Yan Bingtao - Definitely Still One To Not Know Whether To...

Watch or not?

I tend to agree with Hendry, I get confused when I watch him play.

Even today versus Maguire, sure, he's winning, and he's potting some good balls, but I don't see anything to get excited about.

And this has always been my problem with watching Yan, I just don't find it an interesting experience. There's something excruciatingly boring about it, even when it isn't boring, if you know what I mean.

Every great shot is countered by one that's hideously awful, and either one that it is, it seems to be played and reacted to with the same low energy apathy.

I don't really know what the reason is, and I do feel bad for thinking in this way, as, technically, he doesn't do much different to any other player, but I just always find myself thoroughly distracted by other things when Yan comes on, win or lose, big breaks or safety play.

Am I alone in this?

Can anyone else describe this 'phobia' (?) more reasonably?

I think one problem is that he is still very nervous when playing on the main table. People say that he is ice cool, but actually I disagree. However, he usually manages to keep potting balls despite the nerves. I have seen him on the outside tables as he's a totally different player, often scoring heavily and playing quickly. Actually, he's had a poor season and even this week is still playing his B- or C-game at best. The fact that he can win is remarkable.

But I definitely think it would be unfair to form a final opinion of a 20-year old. Let him be for now, and be grateful that at least one young player is doing well in this tournament. Despite Yan's first appearence, the average age of the participants was 38.2, the oldest Masters since 1980 (which had fewer players). Yan is the youngest player for over a decade, and the youngest this year by more than 8 years.

Yes, I think that's why there's so much interest in him in the first place, we've been waiting so long for the next big thing, as in a youngster who kicks ass, that everyone is latching onto Yan as he's the only one there currently, what with both Jack and Judd now pushing 30 and Kyren not being popular here for one reason or another.

It's like a victory of popularity by default, here's our one young player, let's get excited about him.

LDS wrote:Yes, I think that's why there's so much interest in him in the first place, we've been waiting so long for the next big thing, as in a youngster who kicks ass, that everyone is latching onto Yan as he's the only one there currently, what with both Jack and Judd now pushing 30 and Kyren not being popular here for one reason or another.

It's like a victory of popularity by default, here's our one young player, let's get excited about him.

Wrong. We are excited because Yan has a great snooker brain. His safety game and his shot selection are brilliant. For a twenty-year-old, he is an exceptionally mature player. He plays safety shots even guys like Jimmy White and Neal Foulds had never thought of. He's not just a young guy who pots them off lampshades but doesn't know anything about safety or tactics. That is why we're excited.

Holden Chinaski wrote:

LDS wrote:Yes, I think that's why there's so much interest in him in the first place, we've been waiting so long for the next big thing, as in a youngster who kicks ass, that everyone is latching onto Yan as he's the only one there currently, what with both Jack and Judd now pushing 30 and Kyren not being popular here for one reason or another.

It's like a victory of popularity by default, here's our one young player, let's get excited about him.

Wrong. We are excited because Yan has a great snooker brain. His safety game and his shot selection are brilliant. For a twenty-year-old, he is an exceptionally mature player. He plays safety shots even guys like Jimmy White and Neal Foulds had never thought of. He's not just a young guy who pots them off lampshades but doesn't know anything about safety or tactics. That is why we're excited.

That's not really exciting though is it, not in the way when Trump or Ronnie first come on the scene, even now I will tune in if they are playing but if I know it's Selby, Wilson or Yan playing then I literally won't even switch the TV on. In general you won't remember very good bouts of safety play in years to come but you will always look back and remember moments that Ronnie and Trump produced as they are the things that get you excited.

he still isn't the kind of player that's ever going to excite you, obviously he won't care about that though, just mean from the perspective of getting you to tune in, he just isn't entertaining to watch in comparison to other players like Ronnie or Trump but like I say I'm sure he doesn't care how he wins or at what pace.

If Yan didn't excite you in that final against Higgins I'm not sure snooker is for you.

The balls he potted to force that respotted black and the way he won that frame. Some of the brilliant safeties he played in that final, some of the insane pots under pressure. The way he tactically got the better of Higgins... It was snooker at it's best.

Fast, flashy players are not always entertaining. There are different ways to play exciting snooker. What I like about Yan is the unpredictability. You never know what kind of shot he plays next. Could be a safety, could be an outrageous plant. His shot selection is very interesting.

Holden Chinaski wrote:If Yan didn't excite you in that final against Higgins I'm not sure snooker is for you.

The balls he potted to force that respotted black and the way he won that frame. Some of the brilliant safeties he played in that final, some of the insane pots under pressure. The way he tactically got the better of Higgins... It was snooker at it's best.

Fast, flashy players are not always entertaining. There are different ways to play exciting snooker. What I like about Yan is the unpredictability. You never know what kind of shot he plays next. Could be a safety, could be an outrageous plant. His shot selection is very interesting.

He got the better of a shot Higgins admittedly, prime Higgins wouldn't have let those chances go that he let slip last night.

shanew48 wrote:

Holden Chinaski wrote:If Yan didn't excite you in that final against Higgins I'm not sure snooker is for you.

The balls he potted to force that respotted black and the way he won that frame. Some of the brilliant safeties he played in that final, some of the insane pots under pressure. The way he tactically got the better of Higgins... It was snooker at it's best.

Fast, flashy players are not always entertaining. There are different ways to play exciting snooker. What I like about Yan is the unpredictability. You never know what kind of shot he plays next. Could be a safety, could be an outrageous plant. His shot selection is very interesting.

He got the better of a shot Higgins admittedly, prime Higgins wouldn't have let those chances go that he let slip last night.

The same Higgins that beat Ronnie.

Yan also beat Robbo, Bingham and Maguire.

Holden Chinaski wrote:If Yan didn't excite you in that final against Higgins I'm not sure snooker is for you.

SnookerEd25 wrote:

Holden Chinaski wrote:If Yan didn't excite you in that final against Higgins I'm not sure snooker is for you.

I can understand some snooker fans not being excited by a player who ranks 86th out of 123 players in AST. Some fans don't enjoy watching players just standing around the table.

Yan deserves a lot more respect in my opinion, he's only 20, when was the last time we had a player in the early 20s that was playing snooker at a relatively high level?
I also enjoy watching him play.

D4P wrote:

SnookerEd25 wrote:

Holden Chinaski wrote:If Yan didn't excite you in that final against Higgins I'm not sure snooker is for you.

I can understand some snooker fans not being excited by a player who ranks 86th out of 123 players in AST. Some fans don't enjoy watching players just standing around the table.

It depends for me. If you stand around for minutes and then don't do anything interesting, like some slow players on tour often do, it is very tiresome and boring. In Yan's case, his tempo doesn't bother me. He usually plays interesting shots and I love to see how his mind works and what shots he comes up with.

I was of the view that Yan was unremarkable as well. A very good player, but nothing special and I wouldn't go out of my way to watch TV when he's on.

However I really enjoyed last night's final. The frame when he cleared up and won on a respot was extraordinary. I admire how he kept calm under the circumstances. And he mixed it up well, good safety and some good break building.

He obviously has a huge future in the game. He will keep improving and could well be Trump's biggest threat in next few years. After last night's showing I'll be keeping an eye on him for sure

Holden Chinaski wrote:

D4P wrote:

SnookerEd25 wrote:

Holden Chinaski wrote:If Yan didn't excite you in that final against Higgins I'm not sure snooker is for you.

I can understand some snooker fans not being excited by a player who ranks 86th out of 123 players in AST. Some fans don't enjoy watching players just standing around the table.

It depends for me. If you stand around for minutes and then don't do anything interesting, like some slow players on tour often do, it is very tiresome and boring. In Yan's case, his tempo doesn't bother me. He usually plays interesting shots and I love to see how his mind works and what shots he comes up with.

As long as he doesn't start having 6 1/2 minute "brain freezes" in the middle of frames then we can all sleep easy.

just looking at the relative position of average shot times isn't necessarily very useful without considering the distribution. based on season to date data:

yan bingtao is in the highlighted bucket. so slightly slower than the average but looks well within a 'normal' sort of pace.

should probably also note that apart from the masters his form was pretty poor, which may well translate it his ast being slower this season too.

Holden Chinaski wrote:

shanew48 wrote:

Holden Chinaski wrote:If Yan didn't excite you in that final against Higgins I'm not sure snooker is for you.

The balls he potted to force that respotted black and the way he won that frame. Some of the brilliant safeties he played in that final, some of the insane pots under pressure. The way he tactically got the better of Higgins... It was snooker at it's best.

Fast, flashy players are not always entertaining. There are different ways to play exciting snooker. What I like about Yan is the unpredictability. You never know what kind of shot he plays next. Could be a safety, could be an outrageous plant. His shot selection is very interesting.

He got the better of a shot Higgins admittedly, prime Higgins wouldn't have let those chances go that he let slip last night.

The same Higgins that beat Ronnie.

Yan also beat Robbo, Bingham and Maguire.

2018 WC final he punished mistakes to win frames but doesn't seem to do it regularly anymore, he admitted as much himself, it's only natural as when any player gets to a certain age the first thing that starts to go is the concentration and the eyes, they don't even realise it as in their mind they are concentrating more than ever but it's something that they can't detect or put a finger on themselves, like a boxer who's reflexes at 25 mean that they evade that jab or shot but at 35 they can't evade it any longer because they have lost a step.