After the brilliant UK Championship this week’s PTC action is not so much after the lord mayor’s show as after the show that follows the lord mayor’s show.
It will difficult, for instance, for Judd Trump to get himself into the same frame of mind as he experienced in York.
But it is the chance for someone to earn a £10,000 Christmas bonus in Sheffield. That’s in PTC11 at the weekend. First today comes the reduction of the field for PTC12 down to the last 16, which will be played in Germany next month.
And there are of course rankings issues to be decided in both these events. The main intrigue surrounds Ronnie O’Sullivan, who can lose his top 16 place if a combination of Stephen Lee, Mark Davis and Ricky Walden do well.
O’Sullivan has himself done well in PTCs this season and, having already qualified for the grand finals, has not entered the last two, but this has turned out to be a big risk.
The new ranking system does not offer the old protections but O’Sullivan would have been in trouble under any system: from seven major tournaments last season he lost in three first rounds and didn’t play in two other events.
No objective person could argue that he isn’t good enough to be in the top 16 but it is only by playing – and winning matches – that any player will keep their place.
You can follow the various rankings machinations at this excellent rundown at Pro Snooker Blog, whose commitment to this cause is exemplary.
PTC11 is live on Eurosport from Saturday.
16 comments:
Why is PTC 12 not being streamed?
Two interesting items in the last week - the first was a piece on the BBC website suggestion that no decision had been made on where the UK is to be held next year(!). Hopefully this is just WS trying to get as good a deal as possible - but after the success of last week it would be a crying shame to move the UK again.
Secondly, I see that BH has given another interview defending his record since taking over. Although the situation with PTC12 is the sort of thing that happened regularly under the old regime, BH has been a force for good - and I hope that the tour players remain behind him.
That said, I think BH is making one major mistake - expecting snooker and dart players to have the same work ethic. For almost all snooker pros the game has been their number 1 focus since they were very young. With the best will in the world, nobody grows up wanting to be a dart player - it is a second career for almost all of them (Phil Taylor was 30 when he won his first world title). I think this cultural difference is something BH would do well to consider when planning the calender - a £10m prize fund is a bold aspiration, but if it is spread across 45 tournaments the players will be no happier than they are now.
Let Ronnie pay a fee to stay in the top 16!
Cheers Dave, always appreciated.
If he drops out they will have to hold over his qualifier to the main event.
no wonder ronnie seems to like power snooker better than the shootout.
it couldnt possibly be that hes the face of it and was paid about 8 times more than others to attend.
the game is quite clearly set up for him (funny enough, the shot clock in PL suits him and really him only).
a total mickey mouse event.
i hope all the other players with a brain of their own snub it next time.
granted there will be the odd ronnie fan who defends the payment or the rules clearly set up for him and his fans to go ahhhhhh.
well, thankfully it was a load of crap, even though it improved on its first disaster.
best thing about it was everyones faces when ronnie lost...as that clearly wasnt in the script.
O'Sullivan has cried wolf so many times about quitting he must have run out of tears :P but one wonders if he would actually quit *for real* if he lost his top 16 ranking. I can't imagine him wanting to go through the qualifying stages. He'll moan too much.
Perhaps he will quit and actually do it. He was great for the game but times move on....
Phil Yates has written an absolutely brilliant article on Power Snooker, it's the best I've seen from him in over a decade reading his work.
I don't even totally agree with him, but it remains a fantastic piece. ]
My stance is very much more ambivalent, but do strongly agree with his view on how crowds should behave themselves.
I was also interested in Martin Gould saying he fancied a crack at the PDC tour.
David
any chance you could do a bit about the asian female ref?
i bet hilda wishes she wore trousers that fitted her when she reffed todays 147
looked like ding was wearing his sport socks during his 147
David
any chance you could do a bit about the asian female ref?
7:20 PM
im imagining thats a no, then david?
Her name's Zhu Ying. If I have time I will find out more about her, but I don't have the time right now to be writing profiles on referees.
thanks dave. i knew her name.
wasnt asking for it to be done in the next day or two, just hopefully in the forseeable....
asian snooker meant to be taking off, now a high profile asian female ref.....
thanks again for replying
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