BBC Drops World Open

by **Roland** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Roland » 22 Oct 2010 Read

people?

Anyway, the World Open did exactly what it said on the tin. It doesn't need explaining but it worked and I loved it as a great addition to the calendar. The fact it then got stupid people going "Ah, that proves we don't need longer formats any more" is the only downside. Cretins ruin everything.

by **Bourne** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Bourne » 22 Oct 2010 Read

I thought it was a terrific success but then maybe i'm biased, it produced so many talking points throughout the whole week and that's what you want. Is someone going to tell me that Shanghai this year was more exciting ? Please ...

by **Tubberlad** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Tubberlad » 22 Oct 2010 Read

The World Open was absolutely the best tournament I've seen in a long, long time. Totally refreshing, and I would consider myself closer to being a purist than a man in favour of small formats.

One table, pressure snooker (which saw the quality rise to the top), inclusion of amateurs and random draw: this was a totally unique tournament, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

As Sonny has already mentioned, the only downside was the ridiculous talk of shorter formats for the majors, and the somewhat cringeworthy music between frames.. Other than that, the tournament was a total success from start to finish.

by **Roland** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Roland » 22 Oct 2010 Read

The World Open can be summed up in 2 words:

Pressure
Bottle

by **Tubberlad** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Tubberlad » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Sonny wrote:The World Open can be summed up in 2 words:

Pressure
Bottle

Which is why we were blessed with the best quarter-final line-up in years... and got the two best players in the World contesting the final...

For people who say 'yeah, we had some great games but what a waste that they were only best-of-5's'..... guess what? You would never have gotten so many top notch pairings with best-of-9's, 11's, 17's, 19's,25's, 33's, 35's as you wouldn't have everyone under the cosh early on and the best making it through in such a situation. Not that I advocate the spreading of shorter formats any further.

by **Wildey** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Wildey » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Sonny wrote:The World Open can be summed up in 2 words:

Pressure
Bottle

ok fair play but didnt you feel short changed because i did ....

you get in to a match bang its over and i think there was as much downside to upside to the format it just made me say "please sir i want some more"

by GJ » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by GJ » 22 Oct 2010 Read

wildJONESEYE wrote:
Sonny wrote:The World Open can be summed up in 2 words:

Pressure
Bottle

ok fair play but didnt you feel short changed because i did ....

you get in to a match bang its over and i think there was as much downside to upside to the format it just made me say "please sir i want some more"

NO

by **Bourne** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Bourne » 22 Oct 2010 Read

How could you feel shortchanged, there was snooker played all through the afternoon and often all through the evening ...

by **Wildey** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Wildey » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Bourne wrote:How could you feel shortchanged, there was snooker played all through the afternoon and often all through the evening ...

it was like a factory 1 off another on you did not get in to the matches as matches it was almost as if theres another 5 frames on after these 5 finishes.

by **Wildey** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Wildey » 22 Oct 2010 Read

i like the Roll on Roll off thing but sometimes i felt like the matches themselves was secondary to the BBC Showing none stop matches if you get my drift

by **Witz78** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Witz78 » 22 Oct 2010 Read

i liked the format and as a spectator at the event i found the best of 5 matches great viewing. A bit like watching a football match as you pretty much knew how long itd last. The roll on roll off one table set up was good.

BBCs loss, this event would suit Sky best i feel.

I hear its prob going to China though? thats gonna mean they have the same number of rankers as the UK has plus isnt the Jingsau Classic going to be one as well, so China could have more rankers than the UK?? WOW the pendulum is swinging.

In the UK i feel we should be looking for the UK + Worlds plus 1 other ranker in England and 1 in Scotland, Wales, Eire and N.Ireland.

300k is all thats needed to hold a smallish ranking tournament so surely money / interest / sponsorship can be found for one of these level of rankers in each UK country?

1 at least in Europe then 1 other one in Brazil / Canada / Australia.

by **Roland** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Roland » 22 Oct 2010 Read

wildJONESEYE wrote:
Sonny wrote:The World Open can be summed up in 2 words:

Pressure
Bottle

ok fair play but didnt you feel short changed because i did ....

you get in to a match bang its over and i think there was as much downside to upside to the format it just made me say "please sir i want some more"

Yes but that was beauty of it. If it was longer format you get the chance to settle in and reel off the centuries and do all the things you get the chance to demonstrate to the public you can do. That's why longer formats are so important, because we get to see how good the players are when they get the chance to play. But when it's best of 5 it concentrates the drama and when you have roll on roll off and so many matches you get to see the edge of your seat snooker that makes it so dramatic.

There needs to be a balance. The World Open focussed on pressure and bottle, the longer formats focus on quality of snooker. The medium length formats are a combination of the two. Variety like this demonstrates that Power Snooker and shot clocks aren't required.

by **Wildey** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Wildey » 22 Oct 2010 Read

dont get me wrong i did Enjoy the Snooker but then i wanted more of the match....

Some matches was great matches and before i could sneeze they over

by **Witz78** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Witz78 » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Sonny wrote:
wildJONESEYE wrote:
Sonny wrote:The World Open can be summed up in 2 words:

Pressure
Bottle

ok fair play but didnt you feel short changed because i did ....

you get in to a match bang its over and i think there was as much downside to upside to the format it just made me say "please sir i want some more"

Yes but that was beauty of it. If it was longer format you get the chance to settle in and reel off the centuries and do all the things you get the chance to demonstrate to the public you can do. That's why longer formats are so important, because we get to see how good the players are when they get the chance to play. But when it's best of 5 it concentrates the drama and when you have roll on roll off and so many matches you get to see the edge of your seat snooker that makes it so dramatic.

There needs to be a balance. The World Open focussed on pressure and bottle, the longer formats focus on quality of snooker. The medium length formats are a combination of the two. Variety like this demonstrates that Power Snooker and shot clocks aren't required.

shot clock is further variety though

is that a bad thing

by **SnookerFan** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by SnookerFan » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Bourne wrote:I thought it was a terrific success but then maybe i'm biased, it produced so many talking points throughout the whole week and that's what you want. Is someone going to tell me that Shanghai this year was more exciting ? Please ...

What talking points did it produce exactly, other then Ronnie not attempting a black? That had nothing to do with the format, Ronnie could've done that at any tournament, it just happened at this one.

The only other thing the whole week worth talking about was Neil Robertson's performance in the final, and that was longer then the other matches. The rest of the week was dominated by talking about one shot Ronnie O'Sullivan almost didn't make.

I mean, it has it's place, I guess. It wasn't terrible. But I can barely believe my eyes when I see people saying it's the best tournament they've seen in years. Or more exciting then other real ranking events. <doh>

by **Witz78** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Witz78 » 22 Oct 2010 Read

SnookerFan wrote:
Bourne wrote:I thought it was a terrific success but then maybe i'm biased, it produced so many talking points throughout the whole week and that's what you want. Is someone going to tell me that Shanghai this year was more exciting ? Please ...

What talking points did it produce exactly, other then Ronnie not attempting a black? That had nothing to do with the format, Ronnie could've done that at any tournament, it just happened at this one.

The only other thing the whole week worth talking about was Neil Robertson's performance in the final, and that was longer then the other matches. The rest of the week was dominated by talking about one shot Ronnie O'Sullivan almost didn't make.

I mean, it has it's place, I guess. It wasn't terrible. But I can barely believe my eyes when I see people saying it's the best tournament they've seen in years. Or more exciting then other real ranking events.

answer Bournes question :no:

by **SnookerFan** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by SnookerFan » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Witz78 wrote:
SnookerFan wrote:
Bourne wrote:I thought it was a terrific success but then maybe i'm biased, it produced so many talking points throughout the whole week and that's what you want. Is someone going to tell me that Shanghai this year was more exciting ? Please ...

What talking points did it produce exactly, other then Ronnie not attempting a black? That had nothing to do with the format, Ronnie could've done that at any tournament, it just happened at this one.

The only other thing the whole week worth talking about was Neil Robertson's performance in the final, and that was longer then the other matches. The rest of the week was dominated by talking about one shot Ronnie O'Sullivan almost didn't make.

I mean, it has it's place, I guess. It wasn't terrible. But I can barely believe my eyes when I see people saying it's the best tournament they've seen in years. Or more exciting then other real ranking events.

answer Bournes question

I didn't see enough of it, to be fair. I was at work mainly, and my aunt's birthday weekend for the semis/final... But I'll be honest, I was absolutely gutted by having to miss the end of the Shanghai Masters. But I was more excited by the concept of the Shanghai Masters then of the World Open. If I had to take a week off next year for one of the two tournaments, I'd pick Shanghai Masters. 100% Especially now the World Open isn't on BBC.

by **Witz78** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Witz78 » 22 Oct 2010 Read

SnookerFan wrote:
Witz78 wrote:
SnookerFan wrote:
Bourne wrote:I thought it was a terrific success but then maybe i'm biased, it produced so many talking points throughout the whole week and that's what you want. Is someone going to tell me that Shanghai this year was more exciting ? Please ...

What talking points did it produce exactly, other then Ronnie not attempting a black? That had nothing to do with the format, Ronnie could've done that at any tournament, it just happened at this one.

The only other thing the whole week worth talking about was Neil Robertson's performance in the final, and that was longer then the other matches. The rest of the week was dominated by talking about one shot Ronnie O'Sullivan almost didn't make.

I mean, it has it's place, I guess. It wasn't terrible. But I can barely believe my eyes when I see people saying it's the best tournament they've seen in years. Or more exciting then other real ranking events.

answer Bournes question

I didn't see enough of it, to be fair. I was at work mainly, and my aunt's birthday weekend for the semis/final... But I'll be honest, I was absolutely gutted by having to miss the end of the Shanghai Masters. But I was more excited by the concept of the Shanghai Masters then of the World Open. If I had to take a week off next year for one of the two tournaments, I'd pick Shanghai Masters. 100% Especially now the World Open isn't on BBC.

world open you get to see all the matches

guaranteed drama and tension

what was so good about the Shaghai Masters compared to the World Open?

Nothing memorable happened in it as far as im concerned. zzzzzzzzzz bit of a snoozefest, the Chinese equivalent of the Welsh Open. A stale tournament.

A lot of people seem to have overlooked the Maguire - Ronnie QF at the world open, as far as best of 5s go, thats def the all time classic IMO

by **SnookerFan** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by SnookerFan » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Witz78 wrote:
world open you get to see all the matches

guaranteed drama and tension

what was so good about the Shaghai Masters compared to the World Open?

Nothing memorable happened in it as far as im concerned. zzzzzzzzzz bit of a snoozefest, the Chinese equivalent of the Welsh Open. A stale tournament.

A lot of people seem to have overlooked the Maguire - Ronnie QF at the world open, as far as best of 5s go, thats def the all time classic IMO

Was that the one where Maguire made two centuries, and lost? :huh:

I had forgotten about that, actually. <laugh>

And kidding aside, I enjoyed going to see the Welsh Open in 2009 as much as any tournament I've ever been to, outside of The Crucible.

by **Bourne** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Bourne » 22 Oct 2010 Read

SnookerFan wrote:
Bourne wrote:I thought it was a terrific success but then maybe i'm biased, it produced so many talking points throughout the whole week and that's what you want. Is someone going to tell me that Shanghai this year was more exciting ? Please ...

What talking points did it produce exactly, other then Ronnie not attempting a black? That had nothing to do with the format, Ronnie could've done that at any tournament, it just happened at this one.

The only other thing the whole week worth talking about was Neil Robertson's performance in the final, and that was longer then the other matches. The rest of the week was dominated by talking about one shot Ronnie O'Sullivan almost didn't make.

I mean, it has it's place, I guess. It wasn't terrible. But I can barely believe my eyes when I see people saying it's the best tournament they've seen in years. Or more exciting then other real ranking events.

The new shorter format
The music between frames
Amateurs being able to take part, one even made the tournament proper and lived with a top 3 player
The first ever Brazilian in a TV tournament
Jimmy White back on TV, and of his own right this time
Great matches like Hawkins vs Selby, Williams vs Hawkins, Robbo vs Higginson etc, all those before the last-eight ...
Ronnie's showmanship against King
OBP (almost) becoming a star at long last
Getting the chance to see 'low' rankers and a bit more of their personality, like Michie or Morris etc
The final frame in the McBain Walden match, almost the great escape
Ebdon's yellow to beat OBP
Ebdon's black against Gould
The buzz of the Hendry vs O'Sullivan match
Williams defying expectation to win from 0-2 down at long last
Ronnie's performance from 0-1 50 odd down against Maguire
Robbo fighting back from 0-2 to inflict 'revenge' on Williams
Robbo demolishing O'Sullivan in the final
Robbo winning me loads of money

Wall to wall coverage of every match
Walk-on music (good success IMO, where was that in Shanghai ?)
The cream rising to the top, four world-champs in the last four

Huge success

by **SnookerFan** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by SnookerFan » 22 Oct 2010 Read

I don't even remember half the stuff you mentioned. rofl

I don't think any of the matches were classics, and the match of the tournament for me was a best of nine. And if you are citing walk on music as a talking point, it shows really how blah the matches were. They've had walk on music before, we've discussed it all before this tournament starts.

The amateurs being let in was good for grass roots, but I can't honestly say it added anything to my enjoyment of the tournament, they all got knocked out post-haste anyway.

For me the only real difference was the BBC's coverage was better than Eurosport's. Which is always true. Which is why it's such a shame the BBC are cutting back on it's coverage. Will other channels cover them as well? I hope so, but I'm not convinced.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. And I'll have to accept that I'm in a minority as usual. The constant short matches made it a bit :zzz:

for me. I was switching off towards the end, even for Hendry/Ronnie. I think if they'd all been best of nine, it may actually given it the zing it needed for me.

Last edited by SnookerFan on 18 Jul 2013, edited 1 time in total.

by **Wildey** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Wildey » 22 Oct 2010 Read

The new shorter format 2/5
The music between frames 0/5
Amateurs being able to take part, one even made the tournament proper and lived with a top 3 player 5/5
The first ever Brazilian in a TV tournament 5/5
Jimmy White back on TV, and of his own right this time 4/5
Great matches like Hawkins vs Selby, Williams vs Hawkins, Robbo vs Higginson etc, all those before the last-eight ...1/5 needed more of the matches
Ronnie's showmanship against King 3/5 he did make a goof of himself
OBP (almost) becoming a star at long last 6/5
Getting the chance to see 'low' rankers and a bit more of their personality, like Michie or Morris etc 5/5
The final frame in the McBain Walden match, almost the great escape 5/5
Ebdon's yellow to beat OBP 0/5 cant remember it must be forgetable
Ebdon's black against Gould 5/5
The buzz of the Hendry vs O'Sullivan match 4/5 but again felt short change
Williams defying expectation to win from 0-2 down at long last 5/5
Ronnie's performance from 0-1 50 odd down against Maguire 5/5
Robbo fighting back from 0-2 to inflict 'revenge' on Williams 5/5
Robbo demolishing O'Sullivan in the final 1/5 final to short
Robbo winning me loads of money 7/5 give me a sub
Wall to wall coverage of every match 3/5 to short in truth wall to wall best of 9 would be better
Walk-on music (good success IMO, where was that in Shanghai ?) 2/5 seen it once seen it 100 times
The cream rising to the top, four world-champs in the last four5/5

by **Bourne** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Bourne » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Fair enough wild but I think you're being a bit picky about the BO9 :redneck:

We get plenty of those in a season so nothing wrong with a nice bit of variation, I can't honestly say personally that I longed for any of the matches to be 4 frames longer, it was what it was.

by **SnookerFan** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by SnookerFan » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Bourne wrote:Fair enough wild but I think you're being a bit picky about the BO9 We get plenty of those in a season so nothing wrong with a nice bit of variation, I can't honestly say personally that I longed for any of the matches to be 4 frames longer, it was what it was.

I did. I really did... Jimmy vs Ronnie and Hendry vs Ronnie were two matches that spring to mind that I wanted to see longer, and would've enjoyed more if they were.

But, I can accept there are a lot of fans of this tournament, and if these short matches stay in only one tournament a year (which they won't) then there's no problem. We can all have different favourite tournaments, and just because I have a new found soft spot for the Welsh Open based on spending a few days there, that's cool if others prefer the World Open. Life would be boring if it was all the same.

The real issue for me is that it's been taken off the BBC. This is crap, in my opinion. I don't think the World Open is established enough yet as a tournament for us to lose it, but I hope I am wrong. (Wouldn't be the first time.)

by **Wildey** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Wildey » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Bourne wrote:Fair enough wild but I think you're being a bit picky about the BO9 We get plenty of those in a season so nothing wrong with a nice bit of variation, I can't honestly say personally that I longed for any of the matches to be 4 frames longer, it was what it was.

i think in a way you are Right just some of the best matches id like have had more of ...

sometimes in best of 9s you think god this is dragging on but in best of 5s i felt jesus thats finished already.

by **Bourne** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Bourne » 22 Oct 2010 Read

I guess it's these tournaments that makes the UK and the Worlds so special, you savour them more.

by **Witz78** » 22 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Witz78 » 22 Oct 2010 Read

wildJONESEYE wrote:
Bourne wrote:Fair enough wild but I think you're being a bit picky about the BO9 We get plenty of those in a season so nothing wrong with a nice bit of variation, I can't honestly say personally that I longed for any of the matches to be 4 frames longer, it was what it was.

i think in a way you are Right just some of the best matches id like have had more of ...

sometimes in best of 9s you think god this is dragging on but in best of 5s i felt jesus thats finished already.

Ebdon - Song ....... ahem

by **NedB-H** » 23 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by NedB-H » 23 Oct 2010 Read

StalinESQ wrote:
SnookerFan wrote:I take it I am the only one who thought that the World Open was less interesting then the Grand Prix was last year?

BREAKING NEWS:

I'm with you S/fan - WO was not an improvement/enhancement - it did not AMELIORATE the snooker scene. The music was tacky, the matches were too short, the venue was woeful, the idea was rubbish. Lets leave it there, BBC do need to concentrate on proper snooker, not spin off cack.

Spot on

Interesting for a couple of days, then it got boring, short matches didn't give people time to get playing well, too many dreadful matches like Jimmy-Davison and Ebdon-OBP. Boring tournament, I stopped paying attention by the end.

Disappointing that the BBC is cutting back on snooker, no surprise though, it's doing the same for all sports. Except F1 <doh>

by **Wildey** » 23 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by Wildey » 23 Oct 2010 Read

Bourne wrote:I guess it's these tournaments that makes the UK and the Worlds so special, you savour them more.

But after the success of this event and getting the semi line up it did was a success although ebdon was diabolicaly poor in reaching the semi but he is a class player when all said and done but all ive herd since has been to do with best of 25 frame WC Final best of 17 frame WC 1st round.

its all bullocks and really soured my feelings towards the World Open to the point im pleased the beeb telling them where they can stick it.

by **randam05** » 23 Oct 2010 Read

Re: BBC Drops World Open

by randam05 » 23 Oct 2010 Read

wildJONESEYE wrote:
Bourne wrote:I guess it's these tournaments that makes the UK and the Worlds so special, you savour them more.

But after the success of this event and getting the semi line up it did was a success although ebdon was diabolicaly poor in reaching the semi but he is a class player when all said and done but all ive herd since has been to do with best of 25 frame WC Final best of 17 frame WC 1st round.

its all balls and really soured my feelings towards the World Open to the point im pleased the beeb telling them where they can stick it.

well said