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  • #46
    http://livescores.worldsnookerdata.c...i-masters-2017

    They’ve posted the schedule. It does look like Ding has withdrawn. And looks like Ronnie’s match is indeed after everyone else’s so at least they did this better in this tournament.

    Comment


    • #47
      So, the Shanghai Masters starts tomorrow...

      It is the fourth major ranking event of the season, and also the fourth and final event in this bloc of Chinese events in the first half of the season. The tour will move to Europe after this week, with only a single trip back to China for the China Open in April.

      The Shanghai Masters was the last event to still be played under the old tiered system, but unfortunately it has now been forced to adopt the flat draw like all the other events. This means that we have 64 players at the venue, or a few more actually, because some of the matches have been held over. Most of the big names are here, but there are a couple of notable absentees as well. Former champions Kyren Wilson and Ricky Walden have been knocked out in the qualifiers, as have Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy and Anthony McGill. The in-form Li Hang is missing on this occasion as well, and of course Stuart Bingham who is still suspended. Let's see what the draw looks like...

      Quarter 1:

      Ding Junhui/Mei Xiwen v. Adam Duffy
      Tom Ford v. Jimmy Robertson
      Kurt Maflin v. Lee Walker
      Ryan Day v. Yu Delu

      Ding Junhui is the defending champion, the only player to have won this title on more than one occasion. On paper, he has a fairly simple route to the quarter-finals, but his recent appearances at venues don't inspire any optimism. In Daqing he basically gave the impression he didn't really want to be there, and that was one of the most important tournaments of the season. It's getting harder and harder to predict which events Ding will play well in, because his mood and form seem to change so dramatically between events. I don't think we can expect him to repeat his 2013/2014 season any time soon, but of course he is still very much a danger in each individual event, and Shanghai has been a good place for him over the years. He has a tricky little opener against Mei Xiwen, a player who played very well in Daqing and almost knocked out Murphy. Next up would be either Tom Ford or Jimmy Robertson. They actually played each other in the 1st round of the World Open as well, and it was Robertson who prevailed on that occasion. They are both capable of stringing a couple of wins together, but I can't realistically see them having a particularly deep run. That leaves Ryan Day as possibly Ding's nearest challenger, although he too has been unimpressive since his win in Riga at the start of the season. He was actually on the verge of winning the inaugural Shanghai Masters ten years ago, leading 6-2 halfway through the final, but he ended up losing the last eight frames. Also here is Yu Delu, who survived five deciders in a row in his run to the semi-finals of the Scottish Open last season, but unfortunately hasn't really been close to another result like that since. Kurt Maflin lost to Day in the 1st round of the International Championship, and he would be second favourite if they met again here. He had a little purple patch a few seasons ago, but lately he hasn't really looked particularly dangerous. Lee Walker wouldn't be my pick either, but I've underestimated him before. He knocked Selby out of the World Open this season, and he has beaten Ding quite comfortably in both of their previous meetings, both times on TV. As I said, I am not feeling particularly confident about Ding at the moment, but his draw here really does make it difficult to look past him.

      Just to follow up, I actually wrote that on Friday, and Ding has since withdrawn. I will leave my thoughts as they were, but obviously this section is now wide open. With Ding gone, I think Day is the most logical choice now.

      Fergal O'Brien v. Mitchell Mann
      Mark Allen v. Yan Bingtao
      Michael Holt v. Cao Yupeng
      Jack Lisowski v. Chris Totten

      There is more competition for the other quarter-final spot in this quarter, although Mark Allen is the only tournament winner and by far the highest-ranked player in this section. It's not unusual to see him performing well in the first half of the season, because he seems to be a specialist for the Chinese events these days. He got to the semi-finals of the World Open this season, then followed it up with a run to the final of the International Championship a week ago, beating Yan Bingtao 9-2 in the semi-finals. It's really harsh on both players to meet in the last64 here. Less so for Yan I suppose, because there was always a chance he could have drawn a top player, but from Allen's point of view this is just about the worst-case scenario. It goes without saying that this is by far the most interesting prospect of the 1st round here, so I wonder if they will somehow manage not to put it on TV... :frown: Allen did play fantastically well against Yan in Daqing, but I think it was mostly the pressure of the occasion that prevented Yan from making more of a match of it. My prediction is that the quarter-finalist will come from this pairing, but a case could be made for some of the other players as well. Fergal O'Brien, for example, was a quarter-finalist in the China Championship at the start of the season, and he also got to the quarter-finals the last time he was in Shanghai, a few years ago. Jack Lisowski is playing some of his best snooker this season, with runs to the quarter-finals of the English Open, and to the last16 of the International Championship, where he actually lost to Yan. Similar story with Cao Yupeng, decent results in the major events so far this season, plus a run to the semi-finals of the European Masters. Michael Holt has perhaps been slightly disappointing this season, but of course Shanghai is the place of his only major semi-final to date, and he got to the quarter-finals last year as well, so perhaps he might find some inspiration again. The other two players in this section are somewhat lesser names, but Mitchell Mann did get to the semi-finals of the Paul Hunter Classic this season, in the short format, while Chris Totten managed to beat Neil Robertson in qualifying for this event. Totten's results have actually been quite poor this season, but he is still only 18 and new to the professional scene, so it would be unwise to dismiss him too quickly. All things considered, I think I'll go for Allen in this section.

      Quarter 2:

      Robbie Williams v. Yuan Sijun
      Graeme Dott v. Xiao Guodong
      Luca Brecel v. Matthew Stevens
      Mark King v. Jamie Jones

      Before the season started, Luca Brecel probably wouldn't have been considered the favourite in any section he could have realistically landed in, but things can change very quickly in snooker. He didn't have a great record in China either, but this season he has already won the China Championship and reached the semi-finals of the World Open, so there is no real reason to play down his chances here. His consistency is much improved as well. I wouldn't want to state this as a fact, since I haven't really double-checked it, but I think Brecel is the only player in the world apart from David Gilbert to have appeared at the venue stage of all nine events that carried ranking points so far this season. It's tough to say who the highest obstacle is for him in this section. Graeme Dott and Matthew Stevens are big names, sure, but they aren't really top players anymore. Dott hasn't reached the business end of any event that carried ranking points in more than two and a half years, while Stevens hasn't done it in more than three years. The 2014 Australian Open was the last successful tournament for Stevens in that regard, and he actually beat Brecel at the venue on that occasion, but of course the balance of power is completely different these days. To complete this little reunion from Australia three years ago, Xiao Guodong is also here, and he was the player who eventually beat Stevens in the quarter-finals in that event. It was a better time for Xiao, as he was on the verge of a top16 place in the rankings, following his run to the final of the Shanghai Masters the season before, but things went downhill rather dramatically after that. This is actually his first appearance at the venue in Shanghai since that final, after a series of defeats in the qualifiers in recent years. Mark King and Jamie Jones have both reached a ranking semi-final in the short format this season, King in India and Jones in Germany, but neither has done a lot in the proper events, so I'm not optimistic about their chances here. I kind of dismissed Robbie Williams ahead of the International Championship, but he proved me wrong by getting to the quarter-finals there, so perhaps he could do something again. That only leaves Yuan Sijun, the young Chinese player who is still only 17, but I'm sure most people will remember him whitewashing Martin Gould on two separate occasions at venues in China in the past. He beat Murphy in qualifying for this event, so he is definitely one to keep an eye on. I'm still going for Brecel in this section though.

      Stephen Maguire v. Rory McLeod/Billy Joe Castle/Zhang Jiankang
      Allister Carter v. Stuart Carrington/Li Zhen/Chen Feilong
      Ben Woollaston v. Michael Georgiou
      Judd Trump v. Alfie Burden

      This section doesn't really have any great depth, so I would say there are only three realistic contenders. Judd Trump first of all, the winner of the European Masters this season in the short format. In the longer events his best is a quarter-final in the International Championship, so he really should be looking for a better result here. He came very close to winning the Shanghai Masters on two occasions in the past, losing 10-9 in the final in 2012 and 2015. Ali Carter did win this event back in 2010, and he comes here in pretty good form this year. He got to the semi-finals of the China Championship at the start of the season, then added a run to the quarter-finals of the International Championship as well, and I actually thought he was playing the best snooker out of anyone in Daqing, but he reacted very poorly after a couple of setbacks against Martin Gould and ended up losing the match. He hasn't played as much snooker as most other players this season, so it will be interesting to see whether he can put in another good performance here. Stephen Maguire won't be happy to have landed so close to Carter in the draw, because he lost heavily when they played in Daqing, and he generally seems to struggle against him anyway. It's questionable whether he should even be included among the contenders alongside Trump and Carter here, as he hasn't really done anything of note since reaching the final in Riga in the summer, but he does still produce the occasional good run. Shanghai was his best event last season, so I wouldn't want to rule him out. That's it as far as realistic contenders in this section are concerned really... Rory McLeod is here, possibly facing Maguire in the 1st round proper, having lost to him 5-1 in the China Championship this season, and with a session to spare at the Crucible a few months prior, though McLeod had of course knocked out Trump the round before. Still, at 46 years of age, he has never reached the business end of any event that carried ranking points outside of the PTC series, so he is the definition of a journeyman really, as is Alfie Burden. Ben Woollaston hasn't done anything outside of the short format in his career either, but at least he has a couple of good runs in the minor events, including a run to the quarter-finals of the Paul Hunter Classic this season. I must correct myself though, Woollaston is another player who has played at every venue so far this season, so he is at least reliable in that regard. I can't point out any great results from Stuart Carrington either, but he does tend to play alright most times we see him on TV, so I will mention him as well, just to be safe. I'll take Trump in this section.

      Quarter 3:

      John Higgins/Alexander Ursenbacher v. Ian Preece
      Zhou Yuelong v. Sanderson Lam
      Liang Wenbo/Rod Lawler v. John Astley
      David Gilbert v. Mark Joyce

      John Higgins won this tournament in very memorable circumstances in 2012, coming back from 7-2 behind after the afternoon session of the final to win 10-9, making a maximum break along the way. He beat Trump on that occasion, and I think Trump is actually a pretty good comparison for the season Higgins has had so far. He too got to the quarter-finals of the International Championship, he too won a short-format tournament in India, but you would expect a little bit more in the major events from a player ranked in the top4. Well, this week is a good chance for him to do something. Liang Wenbo has never beaten Higgins in any match, minor or major, although it would take a couple of wins from both players to even set up that meeting here. Liang hasn't actually won a single match in Shanghai since getting to the final eight years ago, so clearly this is not his favourite venue. He also hasn't had a great season so far, so he is under pressure a little to start getting some results again. David Gilbert could be a decent bet here. Unlike Liang, he has had a win over Higgins, and it came just recently in his run to the quarter-finals of the World Open. As I mentioned earlier, Gilbert has appeared at every venue so far this season, so you can't really fault his consistency. A tough opening match for him against Mark Joyce though, another player who is enjoying a fairly good season, with runs to the quarter-finals of two short-format events, as well as a last16 appearance in Daqing last week. Zhou Yuelong? Clearly losing his father recently has set him back a little, at a time when he was getting some good results. He got to the quarter-finals of the China Championship in August, then added a run to the semi-finals of the European Masters in October, and I think it's only a matter of time before he bounces back with more of the same. Could it be this week? Alexander Ursenbacher is not quite as young as Zhou, but he is still one of the youngest players in this event and very promising in his own right, having reached the semi-finals of the English Open in great style just recently. He doesn't have the best of luck with draws though. He was whitewashed by Higgins in the World Open and the European Masters, so I'm sure he would have preferred to avoid him here. Can he beat him this time? I will be less predictable in this section and go for Gilbert to come through.

      Martin Gould v. Li Yuan
      Stuart Bingham v. Akani Songsermsawad
      Robert Milkins v. Lyu Haotian
      Marco Fu v. Hossein Vafaei

      A relatively weak section in the context of the season so far, with fairly few runs to the business end of events between all the players here. Martin Gould stands out a little, coming here on the back of a good run to the semi-finals in Daqing. He had some great moments in that tournament, but ultimately Selby was too high an obstacle for him over two sessions, as he so often is. There is nothing quite as difficult in this little section, especially when we consider that Marco Fu has been pretty awful so far this season. It was very much the same story with him this time last year as well, so perhaps this part of the season just doesn't suit him for some reason. Perhaps all of the major events being in China has something to do with it as well, because his record here actually isn't that great, particularly in Shanghai. He has a tricky opening match against Hossein Vafaei as well, although he did beat him 5-3 at the same stage of the China Championship at the start of the season. Vafaei has shown steady improvement in recent months, starting with that run to the semi-finals of the China Open at the end of last season, and continuing with a run to the quarter-finals of the English Open this season, although that was in the short format. I'm not sure who else could come through here... Robert Milkins and Lyu Haotian meet in the 1st round, not long after they played in the qualifiers for the European Masters, with Lyu prevailing on that occasion. Neither has done anything great this season though. Milkins's best is a last16 in Daqing, where he was defeated by Gould, while Lyu hasn't been beyond the last32 stage of any event. He is almost 20 now, so it's a long time since he got to the quarter-finals of the International Championship just before his 15th birthday. Akani Songsermsawad is another fairly young prospect, but unfortunately he doesn't have any great results to point out either. Robbie Williams managed to take advantage of Bingham's suspension in Daqing though, so I wonder if Songsermsawad can do something similar here. In the absence of a better choice, I will go with Gould in this section.

      Quarter 4:

      Barry Hawkins v. Daniel Wells
      Michael White v. Mark Davis
      Ronnie O'Sullivan v. Gary Wilson
      Joe Perry v. Matthew Selt

      Ronnie O'Sullivan should be the favourite to come through his section, although he does have a history of playing underwhelming stuff in China from time to time. This season he did alright in Guangzhou, losing to Brecel in the quarter-finals, then lost in the opening round of the International Championship against an inspired Yan Bingtao. Of course there was also the English Open in between those two events, and O'Sullivan played great stuff there to win it. I guess Shanghai has been the most successful of all the Chinese tournaments for him in the fairly modern history. He won it in 2009 and lost in the final the previous year, although he hasn't been to the business end since. At the moment of my typing this, he is of course still involved in the final of the Champion of Champions as well, so it could be difficult for him to make the trip and compete to the best of his ability here. Joe Perry has a fairly awful record against him, but I think he is the most likely to take advantage if O'Sullivan is out of sorts. He came close to winning a major ranking title in China on two occasions in recent years, so he clearly likes playing here. His recent form is a little worrying though, as he hasn't really done anything of note since reaching the quarter-finals of the Riga Masters in the summer. I am tempted to dismiss Barry Hawkins again, because he just can't seem to play good snooker in the first half of the season, and his recent form has been quite dreadful. On top of that, he is one of the very few top players who have never won anything in China. Mark Davis is the opposite of Hawkins, in the sense that he usually plays his best snooker in the first half of the season, but on this occasion he hasn't really got going either. Michael White is another player who doesn't inspire much confidence at the moment. He won the Paul Hunter Classic and reached the quarter-finals of the English Open this season, both in the short format, but he also has a bunch of defeats in the qualifiers against players he really should be beating. Nothing to mention from Matthew Selt either, although he did play quite well the last time he was on TV, which was against Neil Robertson in Daqing, but he ended up losing the match from a very strong position. Finally, Gary Wilson perhaps deserves a mention as well. He got to the quarter-finals of the Paul Hunter Classic in the short format this season, and he is of course a former China Open finalist in the proper format. I think I will go against O'Sullivan on this occasion and go for Perry to come through.

      Mark Williams v. Wang Yuchen
      Sam Baird/Soheil Vahedi/Ma Chunmao v. Gerard Greene
      Alan McManus v. Dominic Dale
      Mark Selby/Ian Burns v. Chris Wakelin

      The last section surely has to be between Mark Selby and Mark Williams. Both have great records in China, Selby in particular has been superb in this part of the world in recent years, and only really rivalled by Ding Junhui, whom he lost to in last year's final. He once again confirmed his dominance in the slightly longer format by winning the International Championship last week, and I think the matches of medium length like we have here will suit him just fine as well. Williams has not really been close to winning a tournament this season, but I would still say it's been a fairly successful season for him so far, with runs to the quarter-finals of the China Championship and the World Open, and a couple of good results in the short format as well. It's really tough to make a case for anyone else in this section. Sam Baird is a fairly good player on his day, but he has never been to the business end of any ranking event, and this will be his debut at the venue in Shanghai. Dominic Dale won the inaugural Shanghai Masters ten years ago, his only major ranking title to date, but he is not really a top player, and not a particularly dangerous outsider these days either. Alan McManus doesn't impress me either, especially since his previous two visits to China ended with defeats against two local players, and not particularly prominent ones at that. That leaves Ian Burns as the only other player who could possibly do something, but the only thing I can mention from him is a run to the quarter-finals of the Paul Hunter Classic this season, in the short format. As I said, this really should be another round of the Selby-Williams rivalry. They've had some fantastic matches over the years, but it's Selby who has comfortably had the upper hand in the more recent times, even as recent as the International Championship a week ago, when he prevailed 6-4 in the last16. I have to go with Selby really.

      Possible QF line-up:

      Ryan Day v. Mark Allen
      Luca Brecel v. Judd Trump
      David Gilbert v. Martin Gould
      Joe Perry v. Mark Selby


      There we are... Apologies for repeating some of the stuff that's already been said, but I won't edit anything at this point. :smile: I hope to watch as much of this event as possible, and I'm sure there will be some good snooker played. I wish everyone a great snooker week.

      Comment


      • #48
        Originally Posted by JimMalone View Post
        I've got a few minutes, so I'll do a quick preview.

        The Shanghai Masters has raised its prize money quite heavily, but sadly the format is still not a very long one. Just Best of 9 until the quarterfinals, then Best of 11 in the semifinals and Best of 19 in the final. That's not great, but well, at least better than Best of 7. Also good is that there's 64 players in the draw and so more matches to win are needed, which I prefer vastly to something like the Champion of Champions, which is hold this week. I'm looking forward much more to the Shanghai Masters.

        On the minus side many great players are missing here. Of course Stuart Bingham is still banned and there were a few upsets in the qualifiers with Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, Kyren Wilson and Anthony McGill all losing as well as Li Hang, who I want to include here, cause he has had such a good season so far and would have been an uncomfortable opponent for pretty much every other player.
        I hope players will be fresh, which is surely questionable for Ronnie O'Sullivan and - if he makes the final of the Champion of Champions - Luca Brecel.

        First Quarter
        Defending Champion Ding Junhui is the top seed this time and as usual in a chinese event, he still has to play his qualifier. If he makes the main draw, he will open against Adam Duffy, which should be makeable, then play Tom Ford or Jimmy Robertson. And this could already proove difficult. Cause Ding's great placement as number three of this season's ranking is purely due his win at the World Open. Aside from this he has only suffered early exits. In the last years his form was always a bit inconsistent, so I wouldn't be surprised if he loses early again - or wins the tournament.
        In his upper half of this section the next biggest name on paper is Ryan Day. But while his season began great with the title at the Riga Masters he hasn't really played well since.

        The next highest seed after Ding in this section is Mark Allen and his form wasn't bad lately, reaching the final of the International Championship. There he beat Yan Bingtao impressively in the semifinal and he might need a performance like this in Shanghai as well. Cause Yan is his opponent there again, already in the first round this time. Surely the most intriguing match among the openers. Whoever wins this battle has a pretty good chance of making the quarterfinal, cause the most dangerous opponents there would be Jack Lisowski and Cao Yupeng or Michael Holt, who meet each other in the first round as well.


        Second Quarter
        At the top of this section Luca Brecel has a very nice draw for another deep run. Cause this is the part of the draw where Shaun Murphy was expected to be, but he lost 4-5 to Yuan Sijun in the qualifiers. Can the Chinese profit from his win? Or Robbie Williams, who reached the quarterfinal of the International Championship just last week. Cause the Englishman is Yuans opening opponent. And the winner plays Xiao Guodong or Graeme Dott, before running likely into Brecel, who opens against Stevens, then could play Mark King.

        In the down half of this section Judd Trump (who opens against Alfie Burden) is the big favorite. He usually gets past "weaker" players these days and so I expect him in the last 16, where he could meet Ali Carter, who hasn't played much this year, but reached the semifinal at the China Championship as well as the quarterfinal at the International Championship, where he played pretty great.

        Third Quarter
        This section is headed by John Higgins, who hasn't been at his best lately and on top of that has quite a tricky draw. While he "should" beat Ian Preece in the first round (if Higgins wins his still open qualifier against Alexander Ursenbacher), he is projected to play Zhou Yuelong in the second round and Liang Wenbo (who also has his qualifier to play) in the third round. Of course Liang is no surefire bet to come so far as well. He could possible lose to David Gilbert or Mark Joyce in round two.

        The sixth section of the draw is the one, where Stuart Bingham would have been, but now it's Akani Songsermsawad who has already reached the second round. And it's good news for Martin Gould as well, who now could play the Thai if he beats Li Yuan first. This would bear the chance of another deep run for Gouldy after his great achievement in Daqing, where he got into the semifinal. Also cause the rest of this part of the draw reads dangerous, but could be worse. Marco Fu is the highest seed and his season has been dreadful so far. Can he finally turn it around? He has the always dangerous Hossein Vafaei first, but the Iranian hasn't had the best results himself this season, the quarterfinal at the English Open aside. Both players met this year at the China Championship with Fu winning 5-3 - one of only two matches he won this season...
        Possible second round opponent for the winner this time is Robert Milkins, always a tricky one as well.

        Fourth Quarter
        This last part of the draw could have been even more stacked, but Kyren Wilson lost in the qualifiers and so World Champion Mark Selby, who reached the final here last year, has a bit of an easier path now in the early stage. Of course as usual Selby still has to play his qualifier (against Ian Burns), then would play Chris Wakelin and either Dominic Dale or Alan McManus before running probably into Mark Williams. The Welshman was closer than anybody of beating Selby in Daqing last weak, but still lost 4-6 in the end. This time the task is just to get to 5 frames first though and this might play into the cards of the biggest name in the other half of this quarter - Ronnie O'Sullivan, who would fancy his chances in a possible quarterfinal against Selby more under this conditions I think.

        Of course Ronnie could be stopped before, as he isn't exactly in the softest place of the draw. He opens against Gary Wilson who managed to win 7 frames from him at their first rounder at the Crucible in April, then could meet Joe Perry. And on the other side of this section there is another familiar name with Barry Hawkins, though it has to be said that his season has been very bad thus far. More dangerous is maybe Michael White (who opens against Mark Davis), but the Welshman is so inconsistent this season. Once he plays very good, then just horrible.

        Possible Quarterfinals
        Ding - Allen
        Brecel - Carter
        Liang - Gould
        O'Sullivan - Selby
        After Ding's withdrawal obviously the first section is wide open now. Ryan Day should be the favorite, but I could imagine someone like Tom Ford "steal" this quarterfinal spot.

        Still would say it's Day.

        Day - Allen
        Brecel - Carter
        Liang - Gould
        O'Sullivan - Selby

        Comment


        • #49
          Even wider open now that Day and Ford didn't get through their first matches.

          Comment


          • #50
            Originally Posted by mick745 View Post
            Even wider open now that Day and Ford didn't get through their first matches.
            Yep. But not really a surprise. With Ding out this was already close to totally open as Day wasn't in good shape lately.

            Comment


            • #51
              Originally Posted by jonny66 View Post
              Apparently Ding has withdrawn from this, anyone know why?
              It seems because he is suffering from conjunctivitis.

              Comment


              • #52
                This is on Quest by the way, I've just noticed.

                Comment


                • #53
                  Good to see Dotty get a win! Would have been my tv match choice. Bingtao seemed to start ok but then was totally and couldn't find any rhythm.

                  Comment


                  • #54
                    Also nice that Zhou got a first win after his tragic loss.

                    Comment


                    • #55
                      Originally Posted by JimMalone View Post
                      Also nice that Zhou got a first win after his tragic loss.
                      yup! Lam put on a good fight, or so it seemed from the livescore.

                      Comment


                      • #56
                        Chris Wakelin gave Mark Selby some trouble. He was 3-0 down and then 4-2 down (first to 5) but managed to force a decider. Selby managed to win the decider, but good job from Wakelin.

                        Comment


                        • #57
                          Originally Posted by Selbyjustbegun View Post
                          Chris Wakelin gave Mark Selby some trouble. He was 3-0 down and then 4-2 down (first to 5) but managed to force a decider. Selby managed to win the decider, but good job from Wakelin.
                          No surprise in Selby winning the decider. You have to scrape the fella off the table
                          John Lennon : Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. :snooker:

                          Comment


                          • #58
                            One of the stranger stories of this tournament:
                            Luca Brecel picked up the wrong bag at the airport, but only realised this in his hotel. So he had to borrow clothes from Michael White to be able to compete at the tournament... And the shoes of the guy whose bag he picked up.
                            And this just two weeks after he lost his cue in Daqing. Don't know if this was also his fault, but Luca seems a bit careless to me. Which also reflects at this snooker game.

                            Comment


                            • #59
                              Originally Posted by JimMalone View Post
                              One of the stranger stories of this tournament:
                              Luca Brecel picked up the wrong bag at the airport, but only realised this in his hotel. So he had to borrow clothes from Michael White to be able to compete at the tournament... And the shoes of the guy whose bag he picked up.
                              And this just two weeks after he lost his cue in Daqing. Don't know if this was also his fault, but Luca seems a bit careless to me. Which also reflects at this snooker game.
                              Odd that they would have the same bag, and the same size feet.

                              I hope Mathew Stevens isn't reading that, after Brecel carelessly whitewashed him today. I know what you mean though.

                              Comment


                              • #60
                                Originally Posted by jonny66 View Post
                                Odd that they would have the same bag, and the same size feet.

                                I hope Mathew Stevens isn't reading that, after Brecel carelessly whitewashed him today. I know what you mean though.
                                Maybe it would be better he read it, as it could give him new motivation to improve his game again

                                Comment

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