Who will win the UK Championship?

[Gargon]

My inkling is either Higgins, Robertson or Williams.

Longshots with a small chance (20/1+) chance: Gould, Maguire, Stevens

[bgarmeer]

O'sullivan seems as focused as ever at the moment, confirmed by steamrollering Robertson and Murphy in the PL.
I think he's sick of being reminded he doesn't hold a ranking title..... next Sunday that'll change....hopefully. (got a ton on him at 3's)

Fancy the winner of Cope and Trump to go far in the bottom half

[missneworleans]

Mark will win it indeed
Selbs or Williams

[The Boss]

Mark will win it indeed
Selbs or Williams

Or King

[Gargon]

Or King

Or Allen or Davis!

[renniwevarb]

Go Selby go!

[ken147]

Ding should be an option? He is the defending champion! King??? LOL

[spike]

Ding should be an option? He is the defending champion! King??? LOL

If he wasn't defending champion i would have fancied his chances more. I think he will put up a good defence of his UK title, but I cant see him retaining it.

Would not mind if he proved me wrong though..

[Odrl]

I couldn't be in a better mood this morning, knowing it's the final day of the big snooker drought. This was probably the most difficult mid-season period since I've been a snooker fan, with no proper snooker for almost three months.

But what a tournament we've got coming up... I have a feeling this is going to be a very enjoyable part of the season, with the two big tournaments back to back, and then the four ranking events in fairly quick succession right up to the WC.

So, who will win the UK Championship? I can think of eight players whom I would call the immediate contenders, all of them ranked in the top9, which proves that the rankings are certainly not lying much at the moment, at least in my opinion. But anything more specific than that I find quite difficult to predict. Before a major tournament such a this, we usually have some sort of reference as to where the players are, in terms of approaching their peak form. This time, all we have are the results of short-format events, with little pressure on them.

The UK Championship is the opposite situation, so I think it's quite important for players to get into the long-format mode, most of all mentally, and also physically. Let's see which players are likely to still be in it at the business end of the tournament...

Quarter 1:

Ding Junhui v. Matthew Stevens
Mark Allen v. Tom Ford
Marco Fu v. Barry Hawkins
Ronnie O'Sullivan v. Stuart Bingham

A very interesting top quarter, and a difficult opening match for the defending champion. Ding did beat Stevens at the Grand Prix last season, but it could be a different story here. I think Stevens is a stronger player now, and he seems to have found some consistency, even if he is not exactly reaching the later stages of tournaments. He was also somewhat of a long-format specialist in his prime, which is something that may still be there if he reaches top form. On the other hand, Ding is anything but consistent. He was decent in the two televised events. He made a good start in the Premier League, but showed little form towards the end and finished very poorly. His PTC campaign was also inconsistent, missing a lot of events, but also winning one. I don't think the tempo of playing events every week suits him, as he is the kind of player that gets tired and jaded very easily, especially when results are not going his way. In a way, he could benefit by adopting more of a "Robertson approach", getting himself up for the big events, but maybe going a bit easier on himself in between. But with his "responsibility" to appear in the Asian Games, as well as the summer tournaments in China, that may be easier said than done.

Also in this part of the draw, Mark Allen is quite the mystery. He has gone almost completely unseen since the WC, and even outside of televised snooker, his PTC campaign was rather poor. I do think he could be very dangerous here though. He is a big-occasion player who now knows what it takes to win two-session matches, and I'm sure he will be "hungrier" than most players here. He could have got an easier opponent though, as Tom Ford was one of the best PTC performers. You know it's a tough part of the draw when someone like Ford is the outsider. But ultimately, I think the main question is how well Ding plays.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is the other big name in this quarter, and I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how well he plays here. He was very convincing in his last couple of Premier League matches, and this is the part of the season where he usually shows some good form. But however convincing he was in shot-clock snooker, the UK Championship is a different ball game. Shaun Murphy was very convincing last year as well, and he didn't play a big role at the UK at all. Still, it's not just the on-table form that makes me think O'Sullivan will play a good tournament. It's obvious that the events in his personal life have put him in quite a good mood, and there is a good chance that will show in his snooker.

But while his draw is not too bad, it's not that great either. Especially the prospect of playing his old rival Fu in the 2nd round. O'Sullivan's record against Fu is not the best, and while he's had some good results against him recently, there is always that chance of Fu raising his game again. It wouldn't be the first time for O'Sullivan to be caught out in an early round against that type of player. If you think about his losses to King and Perry in 2005 and 2008 respectively, they are the kind of composed player capable of long periods of intense concentration that O'Sullivan can struggle against. On top of that, Fu is also an excellent scorer on his day, one of the few who can stand up to O'Sullivan. So it's potentially a tough job for O'Sullivan, but I think he'll be up to it.

Quarter 2:

Stephen Maguire v. Ken Doherty
Mark Selby v. Ricky Walden
Graeme Dott v. Martin Gould
John Higgins v. Stephen Lee

The second quarter is definitely the strongest, with four very strong seeds, but also four of the best qualifiers. It's been a while since Maguire last won a major tournament, but he still regularly appears at the later stages of tournaments. I think his return to top form can't be that far away now, as he has played very well in patches in the last year or so. He is a tough player to beat when he is determined and keeps control of himself. But when he is not really satisfied with his game, he seems unable to do that. I'm sure Ken Doherty will be ready to exploit any weakness, but I think Maguire will have enough.

Selby against Walden is definitely one of the most interesting 1st round pairs. Judging by his recent form, I suppose one would have to consider Selby one of the favourites in this tournament. He was one of the strongest players in the PTC series, and a semi-finalist in Shanghai. He was less successful in the Premier League where he didn't qualify for the playoff, and also lost early in the World Open to a brilliant Barry Hawkins. But in a way, those two events were the opposite of what the UK Championship is about. Selby is much more suited to the longer format, and the absence of the shot clock should allow him to get into his comfort zone. But he will have to be at his best right from the start. Ricky Walden may not be as dangerous as he was a while back, and certainly not as convincing in the qualifiers, but he has a habit of pushing the top players very close in two-session matches, or even beating them. Selby may be the favourite, but I am very interested to see how this part of the draw plays out.

Dott against Gould is another great prospect. Dott is back to being a seed now, and whatever mental problems he had, they seem to be gone now. He is playing some of his best snooker again, and should be tough to beat over two sessions. But his opponent is arguably the strongest qualifier. The extent to which Martin Gould has improved has been quite remarkable. He now plays like a top16 player most of the time. He plays very attacking snooker, getting a lot of tricky balls and scoring heavily. If Dott also plays the kind of snooker he played on his way to the WC final, this should be a very entertaining, and possibly a high quality match. I'm looking forward to it.

The big player in this part of the draw, of course, is John Higgins. Before his suspension, I regarded him as the best player in the world, and would rarely rule him out before the QF. I thought his rise back to the top of the game would be slow, maybe a couple of mediocre results at first. But he was back to his usual form straight away in the last two PTC events. I think he is out to prove a point, and it looks like all this controversy has only made him more determined and motivated. But I have a feeling he will have to face a somewhat hostile crowd in Telford. That sort of thing can cause a player to lose hearth, and along with the difficult time in his personal life, it could be difficult to overcome for Higgins. I'm sure Stephen Lee will have something to say as well. He won one of the PTC events a couple of weeks ago, a good confidence booster ahead of the UK. He also played a great match against Allen last year, unfortunately not on TV. But he runs out of steam pretty quickly, so I don't expect him to go too far.

Quarter 3:

Allister Carter v. Mark Joyce
Jamie Cope v. Judd Trump
Stephen Hendry v. Jimmy White
Mark Williams v. Mark Davis

The third quarter is somewhat more predictable, with two main contenders. Ali Carter may have the curse of being the winner of the previous major event, or perhaps that would be Robertson, but in any case, I don't think that will play a major part in this tournament. It's hard to win back-to-back events, as you can only be at your best for so long, but with such a long gap between events, it's not really part of the equation this time. Over the last three seasons or so, Carter has established himself as one of the very top players, so I think it will take a good player to beat him. Both Cope and Trump are certainly capable of causing an upset, whoever gets through their very interesting 1st round encounter. After Cope's heavy defeat against Carter at the WC, he was given a chance to appear in Shanghai as a seeded player, and played very well for most of the tournament. So I think his poor run of results is now behind him and his confidence is back. Judd Trump is a very similar player, relying mostly on long pots and heavy scoring, so this promises to be a very open match. But it could potentially be quite one-sided as well, if one of the players fails to deliver. It's going to be tough for either of them to get past Carter though, as the open attacking snooker with heavy scoring is also Carter's forte. In fact, along with O'Sullivan and Ding, I would say that Carter has been one of the best players in that type of game in recent years.

