The Snookerbacker Blog

Time to kiss goodbye to the girls until next time.

Good morning all. Firstly congratulations to an old favourite of the blog, Marcus ‘Scruffbag’ Campbell on his victory over in Germany yesterday.

Going into the final I had Liang as the likely winner given he seemed to be making centuries for fun all day and had dispensed with two of my best men in the process.

Phillip has downloaded the final part of the event and this can be viewed here. Top Drawer performance from our man in Germany over the weekend I’m sure you’ll agree.

A further congratulations while I’m at it goes to Chris, who produced a class display to win the prediction contest and scooped the £50 free bet from Betfred. His win moved him up one place on the Order of Merit or, Top of the Pots list to 4th spot.

Top of the Pots is still the consistent Epure who, though yet to win an event outright is always there or thereabouts. Blog co-pilot and winner of Event Five One Step is now ranked second while ‘New Kid on the Block’ Bradstores sits in third waiting to pounce.

For the full update on the movers and shakers on this list click here.

I’ll be confirming hopefully later today that we’ll be having another contest at the weekend, a packed weekend it is too with the EPTC4 from Gloucester with live streaming! as well as eight hours of Power Snooker on ITV4 on Saturday, featuring the likes of Ronnie, Jimmy and blog regular Captain Carter. I’ll look forward to hearing Ali’s insights on the Captain’s Log.

Finally, I can’t leave without directing you to yet more ranting from Shaun Murphy here. This time he says he wants to introduce a shot-clock to the World Championship. Is that Joe or Fred Davis I just heard turning in his grave?

Event 7 Final Standings:

Blog Regulars are calling for more tournaments in Germany

Good Morning everyone. It’s Finals Day over in Russelsheim after the bottom section of the draw played down to their final eight yesterday.

It’s fair to say that there will be a veritable plethora of mustard cashmere on show with team skipper Mark Selby (7/1) leading the way and being ably assisted by a quality crew of Judd Trump (22/1), Marco Fu (25/1), Barry Hawkins (33/1) and Andrew Higginson (33/1). The odds on a mustard success must now be very short.

Yesterday saw another 147, this time by Mark Williams who then surprisingly lost 4-0 to Gerard Greene. Blog spy Phillip even managed to catch this on camera and it can be watched here.

Another talking point yesterday surrounded the behaviour of Ding Junhui in his match against Liang Wenbo, which Liang won 4-0. I don’t think Ding was all that bothered though as can be witnessed from Phillip’s film here.

But surely the main talking point is the debate about which of this weekend’s blog article pictures is most pleasing to the eye. Regulars are looking forward to the next event in Germany by all accounts as it brings with it a chance to put up pictures of girls at the Oktoberfest half-dressed in traditional garments.

But there is only one garment that concerns me today and that’s the Mustard Cashmere’s, will we see another victory for Team SB over in Deutschland come this evening?

Final

Liang Wenbo 0-4 Marcus Campbell

Chris won the Prediction Contest. The Order of Merit will be updated when I surface tomorrow.

Prediction Contest after Semi Finals:

Winner: Chris 173 frames (and counting! A Quality performance)

Epure 162, One Step, Godspeed and Jan-Eric 161, Urindragon and Nick 160.

Semi Finals

Ken Doherty 3-4 Marcus Campbell

Andrew Higginson 1-4 Liang Wenbo

Prediction Contest after QF’s:

Chris 164 frames, One Step and Godspeed 154, Bradstores, Nick and Urindragon 153, Jan-Eric, Darren and Duke of Snook 152.

Quarter Finals

Ken Doherty 4-1 Barry Hawkins

Marcus Campbell 4-1 Judd Trump

Mark Selby 2-4 Liang Wenbo

Michael White 2-4 Andrew Higginson

Prediction Contest Latest after Last 16 (correction):

Chris 149 frames, Duke of Snook 148, Bradstores 147, Darren 143, Epure 140.

Last 16

Ricky Walden 2-4 Barry Hawkins
Jamie Jones 3-4 Ken Doherty
Robert Milkins 1-4 Marcus Campbell
Stuart Bingham 3-4 Judd Trump
Mark Selby 4-3 Stephen Maguire (never in doubt )
Peter Ebdon 3-4 Liang Wenbo
Michael White 4-2 Marco Fu
Andrew Higginson 4-2 Gerard Greene

Latest in the Prediction Contest:

The free £50 bet from Betfred is up for grabs today and the first few are:

1. Chris 120 frames

2. Duke of Snook 119 frames

3. Darren 116 frames

4. Nick 115 frames

=5. Bradstores and Epure 114 frames

It’s extremely close this week with all to play for. Updates after every round is completed.

Another excuse to show an attractive German girl with a beer in her hand. Blatantly appealing to the male market, have I no shame?

Another day beckons as the bottom section of the draw gets under way from Germany. Story of the day yesterday being a maximum break from the superbly named Thanawat Thirapaipongboon.

The 16 year old Thai player has made a few people sit up and take notice this season and not just because they can’t spell his name properly.

He must be over the moon because not only did he post a max, he also did it against a member of Team SB. Though this achievement was clearly too much for him as Barry Hawkins safely secured a mustard place in finals day with a comfortable win along with Judd Trump who also won through (though if you read Global Snooker he lost).

Team SB Skipper Mark Selby dons the cashmere today to try and ensure more woollens are present tomorrow along with Marco Fu. One player who will not be making the team again and who has shown a blatant disrespect for Betty’s hard work is Joe Jogia who is a no-show. Shameful.. I see Mark Allen has also pulled out.

The comments crew did a top job again yesterday in my enforced absence and today I also have a lot of non-baize things on during the day so please feel free to post your updates in the comments section.

Our spy at the venue this week is Phillip who is posting insights into what it’s like there and this is particularly welcome. Keep them coming!

I’ll be back a little bit later to update the main page, I’ll also endeavour to update the Prediction Contest ahead of finals day.

Round 3

Mark Selby 4-0 Jimmy Robertson

Stephen Maguire 4-0 Michael Wasley

Peter Ebdon 4-2 Tony Drago

Neil Robertson 1-4 Liang Wenbo

Marco Fu 4-3 Luca Brecel

Michael White 4-1 Mike Dunn

Andrew Higginson 4-3 Steve Davis

Gerard Greene 4-3 Liu Chaung

Round 2

Mark Selby 4-0 Issara Kachaiwong

Paul Davison 3-4 Jimmy Robertson

Stephen Maguire 4-2 Peter Lines

Michael Wasley 4-2 Alfie Burden

Peter Ebdon 4-3 Shaun Murphy

Tony Drago 4-1 Lasse Munstermann

Neil Robertson 1-0 Matthew Stevens (Stevens concedes match)

Liang Wenbo 4-0 Ding Junhui

Liam Highfield 3-4 Marco Fu

Luca Brecel 4-3 Anthony McGill

Tom Ford 3-4 Michael White

Mike Dunn 4-2 Jamie O’Neill

Andrew Higginson 4-0 Alan McManus

Daniel Wells 2-4 Steve Davis

Dom Dale 2-4 Liu Chaung

Gerard Greene 4-0 Mark Williams

Round 1

33. Mark Selby 4-0 Chris Henry
34. Stephen Lee 0-4 Issara Kachaiwong
35. Paul Davison w/o Thomas Wacker
36. Jimmy Robertson 4-1 James McBain
37. Stephen Maguire w/o Joe Delaney
38. Peter Lines 4-0 Uli Ottner
39. Michael Wasley 4-0 Jorg Ebert
40. Alfie Burden 4-3 Ryan Day
41. Peter Ebdon 4-0 Kurt Maflin
42. Shaun Murphy 4-2 Tomasz Skalski
43. Tony Drago 4-1 Patrick Einsle
44. Jimmy White 3-4 Lasse Munstermann
45. Neil Robertson 4-3 Rod Lawler
46. Matthew Stevens w/o Allister Carter
47. Ding Junhui w/o Mark Allen
48. Liang Wenbo 4-2 Chen Zhe
49. Liam Highfield 4-3 Jimmy Michie
50. Marco Fu w/o Danny Douane
51. Andy Hicks 3-4 Luca Brecel
52. Anthony McGill 4-0 Oliver Brown
53. Tom Ford 4-2 Tony Knowles
54. Michael White 4-2 Andrew Norman
55. Jamie O’Neill w/o Joe Jogia
56. Mike Dunn 4-1 Jurgen Kessler
57. Andrew Higginson 4-0 Reanne Evans
58. Alan McManus 4-0 Gerrit Bij De Leij
59. Daniel Wells 4-0 Thomas Cesal
60. Steve Davis 4-1 Hans Blankaert
61. Dominic Dale 4-0 Dieter Meier
62. Liu Chuang 4-0 Robert Drahn
63. Gerard Greene 4-0 Rune Kampe
64. Mark Williams (147!) 4-0 Diana Schuler

Get yer jugs out: It's off to Germany this weekend.

Good morning everyone. Another weekend of snooker action gets under way today as the top half of the draw play down to eight finalists in the European Players Championship Event 3 at the Walter Kobel Sporthalle, Russelsheim in Germany.

Plenty of unfamiliar names early on should surely provide the likes of Marcus Campbell, Joe Perry and Mark King with a bit of practice, while others face more competitive opposition.

Tie of the morning on paper is Stephen Hendry against Team SB member Barry Hawkins whilst blog favourite Allan ‘The Assassin’ Taylor attempts to do a job on James Wattana.

No word yet on whether Ronnie has made it or not so the Kuldesh Johal fan club still have the champagne chilling in anticipation of a walkover for their man.

Unfortunately duty calls and I’ll be unavailable for the first part of the day but will be back later on. Blog Co-Pilot Onestep is the man cleared for take-off and will be guiding you through the early stages of the flight in the comments section.

Fingers crossed that the World Snooker scoreboard software/hardware or whatever it is they keep blaming when it stops working has made it to Central Europe safe and sound. If it has you can keep up with the action here to.

Just a quick piece of information that was flagged up late last night on The Snooker Forum that the BBC are apparently dropping the World Open coverage next year. This is a real shame but to me not wholly unexpected, I think they’ve been wanting rid of this event in it’s various guises now for a couple of years. Hopefully another channel will step in to save the day, there’s plenty of time and at least it gives Barry time to go scouting.

Anyway, let’s not let the nasty old Beeb taint what has been a good start to Bazza’s reign of terror and concentrate on matters in hand.

I’ll say Auf Wiedersehen for now.

Round 3

97. Ricky Walden 4-1 Andrew Pagett
98. Barry Hawkins 4-1 Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon (147!!)
99. Martin Gould 2-4 Jamie Jones
100. Jamie Cope 1-4 Ken Doherty
101. Jak Jones 1-4 Robert Milkins
102. Kyren Wilson 2-4 Marcus Campbell
103. Stuart Bingham 4-3 Mark King
104. James Wattana 2-4 Judd Trump

Round 2

65. Barry Pinches 1-4 Ricky Walden
66. Kuldesh Johal 2-4 Andrew Pagett
67. Barry Hawkins 4-3 Bjorn Haneveer
68. Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon 4-1 Jamie Walker
69. Martin Gould 4-1 Liu Song
70. Jamie Jones 4-0 Ralph Enax
71. Jamie Cope 4-0 Ben Woollaston
72. Ken Doherty 4-2 Anda Zhang
73. Matthew Selt 3-4Jak Jones
74. Nigel Bond 2-4 Robert Milkins
75. Xiao Guodong 3-4 Kyren Wilson
76. Mark Joyce 1-4 Marcus Campbell
77. Adrian Gunnell 3-4 Stuart Bingham
78. Mark King 4-2 Ian McCulloch
79. Anthony Hamilton 3-4 James Wattana
80. Judd Trump 4-1 David Morris

Round 1

Barry Pinches w/0 Jamie Burnett
Ricky Walden 4-1 Michael Holt
Kuldesh Johal w/o Ronnie O’Sullivan
Andrew Pagett 4-1 Mario Wehrmann
Barry Hawkins 4-2 Stephen Hendry
Bjorn Haneveer 4-3 Ian Glover
Justin Astley 3-4 Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon
Jack Lisowski 1-4 Jamie Walker
Martin Gould 4-1 Phillip Arnold
Liu Song 4-3 Adam Wicheard
Jamie Jones 4-0 Ronnie Beniesch
Ralph Enax w/o Joe Perry
Jamie Cope w/o Michael Judge
Ben Woollaston 4-0 Phil Barnes
Igor Figueiredo 2-4 Ken Doherty
Mark Davis 2-4 Anda Zhang
Matthew Selt 4-2 Martin O’Donnell
Matthew Couch 1-4 Jak Jones
Nigel Bond 4-0 Chris McBreen
Robert Milkins 4-1 Hannes Huhn
Xiao Guodong 4-2 Marc Davis
Kyren Wilson w/o Stefan Joachim
Mark Joyce 4-0 Sari Soner
Marcus Campbell 4-1 Stephanie Ochoiski
Adrian Gunnell4-0 Maurice Le Duc
Stuart Bingham 4-2 Joe Swail
Mark King 4-0 Stefan Gerst
Ian McCulloch 4-1 Sanjin Kusan
Anthony Hamilton w/o Nico Steiner
Allan Taylor 2-4 James Wattana
Judd Trump 4-1 Noppon Saengkham
David Morris w/o Dave Harold

Wahay! Let's pot some balls!

Snooker is truly going global today as Barry Hearn has announced that from next season we will be heading off to Brasil to play some samba snooker with a new invitational event.  

The Brazilian Masters will be held in Sao Paulo from September 14-17. The first year it will be an invitation tournament, featuring 12 top players and four wildcards, the plan being to upgrade it to a ranking event soon after.

I am also available for free press passes if called upon.

It will be a shorter frame format event with best of seven’s and nine’s being the order of the day.

Regulars will know that Brasilian/German professional Igor Figuerido only started playing on a full sized table a couple of years ago, reverting from the ten foot table version played over there with one red called ‘Sinuca’. He has made a great start to his first season as a pro and even recently appeared on our screens in the World Open, looking something of a jolly giant.

I’m glad things are branching out, if there is interest there, we should tap into it and our Bazza has taken the plunge.

On the global note, I have a new little tool now that lets me see which countries have pockets of snooker fans viewing the blog and I have to say I was quite taken aback when I saw it. The only continent I’m yet to get a readership from seems to be Africa, barking mad I know. Why don’t they like it?

Neil propping Graeme up after their late finish.

The relatively new chestnut of an argument, as opposed to ‘an old chestnut’ raised it’s head again yesterday as Neil Robertson voiced his opinion on the length of the World Championship saying that it went on ‘a little too long’.

He told The Sporting Life:

“The World Championship goes on for just a little too long (especially when he’s in the final…). The format of the event is fantastic but the semi-finals and final should be first-to-13 as well, not first-to-17 and first-to-18″.

“That would be good enough.”

Neil does however urge caution and then seems to have something of a rethink

“I think you’ve got to be very careful not to reduce the format too much.” But surely reducing the last two rounds by a session apiece is reducing the format quite a lot Neil?

“Snooker is a gentlemen’s sport, we can’t just turn it into boxing and turn it into a circus, just to get more people watching it.

“You have to stick with the guidelines of what the sport actually means. If we don’t get the viewing figures or the money that football does, then so be it, we can’t force the issue and turn the sport into a bit of a mockery.”

I kind of agree and kind of disagree with him. That last bit I would wholeheartedly agree with, snooker has to be realistic, it isn’t soccerball and it never will be, but that’s not to say there isn’t a huge audience out there that remains untapped.

Snooker fans remember when ‘they fell in love with the game’ or ‘they got hooked’ to the point that they, like me, can recall exactly where they were, how old they were etc. often in sufficient enough detail to bore everybody senseless with their memories. But snooker fans are also loyal, when you’ve got them, you’ve got them for life. OK, they might flit in and out sometimes and bemoan ‘it’s not like it used to be’ but they come back, they can’t help it. I couldn’t.

One of the constants throughout my snooker lifetime has been the World Championship, a tried and trusted format which captivates the snooker public for 17 days. They tinkered with the semi final format a few years back in the days of the potting machines like Hendry and lengthened it. Perhaps now is the time to shrink it again in the new age of tactical prowess.

Hurry up Jeeves I'm due at the Billiards in an hour.

