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LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 04 Apr 2022 Read

Just a bit of fun with math.

Interestingly, there have been 32 different players who have won at least one ranking event Quarter Final this season. hey, that makes for a top 32 who 'should' make up the 32 entrants for the WSC in 2022 if my form math is correct.

But how does the season form math seed these proven winners or nearly winners?

1. Neil Robertson (clear leader) (knocked out in the second round proper)

2. Ronnie O'Sullivan (expectation achieved)

3. John Higgins (expectation achieved)

4. Zhao Xintong (Knocked out in the second round proper)

5. Luca Brecel (Knocked out in the first round proper)
6. Mark Allen (Knocked out in the second round proper)

7. Judd Trump (expectation achieved)
8. Mark Williams (expectation achieved)

9. Hossein Vafaei (Knocked out in the first round proper)

10. Ricky Walden (knocked out in the 3rd qualifying round)

11. Robert Milkins (Knocked out on Judgement Day)
12. Joe Perry (knocked out in the 3rd qualifying round)
13. Fan Zhengyi (knocked out in the 3rd qualifying round)
14. Dave Gilbert (knocked out in the first round proper)

15. Kyren Wilson (expectation achieved)
16. Barry Hawkins (knocked out in the first round proper)
17. Yan Bingtao (expectation achieved)

18. Matt Selt (Knocked out on Judgement Day)
19. Gary Wilson (knocked out in the 3rd qualifying round)

20. Jimmy Robertson (Knocked out on Judgement Day)
21. Liang WenASBO
22. Jak Jones (knocked out in the 3rd qualifying round)
23. Shaun Murphy (expectation achieved)
24. Ding Junhui (expectation achieved)
25. Jack Lisowski (expectation achieved)
26. Graeme Dott (Knocked out on Judgement Day)
27. Robbie Williams (knocked out in the second qualifying round)
28. Mark Selby (expectation achieved)
29. Stuart Bingham (expectation achieved)
30. Anthony McGill (expectation achieved)
31. Mark King (knocked out in the 3rd qualifying round)
32. Elliot Slessor (knocked out in the 3rd qualifying round)
Last edited by LDS on 30 Apr 2022, edited 17 times in total.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 07 Apr 2022 Read

Math has failed it's first test of the tournament.

Robbie Williams, no.27 seed, gets knocked out in the second qualifying round, his first round of competition.

However, it's worth noting that his ranking event quarter final win this season was in the shootout...

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 09 Apr 2022 Read

While things are still looking good for Slessor, getting past the above hurdle, the next round has brought immediate disappointment for math fans as no.10 seed Ricky Walden unexpectedly crashes out at his first encounter, not even at the Judgement Day stage.

Walden had made the ranking semi finals of the:
Northern Island Open
German Masters
Player's Championship
Gibraltar Open

This season, his seemingly best season for neigh on 6 or 7 years. But loses here to a distant rank outsider with practically zero season form, his best of the year being a 3rd round loss in the British Open.

One can only wonder who's next! :chin:

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 11 Apr 2022 Read

Just over half way through the third qualifying round and there's already been lots of action involving many of the 32 seeds here.

Dave Gilbert, Jimmy Robertson, Ding Junhui, are all through as expected, just one match away from the last 32 and first round proper.

But there's been big losses too.

The next biggest seed to fall, No.13 Fan Zhengyi, follows Walden out today in a shock defeat, though it was a very close run thing, to Chris Wakelin of all people.

Fan has had a truly wonderful season, winning the European Masters not very long ago at all, while Wakelin's season best was a 4th round exit in the shootout or a 3rd round exit in the Gibraltar Open, depending on which you consider has the greater form factor.

And so Fan marks the first exit of a this season ranking event winner!

A not so surprising result was no.22 seed Jak Jones losing a very close match with Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.

Jones had only just recently won a Quarter final match at the Gibraltar open and looked to be still flying here today, but Un-Nooh is one of those very unpredictable players and while he's had a terrible season, his best being a 3rd round exit at the Turkish Masters, he is traditionally one of the tour's most unpredictable players.

Also no great surprises as the two weakest seeds dropped today as well, with Mark King, a Quarter Final winner way back at the English Open, losing to the resurgent legend Michael White. Elliot Slessor, a Quarter Final winner way back further still at the British Open, also bows out to another resurgent legend, Anthony Hamilton.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 12 Apr 2022 Read

Yesterday there was so much action that I even forgot to write that Matthew Selt was also through to the final qualifying round.

Today saw another batch of players from the list play in their first match of the tournament, with expected and convincing wins for the highest qualifying seed, no.9 Hossein Vafaei, but also no.11 seed Robert Milkins and slightly longer shot Graeme Dott.

The biggest surprise loss was our 2nd season ranking event winner to exit at the first hurdle, no.12 seed Joe Perry, the winner of the prestigious Welsh Open, who got beaten by Jackson Page, someone who's previous best result this season was a 3rd round defeat way back at the Northern Ireland Open.

Slightly less of a surprise, but still quite eyebrow raising was Gary Wilson's loss to a very motivated Jamie Clarke, who's had a very poor season by his standards, the best of which being a Quarter Final loss at the shootout and a third round loss at the English Open. Wilson on the other hand has been in a ranking event final this season, way back at the British Open.

So as we enter Judgement Day, seven seeds are still playing to match their season form and expectation.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 12 Apr 2022 Read

The first day of Judgement Day hasn't seen much action from the seeds, just the two of them, with all the others playing on the other Judgement Day tomorrow, and the results haven't been very unexpected.

No.24 seed Ding Junhui had a difficult start but soon found his rhythm to sail into the last 32 and fulfil his season expectations. The Turkish Masters semi finalist has nothing more to prove in this regard and can now play on for bonuses.

No.18 seed Matthew Selt however falls just short of his season form, just wilting a few frames short of the last 32 proper. The Turkish Masters finalist lost to a full throttle Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, someone who has now defeated two of our seeds in a row, which is always a good sign.

With 5 seeds playing tomorrow, today was definitely just the warm up show.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 13 Apr 2022 Read

Day 2 of Judgement Day certainly didn't disappoint in the excitement stakes, but it certainly disappointed quite a few of our seeds.

The least surprising result of the day was No.9 seed Hossein Vafaei defeating the most unexpected of the Judgement Day players, Lei Peifan. It took a highly unexpected score line to do it though as the Shootout Champion and Welsh Open semi finalist needed a final frame steal after his opponent, who's best this season was a 2nd round defeat at the Scottish Open, unluckily missed a tough red at the closing stages of a final frame decider that looked for all the world to be Peifan's frame. Peifan at least has the consolation of being the best dressed player of the day. Can Vafaei achieve his form expectation and get to the last 16 though...

An equally expected result saw our no.14 seed Dave Gilbert defeat the no-longer resurgent legend Anthony Hamilton with a thoroughly convincing drubbing. It just didn't feel like a drubbing because Hamilton still managed to have the most table time even when losing most of the frame. The expectation for Gilbert doesn't end here though, the Championship League winner will be looking to defeat his next opponent too in order to meet his form expectation.

The biggest shock of the day was losing our No.11 seed Robert Milkins, winner of the very recent Gibraltar Open. Which makes him the third of this season's ranking event winners to bite the dust before even the tournament proper. Unfortunately for The Milkman the revolution was (n)upon him, as Noppon Saengkham, a 4th round loser at the UK Championship and constant Triple Crown surprise package specialist always seemed to be that one frame ahead.

Another quite surprising fall was our no.20 seed Jimmy Robertson, many people's hot tip for good run this year, especially after his quarter Final wins at both the British open and the relatively recent Player's Championship. He lost to Chris Wakelin, another player to have now knocked out 2 of our seeds in a row and who must be on cloud nine. We all know it was the bow tie of-the-year wot won it really.

Not quite as surprising was our no.26 seed, the European Masters defeated semi finalist Graeme Dott, falling victim to another remarkable WSC run by the wonderfully emotional Jamie Clarke. Even with a rubbish season record, Clarke just seems to be someone that's going to be a tough match at the Worlds regardless. Dott tried for a classic Dott comeback, but you kinda felt his tournament was over after the first session. He'll be well chuffed to have that 147 in the bag though, that's probably worth 2 first round proper exits anyway.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 13 Apr 2022 Read

So as we enter the tournament proper and the last 32, a whopping 13 seeds have already bitten the dust.

A further 7 players have already achieved their season expectation of at least a last 32 finish, some without even playing a shot.

Which leaves 12 seeds left looking to match their season form and get a place in the last 16...

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 18 Apr 2022 Read

Day 2 of the first round proper has provided some interesting results for our top 16 seeds still left in the competition looking to match their season form... and make the last 16.

We were going to lose one of them whatever happened as two of the seeds played each other when David Gilbert, our no.14 seed was drawn to play No.2 seed Ronnie O'Sullivan. It was a nervy start for O'Sullivan and Gilbert raced to a 3-0 lead, but from thereon in it was mostly the expected O'Sullivan show. O'Sullivan needs to reach the final to match his season form, so a long way to go for him yet, and Gilbert can at least be considered matching his season form, considering the luck of the draw for the last 32. Gilbert becomes the 4th ranking event winner of the season to exit the tournament.

Another player who's form will be expecting a deep run, to at least a semi final, won today, Zhao Xintong, who comfortably strolled past an overwhelmed Jamie Clarke.

The big surprise of the day was qualifier Jackson Page storming past yet another round as he quite convincingly defeated our longest top 16 seed, no.16 seed Barry Hawkins. An even bigger surprise was how he did it, never once being behind in the match and scoring 3 centuries, an 80+, a couple of 60s and four 50s. Meanwhile, Barry only amassed one 66 break and one 59 break the whole match. Barry Hawkins lost in the semi finals of the UK Championship and in the final of the Player's Championship this season while Page came into the tournament with a season's best of a 3rd round loss at the Scottish Open and had an official ranking around the no.90-odd mark. Page must consider himself somewhat lucky though as you'd be hoping for one of the lower ranked seeds during the first round draw.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 18 Apr 2022 Read

No unexpected action going on with the seeds today, both Mark Allen and Mark Williams progress as expected to the last 16. Allen had a slightly tougher time than Williams, but the end result was no different. Both will be looking to win their next match before their expectation is reached.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 19 Apr 2022 Read

Only one of the seeds expected to reach round 2 finished today, Neil Robertson, the no.1 seed, and he duly delivered a very convincing demolition of the qualifier Ashley Hugill. It's a long way to go for Robertson though, he has to win the whole thing to match his season expectation.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 20 Apr 2022 Read

Quite a dramatic day today, even if the 2 expected seeds both expectedly qualified for the last 16. Higgins got pushed quite close by his qualifier, which was surprising as Higgins will be looking to ease to the semi finals to match his form expectation so he certainly wasn't hoping to have to pull out all the stops just in his first round.

Kyren Wilson had an even tougher match against no.24 seed Ding Junhui. It went to 8-8 and in the next two frames Ding had the chance to steal the frame, but Kyren came out the winner by the skin of his teeth in both. Wilson becomes the only player so far to have equalled his form expectation target of a last 16 spot, all other players seeded 9-16 having been already knocked out, though Vafaei is still in play tomorrow, though he trails by 3 frames to 6 currently.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 21 Apr 2022 Read

Wilson does indeed remain the only player from 9-16 to achieve their expected result and get to the last 16 as no.9 seed Hossein does indeed fall the no.7 seed Judd Trump. A bit of tough luck for Hossein catching a big name in the first round, so he can, like Gilbert, probably consider himself expectation achieved anyway. Trump will looking for at least a quarter final place, so still some work to be done for him.

Last, but by most means least, the biggest upset of the seeding so far sees Luca Brecel fall to Noppon Saengkham. Brecel, winner of the Scottish Open, runner up of the UK Championship and semi finalist of the Tour Championship this season found himself completely trounced by the oft surprise Noppon package. This is now the 5th time out of 5 Brecel has lost in the first round and the third time in a row as a seeded player. And so we lose our first expectant quarter finalist and yet another season ranking winner.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 21 Apr 2022 Read

So as we enter the battle for a quarter finals place in the last 16, another 4 seeds have already bitten the dust.

Only 1 player managed to achieved their season expectation of at least a last 16 finish.

Which leaves a healthy 7 seeds left looking to match their season form and get a World Championship quarter final place...

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 22 Apr 2022 Read

Only 1 match finished today, even though 2 more pretty much did. BUT YOU NEVER KNOW. No.8 seed Mark Williams overcame qualifier Jackson Page with a session to spare to achieve his season expectation of at least a quarter final place. Williams Won the British Open this season as well as finishing runner-up in the Shootout.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby badtemperedcyril » 23 Apr 2022 Read

LDS wrote:Last, but by most means least, the biggest upset of the seeding so far sees Luca Brecel fall to Noppon Saengkham. Brecel, winner of the Scottish Open, runner up of the UK Championship and semi finalist of the Tour Championship this season found himself completely trounced by the oft surprise Noppon package. This is now the 5th time out of 5 Brecel has lost in the first round and the third time in a row as a seeded player. And so we lose our first expectant quarter finalist and yet another season ranking winner.


I always liked Brecel but his recent outbursts in the press about getting rid of Parrott and Davis and shortening WC matches suggest he’s either very ill advised or, just simply, not very bright. He really isn’t entitled to comment on WC formats given he’s never so much as won a match at the Crucible whilst Messrs Parrott and Davis have distinguished Crucible records.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby chengdufan » 23 Apr 2022 Read

badtemperedcyril wrote:
LDS wrote:Last, but by most means least, the biggest upset of the seeding so far sees Luca Brecel fall to Noppon Saengkham. Brecel, winner of the Scottish Open, runner up of the UK Championship and semi finalist of the Tour Championship this season found himself completely trounced by the oft surprise Noppon package. This is now the 5th time out of 5 Brecel has lost in the first round and the third time in a row as a seeded player. And so we lose our first expectant quarter finalist and yet another season ranking winner.


I always liked Brecel but his recent outbursts in the press about getting rid of Parrott and Davis and shortening WC matches suggest he’s either very ill advised or, just simply, not very bright. He really isn’t entitled to comment on WC formats given he’s never so much as won a match at the Crucible whilst Messrs Parrott and Davis have distinguished Crucible records.

If you have to have won a World title to be allowed an opinion on snooker, this forum would die pretty quickly!

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby Juddernaut88 » 23 Apr 2022 Read

chengdufan wrote:
badtemperedcyril wrote:
LDS wrote:Last, but by most means least, the biggest upset of the seeding so far sees Luca Brecel fall to Noppon Saengkham. Brecel, winner of the Scottish Open, runner up of the UK Championship and semi finalist of the Tour Championship this season found himself completely trounced by the oft surprise Noppon package. This is now the 5th time out of 5 Brecel has lost in the first round and the third time in a row as a seeded player. And so we lose our first expectant quarter finalist and yet another season ranking winner.


I always liked Brecel but his recent outbursts in the press about getting rid of Parrott and Davis and shortening WC matches suggest he’s either very ill advised or, just simply, not very bright. He really isn’t entitled to comment on WC formats given he’s never so much as won a match at the Crucible whilst Messrs Parrott and Davis have distinguished Crucible records.

If you have to have won a World title to be allowed an opinion on snooker, this forum would die pretty quickly!


:goodpost:

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby badtemperedcyril » 23 Apr 2022 Read

chengdufan wrote:
badtemperedcyril wrote:
LDS wrote:Last, but by most means least, the biggest upset of the seeding so far sees Luca Brecel fall to Noppon Saengkham. Brecel, winner of the Scottish Open, runner up of the UK Championship and semi finalist of the Tour Championship this season found himself completely trounced by the oft surprise Noppon package. This is now the 5th time out of 5 Brecel has lost in the first round and the third time in a row as a seeded player. And so we lose our first expectant quarter finalist and yet another season ranking winner.


I always liked Brecel but his recent outbursts in the press about getting rid of Parrott and Davis and shortening WC matches suggest he’s either very ill advised or, just simply, not very bright. He really isn’t entitled to comment on WC formats given he’s never so much as won a match at the Crucible whilst Messrs Parrott and Davis have distinguished Crucible records.

If you have to have won a World title to be allowed an opinion on snooker, this forum would die pretty quickly!

With every respect, us chatting away on an online forum is hardly the same level as a professional sportsperson making statements to the press and media core. Of course, it’s he’s free to have an opinion… my point was rather that he hasn’t “earned” the right for people to take heed to it.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby Iranu » 23 Apr 2022 Read

badtemperedcyril wrote:With every respect, us chatting away on an online forum is hardly the same level as a professional sportsperson making statements to the press and media core. Of course, it’s he’s free to have an opinion… my point was rather that he hasn’t “earned” the right for people to take heed to it.

I’m not sure about that. His comments are said as much as a fan as a player, so his playing credentials aren’t all that relevant. And it’s not like he’s saying something that hasn’t been said a million times before by fans. Even the BBC recognise it, bringing in the likes of Judd, Jack and (sigh) Murphy.

Should Steven Hallworth’s comments on the make-up of the tour not be listened to just because of his ranking? That all feels a bit elitist to me.

His comments about the format can buck the buck off, though.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 23 Apr 2022 Read

In a quite remarkable day of snooker, which saw the best match of the day being between two seeds who have already met their expectation, No.2 seed Ronnie O'Sullivan quickly and quietly finished off the no.6 seed Mark Allen. Allen won the Northern Ireland Open this season, was a runner-up at the Championship League and also a semi-finalist at the German Masters, but it wasn't enough to spur a victory over the even more in form O'Sullivan. Like some others, it was a tough draw and Allen can really consider himself expectation achieved even though he fell just short of an expected quarter final place.

A much bigger shock to the seedings was the loss of Zhao Xintong, winner of the UK Championship and the German Masters, to the resurgent rank-outsider Stephen Maguire, a former great who's barely featured in any tournament for just over 2 years now, by his own historical standards at least. Xintong therefore falls well short of his expected semi-final appearance.

Only 4 out of the 11 different ranking event winners this season remain the the tournament at the halfway stage of the second round. Two of which are yet to complete their second round matches.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 25 Apr 2022 Read

After a day of zero results yesterday, today brought us a whopping 4, three of which involved seeds looking to meet their season expectation.

First up was no.3 seed John Higgins, who predictably sailed past the feisty qualifier Noppon Saengkham. Higgins will be looking to secure a semi final place before he can consider himself target met.

No.7 seed Judd Trump looked to be sailing past the struggling Anthony McGill, but drama came along as McGill's form suddenly sparked into action in the final session. Trump overcame though, holding his nerve in the final frame decider to pot the crucial balls. Trump thereby achieves his expectation of at least a quarter final finish. The out-of-form former world no.1 still managed to snag a win at the Turkish masters this season as well as a runner up spot at the Welsh Open.

The biggest shock of the night was No.1 seed Neil Robertson, once again fulfilling his self-fulfilling crucible curse of arriving favourite and dumping early. No.25 seed Jack Lisowski surprisingly held his nerve, including patiently playing many good safety shots, including snookers of all things, to take an extremely dramatic final frame decider from the tournament favourite. Robertson had won the English Open, Player's Championship and Tour Championship this season as well as finish runner-up in the World Grand Prix. Yet another season ranking event winner therefore bites the dust, leaving just 3/11 of them in the last 8.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 28 Apr 2022 Read

The Quarter finals all completed on the same day and each one provided it's expected result, though not without difficulty in some cases.

Regarding the remaining seeds, no.3 John Higgins meets his expectation by narrowly defeating no.25 seed Jack Lisowski. Higgins was a runner-up at the English Open, Northern Ireland Open, Scottish Open and Tour Championship this season, but getting a runner-up spot here will still be above everyone's expectation.

Ronnie O'Sullivan, our no.2 seed, remains the only player looking to match his season expectation of a spot in the final. He came one step closer to that goal in convincingly beating the qualifier Stephen Maguire.

Re: LDS's 2022 WSC top 32 Seedings

Postby LDS » 30 Apr 2022 Read

Last, but by no means least, Ronnie O'Sullivan unexpectedly, expectedly achieves his season expectation and makes it to the final of the World Snooker Championship comfortably defeating No.3 seed John Higgins. Ronnie O'Sullivan has had a fine season winning the World Grand Prix, being runner-up at the European Masters and a semi-finalist at the English Open, Scottish Open and Tour Championship.

Whoever wins the final on Monday will have surpassed their season expectation.
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