Group 1 of this season Championship League Snooker concluded on Tuesday and here is the report by WST:
Liang Into Winners’ Group
Liang Wenbo is the first player through to Winners’ Group of the BetVictor Championship League Snooker Invitational after the completion of Group 1 at the Morningside Arena, Leicester.
Liang overcame Jack Lisowski in the Group Final 3-1 to move safely through a group that also contained Graeme Dott, Zhou Yuelong, Ryan Day, Gary Wilson and Tom Ford.
Dott won all six group games to top the group but then lost his play-off semi-final against Lisowski. Liang finished second in the group then scored a 3-2 success over Day to reach the final.
Breaks of 91 and 90 put China’s Liang 2-0 up in the final. Lisowski pulled one back with a 73 only for Liang to complete the scoreline with a superb 136.
Liang said: “The seven players were very good. I played okay today then by winning the semi-final I found some confidence. Jack is a good friend and I played well in the final. I just had to concentrate. I had to show my style and play my game.
“I haven’t done well in the last two or three years, maybe I haven’t felt confident. I have been working hard. Seeing Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao winning tournaments perhaps woke me up!”
The tournament carries a prize fund of £205,000 with players earning £100 per frame won with significant bonuses for their final group position and increased prize money in the Winners’ Group. A place in the 2022 Cazoo Champion of Champions is also on the line.
Ford and Zhou are eliminated by finishing 6th and 7th while Wilson, Day, Dott, and Lisowski all return in Group 2 action on Wednesday with Xiao Guodong, Joe Perry, and Lu Ning entering proceedings. Action gets underway from 11 am UK time.
Graeme Dott had won all six of his league matches, but was beaten by Jack Lisowski at the semi-finals stage. The highest break of the group was 136, by both Zhou Yuelong and Liang Wenbo. Ryan Day scored the 400th century of his career in his semi-final against Liang Wenbo.
I’m glad to see Liang Wenbo playing well again. He’s a very entertaining player to watch and was always lovely whenever I met him when I was taking pictures on the main tour.
Group 2 started yesterday, and apparently there was a sequence of shots during the Lu Ning v Xiao Guodong match that got the usual twitter brigade up in arms, accusing both players of cheating and, of course, of match fixing. Here are a few thoughts about that:
match fixing only makes sense if one or both player(s) have something to gain from it. Unless there is proof of foul play, or at least strong suspicion supported by some facts, like abnormal betting patterns, I feel very uneasy with such accusations, especially as they usually target mainly Asian players.
this competition, organised by Matchroom, the commercial entreprise that owns the sport, and sanctioned by WST, has a format that doesn’t offer the strongest of incentive to win. Indeed, a player is likely to make more money if they keep competing in successive groups, which means that the most lucrative strategy is to do well enough in the groups, without winning one, until reaching the final winners’ group. If my memory serves me well, bookies refused to “price” Group finals on a few occasions.
One will tell me that this is a dangerous strategy, as usually groups become stronger as the competition unfolds and there is a risk to fail to qualify for the winners’ group and the chance to grab a spot in the 2022 Champion of Champions. True, but then logic would dictate that players who have already qualified for that event, should not be in the draw… in this edition, Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan are in that position already.
I have very mixed feelings about this event. The negative ones have been expressed above, the positive ones stem from the fact that players usually play with more freedom in this event, and it makes for entertaining viewing as they go for, and often get, shots they rarely play in ranking competitions.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is up to third place on the one-year ranking list following his victory at the Cazoo World Grand Prix on Sunday.
O’Sullivan beat Neil Robertson 10-8 in the final in Coventry to capture the £100,000 top prize and climb from seventh place to third, behind only Zhao Xintong and Luca Brecel. The Rocket now looks well placed to qualify for the two remaining events in the Cazoo Series.
Robertson banks £40,000 as runner-up and jumps from eighth to sixth. Stuart Bingham reached the semi-finals and he’s up from 22nd to 18th. Mark Selby was the other losing semi-finalist and he jumps from 21st to 17th.
There are only two counting events to go until the field is confirmed for the second event in the series, the Cazoo Players Championship, as only the top 16 on the one-year list will make it to Wolverhampton (February 7-13).
Those events are the BetVictor Shoot Out (January 20 to 23) and the BetVictor German Masters (January 26 to 30). The qualifying rounds of the latter event have already taken place (click here for the last 32 draw), so certain players such as Bingham only have the BetVictor Shoot Out to try to climb into the top 16.
Four players who are outside the top 16 of the official two-year list are currently inside the top 16 of the one-year list: David Gilbert, Gary Wilson, Jimmy Robertson and Ricky Walden. Anthony McGill is currently on the bubble in 16th place with £53,500.
Only the top eight will contest the final event of the 2021/22 Cazoo Series, the Cazoo Tour Championship (March 28 to April 3, Llandudno).
Where prize money is won without a player winning a match in a tournament, NONE of that prize money will count towards these prize money rankings save for the World Grand Prix, Players Championship and Tour Championship.
Where prize money is won by a player at a qualifying venue and that player does not go on to appear at the final venue, for whatever reason, that prize money will not count in the prize money rankings until the situation has been considered by the appeals committee who may, at their absolute discretion, allocate ranking points where it can be demonstrated that there are extreme mitigating circumstances. These points will be allocated from the date of the committee meeting and will not affect previously issued draws.
WST Seeding – Count Back: Players on equal prize money will be seeded based on the best performance (stage/round reached through winning a match) working backwards from the most recent ranking event. If still equal, frames won when losing will determine their position, working backwards from the most recent ranking event. For the purposes of count back, competing in an event and losing is treated as a better performance than not entering or competing in an event.
For a full explanation of how the rankings work,click here
You will find the “race to the Players Championship” rankings here on snooker.org. With 50000 points between Ronnie third and Mark Williams fourth, it would take something extraordinary for Ronnie to miss out on the Tour Championship.
Snooker’s unique BetVictor Shoot Out heads to the Morningside Arena in Leicester in January, with top stars including Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams, Kyren Wilson, Zhao Xintong, Ding Junhui, Mark Allen, Luca Brecel and defending champion Ryan Day in the field.
The draw has been made for the 128-player world ranking event, to run from January 20 to 23.
…
Notable first round ties include:
New UK Champion Zhao Xintong against 2020 Shoot Out winner Michael Holt – Friday January 21, 7pm session
World number one Mark Selby against Li Hang – Thursday January 20, 7pm session
Three-time UK Champion Ding Junhui against 2012 Shoot Out winner Barry Hawkins – Friday January 21, 1pm session
Two-time Crucible finalist Ali Carter against former Masters and UK Champion Matthew Stevens – Thursday January 20, 1pm session
Former World Champion Shaun Murphy v Chang Bingyu – Thursday January 20, 1pm session
Three-time Crucible king Mark Williams v Stuart Carrington- Thursday January 20, 7pm session
Women’s World Champion Reanne Evans v Fan Zhengyi – Thursday January 20, 7pm session
As always, the tournament features a unique set of rules. All matches last a maximum of ten minutes, with a shot clock of 15 seconds for the first five minutes and ten seconds for the last five, while any foul means ball in hand for the opponent.
Televised by Eurosport and a range of other broadcasters and online platforms worldwide, the tournament forms part of the eight-event BetVictor Snooker Series, from which the player earning the most prize money will receive a huge £150,000 bonus.
No Ronnie, no Judd Trump, no Neil Robertson, no John Higgins … unsurprisingly. As you would expect, given that they are just outside the Players Championship qualifying zone, Mark Selby and Stuart Bingham have entered. What really surprises me is to see Ding’s name in the draw…
The fantastic Nirvana Cosmopolitan Hotel was named as the host of the new Nirvana Turkish Masters world ranking event today at a press conference in Antalya.
The tournament will run from March 7 to 13 in 2022 and it will be the first professional event staged in Turkey, with 64 players heading to the beautiful city of Antalya to compete for total prize money of £500,000.
WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson, President of the Turkish Billiard Federation Ersan Ercan, VP and Snooker Director Muhammad Leysi, Director of Sport at Nirvana, Mr Burcin Badem and local promoter Tuğba İrten were among those to host the press conference.
Ferguson said: “The Nirvana Cosmopolitan Hotel is an absolutely superb location to stage what will be a historic event on the World Snooker Tour. The players will love this stunning venue and it will be an incredible opportunity for fans to see the leading stars and to enjoy the local hospitality in Antalya.
“Our greatest ambition is to bring our sport to all corners of the globe and to stage an event in Turkey for the first time, where we know there is huge support for snooker, is a crucial step forward. We look forward to delivering a top class event and working with our partners in the region: the Turkish Billiard Federation, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Kilit Group and the Nirvana Hotel, along with our promoter Tugba Irten.”
Antalya is known for its history, scenery and culture
Antalya is renowned as one of Europe’s outstanding destinations, known for its culture, history and ideal location on the Mediterranean coast.
WST has agreed a four-year deal with the Turkish Billiards Federation and Big Break Promotions to stage the Turkish Masters every season until at least 2024/2025. Overall prize money will increase each year.
A qualifying round will be staged with players needing to win one match to make it to the final stages. Two Turkish wild cards will also be handed places in the main event in Antalya. The tournament will be televised by a range of broadcasters worldwide including Eurosport and Matchroom Live.
Obviously the prize money is good and Antalya is a beautiful place with a rich history. Turkish cuisine isn’t bad either. Having the whole event played in a luxury hotel is reminiscent of the glorious old days when snooker was really a prominent sport and its exponents true stars.
Whether there will be held-over matches is unclear to me. The first sentence in bold seems to indicate that all players will need to qualify ahead of the main event. The second sentence in bold on the other hand says that the two Turkish wildcards will play at the main venue, therefore, unless they play each other, two players at least will have their first round match held-over. WST will probably go “by ranking” but the sponsors may have something to say about it too, especially for a first event in the country. We shall see.
Si Jiahui has won the second event of the 2021/22 WPBSA Q Tour following a dramatic 5-4 victory against former professional Michael White at the Terry Griffiths Matchroom, Llanelli.
The WPBSA Q Tour is an official pathway to the World Snooker Tour with two professional places to be won across the season from four tournaments. The events are open to all players, with 48 players automatically qualified for the last 64 stage through their position on the 2021 Q School Order of Merit.
China’s Si had previously reached the final of Event one in Brighton just three weeks ago and having again progressed to the quarter-finals on Saturday, made it back to back finals with victories against Sydney Wilson and Sean O’Sullivan.
Awaiting him would be two-time ranking event winner Michael White, who added a further two century breaks to the five he had already compiled the previous day during wins against Alex Clenshaw and Belgium’s Ben Mertens.
Having fallen 4-0 behind against David Lilley in the previous final, it was Si who this time made the stronger start, breaks of 54, 82 and 53 ensuring that he would stand just one frame from the title at the mid-session interval.
With a lead of 45-1 during frame five, a whitewash appeared to be on the cards but there was to be a twist in the tale as White hit back with 50 before eventually snatching the frame on the pink, before adding breaks of 58 and 70 on his way to drawing level at 4-4.
The decider was to prove no less dramatic as White once again erased an early deficit – which included a snooker on the colours – but this time Si was not to be denied as he potted green, brown and blue to secure victory.
With 11 match wins from 12 played from the first two events, Si has put himself in a strong position on the Q Tour Ranking list at the halfway point of the season, but there remains all to play for ahead of the final two events in Leicester and Leeds over the coming months.
Two World Snooker Tour cards are available from the Q Tour series, with the top ranked player following this season’s four scheduled events set to qualify. A further 16 players will contest a play-off tournament for the second card.
The WPBSA would like to thank all of the players, officials and in particular the Terry Griffiths Matchroom and its staff, who helped to support another fantastic weekend of snooker in south Wales.
The WPBSA Q Tour will return with Event Three from 28-30 January at The Winchester Snooker Club, Leicestershire. The closing date for entries for the event is 4:30pm on Friday 14 January
Congratulations Si!
And of course … the traditional Championship league is under way, with Group 1 concluding today.
The 2022 BetVictor Championship League Snooker Invitational gets underway with Group 1 live from the Morningside Arena, Leicester on Monday 20, December starring Jack Lisowski, Gary Wilson, Graeme Dott, Zhou Yuelong, Tom Ford, Liang Wenbo and Ryan Day, broadcast live on FreeSports in the UK and Ireland, Viaplay in the Nordics and Baltics alongside broadcasters worldwide.
Both Tables 1 and 2 will be available live globally with Lisowski set to take on Zhou in the opening match of the tournament at 11am. Group 2 will take place on December 22-23 before Groups 3-5 get underway from January 3-8 and Group 6 on January 17-18. Group 7 and the Winners’ Group to find out the winner will take place from January 31-February 3.
Mark Selby, Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins and invitational defending champion Kyren Wilson are all set to feature during the group stage.
The groups can be found below with missing spots completed by the previous group’s 5th placed player, two losing semi-finalists and losing group finalist.
Group 1
Jack Lisowski, Zhou Yuelong, Graeme Dott, Tom Ford, Gary Wilson, Ryan Day, Liang Wenbo
Group 2
Xiao Guodong, Lu Ning, Joe Perry
Group 3
Mark Selby, Mark Williams, Stuart Bingham
Group 4
Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson, Barry Hawkins
Group 5
David Gilbert, Martin Gould, Ali Carter
Group 6
Yan Bingtao, Ricky Walden, Ding Junhui
Group 7
Ronnie O’Sullivan, Neil Robertson, John Higgins
Where to Watch
Foxtel – Australia
FreeSports – UK and Ireland
Nova – Czech Republic & Slovakia
NTV – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenia, and Uzbekistan
Sky Network – New Zealand
SuperSport – Africa
Sportklub – Croatia & Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, and Slovenia
TVP – Poland
Viaplay – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
Viaplay – Iceland
Viaplay – Scandinavia
Zhibo.TV – China
Matchroom.Live – Table 1 is available exclusively to those outside of the countries listed above. Table 2 will be available live on Matchroom.Live excluding the Nordic and Baltic regions
The tournament will also be live on betting websites around the world
The tournament carries a prize fund of £205,000 with players earning £100 per frame won with significant bonuses for their final group position and increased prize money in the Winners’ Group. A place in the 2022 Cazoo Champion of Champions is also on the line with each group featuring seven players with matches being held over two days.
All matches are a best-of-five, and each group is played to a round-robin format. The top four in each group contest the play-offs, with the eventual winner advancing to Winners’ Group. The three play-off players who don’t advance will move into the next group, where they are joined by the player who finished fifth in the table and three new players. Those finishing sixth and seventh in each group are eliminated from the competition.
Ronnie won a record extending 38th ranking title yesterday night when he beat Neil Robertson by 10-8 in the final. He also broke another record: it’s now 28 years and 21 weeks between his first ranking title, the 1993 UK Championship and the last, this year World Grand Prix.
Congratulations Ronnie!
Neil Robertson was by far the better player for most of the match, but he couldn’t really shake off Ronnie who showed remarkable resilience and played some tremendous safeties. Then from 7-5 down, fuelled by scones with clotted cream apparently, Ronnie found something special and dominated the last mini-session.
Here is proof of the “scones admission”. Just as well that scones and clotted cream aren’t on the WADA banned substances list then…
Ronnie O’Sullivan twice recovered a two-frame deficit as he finished the first session of the Cazoo World Grand Prix final level at 4-4 against Neil Robertson.
Robertson had leads of 2-0 and 4-2 but each time was hauled back by his opponent, and the session finished with a dramatic twist as O’Sullivan stole the last frame despite having needed two snookers on the last red. First to ten frames in the concluding session on Sunday night takes the trophy and £100,000 top prize.
O’Sullivan is playing in his 59th ranking event final, 28 years after his first at the 1993 UK Championship. He has won 37 of those, one ahead of Stephen Hendry’s previous record of 36. However the Rocket has lost his last five finals and has not lifted silverware since the 2020 Betfred World Championship, 16 months ago.
The 46-year-old from Chigwell is aiming to win this tournament for the second time having beaten Ding Junhui in the 2018 final. He will stay at number three in the world rankings whatever the result today.
Australia’s 39-year-old Robertson is hoping to become the first player to win two titles this season, having landed the BetVictor English Open last month. This is the 34th ranking final of his career and he is aiming for his 22nd title, which would draw him level with Judd Trump in joint-sixth on the all-time list. Left-hander Robertson, who won this event in 2020, will remain fourth in the world rankings, win or lose.
O’Sullivan has won 17 of their 26 previous meetings and this is their fourth clash in the final of an event in this series. In 2019, O’Sullivan beat Robertson in the final of both the Players Championship and the Tour Championship, then last season the Aussie took revenge with a 10-4 success (winning the last six frames) at the Tour Championship.
Breaks of 72 and 62 gave Robertson the first two frames today and he had chances in the third, but crucially missed a mid-range red to a baulk corner when leading 50-39, allowing O’Sullivan to clear. Frame four came down to the colours and Robertson got the better of a safety battle, but then overcut a tricky pot on the green to a centre pocket, and again his opponent punished him.
After the interval, Robertson dominated a scrappy fifth frame, then took the next with runs of 51 and 36 to lead 4-2. He had a scoring chance in frame seven but missed a short-range red along the baulk cushion on 12, and O’Sullivan’s break of 90 reduced his deficit.
Trailing 25-19 in the last of the session, Robertson converted a clever plant which set him up for a run of 47, leaving him 41 points ahead with one red remaining. But O’Sullivan showed brilliant touch and judgement by laying a series of difficult snookers. When Robertson missed the red for a second time, O’Sullivan cleared the table to square the match and set up a fascinating final session.
Ronnie O’Sullivan gave a glorious reminder of his dazzling skills as he came from 7-5 down to beat Neil Robertson 10-8 in the final of the Cazoo World Grand Prix.
O’Sullivan had lost his previous five ranking finals and gone 16 months without a title; even his most dedicated fan must have doubted whether he could still rise to the occasion on the big moments. He proved the doubters wrong tonight with a sensational display at the tail end of a superb match.
The Rocket was never ahead until the 15th frame, but having struggled with his game all week in Coventry, his technique and confidence clicked as he rifled in pots from all angles, making a difficult sport look ridiculously easy.
O’Sullivan’s reward is a 38th ranking title, extending a record he already held, a top prize of £100,000, and perhaps most importantly, renewed belief that he can beat the very best players when it matters most. However often he repeats his mantra of the enjoyment of his time on the circuit being more important than results, this victory is sure to give him deep down satisfaction.
In capturing his first trophy since the 2020 Befred World Championship, O’Sullivan extends his record gap between first and most recent titles, having won his first 28 years ago at the 1993 UK Championship. The 46-year-old from Chigwell moves up to third place on the one-year ranking list and looks set to qualify for all three events in the Cazoo Series, as well as earning a spot in next year’s Cazoo Champion of Champions.
Robertson may rue missing his chance to build a lead in the first session when he was well on top, but from 7-5 he made very few errors. The 39-year old Australian failed to become the only player to win two titles this season having landed the BetVictor English Open last month. His career ranking title tally remains on 21 and he banks £40,000 as runner-up.
After sharing the first session 4-4, Robertson took the opening frame tonight with a break of 59. In the next, he was 27 points behind with just the colours left but missed his chance to force a respot when he rattled the yellow in the jaws of a baulk corner, allowing world number three O’Sullivan to level at 5-5.
World number four Robertson took the lead for the fourth time with a break of 128 in frame 11, then in the 12th O’Sullivan missed a red to a top corner on 49, letting his opponent in for an 88 clearance to lead 7-5.
If that felt like a momentum shift, there was a bigger one to come. After the interval, O’Sullivan blitzed through four frames in just 37 minutes with top breaks of 90, 77 and 77 and take a 9-7 advantage.
A trademark long red from Robertson set him up for a break of 78 to reduce his deficit, and he had first chance in frame 18 but made just 7 before a miscue as he attempted to pot the black. That proved his last shot as O’Sullivan sealed the title with a run of 77.
“Neil was playing the best snooker and he’s the younger guy, he’s at his peak and I’m past my peak, so he was favourite, but strange things happen in sport,” said six-time World Champion O’Sullivan. “Some of the other great players didn’t win much after the age of 30 so it’s good to just be playing at the age of 46.
“I am always working on little things in my technique. Players like me and Alex Higgins are unpredictable, we are just looking for a feeling, and sometimes when you get that feeling…bang! Everything is off and running again. I get that feeling every day from running, but it is an amazing feeling.
“The difference in the atmosphere when I’m playing well is a different energy, and it’s nice to bring that energy to the people, to a venue and to a game. Only certain sports people have that. Tiger Woods, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Lionel Messi, they bring something which keeps you intrigued. I have that when I get going – I suppose that’s why people have gravitated towards me.
“I’d rather play well and lose, and be involved in a good match, than win and play awful. If I had won tonight without finding an extra gear, I would have been disappointed and felt bad for the fans. Because I got a buzz and Neil played well, it was alright. When you are stinking gaffs out, it’s not a nice feeling. Neil is a lovely guy, a great sportsman, a great ambassador for snooker and Australia.”
Robertson said: “I could have had a lead after the first session, but Ronnie battled really well to win the last frame and make it 4-4. I felt great throughout the whole final. At 7-5 I just wanted three more chances. Ronnie came out and played some superb stuff. The only thing that annoyed me was the miscue on the black at 9-8, I would have loved to force a decider. I know Ronnie lost a few finals last season, so as a fan of the game and a fan of him, it was fantastic to see him play so well tonight.”
Also interesting is this article by Hector Nunns:
Gutsy O’Sullivan Ends Losing Finals Streak And Extends Longevity Record
Ronnie O’Sullivan showed true grit on Sunday night to make more history and end a losing streak of five finals in winning a second World Grand Prix title.
The Rocket had been misfiring throughout the tournament in Coventry, but after hanging tough he finally hit top gear to run out a 10-8 winner over Australia’s Neil Robertson.
Six-time world champion O’Sullivan, 46, had not lifted a trophy since the World Championship success in 2020 and lost every showpiece last term. But he extended two records by claiming an unmatched 38th ranking title as well as pouching the £100,000 first prize against the frustrated world number four Robertson, who was the better player until the climax.
As well as the new record total, this latest triumph came 28 years and 21 days after O’Sullivan’s first ranking title win at the 1993 UK Championship, pushing back another boundary.
But this was agony for Robertson, 39, who must have thought at 7-5 up that he was heading for a second Grand Prix win in three seasons.
O’Sullivan said afterwards: “I was determined all match. Neil should have been well ahead in the afternoon but wasn’t. And I found something tonight after Neil had an unfortunate miscue. He is a great champion, a great ambassador, one of the best players ever and I enjoy competing against him.
“With Covid and everything it is great to see all the fans here tonight – it’s like 10 Downing Street, a mass spreader! I have won so much in my career, that’s not being big-headed, it’s just about enjoying life and the game and I did give it my all tonight and a win is all right.”
Robertson added: “The first session I could have had a lead but Ronnie battled really well, especially the last frame to go 4-4. But I came out again playing well tonight and from 7-5 up I knew I needed just three more chances. But Ronnie played some superb stuff after that.
“It is disappointing because I would have liked to get to a decider and a miscue hurt me, but as a snooker fan it is also good to see Ronnie back winning titles again.
“It wasn’t looking great for me to be here a couple of weeks ago after having the symptoms and being diagnosed with the tinnitus, and it was great to be contesting a final with Ronnie.”
What drought?
@ronnieo147 wins the 2021 @CazooUK World Grand Prix, his first title since winning the World Championship for the sixth time last year. It’s his 38th career ranking title #CazooSeries
Robertson also had a lot to play for, and had been chasing a second World Grand Prix crown in three seasons, as well as a 22nd ranking title. And his reference to a health scare came after being forced to pull out of the previous event at the Scottish Open after being diagnosed with pulsative tinnitus.
That had left his balance and hearing affected, with an increased heartbeat ringing in both ears that left the Australian worrying for his career if he had something similar to Finland’s Robin Hull, who was forced to retire with heart problems.
O’Sullivan, for his part, had not played anywhere near his best all week or indeed for most of the season, and predicted before the final that he risked being overwhelmed if he delivered more of the same.
But, once again struggling, the Rocket showed rarely-required battling and scrapping qualities to somehow stay in the contest in the first session.
Robertson surged into a 2-0 lead with breaks of 72 and 62, only for the world number three to claw his way back level, helped by a run of 51. Once more the Australian established a two-frame advantage, but after a fluent break of 90 from O’Sullivan halved the deficit, he showed Mark Selby levels of tenacity to get to 4-4. And the Essex pro got the two snookers he needed to steal a frame Robertson thought was long gone to plant a seed of doubt in the left-hander’s mind.
The pattern continued initially in the evening, Robertson edging in front and then looking irritated and bewildered at his inability to get clear as his opponent again levelled matters. But the 39-year-old cut loose in frame 11 with a 128, the first century of the final. And he followed that up with a huge steal and break of 88 for 7-5 after O’Sullivan broke down on 49.
However, that seemed to fire up O’Sullivan, who knocked in a break of 90 and then bossed frame 14 to leave the pair locked once more at 7-7 – before making it three on the spin with a run of 77.
Another 77 from O’Sullivan put him on the brink of victory only for Robertson to keep the match alive with a break of 78. But yet another break of 77 from O’Sullivan was enough to see him through the winning line to the delight of his partisan and raucous fans in the arena.
Here are a few images shared on social media, mainly by WST
as well as some short videos
The first two show some of the safeties that allowed Ronnie to win frame 8, having needed two snookers. The last is about the trophy ceremony.
Neil Robertson beat Mark Selby for the fifth consecutive time as a 6-3 victory put him into the final of the Cazoo World Grand Prix in Coventry.
Australia’s Robertson will face Ronnie O’Sullivan or Stuart Bingham over 19 frames in the final on Sunday and victory would give him his second ranking title of the season and 22nd of his career.
If 39-year-old Robertson goes on to lift the trophy it will complete a remarkable recovery from health problems as he has suffered from pulsatile tinnitus in recent weeks, which led to defeat in the first round of the Cazoo UK Championship and withdrawal from the BetVictor Scottish Open.
Since losing to Selby at the Crucible in 2020, Robertson has dominated meetings between the pair, winning all four matches last season and another tonight – a formidable recent record against the World Champion and world number one. Robertson was strong in all departments this evening as he reached his 34th ranking event final.
This week’s run was Selby’s best of the season so far, but he remains without a title since conquering the Crucible last May. He also remains outside the top 16 of the one-year ranking list and may need a deep run at either the BetVictor Shoot Out or BetVictor German Masters to qualify for the Cazoo Players Championship in February.
Robertson started strongly with breaks of 82 and 93 to take the first two frames, before Selby won the third. Frame four lasted 42 minutes and came down to the colours, Selby getting the snooker he needed on the blue then capitalising on a safety error from his opponent to clear from blue to black for 2-2.
Robertson came from 36-0 down to take the fifth with a 74 clearance and added the next with a run of 67 for 4-2. The seventh hinged on a moment early in the frame when Robertson, on a break of 6, potted a red but was correctly judged to have played a push shot on another red by referee Kevin Dabrowski. Selby took advantage with a break of 112.
Leicester’s Selby led 24-0 in the eighth when he was unlucky not to land on a red when splitting the pack. Robertson had the next chance and made 74 which put him 5-3 ahead, and when Selby played a poor safety early in the ninth his hopes were gone, as a cool 71 from world number four Robertson secured his place in the final.
“I’m really happy with the way I closed out the last two frames,” said Robertson, who won this title in 2020. “I don’t think beating Mark five times in a row makes any difference because I just try to play on my terms, the way I enjoy playing, that’s the philosophy I take into any match. And Mark is probably the strongest player in the game mentally so I doubt it affects him much.
“I had a late start to this season so to win a title at the English Open in front of a big crowd was brilliant. To be back in this final again, at such a prestigious event, is incredible.”
Robertson is enthusiastic about the recent breakthroughs for young talents Zhao Xintong and Luca Brecel. “It’s fantastic for the game,” he said. “Yan Bingtao winning the Masters and those two players taking titles keeps the conveyor belt going of overseas players doing well and keeping the tour really international. China is producing a lot of players and now we are seeing them competing for titles. Hopefully Luca will inspire more European players to progress.”
Neil has an exceptional record against Mark Selby and it just shows that, sometimes, it’s just the clash of styles that doesn’t suit one of the players, no matter how good they are. Over time, this might also develop into a kind of mental block. Neil believes it won’t affect Mark, but I’m not so sure.
O’Sullivan has lost five ranking event finals since his 2020 Crucible triumph
Ronnie O’Sullivan beat a top 16 player in a ranking event for the first time in nine months, seeing off Stuart Bingham 6-2 to reach the final of the Cazoo World Grand Prix in Coventry.
On Sunday, O’Sullivan will face Neil Robertson, whose cue action he describes as the best of all time, over 19 frames for the trophy and a top prize of £100,000.
O’Sullivan’s remarkable longevity at the top level of snooker is underlined by the fact that he has reached his 59th ranking event final, 28 years since he appeared in his first at the 1993 UK Championship. He has won 37 of those finals, one ahead of Stephen Hendry’s previous record of 36.
Victory over Robertson would give O’Sullivan his first silverware since he beat Kyren Wilson in the Betfred World Championship final 16 months ago at the Crucible. He is aiming to win the World Grand Prix for the second time having beaten Ding Junhui in the 2018 final.
Chigwell’s 46-year-old O’Sullivan has produced his brilliant best in only brief flashes this week but has not been punished by his opponents. Bingham had chances in every frame tonight but made too many errors as world number three O’Sullivan scored his first win in a ranking event over a top 16 player since beating Barry Hawkins at the Cazoo Tour Championship last March.
Bingham won the opening frame by potting the last red with the rest to a top corner, and had a clear scoring chance in the second but missed a tricky red along the side cushion on 40. O’Sullivan capitalised with a run of 62 and sealed the frame on the last red for 1-1.
Frame three also came down to the last red and Bingham’s miss to a baulk corner proved crucial as O’Sullivan took the lead for the first time. The fourth was resolved on a safety battle on the colours, Bingham making an error on the green which allowed his opponent to go 3-1 up.
A break of 77, his highest of the match, saw O’Sullivan extend his lead. The Rocket missed a red on 49 on the next, but Bingham almost immediately failed on a red to centre pocket as his hopes slipped away.
A run of 78 from 2015 World Champion Bingham raised his hopes of a fight-back, and he should have pulled another one back but jawed the final black in frame eight. O’Sullivan cracked in a mid-range pot to a top corner to complete the scoreline.
Asked about his final opponent, O’Sullivan said. “His cue action is beautiful. No one comes near it, in the history of the game. It’s incredible, he is blessed in that way. There are other players you can learn from and get near, but what Neil does is ridiculous, no one can cue like that. If I don’t perform then he will entertain the fans, and if I have a little flow and get going then great, it will make it interesting. I doubt Neil’s performance will dip. It should be good for the fans.
“I have had a really good five weeks, had a great time, it has been the best holiday of my life. I don’t want it to end, can we have some more tournaments rather than stopping for Christmas?”
Bingham said: “I am gutted to play like that, especially after playing well yesterday. Ronnie had a bit of rub of the ball but I missed so many chances.”
These are the scores:
Ronnie had five breaks over 50 but it’s actually misleading. He didn’t play well, only Stuart played worse.
We stunk it out tonight,’ O’Sullivan said. ‘I was not on my own. It was poor, really poor.
‘We looked like a couple of old club players. It was really embarrassing, sorry about that.
‘We looked like butchers out there, butchering the balls and twitching all over the place.
‘It was embarrassing.’
…
‘I could stink the gaff tomorrow and drag him down, but I doubt it. He is too good for that, he’s in his prime and the best cueist I have ever seen.
‘If I don’t get my finger out or find something I will get blasted away.
‘I got a bit optimistic yesterday, I felt alright but now back to the usual standard today: awful.’
…
Indeed, if Ronnie doesn’t improve significantly, it won’t even be close today, unfortunately.
Whatever happens there are still a lot of positives to take after this week.
First of all we are done with the “He hasn’t beaten a top player since March” narrative. Happy days!
Ronnie is now 6th on the 2022 Players Championship “qualifying list”, well safe with only two more events counting towards it. He also has a 40000 points “cushion” over Kyren Wilson who is 9th in that list, meaning that he’s not badly placed for the 2022 Tour Championship either although I doubt that he will play in the Turkish Masters as there is one round of qualifiers, or in the Gibraltar Open.
Ronnie played his best match of the tournament so far as he beat Jimmy Robertson by 5-2 in the quarter-finals yesterday afternoon. He also appeared to be in a better place mentally. Ronnie still looked vulnerable before the MSI but applied himself: Jimmy won his 2 frames with big breaks, Ronnie won the fragmented frames thank to superior safety. It all changed after the MSI as Ronnie started scoring and denied Jimmy a single point during the second part of the match.
Stuart Bingham intends to learn from the example of John Higgins and improve his fitness to help his form, though he looked on top of his game in a 5-1 thrashing of Stephen Maguire at the Cazoo World Grand Prix.
Former World and Masters champion Bingham is into the semi-finals and, in a blockbuster Saturday night clash, will face Ronnie O’Sullivan, who saw off Jimmy Robertson 5-2.
World number 14 Bingham has had a patchy start to the season but is now into the last four of a ranking event for the first time since the Betfred World Championship. The Essex cueman produced his best performance of the campaign so far as breaks of 53, 105 and 95 helped him to a 4-0 lead. Maguire pulled one back with a 139, the new front-runner for the £10,000 high break prize, but Bingham sealed the result in frame six.
Higgins lost four stone over the summer break and has since shown a high level of consistency, reaching four finals this season. Bingham, age 45, plans to emulate the Scot in order to improve his own health and level of performance.
“I have got a new sponsor called Stuart Lawson who is trying to get me fit,” he said. “My manager Gary has been trying to do that for 25 years and it has never happened! Stuart is putting a plan together. Maybe it will extend my career for an extra few years.
“He’s trying to get me a personal trainer. Christmas is around the corner so we are looking at the new year and putting me through my paces. John got to a point where he wasn’t happy with himself, he changed something and it has worked out perfectly for him. It can only help.”
Reflecting on today’s performance, Bingham added: “I have got stronger and stronger this week and I punished every mistake Stephen made today. I am trying to stay relaxed because before I was trying too hard. This week my practice game is coming out on the table. If you are not in the right frame of mind you can struggle with this game. After 26 years as a pro I am still finding it fun to try and work it out.
“It will be great to play Ronnie and test my game against his. If I play like I did today I’ve got every chance. Only a few players have still got an aura, and Ronnie is one of them. I played him in the Champion of Champions and I couldn’t believe how nervous I was. I’m sure the arena will be packed, every occasion playing him is special.”
Jimmy Robertson looked dangerous in the early stages of today’s match against O’Sullivan and made breaks of 70 and 106 in sharing the first four frames 2-2. But after the interval he failed to score a point as six-time World Champion O’Sullivan rattled in breaks of 80, 12 and 68 to reach the 86th ranking event semi-final of his career.
“I’d rather lose in quarter and semi-finals and enjoy it than try to go deep and not enjoy it,” said O’Sullivan, who has not won a title since conquering the Crucible in August 2020. “Trophies mean nothing to me, I have got enough of them and nothing left to prove.
“I have been on this road trip of playing tournaments for four and a half weeks and my main aim at the start was not to crack up, and I haven’t. I feel as if I have really cruised through it. That was the main aim, lots of smiley faces and try to pick up a few ranking points along the way.”
All over. O’Sullivan finishing matters off in style as a 68 break is more than enough to get the job done. He will face Bingham or Maguire in the last four on Saturday night. Robertson didn’t score in the closing three frames.
O’SULLIVAN 4-2 ROBERTSON (16-0)
So unfortunate for Robertson as he brilliantly pots his way out of trouble from an immaculate O’Sullivan safety shot only to see the white drop in. Chance for O’Sullivan to win frame and match right here, right now.
O’SULLIVAN 4-2 ROBERTSON (0-0)
Referee almost having to run around the table to picks balls out of pockets. So quickly this frame has been done and dusted. O’Sullivan makes a fine 112 break for a 4-2 lead. Needs one more frame to reach the last four.
O’SULLIVAN 3-2 ROBERTSON (29-0)
Safety blunder by Robertson has left O’Sullivan back in among the balls. By his standards, chance to win the frame for a 4-2 lead. Chasing a place in his 86th ranking event semi-final.
O’SULLIVAN 3-2 ROBERTSON (23-0)
Only 23 from O’Sullivan early in this sixth frame The white ball again running astray at the key moment.
O’SULLIVAN 3-2 ROBERTSON (0-0)
A rapid knock of 80 from Rocket Ronnie. Exquisite contribution at the right time. Two frames short of the winning line.
O’SULLIVAN 2-2 ROBERTSON (65-0)
Robertson can’t slot a mid-range red and O’Sullivan rolls a lovely shot on a red around the angles to land on the black. Great chance to really press on in this frame. All the reds are there for the taking.
O’SULLIVAN 2-2 ROBERTSON (0-0)
A 106 from Robertson to level at 2-2. Brilliant break from the Bexhill potter. Looks to be hitting the ball superbly. Interesting conclusion to this match coming up after the mid-session interval.
O’SULLIVAN 2-1 ROBERTSON (0-74)
Nice calm response from Robertson. Was left in among the balls and is going to punish O’Sullivan’s error. Should restore parity at 2-2. Could be a century on the way.
O’SULLIVAN 2-1 ROBERTSON (0-1)
O’Sullivan can’t hole a long red. Was tough cueing, but what a chance he has left for Robertson. Chance to pile on the points.
O’SULLIVAN 2-1 ROBERTSON (0-0)
A rapid 33 to finish off the third frame. Not yet in top gear, but is competing strongly out there to lead again. One more frame before the mid-session interval. Have a feeling a big break is on the horizon.
O’SULLIVAN 1-1 ROBERTSON (44-0)
O’Sullivan 44 points clear. Plays a poor safety, but his opponent can’t slot a long red. O’Sullivan back at table looking to put this frame to bed. Superb positional shot to float the white onto the black. Touch is just immense in these situations.
O’SULLIVAN 1-1 ROBERTSON (4-0)
Lovely three-ball plant by O’Sullivan at the outset of the third frame, but no colours to follow. A bit of safety to sort out the early narrative here.
O’SULLIVAN 1-0 ROBERTSON (0-70)
Superb little response here from the 2018 European Masters winner. Quickly up to 63 before he slots frame-ball black to move to 70. Fine cut. O’Sullivan needing a snooker, but he can’t be bothered playing for them. We are all square at 1-1.
O’SULLIVAN 0-0 ROBERTSON (71-8)
And the answer is no as Robertson can’t cut in a black. Real chance there, but not enough in response. O’Sullivan slots red to a centre pocket before putting the finishing touches to the business at hand. A 1-0 lead for the 2018 Grand Prix winner.
O’SULLIVAN 0-0 ROBERTSON (56-8)
Breaks ends at 47 after a loose positional shot. O’Sullivan then compounds the error by butchering a safety shot seconds later. Suddenly Robertson in among the balls. Can he punish the mistake?
O’SULLIVAN 0-0 ROBERTSON (28-0)
Nice long red by O’Sullivan and the percentage shot roll behind the green pays off. Robertson leaves him among the balls from the snooker. Chance to make a productive score at this first visit of the day. Looks highly focused.
GOOD AFTERNOON
All set for another enticing day of snooker. Last of the quarter-finals this afternoon with Ronnie O’Sullivan facing Jimmy Robertson and Stuart Bingham taking on Stephen Maguire. First to five frames progresses. The winners of these respective matches will meet in the second semi-final tomorrow night over the best-of-11 frames.
You can watch the last frame here:
The above results mean that all the semi-finalists are former/current World Champions. Mark Selby, aged 38, is the “baby” in this field.
Ronnie and Stuart will play their semi-final tonight. Stuart reckons that the arena will be packed. I’m far from convinced that this will be the case. Indeed, Neil Robertson and Mark Selby played their semi-final match yesterday evening, Neil winning it by 6-3. Such a match should have attracted a huge croewd but the arena was largely empty. It doesn’t look good on television, it’s sad for the sport we love and it’s sad for the players who give it their all.
It’s hard to be sure about the reasons for such situation: maybe, with the ongoing crisis and Christmas coming, poeple don’t want to spend money on snooker, maybe the fact that the arena is in a rather isolated area doesn’t help … but maybe WST didn’t makes the wisest of choice either when it comes to their covid policy.
Let me explain. WST required people to wear masks inside the venue, but no proof of vaccination, nor negative covid tests are required. OK, this is in line with the UK govt recommandations … which is hardly a guarantee that it’s sensible or adequate especially right now with the number of cases soaring. Yesterday, the UK registered its highest daily number of cases for the third day in a row.
My perception, watching on Eurosport, is that there are less people in there now than at the start of the week, which is unusual but maybe understandable. The images on television showed that the mask policy isn’t even enforced. Nobody wants to get covid, particularly now with the Christmas holiday approaching. The vaccine lowers the risk of contamination and offers a very good protection against developping severe symptoms, but it’s still not 100%, and even when symptoms are mild it’s no fun and you might be forced into isolation. Knowing that you will want to be sat in a closed space for hours, amongst people who may be neither vaccinated, nor tested and don’t even wear their mask despite this being required? Would you risk it? I’m no spring chicken, I wouldn’t. Paradoxally, WST might have got more fans in the arena by enforcing stricter measures.
Jack Lisowski admitted he “totally lost concentration” at a key moment as he let slip a 3-1 lead and lost 4-3 to Stephen Maguire in the second round of the Cazoo World Grand Prix in Coventry.
Glasgow’s Maguire goes through to the quarter-finals of the £380,000 event and will face Stuart Bingham on Friday afternoon. World number 11 Maguire is chasing his first title since the 2020 Tour Championship.
Lisowski built a 3-1 lead today with a top break of 128 and looked to be cruising to the winning line in frame five until he missed the black off its spot at 47-0. Maguire stole that frame with a fine 54 clearance and added the next with a 57 for 3-3.
Early in the decider both player missed chances, Lisowski failing on a tricky thin cut on the yellow to a top corner. The Englishman later played a loose safety, which let Maguire in for a match-winning 77.
“Jack will be devastated, he should have put me to bed 4-1, I wasn’t in the game at all,” said Maguire, through to his second consecutive quarter-final having reached the last eight of the BetVictor Scottish Open. “The balls don’t forgive you in snooker if you don’t put the other guy away. When it went 3-2 I felt stronger and he fell apart.
“I have been struggling on the TV table, I think that’s the first match I have won on it this season. I gave away the first frame today which was pathetic, and I didn’t settle. But hopefully getting the win in the end will give me the chance to kick on.”
Lisowski said: “I missed that black at 3-1 and after that it was garbage. I totally lost my concentration which is typical of me, I have done it throughout my career. I fudged the chance and another one bites the dust. Finishing matches off should be the easy bit, but not for me. I have to figure out how to get these things tucked away.”
Former World and Masters champion Bingham came from 3-2 down to beat Ali Carter 4-3.
Not sure what happened in the Bingham v Carter match, but happy with the outcome.
Stephen Maguire always tells it as it is, I really appreciate his honesty. As for Jack Lisowski … what can I say? I like him, I like his game but he’s a fan’s worst nightmare.
Neil Robertson converted a fantastic long pot on the final blue in the deciding frame to win an exciting battle with Yan Bingtao 5-4 in the quarter-finals of the Cazoo World Grand Prix.
In a meeting of two of snooker’s all-time greats, Robertson will face Mark Selby on Friday evening in the semi-finals at the Coventry Building Society Arena. Selby came through a Leicester derby against Tom Ford by a 5-2 scoreline as the World Champion continued his best run of the season so far.
Australia’s Robertson landed this title in 2020 and is just two wins away from the £100,000 top prize, and his second title of the season having captured the BetVictor English Open.
His first six frames against Yan were shared 3-3, both players scoring heavily as Robertson made breaks of 72, 117 and 66 while China’s Yan replied with 54, 69, 59 and 87. Masters champion Yan edged ahead before Robertson got the better of frame eight for 4-4.
In the decider, Yan made 43 before missing a mid-range red to a top corner, and Robertson’s reply was on 59 when he left the last red in the jaws of other other top pocket while playing with the rest. Yan’s attempted clearance ended when he ran out of position on the blue, which led to a long tactical exchange. When Robertson was left with a thin cut on the blue to a top corner from distance, he went for it full-blooded and found his target, before dropping the pink into a centre pocket.
“It was a super-thin cut on the blue, but I felt that having been so far behind in the last frame, it was definitely best to go for it, ” said the world number four. “It was virtually impossible to over-cut it so I almost aimed to over-cut it, and hit it perfectly. I’m glad I finished dead straight on the pink.
“Yan played a brilliant match and put me in so much trouble, he shows maturity beyond his years. Probably the only thing he could improve would be consistently controlling the cue ball. Once he sorts that out he is going to be incredibly tough to stop. He has got so much patience and a beautiful cue action, he never looks like missing. I am always impressed when I watch him play. He has every chance of being a World Champion.
“Mark will have vengeance on his mind because I beat him a few times last season. I love playing him and he is a great friend off the table. I’ll go for my shots and see what happens.”
Selby came into this week short of confidence having failed to progress beyond the last 16 of any event this season, but his form has been much improved in wins over Barry Hawkins, Mark Allen and Ford.
After losing the opening frame, Selby took a 3-1 lead with runs of 58, 74 and 104. Frame five came down to the colours and Ford laid an excellent snooker on the brown, then cleared from the chance that followed to halve the gap.
The sixth lasted 50 minutes and went Selby’s way for 4-2, and the world number one soon rounded off the tie with a run of 93.
Neil and Yan served us a great match, the kind of match that makes you think “Shame there had to be a loser!”. Neil is fundamentally a nice and positive person and it shows in his post-matches. He is genuine in praising Yan there, and he is right too.
I didn’t see the Selby v Ford game, so can’t comment.
Ronnie O’Sullivan secured a quarter-final place with a 4-1 win over Hossein Vafaei. The match started with three fragmented frames, O’Sullivan taking a 2-1 lead before stepping up the pace to win the last two with breaks of 107 and 81.
However, O’Sullivan was concerned by his own performance. “That was as bad as it’s ever been, the first three frames. If he’d have played better he would have beaten me 4-0,” said the six-time World Champion. “I’m into the next round, that’s about all I can say.
“I’ve always played off the fans, fed off the fans, I get a bounce in my step, that’s the enjoyment I get from it. There’s no enjoyment stinking gaffs out like that, that was horrendous. If someone plays alright against me, they’ll put me away.
“It shows in my results. Usually I win a lot of tournaments, now it’s quarters and semis. I’m obviously not as good as I was and I accept that, there’s only so much juice to be squeezed out of a lemon, I think I’ve done pretty well. I can still do it in practice, just not so much in matches these days.”
O’Sullivan’s next opponent will be Jimmy Robertson, who ended Luca Brecel’s hot streak with a 4-3 victory.
The Rocket struggled to get going against the Iranian, who was also not great, but the six-time world champion eventually clicked into gear and powered to victory with breaks of 107 and 81 in the last two frames.
However, his mind was still on the first three frames at the end of the match and he feels like that level of performance means he is nearing the end of his record-breaking career.
‘That was as bad as it’s ever been, the first three frames. If he’d have played alright it would have been 4-0, done and dusted,’ O’Sullivan told ITV4. ‘I’m into the next round, that’s about all I can say.
‘If I was to play like that, you have to be honest with yourself, I’m not going to get any better now, I know when to throw it in because I didn’t enjoy that.
‘I’ve always played off the fans, fed off the fans, I get a bounce in my step, that’s the enjoyment I get from it. There’s no enjoyment stinking gaffs out like that, that was horrendous.
‘I know I got through, but for my own pleasure. I now know the reasons I’ve kept playing, because when you’re buzzing and bouncing round the table, I feed off the energy of the crowd.
‘But today they didn’t get nothing. I didn’t enjoy it, I don’t think they enjoyed it.’
…
‘I’ll allow myself to stink places out for another three years. I think I’ve earned the right to smell a few places out,’ he said.
‘Then if it doesn’t get any better, which I can’t imagine it will, it’s probably time to hang the cue up, get on the exhibition circuit, have a few pints of Guinness.
‘You can’t play like that, I can’t anyway. There’s just no fun in it for me. If someone plays alright against me, they’ll put me away.
‘It shows in my results. Normally I win a lot of tournaments, now it’s quarters, semis. I’m obviously not as good as I was and I accept that, there’s only so much juice to be squeezed out of a lemon, I think I’ve done pretty well.
‘I now know why I’ve played so long, I was getting a kick off the rapport with the fans and the energy that I feed off, but there was no feeding coming off there.
‘I felt embarrassed, I felt sad for them that they’d come all the way to watch that.
‘I can still do it in practice, just not so much in matches these days.’
…
What do we make of this? …
First of all, yes, at 46 it is to be expected that a snooker player would be past their very best and every individual will try to cope with that natural decline in their own way.
Ronnie was in high spirit after his first match, where he certainly didn’t play better than yesterday, quite the opposite. He was down on himself after his match yesterday. Why? We can’t be sure but he has suffered violent mood swings all his adult life, and this may be one of those. He copes with them better than before since working with Steve Peters but that doesn’t mean they don’t affect him.
Either the crowd has been scarse this week so far, or the arena is too big. On television/stream at least my perception has been that there is not much atmosphere in there, no matter what match I watched. Ronnie is one of those players who feeds on the crowd; if the perception is the same “live” in the arena than it is on television, then it explains his comments but it isn’t related to his performance. Luca Brecel is the same, he feeds on the crowd and he had no spark yesterday.
The “policy” this week has been not to ask for proof of vaccination or negative covid tests, but to make wearing masks in the arena mandatory at all times. Although this isn’t very strictly enforced, it doesn’t make for great viewing, masking (literally) the fans’ facial expression and reactions to the shots. I’m not sure why this change of policy was decided, and not convinced it’s the best decision either when it comes to protecting the fans’ health, but it definitely doesn’t help the event’s “mood”.
For the record I’m not “anti-mask”, I know that they help when it comes to limiting contagion, which is all important. They just don’t help the atmosphere …
Anyway, Ronnie is in the next round with a chance to improve…
Ronnie O'Sullivan 