Delboy99
Sire
.... looks like Stephen Maguire pulled himself out of the mire to get what he needed here. Been an absolutely tight one to say the least!
Snooker
- Thread starter The Uncouth
- Start date
Delboy99
Sire
Snooker veteran Robert Milkins fined £7,000 after 'drunk and disorderly behaviour ended with him getting his stomach pumped in hospital' during Turkish Open nightmare.
- Robert Milkins has been fined £7,000 after his actions at the Turkish Masters
- He arrived to a party drunk and ended up in hospital with a cut to the face
- The 46-year-old was celebrating his birthday and doesn't remember details
- He issued an apology to the authorities and is receiving counselling.
- Snooker veteran Robert Milkins has been fined £7,000 after he ended up in hospital following a drunken episode at the inaugural Turkish Masters.
After arriving already drunk to a pre-tournament celebration, Milkins ended up in an Antalya hospital with a cut face.
According to The Mirror, the 46-year-old had to have his stomach pumped, and ended up literally paying the penalty for his actions.
- Milkins was celebrating his birthday on the eve of the tournament when he began rowing with guests at the five-star Nirvana Cosmopolitan hotel.
- When WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson tried to help him, the world number 27 fell into the men's toilets and split his chin open before being rushed to hospital.
- After winning the first ranking title of his career at the Gibraltar Open, Milkins admitted his mental health was in a poor state during the incident after family bereavements.
He has been receiving counselling for the problems. - Milkins had won just £10,000 all season up until the incident, but his win in Gibraltar earned him £50,000.
He was then able to pay the fine after offering an apology to the authorities.
Milkins said at the time of the event: 'I drank far too much, and something happened. I genuinely don't know exactly what and cannot remember details. I was in a state where I didn't know where I was.
'It was my birthday and I had been drinking for a long time but that is no excuse and I know that. I don't know why, I did all this when I was in my 20s.
'I don't remember what happened with the hotel guests or Jason Ferguson – none of it. I can only apologise to any guests I offended that night. I wouldn't have known who it was.'
The Hare
Mare
Missed lots of posts2022 European Masters draw and schedule announced as Ronnie O’Sullivan faces namesake.
The draw has been made for the 2022 European Masters, with the vast majority of the first round played this month before the main stages in Fuerth, Germany in August.
The qualifiers will run from 15-17 and 22-25 July in Leicester, before the main stage is played from 16-21 at the Stadhalle in Fuerth.
Four of the qualifiers will be held over to Germany, with these being Ronnie O’Sulivan vs Sean O’Sullivan, Judd Trump vs Noppon Saengkham, Mark Selby vs Yuan Sijun and defending champion Fan Zhengyi vs Michael Judge.
The schedule for those matches and the second round onwards is yet to be revealed, but the qualifiers in Leicester in July run as follows…
European Masters draw and schedule
Friday 15 July
11am
Peng Yisong v Dylan Emery
Wu Yize v Jenson Kendrick
Yan Bingtao v Pang Junxu
Lukas Kleckers v Ryan Thomerson
3.30pm
Ryan Day v Ken Doherty
Mark J Williams v Liam Highfield
Joe Perry v Dominic Dale
David Lilley v Stuart Carrington
8pm
Louis Heathcote v Sanderson Lam
Stephen Maguire v Oliver Brown
Kyren Wilson v Sam Craigie
Andres Petrov v Ian Burns
Saturday 16 July
11am
Ross Muir v Lyu Haotian
Zhao Xintong v Fraser Patrick
Gary Wilson v Duane Jones
Xiao Guodong v Xu Si
3.30pm
Anton Kazakov v Zhang Anda
Zak Surety v Andy Hicks
David Gilbert v Marco Fu
8pm
Ian Martin v Chang Bingyu
Anthony Hamilton v Mark King
Barry Hawkins v Gerard Greene
Sunday 17 July
11am
Jimmy Robertson v Zhao Jianbo
Tian Pengfei v Si Jiahui
Hossein Vafaei v Ng On Yee
Adam Duffy v James Cahill
2.30pm
Daniel Wells v Peter Lines
David Grace v Ben Mertens
Stuart Bingham v Michael Holt
8pm
Matthew Selt v Haydon Pinhey
Himanshu Dinesh Jain v Elliot Slessor
Hammad Miah v Jackson Page
Friday 22 July
11am
Ashley Hugill v Julien Leclercq
Jack Lisowski v Zhang Jiankang
Zhou Yuelong v John Astley
Robbie Williams v Steven Hallworth
3.30pm
Jamie Jones v Mark Davis
Mark Allen v Farakh Ajaib
8pm
Allister Carter v Reanne Evans
Chris Wakelin v Jamie Clarke
Martin Gould v Michael White
Saturday 23 July
11am
Anthony McGill v Alexander Ursenbacher
Bai Langning v Joe O’Connor
Lei Peifan v Rod Lawler
Mitchell Mann v N Wongharuthai
3.30pm
Shaun Murphy v Dean Young
Barry Pinches v Rebecca Kenna
Robert Milkins v Lu Ning
8pm
Jordan Brown v Cao Yupeng
Ben Woollaston v Jak Jones
Mark Joyce v Stephen Hendry
Sunday 24 July
11am
Luca Brecel v Andy Lee
Craig Steadman v Li Hang
Jimmy White v Andrew Pagett
Chen Zifan v Aaron Hill
3.30pm
Florian Nüßle v Matthew Stevens
Ricky Walden v Alfie Burden
Graeme Dott v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
8pm
John Higgins v Scott Donaldson
Tom Ford v Oliver Lines
Held over to venue
Fan Zhengyi v Michael Judge
Mark Selby v Yuan Sijun
Judd Trump v Noppon Saengkham
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Sean O’Sullivan
For the tournament draw click here.
MORE : Zhao Xintong talks Ronnie O’Sullivan’s guidance, snooker goals and loving life in Sheffield
MORE : Yan Bingtao: Ronnie O’Sullivan winning at 46 is ridiculous, I will have finished with snooker by then
Delboy99 Just realised these have been squeezed in! Here are the ratings, the yellow held over to the main event. Only Neil Robertson and Ding missing from the big boys. Wenbo I think is still suspended.
The Hare
Mare
Still early season I suppose. He didn't play too badly...... sorry to see Mark Selby go out at such an early stage. Looks like he has not got over his mental problems mentioned a little while back. Hope he has a speedy recovery as no one likes to see professionals have a bad time.
Delboy99
Sire
.... yup. thought you had gone into early hibernation and not many others visit these portals. Whether they read them or not remains a mystery. I thought there would have been lots of punters interested in the Green cloth sport and offer their comments from time to time. But apparently just you and me are the mainstays of this thread. I try to add items of interest, sometimes it is not easy to find suitable material and one is just about talking to oneself at times. Anyway we struggle on and try to keep an interesting story going for others to follow, even if they are silent witnesses. Nice presentation againMissed lots of posts @Delboy99
The Hare always neat and tidy and plenty of information, ratings etc to keep one going. Stick with it and hope for some further interest.
Delboy99
Sire
Fines for Robert Milkins and Matthew Selt.
Robert Milkins and Matthew Selt have both been issued fines after separate hearings into disreputable behaviour.WPBSA Statement on Robert Milkins
At a WPBSA Disciplinary Committee hearing before an independent tribunal on 9th June 2022, Robert Milkins accepted that he had breached the WPBSA Rules and his World Snooker Limited (WSL) Players Contract:
The facts of the case are that on Sunday 6th March 2022 after the opening ceremony for the inaugural 2022 Nirvana Turkish Masters, Milkins was very drunk and was involved in an altercation with guests at the Players Ceremony, attended by a number of high-profile dignitaries and event partners. He later fell and split his chin in the toilets and was taken to hospital where he had his stomach pumped.
This was damaging to the reputation of WST and his behaviour was unacceptable. It was found to be a breach of the WPBSA Members Rules and his WSL Players Contract in that this amounted to conduct unbecoming a sportsperson and brought the sport into disrepute.
At the hearing Milkins apologised for his actions having demonstrated significant remorse for the incident and confirmed that he had made personal apologies to both event partners and dignitaries.
On 4th July 2022, the sanction imposed on Milkins by the Disciplinary Committee was:
- To pay a fine of £6,000; and
- To pay the costs of the Hearing fixed at £1,000
WPBSA Statement on Matthew Selt
At a WPBSA Disciplinary Committee hearing before an independent tribunal on 9th June 2022, Matthew Selt accepted that he had breached the WPBSA Rules and his players contract:
The allegation was that the Player had sent private messages in April 2022 to a member of the public that were considered to be abusive, insulting, upsetting and disrespectful. The messages were subsequently put into the public domain and then published in the media where they attracted adverse comment. The content of the messages were considered to be a breach of the WPBSA Members Rules and his World Snooker Limited Players Contract in that this amounted to conduct unbecoming a sportsperson and brought the sport into disrepute.
At the hearing Selt was deeply apologetic and regretted his actions.
On 14th June 2022, the sanction imposed on Selt was:
- To pay a fine of £2,000; and
- Be warned as to his future conduct to ensure no similar breaches occurred in the future; and
- To pay the costs of the Hearing fixed at £1,000
- To pay the costs of the Hearing fixed at £1,000
The Hare
Mare
Milkins will probably do it again after winning! Selt is regularly in trouble for the dreaded Social Media, people just have to stay on it to see how popular they are.Fines for Robert Milkins and Matthew Selt.
Robert Milkins and Matthew Selt have both been issued fines after separate hearings into disreputable behaviour.
WPBSA Statement on Robert Milkins
At a WPBSA Disciplinary Committee hearing before an independent tribunal on 9th June 2022, Robert Milkins accepted that he had breached the WPBSA Rules and his World Snooker Limited (WSL) Players Contract:
The facts of the case are that on Sunday 6th March 2022 after the opening ceremony for the inaugural 2022 Nirvana Turkish Masters, Milkins was very drunk and was involved in an altercation with guests at the Players Ceremony, attended by a number of high-profile dignitaries and event partners. He later fell and split his chin in the toilets and was taken to hospital where he had his stomach pumped.
This was damaging to the reputation of WST and his behaviour was unacceptable. It was found to be a breach of the WPBSA Members Rules and his WSL Players Contract in that this amounted to conduct unbecoming a sportsperson and brought the sport into disrepute.
At the hearing Milkins apologised for his actions having demonstrated significant remorse for the incident and confirmed that he had made personal apologies to both event partners and dignitaries.
On 4th July 2022, the sanction imposed on Milkins by the Disciplinary Committee was:
- To pay a fine of £6,000; and
- To pay the costs of the Hearing fixed at £1,000
WPBSA Statement on Matthew Selt
At a WPBSA Disciplinary Committee hearing before an independent tribunal on 9th June 2022, Matthew Selt accepted that he had breached the WPBSA Rules and his players contract:
The allegation was that the Player had sent private messages in April 2022 to a member of the public that were considered to be abusive, insulting, upsetting and disrespectful. The messages were subsequently put into the public domain and then published in the media where they attracted adverse comment. The content of the messages were considered to be a breach of the WPBSA Members Rules and his World Snooker Limited Players Contract in that this amounted to conduct unbecoming a sportsperson and brought the sport into disrepute.
At the hearing Selt was deeply apologetic and regretted his actions.
On 14th June 2022, the sanction imposed on Selt was:
- To pay a fine of £2,000; and
- Be warned as to his future conduct to ensure no similar breaches occurred in the future; and
- To pay the costs of the Hearing fixed at £1,000
The Hare
Mare
So the first "proper" event of the season and 2 maximums already, both First timers. Zhang Anda yesterday and Hossein Vafaei today, He beat Ng On Yee who he plays tomorrow in the Final 4 days of the First Round of the Champions League. These are the 8 groups with the number of games affecting the rankings to give an idea of suspect ratings from a low number of games..
Delboy99
Sire
..... I see Trump enters the Arena to do his first battle, should be interesting. Shaun Murphy, David Gilbert and Jack Lisowski in there too, obviously all probably a little on edge at this stage. I see that Jimmy White is sheduled to play his part too seems to have a lowly points ranking these days, yet I supposed it is fair as he has not done a lot in the way of winning. Wonder what the season will hold for Jack Lisowski, much seems to be expected of him, yet he too has not delivered much yet in the way of titles. Suppose he still has youth on his side which may stand him in good stead.
The Hare
Mare
Hi..... I see Trump enters the Arena to do his first battle, should be interesting. Shaun Murphy, David Gilbert and Jack Lisowski in there too, obviously all probably a little on edge at this stage. I see that Jimmy White is sheduled to play his part too seems to have a lowly points ranking these days, yet I supposed it is fair as he has not done a lot in the way of winning. Wonder what the season will hold for Jack Lisowski, much seems to be expected of him, yet he too has not delivered much yet in the way of titles. Suppose he still has youth on his side which may stand him in good stead.
Delboy99 yes things are starting to hot up. The top players get too choose when their group is played so probably been a long beach holiday for Trump. Surely he will be better prepared this season after a break? The Chinese are still setting the standards in the Champions League but the gap is reducing as the rest are more prepared. Jimmy White 60 now and it's just a it of fun for him, no pressure as he can't lose his place. Made £6,000 in ranking events last year but at least he plays in them all, unlike some other wildcards. The problem with Lisowski is he doesn't have the killer instinct. Plus a lack of concentration at times and he can't match the Top 4 or 5 who he usually ends up playing in the Final. Be good if he breaks through though.
Delboy99
Sire
How many countries are represented on 2022/23 World Snooker Tour? England and China dominate circuit.
The global nature of the professional World Snooker Tour is illustrated by the starting list for the 2022/23 season. 131 players from 18 countries will compete on the circuit with England and China providing an impressive 84 competitors over the next 11 months. Watch snooker action live and on-demand on discovery+
131 players from 18 countries will compete on the professional World Snooker Tour circuit for the 2022/23 campaign.England (57) and China (27) are again the most heavily represented nations for the new season with Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump and Mark Selby occupying the top three places in the world rankings.
China increase their numbers by four from 23 last season while Australia double their professional list with Ryan Thomerson joining Masters champion Neil Robertson on tour.
Himanshu Jain becomes the first player from India to qualify for the circuit in earning a two-year card from the Asia-Oceania Q School with Pakistan represented by Muhammad Asif and Asjad Iqbal.
Ukraine (Anton Kazakov), Egypt (Mohamed Ibrahim) and Estonia (Andres Petrov) are all represented on the main circuit.
The women's game is represented by Ng On Yee, Reanne Evans, Rebecca Kenna and Nutcharut Wongharuthai, who will compete for the World Mixed Doubles title in September.
The England – 57
- Ronnie O’Sullivan
- Judd Trump
- Mark Selby
- Kyren Wilson
- Shaun Murphy
- Jack Lisowski
- Barry Hawkins
- Stuart Bingham
- Ricky Walden
- David Gilbert
- Ali Carter
- Matthew Selt
- Jimmy Robertson
- Joe Perry
- Robert Milkins
- Martin Gould
- Tom Ford
- Gary Wilson
- Liam Highfield
- Ben Woollaston
- Chris Wakelin
- Sam Craigie
- Joe O’Connor
- Anthony Hamilton
- Mark King
- Mark Davis
- David Grace
- Oliver Lines
- Mark Joyce
- Elliot Slessor
- Robbie Williams
- Stuart Carrington
- Ashley Hugill
- Allan Taylor
- Zak Surety
- Louis Heathcote
- Jamie O’Neill
- Andy Hicks
- Peter Lines
- Alfie Burden
- Barry Pinches
- Craig Steadman
- Ian Burns
- Hammad Miah
- Mitchell Mann
- Reanne Evans
- Rebecca Kenna
- Jimmy White
- John Astley
- Oliver Brown
- James Cahill
- Adam Duffy
- Jenson Kendrick
- Sanderson Lam
- David Lilley
- Rod Lawler
- Sean O’Sullivan
Delboy99
Sire
'Such a big event' – Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ali Carter set to clash at Championship League snooker.
World champion Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ali Carter will renew their fierce snooker rivalry at the Championship League. Carter joined O'Sullivan in Group A of the last-32 stage after winning Group 17 on Thursday. The Essex players will also face Yuan Sijun and Pang Junxu as they chase a spot in the final stages of the season's first ranking event. Watch snooker action live and on-demand on discovery+
Ronnie O'Sullivan and his fierce Essex rival Ali Carter will clash at the Championship League after world No. 20 Carter clinched his last-32 spot in style on Thursday.The duo – who have contested some memorable duals at the World Championship – will face each other in Group A on Wednesday 27 July in a section that also contains Yuan Sijun and Pang Junxu.
Carter was happy with his form after winning Group 17 on Thursday courtesy of 3-0 victories against Robbie McGuigan and Louis Heathcote before a 2-2 draw with Wu Yize secured his progress.
World champion O'Sullivan topped Group 1 in his first competitive action of the new season.
"Two good performances early on today," said Carter, who hit seven breaks of 50 in his three matches to edge out Wu on seven points. "It’s a long day. I felt a bit tired in the last match. What a great player Wu is. He hits the ball well.
"He’s just a kid running around potting everything. It’s pleasing to get through and it's job done.
"It’s such a big event now. It’s the first event of the season and David Gilbert won it last year and it got him in everything.
"It’s a great opportunity to get the season off to a good start.”
World No. 53 Pang ran out winner in Group 25 with 3-1 wins over Reanne Evans and Dylan Emery respectively and a 2-2 draw with Ryan Day.
Pang enjoyed sparkling breaks of 81 and 108 against Evans before running in marvellous 136 and 137 knocks in defeating Emery.
Judd Trump, Stuart Bingham, Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen and defending champion Gilbert are all in action as the first group stage is completed next week.
Latest Championship League group winners
- Group 24: Robert Milkins (Eng)
- Group 13: Aaron Hill (Ire)
- Group 4: Zhao Xintong (Chn)
- Group 31: Anthony Hamilton (Eng)
- Group 6: Michael Judge (Ire)
- Group 26: Chris Wakelin (Eng)
- Group 10: Luca Brecel (Bel)
- Group 29: Lu Ning (Chn)
- Group 1: Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng)
- Group 27: Jamie Jones (Wal)
- Group 15: Ricky Walden (Eng)
- Group 32: Xiao Guodong (Chn)
- Group 9: Yuan Sijun (Chn)
- Group 30: Lyu Haotian (Chn)
- Group 3: Ben Woollaston (Eng)
- Group 23: Elliot Slessor (Eng)
- Group 5: Mark Williams (Wal)
- Group 28: Gary Wilson (Eng)
- Group 22: Jimmy Robertson (Eng)
- Group 21: Stephen Maguire (Sco)
- Group 20: Chang Bingyu (Chn)
- Group 18: Daniel Wells (Wal)
- Group 17: Ali Carter (Eng)
- Group 25: Pang Junxu (Chn)
Delboy99
Sire
Kyren Wilson wants to get the love back after losing enjoyment in snooker.
Kyren Wilson says his only aim for this season is to start enjoying snooker again after falling out of love with the game over the last campaign.The Warrior had a quiet season by his standards last time around, failing to reach a final for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
The 30-year-old is still ranked at number eight in the world, so it was hardly disastrous, but Wilson admits that he was not enjoying himself and it showed in his results.
Asked about his aims for the season to come, it is not about titles and rankings for the Warrior, but just about getting the enjoyment back, both on and off the table.
‘It’s honestly about enjoying it now,’ Wilson told the Talking Snooker Podcast. ‘I feel like I’ve gone through a spell where I’ve stopped enjoying it because it’s meant too much.
‘I’ve kind of brought it home to my family life, which has become a little bit toxic.
‘So for me now it’s back to a 9-5 job. I’m going to clock off when I’ve done my practice, when I’ve done my tournaments, I’m going to walk through my front door and become a father and a husband again.
‘For me it’s about giving it my all, I’ll still make the sacrifices required to try and get to the top, but at the same time I want to enjoy my career again.
‘There are more important things in life, especially with what we’ve all been through over the last couple of years.
‘You realise that without your health, without your family, what is life? They are the be all and end all for me.’
Wilson would have liked to add some silverware to his collection of four ranking titles last season, but he was not overly concerned by his performances, reaching the semi-finals of the UK Championship and Champion of Champions.
He also points to the wide range of players that have proved they can get their hands on big titles, showing just how difficult it is to have a trophy-laden season.
