Royal London Watches Grand Prix Second Round Discussion

[Mal]

Oh yes!

4-2 to Trump! Come on - nearly there!

Did you say 4-2 too soon, as certainly on BBC they were playing for a while after this comment with frame in balance - although Trump did miss a simple green for victory. It has come up now anyway to be 4-2, although IMO Trump just isn't good enough. (YET!) his tactics are poor and he has missed a lot of balls this match. He may well get it through, but mainly as Perry has played dire. I still think Perry may come back. Trump has also (like Gunnell yesterday) been blessed.

[PaulTheSoave]

Yes, indeed, i am happy this match is on ES2 live. Wonder whether this will be the long awaited breakthrough for Trump.

Great pot from Trump to finish the frame, but they didn´t play well on the colours.

[spike]

Nice to see Adrian Gunnell making a bit of a comeback against Steve.

[Mal]

Its complete anti snooker the way Davis plays nowadays. The break off shot 2 cushions is not done. Pure negative play. No wonder the sport is in crisis. Not only due to the WSA but also because of these negative tactics. Hardly will pull a crowd. I wonder if Ebdon and Murphy would have played like this, half the board would have had a go at them, but when its Mr. Davis it is suddenly brilliant. Hope hes out by saturday otherwise give my ticket away for free.

Yep, I don't like the Davis break off - he's trying something different and with the pace of the tables, understandable, but for goodness sake - he's probably the best safety player there has been, so he should be able to get a perfect white ball in a shot he plays every other frame.

To be fair to Ebdon and Murphy, they are both attacking players, so could never see them play it. (I know you weren't suggesting they would) Ebdon gets a lot of flak, but when he is free flowing, he is actually quite quick and he has won quite a few matches when in this form 5-0/5-1 and playing quick. The other day, he made a century in 7 minutes in his match - not Ronnie/Drago speed of course, but quick nonetheless and probably quicker than Jimmy these days.

[Marc]

just over 3 hours play now and the match is all square at 3-3

davis did lead 3-0 but has spent most the past 3 frames in his chair as gunnell has had breaks of 83, 85 and 105

[spike]

Trump wins 5-2

[Mal]

Trump wins 5-2

Yes, Trump played well in patches, but also played a rubbish shot (at least one) in every frame. Perry was woeful and that attempt at getting out of a snooker in the last frame was awful. Perry had chances to win every frame. We'll see who Trump gets in the next round. He needs to up his game surely! Having said that, perhaps this result will boost his confidence and we'll see him play to the potential that he has.

[gby4]

Davis is scoring again

[Rane]

That was inexperienced from Joe. Trump needed a snooker and Joe just let him in. First by not getting the red safe and then playing a bad escape, when he was snookered himself. Congratulations to Trump, but I think he needs to tighten his game, if he going to get any further.

[João]

It wasn't the most brilliant matches I've seen lately but I sure enjoyed watching how Trump dealt with the pressure there. I think this is the first time he is proving why some people believe he's one of the most talented players around. Congratulations to him on reaching the quarter finals, although you can't help but think would he be here if Dott hadn't forfeit?

P.S.: Any updates on Davis match are welcome as ES has just cut the coverage.

[spike]

Good victory for Trump, but if Joe Perry had of played as well he has of late i think it would've been a victory for Perry. Will be interesting to see how well Trump holds his nerve from here on in.

[The Boss]

Bald Baddie

Is Gunnell the most thuggish looking player in the game? Would he come to blows with another player?

[Mal]

Well, i know Dott did well in Berlin, but in ranking matches, he hasn't won a match for over a year - And confidence is hard to get back in match situations - see Murphy, Hendry, Doherty, Lee etc. I think Trump would have had an excellent chance against Dott, but must admit, I was surprised with the result tonight. Obviously, he has talent, but I think this word 'talent' bandied around too easily. He's been playing since he was knee high to a daisy as was Ronnie and Ding was virtually schooled in it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the above aren't talented, they all are to get to where they are - ronnie is arguably one of the greatest. But, IMO, those who take up the game later such as the likes of Hendry (who as has been mentioned before) who first played at 12 (years after Ronnie formulative years), or Cliff Wilson who didn't play for 20 years or players who practice very little, but can then come back and produce high quality stuff really impress me with that 'born' to play the game.

[TheStranger]

Davis makes it 4-3!

[Marc]

Davis makes it 4-3!

He does indeed! davis just loves being competitive, and its matches like this is what keeps him going..he loves it