Further to my post earlier in the week where I questioned the mention of a “Hotshots” scheme, the players involved have now been confirmed on the BBC website. They are Mark Selby, Mark Allen, Jamie Cope, Daniel Wells and of course Michael Georgiou as we already knew.
It will be interesting to see what this will entail and how exactly the scheme will be promoted as so far (as David Hendon has noted), the announcement appears to have been pretty low key, being made solely through the BBC.
As announced on the WSA website today, tickets for the final stages of the UK Championship in Telford this year are now on sale.
For tickets for the event that runs from December 13th to the 21st, please call 01952 561 700.
Also I have created a ticket information page on the blog where I can provide information on how to get tickets for live snooker events. Hopefully this will be of use to some people and if there are any events that you would like me to add, please do tell me.
Following the omission of the tournament from the calendar on the recently re-launched World Snooker website, it has been confirmed by Dave Hendon of Snooker Scene in his blog that Pot Black will not take place this year.
It is a shame in some ways that the event last won by Ireland’s Ken Doherty has been discontinued after just three years. When Doherty won the event, despite it not being a major ranking event or a tournament run over a long distance, the victory clearly meant a lot to him. Given that many of the older players now will have grown up watching the event when they were youngsters it is easy to see why it would be such a thrill to have their names on the trophy now.
In addition the tournament was also a chance for the players to play in a relaxed environment and be able to express themselves a bit more. From the TV interviews that have been given during the event over the last few years it is clear that those taking part enjoyed themselves as I’m sure did those attending in the audience.
Hopefully the tournament can return once again in the future in some form or another.
Here is an interesting piece on one of this season’s tour debutants Michael Georgiou as reported in the Metro last week. Georgiou, the winner of the prestigious World Under 21 Championship last season, is quoted on the financial struggle that faces players at his level, a situation not helped by defeat in his first two matches of the season. This is particularly significant due to the lack of prize money available in the early qualifying rounds, meaning it is crucial from both a financial and a ranking point of view that players can a win matches and run deep into a tournament.
It must be pointed out however that as is suggested by WSA’s Ivan Hirschowitz within the article, the rewards at the top of the game are significant. This is demonstrated by Ronnie O’Sullivan taking £250,000 for winning the World Championship last season and an overall prize fund that is almost £200,000 up on last year. If players like Georgiou can work hard during these early years and succeed therefore then hopefully they will be well rewarded in the end.
Aside from the financial situation though, the part of the article that I found to be the most intriguing is that referring to Georgiou as being “one of five young hotshot ambassadors” in a campaign to improve the image of snooker.
It must be said that this is the first I have heard of this so if anyone has any information on it and who the other four players are then drop me an email or leave a comment under this article. It sounds like a revamped version of the Young Players of Distinction Scheme that helped the likes of Shaun Murphy and Stephen Maguire at the start of their careers though anything more official on this would be great.
Here are a selection of quotes from the players following the final qualifying matches for Shanghai yesterday as reported on SkySports.
“I played very well, I had to if I wanted to beat Ken,”
“I was very solid today and it’s great to have qualified for the first two events.
“I’ve got used to the conditions at Pontin’s now, which is important as the guys who play here all the time have an edge.
“I’m looking forward to China because snooker is very popular there, although to be honest I’m enjoying the game so much at the moment it doesn’t matter where I play.”
“It’s a bad result, it was a baptism of fire for me,”
“Jimmy got off to a flyer and I was always playing catch-up. It’s hard coming here, you have to get your hands dirty and get on with it, but fair play to Jimmy because he deserved to win.”
“Any win is a good win,”
“I wasn’t expecting too much and Gerard was probably favourite having played a match here yesterday. But he didn’t play great today.
“It’s funny to be here and see people like Jimmy, Ken, Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens. I looked at the monitor where all the matches are listed and thought ‘wow, there’s some fantastic games on today’.”
“I played solid, but a 5-1 scoreline was a hit flattering,”
“It could have easily been 2-2 at the interval, but I stuck in there and didn’t give him many chances. It really wasn’t as comfortable as 5-1 suggests, but you’ve got to win those scrappy frames. Once I’d won them I started to play a lot better.”
“It was a little bit of a shock to the system going back to Pontin’s, especially having reached the final in Belfast,”
“In Belfast I played in front of a big crowd, but there was no one in the crowd here.
“But I’m so used to playing here that I knew what I had to do. I played solidly, it was another good win for me.”
“I was feeling the pressure. Everyone expects you to win because of what I achieved in Belfast,” added Harold.
“But I played well from the word go. I twitched a little bit to get over the winning line, but there were no scares.”
“It’s tremendous to have qualified for Shanghai for the second season in a row. I’m looking forward to playing Ding.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season. To qualify for the first two ranking events has been great – and of course getting to the final in Belfast.”
Today marked the final day of the Shanghai Masters Qualifiers and other than the match involving Liang Wenbo and Atthasit Mahitthi which has been held over until the venue, all of the matches have now been completed. Click here for the full draw.
With 14 world championship finals and six world titles between them both Steve Davis and Jimmy White are undoubtedly snooker legends, but success in recent years has been somewhat harder to achieve. Today however, both showed that they still have the talent and they still have to hunger for the game by winning their final qualifying matches this week and qualifying for the TV stages of the Roewe Shanghai Masters later this month.
First to win was Jimmy White who recorded a stunning 5-1 win over 1997 world champion Ken Doherty. Again as in many of his matches this season White’s performance wasn’t one full of high breaks, but his determination and ability to fight this week was enough to beat an opponent playing his first ever match at Prestatyn. With the venue being as small and as intimate as it is, Ken can be forgiven for being a bit lost away from the TV venues that he has become accustomed to, but he will nevertheless be disappointed with this latest setback. Hopefully he will be back though, Ken is one of the nicest guys on the tour and is still classy enough to fight with the best.
White was then joined in the TV stages by six times world champion Steve Davis who recorded a very impressive 5-3 win over the dangerous Gerard Greene. Greene on the back of a good win yesterday against Steve’s namesake Mark was always going to be a tough but to crack but breaks of 64, 50 and 54 were enough to see him home. Davis will meet defending champion Dominic Dale in Shanghai in what is bound to be another close match.
Northern Ireland Trophy finalist Dave Harold kept up his brilliant form today with an excellent 5-1 win over Rod Lawer. The most impressive aspect of Dave’s performance today was his scoring which with breaks of 62, 84, 44, 83 and 41 ensured that Lawler was always on the back foot.
Similarly impressive was Ireland’s Fergal O’Brien who won 5-3 in what was a high quality encounter with Ian Preece, highlighted by a break of 137 in the penultimate frame. Preece who yesterday recorded the highest break of the week and of his career fought well to level the match at 3-3 but Fergal moved up a gear when he had to and sealed the win.
Also progressing were Anthony Hamilton who won 5-1 against livewire Michael Holt and interestingly the 1995 World semi-finalist Andy Hicks who won his third match of the week in beating Michael Judge 5-2. In a match where nearly every frame seemed to go the distance, Hicks managed to follow White’s example and keep his nerve in these situations
The veterans didn’t have it all their own way today however as Joe Swail slipped to a 5-3 defeat against teenager Judd Trump. In a performance highlighted by a tremendous break of 135 Trump showed some of the promise that has put him up to a career high position of 41 in the rankings to earn a match with Mark Selby in the last 32
Two of the most comfortable wins tonight belonged to Welsh pair Matthew Stevens and twice world champion Mark Williams who both recorded 5-1 wins tonight. Stevens overcame Alan McManus, gaining some measure of revenge following defeat to the Scot in last week’s Northern Ireland trophy. Williams meanwhile beat Mark Joyce by the same scoreline as his quest to regain a place in the top 16 goes on.
The match of the day however was that between Stephen Lee and Leicester’s Tom Ford. Ford started brilliantly with a run of 106 which set him on the way to a 4-1 lead and seemingly a comfortable win. Lee showed his class however and fought back well taking the next three frames. With the scores level though, Ford finished off the match as he started it with his second century of the match to seal an excellent win.
Similarly Stuart Pettman secured a place in Shanghai by winning the last two frames in his match against Nigel Bond to win 5-4. The match got off to a flying start with first Bond making a break of 119 before Pettman went one better with a 120 and then 114 to move into the lead. Bond then fought back to go 4-3 ahead following a lengthy seventh frame but it was Pettman who was to prevail and earn a shot at world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan in Shanghai.
Less close however were the matches involving Jamie Cope and Stuart Bingham. Cope, looking to break into the top 16 for the first time this season managed to see off Welshman Jamie Burnett without losing a frame whilst Bingham did likewise against 36 year old Mike Dunn.
Today’s results in full:
Steve Davis 5-3 Gerard Greene 19-65(50), 80(64)-34, 74(50)-0, 68-18, 65(54)-25, 40(30)-70(40), 60-68, 57-34
Dave Harold 5-1 Rod Lawler 92(62)-0, 84(84)-0, 71(44)-38, 83(83)-4, 36-61, 53(41)-6
Fergal O’Brien 5-3 Ian Preece 80(50)-53(39), 57(57)-66(48), 66(39)-12, 74(50)-0, 37-74, 0-90(82), 137(137)-0, 63(36)-18
Ian McCulloch 2-5 Ricky Walden 66-44, 70(40)-13, 8-46, 46-63, 50-73(42), 0-69(40), 14-73(35,38)
Joe Swail 3-5 Judd Trump 0-135(135), 69-22, 38-54, 42-64, 77(66)-16, 73-63, 0-92(92), 52-65(38)
Ken Doherty 1-5 Jimmy White 37-92(44), 28-73, 0-82(82), 24-80(42), 88(50, 38)-0, 8-70(37)
Anthony Hamilton 5-1 Michael Holt 62(32)-39, 66(52)-54, 76(76)-32(32), 61(43)-14, 48(44)-83(72), 71(67)-28
Michael Judge 2-5 Andy Hicks 66-67(38), 67(40)-54(54), 79-6, 25-69(39), 0-71(59), 23-86(82), 43-73(64)
Barry Hawkins 5-2 David Morris 73(56)-12, 66-54(54), 6-85(70), 67(47)-21, 49(44)-70(38), 87(49)-4, 103(103)-0
Stuart Bingham 5-0 Mike Dunn 70-34, 71(38)-36, 94(68)-52, 74(74)-10, 70-42
Stephen Lee 4-5 Tom Ford 0-106(106), 9-71(71), 87-25, 14-81(45,35), 13-69(56), 64(36)-14, 71(56)-64, 65(40)-1, 0-138(100)
Mark Williams 5-1 Mark Joyce 97(38,37)-4, 53(41)-54(37), 101(77)-4, 68(67)-43, 76(38)-28, 63(39)-60(35)
Matthew Stevens 5-1 Alan McManus 67-37, 70(46)-43, 81(80)-0, 74(73)-28, 1-83(69), 69(36)-28
Jamie Cope 5-0 Jamie Burnett 69-48, 71(42)-45, 67(33)-55(55), 81(48)-1, 62(45)-17
Nigel Bond 4-5 Stuart Pettman 119(119)-18, 0-120(120), 1-115(114), 74-49, 70-1, 0-88(88), 66-13, 47-72, 13-72
As reported in the Shropshire Star prior to his 5-3 defeat at the hands of world number 59 Mark Joyce today, Shropshire veteran Adrian Gunnell has admitted that he is currently struggling to find his best form. Gunnell, at a career high ranking of 36th for 2008/9 has confessed to experiencing problems with his tip recently, saying that:
“I’m getting there but I’m still not playing that great,” he added.
“I’ve got through a lot of tips in the last month and it has been so frustrating.
“They are just so inconsistent. You take two from the same box and one is like a sponge and the other one like a bullet.”
Hopefully he can get over these problems and regain the form that propelled him to his position in the rankings as after finishing last season in 35th place on the one year rankings, he’s well in the mix to break into the top 32 for the first time in his career if he can have another solid season.
Click here for the draw.
Crowd favourite Jimmy White maintained his 100% Prestatyn record this season by beating former Welsh Open finalist Andrew Higginson 5-3 on Thursday afternoon. Although White failed to hit top form in terms of his scoring, he showed his experience to come through several close frames to reach the fourth round, finishing the match appropriately by winning the eighth frame by just five points. He now faces the 1997 World Champion Ken Doherty in what is an intriguing match-up for the right to play in Shanghai later this month. Doherty, the likeable Irishman, will be looking to build on a solid start to the season himself however and put a run together that will help him to regain a top 16 position for next season.
Scoring well however was Welshman Ian Preece who not only progressed to the next round with a 5-2 win over Marcus Campbell, but also recorded his highest break in professional competition. His previous best was a 134 break that he made in qualifying for the 2004 World Championship but in frame six today he bettered that by five points with a sublime 139 to put him 4-2 ahead at the time. Next up for him is a tricky clash with Irishman Fergal O’Brien tomorrow.
All but one of the players still in the draw who played in Monday’s first round matches bowed out today with defeats for Lee Spick, Andy Lee, Robert Stephen, Stephen Craigie, Matt Selt and Matt Couch. Indeed the sole remaining player Atthasit Mahitthi is yet to progress to round four as his match with Liang Wenbo has been held over until the venue.
Selt and Craigie’s impressive runs in the tournament were ended by experienced pros Jamie Burnett and Mike Dunn respectively. Burnett in particular played well, recording a break of 114 and not dropping a frame in a 5-0 win while Dunn secured a 5-2 victory. Both Selt and Craigie however will take a useful 900 points from the event along with some match experience that can only be useful for the rest of the season.
Couch meanwhile went down 5-2 to Alan McManus who maintained his impressive recent form and set up a rematch with Matthew Stevens who he beat 5-2 in Northern Ireland just last week.
Arguably the match with the highest standard today however was Gerard Greene’s 5-3 victory over Mark Davis, a match containing one century and five over breaks over 50. Given Davis’ good form in his last couple of ranking events going back to last season when he qualified for the World Championship, this was a very good result for Greene who lost to Doherty in Northern Ireland. Next up is snooker legend Steve Davis and Greene will be hoping for better luck than in their meeting in the first round of the 2005 World Championship where Davis prevailed 10-9.
* held over to Shanghai
Gerard Greene 5-3 Mark Davis 22-68, 108(108)-8, 75(44)-21, 23-77(53), 59(53)-44(36), 83(83)-6, 7-86(57), 70(57)-0
Jimmy Michie 4-5 Rod Lawler 44-72(34), 10-73(48), 43(38)-74(32), 76(38)-50, 68(36)-1, 63(41)-34, 35-76, 64(59)-57, 29-60(51)
Marcus Campbell 2-5 Ian Preece 64(31)-50(36), 33-60(49), 62(44)-44(36), 1-84(54), 0-139(139), 35-78
Ricky Walden 5-3 Lee Spick 39(39)-76(45), 69(69)-7, 99(99)-0, 2-84(80), 10-108(48, 60), 63(42)-45, 81(38)-41, 110(101)-6
Judd Trump 5-2 Andy Lee 71(52)-18, 58(58)-61(46), 70(38)-63, 79(68)-7, 89(70)-47(47), 35-57(33), 66-33
Andrew Higginson 3-5 Jimmy White 55-65, 54(36)-63, 38-74(43), 62(40)-53(40), 6-74(74), 74(74)-1, 80(68)-17, 54-59
Michael Holt 5-1 Robert Stephen 104(74)-6, 64-50, 68(49)-18, 0-68(51), 77(36)-50, 66(61)-9
Dave Gilbert 2-5 Andy Hicks 9-60, 21-68(44), 42-45, 70-0, 27-57(54), 71(71)-29, 42-58(34)
Tom Ford 5-2 Andrew Norman 129(125)-0, 0-106(91), 93(62)-16, 27-71(70), 72(55)-46, 80(45)-6, 79(35)-47(39)
Mike Dunn 5-2 Stephen Craigie 117(39,69)-0, 97(91)-8, 0-79(31,48), 64-52, 0-67(46), 71(47)-30, 77(71)-24
*Liang Wenbo 0-0 Atthasit Mahitthi
Rory McLeod 3-5 Stuart Pettman 106(45,57)-0, 41-53(39), 50-66(36), 66-52, 62-61, 22-72(72), 11-67(48), 50-78(47)
David Gray 3-5 David Morris 20-65(43), 65(43)-21, 66(51)-42(37), 9-62(35), 7-82(73), 73-50, 26-82(82), 20-56(34)
Jamie Burnett 5-0 Matt Selt 64-54, 80(54)-42(36), 60(38)-15, 115(114)-0, 57-47
Alan McManus 5-2 Matt Couch 86-51, 28-52, 68(60)-35, 70(69)-8, 31-86(54), 72(51)-36, 72(46)-16
Adrian Gunnell 3-5 Mark Joyce 45-67, 67(48)-4, 11-65, 41-73(39), 76(46)-0, 72(40)-34, 50(40)-74(45), 8-90(77)