John Higgins v Judd Trump is the pick of the matches in the first round of the Sky Shootout, the draw for which was made today.
Higgins and Trump of course clashed over 35 frames in their Crucible final last season but their meeting in Blackpool next January will last a maximum of ten minutes.
Other standout ties include Mark Williams v Steve Davis, Neil Robertson v Jamie Cope, Stephen Hendry v Jack Lisowski and, in a repeat of last season's final, defending champion Nigel Bond v Robert Milkins.
The one surprise is that Ronnie O'Sullivan, the best player under the shot clock format, has not entered.
It may be that with his top 16 position under threat, Ronnie is concentrating on the ranking events, although this is merely my own speculation. Players don't have to enter tournaments if they don't want to.
FULL DRAW:
Mark Selby v Joe Perry
Mark Williams v Steve Davis
John Higgins v Judd Trump
Neil Robertson v Jamie Cope
Ding Junhui v Barry Hawkins
Shaun Murphy v Fergal O’Brien
Ali Carter v Matthew Stevens
Stephen Maguire v Anthony McGill
Graeme Dott v Alan McManus
Stuart Bingham v Liu Song
Mark Allen v Rory McLeod
Stephen Lee v Peter Lines
Martin Gould v Peter Ebdon
Mark Davis v Mark Joyce
Andrew Higginson v Liang Wenbo
Stephen Hendry v Jack Lisowski
Ricky Walden v Liu Chuang
Marcus Campbell v Xiao Guodong
Mark King v Dominic Dale
Marco Fu v Barry Pinches
Ryan Day v Joe Swail
Tom Ford v Jimmy Robertson
Ken Doherty v Michael Holt
Anthony Hamilton v Jimmy White
Robert Milkins v Nigel Bond
Gerard Greene v Jamie Burnett
Matthew Selt v Joe Jogia
Mike Dunn v Michael White
Jamie Jones v Adrian Gunnell
Dave Harold v James Wattana
Tony Drago v Andy Hicks
Ben Woollaston v Alfie Burden
maybe hes in a huff cos he never won it last time?
ReplyDeletewonder how many ronnie fans will be saying the draw is fixed wrt higgins v trump....
looking forward to it. was great last year.
wonder how many ronnie fans will be saying the draw is
ReplyDeleteMark Selby v Joe Perry
tough
Mark Williams v Steve Davis
greay
John Higgins v Judd Trump
crsy
Neil Robertson v Jamie Cope
super
Ding Junhui v Barry Hawkins
briliant
Shaun Murphy v Fergal O’Brien
stuff
Ali Carter v Matthew Stevens
cool
Stephen Maguire v Anthony McGill
superb
Graeme Dott v Alan McManus
brilluant
Stuart Bingham v Liu Song
good
Mark Allen v Rory McLeod
funn
Stephen Lee v Peter Lines
interesting
Martin Gould v Peter Ebdon
Mark Davis v Mark Joyce
two marks
Andrew Higginson v Liang Wenbo
great
Stephen Hendry v Jack Lisowski
superb
Ricky Walden v Liu Chuang
E v Ch
Marcus Campbell v Xiao Guodong
E v Ch
Mark King v Dominic Dale
the funn
Marco Fu v Barry Pinches
Ryan Day v Joe Swail
Tom Ford v Jimmy Robertson
the man
Ken Doherty v Michael Holt
they are
Anthony Hamilton v Jimmy White
he is
Robert Milkins v Nigel Bond
who is
Gerard Greene v Jamie Burnett
is he
Matthew Selt v Joe Jogia
are they
Mike Dunn v Michael White
a question
Jamie Jones v Adrian Gunnell
the question
Dave Harold v James Wattana
schook
Tony Drago v Andy Hicks
3'32""
Ben Woollaston v Alfie Burden
two profs?
i hate gimmicky tourneaments like power snooker and im not a big fan of the PL, mainly becuase its a select few who are in it and its got a shot clock (and its once again changed format) and despite this some fans keep a record of what players do in it towards their career tally and also consider winning it (when sometimes there are only 6 other players) as a BIG major win.
ReplyDeletehaving said that, i loved the shootout. if the format stays close to what it was last year it will be excellent.
it is a bit of fun, mainly, with good money on offer for a weekend. it also gives the chance to see players in a much more relaxed mood. it has loads of players in it, which keeps it fresh. the PL is stale and power snooker is just plain daft.
id say ronnie is concentrating on being the "face" of powersnooker and so has snubbed this tournament.
ReplyDeleteWhats power snooker got to do with this they are months apart
ReplyDeleteThe premier league is now the 4th longest running event in snooker after the big 3. Do you also hate the masters which also invites a select few.
ReplyDeletePaul
ReplyDeleteronnie supports power snooker and snubs this one. both gimmicky shot clock tournaments over a day or two. my opinion is they are both in the same vein. if yours differs, fair enough.
TrevorP
ReplyDeleteI dont abuse the masters
its not got a shot clock
the 16 players that get invited EARN their ranking
thats a big FACTUAL difference in both events.
And the players who qualify for the league now also earn their place you have to win an event to earn an invite.hence why selby has to watch it on tv.
ReplyDeletetrevorp
ReplyDeletewith all due respect that is a load of nonsense
there was not criteria set out like:
win an event and your in the next PL
the players were hand picked that way to shoehorn jimmy in and the format rejigged cos there were more than 7.
dont kid yourself on or think youve guessed correctly, cos youre 100% wrong
does the pl site say all tournament winners from this season will be in the pl 2012?
as i said, the master doesnt have a shot clock.....you didnt have an answer for that cos that ones obviously spot on
the one you did have an answer for wasnt criteria set out, it was fashioned and isnt the standard procedure for picking entrants. PICKING entrants.
now, if you want to talk opinions, im here all day, but if youre wanting to try to pass off your opinions as fact, then theres no need.
You're half correct. It is true that the criteria for next year's league has not yet been announced. If I were promoting it (with my own money) I would wait swell, because you would want the most attractive players in it.
ReplyDeleteHowever the new format was not conceived just to get Jimmy in. I was actually at Crondon Park when Matchroom were discussing changing the format because they thought the old one was a bit stale. My suggestion, for what it is worth, was two groups of five. I may even have suggested they could shoehorn Jimmy in. Anyway, they decided on the format that is currently running.
dave
ReplyDeletetherefore Barry Hearn was a bit stupid using a criteria like all TV Winners in the league ?
why not just say i pick players like it or lump it.
i dont see what part was incorrect then dave
ReplyDeletethey changed the format...and they did not decide it was winners of "these 10 tournaments" before they happened.
that was my other point
and i know for a fact it isnt wrong.
youre not the only person who "is places"
Sorry, the PL format was not changed specifically to get Jimmy White in the competition, although it was a happy side effect of the changes
ReplyDeletei wasnt intimating it was done solely to do it.
ReplyDeletehe wanted him in
he said the tournament winners were chosen.
thats correct
my point was he didnt say that was the case until after theyd won and he knew hed be ok with them all in...and it shoehorned jimmy in
That's certainly true
ReplyDeleteI'm just waiting to see who is going to break it to Darren that he won't be in it!
dave
ReplyDeletethat was my point all along
(ive been the same one posting, think you can check)
i wasnt saying he inveted the tournament winners just to get jimmy in....he could have just went with 7, picked 6 top good looking players + jimmy the people champ, but he didnt, then the criteria for who was in was released after theyd been picked
so, my two points were correct in reply to trevorp
maybe i worded the latter point badly.
and ive already mentioned about darren not being in next year.
sure he will know it anyway
and its barry and skys ball, so they can do what they want
they cant however pull the wool over my eyes...and many more fans
jimmy added nothing to this years pl
ive nowt against jimmy. great player once, and a nice guy. so its not that i dont like him.
truth sometimes hurts
For a start darren morgan will do well to play in the pl next year when he reckons he has no interest in joining the main tour again as stated on sunday evening year when he reckons he has no interest in joining the main tour again as stated on sunday evening
ReplyDeletejimmy added nothing to this years pl
ReplyDeleteExcept maybe an audience.
trevor
ReplyDeletewe are not saying he wants to be in it
we are saying he wont be, because like last year BH will decide who he wants and he may even make up a reason for their inclusion.
cant make it any clearer than that for you
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeletejimmy added nothing to this years pl
Except maybe an audience.
12:28 PM
-------------
nonsense
theyre packed out regardless!
Barry Hearn is a man of his word if nothing else. If he was going to change the criteria he would have said before this season started, so players like Bingham, Selby and Moragn would'nt think there going to be in it and then find out there not.
ReplyDelete140
ReplyDeletejust as well we are not saying that then eh?