General Snooker Thread

[METALMAN]

I don't think Higgins is a cheat.

[hugobomb]

UK Championship started yesterday:

John Higgins (Sco) 6-5 Rory McLeod (Eng)

Ding Junhui (Chn) 6-5 Mark Davis (Eng)

Neil Robertson (Aus) 6-1 Tom Ford (Eng)

Graeme Dott (Sco) 6-1 Matthew Selt (Eng)

Stephen Maguire (Sco) 6-3 Stephen Hendry (Sco)

Matthew Stevens (Wal) 6-2 Marcus Campbell (Sco)

Today, Mark Selby whitewashed Ryan Day 6-0 and Marco Fu beat Stuart Bingham 6-4. Steve Davis Vs Ronnie O'Sullivan on right now. 1-1 and Davis is playing alright, whenever Ronnie leaves him a chance and his safety play is great. Love to see him crack the top 16 again at some point

[Starvinho]

Davis making a good account of himself here, still fancy Ronnie to win all day though. Bit of a slow start to the match mind, hoping for some Ronnie magic soon...

[hugobomb]

The longer this safety play continues, the more I think Steve can nick this frame. Ronnie to win 6-3 or 6-4 though

[hugobomb]

Huge fluck on the brown, gives Ronnie the fram winning chance, very unlucky for Steve. 2-1 Ronnie

[Starvinho]

Unbelievable fluke on the brown, there's been a few mad flukes in the tournament so far though, Higgins had a couple yesterday and Ding too.

[hugobomb]

Didn't Ding's fluke win him the match?

[Starvinho]

Yeah it did, and Higgins' second fluke won him his match too. Crazy.

[hugobomb]

3-1 Ronnie, starting to get going. Davis need a frame or two at the start of the second half of the session

[Starvinho]

There was the Ronnie magic I was talking about, an awesome 123 but could have been a 145 if he didn't start playing the exhibition shots.

[Starvinho]

Ronnie wins 6-1, too strong in the end for Davis. Hopefully he'll be back again next year.

[hugobomb]

Davis just needed some better break building and he would have given Ronnie a real match.

Hopefully he'll be back at the World Championship

[hugobomb]

I actully quite like this newish thing of Snooker players coming out to theme music.

Martin Gould coming out to Motorhead "The Game" = Bad Ass

Though Shaun Murphy using It's a Kind Of Magic is a bit iffy

[brenchill]

Shaun Murphy is a bit iffy .

[hugobomb]

Very nice 95 from Li, leading Murphy 2-1 in his first ever TV match

[Baddar]

Unrelated to snooker, but on the subject of theme music - anyone follow darts, and more sprcifically, Paul Nicholson? He used to come out to the Nexus' ''We are one''. Not sure what he uses now, but had the straight edge armbands on at least once, and says ''it's clobbering time'' every time he walks out. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was a fan.

[Lord Bill O'Reilly]

Unrelated to snooker, but on the subject of theme music - anyone follow darts, and more sprcifically, Paul Nicholson? He used to come out to the Nexus' ''We are one''. Not sure what he uses now, but had the straight edge armbands on at least once, and says ''it's clobbering time'' every time he walks out. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was a fan.

He uses Club Foot by Kasabian but does the Punk taunts and I'm currently working at the Snooker, great games so far!!

[Starvinho]

A couple of cracking games been on this afternoon, Trump edged out Ronnie 6-5 in a great match and on the other table Ding beat Stevens 6-5 too. Gutted Ronnie is out but Trump is really turning into a class act, he may be unstoppable in a couple years time.

[hugobomb]

Martin Gould staging a mini comeback against Shaun Murphy. Was 5-0, got it back to 5-2 and Murphy's not playing well all of a sudden

[hugobomb]

Mark Allen has called on World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn to resign.

Allen beat Adrian Gunnell 6-3 at the UK Championship to set up a second-round tie with Ali Carter.

But the world number 12 from Northern Ireland later expressed displeasure at Hearn's decision to cut early matches from best-of-17 frames to best-of-11.

"In the long run, he'll probably do good for snooker, but not for my generation," said Allen. "It's time to let someone else have a go."

He claimed Hearn, who took over as chairman in June 2010 after being voted in by a majority of the world's top 64 players, had pledged not to make changes to major tournaments.

The 25-year-old also said he was worried the World Championship could be the next tournament to be altered and believes snooker is starting to replicate darts - one of Hearn's other sports.

"When Barry came in, one of the first things he said was that the World Championship, UK and Masters wouldn't be touched. Only 18 months later, the UK format has changed," Allen said.

"I don't think he's pleasing too many players, but anyone who voted for him has only got themselves to blame. I wasn't one of them.

"I've got no doubt he'll tweak the World Championship. The whole tradition of the game is going to pot.

"It's not all about bringing people in to watch and have a good time, shouting and having a drink. He [Hearn] needs to get away from the darts factor. It's getting close to that."

World Snooker will review Allen's comments and say Hearn, who is out of the country but has previously defended the diluted format, could comment on Tuesday.

Reigning world champion John Higgins has also criticised the changes to the UK Championship but Mark Williams is backing Hearn.

The double world champion said he "couldn't be more opposite" to the stance taken by Allen and said he was "200% behind" Hearn.

The Welshman added: "I think he has done unbelievable, we should let him get on with it. I'd rather play 17 frames obviously, but things have got to change and he's the man to do it."

UK Snooker Championship: Mark Allen faces charge over swearing

Mark Allen will face a disciplinary committee for swearing during a news conference in which he criticised World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn.

The 25-year-old could be charged with bringing the game into disrepute for his use of "inappropriate language".

The World Professional Snooker and Billiards Association stated that Allen was in breach of UK Championship rules.

Allen called for Hearn to resign after beating Adrian Gunnell 6-3 in his opening match of the tournament.

The Northern Irishman criticised Hearn's decision to shorten early matches from best-of-17 frames to best-of-11 and swore as he accused Hearn of showing disregard for the players.

The world number 12 claimed Hearn, who took over as chairman in June 2010 after being voted in by a majority of the world's top 64 players, had pledged not to make changes to major tournaments.

The WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson, who is a director of World Snooker and in charge of player discipline in the game, insisted that it was Allen's use of a swear word rather than his views on Hearn that prompted his referral to the disciplinary committee.

"I must be very clear. The report is for his use of language in that press conference and we will take that very, very seriously," he told BBC Radio 5 live.

"We consult with our players on a regular basis and up until yesterday Mark Allen has not expressed any opinion whatsoever on the format changes.

"I can see his argument, but generally speaking the format of the game hasn't changed.

"We are still playing snooker, a traditional sport, the game hasn't changed. We have seen a huge growth in our sport and that is really due to some of these changes."

Speaking about the new tournament format, John Higgins told BBC Radio Scotland: "I was disappointed he [Hearn] had tampered with the length of the match, which was best of 17, and he hadn't explained to the players why.

"But he came out last week and told us why - it was because the BBC wanted a result at the end of each match, and that's fair enough. At the end of the day, he has to negotiate contracts with the BBC and, if that is what they are stipulating, that is what we have to abide by."

Players should be role models - Jason Ferguson

Discussing Allen's comments, he added: "I think Mark Allen is a little bit strong saying he wants him to resign. I think it was a moment after winning a match and he was maybe a little hyped up.

"We all know he [Hearn] is doing great for the sport, he has injected a lot of life back into the sport so I don't really know where Mark is coming from, wanting him to resign, because he could be the best thing to happen to our game.

"He [Hearn] is bullish and maybe that has rubbed some of the players up the wrong way. We have made mistakes as players in the past and he has made a couple of mistakes as well when he has first come in.

"He is trying to get the calendar sorted and we are flying halfway round the world at the drop of a hat sometimes. But I am sure, once the calendar settles down, it will be great for everyone."

World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn has dismissed Mark Allen's criticism of him as that of "a silly little boy".

Allen claimed Hearn had shown a disregard for the players by shortening matches in early rounds of the UK Championship to best-of-11 frames.

Hearn refused to rule out legal action, but told BBC Sport that he was "far too busy to worry about silly little boys making silly little comments".

Allen, 25, faces a disciplinary charge for swearing during his outburst.

World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association chairman Jason Ferguson stressed that Allen's appearance in front of a committee was to investigate the world number 12's language rather than his criticism of Hearn.

Hearn said he was yet to decide whether to pursue his own legal action against Allen, but disputed the Northern Irishman's claims that he had damaged the UK Championship by changing its format.

"It is a shame [the comments] have overshadowed a first-class tournament. I've been watching it and enjoying it and the crowds are up," he said.

"People say silly things, we all say silly things, but I am happy to let the disciplinary committee deal with it."

Allen had called on Hearn to resign, accusing the Leyton Orient chairman of failing to stand by a promise he made to keep the UK Championship and World Championship unchanged.

Allen has already clashed with fellow professional Stuart Bingham earlier this season, accusing him of having "no bottle and no balls" at the Australian Goldfields Open in July.

Bingham, who claimed a dramatic 9-8 win over world number one Mark Williams in the final of the event, responded by describing his rival as "an idiot".

Allen revealed in March that he was receiving treatment for depression that had been made worse by the travel demanded by the sport.

"Things are a lot better now. I'm enjoying playing and my form is slowly but surely coming back," he said on Sunday.

Allen beat England's Adrian Gunnell 6-3 in his first round match at the UK Championship and is due to face Ali Carter in the last 16 at 1900 GMT on Wednesday.

Nobody is coming off well here. Allen was a bit strong with his comments and swearing really doesn't help. Though Hearn calling him a "silly little boy" makes him look like a bit of a prick.