The Snookerbacker Blog

Shanghai: Sheffield it ain't.

Monday sees the beginning of four days of qualifying for the Shanghai Masters which takes place in just over a month’s time over in China.

The event is being played at the Sheffield Academy behind closed doors and features all bar the current top 16 players. Players entering proceedings tomorrow are those at the tail end of the rankings as they stand, but early performances this season may mean that one or two of them will be starting the qualifying a day later in future events after the first revision of the ranking list, provided they win a couple of matches in this. Amongst them are strong season starters James Wattana, Ben Woollaston (who faces Dave Gilbert, another that has started well) and Liam Highfield.

There is a strong Chinese contingent in this first crop of matches and it has paid recently to side with them in early matches. Also in amongst the field tomorrow are friend of the blog and World Snooker’s current player of the month David Grace, young Pole Kacper Filipiak, Crucible qualifier and worst dressed Willie winner Andrew Pagett and Norwegian Cockney and century machine Kurt Maflin.

I’m writing this preview in the absence of any prices and I can’t hang on any longer without it going into tomorrow so I’ll simply say any that I think I might have a bet on if the bookies ever eventually price them up. If prices materialise and I have time I’ll flag up recommended bets if I fancy anything strongly at the odds.

Please if any regulars spot prices before I do, can you add this to the comments section. Thanks.

10am

3. Dechawat Poomjaeng v Tian Pengfei
4. Michael White v Simon Bedford
5. Matthew Couch v James Wattana (H2H 2-1)
6. Bjorn Haneveer v David Hogan
7. Paul Davison v Li Yan
8. Aditya Mehta v Stuart Carrington

I can’t pretend that I’m that excited about this first crop of matches I have to say. Thai player Dechawat Poomjaeng started his professional season with a highly unexpected win over John Higgins in the first PTC, making people sit up and take note. But given that all outings for the World Champion since then has seen him largely unable to hit a barn door with a shovel, one can only assume he was a little unprepared for this match. Poomy has since been beaten by much lower ranked players and didn’t look particularly great in the World Cup. He faces Tian Pengfei, who regulars will know I rate very highly, I can’t see the Chinese player being troubled here. Welshman Michael White is an improving player and usually holds his own in this type of company, he faces Simon Bedford who is another that wins some and loses some in this company. I’d have that one as a coin toss but suspect that the bookies might price White up as favourite so could be tempted into a bet on his opponent depending on the price. Matthew Couch has beaten James Watanna in two of their three previous meetings and this includes a deciding frame victory in the recent Australian qualifiers. James was little short of woeful in the World Cup and it did make you wonder how he gets the results he does in the qualifiers so often. Again, if Couch is a price here I’ll probably back him. Bjorn Haneveer should beat whoever comes through tonights clash between Ireland’s David Hogan and the man that just can’t seem to get to grips with his Visa application form Lucky Vatnani. Li Yan has started his professional career well, beating Mark Williams in the PTC and winning two matches very comfortably to reach the third qualifying round of the Aussie Open, including a thumping of Alan McManus, I’d suggest he’s the bet against Paul Davison who tends to win and lose in patches, his last outing being a comfortable defeat at the hands of Jimmy White. Stuart Carrington arguably has his best chance yet to record his maiden win as a professional after surprising some by coming through the Q-School in May. He faces India’s Aditya Mehta, who does throw in the odd decent performance. I’ll confess to knowing very little about Stuart and that will be one I’ll simply be keeping an eye on for future events.

Recommended Bet:

1 point win Couch at 13/8 with Sportingbet

1 point win Bedford at 11/8 with Sportingbet

3 points win Li Yan at 4/6 with Paddy Power

Graceybaby

2.30pm

9. Daniel Wells v David Grace
10. Scott MacKenzie v Adam Wicheard
11. Andrew Pagett v Robin Hull
12. Kacper Filipiak v Andrew Norman
13. Passakorn Suwannwat v Adam Duffy

The afternoon sees our pal David Grace taking on Daniel Wells. It has to be said that this year’s ‘One to Watch’ Willie winner Wells will have to start getting some results for this coveted title to be proved prophetic again this year. He has lost both outings so far this season yet will probably carry favouritism into this one against our Gracey, who will have to hope that the World Snooker Player of the Month tag isn’t the same as that old soccerball Manager of the Month award urban whisper when the winners apparently then go on a downward spiral without any exceptions, funny that as I’m sure that rednosed bloke in charge of the Uniteds of Manchester has a few and they always seem to be winning things too. Anyway, that’s another I’ll wait for the prices on I think as there may be some value in taking Wells on. Scotland’s fittingly and imaginatively christened ‘Scott’ MacKenzie, has it’s fair to say started his return to the professional ranks in great style, narrowly missing out on a plane journey to Australia when losing in the final qualifying round to eventual semi-finalist Ken Doherty. He faces Adam Wicheard who is a reportedly temperamental soul on the baize who is gaining experience all the time and I know is a valued member of the Paul Mount Pink Army. But Scott is a player I’m going to side with for a bit given his great start to the season, he is vastly more experienced than his opponent and he might be one to keep an eye on at this stage of events. Another member of the Pink Brigade Andrew Pagett starts out against another experienced returner to the tour; Finland’s Robin Hull. Jack Lisowski said after beating Robin in the Aussie qualifiers that he looked very sharp and will beat a few this season, sometimes there is nothing like renewed vigour and a second bite at the cherry to focus the mind so if the price appeals I’ll probably back him here and if he loses I’ll just ring Jack and ask for my stake back, seems fair enough. Poland’s Kacper Filipiak who impressed a few at the World Cup including Ronnie in what may prove one of his last ever tweets, takes on Andrew ‘Stormin’ Norman. I’m not sure about the hype that was generated around young Kacper in Thailand, he’s one I’ll probably be backing against more than for at this stage of events this season as he’s still very young and will lose a lot more than he’ll win I reckon. I can’t really say anything about the bottom match until we know who is in it.

