29.1.12

THE HAWK SWOOPS FOR SHOOTOUT JACKPOT

Congratulations to Barry Hawkins, a nice guy and a quality player who is £32,000 richer tonight after winning the Partypoker.com Shootout in Blackpool.

Hawkins beat Graeme Dott in the final of the super-fast event, which gave 64 players a chance of scooping the loot over three days.

Barry was once ranked 12th in the world. He has appeared in four ranking event semi-finals without quite making a final.

He has been looking for a step forward for some time and maybe the confidence this will bring will herald a general improvement in fortunes.

The tournament is intended as a bit of fun, but there was pressure on the players in matches which lasted only ten minutes.

The two highlights came today. Martin Gould produced a 135 total clearance, a sensational break given the time pressures.

And Barry Pinches pulled off a dramatic last gasp win over Liang Wenbo, potting the winning ball with a second to spare.

Not everyone or every player is a fan of the Shootout by any means and it perhaps made less of an impact this year.

This is understandable. Last year it was a novelty but novelties soon wear off.

This is why Barry Hearn was right not to listen to those – including players – who called for more of these events or even to incorporate some of the rules into established tournaments.

But I don’t see the harm in the Shootout. It entertained those who enjoyed it, is not a serious threat to snooker as we know it and was a chance for players to get together, however briefly, and have some fun.

The crowds, who were nowhere near as boorish as at Power Snooker, seemed to have a good time too.

The players have been granted two days off before the German Masters – an altogether more serious and significant affair – gets underway on Wednesday.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't agree that there is no pressure, if you were to walk into a casino with 32k and told you had to bet it all on a colour at the roulette table you'd feel it then, and this is no different really in terms of what is at stake. 32k is more than a year's salary to most players on the tour.

That said, I think it's fantastic that an event that is rigged for Ronnie to win is won by Barry Hawkins (replacing Nigel Bond as the champion), with Ronnie not even entering and his understudy (Trump) going it out in the first round! I bet that is not how Sky or the sponsor saw it playing out...

Anonymous said...

read you prefer ss to powermuck dave, phew!

Dave H said...

I didn't say there wasn't any pressure - I actually said the opposite

Anonymous said...

I was agreeing with you Dave!

Anonymous said...

943.

i agree that shot clocks etc re geared up for fast playrs and things like ss and powermuck are head-on mde for the nosh lad.

i think i remember reading dave twittertweet that his allegiance is with powermuck.

maybe they sponsor him

or pay him to play

maybe that influences his decision on liking it better than the ss

i dont know




for sure







SS is much better. it wasnt as good this year, but its still very good entertainment. if a game turns "boring" its only for the remaining 4 or 5 minutes where you know its done...and often the opposing player concedes.

its a good wee change and its much better than 6 reds, one for seven, poweROSnoker......

Anonymous said...

9.43, I'm getting tired of people saying these events are created for certain players. Ofcourse Sky would like to see entertaining snooker players. So do other broadcasters and sponsors. But that doesn't mean they actually created these events purely for that.

Anonymous said...

1018. i wasnt 943 though i do agree with him or her

i am getting tired of people who are getting tired of people having a different opinion to them.

Richie Segal said...

Nice one Bazza Hawkins !!

Anonymous said...

@anonymous

If Ronnie O´Sullivan hadn´t played so fast especially in his young year, I seriously doubt that the shotclock had been invented. That´s why people talking about it beeing invented, and thats the strongest reason why O´Sullivan do so well in the league. He simply has an advantage to the others. But as it has been shown everybody out there can put together a winning break.

Anonymous said...

649, flawed logic

lets make the comp you have to take 25 seconds between shots.

only show highlights.

im sure speedy ron would be blowing up doing that, but it would suit others and so disadvatage him.

but, its ok to disadvantage others by dreaming up things that helps him

well played

wild said...

point is trying to sell the shootout as a exciting form of snooker was wrong because not everyone liked it players and fans alike...Mark Williams saw it as a complete waste of time.

i have no problem with it but lets not kid ourself people want faster snooker. it has it place but long matches are more exciting in my eyes.

JAMIE O'REILLY said...

Hi David. Well done to Barry Hawkins.

kimball said...

So, what's the take on the 3D thing?
Did it work??

Anonymous said...

wild, i hear you and have read marks comments and spoke to him about it / them.

thing is, he was saying at times some of the matches were boring.

this is in relation to the rest of the match

ie the frame was over after 5 or 6 minutes.

to me that means only a few minutes of a match CAN be boring.

thats a lot less that a normal snooker match which can have "more boring" sections in frames...if boring is your word of choice

so, its all relative.

he might not have enjoyed it, but:

if he came out and made a 60 break in each frame and picked up 32g for it i doubt hed have had time to sit and watch the scarce boring parts

so, all relative.

overall it was very good

and its night and day much better than powersh*te