2021 Summer CLS – Day 19

August 12, 2021August 13, 2021 Monique Professional snooker tournament, Snooker Professional snooker

Kyren Wilson defense of the title is still on after he came out the winner of his group yesterday. In the other group, the final match that decided the winner featured two amateurs: Bai Langning from China, still a teenager, and the reigning World Snooker Seniors Champion David Lilley. Bai prevailed.

Here is the report by WST:

Wilson And Bai Make Finals Day

Kyren Wilson and Bai Langning became the penultimate players into Finals Day of the BetVictor Championship League Snooker.

Wilson came through a tricky group with Matthew Stevens, Ken Doherty, and Oliver Lines to set up Group 1 alongside Bai and the winners of Groups A and B tomorrow.

The reigning champion began his day against Doherty, who he faced in the Finals Day group last time on his way to victory. It was the same story as last time, with three points for the Kettering man with the best break coming in the last frame (92). A 2-2 draw between Stevens and Lines in the next encounter kept Wilson in pole position before Doherty beat Stevens 3-1.

Those afternoon session results meant Wilson could secure the group with a win over Lines in the opening match of the evening and he delivered just that in a solid showing. Wilson secured a 3-1 win to seal his second victory of the day and secure top spot.

Lines went back out against Doherty taking all the points in a 3-0 display to take the second spot in the group and £3,000.

Wilson lost out in his last encounter 3-0 to Stevens and he was full of praise for his opponent: “It was nice to actually see with nothing being on the line how well Matthew played. Because growing up he was one of the ones at the top of the game, he was one of the flair players and I always enjoyed watching him.

On a hat-trick of CLS titles: “I don’t know what it is. It’s just very laid back. The lads have a bit of a laugh backstage. You chat to the commentators; you get fed well. I enjoy the laid back atmosphere of the event.

“I haven’t felt comfortable at all, it’s the first tournament of the season. I’ve not really put the work In I’d like to. I’ve got a young family. For me, it’s a nice bonus to still be in this tournament.”

“It would be lovely; I don’t think it’s been done before. Any sort of record in snooker nowadays is nice to have.”

Bai meanwhile came through a group of David Lilley, Mark Davis, and Noppon Saengkham to book his place in the final eight.

The 19-year-old started with a draw against Saengkham whilst Lilley beat Davis before losing out to Saengkham meaning there was work to do for Bai.

China’s Bai beat Davis 3-0 to start the evening session on table two and that proved to stoke the fire after Davis then went on to beat Saengkham.

Those set of results meant it was simple for Bai in the final game. A win or draw against Lilley would take him into the next stage whilst a loss would send the World Seniors champion into Finals Day. Breaks of 88 and 92 in the middle two frames were decisive in the end for Bai, after Lilley had taken the opener to give himself that chance of qualification. The points were shared, and Bai topped Group C on five points from three matches.

Whilst the focus on the defending champion is natural, it’s a bit of a shame that WST didn’t mention in any way what an extraordinary few months Bai has got. Having spend the whole past season in China, he came back for the World Qualifiers and reached Judgement day, He then entered Q-School and, despite not qualifying, he placed himself well enough to be invited to most events this season, and now, he’s in the final day of the first event of this season!

Tour News – Turkish Maters postponed, On Yee withdrawal and extra session in Belfast

August 11, 2021August 11, 2021 Monique Tour News Tour

WST has published three important news.

The Turkish Masters has been postponed to 2022

Turkish Masters Snooker Postponed

The new Turkish Masters world ranking event has been postponed until March 2022.

The tournament was due to take place from September 27 to October 3 in Antalya, but has now been put back to March. The qualifying rounds have also been postponed until 2022.

Turkey remains on the UK Government’s red list for travel, and the country is currently battling severe wildfires. Based on these factors, and in consultation with the Turkish Billiard Federation and Big Break Promotions, WST has taken the difficult decision to postpone the event.

The qualifying rounds of the BetVictor English Open and BetVictor Scottish Open tournaments will be brought forward to September, around the dates previously occupied by the Turkish event.

WST Chairman Steve Dawson said: “It is a huge disappointment for ourselves and the Turkish Billiard Federation to have to postpone this event and I am sure the players will share that sentiment, as well as the fans in Turkey who had looked forward to seeing their heroes for the first time.

“We fully intend to be in Antalya in March. In the mean time our thoughts are with the Turkish people and those affected by wildfires in country.

“We are living through tough times, constantly facing the challenges of travel and commercial restrictions on a global scale. Our sport has coped much better than most over the past 18 months and we continue to strive to provide the best possible calendar of events for our players and fans. Despite postponing Turkey, we have a packed schedule for most of the season, while our worldwide linear and digital audiences continue to grow.”

Ersan Ercan, President of the Turkish Billiard Federation, added: “It is unfortunate that we have to postpone this event due to circumstances beyond our control. We look forward to welcoming WST, players and officials to the beautiful destination of Antalya in March.”

WST has agreed a four-year deal with the Turkish Billiard Federation and Big Break Promotions to stage the Turkish Masters every season until at least 2024/2025. Overall prize money will start at £500,000 and increase each year.

Antalya is renowned as one of Europe’s outstanding destinations, known for its culture, history and ideal location on the Mediterranean coast.

The revised WST calendar for the 2021/22 season will be announced shortly.

This is certainly the right decision given the circumstances. It’s no big surprise and WST had said that if this was to happen, there would be another ranking event in Barnsley instead, but they apparently changed their plans.

On Yee has withdrawn from the British Open

Hong Kong’s Ng On Yee has pulled out of next week’s British Open and has been replaced in the draw by the next available player on the Q School 2021 Order of Merit, Mark Lloyd.

Lloyd will face David Grace in the first round in Leicester.

Click here for the updated draw

Click here for the updated format

Note that the afternoon session on Saturday 21 August will start at 1pm and not 12noon as previously advised.

This is unfortunate and is certainly caused by travel restrictions put into place by the Hong Kong authorities. On Yee was really looking forward to play on the main tour and there is no way she would miss the action if it was possible for her to travel.

The 2021 Northern Ireland Open will start on the 9th of October with an extra session

Belfast Set For Extra Evening Of Action

Snooker fans in Belfast will be treated to an additional session of play at the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open on Saturday October 9^th.

The event was set to run from October 10^th to 17^th at the Waterfront Hall, but a special extra session has been added, which will commence at 7pm on the 9^th.

Tickets for the tournament are on sale now and fans are being encouraged to act quickly to snap up the chance to be there for a bonus Saturday night at the snooker. Click here to buy now.

Broadcast details for this extra evening of action will be released in due course.

This year’s BetVictor Home Nations Series will see a change in format, with round one being staged at qualifying venues. However, the first round matches of the world’s top 16, plus up to a maximum of four additional games will be held over to the final venue.

I suppose that we might see something similar in (some of) the other Home Nations. The additional games will almost certainly feature local lads.

2021 Summer CLS – Day 18

August 11, 2021 Monique Professional snooker tournament Professional snooker

This is the report by WST as Ali Carter and Ryan Day booked their spot in the final day

Carter And Day Progress

Ali Carter and Ryan Day moved into Finals Day of the BetVictor Championship League Snooker at the Morningside Arena, Leicester on the second day of stage two.

Carter has previously spoken of his ambition of getting back into the world’s top 16 and he did that goal no harm with his performances in Group E against Shaun Murphy, Graeme Dott, and Gerard Greene.

The Captain started out with a 3-1 win over Dott. Carter then landed the vital blow against Murphy with a 3-1 win, meaning he needed just a point against Greene to qualify.

He went on to win three from three after dismantling Greene 3-0 for his best result of the day. Carter said: “I’ve been working hard back home and trying to do the right things. I’ve come here today, and it’s paid off. I knew it was going to be a tough group obviously Shaun and Graeme are both former world champions, I knew I had work to do.

“There are all tough players. It’s great to be involved, it’s a great tournament. I’m really enjoying it, If I can turn up on Friday and enjoy it again, I’ll be happy.”

Day is a Championship League Snooker stalwart but is still hunting for his first title. The Welshman moved one step closer, going unbeaten against Stuart Bingham, Alexander Ursenbacher, and Ashley Hugill to top Group F.

The Shoot-Out winner drew 2-2 with Ursenbacher and went into the evening with only one point to his name. Bingham meanwhile had won his first two 3-1 and 3-0 respectively against Ursenbacher and Hugill to be in prime position to top the group.

Day began the evening by beating Hugill 3-1 from 1-0 down, to set up a showdown against Bingham for a spot in Finals Day.

It was comprehensive in the end for Day who cleaned up 3-0 with a top break of 74 to top the group.

Day said: “I wasn’t at the races at all in the first game. Salvaging a point, in the end, proved to be key. Going into the second match against Hugill I knew I needed to win. Against Stuart, it felt like a bit of a normal setup with a knockout situation. It was the best I felt and best I played all day.

“One big push on Friday, somebody is obviously going to walk away with a trophy and quite the boost going into the new season. Somebody is going to potentially get into the Grand Prix and Players Championship.”

Carter and Day join yesterday’s group winners Cao Yupeng and David Gilbert to complete the first group of Finals Day.

Kyren Wilson continues his title defence in Group D against Matthew Stevens, Ken Doherty, and Oliver Lines tomorrow on Table 1, from 12 noon (UK time),

I can’t comment much as I only saw the last matches in each group.

The match between Shaun Murphy and Greame Dott was for second and third place. Both were going for their shots.: Shaun’s AST was of 13.6 sec and Graeme’s was 17.2 sec. Dotty looked set to win the first frame, leading by 67, but missed frame ball and Shaun stole it with 68. After that it was very much one way traffic. Phil Yates in commentary was reflecting on Dotty’s completely undeserved “slow and boring player” reputation. It all stemmed from the 2006 final against Peter Ebdon, a final where both players were tense and exhausted and Ebdon dictated the pace.

In the other group, The last match was to decide between third and last place. The last frame of the day was a dead one and it was started by an “à la Quinten Hahn” break-off. Both Ashley Hugill and Alex Ursenbacher were laughing as they let off steam and Ashley produced a good 74 … “pour l’honneur”.

2021 Summer CLS – Day 17

August 10, 2021 Monique Professional snooker tournament Professional snooker

This is WST report on the first day of stage 2:

Cao And Gilbert Into Final Stage

Cao Yupeng and David Gilbert booked their places in the final eight of BetVictor Championship League Snooker at the Morningside Arena, Leicester on day one of Stage Two.

Group G was hotly contested with plenty of winning pedigree in action; Yan Bingtao, Barry Hawkins, Matthew Selt, and China’s Cao.

With all three of the afternoon matches ending in 2-2 draws, it left the evening wide open with all players within a shout of moving into the next stage.

Cao sent out warning signs with the first win of the group against Hawkins; a 3-1 victory. Yan also beat Hawkins 3-1, and made the high break of the day (129).

Cao’s job was simple in his last match against Selt, a win would see him through by two points or a high break would settle things. The former Scottish Open finalist did just what was needed, securing a flawless 3-0 whitewash over Selt to qualify for the last eight.

Group H started with Ronnie O’Sullivan’s withdrawal, he was replaced with the runner-up from O’Sullivan’s Group 32 first stage, Mark Joyce.

Gilbert’s day was comprehensive not dropping a single frame, first with a 3-0 rout against Chang Bingyu that included a clearance of 131 in the opening frame. The good form continued for Gilbert against Craig Steadman, but this time setting the highest break of the tournament so far (143). He became only the second player to win all three games without dropping a frame by dismantling Joyce.

The Farmer’s passage to Finals’ Day was confirmed midway through the evening session after a draw between Chang and Joyce meant they were both out the mix.

Gilbert said: “It was a great day, much better than my first group. It’s nice to find a bit of form going into the last day, I’m obviously going to have to play well if I want to win it.

“In these short matches, you need to start well, and I managed to knock in a couple of big breaks in the first frames, they obviously settle you down. I do take pride in the way I play, sometimes I do get a bit down on myself.

“My name is in the hat for the last day, I see the trophy over there, I’d love to take it home. It’d be a great start to the season and obviously, the bonus of the Cazoo Champion of Champions place too.”

Cao and Gilbert will compete on Friday in Finals’ Day of the BetVictor Championship League Snooker.

Day Two from the second stage of BetVictor Championship League Snooker sees Shaun Murphy, Ali Carter, Graeme Dott, and Gerard Greene in action on Table 1, Group E. Table 2 will be Group F contested between Stuart Bingham, Ryan Day, Alexander Ursenbacher, and Ashley Hugill.

So far my preview has been reasonably correct.

With Ronnie withdrawal because of ill health, David Gilbert totally dominated Group H. I was glad to see Chang Bingyu coming second. The young lad got off to a bad start, and was 2-0 down against Mark Joyce, his long potting apparently forgotten somewhere in his room. But a couple of errors from Mark allowed Chang to settle and to salvage a draw. Beating someone of Steadman’s experience is a really encouraging sign at the start of this new season.

Chang was interviewed by WST

It’s a lovely interview and it’s really good to hear more from the young Chinese players.

I wrote that Cao Yupeng could well be the strongest man in Group G and so it proved to be. The key match in this group was Cao’s 3-1 win over Barry Hawkins. Barry had won the first frame with a break of 70, Cao replied with breaks of 72, 117 and 84.

Regarding rankings, we will see how WST handels the situation. What I expect is that, Ronnie having to withdraw because of ill health, will get the 3000 points for winning his group, but not the “minimum” 1000 points allocated for competing in stage 2. Mark Joyce should get the 2000 points he earned for coming second in his stage 1 group plus the “minimum” 1000 points for playing in stage 2.

More about Ronnie’s withdrawal and exhibitions

August 9, 2021 Monique Snooker Snooker

OK, here is why Ronnie has withdrawn:

Actually, Jason had told me this morning, asking me to keep quiet about it. Now, seeing the fans reactions he has himself decided to make it public. Yes, Ronnie did play his exhibitions despite not feeling great, but playing an exhibition is one thing, playing competitive snooker is something else entirely. Also those exhibitions had been scheduled to be played last year, covid had forced Jason, Ronnie and the clubs to postpone them. Knowing Ronnie he certainly wouldn’t have wanted to disappoint those fans again after such long wait unless he was really unable to hold his cue.

Regarding exhibitions, Jason has made another announcement

Great news that!

Finally, back to Ronnie’s withdrawal and the re-inclusion of Mark Joyce. This triggered a lot of negative reactions. But really? Yes, he was already knocked out, he came second in group 32, the group Ronnie won.

Last season, when similar situations happened, the three remaining players in the impacted groups had played each other twice. Honestly that didn’t work out very well.

Some argue that there were other players, in other groups who finished second with more points than Joyce. OK, but they were in different groups, with a different opposition, so how do you compare their performances? If Joyce manages to do well here, despite needing to dash to the venue on short notice, all credits to him. As it stands, he has lost his first match against Steadman and still needs to play Gilbert, so it doesn’t look very likely.

Happy Exhibitions and CLS question mark

August 9, 2021August 9, 2021 Monique Snooker exhibition Exhibition

Ronnie played two exhibitions over the weekend. As usual Johm Virgo was the host and compère, and this time Brendan Moore was the referee on duty.

The Friday exhibition was organised bu ABC and this is the report they put on their facebook page:

Now on to the night.

The evening kicked off with a very warm welcome and a huge round of applause for the 1979 UK Champion, John Virgo. JV entertained the crowd with his world famous trick shot routine and hilarious impressions. After that, it was time for JV to introduce the six times world champion.

A huge round of applause welcomed Ronnie, and at 7.45pm the first frame broke off and it didn’t go too well for the first VIP player. In fact all 9 frames went to Ronnie. The highest break of the evening was a fantastic 140. During the interval the crowd were given the opportunity to have more photos taken with Ronnie’s world championship trophy which Ronnie later signed and also signed other memorabilia for guests. After the 9th and final frame, Ronnie and JV said their goodbyes and the raffle was drawn (congratulations to all winners). The evening finished off by presenting Nick Sewell with his VIP High Break trophy.

On Saturday Ronnie was at Jackson’s and after the exhibition tweeted this:

Well done Ben for all the hard work you’ve put into getting Jackson’s club to where it is now. Look forward to coming back.

I didn’t find more details about what happened that night but will put more here if/when I find out.

Now here it is thanks to Kalacs

Melton goes snooker loopy as Ronnie O’Sullivan comes to town

Snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan took Melton by storm on Saturday, with a thrilling evening’s entertainment – and he enjoyed the experience so much that he wants to come back.

Excitement had been growing in the days leading up to the six-time world champion’s visit to Jackson’s lounge and ‘The Rocket’ did not disappoint.

The snooker hall had been transformed into a staging area with space for 110 spectators for the event, which had sold out within a matter of days.

And as the start time approached there was a buzz outside as the queue of ticket-holders, eagerly waiting to get inside the club to see their hero, stretched down King Street into Market Place.

Another snooker legend, John Virgo, was compère for the evening and before play got underway he warmed up the crowd with some trick shots involving the audience, along with his witty repartee.

Eight lucky people took on The Rocket – with world-class referee Brendan Moore officiating.

Virgo introduced each player before they entered the hall to walk-on music they had chosen but despite some glimmers of hope none of them were able to pull off a shock upset.

Jackson’s assistant manager Karl Barratt was proud to be the only player to take a lead over Ronnie when he went 10-0 up and the highest break of a challenger went to Stuart Hammond with 22.

It was a real thrill for all who got the chance to take on the sporting superstar.

Ronnie, whose highest break was 114 on the night, is often called the most naturally gifted and greatest player of all time. Known for his fast and attacking style the event gave the popular 45-year-old Londoner the chance to wow the audience with his incredible skills.

During the interval fans had the chance to get autographs and chat with Ronnie as well as have a photograph taken with his World Championship trophy.

Excitement had been growing in the days leading up to the six-time world champion’s visit to Jackson’s lounge and ‘The Rocket’ did not disappoint.

The snooker hall had been transformed into a staging area with space for 110 spectators for the event, which had sold out within a matter of days.

And as the start time approached there was a buzz outside as the queue of ticket-holders, eagerly waiting to get inside the club to see their hero, stretched down King Street into Market Place.

It was the snooker legend’s first visit to Melton and he was full of praise for the town and the club.

“It’s good to be here,” he said. “The club is lovely, the crowd are great – very knowledgable about snooker. I hope to come again.”

Although Ronnie’s opponents never expected to get much of a look-in he was complimentary about their skills.

“It’s tough when you’re only playing one frame,” he commented.

“There were some good shots played, there are some good potters.”

One of Ronnie’s opponents Stuart Hammond used the opportunity to raise nearly £700 for MIND, the mental health charity.

Ronnie, who has struggled with depression in the past said: “It’s good that people are talking more about these issues and considering people’s well-being. Sports people struggling with mental health problems shouldn’t be penalised.”

Ronnie says he’s enjoying his snooker at the moment: “During the past few years I’ve been playing more exhibitions as well as the tour. I’m happy with how things are at the moment. It’s good to have a balance.”

Jason Francis, creator of Snooker Legends events, praised Jackson’s owner, Ben Jackson, for the hard work he had put in to making the event happen.

And the day after his Melton appearance, Ronnie posted on Twitter: “Well done Ben for all the hard work you’ve put into getting Jackson’s club to where it is now. Look forward to coming back.”

…
Ben said that although it had taken a lot of planning and hard graft he was delighted the event had been such a huge success.
…

Today will see the start of stage 2 of the 2021 summer CLS and Ronnie will be on table 1.

I’m not too sure what to expect. I know that Ronnie wasn’t impressed with the conditions when he played in his first group. but the table seemed to play a bit better towards the end of stage one, and of course, the heat wave is over. There are rumours on twitter saying that Ronnie has pulled out of the CLS but at the time of writing he’s still in it both on WST site and the CLS site.

Update: The withdrawal has now be confirmed.

Not sure what that means in terms of prize money and ranking points.

This is not great although I’m not really surprised. Ronnie at this stage of his career wants to play on his own terms and enjoy himself. If he has to play in qualifiers for the Turkish Masters, I would not be surprised if he gave that one a miss as well.

2021 Summer CLS – Day 16

August 7, 2021August 7, 2021 Monique Professional snooker tournament Professional snooker

The top seeds, Judd Trump and Mark Allen, won their respective group yesterday. It was the last day of the first stage of the tourmanent.

Here is the report by WST

Trump And Allen Progress

Judd Trump and Mark Allen were the final two players to secure their places in the second stage of BetVictor Championship League Snooker at the Morningside Arena in Leicester.

Trump was made to work hard in his opening 3-1 win over Rod Lawler, with the pick of the frames coming in the first where a break of 64 gave him an early advantage.

The World Number One never really moved out of second gear as he overcame Lee Walker 3-1, with a break of 81 in the last. Two wins from two put Trump top of Group One by two points after Anthony Hamilton had won and drawn his opening two games against Walker and Lawler respectively.

This led to a final match winner takes all with Hamilton to finish the day on table one. Hamilton knew a win was needed, whilst a draw would take Trump through by two points.

Trump took the opener with breaks of 30 and 41, before Hamilton pegged him back to 1-1. It was at this point, the Ace in the Pack found his magic touch with breaks of 92 and 84 to seal three wins from three.

Allen’s journey to the next stage started off in the best possible way, as he dispatched Daniel Womersley 3-0 with breaks of 137, 103, and 94.

The Northern Irishman was made to battle against Mitchell Mann, as he salvaged a draw in the last frame with a clearance of 124. That draw proved to be pivotal to the rest of the day. Mann had also started his day off with a 3-0 rout against Chris Wakelin, meaning by the end of the afternoon session Allen, and Mann were level on points and frame difference.

Allen piled the pressure onto Mann in his last match as he beat Wakelin 3-0 for his second whitewashing of the day. That win took him to a frame difference of +6, meaning Mann would have to win 3-0 in his last game and topple Allen’s high break of 137.

It looked to be going close after Mann took the opening two frames off Womersley with a break of 86 in the second frame. That did leave Mann with pressure to make 137 in the third but he fell away with efforts of 32 and 23. Womersley proceeded to pinch a point from Mann and secure Allen’s route to stage two.

Stage Two action begins on Monday with Ronnie O’Sullivan headlining on Table 1 in Group H with David Gilbert, Craig Steadman, and Chang Bingyu. Meanwhile, Table 2 is Group G with Masters Champion Yan Bingtao, Barry Hawkins, Matthew Selt, and Cao Yupeng.

The full schedule for the second stage can be found here.

By Friday, only eight players will remain and only one will be crowned the winner of the BetVictor Championship League Snooker.

After a disappointing World Championship, Mark Allen had announced that he wanted to take a break from snooker, but it seems to me that he has actually been practicing seriously. He played very well yesterday, probably the best we have seen so far in this event.

Judd Trump on the other hand was far from his best and lucky to be in a relatively weak group. All his opponents were veterans who are no more as good as they once were, rarely capable of finishing frames in one visit. Rod Lawler has been struggling badly for years now. Lee Walker has recently suffered from back problems and sciatica, which is extremely painful. Anthony Hamilton had an eye surgery that didn’t yield the results he hoped for and now struggles badly under the TV lights. Despite this they all managed to take a frame off Judd.

Here is how Stage 2 looks like:

Don’t ask me why the schedule doesn’t for last two groups …

Group H is a very strong group with Ronnie and David Gilbert favourites on paper. Chang Bingyu however is an excellent young player and he shouldn’t be taken lightly. Craig Steadman on form is very reliable and scores heavily. Whoever wins this group it will be no “shock”.

If anything Group G is even stronger. Yan Bingtao and Barry Hawkins are the “big names” in there and Yan in particular looked very solid in stage 1. However Cao Yupeng may well be the strongest man in this field; he was impressive in the previous stage and it was obvious that he had pepared very well for his return to the main tour. He is hungry and determined to redeem himself after his suspension. Matt Selt is never to be discounted.

Group E is yet another strong group with Shaun Murphy and Ali Carter the two favourites. Greame Dott is an under-rated player who rarely gets the credit he deserves. He’s usually better in longer formats – he prefers long formats – but he won his group. He’s also a very determined player and when he enters “terrier” mode … nobody wants to face him.

Stuart Bingham has to be the favourite in Group F. However everyone of the other three is capable to spoil his party. Ryan Day played very well, Ashley Hugill new attacking attitude got him at the top of his stage 1 group and Alex Ursenbacker has always been good on his day but he now has added consistency as well.

Group D is the first group with a clear favourite: Kyren Wilson. Ken Doherty though could be a dark horse here.

Group C is probably the most interesting one. One could make a case for all four players involved. David Lilley is the reigning Seniors World Champion and he played with a lot of freedom in stage 1. Noppon Saengkham is very hungry and has been working hard after the disappointment to miss the World Championship because of covid-19. Dark Mavis is still extremely solid on his day. Bai Langning remarkably managed to reach Judgement Day last April, after being stuck in China for the whole season.

In can’t see past Judd Trump in Group A. This Group is played on the last day of the second stage which means that Judd has a few days to better prepare. He looked rusty yesterday but I would be surprised if that’s still the case by the end of next week.

If Mark Allen scores as heavily as he did yesterday, there is only one winner in Group B. That said Ricky Walden is also a big scorer when on form, Fergal O’Brien is capable of derailing anyone by breaking their rhythm, and Peter Lines, fresh from regaining his tour card was impressive in stage 1.