Ronnie and Ding are in Lhasa, Tibet for a two days exhibition.
Today, both professionals faced amateurs, who had come through a qualifying event to earn the honour to play legends of their sport.
In the afternoon, Ronnie played the runner-up of the qualifying event, Geng Yuan. Ronnie won the match by 5-1, despite struglling with altitude illness. Nice to se Zhou Ying in the white gloves there.
A nice shot by Ronnie, particularly appreciated by the fans
A 83 by Ronnie to lead 3-1 at the MSI
Ronnie appreciates his opponent’s skills
The end of the match
Ronnie suffered from altitude sickness and needed oxygen after the match
But still signed autographs …
If Weibo’s automatic translation is to be trusted, Ronnie was in tears at one point. Must have felt really sick
Ding Junhui played the winner of the qualifying event, Wu Jinduoji, in the evening. He won easily, by 5-1.
A great 134 by Ding in frame 5.
The end of the match.
Tomorrow evening (in Lhasa), Ding and Ronnie will play each other. Hopefully, Ronnie will feel a bit better.
On this last day of 2023 I’m looking back at the year gone by … the good, the not so good, the bad and the ugly. This of course is only how I lived it. For others it may be, probably will be, different. Don’t hesitate to tell us how it was for you … if you so wish of course.
The good …
Ronnie’s documentary is finally out
“The edge of everything” finally became available last November. The “première” attracted number of celebrities. The film itself is a very honest account of what it takes to be at the top of ones sport for nearly 30 years: the lows and highs, the sacrifices, the emotional toll of the expectations and of living in the public eye. It’s all there. It’s fascinating, it’s enthralling, and it’s hard to watch at times. It takes immense courage to accept to expose oneself in this way. It’s anything but easy. Thank you Ronnie.
Luca Brecel won the 2023 World Championship
For the first time in snooker history, we have a World Champion from mainland Europe, Luca Brecel. Luca played absolutely breathtaking snooker during the 2023 World Championship. He entertained, he attacked, he came back from way behind on multiple occasions. He created stories. He made history. Now, as a Belgian myself, married to a Greek, I’m a strong supporter of mainland Europe snooker and I hope(d) that Luca’s triumph translates into the organisation of more ranking events on the continent.
Ronnie won the 2023 UK Championship
A 40th ranking title, a 22d Triple Crown … just two days before turning 48. An eight UK Championship title, 30 years after the first making him both the youngest and the oldest winner of the prestigious event. What’s not to like? What’s not to admire?
… the not so good …
The reigning World Champion is Belgian as mentioned above. We have an increasing number of very good young players from mainland Europe and Ireland on tour and on the Q-Tour, and yet there are only two events played in mainland Europe, both in Germany. Both of those events actually start with qualifiers … played in the UK. There is a “European Series” comprising 8 events… of which 6 are played in the UK. That’s not good enough.
There is a need – a strong need – to put more efforts in the organisation of snooker events in mainland Europe and Ireland. And when I write “snooker events”, I mean snooker events with ALL players at the event location.
… the bad …
The calendar
This is nothing new, but the fact that it has been that way for years doesn’t make it any better, quite the opposite actually: the calendar is poorly structured.
In my opinion, there should be no qualifiers for any of the flat draw events but IF there are qualifiers, they should be played just before the event and close to the event venue, never mind where that is. The only acceptable reasons why qualifiers – that are actually the first round – could be played at a different venue from the main event, should be of practical nature, typically because the main venue can’t accommodate enough tables. You want the in-form players in the main event, not those who were in form two or three months before it.
Also many of those qualifiers were played without spectators. That’s not great for the players. I know that having spectators comes at a cost. There is a need for (more) staff at the venue, there is a need for security etc. Yet, all players deserve to be seen, and maybe get their friends and family coming to support them. It helps them to get sponsors as well. Watching live is a completely different experience to watching on stream.
Also, there were long periods when we had qualifiers after qualifiers, then main event after main event. At the start of the season the top players barely played at all for weeks. Later some of the lower ranked players had nothing to play in for weeks, whilst some of the players who made it to the latter stages at events needed to dash from one to the next, traveling to the next venue right away without any time to rest. It’s not good for anyone.
The scoring system
WST/WPBSA got rid of their live-scoring system before they had a proper replacement for it. Now, months later, they still use the stop-gap temporary live-scoring system. At the beginning, it wasn’t working at all. It was a complete joke, a bad joke. It has improved, now it works … but it certainly is no improvement on the old one. It mean that for weeks, even months, the fans, the pundits and the commentators had to rely on a group of fans, chasing score by all available means to post them on snooker.org, the site created by Hermund Ardalen, certainly one of snooker’s true unsung heroes. This whole saga is/was utterly unprofessional from the governing body.
The Macau Saga
Mark Selby, Luca Brecel, John Higgins, Ali Carter and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh were invited to play an exhibition in Macau during the week when the 2023 Northern Ireland Open was taking place. WST went hard on them, Barry Hearn had big words … they could be “thrown out of the game” and what not!
The basic line is that players are self-employed, will have no retirement money and should be allowed to take the best offers. It’s that simple. I know some readers of this blog disagree, but I stand by that opinion. If WST wants the top players in their event, it’s up to them to make those events better and more attractive than what the competition has to offer. Alternatively, they could actually WORK with the competition to find the best solution for everyone when it comes to the schedule.
I’m not the only one to hold that opinion. Shaun Murphy is a member of the WPBSA board, but he’s player as well and this is what he had to say on the OneFourSeven Snooker Podcast: “There’s been two or three exhibition events out in China since the summer – I’ve been invited into them all. It’s not a small amount of money that you’re offered to go. I mean, just to give you some clarity, to earn more money in the Northern Irish Open than what I was offered to go, let alone what I might have won, you’d have to get to the final. From a player’s point of view trying to earn money, I can understand why players would go. There’s no stress, it’s not a tournament really – it’s an exhibition event, you get flown out and looked after like a rock star. You get all the red carpet laid out for you everywhere, all of your expenses are paid, and you’re given an appearance fee worth more than the runners-up cheque at the Northern Irish Open. So I get it. It’s very, very difficult, and if it were up to me they wouldn’t get a sanction. If it were up to me, we should be able to do what we want. We should be able to play when we want to play and wherever we want to play. It should be up to the promoters, of which WST are one of, to make their product as good as they possibly can. WST need to ask themselves why some players are preferring to go to Macau than go to one of their prestigious events.”
Barry Hearn has always been a hard core capitalist, he supported Brexit mainly because it would remove some of the workers fundamental rights, he voted against the 20000 pounds guarantee for the players, in the past he even tried to forbid the players toilet breaks during matches to avoid “waiting time” between frames. When he started as a promoter, he organised exhibition events around the world with the then top players and certainly didn’t care about snooker’s governing body opinion at the time… so?
Yes, players signed a contract. Murphy has made it clear that players want that contract changed. I hope they succeed.
… and the ugly
“The ugly” of course is about the match fixing affairs that have tarnished the sport we love.
It’s a terrible shame. Most of them were young, some very young. Zhao Xintong had won the UK Championship, Yan Bingtao had won the Masters. They were superstars in their country. They had earned good money, although the facts that got them in trouble happened before they got major successes. Now their career is almost certainly ruined. Most of the other offenders were barely more than kids with very little money. They were easy preys. It’s sad really.
I’m not sure everyone realises how awful what Liang Wenbo and Li Hang did actually is. They were older players, living in the UK for years. Imagine that you are a parent. Your teenage kid goes abroad to pursue their dream and that means living as an expat. It’s a different culture, they don’t master the language, they are on their own thousands of miles away from family and friends. You would likely be happy to know that there are older compatriots in the same trade, living there for years. You would expect them to help and guide the younger ones. You would likely tell your child to ask them for advice in case they face difficulties. And then… you find out that they betrayed the trust the youngsters put in them, they lured them into activities that would likely put them in deep trouble. They ruined their future. They deserved the life ban.
For the other players, I’m less sure. Three of them fixed just one match. As already mentioned some were in serious financial difficulties. They were vulnerable. Everyone makes mistakes.
The ones I’m NOT sorry for are the people who bet and then moan or get really angry when they lose money. Betting is always a risk. The very fact that there are so many thriving bookies businesses around for years should tell you one thing: they make huge profits, which means that those who bet make huge losses. It’s not rocket science. Yes, once in a while someone wins and makes a lot of money, but they are the exception, they are a in very tiny minority … if it wasn’t that way, the bookies would all be bankrupt. So, if you bet, be prepared to lose money because that’s what will happen more often than not even if all games and sports are played with total honesty.
A few weeks later, Mark King was suspended as well, under suspicion of match fixing. The outcome of that case is still to be announced.
That’s it!
May 2024 bring you, and those dear to you, joy, peace of mind and, above all, good health.
Judd Trump added four titles to his collection in 2023, Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy each collected three while the “formidable triumvirate” of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Williams and John Higgins continued to shine at the highest level. Luca Brecel became world champion and Zhang Anda stunned to win the International Championship in what Dave Hendon believes is an “ultra-competitive era” of snooker.
The final balls have been potted on the World Snooker Tour for another year in which, once again, no one player dominated and the various titles were shared around.
For the record, Judd Trump won four tournaments in 2023, Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy each collected three trophies and Ronnie O’Sullivan captured two.
However, the inescapable truth is that the World Championship towers above every other event. Its unique challenge is set by the length of matches, its intimate venue and the enhanced scrutiny the players are under. There is no hiding place at the Crucible. This is where champions are made and pretenders to the throne found out.
Luca Brecel did not feature in much of the pre-tournament build-up. There was no reason why he should. He had never won a match at the Crucible in five previous appearances and had enjoyed a solid if unspectacular campaign as the Sheffield marathon approached.
Determined not to succumb again to pressure on snooker’s most hallowed stage, Brecel behaved as if none of it mattered. He didn’t practice properly, he went out with friends to play darts, got on the beers and generally eschewed conventional preparation.
He arrived feeling relaxed and soon found himself the main character in a snooker fairytale. In every round he could have lost. He won a decider against Ricky Walden, held off Mark Williams 13-11 and produced a remarkable display of potting and break-building to overturn a 10-6 deficit against O’Sullivan, winning all seven frames of their final session.
14-5 down to Si Jiahui in the semi-finals, he produced the Crucible’s greatest-ever comeback to win 17-15. In the biggest match of his life, he raced 3-0 ahead of Mark Selby. Leading 9-8 overnight, he started day two with four centuries in the six frames he won to pull away to 15- 10. Selby turned the screw, recovering to trail just 16-15, but Brecel ended the championship with another century to become the first world champion from continental Europe.
It was a wonderful, scarcely believable, achievement for a likeable and greatly talented player, although it feels like more has been seen of him on Instagram than the tournament circuit since. Brecel has travelled the globe enjoying his landmark victory – and why not? – but his form has suffered through lack of matches and he has failed to qualify for the prestigious Players Series in the new year.
Trump has no such worries. He won the Masters at the start of the year before his season tailed off and ended in a first round defeat to Anthony McGill in Sheffield. During the new campaign, though, he has been a revelation, appearing in five finals already and becoming only the fifth player to win three ranking titles in succession.
This was a remarkable four-week purple patch. It began with a recovery from 7-3 down in the English Open final against Zhang Anda. Trump flew the next day to Wuhan and won the new event there. A week off and it was a flight to Belfast where he battled to victory in the Northern Ireland Open.
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND – OCTOBER 29: Judd Trump of England celebrates with the trophy after winning the Final match against Chris Wakelin of England on day eight of 2023 Northern Ireland Open at Waterfront Hall on October 29, 2023 in Belfast, Northern Image credit: Eurosport
By now, Trump may reasonably have expected to be recognised as snooker’s top dog, having seen off his older rivals, but they somehow continue to perform at the highest level. Williams, 48, won the British Open and O’Sullivan was successful first at the Shanghai Masters and then, in typically eye-catching fashion, at the UK Championship where he became that tournament’s oldest-ever winner 30 years after he had become its youngest.
The third member of this formidable triumvirate, John Higgins, has appeared in four semi-finals this season, winning lots of matches but just falling short of silverware, although he did capture the invitational Championship League earlier in the year.
Allen was the player of the 2022/23 season, winning three titles and reaching the World Championship semi-finals. Already in the new campaign the Northern Irishman has triumphed at the Champion of Champions and the Shootout, transitioning from dangerman capable of picking up the odd trophy to a consistent winner.
In this ultra-competitive era, it is hard for new champions to emerge, but Zhang Anda did exactly that in Tianjin by winning the International Championship, making a maximum in the final. He had beaten O’Sullivan in the semis.
Zhang had been ranked 55th in the first week of October. He began December placed 13th in the standings, an incredible turnaround in fortunes for an apparent journeyman.
Robert Milkins had been drifting into that status just a couple of years ago but his resurgence continued when he won the Welsh Open in February and with it the European series bonus prize of £150,000.
Ali Carter and Barry Hawkins returned to the top 16 with victories in the German and European Masters respectively. However, Neil Robertson failed to win a title in a calendar year for the first time since 2005.
