World Championship Qualifiers 2021

Mark Allen voicing opposition to White’s tour card being renewed. I can’t disagree with him. It’s. A commercial decision rather then a sporting one.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/snooker/2021/0411/1209193-mark-allen-jimmy-white-wildcard-decision-is-shocking/

I wonder about why white is staying on the tour though. He’s a bloke with pretty well documented substance abuse problems. Maybe being on tour with the focus and discipline of practice is part of how he keeps on the wagon. It might be about much more than the snooker, or how many games he wins or loses, for him.

Another win for Bai Langning today, against Ben Woollaston this time, been impressed with this fella this week.

Altogether, 8 chinese players have played in R3 and all 8 have won. They had 19 at the start of week and 12 still standing and that includes 3 all chinese encounters. Remains to be seen how many actually reach the crucible but thats been one of the stories of the week for me.

Re Jimmy, well Trump did say last week that snooker was looking too much to the past , which is perhaps a more diplomatic way of alluding to the tour cards.

Arthur Daley wrote: »

I'm all for a bit of dissent, but it's the same for every sport really. People can't speak their minds fully in football either about refs/VAR etc. It's actually a wider societal issue, a game like snooker isn't going to change that as we know.
We know that sometimes the powers that be have to make these kind of decisions, and it's not going to go to a vote and please everyone.

I dont follow football much anymore tbh, so i cant draw that comparison but happy to take your word for it. The thing about snooker is, it has a low enough profile these days so, outside of a small elite, we dont get to hear much from players and what theyre feeling or experiencing anymore. I make no comment on allen or his views, but if that's what he's thinking, them I'm just glad to hear it. Same reason i scroll through rob milkins twitter feed every now and again, because rob isnt afraid to speak his mind when he's in the mood. MJW obviously another, i see him having a go about the white wild card too. Purely as a fan i want to understand what these guys are thinking.

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

6-0 win for Sam Craigie. I remember seeing him play some absolutely astonishing snooker last year. He didn't back it up with great performances after that and he's ranked 58 at the moment. He was absolutely top notch that day and I'd love to see him in the world championships if he's on good form.

Good player sam and comes across a nice bloke. I'm astonished by that result today, expected it to be a close vafaei win tbh, but he's a talented player no question and love to see him make the crucible. Zhao Xintong up next for him, should be good contest.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I think Allen should worry about his own game. The reason he makes the paydays he does now is because of people like White and Hendry who brought excitement and attention to snooker.

But I can't stand Allen so what do I know?

Bad start for Dott. 0-4 down to Tian Pengfei. Would like to see him get through.

I was surprised to see Dott is provisionally ranked 17 at the moment (21 before the tournament). That will change as the tournament goes on and he will drop down a bit, but he's surprisingly close to the top 16.

Well done kurt maflin, last years quarter finalist becomes first qualifier to book his place in the main draw with a comprehensive 10-4 dismantling of Rob Milkins.

Dott having a very strange day. He was 8-1 down and now he’s back in with a chance at 9-6

waynescales1 wrote: »

I think that might be the first time I've heard Maflin's name since his run in the WC last year. Hasn't had much of a season has he?

Ordinary enough alright, didnt really push on from the worlds but for all his ability consistency never been one of kurts strong points i guess.

waynescales1 wrote: »

This multi table viewing is very good, never seen it before. I wonder would it be an option for the earlier rounds of every tournament, so you don't get stuck on a dull low quality match.

Yeah, actually working really well, have it on in the background and handy to scroll over when a frame getting tight. Certainly would be great for bigger events like the uk

waynescales1 wrote: »

This multi table viewing is very good, never seen it before. I wonder would it be an option for the earlier rounds of every tournament, so you don't get stuck on a dull low quality match.

The NFL has a similar idea called Redzone. That jumps around the grounds as it looks like a team is going to score. Which is important given the amount of ad breaks in an NFL game to suit American TV, and a lot of the time nothing much is going on.
I'm sure they got the idea from there, might be a bit hardcore though to show qualifiers from the home nations, on top of the main table coverage. Could be a limited enough audience.

But as Eurosport usually shows table 2 for the home nations on the app (without commentary mind), maybe they could replace it with this.

waynescales1 wrote: »

This multi table viewing is very good, never seen it before. I wonder would it be an option for the earlier rounds of every tournament, so you don't get stuck on a dull low quality match.

Where is multi table viewing available?

Been so impressed with this 18 year old Bai Langning all week.

Been two years on tour, won no matches his first year and this is his first tournament this season due to the pandemic. Leading Martin Gould 4-2 and potting some serious balls. Tour card up for grabs should he come through. Incredible story really.

Ricky Walden, Ali Carter, Stuart Bingham all comfortably through and Martin Gould on the verge of joining them. New blood not doing so well tonight. Bai just died a death after the first session.

Lot of hype around Luca, but just never had a proper all round game, just a flash potter who seemed to want to break the pocket with every shot. Still has time on his side but very hard to change your style when its what you know.

Sam Craigie is last to book his crucible ticket with 10-9 victory over another much hyped kid Zhao Xintong. Delighted for Sam, good player and nice lad too. Second crucible debutant after Mark Joyce came through against Igor Figureiro earlier.