It is no great surprise that 2012 runner-up Judd Trump has successfully navigated his way through to draw to reach his ninth career ranking event final at the Shanghai Masters, but few would have expected his opponent tomorrow to be world number 54 Kyren Wilson who today defeated Mark Allen 6-1 to reach his first final.
It feels like a long time since we last saw the players in ranking event action and indeed it has been, as over two months have passed since July’s Australian Goldfields Open.
Next week though the professionals will be back in action at the 2015 Shanghai Masters, with Stuart Bingham looking to defend the title that he won 12 months ago and following the event will also come the second mid-season seeding revision of the current season.
As well as being a remarkable achievement in its own right, Ali Carter’s victory at the recent Paul Hunter Classic, also secured him a place in the Champion of Champions event for the third successive year.
Click below for a look at who will be joining him with just five counting events still to be played…
UPDATE: An interesting snippet out today from last year’s winner Ronnie O’Sullivan, who has indicated on Twitter that he will not be taking up his place in this year’s tournament:
Heard a rumour going around that I'm playing The Champions Of champions. Not true
— Ronnie O'Sullivan (@ronnieo147) September 8, 2015
Original article follows…
The WPBSA were today alerted to unusual betting patterns regarding the match between Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon and Martin O’Donnell at the Paul Hunter Classic in Germany.
The WPBSA monitor betting on ALL professional snooker and have the most sophisticated methods available today. Working with their partners worldwide and by liaising with the Gambling Commission, the WPBSA will review the available facts surrounding betting on this match. A decision will then be taken on whether any further action is necessary.
During the last past five years snooker in general has come a long way in terms of fan interaction, with the rise of social media and the power of the internet allowing us to get closer to the world’s leading players than ever before.
While a number of players have undoubtedly boosted their profiles due to their online presence, few can claim to have gone as far as Shaun Murphy, who this week added Instagram to his social media portfolio.
Earlier this month I posted a survey about the current state of snooker, looking for the input of the most important people to the sport, the fans.
I had stated on Twitter last weekend that I was going to start rounding up the results at the start of this week, but having taken a look at those results I was slightly surprised by the amount of people who have stated that they do not use Twitter or social media to follow the sport.
That being the case, it would not be fair to that group of people to close the survey without warning, so I have decided to instead close the survey at the end of this working week, ie on Saturday morning, when I hope to post part one of the results.
To complete the survey, please click here for more information.
Since starting PSB almost seven years ago now, I have had the fortune of both meeting and hearing from a number of snooker fans, whether via Twitter, email or other forms of communication.
As with any subject, opinions vary, be it in terms of favourite players, styles, opinions about the rules or any number of other aspects of the sport.
That being the case, I have created a survey here at PSB, to give you readers a chance to have your say and offer important opinions on your view of the snooker tour as of 2015.
You can find the survey below, or alternatively you can download it in Word format by clicking here.
If you have completed the survey by Word or would prefer to email it to me, please send your responses to me at prosnookerblog@gmail.com and I will post feedback here at PSB in the coming weeks, detailing what percentage of people have voted for each of the suggested answers.
To the questions…
Allan Taylor turned professional at the start of the 2013/14 season and initially found results hard to come by, but with the help of the late Vic Harris showed improvement during his second year, eventually earning a fresh two-year tour card thanks to his position on the European Order of Merit.
With the resumption of the new campaign fast approaching, I spoke to Allan to talk about his first two years on tour, his bond with Vic Harris and his new outlook on his snooker career…