2017 China Championship

[DeanH]

I notice that Zhou has the white cleaned a lot

[blahblah01]

He probably uses Pro Chalk :wink:

[Odrl]

Okay, the wasn't exactly the morning I expected. :smile:

Selby played a really poor match here. There was a controversial foul called in the opening frame when he had a chance to start with a big break, and he ended up losing the frame. I think that relaxed Zhou a little, because he made a big century in the second frame to take a 2-0 lead, and it looked like it would be a high-quality game at that point. The rest was pretty scrappy though, Selby in particular missed a bunch of key balls, including a simple pink for the frame early on, and of course those two browns in the last two frames that would have surely won him the match. An uncharacteristically poor decider from him. Zhou looked good at times, but needing four simple chances to get over the line in the end is a bad sign ahead of his match with Gould.

The other match was similar in a way, Gilbert took the chances to go 2-0 up, but after that they both started missing and O'Sullivan got over the line with a fairly unimpressive performance. I don't think he will be able to afford another one like that, especially if he plays Trump in the next round. :smile:

[DeanH]

Cracking start by McManus 4-0, will be an amazing come back for Ding; 15min break now

[aditl]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl8dk99gt6I#t=8m7s

Please zoom to full screen. It was definitely a foul!

[Hal]

Well, bottom half of the draw has opened a lot now, with my 3 all time favourite players there. I wish either Luca, Mark Williams or Matthew Stevens will lift the trophy.
Lot of surprising results today, I will hopefully catch some matches during weekend, shame the clock difference.

[Erwan_BZH]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl8dk99gt6I#t=8m7s

Please zoom to full screen. It was definitely a foul!

Indeed, no controversy here, clearly a foul from Mark.

[blahblah01]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl8dk99gt6I#t=8m7s

Please zoom to full screen. It was definitely a foul!

I thought this was going to be the Trump shot. Called a Miss, he moaned and opponent didn't have CB put back, as he asked Trump if he hit it , and Trump said yes.....

[ADR147]

Indeed, no controversy here, clearly a foul from Mark.

yes - looks a foul to me

[motorhead]

thanks for the recap Odrl, didn't have the chance to watch Selby's match. Trump still not 100% after the eye surgery according to his own words, good to see Dotty with some results.

[Odrl]

Just to be clear, when I said "controversial foul" I wasn't suggesting the call was wrong. I think the replay is pretty conclusive.

Not so sure about that situation in the Trump match though. I mean, the referee was literally standing as close as possible to the red and watched it very intently. It's a bit unbelievable that Trump would have seen it better from his side of the table, and indeed there didn't seem to be any contact made on the one replay we saw.

Anyway, black ball finish in the opening frame of both matches this morning. I think it could prove more pivotal on the main table though, because we know how Maguire gets when he suffers setbacks like that. :wink:

[lennon11]

Poor from Selby in my opinion, his reaction to the foul being called..openly doubting/questioning the referees decision, just like he did in the world final when rolling up to the black...not good attitude/example.

[blahblah01]

Poor from Selby in my opinion, his reaction to the foul being called..openly doubting/questioning the referees decision, just like he did in the world final when rolling up to the black...not good attitude/example.

And Trump: let's not just pick on Selby (it's not as if he is Murphy) :wink:

[Odrl]

I was looking forward to this morning, but unfortunately it seems like there won't be much of a match, with Murphy leading 4-0. I'm not as impressed with him as the commentators seem to be though, he conceded enoughs chance to his opponent that he could have been 4-0 down himself. :wink:

A bit of a marathon on the other table, with Gould playing on for three snookers in that second frame. A pretty good effort as well, he got two and had Zhou snookered on the blue which could have given him the points he needed to be able to win the frame. Zhou takes it in the end though. :smile:

[JimMalone]

Lots or surprises yesterday. Has it ever been that the Top 7 ranked players all are out by the second round?
The Selby match was the only one I saw and Mark wasn't playing very well. Maybe still misses practice from his foot injury as well.

I really like Zhou's approach of the game though. Still plenty of mistakes, but he has most of the basics and a good mind.

I think this tournament is Ronnie's to win now. But I definitely hope for a different winner. Would like Zhou, Stevens or Williams to lift the trophy. Or Gould, Ford and McManus, but I doubt them even more than the three others.