insult.
This pulling together is really a load of rubbish as the game has always been in discord and basically still is unsettled even after the vote.
The John Higgins case plus the previous Alleged “Match Fixing” cannot possible be concluded as there may have been some “High profile People” excused reprimand also for financial gain.
The jolly old game of “Snooker” lost much adopting the prefix “Professional” and the death of mister “Original” Joe Davis.
This Dave is a Tale of many tails and makes many past “Cases” seem like misdemeanours.
Mr Hey You
Any idea why Carter pulled out Dave?
Alpha
I don't know
Mr Hey you,
If you weren't so busy writing pro snookers' epitaph you might notice that the game is on the verge of a world boom.
While you bemoan the loss of tobacco money and cite it as the main cause of demise, it is not so.
The game went downhill as a result of mismanagement by amateurs, some, well meaning, others with greedy, self serving interests at heart.
It also had an over dependance on the UK and the BBC and this also stopped the game from growing.
For the first time ever, We have an intelligent expert leading.
We have an Australian world champion, a Belgian European champion, a deluge of gifted Chinese, followed by hundreds of millions of fanatical supporters.
Theres a boom in Germany, and serious interest throughout Europe, and theres somebody in charge who can coordinate all this into a world tour and market it accordingly.
Get a grip hey you. When snooker is back where it belongs at the apex of world sport, you'll still be repeating your negative mantras and fine arts and Joe Davis, who, by the way, was more responsible for stifling growth than anyone, by promoting his own self interests.
I've been following this game since Reardons last title in 78 and I've never felt as positive about its long term future than now.
Chrisk5,
Why should all rankers be held between september and march?
June is perfect snooker weather on half the planet
Kildare Cueman - You are correct about Mr Hey You in some respect.
I wish he would wake up & smell the coffee - in terms of
snookers projected growth in
years to come - in comparison
to previous era's of decline.
Though many of Mr Hey You's comments are trivial - sometimes he gets it spot on & he is quite
a character on this blog &
rather likeable too.
As for when the Wuxi Classic might
be reschedueled (if it does so) -
It might be sensible to stage it
just before or after the Shanghai Masters in (our) autumn or during
spring with the China Open.
If World Snooker were serious about the event gaining more exposure than it does at present -
then those timings would be
more sensible.
Also,having 2 flyaway events
at the same time in the same region would cut travel costs
(if only by a small margin !)
Snooker © The Fine Art Method
A secret is wasted if not shared
Dear Mr Kildare, Hello Dave
How are you both! Thanks Dave for the posts and thanks also mister K for the well constructed reply to the “Fine Art” of 11:51 am.
You do love your snooker Sir and always attempt to make good argument with the game’s success in mind though you are wrong “Knocking” the great Joe Davis.
Everything you said Sir is true on the games Titles etc but the game is still dead to the TV “Viewers and Buyers”. Everything else Mr Kildare is wishful thinking on the games potential’.
The only reason that Mr Hearn and Mr Davison competed was for the “Commercial Rights” that really is the only viable asset left in snooker as the game has great potential.
A point of interest Sir! The Joe Davis books on “Snooker Coaching” created a multi million pound industries that far exceeds the revenue gained from Tobacco Advertising.
The WPBSA were so busy sharing the Tobacco money that they allowed Joes copyright to get lost in the perpetual struggle to be Snookers big chief.
Snooker will never die as there will always be snooker coaches with or without grand titles keeping the game alive.
If Joe’s game had been legally acquired and harnessed commercially, the whole world would be paying and profiting by controlling the snooker bandit worldwide. Mr Hey You
Nothing is a rating hit 8 o'clock in the morning so maybe Euerosport would have fared better doing Jiangsu Classic delayed
You're missing my point chrisk5.
What you are advocating is a continuation of the current set up where the heart of the game is firmly entrenched in the UK.
In a few years time there will be a full calendar of events throughout the globe, probably with minor events running concurrently.
British terrestrial tv, will hopefully continue to cover British based events, which Im sure will still be played throughout our winter.
We cannot, however, expect the rest of the world to base their schedules around our weather.
China and Australia both have their winter during our summer, and will probably want their events held then.
Im sure Chinese tv will have reasonable viewing figures in June.
Regarding Mr Hey you, I have no bones to pick with him, apart from the fact that sometimes our opinions on snooker differ.
Kildare Cueman - Having one-off
events like the Wuxi Classic is fine - in the month of June - with it being of invitational stature &
only a dozen players competing.
Having it as a fullblown
ranking event with 96 players touring - then make it more worthwhile staging it close to
another ranking tournament in that same geographical area & link it into the calendar (WITH the Shanghai OR China event)
In the small period between the two events - the players could do some useful PR promotional work.
Other sports like Formula 1 do
2 or 3 consecutive events in
the same continent very often - to very good effect & for practicle reasons too.
Snooker has also done it many times before - autumn 1989 had the
Hong Kong Open & Asian Open -
spring 1999 had the Thailand Masters & China International
concurrently - I could go on.
If World Snooker wants to waste
money doing 5 or 6 seperate flights
to Asia during the season - when
it could be 2 or 3 visits - then
that's their decision.
I don't recall saying there should be a big majority of events in the UK instead of the sport expanding elsewhere.
I have usually advocated there should be more events in Europe,
Asia,Australia & maybe even a return to North America in future.
I think we all agree on the fundamentals - our differences
are quite minimal.
i think the overseas countries should have to implement 6 year schedules of tournaments, with the first 3 years payment up front....as a sweetner for WS farming out to far away places.
mr hey u .stop going on about joe davis. this was a man who used to pick his opponents to play for the title. the game is unrecognisable from those days thank god. i get the impression u like being stuck in the past and just want to moan. barry is the best thing thats happened to snooker.
Snooker © The Fine Art Method
A secret is wasted if not shared
Dear Mr X @ 6:12pm. Hello Dave.
Your effort to ridicule Joe Davis is almost blasphemy Sir not merely mischievous. Joe Davis reinvented the game and gave it direction and purpose.
Joe on request introduced Snooker Coaching for the millions by recording snooker in detail by the primitive teaching method of “Trial and Error”.
Joe Davis (MBE) was honoured by the Queen for creating an industry as the game was never considered at that period a Sport.
The Industry Joe created now employs millions of people worldwide and Joe if alive would probable be a “Lord of the Realm”.
Please read the many compliments bestowed by Ray Reardon, Steve Davis and the most recent “Snooker Guru” Frank Callan had on there successes as players and coaches. Mr Hey You
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