#statsman

[celebrateasimplelife]

[benjaminsblog]

24.2.22

The standard of play in Doha did indeed start to improve as the cream rose to the top - but enough about my operating! It helped everyone's moods, which was handy considering WTA jobs are full-on and quite tiring, but the three of us worked well together and rotated whenever someone needed some relief (or sweet release during poorer matches).

I found yet another excuse to create an Excel spreadsheet - namely logging how long James, Ryan and I spent 'on court', along with various statistics. When I did a similar exercise at last year's Snooker World Championship, Jimmy was by far the jammiest of the three scorers but he got his comeuppance this week; his part in the tournament ended after Round 3, by which point he'd totted up nearly 5-and-a-half hours more court time than I had, including the six longest sets we'd been involved in. His lead was so great that even though I had an extra day in Doha, he remained ahead of me in all categories!

My involvement in Doha concluded tonight with quarter-finals day, and it was a brilliant note to end on - all four singles and two doubles matches ended in straight sets, and in double-quick time! The longest match lasted 1h26, and it was one of those days that stats spreadsheets are made for:

- Average match time: 1h09

- Exactly 100 service games played, with the longest set being 6-4

- Average of 8 games per set

As an operator you often root for quick matches over entertaining ones but we got the rare combination of both, with standout performances from Anett Kontaveit and Jelena Ostapenko. I'm rooting for a Kontaveit v Swiatek final, but I wouldn't begrudge any of the four remaining ladies (Maria Sakkari being the other) the title. Great final day aside, I'm not sure how much I enjoyed the job as a whole this time around; I think a lot of that is to do with the aforementioned changes to our role, but also Doha was a bit of a dud, honestly. Still, beats Newmarket any day of the week.

We had some friendly colleagues too, which always is the biggest plus of a job; I enjoyed the odd chat with Cezary, a Polish director who takes any excuse to take the conversation off-piste - he was all for discussing my family's Polish ties and the Christmas hybrid we traditionally enjoy, confirming to me how to pronounce Iga Swiatek's name, and chatting snooker - which he is a big fan of - though not the Shoot Out! On my last evening, Ryan suggested a quick drink in the bar, and we chatted for a good while along with another acquaintance Ann, who also loves her snooker and has been at many of the same events as me, just a truck away! Small world, innit.

[benjaminsblog]

15.2.22

The Players (still no apostrophe) Championship ended on Sunday, and I enjoyed myself immensely! It had been too long since my last snooker job, and I settled back into my role seamlessly. Fortunately, I have another event coming up next month, so I'm already wishing away the rest of February!

Neil Robertson was a little bit too good for Barry Hawkins in the final, steaming ahead to an early lead and never letting his opponent get too close after that. Nicola operated the afternoon session, which was markedly better than the evening session I did, but hey-ho. Between us we got a bunch of stats aired, and I kept chirping up with anything I fond remotely interesting!

I have a tennis trip to Qatar in a couple of days, and upon my return from Wolverhampton on Monday I began my preparation. This included an unnecessary mini-panic about a Fit to Fly test and equally unnecessary trip to a nearby test centre - which I blame on Super Bowl-induced tiredness - but I did get it sorted later that day.

There's a mountain of forms that require filling in for the journey, and there's always a mild fear that I've missed something whenever I go abroad (particularly in COVID times). But work is excellent at giving us a full checklist, so I imagine I'll be fine, just as I have been on all previous trips. Fingers crossed that my next blog post comes from my Doha hotel and not the Holiday Inn off the M4 near Terminal 3!

[benjaminsblog]

4.8.20

The tournament has yet to catch fire for me - I was not fortunate enough to bear witness to Ronnie’s 108-minute demolition job in his first round match and have had to suffer through some lengthy tussles, including today’s two matches. Mark Selby has probably featured on this blog more than any other snooker player, and it’s often for the wrong reasons; he seems to attract drawn-out matches in the same way manure attracts flies, and his opener against Jordan Brown was more of the same. Mercifully I only had the second session of this match, and eventually Selby got on with it, winning 10-6.

I think the highlight - and my best moment of the WCs so far - was when I rustled up an obscure stat in the final frame; I was trying my hardest to find something of interest when I noticed that Selby had only potted 20 blacks all match; considering he was 9-6 up after 6h30 playing time, I thought this most unusual, but having never offered anything of the sort before, I had no idea if anyone would share my interest. I told the director, who put it to the commentators, and John Parrott’s immediate reaction was “TWENTY? Are you sure?!” I wasn’t expecting such disbelief, so for a brief moment I thought I had got it wrong, but I double- and triple-checked as JP requested, and confirmed with 100% certainty that this figure was indeed correct. He still didn’t seem wholly convinced while mentioning it on air, which I think demonstrates just how absurd it was (and how crap the match was).

I’m still buzzing from finding something that shocked even the pros in the booth, and the proof that it went live is below!

[giffmemanafakingkotol]

Bruno "Statsman" Carlucci

[giffmemanafakingkotol]

[movealongmachere]

My boyfriend is away on holiday, missing ti3. But it's ok, he will come back to an inbox full of pictures of Bruno. I got the important stuff for him. 

[movealongmachere]

The International is serious shit.