The Snookerbacker Blog

Thanks to Doctor Dish for updating the rankings. Remember there is a first, second and third prize from Betfred for this one. Good luck to everyone still in the running.

Standings after the conclusion of the first semi-final:

Tobias Bolt 50
Volcano 49
maryusg 47
ultravinyls 47
liggandestolen 45
Richieboy44 45
Sam Hoar 43
Sean óg 41
Jan-Eric 41
ZiggerZagger 41
dombach 40
Russ 39
venga1 38
Hansi 37
Lou Macari 37
Spongy 37
Ben 36
Ian Powell 36
Tom 35
noci 34
Marina 34
Louis Jordan 34
Darren 34
MaxJames 34
kim hawkins 34
mrsdominicdale 34
invader 32
Elena 32
Godspeed 32
Dr. Walker 32
Teo 30
onestep 30
The Nugget’s Lunchbox 29
jaykay 29
urindragon 29
Dub 29
CHASMMI 29
bedrock 29
EnochShowunmi 28
DoctorDish 28
Steve Hobson 27
Nick M 27
chris 27
Philip 27
thewizard 25
bigclive 25
deco800 25
GER147 24
Dani Martínez 23
Lorraine 23
Knopfler 22
Mark Colling 22
Tina 22
Edo 22
Bezmondo 22
totee 22
Pete 22
Joe Gibney 22
lolo 22
tees freeze 22
The Game 22
KJBets 22
Tim R 20
northernmonkey 20
The Snooker Oracle 20
davide 18
Anna 18

Love is in the Air

Good Morning Everyone. Today we find out who will be contesting this year’s final as Mark Williams takes a narrow lead into the third session against John Higgins and Judd Trump and Ding Junhui are locked in battle at 12-12 and play their concluding session this afternoon.

It was a cracking day yesterday and I say that in a strictly non-bunting and trestle table type way. OK, the general concensus is that the bride looked beautiful and that she and her sister ensured that male attention was never far from the screen but it’s over now and it’s time to witness the end to what has been a long old season and a cracking Betfred World Championship.

Whoever is in the final I think we are assured a better one than last year. The players seem a little fresher than Robbo and Dotty seemed going into their epic, with the possible exception of Higgins who always looks knackered anyway. My personal choice of final for entertainment purposes has to be Williams against Trump and I hope this is the match we will all be looking forward to watching tomorrow. But the other two aren’t going to go down without a fight.

Trump was magnificent again last night and turned the match around again at one point to lead, though it has to be said he has had a little bit of run of the ball to help him along his way. But he has really come of age these past few weeks and that wave he is riding the crest of seems like it could even carry him to the title. Ding must be wondering what he has to do to shake him off. MJW has been floating and gliding since the championship began and how he didn’t win yesterday’s session is a mystery. Higgins remains the most solid match player in the game and even when he is not at his best he is so hard to beat.

Marriage fever appears to be in the air at the moment with even MJW talking about it. He has been speaking to Hector Nunns about his forthcoming marriage to long-time fiancee Jo Dent, who he says he has now run out of excuses not to marry. He talks amongst other things of rather getting married in a tracksuit and hooking up with Mark Selby for a night on the town in Mexico for a last night as single men and ‘a few beers and a few tears’. You can read the full article here.

The sponsors Betfred now have the laidback Welshman as 15/8 favourite for the title, after he was very nearly odds-on for a spell yesterday before Higgins won the last two of the session. They have Trump and Ding at 11/4 and pre-tournament favourite Higgins at 10/3 and now the outsider of the pack. There are also still a whole range of markets available on the matches if anyone isn’t and still wants to get involved.

I’m hoping for a tension packed day at the Crucible, though would settle for that being confined to this afternoon while MJW floats his way into the final. The constant references to ‘floaters’ at the BBC seems to continue despite most people associating the word with something entirely different. Dennis even claimed yesterday at one point that Stephen Hendry can ‘spot a floater from 2 miles away’. Now I know that the King of the Crucible has amassed career earnings into the zillions but with all the homeless people in the world it’s really not on that he has the equivalent of a taxi ride to get from the sink basin to the toilet in his Scottish Castle. But his eyesight must be amazing to spot one from that distance, clearly the reason why he has won so many titles.

Celebrity Twit Stephen Fry continued the ‘Carry-on-esque’ themed baize mutterings on Twitter yesterday by twice referring to Ding as Dong. I don’t know if he’d been at the creme-de-menthe or he was joking or if he genuinely doesn’t know the name of ‘the young Chinese sensation’ but his Willie award for Best Celebrity Baize Fan is now hanging in the balance as I really wanted Jarvis Cocker to have it anyway.

Talking of the Willies, it’s only a week or so until this year’s lucky winners are announced on the blog. Categories will range from your average fodder, such as those that will be presented at the inferior World Snooker Awards next week in London, to the more imaginative ones, including the one that everyone is waiting for, the Worst Commentator Willie, for which John Evans is no longer the certainty that he was as little as two months ago. Those looking to pick up awards for fashion include the made-over Selby and at the other end of the spectrum, Andrew Paggett. There will be haircut based awards too, Stephen Lee making a last ditch effort at the Crucible to nab that from the iron grip of Stuart Pettman, who still qualifies for the awards for last season despite dropping off the main tour. He remains the barnet to beat.

If there are any categories that you would like to see awards for please do not hesitate to voice your opinion in the comments section.

Oh and if World Snooker are reading this, time is getting short now, Mrs SB and I have still not had our invite to your Awards ceremony. Only when we have this can you come to the Willies, if we don’t get one, a Willie may be coming your way and it won’t be one of the coveted ones.

Feel free to have a natter below and let’s look forward to a top day on the baize.

10am and 7pm

Mark Williams 11-13 John Higgins

2.30pm

Judd Trump 12-12 Ding Junhui