Shanghai Masters 2019 – A preview

September 8, 2019September 9, 2019 Monique Professional snooker tournament Professional snooker

The Shanghai Masters 2019 starts in a few hours …

This evening in China, the draw was finalized as the for wilcards were drawn against their professional opponents.

The pros …

Ronnie is the defending champion. He has not played competitively since the disastrous first round in Sheffield last April. He looked in decent form during the exhibition in Huizhou, and I’m certain he’s been practicing, but he won’t be match sharp. That said, last year he came to Shanghai in a similar situation – it was his first event of the season – and he managed to win it. As usual … he’s unpredictable.

Ali Carter could be Ronnie’s opponent. Until now this season, Ali has been largely unconvincing. In main tour 15-reds competition he has won four matches, lost three, including the last one against Alex Ursenbacher. He has not beaten a top player. Playing Ronnie however always seems to trigger a surge of extra motivation. I still expect Ronnie to win if they meet.

Kyren Wilson is another player whose form is uncertain. He has won 7 of his 9 matches on the 15 reds main tour this season but Luca Brecel is the only top player he has beaten, and Luca has done nothing in recent times. In the International Championship he was beaten in the last 32 by Tom Ford. I’m not expecting him to go very far here, especially if he plays Stephen Maguire in the last 16.

Stephen Maguire has just won the Six-Reds World Championship in Bangkok. Earlier in the season he didn’t really impress, but in Thailand he looked very sharp. I expect him to reach at least the quarter finals.

Xiao Guodong has won 4 of the 6 main tour 15-reds matches. However, the only top player he faced is Ding who beat him comprehensively: 6-1. Generally, Xiao has not been great under pressure in front of the Chinese audience and there will be pressure here. The format shows that this is meant to be a showcase event for Chinese snooker. There will be expectations. I would be surprised if he beats Maguire.

John Higgins looked sharp in Bangkok where he reached the final. In 15-reds main tour events he won 4 of the 5 matches he played but he didn’t play any top player and was beaten convincingly by Graeme Dott (6-2) in the International Championship. He will face either Yan Bingtao or Barry Hawkins. I think it’s 50/50 whether he will progress or not.

Barry Hawkins had a slow start of the season losing early in Riga and in the International Championship. But then it transpired than he was playing with damaged ribs and under a lot of pain. His next outing was the Paul Hunter Classic, where he beat Gary Wilson, Mark King, Joe Perry and, finally, Kyren Wilson to win the title. I expect Barry to beat his first opponent Yan Bingtao, and to give John Higgins a though challenge … he could well beat him too.

Yan Bingtao has won the Riga Masters, the first (full) event of the season. He has won 9 of the 10 15-reds main tour matches he’s played. His only defeat came against Shaun Murphy, and Shaun is actually the only top 16 opponent he faced this season in 15-reds snooker. In the six-reds World Championship, he was beaten by 5-0 by John Higgins. Take into account the pressure of expectations here in Shanghai and it doesn’t look very promising for Yan. But… you never know. He’s a fighter.

Neil Robertson has only played in the International Championship – where he was narrowly beaten by Shaun Murphy in the last 16 – and in the China Championship qualifiers. He has won 4 matches, lost 1. Neil has been scoring heavily in those matches but was nevertheless taken to a decider by Ricky Walden, and Gerard Greene, hardly a world beater, took him three frames in their best of 9 China Championship match. He’s likely to play Ding in the last 16. The good news for Neil is that Ding plays an open game but I expect Ding to come here very well prepared. I still make Neil favourite.

Ding Junhui has won 4 of his 5 15-reds main tour matches. His only defeat came against Mark Allen (6-3) in the International Championship. Amazingly, Ding has played against Chinese opponents three times out of five matches. Other than Mark Allen, his only non Chinese opponent was Simon Lichtenberg … who took him to a decider. I’m sure that Ding has prepared well, but the expectations on him will be huge and Neil Robertson might be too much to take.

Mark Williams has won 4 of the 6 15-reds main tour matches he has played, but he hasn’t played any top player and got beaten by Luo Honghao (4-1) and Jak Jones (6-2). That’s not great. In Bangkok last week he looked much better though. All the same, Mark has not been the player he was in the 2017/18 season since he won the 2018 World Championship… too much celebrations! He will probably face Shaun Murphy in the last 16 and, should this happen, I definitely fancy Shaun to beat him.

Shaun Murphy had a horrendous season in 2018/19. His only “telling” tournament so far this season was the International Championship and he reached the final. He was outplayed by Judd Trump (10-3), but en route he had beaten Mark Allen and Neil Robertson. I expect Shaun to do well in Shanghai.

Lyu Haotian has won 3 out of 5 matches this season. He played only one top player, Luca Brecel, which frankly doesn’t mean anything currently. I don’t think Lyu will have what it takes to beat his first opponent, Shaun Murphy.

Mark Selby has not been the same players since he won the 2017 World Championship. This season however, in 15-reds main tour competition he has won 6 of the 8 matches he played, notably beating Gary Wilson and David Gilbert in the International Championship. He was outplayed by Judd Trump in the semi final though (9-4). Mark is playing well but a little something is missing and his confidence can’t be high. He will face either Jack Lisowski or Wu Yize. That will probably suit him. Both are very attacking and prone to the unexpected error. Neither are particularly good in tactical play. Mark should progress.

Jack Lisowski has all the talent in the world, is a much improved player but still finds it hard to beat the top opponents. He has not played any top player yet this season and has won 5 out of 7 matches. I expect him to beat his first opponent, Wu Yize, who will be under a lot of pressure, but he can’t afford to take him lightly. Wu this season has taken John Higgins to a decider. I really like Jack, and I wish to be wrong, but I can’t see him beating Mark Selby.

Mark Allen has won 6 of the 7 matches he’s played this season. He has beaten Ding Junhui and Ali Carter but came short against Shaun Murphy in the International Championship semi finals (9-6). He’s in good form and has a great record in China. He’s one of the favourites in my eyes. He will first meet Stuart Bingham or Liang Wenbo. Whoever he faces, I expect Mark to win this match.

Stuart Bingham has only won 2 of the 5 15-reds main tour matches he played. The last defeat came at the hands of Jordan Brown. I’m not expecting much from Stuart in Shanghai. I’m not sure he’ll pass the first round actually.

Liang Wenbo is Stuart’s first opponent. Liang is very popular in China. He will have the crowd on his side, which can help him, if he plays well, or put him under pressure if he struggles. Liang has won 3 of the 5 matches he’s played, but lost the last one, against Mitchell Mann a rather methodical player. Stuart Bingham style should suit him better though. I slightly favour Liang in their match but only so slightly…

Judd Trump has to be the favourite to win the tournament. He’s the reigning World Champion and has won the only tournament he’s entered this season: the International Championship. He was unplayable in the longer matches. He has not played competititively since nearly a month. He will probably face David Gilbert first. I think that this match will be important for the rest of the tournament, and the season. If David Gilbert can run him close – or even win it – it will plant a few seeds of doubts in Judd’s mind. The game Judd is playing currently is a confidence based game, just like Hendry’s was. Break/crack that confidence and he’s “human” again…

David Gilbert is a much improved player, he deserves to be in the top 16. He had an “average start” of the season but played well in Bangkok. Does he have what it takes to beat Judd Trump? I doubt it. But you never know… I hope that David can at least give Judd a good game.

The wildcards…

I can’t really comment on them but I trust Lewis (comments section) who knows the Chinese players very well. Lewis doesn’t give any of them much chances. They will be under huge pressure in unchartered teritory.

And finally a few images shared on social by Worldsnooker, Jason Ferguson and on weibo of tonight welcome ceremony:

Shanghai Amateur Masters 2019 News

September 8, 2019September 8, 2019 Monique Snooker Snooker

The Shanghai Masters starts tomorrow and will feature four Chinese amateur wild cards that have not yet been announced by Worldsnooker at the time of writing.

Browsing weibo, and within the limits of automatic translation, this is the information I could gather.

Two of these wilcards will be CBSA recommanded players: Wu Yize and Zhao Jianbo.

