Snooker World Cup 2011 - Day 1

22:29:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Kenny's team lost its first match
The first day of the recently revived World Cup didn’t have too many fireworks and it was actually a very slow one. So slow, that although we had plenty of time between the morning session and the afternoon one, that tiny break ceased to exist, due to the time players took to finishes their cue battles.


If there is one thing I've noticed is that snooker is definitely NOT a team sport, for when the lads had to play the double frame with alternate shots, things went always wrong and there wasn't really a rhythm. However, Northern Ireland's team has proved that if they focus enough, that connection can be made a reality, so practically their team was the only one that collaborate good during this first day.


The Pakistan team - better than we've expected to be
The morning session made its debut with Republic of Ireland v. Pakistan match and even if the start of it was a brilliant one, Ken Doherty making a beautiful 111 break, what followed was a total disaster. There wasn't really a fluency in the way they were playing and although in the end Pakistan won by 3-2, it can't be said that its performance was a outstanding one. We didn't have big breaks or too many clever shots, I'm afraid.

Still, Ireland can be proud that it ended its battle with another century break, this time Fergal O'Brien hitting a 101. The irony of making two century breaks and still lose the match!


It wasn't Thailand's day ... not entirely, for if their first team (they have two because they are the host of this event) lost by the incredible scoreline of 4-1 in front of Australia, the second team managed to win by a tight 3-2 in front of Afghanistan.
James Wattana wasn't unfortunately at his best and threw more than one occasion of winning the frames he had to play, in the end the man himself admitting his failure in providing a positive result for his team.
Australia played rather good, considering the difference between Neil Robertson and Steve Mifsud, the last one being an amateur player still, and hopefully this victory will give them a burst for their team's future battles.


Australia's Robertson and Mifsud
After Ireland's defeat came another shock, Brazil winning 3-2 over Belgium's team formed by Bjorn Haneveer and Luca Brecel. To quote a tweet from World Snooker, Brazil has always been good at winning World Cups :-)) And this first match wasn't any different.

Soon after this match ended, another surprise was going to be revealed to us, as Hong Kong's team lost by the same 3-2 scoreline the battle against Poland. The five frames match was indeed a slow and not so great one and it was really hard to watch Marco Fu, for the player seem to struggle for each shot. Hopefully that will change in the near future, for they still have a lot of matches to play.


Not a good start for Hong Kong's team
And this leaves us to one of the most brilliant matches of the day, the one between India and Northern Ireland. It was wonderful! And it wasn't even televised! But the scorelines, the fluency and the rapidity of playing the match, were more than enough to form an opinion on this subject.
Mark Allen and Gerard Greene were the team representing the powerful Northern Ireland and with breaks like 74, 108 and 62 ... well, what more can I say? Oh, yeah! They've beaten the hell out India's team with a 4-1 final result. A take a bow in front of them. A really exceptional job!


The last two matches of the day featured the encounters between China and Malta, China winning 3-2, and Egypt and Germany, Egypt beating Patrick Eisle and Lasse Munstermann by the same result.


Hopefully, the second day of playing will be a better one and I really hope the team-mates will communicate more. Is not like they are forbidden to talk. That's what makes the difference in this kind of tournament: the communication between team members! ;-)


The schedule for tomorrow:


From 07:00 (UK time)
Group B: Malta v. Australia
Group A: Pakistan v. Germany
Group C: India v. Belgium
Group C: England v. Brazil


From 13:00 (UK time)
Group A: Wales v. Egypt
Group B: Thailand 1 v. UAE
Group D: Scotland v. Poland
Group D: Afghanistan v. Hong Kong


TV coverage:
07:00 - 09:00 British EuroSport 2
07:45 - 09:00 British EuroSport
20:00 - 22:45 British EuroSport 2


Since the afternoon session won't be lively covered by EuroSport, I advise you to either watch EuroSport Player, or visit this web-site and choose the programme from the list. ;-)

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