There wont be much action on Monday at the Crucible.
That is unless the four matches that are scheduled to finish on day ten of the World Championship result in unlikely turnarounds.
After a last 32 which provided plenty of close encounters, including three thrilling deciding frame climaxes, the majority of the second round ties have been runaway routs.
Only Barry Hawkins’ 13-11 victory over Mark Allen on Saturday offered anything in the way of prolonged drama and it looks like we’ll have to wait for the quarter-finals in Sheffield for our next helping.
For there to be any today, Joe Perry and Matthew Stevens must reverse a 12-4 deficit for the first time in the tournament’s history, Ali Carter has to come back from an 11-5 down scoreline that has only been overturned twice, while Marco Fu is behind 10-6, where a successful fight back in a best of 25 has only been achieved six times.
By all accounts it appears almost certain that Shaun Murphy, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Neil Robertson and Judd Trump will be marching into what is going to be an extremely high-quality last eight line-up.
It’s a shame that it has worked out this way, though, because it will continue a period of prolonged calm in the event.
No matches were completed on Sunday and now the action the following day appears set to be limited.
It’s disappointing for the fans because obviously the closer the encounters are and the more drama there is, the more exciting it becomes for the viewing public.
But this is sport; sometimes it materialises in a frenetic fashion and on other occasions it does not.
All could yet change, though, as it looks set that seven out of the word’s top 10 ranked players will feature in the quarter-finals – with surprise package Anthony McGill the sole outsider.
We’re approaching the business end of proceedings, with the single table set-up of the coveted last four spots soon up for grabs.
Hi. I seem to remember in previous years that one of the second round matches played TWO sessions on the Monday ( 1.00 and 7.00 ), meaning that at least a full session of play would be available for the crowd in the afternoon. It always seemed unfair to me that one of the quarter-finalists COULD have played up to 17 tense frames in one day and then go into his next match the following day, when his opponent may have played very little (if any) on the Monday. That may be the reason for the change which has possibly left today so bereft of frames. What are the odds that only SEVEN frames will be played today?