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[MySockPuppet]

So the World Open field is being whittled down in Sheffield and later today the last 64 will be known.

World Snooker have already announced eight matches to be held over to the TV stages in Glasgow next month and another three will be decided later today.

In fact, make that two as Jimmy White, ever popular but a rare presence before the cameras these days, will face Paul Davison in Glasgow.

The decision on the other two matches will be taken by World Snooker and the BBC, the host broadcasters.

They won’t have to agonise for long. If Brazilian Igor Figueiredo beats Dave Gilbert he will be paired with twice world champion Mark Williams, which would be perfect for TV.

If Alan McManus beats Chris Norbury he will face teenager Anthony McGill in what would be a battle of two Glaswegians as well as youth v experience.

Shaun Murphy’s match against Dave Harold is also a possibility, even if they did once serve up the longest frame in snooker history.

The shorter format hasn’t created that many big shocks yet. Much has been made of the World Open being the ‘FA Cup of snooker’ but a big factor in the FA Cup is the venue of each match, home advantage whether at a big stadium or a tiny non league ground.

Even though the World Open matches are shorter than for all the other tournaments, I suspect the cream will still rise to the top.

Some will doubtless feel the matches are too short for a ranking event but it's worth remembering why this tournament is happening at all: the BBC doesn’t want the Grand Prix. The only way they will show four tournaments instead of three next season is if something profoundly different can be found.

The World Open may fit the bill. Then again it may not. But we won’t find out until Glasgow and it’s in everyone’s interests to try and make it work.


More...

[Odrl]

It's become somewhat unpopular to criticize the World Open these days, and perhaps it's getting a bit old. But since I have nothing better to do at the moment...

Some will doubtless feel the matches are too short for a ranking event but it's worth remembering why this tournament is happening at all: the BBC doesn’t want the Grand Prix. The only way they will show four tournaments instead of three next season is if something profoundly different can be found.

Yeah, and when the BBC decides that it doesn't want to show the UK Championship anymore, let's turn that into a non-event as well. I find it hard to believe that people have just accepted this, and are not more outraged.

Sure, it's great that the BBC has been such a loyal supporter of snooker, and we know that having the BBC on board has been crucial in keeping snooker going during the difficult years, but that doesn't mean we should allow snooker to become the BBC's hostage. We are talking about what was once the 4th biggest snooker tournament, with a rich history. Surely in the year 2010, you can offer it to other broadcasters, rather than dumbing it down like this?

What was the point of bringing Sky and ITV into the picture this season? One is supposed to show a best-of-1 shot-clock event that is going to be more about the show than the actual snooker itself, and the other is showing a complicated, cretinous circus act that has little to do with snooker as well, no matter how much the snooker media tries to portray it as "snooker's return to ITV". So what was the point? Is this the only type of event these channels are interested in? Or is it a stepping stone to give World Snooker more options in the future? And if it's the latter, why not just let the BBC's Grand Prix contract expire and then deal with it, rather than this ill-advised preemptive transformation?

The World Open may fit the bill. Then again it may not. But we won’t find out until Glasgow and it’s in everyone’s interests to try and make it work.

Is it? There is certainly no point in trying to sabotage something when people have put in the effort to make it work. Especially if the only agenda behind it is to try and improve the sport of snooker. But do I wish for this event to be a big success? If I'm honest, no. I do wish that people learn from it though. I wish that people see that it's a bad idea for an event like this to count towards the rankings. I wish that people see that by shortening the matches, for whatever is gained, even more is taken away. And I wish that people see that this may be a step in the wrong direction.

But what if they don't? What if the loyal fans support this experiment like they do every other event, and what if it's marketed well enough to get good ratings? Then maybe it's the China Open's turn to be dumbed down next? If that's even a possibility, then honestly, I'd rather see the World Open be a complete and total disaster.

[snooky147]

Very, very well said Odrl.

[beechy1212]

Wasn't it the Grand Prix in Scotland last year, featuring all the top players, especially home boys like Hendry, Higgins etc, where no one turned up to watch? Loads of empty seats all over. Something had to be done.

[Looki]

Wasn't it the Grand Prix in Scotland last year, featuring all the top players, especially home boys like Hendry, Higgins etc, where no one turned up to watch? Loads of empty seats all over. Something had to be done.

The attendance has been very poor indeed but I don't know about the TV/internet viewing figures. Does anyone have any idea how popular Grand Prix has been in the last few years?

I'm not against the new format. In the beginning I was sceptical but what can you do. Let's see how it works out.

Odrl, is it possible that these shorter format tournaments may work as a stepping stone for the possible new audience so that they could later be interested in the longer formats too as they get addicted like the rest us here?

[Odrl]

Odrl, is it possible that these shorter format tournaments may work as a stepping stone for the possible new audience so that they could later be interested in the longer formats too as they get addicted like the rest us here?

That would be great, but it may be wishful thinking...

Basically, when people are not that interested in a particular sport, the best bet is that they'll only watch the top event. For instance, I'm not that bothered about football, but I've still watched the Champions League final for the past eleven years. There are many people who are completely obsessed with the World Cup when it's on, but forget about football for the next four years. There are people for whom the sport of cycling only exists for 23 days in July, and there are people who don't follow tennis outside of the Grand Slams. It's those events that get people addicted to a sport and get them to watch minor events as well, and not the other way around.

In snooker, this kind of event is the World Championship. It gets all the loyal snooker fans, but also all of the people who are only interested in snooker for those 17 days every year, and also those who are not really interested at all but still have a look because of all the media hype surrounding the event. Those 17 days are the time when snooker has its best chance to get people addicted. Is the WC failing as the event that is supposed to present snooker at its best? I don't think so personally. It brings the most drama and excitement, long nights, great stories of success and failure, and often some of the best snooker. And even on TV, you can just feel the atmosphere and all of the history behind the tournament and the venue. There may be a crisis in the UK, but how many people across Europe who are recent snooker fans got hooked on snooker through watching the WC? I would guess many.

So I am skeptical about bringing in new audiences through minor events, but even if I wasn't... Whenever people come up with a new format that looks somewhat cheap, they try to defend it by saying it will bring a new, younger audience to snooker. It was the case with 6reds, then oneforseven, then the sky shootout, and recently with power snooker. People keep saying that "these events are not here to replace traditional snooker", and I'm thankful for that because that really would be a tragedy, but how exactly are they supposed to promote snooker? They take a game that is in a large part a slow-paced mental battle played as a cue sport, a game that requires a lot of patience on part of the viewer, and to make it faster and shorter, they take those definitive attributes that make snooker what it is away.

I think the thinking behind this is that people who like this sort of slow entertainment are a rare breed, so they try to target everyone else. But ultimately, even if you like those new formats, there is no guarantee that you'll like proper snooker as well, because those formats don't really represent what snooker is about. So, people are either wasting their time, or they expect snooker to go in that direction eventually. And that's why the alarm bells go off. The World Open format doesn't really tamper with the game itself, so it's still snooker, but the changes were made in the same spirit as those cheap formats. And in this case, it is replacing traditional snooker. So, as a previously loyal fan of snooker, I can't help but to feel let down and taken for granted when a traditional event is replaced by an event that is supposed to appeal to people who have no predisposition to like snooker in the first place.

[matoski]

Great said Odrl. You realy read my mind.
If BBC doesn't want the Grand Prix, then who cares. You British people allways refer to BBC as the main channel that supports snooker, but i ensure you, you are wrong. Eurosport is the channel that transmits all the ranking events plus the main invitational events, as well as six reds and WSS. They don't mind if there are 6, 7, 8 or more ranking tournaments. They'll transmit all of them, including the unwanted Grand Prix.
And about the format of the World Open, i can say only one thing, PATHETIC!!!!

[wildJONESEYE]

Great said Odrl. You realy read my mind.
If BBC doesn't want the Grand Prix, then who cares. You British people allways refer to BBC as the main channel that supports snooker, but i ensure you, you are wrong. Eurosport is the channel that transmits all the ranking events plus the main invitational events, as well as six reds and WSS. They don't mind if there are 6, 7, 8 or more ranking tournaments. They'll transmit all of them, including the unwanted Grand Prix.
And about the format of the World Open, i can say only one thing, PATHETIC!!!!

Eurosport is second channel not the host channel.

they hosted the British Open once but apart from that they haven't... would they be prepared to host everything ?

[beechy1212]

Eurosport is not a terrestrial channel like the BBC. Not everyone has access to Eurosport.

It's great Eurosport covers a lot of snooker but it's broadcasting qualities and the worst i've ever heard. The picture is ok but the sound is dreadful. Far too much noise can be heard. That needs addressing.

[matoski]

Eurosport is not a terrestrial channel like the BBC. Not everyone has access to Eurosport.

It's great Eurosport covers a lot of snooker but it's broadcasting qualities and the worst i've ever heard. The picture is ok but the sound is dreadful. Far too much noise can be heard. That needs addressing.

Don't you have eurosport on cable tv? I can't understand that. or you still watch tv with antenas on the roofs and balconies

[Souwester]

Actually cable tv is only available in some of the bigger UK cities, so accessible to only a small proportion of the population. We're in the process of 'going digital' but for most people that does mean set-top or integrated digital tuners, using signal from external antennae. Subscriptions to Sky's satellite services are darned expensive.

[magicman]

I agree with a lot of what you are saying Odrl but not about the Grand Prix.

The head of the BBC didn't want this tournament anymore and so a change of format was proposed and I, for one, think it has generated a lot of interest in the snooker world, especially among prospective pro's and top amateurs. Unfortunately there isn't a plethora of sponsors and TV companies jumping in to help support the game, and so when an existing company want to back out, the correct response isn't to just let them leave without a fight and try elsewhere. At least it's still snooker as we know it, not a 6red, oneforseven, powerball or shot clock competition. If other businesses or broadcasters were standing in line to take over events we wouldn't need to keep inventing nonsense tournaments to try and generate interest.

BTW if people are supposed to get hooked by watching the World Championships I hope they missed the Robertson/Dott final this year as that was the worst final of any tournament I've seen in the last decade.

[wildJONESEYE]

I agree with a lot of what you are saying Odrl but not about the Grand Prix.

The head of the BBC didn't want this tournament anymore and so a change of format was proposed and I, for one, think it has generated a lot of interest in the snooker world, especially among prospective pro's and top amateurs. Unfortunately there isn't a plethora of sponsors and TV companies jumping in to help support the game, and so when an existing company want to back out, the correct response isn't to just let them leave without a fight and try elsewhere. At least it's still snooker as we know it, not a 6red, oneforseven, powerball or shot clock competition. If other businesses or broadcasters were standing in line to take over events we wouldn't need to keep inventing nonsense tournaments to try and generate interest.

BTW if people are supposed to get hooked by watching the World Championships I hope they missed the Robertson/Dott final this year as that was the worst final of any tournament I've seen in the last decade.

WRONG

the Robertson/Dott final had drama it had excitement it had everything snooker should be about it had guts that could be where snooker is going wrong by trying to speed up everything. snooker was at it most popular in the 80s when matches was slow where break-building wasn't as important.

[magicman]

RIGHT

The Robbo/Dott World final had the worst standard of snooker in any final I can remember. It was so "exciting" quality players all over the country were texting me how boring it was. Robertson took 5 minutes to decide on one shot and eventually just put Dott back in! They both played poorly, and the battle lacked interest - for me and an awful lot of people I know.

[Acrowot]

We still watch it on calor gas!! Very few in the UK have cable and most of us cannot afford sky, as the price is astronomical.
:snooker: