UK Championship

zack01

The first 'Major' of the snooker season The UK Championship begins this Saturday.
It also sees snookers second biggest event next to the World Championship relocated back to the Barbican in York and it also sees William Hill as the tournaments new sponsor. Another change in the event sees matches up to the semi finals become a best of eleven, the semi's will revert back to the old format of best of 17 and the final best of 19.
This has'nt gone down well with most of the players but it's a format which should see most of the 32 players appear on the televised stages.
The qualifiers have already taken place in November and now the top 16 meet up with the 16 qualifiers A couple of first round matches should serve up some good snooker, Stephen Maguire v Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan v Steve Davis, Judd Trump v Dominic Dale and Mark Selby v Ryan Day are ones i'll have an eye on.
If first round results go to form we could have two cracking last 16 matches where Higgins will meet Hendry and O'Sullivan will meet Trump.
Lots to look forward to then and its all live on the BBC with the usual interactive service and with £100,000 awaiting the winner i'm sure it will be a great week of snooker.

As usual i'll tell you who i'm backing, and after predicting Darren Morgan to win the recent World Seniors prehaps my predictions will start to come good ! But then again.........
So my tip for the UK is Neil Roberston.

Enjoy

cherryghost

Full lineup is here

I wonder if Selby or Trump can deliver at the championship.

Arthur Daley

Rory McLeod and Mark Davis were unlucky today both losing the final frames to flukes.:eek:

Steve Davis reckons that with all these new tournaments and all the players getting more match practice that the gap between the top players and the qualifiers will narrow. Certainly the McLeod and Mark Davis showings today would seem to confirm what Steve is on about. This would be a good thing I reckon although the standard of snooker is so good these days it may be more about the lower ranked players improving and the top guys running to stand still just to keep their place.

It's odd not having a dividing wall between the tables. Somebody is bound to miss a crucial pressure pot becasue of a load of noise coming from the other table at just the wrong moment for them. I thought Higgins looked a but fed up with this towards the end of his match but he towed the line in his interview afterwards.

zack01

All six seeds through today albeit Higgins & Ding were pushed to a decider, standard really good so far. Normally we would see a couple of seeds fall on the first day but it's not just the qualifiers who are chasing the all important ranking points these days, the seeds are now under pressure to win now thanks to the new ranking structure.

Regarding the dividing wall or lack of it, I'm not too sure about it when it's just a two table set up, it works fine in venues such as Berlin for the German Open and most recently in Antwerp when there are several tables in use.
I just don't think it works as well in York, I can understand one or two players having a moan about it, not only are the audience shuffling about between frames but during the final frame of the Higgins v McLeod match today the table fitter decided to come out and brush the cloth and prepare it for the next match in full view of the players trying to win a final frame on the other table! Now it only takes a couple of minutes to prepare a table so why could'nt that wait until the other match was completed?
I was actually surprised that Higgins didn't say anything as he was at the table 30 pts behind at the time.

ArmaniJeanss

How ring-fenced do you reckon the Sheffield frame structure is Zak?
Currently 19,25,25,33,35 frames in each round.

But with the UK Champs now reduced, the World Champs structure is going to seem almost like an anachronism.

Personally wouldn't be suprised if BarryH is considering reducing it to 19 all the way, 25 in the final, and maybe expanding it to 48 or 64 players. 'Twould be a shame imo.

zack01

As much as I like Barry Hearn for what he has done and is continuing to do for snooker I really hope that the format of the Worlds is not changed.
They have already announced that the last session of the final will start an hour earlier at 7pm and I really hope that's it for the changes.
For me it's the holy grail of snooker and should be left as is.

mr lee

Arthur Daley wrote: »

Rory McLeod and Mark Davis were unlucky today both losing the final frames to flukes.:eek:

Steve Davis reckons that with all these new tournaments and all the players getting more match practice that the gap between the top players and the qualifiers will narrow. Certainly the McLeod and Mark Davis showings today would seem to confirm what Steve is on about. This would be a good thing I reckon although the standard of snooker is so good these days it may be more about the lower ranked players improving and the top guys running to stand still just to keep their place.

It's odd not having a dividing wall between the tables. Somebody is bound to miss a crucial pressure pot becasue of a load of noise coming from the other table at just the wrong moment for them. I thought Higgins looked a but fed up with this towards the end of his match but he towed the line in his interview afterwards.

i stopped taking any notice of what davis says after this years worlds,he's turned into the bbc's b*tch,sayin whats best best for the bbc's profile,i stopped watching snooker on the bbc as well,after all the higgin's nuthuggin.

califano

Yeah leave the worlds alone for now but one thing to quicken up the game for tv in other tournaments is to put a cap on how many snookers one can chase. TV Channels airing live snooker must be doing their nut to see a player playing on when several snookers are required or just to get table practice in after their opponent gets a century break. Its this facet of the game that doesn't lend itself to tv.
So something like you can only come back to the table if you require up to two snookers.

cherryghost

Dale showing a bit of fight in him against Trump. Could be a long afternoon on that table. Might I also say fair play to Davis who gave Ronnie a good run for his money in the first 3 frames. The game could have swung either way if Ronnie didn't get into his swing.

Some good games so far.

zack01

rounders123 wrote: »

Yeah leave the worlds alone for now but one thing to quicken up the game for tv in other tournaments is to put a cap on how many snookers one can chase. TV Channels airing live snooker must be doing their nut to see a player playing on when several snookers are required or just to get table practice in after their opponent gets a century break. Its this facet of the game that doesn't lend itself to tv.
So something like you can only come back to the table if you require up to two snookers.

I can see your point but for me watching a player for example like Trump or O'Sullivan needing snookers is almost as good as watching them make a century.
Watching the way they go about trying to lay a snooker is ideal viewing for all budding snooker players, also watching the other player plotting his escape route can be interesting too.
My biggest gripe and always has been is slow play, now I'm not asking for a shot clock or anything like that but there are some players on the circuit who are exceptionally slow and even the most ardent snooker fans including myself can find ourselves becoming bored.
I know the referees have the power to intervene if he suspects a players slow play is a form of gamesmanship but when do we ever see the referee do this?

So far all the matches probably have gone to form except Fu beating Bingham, interesting also
to read Mark Allens press comments after his match.
Some fellow members here I think already know my views on this guy but biting the hand that feeds him I feel is a bit ungrateful.

Arthur Daley

zack01 wrote: »

interesting also
to read Mark Allens press comments after his match.
Some fellow members here I think already know my views on this guy but biting the hand that feeds him I feel is a bit ungrateful.

Without knowing any of the previous from Allen re: Hearn I was a bit surprised it would be a quick fire, up and coming 25 year old player like him to stand up for the longer frame matches. You'd be expecting one of the older pros someone like Edbon or Dott to be making this point.

I think the UK could have been left at the longer format and Sheffield certainly should be left as it is. It would be a major mistake to mess with the World Championship at this stage.

harpstilidie

Really annoys me that BBC won't show the snooker in HD as I don't have Eurosport HD. Shouldn't be starting the last session of the World Final at 7 either. Nothing beats some late night snooker don't want it to finish at 9 or 10.

Great game atm between Trump and Ronnie.

abouttobebanned

Ronnie about to get knocked out.

Stevens putting it up to Ding.

allOtherPlaces

I will NEVER watch snooker on the BBC again... I had paused it a few times to make tea/ go for a smoke, so when the announcer come on to tell me to hit the red button to watch the rest of it, it was too late for me... I couldn't switch over to Eurosport.... and for what????? The stupid Hairy Bikers or something....

Eurosport all the way for me from now on.....

At least I won't have to listen to Dennis Taylor's tired old shtick.....

Stevecw

Ronnie threatening to quit yet again after losing today!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/snooker/16059032.stm

califano

allOtherPlaces wrote: »

I will NEVER watch snooker on the BBC again... I had paused it a few times to make tea/ go for a smoke, so when the announcer come on to tell me to hit the red button to watch the rest of it, it was too late for me... I couldn't switch over to Eurosport.... and for what????? The stupid Hairy Bikers or something....

Eurosport all the way for me from now on.....

At least I won't have to listen to Dennis Taylor's tired old shtick.....

You could always give up smoking:). At least you have the red button option. Ditching sky for upc i havent got the red button option so im only lucky Eurosport are airing so much of it live so far. I think this evening is the only time so far in the tournament that they havent started live from the start of the match.

oneillMan999

To be honest, i dont mind the changes to the UK this year, i always saw this tournament as just another ranking event anyway.
The venue looks amazing and the lighting is just right.
On the Mark Allen comments, i am starting to think he is just saying these things to stand out or make himself out to be a "bad boy" or something, it started with the Bingham comments which i just found bizarre, so i dont really take much heed in what he has to say anymore...just shut up and play Mark.

Go Trump!

bradolf pittler

Stevecw wrote: »

Ronnie threatening to quit yet again after losing today!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/snooker/16059032.stm

ronnie's been threatening this every year since he was 19 and altho its hard to pity a guy who's the most naturally gifted player ever but treats the game with utter contempt i do have some sympathy for him.he turned 36 yesterday and listening to his interview its obvious that he wants to settle down and get married/start a family.no one should begrudge him that.
we forget that he's been a pro for 20 years almost.20 years at the very top of any professional sport would take its toll on anyone.i belive ronnie lost his appetite for the game around 7 or 8 years ago and i'm suprised he's lasted this long without actually following tru on his threaths and quit.
maybe a year away from snooker would do him some good.
the other side of this of course is his attitude towards the game which has made him a millionaire many times over,made him famous and the player that everyone wants to be.he says he hates travelling yet has no probs in signing a major deal with a chinese watch company and go's there regularly to promote their products,hates the PTC events and says hes blackmailed into playing them,yet is number 1 and i'm sure has no probs in collecting the 30,000 he's won in them already this year.
god only knows what go's on in his mind and maybe the whole gary speed thing has brought this back to the surface but if he go's i wont shed a tear cos theres enough good players around today to take his place.

Myrddin

bradolf pittler wrote: »

ronnie's been threatening this every year since he was 19 and altho its hard to pity a guy who's the most naturally gifted player ever but treats the game with utter contempt i do have some sympathy for him.he turned 36 yesterday and listening to his interview its obvious that he wants to settle down and get married/start a family.no one should begrudge him that.

I don't think anyone has a problem with that. It's his constant whining & negativity that gets me. If your not happy, finish up & move on....I'd have full respect for anyone making that call. But to continually whine & moan about while still doing it...that gets tiring to listen to.

zack01

EnterNow wrote: »

I don't think anyone has a problem with that. It's his constant whining & negativity that gets me. If your not happy, finish up & move on....I'd have full respect for anyone making that call. But to continually whine & moan about while still doing it...that gets tiring to listen to.

The problem with O'Sullivan is if he retires from snooker he'd would have absolutly nothing to do. He lives like a hermit, hardy ever goes out, yes he's a wealthy man and but he always was going to be wealthy regardless of what he earned through snooker.
He's had a couple of knocks in life such as his dad serving a life stretch in prison, a couple of failed relationships too, and he also is a dad to two kids but to be honest though i take his retirement or hint of retirement statements with a pinch of salt, he loves competing and now after getting beaten by the games most exciting prospect in his last two matches by the odd fame i'm sure he'll be more determained than ever to prove he can still compete at the highest level.

Myrddin

zack01 wrote: »

The problem with O'Sullivan is if he retires from snooker he'd would have absolutly nothing to do. He lives like a hermit, hardy ever goes out, yes he's a wealthy man and but he always was going to be wealthy regardless of what he earned through snooker.
To be honest though i take his retirement or hint of retirement statements with a pinch of salt, he loves competing and now after getting beaten by the games most exciting prospect i'm sure he'll be more determained than ever to prove he can still compete at the highest level.

He's a dream to watch at times, & when you look back at his 5 minute maximum to this day you have to wonder if we'll ever see the likes again. In a way like someone mentioned above, I kind of pity him. He's battling his demons on camera, & that can't be easy. But sometimes I wonder if he's his own worst enemy.

I do think his best days are behind him though, & that sad thing is thats only because of his mindset.

cherryghost

Gould - Murphy; what an epic struggle. Feel sorry for Gould who was on a rampage after going 5-0 down, Murphy held out his nerves after some truly awful shots in the final frame to win the match.

BTW Gould's shot on a red across the table tucked up behind the brown is easily the best shot of the tournament. Fantastic.

zack01

Enderman wrote: »

Gould - Murphy; what an epic struggle. Feel sorry for Gould who was on a rampage after going 5-0 down, Murphy held out his nerves after some truly awful shots in the final frame to win the match.

BTW Gould's shot on a red across the table tucked up behind the brown is easily the best shot of the tournament. Fantastic.

Felt sorry for Gould myself, i feel he does'nt get enough attention for his achievements over the last few seasons. He'll be a top 16 player for a few seasons in my opinion, Murphy on the other hand collapsed from 5-0 up but like all great players he recovered in time to see out the match.

Delighted to see Ricky Walden win, a really nice guy and a fellow Liverpool supporter too !!!!

Pighead

That's the top three in the world and Ronnie gone already. Very open tournament as most of them are these days with nobody really dominating the game anymore.

Bit shocked to hear Ali Carter say he's retiring at the end of the season. Says he's sick of the game and he can't wait to retire in April. It's not as if he's in danger of dropping out of the top 16 either as he's 8th in the world.

Setun

Pighead wrote: »

That's the top three in the world and Ronnie gone already. Very open tournament as most of them are these days with nobody really dominating the game anymore.

Bit shocked to hear Ali Carter say he's retiring at the end of the season. Says he's sick of the game and he can't wait to retire in April. It's not as if he's in danger of dropping out of the top 16 either as he's 8th in the world.

Did Ali Carter say he's retiring?? Very surprised myself if he is, but to be honest it didn't look like he was enjoying himself out there in the few frames I saw him play over the week.

zack01

Daddio wrote: »

Did Ali Carter say he's retiring?? Very surprised myself if he is, but to be honest it didn't look like he was enjoying himself out there in the few frames I saw him play over the week.

Missed the action last night myself, and to be honest i was very surprised to hear that Carter is intending to retirevat the end of the season.
He's an established top ten player, he's a ranking event winner, a world championship finalist and is popular with other players and the fans.

It's been well documented that he suffers badly with Crohns disease although to my knowledge he has'nt missed any tournaments through this.
He is also a fully qualified pilot and has always said he would like to fly commercial airlines some day.

Yes he's had a bad season by his standards but in my opinion he still has plenty to offer the game, he's one of the players i enjoy watching and i would like to see him reconsider his plans and continue playing for another few seasons.

So quater final day today and there are four decent matches in store, this afternoon sees Maguire v Trump, and Ding v Robertson, and this evening sees Walden v Murphy and Allen v Fu.
I still fancy my pre tournament pick Neil Robertson to come out top on Sunday evening, incidently after today we go into the longer matches for the semi's and final.

I'm heading over to York Saturday morning for the weekend and after watching the majority of the action this week i can't wait to see it all live.

cherryghost

Is there any reliable sources to confirm Ali's retirement at the end of the season? I can't seem to find one.

zack01

Enderman wrote: »

Is there any reliable sources to confirm Ali's retirement at the end of the season? I can't seem to find one.

He put this up on his Twitter account last night.....

'going to retire at the end of the season! And I can't wait
I'm dead serious, life is to short to do something you don't enjoy, 25 years is enough! Pastures new....

allOtherPlaces

zack01 wrote: »

Delighted to see Ricky Walden win, a really nice guy and a fellow Liverpool supporter too !!!!

Now WHY did you have to tell me that? I was becoming a big Walden fan...

Billy (lifelong Evertonian)

bradolf pittler

i'd be very suprised if carter "retires" at the end of the season,he's still in the top 16 and is guarenteed over £30,000 in prize money without having to pot a ball next year.another knee jerk reaction cos he's having a poor season.

Pighead

Wow. Thought Judd was in danger of being knocked out today but he's absolutely crushing Maguire at the moment. About to go 5-1 up having knocked in back to back centuries. Playing way better than he did in his opening two rounds. Will be hard to beat if he keeps this form up.

cherryghost

His ultimate downfall is that he has no patience for safety shots over a longer period of time. He tends to pot himself into a frame winning chance instead. I think that's the only thing that will stop him winning this Championship

Pighead

Enderman wrote: »

His ultimate downfall is that he has no patience for safety shots over a longer period of time. He tends to pot himself into a frame winning chance instead. I think that's the only thing that will stop him winning this Championship

I see where you're coming from but I think he's improved his safety game this year. Against Ronnie on Tuesday his potting game wasn't quite up to scratch and he had to rely on some excellent safety to get him through. Actually both Ronnie and Judd's safety game outshone their potting the other day.

califano

ugh why arent the bbc showing the current break in brackets when they show the score!.

zack01

Looking forward to today's first semi between Trump and Robertson, they are two of the most exciting players in the game and it should be a treat.
I fancy Robertson but only just, I think he's got the complete game, great break builder, great safety player but most importantly he plays the percentages too, he may be flamboyant but he's not afraid to grind frames and matches out to.
Trump on the other hand I feel is all about potting himself into frames more than preserving with safety play and getting bogged down, however this style of play has rewarded him well this week no more so than yesterday against Maguire, three frames he won from being stuck on the top cushion then potting a long red and going on to make a frame winning break.
It's all set hopefully for a classic best of seventeen match and as I said I fancy Robertson, just !!!

dw_newtown

Apologies if this is in the wrong thread but the book sould be thrown at Mark Allen for being a bit naive he it comes to criticising the new format of the UK.

Personally I think its been a success, the best of 11 format is best suited to TV and it makes for more exciting play.

The modern generation has no appreciation of safety play and tact, they want fireworks. I say give it to them! Bring back Pot Black!

bradolf pittler

dw_newtown wrote: »

Apologies if this is in the wrong thread but the book sould be thrown at Mark Allen for being a bit naive he it comes to criticising the new format of the UK.

Personally I think its been a success, the best of 11 format is best suited to TV and it makes for more exciting play.

The modern generation has no appreciation of safety play and tact, they want fireworks. I say give it to them! Bring back Pot Black!

i think if he wins the uk he shouldnt accept the winners cheque...after all he doesnt like the format and doesnt want to play there...haha
seriously tho,i think he's come across as being very childish.."i think hearn will a lot of good in the long run but not for my generation",that just smacks of selfishness,he's still in his 20's and has at least 15 years as a pro if he wants it.also i feel its a bit hypocritical of him to have a go at tournaments that have the crowd drinking at shouting while players are at the table....every year at the crucible the supporters he brings over are the noisiest bunch in the place.

zack01

Roberston 4 Trump 4 after first session.

Great first session of snooker today and it's all set for a fascinating final session tonight. Trump led 2-0 before being pegged back to. 2-2, the next few frames although slightly scrappy featured some incredible shots that showed both players incredible cue power. Robertson won the last to set up tonight's session.
Really looking forward to it.

cherryghost

Great session indeed. My money is on Robertson to sneak it 9-8.

bradolf pittler

great session for walden today,trailing 3-1 at the interval,rattles off 4 in a row to lead 5-3.hope he can finish the job later.

zack01

Great afternoon session for Ricky Walden, he leads Allen 5-3 after trailing 3-1 at the interval, indeed Allen should have gone 4-1 up but went in off the green and Walden duly cleared up.
To be honest I though Walden was unlucky to trail 3-1, he made a 124 and Allen more or less stole the other three frames.
The questions will now be asked again about Allens temperment in these situations, he really needs to come out tonight and try and force his way back into the match.
The winner of course will play Judd Trump in tomorrows final, Trump prevailed 9-7 over my pre tournament pick Neil Robertson, it's a match I feel Robertson should have won as Trump wasn't playing at his best.
An interesting fact has arisen that should Walden win tonight and go on and win the tournament not only will he receive £100K but he will also receive a wild card invitation to next months Masters and on top of that it will almost see Ronnie O'Sullivan fall from the top 16 !

califano

Yeah should be a good evening session. Bottle will be tested and questions answered. Walden hasbeen promising this type of run by his performances in recent PTC's.

syngindub

zack01 wrote: »

almost see Ronnie O'Sullivan fall from the top 16 !

So will he or won't he drop out of the top 16 if Walden wins the tournament?

zack01

syngindub wrote: »

So will he or won't he drop out of the top 16 if Walden wins the tournament?

Well after this weekend there are two PTC events left and O'Sullivan has decided not to enter either of them so with a Walden win in York and a run in the PTC's by Steve Lee and Mark Davis O'Sullivan will be out of the top 16.

zack01

So final day in York sees Judd Trump play Mark Allen, the later producing a good performance last night to edge out Ricky Walden 9-7, the match turned complete in Allens favour I felt in the fourth frame last night when Walden missed the brown to allow Allen to clear up and go ahead 6-5.
But to be fair he did produce the goods to clear up at 8-7 when many a player might have begun to feel the pressure.

I'm really hoping for a great match today, they are two of the games most exciting players, I feel Trump may have too much for Allen today, it's Allens first ranking final but Trumps third, although Allen did shake that run of semi final losses of his back last night so maybe won't feel under as much pressure.

Personally I'm hoping Trump wins today, it would round off a great year for him and really put him up there as the most exciting player of the current generation.
It's ironic that Allen has reached the final after his outburst against Barry Hearn during the week, he finds himself one match away from winning the second biggest event on the calendar, an event even with the format change has had record crowds, has been well recieved by the players and proves that snooker is more popular now than it was only a few short years ago.
If he was to win it I wonder would he thank the governing body of snooker in his acceptance speech?

Setun

Interesting points Zack, I guess we'll see what happens tonight if Mark Allen wins it, but I'd hope he doesn't pull a crazy stunt. I think that Allen is entitled to criticise the tournament if he wants to though - I think it is a fair comment to criticise some of the things that Barry Hearn has done and said in recent times, and he certainly shouldn't be fined if he does want to say them. Personally I've been enjoying the tournament a lot this week and I'm glad to hear that the place has been packed out all week, but the players should be allowed to have their opinions on the tournament format also.

That aside, it's nice to see the camaraderie between the players today, it's obvious that the two players have a lot of respect for each other. Hard to call who'll win it, although Allen has probably played better so far.

zack01

Daddio wrote: »

Interesting points Zack, I guess we'll see what happens tonight if Mark Allen wins it, but I'd hope he doesn't pull a crazy stunt. I think that Allen is entitled to criticise the tournament if he wants to though - I think it is a fair comment to criticise some of the things that Barry Hearn has done and said in recent times, and he certainly shouldn't be fined if he does want to say them. Personally I've been enjoying the tournament a lot this week and I'm glad to hear that the place has been packed out all week, but the players should be allowed to have their opinions on the tournament format also.

That aside, it's nice to see the camaraderie between the players today, it's obvious that the two players have a lot of respect for each other. Hard to call who'll win it, although Allen has probably played better so far.

I couldn't agree with you more, players should be allowed to voice any opinions that they may have, they do after all pay a membership each year, the only reason Allen has found himself in trouble is due to the colourful language he used during the infamous press interview.

As said befor this should not overshadow what has been a fantastic weeks snooker culminating in the final we have ourselves today.
Allen now finds himself in the same position he found himself in last night but Trump is a completely different opponent to Walden and I fancy Trump to finish the job in some style tonight.

Setun

Great reception there for both players, should be a great night's snooker. Enjoy folks!

zack01

What an incredible final, it had absolutly everthing. Two players who just refused to give in and who gave everything to land the title.
Congrats to Judd Trump but every credit to Mark Allen, he's not my favourite person in the world but boy can he play snooker, to come back from trailing 8-3 to find himself 9-8 behind was a fantastic response.
The standard of snooker was extraordinary and some of which i hav'nt seen ever played in a final.
The bar has been set and that is the type of play players must now produce to win future events.
There is no doubt that the future of snooker is looking very good and this new generation of players can only take it further.

Next up we have the last couple of PTC events with the Masters due to hit our screens next Jan 15th from it's new home at Alexandra Palace.

And after a great UK Championship rounded off with a final like that it can't come sooner.

cherryghost

Agreed, excellent final.

dw_newtown

While Allen can criticise the WPBSA for tinkering with the UK, he cant dispute than the PTC system is really helping the standard of snooker. More matches means more centuries and I really enjoyed the last few frames that i got to see last night. I hope Trump and Allen become the new Steve Davis-Alex Higgins or Hendry- White rivalry in snooker. A rematch in the World Champioship would be very exciting!