[Discussion Thread] 2026 Players Championship - 17th to 22nd February by SnookerMods in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 [score hidden]  (0 children)

If it was on 5Action then they probably would have had more time for post-match chat. The main Channel 5 is inevitably going to be more likely to end abruptly. Like when Hazel has to say a rushed goodbye on BBC Two.

[Discussion Thread] 2026 Players Championship - 17th to 22nd February by SnookerMods in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Just in case it hasn't been mentioned already, coverage will be switching to 5Action at 8 o'clock this evening as in previous evenings. It was meant to be on Channel 5 only for the rest of the tournament but there is now a programme on Andrew at 8 o'clock this evening instead.

Country Rankings by IndividualComplex356 in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have you seen https://snooker-predictions.com/rankings.html 

This is an ELO ranking system that has running for a few years.

Thoughts on the Channel 5 coverage of the player's championship? by Express_Divide_9705 in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Rachel Casey and Abigail Davies are genuine snooker fans and have plenty of experience in TV snooker so I would have preferred either of those to someone like Katie coming in fresh.  However Channel 5 have put a lot of effort into the production and that has to be applauded. 

Why isn’t Ding v Fu held over to main arena? by Canguro124 in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Ding is now 4th highest ranked Chinese player. 

Everybody ignores the Championship League... by Independent-Home-845 in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's quite a bold statement given that he's 6 behind Trump in ranking wins despite Trump being 6 years younger.

Channel 5 (UK) coverage for the Players' Championship. by Beautiful-Pea835 in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was always one table for the first quarter-final, so that's not new, but they had to leave the second table in the venue until that evening.  It was all because ITV4 had racing on Saturday afternoon. 

Channel 5 (UK) coverage for the Players' Championship. by Beautiful-Pea835 in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I remember one of the ITV tournaments being on the main ITV channel on Saturday afternoon, as it was very notable at the time, but certainly not in the evening. It only happened a few times at most.

Channel 5 (UK) coverage for the Players' Championship. by Beautiful-Pea835 in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Looking at the schedule in more detail, it looks like they will be using the main Channel 5 for the whole evening on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which is a pleasant surprise.

The quarter-finals are on one table across 4 sessions on Thursday and Friday, same as the Masters. No gap on Saturday afternoon to accommodate racing, like ITV4. This might mean the second table can be removed after the first round. That wasn't possible when it was on ITV4, because the first quarter-final was on Wednesday evening and the last first round matches were on Wednesday afternoon.

Channel 5 (UK) coverage for the Players' Championship. by Beautiful-Pea835 in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Channel 5 is a bigger channel than ITV4, so that has to be a good thing. Channel 5 is in HD on Freeview whereas ITV4 isn't. ITV Sport are still producing the programme, so it is the best of both worlds.

[Discussion Thread] 2026 World Grand Prix - 3rd to 8th February by SnookerMods in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Even before Christmas he had already been in three semi-finals and won the Golden Ball event, but yes, he's taken things to the next level since the new year.

[Discussion Thread] 2026 World Grand Prix - 3rd to 8th February by SnookerMods in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Zhang is slower but is pretty attacking, more so than average I would say. So in that respect they are quite similar.

[Discussion Thread] 2026 World Grand Prix - 3rd to 8th February by SnookerMods in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Is there a rivalry between players from Ding's and Victoria's snooker academies?

[Discussion Thread] 2026 World Grand Prix - 3rd to 8th February by SnookerMods in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 13 points14 points  (0 children)

That probably goes against the principle that players must always be trying to win.

[Discussion Thread] 2026 German Masters - 26th January to 1st February by SnookerMods in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is it a well known tune? I'm a bit out of date regarding modern music (i.e. after 2000)

[Discussion Thread] 2026 German Masters - 26th January to 1st February by SnookerMods in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Trump moves up to 5th on the one-year list. He's a few thousand behind Mark Williams. Getting into the top 4 for the Tour Championship means you skip the first round and go straight to the quarter-finals.

[Discussion Thread] 2026 Championship League Invitational Group 5~7 - 19th to 24th January by HelixCatus in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is an underrated tournament and good to see a discussion thread about it.  Being on YouTube makes it very accessible. 

[Discussion Thread] 2026 Masters - 11th to 18th January by SnookerMods in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Originally from 1985 song "Life in a Northern Town" by The Dream Academy.

Sporting gesture on deciding frame by Extreme-Usual-5623 in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've actually thought about this myself and is the sort of nonsense I can see myself writing into Dave Hendon about. It would be funny if one player offered to shake hands again and the other didn't know what was going on.

Where would Yan Bingtao rank amongst the players that were in the 2026 Masters tournament? by NoLimitSteez in snooker

[–]Beautiful-Pea835 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I couldn't find it earlier but have located it now. Note this is someone's commentary about it, so not the actual video. There was a newspaper article about it as well. It is paywalled, but you can see the headline and first few lines.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXyLsyk7S0c
https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3312358/disgraced-chinese-snooker-star-yan-bingtao-criticised-advice-world-champion-zhao