The first round of this season’s Shoot-Out was played over two days, concluding yesterday evening.
Overall the crowd behaved better than in some recent editions. There was no big problem with referreing either. The only incident I’m aware of happened in a match refereed by Andy Yates: the player at the table was clearly aiming at the blue, but somehow Andy thought that he had nominated green. Andy annouced green, but the player didn’t hear him and played the blue, prompting Andy to call a foul and leaving the “offending” player totally bemused. The situation was “solved” to everyone’s satisfaction after a discussion between Andy and both players cleared the misunderstanding, and the clock was “reset”.
The defending champion, Ryan Day, was beaten by Jak Jones in the first match of the event.
Ding withdrew at the very last minute… his name was still in the draw when the session he was due to play in started. about 45 minutes before his match, news was posted on weibo that he has a fever and was now in quarantine. Speedy recovery Ding!
I’m not a fan of the event, even less so since it’s a ranking one, but I enjoyed watching some of the young players in action, notably Stan Moody, Ros Bulman and Paul Deaville. Stan who is 15 years old (but looks like 12) played a very good, very mature frame to beat Lu Ning. He certainly gained a lot of fans.
There was only one blue ball shoot-out: Yan Sijun had managed to equalize the score at 16-16 in the very last couple of seconds of a match that Tom Ford had dominated, but held his nerves to claim victory by 21-26. His celebration was endearing.
I liked Alan McManus commentary, essentially debunking the idea that this event is “fast and furious”. He highlighted that, in this format, negative tactics are often paying off and prove more efficient than sheer attack.
Some players embrace the event, like Mitchell Mann who played to the crowd and was all smiles, whilst others don’t like Hossein Vafaei who was dead serious and all business.
There was a heartbreak for Jimmy White, not so much because he lost, but the manner of it. He looked very nervous and had a clear opportunity to score at one point but missed a red by such a margin that it was unsettling: he didn’t appear to have a kick or anything, but missed the pocket by 30-40 cm…
Finally, it’s probably just me and not “all around the world” … but … that MC … 🙄
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Actually, it was Tom Ford who equalised 21-21 in the last seconds. Yuan Sijun shouldn’t have allowed him that last chance, but of course it’s panic at that stage. The commentators were expressing surprise at Yuan’s loss of form in the last 2 years. Perhaps they can just ask hm. He had a tough time during the 2020 lockdown and like Ding, and others, might not regain his level until after covid.
Hossein Vafaei received some sad family news yesterday, so celebrations weren’t appropriate. In his interviews, he seems keen to portray himself as a representative of a global game. Of course we all hope he’s able to fulfill his potential. He could do well in this event, but of course there’s so much luck involved…
Thank you for correcting me about Yuan v Ford, Lewis. I watched most of the matches yesterday and it becomes a bit of a blurr after a while I suppose, but Yuan’s celebration was heartwarming.
I hate this event with a passion and the only redeeming factor is to see some players (especially the women) I would not otherwise. I did not listen to any commentary, always have it muted, because I cannot bear the atmosphere, but I’m very happy about what you say concerning McManus. because this is exactly what I think: that one does not need to score a lot and I’m still waiting for the guy who will pot one red then push every other reds to the cushion and play safeties after safeties till he runs down the clock and win 1 point to 0. That would put an end to this shootout myth.