Five days into one of the vital controversial and unpredictable World Championship ever and already eight seeds are out, probably the most top-16 victims to fall within the first round since 1992.
On Wednesday, world #1 Mark Selby and Chinese hope Ding Junhui became the newest seeded victims, while there are two first-round encounters still to be completed.
BBC Sport asked 1997 world champion and tv pundit Ken Doherty what on this planet was occurring on the Crucible.
Crucible seeds to fall
- Mark Selby (ranked 1) - lost 10-3 to Barry Hawkins
- Ding Junhui (10) - lost 10-9 to Ryan Day
- Graeme Dott (9) - lost 10-1 to Joe Perry
- Stephen Lee (8) - lost 10-6 to Andrew Higginson
- Shaun Murphy (5) - lost 10-8 to Jamie Jones
- Stuart Bingham (16) - lost 10-4 to Stephen Hendry
- Martin Gould (12) - lost 10-8 to David Gilbert
- Mark Allen (11) - lost 10-6 to Cao Yupeng
Ben Dirs: Are you able to recall a more unpredictable first week?
Ken Doherty: No, and its been astonishing to observe. Its a kind of rarities which may happen every Halleys Comet. I wish i used to be a betting man because i'd have bagged a fortune with these kind of seeds going out.
Such a lot of of those top-16 players was playing well entering the tournament, showing numerous form. Study the season Stephen Lee has had [Lee won his fifth ranking event in addition to reaching a last and two semi-finals] and he went out to Andrew Higginson, the area number 19.
BD: Whose defeat were you most surprised by?
KD: The foremost surprising one was Graeme Dott going out 10-1 to Joe Perry. Dott was in three finals in eight years here, he's normally very, very steady. To just win one frame, thats very, very surprising.
BD: Why have such a lot of top-16 players been beaten?
KD: Seeds have always been nervous within the first round - even defending champion John Higgins was very nervous against Liang Wenbo [Higgins came through 10-9 against the arena number 38].
Also, a number of the top players play such a lot of matches in a season now, after they get to a global Championship, where they need to play long matches, they may find theyre already played out.
Selby [who lost his first-round match 10-3 to world number 22 Barry Hawkins] would have already played about 100 matches before he came, whereas three or four years ago we only had six tournaments.
Ken Doherty“The bigger players will play within the bigger tournaments with extra cash at stake instead of inside the smaller events â€
BD: So is Barry Hearns expanded tour an awesome or a foul thing?
KD: We should always be playing worldwide, wherever its popular. Nonetheless it will come to a stage over the following couple of years, as there are increasingly events at the calendar, when players will begin to pick and select their events.
Barry Hearn desires to change the rankings system to prize money won, which isn't a foul idea. But what is going to happen is the larger players will play within the bigger tournaments with extra cash at stake instead of within the smaller events.
The alternative side of the coin is someone like Ryan Day [the area number 35 who upset Ding], who has gained sharpness from playing within the smaller events. Hes also got much more confidence and perhaps he fears the highest players less.
You could not be coming back with much prize money but there are numerous benefits of playing in them in relation to match practice, especially if youre battling your game. Youre not waiting a month until the following tournament, youve got another one next weekend or the weekend after that.
BD: Is there a danger such a lot of name players going out so early might take the gloss off the tournament?
KD: I dont know what the television viewers will consider it but I dont think its taken the shine off the tournament in any respect. Its made all of it the more exciting since you dont know whats going to happen.
The match between Higgins and Stephen Hendry might be a classic, and youve got Ronnie OSullivan possibly playing Mark Williams within the second round, so there are still various great match-ups inside the second round and beyond.
BD: a number of players [Ding included] have complained concerning the playing conditions on the Crucible; could that still were a leveller?
KD: Once I played at the first day the conditions were perfect. But weve had a whole lot of rain and that i dont know whether the tables have gotten slightly heavy due to that.
That will make it a little a leveller because its harder to go the white around, and youll see much more missed pots. But you need to be ready to adapt as a qualified.
BD: Do you fancy any of the qualifiers to head on and win it?
KD: The one one i might say I fancy is Stephen Hendry. He can cause a huge upset against Higgins and theres no the reason is, he cant win this event. Its an issue of whether Hendry believes he can win, and that would be a stumbling block.
When he headed home for a couple of days after his first-round win over Stuart Bingham, he told me hed be coming back together with his golf clubs. But maybe thats reverse psychology, maybe hes playing it as though he doesnt care. It would make him play better because hes not putting that much emphasis on it."
Hendry stuns Bingham with 147
From WhatNewsToday.net
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