‘Last season was crazy, we saw lots of new emerging talent come through,’ said Kyren. ‘The likes of Fan Zhengyi, [Zhao] Xintong, Luca [Brecel], I know he’s been around for a while but he obviously produced the goods at the UK Championship and Scottish Open.
‘Then you had the regular winners, and two great snooker professionals in Joe Perry and Rob Milkins that maybe hadn’t achieved what they’d like to achieve, but had special moments in winning the Welsh and Gibraltar Open.
‘It just shows how wide open snooker is now, the standard is through the roof. I played Sam Craigie in a round one qualifier last week and he’s a great player. Someone like that in round one! That lad is capable of potentially winning tournaments in the future, he’s that good. I’ve grown up with Sam from 11 years old, I know what he’s capable of. When you’re playing people like that, it shows you how difficult it is.
‘I was kind of one match in every tournament from turning it into a great tournament. Lost to Fan in the European Masters last 32, he beat me 5-4 in a great match. He said after the final the turning point was beating Kyren Wilson. I thought sometimes I might be a bit too harsh on myself. People are really trying hard to beat me and I’m a scalp for some people.
‘I think I lost to five or six tournament winners. It is what is is. In terms of my stats, I was there or there abouts, it was just the odd match. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, it’s just waiting for your time.’
Wilson will next be in action at the main stages of the European Masters in Furth in August, where he takes on Lyu Haotian in the last 64.
The Hare
Mare
‘It just shows how wide open snooker is now, the standard is through the roof. I played Sam Craigie in a round one qualifier last week and he’s a great player. Someone like that in round one! That lad is capable of potentially winning tournaments in the future, he’s that good. I’ve grown up with Sam from 11 years old, I know what he’s capable of. When you’re playing people like that, it shows you how difficult it is.
‘I was kind of one match in every tournament from turning it into a great tournament. Lost to Fan in the European Masters last 32, he beat me 5-4 in a great match. He said after the final the turning point was beating Kyren Wilson. I thought sometimes I might be a bit too harsh on myself. People are really trying hard to beat me and I’m a scalp for some people.
Hi
Delboy99 . Obviously Kyren had a tough time, he did become very serious and hopefully this will get him back on track,
But I liked his quote about Sam Craigie above, Sam is a great player and should definitely win a competition and be top 25 at least. But I listened to an interview with him on World Snooker last year and that answered everything about him. He just isn't bothered, said he just plays snooker like a job, he doesn't really enjoy it. He just doesn't have the application to practice enough hours or have mind coaching to reach his potential. He tends to practise in many different places around the country to try and find a solution but would rather have a drink and enjoy himself than apply himself to success.
Nothing wrong with any of that if it makes him happy and he takes a steady living, but hopefully he won't regret it some day. Here's a link if you're interested, in Ronnie class of interviews I think!
Podcast With Sam Craigie - World Snooker
‘I was kind of one match in every tournament from turning it into a great tournament. Lost to Fan in the European Masters last 32, he beat me 5-4 in a great match. He said after the final the turning point was beating Kyren Wilson. I thought sometimes I might be a bit too harsh on myself. People are really trying hard to beat me and I’m a scalp for some people.
Hi
Delboy99 . Obviously Kyren had a tough time, he did become very serious and hopefully this will get him back on track,But I liked his quote about Sam Craigie above, Sam is a great player and should definitely win a competition and be top 25 at least. But I listened to an interview with him on World Snooker last year and that answered everything about him. He just isn't bothered, said he just plays snooker like a job, he doesn't really enjoy it. He just doesn't have the application to practice enough hours or have mind coaching to reach his potential. He tends to practise in many different places around the country to try and find a solution but would rather have a drink and enjoy himself than apply himself to success.
Nothing wrong with any of that if it makes him happy and he takes a steady living, but hopefully he won't regret it some day. Here's a link if you're interested, in Ronnie class of interviews I think!
Podcast With Sam Craigie - World Snooker
Delboy99
Sire
Judd Trump crashes out of Championship League Snooker at first hurdle.
Judd Trump had a disappointing start to the season on Tuesday as he failed to progress through his first Championship League group, finishing second behind Jamie Clarke.The world number two beat Sean O’Sullivan in his group stage, but draws with Clarke and rookie Peng Yisong meant that he finished behind the Welshman.
It was the Ace’s first matches since finishing runner-up to Ronnie O’Sullivan at the World Championship and he was a long way from his brilliant best after a summer break.
Clarke was delighted to make the most of the opportunity, though, and progress to the second group stage.
The Welshman told Dave Hendon for Matchroom: ‘I feel really good, obviously when you’ve got Judd and a couple of other good players in your group, you know it is going to be difficult.
‘Preparation has been good, I’ve had about five or six sessions in the past 10 days, I came to Leicester yesterday and had a game against Joe O’Connor too. I wasn’t playing my best but I’m just glad to get through.
‘I’m 49th on the rankings at the start of this year, I’ve not got any real aims this season other than to win as many games as possible and go as deep at events as I can, and who knows; maybe even win a tournament.’
The other group on Tuesday saw Shaun Murphy progress, edging past Belgian teenager Ben Mertens, who is new on the tour.
‘Well, didn’t see that coming, really, really pleased with today actually,’ Murphy said in a video posted to Instagram.
‘Started a bit tough against Ben Mertens, thought he played very well and was good value for the 2-2 draw. Played well against Xu Si and then finished well against Liam there in the last match.
‘Didn’t see it coming, really enjoyed the off season so came here to Championship League just trying to find my feet and see where I am for the season. Really, really pleased with the start.’
The first stage of Championship League Snooker comes to an end on Thursday, before Stage Two groups run from 25-28 July with all 32 winners of the first groups.
The Hare
Mare
Crashes out a bit severe! I thought it was a great performance. He made every effort to play properly, concentration was good. Obviously way off his best but a quiet summer of practise should help him last the pace of the more important competitions in the rest of the season.Judd Trump crashes out of Championship League Snooker at first hurdle.
Judd Trump had a disappointing start to the season on Tuesday as he failed to progress through his first Championship League group, finishing second behind Jamie Clarke.
The world number two beat Sean O’Sullivan in his group stage, but draws with Clarke and rookie Peng Yisong meant that he finished behind the Welshman.
It was the Ace’s first matches since finishing runner-up to Ronnie O’Sullivan at the World Championship and he was a long way from his brilliant best after a summer break.
Clarke was delighted to make the most of the opportunity, though, and progress to the second group stage.
The Welshman told Dave Hendon for Matchroom: ‘I feel really good, obviously when you’ve got Judd and a couple of other good players in your group, you know it is going to be difficult.
‘Preparation has been good, I’ve had about five or six sessions in the past 10 days, I came to Leicester yesterday and had a game against Joe O’Connor too. I wasn’t playing my best but I’m just glad to get through.
‘I’m 49th on the rankings at the start of this year, I’ve not got any real aims this season other than to win as many games as possible and go as deep at events as I can, and who knows; maybe even win a tournament.’
The other group on Tuesday saw Shaun Murphy progress, edging past Belgian teenager Ben Mertens, who is new on the tour.
‘Well, didn’t see that coming, really, really pleased with today actually,’ Murphy said in a video posted to Instagram.
‘Started a bit tough against Ben Mertens, thought he played very well and was good value for the 2-2 draw. Played well against Xu Si and then finished well against Liam there in the last match.
‘Didn’t see it coming, really enjoyed the off season so came here to Championship League just trying to find my feet and see where I am for the season. Really, really pleased with the start.’
The first stage of Championship League Snooker comes to an end on Thursday, before Stage Two groups run from 25-28 July with all 32 winners of the first groups.
Delboy99
Sire
...... I did not exactly see how he played so I just went by the report above. I don't know what it is but I just feel that he seems to lack a bit of the big time temperament these past couple of months or so. I thought at one time he was made of stone as nothing seemed to disturb his play on the table. His brother seemed to have put him on the path to almost invincibility a few short months ago, which made me think that he was always going to be the one to beat. Since then a few cracks have appeared and he is not quite the guy who was going to be the one for everyone to beat. May be wrong but he is going to have to come good again to restore lost faith in his capabilities.
Delboy99
Sire
Cazoo British Open Draw.
