So ten results in and only two 'shocks' so far.
Barry Hawkins played very well indeed to take a 2-1 lead over Mark Selby even if it did then become a struggle to get over the line.
Speaking of struggles, Jimmy White laboured to his 3-1 win over Paul Davison but got there in the end.
Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams and Ding Junhui all breezed through and today Ronnie O'Sullivan plays the final match of the last 64 against mark King.
As every commentator will tell you, you never know which Ronnie will turn up.
But at least he has turned up, unlike in Shanghai, and that should ensure a decent crowd.
O'Sullivan doesn't like playing King and that's reflected in their head-to-head record, which King leads.
But there's not quite as much time to get frustrated in a best of five. He may well take to the shorter format.
Then again...
A word on one aspect of this tournament that needs looking at: the playing of music between frames.
What is the point of this? It reached farcical levels last night when someone pressed 'play' before the re-spot black between Hawkins and Selby in their first frame.
I'm not sure blasting out 'Rocking All Over the World' before a final frame decider adds to the drama. On the contrary, it feels more like an afternoon in a shopping mall.
New ideas should be welcomed and should be tried out.
But when they don't work they should be ditched.
TV Times:
BBC2: 12.30-4pm, 11.50pm-2.40am (BST)
Eurosport International: 1.30-6pm, 8.45-11pm (CET)
British Eurosport: 12.30-5pm, 7-10pm (BST)
42 comments:
You just couln't make it up.
The music is not that fantastic. Ronnie will need to play well against King. It should be a good match or a sprint for Ronnie.
I will only like the music if they follow my suggestion of playing 'I am a Clown' and 'Fall of Paradise' when Ebdon is playing. Without his permission of course.
Great match from Hawkins and Selby.
Here's the really detailed worldsnooker.com report of it, word for word:
'Barry Hawkins came through a marathon battle against Mark Selby 3-2, winning a tight deciding frame by potting an excellent long green and clearing to the pink.'
Wow. That really captures the drama of it. Not even a mention of the two centuries.
Complete disgrace.
We once played I am a Clown as a gag at the Championship League
He took it well in fairness
The music is bizarre and the only real negative of the tournament.
It is also awkwardly faded in and out (the walk on music suffers from that problem as well).
I wouldn't mind more music before the match starts (perhaps dramatic/classical style), to avoid the odd gaps between/after players walk on, but it all needs to be done professionally.
The music is a little pointless, but i'm more bothered by that MC yesterday ("let's big it up for Stephen HENDRY!! COME ON!!")
Alpha
Couldn't agree more about the music. An absolute joke....as is the twirlly light show. I've seen better at a school disco.
its a bit trial and error at the minute but at least new ideas are being tried out and as a sceptic im quite enjoying it.As dave pointed out it can be 9 all or 2 all the old harm still gets a bit twitchy when the lower ranked players are faced with the possibility of beating a top player.I agree the music is a bit ott but at least there is no shot clock
The issue I have with the music is the actual music chosen does seem inappropriate at times.
As Keith suggests above, perhaps something in the more 'classic' style would be better?
i like the music in between frames. I dont see why everyone should sit in silence.
though i didnt see the incident you refered to in your post about the re-spot.
that is obviously a bridge too far.
oh dear, ronnie is up to his old antics.
lol. ronnie asking about the maximum break prize whilst hes on 20 or so. hehehe
i posted that previous comment mocking ronnie when he asked for the 147 prize when he was only on 20. he made me look stupid stupid. i spoke too soon.lol
never doubt the genius of ronnie.
thank god he decided to pot the black
That monday feeling just got stranger! What a grotesque 147 that was!
I have never ever witnessed a more moody yet brilliant Ronnie. Contemplating not potting the final black??? He is bat shit crazy. I love him.
cant believe o sullivan.ok he was pissed off hes only going get 4 grand for a 147. my heart bleeds you arragant get ronnie what about fans that have turned up to watch you and see the maximum.amazing snooker player but a total letdown as a person
I think the music should have a deliberate psychological undertone if possible.
e.g. use songs such as:
Phil Collins "I missed Again"
I'm sure people can thing of others.
"I thought Barry Hearn was supposed to be putting money into the game, not taking it out..."
LOL
Hi Dave,
That is probably the best 147 O'Sullivan has hit in his career.
You can have arrogance when you back it up - HE DID! To put himself under that amount of pressure (whether he feels it or not;probably doesn't,) by asking what the prize money for a maximum is on 9, meant he had to fulfill it...which he duly did!
I think he'll want to win this now, to make up for the lack of money for the 147. Why isn't it the usual £20,000.
Lovely to watch as ever, considering the baize looked pacey in frame 2, as opposed to last night, when it was playing beautifully!
Thanks, Joe
You never know which Ronnie is going to turn up - Oh you do though don't you, it's always the one who is a complete tool.
If there must be music... How about playing the entrance music for the person who has just won that frame? Would build the audience up...
As usual he thought only of himself, not the fans and not the sport
Spoilt brat
The music between frames is ineffectual as you say Dave. Maybe an alternative approach: bring out some circus jugglers or flame-eaters for even more drama....?! Jugglers could pinch a few reds out of the pack and run round the table while the referee chases........
Remember back in the days when Ronnie was surrounded by controversy?
Arrogance never tasted this good.
whatever you think about Ronnie- he makes for rivetting viewing
I've never seen a frame with so much dialogue between player and referee. It was most amusing! Maybe this will set the trend going forward.
ROS: Jan, would you play the safety shot here?
JV: No, go for the pot (for your fans). 129.
ROS: Any word on the state of indebtedness in the economy? Is the credit crunch over now, Jan?
JV: Not yet Ron, we're working on it though. 134.
ROS: Let me know, yeh. What's Barry Hearn doing about it?
JV: Barry Hearn's not the Chancellor, Ron.
ROS: Can't Simon Cowell sort it?
JV: He probably can, Ron. 140.
ROS: If he can't, who can?
JV: Pot the black for your fans, Ron.
ROS: Nah. What's the point? Sponsors aren't paying me. Hearn's had all the money away.
JV: Go on. Pretty please. Pretty Pretty please. I never saw that hand-shake. You're on 140 still and you can overtake Stephen's no. of professional maximum breaks.
ROS: Is higher taxation the answer? Or lower public spending?
JV: I'm a snooker ref, Ron, not an economist.
ROS: [Smacks black in]. That was rubbish.
JV: 147. We have to reduce the number of quangos in World Snooker Ron. Maybe next time we can pay you a grand a point.
I suppose the real controversy would have been if Ronnie had said "I am genuinely excited to be here, I enjoy entertaining the crowd and having made the most maximums of all brings me personal joy and pride".
But I will take whatever version of Ronnie there is. Even the nutcase that showed up today and made me laugh.
Rejoice - Ronnie may not be topping
the Career Titles,Ranking Titles,
World Titles or Century break lists
(just yet) - But now has the record
of most 147 maximums.
A great personal acheievement,even
without the usual prize money that
it offered in previous seasons.
I would add,with Ronnie being very outspoken on his preference for
shorter formats like this -
anything less than making the
Final or winning the World Open
would be an underachievment.
(from his perspective)
Ronnie v Jimmy in the next round,
their last major contest was at
the Masters 2005 Semi-Finals,
Ronnie won that 6-1.
Whatever the result,their upcoming
match will be the showpiece the
fans,organisers,TV,journalists
all wanted - 2 people champions
playing just afew weeks after the passing of Alex Higgins.
Can't wait.
To be fair to Ronnie - yes he is a bit crazy and blah blah etc - he has a very fair point at there not being a prize for 147. This is supposed to be the fourth biggest tournament on the calender.
People can moan about how he's already getting 4,000. Well, if you are at the top of your profession, whatever it might be, you deserve to be recognised for it...particularly if you achieve the most difficult aspect of said profession, in this case a 147 in snooker.
That said, I understand why he annoys people and if he didn't complete the break it wouldn't have been fair on the crowd.
About music:
I think music between frames is the only right thing to do. However, I agree that the chosen music can't be anything like that song by Status Quo (just reminded myself with youtube, oh dear)... It should be mainly instrumentals, something like 50s Hollywood soundtracks or something else as classy or maybe even "serious jazz". I don't know if there's any serious jazz, but I think at least someone may know what I mean.
An interval music shouldn't be there to make even the most depressed individual smile. That's the rule "numero one".
What would have happened if someone had a 146? Would Jan have given him the 4 grand
Cope struggling to get over the line since he lost to Selby in the uk.
Campbell and Dunn now. This could be a nervy one.
This match - Campbells is very poor. Much better snooker in Lithuania.
Dunn worse than me.
But he did pot it. And it wasn't long after the ref asked him to. Think he was just trying to make a point. And why not? The prize money for the 147 isn't just for him but any other player as well.
The big money jackpots were unsustainable in todays game where maximums are commonplace.
I don't know why they can't just roll over the high break prize though. At least there would be a substantial sum then.
Tedious attention-seeker seeks attention shock
1:01am Tedious comment from a jealous wannabe, love him or hate him you would love to play like him....
The trouble is you can't threaten Ronnie with anything worse than what he wakes up to every day. It seems that even after all these years of highs and lows he can't figure himself out. It would be good if he could see the game from the fans' perspective for a little while. Does he remember what it was like before he could do everything he wanted on the table?
This blog's gone way down hill Dave, no mention of Ronnies 147 all day,but you can go on Twitter and leave snidey comments on there regarding Ronnie.. Will you have the balls to show this comment?
To be honest I'd scrap the high break prize before scrapping the maximum prize. I like the rollover idea - put £10k into the kitty each tournament for a max at the venue stage. Going off last season that would have netted Robertson £50k at the China Open and got Ronnie £30k at the World Open.
Ronnie got a point with his Q about 147 prize. I mean, the fans pay to watch good snooker and good snooker is 147 at its best!
Somehow i find it hilarious to hear about the trouble findinf a sponsor for snooker when there is plenty of interest in the sport far East and if it means for the good of the game to move it there, then do it! At least the prize money wouldnt be as stingy for playing a perfect game! If Mr. Hearn cannot get a sponsor who acknowledges a perfect game of snooker, then he can start looking for another job and let someone more capable do the job.
The music between games is good as it gives ppl the chance to relax, not to mention the players who are under pressure and might feel more comfortable.
O'Sullivan's antics are highly entertaining and in stark contrast to the DIRE display yesterday evening by Dunn and Campbell. I'm a fan and after the first hour of that tripe, I had to turn it off to go work on my tax return!
Hi David. Superb O'Sullivan 147,Eventually, on Monday. This is for the entertainment value.
Post a Comment