2024 World Championships

Arthur Daley

Drama now

Brian?

Wilson doesn’t deserve this frame

maximus15

I love Virgo but it's a wonder ref hasn't said stop f**king shouting John. Great end of frame this .

sligeach

Jones has played a lot of wrong shots in my opinion. And he's been lucky… so far.

rolling boh

That will sting Jak there that last frame huge two frame swing .Terrible risky shot .

Arthur Daley

Unmissable for a pro

LetticebCivil

He will not sleep great after that frame. He has put up a fight though

Brian?

why in gods name did he play that double? It was a 3/10 shot

sully123

Entertaining frame, but reckless shot selection by both players surely

gormdubhgorm

That black ball game 17th frame will go down in legend like Davis v Taylor 1985.

Say Your Number

Great drama, Jones had to win that.

Jones has picked it up massively, maybe feeding off the crowd supporting him.

sligeach

That double was close by Jones, but it was the wrong choice again I think. Massive swing, 5 frames when it looked like it was going to be 3.

Jack Daw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122101604#Comment_122101604

That was bizzare alright I assumed that he was just going to roll the ball over the pocket, could be the turning point of the whole match that shot.

mewso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122101667#Comment_122101667

Yep we'll be talking about it for over 20 hours.

fran38

The relative poor standard where pots are missed is making this final riveting all of a sudden.

sligeach

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122101604#Comment_122101604

Ya, I didn't think about that. Rolling the yellow up would have been the choice in hindsight. Earlier in the break he was lucky some of the balls dropped, they did so because there wasn't much pace and they wobbled in. The yellow might have done likewise with less pace.

patrickc

I hate Murphy as a commentator, and Virgo is so negative

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122101721#Comment_122101721

Murphy is good I think. But the way Virgo talks you would swear he was a world beater snooker player.

Years ago I had an old coach who would use Virgo as his main example, 30 years a pro and one tournament win. Because he had no "back pause" in his cue action. That is what he thought of him.

I seem to remember Mark Williams said he turns off snooker commentary because he cannot listen to some of them. Talking a good game. I assume he meant Virgo.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122101033#Comment_122101033

Its sold out. Transport links in Sheffield are poor. People relying on busses and trains leave before the end of the evening session.

I suppose your question could be rephrased "why does the WORLD championship need to be in a place with good transport links?" And the answer to that would be pretty self evident.

Given that it's sold out, and is nowhere near full by the end of the evening sessions, how do you explain the empty seats?

CalamariFritti

Probably speculative buys who are underwhelmed by the finalists or expected 'their guy' to be in it but he isn't.

More plausible than transport issues IMO. You'd think people know what to expect in terms of times when they book tickets for a WC snooker final. Wasnt even all that late tonight.

DelBoy Trotter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122101955#Comment_122101955

It wasn’t full at the start of the session, so has nothing to do with transport links. It also wasn’t full this afternoon either

Brian?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122101955#Comment_122101955

I can’t explain the empty seats. But I do see the empty seats, afternoon and evening session. I’ve never seen so many at a final, it’s shocking.

Bobeagleburger

There were plenty of empty seats at the semi finals too.

I'd say people can't be bothered considering the finalists. Casual snooker fans most likely hoping to see Ronnie or Trump.

It looks terrible for the biggest match of the snooker season.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122101971#Comment_122101971

Well, transport is an issue. I know you won't look it up for yourself, but I did. I tried to get home to the North East of England after an evening session so I know first hand. Last direct train to Newcastle withoutcan hour's wait to change trains is before 9. But you stick with what's most plausible to you.

But that's not the point. Tickets are sold out. If you can sell out an arena in Sheffield which isn't a destination city, imagine how many more you could sell in London.

People who want to stick their head in the sane and ignore the advantages to moving venue are free to do so. Barry hearn has already looked into it anyway.

Bobeagleburger

The transport excuse doesn’t fly for the vast majority of people.

If there's no trains back to a part of the UK late, then drive or stay the night in surrounding area. I'd imagine a lot of people stay over anyway if attending late sessions.

Bobeagleburger

BTW, moving venue should be done if it makes sense. Preferably stay in the UK if possible.

Arthur Daley

To be fair Sheffield to Newcastle is 130 miles. So blaming the Crucible because you can't see a full session that is planned to end at 10.30-11 pm then get a 2 odd hour train journey home is a bit much.

In Ireland that distance is more than Dublin to Belfast. So it would be like saying the Northen Ireland Open should move from the Waterfront if you can't go to a full evening session and then get a train to Dublin, arriving in after 1am.

Most people stay over in a hotel, or drive in that situation.

If it moved to London you'd be staying over and it'd take ages to get across London as it always does.

The Nal

If it was Ronnie vs Trump there would be no empty seats.

Arthur Daley

When I saw empty front row seats last night it was between frames. They were filled again as soon as play started. People are able to leave between frames and that can also be when a lot of the crowd shots happen.

143 pound minimum price for a session of the final next year. And it is sold out. I'll nof make the final anyway.

Early rounds still 50 or 55 pounds anyway. That'll do.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122102346#Comment_122102346

They could stay over, of course. But Sheffield isn't a destination city. People don't tend to do that. Hence the third empty arena for late matches.

Doesn't really matter. They're selling out a 900 seat arena in a regional city with mediocre transport. Stands to reason they could sell far more tickets in a destination city with great public transport. Wouldn't you agree?