Dark horse for the Worlds

Really like the look of black beauty tbh.

ill be watching from the white horse, after timing with bob.

Probably say this every year but the qualifiers look a bit uninspiring. Least so far anyway. Ursenbacher is probably the one I'd want to avoid as s seed, has the 'could be anything' look about him with the timeform squiggle.

Cant remember last time i thought this but at moment Murphy is firmly on my radar.

with all that has gone on this year its crying out for you to back a handful of rags...but wait for the draw is my advice

Only one bet so far on Thepchaiya. 100 is way too big imo. Would probably still bet him at 50. A danger to whoever he draws.

Not a great draw gj, although he might get a bye if O'Sullivan doesn't fancy it. The big positive of course with The Sheriff pulling out is Kyren gets a bye, and can put his feet up instead of having a tricky opener. One down, four to go.

Not a great draw gj, although he might get a bye if O'Sullivan doesn't fancy it. The big positive of course with The Sheriff pulling out is Kyren gets a bye, and can put his feet up instead of having a tricky opener. One down, four to go.

Figured you might be on the Wilson train gobe. You're happy enough so.

Thought i was doin ok getting theppy at 100 and next thing he's even bigger. No matter, just back him again and if he does beat ronnie at least the price will plummet. No biggie.

Who else you looking at? Murphy ticking a few boxes for me. Exact same odds as wilson which is fair enough. Will throw a few shekels on Urse just to get rid of em and look for something in top half of draw. Maybe even wilson!

I'd have really fancied Murphy had we not had the break, and I was happy Maguire won the Tour Championship, as if he hadn't Kyren would have had Murphy in R2. I think Higgins enters calculations, as he'll be fresh, although the lack of a capacity crowd is a big negative for him. The different atmosphere is the big unknown and had we got a stronger group of qualifiers, I think we could have had a shock winner. M.Gould played well in the qualifiers, and he seems in a good place mentally, and as he is a streak player he might have a chance in the top quarter - he certainly shouldn't be 66/1.

Interesting interview with Gould the other night. Down in the dumps in march, even considering packing it in, lockdown comes, he reevaluates and now he's heading to the crucible with a spring in his step. Cant say i really rate him but does make him dangerous. I'm not ruling many out.

The one i think could struggle with break is robbo. Just seems a momentum kind of guy to me who when he gets on a roll can be hard to stop. So i think it could be a chance for Murphy to avenge last year if they meet in R2. Thats my theory anyway. Just waiting to be bombed to pieces!

I think Robertson would have benefited from no crowd at The Crucible more than most of the other main contenders, as he has buckled  there many times since he won it. He's been talking about working on his fitness and diet, as much as his game recently, and he now believes he needs to be more competitive in the safety exchanges here. He has a difficult draw, and someone like Wenbo is just the sort of player who could give him trouble if he doesn't start well. In the past couple of seasons he has had spells in the season where he has looked almost unbeatable, which ties in with what you say about him getting on a roll. But, he'll do well to get on a roll in a section full of tactically astute players (Murphy apart).
I think a few players have benefited from lock-down, but we really only know about how it affected the qualifiers following their recent interviews. What we don't know is how it affected most of the seeds, and how much work they were able to put in. There's lots and lots of "ifs" and "buts" this year.

Poor old Un-Nooh looked like a rabbit in the headlights gj. Hopefully, the end will be merciful. Murphy was on the drift for a while, I'm assuming that this was linked to him going to Portugal for Brandon Parker's funeral, and doubts whether he would be able to compete - but it seems he can. You can't beat a bit more COVID confusion!

Have you had any more dabbles gj? I know you mentioned Ursenbacher, and normally I wouldn't give him a prayer in a section as tough as Quarter 4. But, you've got to think the lack of a crowd is not going to benefit Crucible stalwarts The Hawk, Murphy or Selby. Isn't it great hearing that applause at the end of a frame, or for a century - it made me think that there really is a crowd. Another wonderful idea from Hearn no doubt, but I suppose after A.Hamilton's decision was totally vindicated following his vitriolic attack he had to deflect it somehow.

How many times we see ronnie do that gobe? From first frame was just attacking every single shot and asking thep how long he could  play this game of chicken for. Not long was the answer.

Have to admit I'm not fully engaged in this, watching the matches but too many invariables to have any great convictions, I've backed murphy because of his season and life changes but its a tough section so just a hopeful punt. Top section is where you want to be but who comes out of it? No idea. Judd maybe got his bad snooker out of the way and hits top gear again? Very possible but still no interest in betting him.

Ronnie says it feels like he's at holiday camp and if he's genuinely living it then I'd make him favourite. But i rarely believe anything ronnie says about his own game so i wouldn't bank on that either.

Did think we might see more seeds falling but just the one so far which is interesting. Didnt look the greatest crop of qualifiers tbf, few of the chinese boys missing.

Am almost tempted to back no maximum rather large, near enough 1.9 last i saw. May well be likely but i dont know is it that likely?

So not much insight here I'm afraid. How bout you? Never thought the sheriff required any vindication btw. He did what was best and right for him as a professional snooker player. Barry talking about him depriving other players of an opportunity made me chuckle tbh, because how many players did Barry deprive of opportunities by handing out tour cards to his mates? Just came across hypocritical imho.

no maxi was 4/6 on here start of tournament, been bigger matched i/r during ford & muglin's maxi chances

Got some run on murphy to be fair! Quick death sometimes a reasonable option. Noppon did some potting to be fair to him, punished every mistake, never looked under any pressure at all.

Have to take on selby and allen at yhese skinny prices. Both probably win but selby playing muck and Clarke doesnt look too bad.

Must admit i'm pleasantly surprised to see Clarke at 5/2 to beat Mcgill, played a blinder against Allen, thought he'd be favourite in this match.

Hopefully, you got your outright losses back on Clarke gj? I've got to be honest I was keen to oppose Allen, but thought my chance would come with McGill in R2. Clarke saw it out really well last night, but McGill must think he's dreaming - Lisowski and Clarke for a place in the last 8, and who knows maybe Maflin if he gets there.
I've got to be honest I've not had too many bets this year with so many unknowns. I'm on Wilson outright - and was hopeful of odds of about 4/5 to beat Maguire - who I think he would have buried (although I suppose that's easy to say now it's not going to happen), and I had to have a (small) dabble on The Hawk before he started his 1st round match. I'd be confident he would beat Robertson, or at least run him close, in a capacity Crucible, but i think an empty venue favours Robertson.
If you're going back in on the outrights, please steer clear of Kyren

Nah, you'll be pleased to hear I'll be on Gould to take out kyren. Kicking myself i didnt see it before the Maguire match. I even remarked after his interview after the qualifiers where he talked about being in a dark place a few months back that it made him a dangerous player coming here but i forgot about it completely. Just not paying enough attention basically. Price isnt really great tbh but I'll have a bit on just for interest.

Also with the other poster above rw Clarke. Probably expecting a lot to think he'd repeat his first round performance against mcgill but i doubt he'd have to. Not sure mcgill should be that price against anybody in a world last 16 quite frankly. Have to take him on really.

Gould is definitely dangerous, and I'm a bit worried he'll catch Wilson cold early on. The tournament will be past half-way before Wilson plays his 1st shot, so although he benefited from the bye, it might leave him a bit under-cooked early on against Gould. I think Clarke is over-priced, but not overly. He was 80/1 just to qualify for The Crucible (he had to win just 3 matches), and he has massively over-achieved in the past couple of weeks. If they had played at EIS, I think McGill would have been a lot shorter, and I'd expect McGill to come on for the run against Lisowski - as he hasn't had a lot of success in the past couple of seasons and therefore he hasn't spent a lot of time on the main match tables. But, there were encouraging signs against Lisowski, and his cue action looked far more solid than of late. As I've said before I think he could develop into a Crucible specialist as he clearly prefers matches over a longer format.

This is certainly mcgills best tournament, at least he qualifies every year, so he's definitely the likeliest winner. Still a tad short on the basis of how clarke performed against allen i think, but no guarantee Clarke will repeat that.

Fascinated by Maflins interview last night. Remained in the uk past couple of months due to lockdown and put in the hard yards with jimmy and others. Think that change of routine flicked a switch for him. If judd falls, and it looks possible on what I've seen so far, it's a massive opportunity for wilson. Otherwise some complete banger is going to make a world final!

I didn't catch much of McGill v Clarke yesterday, but was surprised to see the score particularly as, looking at the frame scores, I was expecting lots of bitty, tactical, frames and thought McGill would probably win the majority of them. It's early days, but that is a healthy lead for Clarke. Regarding Maflin, I don't think Ken was too taken with his interview. He sounded baffled this morning that you wouldn't be putting in all the extra work with it being the World Championship. He said something along the lines of - what else are you going to be doing, it's your job haha. Well said Ken! For all that, Maflin reminded me a bit of Joe Johnson in '86 - absolutely fearless and he's won 2 tight finishes. He's got a chance on his current form.

I've had a small bet on Mark Williams @ 20/1 to win it. I think 20/1 is classed as a dark horse lol.

Didnt hear ken gobe, but i think maflin is lazy and the point is if he'd been back in norway with all the usual distractions of home around him, he wouldn't be as well prepared as he is. Jimmy made the point that you simply can't live in norway and expect to fulfil your potential and i agree on that.

Actually think maflin will be chuckling away to himself watching the mcgill-clarke match. Aside from the controversy, its a desperately poor quality affair and dont see either going much deeper. Not sure about mcgills behaviour there, will give him the benefit of doubt and say he didnt intend for the situation to escalate as it did, but regardless, clarke didnt have to crumble like he did. Tweeting mid frame ffs! I thought it was bad with Judd a few years back and that was during the interval!

Wilson looks ok but should be 6-2 at worst. Can give trump a real game if he comes through, not enamoured with judds body language at all.

*Tweeting between frames

Clarke is an idiot gj. To go on social media the way he has is so unprofessional. Joe Perry almost squared up to him in the qualifiers - as, according to Perry, Clarke kept wiping his cue down while Perry was down on the shot and had him in his eye line. Perry didn't cover himself in glory during the crucial 9th frame of that match, and overstepped the mark in my opinion, but Clarke knows what he's doing. I don't know what McGill said to Clarke backstage at the end of the 10th frame, but I saw nothing untoward from him in the arena. As you say, it's a poor quality match but there's a real edge to it, and tomorrow's deciding session will be well worth watching.

It's a tough situation. As you say, that's twice for Clarke so there may well be something in it, but if mcgill had that issue, I'm not sure he went the right way about it either. Clarke has handled it shockingly badly though, no question about that. Fear for his prospects tonight.

What price do you think Kyren v Judd. Will we see 2/1 or more?

I see robbo is flying along as usual with his 27 seconds ast. Might scrape past hawk but i fancy the overthinking and negative safety will trip him up as it usually does.

Well we can get 9/4 Wilson. I was confident last night that he'd beat Trump, but watching that this afternoon has diminished my confidence a bit. What we do know about Wilson though, is that he is unlikely to buckle under pressure - he may not be good enough, but he's likely to see it through if he gets the chance. Seeing Wilson in the opposite chair may spark Trump into life, but he has looked subdued so far, and he definitely needs to improve to beat Wilson. Robertson's interview was interesting, and it said a lot about his mindset, but for a player who seems obsessed with his shot time, he'll probably be concerned if he sees that figure. But, he has grafted hard so far, although I do think Hawkins missed the boat last night - he should have gone 8-6, and if he had then I think he would have won. Selby had to play well to survive the last round, and history tells us that he gets stronger as we get to this stage. That looks a titanic struggle potentially, and I couldn't touch Robertson at 8/13.

Hope you enjoyed the drama last night gj. A good old-fashioned midnight finish. I have absolutely no idea how McGill won, and he'll do well to get himself ready mentally for his opening session today.

Apologies gj. I'd totally forgotten you had backed Clarke. That's the sort of drama you can do without.

Most entertaining match I've watched all season, crowd or no crowd. Had everything, bar real top quality i suppose. That pink will haunt clarke but truth is he lost it with his overreaction to Saturdays incident. That should be a valuable lesson for him, overall it's been a positive experience and he's saved his career.

McGill looked absolutely shattered during his post match interview so i think he'll do well to stick with Maflin today. I'd fancy Maflin regardless. McGill can play some nice inventive shots at times, but i dont think he'd have beaten any other player in the draw. Think this is the end of the road and Maflin goes to one more stop.

Not having a jinx bet, but wilson price looks very fair to me. Didnt see much of yesterday but on basis of what i have seen i wouldn't be that confident about trump.

Are you going to take O'Sullivan's advice gj and "lump on Selby"? Even by his standards, I couldn't believe his interview. Can you imagine anyone of his standing, in any other sport, speaking like that on the eve of a World Championship Semi Final? That said, he dug in yesterday when well behind against Williams, so the prospect of a match with Selby didn't deter him. But, I've had to back Selby at 7/4 - I didn't think an empty Crucible would suit him, but he looked close to his title-winning form against Robertson. He probably isn't scoring as heavily as in his pomp, but he has looked a different player since the closing stages against Saengkham. I hope you took some of the 9/4 Wilson against Trump? Trump had struggled in the 2 events since lockdown, and he hadn't shown too much in the opening rounds here. You've got to wonder if McGill is going to hit the wall soon. He's put in some monumental efforts to get this far, and while he is undoubtedly the least likely winner, I'm sure he won't go down without a fight.

Problem with ronnie is he has created this interview persona for these occasions and it's almost standard now he'll come out with some line to shake everybody up. The act is gone a bit stale if you ask me, but the casuals lap it up.

Selby looks a bet alright. I'm not convinced he's anywhere near his best on the basis of one good performance against an obliging Robertson, but he's still more trustworthy, performance wise than ronnie. Interesting to hear robbo refer to heavy table conditions yesterday, not the first to suggest that. Which i think would be in selbys favour here, remember he has always done well in china where they have those kind of conditions.

I was confident Maflin would beat McGill and then Wilson would comfortably beat Maflin. Now i think i just got the first bit wrong. Lisowski, Clarke, Maflin are good opponents for McGill, dont think Wilson is. Besides, Wilson does have an extra gear and more class. It's that simple, isnt it?

What did you make of fb incident last night? I think it may well have been and correct result, but not Jans finest hour. He made three mistakes in the whole process which i doubt he coukd be happy about.

It was a shocker from Jan. It may well have been the right call, but it looked like O'Sullivan influenced him. I don't understand how they dont have the technology to determine these borderline decisions. It looks ridiculous placing reds back on the table and checking the line. Robertson has lost the plot about how to prepare for Sheffield. I agree with you, he allowed Selby to dictate the type of game they played, and it totally blunted him. And, maybe you're right that we can't assume Selby is back to close to his best, based on one performance, but there are good signs and he's giving off positive signals unlike O'Sullivan. The 7/4 was too big for me to resist.It's

Thing is i guess, how many tight calls like that do you get in a snooker match and how many at such a critical point of the match? It's pretty rare so I'd guess expensive var type technology would be deemed not worth the cost.

Jan was a bit lucky i thought in that it was mjw sitting in the chair and not, say, Ali Carter or someone else who might not have accepted it so languidly.

I would put some of it down to tiredness, he looked as if his concentration was a bit off to me and maybe thats understandable as he'd done the Clarke-McGill match and got little enough rest after it.

Selby is definitely the popular choice and 15/8 was correctly identified as value. All told, he ticks a couple of more boxes for me.

They used to have hawkeye didn't they, but you're probably right about the cost for something that might only be needed 2 or 3 times all tournament. Who was the 15/8 with? I missed that.

Well, yesterday didn't exactly go to plan. But, Selby did what Selby does - somehow he gets out of a session he was totally outplayed in at 3-5, when other players would have been 2-6 or 1-7. Pre-match, today looked to be potentially a difficult day for McGill, with 2 sessions to play. At some point you have to think his exploits so far are going to catch up with him, but that lead is going to give him a huge lift, and it puts Wilson under pressure right from the off this morning. A big 2nd session awaits in both matches.

I didnt see the 15/8 myself gobe, just saw others quoting it. Probably only there for a short time. Was 3.8 last night and that could be even more value after the way that first session went. I suspect ronnie will ultimately crack again here if the match develops like that, him playing all the snooker but unable to shake selby off. Selby might have to up his level a fair bit from where he was yesterday but that shouldn't be hard as he was fairly cack and moaning continuously about the table which is never a good sign. Fascinating match and immensely enjoyed that session.

As for wilson, just when i was starting to believe in him! Never showed yesterday. Think the burden of expectation or being favourite got to him. McGill seems to be a lad who will  fairly keep to his level on this track no matter who he's playing, didnt even have to do that much yesterday and probably should have had a 7-1 lead. As you say, at some point you think mcgills exertions will catch up with him, but I've been expecting that for days and it hasn't happened yet so kinda done predicting it! Not sure he'd take 7-9 over the 2 sessions today if you offered it to him, but wouldnt be a bad result at all I'd say. Anything worse for wilson would be very bad.

I would argue that the only consistent thing about McGill's tournament has been his inconsistency, GJ!  Brutal first session against Clarke and only got into it after the argument.  Probably should still have lost.  Maflin didn't show up for session 1, and McGill was awful in session 2.  Could easily have lost that 7-1 or even 8-0.  Looked like an arm had fallen off a few times in the final session of that before finally getting his act together.  It would be no surprises to me if he didn't show up this morning.

Fair comment lats. Was probably judging it on the bits I've seen myself so definitely open to correction.

Interesting comments there from mcgill on eurosport: "doesnt feel like a world championship...feels like playing down the club." Wonder if wilson or others feel the same. Must surely be a help for mcgill if he keeps that attitude to the end. I like his honesty anyway.

So, it's all change in the 2 SFs. That was a classy break from McGill in the last frame last night, given the day he'd had. In the other SF let's hope O'Sullivan has been in pain overnight after punching the table! I see there are still discussions about allowing spectators in for the final, but it sounds like a logistical nightmare, given that a majority of people who had one of the 300 or so tickets for the final have requested a refund. The tickets go on sale this morning for those who want to say "I was there". And, Hearn being Hearn - he will be desperate for people to be there, by way of justifying his ridiculous stance throughout on this. It's funny though, as I think we all expected there to be a massive reduction in the pressure levels out there, but it hasn't been the case. When it's all said and done, it's still the World Championship, and it's still The Crucible, and the nerves and pressure have been evident throughout - just as they always are here, and always will be.

Mentioned earlier about mcgill saying it felt like he was playing down the club. Dunno does he really feel that, higgins said last week he wouldn't have got the 147 if there was a crowd there. Who knows? Its got to help them anyway.

Yes, i agree there's pressure but mcgill is still in a good spot. He's got his 100k, all those ranking points. Would be nice to get more but he's well in bonus territory as it is. Dont think he's got anything to lose so still makes him dangerous. Of course, you can still play crap down the club so maybe his time is up and he's run out of gas.

Best thing for ronnie perhaps is he has got his bad session out of the way earlier than in 2014. Didnt mind that knuckle rap at all, we know it does mean a lot to him. He's had an overnight to figure it out, for peters to try work some cure on him. Thats the positive spin anyway!

One thing I'm enjoying: proper tight(ish) pockets. Certainly none of the 9 ball rubbish of balls bouncing 4 inches from the pocket and dropping. These pockets are less receptive and catching them out, particularly ronnie who's missing those corner pocket blacks and reds over and over because he aims, like always, for the far jaw and, unlike always, they dont always drop on these tables.

Hence, the much lower century count than anticipated. At least thats how I'd see it anyway.

Aug 13, 2020 -- 4:12AM, gjohn101 wrote:

Fair comment lats. Was probably judging it on the bits I've seen myself so definitely open to correction.Interesting comments there from mcgill on eurosport: "doesnt feel like a world championship...feels like playing down the club." Wonder if wilson or others feel the same. Must surely be a help for mcgill if he keeps that attitude to the end. I like his honesty anyway.

Sorry, John, forgot about this!

I get where McGill was coming from.  Has to be easier to not have all eyes on you, particularly when you've been away from the big time for a while.  Sure there would have (if no crowd had been permitted for the final) come a point in time where its significance would have come into greater focus regardless!

Where do you start with that yesterday? With a different roll of the balls at the death it's McGill v Selby. Probably like everyone on here, I went to bed last night and woke up this morning thinking about the 2 finishes. The event has lost nothing for having no-one in the arena, and that has probably been the biggest surprise overall. It makes no sense to me to have about 300 in for the final, but there you go.
I think Selby was out-of-order to criticise O'Sullivan the way he did after the match for smashing the cue ball to get out of snookers. Surely, it's up to O'Sullivan to choose his own shot. He also said that O'Sullivan was moving while he was down on the shot, but without knowing the specifics it's difficult to know whether it was just sour grapes immediately after defeat. But, in the longer term, there are good signs for Selby going forward, and a 4th World title looks very likely.
Onto the final, the big question for me is - does Wilson believe he can beat O'Sullivan over 4 sessions in a World Championship final? Obviously, how O'Sullivan approaches the match is hugely significant, but I've given up trying to work O'Sullivan out, and not for the 1st time I've done my money being against him.

Was just an astonishing day of snooker from first shot to last, wasnt it? What a sport and what a championship, sometimes i do ask myself why i bother with it and spend so much of my time watching coloured balls whizz around a tv screen and there's the answer, because there's just no other drama i know compares with that.

Such a contrast between both matches: the class and sportsmanship of Wilson and McGill and the edge and bitterness between the other pair. Yeah, bit cheeky and rich for Selby to be moaning about what other players are doing. At the same time, Ronnies explanations for those couldnt care less shots wasnt convincing. It's not far off conceding frames with enough piints on the table which is ungentlemanly conduct and could subject him to a decent fine. So i think it's worthy of highlight, just maybe selby wasnt the one who needed to be raising it at that momemt.

As for final no interest in a bet. Kyren has generally done ok v ronnie, bar one thumping, and should have beaten him in the champions final. But a bit of a leap to think that ronnie would blow the best and maybe last chance he'll get for the 6th. Think kyren can keep it close though, 18-13 or 14 perhaps.

Makes sense now doesnt it. The whole environment and circumstances probably favoured ronnie more than any other player, the total lack of the usual circus and media scrum around the tournament. I think selby from 3-4 years ago would have finished him off 3rd session when he had the chance, but the finish from ronnie defies superlatives really. Greatest ever? At this stage, probably yeah.

I wondered if Wilson genuinely thought he could beat O'Sullivan over 4 sessions in a World Championship final, and we didn't have to wait too long to find out. The 2 'handshakes' or elbow touches on Day 1 told me that one player was there to win, and the other was happy just to be there. Despite Wilson's persistently poor cue ball control, I felt he was very weak mentally throughout the final, and he showed bits of naivety that did surprise me. O'Sullivan played well in patches, but he was generally just OK - and that shouldn't be enough to win 18-8 in a World Championship final.
I think Selby is undoubtedly back in the frame now for a 4th World title. He has just started working with Chris Henry, and maybe his lack of recent success was the reason he couldn't finish off O'Sullivan in the 3rd session of their SF. He needs to score a bit heavier, but there were promising signs for him. And, if he needed any further motivation, O'Sullivan's seemingly playful dig at M.Williams after winning the title, saying that you become a great if you win 4 World titles, like John Higgins - but he'd include Williams who has only won 3. This was aimed at Selby, not Williams, undoubtedly in response to Selby's comments after their SF. Their next match will be well worth following.
In the end, it was a fabulous tournament despite the one-sided final. There's been some talk of playing next year's championship in August - I hope not, as it's only 8 months before we all get our next Crucible fix!

oh no , its got to stay april, cant wait.

Agree most of that gobe, hope you eked some decent profit out of kyren, but i dont think he ever truly believed. Even if he'd got it 8-9 or even level, always looked like ronnie had a gear to go through at some stage. Kyrens a lovely lad, remember that time at the masters he pleaded with the ref not to have a guy thrown out, i thought that showed his class. But the ruthlessness and killer instinct you require to be a champion, just dont see he has that. But there's little enough to beat out there, barring judd and the ageing veterans, so his time will probably come.

Thought it was good tournament, easy to exaggerate on account of two epic sfs, but great just to have one at all. I liked that the pockets were tighter than normal but doubt that will be a long term thing.

And the usual failures - Robbo, Allen, Maguire, Ding, Murphy. A failed generation with the notable exception of Selby who will absolutely kick himself for not getting the 4th.

I wonder will we see much from the likes of Clarke or Maflin going forward? Wouldnt bet heavily on it anyway. Still not much coming through by the looks of things, ronnie is right about that much at least.

I had Wilson to reach the final at 19/2, straight after Hamilton withdrew, so I did wellof that out of him, but it would have been nice to cop the lot. But, any hope of that disappeared with those early frames on day 2 where he was unable to produce 'counter clearances' as John Parrott irritatingly, and wrongly, refers to them. The pockets did play tighter than expected, but O'Sullivan potted a red early in the decider against Selby into the left-hand black pocket that would have struggled to go in on a pool table.
Maybe, our plan for next year should be to save up all year and then just lay the 5 you mention! I think there are likely to be big runs from Bingtao here once he gets another couple of years experience, particularly against the big boys in the bigger events.
I think I'd need more evidence regarding Maflin and Clarke. I definitely think Maflin benefited from no crowd - he looked very sweaty and red in the face towards the end of his matches, and you wonder whether he'd produce that level with a capacity crowd watching his every move. I'm hoping McGill takes the positives from this tournament, and starts moving back up the rankings, although with the staple best of 7s - he might find it quite difficult. Further down the list there isn't a lot coming through is there? Joe O'Connor looks potentially useful, but he didn't build on his good season in 2018/19 last year - but hopefully, he'll make some inroads next season. O'Sullivan was spot on regarding players lower down the list, and with players like Rory McLeod and Lee Walker getting through Q school, the likes of O'Sullivan probably could stay in the top 50 with one arm.

You're right there gobe, just mostly a few old familiar faces coming back through tour school. And of course, Jimmy is back again for another year at least!

I'm with hendry as regards to Yan, a bit perplexed as to what kind of player he is, but then he is top 16 so you've got to give him some credit. O'Connor may be one of the liklier ones, couple of the young chinese lads. Nobody I'd hang my hat on though.

Saw this piece from Nigel Bond after the ronnie interview and thought it was interesting. Word for word it pretty much reflects what many of us have been saying here for years. Just nice to see a seasoned pro confirm it.

https://www.skysports.com/more-sports/snooker/news/12243/12047158/nigel-bond-blames-structure-of-the-game-for-lack-of-talent-in-snooker

Speaking of bond, i see he is available at 4/9 to beat hendry in the seniors today. I cant recall hendry ever beating anyone decent in this event. I've had a go at bond outright at 4s. He'd have to beat Jimmy and Ken probably to win it. But i dont see anyone else there who beat Judd on tour last year so am happy to take it.

It's depressing gj how so few young players are coming through. I think Bingtao is still in awe of some of the top players, and he may need to beat an O'Sullivan, Trump or Ding in a big Semi Final or Final, to get the self-belief he probably still needs. He does look to have the game to do well at Sheffield though, as he is good tactically, and it looks like he's willing to graft at length. His temperament seems sound enough, and it might be that he just needs more experience of playing the big players in big matches. I read that Bond interview you put up, and it's actually depressing (to me at least) that the seniors 'world championship' gets the coverage it does. It's no more than a glorified pro-am, for has-beens who are 15-20 years+ past their best - with ex-World champions, but essentially frail old pensioners, like Dennis Taylor and Joe Johnson included to generate some publicity. It seems Hendry has been working with the sight-right team, so maybe he's taking it more seriously. It would have been awful to see him play in the Champion of Champions event, getting hammered by a current 'champion' like Michael Holt - best leaving that to Jimmy, who has had 15 years of it now.

Gobe, i watched a lot of the european u/18 and u21 championships earlier this year. We've a very good irish kid here for first time in years, guy called Aaron Hill, who won both of them. But I'd be no more than hopeful for him going forward, not just that the standard was so low, it's just the whole snooker they play, no safety or tactical play and 2 or 3 chances to win every frame. Thats why i think bond is spot on when he talks about the lack of grounding these guys get. They're not adequately prepared for tour life and its a culture shock for them. A proper second tier would be a good innovation i think, not the third rate challenge tour is there at the moment.

In other news ken gets the 2 year card. Another nice cosy arrangement there.

I've read bits about Aaron Hill. He looks a good prospect. He beat Sean Maddocks in the under 18 version, and Maddocks is being talked up in Liverpool as one to watch - although his parents and management team are looking to get some sponsorship for him now, as he is about to turn pro. That said, they are playing a lot of the early tournaments next season in glamorous Milton Keynes, so maybe his travel and accommodation costs will be reduced. But, even if either of these 2 do make it, it will be at least 6-7 years minimum you would think.
No surprise to see Ken get another 2 years - let's be honest, it might as well be a lifetime card - as he is going to keep playing if they keep allowing him to. I don't blame Ken, but it makes a mockery of Hearn's "level playing field" claim, when he brought in the flat 128 man draw.

Nail on head, gobe. You're talking 6-7 years for these kids and they have to stick with it, too easy to take a few bad beatings and get deflated. Remember neither Robbo or Kyren made it first time around, you got to be there for the long haul.

Just listening to jimmy telling his story about him and willie taking a 15 or 16 year old hendry for 4k in hong kong after playing him for a quid a point. Hendry had to slink away and ask Ian Doyle for the cash. Thats the kind of education you need i reckon!

I've always been a ken fan but can't support this. Wonder how other players feel about it. I know Michael White is "shyte" and all that, but he bust his gut and missed out on his card by 250 quid and now sees Ken getting his as a gift. It would boil my p!ss anyway, though doubt barry gives a fck one way or another what anyone thinks.

So Hendrys got in on the act now as well. Sure why not? Some people, who should know better, seem to think yhis is a great news story.

There's a book open on next wild card to be handed out:

1/1 Dennis Taylor 6/4 Steve Davis 5/1 Hazel Irvine 20/1 Tony Meo 50/1 John Virgo, Brian Wright

Special
5/2 Patsy Fagan to apply and be turned down

Well some-one else will now miss out as Hendry has been granted a 2 year tour card. For someone who said his sole pleasure from snooker was winning not playing, this is a bit strange. Maybe his appetite has been whetted by Steve Feeney and the sight-right team, but surely he has no chance of winning a title. If he genuinely believes he can, then that says everything about what he thinks about current standards. Or, maybe he plans to use it as practice for the seniors tour.

On the bbc story it says:

"Jimmy White, Ken Doherty and James Wattana have also been awarded invitational tour cards."

Jimmy still had one year left on his last wild card, so does this mean they've given him an extra year. I suppose with wattana, they have to maintain the east-west balance a bit.

Thats 3 cards gone anyway. Think there was an extra 13th card through q school they've taken away so gonna try and see who the other two that are missing out.

Actually, just checked and there were 16 q school cards available and that will only be 12 this year so there's 4 handy cards freed up.

So Michael White, 250 quid away from retaining his card, would have qualified through q school as first on the order of merit only the criteria was changed this year. Guess he'll still get to play a few events as first alternate, but I'd be pretty p!ssed personally to be a makeweight for a few of the bosses mates.

Sep 2, 2020 -- 1:11AM, gjohn101 wrote:

So Hendrys got in on the act now as well. Sure why not? Some people, who should know better, seem to think yhis is a great news story.There's a book open on next wild card to be handed out:1/1 Dennis Taylor 6/4 Steve Davis 5/1 Hazel Irvine 20/1 Tony Meo 50/1 John Virgo, Brian WrightSpecial5/2 Patsy Fagan to apply and be turned down

I woke up at about 530 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep so picked up my phone and read this story.  Then went back to sleep and forgot all about it.  It just popped back into my head and I assumed I'd dreamed it! 

Seems Ronnie's comments have made a few wake up and realise there's some easy money to be had from the noddies.

A sad indictment of where we're at.

I dunno....jimmy made a whopping 13k on tour this season, 10k of it at the world qualifiers. That wouldn't even cover the gas for his Bentley! Maybe hendry thinks with the help of sightright and some serious practice hours, he can make a go of it. Still plenty of players there he can beat, but easy money? Be surprised if he cleared more than 30k gross.

Maybe he's thinking I'll be at a few of those events commentating anyway, so might as well play while I'm at it.

True, but hasn't Jimmy himself also only recently started working with someone?  (is it Chris Henry, in his case?)

I'd say jimmy works hard and still loves the buzz of performing tbf to him. Doubt its about the money and probably saves him from sitting around and betting on the nags all day!

There's a straight forward answer to all this - a proper seniors tour with wild cards for individual main tour events when possible.

Cant see why you couldnt market a decent over 50s tour around hendry, jimmy, ken, angles, sheriff, mark davis etc. I see decent interest in the legends when it comes over these parts, put some money into it and i think it could pay its way.

Hendry wanting to play on is no bad thing, but the way it's being done is the kind of thing I'd like to think he'd fume about in private. Thats whats disappointing about it.

It's particularly disappointing that having been awarded the tour card, Hendry is only going to play in certain events, with the UK potentially being the first. And, while that's probably not a surprise, they could have given him a wild card into the UK and World Championship qualifiers and given the tour spot to someone else - Michael White possibly. Hendry said "The ultimate goal is to walk out at the Crucible again", so it seems like he is going to practice hard prior to the limited events he is going to enter, but surely he's kidding himself if he thinks he can reach The Crucible after an 8 year break...isn't he?