Recommended Bet:

3 points treble pays just over 11/8 on Pengfei, Norman and Mackenzie at Sportingbet and Paddies.

1 point win David Grace at 7/4 with Sportingbet.

7pm

14. Sam Baird v Yu De Lu
15. Sam Craigie v Kurt Maflin
16. Joe Meara v Cao Yu Peng
17. Ben Woollaston v David Gilbert (H2H 1-0)
18. Liam Highfield v David Morris (H2H 1-0)

The evening sees a few interesting matches and we kick off with Sam Baird and Yu De Lu. Yu of course had a great run in the Aussie Open Qualifiers and was another to make it to the final round, before in fairness being hammered by Ryan Day. But he showed enough in the earlier rounds to suggest Baaird has his hands full here. Kurt Maflin returns to play another player I rate in Sam Craigie. Sam has started his professional career with 3 wins from 5 and I wouldn’t be rushing in to back Kurt at restrictive odds for this as he’ll have to bring his potting boots with him to get safely through. I’ll leave that one alone. Northern Ireland’s Joe Meara might be worth a punt at odds against against Cao Yu Peng, who is a player I don’t rate that highly just yet but that’s a bit of a battle of the unknowns and probably again best left alone. Ben Woollaston and Dave Gilbert have both made good starts to the season and Dave seems to have been playing now non-stop for months. Ben is a tough proposition here and again the odds against is tempting but on balance I think you have to stick with Gilbert at this early stage. Liam Highfield has started the season well too and is much higher up the rankings than he was when we started, I’d probably make him my bet of the evening against Davy Morris who loses a lot more than he wins lately.

Recommended Bet: 3 points double on Highfield and Yu De Lu pays 5/4 at Sportingbet 

Interest Daily Acca: 1 point accumulator on Pengfei, Norman, Mackenzie, Hull, Highfield, De Lu and Gilbert pays almost 13.5/1 over at Paddies.

The Best of Luck if you are having a bet. 

Judd wants a pizza the action

One piece of advice I was given when I was younger was to never dismiss advice from someone trying to help you out. Actually that is completely untrue but is a way to lead into a story about Judd Trump, Jimmy White and a man with an interesting take on levelling off a snooker table.

In reality, the main piece of advice given to me by my dear departed old man in my formative years was sound financial guidance that has helped get me where I am today, amongst these snippits of passed down knowledge was his approach to paying bills, namely, always wait until the red one.

Anyway, back to snooker and my old pal Hector Nunns has been chatting to Jimmy White about the current plight of international playboi and part-time snooker player Judd Trump. It appears Jimmy is a bit worried that young Juddly is letting things go to his head a little after his meteoric rise to public consciousness in May. Jimmy was a right little scamp himself when he was younger of course and knows all too well how quickly a young baize boy with the world at his feet can be led astray.

Jimmy tells the Daily Star here that:

“I never listened to anyone when I was Judd’s age. But if he was listening, my advice would be just to keep practicing. Go and have a look at the nightclubs, by all means, but go easy on the alcohol and don’t step out of your routine and think you can keep coming back.  I had a month off here and two months off there, and you just can’t do that.”

“Judd loves to entertain. You can tell snooker still amazes him, that’s why he plays these incredible shots after he’s won the frame. I was similar, I’d have made a load more centuries if I hadn’t started playing for the crowd after getting to 70. Judd won’t be the biggest century-maker – he’s the same. But there has never been a better time to be a young player coming through, there are more tournaments and they are all over the world. You can pick and choose a bit, which snooker has never had, you just have to play in the ranking events to keep your position. If I was 21 again, I’d play in the lot.”

I’m sure that there are differing opinions on all this. Judd is a young lad and is attracting a big female following which presumably translates into plenty of opportunities for a bit of off the baize frolicking after hours, or indeed on the baize if he takes a few lessons from Knowlsey. I mean who wouldn’t be tempted by that instead of a couple of hours of long blues?

But Jimmy is right and although Judd has done very well these past few months in raising his game to world class standard when it mattered, he now needs to stop his little honeymoon and knuckle down again. If ever he should listen to anyone it should be the man that should have been a multiple world champion but somehow wasn’t.

Another bit of advice that I myself would like to give to anyone that owns a snooker table would be to think twice before taking a saw to it. I think the Dave Harold method of putting beermats under the legs to level it off is a much safer alternative to this.

My Shanghai Qualifiers Day 1 preview will be up later today.