British Open

Congratulations to Judd for getting his landmark 1000th century! Both Judd and Allen were highly critical of the table, and both made many unforced errors. But Allen was the one who often seemed to find a pot, no matter how far out of position he was, and Judd missed way too many pots he would normally have got.

Oliver lines beat Jak Jones 5-4, making a decisive 75 break in the decider. Jones losing means that Neil Robertson, having only just got back into the top 16 by winning the English Open, will stay in the top 16.

John Higgins, despite getting to the semi-final. is still not back in the top 16 and needs to win his semi-final. If he beats Oliver Lines he will be back in the top 16 at the expense of Jak Jones. Jones will only be out of the top 16 temporarily because Tom Ford lost his Wuhan Open qualifier 5-2 to Sunni Akani, and Jones won his. So when the Chinese leg of the Wuhan Open begins (edit) on October 7th, Jones will be provisionally back in the top 16.

Props to Oliver Lines, though the odds of 2 first-time finalists in 2 weeks seems a long shot.

After Oliver Lines late finish last night, John Higgins had little problem thrashing him 6-0. John Higgins sailed back into the top 16.

Mark Selby seems to be coping with the table better than any other player I've seen this week. He comfortably sauntered to a 4-1 lead. Allen briefly rallied, making a 130 break to reduce his arrears to 4-3, and he did get in (edit) first in frames 8 and 9, but as he struggled with the table his breakbuilding wasn't good enough on the day and Selby killed him off with breaks of 95 in the 8th and a match winning 77 in the 9th to win 6-3. Selby knew he had to have a good run in this tournament to make up for his shock exit in the qualifying round for the Wuhan Open.

Phil Yates was apoplectic when the first frame went to a re-rack after half an hour

Likely to be granite stuff today.

Forget the granite, it was Selby's masterclass of breakbuilding that won the game. He got 2 centuries in the morning session but was only 5-4 up. Then a slew of over 60 breaks in the evening session left John Higgins in the dust as he eased to a 10-5 victory!

Now he can put his feet up, and when the Wuhan Open starts he can relax and watch it on Eurosport while the rest are in China battling it out.

It amuses me that BBC Sport's idea of the calendar misses out multiple events. They think the NI Open is next.

Well done Selby though.

(30-09-2024 14:02 )Doddle Wrote:  It amuses me that BBC Sport's idea of the calendar misses out multiple events. They think the NI Open is next.

On a similar note, Stephen Hendry said today "it's good to be back watching live snooker for the first time since the World Championships"

Some potentially brutal matches drawn in round three.

Zhou Xintong v John Higgins - ouch

Shaun Murphy v Neil Robertson if they both get through round 2 - oof

Mark Williams v Mark Allen if they both get through - Yikes

Robbo lost by even more than Milkins Kyren Wilson lost also.

Jackson Page couldn't build on last week's success.