2016 International Championship

[Odrl]

Surprisingly one-sided first session. Trump was all over the place in the first six frames and Ding took full advantage. 6-2 isn't all that bad in the end, and we might still have a match this afternoon. :smile:

Unfortunately I won't be able to watch it live, so I will have to catch up with it in the evening. :smile:

[cueman]

Trump looks mentally gone to me. No surprise really, he's been in the last 2 finals and reached the semi's here, after a gruelling match with Murphy yesterday that went to a very tense black ball decider, he's just run out of steam.
Ding has also had a similar run of the ball that Liang had against Trump in the final a week ago and Trump looks utterly fed up of not getting much run of the ball.

Hope Trump takes a break for a month now because I think he needs a rest and get himself ready for the UK. His main aim now though must be to try and get himself in the best shape possible for the world championships. I know its a long way off yet but history has shown the last few seasons that players who have been quiet have gone on to win it or reach the final.

[JimMalone]

Sadly I didn't catch much of the first semifinal as they played ridiculously fast. Just the last few frames and of course ther was never doubt that Ding would win this. He seemd to play at a very, very high level. Whatever the result the final will bring and I think whoever will be his opponent will have to play at a fantastic standard to beat him, Ding is assured to be #4 in the rankings after the International Championship.

[Odrl]

He was good today, yes, but Trump didn't really put much pressure on him. He might find it a little more difficult in the final, especially if he plays Selby. :smile:

[JimMalone]

A match against Selby is always difficult. I really would love to see a rematch of the World Championship and Shanghai Masters final. But yeah, that's quite logical since the two are probably my two favorite players. And any game including these two should nearly guarantee a great match.

But Ding - Bingham would also be a intriguing prospect.

[Erwan_BZH]

Hope Trump takes a break for a month now because I think he needs a rest and get himself ready for the UK. His main aim now though must be to try and get himself in the best shape possible for the world championships. I know its a long way off yet but history has shown the last few seasons that players who have been quiet have gone on to win it or reach the final.

Unfortunately, the calendar for the month of November is just bonkers. Basically no rest at all for the top 16 until York.....
1st week : China Championship in Guangzhou
2nd week: Champion of Champions in Coventry
3rd week : Northen Ireland Open in Belfast
4th week : Start of the UK in York...

This is a gruelling schedule which will undoubtly lead to major surprises in York. Guaranted to see top seeds getting ousted with accumulated fatigue...

[JimMalone]

Unfortunately, the calendar for the month of November is just bonkers. Basically no rest at all for the top 16 until York.....
1st week : China Championship in Guangzhou
2nd week: Champion of Champions in Coventry
3rd week : Northen Ireland Open in Belfast
4th week : Start of the UK in York...

This is a gruelling schedule which will undoubtly lead to major surprises in York. Guaranted to see top seeds getting ousted with accumulated fatigue...

Well, maybe some players would opt not to play the Northern Ireland Open? Of those four it's the tournament with the least amount of prize money and if you had a good run before a rest before the UK Championship could be useful for the one or other player. On the other hand they get a week off after the UK Championship and there is only one ranking event in december with the Scottish Open.

[OmaMiesta]

I'm pretty sure that will not be the final scoreline

Haha hey told you that was gonna be the final scoreline lmao how ironic.

[Odrl]

So, how do we see tomorrow's match going?

It's a meeting between the two players who have shared the last three World titles between them, and of course a meeting between players ranked one and two in the world, so it should be a cracking match over two sessions. It was Selby who prevailed in Shanghai, taking the last three frames after going 5-3 behind. He was actually 5-1 behind when they played in the Masters a few years ago, and Bingham completely succumbed to the pressure in the second half of the match and lost 6-5. I wonder if that will come into play tomorrow? Those two matches aside, the head-to-head is fairly close, so this one could go either way.

As for their current form, both have had patches of good play in this tournament, but I think Selby has played a little better than Bingham overall. Like Trump, Bingham had to survive a very nervy decider in the previous round, but the difference is that he's had an extra day of rest, so he should be refreshed tomorrow. I will still go for Selby though, 9-6. :smile:

[streamer45]

Pretty good start to the second semi-final, very high standard

[Kargetina]

Selby was unplayable from 2-2 on. That black at 2-1 probably decided the match.

[DeanH]

Reminder for UK fans - 06:00 start tomorrow!
Don't forget to put your clocks BACK one hour, and set your alarms

[jonny66]

Who's in this 400 club he was talking about then? Only 7 players.

Without looking I'm going for Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Jimmy White, Neil Robertson, Judd Trump, and John Higgins

[DeanH]

ROS, SH, JH, NR, DJ, Marco Fu, JT

SD - 342
JW - is down at 318

Shaun Murphy is only 5 off the 400

[Odrl]

Who's in this 400 club he was talking about then? Only 7 players.

Without looking I'm going for Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Jimmy White, Neil Robertson, Judd Trump, and John Higgins

Without looking, I'm pretty sure you are missing Ding Junhui and Marco Fu, so White and Davis are probably out. :smile:

Edit: Aaarrrgghhh, too late. :wink: