China Open - Final Discussion

[1lawyer]

I haven't watched much as I've always seemed to be busy when it's on and I don't have eurosport so the iPhone is my only means of watching it seems I saw mark Williams a couple of days ago and gotta say he is onform and Id put my money on him...

My money is already on....in this and in the worlds.:snooker:

[montoya10]

I'm not good at these betting things that much, at least I never gave them a go. But he would be a good bet for any title from now on..

If they both peak in the final, it would be absolutely terrific snooker to watch

[hotpot]

Going on form then the right two players have made the final . Williams has shown the sort of form that made him practically untouchable for a few seasons .
He has found his long potting and breakbuilding that deserted him for so long , this combined with his tactical and cunning play , and laid back attitude , makes him too tough a nut to crack for most , and one hell of a handful for the rest .
To summarise , he,s got the allround game of Davis , and the prowess of Hendry , a deadly combination in anyones books .

Then for Ding , the guy just seems to knock in big break after big break , his safety and tactical play seem to be improving every time you see him play .

His temperament , which once looked suspect , especially agains Ronnie in the Masters Final ( i think ) is unquestionable as good as anyones in the game , if not better , and is one of the vey few players who ,s game is still on the up , and who knows where the improvement is going to stop .

Neither player needs a second invitation to take on the difficult long ones , so i expect the shootout at the ok coral to be combined with safety and tactical play of the very highest quality .

This will be a mouthwatering clash of two titans which could go all the way down to the very last frame .

Its sure going to be tough to pick a winner but for me the cunning older fox will have too much in his Arsenal , and will just pip the ice cool sensation , but only just .










Williams 10 Ding 8





LET BATTLE COMMENCE !

[The Boss]

One of the most intriguing finals in some time. A past master regaining his best form against the pick of the current generation. A classic match in store



Playing with fire: Which dragon will extinguish the other?

[abextra]

Playing with fire: Which dragon will extinguish the other?

Lol, both of the dragons look very dangerous and up in arms!

Hopefully will be a great fight tomorrow (or is it today already?) .

[hegeland]

Seeing that Mark was active on Facebook just some minutes ago I'd say he'll be tired tomorrow, so my money is on Ding!

[Odrl]

It promises to be a great match. I'm off to bed because I want to be alert in the morning.

Just a couple of things...

Williams played Ding on the way to his last ranking title, in the semi-final of the 2006 China Open. There are a few similarities between then and now... Ding came into that tournament as the defending UK Champion, and one of the big favourites to win it. If I remember right, he was even on par with O'Sullivan in the betting, which is a rare thing for anyone when O'Sullivan is still in a tournament. On the other hand, Williams had gone a couple of years without winning a tournament, and was having a rare week of good form. It was expected to be a close match, but Williams won comfortably, 6-2.

Well, Ding is the UK Champion again, and it's been years since Williams won a title. One thing that is slightly different is Williams' form throughout the season, leading up to this final. His good results are no longer unexpected, and neither are Ding's for that matter. It's a tournament that has proved successful for both players in the past, but who wants it more this week?

On one side we have Ding who wants to play well in front of his home crowd, something that he has been doing all week. Apart from being 0-1 down to Gerard Greene, he has never really been behind at any point in the tournament. He beat two of the biggest fighters in the game, Ebdon and Selby, which has no doubt sharpened him up for anything Williams is likely to throw at him. His opponents have mostly been unable to stay with him, and even when Selby replied with two successive centuries, it didn't really trouble Ding, he just kept going. It's a scoring force that is hard to stop, but this will be the first match over two sessions, which is a different type of situation.

And then we have Williams... He played a number of good tournaments this season, with no silverware to show for it. He won't want to miss another chance. Some of the stuff he played in his first three matches was just as relentless as Ding's, but his performance against Carter wasn't that impressive. Form obviously doesn't go away in a day, but there are other circumstances that come into play towards the end of the tournament. Perhaps Williams felt less pressure six or seven years ago, because he knew he would be back in the following tournament even if he lost. It may not be routine for him anymore, and he may be a bit rusty, but he has as much experience as anyone in these situations. I think that if he stays with Ding in the early stages, he can grow stronger and stronger as the match goes on.

But realistically, Ding is a slight favourite. When he plays one good match in a tournament, let alone four, he doesn't usually follow it up with a bad one. Williams though has been slightly inconsistent from match to match throughout the season. From his point of view, he'll be hoping that the match against Carter was the bad one. If they play at their best, it's a 10-9 or a 10-8 match either way, otherwise it's slightly more comfortable in Ding's favour.

Some of the finals this season failed to live up to the promise, but I have high hopes for this one.

[Wim]

Seeing that Mark was active on Facebook just some minutes ago I'd say he'll be tired tomorrow, so my money is on Ding!

hmmm Just one of his PR employees on facebook ...nothing to worry about

[Looki]

Promising start to the final, century break in the first two frames.

[Odrl]

So, after a couple of early misses from both players, they make back-to-back centuries. Lovely start.

You know what I've just realized... If Ding wins today, he will have beaten Hendry, Davis, O'Sullivan, Higgins and Williams in ranking finals. The five most successful players of the last 30 years, and in the correct order as well. How's that for a pattern...

[Mignon]

Argh! I haven't been able to watch the final! Frame scores nowhere to be found (certain Welsh girls must be sleeping ). Any idea how big these two breaks were?

[very.tee]

MJ made a 110 in the first, but it's been one way traffic since Ding's been playing well and Mark's not really had many oppertunities but just hasn't made the most of the ones he has had...

Come On MJ!!!

[Looki]

Mark should take his opportunities when he gets them, can't afford to miss that kind of reds. Ding seems very strong so far.

[Mignon]

Thanks Very.tee!

[edinmis]

One of Live Video can be accessed below:

http://sports.sina.com.cn/z/snookerchn10video/

commented by Ding's father and one of his friends (in Chinese)