2017 Shanghai Masters

[DeanH]

no matches streamed this morning? anyone?

[DeanH]

no matches streamed this morning? anyone?

two matches online now, Trump and the Bingham matches

already one frame in, is Eurosport running the schedule? :biggrin:

[DeanH]

two matches online now, Trump and the Bingham matches

already one frame in, is Eurosport running the schedule? :biggrin:

Trump and Bingham relatively easily through

[sealer]

I think Ronnie is up next. Where can you watch it guys? Selected betting sites?:-)

[DeanH]

I think Ronnie is up next. Where can you watch it guys? Selected betting sites?:-)

see post 18, tip - top right you can change the language
http://www.thesnookerforum.co.uk/boa...797#post942797
as mentioned previously they don't start the stream at the start of the match but some time after, I was just refreshing until they appeared

on now

[s.h442]

Down to WS not getting a signature on a contract in time for calendar publication
When WS were negotiating for the events World Open and Shanghai Masters, imo one were prepared to pay more than the other so they got the slot. At least Shanghai got the "potential event" slot
For commercial reasons and "cross fingers" WS has these "PE" slots incase the negotiations come through.
Of course we have seen many PEs not filled due to unforefilled negotiations.
Money talks.....
:wink:



At least WS has a full calender of events we can enjoy :biggrin:
It is our sport but to WS and any potential sponsor it is business. ...

"Because this is a business, and we’re in the business of being in business and we’re doing business and nobody’s business..."

The thing is though all the tournaments in China now have the same money apart from the china open which bizarrely has the same as last year although this may also be brought in line with the other events when it takes place. Regarding sponsors in Barrys time in charge bar BCG no head way has been made getting bigger names on board. I don't understand why even any big name beer brands don't get involved.

[Rane]

Neil Robertson once again made an early exit. He needs a good run within the next few tournaments, or he will not qualify for the masters. Which after all would be quite surprising.

[JimMalone]

Neil Robertson once again made an early exit. He needs a good run within the next few tournaments, or he will not qualify for the masters. Which after all would be quite surprising.

I really thought he would have a turn-around season, but so far he just continues his way down. There are still plenty of tournaments left, among them the two most important ones, but right now he still seems to have quite a way to go.

[JimMalone]

I've got a few minutes, so I'll do a quick preview.

The Shanghai Masters has raised its prize money quite heavily, but sadly the format is still not a very long one. Just Best of 9 until the quarterfinals, then Best of 11 in the semifinals and Best of 19 in the final. That's not great, but well, at least better than Best of 7. Also good is that there's 64 players in the draw and so more matches to win are needed, which I prefer vastly to something like the Champion of Champions, which is hold this week. I'm looking forward much more to the Shanghai Masters.

On the minus side many great players are missing here. Of course Stuart Bingham is still banned and there were a few upsets in the qualifiers with Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, Kyren Wilson and Anthony McGill all losing as well as Li Hang, who I want to include here, cause he has had such a good season so far and would have been an uncomfortable opponent for pretty much every other player.
I hope players will be fresh, which is surely questionable for Ronnie O'Sullivan and - if he makes the final of the Champion of Champions - Luca Brecel.

First Quarter
Defending Champion Ding Junhui is the top seed this time and as usual in a chinese event, he still has to play his qualifier. If he makes the main draw, he will open against Adam Duffy, which should be makeable, then play Tom Ford or Jimmy Robertson. And this could already proove difficult. Cause Ding's great placement as number three of this season's ranking is purely due his win at the World Open. Aside from this he has only suffered early exits. In the last years his form was always a bit inconsistent, so I wouldn't be surprised if he loses early again - or wins the tournament.
In his upper half of this section the next biggest name on paper is Ryan Day. But while his season began great with the title at the Riga Masters he hasn't really played well since.

The next highest seed after Ding in this section is Mark Allen and his form wasn't bad lately, reaching the final of the International Championship. There he beat Yan Bingtao impressively in the semifinal and he might need a performance like this in Shanghai as well. Cause Yan is his opponent there again, already in the first round this time. Surely the most intriguing match among the openers. Whoever wins this battle has a pretty good chance of making the quarterfinal, cause the most dangerous opponents there would be Jack Lisowski and Cao Yupeng or Michael Holt, who meet each other in the first round as well.


Second Quarter
At the top of this section Luca Brecel has a very nice draw for another deep run. Cause this is the part of the draw where Shaun Murphy was expected to be, but he lost 4-5 to Yuan Sijun in the qualifiers. Can the Chinese profit from his win? Or Robbie Williams, who reached the quarterfinal of the International Championship just last week. Cause the Englishman is Yuans opening opponent. And the winner plays Xiao Guodong or Graeme Dott, before running likely into Brecel, who opens against Stevens, then could play Mark King.

In the down half of this section Judd Trump (who opens against Alfie Burden) is the big favorite. He usually gets past "weaker" players these days and so I expect him in the last 16, where he could meet Ali Carter, who hasn't played much this year, but reached the semifinal at the China Championship as well as the quarterfinal at the International Championship, where he played pretty great.

Third Quarter
This section is headed by John Higgins, who hasn't been at his best lately and on top of that has quite a tricky draw. While he "should" beat Ian Preece in the first round (if Higgins wins his still open qualifier against Alexander Ursenbacher), he is projected to play Zhou Yuelong in the second round and Liang Wenbo (who also has his qualifier to play) in the third round. Of course Liang is no surefire bet to come so far as well. He could possible lose to David Gilbert or Mark Joyce in round two.

The sixth section of the draw is the one, where Stuart Bingham would have been, but now it's Akani Songsermsawad who has already reached the second round. And it's good news for Martin Gould as well, who now could play the Thai if he beats Li Yuan first. This would bear the chance of another deep run for Gouldy after his great achievement in Daqing, where he got into the semifinal. Also cause the rest of this part of the draw reads dangerous, but could be worse. Marco Fu is the highest seed and his season has been dreadful so far. Can he finally turn it around? He has the always dangerous Hossein Vafaei first, but the Iranian hasn't had the best results himself this season, the quarterfinal at the English Open aside. Both players met this year at the China Championship with Fu winning 5-3 - one of only two matches he won this season...
Possible second round opponent for the winner this time is Robert Milkins, always a tricky one as well.

Fourth Quarter
This last part of the draw could have been even more stacked, but Kyren Wilson lost in the qualifiers and so World Champion Mark Selby, who reached the final here last year, has a bit of an easier path now in the early stage. Of course as usual Selby still has to play his qualifier (against Ian Burns), then would play Chris Wakelin and either Dominic Dale or Alan McManus before running probably into Mark Williams. The Welshman was closer than anybody of beating Selby in Daqing last weak, but still lost 4-6 in the end. This time the task is just to get to 5 frames first though and this might play into the cards of the biggest name in the other half of this quarter - Ronnie O'Sullivan, who would fancy his chances in a possible quarterfinal against Selby more under this conditions I think.

Of course Ronnie could be stopped before, as he isn't exactly in the softest place of the draw. He opens against Gary Wilson who managed to win 7 frames from him at their first rounder at the Crucible in April, then could meet Joe Perry. And on the other side of this section there is another familiar name with Barry Hawkins, though it has to be said that his season has been very bad thus far. More dangerous is maybe Michael White (who opens against Mark Davis), but the Welshman is so inconsistent this season. Once he plays very good, then just horrible.

Possible Quarterfinals
Ding - Allen
Brecel - Carter
Liang - Gould
O'Sullivan - Selby

[Selbyjustbegun]

Would be difficult for Ronnie (and possibly Brecel too, if he wins the semi finals) as he’s in the finals of Champions of Champions.

If Selby wins it, he wouldn’t be very far off being ahead of World number 2 by almost a million pounds.

[DeanH]

Would be difficult for Ronnie (and possibly Brecel too, if he wins the semi finals) as he’s in the finals of Champions of Champions.

They hold over their matches to later in the week to give them time to travel and settle in.

[Selbyjustbegun]

They hold over their matches to later in the week to give them time to travel and settle in.

Are you sure about this?

They didn’t do it for Selby in the Champion of Champions.

Also some players like Selby and Ding also have to play their qualifying matches in China, so if they had reached the finals it would be worse.

[jonny66]

It doesn't matter if they give them a couple of days or not, with the 8 hour time difference they will need more time, especially going out coming back them out again. I've said it before on here, there should be an Asian tour with all the events out there together over a month or 2. Nobody wants to see 2 sleep deprived zombies struggling to stay awake playing crap (by their standards) snooker.

[DeanH]

2017 Shanghai Masters

they have in the past and I am sure I heard something in punditry about holding back matches for the finalists.


in all it is not right to schedule two matches on China with one in England in the middle with no decent gap.
I am sure the contract people and schedulers in WS did not want to do this but probably could not do anything much about it.

Until quite recently Shanghai was not going to be on the tour this year

[jonny66]

Apparently Ding has withdrawn from this, anyone know why?