Round 1
Best of 19 Frames
Is the crowd chanting "Wu" or is it booing?
Wu Yize would make mince meat of Higgins of they met in the final. Could be like Zintong and Williams last year.
Long way to go in both semis yet all the same
Yize is actually the highest seeded player here.
Allen basically gave that 8th frame to Wu very softly. Should have been 5-3 instead Wu leads 6-2.
Wu deserved 6-2 lead going into tomorrow, but this is a marathon not a sprint, I f*cking love these long matches.
It was like exhibition stuff from Yize at times, 7or8 shots in a row coming up the wrong side of blue and just potting everything
Right from the start I felt Wu Yize was playing the best snooker in this year's championship. I wanted Allen to win it, still do.
And I think it's a pity they're both on the same side of the draw, while 2 past champions Higgins and Murphy are on the other side. I'd have preferred if was Murphy or Higgins v Allen or Yize in the semi-finals. That way it could have been possible to have an all newbie final, an all champions final or a mix of both(which is what we have as is).
….
😀😀😀
Just realised, that character has a strong resemblance to auld Ted Lowe.
"And for those of you who are watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green."
-/
Great clearance by Higgins to take the opener
Shaun looks good too, played that frame ball red dead weight down the cushion.
Find it difficult to get into these early sessions in the semis. Think Robbo is right, too long.
Personally I think the 33 frames semis are too long; even old days of 31 was too long. Makes the final seem no different really. Should be first to 15 for semi finals
I think 3 sessions is plenty.
Exactly….3 sessions!!
Priority tickets available this morning for next year in case anyone wasn't aware. Requires an annual subscription to wst.tv though at £50 but wanted to finally tick an item off the bucket list. Nabbed tickets for the middle Saturday afternoon and evening sessions.
9-9-11 for best of 29 does seem fine to me (or 9-10-10 if you don't want to risk the final session of the second semi going to silly o'clock). I don't particularly like these 8 frame sessions. I know earlier rounds have them, but at that stage there is a game on the other table to take the slack if a sessions ends quick.
But I guess an issue might be losing two of the higher income sessions from ticket sales.
I like the longer matches gives the slow burn - plenty of chances for twists and turns. So keep the length of matches as they are. That is the beauty of the world championship. Not only do you need the skill etc. It’s a test of stamina.
Especially when the rest of the season is in shorter or much shorter formats. It shows people what the players are made of.
The fact Robertson gave out about the length of the SF matches, wants all matches at the WC best of 25 - yet he hasn’t won it since 2010 it says a lot!
make the final longer then - go back to playing it over a week!
Higgins should be called the Terminator instead of the wizard . 7-6 now. Another steal.
Is it me or is John second guessing himself on a lot of shots? He seems to be down and back up every second shot.
Longer matches are great. It allows players a weak session where they might be coming off a late quarter final finish. There is also a nice symmetry in having about the same number of frames left to win in the 1 table setup as you have had to win in the 3 preceding rounds to get there. Makes it kind of a halfway point.
There have been no flukey winners either in contrast to the other extreme of the shootout.
Whatever he is at it working for him. Even though Higgins lost the last frame to go just 8-7 up. Higgins should / could have stolen it to go 9-6. Every frame is well earned !
Probably an age thing……or could it be something to do with working out how he can mask/cover up a deliberate miss to facilitate a frame he's being paid/bribed to lose…🤣
All square!
Higgins missed a red to really give him a chance to take it 9-7
I think it's playing 2 x matches on the single table format that makes the semi-finals drag. If it was 4 x sessions over 2 days on a two-table format, then the semi's would go much quicker. Not advocating for that change btw, I quite like the slow burn.
that was a rollercoaster of a frame! Important that Allen takes at least one more frame before the interval after that effort
6-6. These long matches are great. Yize looked unstoppable last night.
It’s tropic at the Crucible 😎
