What a dull dull final that turned out to be. Slow and ponderous. Unnecessarily defensive with lots of sideways movement and sending the ball back down the wrong end. Poor quality balls to give possession away. Generally shot shy with some poor finishing leading to a low goal to shot ratio. The crowd were really subdued too. It's like snooker just got Charltonised.
What a dull dull final that turned out to be. Slow and ponderous. Unnecessarily defensive with lots of sideways movement and sending the ball back down the wrong end. Poor quality balls to give possession away. Generally shot shy with some poor finishing leading to a low goal to shot ratio. The crowd were really subdued too. It's like snooker just got Charltonised.
Dull?
Really, neither player took a 2 frame lead at any point, it was back and fourth, back and fourth, 4 centuries including Neil Robertson breaking a record and few frames that had brilliant safety battles and an incredibly tense final frame decider settled on the pink.
If thats your idea of dull then wow.
I get the rest of your post was a humoured attempt a piss take off Charlton but I still wouldnt call that final dull, I was thoroughly engrossed
I'm glad you enjoyed it Paulie. I'll grant you it was an even match so if you had a vested interest it would have been a nail-biter, but I didn't. I can't get excited over 50 minute frames and whilst I recognize that there was some skillful play it was a match strewn with far more errors than I'd have expected from two of the best in the world. You are right to pick me up on my attempted humour, but as someone who normally enjoys snooker, I was genuinely bored.
I can see both Stig and Paulie's point of view. Last night's final would be an ordeal for many and was characterised by mostly mistakes (that pink!) interspersed with some quality safety play and the occasional exceptional long pot. A proper war of attrition and far from the heights of the semi's in this years World's as could be and not one to get the pulse racing.
But it was still engrossing for me, albeit more seeing which of then would crack first rather than for the entertainment. You could see at the end how much it took out of both players.
I thought that was a great final for entirely different reasons to why I love snooker. Seeing players under pressure making mistakes isn't great sport but it is great entertainment.
Crazy really, i get the players need to be tested but to have results only due back the day of a game is pushing it anyway and can cause issues like this.
Home nations events are already pushing loads of matches in a short space of time and now after day 1 they are 12 matches behind schedule
What a dull dull final that turned out to be. Slow and ponderous. Unnecessarily defensive with lots of sideways movement and sending the ball back down the wrong end. Poor quality balls to give possession away. Generally shot shy with some poor finishing leading to a low goal to shot ratio. The crowd were really subdued too. It's like snooker just got Charltonised.
Dull?
Really, neither player took a 2 frame lead at any point, it was back and fourth, back and fourth, 4 centuries including Neil Robertson breaking a record and few frames that had brilliant safety battles and an incredibly tense final frame decider settled on the pink.
If thats your idea of dull then wow.
I get the rest of your post was a humoured attempt a piss take off Charlton but I still wouldnt call that final dull, I was thoroughly engrossed
I am with Paulie here, its nice to see these sorts of matches. Its not always about 1 visits, making centuries and there was a good mix with alot of tight frames and a decider. I actually missed alot of the second session but got back in for the final frame, which turned out to go back and forth and some easy misses, not just the final pink. Easy yellow, looked like a right battle and i am happy Robbo won.
Robbo was quite deliberate at the end slowing it down more than necessary, but it worked. One point he took 3 minutes to touch a red, trump just got up and hit the ball right away and made a mistake, its not his natural game but he did what was needed and it clearly meant so much to them both.
Because of the delays on Monday and so many games on Tuesday i decided against doing updates for the early rounds for the scottish open.
Was gonn start today but things caught up with me and as tomorrow is Thursday the day with 2 matches i will start updates then but will briefly go over a few things including how the draw is currently looking
There were first round exits for a couple of top 16 players
Stephen Maguire Yan Bingtao Dave Gilbert
Maguire and Gilbert will be missing out on the World Grand Prix as a result
There were also 1st round defeats for Joe Perry Graeme Dott Gary Wilson
The defeat for Wilson means he wont be at the Grand Prix either, Perry should be ok and Dott was 22nd so should be ok but it depends how other players behind him get on.
Moving onto round 2
There was a massive match for the race to the Grand Prix, between Mark Allen and Joe O'Connor, O'Connor was 31st befre the event started while Allen was 35th, Allen won that match 4-2
Lisowski pulled out with food poisoning but he should be safe for the Grand Prix anyway.
Brecel lost and misses out next week whilst there was a shock defeat for Higgins against Noppon Saengkham but again like Lisowski Higgins is safe for next week.
And finally another top 16 player unlikely to be involved in the Grand Prix is Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, his defeat has again left him waiting on other results but this time its very unlikely it will be a successful wait
Page is sort of Williams protégé and its the first time they have met in a pro tournament
yep protege/ apprentice, that should be interesting, Jackson Page has had a bit of a poor season compared to last he was winning a few matches. Hopefully he steps up against the tutor
There has been 2 x 147 this week, i haven't seen either Yuelong and HIggins
Selby has to be due an event surely?good to see the other big names in it and today well see if ROS is up for it, Murphy will be dangerous in that quarter. Allen, there was something going around that he might be borrowing someones cue as he isn't happy at the moment, i didn't read the full story but he has been using different ones most events as he wasn't happy with his one.
Ideal Quarters: Selby Wilson Trump ROS
I say ideal, as anything can happen today im not predicting anything possibly Trump v Selby/Wilson final?
Page is sort of Williams protégé and its the first time they have met in a pro tournament
yep protege/ apprentice, that should be interesting, Jackson Page has had a bit of a poor season compared to last he was winning a few matches. Hopefully he steps up against the tutor
There has been 2 x 147 this week, i haven't seen either Yuelong and HIggins
Selby has to be due an event surely?good to see the other big names in it and today well see if ROS is up for it, Murphy will be dangerous in that quarter. Allen, there was something going around that he might be borrowing someones cue as he isn't happy at the moment, i didn't read the full story but he has been using different ones most events as he wasn't happy with his one.
Ideal Quarters: Selby Wilson Trump ROS
I say ideal, as anything can happen today im not predicting anything possibly Trump v Selby/Wilson final?
Page is sort of Williams protégé and its the first time they have met in a pro tournament
yep protege/ apprentice, that should be interesting, Jackson Page has had a bit of a poor season compared to last he was winning a few matches. Hopefully he steps up against the tutor
There has been 2 x 147 this week, i haven't seen either Yuelong and HIggins
Selby has to be due an event surely?good to see the other big names in it and today well see if ROS is up for it, Murphy will be dangerous in that quarter. Allen, there was something going around that he might be borrowing someones cue as he isn't happy at the moment, i didn't read the full story but he has been using different ones most events as he wasn't happy with his one.
Ideal Quarters: Selby Wilson Trump ROS
I say ideal, as anything can happen today im not predicting anything possibly Trump v Selby/Wilson final?
No just the Zhou Yuelong one I mentioned
Oh really, sorry bud i missed that also not why i have got confused there has been alot lately it seems
Lyu Haotian 4-3 Akani Songsermsawad Jamie Jones 4-3 Sam Craigie Barry Hawkins 4-3 Liam Highfield Eden Sharav 4-1 Zhao Jianbo Stuart Bingham 4-3 Rob Milkins Ricky Walden 4-0 Zak Surety Kyren Wilson 4-2 Michael Holt Mark Allen 4-3 Zhou Yuelong Ding Junhui 4-0 Martin O'Donnell Li Hang 4-1 Noppon Saengkham Mark Selby 4-2 Mark Joyce Judd Trump 4-2 Liang Wenbo Robbie Williams 4-3 Lu Ning Mark Williams 4-1 Jackson Page Jamie O'Neil 4-2 Shaun Murphy Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-3 Tian Pengfei
Jamie O'Neil is quickly becoming one of my most hated players and he has only been on the tour a few months.
Another incident today, he tried to roll up to the black and it looked like he missed ref called a miss and he had a go at her and said no I hit it, she said well it looked to me like you missed it and he got the right hump and said you need to get closer to the table then.
He then had the hump for the rest of the match a couple of frames later he won the match and adter the game as they were packing up there cues he turned to Murphy and said I definitely hit that black.
You won the frame and then went and won the match mate just let it go, if the ref said you didnt hit it then her decision is final, i have since seen video footage that shows he did hit the black but its impossoble to see with the naked eye, and the video had to be zoomed in to actually see it.
Li Hang 4-3 Stuart Bingham Jamie Jones 4-3 Eden Sharav Ricky Walden 4-3 Mark Allen Kyren Wilson 4-3 Barry Hawkins Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 Robbie Williams Ding Junhui 4-3 Jamie O'Neill Judd Trump 4-1 Mark Williams Mark Selby 4-1 Lyu Haotian
We also now know they top 32 players on the 1 year list, all remaining players in the tournament are already currently inside the top 32 so that cant change, the only thing that can change is seedings and who they will play.
But the 32 players who will be involved at the Grand Prix are
1-Judd Trump 2-Neil Robertson 3-Mark Selby 4-Kyren Wilson 5-Zhou Yuelong 6-John Higgins 7-Ronnie O'Sullivan 8-Lu Ning 9-Martin Gould 10-Ding Junhui 11-Barry Hawkins 12-David Grace 13-Joe Perry 14-Shaun Murphy 15-Stuart Bingham 16-Jamie Jones 17-Jack Lisowski 18-Anthony McGill 19-Yan Bingtao 20-Ricky Walden 21-Jak Jones 22-Zhao Xintong 23-Mark Allen 24-Robbie Williams 25-Xiao Guodong 26-Hossein Vafaei 27-Ali Carter 28-Kurt Maflin 29-Li Hang 30-Liang Wenbo 31-Rob Milkins 32-Michael Holt
As I say positions can still change except the players in bold, they cant move and are guaranteed to be in that position
Some interesting names who you wouldnt normally expect to see in their as well
Jak Jones Hossein Vafaei Making their Grand Prix debuts
Jamie O'Neil is quickly becoming one of my most hated players and he has only been on the tour a few months.
Another incident today, he tried to roll up to the black and it looked like he missed ref called a miss and he had a go at her and said no I hit it, she said well it looked to me like you missed it and he got the right hump and said you need to get closer to the table then.
He then had the hump for the rest of the match a couple of frames later he won the match and adter the game as they were packing up there cues he turned to Murphy and said I definitely hit that black.
You won the frame and then went and won the match mate just let it go, if the ref said you didnt hit it then her decision is final, i have since seen video footage that shows he did hit the black but its impossoble to see with the naked eye, and the video had to be zoomed in to actually see it.
He hit it, but still he should accept the refs decision is final. I saw his dramatics and he just kept throwing his toys out the pram, there was alot on twitter but there is videos that prove it hit, although a small issue really as i agree he was being a dick.
Watched Ronnie last night, his scoreline flattered it was awful. He kept moaning about his tip early saying it was doing completely different things, missed alot, they both did. Robbie Williams got dragged into it and there were a couple close frames which he should have knicked. I think the highest break from RW was in about the 30s, i forget exactly. Most frames there would be 3-4 chances and he would break down, same with Ronnie really there was alot of bad misses and a horrible game to watch.
Ronnie loses today...
Edit- I think Ding is a great price 2/1 with bobs lot today, or Evens with a +1.5, i know its dangerous to back against Ronnie as you never know which one will turn up but based on his tip problems and how he struggled i'd be very surprised if he comes out flying. Its not formality but looks a good bet to me. PS. Dont bet if you cant afford to lose it
I have Trump/ Ding/ Selby + Wilson today, smallball plus footy later, yesterday 5/6 in the morning session, had Yuelong to beat Allen which was a decider so not far off. today ill probably get all wrong
Comments
Final
Neil Robertson 10-9 Judd Trump
Well that was an epic final, that will really hurt Judd Trump
Previous record was 12 and held by both Hendry and O'Sullivan
got to be one of the latest finishes for a final. especially for a 19 frame match.
