2017 International Championship

[jonny66]

It was a bit strange. I was watching the Selby - Ford match, when there was suddenly a tiny applause from like two people. And the commentator mentioned that Kyren Wilson made a maximum at another table with "the only spectator over there clapping".

He also said that the tournament organizers are not really interested in full tribunes and the ticket prices are far to high. It's a pity for the players.

It's a pity for the sport, doesn't exactly make it look appealing does it? The reaction after Ronnie's 5.20 max could make someone want to take up snooker, seeing that could do the opposite.

That's not what you want for a sport that is struggling at grassroots level, except in China, oddly enough.

[PatBlock]

Gotta feel for Selt, good fightback from Robertson though.

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[JimMalone]

It's a pity for the sport, doesn't exactly make it look appealing does it? The reaction after Ronnie's 5.20 max could make someone want to take up snooker, seeing that could do the opposite.

That's not what you want for a sport that is struggling at grassroots level, except in China, oddly enough.

Well, the interest in Snooker seems to be huge in China. The TV ratings are great I'm told.

The events in Europe draw more spectators, but therefore they don't get as much sponsors it seems.

[throtts]

Crazy isn't it. They love it but we see empty arenas...

[Odrl]

Yan Bingtao misses out on a TV table again, but at least this time I was planning to watch Murphy-Carter anyway. :smile: The other match is Higgins-Joyce, not that interesting a prospect.

At least they couldn't really go wrong in the afternoon, with Selby-Williams and Trump-Liang getting the TV tables. These two pairings always seem to produce great matches, so I'm looking forward to both of them. :smile:

[gavpowell]

The seats to the side seems better occupied than those direct in front of the cameras

I go out of my way to avoid front rows and lines of sight for the cameras - maybe the Chinese have cottoned on to my way of thinking?

[DeanH]

I go out of my way to avoid front rows and lines of sight for the cameras - maybe the Chinese have cottoned on to my way of thinking?

exactly what I do as well

[Neil Taperell]

Had a quick count up .......65 centuries so far !

How big are the pockets ? or are all the players cueing well !!

[Odrl]

Good performances from Carter and Trump today, punishing almost every mistake their opponents made. Selby was less impressive, he should have gone 5-3 behind really, but he made a good break at the right time after Williams had missed a sitter, then dominated the remainder of the match. He really is a tough player to knock out, even when he is not playing all that well. :smile:

It was interesting to hear David Hendon criticizing the TV choices in commentary, saying that Yan Bingtao's matches really should have been televised following his over over O'Sullivan. I can only agree with that. He also said that Eurosport have no influence over that, which is obviously true this week. However, I'm sure they have at least a say in which matches are televised whenever they are the host broadcaster, and of course they are making their own choice between two available options in each session this week. I am sorry to say that their choices are not very sensible at times...

But anyway, quick predictions for tomorrow:

I have to go with Selby to beat Robbie Williams, obviously. He has had a series of narrow 6-4 victories this week, playing alright but not really anywhere close to his best. He tends to raise his game at the business end of tournaments though, and he has a huge advantage in experience over his opponent. Williams is appearing in his first major quarter-final here, and hasn't really stood out this week in terms of break statistics. He seems like a good fighter that tries to take the maximum from every situation, but it's really tough to get anything against Selby these days. Still, I think it could be a fairly close match, so I will go for another 6-4.

As I said, Carter impressed me today, so I will go for him to beat Gould. These two play quite a similar game, both going for their shots and scoring very strongly when on form, but Carter has a clear advantage when it comes to the tactical and the mental side of the game. Again, he has the edge in experience, although it's not nearly as dramatic as in the match above. They've only met once before outside of the short format, Carter winning 6-2 in the semi-finals of the German Masters last season. Could be a similar match here, but I predict it will be a frame closer, so I'm going for 6-3.

Trump against Allen is another one to look forward to, with a number of exciting matches between them in the past. Trump has the slightly better record as far as major events are concerned, most notably winning their UK final in 2011. I think he is a better player than he was six years ago, whereas Allen hasn't really played to the same standard too often in recent times. Even this week, Trump has scored really clinically and won all of his matches quite comfortably, whereas Allen has scraped through in close matches against opponents he really should be beating easily. I'll go for Trump to win 6-3.

John Higgins against Yan Bingtao is the match I'm looking forward to the most. I think a top-form Higgins would possibly have too much for such a young opponent, but despite his very convincing results this week, I don't think Higgins has played all that well, I think he just had a very favourable draw. As I said the other day, Yan's progress in this event has reminded me of Ding's run in the China Open in 2005, but of course this is the match that will really answer the question of whether Yan has already matured enough to be a genuine title contender. For some reason I am feeling really optimistic about his chances, so I will go for the upset here and predict Yan to win 6-4.

Should be a good day whatever happens. :smile:

[JimMalone]

So we've got the quarterfinals and some of the favorites are still in the race towards the title.

Mark Selby - Robbie Williams
On paper this seems the one quarterfinal with a strong favorite. But while Selby upped his game today against Mark Williams a bit, he was still inconsistent and also has had weak matches this week, most notable against Tom Ford, and is still pretty inconsistent. The two players met five times with Selby winning every single match, but only one of them was at a ranking event. If there was ever a good moment for Robbie Williams to get a win over the world champion it's at this time, but Selby still is the favorite. 6-4 to Selby.

Ali Carter - Martin Gould
A much closer match if we go by the names, but right now I'd also make Carter the strong favorite here. Gould was already nearly out, trailing Kyren Wilson by 0-4, but somehow he found a way to come out victorious. He nearly experienced this today again, just the other way around. After he lead Robert Milkins 4-0, his lead was cut to 5-4, but Gould won the next frame and so has the by far best result of this season already in the bag, which should take a bit of pressure of him.
Carter has played very well though this week and only lost six frames despite a tough path. His 6-1 over Stephen Maguire was especially strong and he made three centuries in that match. 6-3 Carter.

Judd Trump - Mark Allen
So far Trump has made 7 centuries and more than everyone else. Though this doesn't always mean something as the man with the second most, Neil Robertson, who made six, is already out of the tournament. Still the world number three is in good shape during the last weeks and Mark Allen hasn't been that impressive in Daqing. He won twice in the decider against Mark King and Martin O'Donnell after trailing 2-4 in round 2 and 0-3 in round 3. So he has proven good fights this week, but I reckon that if Trump, who also has the edge in their previous meetings (5-3 in ranking events), gets an early lead he won't let slip it away. 6-3 to Trump.

John Higgins - Yan Bingtao
The most intriguing quarterfinal to me. Another duel of the generations. Yan of course beat Ronnie O'Sullivan with a great performance 6-1 in the first round and followed it up with two good wins over Ricky Walden and Jack Lisowski, while Higgins himself stated he wasn't playing that well this week. It's their first meeting (at least I didn't find another one) and usually youngsters have a difficult time facing the master of the all-around game, but Yan has such a good overall game himself, that he could be a real challenge to the Scotsman. Still one of the toughest aspects for young players is to find a consistency of playing good day by day. And Yan hasn't made a ranking semifinal before. Of course at some point this will happen, but tomorrow I fancy Higgins to win 6-5.

[JimMalone]

Great clearance by Gould to get a 4-3-lead.

[kligu]

And another incredible clearance by Gould to go two ahead with three to play.

[DeanH]

Carter does not look like he wants to be there

com'on MG

[kligu]

Carter does not look like he wants to be there

He is looking like he cannot believe what he must be watching.

[Kargetina]

Ali Carter: