Good start by Ronnie this morning, looks like an early night tonight!, and Ken did well to be only one frame behind at the end. 1-1 in both afternoon matches so far think these will be closer then Ronnie's !
Seriously Hendry coming back on main tour on the back of a wild card at 47 or 48 is not suddenly going to completely dominate again. Steve Davis is not going to win any tournaments at his age on the award of a main tour wildcard.
Remember Hendry retired because he said he was no longer capable of winning tournaments and dominating. Can't see Hendry being in top 16 again let alone being the man to beat. What is the point if him returning to main tour if he can't get anywhere near achieving what he said he was only on the tour to achieve.
Maybe he's realised, like Davis, that he actually loves the game and just wants to play.
He probably wouldn't get much joy out of hammering club opponents so the tour is the best place to be.
Just got back from Sheffield after an entertaining morning session.
It was a bit on the cold side this morning, but that didn't stop plenty of people heading to Sheffield. On the same train as me was one of the blokes who is always in the front row (usually on table two) - he must live in Manchester or locally then, I think.
At Sheffield itself the atmosphere was building nicely. I did see Tony Drago and he stopped when Shaun Murphy was coming in for practice and had a little chat. Robin Hull was quite surprised when people recognised him but was more than happy to say hello and he was excited to be back at the Crucible, so really wanted him to do well.
Inside, Hazel Irvine was rehearsing and what you don't see from the live broadcast is the number of lighting rigs and extra cameras there are when BBC take to the table. In fact Rob Walker was having difficulty getting down to the stage to warm the crowd up before the live broadcast, but he managed it. He also mentioned that Ken Doherty might just kiss the Crucible carpet when he comes out, and sure enough Ken did that.
I was on the Stuart Bingham - Ken Doherty table. It was a fascinating match and Bingham was making some howlers (the jump over the black being the most obvious one - no wonder BBC has a replay of that on the web already). A fair few of the frames were tight affairs too with Ken surviving fightbacks from Stuart in a couple of them. They finished their last frame just before 2pm, so I missed spoting any players for the afternoon session.
On the other table and from my seat in Row F, I could see a bit of the action. I was really pleased for Robin to get the 102 break in frame four, but the fifth frame which Ronnie nicked when requiring a snooker will be the one that really did hurt - at 3-2 might have been a different contest but it also, like some of you mentioned, showed that Ronnie meant business.
Went over to the Winter Gardens and there's more displays meaning it's more difficult to get a good view of the action unless you're in the roped off area close to the snooker table where the WPBSA folks are doing demonstrations etc. That said I did notice that Hazel had a comfortable pair of boots on which she changed into when not needing her heels for the cameras. Steve Davis was having good banter with the production crew and one of the crowd said "it's like being back in the jungle!" (the Winter Gardens has various plants everywhere and so can be quite alike in parts) which was a giggle.
Back on Monday for Mark Selby v Michael White, should be a good one that. Pics to follow
Just got back from Sheffield after an entertaining morning session.
It was a bit on the cold side this morning, but that didn't stop plenty of people heading to Sheffield. On the same train as me was one of the blokes who is always in the front row (usually on table two) - he must live in Manchester or locally then, I think.
At Sheffield itself the atmosphere was building nicely. I did see Tony Drago and he stopped when Shaun Murphy was coming in for practice and had a little chat. Robin Hull was quite surprised when people recognised him but was more than happy to say hello and he was excited to be back at the Crucible, so really wanted him to do well.
Inside, Hazel Irvine was rehearsing and what you don't see from the live broadcast is the number of lighting rigs and extra cameras there are when BBC take to the table. In fact Rob Walker was having difficulty getting down to the stage to warm the crowd up before the live broadcast, but he managed it. He also mentioned that Ken Doherty might just kiss the Crucible carpet when he comes out, and sure enough Ken did that.
I was on the Stuart Bingham - Ken Doherty table. It was a fascinating match and Bingham was making some howlers (the jump over the black being the most obvious one - no wonder BBC has a replay of that on the web already). A fair few of the frames were tight affairs too with Ken surviving fightbacks from Stuart in a couple of them. They finished their last frame just before 2pm, so I missed spoting any players for the afternoon session.
On the other table and from my seat in Row F, I could see a bit of the action. I was really pleased for Robin to get the 102 break in frame four, but the fifth frame which Ronnie nicked when requiring a snooker will be the one that really did hurt - at 3-2 might have been a different contest but it also, like some of you mentioned, showed that Ronnie meant business.
Went over to the Winter Gardens and there's more displays meaning it's more difficult to get a good view of the action unless you're in the roped off area close to the snooker table where the WPBSA folks are doing demonstrations etc. That said I did notice that Hazel had a comfortable pair of boots on which she changed into when not needing her heels for the cameras. Steve Davis was having good banter with the production crew and one of the crowd said "it's like being back in the jungle!" (the Winter Gardens has various plants everywhere and so can be quite alike in parts) which was a giggle.
Back on Monday for Mark Selby v Michael White, should be a good one that. Pics to follow
Thanks for the report, always enjoy them, look forward to the pics
Important last frame for Maguire to win to trail 3-6 overnight. Day certainly making a nonsense of their head to head record, something like 13-1 in the Scots favour I believe.
Bad luck Amanda! I am pleased to say i got 10-4 spot on, though i very nearly went for 10-3 couldnt make my mind up until i posted ! Probably be the only score i get right!
Ali Carter is 4-1 up on Xiao Guodong on the other table which isnt good for me as i had him to lose!
Comments
He probably wouldn't get much joy out of hammering club opponents so the tour is the best place to be.
It was a bit on the cold side this morning, but that didn't stop plenty of people heading to Sheffield. On the same train as me was one of the blokes who is always in the front row (usually on table two) - he must live in Manchester or locally then, I think.
At Sheffield itself the atmosphere was building nicely. I did see Tony Drago and he stopped when Shaun Murphy was coming in for practice and had a little chat. Robin Hull was quite surprised when people recognised him but was more than happy to say hello and he was excited to be back at the Crucible, so really wanted him to do well.
Inside, Hazel Irvine was rehearsing and what you don't see from the live broadcast is the number of lighting rigs and extra cameras there are when BBC take to the table. In fact Rob Walker was having difficulty getting down to the stage to warm the crowd up before the live broadcast, but he managed it. He also mentioned that Ken Doherty might just kiss the Crucible carpet when he comes out, and sure enough Ken did that.
I was on the Stuart Bingham - Ken Doherty table. It was a fascinating match and Bingham was making some howlers (the jump over the black being the most obvious one - no wonder BBC has a replay of that on the web already). A fair few of the frames were tight affairs too with Ken surviving fightbacks from Stuart in a couple of them. They finished their last frame just before 2pm, so I missed spoting any players for the afternoon session.
On the other table and from my seat in Row F, I could see a bit of the action. I was really pleased for Robin to get the 102 break in frame four, but the fifth frame which Ronnie nicked when requiring a snooker will be the one that really did hurt - at 3-2 might have been a different contest but it also, like some of you mentioned, showed that Ronnie meant business.
Went over to the Winter Gardens and there's more displays meaning it's more difficult to get a good view of the action unless you're in the roped off area close to the snooker table where the WPBSA folks are doing demonstrations etc. That said I did notice that Hazel had a comfortable pair of boots on which she changed into when not needing her heels for the cameras. Steve Davis was having good banter with the production crew and one of the crowd said "it's like being back in the jungle!" (the Winter Gardens has various plants everywhere and so can be quite alike in parts) which was a giggle.
Back on Monday for Mark Selby v Michael White, should be a good one that. Pics to follow
Thanks for the report, always enjoy them, look forward to the pics
https://www.flickr.com/photos/zawtowers/sets/72157644096080706/
I'll add more to this set as the tournament goes on
Thanks good pics, always good to see what goes on off camera !
Maguire is in deep trouble at 6-3 down even after taking that last frame, still needs a big effort tomorrow night to turn it around
Top man, great as always bud
It's the same on Freeview.
Thankfully, I wanted to watch Sullivan - Hull match.
Ali Carter is 4-1 up on Xiao Guodong on the other table which isnt good for me as i had him to lose!