Australia Goldfields Open

[Odrl]

Good win for Higgins in the end, as Ford fails to win a match for the first time in this event.

As I said yesterday, Higgins hasn't really been great at getting revenge on the players who have beaten him recently, so it will be interesting to see what he can do against Milkins. :smile:

[DeanH]

If i am reading it correctly , does that mean that Mark Allen gets no prize money as he was a seeded loser in the last 32 ?

If so , that's a heck of a way to go for no money !

yep, correct - zip diddly for a seed to lose in the last 32.

[Neil Taperell]

Air fares etc ......no wonder the top 16 don't want to go. Financial suicide .

[robertmac]

Australia is 14 hours time difference from me so I
will have to plan which matches to watch.

Mark Allen has been a disappointment as he passed
on the 1st 2 tournaments and then lost here in Oz.
Wenbo and Day I felt should have advanced but not
the case.
As mentioned by others I feel the big names should
be committed to all tournaments and not just ones
that happen to be 'nearby'.
Lots of good snooker to come and then a long break
without any so enjoy.

[Chappy5]

Air fares etc ......no wonder the top 16 don't want to go. Financial suicide .

Financial suicide my arse! You guys get double your money nearly when coming here.

Return airfares to Australia are around the 1,000 pound mark and sometimes even less. These guys play snooker as a profession and if you are seeded and lose like Allen you do not deserve anything as this is not a charity. Whats next players not touring unless they get an appearance fee??? Spare me or else we will have a whole genre of egotistic snooker players like ROS where the whole world revolves around themselves.

I wish i was in the position these guys were and got to travel everywhere playing a game i loved but the English and traveling anywhere even 50kms in a car seems to be a chore for some reason.

[robertmac]

I couldnt agree more Chappy5. Well said.

1
Mark Selby
774,089
2
Ding Junhui
700,671
3
Neil Robertson
680,748
4
Ronnie O'Sullivan
505,616
5
Barry Hawkins
498,199
6
Judd Trump
407,322
7
Shaun Murphy
366,405
8
Marco Fu
342,873
9
Mark Allen
305,118
10
Ricky Walden
296,860
11
John Higgins MBE
284,959
12
Stuart Bingham
276,081
13
Allister Carter
222,125
14
Stephen Maguire
217,476
15
Joe Perry
198,065
16
Mark Davis
188,163
17
Graeme Dott
176,583
18
Mark Williams MBE
163,388
19
Matthew Stevens
163,258
20
Robert Milkins
161,864
21
Ryan Day
146,443
22
Michael Holt
139,705
23
Xiao Guodong
138,177
24
Dominic Dale
130,848
25
Peter Ebdon
129,520

[Chappy5]

I couldnt agree more Chappy5. Well said.

It just annoys me when any lame argument is played upon/used for an excuse to not travel for an event and not every tourney is going to be played in ones own backyard. Snooker is world game now with top players and many fans from all over the globe.

Neil Robertson was a nothing without this game and nearly gave up on it the first time he invested everything he had to travel to the U.K to play the game he loved as a youngster and came home early after losing a heap of dollars when the first try failed. After 18 odd months he was then looking for work here in Australia without success and was actually standing in a long dole queue waiting to hand in his check to get a tiny $300 a week when he threw it on the ground and went home hitting up his father for the $3500 he needed to go back to the U.K to achieve his snooker dream when the penny struck as to what he was going to do with his life from this point on.

The rest is history and Neil has never forgotton where he has come from and has an Aussie heart as big as a bull.

Never has he complained about traveling and supporting the game he loves around the globe to advertise it globally.

[Neil Taperell]

Financial suicide my arse! You guys get double your money nearly when coming here.

Return airfares to Australia are around the 1,000 pound mark and sometimes even less. These guys play snooker as a profession and if you are seeded and lose like Allen you do not deserve anything as this is not a charity. Whats next players not touring unless they get an appearance fee??? Spare me or else we will have a whole genre of egotistic snooker players like ROS where the whole world revolves around themselves.

I wish i was in the position these guys were and got to travel everywhere playing a game i loved but the English and traveling anywhere even 50kms in a car seems to be a chore for some reason.

Fair argument but the Snooker Season is now similar to golf , you can pick and choose your events . Obviously for whatever reason this Tournament is not high on the agenda for some of the players' , which is a shame as snooker seems to be well supported in Australia judging by the Members' on here .

[Chappy5]

Fair argument but the Snooker Season is now similar to golf , you can pick and choose your events . Obviously for whatever reason this Tournament is not high on the agenda for some of the players' , which is a shame as snooker seems to be well supported in Australia judging by the Members' on here .

It is Neil and i just wish it was closer to the CBD than out in the country town of Bendigo. Don't get me wrong i am traveling the 3hr round trip from my house to go to 2-3 sessions this week but i see the small crowds on T.V like tonight for us and i can understand why people may not make the trip from the Melbourne CBD with work etc the next day especially regarding the night sessions. But we are thankful to have it none the less. We had the darts here that was full of fat drunken bums throwing metal sticks at a board for hours and it was a sell out nearly in one of our big CBD footy venues! Yet the Snooker gets put 150kms out of town from Monday to Friday mostly. Grrrrrrr

When Neil plays in 2 nights time we may get a bigger crowd and hopefully so.

[Neil Taperell]

Well there in could be the answer .......something World Snooker needs to address , a venue change . But would the top players still travel ??

Maybe up the prize money to make it comparable with say a tournament in China .

Shouldn't have to do this , but travel alone can't be the reason that the Pro's don't want to go .

[DeanH]

Seeds used to get 50% if out in the earlier rounds, but to me is the differential between the winner, and runner up and subsequent amounts not being "fair".
I think the difference should not be more than 50% and at best something like 65%, (i.e. winner £100, runner up £65), this would also then roll down and increase the lower amounts as well. Which I believe was also something Barry Hearn has mentioned a factor he wished to deal with as well as numbers of tournaments. Yes, numbers of tournament is at an all time high and prize fund also, but the differential is not fair or justified on any level to me.
Maybe the lack of prize for a seed losing in the first round could put off some but I think those that have decided not to go to Wuxi/Bendigo did not use this as a major factor in their decision to go, I am sure there would be more personal reason of not attending.

[DeanH]

the only tournaments that a seed gets nothing for losing in the first rounds are Bendigo, Shanghai, and the World

[Neil Taperell]

The difference between Runner up and winner is too much . Wuxi Winner £85k runner up £35K ......should be a little closer than that in my opinion .

[Chappy5]

Well there in could be the answer .......something World Snooker needs to address , a venue change . But would the top players still travel ??

IMO no they will still snub it for reasons that are debatable. A venue change is more for the fans and bigger crowds but it is great for Bendigo as well.

Shouldn't have to do this , but travel alone can't be the reason that the Pro's don't want to go .

Yes it is IMO. Especially with this tourney virtually on the back of Wuxi.

Terrible scheduling which is not our fault.

[Chappy5]

the only tournaments that a seed gets nothing for losing in the first rounds are Bendigo, Shanghai, and the World

So we are not alone on that front!