Australia Goldfields Open

[tomedwards]

Does anyone know from last year which local (uk or mainland Europe) times the live matches were on eurosport? I'm contemplating taking some time off from work in July. Might as well catch some Aussie snooker Cheers!

Eurosport are only showing the final this year, unfortunately.

[mythman69]

Eurosport are only showing the final this year, unfortunately.

Not sure what is available on Fox in Australia? Any ideas? They are probably showing it in Dec . . .



Still Bet 365 will be showing most of the matches streamed live . . .

[tomedwards]

Not sure what is available on Fox in Australia? Any ideas? They are probably showing it in Dec . . .



Still Bet 365 will be showing most of the matches streamed live . . .

I've had a look for you and Fox Sports 3 seem to have live coverage on each day.

[mythman69]

I've had a look for you and Fox Sports 3 seem to have live coverage on each day.

Thanks!! I will be going to Bendigo to watch it all live

But I will let everyone know at the club where I play so they can watch it too.

Thanks again!

[Odrl]

I'm not sure how much of this event I'll be able to see, with the limited coverage in Europe and the time difference, but since it's major ranking snooker, let's have a look at the draw anyway... :smile:

The old format thankfully, so it's much more straightforward. :smile:

Quarter 1:

Barry Hawkins v. Dechawat Poomjaeng
Tom Ford v. Ryan Day
Robert Milkins v. Ben Woollaston
Ding Junhui v. Rory McLeod

Quite a strong top quarter. Barry Hawkins is not only the defending champion, but also one of the title favourites here. He didn't make much progress in Wuxi, coming up against a very strong Cao Yupeng, and I suppose there are some immediate dangers here for him as well. The first is Dechawat Poomjaeng, a player who should now have the confidence to compete at venues, and he seems like the kind of character who could enjoy the travel to Australia. He beat Dominic Dale in Wuxi, before going out to John Higgins in the last32. Ryan Day could also be dangerous, a former finalist of two ranking events outside of the UK, and a strong potter and scorer who can beat anyone on his day. Unfortunately for him, he hasn't shown any real form in a long time, and it will get more and more difficult for him with each event. All things considered, I expect Hawkins to go through here. He has been very solid over the last year, with three very strong runs in ranking events, and generally solid performances where he hasn't seemed all that vulnerable against players below him in the rankings.

Robert Milkins was one of the best players in Wuxi, reaching the semi-finals, and I don't think many would be surprised if he did something similar here, like Mark Davis did at the start of last season. His first obstacle is Ben Woollaston, another decent peformer from Wuxi, where he reached the last16. He is a player who is starting to appear at venues more frequently in recent times, but he is not playing quite at the same level as Milkins, so he will be second favourite here. Ding Junhui could also find it tough to come through, especially as he seems to play more bad tournaments than good ones these days, and you can never quite predict him. To be fair to him, he did lose to an excellent Joe Perry in Wuxi, so he might have done better in a different part of the draw. He beat Milkins 5-1 in the Welsh Open last season, when they were both playing really well, so it would be interesting if they met again here.

Quarter 2:

Ricky Walden v. Fergal O'Brien
Dominic Dale v. M.Dunn/S.Mifsud
Marco Fu v. Ken Doherty
Shaun Murphy v. M.White/S.Dalitz

I think the second quarter could see a couple of surprises... Ricky Walden is a seed here, but his form is a little suspect. He played dreadfully to lose to Jimmy White in Wuxi, which was unusual for a player who usually plays well in China. He is a strong traveler, but he actually went out early in this tournament in the previous two years, so he is still waiting for his first win in Australia. There are a couple of experienced players who could take advantage here, particularly Dominic Dale, who played one of his best tournaments in recent years here in 2011, when he knocked out Neil Robertson on his way to the quarter-finals.

The 2011 tournament also saw one of Ken Doherty's best recent performances, wins over Selby, Maguire and Liang, before he lost to Williams in the semi-finals, so I'm sure he is happy to be coming back as well. Having said that, he is second favourite to last year's semi-finalist Marco Fu in the 1st round. I kind of don't expect Fu to be going out early anymore, as he seems to be playing with more consistency now than in most of the last decade. Other than Shaun Murphy, Fu is probably the strongest player in this quarter when he puts it all together, without an obvious weakness in his game. And speaking of Murphy, it will be interesting to see how well he plays here. He was one of the rare "big" casualties of the qualifiers for the Wuxi Classic, so this is basically where his season really starts, in terms of major venue appearances. He could have had an easier opponent than Michael White in the 1st round, but then again, Murphy has never really had much problem playing the young up-and-coming players, so I expect him to be up for it here.

Quarter 3:

Neil Robertson v. Marcus Campbell
Martin Gould v. Jamie Cope
Joe Perry v. Xiao Guodong
Stuart Bingham v. Noppon Saengkham

Neil Robertson is the big name in the third quarter, and there's all kinds of things to be said about him. He is of course the winner of the most recent major event, in fact he has won two of the last three, with that 1st round exit at the WC sandwiched in between. He is also the home favourite, which could provide some inspiration but also some additional pressure. He was trying really hard to do something in this event in its previous two editions, but it ended in disappointment both times, particularly in 2011 when Dominic Dale needed a snooker on the pink against him in the decider and got it. I think this time Robertson should probably be safe until the quarter-finals. Marcus Campbell is a strong opponent, but he doesn't really come to this event on the back of any great form, so I don't expect him to match Robertson. Martin Gould and Jamie Cope could provide us with a good 1st round match, two players who have played the role of dangerous qualifiers quite well in recent times, but they have both also struggled as seeds, and it's Gould that has that particular pressure here. I can't really see Gould beating Robertson to be honest, as he seems to have a mental block against him, the most recent of his defeats coming in Wuxi last month. Cope's chances probably aren't any better... Well, Mark Davis did it last year, but then again, Davis is a different type of character and seems to handle this kind of pressure much better.

The second part of this quarter will probably come down to Perry against Bingham in the 2nd round. Perry is one of the players of the season so far, a PTC title in Yixing followed by a solid performance in Wuxi, where he lost to John Higgins in the quarter-finals. On the other hand, Bingham hasn't played much, but he has a habit of starting the season well, and he did play well against Yu Delu in Wuxi, before running out of steam against Hamilton in the next round. He won this event in 2011, then lost in the 1st round the following year, so perhaps it's time for another strong performance. I actually don't remember any big match between these two, so it should be interesting to see. I guess Xiao Guodong could spoil things for them a bit... He had a couple of good wins in Wuxi before being outclassed by John Higgins, so he will be looking to continue his decent form. And Higgins isn't here this time. :wink:

Quarter 4:

Mark Davis v. Paul Davison
Michael Holt v. Alfie Burden
Andrew Higginson v. Zhang Anda
Mark Selby v. Ian Burns

There always seems to be an unusually weak quarter in these events, and this is it. Mark Davis has had a horrible six months or so, not at all enjoying his top16 status, but I think it's fair to say the draw has been very kind to him here. Paul Davison very rarely appears at venues, and I don't think he has the class to make any progress here. Burden and Holt are more experienced, so I think it's up to them to stop Davis. Holt in particular has had runs to 2nd rounds of events in the past, a couple of quarter-finals as well, so he is well capable of going through. I think Davis will do the business though, especially since both his previous visits to Australia were very successful.

Mark Selby also has a very favourable draw. It's hard to say how well he is likely to play. He lost in the qualifiers for the Wuxi Classic, so this is his first major venue appearance of the season, but he did play in Yixing and managed to reach the final, so his form must be alright. And even if it wasn't, he would still be very hard to beat, particularly for this crop of players. Andrew Higginson is his biggest danger, a player who has become a common presence at the venue stages of major events, but he doesn't have too many big scalps to his name, so it's tough to see him getting past Selby. It will also be interesting to see how well Zhang Anda plays... I don't think many of us thought we would see him so rarely since that memorable appearance at the 2010 WC, where he became one of the youngest players ever to qualify for the Crucible, and it was only an excellent comeback from Stephen Hendry that denied him a great victory. Can he become a strong player now that he is in his early 20s? We might not get a real answer in this event, but you never know... :smile:

Possible QF lineup:

Barry Hawkins v. Ding Junhui
Dominic Dale v. Shaun Murphy
Neil Robertson v. Stuart Bingham
Mark Davis v. Mark Selby


I wish a good snooker week to everyone who will be watching this. I hope to see as much as possible.

[robertmac]

Thanks for your review and I am looking forward to some
great match-ups and as usual I believe there will be some
upsets and hopefully some great snooker as well.

Here in Canada we get all tournaments on World Snooker
and just have to deal with the huge time difference.

[mythman69]

Thanks Odrl !! Great as usual. I think Davis may knock off Selby. Robertson to win (fingers crossed).

[Odrl]

My pleasure. :smile:

I was just looking at the schedule... Even the local times are a bit early, 10am start, so this is going to be a tough one. But surely at least those sessions scheduled for 1pm will be starting late, so I can catch some of it in the early morning here. Evening sessions will be ok, 11am CET. :smile:

[mythman69]

The Australian Open is underway . . . .

I am trying to watch it on Bet365 but just get a black screen. Is anyone else watching this event?

If so, can you let me know if your feed is working or has the cameraman slept in?

Thanks!

[motorhead]

Thanks Odrl !!

[DandyA]

The Australian Open is underway . . . .

I am trying to watch it on Bet365 but just get a black screen. Is anyone else watching this event?

If so, can you let me know if your feed is working or has the cameraman slept in?

Thanks!

yeah, same thing for me ... Bet365 have now taken the first match off the list ... next match is the 3am one (UK time) which is too late for me ... might do some zzz's and try to watch a bit of the Robertson match at 10am (UK time) ...

I guess there's no TV coverage of the wildcard games but the Robertson/Campbell match is Round 1 proper so maybe filmed (cross fingers) ... let us know if you find anything different

[mythman69]

yeah, same thing for me ... Bet365 have now taken the first match off the list ... next match is the 3am one (UK time) which is too late for me ... might do some zzz's and try to watch a bit of the Robertson match at 10am (UK time) ...

I guess there's no TV coverage of the wildcard games but the Robertson/Campbell match is Round 1 proper so maybe filmed (cross fingers) ... let us know if you find anything different

Bet365 says it is going to show Barry Hawkins vs Dechawat Poomjaeng at noon Sydney time (fingers crossed) . . . I am watching the scores on World Snooker (White is up 3-0 and Dunn and Mifsud are 1-1 with Mifsud leading the 3rd frame).

[mythman69]

White won 5-0 . . . the other Aussie wildcard (Mifsud) is doing better against Dunn (3-1 up at the minute).

[Odrl]

Not a bad day, managed to catch quite a bit of it in the end, but unfortunately the matches weren't all that close.

I saw the last two frames of Hawkins-Poomjaeng, Hawkins needed a couple of visits and never really gave Poomjaeng much chance, finished with a pot success of 93%. Bingham was alright as well against Saengkham, although Saengkham certainly had chances to make the match closer.

Robertson wasn't really in trouble against Campbell either. He lost a very scrappy 1st frame, but played well after that and was in complete control of the match. In the post-match interview he said that he wasn't feeling very well, apparently waking up in the middle of the night a lot and "coughing non-stop", as he put it. Hopefully it won't affect him too much against stronger players later.

Nice win for Zhang Anda as well, 5-1 over Higginson, but unfortunately not televised. :wink:

[DeanH]

Anyone know the reason for the scratch by Ding to give McLeod the walkover?