The tournament will run from September 26 to October 2 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes. Tickets for the ITV-televised event are on sale now and start at just £10, for details click here.The random draw was made today and pitched three-time World Champion Williams against Petrov, who became the first ever professional player from Estonia after winning the European Amateur Championship earlier this season.
World number one and World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan will face Alexander Ursenbacher, in a repeat of their match at the 2020 UK Championship which Ursenbacher won 6-5. Mark Selby will take on Ricky Walden while Judd Trump will be up against Si Jiahui.
All matches up to and including the last 16 are best of seven frames. The quarter-finals are best of nine, semi-finals best of 11 and the final best of 19 frames.
The full draw is:
Mark Allen v Stuart Carrington
Alexander Ursenbacher v Ronnie O’Sullivan
Anthony Hamilton v Jimmy White
Xiao Guodong v David Lilley
Jak Jones v Andrew Pagett
Ricky Walden v Mark Selby
Elliot Slessor v Sean O’Sullivan
Zak Surety v Ross Muir
Peter Lines v Robert Milkins
Michael Judge v Craig Steadman
Andy Lee v Barry Pinches
Fraser Patrick v Alfie Burden
Michael White v Noppon Saengkham
Fergal O’Brien v Chang Bingyu
Matthew Stevens v Stephen Maguire
Fan Zhengyi v Jamie Clarke
John Astley v Rod Lawler
Peng Yisong v Dylan Emery
Duane Jones v Barry Hawkins
Mark Joyce v Asjad Iqbal
Cao Yupeng v Marco Fu
Ben Woollaston v James Cahill
Joe O’Connor v Chris Wakelin
Jamie O’Neill v David Grace
Shaun Murphy v Gary Wilson
Jenson Kendrick v Zhou Yuelong
Mark King v Lyu Haotian
Tom Ford v Mitchell Mann
Mark Davis v Kyren Wilson
Gerard Greene v Sanderson Lam
David Gilbert v Aaron Hill
Hammad Miah v Ali Carter
Zhang Jiankang v Reanne Evans
Joe Perry v Hossein Vafaei
Liang Wenbo v Dean Young
Adam Duffy v Ian Burns
Rebecca Kenna v Ryan Day
Jamie Jones v Scott Donaldson
Anthony McGill v Wu Yize
Yuan Sijun v Anton Kazakov
Ng On Yee v Ken Doherty
Dominic Dale v Jack Lisowski
Tian Pengfei v Sam Craigie
Julien LeClercq v Muhammad Asif
Matthew Selt v Lu Ning
Judd Trump v Si Jiahui
Pang Junxu v Jordan Brown
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v Martin Gould
Allan Taylor v Lukas Kleckers
Jimmy Robertson v Louis Heathcote
Ryan Thomerson v Ben Mertens
Ding Junhui v Oliver Lines
Yan Bingtao v Oliver Brown
Bai Langning v Zhao Xintong
Himanshu Jain v Xu Si
Mink Nutcharut v Chen Zifan
Stephen Hendry v Zhang Anda
Andy Hicks v John Higgins
Lei Peifan v Stuart Bingham
Ashley Hugill v Robbie Williams
Mark Williams v Andres Petrov
Zhao Jianbo v Jackson Page
Graeme Dott v Luca Brecel
Liam Highfield v Li Hang
Selected matches will be held over to the venue in Milton Keynes, while the other first round matches will take place in the qualifying round in Wigan from August 9 to 14. The format will be released soon.
The Hare
Mare
So after 4 weeks the First Round of the "Champions League" ranking event is over and now it gets a little more exciting this week. On Freesport from 12 most days, think Monday evening they don't usually show. So Monday to Thursday there are 8 groups in the 2nd Round. 4 per group and the winners make the 2 Final groups on Friday. After they are completed the 2 winners meet, best of 5, I believe.
As ranking events go it is low level, £33,000 in total to the winner but a good way of drawing out the snooker season at low cost for the organisers.
So the 8 groups, Monday at the top are below. A lot more competitive now, only 3 players below the average of 10 on my rankings.
As ranking events go it is low level, £33,000 in total to the winner but a good way of drawing out the snooker season at low cost for the organisers.
So the 8 groups, Monday at the top are below. A lot more competitive now, only 3 players below the average of 10 on my rankings.
Last edited: