Wuxi Classic - June 23 - 29

[JIMO96]

Well, it's a pretty fierce competition for these four spots, and the players chosen are the ones who are doing their best in the amateur and the youth rankings in China, so they do have to work for their chance to appear in these events. I don't know whether they should be there or not, but their "right" to be there was negotiated between World Snooker and the local organizers.

You can call it a little compensation for all the disadvantages the Chinese players already face. The main qualifying route for becoming professional is exclusively based in the UK, so it's a much bigger sacrifice for someone coming over from Asia than for someone who lives within driving distance, not to mention the competitive advantage of being able to play in your own country, and in the climate and the culture you are used to. And if you do happen to qualify, you are basically forced to move to the other side of the world permanently, never mind a 15-hour flight. You have to play the qualifiers for what is supposed to be your home tournament in the UK, if you are not one of the unlucky players who repeatedly get denied a visa.

When the roles are reversed and the UK-based players come over to China to play the local amateurs, it shows time after time that a lot of the players there are just as good, if not better, and that's been the case for a decade now. We used to only have the one or two wildcard rounds a season, and the local players always held their own, even though they were playing against the professionals who were winning their qualifying matches, not the ones who were struggling at the bottom of the rankings. And there have always been complaints about how unfair it all was, instead of looking at the bigger picture and trying to find a way to open more doors for the Asian players. The Walker administration even gave a wildcard to Andrew Norman after he dropped off the Main Tour in 2009, for no good reason whatsoever, while Yu Delu remained an amateur. And here we are, five years later, still having the same conversation about how fair or unfair the wildcards are, while Norman is getting beat by the next generation of kids. :wink:

Brilliant post, very knowledgeable and 'nail on the head'. The fact that 14 year old kids keep beating experienced pros JUSTIFIES their inclusion. Can you imagine if Rafa Nadal was beaten by a 14 year old wildcard who 'had'nt earned his right to be there'?......tennis fans would be wanting more of this kid on TV and Nadal would be praising the guy for a fantastic result!

Not snooker though, snooker players moan about wildcard inclusions, snooker 'fans' see it as 'unfair' and World Snooker themselves hold back their progress by denying them the right to earn ranking points. The only thing I see as unfair in the inclusion of wildcards at Chinese events, is the way they are placed into the draw as 'add-ons'. That is, they aren't part of the last 64, they are in addition to the last 64 (a last 68, if you like). That makes the draw imbalanced and clumsy looking in my eyes, and needs to be addressed.

[cyberheater]

A terrible performance by Jamie Burnett. Some shocking misses.

[Odrl]

That makes the draw imbalanced and clumsy looking in my eyes, and needs to be addressed.

Yeah, the extra round doesn't fit in the draw I hang on my door anymore, so I just ignore it and put the winners into the 1st round proper. :smile: But seriously, it does look like the wildcard rounds will eventually die out. They have already been reduced from eight players to four, and the Chinese PTCs have now taken over as the tournaments that showcase the strength of the amateurs and give them the most chance to gain experience. They also offer the chance for the best couple of players to gain professional status, so things have already improved quite a lot in that respect.

Surely the major ranking events in China will eventually be played at the venue in their entirety, or at least have the qualifying in China, so the Main Tour players who decide to skip them can be replaced by the best local amateurs, like it's already done for the qualifying in the UK. That would solve the whole wildcard problem really. I also read somewhere a while back that they are considering holding one of the Q School events in Asia, which would be another step in the right direction, in my opinion. :wink:


A pretty short session this morning then, easy wins for Hawkins and Liang. Liang had three centuries in his match, but the scoreline could still have been a lot different, as Burnett threw two frames away on the colours from 2-1 down. Zhao Xintong also made short work of Chris Melling with a solid 5-1 victory. Jack Lisowski next for him. It will be a crime if that's not on TV. :smile:

Also looking forward to Graeme Dott against Zhou Yuelong later today. :smile:

[DeanH]

Well, it's a pretty fierce competition for these four spots, and the players chosen are the ones who are doing their best in the amateur and the youth rankings in China, so they do have to work for their chance to appear in these events. I don't know whether they should be there or not, but their "right" to be there was negotiated between World Snooker and the local organizers.

You can call it a little compensation for all the disadvantages the Chinese players already face. The main qualifying route for becoming professional is exclusively based in the UK, so it's a much bigger sacrifice for someone coming over from Asia than for someone who lives within driving distance, not to mention the competitive advantage of being able to play in your own country, and in the climate and the culture you are used to. And if you do happen to qualify, you are basically forced to move to the other side of the world permanently, never mind a 15-hour flight. You have to play the qualifiers for what is supposed to be your home tournament in the UK, if you are not one of the unlucky players who repeatedly get denied a visa.

When the roles are reversed and the UK-based players come over to China to play the local amateurs, it shows time after time that a lot of the players there are just as good, if not better, and that's been the case for a decade now. We used to only have the one or two wildcard rounds a season, and the local players always held their own, even though they were playing against the professionals who were winning their qualifying matches, not the ones who were struggling at the bottom of the rankings. And there have always been complaints about how unfair it all was, instead of looking at the bigger picture and trying to find a way to open more doors for the Asian players. The Walker administration even gave a wildcard to Andrew Norman after he dropped off the Main Tour in 2009, for no good reason whatsoever, while Yu Delu remained an amateur. And here we are, five years later, still having the same conversation about how fair or unfair the wildcards are, while Norman is getting beat by the next generation of kids. :wink:

yes, superb post.
I am sure that the recipients of a wildcards has not just been given it because they are young and they are Chinese but that they have gone through some pre-qulaification/recognised events to be offered.
As you say, wildcards in the past have been given out for some unknown reason or other.
Remember Ding being given one years ago and he promptly won the event

[scottley]

I was looking forward to watching Melling play snooker, but its not been shown (i know has has already lost) also i wanted to see Joe O'Connor, looks like there's not much chance of that unless he advances.

[Odrl]

Zhou Yuelong has been struggling pretty badly so far today, but he takes the last frame before the interval to make it 3-1 to Dott. Dott should have pushed on for 4-0 really, but he played some awful safety in that last frame. A bit of complacency creeping in perhaps...

[pottr]

I hope Joe O' Connor gets battered as he's playing my pal, Chris Wakelin...

Come on the Wakedog!

[Odrl]

There we are, Zhou makes it 3-3 from 3-0 down, without doing anything special. It's basically a best-of-3 for the win now, so Dott is under pressure a little. :smile:

[Odrl]

Great pots on pink and black from Dott to take the match. I can't believe the white got that far on that penultimate shot, at one point it was looking like it would end up on the black cushion. :smile:

Yan Bingtao doing very well against Barry Pinches at the moment, 3-1 up, after nearly three hours of play.

[Odrl]

Yan Bingtao doing very well against Barry Pinches at the moment, 3-1 up, after nearly three hours of play.

No wonder it's taking so long, judging by the live scoring it looks like Pinches is playing on for five snookers on the yellow. :smile: Virtually 4-1 now.

[cyberheater]

Some quality mistakes by Dott in that match. The slow roll up behind the brown that he failed to hit being one of them. But overall. He played the better snooker and his experience carried him over the line.

[Wayne G]

What time(UK time) do they start and finish at???? Thanks.

[cyberheater]

What time(UK time) do they start and finish at???? Thanks.

British Eurosport starts about 7:30 am.

Listing here:-

http://tv.eurosport.co.uk/tvschedule.shtml

[robertmac]

Unfortunately the matches start at:

10:00am Wuxi time which is 10:00PM my time (EST)
14:30 Wuxi time............ 02:30AM
19:30 Wuxi time............ 07:30AM

[DeanH]

Wuxi Classic - June 23 - 29

sportlemon.tv list shows a 03.00 (UK) start which aligns with the first session 10.00 (local) start.
as previously stated Eurosport starts live broadcast for the second session (14.30 local)