UK championship draw, still 4 to qualify this evening: Xintong v Sam Craigie / Ian Burns Ryan Day v Jimmy White Mark Allen v Jordan Brown Kyren Wilson v Matt Selt/Anthony Hamilton Selby v Vafaei Lisowski v Xu Si Murphy v Gilbert Trump v Guodong/ Petrov
Neil Robertson v Perry Stuart Bingham v Ali Carter/Highfield Brecel v Haotian Higgins v Ford Williams v Jamie Clarke Hawkins v Ding Yan Bingtao v Yuelong Ronnie O Sullivan v Matthew Stevens
Xintong the defending champ, a bit of everything there in the draw a couple of best mates playing, also players from the same country. I like the slight rejig as they have played down to the last 32 then qualifier 16 v top 16 similar to Worlds. Although i still wish it was a longer format like it used to be.
When he's on form, to my mind, Ronnie is the best snooker player there has ever been. He has got every aspect of his game under control and it all looks so effortless! I have followed snooker on and off for about 50 years and played it terribly during that time as well, so I think I have an inkling of his genius. And I wouldn't say I'm particularly a fan of his!
It's hard to compare Ronnie against Joe Davis. Davis could play left and right handed the same as Ronnie and he dominated the game for around thirty years. Put him in the same environment as Ronnie in terms of tournaments and opposition and there's no telling how he would have done.
UK round up: Craigie beat out of sorts defending champ Xintong 6-2 Mark Allen beat fellow countryman Jordan Brown 6-4 Ryan Day sent Jimmy packing 6-2 Kyren Wilson beat Matthew Selt 6-3 Joe Perry beat Robbo 6-2 (Robbo ill) Brecel beat Haotian 6-4 Ford beat Higgins 6-4 (another seed out of sorts falls) Ding beat Hawkins 6-3 (Hawkins the seed) Ronnie beat Matthew Stevens 6-2 (easy but looked good in bits) Yuelong beat Bingtao 6-5 in a decider, great match. Bingham beat Highfield 6-2 Jamie Clarke beat MJW 6-3 (Mark having stomach problems throughout)
So plenty of shocks on paper, todays matches: Lisowski v Xu Si (1pm) - Could be a cracker, possible another upset Trump v Guodong (1pm) - Guodong has been playing well in qualifying and hitting big breaks so Judd needs to be on it.
Selby v Vaffai (7pm) Murphy v Gilbert (7pm)
Matches on Eurosport, BBC, or selected betting sites.
Yesterdays results: Lisowski wins 6-1 against Xu Si (scoreline flattered, Xu had chances in every frame and broke down and got punished, Jack played well) Trump beat Guodong 6-5, decent match and a bit of a scare for Trump. Vafaei beats Selby 6-4, this was a great match, both scoring well and some good saftey, great win for Vafaei (if he gets to the semis he makes the top 16/Masters. Murphy beat Gilbert 6-5, I only really saw the decider so not much to report.
Todays action: Ronnie v Yuelong (could be a cracker if Yuelong keeps up the form in the first round) 1pm start Brecel v Tom Ford 1pm start, likely to be quite attacking so could be some big breaks.
Craigie v Day 7pm, again another attacking one, both good long potters Allen v Wilson 7pm, arguably the tie of the round. Allen is on great form of late but Wilson will make it a battle if he needs too.
Vafaei is my second favourite player after Robertson
Had never heard of him before first lockdown when got to watch a lot of eurosport whilst working from home.
He is very likeable, there was a bit after where he was thanking Eurosport for their support etc. Just comes across really well, also had problems with his visas so affecting his ranking briefly as had to miss out, so makes you root for him harder.
Last night he went toe to toe with Selby in the saftey department, which not many can. Also scored well, such a high quality affair, granted he got lucky in a few spots so was harsh anyone who lost that match but i am pleased he won it. Selby played well, also changed his tactics to more attacking because of how Hossein Vafaei was playing, probably the best match i've seen in the first round.
7 players who have made the 2nd round can still qualify for the masters: Hossein Vafaei - Makes Semis Yuelong - Final Ford, Perry, Ding, Craigie & Clarke - Title required
might add a bit of extra interest as the tournament progresses.
Currently Day is 15th, Yan Bingtao 16th. So they are the immediate players at risk.
too easy for Ronnie. Seemed Zhou was star struck at times.
More of a match between Brecel and Ford. 3 all.
Agree, i think its either in awe/ rabbit in headlights or genuinely possible something dodgy? Even from the outset felt like he was missing deliberate , i know we get days like that but also the 5th frame he got just enough to get pegged back. Maybe i am overthinking it, but it did feel a bit odd other than as you say he starstruck.
Yesterdays round up - UK Championship ROS beat Yuelong 6-0 (as noted yesterday Yuelong was shocking, although Ronnie looked good it was a gifted to him. Tom Ford beat Luca Brecel 6-3
Allen beat Kyren Wilson 6-3 Sam Craigie beat Ryan Day 6-4 (3 centuries from Craigie)
Todays matches: Judd Trump v Shaun Murphy (1pm) Ding v Clarke (1pm) Vafaei v Lisowski (7pm) Bingham v Perry (7pm)
Ford and Allen steeped up a gear and Brecel and Wilson just couldn't do likewise.
wont be able to see the afternoon games but hope to catch a bit of Vafaei V Lisowski later on. Certainly the game i'm most interested in seeing today.
I was in and out of the games yesterday, extremely busy day and pool in the eve so missed the evening.
Today's will see what i can but then snooker tonight (help haven't played serious in 5-6 years and when i've had the odd frame i am nowhere near up to standard anymore, can just about hit 16-20 and thats being optimistic.
Helping someone out in the league but also have been thinking about getting back into it so maybe that will give me the purpose to play instead of too much pool.
Didn't see the Craigie game but with 3 centuries could he have an outside chance of reaching the final? I believe he has previously won against Ryan Day but I presume not in such a high profile tournament.
Didn't see the Craigie game but with 3 centuries could he have an outside chance of reaching the final? I believe he has previously won against Ryan Day but I presume not in such a high profile tournament.
I missed it too, but looking at the scoring will be some match for Allen in the next, i think every round is a bonus really. He's had a great tournament so far, always had the talent but never really knuckled down. Selby used to back/ be involved with him and the other day he mentioned how he wasn't the hardest worker, since then maybe he now has a point to prove? Whatever it is, i hope he can keep it up as he has the game to be up there.
Edit- Would be great to see him win it, just with Allen who is the man on form next its going to be a tough ask
Ronnie may well be regarded as the greatest ever and he probably is. But you never saw Hendry or Davis play this poorly. When Ronnie is poor he is really poor.
Ronnie may well be regarded as the greatest ever and he probably is. But you never saw Hendry or Davis play this poorly. When Ronnie is poor he is really poor.
The interview have gave earlier in the week indicated he clearly couldn't give a monkey's about the tournament. Showing in his play today.
Ronnie may well be regarded as the greatest ever and he probably is. But you never saw Hendry or Davis play this poorly. When Ronnie is poor he is really poor.
The interview have gave earlier in the week indicated he clearly couldn't give a monkey's about the tournament. Showing in his play today.
I don't comment much on this thread anymore(mainly as it was effecting me mentally) but i still read it.
All I will say is take alot of what Ronnie says in interviews with a pinch of salt
He says he doesnt care about snooker, then cries when he wins the world title
He says he doesn't care if he wins or loses then celebrates winning champion of champions and makes comments in the winners interview saying he has been on a role for 30 years
He says getting 147s are easy for him but hasnt got one in competitive play since 2018 despite having a few attempts and missing reds or blacks.
Ronnie likes making headlines and if you look on twitter some players are frustrated(people like Shaun Murphy or @johnnybev1987 mate Josh other snooker players are just taking things he said with a pinch of salt knowing he is just trying to make headlines.
I have just started to ignore anything he says its like the Ronaldo interview he is trying to be controversial now.
You cant honestly think Ronnie turned up for this tournament not wanting to win, 3rd biggest tournament in the snooker calendar
Everyone there wanted to win, thats why he beat Yuelong 6-0 the other day, he just had an off day today which happens, miss a few and Ding punished him
Ronnie may well be regarded as the greatest ever and he probably is. But you never saw Hendry or Davis play this poorly. When Ronnie is poor he is really poor.
The interview have gave earlier in the week indicated he clearly couldn't give a monkey's about the tournament. Showing in his play today.
Saw that as well. I find that and other interviews he has done a real slap in the face to all those who train and dedicated their lives so much to even reach the top of the game just for the greatest of all time to trivialise it.
Ronnie may well be regarded as the greatest ever and he probably is. But you never saw Hendry or Davis play this poorly. When Ronnie is poor he is really poor.
The interview have gave earlier in the week indicated he clearly couldn't give a monkey's about the tournament. Showing in his play today.
I don't comment much on this thread anymore(mainly as it was effecting me mentally) but i still read it.
All I will say is take alot of what Ronnie says in interviews with a pinch of salt
He says he doesnt care about snooker, then cries when he wins the world title
He says he doesn't care if he wins or loses then celebrates winning champion of champions and makes comments in the winners interview saying he has been on a role for 30 years
He says getting 147s are easy for him but hasnt got one in competitive play since 2018 despite having a few attempts and missing reds or blacks.
Ronnie likes making headlines and if you look on twitter some players are frustrated(people like Shaun Murphy or @johnnybev1987 mate Josh other snooker players are just taking things he said with a pinch of salt knowing he is just trying to make headlines.
I have just started to ignore anything he says its like the Ronaldo interview he is trying to be controversial now.
You cant honestly think Ronnie turned up for this tournament not wanting to win, 3rd biggest tournament in the snooker calendar
Everyone there wanted to win, thats why he beat Yuelong 6-0 the other day, he just had an off day today which happens, miss a few and Ding punished him
Bang on there, completely agree and nice to see you post.
It does annoy me when Ronnie loses, let alone an absolute hammering, granted Ding played well but the early couple of frames Ronnie missed a couple chances in both and ultimately looked the bad Ronnie today. Well done Ding but still don't like to see him lose, especially in that manner.
Ding is through to the semi finals! beating Ronnie 6-0
Comments
Xintong v Sam Craigie / Ian Burns
Ryan Day v Jimmy White
Mark Allen v Jordan Brown
Kyren Wilson v Matt Selt/Anthony Hamilton
Selby v Vafaei
Lisowski v Xu Si
Murphy v Gilbert
Trump v Guodong/ Petrov
Neil Robertson v Perry
Stuart Bingham v Ali Carter/Highfield
Brecel v Haotian
Higgins v Ford
Williams v Jamie Clarke
Hawkins v Ding
Yan Bingtao v Yuelong
Ronnie O Sullivan v Matthew Stevens
Xintong the defending champ, a bit of everything there in the draw a couple of best mates playing, also players from the same country. I like the slight rejig as they have played down to the last 32 then qualifier 16 v top 16 similar to Worlds. Although i still wish it was a longer format like it used to be.
Full draw
Zhao Xintong v Sam Craigie
Mark Allen v Jordan Brown
Kyren Wilson v Matthew Selt
Ryan Day v Jimmy White
Neil Robertson v Joe Perry
Luca Brecel v Lyu Haotian
John Higgins v Tom Ford
Barry Hawkins v Ding Junhui
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Matthew Stevens
Yan Bingtao v Zhou Yuelong
Mark Williams v Jamie Clarke
Stuart Bingham v Liam Highfield
Judd Trump v Xiao Guodong
Jack Lisowski v Xu Si
Mark Selby v Hossein Vafaei
Shaun Murphy v David Gilbert
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/63592301
Craigie beat out of sorts defending champ Xintong 6-2
Mark Allen beat fellow countryman Jordan Brown 6-4
Ryan Day sent Jimmy packing 6-2
Kyren Wilson beat Matthew Selt 6-3
Joe Perry beat Robbo 6-2 (Robbo ill)
Brecel beat Haotian 6-4
Ford beat Higgins 6-4 (another seed out of sorts falls)
Ding beat Hawkins 6-3 (Hawkins the seed)
Ronnie beat Matthew Stevens 6-2 (easy but looked good in bits)
Yuelong beat Bingtao 6-5 in a decider, great match.
Bingham beat Highfield 6-2
Jamie Clarke beat MJW 6-3 (Mark having stomach problems throughout)
So plenty of shocks on paper, todays matches:
Lisowski v Xu Si (1pm) - Could be a cracker, possible another upset
Trump v Guodong (1pm) - Guodong has been playing well in qualifying and hitting big breaks so Judd needs to be on it.
Selby v Vaffai (7pm)
Murphy v Gilbert (7pm)
Matches on Eurosport, BBC, or selected betting sites.
Lisowski wins 6-1 against Xu Si (scoreline flattered, Xu had chances in every frame and broke down and got punished, Jack played well)
Trump beat Guodong 6-5, decent match and a bit of a scare for Trump.
Vafaei beats Selby 6-4, this was a great match, both scoring well and some good saftey, great win for Vafaei (if he gets to the semis he makes the top 16/Masters.
Murphy beat Gilbert 6-5, I only really saw the decider so not much to report.
Todays action:
Ronnie v Yuelong (could be a cracker if Yuelong keeps up the form in the first round) 1pm start
Brecel v Tom Ford 1pm start, likely to be quite attacking so could be some big breaks.
Craigie v Day 7pm, again another attacking one, both good long potters
Allen v Wilson 7pm, arguably the tie of the round. Allen is on great form of late but Wilson will make it a battle if he needs too.
Had never heard of him before first lockdown when got to watch a lot of eurosport whilst working from home.
Last night he went toe to toe with Selby in the saftey department, which not many can. Also scored well, such a high quality affair, granted he got lucky in a few spots so was harsh anyone who lost that match but i am pleased he won it. Selby played well, also changed his tactics to more attacking because of how Hossein Vafaei was playing, probably the best match i've seen in the first round.
7 players who have made the 2nd round can still qualify for the masters:
Hossein Vafaei - Makes Semis
Yuelong - Final
Ford, Perry, Ding, Craigie & Clarke - Title required
might add a bit of extra interest as the tournament progresses.
Currently Day is 15th, Yan Bingtao 16th. So they are the immediate players at risk.
More of a match between Brecel and Ford. 3 all.
ROS beat Yuelong 6-0 (as noted yesterday Yuelong was shocking, although Ronnie looked good it was a gifted to him.
Tom Ford beat Luca Brecel 6-3
Allen beat Kyren Wilson 6-3
Sam Craigie beat Ryan Day 6-4 (3 centuries from Craigie)
Todays matches:
Judd Trump v Shaun Murphy (1pm)
Ding v Clarke (1pm)
Vafaei v Lisowski (7pm)
Bingham v Perry (7pm)
wont be able to see the afternoon games but hope to catch a bit of Vafaei V Lisowski later on. Certainly the game i'm most interested in seeing today.
Today's will see what i can but then snooker tonight (help haven't played serious in 5-6 years and when i've had the odd frame i am nowhere near up to standard anymore, can just about hit 16-20 and thats being optimistic.
Helping someone out in the league but also have been thinking about getting back into it so maybe that will give me the purpose to play instead of too much pool.
Kyren Wilson pots an incredible black into the middle pocket.
I believe he has previously won against Ryan Day but I presume not in such a high profile tournament.
Edit- Would be great to see him win it, just with Allen who is the man on form next its going to be a tough ask
Yesterdays results:
Ding 6-1 Clarke
Murphy 6-5 Trump
Lisowski 6-2 Vafei
Perry 6-3 Bingham
Today 2 sessions as per:
Ronnie v Ding (1pm)
Perry v Ford (1pm)
Craigie v Allen (7pm)
Murphy v Lisowski (7pm)
I don't normally post the weekend so the semis will be tomorrow 1pm/7pm
Final Sunday best of 19 1pm/7pm
But you never saw Hendry or Davis play this poorly.
When Ronnie is poor he is really poor.
All I will say is take alot of what Ronnie says in interviews with a pinch of salt
He says he doesnt care about snooker, then cries when he wins the world title
He says he doesn't care if he wins or loses then celebrates winning champion of champions and makes comments in the winners interview saying he has been on a role for 30 years
He says getting 147s are easy for him but hasnt got one in competitive play since 2018 despite having a few attempts and missing reds or blacks.
Ronnie likes making headlines and if you look on twitter some players are frustrated(people like Shaun Murphy or @johnnybev1987 mate Josh other snooker players are just taking things he said with a pinch of salt knowing he is just trying to make headlines.
I have just started to ignore anything he says its like the Ronaldo interview he is trying to be controversial now.
You cant honestly think Ronnie turned up for this tournament not wanting to win, 3rd biggest tournament in the snooker calendar
Everyone there wanted to win, thats why he beat Yuelong 6-0 the other day, he just had an off day today which happens, miss a few and Ding punished him
It does annoy me when Ronnie loses, let alone an absolute hammering, granted Ding played well but the early couple of frames Ronnie missed a couple chances in both and ultimately looked the bad Ronnie today. Well done Ding but still don't like to see him lose, especially in that manner.
Ding is through to the semi finals! beating Ronnie 6-0
Tom Ford is currently 4-3 up against Joe Perry