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Ssb - the quarters
The quarter-finals of the International Championship feature seven ranking event winners plus a wildcard in every sense, 14 year-old Lu Haotian, who becomes the youngest player to figure in the last eight of a major tournament.
If he beats Neil Robertson it will be the biggest shock in snooker history. Whatever happens, he has demonstrated considerable potential, not least because he is at an age where he can only improve.
I thought Robertson was very strong again yesterday. Last season he won the Masters, was a semi-finalist in the UK Championship and quarter-finalist in the World Championship.
This new event feels like another major and the Aussie has come good again.
But so too have several other players, including Shaun Murphy. He missed a straightforward red which would have moved him towards a 5-1 lead over Ding Junhui yesterday. Ding rallied to 4-4 but Murphy finished off very well in the last two frames.
This was reminiscent of the way he closed out the 2005 world final against Matthew Stevens, winning the last two frames from 16-16 with big breaks.
It was a match too far for Aditya Mehta, who was beaten 6-0 by Judd Trump. He now faces Mark Allen, which will probably be quicker than Ricky Walden's laborious 6-3 defeat of Mark Selby.
This lasted five hours, 21 minutes, finishing at 1.30am local time. A right old grind, then, but this may not have entirely been the fault of the players.
Away from the relentless PR about snooker in China, two players complained publically yesterday about playing conditions.
Both Peter Ebdon and Dominic Dale said the tables were rolling off. Ebdon told The Sun: "I played six shots in the first four frames that rolled off completely. It’s an absolute nightmare — you don’t know what shots to play.”
Dale commented: “With the Star tables, I don’t know if it is a manufacturing thing or bad fitting but they are not always good for the level.”
I'm not enough of an expert on tables to comment on whether Star's models are better or worse than those which have been used before but it may well be that it's the venue that is the main problem.
It was changed at late notice. Apparently the original one was needed for something else by the state government, and I'm guessing you don't argue with them.
Problems were not so noticeable on the TV tables but Ebdon and Dale were playing away from the cameras. I suppose some would accuse Dale of sour grapes but Ebdon won, although he does seem to obsess about conditions more than many other players.
Playing conditions on the circuit are generally very good, but there have been plenty of venues - including a number in Britain - which have had problems.
Ultimately the least a player should expect is for the table they play on to be level.
Anyway, none of this alters the fact that it's a cracking line-up. The prize fund seems to have focused a few minds and the best of 11s have imbued on the tournament a feeling of prestige purely through being over a longer distance than all the other Chinese events.
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If he beats Neil Robertson it will be the biggest shock in snooker history. Whatever happens, he has demonstrated considerable potential, not least because he is at an age where he can only improve.
I thought Robertson was very strong again yesterday. Last season he won the Masters, was a semi-finalist in the UK Championship and quarter-finalist in the World Championship.
This new event feels like another major and the Aussie has come good again.
But so too have several other players, including Shaun Murphy. He missed a straightforward red which would have moved him towards a 5-1 lead over Ding Junhui yesterday. Ding rallied to 4-4 but Murphy finished off very well in the last two frames.
This was reminiscent of the way he closed out the 2005 world final against Matthew Stevens, winning the last two frames from 16-16 with big breaks.
It was a match too far for Aditya Mehta, who was beaten 6-0 by Judd Trump. He now faces Mark Allen, which will probably be quicker than Ricky Walden's laborious 6-3 defeat of Mark Selby.
This lasted five hours, 21 minutes, finishing at 1.30am local time. A right old grind, then, but this may not have entirely been the fault of the players.
Away from the relentless PR about snooker in China, two players complained publically yesterday about playing conditions.
Both Peter Ebdon and Dominic Dale said the tables were rolling off. Ebdon told The Sun: "I played six shots in the first four frames that rolled off completely. It’s an absolute nightmare — you don’t know what shots to play.”
Dale commented: “With the Star tables, I don’t know if it is a manufacturing thing or bad fitting but they are not always good for the level.”
I'm not enough of an expert on tables to comment on whether Star's models are better or worse than those which have been used before but it may well be that it's the venue that is the main problem.
It was changed at late notice. Apparently the original one was needed for something else by the state government, and I'm guessing you don't argue with them.
Problems were not so noticeable on the TV tables but Ebdon and Dale were playing away from the cameras. I suppose some would accuse Dale of sour grapes but Ebdon won, although he does seem to obsess about conditions more than many other players.
Playing conditions on the circuit are generally very good, but there have been plenty of venues - including a number in Britain - which have had problems.
Ultimately the least a player should expect is for the table they play on to be level.
Anyway, none of this alters the fact that it's a cracking line-up. The prize fund seems to have focused a few minds and the best of 11s have imbued on the tournament a feeling of prestige purely through being over a longer distance than all the other Chinese events.
More...
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