NI Trophy Quarter-finals discussion

[hegeland]

Friday August 29
13.00
Table 1: Stephen Maguire v Dave Harold. Ref: Eirian Williams
Table 2: John Higgins v Ian McCulloch. Ref: Pete Williamson
19.30
Table 1: Ronnie O'Sullivan v Barry Hawkins. Ref: Michaela Tabb
Table 2: Allister Carter v Mark Allen. Ref: Eirian Williams

Eurosport HD & Eurosport 1 live 13.00-16.30
Eurosport 2 live 19.30-end

Dave Harold on the TV table! He's one of the players I love to watch the most. Though he'll have a hard time against Maguire, I'm glad he's got this far. He could soon be back in the top 16, even!

We have three rather clear favourites to win their matches in Maguire, Higgins and O'Sullivan. But who will win, Ali or Mark?? I rate them quite equal, but with a slight favour in Mark, he seems to play better when on home turf, last year when I saw him in Belfast he really enjoyed the home crowd.

[Sarmu]

My guess

Stephen Maguire vs Ian McCulloch
Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Mark Allen

[Black_cat]

Allen is the only Irishman left in the tournament. So what will TG4 favour for the evening broadcast?

Shameful about there being just one televised table. Has it always been the same in Belfast? I can't remember.

[Maija]

Dave Harold on the TV table! He's one of the players I love to watch the most.

Insomnia can be a real pain, I know

He's the surprise man of the tournament, but seeing as I haven't seen him play this time around it's not straightforward to call the match, especially bearing in mind how Maguire's match looked on the livescoring yesterday: uneven and with sudden bursts of high breaks. I've got confidence in Maguire, though, and he really should be able to send Harold packing.

Similarly McCulloch can be a bit of a hard nail and John really let quite a few chances slip yesterday (perhaps he was just flabbergasted by his opponent). I want a Scottish semi, and I'm sure that Ian wants to go to Fürth.

ROS was a bit lacklustre yesterday after such a fine match against Ken and I think Barry is one of the players who can forget about it being ROS and just do his own thing. Could be an interesting match. And a long one. (Really, he should only ever be allowed to play morning or afternoon matches.)

Ali vs Allen. Hm. A pity they can't televise all the matches, this one could be a good watch, but I guess only those with tickets will know. Ali seems to have been strong so far, and with Allen's slight problem closing matches that could be Ali's fortune here. That having been said I do NOT want a ROS / Ali semi final, as those matches have proven in the past not to be very good ones.

Just a bit of a morning ramble... hope everyone enjoys the snooker today!

[Rane]

[
Dave Harold on the TV table! He's one of the players I love to watch the most.

Have you ever considered buying a poster with him. There´s just as much movement in a poster.

[Monique]

The Hawk for sure is able to play Ronnie to boredom. But the reverse is also true . If I remember well their last encounter on Irish turf - a 9-1 demolition job by Ronnie in the 2007 Kilkenny Irish Masters - ended with Hawk pleading "Finish me off, I want to go to the bar"

oh, and Ronnie obliged.

[Rane]

For the exitement of the tournament I hope we don´t end up with another O´Sullivan Carter match, as O´Sullivan still would manage to scare Carter with two arms broken.

[Monique]

I'm not sure it's that bad Rane but I agree that a ROS-Allen match would be far more interesting to watch!

[Ellena]

Have you ever considered buying a poster with him. There´s just as much movement in a poster.

PMSL

Hege is the first one ive ever heard to say that likes to watch Harold..He never impressed me in any way.
I for one would of preferred to see the other match with Higgins..but..isnt up to me. At least i hope im lucky enough and Ronnie will play at the televised table tonight.

[The Statman]

Harold is a pretty strong player, easy to underestimate and not easy to shake off. It's actually a credit to him that, at fortysomething, he is still reaching the tv stages of tournaments. Twice last season (or was it the season before?) he claimed the high break prize for qualifying.

His style is hard to find appealing but he is definitely capable of beating the top names every now and then. He comes across as slow but I don't think he is particularly.

[Mal]

Ali vs Allen. Hm. A pity they can't televise all the matches, this one could be a good watch, but I guess only those with tickets will know. Ali seems to have been strong so far, and with Allen's slight problem closing matches that could be Ali's fortune here. That having been said I do NOT want a ROS / Ali semi final, as those matches have proven in the past not to be very good ones.

I certainly want Mark Allen to win and he beat Ali Carter earlier this year in the Honghe ranking tournament. Ali Carter has been playing well and his world championship display was good, so tough one. I don't believe Mark Allen has played ROS competitively yet? (let me know if I'm wrong!), so that would be good to see how he fares. I think the atmosphere would be good.
Mind you, although the WC final was a damp predicatable squib, ROS did knock in 5 centuries including a 147 and Carter played quite well in that match, so although it may be more predictable ROS win against Carter, based on that match, I wouldn't say that all their matches haven't been good.

the other games, well McCulloch has been playing well and shouldn't be underestimated. Having scraped past McManus and Doherty respectively, Maguire and ROS, although neither playing there best, should both get through without problems.Doherty respectively.

[Rane]

The WC final didn´t contain 5 centuries or a 147 from Ronnie. They each made one century.
Ronnie did what he had to do, and Carter as always when up against O´Sullivan sat scared in his chair. I agree that Carter played very well up to the final. Actually I like watching Carter except against O´Sullivan.

[Rane]

Harold is a pretty strong player, easy to underestimate and not easy to shake off. It's actually a credit to him that, at fortysomething, he is still reaching the tv stages of tournaments. Twice last season (or was it the season before?) he claimed the high break prize for qualifying.

His style is hard to find appealing but he is definitely capable of beating the top names every now and then. He comes across as slow but I don't think he is particularly.

Spot on analysis. When I watch Harold. I tend to focus on his motionless shot and forget to appriciate his game. Actually he is one of less than thirty players who has made more than 100 centuries, which off cause also tells a lot about his abilities.

[Black_cat]

So, since we know that the Higgins match is televised this afternoon, what match will be on telly tonight? Local lad or World No. 1? And it's a genuine question, I'm not being a smart-a***.

[Monique]

ROS-Hawk on telly table it seems. (table 1)