2019 German Masters

[PatBlock]

Once again Selby goes from a dominant performance to losing the next match. Did he get out played or did he not play well

Bit of both. Gilbert played well and Selby was true to current form. Is his shot selection a bit too aggressive at the moment? I've thought this on a number of occasions recently. Maybe all the criticism of his style of play has got to him, he does seem somewhat less inclined to run for cover these days. There were quite a few shots from him today which I thought were just not worth the risk/reward, shots I doubt he'd have considered a year or two ago.

The yellow into the side pocket, holding for the red into the yellow pocket, in frame 8 for example, this was a very dubious choice, difficult pot, leaving Gilbert an easy starter for the match, if missed, which it was. And the missed green which got Glbert in for his match winning break, just too risky for me, and it lost him the match. I think he needs to revert back to his natural style, and forget the nay-sayers.

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[DeanH]

finally found a video where I can hear the referee;
you are right the ref calls the frame as he shakes Yuan's hand, the Yuan shakes Higgin's; then the white hits the rest.
The frame is over, incorrect of the referee to call it before the cue ball has stopped rolling.
BUT nearly every match if called before the cue ball stops rolling I have noticed.
Often the referee will do so because in their opinion the cue ball is in no danger of going in-off or any other foul occurring.
I think this is another one for the referee and rules committee to discuss and issue a guidance to their members

[jonny66]

The concession was Higgins offering his hand, the acceptance of that concession was Yuan accepting the handshake; end of frame. then the cue ball hit the rest.
We can all say the ref should have done this, the ref should have done that; Yuan was responsible for the rest, if only he lifted it up off the table as he turned around. IF only Higgins had not jumped up and offered his hand...
Life is full of what-ifs... or is it chocolates?

You can't concede a frame once it's over, and when the ref says "frame and match" it's over, the handshake is just congratulatory. The ref shook Juan's hand before Higgins did.

[DeanH]

I think the ref called 13 and the frame before the white hit the rest, so it's not strictly a concession. Bad reffing if he did.

The concession was Higgins offering his hand, the acceptance of that concession was Yuan accepting the handshake; end of frame. then the cue ball hit the rest.
We can all say the ref should have done this, the ref should have done that; Yuan was responsible for the rest, if only he lifted it up off the table as he turned around. IF only Higgins had not jumped up and offered his hand...
Life is full of what-ifs... or is it chocolates?

[jonny66]

Sec 3.1(f) The winner of a frame is the player or side:
...(ii) to whom the frame is conceded; ...
This situation is specifically mentioned in the SRA Explanations ((Conceding section, they have cue ball going in after the concession) and they clarify that the game has already been conceded so the concession would stand.

From seeing the video, I also think the referee acted correctly in this situation due to the actions of the players.

I think the ref called 13 and the frame before the white hit the rest, so it's not strictly a concession. Bad reffing if he did.

[DeanH]

from what I saw Gilbert hung in there when 3-1 down; then took his chances when they arose with a couple of large breaks to win the frames; the decider was a grind with both playing good safety; Selby had the first chance to take to frame and match but broke down; Gilbert nibbled down the gap, Selby had the first opportunity to clear the colours but missed a relatively easy green cut to the middle after a fine cut on the yellow left poking out by Gilbert's attempt at a snooker. Gilbert cleared the rest well.

[bobmikeking]

Once again Selby goes from a dominant performance to losing the next match. Did he get out played or did he not play well

[DeanH]

well done David Gilbert, beating Selby on the decider

[DeanH]

Robertson 5-0 Bingham
superb snooker fro Robbo, 2x 100s against a lacklustre Bingham

I think that is two whitewashes for Robbo over Bingham in their last two meetings.

[SnookerFan]

What did everyone think of the call (lack of call) from the referee at the end?

My take on it, is that they had already shaken hands when the cue ball hit the rest, hence the Referee (who clearly saw it) made the right call to ignore it, as by shaking hands the match has already ended.

However, the actual rules may disagree with that!

My understanding is that the referee saw it, but only after the hands had been shaken. So didn't bother to apply the rule, as in his mind the match was over.

Whether that was the correct decision or not, is up for debate. It would've been a shame for the young lad had John Higgins gone on to win the match that way, but at the same time it was him who had left his rest on the table. No real excuse for it.

I personally wouldn't have blamed the referee if he had callen foul. Rules are rules. It was clearly going to be a foul for several seconds before the actual foul happened. But, what happened happened. If John Higgins has no problem with it, we should just let the matter rest. (No pun intended.)

I think Neil Foulds was right to point out that the player should never, ever let that happen again. Chances are he'd not be lucky enough to get away with it next time.

[SnookerFan]

Saw the Mark Williams match last night. Joe Perry seemed to bottle it after that miss in the first frame.

[DeanH]

Jan Verhaas tweeted this

Before the cueball hit the rest, the handshake was done between both players and ref and therefore, in the spirit of the game, the incident was condoned. No point asking me what I would have done, this is what happened and how it was dealt with there and then. #matterclosed

Looks like there is no specific rule and the ref gets to use their own judgement on the situation.

Sec 3.1(f) The winner of a frame is the player or side:
...(ii) to whom the frame is conceded; ...
This situation is specifically mentioned in the SRA Explanations ((Conceding section, they have cue ball going in after the concession) and they clarify that the game has already been conceded so the concession would stand.

From seeing the video, I also think the referee acted correctly in this situation due to the actions of the players.

[Cue crafty]

John had that - the long green pot, can't believe he missed the brown to centre (usually granite for those type of shots). Hopefully his opponent can break thru - loved the long pots.

John's lost his Mojo, he knows it, the snooker gods know it and hes not being forgiven.

As good good as he is you can't win tournaments without enthusiasm, desire and excitement of being there.

Hope he gets it back ! Not nice watching a legend struggle

[vjmehra]

Jan Verhaas tweeted this

Before the cueball hit the rest, the handshake was done between both players and ref and therefore, in the spirit of the game, the incident was condoned. No point asking me what I would have done, this is what happened and how it was dealt with there and then. #matterclosed

Looks like there is no specific rule and the ref gets to use their own judgement on the situation.

Which is good, I think he made the right call.

[vjmehra]

I did not catch the lack of end of match call but I am sure it was said just not picked up on tv

Neil Foulds seemed to think the ref didn't spot it, but he very clearly did when you watch the replay. He looked at the rest / cue ball for a while, seemed to think about it, then walk off.