2017 International Championship

[Odrl]

A fantastic day of snooker. :smile:

The Carter-Gould match was a great example of how this game can destroy you mentally. Carter was looking extremely composed and concentrated in the first half of the match, but those two clearances from Gould completely broke his resolve. He played that hit-and-hope when escaping from a snooker even though he had other options available, presumably because he was frustrated by not being ahead in the match. But he hadn't actually made any shocking mistakes, it was just down to Gould playing a couple of inspired frames. I think Carter showed some lack of mental strength today, and that's possibly the main reason why he hasn't had more success in the game, although he hasn't had a bad career to be fair. But it's just amazing that someone who is such a fighter off the table, someone who has beaten cancer twice and successfully fights against Crohn's disease on a daily basis, it's amazing that he lets snooker get him in such a negative frame of mind at times. Oh well, better to be too passionate about something than to not care at all, I suppose... :wink:

Well played to Martin Gould, those two clearances were top notch, particularly the one to go 5-3 ahead. When we get those polls at the end of the year or at the end of the season, asking us what the best break was, I think that clearance surely has to be a strong contender. :smile:

Probably the best clearance of the tournament.I recommend everyone to see it if it gets posted on the internet

Tough to decide which one was better, but yeah, that was a great clearance from Allen as well. Lovely match that had a mix of everything. Big breaks from both players, clearances from behind, and a nervy decider that went down to the colours. I thought Trump was a little unlucky with that double in all honesty. He had the white behind the yellow close to the baulk cushion, so the red could have finished almost anywhere on the table and been safe, but it went over the baulk corner. Well played to Allen, it was about time something went his way, after all the close matches he had lost this season. :smile:

I watched the Higgins-Yan match in full as well, good stuff from Yan again to dominate the match right from the start. Okay, Higgins wasn't playing well today, but that could in part be down to the pressure he was put under. It's not often that someone beats O'Sullivan and Higgins in the same tournament. Selby did it in the UK Championship last season, but apart from that, it can't have happened very often in recent years. Very impressive stuff from the young man, and he has not necessarily finished yet either. :wink:

[JimMalone]

Tough to decide which one was better, but yeah, that was a great clearance from Allen as well.

I think I slightly prefered Goulds, but both were brilliant.

[Cue crafty]

I've had similar feelings about Ali Carter a number of times. I find it hard to understand how a guy who has come through what he has, is agitated enough by the game of snooker that he sometimes throws frames and matches away. I think it has to be said that his temperament is suspect.

If he had the mindset of a man whose had a second lease of life instead of a man whose had an unfortunate interruption in his career due to health ,he'd probably be winning a lot more.

[jonny66]

I don't think any of us can really understand what Ali Carter has been through, apologies if you can. I don't know how that would feel, thankfully, so I'm not going to criticise him, except to say his temperament hasn't really changed much.

[JimMalone]

Semifinals

Mark Selby - Martin Gould
Usually in a semifinal-lineup consisting of Mark Selby, Martin Gould, Mark Allen and Yan Bingtao the world number one would be the heavy favorite. Especially since already the semifinal in Daqing is played Best-of-17 (Yay!) and we know that Selby is a beast over those longer distances. But despite the world champion making the semifinal here his form is still suspect. I haven't seen anything from his quarterfinal, but a win over Robbie Williams is regardless nothing spectacular, but just a routine. Contrary to him Gould played very well against Carter and he also showed good shape, especially mentally, in overcoming Kyren Wilson after being already down 0-4. The most outstanding thing about Gould is surely his potting, in this aspect he is among the best of the game, and with this he can trouble anyone. A funny aspect is also that he has won 8 of 12 meetings with Selby. But it's not really noteworthy as in Ranking events the head-2-head is 2-2 and Selby won the only match that was longer than Best-of-7. I totally could see Gould win this, but still at this point of the tournament I've to go with the champion. 9-7 to Selby.

Mark Allen - Yan Bingtao
This match is even tougher to call for me. Yan Bingtao proved me wrong once again and if he is ready to take out - an admittedly quite weak - Higgins, there is no argument against him also beating Allen and making his first ranking final. Which would be historic of course, cause Yan would be the youngest player ever in a ranking final. It's just astonishing how good his overall game is already. He is also a very aggressive player, but has also a good tactical game, unlike as for example his evenly hailed compatriot Zhao Xintong.
Allen on the other hand has played one close match after another, but to me it also seemed as he as played a bit better with every match. Still his long game is always a bit suspect and if Yan continues to play on the level he has through this tournament he will punish him. Allen has a case of experience as he has played much more matches of this length obviously. But let's not forget Yan qualified for the World Championship already this year and lost there only 8-10 to Murphy. 9-7 to Yan.

[Odrl]

I agree with those thoughts, JimMalone, and would predict similar scorelines myself.

As you say, Gould having a positive record over Selby is a little misleading, because it's almost exclusively short-format stuff. He is the kind of player who can play absolutely world-class snooker in short spells, so events like the Championship League are perfect for him. He has some good results in the longer events as well, of course he does, but there is more time for inconsistency to punish him the longer the match is. If you think back to probably the most famous match he's been involved in, that 13-12 defeat to Robertson at the Crucible, Gould played fantastic stuff in the first two sessions, but once he was out of that zone he wasn't really the same player in the final part of the match. Same story against Carter today, he had those couple of frames where he was just taking everything on and he couldn't miss, but he lacked the killer instinct to close out the match 6-3 when Carter was down.

I think Selby is the exact opposite in this regard. You can find example after example of Selby going behind early on in matches and never showing any sort of form, but he has that habit of playing himself into the match and getting stronger and stronger as the match goes on. This is his seventh semi-final in a row in ranking events with matches of at least best-of-11 length, and he is looking to win his fifth straight title in this format. We keep saying how he is nowhere near his best at the moment, but yet again he is still here at the final weekend, and it would take a brave man to bet against him. I'll go with Selby to win 9-6.

I've had confidence in Yan Bingtao all week, so I think I will back him to beat Mark Allen on Saturday. He lacks a bit of experience in the longer matches, so it would be understandable if he wobbled a little under the pressure of the occasion. There is just so much time for him to obsess about what he has a chance to achieve, and the longer matches inevitably feature a couple of momentum shifts along the way, so a lot of mental strength is needed to stay focused. As for his game on the table, I have no concerns there. He has been going for his shots all week and getting them, and he usually makes the most of his chances. I have no doubt Allen will fight for every ball again, and he might try some mind games as well to try to unsettle his young opponent, so it should be a cracking match. Crowds have been very poor this week, but there were quite a few people in to watch Higgins-Yan today, much more than on the other table in fact, so it looks like all the hype surrounding Yan has got some people interested. I wonder whether we might get a full house on Saturday. :smile: Anyway, I will go for Yan to win 9-7.

Bring it on. :smile:

[cebs]

Can still get a bet on Bingtao at 9-2 to win on Sunday, not bad when only four guys left even if one is Selby.

I reckon Bingtao is on a roll this week, he has the home side advantage and let's hope nerves don't get the better of him if he gets to the final.

I didn't know he will be youngest ever winner, who holds the record currently Ronnie or Ding?

I loved Dings first few finals back in 2005, think he beat Davis in his first and I was torn as I did want him to win another one after so long.

Looking forward to seeing more of Bingtao at the business end, I guess if he wins this he could make the masters this season?

[Odrl]

I didn't know he will be youngest ever winner, who holds the record currently Ronnie or Ding?

O'Sullivan holds the record, by about a week over Ding Junhui. Yan Bingtao would break it by a couple of months if he won on Sunday. :smile:

[cebs]

Thanks, looks like a good sign for a player that is hopefully around for a longtime.

Who has/what is the record for you get loser in a ranking final?

[motorhead]

Trump's tactic in the last frame were puzzling, when there was only one red left that was tighted up with the pink he could pot the blue or play a sbooker, he didn't neither dunno know what was the thought there. In the following shot Allen put him in trouble iirc. Having said that that missed double... would have been an amazing way to get the win but he wouldn't have had the postitioning on the colors iirc.

[Odrl]

Thanks, looks like a good sign for a player that is hopefully around for a longtime.

Who has/what is the record for you get loser in a ranking final?

Youngest loser, you mean?

That is also Ronnie O'Sullivan. He was 18 years and 2 weeks old when he lost to Stephen Hendry in the final of the 1993 European Open, so just a couple of weeks after beating him in the final of the UK Championship. He went on to lose two more ranking finals before turning 20.

Other players who have lost ranking finals before the age of 20 include Hendry, John Higgins, James Wattana and Mark Selby. :smile:

[Batwal]

He wanted Mark to play the difficult safety shot hoping he'd mess it up. Unfortunately for him, Mark played a very good shot.

[Rane]

5 - 1 to Selby, hard to see Gould coming back from that one.

[JimMalone]

Bitter loss of a frame for Gould this. 1-5 behind now, that will be a tough way back for him.

[JimMalone]

Trump's tactic in the last frame were puzzling, when there was only one red left that was tighted up with the pink he could pot the blue or play a sbooker, he didn't neither dunno know what was the thought there. In the following shot Allen put him in trouble iirc. Having said that that missed double... would have been an amazing way to get the win but he wouldn't have had the postitioning on the colors iirc.

And this is exactly Trumps main weakness.