The Snookerbacker Blog

Hello everyone, I’m still bogged down with other things this week so won’t be able to cover the results of the PTC3 which kicks off in earnest tomorrow. Great to see that The Assassin made the main stages again and he takes on Andrew Higginson first up, good luck to him.

I’ll be back in baizeland on Sunday for the Finals Day and fully operational again for next week’s event over in Germany. Auditioning these German girls is much more time-consuming than I thought. In the meantime, undoubtedly the best place to follow the PTC results is here.

As ever, regulars and others should feel free to chat away below. Back soon, SB.

Some things are just plain wrong.

A mixture of a self-enforced and unavoidable absence from the blog this week for me. My life away from the baize is extremely hectic at the moment and is not likely to calm down for a good week or so, but I have found ‘a window’ in my diary to have a look at the PTC3 draw and try and follow up the 125/1 each-way success of Fergal ‘The Ferginator’ O’Brien last week.

For those of you that are new to the blog I should explain that if you are looking for Premier League Snooker coverage this isn’t really the place to be. I’m not a fan of either the format or the pool tables they play on and never have been, but I’m sure with the ever expanding plethora of snooker blogs out there one of them will quickly establish themselves as the place to be for all things Premier League. I have been invited to go along to an event to see if I will change my mind this season but to a fiercely stubborn purist like myself it would be a futile exercise. That said, it’s nothing that a VIP free bar and restaurant couldn’t iron out. I reiterate, I can be bought.

But no, in all seriousness it’s a thanks but no thanks from me as far as the PL goes. Much like eating foie gras or white veal, I can’t bring myself to indulge no matter how it is presented and much like dressing up in a gimp outfit to partake in deviant sexual practices with three prostitutes and a bearded German man holding a jumbo sausage, you can try something once but it just doesn’t feel right. Or is that just me? Anyway, I’ve probably said too much there already so let’s move on to the preview.

As ever these events are awash with ifs and buts and my approach is always to select a Skipper to lead the merry band of outsiders to a Finals Day filled with the familiar sight of the Team Snookerbacker Mustard Jumper. This week is no different.

Starting at the top of the draw, Mark Williams again benefits from a fairly decent draw to Finals Day but I’d suggest that the one fly in the ointment is our old, or rather young friend Jack Lisowski (80/1 generally) who has the benefit of only having to win two matches to make it to Sunday, having drawn the absent Bjorn Haneveer in the first round. Jack makes the team for the second week running and will probably do so again until we win with him, which we will one day.

The  second member of Team Snookerbacker is a man who is big down under and coincidentally is also the Australian Open Champion, Stuart Bingham (25/1 generally). Our Bingo didn’t do that well last week but has that new found confidence as a winner and to me should make it to his match to qualify for Finals Day against Ali or Robbo, I think on current form I’ll side with Bendigo Bingo.

It's not the first time Judd has worn mustard

In the next two sections your eyes are drawn to the bottom half which is populated by Mark Allen, Shaun Murphy and Ding Junhui. Murphy will tempt a few people I reckon at 16/1 and I was very tempted at that price to make him a team skipper, but I’ve decided against it and will instead just take a chance that Dominic Dale (125/1 Sportingbet) might bring his shooting boots along and have a run in what is a very tough section. Our Dom is playing well of late and to me is a player that is already showing that the full-time life as a snooker player is exactly what he’s been looking for, rather than spending most of his time scouring the opera and butterfly houses of Vienna.

The Team Skipper however is last week’s winner Judd Trump (11/1 Sportingbet). I know it’s very rare for players to win two tournaments on the trot these days, but anyone who saw Judd last week will have seen exactly what he is like at his deadly, relaxed yet thoroughly ruthless best. A similar effort this week and it will take a huge effort from a top player to stop him. He has a highly winnable section to Finals Day and if he gets there he’s the man to beat in my book.

To make up the team this week I’m going to again look for value in a couple of underdogs in the bottom section of the draw who are more than capable of having a run in an event like this. Firstly, Matthew Selt (125/1 Sportingbet) who to me has a half decent path to Finals Day and if Ronnie isn’t in the mood to the Quarter Finals, there could be a bit of value in the improving and super-confident Aussie Quarter-Finalist.

Finally, a punt. Liam Highfield (125/1 generally) played extremely well against Ronnie last week and was beaten only narrowly by a clearly impressed Rocket, who tweeted after the match that Liam was one to watch. I agree, he looked composed in the balls and had a confident manner around the table. He’s in a very tough section and is likely to have to beat a few Scotsmen to make Finals Day including Stephen Hendry who is his first opponent, but with the confidence he’ll take from his performance last week behind him you just never know.

Recommended Bets:

2 points win Judd Trump @11/1 with Sportingbet.

0.5 points win Stuart Bingham @25/1 generally.

0.5 points each way Jack Lisowski @ 80/1 generally.

0.25 points each way Matt Selt @ 125/1 Sportingbet and Dominic Dale @ 125/1 Sportingbet.

Skybet and Sportingbet have odds up for anyone looking at a bet. Good Luck.

By the way the completely unreadable and un-user-friendly format for the main stages of the tournament are here, courtesy of World Snooker.

'Mr O'Sullivan lives at number 24 Cyril'

It’s been a quiet weekend on the baize since Judd triumphed in Gloucester and the main talking point for us snooker folk is undoubtedly the letter that Barry Hearn has posted to the players.  

For those of you that have been totally obsessed with another sport or sports this weekend a copy of the text in the letter is below. It is directed at both the named players declining to take part in next months invitational Brazilian Masters tournament and at a certain pair, also named, that are instead playing a presumably financially lucrative, but ultimately pretty pointless exhibition match in China. As usual where Big Bad Bazza is concerned he doesn’t exactly mince his words.

He writes:

“The fact that Mark Williams, John Higgins, Ding Junhui, Neil Robertson, Stephen Maguire, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Mark Allen and Matthew Stevens have all declined their invitation to the Brazilian Masters is very, very disappointing.

“A year ago all these players were moaning about lack of tournaments and yet now I am getting excuses ranging from “I think I’m worth a few more bob” to “I do not want to be away from the wife and children!”

“It is time for all players and in particular the top players, who have so much to gain, to understand that snooker is a sport not a hobby and they are professional sportsmen not part timers.

“This tournament could open up the whole of South America and it needed the support of all the top players to get us a major ranking event next year. Frankly, the commitment is just not good enough.

“I know it is a long trip coming so soon after Shanghai but they were the only dates available so we had no alternative. Nevertheless, it is time some players realised their responsibilities to the sport if they want to share in the future success.

“So let us start by behaving like professionals please – there is a massive amount of effort going into revitalising snooker and it is very demotivating to see that the support from the so-called “stars” is not really there.

“On another negative note, I am disappointed to see that Judd Trump is intending to play Ding Junhui in a televised match in China at the same time as the final of the Brazilian Masters.

“I am disappointed that they are not playing in Brazil, but more disappointed that they have not read their players’ contract which prohibits any Pro Tour player playing in a event that is not sanctioned by World Snooker.

“The organisers have now applied for a sanction belatedly and providing they adhere to our terms, we will not unreasonably withhold it, taking into account that they actually agreed to the terms of this match prior to the players’ contracts being signed.

“These exceptional circumstances will not exist in the future and all Pro Tour members are reminded that they cannot play in any televised match, anywhere in the world, without the sanction of World Snooker.”

Now I am aware that this subject has been covered on Dave Hendon’s blog and discussed at length by his contributors, but I am also aware that there are some of you that don’t always get to catch both our sites, so I felt, as it is a very strongly worded letter that it was worth duplicating on here.

I can see this from both angles myself. The season is so massively different to last season and adjusting to life in the fast lane as opposed to life in the cycle path must be fairly difficult for some players that are used to sunning themselves all summer before resuming practice around now.

But Bazza is right, it was largely these very same players that were the most vocal in their support of him and their frustration at the previous administration of Sir Rodney F-Fing Walker and this is a great opportunity to expand the sport further and out into the global market. One that because of their no-shows, might not be open to us again.

The calendar is, in my view, a little too condensed. But I’d also argue that it isn’t as bad for the players at the top of the game than for those in the middle and lower ranks who are attending qualifiers at their own expense fairly regularly where the top 16 are not.

A nod's as good as a wink

On balance I think the players that have turned this opportunity down but are actually available are wrong and should take more responsibility for promoting the sport. It’s their job and their duty to do so. I am particularly surprised to see John Higgins’ name on the list, I would have thought he’d know better than to cross Bazza so soon after his last off-table shenanigans.

I also think Judd and Ding are out of order. This seems to be a decision based solely on self-interest rather than in the interest of the sport that pays their wages. They are technically within their rights to play as this was apparently arranged before the players contracts were signed which binds the players to stricter rules. Strange that, I’d not heard anything about it until a few weeks ago.

But there we have it, the Brazilian Masters goes ahead without the current and previous World Champions, the World Number 1, the sport’s biggest draw and his heir apparent. But the players that are making the effort, though I wouldn’t go so far as to thank them for simply doing their job, should be commended for doing so in such a congested season.

PTC3 gets underway this week and hopefully the bookies will get round to pricing it up in plenty of time.

The Big Man loves his Haggis

Having had serious, frank and honest discussions in the past with the likes of Matthew Stevens, Mark King and Jack Lisowski in my irregular feature, Answers on a Postcard, it is now time to head North of the Border and see what I can find out about Scotland and what better way to do this than to ask Marcus Campbell a few questions?

In this incisive interview, Marcus confirms as true one thing that I’d been told about Scotsmen, he also divulges the secret to a perfect haggis, though those with a sensitive stomach might want to skip that bit. He also tells us why he recently joined Twitter, why he might need some coaching in the memory department and why he’ll be going back to vagabond chic if he makes it to the Crucible again this season.

He exclusively reveals the name of a little song he sings when he sees Stephen Hendry and even tells us how John Higgins spends his spare time away from the baize. These are facts that you won’t read anywhere else but here.

He also gives us the name of a young player that I’m not too familiar with I have to say, that we should be keeping an eye on in the years to come and (if he enters) in the Snookerbacker Classic.

Here goes….

Hello Marcus, thanks for agreeing to take part in ‘Answers on a Postcard’.

No bother SB.

OK, first thing’s first. Now you are a Scotsman, I’ve been up there a couple of times but I don’t know too much about you boys except for what my old dad told me. He said that you all like to sing about how nice Scotland is, that you all like drinking whisky, fighting and eating haggis and that you are all careful with money. So my first question is, will you lend me a tenner?

Am a bit short now SB, had to buy ice cream and nappies so no to the tenner. 

So he was right about the money bit then. Well what about the whisky? What’s your favourite tipple? And the haggis? I’ve only had a vegetarian one and it tasted like shit. Is the meaty one any better? It sounds disgusting to me.  

I like my haggis on a roll with tomato sauce and a pint of milk so you get that slimy feeling on the roof of your mouth, mmmmm! As for whisky only had it once and it gave me the bile the next day.  Not much of an ad for Scotland…

I think I’ll have to take your word on the haggis Marcus…..

Ok, now down to business. You recently joined Twitter, what made you sign up and do you think other players should too?

As for Twitter my wife’s a nosey bitch and she says they should all be on it so she can get a look.  I do think it’s a good thing for people to be able to see the players personalities a bit more and Twitter seems good for that.

Last season you won one of the PTC’s and I have a theory that some of you more experienced boys who have been around for donkey’s years are starting to really get going now there are more tournaments, do you agree and why do you think that is?

Well SB, I think having more tournaments is giving the lower ranked players more chances to show their ability.

Marcus, we have never met. Though I did think I spotted you once in the park but that was just one of the locals, but everyone I have asked about you says you’re either ‘lovely’ or ‘really nice’. Disappointingly, I can’t find anyone to say a bad word about you. So I want to know if that’s true?

