Welsh Open Feb 16-22, 2015

[luke-h]

How anyone can say they won't tune in to the final astounds me, we have a resurgent Higgins and a player reaching new heights in the game, surely it's going to be a cracker.
Snooker isn't just to be watched when the "favourites" are in, some of the younger talent is awesome.

[ghost121]

Whoever is ultimately responsible for this debacle of a tournament needs replacing. I appreciate it's the first time at Cardiff, but the short matches, wandering crowd, overheated tables, unpredictable cushions, plethora of kicks and even ticker tape floating down from the heavens is a complete joke. It's going to be difficult to listen to the commentators today inevitably waxing lyrical about 'what a great tournament this has been...' I am not surprised Higgins is in the final given the poor quality snooker his opponents have so far produced, not to mention his legendary powers of concentration and current desperation for ranking points. I agree that his C game is probably enough to easily beat Woollaston. Shame he looks like adding another ranking title to his list, I had hoped those days were over.

[Hal]

Dissapointed with yesterday result. At least it took Higgins to play his A game to knock Brecel out, but MJW performence was just terrible .... And even then he made it to the decider. I think the final will be one sided affair. Woollaston was good among the balls, but his long potting was dreadful .... good to see Higgins finding some form, and I wish him to win here

[Masterdoctorgenius]

will ali carter be freezed as 13th in the ranking forever?

[Masterdoctorgenius]

How anyone can say they won't tune in to the final astounds me, we have a resurgent Higgins and a player reaching new heights in the game, surely it's going to be a cracker.
Snooker isn't just to be watched when the "favourites" are in, some of the younger talent is awesome.

resurgent?!?!? played only ont ot two good matches, rest was rubbish

[Odrl]

Hopefully Higgins will win this quickly and we can move
on to the next tournament.

The next tournament won't come any quicker, whether Higgins wins quickly or not. :smile: Surely you can at least hope it's a classic final, if you haven't enjoyed the previous days. :smile:

I have a feeling this season as a whole will be quickly forgotten after it's over, judging by some of the comments during the last four tournaments. The UK Championship, the Masters, the German Masters and now the Welsh Open have all been repeatedly described as poor tournaments, for various reasons, and I have contributed to that quite a bit. Unfortunately most of the upcoming tournaments have a format that is unworthy of the big stage, so I doubt they will be any better. That's why I am hoping for some good snooker today, and maybe the final will surprise me like Higgins-Brecel did yesterday. :smile:

[Odrl]

will ali carter be freezed as 13th in the ranking forever?

I think he will be seeded 13th until the end of the season, then seeded according to his ranking with the start of next season, most likely somewhere in the top32.

[Saint Michael]

Let's just watch it and see. We can't say how it's going to pan out. Personally I like an under dog. So fair play to Ben Woolaston for getting to the final. A great achievement regardless of good or bad play. Hoping it's a last frame decider.

[j6uk]

from the semis we could of had: higgins vs williams, williams vs brecel, wooloson vs brecel, but we have higgins vs wooloson, this for me is the dullest mix. i hope its gonna be a a good one

[Odrl]

Ok, just a few words before it starts...

I know most people were looking forward to a possible Higgins-Williams final yesterday, and I was getting ready to remember some of the great matches those two have played over the years. I know I complain a lot about various undeserved wildcards or popular older players getting the TV table instead of a more interesting match and stuff like that, but of course, like most people, I do have a soft spot for certain players, and those two are so synonymous with the time when I really got into snooker... They probably don't have many titles left in them, so it would have been nice to see them both in the final. But the two players we have today have earned it on the table, so, at the end of the day, I wouldn't trade them for anyone. :smile:

There isn't much history between Higgins and Woollaston, this being their first ever match outside of the PTC series. Of course Higgins will start as favourite. He has all the class and the experience, and he has shown this week that he has some form as well. He made three centuries yesterday, and he supposedly played superbly against Liang Wenbo as well, while saving his worst performances for the matches where he could afford them. His long game has been quite reliable as well, so I expect him to go for his shots and try to take command of this final right from the start. He has mostly won his big finals in the time I've been watching snooker, especially those where he was expected to win, but this is the first time in ages where he is facing a real outsider.

We have only seen one match of Woollaston this week, so perhaps is harsh to judge him by just that one performance. He made some good breaks though and potted some good balls. He wasted a wonderful chance to win in the penultimate frame, so he is clearly not immune to pressure, and today the pressure will be the biggest he has ever faced. It would be easy to say Higgins will handle it better, but of course Higgins needed three chances himself to get over the line against Brecel, so you never know. Woollaston has the luxury of not being expected to win today, and it's a long match, so plenty of time for him to play his best snooker. It will probably be too late if he goes behind early though, so he needs to stick in there.

I think Higgins will win, but I also think the score will be respectable for Woollaston, maybe 9-6. Looking forward to it. :smile:

[Dr_Doctor]

There is no better background noise for paperwork than Snooker.

[j6uk]

i agree, until you hear five reds five blacks

There is no better background noise for paperwork than Snooker.

[cyberheater]

I think this match is going to be about who makes the least mistakes.

Both players are looking quite comfortable out there. Let's hope it's a close match.

[j6uk]

if ben can't start getting through the white i don't see him winning more than a handful of frames

[ghost121]

Woollaston looking very ordinary. Higgins is likely to pinch more of the close, scrappy frames and even with his inconsistency should have the great scoring power. All the run to Higgins in frame 3 but Woollaston wasted his chances.