Wuxi Classic - June 23 - 29

[Erwan_BZH]

Sorry if that has already been answered but....new cue for Maguire?

[bigandyg]

Sorry if that has already been answered but....new cue for Maguire?

Mastercue, tells me he is sticking with it and has sold most of his other cues.

[cueman]

Mastercue, tells me he is sticking with it and has sold most of his other cues.

Is it the pyragon model Andy? Looked like it from what camera angle we got a look at. I know he had a cue off Raymo but obviously it didn't suit him. Looked a little short for him as he was holding it right at the back of the butt end for the majority of his shots. Played well enough with it though, seems a pretty solid reliable piece of maple.

[Erwan_BZH]

A Mastercue? Hmm surprising how many pros are turning to Far East cues nowadays...

I had a look at the Pÿragon but it doesn't look like the one he seemd to have this afternoon....looked like 4 plain splices on the butt. But I might be wrong, my feed was pretty crappy so didn't have a clear vision on it.

[bigandyg]

Is it the pyragon model Andy? Looked like it from what camera angle we got a look at. I know he had a cue off Raymo but obviously it didn't suit him. Looked a little short for him as he was holding it right at the back of the butt end for the majority of his shots. Played well enough with it though, seems a pretty solid reliable piece of maple.

Not sure what model it is, he is very demanding about the maple being unmarked so this must be a good one. Think he picked it up when he was in the far east.

[Neil Taperell]

Not seen any of it and just seen the results .......what happened to Trump .....played badly or Maguire play well ?

[robertmac]

Trump played poorly and didnt seem focused at all
and Maguire was playing ok. Trump's safety play
cost him a couple of frames and he wasnt potting
that great. The frames were scrappy tho and it
could have gone either way most times.

Perry and Maguire were saying the tables were
playing poorly due to a lot of rain and that is
why many frames were scrappy. What a shame.

Good matchups:

Robertson v Murphy
Fu v Hawkins
Hull v Perry
Gould v Maguire

[gettingbetter]

Nice quarter final line up. I was hoping that Yupeng and Wenbo would square off in the 4th quarter final, but not be. Perry and Hull have been in good form. Hoping Marco takes it from here.

[Odrl]

For some reason I am always sceptical ahead of Robertson-Murphy matches, maybe because their International Championship semi-final from 2012 sticks in my mind as a really poor match. But some of the others have been pretty high quality, so this could be a good one as well. Robertson has won all of their matches of at least medium length in the last couple of years, so he has the psychological edge, and he is generally the better player of the two at this point in time, so he should be favourite. Both were given plenty of chances by their opponents in the previous round, particularly Murphy. A more experienced player would probably have punished his many mistakes, but he got away with it against Zhao. As I said earlier, I expect him to play a more disciplined game against Robertson, but I doubt it will be enough. Robertson to win 5-3.

Hawkins-Fu could be an even better match, judging by their scoring in the previous round. Hawkins finished the match with breaks of 138, 89 and 91, and Fu had two centuries himself in the middle of his match. Could be one-visit stuff between two very evenly matched players. They are arguably the best two players in the world who have never won a major event in China, and there is a pretty decent chance that could change this week. The last time they played Hawkins won 5-0, so I would give him a slight edge here. Hawkins to win 5-4.

Maguire-Gould is another tough one to call. I was unimpressed by Maguire yesterday, but as robertmac says, the conditions were difficult, so he could easily play better today. His potting seemed fine for the most part, and he seems to be resisting his trademark frustration pretty well here. Gould is appearing on TV for the first time this week, so it's tough to know how he is playing... He had a pretty favourable draw early on, but Ryan Day was a tough opponent, so he can't be playing too badly. Nice to see him at the business end of a tournament anyway, it's been a while. Not much history between the two, but an in-form Maguire should be the better player. Maguire to win 5-4.

Perry-Hull is a bit of a surprise here, although Perry was my pick in this quarter before the tournament started. He has barely dropped a frame so far, but his performance against Liang wasn't as solid as the scoreline suggests. He had a little slump in the middle of the match, for no obvious reason... Hull took advantage when a similar thing happened to Xiao Guodong in the 1st round, so Perry has to be careful. Hull is a pretty good scorer as it is, but especially when he is in this kind of form. It's nice to see him in a major quarter-final so soon after his return to snooker, but it just seems an even bigger shame now that he was forced to sit out the last couple of years... Perry to win 5-4.

Six hours of sleep, then some lovely early-morning snooker. :smile:

[P.Smith]

I have no idea what the problem with Eurosport and their camera work is. I've noticed many times that the player will often be taking their shot but the viewers can't even see the table. It's really annoying.

[DeanH]

I have no idea what the problem with Eurosport and their camera work is. I've noticed many times that the player will often be taking their shot but the viewers can't even see the table. It's really annoying.

it is not Eurosport's fault but the local TV station and their director, Eurosport just buy the right to show the feed and have no say in the camera work

[mythman69]

Robertson match is 3-3
Hawkins match is 4-4

C'mon !!

[mythman69]

Barry won 5-4
Neil is down 4-3

C'mon

[j6uk]

murphy sick as a baby elephant

[mythman69]

Phew . . . Murphy missed (rattled) game ball and Neil cleaned up to win on the black.