World Snooker Championship 2021

20-04-2021 10:05pm

Anthony on about Hawkins' red to black pocket, and going up for the blue a few mins back:

"These touch/feely half-ball shots with a little floaty bit of ah of screw back on em". Very descriptive observation from The Sheriff on the type of shot that Barry's good at...

He's got a way with words does Ant'nee :pac:

A good commentator - I like how he mentions the way a player will play a shot ie check side/running side, and then tells us folk at home what side/part of the white the player's going to hit. Most of them just say check side/running side etc.. without letting us non snooker players know how the player plays the particular shot,

Rothko · 20-04-2021 10:10pm

Think Selt should have played a safety on the green there.

zuutroy · 20-04-2021 10:12pm

His insight is good but he talks too much, and his voice is a bit sleepy and monotone for my liking.

Arthur Daley · 20-04-2021 10:18pm

Jeez Selt that Black after the tough Pink

20-04-2021 10:22pm

Myself, I don't mind if the commentators prattle on, or say little to nothing... Makes no difference really, unless they're having a mare, like JJ calling wrong shots, or Yates' rhapsodizing

waynescales1 · 20-04-2021 10:24pm

Hawkins should be targeting 8-1 here.

Arthur Daley · 20-04-2021 10:28pm

Anthony gives some good insights, but he will have to learn to ration his inputs a bit. Other commentator struggles to get a word in edge ways

Joe_ Public · 20-04-2021 10:38pm

Don't remember anthony ever commentating before so I'd cut him a little slack myself. Occasionally gives a little nugget into a players technique or something on tour that genuinely makes you sit up. Not the most polished admittedly, but i remember Steve Davis when he first went into commentary booth and he was far worse with talking over shots. Prefer him to joe perry anyway but these things are subjective.

20-04-2021 10:38pm

Arthur Daley wrote: »

Anthony gives some good insights, but he will have to learn to ration his inputs a bit. Other commentator struggles to get a word in edge ways

A fair point.. I'd still prefer that, than say Hendry (good as he is) on co-comms.... Too much silence sometimes... It's like a 'Mexican Standoff' waiting for one of them to say something....

gormdubhgorm · 20-04-2021 10:46pm

Rothko wrote: »

Yeah, I agree, but I was hoping that he'd get through.

Don't get me wrong I like Ding seems like a sound fella. I would have liked to have seen him do well. Frustrating player though.

I don't know which is more annoying (lack of fulfilled talent wise) him or Lisowski. I heard a bit there where Lisowski was saying he has matured as a player/person.

So I looked up his age he is 29 - 30 in June.
Then I looked up Dings age 34.

At least Ding has won 14 ranking titles though.
Lisowski has won none.

gormdubhgorm · 20-04-2021 10:48pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Myself, I don't mind if the commentators prattle on, or say little to nothing... Makes no difference really, unless they're having a mare, like JJ calling wrong shots, or Yates' rhapsodizing

Beauty about the snooker is you can mute it if they start annoying you, and very happily watch it. And do your own commentary!

Joe_ Public · 20-04-2021 10:50pm

Thats what i like about anthony: little thing about barry feathering every shot twice, same as selby. Simple thing but I'd never clocked it till he said it. Meanwhile phil comes out with some stat about number of centuries and i immediately zoned out.

Arthur Daley · 20-04-2021 10:51pm

Anthony certainly has a future on commentary. It's getting competitive in that game also, a number of good sidemen around

20-04-2021 10:52pm

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Beauty about the snooker is you can mute it if they start annoying you, and very happily watch it. And do your own commentary!

Still like hearing the sound of the balls clacking, and hitting the leather.... If one knew what they were at, they could get a fader (if it's possible from a TV feed) setup going - best of all World's options then :P

gormdubhgorm · 20-04-2021 10:53pm

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Oh totally. Just the sheer numbers they're bringing through almost every year. For every aaron hill we've got, they've probably got a dozen just as good. It'll happen alright, just difficult to pin a precise date on it.

Ah stop, terrible state Irish snooker is in. One of the few sports where the weather does not matter. And we don't have one pro that people are talking about.

Other option is getting one of the Chinese lads to move to Ireland and make them one of our own.

Joe_ Public · 20-04-2021 10:56pm

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Don't get me wrong I like Ding seems like a sound fella. I would have liked to have seen him do well. Frustrating player though.

I don't know which is more annoying (lack of fulfilled talent wise) him or Lisowski. I heard a bit there where Lisowski was saying he has matured as a player/person.

So I looked up his age he is 29 - 30 in June.
Then I looked up Dings age 34.

At least Ding has won 14 ranking titles though.
Lisowski has won none.

Ding is from same generation as murphy, allen, maguire, robertson, selby, hawkins. A year or two younger maybe but came through at same time. I bet if you'd asked people at the time who'd emerge the best of that bunch, selby would have been plum bottom of every list and yet he's won more world titles than the other six combined. Just so much about application and mentality.

gormdubhgorm · 20-04-2021 10:57pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Still like hearing the sound of the balls clacking, and hitting the leather.... If one knew what they were at, they could get a fader (if it's possible from a TV feed) setup going - best of all World's options then :P

That is why I like when Hendry is on he normally only says something if has to.
Normally the 'second commentator' lets the other one take the lead.

With no sound it is harder to tell how they struck the ball. That fader thing sounds like a great idea. If I knew what it was!

Arthur Daley · 20-04-2021 10:57pm

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Ah stop, terrible state Irish snooker is in. One of the few sports where the weather does not matter. And we don't have one pro that people are talking about.

Other option is getting one of the Chinese lads to move to Ireland and make them one of our own.

Claim Shaun Murphy as honorary Irishman. No waiting around then until Aaron comes through

20-04-2021 11:01pm

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

That is why I like when Hendry is on he normally only says something if has to.
Normally the 'second commentator' lets the other one take the lead.

With no sound it is harder to tell how they struck the ball. That fader thing sounds like a great idea. If I knew what it was!

What the engineers use in recording studios... serious bit of kit... pull one up or down to increase/decrease/mute the sound of one or more instruments/singer's voice... All that jazz..... very technical :pac:

gormdubhgorm · 20-04-2021 11:04pm

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Ding is from same generation as murphy, allen, maguire, robertson, selby, hawkins. A year or two younger maybe but came through at same time. I bet if you'd asked people at the time who'd emerge the best of that bunch, selby would have been plum bottom of every list and yet he's won more world titles than the other six combined. Just so much about application and mentality.

Jayus, yeah good point. And Robertson only winning the one world title. Bingham has the same amount as that!.
Maguire and Hawkins were under age prodigy's.

I seem to remember Selby saying there were a lot of better players than he was at under age level. And it was only through application he developed.
Maybe it even might have been Willie Thorne that said it.

Hawkins has been bubbling under for a while though in fairness could it be his year? Assuming he wins v Selt he should give Kyren a run for his money.

Strumms · 20-04-2021 11:04pm

Massive chance, huge fluke by Selt.

Is it just me or is Dale being even more hyper annoying on commentary ?

gormdubhgorm · 20-04-2021 11:06pm

Deleted User wrote: »

What the engineers use in recording studios... serious bit of kit... pull one up or down to increase/decrease/mute the sound of one or more instruments/singer's voice... All that jazz..... very technical :pac:

If you could get one to automatically mute everytime Dennis says 'DDK' - 'The Dreaded Double Kiss'. I would be living the dream!

Arthur Daley · 20-04-2021 11:07pm

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

If you could get one to automatically mute everytime Dennis says 'DDK' - 'The Dreaded Double Kiss'. I would be living the dream!

Someone's probably working on the AI for this as we speak:pac:

Joe_ Public · 20-04-2021 11:11pm

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Jayus, yeah good point. And Robertson only winning the one world title. Bingham has the same amount as that!.
Maguire and Hawkins were under age prodigy's.

I seem to remember Selby saying there were a lot of better players than he was at under age level. And it was only through application he developed.
Maybe it even might have been Willie Thorne that said it.

Hawkins has been bubbling under for a while though in fairness could it be his year? Assuming he wins v Selt he should give Kyren a run for his money.

Hard to credit but yeah, maguire was the boy wonder back then. Ronnie actually predicting he'd go on and dominate the game for a decade might have been the start of his downfall! And i can remember people writing selby off as a glorified pool player until he started reaching world finals. That generation has been disappointing though, bar selby. The rest, robbo included, have underachieved.

I respect hawkins, decent player, and he has good record here up to the sf. The one table set up has been his downfall previously and he's blown a few big matches recently against judd and ronnie. I dunno can i ever truly believe in him on the main stage tbh.

dougm1970 · 21-04-2021 9:06am

left of topic...i wonder will stephen lee return to competitive play when his ban is up....few years left i think.....maybe be too old....he was good.

Joe_ Public · 21-04-2021 9:18am

dougm1970 wrote: »

left of topic...i wonder will stephen lee return to competitive play when his ban is up....few years left i think.....maybe be too old....he was good.

