Minor Tournament Discussion 2019/20

Joe_ Public · 17-06-2019 5:37pm #1

Now that new season is underway, thought it was just as well to start the new thread going. And what better way to get us started than a story illustrating Shaun Murphy's determination to hit the ground running for the new season:

http://www.worldsnooker.com/murphy-enters-open-championship-qualifying/

DuckSlice · 18-06-2019 11:12am

Be good to see him qualify, but like he said himself its a big ask. The likes of Paul Dunne could be competing at the same qualifiers.

AllForIt · 18-06-2019 1:48pm

Good thinking Murphy. Now he can work as a commentator on the Snooker AND the golf!

Inviere · 18-06-2019 4:15pm

Just a suggestion, but I think it'd be great to have a thread for each tournament, even the minor ones.

Joe_ Public · 18-06-2019 5:56pm

Inviere wrote: »

Just a suggestion, but I think it'd be great to have a thread for each tournament, even the minor ones.

See no reason why not. Might start a thread for world cup next week, should be a decent enough event though sad to see no Ronnie, Judd or Selby in it. Ken and Fergal still doing the honours for us.

ArmaniJeanss · 18-06-2019 9:49pm

Inviere wrote: »

Just a suggestion, but I think it'd be great to have a thread for each tournament, even the minor ones.

I think I started this Minor Tournament one in 2017/18 when there was very little discussion at all outside the 3 big events.
Forum seems much busier now thankfully so there is probably more events that can hold their own thread.
I think this is still probably useful for the Latvian Open, German Masters type events that would probably only have 2 or 3 posts.

It works well enough in the darts forum anyway.

Inviere · 20-06-2019 5:35pm

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I think I started this Minor Tournament one in 2017/18 when there was very little discussion at all outside the 3 big events.
Forum seems much busier now thankfully so there is probably more events that can hold their own thread.
I think this is still probably useful for the Latvian Open, German Masters type events that would probably only have 2 or 3 posts.

It works well enough in the darts forum anyway.

I find I miss out on minor tournaments simply because I wasn't aware they were on (my fault I know). I feel if there were threads for each tournament, it might mean better visibility/more chat, rather than people just seeing a catch-all thread being bumped every now and again.

El_Duderino 09 · 28-06-2019 11:45pm

http://www.worldsnooker.com/tournaments-broadcasters-2019-20/

Link to the snooker newsletter which gives details of where to watch the upcoming tournaments.

Some on Eurosport

First one on quest is the English open in October

Arthur Daley · 29-06-2019 7:01am

No mention of the champion of champions there. Event is still due to be on in early November, before Belfast. When the season gets going fully for UK FTA tv.

Joe_ Public · 29-06-2019 10:51am

It may not be listed as its not a World Snooker event, rather a Matchroom one, so i'd guess it'll be still on itv as it usually is.

Arthur Daley · 21-07-2019 11:17pm

I see Joe Swail has packed it in on the professional tour.

Twice a semi finalist at the Crucible, which brought him to World no. 10 in 2002. Seemed a nice enough lad Joe

https://www.bbc.com/sport/snooker/48933844

ArmaniJeanss · 27-07-2019 1:43pm

The low-key Riga Masters is on Eurosport over this weekend.
Arguably the most interesting part of it happened the night before, when a flight from London to Riga got cancelled leading to about 15 players missing the event.

https://metro.co.uk/2019/07/26/riga-masters-chaos-multiple-players-withdraw-due-flight-delays-10465355/

Joe_ Public · 27-07-2019 1:52pm

Milkins explained why the players tend to leave it until the day before a tournament to travel, writing: ‘With the exception of the World Champs and Chinese events(for obvious reasons) think you’ll find none of the top players ever go two days before nowadays! Just pure bad luck what happened tonight ‘Another reason not booking two days before is losing a days practice and another £100 a night hotel,with World Snooker giving a measly £300 towards losers of withheld games it don’t make sense to go to early.’

Interesting insight into players' mentality i think. £300 for the withheld games seems positively skinflint. That's almost certainly a deficit for most guys unlucky enough to have drawn a Selby or Robertson in the first round draw.

zuutroy · 05-08-2019 2:23pm

Watching the Trump match on Eurosport. Less than 20 spectators I'd say.

Joe_ Public · 06-08-2019 2:35pm

zuutroy wrote: »

Watching the Trump match on Eurosport. Less than 20 spectators I'd say.

Lot of empty seats for Ding and Zhao yesterday too, if a match like that cant fill a Chinese arena, nothing can. People say its bracingly high ticket prices mostly to blame and may well be the case, remember half empty arenas across the board being the case for the olympics back in 2008 as well.

zuutroy · 06-08-2019 3:43pm

Was watching him again this morning and there was about 5 people there. He played an amazing positional shot and not a murmur.
There's an awful lot of unsold £99 'premium' tickets for early rounds at the Crucible next year as things currently stand...Row D on the first Monday morning costs more than I paid for row G for the conclusion of the semi-finals! Be interesting to see if they're full come game time.

ArmaniJeanss · 09-08-2019 11:51am

Interesting quartet of semi-finalists, with the cream rising to the top.

Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy play later, both showing a return to some sort of form.

And another man on the comeback trail Mark Selby is currently playing Judd Trump, Trump leading 5-3 (b.o. 17)

zuutroy · 09-08-2019 1:07pm

Trump is going to win every tournament. Ridiculous standard. Ridiculous.

Inviere · 09-08-2019 2:09pm

zuutroy wrote: »

Trump is going to win every tournament. Ridiculous standard. Ridiculous.

He has near-stupid levels of talent and ability. I do wonder though can he actually keep himself in that mode for the rest of his career, or will he burn out at some stage? The star that shines twice as bright etc etc...

El_Duderino 09 · 09-08-2019 2:39pm

Inviere wrote: »

He has near-stupid levels of talent and ability. I do wonder though can he actually keep himself in that mode for the rest of his career, or will he burn out at some stage? The star that shines twice as bright etc etc...

That's a completely unreasonable question. Of course he won't maintain such a high mode of play for the rest of his career. He'll probably have pranks and troughs just like all other players, and just like he has done through his career so far.

Let's not wait until he has a bit of poor form and start asking "uuh, has Trump lost it?". And we he has a run of good form to be amazed that he's playing better than ever When it looked like his career was over. That's just the narrative the snooker pundits have to weave into their analysis because narrative is better than hard facts.

Let's just expect him to be similar to all other players and have periods of good and bad form, periods where he's dedicated to practice and living for his job and periods where he has other things going on in his life and his job takes a back seat and form dips.

He's had all this talent all his career and didn't win a world championship until now. Let's just wait and see how he does.

Inviere · 09-08-2019 2:50pm

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

That's a completely unreasonable question. Of course he won't maintain such a high mode of play for the rest of his career. He'll probably have pranks and troughs just like all other players, and just like he has done through his career so far.

Well, obviously.

He's had all this talent all his career and didn't win a world championship until now. Let's just wait and see how he does.

I think it's fair to say Trump took a massive step forward last year. He has always had the talent, but he has embraced practicing a lot more by all accounts, and it has paid off big time. I'd say he's finally at the level he could have been at several years ago.

My question was more so related to can he maintain this near-supernatural level of ability up enough to win big, break some records, and become of of the greats, before the inevitable happens. Or is it possible that he drops off a cliff, sooner than perhaps he would have.

El_Duderino 09 · 09-08-2019 2:57pm

Inviere wrote: »

Well, obviously.

I think it's fair to say Trump took a massive step forward last year. He has always had the talent, but he has embraced practicing a lot more by all accounts, and it has paid off big time. I'd say he's finally at the level he could have been at several years ago.

My question was more so related to can he maintain this near-supernatural level of ability up enough to win big, break some records, and become of of the greats, before the inevitable happens. Or is it possible that he drops off a cliff, sooner than perhaps he would have.

Yeah fair enough. I just can't stand the usual media narrative around these things being mixed up with the analysis.

I get that it's their job to apply a story whether it exists or not and it boils my p1ss.

Joe_ Public · 09-08-2019 6:31pm

My own view is that this is a fairly mediocre spell at the top of the sport in terms of quality. That Higgins, Williams and O'Sullivan are all still in the top 5 - O'Sullivan No.1 - just tells you how disappointing the following generation has been, for a variety of reasons i would imagine. Sure, they are all time greats of the game, but to be still bossing in their mid-40s, i mean where are all the young whizz-kids looking to topple them from their perch? Trump has got there finally, but boy did it take him some time to get there? Had an inkling he might struggle a bit early doors this season, but to be fair has been playing some great stuff this week, so interesting to see how far he can sustain it through the season. I hope he does, the game needs a new star and hopefully to drag on those behind him, but the commentator who said during play this morning that Trump can bring the sport "to new levels" over the next 10 years is just getting carried away, like a lot of media. What can Trump do that either Hendry or O'Sullivan didn't do before him? Another 6 world titles would be asking a lot, but you never know i suppose.

zuutroy · 09-08-2019 7:55pm

New levels in terms of skill, if not achievement I guess. Might be recency bias but I can't every remember seeing snooker like he played in the final and he's been up there for much of this week. Saw during the week that he was 11/1 to have 100 centuries this year and thought it was a great bet. Looks at this shot!

https://twitter.com/WorldSnooker/status/1157938461254594560

Joe_ Public · 09-08-2019 9:04pm

There's no doubt he's a special talent, i thought that was clear from the time he burst on the scene back in 2010, we're lucky he's there because there's not too many others give you the same sense of excitement the way they play the game.

I'm not sure he's better or even as good a talent as O'Sullivan, though. That 97 break Trump made today was sensational, but i've seen that from O'Sullivan through the years countless times. Also, i saw Higgins (alex) do stuff back in the 80s that i dont think even O'Sullivan could do, and i know people who tell me that was nothing compared to what Higgins was doing a decade earlier. End of day, in terms of pure talent i'm not sure i'd want to separate any of them. Higgins played in a different era, when you didnt have the benefit of these faster tables which makes the game far easier to play, so it's just personal preference that i hold him in highest regard for his talent. Most of which he squandered, of course, but thats another story.

Btw i think that 11/1 is a good bet if its still going. 10 tons this week already and counting. He averages probably between 70-80 a season as it is, so no reason to expect he wont go significantly higher. Might have a look around for a go on that myself.

zuutroy · 09-08-2019 9:34pm

Yea I would have been all over the 11/1 but PP must have closed my account or something due to activity because I couldn't get in.
As an Ronnie fan I hope seeing Trump taking the headlines motivates him to put the work in and he gives it a good run this year.

Frank O. Pinion · 11-08-2019 10:02am

I suggest this thread be renamed "General Snooker Discussion - 2019/20 Season", as it's used for all snooker news/discussion. "Minor Tournaments" are Riga Masters, Paul Hunter Classic, etc. The tournament on this week, (first session just finished, Trump playing brilliantly), the International Championship is actually the 4th highest ranking event and should have its own thread.

Haven't had time recently to post about Snooker, but I read that the Women's Snooker World Champion will get a spot in November's Champion of Champions event on ITV (if the 16 major events are won by less than 16 different men), current champ is Reanne Evans.

More Snooker in August:

Thursday, 15th - Sunday, 18th: World Seniors Championship (FreeSports)
Saturday, 24th - Sunday, 25th: Paul Hunter Classic (now a non-ranking invitational event, unsure of broadcast location)

Kyren Wilson v Florian Nüßle (17 year old Austrian wildcard)
Luca Brecel v Mark King
Matt Selt v Dominic Dale
Ken Doherty v Ryan Davies (17 year old English wildcard)
Barry Hawkins v Matthew Stevens
David Gilbert v Michael Holt
Joe Perry v Ben Mertens (14 year old Belgian wildcard)
Shaun Murphy v Qualifier (winner of a German Snooker Tour event, held 22nd/23rd August)

Joe_ Public · 11-08-2019 10:58am

There's been less than 10 posts on this weeks tournament so not sure whether it would have justified a separate thread, but of course anyones free to start one. It's all good. While the chinese can obviously put a lot of money into their tournaments, this doesnt particularly feel like a major event to me. Some of the atmosphere during some of the earlier rounds was pitiful, even see empty seats at the final this morning. Anyway, think Murphy will feel happy enough to be only 3-6 behind. Still a chance to turn it around, i suppose, though hard to fancy it really.

Inviere · 15-08-2019 10:06am

Joe_ Public wrote: »

There's been less than 10 posts on this weeks tournament so not sure whether it would have justified a separate thread

I always feel a separate smaller thread for the minor events is a way better way of encouraging posting. For instance, I might not have read a larger thread for a few weeks, so it's just far too much hassle catching up with what has happened, and I myself might not bother posting as a result. If there were a handful of smaller threads, dedicated to each event, it just feels like I'd be more likely to post and keep up to date with everything.

Joe_ Public · 15-08-2019 8:41pm

Inviere wrote: »

I always feel a separate smaller thread for the minor events is a way better way of encouraging posting. For instance, I might not have read a larger thread for a few weeks, so it's just far too much hassle catching up with what has happened, and I myself might not bother posting as a result. If there were a handful of smaller threads, dedicated to each event, it just feels like I'd be more likely to post and keep up to date with everything.

No bother, anyone feeling like starting a seperate thread for any of the tournaments should go right ahead. The more the merrier. I'll put one up for the china championship anyway and see how it goes. Not watching a lot of it myself as of yet, but will have a look at the later rounds.

Frank O. Pinion · 23-08-2019 9:35am

Frank O. Pinion wrote: »

Saturday, 24th - Sunday, 25th: Paul Hunter Classic (now a non-ranking invitational event, unsure of broadcast location)

This was listed on the EuroSport Player earlier in the week, but doesn't seem to be on there now, so who knows. A few changes to the draw I previously posted, Shaun Murphy has pulled out due to some "injury", he's replaced by Ricky Walden, Mark King and Ken Doherty have swapped positions, and Matthew Stevens has been replaced by Gary Wilson. Updated draw:

Kyren Wilson (defending champion) v Florian Nüßle (17 year old Austrian wildcard)
Matt Selt v Dominic Dale
Luca Brecel v Ken Doherty
Ricky Walden v Qualifier (winner of a German Snooker Tour event, held 22nd/23rd August)
David Gilbert v Michael Holt
Joe Perry v Ben Mertens (14 year old Belgian wildcard)
Mark King v Ryan Davies (17 year old English wildcard)
Barry Hawkins v Gary Wilson

It was a proper ranking event since 2016, but with the winner's prize being only £20,000, the event struggled to attract the top players. So, instead of being one of the "minor" events, it's becoming the most-minor event on the professional circuit. A non-ranking 16 player invitational, featuring 12 pros (only 4 of them in the Top 16) and 4 amateurs, with a winner's prize of £10,000. Best-of-7s for every round.

If it is on the EuroSport Player, I'll be watching, but events like these on the calendar need to be revamped, change location, etc., something. When it was 128-players and a ranking event, you could see it served some purpose for lower-ranked players, but this year's version is...underwhelming. Barry Hearn says the sport is growing each season (which it is in many aspects), but there's 18 confirmed ranking events this season, two less than last season.

Minor Tournament Discussion 2019/20

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