Tag Archive for ding junhui

Jiangsu Snooker Classic Starts Today

June 3, 2009 / The_Teach / One comment

Twelve high quality snooker players are in action from this morning, including four Chinese, in the 2009 Wuzhou International Group World Snooker Jiangsu Classic (that is the full title!)

Three former World Champions in Stephen Hendry, Peter Ebdon and Shaun Murphy are joined by defending Jiangsu Classic Champion and crowd favourite, Ding Junhui.

Completing the line up top 16 stars, Marco Fu, Mark Selby, Mark Allen, Joe Perry, Ali Carter and Ryan Day and two other Chinese players in Jin Long and Li Hang.

The invitational tournament was first held in 2008 and was won by Ding Junhui, he will be looking to lift the title on home soil once again but faces some very stern opposition from some of snooker best known players.

Two groups of six players play a round-robin format with each playing competing against every other player in their group over the best of 3 frames. The top two from each group step through to the best of 9 semi finals and the final will be a best of 11 affair to be played on Sunday 7th June.

The Groups:

GROUP 1

Ding Junhui
Ryan Day
Mark Allen
Peter Ebdon
Stephen Hendry
Li Hang (Wildcard)

GROUP 2

Shaun Murphy
Ali Carter
Joe Perry
Mark Selby
Marco Fu
Jin Long (Wildcard)

Updates to follow.

Category: World Snooker / Tags: , , , , , ,

China Can be a Dominant Force in World Snooker

April 2, 2009 / The_Teach / 2 comments

People have been suggesting that China could be a dominant force in snooker for the last few years, especially after the emergence of Ding Junhui.

With the performances of the Chinese players in this weeks China Open those suggestions are starting to bear fruit. Players not even featuring on the main tour or the PIOS Tour have beaten professional opponents with good snooker and a massive following.

Tian Pengfei beat both David Gray and Marco Fu to set up this mornings match against John Higgins. Higgins was a step too far for the youngster and he did lose 5-2 but the previous performances were fantastic.

Xiao Guodong has already beaten Michael Holt and China’s number 1 – Ding Junhui – to set up a tie in the last 16 (this afternoon incidentally) with the World Number 1 Ronnie O’Sullivan. Again the professional on this occasion did pick up the win, but it was by no means easy with O’Sullivan winning 5-3.

How long before we see a Chinese World Champion? I am not sure especially when Ding has gone off the boil recently but I do expect to see one within the next 10 years. If China can keep producing the players with the right attitude and positive game plan then snooker could be dominated by them in the next 10 years and beyond.

I don’t think Britain will ever diminish it’s grip at a world level but the bar could very much come lower.

Let me know your thoughts.

Category: World Snooker / Tags: , , ,

Murphy and Fu to Contest Final

December 20, 2008 / The_Teach / No comments

Shaun Murphy joins Marco Fu in the final of the Maplins UK Championships in Telford. The final starts tomorrow afternoon and is live on the BBC in the UK and online.

Marco Fu has had an astonishing tournament where he has simply worked hard to reach another ranking event final, he becomes the second Chinese player to reach the final of this tournament after Ding Junhui in 2005. Fu is the consumate professional and has gone about his business almost without being noticed in this event, Murphy will be a tough opponent.

Shaun Murphy, had until this event had a shocking season, he had not won a match before turning up in Telford. Things have just got better and better for the 2005 World Champion as he has progressed in to the final. His semi-final match against Stephen Maguire was very scrappy and twitchy in places but was topped off with a 136 total clearance to put him 7-3 in front.

My prediction Murphy to win the final by 4 frames!

Category: World Snooker / Tags: , , , , , , ,

UK Championship Snooker Firmly Underway

December 15, 2008 / The_Teach / One comment

Through all the hullabaloo over the Mosconi Cup at the weekend I failed to mention that the UK Championship Snooker was on as well!

The second most prestigious tournament in the World Snooker calendar is being shown live on the BBC in the UK and on BBC interactive with table choice. In addition you can watch a snooker live stream also courtesy of the BBC, I believe that due to contractual issues this stream is only available to UK viewers.

Currently the live streams are:

Steve Davis v Ding Junhui

Ronnie O’Sullivan v Joe Perry

If you are outside of the UK then I am sorry that you can’t see it. However, I have posted some unofficial (I must stress unofficial) videos posted on YouTube of this years Championships. They are unofficial snooker videos but are of a reasonable quality:

Steve Davis v Ding Junhui (Part 1)

Stephen Maguire v Jamie Burnett (Part 1)

Controversy

Although no statement has been made from World Snooker yet, betting was suspended on the Stephen Maguire v Jamie Burnett match after irregular betting patterns on a 9-3 victory to Stephen. Ironically the match did finish 9-3 so more information will certainly be requested.

All of the YouTube videos above came from:

http://uk.youtube.com/user/snoookerfan92

You can find the full draw here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/7774168.stm


Category: World Snooker / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Higgins Destroys Ding in Moscow

November 25, 2008 / The_Teach / One comment

The most recent leg of the 2008 World Series of Snooker finished on Sunday (23rd November) with John Higgins recording an emphatic victory over Ding Junhui in the final.

With breaks of 73, 46, 52, 65 & 58 Higgins won the match 5-0 for his second World Series title.

The popularity of snooker in Russia is growing all of the time, probably helped by Eurosports live coverage of all World Snooker events. This event in Moscow further augments the case with a 1000 person sell-out. Is it not about time that World Snooker embraced this growth in popularity and was pro-active about adding additional events to the calendar.

The event in Bahrain, from what I have read as I didn’t see any of it, was a complete wash out in terms of ticket sales. Some of the smallest crowds for a ranking event were recorded at this event in the capital Manama. I think it was the right move to introduce an event to this region but perhaps Bahrain was the wrong country. The UAE always send a strong contingent to the IBSF events and Qatar are also interested in promoting a lot of sporting events, so perhaps additional thought and planning needs to be put into place for next season.

A fully fledged ranking event in Russia seems a long way off, but the popularity in terms of a fan base is already there, add to this the buzz that the event in Poland also received and you have two potential countries to be added to the World Tour.

I know I only have an outside view of what goes on with World Snooker however, it is plain to see that there is a call for additional events with a strong fan base. Russia and Poland have been mentioned but there is also Holland, Belgium, Germany and Austria that also have a big snooker following. This needs to be tapped into now as a resource to further develop the sport.

I am sure the players would be delighted to hear of a further four ranking events throughout the season as it means additional coverage for their own sponsors and also greater earnings potential. It is not as if the season is pushed for time. It seems strange how 5 events are crammed into the August-December period and then only 3 ranking events plus the Masters from January-May. Why does snooker need to have a ‘close-season’ anyway, it is not as if the sport is weather dependent?

Further Reading:

Category: General Snooker / Tags: , , , ,
 
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