World Championship 2013 Draw & Gossip

fangee

SarahBM wrote: »

Eurosport have no problem showing all the snooker, and on two channels to boot. But my problem is more with the rubbish they cut to instead of the snooker. If they were going to the news or some prime time drama or another sporting event or something that draws a huge viewership, fine. but putting on the likes of Dads Army, Some Mothers Do Av Em and The Hairy Bikers?!?! please.
Plus I would happily watch the Snooker til 3am if it was a good match :P

Damn UPC and the lack of a red button :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

I've tried to watch it on Eurosport but the commentary is awful.

Truly awful.

SarahBM

fangee wrote: »

I've tried to watch it on Eurosport but the commentary is awful.

Truly awful.

not the best I admit but better than Dads Army :rolleyes:

Backstreet Moyes

Eurosport is not that bad but i do mute when Joe Johnson is talking. Fair play to Eurosport they show snooker all year round i would rather support them than BBC.

cherryghost

Milkins breaking under pressure this morning. He could have wrapped up he first frame but left the black hanging in the pockets for Walden to clear up. Bingham vs Davis has been very scrappy. A lot of great safety play though.

celticfc

Well folks I finally landed in Sheffield for the very first time this morning, great atmosphere around the place altogether even for a Sunday. Loving it!

Was up in the cue zone in the winter gardens earlier at the BBC studio and there was a massive crowd with Steve and Dennis entertaining.

Not going to a match today but I'm there for Ronnie vs Carter (to a finish) tomorrow evening and I have tickets for Murphy vs Trump on Tuesday, should be a cracker too.

Setun

celticfc wrote: »

Well folks I finally landed in Sheffield for the very first time this morning, great atmosphere around the place altogether even for a Sunday. Loving it!

Was up in the cue zone in the winter gardens earlier at the BBC studio and there was a massive crowd with Steve and Dennis entertaining.

Not going to a match today but I'm there for Ronnie vs Carter (to a finish) tomorrow evening and I have tickets for Murphy vs Trump on Tuesday, should be a cracker too.

You chose your sessions wisely!

Ronnie very unpredictable at the moment, although still just maintaining a lead of one frame. Flashes of brilliance mixed with surprising misses when you least expect them. Carter starting to grow in confidence too after just about stealing the 13th frame.

fangee

SarahBM wrote: »

not the best I admit but better than Dads Army :rolleyes:

Nuts102 wrote: »

Eurosport is not that bad but i do mute when Joe Johnson is talking. Fair play to Eurosport they show snooker all year round i would rather support them than BBC.

No. The commentary from Eurosport is just way too brutal to be listening to.

Having said that, if Dennis "where's the white going" Taylor says "snick" one more time then I'm buying a stanley blade and I'm going to introduce him to his jugular vein and show him what a 'snick" is.

desodon

celticfc wrote: »

Well folks I finally landed in Sheffield for the very first time this morning, great atmosphere around the place altogether even for a Sunday. Loving it!

Was up in the cue zone in the winter gardens earlier at the BBC studio and there was a massive crowd with Steve and Dennis entertaining.

Not going to a match today but I'm there for Ronnie vs Carter (to a finish) tomorrow evening and I have tickets for Murphy vs Trump on Tuesday, should be a cracker too.

Was there for the day yesterday, flew over in the morning and back lastnight. Went to Fu vs Trump, Ronnie vs Ali, and got to see the last frame of Selby vs Hawkins. There's a great buzz there alright. Go down the side door/stage door of the crucible (as you face the front door of Crucible, walk the outside perimeter of the theatre down the left side, and you should catch players coming and going and get some autographs/pics).

zack01

desodon wrote: »

Was there for the day yesterday, flew over in the morning and back lastnight. Went to Fu vs Trump, Ronnie vs Ali, and got to see the last frame of Selby vs Hawkins. There's a great buzz there alright. Go down the side door/stage door of the crucible (as you face the front door of Crucible, walk the outside perimeter of the theatre down the left side, and you should catch players coming and going and get some autographs/pics).

Head to the Graduate pub every evening after the snooker, the majority of the press guys and refs etc land up there for a few pints.

The players (well the top ones anyway) and all the commentators are staying in the St Paul hotel directly behind the winter garden, you'll catch then in the bar most evenings, as long as you do it respectfully they don't mind you coming up asking for an autograph or photo.

It stays open late too, I finished up Thursday & fri nite in the bar after 4am, I could just about make it to the lift !

I'm back home until Sunday then back again for the last two days.

Enjoy Celtic any other info you need or if your stuck for a ticket just send me a message.

Oh and I posted a few pics on the clubs Facebook page.

Setun

Rumors floating about Twitter that Barry Hearn is going to announce a new UK tournament later today for next season. Reinvigorated Scottish Open perhaps? I do find it funny that, despite the quality of players that have come out of Scotland, there's no been no major tournament based there in recent years.

And related - as Graeme Dott didn't qualify, it is indeed the first time a Scott hasn't made it to the WC quarter finals since 1988.

zack01

Setun wrote: »

Rumors floating about Twitter that Barry Hearn is going to announce a new UK tournament later today for next season. Reinvigorated Scottish Open perhaps? I do find it funny that, despite the quality of players that have come out of Scotland, there's no been no major tournament based there in recent years.

And related - as Graeme Dott didn't qualify, it is indeed the first time a Scott hasn't made it to the WC quarter finals since 1988.

They held a PTC there before Christmas and it was'nt a great success in terms of attendance figures however your spot on for a country that has produced so many great champions it's surprising that there is'nt a big ranking event or invitational event in Scotland, i attended the Regal Masters for many years and always found it an enjoyable event, obviously with the tobacco ban Regal had to pull out but with sponsors apparantely easy to come by for Barry Hearn surely it should be a formality. It's an amazing stat too that no Scotsman is in the last 8, to be honest the Scottish game has suffered since the events came to an end up there, take for instance the top 16, you have Maguire, Higgins and Dott and looking at their performances this season its hardly encourging, yes Higgins won in China and Maguire won the Welsh but there was a time when Scottish players dominated the game, yes Hendry retired but he was'nt winning anything for several seasons before he called it a day. As for the future there really is'nt anyone exciting coming through, so it will be left to the old heads Higgins, Maguire and Dott to keep the flag flying for the foreseeable future.

Setun

Yeah I think having the PTC up there is almost a token gesture to Scottish snooker. They could really do with pushing a serious event up there, even something approaching the UK Championships level of prestige out of respect for the talent that has come out of there. I can imagine the PTC event wasn't well attended because I don't think a lot of casual snooker fans take them very seriously yet. A well publicised, prestige event with the top 16 appearing in Edinburgh or Glasgow would really do well I think. There's a square in Edinburgh where they show the bbc coverege in a big square - I've seen it a couple of times now, including for the UK championships.

Although I may just be saying that as I'll be moving there in a couple of months :P

Setun

Well, Hearn has announced a new major UK tournament, but not in Scotland alas :P I wonder will ITV expand its snooker portfolio and pick this one up for broadcasting?

rte wrote:

Hearn today announced a new tournament for next season, the Champion of Champions event to take place at Coventry's Ricoh Arena from 19 to 24 November.
[...]

The Champion of Champions will carry a top prize of £100,000 for the winner, making it one of the most lucrative tournaments and adding a major event to the UK schedule. It will feature this season's tournament winners, playing in four groups of four, from which the leading player goes through to the semi-final stage.

source: http://www.rte.ie/sport/snooker/2013/0429/388264-hearn-unmoved-by-failing-stars/

Glenman

The 7-8pm live slot is back on BBC 2 this evening :-)

SarahBM

but they cut out just when Ronnie was 12-8 up.

zack01

Quarter final time in Sheffield and I'm going for O'Sullivan to comfortably beat Bingham. I think O'Sullivan is slowly moving through the gears and the way he dispatched Carter last night shows us that Ronnie is playing well. Bingham may just find the occasion of playing Ronnie at the Cruible overwhelming. I fancy Ronnie to win 13-6

The second quater in the draw sees Murphy playing Trump, Murphy has played some of the best snooker so far at Sheffield whereas Trump came through easily in the end against a deflated Fu. I feel Murphy has more than Trump in the match play department and that should see him through but only just. I fancy Murphy to win 13-11.

The third quater has Walden playing qualifier Michael White, Walden survived a spirited fightback from Milkins in the last round but showed his quality when the match winning chance was handed to him. White has had a great tournament and reminds me a lot of qualifier and fellow Welshman Lee Walker who in '97 also reached the quarter finals. I think Waldens experience will show here, expect some decent snooker here between these two. Walden to win 13-9.

The last match sees Ding play Barry Hawkins, a lot of people will fancy Ding here but Hawkins is a class act and showed that by beating Mark Selby 13-10 from 9-7 down in the last round. If any of the quarters is going to provide a shock result than I feel this is the match to produce it. Hawkins has won a ranking event this season and knows how to handle a big occasion, all the pressure will be on Ding. My prediction ? Hawkins to win 13-11.

A quality line up over the next two days it has to be said.

col.in.Cr

I am guessing the lads in Eurosport are in a bad spot to watch from hence all the wrong calls from them?

fangee

Ronnie, Trump, White and Hawkins all to go through for me.

KERSPLAT!

I'll go with Ronnie, Trump, Waldon and Ding

the groutch

Ding sure likes to give his opponents a head start.

zack01

col.in.Cr wrote: »

I am guessing the lads in Eurosport are in a bad spot to watch from hence all the wrong calls from them?

Commentating from the Eurosport studio in London.

col.in.Cr

zack01 wrote: »

Commentating from the Eurosport studio in London.

That explains it then,cheers

col.in.Cr

Wow Trump is really struggling here,

KERSPLAT!

That was a huge frame for him

giant_midget

It's funny when you watch the snooker year after year - you start to remember the faces in the crowd.

Anyone notice the guy in the blue/white top always is sitting beside the players seats smirking and looking up at the monitors? (doesn't seem to be there for the Ronnie match now) Fair play to him he does be there every year.

From reading Zack01's score predictions this morning i put €10 on the 13-6 ronnie v bingham scoreline, got 17/2 so not too shabby.

PauloMN

giant_midget wrote: »

It's funny when you watch the snooker year after year - you start to remember the faces in the crowd.

Anyone notice the guy in the blue/white top always is sitting beside the players seats smirking and looking up at the monitors? (doesn't seem to be there for the Ronnie match now) Fair play to him he does be there every year.

From reading Zack01's score predictions this morning i put €10 on the 13-6 ronnie v bingham scoreline, got 17/2 so not too shabby.

Or the woman with the Margaret Thatcher hairdo.... she's been going for years!

Always plenty of people on the phone waving at the camera between sessions as well when it's showing the seating.

messinkiapina

7-0 up. Ronnie's playing unreal stuff. I didn't expect him to be as good as this after so long off. Presuming Ronnie gets through to the semi, you'd imagine whoever wins that semi vs Trump or Murphy will be a hot favourite in the final.

Setun

messinkiapina wrote: »

7-0 up. Ronnie's playing unreal stuff. I didn't expect him to be as good as this after so long off. Presuming Ronnie gets through to the semi, you'd imagine whoever wins that semi vs Trump or Murphy will be a hot favourite in the final.

I didn't catch any of Ronnie's game today sadly - is his long potting any better than it has been earlier in the week? That was the only thing I could really see missing from his game, although occasionally the odd lapse in concentration let him down.

Judd on a hell of a comeback right now too, fascinating stuff to watch. The final session should be very interesting indeed.

messinkiapina

Setun wrote: »

I didn't catch any of Ronnie's game today sadly - is his long potting any better than it has been earlier in the week? That was the only thing I could really see missing from his game, although occasionally the odd lapse in concentration let him down.

Judd on a hell of a comeback right now too, fascinating stuff to watch. The final session should be very interesting indeed.

Everything about Ronnie's game was spot on today. His long potting was much much better. I think he was at 100% long pot conversion going into the final frame, he missed a couple in that frame but still ended at ~90% I think. His break building was immaculate too.

Great effort by Judd here too. Himself and Ronnie would make a great semi.

desodon

messinkiapina wrote: »

Everything about Ronnie's game was spot on today. His long potting was much much better. I think he was at 100% long pot conversion going into the final frame, he missed a couple in that frame but still ended at ~90% I think. His break building was immaculate too.

Great effort by Judd here too. Himself and Ronnie would make a great semi.

And I'll be sitting in the Crucible watching the last two sessions of that match (Friday night and Saturday @ 2.30pm).

Hard to call between Judd and Shaun, but I reckon either opponent should make a great match