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Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby Witz78

Its a myth that they had to reduce the format if they went down to 2 tables from 4 so the event could be played over 9 days. They forget that for some daft reason this event doesnt have morning sessions bar the opening weekend, which would increase possibilities a lot. By adding 2 days onto the event length this is what i propose. Best of 17s all the way up to the final.

16 round one matches over 2 sessions = 32 sessions

Sessions starts at 10am / 2.30pm / 7pm (with an element of roll on roll off too if required)

So if you started the tournament on Wednesday evening and got the least attractive matches out of the way before the weekend

Weds 7pm = 2 sessions
Thu 10am / 2.30pm / 7pm = 6 sessions
Fri 10am / 2.30pm / 7pm = 6 sessions
Sat 10am / 2.30pm / 7pm = 6 sessions
Sun 10am / 2.30pm / 7pm = 6 sessions
Mon 10am / 2.30pm / 7pm = 6 sessions
---------------------------------------------------------------
Round 2 = 8 matches over 2 sessions = 16 sessions

Tue 10am / 2.30pm / 7pm = 6 sessions
Wed 10am / 2.30pm / 7pm = 6 sessions
Thu 10am / 2.30pm = 4 sessions
---------------------------------------------------------

QUARTER FINALS = 4matches over 2 sessions = 8 sessions
Thu7pm = 2 sessions
Fri 10am/2.30/7pm = 6 sessions
-------------------------------------------------------
SEMI FINALS ( STILL 2 TABLE SET UP)

Sat 10am, 2.30pm - Semi Final 1 (semi between 2 players who finished QF in Fri 2.30pm session)
Sat 2.30pm, 7pm - Semi Final 2 (semi between 2 players who finished QF in Fri 7pm session)
--------------------------------------------------
FINAL (best of 19)

Sun 2pm, 7pm

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby Witz78

sod the Beeb, have the first 2 days featuring the lesser matches and on the live world snooker site stream instead or Eurosport

the Beeb coverage is a joke anyway unless your a pensioner or on the dole and can watch through the afternoon

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby Monique

Witz78 wrote:sod the Beeb, have the first 2 days featuring the lesser matches and on the live world snooker site stream instead or Eurosport

the Beeb coverage is a joke anyway unless your a pensioner or on the dole and can watch through the afternoon


Someone still has to do the filming if it's on streaming. This is a BBC event and they won't put more resources in it. I don't think snooker is in a position to refuse the BBC money for now.

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby Alpha

It is a little suspect that the BBC demand a reduction to best of 11 frames and then reduce their coverage anyway.

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby Witz78

yeh Smart the BBC coverage and attitude towards the sport is a joke, they treat it like its BDO darts or indoor bowls with their pathetic features and outdated stuff.

Let SKY have a free reign and bring it into the 21st century

the sports growing fast worldwide but dying on its bottom in the UK, partly thanks to the Beeb

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby Skullman

Witz78 wrote:yeh Smart the BBC coverage and attitude towards the sport is a joke, they treat it like its BDO darts or indoor bowls with their pathetic features and outdated stuff.

Let SKY have a free reign and bring it into the 21st century

the sports growing fast worldwide but dying on its bottom in the UK, partly thanks to the Beeb


Sky's not much better and I don't think they would take a tournament without a rubbish clock.

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby Alpha

Skullman wrote:
Witz78 wrote:yeh Smart the BBC coverage and attitude towards the sport is a joke, they treat it like its BDO darts or indoor bowls with their pathetic features and outdated stuff.

Let SKY have a free reign and bring it into the 21st century

the sports growing fast worldwide but dying on its bottom in the UK, partly thanks to the Beeb


Sky's not much better and I don't think they would take a tournament without a donkey doo clock.


That's what I'm afraid of, if Sky want a rubbish clock ranking event they should create one of their own and have it in place of the Shootout rather than further devalue one of the great tournaments

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby Witz78

SKY wouldnt tamper with a Major if they got their hands on it, all they would do is spice it up and make it seem far more fresh and modern.

Sky Sports have money to burn, theyd love to add ranking snooker to their stable of sports.

the shot clock argument is a myth, they havent tampered with any other sports theyve taken off the BBC or ITV so why would they want to tamper with snooker.

As it is, if they are continually frozen out of ranking snooker, then id like them to rebrand the Premier League as a shotclock ranker or Masters style event instead.

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby Smart

I am sick of the BBC full stop. I use their sports website, but do not use their snooker coverage. Too many old pals involved their and the coverage is full of mistakes and sickly backslapping. If SKY want some proper snooker (and remember they thrive on hours and hours of coverage), then now is a prime time to offer them something chunky like the UK Champs. What I have found this week once more is that my appetite for BO17 matches is very strong. I loved the old format and it really was a great tournament with matches of 2 halves.

If SKY were give the UK Champs it would be something for them to really get their teeth into and they would indeed thrive on that and just like with football and cricket and darts - the end user - would benefit greatly with enhanced access and coverage taken to new levels.

SKY would not stop at the UK CHamps and would quickly snap up other events imo, to grow their snooker portfolio, thats how they work.

<ok>

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby Wildey

Whats strange is they reduce the UK to get matches out of Cubicles (or so was said) and yet they play every China event with 4 Tables 2 in cubicles.

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby vodkadiet

It used to be both semis on the Friday, with the final best of 31. Let's have that back.

I reckon Hearn wants to make this event best of 7s all the way next year, including the final, to bring it in line with the PTC's.

The UK PTC Championships has a certain ring to it.

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby SnookerFan

Alpha wrote:It is a little suspect that the BBC demand a reduction to best of 11 frames and then reduce their coverage anyway.


I thought this. I also tweeted the BBC expert team to ask if they thought bo11s reduced the prestige of the tournament. They didn't read my tweet, but have been blathering on about how exciting they are all week. <doh>

I'll be honest, despite having decent matches this week, it doesn't feel like the second major with best of 11s any more. I don't consider whoever wins this event as a UK Champion in the same way that previous winners were.

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby Roland

The BBC coverage has been a joke. Saying that, there's a certain cockerel in charge of Sky Sports by the name of Barney Francis who hates snooker and thinks because he does, everyone else does so he won't show it even if it was offered, and he would probably shot clock it anyway. As soon as he's gone then snooker will be back on Sky but there needs to be some sort of movement to overthrow him.

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby Wildey

Sonny wrote:The BBC coverage has been a joke. Saying that, there's a certain cockerel in charge of Sky Sports by the name of Barney Francis who hates snooker and thinks because he does, everyone else does so he won't show it even if it was offered, and he would probably shot clock it anyway. As soon as he's gone then snooker will be back on Sky but there needs to be some sort of movement to overthrow him.

someone who worked for Sky whos a member on TSF said Francis or not if they got access to the World they would go with it.

they have over the years build a portfolio of big events they dont want scraps like British Open etc they want the BIGGIE and Sky would be interested if offered.

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby PLtheRef

In a perfect world this would be a tenable option but with how the BBC operate is regretfully going to make this option a non-starter

The problem has come in how wide a berth snooker have given the BBC in that they have been given the leg room in which almost to have the right to dictate to World Snooker what they want and how they want it. Take the changes made from the Grand Prix when it became the World Open, the BBC asked World Snooker to provide it with a unique format which World Snooker did in the Best of 5 'truer' FA-Cup style format, and the BBC went and dropped it from the schedules anyway.

Going back in history, the UK Championships only started it's TV stages from the third round, - or the last 16 onwards. It seems strange but moving the tournament to a 4 table early stage with two of them played behind closed doors meant that you could maximize the format by including the last 32 matches on the TV. It's also fair of the players who have qualified to be able to play on the TV rather than going back into cubicles at a venue.

Sky would be tenable to host a world ranking tournament but the players in the past of course haven't helped the game. This is because the stage of the season in which Sky hosted a ranker meant all player's attentions were now heading towards Sheffield. This is something which of course wouldn't best please the broadcaster and something which was highlighted when World Snooker went to renew the British Open and Players Championship contracts. There's more to Sky than Francis and you cannot imagine him being there forever. Also, if you look at other sports, namely Darts Sky do not make alterations to formats which are ranking based.

The Best of 11 matches over the past two years have provided some great matches, but it remains and IMO it will always remain the notion that this tournament lost a bit of its prestige when it went down to 11 frames, - Trump and tomorrows winner will have won the equivalent of one less match in becoming the UK Champion. That is why it doesn't feel as good as it used to be. Last year 15 seeded players won their first round matches, this year it was 11 seeds which doesn't automatically support the idea that in an era of 7 frame matches, best of 11's have suddenly become a middle distance format which of course it hasn't other than it's the last of the short format matches other than the best of 13 frame Premier League final

However, the 11 frame, 17 frame scenarios do provide interesting comparisons for what might have happened. In a best of 17, would Murphy have beaten Brecel 9-8 or gone on from 6-5 to win 9-6 or thereabouts? Would Davis have held on to beat Higgins?

I don't think that to ensure that all 32 players get on a televised table in the same time frame that you could go back to the old format, which is a big shame but I also think that there is no reason why the quarter-finals could not be contested over the best of 17 frames as well as the Semi-Finals, if you played six matches on Monday and Tuesday as is played on Sunday and Saturday (this would mean two second round matches on Monday and the remainder on Tuesday) - which would mean you could begin the quarter-finals on Wednesday,

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby Witz78

Another option would be to increase the format of the event progressively throughout the event

Round 1 - Best of 11
Round 2 - Best of 13
QF - Best of 15
SF- Best of 17
Final - Best of 19

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby KrazeeEyezKilla

PLtheRef wrote:However, the 11 frame, 17 frame scenarios do provide interesting comparisons for what might have happened. In a best of 17, would Murphy have beaten Brecel 9-8 or gone on from 6-5 to win 9-6 or thereabouts? Would Davis have held on to beat Higgins?


If it had been best of 17 then it would have been 4-4 after the first session and that wold have been it for a few hours. If they came back Murphy could have pulled away and won easily but Brecel could have benefited from a break and got a 2-3 frame lead and wouldn't have had the same pressure on those two pinks at the end

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby KrazeeEyezKilla

I always thought it would be a good idea to bring back a 64 man draw and have the first two rounds on Eurosport/WS Site and have BBC coverage start at the third round with possibly four matches held over from the second round. It would never happen as BBC wouldn't be guaranteed the big names but this years tournament didn't have O'Sullivan and Trump, Allen & Ding contributed damn all to the event. If the names that BBC want are in decent form they wont be getting knocked out early anyway.

Re: Bring back the best of 17 UK format

Postby PLtheRef

Witz78 wrote:Another option would be to increase the format of the event progressively throughout the event

Round 1 - Best of 11
Round 2 - Best of 13
QF - Best of 15
SF- Best of 17
Final - Best of 19


That would be a better format and a more plausible one but it would still need to have 10 days to fit it in at a guess. Play four matches on Friday then six on Saturday and the remaining first round matches on Sunday

The best of 13 frame matches could work as a roll on roll off two session format of 6/7 if you start at 11am The only reason why the PL has a one session 13 frame final is because of the shotclock.

Sounds silly but the Semi-Finals are the games which have the shortest sessions when played over 8/9. Previously the Semis were both 7/10. There is no reason why the Semis couldn't be over 19 and the final over 21 frames if you played over 10/11