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Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby Witz78

Wild wrote:
Witz78 wrote:your casual fan is going to be more likely to watch a match nearing its conclusion than one that has multiple sessions still to go, thats fairly logical

no they not and ill tell you why if you got a 11 frame session or a 10 frame session for a best of 19 match most of these casual fans will still be in bed before it finishes


<doh>

ah well your casual fans not gonna watch it thru the day cos its not near a dramatic climax and hes going to be in bed at night so hes not going to see any of it

whereas a best of 11 that concludes through the day hes going to see that near a climax and watch it.

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby Bourne

Wild wrote:
Bourne wrote:
Wild wrote:
Witz78 wrote:your casual fan is going to be more likely to watch a match nearing its conclusion than one that has multiple sessions still to go, thats fairly logical

no they not and ill tell you why if you got a 11 frame session or a 10 frame session for a best of 19 match most of these casual fans will still be in bed before it finishes

How's that disputing witz's point :?

casual fans dont really give a toss about who wins or loses they dont really care only watches the snooker as it stands my dad is a casual fan he will look at first session of a best of 35 and not look at the last frame decider because he dont give a toss about the result only watch the sport on TV when he has the time or want to.

Either your dad's living on a different planet or you're bullshitting, cos that's probably true of about 0.1% of casual fans if that. Sport is a results-orientated business sadly.

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby Wildey

Bourne wrote:
Wild wrote:
Bourne wrote:
Wild wrote:
Witz78 wrote:your casual fan is going to be more likely to watch a match nearing its conclusion than one that has multiple sessions still to go, thats fairly logical

no they not and ill tell you why if you got a 11 frame session or a 10 frame session for a best of 19 match most of these casual fans will still be in bed before it finishes

How's that disputing witz's point :?

casual fans dont really give a toss about who wins or loses they dont really care only watches the snooker as it stands my dad is a casual fan he will look at first session of a best of 35 and not look at the last frame decider because he dont give a toss about the result only watch the sport on TV when he has the time or want to.

Either your dad's living on a different planet or you're bullshitting, cos that's probably true of about 0.1% of casual fans if that. Sport is a results-orientated business sadly.


thats the false mis interpritation mate casual fan will turn the TV On or off based on who is playing how fast the frames are played or whatever they do not give A flying buck about who wins or loses....

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby Wildey

if a player turns it on in the first session they will get bad monkey they dont give a toss if theres another 3 session to the result.

the only way you will get casual fans being interested is get rid of evening sessions because a best of 11 was played until well after their bed time.

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby PLtheRef

The 2011 UK Championship is now over. It's time to take a look back at 9 fabulous days of snooker. I want to include everyone here to express your opinion and answer the following questions to conclude this championship.


1. Was the new format a success or a failure?


It wasn't totally bad; but the tournament's history certainly seemed detracted from this year by the change. I've always made known my opposition to the best of 11 format for the UKs and it's not changed that I certainly think that for the final stages on TV matches should be played over 13 frames earlier on rather than 11. That said as someone who's only been to the Crucible and session snooker before (when not on duty) it was different to watch matches from first ball to last. The format certainly I would say didnt help numbers. There were more than a few around York who were not happy with the 11 frame matches for the first rounds; one woman telling me she would not watch any of it until Friday when the rightful length was back on screen.

It also showed how different the 11 frame format is to a 17 frame format played over two sessions. Take Allen v Walden as the first example; the way Ricky played to go 5-3 up would make it very hard to see Mark coming back had that been 11 frames. I wouldnt have expected John Higgins to lose if his match against Stephen Maguire had been over 17 frames either.

I think that having three thrilling matches in the 'session snooker' situation made the event for me. It also showed IMO what the game was jeapordising in beginning the 'abolition of session matches'

Like I said to Monique; if we had two or three tournaments which had best of 17 frame semi-finals (to go along with the standard 9 frame and 11 frame early round matches as seen in most TV rankers) then a reduction to 11 frames would not grate as much as it does. At the end of the day the Top 16 may now play one session match in a season; and that I'm afraid is not good enough. Eventually the first round at Sheffield will be reduced because of their being too much of a discrepancy between the Worlds and other first round formats. (Something which was irrelevant at best of 17 in the UK)

The schedule can certainly incorporate session snooker; if you play Roll on Roll off at the weekend I don't see how it can't be done during the week. In that way you can do Rounds One and Two over 11 frames from Saturday to Tuesday and then increase the matches to best of 17 frames for the quarter-finals (and retain all 31 matches on TV)

2. Was the return to York the right choice?

Yep. Plenty to do and as one player eliminated in the first round put it; 'it's not bad losing in York because there's so much to do.' York; coupled with the fantastic offers price wise that World Snooker were offering (3 sessions for £21 with no screen making it 6 matches is something too tempting to resist; spent a lot more than I would even at the Crucible normally) - When you went around York there was plenty on and as Sonny highlighted on twitter; the snooker brought £1m to the economy in just nine days (which felt longer [A positive]

3. What was your favourite match of the tournament?

The final; a clear example of why we need session matches.

4. Which players disappointed you?

Ali Carter. The way he played and his behaviour IMO against Allen was well out of order. Going for shots without any sort of consideration a half hearted 'cant be bothered' approach. His attitude in his 6-2 defeat to Allen stank and it really annoyed me.

5. Which players surprised you in a good way?

Ricky Walden's return to form was good. Yes I'd give him every chance of beating Lee who's better days are behind him but I expected Mark to beat him as well as Shaun. Thoroughly deserved to reach the last four and the end of the session came just at the wrong time for him.

6. What will Trump achieve in 2012?

Judd is very much like Ding was when he was very young. Immensely talented and could take on and beat the top players at the top of their games; Beating a top 16 player as a 16 year old TV debutant; the 2005 China and 2006 NI Trophy's for example along with that UK title he won in York in 2005.

The thing for Judd is that he's not been given a huge bump that Ding had when Ronnie thumped him 10-3 at the Masters. Yes he lost to John Higgins in the world final having had a decent lead (John won the Monday 11-5) overnight but he's not had a real bruiser with anyone yet. When he does (and all players do) it will be interesting to see how he responds.

7. What was your overall favourite moment?

Several; generally it was Mark Allen's return to form and I was thrilled for the OnQ team. I wanted Mark to win but last night was just fantastic to watch from both players. Both credits to the game.

My funniest moment however came at the Cuezone on Thursday I think it was. Myself and another lad were having a game of six red snooker (the most you're allowed) and Janie Watkins came out from the media centre. Had a chat and she picked up the cue to have a go. I went over for a laugh and spotted the black calling out '72' which some folk nearby with their back turned most of the morning turned to face the table getting really excited.


8. How much did you enjoy this tournament overall?

I'll give it 8/10. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. A nice break and as many will testify it's great to catch up and put the world to rights with all your friends in the game. That we had a watered down format IMO is the one slur on this championship which as Monday drew to a close clearly became something very special.

Roll on the Masters!

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby Wildey

"The thing for Judd is that he's not been given a huge bump that Ding had when Ronnie thumped him 10-3 at the Masters. Yes he lost to John Higgins in the world final having had a decent lead (John won the Monday 11-5) overnight but he's not had a real bruiser with anyone yet. When he does (and all players do) it will be interesting to see how he responds."


the difference is Ding won tournaments earlier and reached the top very quickly so when the lesson came to him against Ronnie in the full glare of the spotlight it affected him.

Judd has had 5 years of getting lessons against journeymen in qualifying although its taken him to long to reach the top now that he has he is better prepared to handle the ups and downs than Ding was.

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby cupotea

I don't feel qualified to comment on the format, but what I managed to fit in watching around studying I enjoyed - the final was epic and I really enjoyed watching Mark Allen.
Obviously Selby disappointed me. Watching him miss everything then look like he was going to greet wasn't much fun. Ah well!

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby Roland

Selby needs to learn to play the player and not the occasion. He seems to lose when he starts thinking about where he is rather than who he is playing. He can play brilliantly under the biggest pressure, but the pressure of expectation seems to be his downfall at the moment.

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby cupotea

Sonny wrote:Selby needs to learn to play the player and not the occasion. He seems to lose when he starts thinking about where he is rather than who he is playing. He can play brilliantly under the biggest pressure, but the pressure of expectation seems to be his downfall at the moment.

Yes I would agree with that :-)

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby Monique

Selby was as tired and downbeat in his postmatch as I ever have seen him. I'm not sure "playing the player" would work against Marco Fu anyway. Marco is very inconsistent but it's not pressure or opponent related. He's pretty much playing in his "bubble" is Marco.
In my opinion what Selby needs now more than anything else is a break and rest.

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby cupotea

and a cuddle :-)
yeah he did look tired though. I can see what Sonny is saying though - I think often he fumbles when there is a lot of expectation. But I still think he will bring it back in January.

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby Roland

Yeah sure. I didn't see the match with Fu so can't comment but needless to say I had him down for the final with only Allen in his way. I hope it wasn't pressure of expectation and was tiredness but then he didn't play in the PL this time around so he was relatively fresh.

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby Monique

Sonny wrote:Yeah sure. I didn't see the match with Fu so can't comment but needless to say I had him down for the final with only Allen in his way. I hope it wasn't pressure of expectation and was tiredness but then he didn't play in the PL this time around so he was relatively fresh.


He certainly didn't look fresh TBH. He came out of the last WC pretty run down and with him getting married in Mexico during the relatively short summer break and him playing in all but 1 PTC and Brazil only 2 days after winning Shanghai I don't think he's really managed to recharge his batteries properly.

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby Roland

Well if that was the case then it's obviously a sign or a wake up call that he needs to take on board. I think it was the expectation though because he DESTROYED Ryan Day in round 1 in much the same way he did to Hendry at the Crucible. People going around saying "Selby looks the best player" must be a factor in his weak performances in the next round.

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby Wildey

selbys biggest problem is not playing every PTC and everything going but just as we think ohhh hes having a break now hes off fannying about with exhibitions to the end of the world.

i honestly dont think hes had that tough of time in PTC These last few weeks hes played 14 PTC Matches and won 8 of them out of 6 PTC since his Shanghai masters win beginning of september.

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby cupotea

Sonny wrote:Well if that was the case then it's obviously a sign or a wake up call that he needs to take on board. I think it was the expectation though because he DESTROYED Ryan Day in round 1 in much the same way he did to Hendry at the Crucible. People going around saying "Selby looks the best player" must be a factor in his weak performances in the next round.

Yes, this is what I think (said a lot better than I could have put it). It's when he looks a certainty that he doesn't seem to follow through.

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby GJ

The problem for Selby is the moment commentators and pundits starting saying hes fav to win an event he messes up in the next match.

Re: The 2011 UK Championship - conclusions

Postby GJ

. Was the new format a success or a failure? Success
2. Was the return to York the right choice? Im shocked to say a Success
3. What was your favourite match of the tournament? The final
4. Which players disappointed you? Robbo and Selty , Stevens was the usual BS
5. Which players surprised you in a good way? Allen
6. What will Trump achieve in 2012? Tough to say as there are so many top players
7. What was your overall favourite moment? Robbo Schooling Ding
8. How much did you enjoy this tournament overall? 7/10