China Open 2006

[RaNeN]

Williams leading at the moment 5-2!

[Erwan_BZH]

The final : Mark Williams vs John Higgins !

Both were impressive during the semis, especially Williams I think. He seems to have regain this form from 2002, which is a great news for the upcoming World Championship!

I predict a tight match between the two but I'll go with the Scot for the title.

[RaNeN]

What did I tell you guys??? Now its gonna be a great final. I wish Mark Williams wins. Who do you guys think will win >?

[cueman]

I think Higgins will have just too much for Williams, added to the fact Williams hasn't been in a final for ages he may just be a bit nervous too. Good to see Williams in the final though.

[RaNeN]

I think the final is going to be a close one. 40-60 to Higgins.

[RaNeN]

Its 4-4 at the break.I want Mark to win. Come on Mark!

[cueman]

Williams has played OK but Higgins has let him off the hook in a couple of frames. I think Higgins will step it up a gear in the final session, 9-6 I think.

[Erwan_BZH]

Williams is the winner!! 9-8, on the blue. Congrats to him !!

I'm a bit disappointed by John's defeat but Mark really deserves a title. He hasn't won anything for ages so, nice to see him back !

[RaNeN]

Mark Williams it is!!!!! Didnt I tell you people????? I said it would be close. Now if this isnt close , what is? Keep it goin Mark!

[cueman]

Higgins is suffering at the moment, he has lost the last 2 finals on the deciding frame. This could really affect his confidence, I think he will struggle at the WC now. If Williams and Higgins win their opening matches, they will meet in the second round. I think this was an important win for Williams and he could well do the business at Sheffield again this year.

[chrisfinch]

a great final to a decent tournament. Congratulations to Williams, his first win for 3 years.

Eurosport lost the coverage just as MW was getting down for the final blue, and came back at a bizarre presentation ceremony, where everyone was handing everyone a trophy, and they had to give Ding something.

[Erwan_BZH]

a great final to a decent tournament. Congratulations to Williams, his first win for 3 years.

Eurosport lost the coverage just as MW was getting down for the final blue, and came back at a bizarre presentation ceremony, where everyone was handing everyone a trophy, and they had to give Ding something.

Eurosport drives me nuts sometimes. Maybe it's different for ES England but ES France is just a piece of cr*p!! Commentators are so bad!! And they really lack professionnalism in their coverage!

The presentation ceremony was really weird! Higgins didn't even know which guy to shake hands to! All the Chinese guys were looking at him without shaking his hand...And Ding received a trophy. But what disturbed me the most was when that official got Ding's left hand out of his pocket, like if he was a child or a puppet, just to be good looking on the pic!

[reverse_side]

Aye, I really thought Higgins would win - just shows that Williams can surprise anyone; you worry his laid back approach can't help all the time - but there's not many that win all the time so you'd say he's well balanced really.

Ding got a high-break prize at the end, during the weird shake-hands-man banzai reversal, and I can't blame them for wheeling out their No.1 superstar.

Our ES commentators are normally Mike "thur-ree" Smith and Mike "Mensa" Hallet Erwan, they generally add to the atmosphere and technical appreciation of the game - just a pity they don't react more to what's happening around the table; like explaining why they can't show footage on the other tables when matches finish early, what all the noise was in the arena this time, why there were so many empty seats etc. Pity they can't be flown out to tournaments so hiccups like yesterday could more easily be coped with because they'd not be affected by a loss in picture. (library pictures of the crowd without being told was very strange for a while!)

Ranen! My betting guru - I owe you a drink for predicting Ding would fail to beat the Cwm Cuer.... What's your poison? so to speak. OR maybe could attempt to cook you a curry..... tall order or what. My fave's a chicken tikka balti dhansak, veg rice & veg naan - but for you I remember you were having a chicken Biryani and Butter Chicken - so you could be my tutor instead of going hungry.

Countdown to Sheffield. 2 weeks 5 days.

[RaNeN]

lol thanks for calling me your betting guru. I just knew that Ding wouldnt win cause Mark is a better player than Ding anyday. Ding still hasnt got much experience in pro snooker. Mark has a lot of experience so I thought he would win for sure. For the finals I knew it would be close because Higgins has just lost his form and Mark just regained his form. So I thought it would be close and it was.......and eventually Mark won.


As for the world championship I would say that Higgins would make it to the semis for sure.But this half (Ronnie, Hendry and Higgins) is tough , its gonna be great to watch these matches.

[Erwan_BZH]

Ranen! My betting guru - I owe you a drink for predicting Ding would fail to beat the Cwm Cuer.... What's your poison? so to speak. OR maybe could attempt to cook you a curry..... tall order or what. My fave's a chicken tikka balti dhansak, veg rice & veg naan - but for you I remember you were having a chicken Biryani and Butter Chicken - so you could be my tutor instead of going hungry.

Argh! You're getting me hungry man !!! lol