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  • Ssb - barnsley or bust

    Barnsley is not necessarily the world’s best known sporting mecca but will this week become the latest in a long line of World Snooker qualifying venues.


    The Metrodome has previously been associated with ten-pin bowling but from tomorrow will play host to the International Championship qualifiers, where the field of 128 will be reduced to 64.


    Qualifying venues are rarely popular with players, often precisely because they are qualifying venues.


    Blackpool, Newport, Stoke, Hereford, Prestatyn, Burton-on-Trent…not destinations for a Michael Palin travelogue series but former qualifying venues, hosts to thousands of matches, the vast majority now long forgotten.


    Qualifiers are no fun for anyone. It’s all about getting through to the main venue, in this case many thousands of miles away in Chengdu. Defeat means few people recognise you were ever in the tournament to start with.


    Ronnie O’Sullivan’s qualifier is against Joel Walker, a young lad he mentored three years ago on the Riley Futurestars programme.


    Judd Trump, who pocketed £125,000 for winning the inaugural staging of the event last year, faces Cao Xinlong.


    World no.1 Neil Robertson takes on Li Hang of China. Mark Selby, second in the world rankings, meets Londoner Martin O’Donnell.


    Where might the shocks come?


    Stephen Maguire could be vulnerable against Davy Morris, a quarter-finalist in the season-opening Wuxi Classic.


    Mark Allen faces China’s Chen Zhe, known as ‘Sleepy’ but looking to give the Northern Irishman a wake-up call.


    Shaun Murphy has so far suffered defeat in the last 128 of the first two ranking events to adopt the ‘flat’ system so will be looking to avoid an unwelcome hat-trick against Chris Keogan.


    Matches are best of 11 frames. The International Championship was a prestigious innovation last season and a welcome addition to the calendar.


    Not everyone can get to Barnsley on a Tuesday afternoon to watch snooker but, for those who can, entry is free.


    And on Thursday it’s the qualifiers for the World Seniors Championship with a chance to glimpse some stars of yesteryear – Mike Hallett, Patsy Fagan and Dean Reynolds among them.


    More...

  • #2
    Nice to see Shaun Murphy, Maguire, Ding and Robertson play well
    and advancing. Robertson had several centuries.
    Looks like lots of great matches to come.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally Posted by robertmac View Post
      Nice to see Shaun Murphy, Maguire, Ding and Robertson play well
      and advancing. Robertson had several centuries.
      Looks like lots of great matches to come.
      Yes, 4 centuries for Robertson today. He's now made 22 this season already... and it's only just October!!
      Can't be too many players who've made 4 centuries in a best of 11. Anyone know if it's happened before?

      Comment


      • #4
        What a cracking match this has been between Higgins and Astley, and we get a decider as well!
        JH looking good so far...

        Edit: JH takes it.
        -
        Last edited by PatBlock; 2 October 2013, 10:56 PM.
        The fast and the furious,
        The slow and labourious,
        All of us, glorious parts of the whole!

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally Posted by Where's Willie? View Post
          Yes, 4 centuries for Robertson today. He's now made 22 this season already... and it's only just October!!
          Can't be too many players who've made 4 centuries in a best of 11. Anyone know if it's happened before?
          Yes I can beat that because I remember Mark Williams getting four centuries in a best of 9 frames against Stephen Lee of all people in China a year or two ago now - funny thing is I think Williams actually lost 5-4

          Comment


          • #6
            I recall Ding doing 4 centuries on the trot before but no sure if it was in a BO9 though.
            Up the TSF! :snooker:

            Comment


            • #7
              Stephen Hendry and Shaun Murphy have both had 4 centuries in a best-of-9 a couple of years ago as well.

              O'Sullivan of course famously had 5 in a match in 2007, and I think Liang Wenbo had 4 in a qualifying match not long after that. :wink:

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