Ssb - day one in beijing

[MySockPuppet]

Eight invited Asian wildcards face the eight lowest ranked qualifiers on day one of the Sanyuan Foods China Open.

Gone are the days when this was an extended practice session for the main tour players. The Chinese invitees are very dangerous, not least Tian Pengfei, who faces Mark Davis in the first TV match.

Tian was on the pro circuit last season and beat Andrew Higginson in the campaign-opening Shanghai Masters.

For reasons unknown, Tony Drago's match with Shi Shuamgyang has not been put on one of the two main TV tables by the organisers so the fast potting Maltese won't feature in Eurosport's opening day coverage.

Drago has had an outstanding season and proven that though, yes, it is tough to survive as a first season professional it's not impossible.

He won four matches to qualify for the Welsh Open and another four to get to Beijing.

Another veteran campaigner, James Wattana (it doesn't seem that long since he was the young up-and-coming dangerman) has also qualified and tackles Au Chi Wai.

Bjorn Haneveer is Belgium's best ever player, although young Luca Brecel - currently defending his EBSA European under 19 crown in Malta - may in time assume that mantle.

Haneveer plays Yu Delu, a stalwart of the wildcard round, for the right to meet Marco Fu in the first round proper.

The wildcard day is not, let's be honest, one that is usually remembered fondly but it's still good to have snooker back on our screens and the top players get the tournament well and truly going on Tuesday.



More...

[rivercard]

For reasons unknown, Tony Drago's match with Shi Shuamgyang has not been put on one of the two main TV tables by the organisers so the fast potting Maltese won't feature in Eurosport's opening day coverage.

Can't understand that. Maybe they rated the chances of the other wildcards better, but why invite a total unknown like Shuamgyang then? He can't be that awful.. I really wanted to watch Tony's match as I have a feeling the Perry-Drago/Shi match won't be televised either. Strange decision..

[Acrowot]

Do we need sky to see these games, or can they be seen elsewhere?
:snooker:

[noel]

Do we need sky to see these games, or can they be seen elsewhere?
:snooker:

Acrowot...
there should be a few good live web streams
[ such as this indicates http://www.livesportontv.com/snooker/ ] starting tomorrow.

Lots of TSFers, myself included, live in parts of the world that don't get Sky or BBC or Eurosport, etc.
so we rely upon free web streaming to fulfill our interest [ addiction ] with live snooker tournaments.

We'll be sure to start up a thread with China Live Streaming links and updates.


Cheers.


=o)

Noel

[Freddie Ng]

There are a lot China streaming website.. but all of them in chinese..
Like PPS or UUsee...

[Terry Davidson]

freddie:

Would you mind publishing them just in case we lose channelsurfing or justin or fromsport. In that situation I don't care if I can't understand the commentary as long as I can hear the ref

Terry

[noel]

freddie:

Would you mind publishing them just in case we lose channelsurfing or justin or fromsport. In that situation I don't care if I can't understand the commentary as long as I can hear the ref

Terry

Courtesy of Darrus...

http://www.thesnookerforum.com/board...41&postcount=1




=o)

Noel

[Terry Davidson]

Got them. I think TVU will for sure have them but commentators are Chinese

Thanks
Terry

[Freddie Ng]

Darrus already post it up for me..

Great..

[ore]

Can't understand that. Maybe they rated the chances of the other wildcards better, but why invite a total unknown like Shuamgyang then? He can't be that awful.. I really wanted to watch Tony's match as I have a feeling the Perry-Drago/Shi match won't be televised either. Strange decision..

Good guess, Rory is losing 0-3 at the moment.

[goldengirl]

Raises the old question - how fair is it, ranking points & money wise, to have a wildcard round??

[Odrl]

Raises the old question - how fair is it, ranking points & money wise, to have a wildcard round??

It makes no difference, surely? The wildcards are not eligible for any prize money or ranking points, so it still goes to the qualifiers, as if they had lost in the last32 round.

Or is that not the case...?

[ore]

It makes no difference, surely? The wildcards are not eligible for any prize money or ranking points, so it still goes to the qualifiers, as if they had lost in the last32 round.

Or is that not the case...?

I think the question is about fairness for the qualifiers - M Davis and Rory now don't have a chance to battle for higher than top32 in the tournament, so no chance for more money or points.

[Odrl]

I think the question is about fairness for the qualifiers - M Davis and Rory now don't have a chance to battle for higher than top32 in the tournament, so no chance for more money or points.

Well yes, but they did lose to amateurs, so why should they have a crack at a top16 player?

I know it's not that simple, but there are two things these wildcard rounds prove over and over again:

The first is that there are a lot of Asian players outside of the Main Tour, who can play just as well as some of the qualifiers that get through to the venue. If they can beat someone that actually qualified for the last32 round, you would have to assume that they would have had a very good chance of beating someone in the 1st qualifying round as well. But they have limited chances of becoming professional, mostly because of the limited number of qualifying spots they are eligible for, and also because moving to the UK to play on the PIOS isn't a luxury everybody can afford.

And the other thing is the "home advantage" for Chinese players in China. It's pretty obvious as it is, with both Ding and Liang having their first major success at home, but it's there on a smaller scale as well. A lot the wildcard players have had some success as a wildcard and later turned professional, only to get a bit lost in qualifiers in the UK. And now you have Tian Pengfei and Liu Chuang back as wildcards, and they prove themselves again. It just shows you what kind of a disadvantage playing in the UK must actually be for them. Imagine how the likes of Xiao Guodong or Zhang Anda must feel, when they have to play their qualifying matches in Wales, for what is supposed to be their home tournament. I bet we would have seen some of them qualify for the venue if the qualifiers were held in China.

So as fairness goes, I think the likes of Mark Davis and Rory McLeod still have it better than the likes of Tian Pengfei or Yu Delu.

[Rane]

It makes no difference, surely? The wildcards are not eligible for any prize money or ranking points, so it still goes to the qualifiers, as if they had lost in the last32 round.

Or is that not the case...?

Oh yes. Rory McLeod has just definitely lost his chance of getting inside top 32. I think that would have meant a lot to him.