The two others come from the Amateur Masters a competition combined with coaching by Ronnie and Ding. The competition – six reds – was played yesterday. The winner and runner-up, Zhang Yi and Cao Jin, will complete the draw. See Lewis comment here under.

Today they got some coaching from Ding and Ronnie.

Here are a few images shared on weibo:

Ronnie and Ding had a lot of time for the fans and the whole event was played in great spirit. The “pupils” totally enjoyed their coaching.

Other than that, Ronnie posted his first “blog” on weibo … it’s a vlog actually

The draw was made at the start of the welcome ceremony:

Ding v Zhao Jianbo, Gilbert v Cao Jin, Lisowski v Wu Yize, Carter v Zhang Yi.

Tour News – Slow play? Is AST a meaningful measure?

September 7, 2019 Monique Snooker Snooker

This was published by Worlrdsnooker a few days ago:

Wednesday 4 Sep 2019 02:24PM

The number of snooker players on the sport’s global tour with an average shot time of more than 30 seconds has fallen from 12 to four over the past two seasons.

Data was made available on snooker’s live scoring website during the 2017/18 season, showing the average shot time of all 128 players on the World Snooker Tour.

The number of players averaging over 30 seconds dropped from 12 to six during the 2018/19 season. And in the 2019-20 season so far it has dropped to just four players: Lee Walker, Rod Lawler, Martin O’Donnell and Peter Ebdon.

The 14 slowest players from the 2017/18 season all significantly improved their shot times in 2018/19. For example, Joe O’Connor quickened from 33.23 seconds to 27.27, while Mitchell Mann went from 31.38 to 25.66.

World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn said: “Two years ago we decided to make this average shot time data publicly available, in order to make this information transparent for the players, officials and fans.

“It has had the desired effect because players don’t want to be near the bottom of the list, and many of them recognise that playing more fluently actually improves their performance.

“Our governing body the WPBSA recently published an updated version of the rules of snooker, and for the first time there is a separate rule on Time Wasting. This helps make it clear to players that taking an abnormal amount of time over a shot will lead firstly to a warning and then to loss of the frame.

“These measures are helping to eliminate slow play from our sport. The vast majority of players prefer to keep the game moving, as we are in the entertainment business. We are pleased to see the clear message getting through to the small minority who need reminding of these principals.

“We will continue to review the average shot times, and we are also reviewing the number of times that players leave the arena in between frames.

“While of course we recognise that toilet breaks are necessary, again players must appreciate the importance of keeping matches moving, especially live televised games. The frequency of these interludes must be kept to a minimum and we will be monitoring this closely in the current season.”

Average shot time, 2019-20 season so far:

Fastest five

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 16.66 seconds
Zhao Xintong 18.42
Jack Lisowski 18.55
Robert Milkins 18.80
Mark Williams 18.90

Slowest five

Tian Pengfei 29.95
Peter Ebdon 30.04
Martin O’Donnell 30.53
Rod Lawler 31.98
Lee Walker 33.78

Whilst I’m all for a stricter application of section IV of the rules – the one dealing with time wasting – I’m not convinced that focusing on AST is the answer to eradicate unecessary slow play. Players have different natural paces, and whilst most of them play better when they play fluently, without overthinking, there will always be “slower players” and “faster players”.

What I would like to see, is a stat about the players average frame time over a season. Of course the frame duration depends on how the game unfolds, of the context of the match, and on the opponent as well of course. But everyone following the snooker regularly knows beforehand whether a match is likely to be lengthy or not depending on who is involved in it. There are players with an “average” AST who always seem to get involved in over-running matches, whilst others, who are on the slow side, actually rarely do. Why? Because “negative play” is more likely to produce a drawn-out affair than “positive play” even combined with a slow “action”. There is no way to “rule” against negative play quite simply because, although most snooker fans would recognize it when they see it, it’s impossible to “define”. A match can be very tactical, without any negativity. The same shot can be an astute tactical move, or can be plain negative, depending on the sitution on the table and the context of the match. In short, ultimately, the “style” of a player, and their mindset, are more significant than their action “speed” when it comes to frames/matches duration.

As for BH obsession with toilet breaks… I really don’t see the problem, certainly on television. Even if a player leaves the arena, they are usually back before the table is reset and the adverts break is over. BBC of course has no adverts, but they usually have pundits commentating between frames. Repeated toilet breaks of course may disrupt the opponent rhythm and, if the referee thinks there is an issue, they surely have the right to have a word with the players, first of all making sure they are allright. Surely repeated breaks are better than an embarrassing incident?

Stephen Maguire wins the Six-Reds 2019 World Championship

September 7, 2019April 12, 2020 Monique Professional snooker tournament, Snooker, Snooker exhibition Exhibition, Professional snooker, Snooker

Congratulations Stephen Maguire!

He beat John Higgins by 8 frames to 6, in a quality final. It’s Maguire’s first individual title in five years. Quite baffling for a player of his quality really.

Here is the report on Worldsnooker:

Saturday 7 Sep 2019 11:33AM

Stephen Maguire won a tartan tussle against John Higgins 8-6 in the final of the SangSom Six Red World Championship to win the title for the second time in Bangkok.

It’s a first individual title for world number 15 Maguire since he won the 2014 Lisbon Open. He also won the Six Red title earlier that year.

In an exciting final, Glasgow’s 38-year-old Maguire pulled away from 6-6 to win the last two frames, taking the trophy and top prize of four million Baht (£106,000) at the invitation event in the Thai capital.

It’s his second title of the season as he teamed up with 44-year-old Higgins to win the World Cup for Scotland in China in June. This time the two friends and practice partners went head to head, with Higgins playing in the Six Red final for the first time.

Maguire took an early 3-0 lead before world number five Higgins stormed back with four frames in a row. Frame eight went to Maguire and he nicked the ninth on the black to lead 5-4.

He won the tenth as well then squandered a clear chance in the 11th, missing a red to a centre pocket. Four time World Champion Higgins cleared the table then made a break of 58 in the 12th to level at 6-6.

With the match in the balance, Maguire made a vital break of 39 to regain the lead at 7-6. And he got the better of a tense 14th frame, the score 34-18, to secure the title.

“It feels good, I was very lucky,” said Maguire. “I’d like to thank the sponsor and promoter for putting on the tournament. All of the boys enjoy this, everyone loves coming out to Thailand.”

All results are on snooker.org

Aside from the tournament proper, there was a six-reds exhibition between two legends of the game: Stephen Hendry and James Wattana. My understanding is that Hendry won by 3-2.

Update! I was wrong! It’s James Wattana who won. This comes from Instagram:

The Thai MC, Twitah Warintrakom, a legend himself, told me that the decider was played with 15 reds to entertain the audience, and shared a few pictures on social media:

It’s fair to say that people turned up for it! Stephen Hendry – who was used to being hated for beating Jimmy White more often than not, and winning “too much” – is now hugely popular! Well, it’s nice that! And it’s nice as well that Stephen now seems to enjoy life to the full. His posts on social media are mainly about fine wines, premium cigars and food (plenty of it!).

As for Twittah, he also posted those two images side by side

… taken 26 years apart! They haven’t changed a bit, innit?

And here is the exhibition. Big thanks to Silvry!

Six-Reds World Championship 2019 – Semi Finals

September 7, 2019September 7, 2019 Monique Professional snooker tournament, Snooker Professional snooker, Snooker

It is John Higgins v Stephen Maguire in the Final today in Bangkok.

Here is how we got there (Worldsnooker):

Friday 6 Sep 2019 12:40PM

John Higgins will take on Stephen Maguire in an all-Scottish final at the SangSom Six Red World Championship on Saturday.

Higgins beat Mark Williams 7-5 in the semi-finals in Bangkok on Friday, then Maguire saw off Gary Wilson by the same scoreline.

Higgins and Maguire, close friends and practice partners, joined forces in June to win the World Cup for Scotland in China, but this time they will go head to head for the top prize of four million Baht (over £100,000) at the invitation event in the Thai capital. Higgins is aiming to win the title for the first time, while Maguire lifted the trophy in 2014.

The battle between Williams and Higgins was a repeat of the 2018 World Championship final. Welshman Williams came out on top that time, and he won the opening frame today, but Higgins then took control as he surged 5-2 ahead with top breaks of 61 and 65.

The next two frames were shared to leave the score at 6-3. Williams threatened a fight back as he took the next two, closing to 6-5, but 44-year-old Higgins dominated frame 12 to seal victory.

Maguire trailed Wilson 3-2 then took four of the next five to lead 6-4. Crucible semi-finalist Wilson pulled one back before 38-year-old Maguire clinched the result in frame 12.

The final starts at 2.30pm local time (8.30am UK time) with first to eight frames to take the trophy.

The Higgins v Williams match was a good one. Very tactical in spells, but with good breaks too as both players were scoring heavily when in.

The Wilson v Maguire match was a bit more scrappy.

You can see the detailed scores on snooker.org

This line-up is good news for Reanne Evans and Jimmy White as both finalists have already qualified for the Champion of Champions. One more “repeat” and Reanne gets a spot in the CoC. Jimmy White must hope for two, which is entirely possible.

As for Ronnie, he’s on a mission to make us feel hungry

Also, new exhibitions have been announced, including one in Romania. Check here.

Six-Reds World Championship 2019, Day 4

September 6, 2019September 6, 2019 Monique Professional snooker tournament, Snooker Professional snooker, Snooker

Two rounds were played yesterday in Bangkok: the last 16 and the quarter-finals

Worldsnooker however only reported on the QF

Thursday 5 Sep 2019 03:58PM

John Higgins defeated David Gilbert 6-4 to reach the last four of the SangSom Six Red World Championship in Bangkok.

The last time the pair met was in a dramatic Crucible semi-final back in May, when 30-time ranking event winner Higgins battled back to take a nerve shredding final frame decider and win 17-16.

On this occasion it was Gilbert who surged back into contention. He had trailed Higgins 5-2, before winning two on the bounce to close the gap to one. However, Higgins edged over the line on the colours in a hard fought tenth frame to progress 6-4.

Higgins is aiming for a maiden Six Red world title this week, but he will now have to overcome the 2017 winner of the event Mark Williams in the last four if he is to keep his bid alive.

Williams, who beat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 8-2 in the final two years ago, defeated six-time ranking event winner Stuart Bingham 6-3 to ensure his progression.

Welshman Williams led the tie 4-0, having made a break of 63 in the process. Bingham responded by taking three of the next four frames, including breaks of 70 and 72, to cut his arrears and stay in touch at 5-3. However, Williams finished off the match to earn his place in the semis.

2014 Six Red World Champion Stephen Maguire secured his place in the semis with a 6-2 win over Ali Carter. Scotland’s Maguire clinched the title five years ago in Bangkok after coming through a deciding frame to beat Ricky Walden 8-7 in the final.

His opponent in the last four this year will be world number 19 Gary Wilson, who came from 5-4 down to beat Asian number one Ding Junhui 6-5.

Both semi-finals will take place tomorrow, with the final being contested on Saturday. The winner will take home a top prize of 3.5 million Baht.

All results are available on snooker.org

Regarding the last 16, most matches were close but Stuart Bingham gave Mark Selby a bit of a beating! Kyren Wilson’s defence came to an end at the hands of David Gilbert. There was a typical Jimmy White heartbreak aswell: he lead Stephen Maguire by 5-4, only to lose in a decider. Wu Yize again gave John Higgins a good game. The second streamed match was – understandably – featuring the last Thai player standing, Passakorn Suwannawat. He faced Ali Carter and it was probably the less interesting match of the whole lot – for us in Europe at least…

Tomorrow, both semi finals will be on the main table. Mark Williams will face John Higgins. 2018 World Final anyone? Stephen Maguire will play Gary Wilson. Both matches should be good!

As for Ronnie … he visited the Huizhou Middle School, before heading to Shanghai. And he paid a visit to some ladies (no! It’s not what you think! If you follow cue sports you should recognise at least one of them)