Snooker, Haibao and the new game order
These days Shanghai metropolis is hungry for snooker, for the forth edition of the Shanghai Masters is kicking off. A big day for all the participants, a huge day for snooker! ;) Come on, show some excitement! I know you’re happy for this day has finally come and you can watch it on your beautiful telly with your friends and family and afterwards you can discuss the shots or how the player’s ass looked quite good :))
Before the qualifying stage, I was telling you a short story of what World Snooker Roewe Shanghai Masters means, so I’m not going to bother you one more time with that. However, for those of you, who want to read it, please click here. I only want to remember you the three winners of this amazing oriental competition. In 2007, Dominic Dale won his second ranking title here (after the 1997 Grand Prix), in 2008 Ricky Walden won his first (and only until now) ranking title and last year, in 2009 Ronnie O`Sullivan was the one who took the trophy back to the UK for the third time.
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| "From Mark, with love" |
The first day of the tournament also marks the wild-cards` day, for the chosen players will perform against the "Made in UK" snooker names. The Chinese governing body picked for this event 8 players; 6 tiny Chinese (Li Yan, Lu Hang, Jin Long, Rouzi Maimaiti, Mei Xiwen si Tiam Pengfei), a Thai (Passakorn Suwanawat) and a Pakistani (Mohamed Saijad). So, today we shall see a mix of oriental and English snooker style. A real feast for the public.:)
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| Murphy, Ebdon and the flying Haibao |
Yesterday, the snooker stars were walking on the red carpet, signing autographs and smiling pretty for the cameras (too many flashes, I don’t know how they do it!), but the "real" star of the day was a blue fluffy creature, named "Haibao". But who is this Haibao? Well, Haibao (which by the way means " jewel of the sea") is the Expo 2010 mascot; an exhibition event which is held between 1st of May and 31 October reuniting the most famous and important companies in the world, under the motto “Better City - Better Life". This is practically the largest and the most expensive Expo in the world’s fairs. Are you surprised? We are in Shanghai! Here, technology, novelty and greatness are words that even the newborns are able to pronounce. :))
But back to Haibao the little blue creature, which put quite the show during the "red carpet walk", for every snooker player had at least one. The crowd was going absolutely crazy when the players were throwing them the blue toy. I wonder if some of the people who got one will sell it (overpriced, of course) through eBay.com with a description something like "Blue toy touched by Shaun Murphy"?! Whaaat? What did I say? :)))
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| Marco Fu - trendy, fashion, cool |
Shanghai Masters represents a huge opportunity for the snooker players who want to get a better place in the rankings or just maintain the current one. That’s why it is said that the real season begins now. Any player who wants to be an important part of the new game order must do a splendid job, here at the Shanghai Grand Stage.
There will be 8 days of pure madness, tension and pressure but also 8 days of magnificent snooker, amazing shots, elegancy and fair-play.
The tournament will be broadcasted by EuroSport, although not all the matches will be covered. Some of my bloggers colleagues found a link to this site, which apparently will show all the matches live.
Here, you have the draw.
So, bone appetit, my dears and see you tomorrow for the first reactions. :)
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