General Snooker Thread

[brenchill]

Anyone else watching?

I didn't even realise it started until I flicked over to BBC2...

[Starvinho]

Been watching what I can so far. Been a few "suprises" so far, Maguire, Williams, Allen and Higgins have all been knocked out. Good to see Ronnie back though and he's rightly one of the favourites to win. Ding is looking good so far too, could finally be his year.

[Baddar]

All I've seen is some of the Maguire match - don't particularly like him so I'm glad he's gone out.

[Bobfoc]

I went to the Crucible to see Mark Davis beat John Higgins. Both players were poor, and Davis will have to step up his game considerably if he wants to reach the final stages of the tournament. That said, his next opponent will be either Stuart Bingham or Sam Baird, so we'll be seeing a surprise quarter-finalist regardless of what happens.

As much as I don't like the man, I can't really see past Ronnie O'Sullivan to win the title. I think his sabbatical has left him much more refreshed than the guys who have been playing on the global circuit all year round, especially with the increasingly packed annual schedule now in force. He's a player who thrives on momentum too, so I'd say it's a case of stopping him early on or not at all. With that in mind, if he beats Carter in the next round, he'll be very, very difficult to beat when the longer matches come around.

[ZJ Penn]

I've seen bits of every match and it's been pretty fun so far. Losing the bigger names like Maguire, Higgins, Ebdon and others is probably good for the tournament as the quality hasn't been that high and I'd much rather watch the younger British players and the Asian players have a crack than those guys. Although I'm sad to see Mark Williams go, I've enjoyed watching him for years. Right now I'm hoping Fu beats Stephens too, it'd make for a fun second round.

Judging from what I've seen, Ronnie has to be the nailed on favourite. Trump and Selby looked a bit off the pace and were fortunate to come up against opponents who, for whatever reason, struggled. Whereas Ronnie should only get better. I really hope he keeps it together and wins. For all his faults, he is an insanely talented player and so entertaining to watch.

[ZJ Penn]

Man, Poomjaeng has won my heart. Such a showman.

[Bobfoc]

He's certainly a character. It's a genuine shame that he looks as though he'll be going out this round.

[Starvinho]

O'Sullivan lead 5-3 after the first session against Ali Carter. Pretty boring stuff, especially after the interval.

On the other table, Mark Selby could be the next big name to go out. He's currently losing 12-10 against Barry Hawkins, first to 13 wins.

[Starvinho]

...and Selby is out, Hawkins wins 13-10. Really starting to think we could have a first time winner this year.

[ZJ Penn]

Yeah Carter is playing pretty defensive, probably with the losing streak in mind. Hopefully he gets a bit more aggressive.

And Im on the fence about Selbys loss. Him vs. O'Sullivan was the marquee final, but its always nice to see an upset. Selby certainly didnt play like a world number one.

[Starvinho]

Just looking at the brackets now and the bottom half of the draw is wide open. One of Milkins, Walden, White, Ding, King or Hawkins will make the final. We'll see how Ding plays this evening but I was very impressed with him in the first round and I think he could go far.

The top half of the draw looks a lot harder. If Ronnie gets past Carter then I'm hoping for a O'Sullivan-Trump semi-final which has the potential to be a classic. At this point though, as long as Shaun Murphy doesn't win it then I'm not too fussed who wins.

[Starvinho]

Judd Trump through to the quarters, he beat Marco Fu 13-7 and will face Shaun 'Boring' Murphy next.

[METALMAN]

I hope Stephen Hendry wins.

SCOTLAND SCOTLAND SCOTLAND

[ZJ Penn]

Yeah if Murphy goes out it'll be a successful tournament. He actually got me rooting for Graham Dott in their game.

Trump was playing some great snooker when he got going, if Ronnie starts firing that'll be a wonderful semi final.

Ding and King are having a fun match. Kings likeable enough, but with Fu and Poomjaeng out, I'd like to see Ding advance.

[Starvinho]

Didn't catch the evening session but I'm suprised Ding is 6-2 down. Has he played badly or just been unlucky? KIng is a good player on his day but he's nothing special, I still expect Ding to win that.

[ZJ Penn]

Bit of both. Being a great break builder he wants open frames but Kings winning all the scrappy ones. As you say, I still expect Ding to turn it around but no signs of him up and running yet while King is probably playing at 100%.

Not to mention Dings had a loooong season and is under much more pressure than his opponent. It'll be a great measure of where hes at in terms of tournament favourites.

[Starvinho]

Ronnie ends the session 9-7. Starting to look like he's hitting top form. Match finishes tomorrow evening.

[ZJ Penn]

Dings looking strong too now. From 6-2 down to 9-7 up. If he can better his safety game he'll be hard to beat.

[Starvinho]

I think he'll make the final, had a feeling all week that he'd do well.

[ZJ Penn]

And O'Sullivan goes 13-0 against Carter. Some superb breaks. On tonights performance Judd has to be the guy to beat him if anyone can due to his ability to win frames in one visit. Right now, everyone else looks like they'll give him too many chances.