Welsh Open 2010 - Round 1 Dicussion

[mushka]

Peer pressure is ...

"C'mon Mark Allen, my Lucky dip!"

Nothing personal against the op I assure you, but I prefer it when these threads are started by Odrl.

[Mr P]

Peer pressure is ...

"C'mon Mark Allen, my Lucky dip!"

Nothing personal against the op I assure you, but I prefer it when these threads are started by Odrl.

Why do you prefer it that way? I really don't think it makes much of a difference.

[JRobbins]

have extremely high hopes for my two favourite players, Neil Robertson and Mark Selby, in this comp. Robertson played some stunning snooker against Ronnie in the Masters, that 140 break was poetry in motion. Mark Selby however, well i think the expectations for him go without saying, his confidence must be sky high at the moment, but Judd Trump will be no pushover IMO.

[mushka]

Why do you prefer it that way? I really don't think it makes much of a difference.

Of course it doesn't and feel free to start as many threads as you wish to.

I like Odrl's tournament threads as he states his opinions on the matches. It makes for a very nice tournament introduction.

[Odrl]

I like Odrl's tournament threads as he states his opinions on the matches. It makes for a very nice tournament introduction.

Thank you, I'm flattered. Although I don't usually start the threads myself.

I've already done my usual preview here: http://www.thesnookerforum.com/board...830#post458830

As for the 1st round itself...

There are perhaps not that many really promising matches this time, probably because of the absence of the top qualifiers such as Liang and Walden. But there are still some good ones. I'm particularly looking forward to Selby-Trump, Ding-Cope, and potentially Murphy-Stevens.

The two matches I'm most looking forward to for tomorrow (it's actually today as I write this) are Ebdon-Hawkins and Fu-Higginson. I don't think Ebdon will like this draw. Hawkins probably won't mind Ebdon's pace that much, because he is very tactically aware, and also seems to play deciders in a lot of his matches. Ebdon could be in danger here, because he can be a slow starter sometimes.

Fu could have probably got an easier opponent as well. He has pretty much collapsed in every match where his opponent played well this season. I think Higginson is likely to play well, because this venue might bring some pleasant memories, and also a bit of inspiration for him. Also, Fu is often in trouble against the qualifiers as it is, even when he's not out of sorts. But he could be back this week, the Championship League success could be a promising sign for him.

The other three matches could be more one-sided, with Stevens, Robertson and Carter being clear favourites. But none of them is untouchable, so they can't afford to underestimate their opponents.

[Alex0paul]

Come on Graeme!

[April madness]

So, this is the format of play for today:

Monday 25 January 2010

1pm
Q1 – Matthew Stevens v Barry Pinches
Match 2 – Neil Robertson v Liu Song
Match 7 – Peter Ebdon v Barry Hawkins

7pm
Match 1 – Ali Carter v Mark Davis
Match 5 – Marco Fu v Andrew Higginson

Some links to live streaming - http://myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=63256&part=sports
The broadcast starting time is 14.00 CET (notice that these links most probably will not be with english commentary), and you should install software for these links, either Sopcast or TVU player (it seems there are several sopcast links, so maybe it is the preferable player).

And the multiscreen live scoring here http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~rh389/TSF/...rnament=0910WO

[montoya10]

Some good matches out there, and the highlights are probably Ebdon v Hawkins and Carter v Davis..

It will be interesting to see whether Hawk finally got back to his own level, which would be a tough challenge for Ebdon to overcome..

Thanks for the links

[April madness]

Ebdon v Hawkins might be a really tough battle for both... Nothing against Barry, but hope Peter wins!

[montoya10]

He is battling to maintain his Top 16 status, and I would give him a slight edge in this match

[Looki]

Of today's matches Stevens v Pinches and Fu v Higginson matches I'm looking forward the most. Pinches is a good player if he gets going, I'm not surprised if we see century or two in that match. Also it's interesting to see what Higginson's form is, Marco is probably going to the right direction according to his CLS win last week. Higginson is a sympathetic guy and I always enjoy to watch him play.

[brendan147]

Com'on Ronnie...Williams...Michela Tabb...BRUCE LEE and Jackie Chan... Joking...

[montoya10]

Any information about when will Eurosport start the coverage today? I looked at the TV Guide and it points out 14:00 as the starting time, but does it really mean that they'll be connected an hour later than the beginning of the session?

[Looki]

Any information about when will Eurosport start the coverage today? I looked at the TV Guide and it points out 14:00 as the starting time, but does it really mean that they'll be connected an hour later than the beginning of the session?

Wouldn't surprise me if they do, they hardly showed a match during the Masters... That's why I recommend the ES player (although I've experienced a bit of problems with it). There's a stream available whenever there's a match on.

[April madness]

Any information about when will Eurosport start the coverage today? I looked at the TV Guide and it points out 14:00 as the starting time, but does it really mean that they'll be connected an hour later than the beginning of the session?

Why, the session starts 1pm UK time which is 2pm CET... But you never can be sure about Eurosport programme start. Especially in the tennis/winter/footie season. They seem prefer anything from those sports, even recorded, to live snooker.