2021 Tour Championship, 22-29 March, Celtic Manor

Joe_ Public · 22-03-2021 9:04am #1

The season winds down, or cranks up more like, with a welcome return to long form snooker and a proper test for the world's best before the crucible marathon.

A stellar field, that includes the world top 6 (also the top 6 in the betting for Sheffield) and rounded out by in form Jack Lisowski and Barry Hawkins, just recently back into top 16 with his habit of sneaking up on you when you least expect it.

Kicking off today, Higgins v Ronnie, ronnie only a narrow favourite after suffering two huge defeats to higgins already this year. All matches are the best of 19 frames, played over 2 sessions (8/11). A nice £150,000 paycheque awaits the winner with the small matter of a £100,000 bonus to play for too.

Incidentally, the top 16 crucible seeds are now known. Anto McGill squeezes in at 16. Stuart Bingham will face the qualifiers for the first time in 11 years.

Full Tour Championships draw:

(1) Judd Trump v Barry Hawkins (8)
(4) John Higgins v Ronnie O'Sullivan (5)

(3) Neil Robertson v Jack Lisowski (6)
(2) Mark Selby v Kyren Wilson (7)

zuutroy · 22-03-2021 1:49pm

Don't fancy Ronnie one bit for this I must say....He's already off on the mad stuff with the broken cue and I don't want to be here.

Joe_ Public · 22-03-2021 2:00pm

"If i could have given my place to Jordan Brown and then him give me his prize money."

Lol. Classic ronnie. Think this stuff just tumbles out of his mouth without thinking.

FR01 · 22-03-2021 2:50pm

Joe_ Public wrote: »

"If i could have given my place to Jordan Brown and then him give me his prize money."

Lol. Classic ronnie. Think this stuff just tumbles out of his mouth without thinking.

Ron throwing the press gang another line and they bite as usual 🎣🎣🎣🎣🎣

Joe_ Public · 22-03-2021 3:23pm

Good match so far anyway. Ronnie looks ok. Lookin at stats, this could be first season since he turned pro in which he hasn't won at least one title. Only two chances left. Dunno how conscious he might actually be about that, but looks focussed enough anyway, despite cue issues.

zuutroy · 22-03-2021 7:27pm

There's footage of Ronnie telling Mark Joyce about his cue woes from last week so it appears there's at least some truth to it and he didn't just make it up today.

Arthur Daley · 22-03-2021 8:59pm

I see the final is best of 19 over one day. It was meant to be best of 25 wasn't it when the tournament was announced.

Think the final could have been upgraded to even best of 21 or 23 to make it different from the other rounds and every other final on the tour (except Sheffield)

Joe_ Public · 22-03-2021 9:13pm

It's a bit scrappy but could be close. Big fluke for higgins there might help spark him up a bit. Neither really that convincing, though ronnie definitely playing the better snooker.

Joe_ Public · 22-03-2021 9:22pm

Interesting stat via Dave Hendon. Ronnie not beaten higgins in a two session match since 2005. 7-0 to higgins since then. Very surprising.

Invidious · 22-03-2021 9:50pm

Awful miss on that blue by Ronnie. Squandered a golden chance to go 9-5 ahead.

Rothko · 22-03-2021 11:10pm

Neither player were on their top game but I think Ronnie deserved it.

Joe_ Public · 22-03-2021 11:19pm

Agree with ken there, ronnie smacking the table - and he gave it a nice whack in fairnesd - wasnt a bad thing, probably showed how badly he wanted it. Maybe not at his best, but dug in all the way which was a very encouraging sign. Would have been interesting had higgins cleared the table in that last frame, though!

mrunsure · 23-03-2021 12:42pm

Arthur Daley wrote: »

I see the final is best of 19 over one day. It was meant to be best of 25 wasn't it when the tournament was announced.

Think the final could have been upgraded to even best of 21 or 23 to make it different from the other rounds and every other final on the tour (except Sheffield)

It was best of 25 in the first year because ITV4 normally have racing on Saturday afternoon. This meant that they could play the final across the weekend. Last year they wanted all matched done in one day because of Covid. Slightly surprised it is the same this year, but there is no racing on ITV4 on Saturday. In the first year the quarter-finals used two tables but last year and this year they are using only 1. So if the final was best of 25 the tournament would have to last 8 days instead of 7.