I agree with Neil that the semi-finals are too long but I think the final is perfect and should be the test of stamina that it is. Reducing the semi’s to a three session best of 25 match just like the matches in the previous two rounds would be my preferred change. But leave the final as it is, but for crying out loud start the final day’s two sessions earlier to avoid us all having to use matchsticks to keep us awake in the event of a close finish.

You never know, by doing this it might even allow some kids to watch the end. But of course this would entail the ‘men in suits’ who turn up at the end to get off their collective arses a bit earlier to take their free front row seats.

Or better still, dispense with these freeloaders and let footie-shirt man and the real fans sit at the front. Viva La Revolution!

What do you all think?

Anyway, to more current matters. Apparently there is some positive snooker news going to be announced later today, when I know exactly what it is I’ll let you know, but it sounds good.

Ali Carter has again found time in his busy schedule to update us at the Captain’s Log here.

This week Ali gives his thoughts on how he’s getting on in the PTC events so far, why Mike Ganley owes him a beer and why he might be ‘powering’ up the plane in a couple of weeks time to dart from venue to venue.

Will Ronnie make the trip?

The European Tour Championship enters it’s third event on Friday with 128 players, some a lot more familiar than others competing over in Germany for more ranking points and a bit of dosh.

A bit of an exclusive for the blog is that Ali Carter has pulled out of the event, we don’t yet know whether the lesser spotted Ronald Antonio will board a flight but if he does, it won’t be Captain Carter flying the plane.

As regulars will know these events are now becoming synonymous with the outfit that everyone is talking about. The Team SB colours and in particular the Skipper’s jumper is what the players all want to give them that advantage going into the event.

So far, we have nailed the team skipper colours to six names, four of whom went on to win events in Mark Selby, Mark Williams, Judd Trump and Ding Junhui. Shaun Murphy, twice a skipper and twice a loser has now lost all rights to the mustard jumper until he has a shoo-in draw path to the semi-finals again.

Skybet have priced this one up early doors so the prices on this preview will initially be their’s until the other firms get involved in the markets. They have even seen fit to price up ‘The Group of Death’, a section of the draw which includes Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui, Mark Allen and Liang Wenbo amongst others. I’ve had a couple of quid on the improving Chen Zhe at 66/1 on the off-chance.

With the exception of this group this event is largely characterised by some of the more familiar names facing ‘warm up’ matches against locals before they meet someone to give them a game. For instance, it would be a brave punter that took on Mark Williams in his first match, a defeat to Diana Schuler would surely go down in the snooker history books and might possibly also see a retirement speech by Mark, hastily translated into German immediately after the match.

Last week, Team SB skipper Murphy was a less than confident choice though I did think at least one of the supporting crew might shine, but alas this was not to be. I approach this one a little more confident in the team I have chosen to don the mustard cashmere, well as confident as you can be in a 128 runner race.

So who is this week’s captain? Ok, the picture might give you a clue. But to be able to carry this prestigious title all the way to the podium you need a proven winner, with a good draw to finals day who is capable of kicking on once he’s there and this week’s irrefutable candidate in all these respects is the Jester from Leicester Mark Selby (7/1).

Selby pictured after his first success as skipper

OK, he is the joint favourite, but with good reason. He has a very winnable path to the Quarter Finals and once he’s there you’re just hoping that the pride the jester will take in a return to the skippers mantle will kick in. I didn’t really consider anyone else for skipper this week having looked at the draw.

It’s then we look to take advantage of the quarter odds on a semi-final place with the supporting cast.

In terms of the crew I’ve chosen to assist Mark in his cashmere crusade, I’ve first gone with another former skipper Judd Trump (22/1), Judd is a regular in the team and knows the ropes, he has a similar looking draw in terms of standard of opponent to when he won his EPTC event earlier in the summer in this neck of the woods, in horse terms, he’s a course and distance winner that travels well.

Marco Fu (25/1) is another who I won’t have to send a new jumper to and again to me he has a safe enough path to the finals day and merits inclusion in the team.

Barry Hawkins (33/1) and Andrew Higginson (33/1) both have solid each way credentials and could benefit from fairly decent draws all the way up to Sunday.

