World Snooker Shootout

Selby saw off Jak Jones with a break of 69. The Craptain (boo! boring!) got the better of Lyu Haotian. Zhou Yuelong has the new highest break with a 101 to beat Louis Heathcote. The big guns seem to have avoided each other in the last 32, but in a 1 frame shootout anything can happen.

Last 32 Lineup:
Neil Robertson vs Liam Pullen
Dylan Emery vs Noppon Saengkham
Antoni Kowalski vs Vladislav Gradinari
Wu Yize vs Liam Davies
Zhang Anda vs Elliot Slessor
Aaron Hill vs Allan Taylor
Si Jiahui vs Martin O’Donnell
Kreishh Gurbaxani vs Ashley Carty
Robbie Williams vs Fan Zhengyi
Huang Jiahao vs David Gilbert
Robert Milkins vs Haydon Pinhey
Zhou Yuelong vs Florian Nuessle
Duane Jones vs Tom Ford
Andrew Higginson vs Ma Hailong
Liam Graham vs Ali Carter
Mark Selby vs Jamie Jones

Andrew Higginson was the star of round two for me. His clearance to blue on the buzzer to beat Hossein Vafaei was something else.
Brilliant stuff.

Fantastic win for Liam Graham over Craptain Carter!
37-6 down with just a couple of minutes to go, Liam made a match winning 37 break.

The Shootout is being played in the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, which may account for why Tom Ford is doing so well, and Selby is the only top 16 player left in it. Si Jiahui, Zhang Anda and Neil Robertson all lost. Other fancied players also fell by the wayside. Gilbert lost to a 72 break by Huang Jiahao, Zhao Yuelong lost to the only amateur left in the competition, Austrian national champion Florian Nuessle. Wins for Anton Kowalski, Noppon Saengkham, Robert Milkins and Wu Yize.

Allan Taylor, a new professional who qualified via Q School, got a late 29 clearance to beat Aaron Hill on the black.

Edit: Play resumes at 7pm with Selby vs Liam Pullen

Mark Selby is cruising through the draw hardly conceding any points at all.
Into the semis now after beating Florian Nuessle with a break of 90.

71 break from Wu Yize to put Higginson out, with strong support from Selby's missus so he must have a Leicester connection. The other Leicester man Tom Ford is also through to the semi.

Scotland's Liam Graham beat Saengkham and then O'Donnell. He makes up the lineup for the semi-finals.

(07-12-2024 22:19 )Snooks Wrote:  Mark Selby is cruising through the draw hardly conceding any points at all.
Into the semis now after beating Florian Nuessle with a break of 90.

Oops sorry Mark.
Beaten by Liam Graham in the semi finals. Put the mockers on there.

Leicester home favourite Tom Ford is the champion after beating Liam Graham in the final.
Very useful ranking points for both.

Ford edged the final by 3 points after winning his semi final against Wu Yize on a reported blue from 32-32.

Congratulations to Tom Ford for winning his first ranking tournament after 23 years as a professional! He's had a wretched season so far, winning just 2 matches, but this will go some way to making up for it. He's risen to no.19 in the World, but it's too late for him to make a run to the top 16 for the Masters. Maybe this will kickstart his season and he can end up in the top 16 in time for the World Championship.

Well done to Liam Graham! He turned professional for the 2023/24 season after winning the EBSA European Under 21 Championship in March 2023, but his tour card is set to expire in May 2025 unless he can get into the top 64 by the end of the World Championship. He jumps from 100th to 85th in the rankings, but still some work to do if he wishes to remain in the professional ranks for another 2 years.

For all the stick that the Shootout gets if it can inspire further success on the back of winning it then it has served it's purpose. Let's hope Tom Ford can use this as a springboard.

It feels like a better tournament depending on who wins. In this case, a good year for it. Ford, like Vafaei winning the other year, feels like someone who's (and I detest the phrase) earned this.