World Open 2010 - Last 64 & 32 discussions!

[ltfc39]

I would agree that you need long matches to find the best player. Except for reducing the semi finals to best-of-31 in the World Championship and lengthening the Semis/Final in the UK Championship, I hope the majors never change. I think the Masters has a perfect setup and format and the World Open lottery format will also work very well.

What I think should be done is to have shorter formats in order to maintain interest, in lets face it, some meaningless tournaments that the general public have no real interest in and crowds that have one man and his dog in. Tournaments like the Welsh Open. One of these tournaments needs to end fast in order to maintain interest.

[Matt_2745]

Well, televised snooker continues tomorrow, and I've had a habit of posting my thoughts ahead of every major tournament in my past two years on this forum. The chance to discuss upcoming tournaments in detail doesn't come along very often outside of the internet for people like me, who are a bit isolated as snooker fans, and it's also a way of getting myself up for the "snooker week".

It's hard to talk about potential winners of an event when the draw is not known in advance, but even if it was, I would struggle to find the motivation to talk about this particular event. We've had a lot of discussions about this event over the last couple of months, whether the changes are in line with what the public and snooker fans want, and whether they're ultimately good for the future of snooker. I must accept that I'm in the minority on this issue, so it would be pointless to spread my negativism at this point.

But it can't hurt if I try to explain where I'm coming from...



I posted this last December, in a thread about which events people think should be shortened. This was before the World Open plans were announced, so it was only hypothetical. I didn't imagine it would happen anytime soon, let alone in less than a year's time. But it is happening, and it's even worse than best-of-7.

When there is a ranking event on, I try not to miss any of the action. I pretty much try to watch every televised match, and I'm actually quite successful in that "quest". Or perhaps lucky is the word, because I have the opportunity and the time to watch as much as I can. And that's been the case for the last 44 ranking events, so the last thing I want is to see that streak ending.

I haven't been a snooker fan all that long, at least not as fanatical as I am now, so I find it surprising and a bit absurd to now find myself in the group of purists and traditionalists. But thinking about it, what was it that appealed to me in snooker? In large part, it was the image you get about snooker from watching it on TV. A lot of people talk about how redundant the dress code is, and how players in the 21st century shouldn't be forced to wear clothing that actually hinders them while playing. Well, it certainly grabbed my attention. It gave me the impression that snooker is somehow above other cue sports, that it has more substance and requires more skill. And most importantly, it gave me the impression that it's played by gentlemen, and that winning or losing doesn't come down to physical force.

Another thing snooker fans like to do is criticize commentators, the Eurosport ones in particular. But again, they were instrumental in getting me into snooker. I found it refreshing to watch a sport on TV and not have the commentators shouting to create excitement. It was the moments between important shots that I found the most dramatic. It's a funny thing, when you watch snooker, you probably see the static positions between shots for longer than the actual movement and development of the balls, which goes along perfectly with the slow and quiet nature of the game. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but for those of us who like it, there are not many alternatives.

I was lucky as a snooker fan. In the first few matches and tournaments I watched, I got to see the incredible diversity this game has to offer. I saw one-visit exchanges, great safety battles, a maximum break as it happened, exhibition shots, and nervy deciders with lots of misses. I realized an important thing about snooker. It was not like other sports. In Slovenia, they shove alpine skiing down our throats all winter, and I never understood the appeal of it. A number of skiers take the exact same line down the exact same hill, and the best finish within less than a second of each other. I never understood what the point of watching an hour of that on TV is, when you could just look at the results afterwards, and know exactly what happened. You could paint a pretty accurate picture in your head. But if you see a snooker result, you can't really know what happened without seeing the match. It's a turn-based game, and there is no direct interaction between the two players, but you still can't find two frames that are the same.

I haven't been too picky about the type of snooker I enjoy. I'll admit that the first three sessions of that infamous Ebdon-Dott WC final were not great stuff, but I'll never be convinced that the final session was boring. I still have a message a friend of mine sent me during that 70-minute frame. I would translate it as: "Damn they're annoying, already more than an hour. At this rate, they'll just about finish 'till morning." I remember thinking, what's wrong with this guy? It was some of the greatest drama I'd ever experienced. The match seemed as good as over before the final session, but somehow, Peter Ebdon had one last evening of intense concentration and fight in him. Seeing how much him and Dott wanted and cared about that title made me care as well. I almost went insane when I lost the picture for a minute.

That kind of matches are what it's all about for me. They don't really rely on the standard of play, so no matter how well snooker is played in the future, they will always happen. I've seen a couple of classic matches in these last few years, but I can't imagine any match topping the 2006 Masters final between O'Sullivan and Higgins. It was a dream match for any snooker fan. When John Higgins potted that final black, I screamed as loudly as I could, even though it was the middle of the night, because I realized I'd just seen one of the greatest clearances of all time, and a match that would go down in snooker history as one of the all-time classics. I literally couldn't function as a human being for about an hour after that match, just walking around the house in the dark, reflecting upon what I'd just seen. Now think about it, if that match was a best-of-5, it would have finished after O'Sullivan made his second consecutive total clearance to lead 3-0.

I've defended the Ebdon-Dott final on this forum on a couple of occasions. I've defended this year's WC final, which some people thought was the worst ever. I've defended Graeme Dott, Peter Ebdon, Mark Selby, and most of the other players accused of being boring, and I imagine I'll continue to do so. Whenever I talk about something or someone in a positive light, I mean it. I've never faked it in order to prove that I'm somehow a better snooker fan because I can enjoy the "boring" stuff as well. I've never needed to fake it, and I consider myself lucky. But as I said earlier, I can't find the magic in some other sports, and I guess that's my loss.

So, what was I trying to say? To me, as a viewer, it's about the story being told, and snooker is the tool that makes it happen. But you have to give it a chance, otherwise the story can't be an epic one. I think having best-of-5 matches is not giving snooker a chance. I get defensive about it because it takes away some of the things that made me love snooker in the first place. Perhaps I'm just being a snob, but I love that feeling of being a part of something better, grander, and ultimately something different than any other sport can offer.

Don't get me wrong, some of the things that make snooker special are still there, so I'm not saying that I could care less about this event. I just have those same feelings as when I watch the Premier League. Williams and Selby played a pretty good match last night, and it's still good entertainment, but shot-clock snooker just seems kind of cheep and underwhelming compared to the real thing to me. I imagine I'll be feeling the same way next week. I'll still watch some of it, but I won't be in "snooker week mode".

Anyway, I just thought I would post this, in case someone else was thinking along those same lines. After all, in the thread I mentioned above, only one person out of 63 voted in favour of shortening the Grand Prix. So perhaps some will even join me in wishing that this event, at least in its current form, be short-lived.

As for the people who are looking forward to this tournament, I can only wish you an exciting and enjoyable snooker week, and I look forward to discussing the UK Championship with you.

Excellent post, couldn't agree more.

[visionaire]

now World Open completely steamrolls what made me a real snooker fan: The long battles in long matches.

Unfortunately you're part of an ever-shrinking group, snooker needs to appeal to a broader audience, time to stop whining and accept change, it's for the better.

Side-note: I find the Eurosport commentators better than the BBC ones at the moment, the BBC doesn't say anything new, they're getting incredibly boring. Given the choice I'd go for Eurosport, the BBC is old and stale.

[ltfc39]

Unfortunately you're part of an ever-shrinking group, snooker needs to appeal to a broader audience, time to stop whining and accept change, it's for the better.

Seconded.

Things DO have to change. It's the entertainment business. The public want to be entertained and unfortunately, sports events have to get shorter. Look at T20 cricket and the boom that created. Having said that, T20 cricket also made people appreciate the longer form of the game - test matches, far more. T20 cricket, in this country is not as popular as it once was.

On a side note, a very nervy start from both players in this opening clash of the 'inaugural' World Open. Neil Robertson taking it. Players very cautious.

[montoya10]

Seconded.

Things DO have to change. It's the entertainment business. The public want to be entertained and unfortunately, sports events have to get shorter. Look at T20 cricket and the boom that created. Having said that, T20 cricket also made people appreciate the longer form of the game - test matches, far more. T20 cricket, in this country is not as popular as it once was.

On a side note, a very nervy start from both players in this opening clash of the 'inaugural' World Open. Neil Robertson taking it. Players very cautious.

Not a surprise, right?
You will crash out when you lose three frames.
No interval to get yourself back in the match.
Crowd looks dreadful, on the other hand.

[ltfc39]

Not a surprise, right?
You will crash out when you lose three frames.
No interval to get yourself back in the match.
Crowd looks dreadful, on the other hand.

Positive as always, eh? You can tell you're a snooker fan.

Are you trying to suggest to me that it would've been any different if it was the bog standard Last 32, best-of-9 format?!

[snooky147]

I have always quite liked Robertson but he has turned into a total borefest to watch. He did the exact same in the WC Final.

[theasaris]

Has anybody got a livestream link for me?

[alex_5525]

I have always quite liked Robertson but he has turned into a total borefest to watch. He did the exact same in the WC Final.

i would deffinatly agree, the wc final was a poor match, dunno how he won.

omg bored!

and the commentators keep talking such crap too...

[snooker_147]

I think there were too much safety battle in the match... I found the time spent of each frame is quite long...In my opinion, it is quite boring...

[alex_5525]

now were talking, that was an insaine frame

[Asi]

only 2 hours for eurosport...any link?

[spike]

Nice ton from Robertson to take the match 3-1.

[visionaire]

Guess this was an unforeseen consequence of the short format, I was very much hoping for quickfire action but I think theres just too much on the line.

[very.tee]

Just taking a break from making apple danishes to say...

Come On Ali!!!:snooker:

As for this format, I'm not complaining There's only been one match, and all snooker is good snooker anyway :snooker: