Snooker

[The Hare]

.... good writeup there young fella. Some tough groups out there also. Shaun Murphy Group looks a little tricky according to your ratings. Looks like Trump is favourite as shown also by the ratings.

Mark Allen by far the most impressive in the First Round, plus he needs the money now!

 

[Delboy99]

Mark Allen by far the most impressive in the First Round, plus he needs the money now!

... yes! It looks like he is going to have to play out of his skin for a while, certainly until his financial position improves, and that is only going to be accomplished by playing at the top of his form.

 

[Delboy99]

MURPHY AND STEVENS PROGRESS.

Shaun Murphy and Matthew Stevens moved into the next stage of BetVictor Championship League Snooker at the Morningside Arena in Leicester.
Murphy, in his first outing since losing out to Mark Selby in the World Championship final, started out strongly with a century in his opening frame on the way to a 3-0 victory over Michael Collumb.
Jamie Jones was the nearest competitor to Murphy and he started out well with a 3-1 win against Chen Zifan. Jones was straight back out there and looked to be comfortable 2-0 up against Collumb but it was the Scotsman who fought back to snatch a point with a 2-2 draw.
Murphy began the evening session with his second three points of the day, this time against Chen where a break of 71 was the pick of the bunch in the first frame.
That result left Murphy on six points and only needing a point against Jones in their group decider, whilst Jones would need all three. Despite a stuttering start to the opening frames, it was Murphy who showed his experience to get the job done by winning the first two frames. Jones fought back to secure a 2-2 draw but it was Murphy who progressed.
Murphy said: “This is my 24th year as a professional. I am not sure where those 23 years on tour have gone. I feel a bit like a newbie, to be honest! In all seriousness, it’s a nice way to kick off the season and I’m thrilled to be into the next stage.
“I settled and played quite well. I played well throughout the day. I did have a lot of runs as well. Whatever that intangible quality is, I got away with a lot of mistakes today. Perhaps that was the difference.”
Group 15 on Table 2 was far less clear with Mark King, Andrew Pagett, and Ross Muir, all battling it out with Stevens for the top spot.
Stevens had back-to-back fixtures against Muir and Pagett to start the day where it was a mixed set of results. The Welshman beat Muir 3-1 but lost out to Pagett by the same scoreline to keep the group in the balance.
King opened the evening session with a draw against Muir to move temporarily top. Stevens’ last match came against King with both knowing a win would stand them in good stead.
An assured break of 91 opened things up for Stevens before King bit back with a break of 64 in the second to take things level. At that point it was Stevens who turned it on to take the next two frames and end any hopes of King topping the group.
There was still a wait on for Stevens though, Pagett ended Table 2 action for the day against Muir knowing a win could take him through, but he lost 3-1 to end up finishing bottom of Group 15.
There are two more days of first stage BetVictor Championship League Snooker action. Tomorrow sees Groups 30 and 11 take centre stage.
David Gilbert will lead Group 30 on Table 1 from 12 noon (UK time) and is live on FreeSports (UK), DAZN, Zhibo.tv (China) and Viaplay, with Table 2 live globally at Matchroom.Live. Full broadcast details can be found.

 

[Delboy99]

Judd Trump Begins his 2021/22 Snooker Campaign.​

The Englishman got off to a positive start.​

Judd Trump began his 2021/22 campaign with a routine outing as Stage One of Championship League Snooker ended on Friday in Leicester.
The world number one had to wait three weeks for his Group 1 to take place at the Morningside Arena, but he ended the day comfortably on top with a maximum nine points.
Trump, a three-time winner of the Championship League, opened up his 2021/22 snooker campaign with 3-1 triumphs over Rod Lawler and Lee Walker, setting up a head-to-head battle against Anthony Hamilton for top spot.
At 1-1 both players could still have advanced, but Trump dominated the finale with breaks of 92 and 84 to safeguard his position in Stage Two next week.
Completing the line-up will be Mark Allen, who recorded two victories and a draw in leading Group 5 ahead of Mitchell Mann.
Allen compiled a brace of century breaks and a 94 effort in a 3-0 thrashing of Daniel Womersley early on before drawing 2-2 with Mann and ending the day with a second 3-0 win, this time against Chris Wakelin.
Trump and Allen will be among the favourites to feature at the business end of the competition, which finally moves on from Stage One on Monday.
Find the latest odds for snooker and other sports at LV BET totalizators, with England’s Trump currently priced at 33/10 to win the season-opening Championship League.

 

[Delboy99]

Championship League snooker 2021: Ronnie O'Sullivan withdraws from ranking event, Mark Joyce replaces Rocket.​

Six-times world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan has withdrawn from the Championship League with the last-32 group stage of the season's first ranking event getting underway on Monday at the Morningside Arena in Leicester. O'Sullivan has already announced he will not compete at the British Open which begins at the same venue on Monday 16 August.​

Ronnie O'Sullivan has pulled out of the Championship League with Mark Joyce replacing the six-times world champion as the last-32 stage begins in Leicester on Monday.
O'Sullivan had won Group 32 on Tuesday 20 July with two wins over Ian Burns and Saqib Nasir respectively and a 2-2 draw against Joyce to progress at the season's first ranking event at the city's Morningside Arena.
The world number 50 Joyce finished two points behind in second place, but has been handed a reprieve and will face Craig Steadman, Chang Bingyu and David Gilbert in Group H which begins at 12pm (BST) on Monday.
"Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from the second stage of @BetVictor #ChampionshipLeagueSnooker and will be replaced with Group 32 runner-up Mark Joyce," said the tournament organisers.

 

[The Hare]

Championship League snooker 2021: Ronnie O'Sullivan withdraws from ranking event, Mark Joyce replaces Rocket.​

Not much patience Ronnie!
Been some great performances this week, Gilbert especially. Finals day on Friday should be competitive.

 

[Delboy99]

Does snooker deserve a better season opener than the ‘boring’ Championship League?​

Nigel Slater / 16 mins ago


The new snooker season has begun but you could say it’s been a damp squib of a start.
The Championship League – the curtain raiser for the 2021/2022 snooker campaign has now been going on for 18 days with TV coverage on a number of Sky Sports channels as well as the Matchroom website.
But let’s be honest – it has not got the pulses racing among snooker fans.
You could say the tournament, which sees players compete in group matches throughout the day, is not designed to create huge excitement for a TV audience.
Instead, it could be argued, that it is a way to get players some much-needed table time – just like the old PTC competitions did a decade or so ago.
The fact there is no live audience echoes that side of the argument. It certainly doesn’t help its image but that has been the case from the very start, so nothing new there.
However, there is a sense in the snooker community that the tournament is perhaps in need of a major rethink. Or does snooker deserve a more exciting opening tournament?
Today was the 19th day of the competition. Yes…. the 19th day.
It’s considerably longer than the sport’s showcase tournament the World Championship – and many in the game say 17 days of Crucible joy is too long despite the drama it creates!
Accomplished snooker writer David Caulfield – who provides daily reports in the world of snooker on his website Snooker HQ – suggested it was time for a change.

 

[Delboy99]

Championship League snooker 2021: Jimmy Robertson hits back to stun Judd Trump in group opener.​

Jimmy Robertson produced a superb recovery to earn a 2-2 draw with world number one Judd Trump from 2-0 behind and looking down and out in their Group A opener at the Championship League. Trump raced into the lead with breaks of 53 and 128 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, but was forced to watch former European Masters winner Robertson make knocks of 59 and 63 to earn a valuable point.​

Jimmy Robertson was frozen out of the first two frames against Judd Trump before fighting back to earn a 2-2 draw with the world number one in their Group A opener at the Championship League.
The former European Masters winner made only one point in the first two frames at Leicester's Morningside Arena as Trump swept home breaks of 53 and 128 to move 2-0 clear on the penultimate day of the event.
But Robertson showed his fighting qualities as knocks of 59 and 63 helped the world number 63 to escape with a valuable point as he bids to climb the world rankings having reached 21 two years ago.
Trump is favourite to top Group A as he bids to join David Gilbert, Cao Yupeng, Ali Carter, Ryan Day, Kyren Wilson – who is chasing a record third straight Championship League title – and Bai Langning in Friday's conclusion to the season's first ranking event.

 

[The Hare]

So the Final day is reached after the longest drawn out event imaginable, 27 days to get to this!

Trump failed to make it yesterday, Ronnie got bored after the First Round but Mark Allen battles on to raise his dwindled bank balance. "Amateur" Bai Langning the shock qualifier, trying to become the first Amateur since Ding to win a Trophy, though Ding was on the Tour at the time, just pulled out to get a Wildcard to Chinese event rather than Qualify. Bai is clearly a top prospect for the future, the failure at the Qualifying School a disappointment but clearly a top 50 player and he should play enough tournaments this sesaon to make the 1 year top up list and Qualify back to the Tour next year. Bai missed all tournaments except the World Championship last year, staying in China during the Pandemic. Otherwise he would have remained on Tour. His compatriot Cao also looks good to be back after his 2 season ban for betting irregularities. He also is proven Top 32 and improving. Think he was just a small part in the fixing, similar to the Jamie Jones ban, so hopefully he can continue back to his best.

Ratings of the 2 groups below, winners meet in Final. Live on Freesports and various internet sites. Competitive Groups todayy.

 

[Delboy99]

So the Final day is reached after the longest drawn out event imaginable, 27 days to get to this!

Trump failed to make it yesterday, Ronnie got bored after the First Round but Mark Allen battles on to raise his dwindled bank balance. "Amateur" Bai Langning the shock qualifier, trying to become the first Amateur since Ding to win a Trophy, though Ding was on the Tour at the time, just pulled out to get a Wildcard to Chinese event rather than Qualify. Bai is clearly a top prospect for the future, the failure at the Qualifying School a disappointment but clearly a top 50 player and he should play enough tournaments this sesaon to make the 1 year top up list and Qualify back to the Tour next year. Bai missed all tournaments except the World Championship last year, staying in China during the Pandemic. Otherwise he would have remained on Tour. His compatriot Cao also looks good to be back after his 2 season ban for betting irregularities. He also is proven Top 32 and improving. Think he was just a small part in the fixing, similar to the Jamie Jones ban, so hopefully he can continue back to his best.

Ratings of the 2 groups below, winners meet in Final. Live on Freesports and various internet sites. Competitive Groups todayy.

View attachment 104442

...looks like it could be between Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson in group 1 and maybe Ali Carter, Dave Gilbert and Cao Yupeng in group 2 according to your listed ratings. Been a long drawn out affair and twenty odd days is bordering on the ridiculous.

 

[The Hare]

Well at last Gilbert wins a ranking tournament, having played well all tournament. Certainly well deserved and probably the start of him winning more events now he has beaten the stigma.

Allen was fantastic all tournament as well and looks set for another good season if his off table problems don't affect him.

Lisowski is now the best player never to win a Ranking tournament, how long?

 

[The Hare]

The British Open gets underway on Monday in the next attempt to plug the lack of Chinese events. Back to Leicester and best of 5 makes it a little more random for betting purposes. These are my ratings for the First Round. I suppose the pick being Selby v Murphy in World Final repeat, the draw was random for all. Otherwise Allen takes on the ex in Hearn's dream draw as he attempts to show women can compete with men.

 

[Delboy99]

The British Open gets underway on Monday in the next attempt to plug the lack of Chinese events. Back to Leicester and best of 5 makes it a little more random for betting purposes. These are my ratings for the First Round. I suppose the pick being Selby v Murphy in World Final repeat, the draw was random for all. Otherwise Allen takes on the ex in Hearn's dream draw as he attempts to show women can compete with men.
View attachment 104479

..... good looking figures you have there my friend and very impressive. As you say Selby v Murphy looks a prime pick there, and Graeme Dott v Martin Gould looks a close affair. Tom Ford's match looks quite close too, so will be interesting to see how your ratings perform for real.

 

[Delboy99]

ALI CARTER AND RYAN DAY REACH THE LAST EIGHT.

The pair joins David Gilbert and Cao Yupeng in Stage Three of the competition.​

Ali Carter and Ryan Day emerged from tough Stage Two groups in the Championship League on Tuesday in Leicester.
The Captain was in good form as he won all thee of his round-robin fixtures courtesy of 3-1 scorelines, topping Group E with a maximum nine points.
Carter overcame Graeme Dott in his first tie before sealing similar successes over Shaun Murphy and Gerard Greene later in the day.
Day, meanwhile, accumulated seven points from Group F to finish just above former Championship League winner Stuart Bingham in the league standings.
The Welshman, a winner of the Snooker Shoot Out earlier in 2021, potted a superb pink to draw with Alexander Ursenbacher early on before recording back-to-back victories against Ashley Hugill and Bingham.
Carter and Day become the third and fourth players to reach the final group stage that will take place on Friday before an overall champion for this edition of the Championship League is finally determined.
On Wednesday, Stage Two continues with another two groups at the Morningside Arena.
In Group D, reigning champion Kyren Wilson returns to action in a quartet that also contains former world champion Ken Doherty, Matthew Stevens, and Oliver Lines.
Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham features in Group C alongside veteran Mark Davis, with amateur duo Bai Langning and David Lilley additionally taking part.

 

[Delboy99]

Mark Allen vs Reanne Evans: Snooker’s unique grudge match arrives at the British Open.​

There is going to be a unique sense of drama and tension on the snooker table on Monday evening at the British Open as former partners Reanne Evans and Mark Allen meet in one of sport’s most unusual grudge matches.
It is rare in professional sport for men and women to compete, but for the opponents to be former partners who share a teenage daughter, this meeting presents a situation that is really out of the ordinary.
The pair split up 13 years ago, but tensions have rumbled on, with Evans heading to court earlier this year looking for greater support payments for their daughter.
Just how poor their relationship is was made clear at the World Championships at the Crucible this year when Allen was practicing ahead of a match and Evans was working as a pundit in the BBC studio.
The Northern Irishman asked for her to leave while he was practicing as she was a distraction, something she reluctantly did for a short period of time, but was reportedly ‘upset and embarrassed’ by the incident.
Allen has been one of the top players in the game for some years, while Evans has been right at the top of women’s snooker for well over a decade, winning the Women’s World Championship 12 times.
As World Snooker Tour look to expand the game, Evans and Ng On-yee were awarded two-year tour cards for the main professional tour, starting this season, as the top two players in the women’s world rankings.

 

[Adam33]

I think it would be very intersting if there was an option to bet on snooker in real time. Like for example how many points is the player going to score. Or is there such option?

 

[Delboy99]

I think it would be very intersting if there was an option to bet on snooker in real time. Like for example how many points is the player going to score. Or is there such option?

..... to be honest I have never ever tried to bet on snooker matches so this is a little unfamiliar territory. However I do believe you can bet on inplay snooker, but cannot recall seeing anything on how many points a player is going to score. You can bet on individuals winning/losing and I believe you can bet on frames etc, perhaps my good friend The Hare might have something further to add to this discussion.

 

[The Hare]

Adam33 said:
I think it would be very intersting if there was an option to bet on snooker in real time. Like for example how many points is the player going to score. Or is there such option?

..... to be honest I have never ever tried to bet on snooker matches so this is a little unfamiliar territory. However I do believe you can bet on inplay snooker, but cannot recall seeing anything on how many points a player is going to score. You can bet on individuals winning/losing and I believe you can bet on frames etc, perhaps my good friend @

The Hare might have something further to add to this discussion.

Hello Adam/ Delboy

Yes there are plenty of in running options on snooker. Most bookmakers exchanges bet in running on Match winner/ Frame winner as you say.
Bet 365, and probably lots of other bookmakers bet on all sorts of things.
So tonight - Match winner, Frame Winner, Correct Score, Frame Handicap betting (head start for one player in half frames), total number of frames in match. Then on each frame they bet ob total points in frame, breaks over 50 or not, over 100 or not, how big the highest break in frame or match is, what the last point scored in frame is (say a colour or red or foul). Will there be a 146, how many centuries. Probably some I missed.

There are endless options if that is your interest. Just look at in running on any bookmaker and select a match! Personally match winner is hard enough to forecast.

 

[Delboy99]

Hello Adam/ Delboy

Yes there are plenty of in running options on snooker. Most bookmakers exchanges bet in running on Match winner/ Frame winner as you say.
Bet 365, and probably lots of other bookmakers bet on all sorts of things.
So tonight - Match winner, Frame Winner, Correct Score, Frame Handicap betting (head start for one player in half frames), total number of frames in match. Then on each frame they bet ob total points in frame, breaks over 50 or not, over 100 or not, how big the highest break in frame or match is, what the last point scored in frame is (say a colour or red or foul). Will there be a 146, how many centuries. Probably some I missed.

There are endless options if that is your interest. Just look at in running on any bookmaker and select a match! Personally match winner is hard enough to forecast.

..... some wise comments there The Hare . Thought that you may have something to offer in the way of betting opportunities.

 

[The Hare]

Round 2 about to start - still a bit of a lottery best of 5! My rating for Cao Yupeng based on only 10 games so a little suspect though he is playing very well and clearly Top 16 material.