Riga Open 29/07 - 02/08 2015

[DeanH]

Yep, working from home today :biggrin:

Sanderson Lam had two great long reds to start the first two frames but Selby showing his ability, come on SL!

[streamer45]

Anyone already watching this?

[mikeyd100]

Yes it will be interesting, however I dont think they will get past 1st round but its a good learning experience, good luck to them.

[SnookerFan]

I hope some of the girls get on TV. It's be good exposure for them.

[robertmac]

Its good to see the female players entering as they
need experience and there seems to be no (or few)
womens tournaments. I would imagine those players
who had an early exit last tournament will want to win
a few more matches.
I am looking forward to some great snooker.

[mikeyd100]

Seems there is 3 ladies competing in this tournament too - ( listed as af in brackets )

Euro Tour 1 (29 Jul - 2 Aug 2015)
QRd 1 (7) England Simon Dent (a) v Norway Anita Maflin (af) Wed 29 Jul 4pm
QRd 1 (7) England Sam Thistlewhite (a) v Belgium Hans Blanckaert (a) Wed 29 Jul 4pm
QRd 1 (7) Cyprus Antonis Poullos (a) v Wales Kishan Hirani (a) Wed 29 Jul 4pm
QRd 1 (7) England Elliot Slessor (a) v Lithuania Vilius Schulte-Ebbert (a) Wed 29 Jul 4pm
QRd 1 (7) Sweden Arpat Pulat (a) v England Josh Mulholland (a) Wed 29 Jul 4pm
QRd 1 (7) Ukraine Tetyana Volovelska (af) v England Christopher Keogan (a) Head to head Wed 29 Jul 4pm
QRd 1 (7) Malta Brian Cini (a) v Latvia Anna Prisjažnuka (af) Wed 29 Jul 4pm
QRd 1 (7) Russia Aleksandr Kurgankov (a) v England Andrew Urbaniak (a) Wed 29 Jul 4pm
QRd 1 (7) Wales Ben Jones (a) v Belgium Jurian Heusdens (a) Head to head Est. Wed 29 Jul 5pm
QRd 1 (7) Australia Shannon Dixon (a) v England Michael Williams (a) Est. Wed 29 Jul 5pm
QRd 1 (7) Northern Ireland Conor McCormack (a) v England Richard Beckham (a) Est. Wed 29 Jul 5pm
QRd 1 (7) Japan Keishin Kamihashi (a) v England Adam Duffy (a) Est. Wed 29 Jul 5pm
QRd 1 (7) England Julian Mills (a) v England Chris Norbury (a) Est. Wed 29 Jul 5pm
QRd 1 (7) Latvia Maris Volajs (a) v Latvia Tatiana Vasiljeva (af) Est. Wed 29 Jul 5pm

[daffie]

Would be nice to have an up-to-date tournament section to refer to wouldn't it. Maybe you get one in the VIP section, IDK.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this one as well. I enjoyed last year's, it was good fun, including the final with that mini-comeback from Selby, then a highly amusing presentation ceremony, which I'm sure Mark Allen will never forget.

-

If you can afford to take the time off, then do so.

Personally, I'd rather save my snooker watching annual leave allocation for bigger tournaments later in the season. But then my Annual Leave years runs until the end of March, so I wouldn't want to waste it all too early.

I can certainly think of worse things to do with my time than watch the Riga Open.

Cheers guys. Ok, so I'm going to get some days off to watch this one...seems worth it, plus summer days can be enjoyed in my garden as well

Btw Pat do you by any small chance maybe have a link to the 2014 presentation ceremony ? I missed it..curious to see what happened there with Mark & Mark

[PatBlock]

Hey Dean (long time!)

Cheers for the link (why wasn't I able to find it... )

Would be nice to have an up-to-date tournament section to refer to wouldn't it. Maybe you get one in the VIP section, IDK.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this one as well. I enjoyed last year's, it was good fun, including the final with that mini-comeback from Selby, then a highly amusing presentation ceremony, which I'm sure Mark Allen will never forget.

-

[SnookerFan]

Saying that, I've must confess I've always thought I should crack open a few beers and do a 12-hour PTC watch marathon one Saturday. Never quite managed it somehow.

[SnookerFan]

Hey Dean (long time!)

Cheers for the link (why wasn't I able to find it... )

And yes clearly snooker is always worth it...but worth taking 3 days off from work...still the answer would be yes I suppose

If you can afford to take the time off, then do so.

Personally, I'd rather save my snooker watching annual leave allocation for bigger tournaments later in the season. But then my Annual Leave years runs until the end of March, so I wouldn't want to waste it all too early.

I can certainly think of worse things to do with my time than watch the Riga Open.

[DeanH]

Not for this season no. Just winning an event is not an automatic tour card.
All amateurs gain points (equivalent to the prize money they earn) on the ET Order of Merit (Riga being part of the European Tour) and if they have enough points at the end of the season to be one of the top eight, after all other players already qualified from elsewhere taken into account.

Oh that's nonsense, so amateurs now have to fund all the ET comps to try and get a card, crazy, that's gonna cost a bomb.

not nonsense and they don't have to do all ET events but enough to get enough points and only one way that an amateur can gain a 2yr ticket, another way is QSchool

[robertmac]

There is quite a gap between the Australian Open and
this tournament so it will be nice to see snooker again
and hopefully there will be many big names playing and
some great matches from all the players.

[Master Blaster]

Not for this season no. Just winning an event is not an automatic tour card.
All amateurs gain points (equivalent to the prize money they earn) on the ET Order of Merit (Riga being part of the European Tour) and if they have enough points at the end of the season to be one of the top eight, after all other players already qualified from elsewhere taken into account.

Oh that's nonsense, so amateurs now have to fund all the ET comps to try and get a card, crazy, that's gonna cost a bomb.

[DeanH]

Are there still tour cards at stake if a non-pro wins one of these events? I'm trying to convince a friend to enter one of these events; snooker holiday really.

Not for this season no. Just winning an event is not an automatic tour card.
All amateurs gain points (equivalent to the prize money they earn) on the ET Order of Merit (Riga being part of the European Tour) and if they have enough points at the end of the season to be one of the top eight, after all other players already qualified from elsewhere taken into account.

[Master Blaster]

Are there still tour cards at stake if a non-pro wins one of these events? I'm trying to convince a friend to enter one of these events; snooker holiday really.