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Ssb - ronnie's night against day
Ronnie O'Sullivan is in Newport and it wouldn't surprise me if he played well this week.
He's coming in at the latest possible stage and so there won't be much hanging around for him, something he loathes.
I'm not sure O'Sullivan rates the Welsh Open particularly highly but this may be a plus. He was certainly relaxed back in 2005 when he went to the cinema between sessions of the final, arrived back with about five minutes to spare and went out and beat Stephen Hendry 9-8 to retain the title.
Ryan Day played superbly to see off Jimmy White but I suspect he will have to do so again tonight.
Like the World Open, this shorter format event is not producing many shocks. In fact, just one top 16 player (Ricky Walden) has lost so far.
Mark Selby could easily have gone out but Stuart Bingham failed to put him away leading 52-0 in their decider and Selby produced a typically steely clearance to win it on the black.
From such first round great escapes have tournament winners been made.
Peter Ebdon represents perhaps the last bastion of resistance against snooker's new era, despite the fact he is personally benefiting from it.
The change in the ranking system - which Ebdon opposed - has allowed him to return to the top 16 and thus be seeded through to the Crucible. He will appear there for the 20th successive year - something he is justifiably proud of.
In Berlin earlier this month Eurosport recorded interviews with a host of players to ask them about their views on new formats and general changes to the circuit.
All were positive, willing to embrace change for the better good of the sport even if they didn't necessarily agree with every aspect of it.
Ebdon, though, took the opportunity to deride the new Welsh Open format, calling it a "huge leap in the wrong direction."
His chief bugbear is the lack of intervals. He said if the table is not brushed during this midsession break that "there will be a lots of finger marks on the table, a lot of chalk marks all over the table. It means there is more chance that the player will get kicks, big bounces off the cushions."
In fact, from 2-2 with Dominic Dale yesterday Ebdon finished off with breaks of 115 and 95, although this didn't stop him grabbing the brush from the table fitter and making a show of brushing it himself.
Ebdon is perfectly entitled to think whatever he likes but the groundswell in the game is that snooker is on the up and that format changes and fresh ideas are crucial to maintaining the momentum.
He reached the semi-finals of the World Open so, to his great surprise, Ebdon may actually be a short format specialist.
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He's coming in at the latest possible stage and so there won't be much hanging around for him, something he loathes.
I'm not sure O'Sullivan rates the Welsh Open particularly highly but this may be a plus. He was certainly relaxed back in 2005 when he went to the cinema between sessions of the final, arrived back with about five minutes to spare and went out and beat Stephen Hendry 9-8 to retain the title.
Ryan Day played superbly to see off Jimmy White but I suspect he will have to do so again tonight.
Like the World Open, this shorter format event is not producing many shocks. In fact, just one top 16 player (Ricky Walden) has lost so far.
Mark Selby could easily have gone out but Stuart Bingham failed to put him away leading 52-0 in their decider and Selby produced a typically steely clearance to win it on the black.
From such first round great escapes have tournament winners been made.
Peter Ebdon represents perhaps the last bastion of resistance against snooker's new era, despite the fact he is personally benefiting from it.
The change in the ranking system - which Ebdon opposed - has allowed him to return to the top 16 and thus be seeded through to the Crucible. He will appear there for the 20th successive year - something he is justifiably proud of.
In Berlin earlier this month Eurosport recorded interviews with a host of players to ask them about their views on new formats and general changes to the circuit.
All were positive, willing to embrace change for the better good of the sport even if they didn't necessarily agree with every aspect of it.
Ebdon, though, took the opportunity to deride the new Welsh Open format, calling it a "huge leap in the wrong direction."
His chief bugbear is the lack of intervals. He said if the table is not brushed during this midsession break that "there will be a lots of finger marks on the table, a lot of chalk marks all over the table. It means there is more chance that the player will get kicks, big bounces off the cushions."
In fact, from 2-2 with Dominic Dale yesterday Ebdon finished off with breaks of 115 and 95, although this didn't stop him grabbing the brush from the table fitter and making a show of brushing it himself.
Ebdon is perfectly entitled to think whatever he likes but the groundswell in the game is that snooker is on the up and that format changes and fresh ideas are crucial to maintaining the momentum.
He reached the semi-finals of the World Open so, to his great surprise, Ebdon may actually be a short format specialist.
More...