World Snooker Championship 2012

wonderfullife wrote: »

Fantastic tournament, gripping from start to finish. I think a very relevant clue for Ali Carter should have came in the 1st round. I'm all for him having another voice in his camp, Ebdon, but the fact that Ebdons own tactics resulted in a 10-3 defeat to Ronnie should have screamed "ronnie isnt gonna get frustrated this year and lose the plot". In truth, and it's a harsh truth, tactics were irrelevant in the final. If Ali had tried to go toe-to-toe in a loose, attacking game he would have lost. If he tried to keep it tight and tactical (as he did) he would have lost. Ronnie was just too good and too focused. I think only 1 player at the absolute top of his game could have even competed with Ron and that's John Higgins.

Other stories to come out this year, Hendry making the max and retiring, good luck to him great player and a good guy. Jamie Jones scoring so heavily, Matthew Stevens back approaching his best, Mark Allen continuing to make a tit of himself off the table, was an enthralling and gripping tournament.

Ronnie, quite simply, is one of the best, more naturally gifted players of all time. I've been lucky enough to play a few pros in exhibitions (Williams, Ken, Jimmy and Ronnie), found Williams very dry but the other 3 are top men.

The only other person i've played in my life who came close to Ronnie for pure natural talent and skill, is probably a person 99% of the forum have never heard of. An Irish guy and friend by the name of Joe Canny. I'm sure Zack will know him and i honestly believe he's the most naturally gifted player Ireland has ever produced and but for some Ronnie-like demons with drink/gambling/depression i'm convinced he would have been World Champion. Ireland has produced some great players at pro and amateur levels, Eugene Hughes, Ken, Fergal, Patsy Fagan, Jason Watson, the 2 Stephens (Murphy and O Connor), Davy Morris but none of them could match Joe for pure natural genius.

Great tournament and hopefully Haven House benefitted from the centuries. I wish Mark Allen and, to an extent, Mark Williams would choose their comments a bit better but makes for good entertainment!! Until next year!

Jernal wrote: »

*Bump*

Zack pictures, you haven't forgotten us have you?

wonderfullife wrote: »

Joe is a top man. To stay on the tour for so many consecutive years (think it was 18 or 19) is a good achievement in itself. When he qualified for the Crucible a few years back he was buzzing in practice but the occasion just got to him against Matthew Stevens. Michaela Tabb had to warn him early on for conceding a frame early, he miscued in 1 frame in the balls, things just went badly wrong that 1st session, 7-1 down, no way back in the evening session. Had a lot of us over supporting.

The tables for the Points tournaments (domestic ranking events) in carlow or elsewhere are such a leveller. The likes of Joe, Colm Gilcreest, Brendan O Donoghue, Rodney Goggins...... put them on a Star table and they are machines. Put them on a club table best-of-5 and not the same. Colm is a great example, pro for a lot of years, made a few venues and still an absolute machine of a player (pro standard) but doesn't pull up many trees in carlow.

It's sad in a way but so many irish players are stuck in that middle ground of "too good to be amateur" and "not quite good enough to be a top pro". I think that's why many get disillusioned with the game and walk away. At their best, the likes of Gary Hardiman, Dave Kelly, Jason Watson, were all in that bracket.

zack01 wrote: »

There have just been some explosive comments from Mark Allen after his 10-6 defeat to Cao Yupeng, relating to Chinese players in general which are sure to ignite the snooker news feeds tomorrow. Below I will simply relate what he said.

When talking about the match he said “I got the worst run of the ball ever in two sessions of snooker. The white was nowhere near the pocket, it rolled off. On a normal table that ball would never have gone in, I was ready to go out and compose myself for the next frame when I turned round and saw it was going in”.

“I maybe underestimated him a little bit. I’m very disappointed, it turns a decent season into a mediocre one. It sets you back losing first round here and I didn’t see that defeat coming as I was playing well coming into this, both in matches and in practice. If ever a ranking position was false, that was one. He has a very bright future”.

However, it was the next set of comments that really surprised the congregated press pack “Paul Collier (the referee) missed a blatant push shot at 5-4 at a crucial stage of the match, Terry Griffiths convinced me later in the interval that it was a foul and at the time I looked at Paul and at Michaela who was scoring the match, Cao also looked at the referee but there was no foul called. Chinese players have been known for blatant cheating and they seem to get away with it. He’s too good to do it but they seem to just get away with it. It’s a sad state of snooker, the likes of Marco Fu and Liang Wenbo have been known for it in the past”.

It’s fair to say that Allen has left the championship with a customary bang. Cao for his part, denied all knowledge of the incident which apparently happened when he was on a break of eight in frame ten.