2017 UK Championship

[JimMalone]

A relatively weak last16 line-up, but interesting nonetheless. :smile:

I actually think the results have not been as surprising as some people suggest. Before the tournament started, I chose my five favourites in each section, and 15 of our players here were among them. That means Akani Songsermsawad was the only real surprise for me, and even he will most likely be out once we get to the quarter-finals.

It's good to see Li Hang having another good tournament. I honestly expected him to fade a little after getting to the semi-finals of the China Championship, as so many players do after a surprising result like that, but it now looks like he is here to stay for the foreseeable future. He does have the kind of game and temperament that is well suited to the slightly longer format, so I wouldn't be surprised if he got past Ryan Day as well. :smile:

Nice to see Lyu Haotian continuing his good form from the Northern Ireland Open as well. He seems unimpressive every time I check the frame results of his matches, as he doesn't seem to score as heavily as most players, but it looks like he has now found a way to win some of the matches he was previously losing. He plays Mark Joyce next, so this is a great chance for one of them to get a major result here. Joyce has actually played in the quarter-finals of the UK Championship before, back in 2010, so I would disagree with Mike Hallett that his win over Neil Robertson this week was the best of his career so far, but it sure came close. :smile:

What else do we have? Ricky Walden has made it this far as well, which is nice to see. I watched his match last night, and I have to say he played some very solid snooker indeed. He could be a tough opponent for Murphy in this kind of form. Graeme Dott played superbly against Trump as well, and he has a chance to reach his first major quarter-final in almost two years here. No clue how well Maguire is playing, since his previous matches here were not televised, but I'm sure it will be an interesting match between them this afternoon. :smile:

Martin Gould continues his good form as well, with a chance to reach the business end of three consecutive major tournaments if he wins tomorrow, which would be the kind of consistency we have never really seen from him before. Xiao Guodong hasn't been to a quarter-final outside of the short format in years, so I would expect Gould to beat him here, but it still might be a tricky match.

As for the big names still here, O'Sullivan has the kind of draw he usually get through without any problems, so it's tough to see him losing before the semi-finals. Higgins hasn't impressed me that much, so I think he will need to raise his game a lot to really challenge for the title. I have a pretty good feeling about Mark Allen though, could it be his week? :smile:

I think it has been quite surprising so far as only four of the Top 16 have made it here, which is a fairly low number (last year it were 7; 2015: 6; 2014: 9). I agree that you could think of most players still in at this stage as having at least a shot to make the round of 16, but still there are only a handful of players at this stage that you feel can also win the title now. But some of the common names like Robertson or Fu just are not playing well this season. In the past you expected some of them to turn up come the time of the big stages, but this year seems a little different.
And of course it's unusual to not have Selby in the tournament anymore.

In that regard I have the same sense at you that this could finally be Mark Allen's time for a big title. Though O'Sullivan has to be made the favorite right now.
I myself would love to see Higgins lift the trophy though. (Murphy is the fourth winner I can imagine).

[Odrl]

I agree that you could think of most players still in at this stage as having at least a shot to make the round of 16, but still there are only a handful of players at this stage that you feel can also win the title now.

Yeah, that's a good point. It's not a big deal if a "Joyce" reaches the last16 and not particularly surprising either, but losing too many of the top players does leave things a little too predictable now. I'll go along with most of your picks, except I think Walden might beat Murphy actually, and now that Maguire has started with a 2-0 lead against Dott, I think he must be favourite in that match as well. :smile:

[crocodile]

Only 4 of the top 16 get through. Must be the record low. What does it mean?

1. Best of 11 is still too small a sample
2. Greater depth than ever in the game
3. Top players burned out with all of the travelling
4. Random fluke

I think all of the above may have contributed to what's happened.

Might mean that the ranking list needs a radical shaking up.

[Odrl]

I think another factor is possibly the fact that all 128 players appear at the venue stage here. In other events, you could have a few surprises in the qualifiers, but the actual event would be played several weeks later, and that means the good form that had got some of the players through could be well gone by then. Whereas here, a surprising 1st or 2nd round winner keeps the momentum and has a better chance to play well in subsequent rounds as well. :smile:

[Ethanat]

What a steal from Higgins! Granite.

[Odrl]

Solid stuff from Stephen Maguire today, none of the usual anger around the table. :smile:

[Odrl]

Can someone explain to me what Mike Hallett's phrase "not many" is supposed to mean, when he uses it the way he did just now? He seems to be using it a lot recently, and I genuinely haven't heard it used like that anywhere else. :smile:

[Shockerz]

Wow, what a yellow from Mark King in the yellow.

Superb!

[JimMalone]

Only 4 of the top 16 get through. Must be the record low. What does it mean?

1. Best of 11 is still too small a sample
2. Greater depth than ever in the game
3. Top players burned out with all of the travelling
4. Random fluke

I think all of the above may have contributed to what's happened.

Maybe all of them. Most of the times there are more reasons if this happens. Some top players are not in form for the whole season (Robertson, Fu, Hawkins); Ding, Selby and Trump (the three real surprises for me, didn't think they would lose against the three opponents they lost) had a bad game or an opponent who had a good one (or both of it), didn't see their games; then there are individual factors like Williams who just won and may have been not that focussed.

[Ronnie's tip]

Wow what a match. Even if the standard wasn't great. King just looks so average when he plays lol. I'm happy for him.

[Shockerz]

Well done Mark King.

And with a mushroom tip as well!!

[JimMalone]

Oh my. Higgins gone as well. Maybe we really get an outside winner this tournament? But I'm afraid Ronnie is taking it now. He likes chances and draws like that.

[JimMalone]

Might mean that the ranking list needs a radical shaking up.

Well, we will get a bit of this.
Neil Robertson will fell down all the way to #18 or worse after the UK Championship, his worst ranking in 12 years.
And of course there have been other changes with Brecel climbing up the rankings as well as Yan and Zhou and now Li coming up as well (Yan especially is on a good path to end the season very high, as he has no points to lose from the 2015/16 season).
But I'm not sure who of the group that made the round of 16 deserves to be higher in the rankings.
Maybe Ricky Walden, who was handicapped by injuries and maybe Martin Gould who had a down year least season. But maybe the future will tell if some of those players (others than the one I've already mentioned) keep on playing well.

[VillaGuy]

One of the best 11 frame matches that between king and Higgins, obviously in my opinion. The quality wasn't top drawer but the safety exchanges were fascinating. Just absolutely gripping stuff.

[Ronnie's tip]

They keep talking about how the pockets are seemingly playing easier - could this be why so many of the seeds have been knocked out? A bigger pocket would surely help the lesser players because the margins are a lot wider. Perhaps if they weren't playing so easy, the lesser players would be missing more?

Just a theory I thought up.