European Masters 2018

[Neil Taperell]

Matthew Stevens 3 nil down after 40 minutes .

He pulled out of the last tournament and struggling in this one . Hope he can re-discover some form .

[DeanH]

Did he get his old cue back?

[Stevie1]

A spoke to him few weeks ago in glasgow said he using a parris cue

[JimMalone]

After Mark Williams and Ronnie O'Sullivan sadly also John Higgins withdrew. But you can understand this due to him making the final in Guangzhou. There's really no need for him in his old days to rush over to Lommel and play the next event right on. Mark Selby however stated that he will give it a try.

Ding Junhui didn't enter the event and Shaun Murphy lost in the qualifiers. The rest of the top players is in Belgium.

The first quarter is pretty stacked with Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson and Neil Robertson all there as well as Marco Fu, Liang Wenbo and Joe Perry there - which means 3 players of the Top 10 and 5 of the Top 17 are there.

The second one is on paper far thinner with home favorite Luca Brecel, Yan Bingtao and Jack Lisowski the most notable starters. Sadly Hossein Vafaei had also to withdraw in that section.

The third one is interesting again. Mark Selby is there, but I'd reckon he will go out rather early after some stressful days. But there are more than enough players to take advantage of this: Barry Hawkins, Ryan Day, Stuart Bingham (who opens against Chris Wakelin in one of the most intriguing first rounders), Ricky Walden and World Open finalist David Gilbert are in this quarter. And there also two of the chinese players, that made some noise in Guangzhou with Zhao Xintong and Yuan Sijun.

The last quarter again bears opportunity for an outsider to shine. Mark Allen is easily the star player here. Some threats? Maybe Gary Wilson, Ali Carter or Anthony McGill.

Predictions:
Quarterfinals:
Trump - Perry
Yan - Lisowski
Day - Wakelin
G. Wilson - McGill

Semifinals:
Trump - Lisowski
Day - G. Wilson

[Mr Snooker]

Also Just seen that Hossein Vafaei has pulled out. Do John Higgins, and Hossein Vafaei get the money they earned from the qualifiers added to their order of merit ranking or is it removed because they did not travel to the Lommel, Belgium to play in the tournament. This means that Eden Sharav gets a bye into the last 32 without playing a match with byes over Ronnie O' Sullivan (Last 128) and Hossein Vafaei (Last 64). Xiao Guodong was replaced by Simon Bedford in the qualifiers, while Ronnie wasn't replaced by another player is this because Ronnie pulled out to late or just did not show up for his first round match without a reason.

[JimMalone]

Also Just seen that both Kyren Wilson and Hossein Vafaei have pulled out. Kyren Wilson pulled out of his second consecutive tournament in a row. do John Higgins, Kyren Wilson and Hossein Vafaei get the money they earned from the qualifiers added to their order of merit ranking or is it removed because they did not travel to the Lommel, Belgium to play in the tournament. This means that Eden Sharav gets a bye into the last 32 without playing a match with byes over Ronnie O' Sullivan (Last 128) and Hossein Vafaei (Last 64). Xiao Guodong was replaced by Simon Bedford in the qualifiers, while Ronnie wasn't replaced by another player is this because Ronnie pulled out to late or just did not show up for his first round match without a reason.

Wilson, Higgins and Vafaei get the money, they earned when they won their qualifier. So for each of them 3000 points are added to the World Rankings.

As for your second "question" I guess this is because Ronnie pulled out late.

[JimMalone]

Also Just seen that both Kyren Wilson and Hossein Vafaei have pulled out. Kyren Wilson pulled out of his second consecutive tournament in a row. do John Higgins, Kyren Wilson and Hossein Vafaei get the money they earned from the qualifiers added to their order of merit ranking or is it removed because they did not travel to the Lommel, Belgium to play in the tournament. This means that Eden Sharav gets a bye into the last 32 without playing a match with byes over Ronnie O' Sullivan (Last 128) and Hossein Vafaei (Last 64). Xiao Guodong was replaced by Simon Bedford in the qualifiers, while Ronnie wasn't replaced by another player is this because Ronnie pulled out to late or just did not show up for his first round match without a reason.

Where did you get the info from that Kyren Wilson withdrew? On Worldsnooker his match against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is still listed as "on".

[Mr Snooker]

Where did you get the info from that Kyren Wilson withdrew? On Worldsnooker his match against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is still listed as "on".

I so it on the snooker.org website this morning as a walkover, they must have made a mistake.

[PatBlock]

What was the foul Judd called against himself in the 4th frame of his match against Martin O'Donnell?

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[DeanH]

What was the foul Judd called against himself in the 4th frame of his match against Martin O'Donnell?

sorry, which match?


sorry, you mean the heldover match earlier today

he hit the brown with the rest

[PatBlock]

sorry, which match?


sorry, you mean the heldover match earlier today

Yes, in the 4th frame of his match against Martin O'Donnell this evening. He called a foul on himself and I can#t for the life of me see what it was.

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[DeanH]

Yes, in the 4th frame of his match against Martin O'Donnell this evening. He called a foul on himself and I can#t for the life of me see what it was.

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I did edit the post, Judd hit the brown with the rest and called it

[PatBlock]

I did edit the post, Judd hit the brown with the rest and called it

Thanks Dean, Sorry for missing your edit.

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[JimMalone]

Defending Champion Judd Trump just went out 2:4 against Tian Pengfei.

[PatBlock]

Judd's out, 4 - 2 to Tian Pengfei, bit of a surprise that, Judd's been in pretty good nick recently.

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