UK Championship 2012 - 1st round discussion

[daffie]

And a midnight finish over here as well, very rare in 2012. :smile:

Should be a good day tomorrow as well. The two matches I'm particularly looking forward to are Davis-Cao and Allen-Fu. :smile:

Two great matches in prospect indeed...looking forward to it. In the meantime it's over to MOTD...absolutely diabolical, it really is

[montoya10]

Day Two:

First session:

Murphy against Milkins. Understandably, I expect fluent snooker from both, but I doubt if Milkins can make it past Murphy, a good scorer on his own. I see his chances to win more than three frames slim.

Davis against Cao. Can Cao impress us again? I think he will, by pushing Davis to the very edge. A deciding frame victory is what I foresee for Davis in this match, although Cao may end up outplaying him completely.

Second session:

Trump against Joyce. Trump comes in as the heavy favorite. There isn't much to argue about his form at the moment, so, I shall just pass. He will most likely overwhelm Joyce in this match.

Carter against Davis. This is an interesting pairing. Carter hasn't been on fire as of late if we judge by his results, but he has a fairly good record here in UK, I suppose, so, I'll slightly favor him, although Davis will most likely stick to him for the early parts.

Third session:

Bingham against Lisowski. One of the most intriguing pairing for me for today. I'm looking forward to see what Lisowski is made of. If he can imitate the strong matchplay White managed to keep up at times last night, he has a shot at making it past Bingham. On the other hand, Bingham is in the form of his life, making it very difficult to make a prediction against him at this stage. I'll go with 6-5 to Lisowski, partly due to my wishful thinking.

Allen against Fu. When he's having a good day, Fu is one of the most difficult players on tour to defeat. He plays solid match snooker, scores as heavily as anyone out there and makes it hell for his opponent. He has had good appearances here in the past, too, so, I think he may reproduce a bit of his old form and turn this into a thrilling encounter. Allen is one of the pre-tournament favorites, however, and will not let Fu get under his skin so easily. Another one possibly going to the final frame. I predict another surprise and pick up Fu's name here.

[Odrl]

I agree with you on the first two matches. I assume Eurosport will only have snooker on one channel today, so they will undoubtedly pick Murphy, but I'm more interested in the other match. Usually some of the lower-ranked players disappear for a while after a big success, we haven't seen much of Jones this season for example, but Cao did qualify for a couple of events, and you can't really knock John Higgins out of a major tournament by accident. I don't think he is likely to be one of the key players in the context of the entire tournament, but he could certainly make the early rounds more interesting. It's funny, Mark Davis should probably be considered the easiest seed anyone could have drawn, but in a way it's sometimes better to draw a stronger, but less consistent player. Carter is always vulnerable, or Ding for example, but Cao will have to play well to beat Davis in any case.

I think the evening matches will see the seeds prevailing... I have to be honest, Lisowski hasn't impressed me so far. He may very well have a better career than Bingham, but at this point in time Bingham is a player who plays one-visit or two-visit snooker, while Lisowski is sill dealing with the pressure of playing on TV. He should get better with every appearance, but I just have a feeling he isn't quite there yet.

Fu against Allen is the match of the round for me, and as I said in my opening post, they are very well matched on their top game. Fu has played well this season, two good tournaments in the Far East, but in a way, you just expect him to play some awful stuff now, considering how inconsistent he's been in the past. He played well in both of his big matches against Allen in 2011, so perhaps he will raise his game again. It could go close, but if either of them wins convincingly, surely it will be Allen.

Looking forward to it in any case... :wink:

[Odrl]

Oh dear, Cao is completely out of sorts today. He has gifted Davis so many chances... And he has that defeated look on his face, like halfway through his match against Wang Yuchen at the International Championship. He came back strongly in that match, can he do it again?

I doubt it, Davis is too solid. The clearance he made in the 3rd frame to go 3-0 up was particularly good. :smile:

[mythman69]

Yes, Davis is playing well. Cao not so much . . .

[montoya10]

Yes, Odrl, we ended up getting surprised with Cao's sloppy play.
About Murphy against Milkins, my prediction looks okay, as Milkins didn't give Murphy a threatening run.

Now, Trump against Joyce is underway on Eurosport 2

[daffie]

Yes, Odrl, we ended up getting surprised with Cao's sloppy play.
About Murphy against Milkins, my prediction looks okay, as Milkins didn't give Murphy a threatening run.

Now, Trump against Joyce is underway on Eurosport 2

Yup...on BBC2 as well.

Edit : very nervy from Mark. He had a great chance to win the first frame. Amazing miss on the green. Could go either way now.

[Giggity1984]

I notice Steve d is using a white ferrule. Looks strange on a snooker cue. Lol

[montoya10]

Most embarrassing miss I've ever seen from Joyce.

[daffie]

Trump must be very relieved to win this frame. Mark missed a real chance...kicking himself now.

[montoya10]

By the way, I wasn't referring to the simple green he missed. I meant his first snooker escape attempt in which he missed by a couple of miles.

Anyway, Trump has sealed the frame since then.

[DeanH]

I notice Steve d is using a white ferrule. Looks strange on a snooker cue. Lol

yep, there is a whole other thread that started a few months ago about this fibre (I think, actual material not known) ferrule that JP has put on to his new cue which I believe is heavy (20oz) and nicknamed The Beast.

[cally]

Please please please get rid of willie thorne. jUST SHUT THE F@@@@@ UP FOR 2 MINS WILL YA WILLIE..

He just can't help himself speaking shat constantly and spouting rubbish aye.

Ain't got a clue how a good commentator should be.

Annoying as ...................................

Rant over, Now breathe and chill winstone...

[SnookerFan]

This is hard work by Steve and Ali.

[SnookerFan]

Please please please get rid of willie thorne. jUST SHUT THE F@@@@@ UP FOR 2 MINS WILL YA WILLIE..

He just can't help himself speaking shat constantly and spouting rubbish aye.

Ain't got a clue how a good commentator should be.

Annoying as ...................................

Rant over, Now breathe and chill winstone...

I tend to have phased the commentators out today.