Yesterday produced some very good snooker, and some welcome tension and thrill …

Here is the report by WST:

Tuesday 2 Jun 2020 11:14PM

Luca Brecel’s 2-2 draw with Jack Lisowski in the final match of the day was enough for him to clinch top spot in group nine at the Matchroom.Live Championship League in Milton Keynes.

Click here for Group Tables, Results and Fixtures and here for details of how to watch live.

Both players went into the last tie of day two with a chance of progressing, having each amassed four points with respective 3-0 wins over Oliver Lines and 2-2 draws with Robbie Williams.

With the highest break of the group acting as a tiebreaker, former China Champion Brecel held a slender advantage coming into the encounter courtesy of a run of 138 compiled in his 3-0 victory against Lines.

Belgian Brecel claimed the opening frame this evening, before a superb break of 104 from Lisowski restored parity at 1-1. A crucial third frame saw both players spurn chances on the final brown and blue, before Brecel put himself 2-1 up.

That meant Lisowski required a break of 138 or better to stand a chance of progressing to the Group Winner’s stage. He did win the frame, but only on the colours, meaning a 2-2 draw wasn’t enough for him to advance.

“I am happy to get over the line, that was a tough game against Jack, he is a world-class player, so to beat him was very nice and to finish top of the group is what I came for,” said Brecel.

“If Jack had made a big break in the last frame he would have still won the group, so I was trying not to leave him any chances and when I potted the first red I knew I had done it.

“I will go back to Belgium now. In the last frame I was thinking I was top of the group and would have to stay here for a week without being able to go outside, but I can go back to Belgium.”

Meanwhile an impressive showing from Mark Joyce saw him top group three. He secured 3-1 defeats of Shoot Out champion Michael Holt and Mark Davis to seal progression with a game to spare.

Jack Lisowski should have won group 9 really, as he looked on his wait to beat Robbie Williams by 3-0, leading by 40 something in frame 3 of their match, the fourth in the group. But a miss with the rest turned it all around. Jack appeared to have lost his way as Robbie went on to win that frame, and the next as well to secure a draw. At that point, we had an interesting situation.

Indeed both Jack and Luca were on 5 points, both having drawn at 2-2 with Robbie. Robbie could still join them at 5 points. However, he needed to beat Oliver by 3-0 and beat Luca’s 138 to stand any chance to win the group. The chance was thin, but it was possible. Losing the first frame to Oliver sealed Robbie’s fate and, I guess that he must have lost a bit of interest because he ended up losing that match by 3-0. This meant that whoever won the last match of the group, would win the group. In case of a draw, Luca was well placed, having compiled a 138 earlier. And, eventually, it ended with a draw…

All three, Jack, Luca, and Robbie produced good snooker, much better than anything we had seen the previous day in group 2. It was a quite enjoyable group.

I didn’t see a ball of group 9. Mark Joyce is a very capable player and one who can wear away his opponent’s concentration as he’s not exactly fast around the table. Yesterday, at times, his AST was flirting with the 30 seconds mark…

Today’s groups feature Kyren Wison, Ryan Day, Alfie Burden, and Chen Feilong in group 12, Mark King, Joe Perry, Sam Baird, and Harvey Chandler in group 4.

Snooker returned on our screens yesterday with groups 2 and 13 of the CLS 2020 in Milton Keines.

Here is the report by WST:

Monday 1 Jun 2020 11:06PM

World Champion Judd Trump was off to a winning start as the Matchroom.Live Championship League got underway in Milton Keynes.

Click here for Group Tables, Results and Fixtures and here for details of how to watch live.

The return of live snooker, after an 11-week absence, saw Trump pick up where he left off in March when he won the Gibraltar Open – his sixth ranking title of the season.

The world number one was far from his best, but by beating David Grace 3-0 and Elliot Slessor 3-1 in his first two matches he did enough to top Group 2 and secure his place in the Group Winners’ stage next Wednesday.

On the other table, David Gilbert finished top of Group 13 by winning two of his matches and drawing the other.

World number 11 Gilbert opened with a 3-0 defeat of Jackson Page, firing breaks of 65, 51 and 89, then drew 2-2 with Jak Jones. In his third match he beat Stuart Carrington 3-0 with a top run of 100 to book his place in the second phase.

The action continues on Tuesday with Jack Lisowski, Michael Holt and Luca Brecel among the players on the baize.…

Those are yesterday’s results:

The setup looks nice but it still feels very weird, without a crowd. I watched group 2 on Eurosport, being in Greece, and the commentary they provided was good as usual. I’m certain that ITV did a great job of it as well.

The players were all rusty, to say the least. Judd Trump was certainly far below his best. In the first match of the group he gave David Grace countless very good chances, but David was struggling really badly and missing the most basic pots.

Judd should also have lost the first frame against Elliott Slessor, who was looking like the dominant player at the table. With just one red left on the table, he trailed 21-62, hence needed two 4 points snookers to win, 6 points in penalty to tie. To make things worse for Judd, the pink was on the side cushion, on the right side of the table as we look on TV, mid-way between the top and middle pockets. Judd managed to lay a decent snooker, and in attempting to escape, Elliott hit the black first. Judd now could win by one point. He then played an excellent shot from the blue to develop the pink and won by 63-62. The ES commentator reflected that this was a frame he had “no right to win” … but he did and that changed the psychology of the match.

The thing that players seemed to struggle the most with was … to go and fetch the implements in the racks away from the table. Countless times they fetched them at their usual place under the table before realising that there was nothing there!

The lockdown also had a strange effect on Judd’s hair, morphing him into a younger version of Terry Griffiths, minus the glasses. Judd’s management vigorously refuted the idea that this was, in any way, intentional. Daniel Wells also came out sporting a new hairdo, a very short crop, in a rather bright yellow (at least that’s how it came out on my screen). I’m not sure if he asked Dominic Dale for advice on hair fashion or if it’s a Welsh thing somehow. Whatever it is, I found the result slightly disturbing.

After the matches Judd declared (**):

“I felt it was important to set an example, to come here to show my support for everyone that has tried their best to get this event on…everyone behind the scenes has done and amazing job and put us at the forefront of sport at the moment.”

Indeed. They deserve every credit. Well said Judd, and thank you for playing, despite clearly not being the best prepared.

I didn’t see anything of the Group 13 action. Going by the live scores only, it seems that Jackson Page, the lowest-ranked player in the original draw (*), made a really good fight of it, after losing his first match by 3-0.

Today we might have two closer groups. Jack Lisowski and Luca Brecel are set to face each other in Group 9, along with Robbie Williams and Oliver Lines, whilst Michael Holt is also in action in Group 3, with the experienced Mark Davis, the always dangerous Mark Joyce, and the young and very talented Louis Heathcote.

(*) Following Alex Ursenbacher withdrawal, Rory Thor is now the lowest-ranked player in the draw.

(**) source: Matt Huart on twitter

In an interview with Nick Metcalf, Jason Ferguson and Mark Selby share their hopes about the sport’s in the coming days and weeks:

Snooker is a great sport and it’s our time to shine, says WPBSA chief Jason Ferguson

SNOOKER will be the first sport to return to free-to-air television today when a special Championship League event begins in Milton Keynes.

The tournament will be played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic, with strict social distancing measures in place throughout the venue. ITV4 will have comprehensive coverage every day, starting with world champion Judd Trump in action this afternoon.

And Jason Ferguson, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (pictured), told Metro: ‘We’re very proud to be the first out of the traps and get going. Actually, I think it is time for snooker to shine more than it ever has before.

‘We are a great British sport. We are sometimes a little bit undervalued as a great sport. We’re very proud to put it on television. We’ll do a great job, I know we will, and our players will perform and entertain as they’ve always done.’

Ferguson also admitted the tournament would be used as something of a rehearsal for the World Championship at the Crucible, which is scheduled to start on July 31.

The Championship League event was originally due to be played at Leicester’s Morningside Arena, but was switched to the Marshall Arena at the Stadium MK complex because there is a hotel on site, helping to comply with government regulations. Players will all be tested the night before their matches, and they will be expected to wear masks when not in action.

‘This event is a major test,’ Ferguson said. ‘It will test the team to the limit, of controlling this environment and doing it properly. I think we will learn a lot from it. We will be very strict. It will set us up for a world championship, and possibly pulling a tour championship in too.

‘It’s not straightforward. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. It’s difficult, but we’ve got great people around us. To be able to do this is the right thing to do.

‘The best outcome for us is to finish this season properly, not cut off halfway through and decide we couldn’t finish it. If we can finish this season properly, I think we will have done extremely well.’

One of the major problems in organising the forthcoming world championship is making sure that all the overseas players are able to make it back to Britain for the event, especially with the 14-day quarantine period coming into effect. Ferguson is all too aware of the complications, but maintains the target is to get every player to Sheffield.

‘We’ll be very disappointed if we couldn’t get every player back, we’re going for 100 per cent,’ he said. ‘I know it’s a tall ask, but that’s what we’re going for.’

As for the qualifiers, Ferguson expects them to start in the middle of July — most likely on 16, 17, or 18 — and the target is still for them to be played in Sheffield.

‘The ideal scenario is that the qualifiers will take place at the English Institute of Sport, which is where they normally take place,’ he said. ‘We’re still subject to policies around indoor sports facilities. We are talking to the government about the soft opening of sports facilities indoors. We’re subject to those government guidelines. If we have to look at alternatives we will, but the first port of call is Sheffield.

‘It’s the home of the World Snooker Championship, and it’s the home from when the first ball is hit, not just from the Crucible Theatre. And I think it will always be the home. No decisions have been taken yet. Our view is to press ahead and do the whole thing in Sheffield.’

Ferguson also said ‘it may be possible’ for small crowds to be in attendance at the Crucible, potentially even as high as 30 per cent.

Before all that later this summer, Milton Keynes awaits, and with various other major sports yet to return in Britain, a new audience could be attracted to snooker over the next 11 days. A host of star names are in action, including Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby (pictured above), Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham.

And Ferguson, who is celebrating ten years in his second spell as chairman of the WPBSA, said: ‘For those people that are casual viewers, I would say embrace this great sport, it will embrace you.

‘You have two players in an arena that are battling it out. It is gladiatorial, it creates edge of the seat drama. The most bizarre things happen at the most bizarre moments. I’ve never in all these years seen two matches the same.

‘The one thing we know about snooker is the audience grows throughout the day and throughout the evening, and that’s because people get engaged in it, and it gets to the point that they can’t turn it off.’

Three-time world champion Selby, who plays on Thursday, is another who believes this is the ideal opportunity for snooker to win itself some new fans.

‘I think we could attract a lot of new followers,’ he said. ‘People are sitting at home, crying out for sport to be on TV.

‘At the moment all we have is highlights from different sporting events over the years that everyone has already seen. Snooker has a big following anyway, but this could attract a new fanbase.’

ITV has won praise from loyal snooker fans in recent years for its excellent coverage of the sport. Jill Douglas will present the Championship League coverage from her home, with regular pundits Neal Foulds, Alan McManus and Stephen Hendry.

The commentators describing the action — David Hendon, Phil Yates, Dominic Dale and Ken Doherty — will be at the venue.

Hendon said: ‘It’s going to feel very different for everyone, but it’s an opportunity for snooker to demonstrate not only how to operate in a safe environment, but to prove once again what a perfect sport it is for television.

‘I think there’s a real desire from everyone in snooker to make this a success and therefore make it possible for more tournaments to go ahead, particularly the world championship.’

Meanwhile, a few of those involved in the first day(s) are already at the venue, and the initial feedback is that the swab up the nostrils is a particularly unplreasant experience… hopefully it won’t deter anyone to try and play in the tournament.