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Dave's aftermath of PTC1

Postby Monique

http://snookerscene.blogspot.com/2010/0 ... title.html?
WILLIAMS WINS FIRST PTC TITLE
Mark Williams tonight defeated Stephen Maguire 4-0 to win the first Players Tour Championship title of the season, for which he earns £10,000 and 2,000 ranking points.

He tops the new order of merit in the 12-event series. The top 24 at the end of it take part in the televised grand finals for which the winner pockets £60,000.

It’s interesting that, though the tournament was played in a non-televised environment at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield, where there were no crowds, two members of the top eight still reached the final, confirming why they are among the best on the world – regardless of the set up.

I’m pleased for Mark because as well as being a great player – one of the best ever – he always has the right attitude. This is one of the reasons he has won so many tournaments outside the UK: not for him moaning about having to get on a plane or, in this case, play in reduced circumstances to what he’s used to.

He merely rolls up his sleeves and gets on with it and once again he has got his reward.

Amid sweltering temperatures and away from all the hoopla surrounding the World Cup, the first tournament of the Barry Hearn era was contested by 73 professionals and 75 amateurs.

There is a large amount of goodwill on the part of the players towards these new tournaments but this was severely tested by a farcical schedule that saw play on the opening day finish not much before 3am.

It was always asking a lot to have all the best of sevens done and dusted in just 90 minutes apiece. The reality was that some matches were starting several hours after the allotted time, meaning players had to hang around and do their best to stay awake before being called to play.

Of course, matches can be over in that time and much quicker. The final only lasted 43 minutes.

This is one of the problems with snooker when it comes to scheduling. The quickest ever frame lasted three minutes, the longest 93. All the rest have been somewhere in between.

Nevertheless, it is unfair on the players to expect them to give of their best in the early hours – and then again at 10am the following day – and unfair too on the WPBSA officials running the event and of course the referees.

In early rounds, where the standard is not as high, every likelihood is that matches will generally be slower.

One of three things needs to happen for the next PTC tournament in July:

1) Reduce the length of matches in the earlier rounds to best of fives
2) Play some of the first round matches on the qualifying day
3) Play it at a venue that has more than eight tables

Without a change such as the above, the exact same thing will surely happen again.

Teething problems in new innovations such as this can be expected but are less forgivable when no action is taken to prevent them in the future.

Action is certainly needed to sort out the live scoring facility on worldsnooker.com which was once again unreliable.

It’s 41 years since we sent men to the moon but it’s apparently beyond the means of modern technology to keep a live scoreboard ticking over for longer than a couple of hours. It stopped dead today at 11.35am and did not work again.

Again, no blame should be attached to the on site officials. It’s the system that needs to be upgraded.

As there is, as yet, no web streaming this should be a priority. The turnaround in snooker’s fortunes depends as much on the fans of the sport as anyone else. You alienate them at your peril: I get more emails lamenting the live scoring problems than on any other subject.

Some spectators turned up and were disappointed to be told there were no seats available for the public. This hadn’t been made clear in advance of the tournament.

It’s worth pointing out again that when you try anything new there are going to be problems. Let us hope that they are properly addressed because the PTC remains a good idea and the fact that so many players embraced the first one proves it is a popular addition to the circuit.

It does, of course, carry ranking points but no list has been issued because a decision is still to be taken on starter points. We still don’t have a ranking points schedule for the major events.

While these things undoubtedly take due consideration so that the right decision is ultimately made, it has been nearly a month since the EGM that decided the future path of the game, the season has now started and players need to know where they stand.

Hearn’s revolution, of which the PTC is an important and welcome part, may well transform the sport but even he can’t do it alone.

His own boundless energy and enthusiasm needs to be matched by the rest of the organisation he now controls.

We’ll see by the second PTC event, starting on July 9, whether that is happening.

Re: Dave's aftermath of PTC1

Postby Roland

He pretty much echoes exactly everything me and others have been saying over the last few days.

Re: Dave's aftermath of PTC1

Postby Wildey

you know what i would do wait to see how many enters each event then play it by ear

for example

if 128 or less enters play a best of 5s opening round but last 64 onwards best of 7 or if there are a lot of qualifying matches to be played again play best of 5s Qualifiers and best of 5s Last 128 over 4 Days

but if the entrants was like this tournament then play Qualifiers in the Morning again over 5 frames but play 2 maybe 3 sesions of last 128 on the thursday over best of 7s.

so basicly take it as it comes play either 4 or 3 days depending on Entrants but from last 64 onwards BEST OF 7S no matter what.

They will know the entrants by tomorrow so there will be a week to organise whitch one of thoes scenarios ive pinpointed Suites the Next tournament best.

Re: Dave's aftermath of PTC1

Postby Monique

Also I think that having one half of the table played completely to last 32, then the other half the next day isn't fair.
I understand i helps to limit the accomodation costs maybe for many who lose early or only come on the second day of the tournament proper but with such hectic schedule it also means that those reaching the last 32 on that second day have to play at 10 or earlier with a very short night while the other half had a full day of rest.
You would expect that those players who play the two days on the trot might have some deep slump in stamina in spells like we all experiment when we are short of sleep after a bad or too short a night.

Re: Dave's aftermath of PTC1

Postby Roland

What are the stats on players from the first batch v players from the second batch in the opening round yesterday?

Re: Dave's aftermath of PTC1

Postby Monique

They never played against each other - two half of the table. Except the final.
But it's not so much that I have in mind.

Re: Dave's aftermath of PTC1

Postby Roland

good point, I forgot about that :redneck:

Anyway, I say wait and see what they do for future PTC events before thinking too hard about it

Re: Dave's aftermath of PTC1

Postby Wildey

Sonny wrote:good point, I forgot about that :redneck:

Anyway, I say wait and see what they do for future PTC events before thinking too hard about it


Yes it will get sorted out but i think 1 thing is certain about 7 sessions of best of 7 in a day is to much

Re: Dave's aftermath of PTC1

Postby GJ

joke tournament

:wave: <laugh>

Re: Dave's aftermath of PTC1

Postby Witz78

GJtheaussiestud wrote:joke tournament

:wave: <laugh>


OK, LETS GOT BACK TO 6 RANKERS AND 2 MONTH GAPS IN THE CALENDAR WITH NOTHING HAPPENING, BRING BACK RODNEY PLONKER <doh>

Re: Dave's aftermath of PTC1

Postby Wildey

yes GJ these tournaments are what it says on the tin and overall Only The World Championship Carries More Money.

i find these Tournament Exciting they aren't meant to be bigger than Ranking Tournaments but as a Tennis fan you should Appreciate the different Tier of Tournaments that makes the Tennis Tour Vibrant.....

in 6 months Barry Hearn has increased Player's Earning Capacity by about 30 to 40% if players dont enter its their fault if their Ranking Suffers Because of it.

The Likes of Robbo and Ding are safe enough near the top of the rankings at the moment but if they Start the Season Poorly its lead balloon time.

Re: Dave's aftermath of PTC1

Postby SnookerFan

Sonny wrote:What are the stats on players from the first batch v players from the second batch in the opening round yesterday?


Where's Seifer when you need him? <laugh>

Obviously none of us actually watched the PTC, as watching it isn't possible, but is there another strategy to sort these problems without shortening matches? All we've seen recently is new ideas on how to make matches shorter. The last thing we need to do is to make them shorter again.