2019 World Snooker Championship (Mod Note Post One)

gormdubhgorm

weemcd wrote: »

Anyone else find Allen throughly unlikable? Talent aside, I severely doubt he'll be near the top of the game in 5 years time.

Ah he seems like a bit of a battling type player and calls a spade a spade from his own viewpoint.
Shaun Murphy is the fella that really winds me up with that dull self-righteous tone he has, and I always get the impression that he rarely says what he thinks only says what he thinks people want to hear.
Then there is his constant use of the phrase 'our game' which is annoying it is like as if he sees himself as defender of the snooker faith.

gormdubhgorm

waynescales1 wrote: »

Bit of a fighter Zhou Yuelong. Showed a lot of composure there for 21 years old.

Thoroughly enjoyed that match, great battle.

I am delighted for Zhou must be hard coming all the way over to an English speaking country in itself.
He has some very different shot selection to most which makes him interesting to watch.
That safety shot he played where he nestled up to the blue surprised everyone.
Great potter and tactical player I hope he does well.

DelBoy Trotter

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Shaun Murphy is the fella that really winds me up

Barry Hawkins is the same for me. I don’t know why, but he just annoys me!

Joe_ Public

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

I am delighted for Zhou must be hard coming all the way over to an English speaking country in itself.
He has some very different shot selection to most which makes him interesting to watch.
That safety shot he played where he nestled up to the blue surprised everyone.
Great potter and tactical player I hope he does well.

Agree with that. I'd be one who tends to be hard on the asian players on account they tend to be hyped up after winning a few matches, but it has to be a disadvantage for them to have to move away from home at such a young age in order to make it on the circuit. Remember ding when he first arrived, basically on his own without a word of english, took some guts i reckon and always surprised he hasnt done more in the game given courage and determination that showed. Zhou looks a cool enough customer alright, that trickle up behind blue was a proper match winner, decent chance of following up against lisowski/carter i reckon.

Brian?

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Ah he seems like a bit of a battling type player and calls a spade a spade from his own viewpoint.
Shaun Murphy is the fella that really winds me up with that dull self-righteous tone he has, and I always get the impression that he rarely says what he think only says what he thinks people want to hear.
Then there is his constant use of the phrase 'our game' which is annoying it is like as if he sees himself as defender of the snooker faith.

By all accounts Shaun Murphy is a very decent fella. He practices In Celbridge these days so a few friends of mine know him well and speak very highly of him. Always willing to chat about snooker and offer advice.

Joe_ Public

Nothing at all against Murphy, he's honest about his own shortcomings which he has tried to address and with some success i think, but i just cant give him a prayer of beating robertson, his first round whitewash of Luo Honghao notwithstanding. My confidence in him further eroded when i saw him turning up with Richard Osman for the "House of Frames" segment on the bbc today. Maybe a small thing, but personally i'd rather leave that stuff until if or when his involvement in the tournament is over.

DelBoy Trotter

5-4 to Carter overnight

Frank O. Pinion

Top half:

Mark Williams v David Gilbert
Barry Hawkins v Kyren Wilson (or Donaldson, if can he make a big comeback)
John Higgins v Stuart Bingham
Shaun Murphy v Neil Robertson

Bottom half:

Mark Selby v Gary Wilson
Jack Lisowski/Ali Carter v Zhou Yuelong
Judd Trump v Ding Junhui
Stephen Maguire v James Cahill

It was said the bottom half was the tougher half of the draw, but that's where all the shocks have been, with 3 (possibly 4) seeds going out in the opening round. The top half has been predictable, with all 8 seeds going through, bar a Donaldson comeback against Wilson. You would say Robertson, Murphy, and Hawkins have been the most impressive, with their dominant wins, but all three of their wins were against Crucible debutants. A Trump, Yuelong, or Cahill World Champion or runner-up, would be huge for the sport, for different reasons. One of them against Williams in the final, would be great. I'd be reasonably happy with any final that doesn't include Higgins/Bingham/Maguire/Carter.

