Snooker

Call me Ken Doherty.

Well in Luca, thoroughly deserved to win the tournament and plays snooker the right way.

I said the same 

Tidy way to finish

I've a lot of time for Mark Selby with how he's been so open about his battle with his mental health.

I've grown to really admire him over recent years.

I've a lot of time for Mark Selby with how he's been so open about his battle with his mental health.

Is he the one with genuine mental health issues or one of the nine fake ones?

What an amazing final, Luca deserved to win that but what a fight Mark Selby put up - quite brilliant.

Great words from both men with Hazel there.

Also a fitting end to Brendan Moore's refereeing career. Great final, a maximum and in his hometown. He must be made up.

Is he the one with genuine mental health issues or one of the nine fake ones?

That's news to me mate and maybe you know a bit more?

I took it as genuine he's suffering from depression.

Great words from both men with Hazel there.

Also a fitting end to Brendan Moore's refereeing career. Great final, a maximum and in his hometown. He must be made up.

How great is Hazel Irvine as a presenter though

How great is Hazel Irvine as a presenter though

One of the best.

That's news to me mate and maybe you know a bit more?

I took it as genuine he's suffering from depression.

Sorry mate, it was a jibe at the pundits and commentators thread where somebody said 9/10 mental health issues are fake. I wasn't saying Selby or his missus were blagging.

How great is Hazel Irvine as a presenter though

Quite possibly my favourite presenter across any sport. And I think the raport she has with whoever is doing the punditry work is part of what makes snooker on the beeb so special.

Quite possibly my favourite presenter across any sport. And I think the raport she has with whoever is doing the punditry work is part of what makes snooker on the beeb so special.

https://twitter.com/guardian_sport/status/1652936869439520770?s=46&t=_4uI6CiVRqge8WqM7F37Iw

Sorry mate, it was a jibe at the pundits and commentators thread where somebody said 9/10 mental health issues are fake. I wasn't saying Selby or his missus were blagging.

Ah I get you now mate.

https://twitter.com/guardian_sport/status/1652936869439520770?s=46&t=_4uI6CiVRqge8WqM7F37Iw

Part of why she’s such a good presenter for me is because I don’t feel like she’s there to tick the box of having a bird in the studio. I feel she’s there because she’s so good at the job she’s doing.

I’m not a tennis fan by any stretch but I thought the same about Sue Barker doing Wimbledon, though obviously being an ex-tennis player gave her some reason to be there in the first place.

Whereas the likes of Laura Woods or that other blonde girl who does the darts now feel shoehorned in just to get female representation on the show.

Part of why she’s such a good presenter for me is because I don’t feel like she’s there to tick the box of having a bird in the studio. I feel she’s there because she’s so good at the job she’s doing.

I’m not a tennis fan by any stretch but I thought the same about Sue Barker doing Wimbledon, though obviously being an ex-tennis player gave her some reason to be there in the first place.

Whereas the likes of Laura Woods or that other blonde girl who does the darts now feel shoehorned in just to get female representation on the show.

Agree on Sue Barker, really good.

Eilidh Barbour is another good female presenter.

Superstar performance from Brecel...Great skill....true courage....and a true gentleman with his generous comments towards the Selby family.

Such a great watch, bit gutted for Selby in the end after doing so well to come back but Brecel is a wonderful swashbuckling talent and a deserving champion. Also, totally agree with what others have said about Hazel Irvine -- class act, always has been.

Great win by Brecel and great boost for the game across Europe. Flamboyant player, free scoring, so great watch. Selby is a class act and he gave of his best but Brecel deserves it.

Games been under pressure lately with all the betting scandals so this is a good news story. The boy done good.

Shaun Murphy won the first ranking event of the new season this weekend, lifting the Championship League after he beat Mark Williams 3-0 in the final.

Gotta admit, it's one of thouse tournaments I can never really get in to. Three rounds, all in group format with games of a best of four fames and a final of a best of five. If you believe in omens though, Luca Brecel won it last year and ended the season as World champion. (and like most of the top players he didn't even bother competing in it this time round)

Up next is the European Masters in Germany, which is due to start on the 22nd August - with the qualifiers taking place this week. And there's also three tournaments booked in for China this season, which will be the first time the tour has gone over post-Covid (I think). However given the match-fixing scandal last year resulting so many Chinese players getting banned, I'm not sure how those events will go down.

Shaun Murphy won the first ranking event of the new season this weekend, lifting the Championship League after he beat Mark Williams 3-0 in the final.

Gotta admit, it's one of thouse tournaments I can never really get in to. Three rounds, all in group format with games of a best of four fames and a final of a best of five. If you believe in omens though, Luca Brecel won it last year and ended the season as World champion. (and like most of the top players he didn't even bother competing in it this time round)

Up next is the European Masters in Germany, which is due to start on the 22nd August - with the qualifiers taking place this week. And there's also three tournaments booked in for China this season, which will be the first time the tour has gone over post-Covid (I think). However given the match-fixing scandal last year resulting so many Chinese players getting banned, I'm not sure how those events will go down.

I'm looking forward to the new season. Hopefully get to the UK at the barbican again.

Hoping for another Selby world title come next April.

I need to check the schedule and see if any NW based events !!

I'm looking forward to the new season. Hopefully get to the UK at the barbican again.

Hoping for another Selby world title come next April.

I need to check the schedule and see if any NW based events !!

There's a couple pencilled in for Manchester towards the end of the season. Tour Championship should be a good ticket to get.

O'Sullivan made the first maximum of the season in the European Masters qualifying - but it was Sean O'Sullivan not Ronnie, though he still lost 5-2 to Barry Hawkins.

The top eight seeds will have their qualifying matches in Germany and those matches are as follows;

Kyren Wilson v Dean Young
Shaun Murphy v Graeme Dott
Judd Trump v Mohamed Ibrahim
Mark Allen v Anton Kazakov
Mark Selby v Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Neil Robertson v Wu Yize
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Andy Hicks
Luca Brecel v Jackson Page

Draw in full

Wilson/Young v Alfie Burden
Si Jiahui v Ke Doherty
Hossein Vafaei v Allan Taylor
Dominic Dale v Duane Jones
Andrew Higginson v Zhou Yeulong
Dylan Emery v John Higgins
Ross Muir v Joe Perry
Daniel Wells v Murphy/Dott
Trump/Ibrahim v Jordan Brown
Chris Wakelin v Aaron Hill
Ben Woollaston v Xu Si
Tom Ford v Oliver Brown
Jamie Jones v Ricky Walden
Michael White v Jack Lisowski
Ashley Carty v Joe O'Connor
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v Allen/Kazakov
O'Sullivan/Hicks v Peng Yisong
Lyu Haotian v Elliot Slessor
Ben Mertens v Sanderson Lam
Dave Gilbert v Reanne Evans
Xiao Guodong v Stuart Bingham
Ashley Hugill v Ali Carter
Louis Heathcote v Anthony Hamilton
Adam Duffy v Selby/Phetmalaikul
Robertson/Yize v Liu Hongyu
Noppon Saengkham v Mark Davis
Mark Williams v Matthew Stevens
Jimmy Robertson v Scott Donaldson
James Cahill v Barry Hawkins
Jiang Jun v Zak Surety
Robbie Williams v Pang Junxu
Ishpreet Singh Chadha v Brecel/Page

Difficult to pick a winner this early in the season as nobody has any real sort of form other than the Championship League tournament and most of the top names didn't enter that. But I'm gonna plump for Trump because after a disaster couple of years in terms of ranking titles, I think he's gonna wanna prove a point this sesaon by winning a lot. Mad to think he's gone over two and a half years without a ranking title.

Ronnie has withdrew from the European Masters for medical reasons, giving Andy Hicks a bye into the next round and Luca Brecel has lost his cue while coming home from America.

So not the ideal start to the season for the world champ or the current world number one.