Well the Shoot Out is over for another year, time to review how it went. Starting with the venue, well its in Blackpool which is no big surprise with organisers trying to bring a bit of the party atmosphere to the game. Seemed to work well for the most part although why there is a need for walk on girls I have no idea, they only walk about three yards then disappear into the night almost immediately! Most of the players seem to embrace the event although if you've been following Mr. Williams on that twitter machine you'll know not all are overly enthused.
One thing that did hamper the viewing experience for those watching on sky was the at times uncomfortable response to the crowd of some of the commentators when they 'got out of hand' - You can't have it both ways. The actual standard of snooker was somewhat impaired by the shot clock with some lets say unusual shot selection at times. Selby's century was a particular highlight as was the Allen v Maguire semi, a fixture which you wouldn't be disappointed to grace any ranking event final. You can take nothing away from the victorious Martin Gould though who played superbly throughout, still can't work out how he sights a ball in those glasses though, but the man certainly has composure in abundance.
One slight downside perhaps was the absence of Messrs Trump and Robertson two real stars which the crowd would no doubt have liked to see in action, nevertheless the absence of some of the more established players allowed some of the lower ranked to take centre stage, the real highlight for me though was the sight of Dave Harold trotting around the table, reminded me of a young Steve Cram, marvellous stuff.
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