Joe_ Public · 23-03-2021 2:01pm

Two table set up would be optimal solution imo. Qfs tues/wed, sfs thurs/fri, final sat/sun. Not sure why they couldnt do that. Maybe broadcaster prefers it the way it is?

Head to head robbo-lisowski is 8-1, Jack's one victory in a championship league match. Could improve his crucible seeding by 3 places with a win today, which would mean a possible last 16 v Kyren Wilson instead of Selby, so a lot to play for. Robbo needs to play himself back into some form so big day for him too.

Arthur Daley · 23-03-2021 2:05pm

They could use a couple of morning sessions for quarter finals to allow the final go to best of 25

Invidious · 23-03-2021 2:10pm

Is anyone else watching Jack Lisowski vs Robert Plant?

Oh, wait, it's Neil Robertson...

Joe_ Public · 23-03-2021 2:42pm

Unbelievable if lisowski doesnt win this frame...

Joe_ Public · 23-03-2021 2:45pm

Got away with it, jack. Robbo had a chance there.

Joe_ Public · 23-03-2021 4:26pm

One way traffic. Maybe a way back for jack yet, but struggling to see it.

Rothko · 23-03-2021 4:35pm

Really hard to see Lisowski come back from this. I think he'll have to win 3 out of the first 4 frames in the evening.

ArmaniJeanss · 23-03-2021 8:11pm

Arthur Daley wrote: »

They could use a couple of morning sessions for quarter finals to allow the final go to best of 25

I think I read that the non-sports broadcasters aren't a fan of the 8-8-9 structure as there is a big chance that you get little snooker in the last session.
That's far less likely in an 8-11 format.

Obviously the Worlds do it and it's usually OK, though the final was a 1 framer this year in the final session.

Thinking about it snooker must be a pain to schedule - there might be a 5-0 70 minute game or a 5-4 game taking 4 hours. What slot do you give?

Joe_ Public · 23-03-2021 8:19pm

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I think I read that the non-sports broadcasters aren't a fan of the 8-8-9 structure as there is a big chance that you get little snooker in the last session.
That's far less likely in an 8-11 format.

Obviously the Worlds do it and it's usually OK, though the final was a 1 framer this year in the final session.

Thinking about it snooker must be a pain to schedule - there might be a 5-0 70 minute game or a 5-4 game taking 4 hours. What slot do you give?

Would be inclined to agree with this. I think broadcasters might just prefer one day finals. I remember Clive Everton explaining, and i wouldn't doubt Clive for a second, how it was pressure from the bbc that contributed to the uk championship format being shortened so i certainly wouldn't be surprised if it was simply tv network preference in this case. That's obviously just speculation on my part, be interesting to see whether it changes next year if we're back to a regular season as you'd expect.

23-03-2021 8:32pm

Be some steal here!

23-03-2021 8:32pm

Jackpot breathes again :pac:

Rothko · 23-03-2021 8:44pm

Lisowski getting back into this now.

Joe_ Public · 23-03-2021 8:52pm

Hate having to agree with Phil, but spot on about lisowski there. Always fear the worst when he cues right handed, just doesn't look right doing it.

Rothko · 23-03-2021 9:59pm

Well, that's it for Jack anyway.

Invidious · 25-03-2021 2:00pm

Trump vs Hawkins starting now, with the winner to face Ronnie in the semifinals.

Based on recent form, you'd have to fancy Trump for this one.

Joe_ Public · 25-03-2021 2:06pm

Hawkins has a quite decent head to head against judd but that might not count for too much. Can sometimes come good towards end of season, too, so can see him winning a few frames anyway.

That said, wasn't even in pocket postcode with his first effort. Frame probably over already.

Joe_ Public · 25-03-2021 2:17pm

Frame wasn't over at all! Thought judd could have snicked that black in, was tight though.

Invidious · 25-03-2021 2:19pm

Hawkins starting confidently here, taking advantage of a few loose shots from Trump.

2021 Tour Championship, 22-29 March, Celtic Manor

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