The other big contender I had in mind was, of course, Mark Williams. It's been a long time since Williams played a particularly poor tournament. On the contrary, he has been one of the most consistent players in reaching the business end of tournaments. He got caught out against Peter Lines last year, so I don't think he will be underestimating anyone this time, especially not a player like Mark Davis who is playing the best snooker of his career. I would expect Williams to do the job over two sessions though.

The Hendry-White match is the most eagerly anticipated on this forum, but as I said on the other thread, it's not really one of the more interesting 1st round matches in terms of potential quality or closeness. But the atmosphere certainly promises to be great. White hasn't really threatened any top player on TV in recent times, although he was quite respectable in the World Open, and has a good qualifying campaign behind him. On the other hand, Hendry has been struggling for some time. He had some decent tournaments last season, but they were all after the new year, so I would expect something similar this season. I bet he'll find it easy to motivate himself for this one though. And if he should win, you never know how his match against Williams could go. When two players have a strong rivalry, the result often goes in favour of the player who needs it more, rather than the in-form player. We've seen it a couple of times with Murphy and Maguire in recent years. Still, it would be silly not to consider Williams the favourite.

Quarter 4:

Shaun Murphy v. Patrick Wallace
Mark King v. Ryan Day
Peter Ebdon v. Andrew Higginson
Neil Robertson v. Rory McLeod

And finally, the fourth quarter... Well, there are two names that stand out again. Shaun Murphy's last big win was the UK two years ago, so it's about time he wins something big again. He hasn't done a lot in the two main events this season, but he's had a lot of success in the minor events. He won the Wuxi Classic in the summer with a remarkable comeback in the final, he played very well in the PTC events, winning one of them, and he also reached the final of the Premier League. He met Ding Junhui in the 2nd round last year, but this year's draw is quite favourable. Mark King is a player who could potentially prove tricky for Murphy, as he is well suited to this format. There is also Ryan Day, who has now been relegated to the status of a dangerous qualifier after a poor run of results. And he could certainly prove to be very dangerous, especially if he finds the kind of game that got him into the top8 in recent seasons. As a scorer and potter he can certainly match Murphy. But it remains to be seen whether he is up to it, and if he is, he still needs to match Murphy tactically and mentally. But that may be asking too much.

That leaves Neil Robertson as the last of the big contenders. And he certainly is a big contender. There is no doubt that he has been the best player in the world in Higgins' absence. It's his game under pressure and in the big occasions that has lifted him above the other top players of his generation, at least for the moment. I expect him to bring that game to this tournament, or perhaps the Masters. And if he does, he will be very tough to beat. He now scores as well as any other player in the game, and his safety has become a great strength rather than a weakness. He can also hold a high standard for long periods of time, which will be very useful in two-session matches. Someone like McLeod is capable of grinding a lot of players down, but I think Robertson is pretty immune to slow play or long tactical exchanges. In fact, such moments have more often than not turned matches in his favour recently. But can he get caught out? Of course... How many times have we seen him follow a good tournament with a bad one? There is every chance he comes to the tournament in mediocre form and plays uninspired snooker. Peter Ebdon beat him in Shanghai in the 1st round. It was quite a nasty draw for Robertson, but of course they can meet in the 2nd round here, and you would expect to play someone of Ebdon's class in 2nd rounds. It's still a tough draw though, as Ebdon is certainly one of the players who can match Robertson for stamina, pressure play, and intense concentration. But whether he can match him in form is another matter.

Possible QF lineup:

Ding Junhui v. Ronnie O'Sullivan
Mark Selby v. John Higgins
Allister Carter v. Mark Williams
Shaun Murphy v. Neil Robertson

That would be quite a lineup, and perhaps by that stage of the tournament, it will be easier to answer the question of this thread. I said morning at the start of this post, but it's late afternoon now, and I'm still in a great mood.

I suppose that's quite enough. I know I will enjoy every minute of the tournament, and I can only wish you the same.

[sigsky]

Odrl,

Thanks for that comprehensive and insightful analysis of the draw. Certainly got my interest peaked as of now. Enjoyed reading it.

[the_Crippler09]

I couldn't be in a better mood this morning, knowing it's the final day of the big snooker drought. This was probably the most difficult mid-season period since I've been a snooker fan, with no proper snooker for almost three months.

But what a tournament we've got coming up... I have a feeling this is going to be a very enjoyable part of the season, with the two big tournaments back to back, and then the four ranking events in fairly quick succession right up to the WC.

So, who will win the UK Championship? I can think of eight players whom I would call the immediate contenders, all of them ranked in the top9, which proves that the rankings are certainly not lying much at the moment, at least in my opinion. But anything more specific than that I find quite difficult to predict. Before a major tournament such a this, we usually have some sort of reference as to where the players are, in terms of approaching their peak form. This time, all we have are the results of short-format events, with little pressure on them.

The UK Championship is the opposite situation, so I think it's quite important for players to get into the long-format mode, most of all mentally, and also physically. Let's see which players are likely to still be in it at the business end of the tournament...

Quarter 1:

Ding Junhui v. Matthew Stevens
Mark Allen v. Tom Ford
Marco Fu v. Barry Hawkins
Ronnie O'Sullivan v. Stuart Bingham

A very interesting top quarter, and a difficult opening match for the defending champion. Ding did beat Stevens at the Grand Prix last season, but it could be a different story here. I think Stevens is a stronger player now, and he seems to have found some consistency, even if he is not exactly reaching the later stages of tournaments. He was also somewhat of a long-format specialist in his prime, which is something that may still be there if he reaches top form. On the other hand, Ding is anything but consistent. He was decent in the two televised events. He made a good start in the Premier League, but showed little form towards the end and finished very poorly. His PTC campaign was also inconsistent, missing a lot of events, but also winning one. I don't think the tempo of playing events every week suits him, as he is the kind of player that gets tired and jaded very easily, especially when results are not going his way. In a way, he could benefit by adopting more of a "Robertson approach", getting himself up for the big events, but maybe going a bit easier on himself in between. But with his "responsibility" to appear in the Asian Games, as well as the summer tournaments in China, that may be easier said than done.

Also in this part of the draw, Mark Allen is quite the mystery. He has gone almost completely unseen since the WC, and even outside of televised snooker, his PTC campaign was rather poor. I do think he could be very dangerous here though. He is a big-occasion player who now knows what it takes to win two-session matches, and I'm sure he will be "hungrier" than most players here. He could have got an easier opponent though, as Tom Ford was one of the best PTC performers. You know it's a tough part of the draw when someone like Ford is the outsider. But ultimately, I think the main question is how well Ding plays.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is the other big name in this quarter, and I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how well he plays here. He was very convincing in his last couple of Premier League matches, and this is the part of the season where he usually shows some good form. But however convincing he was in shot-clock snooker, the UK Championship is a different ball game. Shaun Murphy was very convincing last year as well, and he didn't play a big role at the UK at all. Still, it's not just the on-table form that makes me think O'Sullivan will play a good tournament. It's obvious that the events in his personal life have put him in quite a good mood, and there is a good chance that will show in his snooker.

But while his draw is not too bad, it's not that great either. Especially the prospect of playing his old rival Fu in the 2nd round. O'Sullivan's record against Fu is not the best, and while he's had some good results against him recently, there is always that chance of Fu raising his game again. It wouldn't be the first time for O'Sullivan to be caught out in an early round against that type of player. If you think about his losses to King and Perry in 2005 and 2008 respectively, they are the kind of composed player capable of long periods of intense concentration that O'Sullivan can struggle against. On top of that, Fu is also an excellent scorer on his day, one of the few who can stand up to O'Sullivan. So it's potentially a tough job for O'Sullivan, but I think he'll be up to it.

Quarter 2:

Stephen Maguire v. Ken Doherty
Mark Selby v. Ricky Walden
Graeme Dott v. Martin Gould
John Higgins v. Stephen Lee

The second quarter is definitely the strongest, with four very strong seeds, but also four of the best qualifiers. It's been a while since Maguire last won a major tournament, but he still regularly appears at the later stages of tournaments. I think his return to top form can't be that far away now, as he has played very well in patches in the last year or so. He is a tough player to beat when he is determined and keeps control of himself. But when he is not really satisfied with his game, he seems unable to do that. I'm sure Ken Doherty will be ready to exploit any weakness, but I think Maguire will have enough.

