Shanghai Masters 2015 - Discussion

[Odrl]

Well, that would have been a nice weekend of snooker for me, shame it was so difficult to watch. I tried my best to avoid any spoilers and actually succeeded, but I only started watching the quarter-finals on Saturday night and finished on Sunday morning at around 6am, then caught up with the semi-finals in the afternoon, which unfortunately meant I missed the final live. And with Eurosport not actually showing it, I was stuck with the ridiculously short highlights of the evening session, where most frames were only shown with the scoreline already 60-0 or something like that. I think this was the least I saw of any major final in more than 10 years, so the whole thing left a somewhat sour taste, although the snooker itself was quite exciting.

I particularly enjoyed the Ding-Wilson match, a couple of good battles on the colours towards the end there. Williams-Trump was also better viewing than the scoreline suggests. The semi-finals were a bit disappointing, particularly Allen's poor performance. As for the final, I really wish I could say more about it. These slow starts are becoming a pattern with Trump in recent times, he found himself behind in all three finals against O'Sullivan last season, as well as in the WC semi-final against Bingham, but I have no clue what was happening in the first session yesterday, so I can't comment on it.

A big well done to Kyren Wilson, he showed almost no nerves, and he played like a top player, with solid scoring and some great safety at the right times. Some of the snookers he got against Allen and Trump were superb, as was his potting under pressure. A deserved winner. I can congratulate myself as well for picking him in my fantasy team for this event, a stroke of genius. :wink: Sometimes players take their foot off the gas after a major success and disappear for a while, last season alone probably has five or six examples of that, but there have also been cases where one triumph was enough for a player to establish themselves at the top of the game, so it will be interesting to see what happens with Wilson now. :smile:

Looking forward to the International Championship. :smile:

[DeanH]

They are slightly different colour and slightly different weight too so no not the same manufacture entirely Dean - they made to a more exacting standard.

hi Byrom
I emailed Saluc to finally get a definitive answer to the TC/1G question.

from a G. Jorge from Saluc
"the balls themselves are exactly the same; only at the end the balls are sorted -STRICTLY- by weight and placed with similar weighted balls for the appropriate set."

you mentioned the difference in weights from different sets - there is no rule/standard weight for snooker balls, they can be anything from 138g to 142g (and maybe a bit more or, or a bit less than that as well); as long as the set of balls are within the required weight range.
Also differences in colours has been mentioned before, and (IIRC Terry D contacted Saluc about colour(?)) Saluc have said they have difficulty maintaining consistent colours, especially whites.

[_royle]

I can congratulate myself as well for picking him in my fantasy team for this event, a stroke of genius. :wink:

Nothing genius about my fantasy picks - 8 points from 4 players equals exactly 2 frames per player. I had no one left even before 2nd round got underway . I think I'll sack them all for the next tournament...

[Odrl]

Nothing genius about my fantasy picks - 8 points from 4 players equals exactly 2 frames per player. I had no one left even before 2nd round got underway . I think I'll sack them all for the next tournament...

:smile: I traded Mark Davis for Maguire, so I had Maguire and Robertson out in the 1st round and Higgins out in the 2nd, so it wasn't looking good at that point.

Luckily, I had two players who didn't even qualify, so I had to trade them, and Kyren Wilson was just about the only low-cost player I could get. :tongue:

[trains]

Kyren Wilson's 9 wins (including a wild card round) is to my knowledge only matched or bettered by Ding Junhui's 9 wins (no wild card round) in the UK Championship of 2005.
Is there an anorak out there that can recall anyone else who won 8 or matches in an event ?
Little Des Lynam moment there. :-)

[Odrl]

I think Dave Harold won 9 matches in the 1993 Asian Open.

There were also a couple of tournaments with a group stage in the past, where quite a few players have won 9 matches, but I suppose those don't count. :smile:

[trains]

I think Dave Harold won 9 matches in the 1993 Asian Open.

There were also a couple of tournaments with a group stage in the past, where quite a few players have won 9 matches, but I suppose those don't count. :smile:

Yes I was casting a bit of a veil over the 90's and could of dug a bit more,I think one of those group stage tournaments might have been hosted by Paul Coia,but thats way off on a tangent :-)

[sharkster63]

I think that when Wilson stood toe to toe with Ding he demonstrated that he could rise to a great level of play. I seriously think Ding wanted to win and Mr. Wilson shot him down with a very tactical and accurate match, not an easy task for any player, not often Ding looks like he wants it badly and gets shot down, except for Ronnie doing it and bringing tears to his eyes.... Well Done Mate...