Will the World Championship Go Ahead as Normal??

OutTheGap

Chalk McHugh wrote: »

That famous Davis miss on the black is never an easy shot. I regularly see players miss a similiar shot when under little or no pressure. Hard to know what he could have done to go for it and leave an element of safety if he missed. I can only imagine the pressure and how tired he must have been after two weeks and especially 3 days of hard match snooker. He was shattered. From 8-0 up to now everything on one last tricky black. No point hanging around at that stage.

I agree it wasn’t an easy shot and he had to go for it. The shot before when he tried to double the black into the corner pocket from below the middle was most uncharacteristic for him. Normally he’d play a good safety rather than try a low percentage shot like that. I think the fact that Dennis was going to have a cut from anywhere unsettled him a bit.

He seemed shattered when they interviewed him after. That final finished around midnight so you can forgive him for that!

ArmaniJeanss

FR01 wrote: »

Neville Chamberlin invented the game in 1875 whilst stationed in India obviously long gone now but the building where he invented it still stands to this day alongside the table he played on. Dennis Taylor paid a visit to it several years back and it was recorded as I recall for some television show.

Just in case people misinterpret this info, it's not the Neville Chamberlain who went on to be PM at the start of WW2. Different guy.

Chalk McHugh

OutTheGap wrote: »

I agree it wasn’t an easy shot and he had to go for it. The shot before when he tried to double the black into the corner pocket from below the middle was most uncharacteristic for him. Normally he’d play a good safety rather than try a low percentage shot like that. I think the fact that Dennis was going to have a cut from anywhere unsettled him a bit.

He seemed shattered when they interviewed him after. That final finished around midnight so you can forgive him for that!

If Steve had of sank the black that final wouldn't be anywhere near as famous or talked about in such revered terms. Not much solace to the Nugget at the time but as the years passed i think he accepted his integral part in one of snookers historical moments and can now crack a joke about through gritted teeth

Chalk McHugh

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Just in case people misinterpret this info, it's not the Neville Chamberlain who went on to be PM at the start of WW2. Different guy.

OutTheGap

Chalk McHugh wrote: »

If Steve had of sank the black that final wouldn't be anywhere near as famous or talked about in such revered terms. Not much solace to the Nugget at the time but as the years passed i think he accepted his integral part in one of snookers historical moments and can now crack a joke about through gritted teeth

Steve was dominating snooker at the time and people were happy to see someone else win. I agree it wouldn’t have been such an iconic moment if he had sank the black.

Still - you couldn’t begrudge Dennis his moment of glory after coming from 8-0 down against the best player in the world.

FR01

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Just in case people misinterpret this info, it's not the Neville Chamberlain who went on to be PM at the start of WW2. Different guy.

Ha ha i never realised that :-)

zuutroy

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Random question of the day, and then I'll shut up.

If you were designing the game from scratch would you put the colour values where they currently are?
I've often pondered if it would be more challenging/interesting if the black/pink/blue were on the baulk line, and the yellow was where the black now is.
So making a large break wouldn't be possible by minimal cue ball movement the way it is now - you'd have to travel up and down the table and all shots would be harder.
We basically inherited the current structure from army officers in the Raj, who probably didn't put a whole lot of thought into it either way.

Might turn it into a bit of a lottery. I don't think speculative 10 foot positional shots would make for entertaining viewing. I really enjoy watching the masters unpick the lock with delicate cannons and immaculate judgement. Think I'm so deeply invested by now I could never make an objective judgement though. There was a format many years ago with extra colours where the highest value ball was somewhere up the table?

Missed all the Jimmy chat earlier. Obviously nearly 30 years ago now since the painful days, but he was fantastic in my memory. Him and Hendry were the the unstoppable force and immovable object respectively. Comparing it today is just impossible. For 6-7 years her was the 2nd best player in the world so he has to feature highly on any list. Seen that black from '94 way too much this week. Definite top 5 crushing sports memories.

loyatemu

going back to the all time lists, it's difficult to separate Hendry and Ronnie IMO. Hendry was more dominant but for a shorter period of time. Ronnie's superiority over other players was incredible, he had about 20 years where if he was on his game he would absolutely win against anyone. Unfortunately he was often inconsistent - I think if he'd been able to keep his motivation up, he could've won 10 or more world titles, but that's just part of his personality (Alex was the same).

