1 Week to Go!

[Robert602]

However if you buy a freeview box which you can slot a card in you will then be able to get top up tv which has Eurosport on it.

I'm afraid Top up TV isn't what it used to be. They don't provide live channels to new subscribers any more, instead they offer an 'anytime' hard drive type service which includes 'select Eurosport programmes', not live. Whether snooker is typically among the select programmes or not, I don't know, but I wouldn't expect much.

MrR - if you do get freeview anyway, just make sure you get a box that supports that red button, a few don't (especially ones for the PC). It is worth it just for the BBCi coverage IMO.

[dantuck_7]

Ali Carter has a favourable draw as he is in the second quarter with Ebdon, Davis, Doherty which is probably the 'easier' section. Personally he is a very underated player as players like Day and Hawkins etc get mentioned ahead of him but this could be his tournament.

I think Davis has a very good chance of getting to semi-finals. I can see Ebdon getting knocked out early and then there is Carter in that section.

The problem with the first tournament, especially in China, is that you don't know what people practise has been like. Davis may well have been playing poker all summer!

[Blondie]

As the main season starts next week in Shanghai for the Shanghai Masters I am curious to know who you think will win it. Personally as it is the first tournament of the season it will be the hardest to predict but I am going for three players.
1. Stephen Maguire - Bar one session, Maguire was in my opinion the best player at the World Championships and looks to be back to his best if not better. He will be hungry for another title but the only question mark for me is that he hasn't performed too well on foreign soil.
2. Mark Williams - This is the key tournament for Williams as another failure here will really knock his confidence. He has a tremendous record in Asia especially China and must be worth a pound at 28/1.
3. Ding Junhui - He has had a very good close season winning a couple of small events in China albeit not against very good standard. It is one of his home events and will want to prove to people that he is still the up and coming force he was this time last year.

The player to look out for for a shock is Stuart Pettman. Ok he has O'Sullivan in the first round but he has been playing in Asia for most of the close season and winning matches and events there. He wont win the event but he could take a few scalps.

Hey Alex,

...........interesting one..........

And Neil Robertson seems to be full of confidence at the minute, and on form, and I think he will be quite hard to beat this season, and he's still got more to prove as well. He seems to like playing on Chinese soil too, if I remember correctly he made his highest tournament break, 141, at this year's China Open, so one to watch out for. And who knows, if all goes well, maybe a possible winner too.

And it would be nice to see Ron have some more success in China as well, he's won a couple of China Opens, 1999 and 2000, but no ranking title since Irish Masters 2005. He was talking last season about needing to imrove his long potting game and safety, although he's still a great break builder, and when he's on form, he's absolutely awesome. The Ron and Stuart match should be a good one too, and thinking back to one of their last encounters, the Northern Ireland Trophy match, which was very close indeed.

John Higgins should continue his great run of form, and could be a possible winner as well, and Stephen will be wanting a good opening match with Nigel Bond too, another good match to watch.

And interested to see how Mark Selby will get on with his match against Scott MacKenzie, and if his play continues to be as consistent as last season, he should do really well. He reached quite a few last 16 places in ranking events last season, so still has quite a bit more to prove too, and in keeping his top 16 place as well.

...........and can't wait till it all starts now, and good luck to all the players....

Lol.....xx

[matt01]

ronnie

I hope the rocket hits form in this tournament. I fancy him winning it.
My favourites are
1. Ronnie
2. John Higgins
3. Ding
4. Robbo
5. Stephen Hendry

[Ellena]

Interesting post indeed Alex..., yours too Blondie ...

Blondie , Neil Robertson is always confident ( according to his statements) , I've never 'heard' him saying otherwise , he never seems to be nervous no matter the tournament or the player he has to play against. But that doesn't mean he always succeeds.
As for Ron .. he seems to lose a bit his enthusiasm when he is playing abroad(Malta , China), hope this year will be different. Not sure he will play Prettman yet, but most probably Stuart will win the wild card match - i've read somewhere that he's having a great performance in some tournament in Thailand.... Anyway , 'mon the Rocket!

Considering its the first tournament of the season and we have no idea how the summer break changed the players' form , so players who ended last season in great style might be playing poor at the beginning of this one , or players who ended the prev season poorly..might come back and surprise us with a great form like Ding did last year when he won the NIT ( considering he didnt even qualify for the Worlds the season before).
So..hard to pick a winner..but I'd go with Ding. Its about time he "recovers" after the Masters final he lost last year and get back to his old good form. So imo the Chinese Dragon will hit again. ( i hope i am wrong tho , and Ronnie wins it )

[hegeland]

To be perfectly honest Ronnie's been fairly consistent over the last two years, getting to quarters and semis almost every tournament. However he seems to lack some confidence, especally in his long potting department, when faced against good opponents. Neither his consistency is what is was a few years ago, I'm not whether this is down to age or motivation or whatever. The days when he's unbeatable are fewer and come far between these days.

Therefore I cannot, on the basis of probability and logic, see him win another title this season. He just cannot hold his game and head together for an entire tournament.

[April madness]

Ronnie's won tournaments last season, Hegeland. maybe not the ranking one which are longer, but I don't think he had worse opposition in those (e.g. Masters), nor I see that Ronnie is not capable to win any of the ranking tournaments.

anyway, my thoughts about the upcoming event - I guess I expect John Higgins to do well. What do people think about Graeme Dott? I think he can get far too.

[Sam147]

Ronnie has been the bookies favorite over the past 2 or 3 seasons in almost every tournament he enters apart from overseas ones... I wonder if this could be a factor that puts pressure on him as he's expected to perform all the time

He won tournaments alright, be it a ranking or non-ranking tournament... The game has seen very strong contenders emerging over the past couple of seasons & it's very difficult to have a dominant player winning say 50% or more of the tourneys but reaching quarters of semis in most tourneys seems fairly reasonable for a player of Ronnie's caliber. John Higgins, Stephen Maguire, Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, Graeme Dott are also all capable of doing the same time & time again

[Sam147]

hi Anna, and welcome

by the way eurosport is showing snooker already this week - all the finals from last season, so you can shorten the waiting time by watching and remembering the previous season. tomorrow Welsh Open, Thursday China Open, Friday - World championships final.

Eurosport is replaying the 2007 China Open Final at the moment (Dott vs Cope), the score 5-2 in Dott's favor

Thought I'd let u know if anyone has access to Eurosport now

[atthebookies]

Interesting sometimes to dig up some older posts. I dont want to have a go, but just some fun how things can take its course!

...........interesting one..........

And Neil Robertson seems to be full of confidence at the minute, and on form, and I think he will be quite hard to beat this season, and he's still got more to prove as well. He seems to like playing on Chinese soil too, if I remember correctly he made his highest tournament break, 141, at this year's China Open, so one to watch out for. And who knows, if all goes well, maybe a possible winner too.


Lol.....xx

[missneworleans]

I think cool that Dom Dale is back! He always gives surpises at start of the season!