International Championship Quals 2018

[Welshbaizeboy]

A cracking first mini-session, both players attacking but with good match-play in mind; Robertson is being precise where Lisowski is slower round the table than he usually is with better affect, playing a bit too heavy often losing the white a bit more than Robbo and needing recovery shots to keep going. Lisowski's safety game has improved but still needs that little extra touch
Good to see a match were both are "up for it"
2-2

Yeah his white ball control not as good as most pros but with his potting he gets away with more than most but if he yeah if he improved that aspect he would have less 50/50 pots to go at that he never turns down.

[Cue crafty]

Lisowski just committed matchplay suicide, got out of position, was annoyed and played a rash double almost half heartedly still angry from the last shot. Then showed his frustration banged the table and dropped his head.

To Robbo this is happy days, he then looked like a shark that had got a sniff of blood and is on the attack with gusto! Best I've seen him play in a long time.

Lisowski has one of the best cue actions I've ever seen. The question for him now is how dedicated will he be in the pursuit of improving his cue ball control and his safety play. He could be a world champion with that action.

[JimMalone]

Lisowski just committed matchplay suicide, got out of position, was annoyed and played a rash double almost half heartedly still angry from the last shot. Then showed his frustration banged the table and dropped his head.

And that's one of the things he must get rid off.

[Cue crafty]

Quality from Jack, c'mon lad take it all the way!

[PatBlock]

What a shame, why did he play that split so hard??

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[Odrl]

Another good match. I think it's fair to say these two-session semi-finals in the International Championship haven't always lived up to the hype in the past, but this year we had two really entertaining ones. :smile:

Credit to Lisowski for pushing Robertson so close, and that's in spite of playing a few shots that were borderline stupid. Still a lot of room for improvement with him, it's just a question whether he is willing to change his game in order to improve his results, and whether he is realistic enough to know he is not playing in an optimal way...

As for Robertson, he wasn't quite as good today as he was against Selby. Might need to raise his game again to beat Allen in the final. :smile:

[blahblah01]

Lisowski just committed matchplay suicide, got out of position, was annoyed and played a rash double almost half heartedly still angry from the last shot. Then showed his frustration banged the table and dropped his head.

To Robbo this is happy days, he then looked like a shark that had got a sniff of blood and is on the attack with gusto! Best I've seen him play in a long time.

Lisowski has one of the best cue actions I've ever seen. The question for him now is how dedicated will he be in the pursuit of improving his cue ball control and his safety play. He could be a world champion with that action.

All in all Jack wasn't as stupid etc as usual and was competitive as opposed to giving up as well.

If he keeps improving the other side of the game then he'll win soon enough, and then it is a matter of how much he likes winning.....

[Cue crafty]

All in all Jack wasn't as stupid etc as usual and was competitive as opposed to giving up as well.

If he keeps improving the other side of the game then he'll win soon enough, and then it is a matter of how much he likes winning.....

I Can't be too hard on the guy, if I had recovered from from Hodgkin's lymphoma in my teens I probably would find it difficult to take snooker too seriously as well. That said I love watching him play and want to see him do well.

Fouldsy summed it up today when Jack tried to hammer into the pack of reds at light speed for no particular good reason, he said "jack seems to be happiest when he attacks the game with reckless abandon"

Not that hard to understand from a lad who has stared the big "C" in the face, he's a fighter and it will be good for snooker if his talent prevails.

[Odrl]

Looking forward to the final tomorrow, although I don't imagine I will get up to catch the first session live. :smile:

It's been a good week for both players, both playing some of their best snooker of recent times. Despite Allen's negative opinions of China in the past, he always seems to play really well here. There are a lot of distractions, with phones going off, spectators moving and taking pictures, and sometimes there are weird noises in the arena, but it never seems to get to Allen. He has been extremely composed and concentrated all week, and I would expect a good performance from him tomorrow.

Robertson has been largely the same, but I think there was a big difference between his brilliant performance against Selby and his alright performance against Lisowski. I think he needs to produce the former to get the better of Allen tomorrow. I have a feeling he just might do that, and of course he has much the better record in their previous meetings as well. Robertson to win 10-8. :smile:

[DeanH]

7-2 Allen

well I did not see that being the score at the end of the first session!

[DeanH]

9-4 down
too late for Robbo?
or one of the greatest comebacks ever?
I know which I wish for

[Rane]

A great win for Allen. From what I saw the standard was high. 7 centuries in 15 frames.

[DeanH]

well done Allen - a superlative performance all tournament.

[Odrl]

High quality stuff today, my only complaint is that the match wasn't close enough. :smile:

Well played to Mark Allen, he was great all week after surviving that 1st round scare, and he basically dominated the final today against a very tough opponent. This is the first time Allen has ever held two major titles at the same time, and it's not just any two titles, the Masters and the International Championship surely have to rank among the five or six most important tournaments in snooker at this point in time. You could therefore say this is the high point of Allen's career so far. Could be very dangerous in the other big events this season.

Good week for Robertson as well. He was beaten fairly comfortably today, but he wasn't really making any major mistakes. We've certainly seen players play to that standard and win 10-5 in the past, so to lose by that scoreline is somewhat harsh and just goes to show how strong his opponent was today.

All in all, this International Championship surely has to be one of the very best tournaments ever staged in China. Okay, the tables were playing generously by most accounts, but I think we've seen worse in the past. There was also no talk of any kicks or big bounces all week, and the crowds were above average for a Chinese tournament as well, and that's despite O'Sullivan's absence and Ding's fairly early exit. I can only wish for more tournaments like this one. :smile:

A couple of minor events coming up now, with the UK Championship to follow at the end of the month. Looking forward to it. :smile:

[JimMalone]

Well played to Mark Allen, he was great all week after surviving that 1st round scare, and he basically dominated the final today against a very tough opponent. This is the first time Allen has ever held two major titles at the same time, and it's not just any two titles, the Masters and the International Championship surely have to rank among the five or six most important tournaments in snooker at this point in time. You could therefore say this is the high point of Allen's career so far. Could be very dangerous in the other big events this season.

The past year overall certainly is the high point in Mark Allen's career. Holding the International Championship as well as the Masters is a great achievement, let's not forget he also was the runner-up already last year in Daqing and made the quarterfinals of the World Championship for the first time in seven years. He also is up to #7 in the world rankings, just one place shy of his best.
Haven't seen much of the final today, but he looked pretty excellent. Will be interesting if he can retain this level at the other big tournaments of the season.