Davis is a notch below those two, but he was utterly dominant for about 5 years in the 80s in a way that I don't think even Hendry achieved.

1. Ronnie/Hendry
3. Davis
4. Higgins, J
5. Reardon (I only saw him in the 80s when he was past his peak, but you have to acknowledge 6 world titles)
6. Williams, M
7. Selby
8. Alex
9. Jimmy
10. Trump (based on his recent dominance).

Arthur Daley

The thing with Steve Davis, and it goes back to the first match BBC showed - the first round exit against Tony Knowles - he was only beaten at the Crucible once outside of a final from 1981 to 1990. A dominance that Hendry just exceeded during the 90s.
That it was 10-1 in the first round was such a shocker, and the match is regularly referred to even now. It was the ultimate example of the Crucible curse.

If Davis clipped in that Black and Jimmy had of done the business in 92 or 94, it would be Davis 7 titles, Hendry 6. But such are the fine lines we see at this level.

elgriff

Ive ready Jimmy's book and seen a lot of his sessions on Eurosport. One thing I can say - he doesnt like how low he feathers and strikes the cueball, and says nobody should do it like that, but he is too old to change now!

Girly Gal

BBC currently showing 2013 world final between Ronnie and Barry Hawkins, it was a a really high quality final, both players played at a high level. When Ronnie's on it he really is a joy to watch.

walshb

Probably been posted, but between 2 and 4 tomorrow on BBC2, the highlights for the 1985 final are being shown.

Great article in the Indo sports today on Taylor and that final..

All on their best ...over 18 frames. John Higgins comes out on top. He had the best all around game in history. Almost perfect in all areas of game!

Joe_ Public

Yeah but what about over 35 frames ;-)

Personally at their best I'd have higgins over ronnie in a world final but not hendry. And interestingly higgins has faced williams in 3 world sfs and a final and won one of them. Not a huge amount between them at their best.

walshb

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Yeah but what about over 35 frames ;-)

Personally at their best I'd have higgins over ronnie in a world final but not hendry. And interestingly higgins has faced williams in 3 world sfs and a final and won one of them. Not a huge amount between them at their best.

Of course, first to 18..

I’d go Higgins, Williams, Ronnie and Hendry...

Noting that all close to each other. Williams could be the surprise. When he’s in groove he is lethal..

I think the key for me is that at peak, Higgins probably had the best tactical and safety play, and shot selection of them all..

That to me is what decides the winner....

Joe_ Public

walshb wrote: »

Of course, first to 18..

I’d go Higgins, Williams, Ronnie and Hendry...

Noting that all close to each other. Williams could be the surprise. When he’s in groove he is lethal..

I think the key for me is that at peak, Higgins probably had the best tactical and safety play, and shot selection of them all..

That to me is what decides the winner....

I think that's why I'd have higgins over ronnie at the crucible. Ronnie is the best safety player I've seen but he has to want to dig in for a battle for it to be fully effective and over four long crucible sessions, that's always a big ask. Would like to have seen a few higgins-hendry matches but they only met once when hendry was on the way out, shame really.

walshb

Favorite Crucible final, and why?

Ebdon 2002 for me. Tension, drama, final frame nerves...epic..

Joe_ Public

Easy one, 1997 for obvious reasons. Only time i cried after a world final apart from '94.

ArmaniJeanss

Today would have been a strange anomaly, with the 3rd session of the final taking place in the afternoon of a normal working day (Brexit UK has abandoned this bank holiday and moved it to next Friday because, well, boring politics).

Guessing it'll be a Saturday/Sunday final from next year.

Joe_ Public

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Today would have been a strange anomaly, with the 3rd session of the final taking place in the afternoon of a normal working day (Brexit UK has abandoned this bank holiday and moved it to next Friday because, well, boring politics).

Guessing it'll be a Saturday/Sunday final from next year.

Interesting, hadn't clocked that. Could well mean a few more morning sessions to make up for the day they look like losing. Assuming they maintain the Saturday start.

Arthur Daley

On this final day of the Championships that didn't happen, the must watch mjt_snooker you tube channel has uploaded a pile of long and obscure snooker videos that could interest you for hours, and send you to a nice little nap after a bit, and what is wrong with a bit of that on a Bank holiday.

I was watching the 1978 World Final last night, check out the pink Perrie Mans smashed in after 4 mins:

Or various highlights of the 1980 World Championship, including a recently married Alex revealing in a worthwhile interview how he was knuckling down, and knew he had another world title in him.
We then get the final frame where he just gets over the line against a 21 year old Tony Meo. Followed by Steve Davis knocking out the nervy reigning champion Terry Griffiths, and old stalwarts John Pulman and Rex Williams raving about all the new talent coming through. And they were yet to get a glimpse of Jimmy until the following year. Exciting times

gormdubhgorm

I dunno why they could not have played the championship behind closed doors. I mean snooker has not been a contact sport since Alex Higgins. Plus the Ref wears gloves.

gormdubhgorm

walshb wrote: »

Favorite Crucible final, and why?

Ebdon 2002 for me. Tension, drama, final frame nerves...epic..

The 1992 final White Hendry is etched in my mind. When Jimmy lost 10 frames in a row. To see a fella slowly disintegrate from a confident swagger to a broken man. And the ballsy ice cool play of Hendry under pressure.

It was a real study of the human condition different personalities, pressure. It did not feel like sport. It felt like human experiment by the end.

Plus Ted Lowe was commentating back then.

ArmaniJeanss

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

I dunno why they could not have played the championship behind closed doors. I mean snooker has not been a contact sport since Alex Higgins. Plus the Ref wears gloves.

Money, I guess.

Rough maths - £30 a ticket a session, 950 paying customers per session, 3 sessions a day, 15 days.

Comes to a hefty £1.25M.

BarryH & World Snooker would be the ones taking all of the hit, as the sponsors & TV stations have already paid their money for the rights.
Unless they were willing to pay extra to lessen snookers loss.

bradolf pittler

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Money, I guess.

Rough maths - £30 a ticket a session, 950 paying customers per session, 3 sessions a day, 15 days.

Comes to a hefty £1.25M.

BarryH & World Snooker would be the ones taking all of the hit, as the sponsors & TV stations have already paid their money for the rights.
Unless they were willing to pay extra to lessen snookers loss.

I reckon you could double that forecast to at least 2.5/3 million in ticket sales.The cheapest seats are at least 50 and front row seats are nearly 100 for early rounds.Add in premium and hospitality into the mix aswell.
I just cant see how they can go ahead as normal,Anyone whos been to the crucible can tell you how small and cramped it is.How can you maintain social distancing measures?Leave every 2nd seat vacant?Imagine being told you cant enter even with a valid ticket cos your seat needs to be one of the vacant ones.Nightmare.
Imagine the panic when someone inevitably starts coughing in the audience????
The other situation is the pre-qualifiers.There must be at least 25 Chinese players on tour,Some are probably still in china.Other players from the likes of Iran,Brazil,Poland,Germany,Australia and even our own Irish players may have to self isolate for 2 weeks before the event can start.Thats if they can into England in the 1st place.Hows that gonna work?
I reckon behind closed doors is the only way to go.If it go's ahead at all.

Hotblack Desiato

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Guessing it'll be a Saturday/Sunday final from next year.

The bank holiday moving is only for this year (75th anniversary of VE day) so the bank holiday should be back to normal next year. Hopefully the tournament is too...

Exclamation Marc

Several players have pulled out of this year's championship - none from the Top 16 mind. And it looks like top players want to play and have publicly stated so.

With it due to start in three weeks and the main tournament in four, its looking increasingly unlikely that there will be fans.

zuutroy

Barry Hearn was saying on Twitter that they're trying to sort something in that regard and that they'd announce it shortly. I'm happy enough to keep my tickets for next year at the point.

Exclamation Marc

zuutroy wrote: »

Barry Hearn was saying on Twitter that they're trying to sort something in that regard and that they'd announce it shortly. I'm happy enough to keep my tickets for next year at the point.

Agreed. At this stage I'm banking on it as I can't see myself attending this year but want my tickets for next year. So fingers crossed!

zuutroy

Was looking at Bazza's Tweets today and he confirms that you can hold over your tickets even if the even goes ahead with a full crowd. Glad of that as I don't think I'd be as lucky again with the tickets I got this time around.

Saw an interesting stat today that Ronnie has played a professional match against a 1939 World Semifinalist. Great game for longevity!

Arthur Daley

Can imagine a teenage Ronnie up against Fred Davis in his mid 70s