Ronnie O Sullivan

joeguevara

Muahahaha wrote: »

yeah that whole match fixing thing still smells to this day to me. He was caught on tape discussing throwing specific frames for bribes from an Asian betting syndicate. It pissed me off because a few years before I used to work night shifts so when the snooker was on during the day Id be watching for hours and often betting frame by frame. Was only betting small money but Id definitely put money on Higgins to win frames and then when the match fixing story broke you're left wondering was he throwing them on purpose. Its nothing to do with the money, more the morals of it and it left a sour taste in my mouth from a sport I used to follow a lot at the time.



Wasnt there also some scandal about snookers CEO Barry Hearn? Either that he might have been involved or was turning a blind eye to reports of match fixing? It was all very suss. I always felt Higgins' 6 month ban was a farce and it was Hearn helping him out because the sport needed its stars. It should have been a multi year ban to send a message to other players thinking of match fixing, after all if you cant trust the integrity of a sport then whats the point in watching it. At the time I was already losing interest in the sport but the Higgins match fixing made me fall out of love with it.





The famous Hendry cue I always thought what he needed was a sports psychologist because he seemed to get completely hung up about that cue getting broken. I know they're important and all that but think he got hung up on the sentimentality of the cue and all the tournaments he had won with it. In his mind it was some sort of a super cue that he couldnt win without. That then fed into his mind when using the new cue, he would blame bad shots on that rather than on himself.

Really like John Higgins. The whole News of the World sting was very strange. Definitely seemed like a stitch up and his manager should never allowed him to be put in that situation. Like, if i was in a room with russian mafia, i would say i would blow up the crucible to get out of there. The thing that he got banned for was not bringing it to anyones attention as far as Im aware, rather than throwing frames.

Muahahaha

joeguevara wrote: »

Really like John Higgins. The whole News of the World sting was very strange. Definitely seemed like a stitch up and his manager should never allowed him to be put in that situation. Like, if i was in a room with russian mafia, i would say i would blow up the crucible to get out of there. The thing that he got banned for was not bringing it to anyones attention as far as Im aware, rather than throwing frames.

I loved him too but not after that and it really left a sour taste in my mouth. The thing is he said he was just going along with the meeting about match fixing because he was afraid of the other men. I dont buy the story for one minute, even if the meeting was set up on false pretenses and then they got talking about match fixing he still could have said 'no, I dont fix matches and this meeting is over'. Its not like they were going to shoot him in a 5 star hotel room or something.

And if he felt threatened then thats what the police are there for. And if he was 'just going along with their plan because he was scared of them' then what happened after the meeting, did he ring them up and say 'no sorry Ive changed my mind'? Thats when you would really be scared, making a deal with the mafia and then reneging on it soon after.

To me he was match fixing, Ive no doubt about that. The soft sentence he got showed a wider corruption in the sport going right to the top. I more or less stopped watching it after that, it just didnt feel right when you had doubts in your mind about the integrity of the sport.

Stevieluvsye

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Have you ever met Stephen hendry, knew a guy who was snooker mad, photos in his shop of him with Ken Doherty and John Higgins, claimed hendry was a real cold fish?

Hated hendry myself back in the day, was a huge Jimmy White fan

I did yeah, cNan't remember if it was Goffs or Citywest but was pleasent enough. John Parrot is exactly as he comes across on tele.

Met pretty much all of them over the years with back stage passes. Davis was pretty sound but he was coming towards the end of his career.

Trying to think who was a bit ignorent.........Hmmmm, Robertson is a bit of a miserable fcuker and Kyren Wilson i met a few years ago seemed a bit up himself when i saw him couple of years back in sheffield.

Actually Selby is spot on. So is his wife, bit of a milf

joeguevara

My favourite modern player was Paul Hunter. Absolute legend and such a nice guy. Met him 3 times. Favourite story is giving his wife a quickie between frames to relieve tension. I don't think I have ever been as upset from when a sports star died as with him. Don't know why but it really got to me.

Stevieluvsye

joeguevara wrote: »

My favourite modern player was Paul Hunter. Absolute legend and such a nice guy. Met him 3 times. Favourite story is giving his wife a quickie between frames to relieve tension. I don't think I have ever been as upset from when a sports star died as with him. Don't know why but it really got to me.

Lovely genuine nice guy. Met him in Leeds weirdly outside snooker event in a Yates' think it was.

Hulk Hands

Muahahaha wrote: »

The famous Hendry cue I always thought what he needed was a sports psychologist because he seemed to get completely hung up about that cue getting broken. I know they're important and all that but think he got hung up on the sentimentality of the cue and all the tournaments he had won with it. In his mind it was some sort of a super cue that he couldnt win without. That then fed into his mind when using the new cue, he would blame bad shots on that rather than on himself.

The fact that he was by far the most mentally strong player previous to that leads me to think it wasn't a mental thing. It doesn't match with what went before. I think it's just the machine like routine was broken. Practice & win, repeated over and over with everything constant for 12-15 years. The cue and the yips broke that continuous cycle.

Should be remembered tbf, he didn't vanish post 00. He was world no.1 on 05 and lost a world final on a decider in 03. I'd liken it to Tiger Woods having his dominance broken for outside reasons, with his talent/workrate getting him back to the top very sporadically thereafter

Bobblehats

Come on Trump ..

The Tetrarch

Mad_maxx wrote: »

That was ( Steve Davis) his table manner, turned out he was a likeable, affable and funny guy off it ,not so hendry who is an aloof cold fish everywhere

Steve Davis played in a few poker tournaments in Dublin around 2004.
I think he was playing snooker at Goffs, and commentating on the later rounds.
Playing poker at 9pm onwards was probably a good way to kill time.
The first tournament he played in the Merrion Club he won.
The next night in the Merrion he was knocked out early, left the table as you must, and then spent a few hours chatting to regulars.
Another night he played in the Fitzwilliam Card Club. A new member gets a 10 Euro voucher to play roulette or blackjack.
Steve put his voucher on 19 or 29, won at 35/1, went up to the cash window and cashed his chips.
He was seated beside me during the tournament and it was the usual chat, slagging, gossip at the table with Steve taking part.

joeguevara

The Tetrarch wrote: »

Steve Davis played in a few poker tournaments in Dublin around 2004.
I think he was playing snooker at Goffs, and commentating on the later rounds.
Playing poker at 9pm onwards was probably a good way to kill time.
The first tournament he played in the Merrion Club he won.
The next night in the Merrion he was knocked out early, left the table as you must, and then spent a few hours chatting to regulars.
Another night he played in the Fitzwilliam Card Club. A new member gets a 10 Euro voucher to play roulette or blackjack.
Steve put his voucher on 19 or 29, won at 35/1, went up to the cash window and cashed his chips.
He was seated beside me during the tournament and it was the usual chat, slagging, gossip at the table with Steve taking part.

I think the first time that people realised that Steve had a funny side was when he was playing pool tournaments and pool trick shots on 90s sky sports. He came across as self deprecating and had some cracking one liners.

Muahahaha

yeah Steve Davis was an absolute bore when he was in his prime. It wasnt until he started doing media stuff with BBC and the like that people realized he is actually a pretty sound guy.

joeguevara

8-4 against Ronnie now. It started 7-2 didn't it?

Stevieluvsye

joeguevara wrote: »

8-4 against Ronnie now. It started 7-2 didn't it?

6-2

Stevieluvsye

Not sure i'm warming to this woman ref

Bring back

moonage

Would it be the easy pink or the difficult brown?

joeguevara

8 all now. What a legend Ronnie is.

Insect Overlord

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

6-2

Looks like it's going to close 8-8!

Edit: I didn't realise I was watching delayed coverage. >_<

joeguevara

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Looks like it's going to close 8-8!

Legend he is. Obviously he didn’t lose an arm or a leg.

weldoninhio

Say Your Number wrote: »

He's great to watch but the people who act like he's the only person who plays the game would nearly put you off him for good.

He’s the only person worth watching play the game.

Stevieluvsye

weldoninhio wrote: »

He’s the only person worth watching play the game.

The lad Ronnie beat in the first round is well worth a watch!!! Fcuking shot time is unreal

Blanco100

Always felt a bit sorry for O'Sullivan. Hes an absolute genius. Best to have ever picked up a queue.

If you knew you were best in the world at something you would be delighted, I think hes bitter that its only snooker.

Stevieluvsye

Blanco100 wrote: »

Always felt a bit sorry for O'Sullivan. Hes an absolute genius. Best to have ever picked up a queue.

If you knew you were best in the world at something you would be delighted, I think hes bitter that its only snooker.

WTF? Bitter because it's only snooker?

He's a multi millionaire, adored by 10's of million of people across the world

raclle

Blanco100 wrote: »

If you knew you were best in the world at something you would be delighted, I think hes bitter that its only snooker.

Yeah ive always got that feeling from him. He's one of those people that lets his emotions control him which has held him back from winning a lot more

skinny90

Blanco100 wrote: »

Always felt a bit sorry for O'Sullivan. Hes an absolute genius. Best to have ever picked up a queue.

If you knew you were best in the world at something you would be delighted, I think hes bitter that its only snooker.

I dont agree, im not a psychologist but when you dig into the well documented past of Ronnie and understand what he has gone through,its easy to understand his bitterness as some put it.
Ronnie is a very strange yet outrageously talented individual. Snooker is where he expresses himself, things like speaking out to the media is never and has never been his strong point of his. especially when discussing his own game. and if its not 100% to his own liking he you can see it in his body language, even if to everyone elses eye he is having a half decent game. it will dig in at him that something isnt to his liking or there is a small annoyance and he begins to loose interest. There was so many times of watched him loose due to him literally throwing it away
Now if you listen to Eurosport when he is commentating you will hear and see a completely different person as he is in the back seat in awe watching.

.anon.

weldoninhio wrote: »

He’s the only person worth watching play the game.

Dechawat Poomjaeng was the most entertaining player I've ever seen. He appeared out of nowhere in 2013, when he qualified for the World Championships. He beat Stephen Maguire in the first round with no real game-plan, except making brilliant shots and hoping the cue ball would end up in the right place. He also got lost on the way to the theatre, accidentally went to the wrong table and gave himself a round of applause when he accidentally played a good safety shot. Dropped off the pro tour a few years ago, sadly.

Rothko

weldoninhio wrote: »

He’s the only person worth watching play the game.

Utter nonsense.

AllGunsBlazing

Meh, even Ronnie missed the boat when it comes to snooker's golden age.

The 1980's!!!


Alex "Hurricane" Higgins! Jimmy "Whirlwind" White! Steve "Interesting" Davis!

Tuco88

I'm a big fan of Ronnie. What do you expect with the interview, he is half or fully mad &#55357;&#56833;

I like Trump of the new stock, he has some serious skill but can be off at times. Still class.

The only total wanker in todays game imo is Mark Allen. No respect for that bigot and an asshole. When he takes a shot and moves his chin/Jaw to the left...inbred?

weldoninhio

radiata wrote: »

Looks like Ronnie is playing to the same standards as the 'numpties'.
This genius hasn't been in a final since 2014

Guess you were wrong eh?

Stevieluvsye

Ronnie said lump on Selby

I swiftly went on to B365 and Ronnie is 1/2 FAV

He's fooling nobody. 5 centuries and he said he was sh!te

Rows Grower

He seemed to have an extra level when he really needed it during the nitty gritty frames and then relaxed when he was in the home straight.

I think playing in the empty arena is really suiting him, did he make that ref change his mind about the free ball situation there in the last frame? I was only half paying attention. Jays, that ref is after aging a lot.