WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson has taken the decision to suspend Chen Zifan from attending or competing on the World Snooker Tour with immediate effect.
This decision is part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of manipulating the outcome of matches for betting purposes in breach of the WPBSA Conduct Regulations.
The suspension will remain in place until the conclusion of the investigation or any subsequent charges that may or may not be brought. Chen Zifan has the right to appeal this decision.
No further comment will be made except in the event of any significant further developments.
Chen becomes the eighth Chinese player to be caught in this investigation. I’m following an account on twitter, “SinoSports”, and they had tweeted early this morning that a rumour was going around a about the suspension of yet another Chinese player in the context of this ongoing investigation, also stating that it was neither Ding nor Zhao Xintong. They now just tweeted that CBSA has suspended Chen, just like they have suspended the other players involved in this investigation.
Apparently their sources are reliable… and, on a different topic, their sources also mention a rumour stating that the 2023 Turkish Masters might be postponed or even canceled altogether.
Stuart Bingham beat Robert Milkins by 3-1 yesterday evening to book his place in this season Winners Group at the traditional Championship League Snooker.
Stuart Bingham won Group 2 of the 2023 BetVictor Championship League Snooker Invitational at the Morningside Arena, Leicester to wrap up snooker for 2022.
The group final saw Bingham up against Robert Milkins, with a place in the Winners’ Group in February up for grabs. Milkins got off to a flyer with a break of 95 but Bingham responded with a clearance of 139 to level at 1-1. In frame three, Milkins made 31 before Bingham took his chance to lead for the first time with a break of 67. And the fourth followed a similar pattern as Bingham recovered a 41-0 deficit to clear with 77 and seal victory.
“I didn’t come here with a lot of confidence,” admitted former World Champion Bingham. “It didn’t look good this morning after losing to Matthew Selt 3-0. I thought something has to change and something has to click. From there, I started to make century after century. I am delighted to win the Group.
“This is a great tournament in itself. It will give me a lot of confidence. I haven’t been at my best for the last couple of months. To come here and produce what I have the last few days does pick me up for the rest of the season. I missed out on the Champion of Champions last year in the decider against John Higgins (in last year’s Championship League Invitational final). It hurt seeing it on TV. I am trying to pick my game up to win something and hopefully, it can be this.”
Earlier in the semi-finals, Bingham edged out Selt 3-2 while Milkins edged out Jordan Brown 3-2.
Group 3 begins on Tuesday, 3 January with Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson, and Ricky Walden entering proceedings alongside, Selt, Brown, Milkins and Jamie Jones.
Here are the group phase results.
In the semi-finals Bingham beat Matt Selt by 3-2 and Milkins beat Jordan Brown by the same score
As I expected, Ronnie didn’t win SPOTY, he was not even voted into the top 3. Ronnie didn’t attend the show – he’s in Dubai – but he made himself available for a chat over the Internet. For once, snooker got more than a meagre 30 seconds of TV time… they got just above 6 minutes. Yeah! Not that it changed anything fundamentally….
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN TO ‘WAIT AND SEE’ ON EIGHTH WORLD TITLE TILT – ‘I DON’T KNOW IF AGE IS CATCHING UP WITH ME’
Ronnie O’Sullivan will be chasing history – a record eighth world championship title – if he plays at the Crucible next year, but the 47-year-old said that winning it will be far from a formality. O’Sullivan was speaking at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards, where he was nominated for the overall individual award.
Ronnie O’Sullivan says he will have to “wait and see” about a tilt at an eighth World Championship title, saying that it will depend upon “timing and form”.
O’Sullivan landed his seventh world title earlier this year, equalling Stephen Hendry’s record in snooker’s blue-riband event.
But talking at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award – where he was one of the nominees for the overall individual award – O’Sullivan said going for an eighth is not a formality, especially given his age of 47.
“When I first turned pro I was happy with one [world title],” O’Sullivan told host Gary Lineker.
“That was my dream, to win one World Championship. I always remember that and I never try to get greedy. Anything after one, two, three or even four you just kind of go ‘well each one is a bonus‘.
