We are underway with the first round (best of 11 frames).

The first round looks like this atm...

John Higgins (Sco) 6-5 Rory McLeod (Eng)
Stephen Maguire (Sco) 6-3 Stephen Hendry (Sco)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng) v Steve Davis (Eng) Sunday 4 Dec 1400 GMT
Judd Trump (Eng) v Dominic Dale (Wal) Monday 5 Dec 1230 GMT
Ding Junhui (Chn) 6-5 Mark Davis (Eng)
Matthew Stevens (Wal) 6-2 Marcus Campbell (Sco)
Graeme Dott (Sco) 6-1 Matthew Selt (Eng)
Neil Robertson (Aus) 6-1 Tom Ford (Eng)
Mark Williams (Wal) v Joe Jogia (Eng) Monday 5 Dec 1900 GMT
Stephen Lee (Eng) v Ricky Walden (Eng) Monday 5 Dec 1900 GMT
Martin Gould (Eng) v Peter Lines (Eng) Sunday 4 Dec 1900 GMT
Shaun Murphy (Eng) v Li Yan (Chn) Sunday 4 Dec 1900 GMT
Ali Carter (Eng) v Robert Milkins (Eng) Sunday 4 Dec 1400 GMT
Mark Allen (NI) v Adrian Gunnell (Eng) Monday 5 Dec 1230 GMT
Stuart Bingham (Eng) v Marco Fu (HK) Sunday 4 Dec 1100 GMT
Mark Selby (Eng) v Ryan Day (Wal) Sunday 4 Dec 1100 GMT

so no real surprises so far. everything going to play for the big names. Bingham Vs Fu could be a good game and Lee Vs Walden could be close, but most of the other first round games look fairly cut n dry. but then again it is only best of 11 frames so high variance.....

oh, this is already running today? nice, may watch a bit of selby, some ronnie later.

can't say that i agree with the cut to 11 frames. just the same as any other ranking event now.

+1

I love the matchplay aspect of longer frame matches.

Just acquired and watched the Robertson match, his opponent looks lost.

Judd Trump ftw

Butnahhh. Mark Williams all day. Love that guy.

o/u on the number of ****s he's ever given about anything?

TV coverage seems to away down this year too. I remember all the BBC events used to be on from 1-6pm everyday and then back on at 7 for a while. Today I tuned in at about 4pm and no snooker to be seen. Same at 7 o'clock. I watch it on the red button, but still.

Is the game dying? Are all the recent changes helping or hurting the game? I think the biggest knock snooker's ever had was the end of tobacco advertising.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/snooker/16039752.stm

Mark Allen also not happy with the changes to format.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/snooker/16059032.stm


Sad, really. What if Ronnie had Higgins' mental game?

Edit: As I speak, Higgins is about to stage an insane comeback. fufufu.

Higgins looking good for the insane comeback then misses an easy black. sign.

ow well dott looks like he might make the sick comeback on the other table....

Which retirement is this now Ronnie, the 8th? 9th?

I might sound like a troll here but I honestly think, based on what he's said, Ronnie's lonely and needs a woman in his life.

I'm not sure tbh. two years with out a title and he still goes in to every tournament as fav. there has to be loads of pressure on him. he can make loads of money playing power snooker and some random pool events, that he will enjoy more.

I'd be happy if he retired tbh, I think hes very talented but he is given so much extra credit which imo is undeserved. his main problem is he's not consistent, hes never dominated the game like the greats of the past. he's got the talent but isn't the best snooker player of his generation imo.

tbh I think he IS the best (whatever that really means, he's far and away the most talented), but the skill edge between the top 8 players now and the shortness of matches means there's huge variance in snooker, which he clearly can't take. He can't take losing. It's like Hellmuth throwing his toys out of the pram every time he doesn't win the WSOP main event. Unlike the Hendrys and Davises of this world, I don't see his ability dropping off too drastically with age - he could still be knocking out ranking events well into his 40s or 50s if he really wanted to imho.

Cracking little match this is looking between Robertson and Trump. Good to see the young blood doing damage and getting deep.

i think to be the best you need to do it week in week out. no point in doing well once every 3 or 4 years. hes got the talent to be unbeatable and to dominate, he just don't show up and play with that talent 80% of the time. the greats of the game show up with there A game most of the time, and even there B game is good enough to challenge and beat most players, ronnie's B game is losing 1st and 2nd round games. provisionally hes down to 15th in the ranking (I think Walden provisionally in 18 with his deep run can almost catch ronnie if he wins the UK Championships).

inless he pulls out some performances at the final 5 ranking events hes in danger of dropping out of the top 16, and I can't see ronnie playing in qualifying rounds like davies and hendry.