The year ended with Gary Wilson rekindling his love affair with Edinburgh by retaining the Scottish Open, having struggled in the 12 months since his maiden success.
Snooker is a somewhat eccentric sport and there were some bizarre moments during the year. Murphy’s experiment of bringing three cues to each tournament has raised eyebrows and is yet to yield results. Hossein Vafaei trash-talked O’Sullivan in Sheffield and smashed the pack against him early in their second round match before being overwhelmed 13-2. Ding Junhui was docked a frame at the English Open for wearing the wrong-coloured trousers.
Like any sport, snooker has faced its fair share of challenges in the last 12 months. Most seriously, ten Chinese players were banned for match-fixing offences, a desperate and depressing scandal, but China enthusiastically embraced the World Snooker Tour on its return there four years on from the Covid outbreak.
Grumbles continue over the players’ contracts and freedom to undertake lucrative exhibition work, a situation likely to come to a head in coming months, but 17 ranking events plus several invitation tournaments points to a healthy calendar.
WST has been successful in boosting ticket sales by at least 10% for every event bar the Shootout, which moved venues. For the first time, all standard tickets at January’s Masters are sold out in advance. Eurosport’s viewing audience for the recent UK Championship was up 20% on last season. New young players are starting to emerge, including British teenagers Stan Moody, Liam Pullen and Liam Graham.
The consistently high standard the players produce and the distinct narratives surrounding them, plus better promotion and use of digital media, have led to increased interest in a sport strong on navel gazing but less good at celebrating its own achievements.
The fact is, as the New Year dawns professional snooker retains a formidable presence on television and digital platforms. It has weathered various scandals and controversies, all of which are secondary to the fascinations of the game itself.
Let’s end by remembering some of the year’s most dazzling moments: Selby’s historic maximum break in the World Championship final. Murphy’s 147 against the clock at the Shootout. O’Sullivan’s astonishing dash for the line from 7-7 with Ding in the UK final. Brecel cradling the famous silver trophy on the Crucible stage.
All golden memories still fresh in the minds of snooker fans, who eagerly await 2024 and all it has to offer.
Of course David works for British Eurosport, but it’s still a shame that he only names the British upcoming teenagers and doesn’t mention the other promising young players, from Asia and mainland Europe. He also avoids mentioning the terrible “live scoring fiasco”. Other than that, it’s a great article. Thank you David.
The final of the 2023 Wynn Presents Macau Masters exhibition tournament was played over a best of 17 format. Mark Williams beat Jack Lisowski by 9-6 to win the event and take the 150000 pounds prize money.
The first session finished with Willo leading by 5-3, but it was Jack who had stolen the show by scoring a147 in frame 4. When they resumed, Jack closed the gap to just one frame, trailing only by 6-5. But that as good as it got for Jackpot as Willo won the last three fames of the match.
Congratulations Mark Williams!
Here is Jack’s 147
And some of the Trophy ceremony
Ronnie was the one on duty to give the winner his trophy. From what transpired on Weibo, he looked a bit “shy” out there and left discretely, not wanting to take some of the attention away from the winner, Mark Williams.
And last but not least … a big heartfelt
Thank You to Kalacs!
for his outstanding contribution throughout the event!
Kalacs has chased and posted countless links to videos, images and articles in the Chinese press and Weibo posts for us to enjoy! I’m very grateful. Thank you again Kalacs!
In the afternoon match, Mark Williams beat Judd Trump by 6-2.
I didn’t find much details about the match. Mark Williams had a century of exactly 100, and finished the match with a one-hand shot. 😊 Mark youngest son, Joēl, who shows some very promising talent at snooker tried himself at the table and stated that he wants to play in the event next year … the future is bright! 🙂
Ronnie was sat in the audience and watched the game
In the evening match Jack Lisowski beat Marco Fu by 6-2
Jack Lisowski made a dream start and lead 3-0. Although Marco Fu subsequently scored breaks of 89 and 95 to reduce the gap to 2-3, it was in vain: Jack won by 6-2 and advanced to the final where he will face Mark Williams. (according to CCTV Sports on Weibo)
In an interview with CCTV after his first round win over Ronnie, Marco Fu revealed that his daughters are learning to play snooker. He insisted on the importance to attract more kids to snooker and for young players to find enjoyment in their sport.
Mark Williams and Jack Lisowski will compete in the final tomorrow for the £150,000 championship prize! Not bad eh?
Some information about the exhibition in Lhasa, Tibet
Ronnie and Ding will head to Lhasa, capital of Tibet, for an exhibition.
There will be three matches played actually.
On December 31st 14:30 (local time): Ronnie O’Sullivan vs qualifying event runner-up Geng Yuan On December 31st 19:30 (local time):Ding Junhui VS qualifying event champion Wu Jinduoji These matches will be best of 9 frames.
On January 1st, 2024 19h30 (local time): Ding Junhui vs Ronnie ·O’Sullivan This match will be best of 11 frames.
The city is at an altitude of 3,656 m. That’s very, very high. Ding already hinted at the fact that he might suffer from “altitude sickness”. Altitude sickness is caused by ascending too rapidly, which doesn’t allow the body enough time to adjust to reduced oxygen and changes in air pressure. Symptoms include headache, vomiting, insomnia and reduced performance and coordination. Ding already hinted at the fact that he might play quite slowly… Ronnie may suffer as well of course… and really should avoid smoking while he’s there.
Wynn Macau Masters – Lisowski feels hot and advances to the semi-finals
Source: CCTV | 2023-12-27 16:26:15
CCTV News: On December 27, Beijing time, in the third focus match of the quarterfinals of the “Wynn Presents-2023 Macau Snooker Masters Invitational”, Lisowski defeated Wilson 6-2 and became the third player in this tournament. A player who has advanced to the semi-finals, Mark Williams and Trump have already advanced.
Game 1 (0-101): Lisowski started well, scoring 101 points on a single stroke to take away the game, with a total score of 1-0.
Second game (0-128): Lisowski was in hot form, but still did not give Wilson any chance to win directly with 128 points in a single stroke again, with a total score of 2-0.
The third game (8-125): Wilson had the upper hand at the beginning, but when hitting the pink ball, he tried to explode the red ball pile but used too much force and handed the ball to Lisowski who still maintained his touch. Fiery once again directly took away the game with 125 points in a single stroke, with a total score of 3-0.
[Picture] Wynn Macau Master Selisovsky feels hot and advances to the top 4
The fourth game (34-102): After a few tentative shots at the beginning, Wilson, who was lagging behind, seemed to be inspired to hit many beautiful shots in a row, and received bursts of applause from the scene. However, Lisowski, who was in hot form, once again broke 100 in a single stroke and won the game. The total score was 4-0 and entered the intergame break.
The fifth game (153-0): Lisowski’s condition dropped after the break, but Wilson hit a single shot of 143 to regain the game, with a total score of 4-1.
Game 6 (7-91): Both sides made frequent mistakes at the beginning, and then entered a tug-of-war. But in the end it was Lisowski who won the game, with the total score coming to 5-1.
Seventh game (130-0): Entering the match point game, Wilson recovered and scored 130 points in a single shot to regain the victory again, with a total score of 5-2.
Eighth game (7-120): After adjustments, Lisovsky finally broke 100 in a single shot again and won the game with a total score of 6-2!
The players had a short practice together before the match
And some pictures of the match from the same source:
Evening Match – Marco Fu beat Ronnie by 6-2
In evening match, Marco Fu started very strongly. He scored breaks of 100, 101, and 101 to lead by 3-0. Ronnie himself scored breaks of 136 and 115 but that’s as good as it went for him. Marco Fu eventually won comfortably by 6-2 and advanced to the semi-finals where he will face Jack Lisowski.
Ronnie’s 115 break in frame 7
More to come when available…
Also, it transpired that Ronnie isn’t just a player there in Macau, he’s in fact one of the event’s promoters, with more events to come …
I very much doubt that WST will be happy with that and I wonder how they will react.
Two matches were played today at the 2023 Wynn Presents Macau Masters.
In the afternoon match, Mark Williams beat Si Juahui by 6-3.
Mark Williams started strongly and lead 3-0. In frame four, Si scored a break of exactly 100 to go into the MSI 3-1 down. Willo’s domination continued after the MSI and he won the match by 6-3.
In the evening, Judd Trump beat Ding by 6-1.
In the evening, it’s Ding Junhui who got to the better start. He scored a break of 72 points to win the first frame. From there though, Judd Trump took complete control of the match. He won the next 6 frames and scored breaks of 100, 106, 106, 114, defeating Ding Junhui 6-1.
Trump will play with Williams for a place in the final on Thursday (28 December 2023)
All the pictures above were shared on Weibo. The pictures of the Trump v Ding match were taken by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Jinjia.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2023/11/27/3833558-77904088-2560-1440.jpg)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 