Tomorrow's order of play:

1pm
Jack Lisowski 4 v 5 Ali Carter (final session)
Shaun Murphy v Neil Robertson (R2, best-of-25, 1st session)

7pm
Kyren Wilson 6 v 2 Scott Donaldson (final session)
Mark Selby v Gary Wilson (R2, best-of-25, 1st session)

Inviere

weemcd wrote: »

Anyone else find Allen throughly unlikable? Talent aside, I severely doubt he'll be near the top of the game in 5 years time.

Don't like him at all, never have. He has bags of talent though, and this performance aside, he was looking like a strong candidate to win this tournament. Seriously tough player. I find him quite negative though, on and off the table, can't really watch him.

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

Barry Hawkins is the same for me. I don’t know why, but he just annoys me!

Conversely, I think Barry is a complete gent. Would love to see him lift the trophy. With Ronnie now gone, who knows - he tends to do quite strongly at the Crucible.

Brian? wrote: »

By all accounts Shaun Murphy is a very decent fella. He practices In Celbridge these days so a few friends of mine know him well and speak very highly of him. Always willing to chat about snooker and offer advice.

Another absolute gent, would love to see Shaun get his game together and go far.


With Ronnie & Allen gone, this might come down to Selby/Trump/Robertson to lift the trophy. Would dearly love to see Higgins win though, he's been a finalist two years in a row, though that seems to have taken a massive toll on his game. I don't really like to talk about what-if's-but'-maybe's, but if he had won those two finals, he'd now be equal with Ronnie on 5 WC's.

Frank O. Pinion

Inviere wrote: »

Would dearly love to see Higgins win though, he's been a finalist two years in a row, though that seems to have taken a massive toll on his game. I don't really like to talk about what-if's-but'-maybe's, but if he had won those two finals, he'd now be equal with Ronnie on 5 WC's.

If Higgins won those two finals, he'd be ahead of Ronnie, with six World titles. Higgins has won it four times, in '98, '07, '09, and '11. He was runner-up in 3 other finals, '01, '17, and '18.

Inviere

Frank O. Pinion wrote: »

If Higgins won those two finals, he'd be ahead of Ronnie, with six World titles. Higgins has won it four times, in '98, '07, '09, and '11. He was runner-up in 3 other finals, '01, '17, and '18.

Indeed, my bad. But for a few frames, he'd be in a totally different conversation. For me, he's one of the greatest players ever, certainly in match play. So so strong. Even his comeback last year against Williams, while it didn't work out, it was inspiring to watch. He's had a terrible run of late, akin to Shaun Murphy, but fingers crossed there's a few wins left in him.

xi5yvm0owc1s2b

Higgins looks so worn out to me. He's got incredibly pale, gray, and tired. It's hard to believe he's only 43 — he could easily pass for 55. I'm just not sure after losing two finals on the trot whether he still has the will to win another WC. I'd like to believe he's a contender, but if he gets past Bingham in the second round (which he probably will, given how terribly Bingham is playing) he will have to face Robertson or Murphy in the quarterfinals, and that will be a real test.

Inviere

Agreed he looks physically and mentally exhausted, has done for a while. Needs to do a Ronnie and take a year off then come straight back and become World Champ

xi5yvm0owc1s2b

Robertson looks in formidable form. A 106 break wins him the first frame.

xi5yvm0owc1s2b

3-1 to Robertson at the midsession interval. Murphy did well to win the fourth frame, considering he didn't pot a ball in the first three.

mewso

Quick question to anyone in the know. I am in Manchester on Saturday and was half thinking I could tick a box on the bucket list by going to the Crucible on Sunday night but I'm assuming there would be zero chance of getting a ticket. Nothing on the online touts anyway.

kerry37

mewso wrote: »

Quick question to anyone in the know. I am in Manchester on Saturday and was half thinking I could tick a box on the bucket list by going to the Crucible on Sunday night but I'm assuming there would be zero chance of getting a ticket. Nothing on the online touts anyway.

If you're there anyway, just go to the box office. If you're not bothered about what match you see, theres usually loads available until the later rounds when it starts to sell out.

xi5yvm0owc1s2b

mewso wrote: »

Quick question to anyone in the know. I am in Manchester on Saturday and was half thinking I could tick a box on the bucket list by going to the Crucible on Sunday night but I'm assuming there would be zero chance of getting a ticket. Nothing on the online touts anyway.

Currently Sunday is showing as sold out.

https://www.cruciblesnooker.com/

mewso

Yeah not sure if it's worth the risk of booking hotel etc. just to end up standing outside by the rope watching Davis and Parrot chat to Hazel. Oh well always next year.

xi5yvm0owc1s2b

mewso wrote: »

Yeah not sure if it's worth the risk of booking hotel etc. just to end up standing outside by the rope watching Davis and Parrot chat to Hazel. Oh well always next year.

There's no harm in ringing the box office to ask. But yeah, probably not worth booking a hotel to go there if you don't have a ticket.

waynescales1

Couldn’t support Higgins. Agreeing to get involved in match-fixing. Seems to be forgotten about by most people but his reputation will always be damaged for me.

Shame because I think he’s perhaps 3rd greatest of all time I think.

Exclamation Marc

mewso wrote: »

Yeah not sure if it's worth the risk of booking hotel etc. just to end up standing outside by the rope watching Davis and Parrot chat to Hazel. Oh well always next year.

Crucible Theatre are always getting returns so ring just past 10am in the mornings and they may have some.

Farawayhome

waynescales1 wrote: »

Couldn’t support Higgins. Agreeing to get involved in match-fixing. Seems to be forgotten about by most people but his reputation will always be damaged for me.

Shame because I think he’s perhaps 3rd greatest of all time I think.

It just goes to show how mud sticks. Higgins entered that meeting thinking it was about a huge sponsorship deal. This has been confirmed by everybody including the news of the world. He was set up and said anything to get out of the meeting. He should have reported it but he did no wrong.

martyos121

Murphy very much on a 147 here and he asks for the partition to come down (won’t happen of course). An absolute class act, hope he makes it now!

martyos121

Ah it wasn’t to be. Would’ve loved to see him pull that off, played a few great shots in that break.

Nation 98

martyos121 wrote: »

An absolute class act,

Except when his opponent forgets his chalk.

mdwexford

Quality session of snooker, 4 centuries and both players in excellent form.

Was a right buzz in the arena for the 147 attempt. Would have been a real bucket list moment seeing a max at the Crucible.

eric hoone

Nation 98 wrote: »

Except when his opponent forgets his chalk.

What happened there?

AllForIt

Well I totally agree with Hendry, I can't believe Murphy asked for the screen to be lifted as nice a gesture as it was. And he should have snicked in that red when he had the chance which was the one he eventually missed, I feel anyway. Maybe it was a bit too acute.

Anyway glad to see Robertson isn't running away with this match, 5 - 3 is a scoreline Murphy will be happy enough with.

Joe_ Public

Evalyn Ripe Canvas wrote: »

Higgins looks so worn out to me. He's got incredibly pale, gray, and tired. It's hard to believe he's only 43 — he could easily pass for 55. I'm just not sure after losing two finals on the trot whether he still has the will to win another WC. I'd like to believe he's a contender, but if he gets past Bingham in the second round (which he probably will, given how terribly Bingham is playing) he will have to face Robertson or Murphy in the quarterfinals, and that will be a real test.

I've heard this said about higgins for years, yet he was the one who finished the semi-final last year looking like he could go another session while the young pup Kyren Wilson was talking about mental exhaustion. This is higgins stage and i am absolutely as certain as i can be that stamina, mental or otherwise, will not prove his downfall. Fair point about losing the two finals, though. Hard to say what kind of scars those defeats leave, plus he also has to bear the considerable burden of carrying a wedge of my hard-earned!