Really, neither player took a 2 frame lead at any point, it was back and fourth, back and fourth, 4 centuries including Neil Robertson breaking a record and few frames that had brilliant safety battles and an incredibly tense final frame decider settled on the pink.
If thats your idea of dull then wow.
I get the rest of your post was a humoured attempt a piss take off Charlton but I still wouldnt call that final dull, I was thoroughly engrossed
Yeah it wasn't pretty at times but for me it was enthralling.
But it was still engrossing for me, albeit more seeing which of then would crack first rather than for the entertainment. You could see at the end how much it took out of both players.
That pink, though. That pink!
Amine Amiri has won his first frame against a fellow professional player in 18 months on the tour.
And his first 50+ break in 18 months on the tour.
He now has a new high break of 55
Zhou makes the 164th 147 and his 2nd his last one coming at the Indian Open in 2019
Crazy really, i get the players need to be tested but to have results only due back the day of a game is pushing it anyway and can cause issues like this.
Home nations events are already pushing loads of matches in a short space of time and now after day 1 they are 12 matches behind schedule
Robbo was quite deliberate at the end slowing it down more than necessary, but it worked. One point he took 3 minutes to touch a red, trump just got up and hit the ball right away and made a mistake, its not his natural game but he did what was needed and it clearly meant so much to them both.
Overall great stuff.
Was gonn start today but things caught up with me and as tomorrow is Thursday the day with 2 matches i will start updates then but will briefly go over a few things including how the draw is currently looking
Stephen Maguire
Yan Bingtao
Dave Gilbert
Maguire and Gilbert will be missing out on the World Grand Prix as a result
There were also 1st round defeats for
Joe Perry
Graeme Dott
Gary Wilson
The defeat for Wilson means he wont be at the Grand Prix either, Perry should be ok and Dott was 22nd so should be ok but it depends how other players behind him get on.
Moving onto round 2
There was a massive match for the race to the Grand Prix, between Mark Allen and Joe O'Connor, O'Connor was 31st befre the event started while Allen was 35th, Allen won that match 4-2
Lisowski pulled out with food poisoning but he should be safe for the Grand Prix anyway.
Brecel lost and misses out next week whilst there was a shock defeat for Higgins against Noppon Saengkham but again like Lisowski Higgins is safe for next week.
And finally another top 16 player unlikely to be involved in the Grand Prix is Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, his defeat has again left him waiting on other results but this time its very unlikely it will be a successful wait
Round 3
Quarter 1
Mark Selby v Mark Joyce
Akani Songsermsawad v Lyu Haotian
Ricky Walden v Zak Surety
Zhou Yuelong v Mark Allen
Quarter 2
Kyren Wilson v Michael Holt
Liam Highfield v Barry Hawkins
Sam Craigie v Jamie Jones
Zhao Jianbo v Eden Sharav
Quarter 3
Judd Trump v Liang Wenbo
Mark Williams v Jackson Page
Rob Milkins v Stuart Bingham
Li Hang v Noppon Saengkham
Quarter 4
Shaun Murphy v Jamie O'Neil
Ding Junhui v Martin O'Donnell
Robbie Williams v Lu Ning
Tian Pengfei v Ronnie O'Sullivan
Page is sort of Williams protégé and its the first time they have met in a pro tournament
There has been 2 x 147 this week, i haven't seen either Yuelong and HIggins
Selby has to be due an event surely?good to see the other big names in it and today well see if ROS is up for it, Murphy will be dangerous in that quarter. Allen, there was something going around that he might be borrowing someones cue as he isn't happy at the moment, i didn't read the full story but he has been using different ones most events as he wasn't happy with his one.
Ideal Quarters:
Selby
Wilson
Trump
ROS
I say ideal, as anything can happen today im not predicting anything possibly Trump v Selby/Wilson final?
Round 3
Results
Lyu Haotian 4-3 Akani Songsermsawad
Jamie Jones 4-3 Sam Craigie
Barry Hawkins 4-3 Liam Highfield
Eden Sharav 4-1 Zhao Jianbo
Stuart Bingham 4-3 Rob Milkins
Ricky Walden 4-0 Zak Surety
Kyren Wilson 4-2 Michael Holt
Mark Allen 4-3 Zhou Yuelong
Ding Junhui 4-0 Martin O'Donnell
Li Hang 4-1 Noppon Saengkham
Mark Selby 4-2 Mark Joyce
Judd Trump 4-2 Liang Wenbo
Robbie Williams 4-3 Lu Ning
Mark Williams 4-1 Jackson Page
Jamie O'Neil 4-2 Shaun Murphy
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-3 Tian Pengfei
Another incident today, he tried to roll up to the black and it looked like he missed ref called a miss and he had a go at her and said no I hit it, she said well it looked to me like you missed it and he got the right hump and said you need to get closer to the table then.
He then had the hump for the rest of the match a couple of frames later he won the match and adter the game as they were packing up there cues he turned to Murphy and said I definitely hit that black.
You won the frame and then went and won the match mate just let it go, if the ref said you didnt hit it then her decision is final, i have since seen video footage that shows he did hit the black but its impossoble to see with the naked eye, and the video had to be zoomed in to actually see it.
Shouldnt be standing their arguing with the ref.
Video 1
Video 2
Round 4
Mark Selby v Lyu Haotian
Ricky Walden v Mark Allen
Kyren Wilson v Barry Hawkins
Jamie Jones v Eden Sharav
Judd Trump v Mark Williams
Stuart Bingham v Li Hang
Jamie O'Neil v Ding Junhui
Robbie Williams v Ronnie O'Sullivan
Round 4
Results
Li Hang 4-3 Stuart Bingham
Jamie Jones 4-3 Eden Sharav
Ricky Walden 4-3 Mark Allen
Kyren Wilson 4-3 Barry Hawkins
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 Robbie Williams
Ding Junhui 4-3 Jamie O'Neill
Judd Trump 4-1 Mark Williams
Mark Selby 4-1 Lyu Haotian
Quarter Final
Mark Selby v Ricky Walden
Kyren Wilson v Jamie Jones
Judd Trump v Li Hang
Ding Junhui v Ronnie O'Sullivan
But the 32 players who will be involved at the Grand Prix are
1-Judd Trump
2-Neil Robertson
3-Mark Selby
4-Kyren Wilson
5-Zhou Yuelong
6-John Higgins
7-Ronnie O'Sullivan
8-Lu Ning
9-Martin Gould
10-Ding Junhui
11-Barry Hawkins
12-David Grace
13-Joe Perry
14-Shaun Murphy
15-Stuart Bingham
16-Jamie Jones
17-Jack Lisowski
18-Anthony McGill
19-Yan Bingtao
20-Ricky Walden
21-Jak Jones
22-Zhao Xintong
23-Mark Allen
24-Robbie Williams
25-Xiao Guodong
26-Hossein Vafaei
27-Ali Carter
28-Kurt Maflin
29-Li Hang
30-Liang Wenbo
31-Rob Milkins
32-Michael Holt
As I say positions can still change except the players in bold, they cant move and are guaranteed to be in that position
Some interesting names who you wouldnt normally expect to see in their as well
Jak Jones
Hossein Vafaei
Making their Grand Prix debuts
David Grace only making his 2nd appearance
Watched Ronnie last night, his scoreline flattered it was awful. He kept moaning about his tip early saying it was doing completely different things, missed alot, they both did. Robbie Williams got dragged into it and there were a couple close frames which he should have knicked. I think the highest break from RW was in about the 30s, i forget exactly. Most frames there would be 3-4 chances and he would break down, same with Ronnie really there was alot of bad misses and a horrible game to watch.
Ronnie loses today...
Edit- I think Ding is a great price 2/1 with bobs lot today, or Evens with a +1.5, i know its dangerous to back against Ronnie as you never know which one will turn up but based on his tip problems and how he struggled i'd be very surprised if he comes out flying. Its not formality but looks a good bet to me. PS. Dont bet if you cant afford to lose it
I have Trump/ Ding/ Selby + Wilson today, smallball plus footy later, yesterday 5/6 in the morning session, had Yuelong to beat Allen which was a decider so not far off. today ill probably get all wrong