China Open 2019

[Stony152]

Am I going to be able to select english commentary if I subscribe to ES player from the italian subscription?

The main feeds will be in Italian. You used to be able to log into the British site using a VPN, but now that's impossible. The good news is that they've recently had alternate feeds in English available. You have to scroll to the right when looking at what's playing at any given time. Sometimes they even have the BBC feed available during the tournaments that they cover. At least that's how things are here in Poland.

[Stony152]

I suggest everyone watch Wenbo's decider, the sequence of pots he made was just sick often with unlucky run of the balls. One of the best frames I've seen this season.

Would you say everybody should watch Junhui's decider? No? then why in the hell would sat Wenbo's decider? Why is that so freaking difficult for everybody?

[DeanH]

With the maximum yesterday Bingham becomes the sixth player to make five or more official maximum breaks, joining Ronnie O’Sullivan (15), Stephen Hendry (11), John Higgins (nine), Ding Junhui (six), and Shaun Murphy (five).

But also did you know that Peter Edbon now has five, that is with five maximums made against him. He is now equal 2nd with Walden, with only Selby (six) ahead.

[Stony152]

Luca played great this morning. He now faces McGill or McManus in the QF with the winner probably meeting Robertson in the SF. Maybe he can salvage something out of this season yet. In the frames I watched this morning he looked very focused and confident.

[Stony152]

With the maximum yesterday Bingham becomes the sixth player to make five or more official maximum breaks, joining Ronnie O’Sullivan (15), Stephen Hendry (11), John Higgins (nine), Ding Junhui (six), and Shaun Murphy (five).

But also did you know that Peter Edbon now has five, that is with five maximums made against him. He is now equal 2nd with Walden, with only Selby (six) ahead.

I didn't watch much snooker before about 2007. What was Bingham's issue when he was in his 20s and early 30s? Not consistent enough or other problems? He seems to like to play a lot and it most have been difficult for him when there were so few tournaments on the schedule every year.

[DeanH]

I didn't watch much snooker before about 2007. What was Bingham's issue when he was in his 20s and early 30s? Not consistent enough or other problems? He seems to like to play a lot and it most have been difficult for him when there were so few tournaments on the schedule every year.

not sure really, I doubt it was just a single issue, maybe SightRight helped (probably) and responsibilities (marriage and babies) added to the need to knuckle down
He was not often on tv table back then so difficult to comment of this play but every now and then when he has a bad day he tends to play off line and misses. He seems to be in a good place at the mo and recent events his century rate is high

[the lone wolf]

well done Bingham on a not-too easy maximum with three reds up the beyond the blue

It was a really nicely complied max..!
Shame there was only about 10 witnesses to the fact in the arena
Surely setting up a few competitions and complimentary tickets would see an increase in audience attendance?

[Stony152]

not sure really, I doubt it was just a single issue, maybe SightRight helped (probably) and responsibilities (marriage and babies) added to the need to knuckle down
He was not often on tv table back then so difficult to comment of this play but every now and then when he has a bad day he tends to play off line and misses. He seems to be in a good place at the mo and recent events his century rate is high

I really think that some of these players who were consistently outside the top 16 like Bingham, Joe Perry, Mark King, and Mark Davis have really benefited from the increased schedule. 10-15 years ago every tournament was so important, that the pressure to perform on the 2nd tier players or players trying to stay on tour must have been immense. Now if you don't do well the next tournament starts in a few days.

Having said that, Bingham is really the only one of that group who has truly reached the elite level. On present form I think he's one of the top 8-10 players in the world. It;s just too bad for him that everything didn't click when he was 25 instead of 35.

[jonny66]

Luca played great this morning. He now faces McGill or McManus in the QF with the winner probably meeting Robertson in the SF. Maybe he can salvage something out of this season yet. In the frames I watched this morning he looked very focused and confident.

Why the hell do you say Luca but not Anthony or Alan! Racist!

[Neil Taperell]

Why the hell do you say Luca but not Anthony or Alan! Racist!

Lol ! It's not hard to get it right is it

[Stony152]

Why the hell do you say Luca but not Anthony or Alan! Racist!

I feel shame. You got me.

[Stony152]

Down to the last 12 and Li Hang is the last Chinese player left. I wonder if the TV ratings take a hit over there when a match doesn't feature a local player or it's more about the big names. It doesn't seem to matter either way as far as attendance at the venue. I can only assume that the ticket prices just aren't affordable to most of the fans.

[Odrl]

If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time Ben Woollaston has reached the QF of a ranking event outside of the short format in his career. Took him a while, didn't it? :smile:

[Stony152]

If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time Ben Woollaston has reached the QF of a ranking event outside of the short format in his career. Took him a while, didn't it? :smile:

He was in the 2015 Welsh Open final which was best of 17. The semi-final was best of 11. I'm not sure if that would be classified as "short format" or not.

I was just thinking that he and, to a lesser extent, McGill have really underachieved given how well they've played at times. Woollaston has been around for fifteen years now and hasn't really come close to cracking the top 16. McGill had a nice run two seasons ago, but has regressed since than. McGill is younger and still has time on his side, but I think Woollaston is going to end up a journeyman pro along the lines of Mark King or Mark Davis.

[Odrl]

Yeah, when I say "short format" I mean any event that has matches shorter than the traditional best-of-9 format at any point. I mentioned it only because it was such a weird statistic for a player who has been to a final of a minor event and also spent several seasons in the top32 of the rankings. You would think he would have had a good run in one of the best-of-9 events at some point in his career, but no... Anyway, that statistic is in the past for him now. :smile: