2019 World Snooker Championship (Mod Note Post One)

Loafing Oaf

Snake Plisken wrote: »

Damn I was hoping Gilbert would win! I'll be shouting for Trump if he gets through to the final

Me too

Say Your Number

Took me this long to realise Gary Wilson is the bulb of Sean Moncrieff.

Exclamation Marc

Shame for the crowd getting threw frames out of this. But Judd has been fairly clinical outside of his few jitters and mistakes.

Say Your Number

Disappointing it's over early, but we got an all time classic earlier so can't complain, will Trump have the maturity to beat Higgins this time?

gormdubhgorm

Virgo slip of the tongue confused his Gary Wilson's and Gary Wilkinson's.
There is a throwback I thought to myself Gary Wilkinson!

Exclamation Marc

Gary Wilson calling the table "disgusting" over and over in his interview. He's livid with it.

Caveated that Judd deserved to win and genuinely no bitterness over losing. Seems like a nice guy.

DelBoy Trotter

Wilson absolutely slating the table in his interview

gormdubhgorm

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

Wilson absolutely slating the table in his interview

Yeah very forthright for snooker levels of talk, almost Ronnie-esque that type of talk.

melon_collie

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

Wilson absolutely slating the table in his interview

5 piece slate??? 😂😂

fryup

Inviere wrote: »

News of the World reader? Read up on the actual facts of the incident, you might be surprised with the differences between them and the ragged tabloid narrative.

but and its a big but....why did the NOTW pick on Higgins?? other than any other pro-player out there??

they must have been tipped off about his activities, he must have had previous in it

Pighead

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

I’m not a big fan of Rob Walker, but he’s gone down a notch with this interview with Gilbert

Makes no sense. Walker came across very well I thought.

DelBoy Trotter

Pighead wrote: »

Makes no sense. Walker came across very well I thought.

Compare it to how Hazel Irvine handled Higgins getting upset. Walker was pushing Gilbert and making him more upset

zuutroy

Ticket prices up another 10-15% for next year and rumours that the first few rows are going all premium which is £90 from round one. Standard tickets for 2020 are now 50% up on the 2017 prices.

vkus6mt3y8zg2q

zuutroy wrote: »

Ticket prices up another 10-15% for next year and rumours that the first few rows are going all premium which is £90 from round one. Standard tickets for 2020 are now 50% up on the 2017 prices.

Looking at the prices earlier. Extortionate prices for semi and final

Barry Hearn milking the fans

Exclamation Marc

Just met Judd Trump in the hotel. That was weird.

Seems like a really nice guy!

Loafing Oaf

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Just stuck a few quid on Trump for the title at 'enhanced' odds of 6/1.

Gonna put a cover bet on Higgins if Trump gets into any sort of lead. You just couldn't write Higgins off even if he went four or five frames down...

kerry37

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Gonna put a cover bet on Higgins if Trump gets into any sort of lead. You just couldn't write Higgins off even if he went four or five frames down...

Pfft. Cover bet. Let it ride ffs. I'm on Higgins at 18/1. Meet you for a pint tomorrow to watch the match? :pac:

AllForIt

That was heartbreaking watching that press conference with Gilbert. He seems like such a nice guy - I really took to him this championship. I'm still gutted he lost so can't imagine how he feels. I really though he was going to do it up till the end. I hope he continues to do well next season. I couldn't watch any more snooker today after that epic.

Hotblack Desiato

Pighead wrote: »

Makes no sense. Walker came across very well I thought.

I don't like Walker, and he practically bear-hugged Gilbert when he started to get emotional - he was afraid Gilbert might run off so he literally grabbed onto him and made sure he got the required number of quotes off him!

It wasn't for emotional support!

So, both of the guys I wanted to lose in the semis are in the final... :rolleyes: two bloody weeks just to see Higgins in the final yet again, if only I'd known I could have halved the amount of snooker I watched during the last two weeks.

The only exciting thing he was involved in was today when he looked like he was going to lose.

I'll probably fast forward through the final. (You know when you skip on two minutes - and Higgins still hasn't played a shot?)

Inviere

Ardent wrote: »

That missed yellow by Trump, FFS. Indicative of the decline in the standard of the game in recent years.

Aren't we likely to see the most centuries ever made at the crucible this year? Hardly tallies with a decline in standard that.

fryup wrote: »

but and its a big but....why did the NOTW pick on Higgins?? other than any other pro-player out there??

they must have been tipped off about his activities, he must have had previous in it

It was all agreed, set up, and arranged by Pat Mooney. Higgins' only mistake was not reporting the thing the second he got off the plane. Here's the full ruling - http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2010/09/08/in-full-the-john-higgins-match-fix-ruling-by-ian-mill-qc-080902/

I believe John, and I believe he just wanted to pretend the whole thing never happened, rather than blow it all up in the media.

Joe_ Public

You could think that smashing the previous centuries record is indicative of the amazingly high standards of todays players or simply evidence of how ridiculously receptive the pockets have become over the past few years. As he said last week Steve Davis firmly believes it is the former but then some folk believe that Steve has some skin in the game and isn't exactly the most objective commentator on the issue.

Exclamation Marc

Picked up my tickets for next year after four hours of queuing. Z Z Z Z Z Z.

Massive queues for counter sales. Must have been 750+.

Back to sleep before the final!

mickdw

I believe the pockets have alot to do with the centuries tally.
There was a time that if a ball caught the near jaw / cushion at all, it would never drop.
Now all sorts of things are dropping.
I played regularly on fergal o briens pro table a few years back and have a good idea of the pro pockets. They are certainly accepting more now going by what I see this year at crucible.

Joe_ Public

Of course the standard of the game isnt really improving, that seems obvious to most people who follow it through the season i think. There's a problem at grassroots level and there are precious few exciting young talents coming through the ranks. Unless you want to be semantical and refer to near 30 year old Judd Trump as a young talent.

That doesnt mean you cant savour the enduring excellence of John Higgins as he searches for his landmark fifth title. Its not higgins fault that so many of his rivals fail to measure up on one of the toughest and most demanding stages in all of sport. Anyone who isnt excited by watching that endurance and sheer granite will to win when everything was going against him...well, i genuinely dont know really...

Draw has been good to Trump so far, what looked like being the worst possible draw pre-tournament actually turned out perfectly for him - way it goes sometimes - but his luck has run out with higgins, just not the guy he wanted to face for that elusive first title. Whether higgins is emotionally spent after his qf and sf exertions remains to be seen, but having watched him for 25 years and more, i'd never make any easy assumptions on that score.

fryup

Inviere wrote: »

It was all agreed, set up, and arranged by Pat Mooney. Higgins' only mistake was not reporting the thing the second he got off the plane. Here's the full ruling - http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2010/09/08/in-full-the-john-higgins-match-fix-ruling-by-ian-mill-qc-080902/

.

yes arranged by Mooney his manager and we're led to believe that Higgins was an innocent bystander...give me a break:rolleyes:

"how do i swallow 100k" those are Higgins words out of Higgins mouth

Inviere

Joe_ Public wrote: »

You could think that smashing the previous centuries record is indicative of the amazingly high standards of todays players or simply evidence of how ridiculously receptive the pockets have become over the past few years. As he said last week Steve Davis firmly believes it is the former but then some folk believe that Steve has some skin in the game and isn't exactly the most objective commentator on the issue.

The standard throughout the season in general, has been poor. God there were tournaments earlier this year where it was actually hard to watch given how badly the players were on the table. I feel though, that if someone is going to argue that the pockets are far more generous these days, you'd have to ask why we're not seeing an improvement in standard then? If they've made the tables easier to pot balls on AND the overall standard has dropped, that's pretty damning of the game these days.

Just on the topic of pockets, aren't they all based off of the original molds that have been used for decades? If so, is it more a cloth thing perhaps, than the pockets themselves?

fryup wrote: »

yes arranged by Mooney his manager and we're led to believe that Higgins was an innocent bystander...give me a break:rolleyes:

"how do i swallow 100k" those are Higgins words out of Higgins mouth

Look if your mind is made up, then its made up, the debate is pointless. You either believe the News of the World, or you look at the full facts objectively, and not the ones a tabloid rag present to you. I choose the latter.

fryup

yes TNOTW is a rag.....but there's no getting away from what Higgins said in that video...as i said before...why did TNOTW target him? of all the pro players out there..why him?

they must have been tipped off, he must have done it before

the fact that he was a big name in the game saved him, if he was a lowly player like Stephen Lee or Quinten Hann he would have been given the boot, no doubt about it

Inviere

fryup wrote: »

yes TNOTW is a rag.....but there's no getting away from what Higgins said in that video

The highly edited video that shows handpicked comments from John? The same video that in its full, unedited version, hasn't been released to the public? The full version was released to the investigators, who then exonerated John based on what they seen in it.

I don't mean to come across as argumentative, I once felt exactly how you did when this all first came out. I've since come to realise though that given the NotW's background (they've concocted many lies, and done some truly questionable things), combined with the investigators having FULL access to the tapes, and reading the overall findings objectively, that John's story is far more believable than what was presented to us. I do believe he felt intimidated, and said what he said to keep them happy, and gtfo of there. I believe he was wrong to not report the whole thing afterwards, which he served his ban for, and paid his fine.

I believe his manager was guilty, and that's based on everything I've read about the whole incident. It's a big shame for John, because if he is indeed innocent in all of this, it goes to show the whole thing will follow him for the rest of his career - http://snookerscene.blogspot.com/2010/09/john-higgins-findings-against-pat.html?m=1&utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app

Joe_ Public

Inviere wrote: »

The standard throughout the season in general, has been poor. God there were tournaments earlier this year where it was actually hard to watch given how badly the players were on the table. I feel though, that if someone is going to argue that the pockets are far more generous these days, you'd have to ask why we're not seeing an improvement in standard then? If they've made the tables easier to pot balls on AND the overall standard has dropped, that's pretty damning of the game these days.

Just on the topic of pockets, aren't they all based off of the original molds that have been used for decades? If so, is it more a cloth thing perhaps, than the pockets themselves?

Yes i think your right on that last point. Pockets may well not actually be bigger, but the thinness of the cloths makes it easier for balls to slide in. I believe that is a fact. Also, the bump is not as sharp as it used to be (as they found the cloth was so thin, it was inclined to rip more easily) and that helps them drop too. Fast tables, lighter balls, more generous pockets - it definitely helps in terms of scoring, i dont see how it could not. Now, some people believe this is a deliberate manipulation by powers that be to inflate standards and make it look better to sponsors and public. That probably cant be proven either way, but though i dont follow darts, my darts fanatical pal tells me they made the wires thinner on the boards to make it easier to hit the T20s and thus increase likelihood of 9 dart finishes. Darts and snooker have a certain common denominater as we all know.

I think you can argue about standards either way, i would be adamant they are definitely not as superior as some commentators would have you believe. I dont think players now are as equipped to handle the pressure and bottle situations of the game, particularly at such a unique and one-off event that is the world championship, and that's why you have a guy like john higgins, though patently past his best, still proving such a factor at the age of 43. Those hardened match play snooker players, they are a dying breed and i think. Higgins these days strikes me more than ever as the polar opposite of ronnie, unable to muster much enthusiasm for the nuts and bolts of the regular season but an absolute animal when it comes to this one, the one that really matters. Ronnie jsut cant get himself up for it anymore and thats a shame, but way it goes.

gormdubhgorm

Joe_ Public wrote: »

I dont think players now are as equipped to handle the pressure and bottle situations of the game, particularly at such a unique and one-off event that is the world championship, and that's why you have a guy like john higgins, though patently past his best, still proving such a factor at the age of 43. Those hardened match play snooker players, they are a dying breed and i think.

I agree 100% with this. Is it because the way snooker is taught has become more sanitised, or is is because of some of the stereotypes about the millennial generation are true? Or a bit of both?
Or is it just that the generation of O'Sullivan, John Higgins and Williams was a freak one off generation?