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Paul-Hunter-Classics 2010: Let’s get serious
Ferret - This is the first report of many from our German Reporter Annika Flint, Annika is a valuable asset to our team at TSF and most of her work goes unnoticed, she translates articles from English to German on www.TheSnookerForum.de and helps to keep the German speaking site going.
My aim for this season is to provide Annika with enough funding to attend at least two UK events, I hope you enjoy reading this report as much as I have.
Thanks Annika
From PHC to PTC
When Barry Hearn took over as the Chairperson of the WPBSA he promised players and fans alike a greater number of tournaments and he proves his promise to be true this season (among others) in the form of the Players Tour Championship. The PTC series is a series of 12 small tournaments, six of which take place in England (in the snooker academy in Sheffield) and six on the European mainland.
The Paul Hunter Classics are the first of four tournaments of the PTC series to be held this year in Germany.
Certainly one or the other will now think that the Paul Hunter Classics were staged for years and wonder, what does the integration into the PTC series mean for the tournament.
Well, here's an overview of the main differences: the Paul Hunter Classics are no longer an invitational tournament that’s mainly about the audience and the fun of snooker, they are this year a serious tournament of the WSA and there are both prize money (tournament winner gets £ 10,000, runner-up 5,000 pounds), as well as ranking points (winner earns 2000 points, runner-up 1600 points) to win.
All of the tour pros and amateurs who can qualify for participation in qualification matches can compete and that is why the whole field of competitors was huge. In total 222 players had signed up for the Paul Hunter Classics, so that the table number this year was increased from six to ten. There were also no longer the tables of “Stachas Billard Welt”, on which the queue - artists presented their abilities, it where the official tables of the WSA:
In the Hall
The schedule was well organized, the pretty high goal was to have all the best of seven games of the 222 players be played in the period from Thursday to Sunday. To take one point of the résumé in advance: The organization has worked out perfectly. Despite the many players from around the world and the increased number of tables, there was no abrasion or puncture. The Dragon Star Event Management Team under the Leadership of Thomas Cesal had provided for a smooth flow of information, so that both, players as well as fans, knew crystal clear who played when and where. And that was not easy with 10 tables in the Fürth Cityhall:
The arrangement of the tables was more than well thought out, because no matter on what platform you sat down, you always had two or three tables in sight, so you could follow multiple games simultaneously. In the main hall there were, as always, the Main Tables one and two. In the area directly beside the VIP area were the tables three and four, and then in groups of three each came the tables five, six, seven and eight, nine, ten.
This division was particularly beneficial for the numerous present snooker fans, because this year it was, due to the many top players who participated in the tournament, almost impossible to opt for just one game.
On Thursday, the qualifying rounds were played and even though "only" amateurs played the fans were already allowed to watch the matches.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpxfHaUrhSQ
Friday
On Friday the first well known Snookernames appeared in the Cityhall, including Luca Brecel and Mark Selby, Barry Hawkins and Liang Wenbo played their first matches, as well as Patrick Einsle and Ricky Walden:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXyglX4wsmY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTIv4V2xa5Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvchXo69SY4
No Shows
that audience that was most likely particularly happy about the table layout were those who showed up early on Monday morning in order to see Peter Ebdon against Jake Nicholson. Peter Ebdon was there on time, was ready to play and seemed in good spirits, so that fans could look forward to an exciting match, but after 15 minutes had elapsed, it became clear that the opponents of Ebdon would probably not show up. Since everything had to go strictly according to WSA rules this year, Mr. Nicholson was denied one frame after another, each with an interval of 10 minutes. The spectators could watch the matches at the other tables while they waited and this way they wasn’t annoyed too much.
Annoyance is a good word for Saturday morning, for a player who many had been waiting for and wanted to see play didn’t appear in Fürth: Ronnie O'Sullivan. He had registered properly and on time, paid his entry fee and no one could expect that he would not come to Germany, but on Saturday it had to be announced that O'Sullivan was not in Fürth. The disappointment of some fans was great, thought not long, because on Saturday morning several Snooker superstars went into action: Steve Davis, Neil Robertson, Stephen Hendry, Ali Carter, Mark Allen and many others played on Saturday at 09.00 clock.
Steve Davis
Steve Davis performed very well that day with in all his three matches. The first match for him was the match against the reigning vice – worldchampion, Graeme Dott. At first Graeme took a fast 2-0 lead, but Davis fought back, started playing smoothly and managed with great play and precise feel for the balls not only to get even to a 2:2 frame count, but won the match in the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pid0AaeZBME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v98OXR73fvA
In the next match against Fergal O'Brien he was not quite as smooth, but again, Steve Davis kept the upper hand and left the arena as a winner and he again managed to win his third match against Ali Carter later that day.
Ali had just won a very tight and long-Monster Match over the full distance against Mark Selby, and was therefore unbalanced. When in the second frame a crucial ball didn’t fall, he beat his forehead repeatedly with the palm of his hand, cursing to himself in the match again and again and it was ultimately the lack of focus on his side, that made it more simple for Steve to win his third match that day.
This doesn’t mean to devaluate the performance of the six times world champion because he confirmed his performance of the World Championship at the Paul Hunter Classics insistently. Steve Davis got beaten in the quarter by a fabulously playing Shaun Murphy, who had brought his biggest offensive weapon to Fürth: his crashing red Longpots. More then one opponent have made the experience that Murphy’s Long pots are lethal and it wasn’t different with Steve Davis: He lost the match against the defending champion of the Paul Hunter Classics with 1:4. However, Steve Davis should see the weekend as a success for he takes 1000 ranking points with him back to England.
Jimmy White
The same is true for Jimmy White, who lost his quarterfinal of the tournament surprise Daniel Wells. Until then, White had won sovereign in all his matches. So Daniel Wells was in the semi-finals and this is the biggest success of his still very young career.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFsMwZApf6U
Judd Trump
But there was one name that was mentioned again and again, a player who knew to convince with his performance in his matches, so that many of the spectators saw him as a favorite to win the tournament: Judd Trump. The player from England, who may with his 21 Years as well still be called a “young wild”, was always highly praised for his talent, but did not convince last season. He takes too many risks; he presents the opponents with too many chances the press wrote lately. Not so in this year’s Paul Hunter Classics: What ever Judd Trump took on, it fell and the balls sometimes seemed to break the laws of physics because he wanted it. So it surprised not that he won many of his matches very clearly and made it to the finals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArHjGwGzuaw
Trump had never won a ranking tournament and says of himself that he do not play well in front of a big crowd. His opponent in the final was a surprise but after three PTC tournaments in England it is clear that these tournaments are always good for surprise: Anthony Hamilton made it to the final too, despite having a VERY long day (he played all his matches on Sunday and stood at the table from dawn till dusk) and matches against opponents such as Michael White, Stephen Lee, Stuart Bingham, and Daniel Wells. The finale was actually scheduled for 18.00 o’clock, but since Hamilton and Bingham savoured their quarterfinal the Final of the PHC was delayed and did not start until after 20:00 o’clock.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SImRRKx-pU
The first frame was very fast on Judd Trump, who would continue his forward playing and took every chance on that was offered to him. It was clear to note that he had refuelled with confidence in his previous matches. But then some errors crept into his play and Anthony Hamilton punished them with high frame decisive breaks. Hamilton was clearly tired from the long day, took a long time to think before he made a shot and to watch him play was a real test of patience for many fans. This also got to Judd. He sat at the table and struggled with tiredness. He had to fight to keep his eyes open and he did well to go out of the hall and pull himself together when he was finally trailed Hamilton by 1:3 Frames.
The Judd Trump, who walked away from the table and left the arena was frustrated, tired and ready to accept the inevitable end; The Judd Trump who came after the short break back in the major arena took his queue with a grim determination, a sparkle in the eyes and had found the will to win. He appeared to be a little overly motivated in the fifth frame, but it was this overly motivation that, combined with the brilliance of his potting game, made sure that he could win the next two frames and thus forced the Decider.
It was now very late, after 23:00 hours, and the two finalists had been to be as tired as the many spectators. But none of the two wanted to give up, both struggled, but finally it was Judd Trump, who in spite of the many viewers, fatigue and pressure made the determining break and won the Paul Hunter Classics 2010.
The audience cheered for the young man as Anthony Hamilton congratulated him and said in an interview with Rolf Kalb that he would have had a chance at 3-1, but had not been able to use it because his opponent was just too good. Judd found no words, but his smile displayed how pleased he was with his first win in a ranking tournament. The Presentation Party consisted of Rolf Kalb, who helped out on the weekend on the organizing team and had a little chat with the fans, Thomas Cesal, who had initiated the Paul Hunter Classics and - as a special guest - Paul Hunter's father. He read out a short statement in which he told the audience that Paul's family was pleased with the Tournament in memory of their son and that Paul would have been proud that this tournament would take place in his name. In general, it is noted that Dragon Stars Entertainment have succeeded in preserving the memory of Paul Hunter and, aside from the sentimentality, managed to put in centre what was a big part of Paul’s life: The Snooker Sport.
Résumé
All in all, the tournament organizers, fans and the players witnessed a successful start to the now practically implemented Hearn era, even if the fans have to work on their discipline. Despite signs the stands were abandoned during the frames, bottles and glasses fell, cell phones rang. That would be unthinkable in a "real" world ranking tournament, but you have to give the audience a little credit here for the Paul Hunter Classic had just been more of a relaxed atmosphere during the last years.
There are three more PTC tournaments to come before the German Masters in February next year at the Tempodrom in Berlin will take place and until then the last fan should have understood that in snooker one thing counts: the concentration of the players on the ongoing match at the table.
And someone else has to be mentioned. Someone who has done great at this tournament: our German referees. They were from Thursday to Sunday tirelessly at the table, always fully focused at work. And under particularly difficult conditions, as they were under the strict surveillance of Jan Verhass and Eirian Williams. As mentioned in February next year the German Masters will be held and many matches call for many referees. Our Referees will be watched during all of the EPTC events and the best of them get the chance to referee a match at the German Masters next year.
This weekend, our referees have shown a very good performance and proved that snooker not only in the player category has a good future here in Germany.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z85wR0AA71Y
Written by: Annika Flint
Videos and pictures: Annika Flint (approved by the WSA)
My aim for this season is to provide Annika with enough funding to attend at least two UK events, I hope you enjoy reading this report as much as I have.
Thanks Annika
From PHC to PTC
When Barry Hearn took over as the Chairperson of the WPBSA he promised players and fans alike a greater number of tournaments and he proves his promise to be true this season (among others) in the form of the Players Tour Championship. The PTC series is a series of 12 small tournaments, six of which take place in England (in the snooker academy in Sheffield) and six on the European mainland.
The Paul Hunter Classics are the first of four tournaments of the PTC series to be held this year in Germany.
Certainly one or the other will now think that the Paul Hunter Classics were staged for years and wonder, what does the integration into the PTC series mean for the tournament.
Well, here's an overview of the main differences: the Paul Hunter Classics are no longer an invitational tournament that’s mainly about the audience and the fun of snooker, they are this year a serious tournament of the WSA and there are both prize money (tournament winner gets £ 10,000, runner-up 5,000 pounds), as well as ranking points (winner earns 2000 points, runner-up 1600 points) to win.
All of the tour pros and amateurs who can qualify for participation in qualification matches can compete and that is why the whole field of competitors was huge. In total 222 players had signed up for the Paul Hunter Classics, so that the table number this year was increased from six to ten. There were also no longer the tables of “Stachas Billard Welt”, on which the queue - artists presented their abilities, it where the official tables of the WSA:
In the Hall
The schedule was well organized, the pretty high goal was to have all the best of seven games of the 222 players be played in the period from Thursday to Sunday. To take one point of the résumé in advance: The organization has worked out perfectly. Despite the many players from around the world and the increased number of tables, there was no abrasion or puncture. The Dragon Star Event Management Team under the Leadership of Thomas Cesal had provided for a smooth flow of information, so that both, players as well as fans, knew crystal clear who played when and where. And that was not easy with 10 tables in the Fürth Cityhall:
The arrangement of the tables was more than well thought out, because no matter on what platform you sat down, you always had two or three tables in sight, so you could follow multiple games simultaneously. In the main hall there were, as always, the Main Tables one and two. In the area directly beside the VIP area were the tables three and four, and then in groups of three each came the tables five, six, seven and eight, nine, ten.
This division was particularly beneficial for the numerous present snooker fans, because this year it was, due to the many top players who participated in the tournament, almost impossible to opt for just one game.
On Thursday, the qualifying rounds were played and even though "only" amateurs played the fans were already allowed to watch the matches.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Friday
On Friday the first well known Snookernames appeared in the Cityhall, including Luca Brecel and Mark Selby, Barry Hawkins and Liang Wenbo played their first matches, as well as Patrick Einsle and Ricky Walden:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
No Shows
that audience that was most likely particularly happy about the table layout were those who showed up early on Monday morning in order to see Peter Ebdon against Jake Nicholson. Peter Ebdon was there on time, was ready to play and seemed in good spirits, so that fans could look forward to an exciting match, but after 15 minutes had elapsed, it became clear that the opponents of Ebdon would probably not show up. Since everything had to go strictly according to WSA rules this year, Mr. Nicholson was denied one frame after another, each with an interval of 10 minutes. The spectators could watch the matches at the other tables while they waited and this way they wasn’t annoyed too much.
Annoyance is a good word for Saturday morning, for a player who many had been waiting for and wanted to see play didn’t appear in Fürth: Ronnie O'Sullivan. He had registered properly and on time, paid his entry fee and no one could expect that he would not come to Germany, but on Saturday it had to be announced that O'Sullivan was not in Fürth. The disappointment of some fans was great, thought not long, because on Saturday morning several Snooker superstars went into action: Steve Davis, Neil Robertson, Stephen Hendry, Ali Carter, Mark Allen and many others played on Saturday at 09.00 clock.
Steve Davis
Steve Davis performed very well that day with in all his three matches. The first match for him was the match against the reigning vice – worldchampion, Graeme Dott. At first Graeme took a fast 2-0 lead, but Davis fought back, started playing smoothly and managed with great play and precise feel for the balls not only to get even to a 2:2 frame count, but won the match in the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
In the next match against Fergal O'Brien he was not quite as smooth, but again, Steve Davis kept the upper hand and left the arena as a winner and he again managed to win his third match against Ali Carter later that day.
Ali had just won a very tight and long-Monster Match over the full distance against Mark Selby, and was therefore unbalanced. When in the second frame a crucial ball didn’t fall, he beat his forehead repeatedly with the palm of his hand, cursing to himself in the match again and again and it was ultimately the lack of focus on his side, that made it more simple for Steve to win his third match that day.
This doesn’t mean to devaluate the performance of the six times world champion because he confirmed his performance of the World Championship at the Paul Hunter Classics insistently. Steve Davis got beaten in the quarter by a fabulously playing Shaun Murphy, who had brought his biggest offensive weapon to Fürth: his crashing red Longpots. More then one opponent have made the experience that Murphy’s Long pots are lethal and it wasn’t different with Steve Davis: He lost the match against the defending champion of the Paul Hunter Classics with 1:4. However, Steve Davis should see the weekend as a success for he takes 1000 ranking points with him back to England.
Jimmy White
The same is true for Jimmy White, who lost his quarterfinal of the tournament surprise Daniel Wells. Until then, White had won sovereign in all his matches. So Daniel Wells was in the semi-finals and this is the biggest success of his still very young career.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Judd Trump
But there was one name that was mentioned again and again, a player who knew to convince with his performance in his matches, so that many of the spectators saw him as a favorite to win the tournament: Judd Trump. The player from England, who may with his 21 Years as well still be called a “young wild”, was always highly praised for his talent, but did not convince last season. He takes too many risks; he presents the opponents with too many chances the press wrote lately. Not so in this year’s Paul Hunter Classics: What ever Judd Trump took on, it fell and the balls sometimes seemed to break the laws of physics because he wanted it. So it surprised not that he won many of his matches very clearly and made it to the finals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Trump had never won a ranking tournament and says of himself that he do not play well in front of a big crowd. His opponent in the final was a surprise but after three PTC tournaments in England it is clear that these tournaments are always good for surprise: Anthony Hamilton made it to the final too, despite having a VERY long day (he played all his matches on Sunday and stood at the table from dawn till dusk) and matches against opponents such as Michael White, Stephen Lee, Stuart Bingham, and Daniel Wells. The finale was actually scheduled for 18.00 o’clock, but since Hamilton and Bingham savoured their quarterfinal the Final of the PHC was delayed and did not start until after 20:00 o’clock.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
The first frame was very fast on Judd Trump, who would continue his forward playing and took every chance on that was offered to him. It was clear to note that he had refuelled with confidence in his previous matches. But then some errors crept into his play and Anthony Hamilton punished them with high frame decisive breaks. Hamilton was clearly tired from the long day, took a long time to think before he made a shot and to watch him play was a real test of patience for many fans. This also got to Judd. He sat at the table and struggled with tiredness. He had to fight to keep his eyes open and he did well to go out of the hall and pull himself together when he was finally trailed Hamilton by 1:3 Frames.
The Judd Trump, who walked away from the table and left the arena was frustrated, tired and ready to accept the inevitable end; The Judd Trump who came after the short break back in the major arena took his queue with a grim determination, a sparkle in the eyes and had found the will to win. He appeared to be a little overly motivated in the fifth frame, but it was this overly motivation that, combined with the brilliance of his potting game, made sure that he could win the next two frames and thus forced the Decider.
It was now very late, after 23:00 hours, and the two finalists had been to be as tired as the many spectators. But none of the two wanted to give up, both struggled, but finally it was Judd Trump, who in spite of the many viewers, fatigue and pressure made the determining break and won the Paul Hunter Classics 2010.
The audience cheered for the young man as Anthony Hamilton congratulated him and said in an interview with Rolf Kalb that he would have had a chance at 3-1, but had not been able to use it because his opponent was just too good. Judd found no words, but his smile displayed how pleased he was with his first win in a ranking tournament. The Presentation Party consisted of Rolf Kalb, who helped out on the weekend on the organizing team and had a little chat with the fans, Thomas Cesal, who had initiated the Paul Hunter Classics and - as a special guest - Paul Hunter's father. He read out a short statement in which he told the audience that Paul's family was pleased with the Tournament in memory of their son and that Paul would have been proud that this tournament would take place in his name. In general, it is noted that Dragon Stars Entertainment have succeeded in preserving the memory of Paul Hunter and, aside from the sentimentality, managed to put in centre what was a big part of Paul’s life: The Snooker Sport.
Résumé
All in all, the tournament organizers, fans and the players witnessed a successful start to the now practically implemented Hearn era, even if the fans have to work on their discipline. Despite signs the stands were abandoned during the frames, bottles and glasses fell, cell phones rang. That would be unthinkable in a "real" world ranking tournament, but you have to give the audience a little credit here for the Paul Hunter Classic had just been more of a relaxed atmosphere during the last years.
There are three more PTC tournaments to come before the German Masters in February next year at the Tempodrom in Berlin will take place and until then the last fan should have understood that in snooker one thing counts: the concentration of the players on the ongoing match at the table.
And someone else has to be mentioned. Someone who has done great at this tournament: our German referees. They were from Thursday to Sunday tirelessly at the table, always fully focused at work. And under particularly difficult conditions, as they were under the strict surveillance of Jan Verhass and Eirian Williams. As mentioned in February next year the German Masters will be held and many matches call for many referees. Our Referees will be watched during all of the EPTC events and the best of them get the chance to referee a match at the German Masters next year.
This weekend, our referees have shown a very good performance and proved that snooker not only in the player category has a good future here in Germany.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Written by: Annika Flint
Videos and pictures: Annika Flint (approved by the WSA)