My “round 1 random predictions didn’t go too well… 29 correct out of 64, 45% … and “winner” out … gah! That coin was bad!

So here goes for round 2 … “toss of the coin” predicted winners in bold … with a different coin.

1. Graeme Dott v Robert Milkins – Robert Milkins
2. Iulian Boiko v Florian Nüßle – Florian Nüßle
3. Bulcsù Révész v Fan Zhengyi – Fan Zhengyi
4. Artemijs Zizins v Ashley Carty – Ashley Carty
5. Zhang Anda v Bai Yulu – Zhang Anda
6. Antoni Kowalski v Riley Powell- Antoni Kowalski
7. Gong Chenzhi v Huang Jiahao – Huang Jiahao
8. Hossein Vafaei v Andrew Higginson – Andrew Higginson
9. Wu Yize v Matthew Stevens – Wu Yize
10. Ryan Day v Dylan Emery – Dylan Emery
11. David Lilley v Noppon Saengkham – Noppon Saengkham
12. Anthony Mc Gill v Duane Jones – Duane Jones
13. He Guoqiang v Liam Graham – Liam Graham
14. Ishpreet Singh Chadha v Jamie Jones – Jamie Jones
15. Neil Robertson v Jackson Page – Neil Robertson
16. Mark Allen v Si Jiahui – Si Jiahui
17. Shaun Murphy v David Gilbert – David Gilbert
18. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v Aaron Hill – Aaron Hill
19. Liam Pullen v Zak Surety – Liam Pullen
20. Gary Wilson v Liam Davies – Liam Davies
21. Elliott Slessor v Mark Joyce – Elliot Slessor
22. Alfie Burden v Robbie Williams – Robbie Williams
23. Kreishh Gurbaxani v Xu Si – Kreishh Gurbaxani
24. Xiao Guodong v Martin O’Donnell – Martin O’Donnell
25. Joe O’Connor v Allan Taylor – Allan Taylor
26. Long Zehuang – Vladislav Gradinari – Vlagislav Gradinari
27. Haydon Pinhey v Gerard Greene – Haydon Pinhey
28. Tom Ford v Paul Deaville – Tom Ford
29. Ma Hailong v Lewis Ullah – Ma Hailong
30. Zhou Yuelong v Louis Heathcote – Zhou Yuelong
31. Ali Carter v Lyu Haotian – Ali Carter
32. Mark Selby v Jak Jones – Mark Selby

Winner “blindly” picked by hubby: Shaun Murphy – NOT!

Now some thoughts on round 1 …

The crowd so far has not been that great in number and was generally rather subdued. It only became a bit more animated yesterday evening. Of course these first two days were “week” days and a lot of people are working during the day and need to work on the next day as well. Therefore late night and heavy drinking may not be “wise” and that may explain the above observations.

There were initially 23 amateurs in the draw, only 9 remain and 5 of them have been pros before. Even in this format experience of main tour conditions matters.

Players seem to either hate this event or love it. Very few of the ones interviewed had a neutral opinion.

Among those who loved the experience was Bai Yulu who, again, impressed. WST reported some of what she had to say after the match:

…

“I just tried to stay as focused as possible when taking each shot,” said the reigning World Women’s Champion. “It’s tough with the atmosphere and the crowd, but I aimed to stay serious. I wasn’t fixated on winning, I just wanted to enjoy the experience. I noticed that Jamie was a bit shaky, just like me. In this atmosphere, nerves are inevitable. It’s all about who can handle the pressure better. 

“I was watching the matches yesterday, seeing the other Chinese players compete. It made me eager to play because the vibe here is so joyful – it’s irresistible. We talked about keeping a faster rhythm and treating the match as fun – don’t overthink it. Taking it too seriously can actually make you more nervous. “

…

I hope that Bai can inspire more girls and women to play with confidence, knowing that women CAN beat men at snooker. Mandy Fisher felt the need to build a women’s tour as a “safe” place for girls and women to play. The very fact that she felt a “safe place” was needed, and is still needed, is because, in many countries, including the UK, the “macho” mentally is still very present in sports clubs, and in society in general. You only need to read the comments section when matches involving women are streamed on Facebook to understand exactly what I mean.