Will be in his 50s so not really seeing it tbh, but for sure he was a player. Talk about cue actions, not sure i've seen many as fluid as his was, the sheer cue power he could generate just from pure timing alone. Another guy banned, Cao Yupeng, will be back on tour next season having come through the chinese qualifiers last week.

Joe_ Public · 21-04-2021 10:05am

Extreme pedant alert but it slightly irks me when they talk about bingham making history with the 2,000th crucible century. 2,000 is just a random number isnt it? Whoever made the 1,999 century also made history by being the first to do that. And so on down the line to the very first by cliff thorburn which truly was genuine history being made. Anyway..rant over. Hope sam craigie does well today even though I've money on williams for the tournament.

zuutroy · 21-04-2021 10:25am

Find Craigie fairly unlikeable. Seems to have a huge chip on his shoulder and his interviews are incredibly cold.

Joe_ Public · 21-04-2021 10:31am

Dont think craigie likes the media, few stories about his alleged drinking or general indiscipline over past few years so hence his reticence when it comes to interviews i think. Obviously worked very hard to get himself into position where he's winning matches and making a few quid, so if its working for him, I'd say fair enough.

Joe_ Public · 21-04-2021 10:47am

Hmmm...mjw. Early warning signs. One of shots of tournament so far by sam on that pink.

dougm1970 · 21-04-2021 12:23pm

williams reminds me a bit of ray reardon in his demeanor...almost like its his table and his arena....if reardon missed a shot he would often blame a bad table...he'd have a joke with referees as if to give the impression they were his friend, his referee.

Joe_ Public · 21-04-2021 12:25pm

Williams not messing about, fairly rattling around the table and looking firmly in control now. More than can be said for murphy on the other table, looking a bit of a grind for him this morning against the veteran davis.

FR01 · 21-04-2021 12:52pm

That black of the spot could be huge for Davis - allowed Murphy to close the gap to one frame.

Joe_ Public · 21-04-2021 12:57pm

Missed red frame ball but yeah, huge mistake and should give murphy a lift. Was really struggling and obviously well short of his best.

dougm1970 · 21-04-2021 1:03pm

lots of misses in this current frame between shaun murphy and daniel craig

gormdubhgorm · 21-04-2021 1:20pm

dougm1970 wrote: »

left of topic...i wonder will stephen lee return to competitive play when his ban is up....few years left i think.....maybe be too old....he was good.

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Will be in his 50s so not really seeing it tbh, but for sure he was a player. Talk about cue actions, not sure i've seen many as fluid as his was, the sheer cue power he could generate just from pure timing alone. Another guy banned, Cao Yupeng, will be back on tour next season having come through the chinese qualifiers last week.

There would be a morbid curiosity if Lee did come back. Real natural talent and cue action. I would say he could make a reasonable go of a comeback maybe top 64?

I believe he was working out in China training Chinese youngsters in an academy.
The really cynical git side of me - was thinking that the lack of Chinese real success is because Lee trained them to throw games instead! Touch of side here or there. Shake of the head when walking back to the seat etc. :rolleyes:

Joe_ Public · 21-04-2021 1:30pm

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

There would be a morbid curiosity if Lee did come back. Real natural talent and cue action. I would say he could make a reasonable go of a comeback maybe top 64?

I believe he was working out in China training Chinese youngsters in an academy.
The really cynical git side of me - was thinking that the lack of Chinese real success is because Lee trained them to throw games instead! Touch of side here or there. Shake of the head when walking back to the seat etc. :rolleyes:

Ha! I've no idea tbh, but that is at least a different twist than the old "the triads must have got to ding" line you'd hear being trotted out over the years. Saw i think it was Alfie Burden posting a pic of himself with lee recently and, though i dont subscribe to the whole you need to be physically fit to play pro snooker line, that pic definitely didnt scream a lad with much of a playing future to me. Maybe if he was still around, barry might have given him a wild card just purely for all the publicity generated, but i doubt it anyway. You'd have Quentin Hann knocking on the door the next day!

Joe_ Public · 21-04-2021 1:31pm

Murphy has done very well to limit that to 4-5. Dont think he can play any worse tomorrow. Think he'll just about get it done.

FR01 · 21-04-2021 1:32pm

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

There would be a morbid curiosity if Lee did come back. Real natural talent and cue action. I would say he could make a reasonable go of a comeback maybe top 64?

I believe he was working out in China training Chinese youngsters in an academy.
The really cynical git side of me - was thinking that the lack of Chinese real success is because Lee trained them to throw games instead! Touch of side here or there. Shake of the head when walking back to the seat etc. :rolleyes:

I heard he was thrown out of China for working illegally? ie coaching and receiving payment. Doubt he’ll be making a comeback, agreed he had a tremendous cue action but him trying to get into the top 64 would be a hard push especially as he’d probably have to regain his card via Q School ?

testtech05 · 21-04-2021 1:34pm

Just turned on Williams v Craigie and Craigie break off he rolled up behind the pack off the top cushion.

Henry seemed to suggest it was a bad idea to copy how Mark was doing it. Has he been breaking off that way today aswell?

Joe_ Public · 21-04-2021 1:47pm

testtech05 wrote: »

Just turned on Williams v Craigie and Craigie break off he rolled up behind the pack off the top cushion.

Henry seemed to suggest it was a bad idea to copy how Mark was doing it. Has he been breaking off that way today aswell?

I didnt see craigie doing it, didnt start out doing it anyway. Williams started it a couple of months ago and was hoping nobody else would copy it, just means a couple of more shots before frame settles into a normal pattern, but it's just so negative. Can understand the rationale but just dont like it.

testtech05 · 21-04-2021 1:48pm

Joe_ Public wrote: »

I didnt see craigie doing it, didnt start out doing it anyway. Williams started it a couple of months ago and was hoping nobody else would copy it, just means a couple of more shots before frame settles into a normal pattern, but it's just so negative. Can understand the rationale but just dont like it.

He (Craigie) definitely did it in one of the later frames of the session ended up making a mess of his next safety playing off the pack and fouled, ended up losing the frame too.

Wasn't aware Williams is doing it for a while

Joe_ Public · 21-04-2021 1:58pm

testtech05 wrote: »

He (Craigie) definitely did it in one of the later frames of the session ended up making a mess of his next safety playing off the pack and fouled, ended up losing the frame too.

Wasn't aware Williams is doing it for a while

Yeah sorry, i wasnt doubting you or anything, just didnt see craigies later break offs. So he was obviously just copying williams. The idea is obviously not to leave a pot on, though I'm remembering one frame a while back where williams did nudge a red out and his opponent cleaned up. So its not entirely foolproof!

DelBoy Trotter · 21-04-2021 2:20pm

testtech05 wrote: »

He (Craigie) definitely did it in one of the later frames of the session ended up making a mess of his next safety playing off the pack and fouled, ended up losing the frame too.

Wasn't aware Williams is doing it for a while

It wasn't off a break off, it was after Williams had potted the cue ball!

Loafing Oaf · 21-04-2021 2:21pm

Not much in the way of shocks so far. Were first round matches shorter in previous years?

Joe_ Public · 21-04-2021 2:56pm

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Not much in the way of shocks so far. Were first round matches shorter in previous years?

Always been bo19 since crucible era anyway or near it. Used to be longer going back to mid 70s and earlier. Just one of those years i guess, only 2 seeds gone and even those are hardly in the big shock category. Ding always a tough draw against bingham and Maguire been beaten more as a first round seed than any other player, now a whopping 7 times in all.

sligeach · 21-04-2021 3:02pm

In case you weren't aware, Ken Doherty has let us know that Judd Trump is "world number 1" 3 times in the space of a minute.

waynescales1 · 21-04-2021 3:20pm

sligeach wrote: »

In case you weren't aware, Ken Doherty has let us know that Judd Trump is "world number 1" 3 times in the space of a minute.

I’ve had enough of Doherty. He’s like a cliché jukebox.

Joe_ Public · 21-04-2021 3:28pm

Dont mind commentators as people have their own preferences. But earlier John Parrott freely admitted in commentary that he knew nothing about Sam Craigie and had never seen him play. I mean, whatever about through a normal run of a season, Craigie played two big matches against Hossein Vafaei and Zhao Xintong in qualifying last week, both of which were streamed live. Would Parrott at least not have caught a bit of that or at least watched some you tube videos when he knew he'd be on that match. I just find that a bit lazy and complacent tbh, compare and contrast with McManus or Foulds for example.

waynescales1 · 21-04-2021 3:37pm

Jesus that is bad. But I have occasionally gotten the feeling from Parrott that he’s not that interested in what goes on outside the major tournaments. You’re right tho that is lazy, almost arrogant. I’d be embarrassed to be paid to be on TV and be exposed for not being properly prepared.

World Snooker Championship 2021

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