Wuxi Classic - June 23 - 29

[gettingbetter]

I'm excited about the first full ranking snooker tournament of the new season and as an Australia, favourable viewing times. Once again Odrl, nice write up.

I'm still shocked that Ding did not qualify. With his non-participation at the Australian Goldfields, his first full ranking event (if he qualifies) will be Shanghai Masters in September.

One of the trends that I have noticed with the first tournaments of the season is that there is usually a lot of suprises at the latter end of the tournament. Without looking at the tournament I do recall the likes of Burnett, Wenbo, Guodong, Davis reach the semi-finals and beyond and the likes of Dale and Walden have won the first tournament of the season. Hopefully a few suprises this tournament.

[mythman69]

It is about to start

Good luck Frazz !!

[gettingbetter]

Two wild cards score an upset already.

Donaldson on the way out too. Unfortunate for the young man. Hopefully he can do better in Australia. First match against Ballrun - no wildcards for him either.

[cyberheater]

Well done Hull. What a great comeback.

[Odrl]

Well done Hull. What a great comeback.

Yeah, I think the key moment was that foul from Xiao when he was splitting the pack, with a chance to go 4-2 in front I think. He seemed to play too casually after that, with a number of sloppy shots, and Hull took advantage.

Yu Delu was another surprising victim earlier, but I did mention it was a possibility. It was a close match when he played Yan in Yixing just a few days ago, and Yan had that great 4-0 win over Bingham, so he is clearly a great prospect. As is Zhao Xintong, who also won his wildcard match, with some one-visit stuff from 2-0 down. He plays Chris Melling next, so he has every chance to go even further. :smile:

[cyberheater]

Yeah, I think the key moment was that foul from Xiao when he was splitting the pack, with a chance to go 4-2 in front I think. He seemed to play too casually after that, with a number of sloppy shots, and Hull took advantage.

Yes. Xiao was unfortunate whilst potting the blue and splitting the pack and accidentally potting the red. Hull make good use of it.
It's good to see Hull progress. I've not seen too much of him but he looks very solid and seems to have a lot of experience.

[Neil Taperell]

Well done Michael Georgiou .......5-1 winner against Marcus Campbell.

Neil Robertson next.

[robertmac]

Another youngster from China has advanced to the
next stage.
Yan Bingtao, a 14-year-old from Zibo in the Shandong Province
beat Yu Delu to move on.
Seems a very young age but then Brecel and Loation were
about that age.
Looking forward to see how these 'new' players make out
against the veterans.

[j6uk]

i see the usual ushering-in of young china lads to bash up the pro's in the snooker handover by ws. must drive you mad, as a pro to spunk that doe and 15hrs on a plane only to shake a clammy little limp schoolboy hand in a first round defeat. can't wait

[Odrl]

i see the usual ushering-in of young china lads to bash up the pro's in the snooker handover by ws. must drive you mad, as a pro to spunk that doe and 15hrs on a plane only to shake a clammy little limp schoolboy hand in a first round defeat. can't wait

What can you do, the Chinese kids are just better than the likes of Andrew Norman these days. :wink:

I quite enjoyed the opening day. Just finished watching Higgins-McGill, a surprisingly high-quality match. It will be interesting to see whether Higgins can get some revenge on McManus in the next round.

A good win for Cao Yupeng against Mark King as well. Still a couple of Chinese players remaining in that bottom quarter, even after Xiao Guodong's defat. :smile:

[j6uk]

What can you do, the Chinese kids are just better than the likes of Andrew Norman these days. :wink:

maybe but as far as i know they ain't earned the right to be there

[Neil Taperell]

Have to agree with you ........seems a little unfair .

[Odrl]

maybe but as far as i know they ain't earned the right to be there

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:

[cyberheater]

I'm currently watching the Higgins vs McGill game and I must say that Higgins is cueing very well in this match. I think I like him more as a player now then I over did. He's pure class to watch.

[Removal man stevie]

Yes mate hope he wins he is still a great player the frames going scrapy though