Selby against Walden is definitely one of the most interesting 1st round pairs. Judging by his recent form, I suppose one would have to consider Selby one of the favourites in this tournament. He was one of the strongest players in the PTC series, and a semi-finalist in Shanghai. He was less successful in the Premier League where he didn't qualify for the playoff, and also lost early in the World Open to a brilliant Barry Hawkins. But in a way, those two events were the opposite of what the UK Championship is about. Selby is much more suited to the longer format, and the absence of the shot clock should allow him to get into his comfort zone. But he will have to be at his best right from the start. Ricky Walden may not be as dangerous as he was a while back, and certainly not as convincing in the qualifiers, but he has a habit of pushing the top players very close in two-session matches, or even beating them. Selby may be the favourite, but I am very interested to see how this part of the draw plays out.

Dott against Gould is another great prospect. Dott is back to being a seed now, and whatever mental problems he had, they seem to be gone now. He is playing some of his best snooker again, and should be tough to beat over two sessions. But his opponent is arguably the strongest qualifier. The extent to which Martin Gould has improved has been quite remarkable. He now plays like a top16 player most of the time. He plays very attacking snooker, getting a lot of tricky balls and scoring heavily. If Dott also plays the kind of snooker he played on his way to the WC final, this should be a very entertaining, and possibly a high quality match. I'm looking forward to it.

The big player in this part of the draw, of course, is John Higgins. Before his suspension, I regarded him as the best player in the world, and would rarely rule him out before the QF. I thought his rise back to the top of the game would be slow, maybe a couple of mediocre results at first. But he was back to his usual form straight away in the last two PTC events. I think he is out to prove a point, and it looks like all this controversy has only made him more determined and motivated. But I have a feeling he will have to face a somewhat hostile crowd in Telford. That sort of thing can cause a player to lose hearth, and along with the difficult time in his personal life, it could be difficult to overcome for Higgins. I'm sure Stephen Lee will have something to say as well. He won one of the PTC events a couple of weeks ago, a good confidence booster ahead of the UK. He also played a great match against Allen last year, unfortunately not on TV. But he runs out of steam pretty quickly, so I don't expect him to go too far.

Quarter 3:

Allister Carter v. Mark Joyce
Jamie Cope v. Judd Trump
Stephen Hendry v. Jimmy White
Mark Williams v. Mark Davis

The third quarter is somewhat more predictable, with two main contenders. Ali Carter may have the curse of being the winner of the previous major event, or perhaps that would be Robertson, but in any case, I don't think that will play a major part in this tournament. It's hard to win back-to-back events, as you can only be at your best for so long, but with such a long gap between events, it's not really part of the equation this time. Over the last three seasons or so, Carter has established himself as one of the very top players, so I think it will take a good player to beat him. Both Cope and Trump are certainly capable of causing an upset, whoever gets through their very interesting 1st round encounter. After Cope's heavy defeat against Carter at the WC, he was given a chance to appear in Shanghai as a seeded player, and played very well for most of the tournament. So I think his poor run of results is now behind him and his confidence is back. Judd Trump is a very similar player, relying mostly on long pots and heavy scoring, so this promises to be a very open match. But it could potentially be quite one-sided as well, if one of the players fails to deliver. It's going to be tough for either of them to get past Carter though, as the open attacking snooker with heavy scoring is also Carter's forte. In fact, along with O'Sullivan and Ding, I would say that Carter has been one of the best players in that type of game in recent years.

The other big contender I had in mind was, of course, Mark Williams. It's been a long time since Williams played a particularly poor tournament. On the contrary, he has been one of the most consistent players in reaching the business end of tournaments. He got caught out against Peter Lines last year, so I don't think he will be underestimating anyone this time, especially not a player like Mark Davis who is playing the best snooker of his career. I would expect Williams to do the job over two sessions though.

The Hendry-White match is the most eagerly anticipated on this forum, but as I said on the other thread, it's not really one of the more interesting 1st round matches in terms of potential quality or closeness. But the atmosphere certainly promises to be great. White hasn't really threatened any top player on TV in recent times, although he was quite respectable in the World Open, and has a good qualifying campaign behind him. On the other hand, Hendry has been struggling for some time. He had some decent tournaments last season, but they were all after the new year, so I would expect something similar this season. I bet he'll find it easy to motivate himself for this one though. And if he should win, you never know how his match against Williams could go. When two players have a strong rivalry, the result often goes in favour of the player who needs it more, rather than the in-form player. We've seen it a couple of times with Murphy and Maguire in recent years. Still, it would be silly not to consider Williams the favourite.

Quarter 4:

Shaun Murphy v. Patrick Wallace
Mark King v. Ryan Day
Peter Ebdon v. Andrew Higginson
Neil Robertson v. Rory McLeod

And finally, the fourth quarter... Well, there are two names that stand out again. Shaun Murphy's last big win was the UK two years ago, so it's about time he wins something big again. He hasn't done a lot in the two main events this season, but he's had a lot of success in the minor events. He won the Wuxi Classic in the summer with a remarkable comeback in the final, he played very well in the PTC events, winning one of them, and he also reached the final of the Premier League. He met Ding Junhui in the 2nd round last year, but this year's draw is quite favourable. Mark King is a player who could potentially prove tricky for Murphy, as he is well suited to this format. There is also Ryan Day, who has now been relegated to the status of a dangerous qualifier after a poor run of results. And he could certainly prove to be very dangerous, especially if he finds the kind of game that got him into the top8 in recent seasons. As a scorer and potter he can certainly match Murphy. But it remains to be seen whether he is up to it, and if he is, he still needs to match Murphy tactically and mentally. But that may be asking too much.

That leaves Neil Robertson as the last of the big contenders. And he certainly is a big contender. There is no doubt that he has been the best player in the world in Higgins' absence. It's his game under pressure and in the big occasions that has lifted him above the other top players of his generation, at least for the moment. I expect him to bring that game to this tournament, or perhaps the Masters. And if he does, he will be very tough to beat. He now scores as well as any other player in the game, and his safety has become a great strength rather than a weakness. He can also hold a high standard for long periods of time, which will be very useful in two-session matches. Someone like McLeod is capable of grinding a lot of players down, but I think Robertson is pretty immune to slow play or long tactical exchanges. In fact, such moments have more often than not turned matches in his favour recently. But can he get caught out? Of course... How many times have we seen him follow a good tournament with a bad one? There is every chance he comes to the tournament in mediocre form and plays uninspired snooker. Peter Ebdon beat him in Shanghai in the 1st round. It was quite a nasty draw for Robertson, but of course they can meet in the 2nd round here, and you would expect to play someone of Ebdon's class in 2nd rounds. It's still a tough draw though, as Ebdon is certainly one of the players who can match Robertson for stamina, pressure play, and intense concentration. But whether he can match him in form is another matter.

Possible QF lineup:

Ding Junhui v. Ronnie O'Sullivan
Mark Selby v. John Higgins
Allister Carter v. Mark Williams
Shaun Murphy v. Neil Robertson

That would be quite a lineup, and perhaps by that stage of the tournament, it will be easier to answer the question of this thread. I said morning at the start of this post, but it's late afternoon now, and I'm still in a great mood.

I suppose that's quite enough. I know I will enjoy every minute of the tournament, and I can only wish you the same.

Yeah but what do u really think?

Impossible to call a winner this year, its wide open IMO any 1 of 10 different players could nick it, but if i HAD to put money on it, id go with the Ding-man.

[chasmmi]

I couldn't be in a better mood this morning, knowing it's the final day of the big snooker drought...

Agree with most of your assesments there although I do feel you give the World open and PTC less credit than they deserve as indicators of form.

I agree thet are a competely different style of snooker than the UK or World's and if you do or do not like the formats that is fair enough.

The fact remains though that the World Open saw the better players in generl progress, the PTC as well has shown few relatives shocks in ratio to number of matches apart from the odd big player that didn't give a s#%&.

If you read back through your assessment you look at Mark Davis as a threat and in great form. This is true and it is true mostly due to the PTCs. They are also the core reason why higgins suddenly looks like he has a chance and players like Ebdon and Stevens are rejuvenated.

The short formats may not be your or others' cup of tea and you are free to not watch them. But from a competion point of view, the last few months have certainly not been a drought and the regular snooker events (where the better players are still playing up to 20 odd frames in a day if they go far into the tournament.) are the reasons why we have dangermen qualifiers and players in form and getting talked about that would not have happened if this was merely the 3rd tournament of the year.


I know I have rabbited on a bit now and if it sounds like a negative reaction to your post I apologise as like I said, I do think it is a good assesment of the UK and very well argued. I just feel that the PTCs and World Open deserve more respect when discussing player form and chances, even if you personally do not care for the events as a spectator.

[coomsey76]

My money is with Ronnie cause I think his just hitting form just at the right time......
But I've got a sneaky feel Higgins is going to pull something special out of the bag!!

[mick 142]

Ronnie o'sullivan.

[jw147]

the last 3 months have certainly not been a droughty period for competitive snooker, ive never seen as much snooker being played, and its been great, the ptc events are fantastic.