Whether they choose to play or not is another matter but based on above points, I guess that the top 5 are guaranteed their spots in the finals as they cant be overtaken by other results:
Emily, Eliz, Sonay, Alice and Freya
Beth, Danielle, Emma and Katie Stresnakova could all find a way to get past Nadia Rawson, so she isnt quite safe yet.
Probably a little more to play for therefore in the last week 9 ladies event than the mens
-- Edited by JonH comes home on Wednesday 6th of October 2021 10:10:16 AM
Also mentions that the finals week prize money is £115k, so £57.5k for mens/women. I wonder what the break down is. Imagine the main winner with something like £15k?
Katy Dunne I suspect will be one. Jodie recovering from injury a possibility? Don't think Fran would be interested but Eden Silva or Naomi Broady perhaps? Would love to see Matilda but won't get my hopes up.
I fear they might have little choice but to go for the regular players who just miss out on qualifying.
From UK Pro League
Dino, Jay, Katie Swan and Sam Murray all playing - thats good news
Part of the wildcards have already been awarded; Davis Cup champion James Ward together with British number 6 Jay Clarke will be added to the already very strong UKPL Finals men's draw, while 22 year old Katie Swan and the experienced Samantha Murray Sharan will join the women's competition.
Katy Dunne I suspect will be one. Jodie recovering from injury a possibility? Don't think Fran would be interested but Eden Silva or Naomi Broady perhaps? Would love to see Matilda but won't get my hopes up.
I fear they might have little choice but to go for the regular players who just miss out on qualifying.
From UK Pro League Dino, Jay, Katie Swan and Sam Murray all playing - thats good news
Part of the wildcards have already been awarded; Davis Cup champion James Ward together with British number 6 Jay Clarke will be added to the already very strong UKPL Finals men's draw, while 22 year old Katie Swan and the experienced Samantha Murray Sharan will join the women's competition.
A good opportunity for Katie to finish a frustrating stop/start season on a high.
Look at the Pool Tables JonH.
Heading the other groups are Eliz Maloney, Katie Stresnakova and Lauryn John-Baptiste. Should be competitive in the latter stagrs at least, but there will be some interesting matches in the groups.
(I don't know the men at this level well enough to pass judgement)
Women's Pool A
1.Alice Gillan
2.Emma Wilson
3.Amy Leather
Women's Pool B
1.Eliz Maloney
2.Millie Bissett
3.Holly Hutchinson
Women's Pool C
1.Katie Stresnakova
2.Danielle Daley
3.Abigail Amos
Women's Pool D
1.Lauryn John-Baptiste
2.Nadia Rawson
3.Jizel Fernandes
Look at the Pool Tables JonH. Heading the other groups are Eliz Maloney, Katie Stresnakova and Lauryn John-Baptiste. Should be competitive in the latter stagrs at least, but there will be some interesting matches in the groups. (I don't know the men at this level well enough to pass judgement)
Women's Pool A 1.Alice Gillan 2.Emma Wilson 3.Amy Leather
Women's Pool B 1.Eliz Maloney 2.Millie Bissett 3.Holly Hutchinson
Women's Pool C 1.Katie Stresnakova 2.Danielle Daley 3.Abigail Amos
Women's Pool D 1.Lauryn John-Baptiste 2.Nadia Rawson 3.Jizel Fernandes
Ha, I hadnt spotted the group tables where up so was trying to work it out off the order of play. Still, Emily Appleton is guaranteed top spot in the league regardless.
from what I can tell Lauryn could get into the top 9 with a very good week, but Millie wont. She could equal 9th currently but that player is Danielle and she will get at least a point for playing. There are 5 of the top 9 playing I see, Alice is the highest placed in the league.
In the mens, Julian Cash is heading back from Dubai and is highest placed. A tournament final could see him pass Billy Harris at the top. Josh Paris could also take it with a tournament win this week, if Julian doesnt make the final. Sean Hodkin is also playing but cant take the league title but is guaranteed a top 9 place.
The majority are outside the top 9, and Giles Hussey and Ewan Moore would need to win the event to get into the top 9. 5 of the top 16 playing in a generally weak field.
In terms of benefits of Pro League, Sonay Kartal said:
"For me, the Pro League has been really beneficial. I've used it as match play to put my body under the stress of going abroad and playing tournaments, to make sure when I play them I'm fully fit.
They're good, guaranteed matches. Its unique and its definitely helped me a lot."
For me, the key word here is 'guaranteed'. With the pool format, and playing out all the final places, it gives a lot of matches. Unlike turning up in Sharm, and getting one match say, before having to wait all the way till next week before getting another (which might just be one more).
Sonay also says it was the format that made her realise she had to start playing a bit more aggressively, as she could see from one day to the next, that the same thing was happening and what needed to change, and the format also allowed her to change tactics based purely on the opponent as she was playing the same people several time.
It's interesting that she found it such a useful exercise. Very much like the money events in Europe. They don't matter so much, in many ways, so you can use them as a perfect training exercise, for implementing schemas of play, and tactics, into a match situation. And then tweaking it the next day, based on how it went.