In terms of the real ‘every dog has it’s day’ longshots this week two new names get a feel of wool against ash in Joe Jogia (250/1) who if all goes to plan will face Marco in the last 16 in an all mustard clash and Xiao Guodong (200/1) who after wins over Zhang Anda and Higginson last weekend only lost 4-3 to Selby in Round 3, he is one who to me looks a bit overpriced at 50/1 for a semi-final place given that he potentially has a reasonable draw to the last 16, one might even argue to the last 8.

But as ever this is filled with ‘if’s', ‘but’s', ‘maybe’s’ and ‘do you mind if I don’t's’.

The draw for the event is here and there is still a chance to enter the Prediction Contest for the £50 free bet which has now been confirmed with Betfred here.

A quick note also that we’ll be having a Prediction Contest for the UK Championships in November when as well as free bets you’ll have the chance to win a pair of tickets to all sessions of the first day of the Masters in January, courtesy of our old chums at World Snooker. To find out details of how to purchase tickets for this prestige event in the snooker calendar click here.

Good Luck to anyone having a go this week.

Show me some skin: Our Dave feels the pinch.

I truly eye-watering story today in the Guardian which is firmly in the category of ‘too much information’ for readers of a nervous disposition.

Former professional David Roe has started working over in Iran to coach the world famous Iranian Snooker Team, second only of course to Rory McLeod’s mighty Qatarian baize boys.

Our Dave had a huge losing run last season that saw him drop off the tour after many years on it and a good few appearances on our screens. I questioned at the time whether his future lay in the game or as part of a duo with Stuart Pettman in a Black Lace tribute band.

But our Dave clearly has the baize in his soul and made the obvious move of upping sticks to Iran to show them what he had. In this case, literally.

(At this point anyone of a nervous disposition should stop reading)

For as well as undergoing a conversion to Islam and changing his name, our Dave went and got himself circumsized to prove his dedication to the cause. They even had a little ceremony to celebrate our Dave’s brave move.

The key phrase here however is ‘Iranian Media reports’, without wishing to cause all sorts of diplomatic spats or a war of any kind, they are up there with the News of the World and the Sun when it comes to bang on, straight down the line truth.

Dave however, according to a mate of his back in Derby might just be carrying some of his tactical awareness over to his new venture as his pal says “He never struck me as a religious bloke but it may have been a tactical conversion.”

As tactical conversions go, give me a dump shot any day of the week.

The full article can be read here

In other news, John Higgins is back for the EPTC4 event early next month and has been drawn to play Joe Jogia on his return. I’ll also be having a good old look at the weekend’s action today and getting a preview up, Skybet and Paddy Power have prices up already.

Who will be your green baize jokers this week?

The action continues thick and fast again this week with the third European Tour Championship Event from Russelsheim in Germany.

This one begins on Friday with no pre-qualifying day on the Thursday and has a more organised feel to it as there are exactly 128 entrants, so it’s all nice and neat from the beginning. 

The draw for this event can be viewed here.

It’s fair to say that there are a few unfamiliar names involved and it would be a brave man or woman that predicted a good run for Dieter Maier, Uli Ottner, Rune Xampe or Sari Soner, but you never know, well, actually you do, they’ve got no chance.

The Prediction Contest will take the usual format of two players from each group, with the ‘Joker Group’ frames counting double. At time of writing I am still waiting to confirm that Betfred can stump up a £50 free bet prize for us again. I will confirm this when I know more.

Results from this event will feed into the season long Top of the Pots Order of Merit list here.

The Rules:

1. You must choose a total of ten players for your scoring team.

2. Your team must consist of two players from each of the groups below.

3. The players you choose will score one point for each frame they win. The two players you choose from ‘The Joker Group’ will earn double points for every frame won.

4. The winner will receive a £50 free bet from Betfred (subject to confirmation).

5. Entries must be in before the start of play on Friday.

6. To have a valid entry you must enter an email address in the space provided, this won’t be visible to anyone but me and I won’t use it for anything other than contacting you if you win. Please don’t try and enter loads of times, I’ll be able to suss this fairly easily.

7. Oh yes, you must be over the legal gambling age to enter, what is it now? 10? 11? 

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

The Groups: