Month: October 2019

World Open 2019 Qualifiers – Day 4

Monique Professional snooker tournament, Snooker

The last day of the World Open 2019 Qualifiers produced a few not-s–expected tresults.

There were five Chinese players involved, all very young except Xiao Guodong – who is only 30 himself actually, same as Judd Trump – and all but Yuan Sijun qualified. Yuan was beaten by Igor Figueiredo.

Harver Chandler had a very good win against Kurt Maflin. He needed it: his first season has been anything but a success. It went to a decider and Harvey held his nerves.

Ellliot Slessor beat Ryan Day by 5-4, from 4-2 down. He played very well in the last three frames, getting the better in the early safety exchanges, and scoring heavily once in.

James Cahill on the other hand was outplayed by Mark Allen who had five breaks over 50 in the match.

Ali Carter and David Gilbert both need all nine frames to get through, as did Fergal O’Brien. This means that Ronnie, should he beat Dominic Dale in his held-over match, will play Fergal next. I’m sure he’s thrilled!

All detailed results are on snooker.org

World Open 2019 Qualifiers – Day 3

Monique Professional snooker tournament

There weren’t any real surprises yesterday in Barnsley, at least at the tables. Here are the results on snooker.org. Elliott Slessor played extremely well to come bacj from 4-2 down to beat Ryan Day 5-4. Li Hang celebrated his 29th birthday with a good win over Mark King.

The story of the day was Neil Robertson failing to show up for his match against Ian Burns. He went to the wrong place… trusting his satnav blindly in went to “another” Barnsley.  Asked how that was possible, he said that usually a friend would drive him, but he’s entered Challenge Tour 3 … so he let him down.

Neil has some history of missing – or near missing – matches for, well … unexpected reasons.

World Open 2019 Qualifiers – Day 2

Monique Professional snooker tournament

There were  a few unexpected results again yesterday, and again Chinese players were involved…

The first “shock” came when Mei Xiwen beat Gary Wilson soundly by 5-2. Mei is a competent, well respected, player but he’s never been a top player, and he’s never been past the top 16 in any tournament and he’s 36. Yesterday though he scored heavily: he had four breaks over 50 including a 136. Certainly  unexpected.

Next Xu Si came back from 3-0 down to beat Mark Joyce, the Riga Masters runner-up, by 5-3. Mark Joyce had started the match with a 96 break, then stolen the second frame despite a 51 by Xu. Without seeing the match, it’s quite hard to explain what happened there.

Not really a surprise but still shocking, Micael White was beaten, again, and quite comprehensively. This time by Jordan Brown, who won 5-2. Jordan is clearly improving in recent months, but Michael White spiralling down that is still surprising and worrying. Michael is still only 28, he was in the top 16 at the end of the 2015/16 season. He was a big prospect as a junior. Now he’s in serious danger to drop off the tour. What happened there? We know that he has suffred bouts of depression in the past, and I suspect there has been some heavy drinking on occasions as well. Is that it? If so it’s very sad.

Finally Nigel Bond beat Daniel Wells by 5-2. At 53 Nigel remains an excellent tactitian, but his consistency and potting tend to let him down rather often nowadays. It was a hard fought match, going by the scores. This is a very good win for the veteran.

You can find all detailed results on snooker.org.

 

World Open 2019 Qualifiers – Day 1

Monique Professional snooker tournament

BarnsleyWOQualsRig

The potters are back in Barnsley for the 2019 World Open qualifiers. For many of them it’s been nearly two months since they last had the opportunity to play competitively. That’s a long gap for those who aren’t well-off financially.

Ronnie has entered the event, but isn’t playing in Barnsley: his last 128 match – against Dominic Dale – is held over to the main venue.

The qualifiers are run over four days, and yesterday was the first of these days. It yielded a couple unexpected results.

Barry Pinches beat Robert Milkins by 5-3. This is the first win for Barry this season, outside the Q-school. Barry is 49. He dropped off the main tour at the end of the 2015/16 season. However, he continued to play in amateur comps, because he just loves his snooker. Last season, he played on the WSS tour – the Seniors tour – were he enjoyed some nice success. He reached the final of the Seniors Masters 2019, losing to Joe Johnson on a respotted black. I am convinced that playing on the WSS tour – against some very good opposition – contributed to Barry’s return to the main tour. He came to the Q-School sharp and yesterday he beat a very dangerous opponent.

Chang Bingyu, who only turned 17 last August, beat the experienced Tom Ford in a decider. Tom lead 3-1 at the MSI. It was an entertaining match to watch, both players opting for an attacking game. Chang is still extremely young. He’s a very dangerous potter, but his positional game is not the best yet. He did however play some excellent safeties and it was a telling factor in the match. He impressed me.

Other than that, Marco Fu continues to blow hot and cold. He found himself 3-1 down to Brandon Sargeant at the MSI, seemingly struggling badly, only to win all four frames after the MSI, with a break over 50 in each of them. Very strange.

Kyren Wilson v Chen Feilong produced nine breaks over 50 in eight frames played. The final score was 5-3 to Kyren. Neither was faultless but once in they both scored heavily.

All detailed results can be found on snooker.org

 

Black is black, I want my money back? No problem …

Monique Snooker

Worldsnooker has just published this:

“You can have any colour you want, as long as it’s black,” said Henry Ford about his Model T cars back in 1909.

Snooker players will have a similar choice throughout this season’s Home Nations series.

World Snooker has joined forces with renowned clothing firm Hawes & Curtis to create a new dress code for the four Home Nations events, starting with this month’s 19.com English Open.

All 128 players will wear black tailored long-sleeved shirts together with black or dark tailored trousers.

Snooker’s traditional attire of waistcoats and bow ties has been dropped for this series.

World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn said: “The new dress code for the Home Nations events will help the series become distinctive and develop a unique identity.

“We know that waistcoats and bow ties are closely associated with the traditions of our sport and we have no plans to change the dress code for the majority of our key events.

“But we have decided to make this change for the Home Nations and we hope the black shirts will be stylish and practical for the players.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Hawes & Curtis and we’re delighted with the product they have designed.”

Hawes & Curtis is a London-based firm established in 1913 with the intention of creating high quality, exclusive clothing. Hawes & Curtis has been acclaimed by royalty and aristocracy alike; most famously by the Duke of Windsor and Earl Mountbatten.

Hawes & Curtis CEO Touker Suleyman said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to support World Snooker and we are delighted to provide the new distinctive dress code for the Home Nations event. Since 1913, Hawes & Curtis has dressed the best, including royalty and Hollywood stars. Today we are very proud to dress all 128 top snooker players in our formal wear.”

The Home Nations events are
19.com English Open, Crawley, October 14th to 20th, 2019
19.com Northern Ireland Open, Belfast, November 11th to 17th, 2019
19.com Scottish Open, Glasgow, December 9th to 15th, 2019
ManBetX Welsh Open, Cardiff, February 10th to 16th, 2020

All four events will be televised on Eurosport and Quest and there is a £1 million bonus for any player who can win all four.

Tickets are on sale now – for details click here

About Hawes & Curtis

Hawes & Curtis is a quintessentially British brand specialising in fine tailoring and accessories for men and women. Founded in 1913 by Ralph Hawes and George Frederick Curtis, the brand continues to deliver the promise of exceptional quality, innovation and outstanding value.

Hawes & Curtis opened its first store in the Piccadilly Arcade and has had many distinguished clients through its doors, including the Duke of Windsor, Lord Mountbatten and Fred Astaire.

As a result of Hawes & Curtis’ commitment to impeccable service and product excellence, the brand has been awarded four Royal Warrants. Hawes & Curtis operates more than 20 stores in the UK and a store in Germany. The flagship store remains on London’s Jermyn Street, famous for its resident shirtmakers. Visit http://www.hawesandcurtis.co.uk

Black shirts and trousers look good, no question but … are the players offered the attire or do they have to pay for it, including the 64 unfortunate who will earn £0 for their efforts in first round in less than two weeks? Because if that’s the case, it’s a nice lucrative way for Hawes & Curtis to “support” World Snooker allright.

I may be wrong, but I can’t help thinking that, if the players were offered their gear, the above article would mention it.

update: I’m told by Paul Collier that the players are offered the shirt and can stiil wear their own sponsor’s logo. So, the, it’s all good.