World Snooker Championship 2012

Setun

zack01 wrote: »

Statement released from Mark Allen.....


Mark Allen's management stable, OnQ Promotions, have issued the following statement on his behalf:

"Following my recent comments in the press conference after my first round defeat to Cao Yupeng, I would like to formally apologise to anyone who may have been offended.

"Having taken some time to reflect on my comments I can appreciate that I over-stepped the line at a time when I was heavily influenced by the emotions of a disappointing defeat.

"I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Cao Yupeng if he felt that my comments were insinuating he were a cheat. I stand by my opinion that the shot in question was a foul, but I also stand by my previous comments in the press conference that Cao was the better player and fully deserved to win. I genuinely wish him the best of luck for the rest of the tournament.

"I would also like to apologise to World Snooker. I appreciate the hard work by many people to grow our sport and I am truly horrified to think that my actions could be perceived to be detrimental to this.

"It is fair to say that this season has been one of ups and downs. The highs of winning my first ranking title and finishing runner-up in the UK championships have been overshadowed by some ill judged comments from myself.

"I realise that I need to ensure that my off table behaviour matches the standard and level of professionalism I set for my on table etiquette. I will return for the 2012-13 season with an improved approach to giving my opinions publicly."

"The Chinese, a great bunch of lads."

cherryghost

Daddio wrote: »

"The Chinese, a great bunch of lads."

zack01

zack01 wrote: »

Lee v Higginson is another match where i feel the seed will fall, a lot of people tipped Lee for these championships but Higginson is probably one of the hardest draws he could have got, Higginson has the experience albeit not at the Cruicble but i fancy him to beat Lee today.

Now why didn't I put a few bob on that??

radiata

zack01 wrote: »

Now why didn't I put a few bob on that??

Wow! He played some super snooker this evening full of confidence, will be interesting to have himself or Jamie Jones in a quarter final.
Higginson odds have been slashed into 33/1 with some bookies, but still has a long way to go.

Samich

Just put 20 bean on Selby, how's he playing?

Samich

Selby needing 4 snookers, got 2 already, one amazing shot!

cherryghost

God damn you Selby. I'm tired.

cherryghost

6-3 to Hawkins. Very long session, both players must be exhausted after that. Entertaining bar frame 8. I don't mind a tactical frame but sometimes its just too much.

zack01

Day five at the Cruicble and here's what's coming up



3* Graeme Dott v Joe Perry
13* Ding Junhui v Ryan Day
 
2.30pm
8* Judd Trump v Dominic Dale
9 Mark Williams v Liu Chuang
 
7pm
7 Ali Carter v Mark Davis
16* Mark Selby v Barry Hawkins

* denotes match to a finish.

I'm sure Greame Dott would rather be on his way home than to come out and try and prevent what I'm sure will be a formality and a win for Perry. He was just plain awful yesterday and Perry will want to wrap things up pretty quickly.

Ding v Day I feel is going to be a close one this morning, ding may not be playing great snooker but I still fancy him to win the match.

The afternoon sees Trump v Dale continue their match and again this is a match that could go to the wire. Dale had Trump on the rack yesterday and with Trump suffering with food poisoning he still couldn't put a foothold on the match. Another close one in store here.

Williams v Liu will be interesting enough considering one player thinks the venue is a sh**hole so the other should settle in and enjoy the class venue that the Cruicble is !! I can't see Williams losing though.

The evening sees Cater v Davis and I'm going to go for Davis here, quite simply carter has had a horrible season and Davis hasn't, Davis is on the verge of breaking into the top 16 and should do so with two wins here.
The other match is Williams v Liu to a finish.

Enjoy

Silvio.Dante

nice summary Zack

I'll be working at Punchestown again today and for the rest of the week so I'll be burning the midnight oil watching the BBC highlights...

zack01

Silvio.Dante wrote: »

nice summary Zack

I'll be working at Punchestown again today and for the rest of the week so I'll be burning the midnight oil watching the BBC highlights...

You'll still have the second week, thats when the tournament really warms up !!

Permabear

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zack01

Permabear wrote: »

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I agree with you there, sometimes Williams can come out with the most ridiculous comments, to be honest i don't think he has a brain in that head of his, he probably could have worded it better, but the players have been warned before, personally i can't see him getting any type of ban, they will hit him with a fan and warn him to watch his future conduct.

Allen on the other hand really should have the book throw at him, it's one thing calling a venue a ****hole but it's bang out of order calling your fellow pro's cheats.

Permabear

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Permabear

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zack01

Permabear wrote: »

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Yes delighted for Joe, i dont think in his wildest dreams could he have imagined how easy that was going to be. Dott seriously has to look at his game and see where he is going, coming to a world championship as a three time finalist and previous winner and putting up a performance like that must be soul destroying. You can accept it if your opponent just blew you away with superb snooker but Perry just went about his business and did what he had to do against a player who seemed from 3-0 down did'nt really want to be there.

So another seed goes, and on the other table a right battle is on the cards, Day had a chance to go 7-4 up but Ding nicks it and it's now 6-5.

Permabear

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Jimoslimos

Permabear wrote: »

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Part of me wonders was Mark Williams having a sly dig at Allen, since in the same interview he expressed his preference for playing in China!

Anyway it's completely ridiculous from Hearn, if a footballer remarked they prefer to play in Anfield rather than Wembley or a famous singer opted for intimate small gigs over say Madison Square Gardens nothing whatsoever would be made of it.

Permabear

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cherryghost

Permabear wrote: »

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I think Ding has upped his safety play a bit imo. Day had the upper hand in the first session but Ding has swung back and has put Day into all sorts of bother. I think Ding will win it 10-7

Permabear

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zack01

Permabear wrote: »

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Day showing a lot of character here.

Permabear

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Michael Collins

And 9-8 it is. Would love to see a decider here!

zack01

Barring a snooker it's 9-9. Ding under it now !

Permabear

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cherryghost

Even though I predicted 10-7 to Ding, I put a cheeky bet on Day to win 10-9. Hopefully it'll pay off

Michael Collins

Ya gotta love a final frame decider. Snooker at its best!

cherryghost

Ah Day.

Permabear

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cherryghost

Ah Day!

PauloMN

Unreal, 38 points ahead (or whatever it was) and he fluffs an easy red. Pressure of the deciding frame I guess.

Let's see what Day can make of it.

cherryghost

Yes. Get in! 50 quid thank you very much!

PauloMN

Wow, what a comback! Ding messed up badly.

Permabear

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zack01

cherryghost wrote: »

Even though I predicted 10-7 to Ding, I put a cheeky bet on Day to win 10-9. Hopefully it'll pay off

Another seed goes, congrats Cherryghost, I'd say you got decent enough odds there.
This tournament just gets better and better !!

Can't wait to go back over.

cherryghost

That win secures Ryan Day's top 32 status too. Jamie Jones also guaranteed a top 32 place too after his epic win. Of course both players won't even be thinking of such a thing, great to see so many surprises. We could see a 4th Welshman at LEAST into the next round if Dale wins against Trump this afternoon. I'm very interested to see how Williams plays though, so I'll have both tables on

zack01

7 seeds gone out in the first round so far, Selby Williams and Carter watch out !!

cherryghost

PauloMN wrote: »

Wow, what a comback! Ding messed up badly.

Aye you'd think with all the experience he wouldn't choke. Just goes to show really.

TheHopeful

This is definately the biggest shock of the 1st round for me. Never saw it coming. After Ding in the masters, and Days woeful form!
I had money on Ding outright too, ah well! He deserved to lose, hats off to Day. I still have Ronnie and Maguire.

I dont fancy Selby to come back, or Carter to win either to be honest. Gotta love the underdogs

Looking forward to see how Williams plays too. Hopefully he can set up a cracker vrs Ronnie.

zack01

I hav'nt known a world championship with so many seeds going out so early. It's absolutely fantastic for the game that all these lower ranked players are now getting the recognition they deserve. They should all form a que and shake Barry Hearns hand one by one, he has opened up the game by listening to what every player wanted and that was to play more snooker.

We probably would never have seen the likes of Jamie Jones, Andrew Higginson or any of the Chinese players except for Ding, Fu or Wenbo who were already established players.

The increase from 6 to 30 events per season has really helped the lower ranked players gain that all important experience, experience they would never have got in the past regimes of Sir Rodney Walker and Co.

Even players such as Lee and Ebdon who were once top 10 players but fell by the wayside have suddenly found themselves back in the winners circle again and thats all thanks to playing more snooker. You can practise ten hours a dy in the club but there is simply no substitute for tournament play.

For too long the top players were protected by their guaranteed ranking but that's all changed now, the biggest example being seven time winner Hendry having to qualify for the Cruicble. Before if you were ranked in the top 16 at the start of the season you automatically qualified for every event, not any more. It will get even better now with the announcement that the rankings will now be based on money won, so if your a winner or frequently in the business end of tournaments your ranking will show that.

So yes there has been plenty of shocks so far over the last five days but should we be so surprised when we see the amount of snooker these qualifiers and lesser known players have played?

The last qualifier to win the World's was Shaun Murphy, could we see another one next Monday week??

Glenman

Great tournament, 7 of the top 16 have been knocked out so far in the first round.

zack01

Seems a lot of the Cruicble audience have let their feelings know to Williams with a chorus of boos when he was introduced today re his recent comments.

zack01

Looks like Ding is the latest sore loser this week, comments from his press conference include, ' The fans are rubbish' and 'The table is not right' !!

More to follow.....

zack01

Dale 7-6 at the break, this has 10-9 written all over it, to who it's anyone's guess !!

radiata

zack01 wrote: »

Looks like Ding is the latest sore loser this week, comments from his press conference include, ' The fans are rubbish' and 'The table is not right' !!

More to follow.....

I didn't think Ding was like that, i thought he was a very quiet person. he never seems to show his emotions anyways.
C'mon give us another 147!

Gunslinger92

Anyone want to be a dear and tell me who the 7 seeds knocked out are? I know Ding and Murphy are gone.
Wish I had sky in my college house!

Upset on the cards on the Dale/Trump match?

zack01

Gunslinger92 wrote: »

Anyone want to be a dear and tell me who the 7 seeds knocked out are? I know Ding and Murphy are gone.
Wish I had sky in my college house!

Gould, Allen, Murphy, Bingham, Lee, Dott, Ding.

Gunslinger92

How could I forget Allen with that ending! Have to say I laughed a little, I'm the biggest fan of Allen ..

Setun

Well the Trump v Dale match ended with a bit plenty of drama. Between the snookers, flukes, kicks, great long pots, and a calamity of errors - I was right on the edge of my seat for the last frame I'll tell you that!
Trump showed flashes of brilliance, although a few days rest from his bout of food poisoning will certainly do him a lot of good. I like Dominic Dale (mainly for the various myths surrounding him as a character :P) but he's quite inconsistent when he's in the balls, which really let him down again today.