World Championship 2013 Draw & Gossip

Myrddin

Its almost scary how good Ronnie is, John Parrot said it best there;

"Selby, Trump etc when they're at their best, are all capable of giving him [Ronnie] a game. The problem is, whe he's at his best, he's head & shoulders above any other player."

Well he's five times world champion now. Sometimes I feel for him in interviews, the weight of expectation must be enormous for him. He has the look of someone really unsure of themselves at times, & hence unsure of what to say. I think he'll be back without doubt, & yes he can be annoying with all the 'drama' he seems to create - but the more I hear it the more I feel there's other reasons for it other than just to wind people up. He's a victim of his own success, his family life [Dad locked up] seems to always weigh heavy on his mind, & couple that in with depression etc & you have what you have. Greatest natural talent without a doubt, greatest player ever? I'm still undecided for now.

MASSIVE respect for Hawkins after that campaign. Does he seem like the soundest bloke ever of what I was surprised to hear Ronnie saluting Barry the way he did in the interview, fair play. Hawkins would have been world champion tonight if he was up against any other player that was in the tournament I feel. No shame in losing to Ronnie, thats for certain.

Thoroughly enjoyed the tournament this year, I was afraid the final was going to be an anti-climax after the Ronnie/Trump & Trump/Murphy games...but it wasn't. Superb snooker to watch from both :cool:

harpstilidie

Credit to Barry Hawkins. I honestly thought it was going to be 18-7 or something similar but he stuck in there. Lost it in this afternoon's session when Ronnie came back and nicked those 2/3 frames. Could have easily been 13-12.

Hate when the final finishes so early though they should never have switched the time from 8pm to 7pm. Late night snooker is the best!

messinkiapina

Well done Ronnie. I've a feeling that will be his last world championship win. Like someone else mentioned, he could have won 10 if he'd had a bit more mental fortitude, particularly in the earlier part of his career.

mickmackey1

so after a year out he just ambles into town and takes the title without a bother, somebody's taking the p**s...

ArmaniJeanss

harpstilidie wrote: »

Hate when the final finishes so early though they should never have switched the time from 8pm to 7pm. Late night snooker is the best!

It was such a ridiculous over-reaction to the circumstances of the Dott/Ebdon final which was unlikely to be repeated anyway.

Definitely should go back to 8pm or else revert to the 8-8-8-11 (frames per session structure) that improves the chances of the final session being a decent number of frames.

Carnegie

Was just looking at the prize money, only 250k for winning, didn't it used to be close to a million?

Plus if your in the last 16 but dont make the quarter final you only get 16k, if your in the last 32 you only get 12k, thats pretty crap for the highest ranked tournament, must be hard to make a decent living if you're not a top 10 ranked player.

KERSPLAT!

mickmackey1 wrote: »

so after a year out he just ambles into town and takes the title without a bother, somebody's taking the p**s...

How so? He was the best player at the tournament, love him or hate him, he deserved it.

He'll be back next year to defend it I think, bot too sure if he'll play the rest of the season, probably not

harpstilidie

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

It was such a ridiculous over-reaction to the circumstances of the Dott/Ebdon final which was unlikely to be repeated anyway.

Definitely should go back to 8pm or else revert to the 8-8-8-11 (frames per session structure) that improves the chances of the final session being a decent number of frames.

Yeah, totally agree. Only 5 frames in tonight's session more than I thought there was going to be though.

KERSPLAT!

Carnegie wrote: »

Was just looking at the prize money, only 250k for winning, didn't it used to be close to a million?

Plus if your in the last 16 but dont make the quarter final you only get 16k, if your in the last 32 you only get 12k, thats pretty crap for the highest ranked tournament, must be hard to make a decent living if you're not a top 10 ranked player.

That's why they have so many tournaments, to try make a living from it. Even with the extras I'd imagine it's pretty difficult for anyone outside the top 16 or so, with one obvious exception

Setun

Delighted for Hawkins to be honest, he really gave him a match. When you think of how hard he battled, it's amazing to think it was only 18-12 in the end. As many have already said, he would have beaten many other players the way he played the last couple of days.

RE O'Sullivan - EnterNow put it well. He's not trying to wind people up, the guy suffers with a mental illness and a collection of personal issues that he quite openly struggles to deal with. He's often described as 'impulsive' on the table (and anybody who has watched him play over the years should find it hard to disagree with that!), but I think that's an element of his general character that he struggles to control. He seems to say exactly what he feels, and when it's a few seconds after coming off the match table, his emotions do tend to be all over the place. In his post-match interview with Hazel, he even said it clearly himself - he simply isn't fully able to manage the breadth of emotions he feels on the snooker table.

I hope he does come back and at least play the majors next year, I certainly enjoy watching him play. As good as he is, he's never a dead cert to win a tournament for me, which is all the better for the drama

ArmaniJeanss

Carnegie wrote: »

Was just looking at the prize money, only 250k for winning, didn't it used to be close to a million?

Plus if your in the last 16 but dont make the quarter final you only get 16k, if your in the last 32 you only get 12k, thats pretty crap for the highest ranked tournament, must be hard to make a decent living if you're not a top 10 ranked player.

Nope, £270K was the most.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_World_Snooker_Championship

Though agree with the rest of what you say, interesting to see how much fairer the 2003 payout structure was to the last 32/16/8 players.

It seems with a prizefund 40% less that they still want to have the headline 1/4M for first, and have butchered the lower amounts.

Bruthal

walshb wrote: »

The guy is pure cringe to listen too. Such a poser, with such an ego. Picking and fiddling with himself. Outstanding player. I'll give him that.

He looks more uncomfortable than ego filled in them situations at times.

padd b1975

_feedback_ wrote: »

He'll be delighted to get ahead of Joe :P

Read that in a Willie Thorne voice for some reason:o

padd b1975

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Nope, £270K was the most.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_World_Snooker_Championship

Though agree with the rest of what you say, interesting to see how much fairer the 2003 payout structure was to the last 32/16/8 players.

It seems with a prizefund 40% less that they still want to have the headline 1/4M for first, and have butchered the lower amounts.

When Jimmy White made his 147 he got £147,000 + whatever it was then for the highest break, this year the prize for a 147 was only £25,000.

Thats some drop.

Turtwig

padd b1975 wrote: »

When Jimmy White made his 147 he got £147,000 + whatever it was then for the highest break, this year the prize for a 147 was only £25,000.

Thats some drop.

Wasn't there some tournament (Uk Championship?) where Ronnie was on course for a 147 and asked what the maximum prize and was told there wasn't. The referee and the crowd had to encourage him to complete it.

SarahBM

Missed the last session as I was on the train, but well done Ronnie, sublime snooker as always. Those centuries last night and this afternoon were wonderful.

Fair play Barry Hawkins for giving him a game. he had some lovely breaks too.

all over for another years as far as the Rocket is concerned????

padd b1975

Jernal wrote: »

Wasn't there some tournament (Uk Championship?) where Ronnie was on course for a 147 and asked what the maximum prize and was told there wasn't. The referee and the crowd had to encourage him to complete it.

There was, think it may have been what used to be The Rothmans Grand Prix.

Bruthal

Jernal wrote: »

Wasn't there some tournament (Uk Championship?) where Ronnie was on course for a 147 and asked what the maximum prize and was told there wasn't. The referee and the crowd had to encourage him to complete it.

The amazing thing about that was, o Sullivan asked the ref what the prize was for the 147, after 1 red and 1 black.

He went and shook hands with mark king with final black still on its spot. Ref asked him to pot it for the crowd. He just smashed it into pocket like it was for a laugh.

Turtwig

Bruthal wrote: »

The amazing thing about that was, o Sullivan asked the ref what the prize was for the 147, after 1 red and 1 black.

He went and shook hands with mark king with final black still on its spot. Ref asked him to pot it for the crowd. He just smashed it into pocket like it was for a laugh.

Yeah found it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L38EO8Qz32w

messinkiapina

Bruthal wrote: »

The amazing thing about that was, o Sullivan asked the ref what the prize was for the 147, after 1 red and 1 black.

He went and shook hands with mark king with final black still on its spot. Ref asked him to pot it for the crowd. He just smashed it into pocket like it was for a laugh.

I know some people hate him because of things like that, but that's just part of the mad genius Ronnie O' Sullivan.

Bruthal

messinkiapina wrote: »

I know some people hate him because of things like that, but that's just part of the mad genius Ronnie O' Sullivan.

I was watchin it at the time. Only from O' Sullivan would ye see the like of it. I think one of the commentators, Virgo I think, said ''have you ever seen anything like that in your llife'' after it.

_feedback_

Jernal wrote: »

Yeah found it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L38EO8Qz32w

Love that, It's Ronnie all over. Holding the frame after two pots to see what the max prize is, brilliant!

zack01

Im sitting here in Manchester Airport waiting for the flight back to Dublin, slightly hungover after last nights end of tournament party in Sheffield.

It's a lot easier to sumarise this years tournament as in my opinion it was a pretty flat tournament, probably only two or three matches stood out for me, the Trump v Murphy match was probably the game of the tournament.

Anyone who reads my posts know i'm a big fan of Ronnie and to be honest without his participation in this years tournament the ammount of posts on this thread would have been a lot less, even all the press throughout the tournament was focused on O'Sullivan. The tournament itself had it's fair share of shocks but even those results were deemed secondary to what The Rocket was up to.

I've always said no player is bigger than the game no matter what standard they produce or how many world titles they win. O'Sullivan is simply doing what Hendry and Davis had done before him and thats dominate these championships, even when a player had the audacity to challenge him by winning a couple of frames O'Sullivan just like Hendry and Davis before him just stepped up a gear.

Huge credit must go to Barry Hawkins, it's very easy to go into a world final as underdog and just go through the motions and collect your runners up cheque but Hawkins played the match and snooker of his life, he did'nt threaten O'Sullivan and to be honest was never going to beat him over 35 frames but the manner in which he conducted himself throughout the event should be applauded.

The question once came up again, are the players suffering burnout ? Ridiculous absolutely ridiculous, i caught the interval piece yesterday on one of the tv's in the press room and it was great to hear Shaun Murphy explain how relatively easy a life players have compared to someone having to go to work at 7am every morning for average pay, then you have Mark Selby and Neil Robertson have a cry at feeling tired, Barry Hawkins played the most snooker of anyone this season and i don't recall Hawkins having a moan.


So the million dollar question, is O' Sullivan the greatest player ever ?

Well the answer in my opinion is a resounding yes, he has ever single department of the game needed to be a great, his matchplay, his breakbuilding, his safety and potting are exceptional, and most of all he has a snooker brain that few before him or around him now have.

Yes he's only won 5 titles compared to say Reardon and Davis with 6 and Hendry with 7 but he will win 7 because simply no one came compete with him when he plays at the level he has done in the last two orld championships.

Two world championships where he has'nt lost a single session remember!

There are some who will question Ronnie's commitment to the game, what other commintment does he need than to come back to win the biggest event of them all by playing the kind of snooker the other 31 finalists can only dream about, yes he had signed a huge spnsorship deal with 'Oval Vodka' that was worth the same as the winners cheque but Hendry in his prime also earned huge sponsorships too.

Then we have the other side of Ronnie, agreed he sometimes says the wrong things at the wrong time but he has worked on that, and he was quick to acknowledge the man who has helped him most Dr Steve Peters. Then we have the statements regarding he needed the money, well anyone who knows Ronnie knows exactly what he's at, he's always wound people up especially the press, he throws them a bone the other day saying he's broke and what do they do? They run the story, prehaps a drive by his new home in Chigwell may put that story to rest, or prehaps if he's not home he's out for a spin in his Bentley convertable.

O'Sullivan is already odds on favourite to retain his crown next May, he will play during the new season and rankings into consideration he may even make the Masters in January which i know personally that he loves playing in. He's back on tv screens as soon as this coming weekend when he plays in the legends cup which will be screened live on tv.

Love him or hate him there's not a single snooker player or fan out there who wont congradulate The Rocket on this latest milestone in his snooker career.

zack01

padd b1975 wrote: »

There was, think it may have been what used to be The Rothmans Grand Prix.

O'Sullivan had the max at the World Open in Scotland

AngryLoner

zack01 wrote: »

. He's back on tv screens as soon as this coming weekend when he plays in the legends cup which will be screened live on tv.

Thanks for the heads up about that Zack... got my SKY+ programmed. Can't wait for that tournament.

Get some sausage rolls for that hangover!

Hulk Hands

The GOAT debate will rage on. O'Sullivan at his very best, is probably the best player ever. However, people simply forget just how dominant Hendry was during the 90's. Hendry, while revolutionising the game, also played a huge part in its downfall in popularity. That's because at one stage, tournaments simply seemed to be staged as a Hendry benefit. He made snooker boring because nobody could beat him. We will never see dominance like it again, and it's something O'Sullivan has never got close to achieving. Granted that the standard was higher during the noughties, making it harder to dominate.

Either way, just like natural talent, steel, determination and will to be the best and dominate should be factors when deciding the greatest of all time. All considered, Hendry still wins hands down. Could Hendry have won at the Crucible after a full year out? Probably not. However, could O'Sullivan have controlled snooker like Hendry over a full season like 94/95, competing at the business end of every tournament? No chance. And the latter to me is far more impressive. It must also be noted that having his cue broken was a major factor in stopping Hendry from somewhat carrying over his dominance into the noughties.

Hulk Hands

zack01 wrote: »

O'Sullivan is already odds on favourite to retain his crown next May,

Sorry to be nitpicky now, but he's 5/1 best price at the moment, a long way from odds on.

zack01

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Sorry to be nitpicky now, but he's 5/1 best price at the moment, a long way from odds on.

Betfair installed him at 9/2 last night

zack01

Hulk Hands wrote: »

The GOAT debate will rage on. O'Sullivan at his very best, is probably the best player ever. However, people simply forget just how dominant Hendry was during the 90's. Hendry, while revolutionising the game, also played a huge part in its downfall in popularity. That's because at one stage, tournaments simply seemed to be staged as a Hendry benefit. He made snooker boring because nobody could beat him. We will never see dominance like it again, and it's something O'Sullivan has never got close to achieving. Granted that the standard was higher during the noughties, making it harder to dominate.

Either way, just like natural talent, steel, determination and will to be the best and dominate should be factors when deciding the greatest of all time. All considered, Hendry still wins hands down. Could Hendry have won at the Crucible after a full year out? Probably not. However, could O'Sullivan have controlled snooker like Hendry over a full season like 94/95, competing at the business end of every tournament? No chance. And the latter to me is far more impressive. It must also be noted that having his cue broken was a major factor in stopping Hendry from somewhat carrying over his dominance into the noughties.

I cant forget how Hendry and Davis dominated the sport when they were at their best, but the manner in which O'Sullivan went about winning this years championships was majestic.
If you count tournament wins then yes Hendry is by far the most successful, Hendry also lost in two world finals wheras O'Sullivan has won all five he has contested.
It's a debate that will always be there, the players can only beat whats out there, the standard was superb in Hendrys day as it is today, the fact of the matter is both Hendry and O'Sullivan are just better.

Dont get me wrong Hendry was a genius and i enjoyed watching him play but this is all about opinions and having been involved in snooker for over 30 years my own opinion is O'Sullivan is the greatest player the game has ever seen.

Prehaps if O'Sullivan was to win two more world titles than maybe more will consider this.

KERSPLAT!

zack01 wrote: »

Betfair installed him at 9/2 last night

2/9 would be odds on, it's even or less if I remember right