I get on with most players and am quite open minded and it seems to work for me.

Now then Bernard, as I get a bit older I tend to forget things sometimes. I read last week I think it was that you forgot to take your cue home with you from Sheffield. What happened there then? It’s like forgetting your arm isn’t it? Except not as messy obviously.

It’s not the first time I’ve forgotten my cue, last year I left for the Crucible and 20 miles down the road my wife phoned to tell me it was sitting in the kitchen.

I’m holding a leg of my tournament The Snookerbacker Classic in Glasgow in November to give amateurs and juniors a chance to make it to the big time with a bit of financial help. I know you play at the Glasgow venue, The Lucky Break Club sometimes so who are the names I should look out for?

Look out for Joseph Maclaren SB, he’s a nice boy.

Right, he’s a name I haven’t heard, you’d better tell him to enter as there’s only a few spaces left. Anyway Marcus when I spoke to the Lucky Break people there is this guy that answers the phone who’s a bit nuts, I think he’s John Rea’s caddy – do you know him?

Yes SB, that must have been Snoodge on the phone, he’s a character.

That’s him yes, mad as a box of frogs….in a good way of course.

Anyway, I feel we are getting along so Mrs Snookerbacker has asked me to tell you that she is very proud of you. She thinks that since you won the Scruffiest Player Willie in 2010 you have really smartened up. I have to ask you, did the Willie inspire you?

Tell Mrs SB I got all new stuff for the Crucible this year and was looking great, got beat 10-1 so am back to the park bench waistcoat and the squeaky shoes sorry!

Oh dear, she will be disappointed. Anyway Marcus, now it’s time for the regular feature ‘True’ or ‘False’ where I list some facts that people have told me and you tell me if they are true or false so, here goes:

John Higgins spends his days away from the baize dressed in a kilt playing the bagpipes and startling goats in the Highlands.

True

Everytime you see Stephen Hendry you sing a self-penned song called ‘9-0’ to him.

Very True

The Magnum Muzzy

Graeme Dott is a spy for the KGB.

False, it’s the FBI.

It is against the law and punishable by death to refuse a drink from a Scotsman.

True

You are planning to shave off your beard for your next televised appearance and sport a full bodied moustache like that bloke off Magnum in the 80’s.

False I think that would be taking Movember too far…..

Thanks for answering my questions Marcus and good luck for the rest of the season. You can follow Marcus on Twitter @Marcus_Campbell  

After answering my questions Marcus got up and walked into the broom cupboard as he’d forgotten from which door he had entered the room. I also had to chase after him with his cue, I just about caught up with him in the car park while he was trying to remember where he’d parked and which car was his.

I do worry about him.

Will we witness a rocket launch for a second time?

Another late finish at the PTC in Gloucester last night saw Fergal O’Brien come back from 3-0 down to defeat Tony Drago in the early hours of this morning.

Among the big names not to make it to Finals Day are John Higgins, Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy but there are plenty of big hitters still in there fighting. Ronnie O’Sullivan attempts to make it two wins from two PTC’s and starts off against the only member of the Pink Army still in it, Liam Highfield. Still in the hunt also are Neil Robertson and Judd Trump, who lock horns this morning where Neil will be trying to avenge his Crucible defeat to young Juddly, who appears to now be back to being a snooker player again.

Three other members of the top 16 are also still in it, those being Ding Junhui, Graeme Dott and The Captain Ali Carter so it should prove to be a very exciting day’s action indeed.

As I write there are only a few match prices up. It’s fair to say that the bookies aren’t likely to offer any standout value from here on in. Though I do notice that Jak Jones is a big as 9/4 to beat Rory which given his three impressive wins the other day could be worth a look. I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for my 125/1 each way bet on Fergal, but looking at his draw that’s a tough ask even for the fearless one, particularly seeing as he finished so late last night.

If I was to predict a final at this point I’d have to have Ding in there, Ronnie of course is the man to beat in the bottom half but I am detecting of late a return to form from Neil Robertson, so I wouldn’t rule him out.

Anyway, here’s the schedule with the live streamed matches marked up.

10am UK Time

Jamie Burnett 2-4 Xiao Guodong
Rory McLeod 4-3 Jak Jones
Dave Harold 2-4 Ryan Day
Graeme Dott 3-4 Ding Junhui
Adam Duffy 3-4 Yu Delu
Neil Robertson 3-4 Judd Trump (141) (LIVE)
Liam Highfield 3-4 Ronnie O’Sullivan (LIVE)
Fergal O’Brien 4-2 Ali Carter

Quarter Finals (1pm)

Xiao Guodong 4-1 Rory McLeod
Ryan Day 2-4 Ding Junhui
Yu De Lu 1-4 Judd Trump
Ronnie O’Sullivan 3-4 Fergal O’Brien

Semi Finals (4pm)

Xiao Guodong 3-4 Ding Junhui

Judd Trump 4-0 Fergal O’Brien

Final (7pm)

Judd Trump 4-0 Ding Junhui

Trump utterly brilliant during the semi-finals and final. 

An issue arose yesterday over at the South West Snooker Academy which raised another interesting question related, I suppose, to the point of yesterday’s piece I did about Ronnie. This time it was whether it is appropriate for members of the press, approved bloggers or indeed mere mortals to tweet about snooker matches that they are watching live, in particular about how the frame itself is panning out for those that cannot see the action for themselves. 

I noticed on Matt’s blog this morning he wrote of his largely enjoyable day in Gloucester yesterday but included the line: ‘Unfortunately though something of a dampener has been put on the day as World Snooker have told me that I can no longer ‘tweet’ during the matches, something that I don’t intend to comment on further’. Matt had previously been keeping people updated on the state of play in some of the matches he had been watching. None, I must stress, were tables being live streamed and this was simply done from the point of view of a watching fan. I don’t think I have ever met anyone that can be more described as such without being labelled clinically insane, than Matt. 

I’m pretty sure that the reason Matt was told to stop doing this was in line with the existing policies of World Snooker, though I’m not sure if these are actually written down anywhere. But I suspect that the issue lies with the advent of live streaming and how this opens up further opportunities for ‘in-play’ betting on matches being streamed.

We are all aware and indeed the bookmakers always point out in the small print that the stream on their websites is delayed, from anything between 10-30 seconds usually. I have it on fairly good authority that the bookmakers themselves have a faster ‘closer to live’ stream than they put out on their site, allowing them to make adjustments to prices in the vital seconds before a frame or a match changes on one shot. But to the best of my knowledge, in events such as the PTC’s these pictures are not in real time, so therefore anyone with any form of instant communication (which in my experience Twitter isn’t always) to someone at a PC with a superfast, ultra reliable connection who likes a bet, there may be potential to beat the bookies, albeit in a window of 4 or 5 seconds.

I know this sounds very unlikely, but just imagine if you were the person at the laptop betting in-play, for argument’s sake on the outcome of a single frame and you had someone at the venue watching a match that is live-streamed in the way described above. You would simply need to agree a one letter or digit code to represent a player, send this when a ball is on it’s way into the pocket and maybe, just maybe, you might beat the bookies or the faster betting exchanges with an instant text message to your accomplice. Though all bets placed in-play are always subject to a further time delay before they are confirmed, even on the exchanges.  

Dial M for Murphy

In-play betting is big business, indeed one bookmaker I contacted about this very matter last season said that he would usually take more money on an in-play streamed match on a damp Monday morning than on the World Championship Final. The advances made in snooker streaming will heighten interest amongst gamblers and traders that prefer to bet in this way and play the books and doubtless, if you know your stuff and are prepared to watch every match you trade meticulously, there is money to be made. Trust me, I did it for a year, usually on matches involving Ronnie as the over reaction from people on the exchanges to him potting a long red has to be seen to be believed, but it’s hard work.

So are World Snooker right to stop tweeting from tables that are live streamed from people that they have welcomed to cover the event online? Well, I’m not sure they are. Twitter is after all a public forum and is very unlikely to be responsible for any supposed in-play betting coups that might materialise.

But instant-messaging is possibly a little bit more contentious and while these delays in transmissions are there, I suspect it always will be. That said, who is to say this isn’t happening anyway with spectators at these events?

Anyway, if you are there remember it’s M for Murphy and S for Selby, or is it S for Shaun and M for Mark? I might have to think of another code for that match….

Good Morning Everyone. A list of all the matches in the first round appears below and I will endeavour to keep this updated as the day goes on.

The best of luck to the Assassin who takes on the formidable Stuart Bingham at 1pm. A whole galaxy of baize stars are in action today and the question on everybody’s lips is, will Ronnie go tackle out?

Feel free to have a natter in the comments section below. I’m off to find a morning treble, I’ll post it in the comments when I’ve found one.

9am

33. Mark Selby 4-0 Chris Norbury (LIVE)
34. Shaun Murphy 4-1 Paul Davison (LIVE)
35. Marco Fu 2-4 Gary Wilson
36. Mark Joyce 3-4 Adam Duffy
37. Liang Wenbo 4-1 Cao Yupeng
38. Jimmy Robertson 3-4 Patrick Wallace
39. Joe Jogia 4-3 Stuart Carrington
40. Matthew Selt 3-4 Yu Delu

11am

41. Anthony McGill 4-0 Adam Wicheard
42. Andrew Higginson 4-1 Jamie O’Neill
43. Neil Robertson 4-0 Chen Zhe (LIVE)
44. Dominic Dale 2-4 John Whitty
45. Mark Davis 4-1 Robbie Williams
46. Peter Lines W/O Robin Hull
47. Judd Trump 4-2 Justin Astley (LIVE)
48. Mark Allen 4-2 Joe Delaney

1pm

49. Jamie Jones 1-4 Liam Highfield
50. Adrian Gunnell 4-1 Andrew Pagett
51. Liu Song 3-4 Sam Baird
52. Stuart Bingham 4-0 Allan Taylor
53. Jack Lisowski 1-4 David Morris
54. Matthew Stevens 4-3 Jamie Barrett
55. Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-1 Nick Jennings (LIVE)
56. Stephen Hendry 4-0 Ashley White (LIVE)

3pm

57. Joe Perry W/O Bjorn Haneveer
58. Tony Drago 4-3 Dechawat Pommjaeng (LIVE)
59. Ian McCulloch 3-4 Passakorn Suwannawat
60. Fergal O`Brien 4-0 Billy Joe Castle
61. Alfie Burden 4-1 Michael Wasley
62. Allister Carter 4-2 David Grace
63. Stephen Maguire 4-1 Alex Taubman
64. John Higgins 4-2 Matthew Couch (LIVE)

Second Round

81 Mark Selby 4 – 0 Shaun Murphy
82 Gary Wilson 2 – 4 Adam Duffy
83 Liang Wenbo 1 – 4 Patrick Wallace
84 Joe Jogia 2 – 4 Yu De Lu
85 Anthony Mcgill 4 – 1 Andrew Higginson
86 Neil Robertson 4 – 1 John Whitty
87 Mark Davis 4 – 2 Peter Lines
88 Judd Trump 4 – 2 Mark Allen
89 Liam Highfield 4 – 1 Adrian Gunnell
90 Sam Baird 4 – 1 Stuart Bingham
91 David Morris 3 – 4 Matthew Stevens
92 Ronnie O’Sullivan 4 – 1 Stephen Hendry
93 Joe Perry 2 – 4 Tony Drago
94 Passakorn Suwannawat 1 – 4 Fergal O’Brien
95 Alfie Burden 2 – 4 Allister Carter
96 Stephen Maguire 2 – 4 John Higgins

Round 3

105 Mark Selby 0 – 4 Adam Duffy
106 Patrick Wallace 3 – 4 Yu De Lu
107 Anthony Mcgill 0 – 4 Neil Robertson
108 Mark Davis 2 – 4 Judd Trump
109 Liam Highfield 4 – 2 Sam Baird
110 Matthew Stevens 3 – 4 Ronnie O’Sullivan
111 Tony Drago 3 – 4 Fergal O’Brien
112 Ali Carter 4 – 1 John Higgins

A certain Mr O’Sullivan returned to Twitter yesterday with a vengeance. As ever, when Ronnie tweets people listen and answer him, he replies only to a select few of course, he even replied to me once saying that he ‘liked my style boss’. I took this as a glowing endorsement of my work, though in truth he was simply talking about my comment.

Ronnie is due at the fully air conditioned PTC in Gloucester tomorrow and judging by his tweets he definitely intends to play, but he might not look himself as he has hinted at his disatisfaction with the dress code in these events which is basically as it is in any ranking tournament.

Ronnie has promised that he will wear his dress suit but before playing he will ‘roll around in shit’ as his own silent, if rather pongy protest. But the Rocket is not intending to stop there, oh no, he has even hinted that he might get his very own pocket rocket out on show for everyone to see, sparking much speculation with the tweet ‘I might even play with me nob out, hows that’ to one of the event organisers, who he later told to ‘f**k the air con’. You’ve got to hand it to him though, he knows how to ensure a decent crowd.

Now I like to think that Ronnie and I share some things in common, though I have never played snooker ‘tackle out’ of course, I do share his healthy disrespect for authority, perhaps not quite to the same audacious level as the Rocket but my home city is known for it’s slightly militant views and I dare say that does rub off on some of the people here. There’s nothing wrong with challenging conventions of course and this leads me to the point of this post.

Recently, the governing body of the sport has issued some guidance to players on the do’s and don’t's of social media. I’m not sure if Ronnie’s postman forgot to deliver it to his boat or whether the disgruntled Rocket simply tossed it in the Thames but he appears, at least from yesterday’s tweets intent on flouting this advice. Maybe our Ron might be just testing how far he can push it before he gets that ban he’s after for Shanghai.

Other ‘transgressors’ of the sacred, ancient and noble art of tweeting in the past have famously been the post-watershed joker Mike Dunn, my personal favourite of his tweets being when he informed us that 1 in 4 people live next door to a paedophile, but that he was not one of them as he lived next door to ‘two sexy 12 year olds.’ Mark King took us through his agonising and eye-watering decision recently to have the snip and informed his fanbase that his ‘dick was in a wheelchair’ after the process. Ouch. Mark Allen is another who this time used Facebook to comment on Stuart Bingham’s handsome features after losing to him in that ill-tempered match in Australia. Coz he’s dead handsome like.

Sometimes people can go a bit far.

So are the governing body right to curtail the players in this way? Ronnie I’m sure would argue that he is just being himself and winding people up, after all, we have come to expect erratic outbursts from him and at least on Twitter he appears happy, yesterday tellingly describing his Twitter experience thus: ‘I have missed tweeting, my life improves 200 per cent when I tweet..well sad hey’…

I know some would argue that a sport seeking sponsors should not be seen to be populated by uncouth, brawling deadheads. But neither should we discourage players from saying what they really think, as long as it is not offensive to large swathes of people then I really don’t see the problem. If the potential sponsors do, then perhaps they are in the wrong market and shouldn’t be getting involved in a sport that is run by the King of the Showmen himself, who even said at the World Championship press launch that he’d like to see Judd Trump fall out of a nightclub with a dolly bird on each arm and punch a photographer.

One thing that events outside of snooker and sport in general have taught us recently is that any attempt to stop people interacting in the internet world however they see fit will meet with resistance. Attempts to stop players bringing their personalities to the fore will either meet with rebellion or just stop them interacting altogether, both not the desired intent. I think snooker has a chance to step away from the stuffy bureaucracy and red tape of some other sports and encourage players to say what they think and not simply act like robotic, programmed morons. Some boundaries must exist of course, but these should be realistic ones, not ones likely to restrict on the basis that it might upset Maureen in Hampshire or Tarquin in Torbay.

Personally, I’d rather read one of Mike’s filthy jokes or Ronnie’s take on the game, whether this be nob in or nob out, than some of the other dross people post on there.

Good Morning all, I’ll keep this updated as the day goes along. These are the matches taking you up to 4pm today, they then play down to 8 qualifiers. Feel free to have a chat in the comments section.

Live streaming is available via the subscription service of World Snooker Live or by having a funded account at Bet 365.

9am

1. Mark Williams 4-0 Callum Downing (LIVE)
2. Ken Doherty 4-0 Joe Meara
3. Andy Hicks 4-1 Michael White
4. Jamie Burnett 4-3 Michael Wild
5. Jimmy White 2-4 Craig Steadman (LIVE)
7. Xiao Guodong 4-1 Reanne Evans
8. Rod Lawler 4-1 Kacper Filipiak
10. Joe Swail 1-4 Andrew Norman

11am

6. Ricky Walden 4-1 Tian Pengfei (LIVE)
9. Jamie Cope 1-4 Luca Brecel (LIVE)
11. Martin Gould 3-4 Ben Woollaston
12. Rory McLeod 4-0 Matthew Day
13. Barry Hawkins 0-4 Sam Craigie
14. Barry Pinches (140 – missed black for a maximum) 1-4 David Hogan
15. Alan McManus 1-4 James Wattana (140)
16. Anthony Hamilton 3-4 Jak Jones

1pm

17. Dave Harold 4-0 Ben Harrison
18. Nigel Bond 4-1 Saqib Nasir
19. Gerard Greene 4-0 David Birley
20. Steve Davis 4-1 Scott Mackenzie (LIVE)
21. Ryan Day 4-0 Oliver Brown
22. Mike Dunn 4-3 David Gilbert
23. Simon Bedford w/o Mark King
24. Michael Holt 1-4 Li Yan (LIVE)

3pm

25. Liu Chuang 2-4 Duane Jones
26. Graeme Dott 4-2 Kurt Maflin (LIVE)
27. Robert Milkins 4-1 James McGouran
28. Tom Ford 4-1 Douglas Hogan
29. Marcus Campbell 4-1 Stephen Craigie
30. Stephen Lee 4-1 Joel Walker
31. Ding Junhui 4-1 Daniel Wells (LIVE)
32. Peter Ebdon 2-4 Kyren Wilson

Second Round

65 Mark Williams 3 – 4 Ken Doherty
66 Andy Hicks 3 – 4 Jamie Burnett
67 Craig Steadman 4 – 3 Ricky Walden
68 Xiao Guodong 4 – 0 Rod Lawler
69 Luca Brecel 4 – 0 Andrew Norman
70 Ben Woollaston 1 – 4 Rory Mcleod
71 Sam Craigie 4 – 2 David Hogan
72 James Wattana 2 – 4 Jak Jones
73 Dave Harold 4 – 2 Nigel Bond
74 Gerard Greene 1 – 4 Steve Davis
75 Ryan Day 4 – 1 Mike Dunn
76 Simon Bedford 4 – 0 Li Yan
77 Duane Jones 0 – 4 Graeme Dott
78 Robert Milkins 2 – 4 Tom Ford
79 Marcus Campbell 4 – 2 Stephen Lee
80 Ding Junhui 4 – 2 Kyren Wilson

Third Round

97 Ken Doherty 2 – 4 Jamie Burnett
98 Craig Steadman 2 – 4 Xiao Guodong
99 Luca Brecel 3 – 4 Rory Mcleod
100 Sam Craigie 1 – 4 Jak Jones
101 Dave Harold 4 – 0 Steve Davis
102 Ryan Day 4 – 1 Simon Bedford
103 Graeme Dott 4 – 3 Tom Ford
104 Marcus Campbell 2 – 4 Ding Junhui