Cazoo Tour Championship Semi Finals !!!

Monday 22nd ~ Sunday 28th of March at The Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, Wales

World No 1 Judd Trump who won the World Grand Prix is out and John Higgins who won the Players Championship is also out.

But there's quality still there with World Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, UK Champion Neil Robertson and Mark Selby winner of 2 titles this season then there's Barry Hawkins who hasent won a ranking title for 4 years and his last final was a 11-3 drubbing to Mark Selby in the China Open 2018 so he's well overdue.

Who can progress to the Final?

DRAW

Semi Finals
Barry Hawkins v Ronnie O’Sullivan O'Sullivan leads 15-3
---------------------------------------------------------
Neil Robertson v Mark Selby Selby leads 19-17

ORDER OF PLAY






(Available in territories not covered by TV Coverage)

11 of 19 Selbys wins over Robertson came in the Championship League. Real H2H is 13:8 for Neil.

Isn't Robertson-Selby ususally a horrible matchup? Neilo goes full on Pythagoras, and we just get a turgid match.

TheRocket wrote:11 of 19 Selbys wins over Robertson came in the Championship League. Real H2H is 13:8 for Neil.

Real head to head in relation to this week is 3-3 in multi session matches its close but head to head is what it is you play someone and its 1 match no matter length.

McManusFan wrote:Isn't Robertson-Selby ususally a horrible matchup? Neilo goes full on Pythagoras, and we just get a turgid match.

you obviously missed the Champion of Champion semi 6 centuries in the match Selby lost 6-5 having made 137, 137, 131, 81, 70,

Come on Mark!

Wildey wrote:

TheRocket wrote:11 of 19 Selbys wins over Robertson came in the Championship League. Real H2H is 13:8 for Neil.

Real head to head in relation to this week is 3-3 in multi session matches its close but head to head is what it is you play someone and its 1 match no matter length.

Robertson beat Selby more than Selby beat him in the main tournament matches. Which Championship League certainly isnt. Thats all I pointed out. But its always been a competitive rivalry and for sure this will be a close match.

Key reason why Ronnie has a good H2H vs Barry and Barry has a good h2H vs Judd is that even on bad days Ronnie can sustain more 40-50+breaks to eventually win frames than Judd can. Judd's bad days he starts hitting the ball very hard and obviously loses position/cue ball control more but he really does jam the ball hard and so when he's not feeling it, those recovery pots go haywire

When ROS misses he'll break down but be able to string more pots together for a decent break

Ronnie is truly the master in crushing these 2nd and 3rd tier topplayers. I mean no one else has such a superior head to head against the likes of Hawkins,Bingham or Carter.

And its for example the main difference btw between ROS and Higgins and why Ronnie has won more than his big rival. Its not the H2H against the very elite. You have to dominate the 2nd and 3rd tier players to win titles. Most of your matches are against them.

TheRocket wrote:Ronnie is truly the master in crushing these 2nd and 3rd tier topplayers. I mean no one else has such a superior head to head against the likes of Hawkins,Bingham or Carter.

And its for example the main difference btw between ROS and Higgins and why Ronnie has won more than his big rival. Its not the H2H against the very elite. You have to dominate the 2nd and 3rd tier players to win titles. Most of your matches are against them.

Definately. Plus Ronnie really does love these ITV events, and he might even win the Coral Cup again should he win the tournament like in 2019.

Wildey wrote:

McManusFan wrote:Isn't Robertson-Selby ususally a horrible matchup? Neilo goes full on Pythagoras, and we just get a turgid match.

you obviously missed the Champion of Champion semi 6 centuries in the match Selby lost 6-5 having made 137, 137, 131, 81, 70,

That I did! Looking forward to it a bit more now, ta. I don't normally mind a good safety battle, but not when Robertson is involved!

Have a feeling we'll get a Selby v ROS Final.

If this is the case, it would be their 4th biggest Final, just outside Masters, UK and Worlds.

Andre147 wrote:Have a feeling we'll get a Selby v ROS Final.

If this is the case, it would be their 4th biggest Final, just outside Masters, UK and Worlds.

Second; only played a UK final in the current, lesser, format.

Could this be the week that Ronnie finally beats Selby in a ranking final...?

HappyCamper wrote:

Andre147 wrote:Have a feeling we'll get a Selby v ROS Final.

If this is the case, it would be their 4th biggest Final, just outside Masters, UK and Worlds.

Second; only played a UK final in the current, lesser, format.

Why 2nd? At best it would be 3rd. Masters is more important than this. Unless you count only ranking events.

this isnt bigger than UK or Masters. Maybe in 15-20 years it will be treated that way but UK and Masters have the history and reputation which this tournament hasnt yet.

TheRocket wrote:this isnt bigger than UK or Masters. Maybe in 15-20 years it will be treated that way but UK and Masters have the history and reputation which this tournament hasnt yet.

That's why I say it would be their 4th biggest Final, which I would hope Ronnie finally wins a ranking Final against him.

But I'm not making a mistake of getting carried away. Selby has a tough task, and Ronnie still has to beat Barry first.

Should bring back bo25 final

that really separates this tournament and makes it even more epic

Yes Barry.

Acé wrote:Should bring back bo25 final

that really separates this tournament and makes it even more epic

Was there an explanation why the final isn’t bo25 this year? I know last year was because of the pandemic, but it seems strange to have a tournament where all the matches are bo19.

Goldenballs147 wrote:

Acé wrote:Should bring back bo25 final

that really separates this tournament and makes it even more epic

Was there an explanation why the final isn’t bo25 this year? I know last year was because of the pandemic, but it seems strange to have a tournament where all the matches are bo19.

Still the pandemic.

Players come in for a day, whilst all other players socially distance. It's to limit the time spent in the arena.

Come on Selby!

I'm routing for Selby too. If it's Ronnie vs Robertson it will be an easy final for Ronnie, I don't even know if Robbo has ever beaten Ronnie in a multi session match has he? Ronnie vs Selby will be the better final for me.

Andre147 wrote:

HappyCamper wrote:

Andre147 wrote:Have a feeling we'll get a Selby v ROS Final.

If this is the case, it would be their 4th biggest Final, just outside Masters, UK and Worlds.

Second; only played a UK final in the current, lesser, format.

Why 2nd? At best it would be 3rd. Masters is more important than this. Unless you count only ranking events.

Old format UK was always bigger than the Masters. It had the longer matches. Nowadays they're probably about equal.

But now we have the TC, with all multi session matches and highly selective qualification. Clearly fills a niche between them and the WSC.

I don't care about ranking vs non ranking. That doesn't really matter.

HappyCamper wrote:

Andre147 wrote:

HappyCamper wrote:

Andre147 wrote:Have a feeling we'll get a Selby v ROS Final.

If this is the case, it would be their 4th biggest Final, just outside Masters, UK and Worlds.

Second; only played a UK final in the current, lesser, format.

Why 2nd? At best it would be 3rd. Masters is more important than this. Unless you count only ranking events.

Old format UK was always bigger than the Masters. It had the longer matches. Nowadays they're probably about equal.

But now we have the TC, with all multi session matches and highly selective qualification. Clearly fills a niche between them and the WSC.

I don't care about ranking vs non ranking. That doesn't really matter.

I love the Tour Champs as much as anyone, for the same reasons you mention. But it does need a couple more years under its belt before it can build a history and reputation for itself.

Even so, it’ll probably be ignored by the BBC as long as they have their big three. To us lot, well we know it’s got its place alongside the ‘majors’, and in time it should rightfully be revered as one of the big ones by the mainstream.

Juddernaut88 wrote:I'm routing for Selby too. If it's Ronnie vs Robertson it will be an easy final for Ronnie, I don't even know if Robbo has ever beaten Ronnie in a multi session match has he? Ronnie vs Selby will be the better final for me.

Ronnie lost 4 finals this season, one of them against Jordan Brown. Robbo has as much of a chance as anyone despite his poor multi session H2H.

Remember when hawk beat sullo

Establishing what the format is will also help towards establishing the TC as an important tournament.

Will Eurosport be showing the world championship qualifiers? they did last year so I am hoping that will be the case again.

Juddernaut88 wrote:Will Eurosport be showing the world championship qualifiers? they did last year so I am hoping that will be the case again.

Certainly on the player. Don't know about proper telly.