“If I was to get an eighth that would be fantastic but it’s really tough these days. There are a lot of good young players coming through, there’s a lot of good talent and I don’t know if age is catching up with me.
“We have to wait and see. I think a lot of it is a bit of luck, timing.
“I don’t know if I’m going to go for an eighth but I’ll have a good idea come a week before [worlds venue] the Crucible whether I’m in good enough shape to do it. If I am then it’s on, but it’s just all about timing and my form has to be good.
“If it’s good then I’ve got a chance.“
O’Sullivan was asked about his memorable, lengthy embrace with finalist Judd Trump after his latest Crucible win, and admitted it was to do with the effort required to have won the tournament.
The Rocket said: “In many ways at my age I was just more tired the last two world championships I won – 2020 and 2022 – I just felt so much more tired getting over the line when just physically I didn’t feel like I had it in me.
“You’ve got nothing left to give whereas when I won it in 2012, 2013 I felt like I could go again for another 17 days.
“The enormity hits you a bit more when you think physically I just don’t know how I did it. Before I felt quite comfortable. All of those feelings hit me at once.“
O’Sullivan, though not there in person, was among sporting royalty at the BBC event, and opened up on how he has been able to perform for so long at the top level, especially in the worlds.
“I feel it’s a combination,” he said. “The top players rise to the biggest occasion and the ones who feel the pressure a bit more don’t perform as well at the Crucible.
“The Crucible is a venue like no other. The pressure that it provides can make you or break you and that’s why you get a lot of the same type of winners: Me, Hendry, [Steve] Davis, [Mark] Selby, [John] Higgins, [Mark] Williams, because we perform a lot better under the pressure than the other guys, so I think it’s a mixture of both really.“
Here is Ronnie’s bit in the show …
It doesn’t come to surprise to me at all, alas. Even before the show, twitter was full of “scorn”… guys arguing that snooker isn’t even a sport, but just a pub game. In many ways, snooker’s poor record in SPOTY in the last two decades is a reflection of that perception. Becoming an olympic sport would probably help. Also snooker is not perceived as being physically demanding. Ok, it’s not requiring a lot of physical “brute force”, but it requires huge eye/hand coordination, tactical nous, control over the emotions, sustained concentration. Last time I checked, my brain, eyes, hands and nervous system where still part of my physical person.
I believe that there are two main factors “working” against snooker: unless you actually understand the game, it’s not spectacular and it’s not, in essence, a team sport. The first factor means that the casual viewer rarely gets “hooked” on it and the second factor means that it doesn’t particularly appeal to the “tribal” side of the human nature. The latter was the key factor contributing to Beth Mead’s win this year IMO. There is a third element that probably plays a role too. SPOTY is a BBC thing, and BBC only shows three snooker events nowadays. OK, they are three big ones, most notably the World championship, but there are also very long periods of time during which they barely show a thing or speak about any of it, unless there is some scandal affecting the sport.
Never mind… life and snooker go on.
WST has published the draw and format for the 2023 World Grand Prix
World Grand Prix Match Schedule
The format for next month’s World Grand Prix in Cheltenham is now confirmed, with star names including Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Mark Allen, Neil Robertson and Mark Selby in the line up.
The top 32 players on the one-year ranking list qualify for the first event in the 2023 Players Series, to run from January 16 to 22 at the Centaur Arena at Cheltenham Racecourse.
Defending champion O’Sullivan meets Barry Hawkins in the first round on Tuesday January 17th at 7pm. In the same evening session, Judd Trump is up against Shoot out champion Hossein Vafaei.
Mark Allen, leader of the one-year list, is up against David Gilbert on the opening night, Monday January 16th at 7pm.
The first round draw and schedule is below, see the format link above for the schedule for the second round onwards.
Mark Allen (1) v David Gilbert (32): Monday January 16th at 7pm Lyu Haotian (17) v Joe O’Connor (16) Tuesday January 17th 7pm Zhou Yuelong (9) v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (24) Monday January 16th at 7pm Robert Milkins (25) v Jack Lisowski (8) Monday January 16th evening session —————————————- Noppon Saengkham (28) v Mark Selby (5) Tuesday January 17th afternoon session Ronnie O’Sullivan (21) v Barry Hawkins (12) Tuesday January 17th 7pm Mark Williams (13) v Jamie Jones (20) Monday January 16th evening session Ding Junhui (4) v Stuart Bingham (29) Tuesday January 17th afternoon session —————————————- Kyren Wilson (3) v Robbie Williams (30) Tuesday January 17th evening session Shaun Murphy (14) v Ali Carter (19) Wednesday January 18th 1pm Sam Craigie (22) v Tom Ford (11) Wednesday January 18th 1pm Gary Wilson (6) v Anthony McGill (27) Wednesday January 18th afternoon session —————————————- Luca Brecel (7) v Joe Perry (26) Wednesday January 18th afternoon session Hossein Vafaei (23) v Judd Trump (10) Tuesday January 17th evening session Xiao Guodong (18) v Neil Robertson (15) Tuesday January 17th at 1pm Ricky Walden (31) v Ryan Day (2) Tuesday January 17th at 1pm
The tournament will be televised by ITV and a range of other broadcasters worldwide. It’s the first event in the 2023 Players Series, to be followed by the Players Championship in Wolverhampton and the Tour Championship in Hull.
Joe Perry will begin the defence of his BetVictor Welsh Open title against Mark King in February when snooker’s greatest stars head to Llandudno.
The draw for the tournament has been made, with the qualifying rounds to run from January 11 to 13 in Barnsley, followed by the main event from February 13 to 19 at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, North Wales.
Perry won a ranking title on British soil for the first time when he beat Judd Trump in the final in Newport last season, and he’ll be up against King in round one in Llandudno. World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan will meet Oliver Lines, while three-time Crucible king Mark Williams will face Michael White in an all-Welsh clash.
Other great names in the field include Trump, Mark Selby, John Higgins, Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson. Matches involving the top 16 seeds have all been held over to the venue in Llandudno, as well as two matches involving the national wild cards. They are:
Liam Davies, age 16 from Newport, will face Noppon Saengkham in the first round. Davies has won multiple World and European titles at junior level, and last season he became the youngest player to win a match in the World Championship.
Oliver Briffett-Payne, age 17 from Risca, will face Robbie Williams in the first round. Briffett-Payne is a regular finalist in junior ranking events and captained Wales Under-21s at the Home Internationals in 2022.
In the qualifying rounds in January, notable matches include Matthew Stevens against Fan Zhengyi, David Gilbert facing Marco Fu and Ken Doherty against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
The Welsh Open has been ever present on the snooker calendar since 1992 – the sport’s longest running ranking event other than the World Championship and UK Championship. It has an international television audience of hundreds of millions, with live coverage from broadcasters including Eurosport, discovery+, Quest, BBC Wales and CCTV5 in China.
It is the last in the season’s BetVictor Home Nations Series, and also the last event in the 2022/23 BetVictor Series, with the money-list leader at the end of the week to collect a huge £150,000 bonus.
Details on the match schedule for Llandudno will be announced soon.
Jack Lisowski has beaten Matt Selt yesterday evening in the final of the (traditional) 2022/23 Championship League Group 1. He’s the first player to qualify for the final group.
JACK LISOWSKI WINS GROUP 1 OF 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE SNOOKER INVITATIONAL
Jack Lisowski has won Group 1 of the 2023 BetVictor Championship League Invitational at the Morningside Arena in Leicester live on Matchroom.Live in the UK and Ireland, Viaplay in Scandinavia, the Baltics, Poland, and the Netherlands as well as other broadcasters worldwide.
The world number twelve headed into day two of the competition with three wins from four knowing not much more would be needed to secure a group playoff place. Lisowski’s eventual opponent in the final Matthew Selt had much more work to be done though with the Essex cueist getting the better of Jordan Brown in the afternoon session to lock up a playoff spot.
In the evening group semi-finals, Lisowski saw off Brown 3-2 in a heavy scoring match that saw four 50+ breaks whilst Ryan Day and Selt locked horns in another final frame decider.
When it came to the group final, Lisowski made the quicker start to take the opening two frames including his fifth century of the group in the second frame to be one away from Winners’ Group. Selt got to the table and responded in fine fashion with a contribution of 87 to pull one back. Lisowski was 30 in front in what proved to be the last frame with Selt given a chance at the table. A brief safety exchanged ensued that saw Lisowski go in off on two separate occasions before getting the job done.
Lisowski said: “I’ve really enjoyed it. I think I’ve been playing some good stuff. I had a great time. I really enjoy these events. I am happy to get the job done but equally, I wouldn’t have minded coming back tomorrow and going again in Group 2. It’s good match practice and now I need to focus on the Masters. I will get ready for the complete change of scenery. I am scoring well and I am enjoying my snooker. It’s just my safety and these tournaments do show that up. THere’s definitely room for improvement on that side. I’m scoring well and having fun though, I am happy.”
“I think these formats sort of suit me. There have been some surprise winners of this tournament over the years. It’s a great chance for me to keep plodding away and hopefully be that guy, there are great incentives at the end of it (2023 Champion of Champions spot).”
Stuart Bingham had a fine second day to recover from three straight losses yesterday to ensure a return in Group 2 tomorrow after wins over Jimmy Robertson, Day, and Lisowski. For Robertson, it was the end of the road with one win from six and he was joined by Ali Carter who failed to get things going on to exit with two points to his name.
Here is how it all developed:
And, yes, I known that it’s difficult to read… complaints to be sent to the CLS organisers.
It’s been an extraordinary couple of days for Mark Selby. On Sunday night he became the 2022 English Open Snooker Champion and yesterday, with his brother in law, Gareth Potts, he won the Ultimate Pool Pairs Championship.
This was reported on the Ultimate Pool Twitter account:
𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦
In a final where the standard was simply out of this world, Gareth Potts & Mark Selby end the reign of Karl Sutton & Shaun Chipperfield to become the new Ultimate Pool Pairs Cup Champions!
And they shared some images too…
Congratulations Mark and Gareth
Mark seems to be in a much better place than he has been for a long time and this is also shows in this piece by Hector Nunns:
Mark Selby: Ronnie O’Sullivan Is Snooker’s Lionel Messi
Mark Selby was inspired by football’s GOAT Lionel Messi to one of his most cherished title triumphs.
But the four-time world champion admits that it may prove impossible to snatch that tag from the great Ronnie O’Sullivan in his own sport.
World No2 Selby, 39 managed to catch Argentina and Messi winning a World Cup final for the ages between sessions of his 9-6 victory against Belgium’s Luca Brecel at the English Open in Essex.
And just as it was a highly emotional night for Argentina’s captain, so there were tears shed by Selby and wife Vikki after a tough year that saw him publicly and bravely confront mental health struggles.
Selby said: “I have always been a Messi fan over Ronaldo. I know Ronaldo is also brilliant and has done it in several different leagues, while Messi was mainly at Barcelona.
“But if I was paying to watch one of them, I’d pick Messi over Ronaldo. I think it’s fair if he is now seen as the GOAT, and the greatest of all time. That is my personal choice.
“And I suppose for anyone else to be even in the conversation as the GOAT in snooker you’d have to break all of Ronnie’s records.
“So that means seven or eight world titles at least, the debate until now has been between Ronnie and Stephen Hendry, though most would now say O’Sullivan.
“It is Ronnie for me. And look, even if I won 10 world titles I am not one for saying ‘It’s me’. That’s for others. But while I am still playing, I’ll be trying to win eight.
“It was brilliant with the timings to also get to see the World Cup final before the evening session. I went back to the hotel to get some food and it was on there.
“I think I watched it from about 75 minutes onwards. And I was cheering on Argentina because Messi is an absolute legend – the greatest player I have ever seen in my lifetime.
“Knowing that was his last World Cup, I would have been an absolute tragedy for the player he has been if he was never to have won it.
“So I saw him get the third, then France level at 3-3, and then the shootout. That is like a deciding frame in snooker – the toss of a coin.”
For a generation Scot Hendry, despite the unparalleled raw talent possessed by the Rocket, would often come out on top in polls to decide who was the all-time best in snooker.
But May’s most recent world championship win for O’Sullivan in Sheffield, seeing him equal Hendry’s seven Crucible crowns, has seen the world No1 inherit that mantle in the eyes of all but a very few observers for all his many other achievements.
O’Sullivan has also won the most ranking titles, the most majors in the game’s Triple Crown series, made the most maximum 147s and scored the most centuries. But Selby remains one of very few still with any realistic chance of getting to seven in the blue-riband tournament.
On his English Open success, Selby added: “From where I have come from and where I have been, it is incredible really to be back winning and enjoying my snooker and my life.
“Winning was all about what it stood for and represented, rather than the trophy itself. And to have Vikki and our daughter Sofia there was extra special. Vikki has been to the well and back with me.
“It may well have been harder for her than me, at least I was getting help and speaking to the right people. She didn’t always know what to say from day to day.
“But people didn’t always think about her and she was suffering as much as I was. It was hard for me to do that because I couldn’t even support myself.
“So she has been an incredible rock and I honestly don’t think I’d be here without her. She told me years before I did that I should seek help. But I thought I could do it on my own.”
Mark is not the only one to recognise Ronnie’s status in snooker and in sport in general. After being snubbed several times when he should have been – most notably in 2013 – Ronnie finally got nominated for SPOTY:
Sports Personality of the Year 2022: Gadirova, Mead, Muirhead, Stokes, O’Sullivan, Wightman up for award – BBC Sport
(Clockwise from top left) Jessica Gadirova, Beth Mead, Eve Muirhead, Jake Wightman, Ben Stokes and Ronnie O’Sullivan
BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2022
Venue: MediaCityUK in Salford Date: Wednesday, 21 December Starts: 18:45 GMT
Coverage: Live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app
A shortlist of six contenders has been announced for the 2022 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.
The nominees are gymnast Jessica Gadirova, footballer Beth Mead, curling’s Eve Muirhead, cricketer Ben Stokes, snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan and athlete Jake Wightman.
Voting will be open during the show on BBC One on Wednesday, 21 December.
Gary Lineker, Clare Balding, Gabby Logan and Alex Scott will present the 69th annual awards.
The programme, filmed at Media City in Salford, will celebrate 12 months of incredible sporting action.
The public can vote by phone or online on the night for the main award, with full details announced during the show.
It was the English gymnast’s third medal at the event in Liverpool after winning silver in the team event and a historic bronze in the all-around competition.
That was Britain’s first world all-around medal and Gadirova became only the fifth British gymnast to be individual world champion.
Gadirova, who took floor gold and team silver at the European Championships, is also on the Young Sports Personality shortlist along with skateboarder Sky Brown and diver Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix.
“I’m just so shocked to be in that shortlist with such incredible athletes and to be recognised for my hard work and achievements – it’s incredible,” she told BBC Sport.
Age: 27 Sport: Football
Mead won the Golden Boot and was player of the tournament as England claimed a historic triumph at Euro 2022.
The Lionesses lifted their first trophy at a major women’s tournament with a 2-1 victory after extra time against the eight-time champions Germany at Wembley.
“It was a proud moment for me and a surreal moment, walking out of that tunnel and going to play football in front of a home crowd,” Mead said of the final played in front of a record 87,192 crowd.
“The day in general, the noise in general, the atmosphere was honestly something I’ll never feel or experience again.”
Mead scored six goals and contributed five assists during the tournament as she bounced back from the disappointment of not being selected to represent Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics a year earlier.
The Arsenal forward was voted BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year 2022 and was runner-up in the Women’s Ballon d’Or, the prize awarded to the world’s best footballer of the year.
Age: 32 Sport: Curling
Muirhead led the Great Britain women’s team that won curling gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
As skip, she claimed an elusive gold medal in China at the fourth time of asking, the pinnacle of a career during which she became Scotland’s most decorated curler.
“I look back and I still wonder how I got myself through lockdown, covid, everything. It was such a rollercoaster, standing on the top of the podium at the end of it all was very, very special,” she told BBC Sport.
In 2014, she was the youngest skip to win an Olympic medal as her team claimed bronze.
For Scotland, Muirhead won the European Championships three times and she claimed a sixth world mixed doubles title earlier this year alongside Bobby Lammie before later announcing her retirement from the sport.
Aged 46, he became the oldest world champion in Crucible history, eclipsing Ray Reardon, who won his sixth title aged 45 in 1978.
‘The Rocket’ cemented his position as one of snooker’s all-time greats with an 18-13 final win over Judd Trump.
It was a 39th ranking title for the English player who holds almost every major record in the game and also won the Champion of Champions and Hong Kong Masters in 2022.
O’Sullivan, who has on occasion been outspoken about snooker and his fellow players, told BBC Sport: “The love/hate doesn’t come from hating the game, I’ve always loved the game, just my frustrations would spill over and it would look like I had fallen out of love with the game.
“But it was only because I wasn’t playing the game to the standard that I wanted to play.“
Age: 31 Sport: Cricket
Stokes, the 2019 Sports Personality winner, starred as England won the men’s T20 World Cup by beating Pakistan in a thrilling final.
Under intense pressure at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, Stokes was there at the end on 52 not out.
Having inherited a side with one win in their last 17 Tests, Stokes’ England claimed nine out of 10 in increasingly audacious fashion against New Zealand, India, South Africa and Pakistan.
He captained England to one of their greatest overseas performances, with a bold declaration helping secure victory with a record run rate in their first Test in Pakistan for 17 years and setting his side on the path to a historic 3-0 series win.
Stokes told BBC Sport: “I think it shows that you don’t have to be stuck in a particular way of playing Test cricket just because it’s been done for however long, a long period of time. It’s different but it’s exciting to watch.”
Age: 28 Sport: Athletics
Wightman produced a stunning run to take 1500m gold at the World Championships in Oregon.
The Scot was the first British man to win the world title in the event since Steve Cram in 1983.
He produced a brilliant final burst to pass Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and clinch the title, called home by his father Geoff who was the stadium announcer.
“It’s that moment you cross the line, it’s just such euphoria, I just wish you could bottle that up because it soon fades away a little bit,” Wightman told BBC Sport.
“The disbelief and the shock are something that I will never have again.”
Wightman also won 800m silver at the European Championships and 1500m bronze at the Commonwealth Games.
I don’t think Ronnie has any chance to win it. The winner this year will very almost certainly be Beth Mead, and I expect Ben Stokes to be in the top three too. But maybe, only maybe, Ronnie could come second or third which would be fantastic as snooker is neither as popular as football nor “fancied” by the establishment …
2023 BetVictor Championship League Invitational Line-Up
The 2023 BetVictor Championship League Snooker Invitational is underway at the Morningside Arena, Leicester. Seven groups will be played out over the course of the coming months. Each group winner will then meet in Winners’ Group from March, 1 to March, 2 with a spot at the 2023 Champion of Champions on the line alongside the usual prize money.
Dates
Group 1/Group 2 – Monday, 19 December to Thursday, 22 December
Group 3/Group 4 – Tuesday, 3 January to Friday, 6 January
Group 5/Group 6 – Tuesday, 7 February to Friday, 10 February
Group 7/Winners’ – Monday, 27 February to Thursday, 2 March
Who is playing?
Group 1 – Ali Carter, Jack Lisowski, Jimmy Robertson, Jordan Brown, Matthew Selt, Ryan Day, Stuart Bingham
Group 2 – Barry Hawkins, Jamie Jones, Robert Milkins
Group 3 – Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby, Ricky Walden
Group 4 – John Higgins, Judd Trump, Zhao Xintong
Group 5 – David Gilbert, Mark Williams, Neil Robertson
Group 6 – Anthony McGill, Luca Brecel, Zhou Yuelong
The draw for the 2023 World Grand Prix is now confirmed, following the conclusion of the BetVictor English Open. The top 32 players on the one-year ranking list qualify for the first event in the 2023 Players Series, to run from January 16 to 22 at the Centaur Arena at Cheltenham Racecourse.
Ronnie O’Sullivan will start the defence of his title with a tough test against Barry Hawkins – a repeat of the 2013 World Championship final. Other stand-out first round ties include Judd Trump against Hossein Vafaei, Shaun Murphy to face Ali Carter and Gloucestershire’s local favourites Jack Lisowski and Robert Milkins to go head to head.
The draw is:
Mark Allen (1) v David Gilbert (32) Lyu Haotian (17) v Joe O’Connor (16) Zhou Yuelong (9) v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (24) Robert Milkins (25) v Jack Lisowski (8) —————————————- Noppon Saengkham (28) v Mark Selby (5) Ronnie O’Sullivan (21) v Barry Hawkins (12) Mark Williams (13) v Jamie Jones (20) Ding Junhui (4) v Stuart Bingham (29) —————————————- Kyren Wilson (3) v Robbie Williams (30) Shaun Murphy (14) v Ali Carter (19) Sam Craigie (22) v Tom Ford (11) Gary Wilson (6) v Anthony McGill (27) —————————————- Luca Brecel (7) v Joe Perry (26) Hossein Vafaei (23) v Judd Trump (10) Xiao Guodong (18) v Neil Robertson (15) Ricky Walden (31) v Ryan Day (2)
The match schedule will be announced soon.
Ronnie could really do with a good run in this one and he finds himself in a particularly difficult quarter…
Thrill-a-minute snooker returns to the Morningside Arena in Leicester next month for the BetVictor Shoot Out, with top stars including Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen, Mark Williams, Jack Lisowski, Kyren Wilson, Ding Junhui, Zhao Xintong, Jimmy White and defending champion Hossein Vafaei in the field.
The world ranking event runs from January 25 to 28 and features a unique set of rules which guarantees drama. Each match lasts a maximum of ten minutes, with a 15-second shot clock for the first five minutes and ten seconds for the last five.
…
In all there are 128 players in the field, with a random draw for each round. Notable first round matches include:
Shaun Murphy v Hossein Vafaei – Wednesday January 25th, afternoon session Mark Williams v Craig Steadman – Wednesday January 25th, afternoon session Jack Lisowski v Mark Allen – Wednesday January 25th, evening session Ken Doherty v Stephen Maguire – Wednesday January 25th, evening session Mark Selby v Mark Davis – Thursday January 26th, evening session Stuart Bingham v Reanne Evans – Thursday January 26th, evening session Ricky Walden v Gary Wilson – Thursday January 26th, evening session
Six places have been given to promising young amateur players who have won events this year. The WPBSA invited players are:
Mark Selby won his first silverware in 19 months as he pulled away from 4-4 to beat Luca Brecel 9-6 in the final of the BetVictor English Open in Brentwood.
A tearful Selby described victory as his “biggest achievement.” In January he revealed he was facing a long term battle with mental health, a challenge he admits he may never fully overcome. He is learning to appreciate snooker as a game to enjoy whatever the result, rather than allowing defeats to devastate him. This success, and the chance to lift the trophy alongside wife Vikki and daughter Sofia, will bring the 39-year-old immense satisfaction.
Selby’s last title came at the Crucible in May 2021 when he won the World Championship for the fourth time, so tonight’s triumph is a welcome resolution to a long spell where his form and confidence have wavered. It’s the 21st ranking title of his career and he holds the Steve Davis Trophy for a second time having won the event in 2019.
The £80,000 top prize lifts the Leicester cueman from third to second in the official world rankings and from 21st to fifth on the one-year list. He’s also up to second in the BetVictor Series rankings, just £3,000 behind leader Mark Allen, with only three events to go until the £150,000 bonus is awarded.
Beating Neil Robertson in the semi-finals on Saturday, ending a sequence of seven consecutive defeats against the same player, was a significant breakthrough in terms of self-belief, and he showed his trademark coolness under pressure tonight in a tense conclusion.
Brecel battled back bravely from 4-1 down to 4-4, but made too many errors in the evening session, and also had the disappointment of missing the chance of a 147 in frame 14. The 27-year-old Belgian, who has now lost half of his six ranking finals, banks £35,000 and climbs one place to tenth in the world.
After finishing the opening session tied at 4-4, Selby took the first frame this evening with an excellent 51 clearance, and the Englishman went on to make a 61 in the next to lead 6-4. Brecel replied with a 122, the highest break of the match.
The key moment of the pivotal 12th frame came when Brecel, trailing 36-45, failed to gain prime position on the last red, then missed a thin cut to a top corner. Selby took advantage with a cool clearance to go 7-5 ahead at the interval. Frame 13 came down to the last red and Selby trapped his opponent in a difficult snooker, and from the chance that followed he went three up with four to play.
Brecel’s 147 attempt in frame 14 reached 113 before he over-cut a tricky pot on the 15th black. And when he missed a difficult long red at the start of the next frame, it proved his last shot as Selby sealed the result with a superb 87.
“It has been a long time coming,” said Selby, who has now won 21 of his 31 ranking finals. “I was disappointed to finish the first session 4-4, I was probably the better player but credit to Luca because he dug in from 4-1 down.
“This means everything to me, it is my biggest achievement for sure. I know I have won four world titles and a lot of other tournaments, but I have been to the well and back over the last year, it has been emotionally and physically draining. So it’s a special one today. At the end after I had potted match ball, I saw Vikki and I was welling up. In the interviews at the end I struggled to get my words out. It shows how tough it has been. If I had lost I would have been gutted, but still felt I have come a long way.
“The crowds this week have been fantastic, I said that to Luca before final. They appreciate good shots. I hope we come back here to Brentwood next year.
“This doesn’t give me a right to win anything else, it could be another 19 months, but it gives me confidence. I can look forward to going to the Masters now. Last time there it wasn’t very nice, this time go with smile on my face.”
Brecel said: “I didn’t really play my game. The day before the tournament I was contemplating not even coming because I was ill. My dad told me to go, and in the end I reached the final, so thanks to him! It has been a great week.
“I’d like to say well done to Mark because you can see he’s emotional. He has been through a very tough time off the table, it is so nice of him to speak openly about depression. It’s great to see him back and he really deserves it. He has a great family as well and it’s really nice for them. It’s special to have my parents here, hopefully the next time they come to a final I can win it.”
The crowds have indeed been fantastic all week, even in freezing cold.
The final IMO has exposed the limits of Luca’s current game but I have no doubts that he will learn from it and come back stronger. He’s highly entertaining, extremely talented … if he can add a zest more of tactical nous he will be the complete package and very, very dangerous.
As for Mark Selby … it’s very unlikely that he will read this blog but I would like to send him this personal message:
Mark, I did not always appreciate your game, I found it tortuous. Graeme Dott once reflected in a post-match interview that you can’t possibly enjoy playing “that way”. Ronnie called you “the torturer”. Now I realise that the person you tortured most was yourself. You lost your loving father far too young. You promised him to be successful at snooker and you kept that promise. But, believe me, looking down at you from wherever he is, your father will want only one thing for you, more than any title, he will want you to be happy, because he loves you. That has to be your priority: look after yourself, enjoy your life, be happy. Your mother left you when you were only a young child. I can understand that you would like to understand why, and maybe you will never really know, But be sure of one thing: it wasn’t your fault. Having a child is a lifetime commitment, and raising a child is never an easy task. She failed you. You didn’t fail her, you didn’t ask to be born. She failed you. You deserved to be loved.
Perry won a ranking title on British soil for the first time when he beat Judd Trump in the final in Newport last season, and he’ll be up against King in round one in Llandudno. World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan will meet Oliver Lines, while three-time Crucible king Mark Williams will face Michael White in an all-Welsh clash.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 