tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39120618294820263702024-03-08T03:05:20.175-08:00THE GREEN BAIZETheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.comBlogger359125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-83732178438465826572023-04-13T08:19:00.002-07:002023-04-13T08:19:39.408-07:00World Championship preview plus best bets<p> Well after all the weeks of waiting & two weeks of cut throat qualifier action, 32 men head to Sheffield with the dream of holding aloft the famous trophy on May1st.</p><p>We reach this point after quite a strange season that has seen some shock results, established stars failing to shine as before, some reclaiming their spots among the elite & unfortunately a fair amount of scandal. All this has had many hailing this as the most open world championship in years, but I just take a different view. I think when it boils down to it, we will once again see the cream rise to the top.</p><p>The obvious place to start is with our defending champion <b>Ronnie O'Sullivan.</b> Throughout the whole of the season last year there was just the feeling that Ronnie was building towards a real crack at that record equaling 7th title & so it came to pass as he claimed the title in a bit of a canter. This year couldn't be more of a contrast. Yes he claimed two invitational event early in the campaign ,but his record in ranking events, apart from a handful of performances here and there, has been awful. As a result of this we have hardly seen him in the last couple of months as those whose consistency was rewarded fought out those lucrative end of season events , added to this he has had a niggling elbow injury which has flared up again in recent weeks. For anyone else this lack of form & injury would be enough to rule them out as a contender, but the usual rules don't apply to Ronnie (Could we forget his victory in 2013 after a year off?) & I just have a feeling that the last couple of weeks have seen him warm to the prospect of an 8th title. If he is to do he's going to have to be on his game from the off ,with a potential Rd2 clash with Ding & then a quarter final with Williams on the cards, but I actually think that may help focus him & if he comes here in the same frame of mind he did last year , make no mistake ,he'll take some stopping.</p><p>Next up & many peoples fancy for the title again this year is <b>Mark Selby. </b>Has there ever been a player more suited to a format & venue as Selby is the Crucible? Over the long matches time & time again he has shown an ability to take complete control of a match & have it played solely on his terms. After some indifferent form at times this season he has seemed in recent times to be just coming to the boil nicely & he will be coming here quietly confident that he can add a 5th title to his cv. Much like Ronnie last year , in Selby's most recent victory here in 2021, he just seemed destined to win the title from a long way out & looking at the draw here, I just can't see him not at least reaching the semi finals. What happens there will very much depend on what happens in the other quarter of the draw.</p><p>In any other tournament looking at the draw you would anticipating a <b>Mark Allen v Nail Robertson </b>Q/F, but such has been these two stars records at The Crucible, you would be hard pressed to think they will both get there. Allen was the revelation in the early season after making some major lifestyle changes over the summer. He joined the very exclusive club to have claimed three ranking titles in the one season, but his results have tapered off a bit recently & you wonder if those early exertions have taken their toll. </p><p>Tiredness shouldn't be an excuse for Robertson who, having made the decision to be more selective with his events this season, was left playing catch up for the rest of & never really got there. His awful record here is well touted, but surely that has to change some time & a not unfavorable draw could see him reach the coveted single table set up for the first time since he won the title in 2010. A potential last 4 clash with Selby over three days would be something to savour.</p><p>If recent form is any indication of your chances, then <b>Shaun Murphy </b>has to on anyone's list. Two really impressive tournament wins over the last couple of months will see the 2005 champ come here full of confidence. & no player feeds off momentum quite the way Murphy does.</p><p>The toughest section of the draw pitches <b>Trump v McGill & Lisowski v Saengkham. </b>One thing for sure here is none of these guys will need reminding where they are. That said I'd still expect Trump to come through here. The 2019 champ has had a poor season by his standards & even his win in The Masters was far from vintage. He did come here last season in similar form & did beat McGill in rd2 on his way to the final. If he gets through this "group of death" he could be rewarded with a Last 8 clash with Murphy.</p><p>Others worth a mention are of course former multiple winners <b>John Higgins & Mark Williams </b>, but I think another title is probably beyond them. Likewise <b>Kyren Wilson </b>will be on many peoples shortlist , but I just don't see him figuring in the final count.</p><p>So who do I think will win? Well in spite of everything, I just think Ronnie has an 8th title in him. That long awaited documentary may well need a sequel! </p><p><b>Best bets</b></p><p><b>Ronnie to win the title 4/1</b></p><p><b>Neil Robertson 7/1 e/w 1/2 1-2</b></p><p><b>Round 1 Lucky 15 : David Gilbert 11/10, Hossein Vafaei 6/4, Anthony McGill 21/10, Robert Milkins 8/11</b></p><p><b> </b></p>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-57995146848107190072023-01-16T09:03:00.004-08:002023-01-16T09:05:50.168-08:00The Masters - Where Are We Now ? <p> On January 6th 2013 David Bowie shocked the world by releasing a new song that he had recorded in complete secrecy. A new album would follow shortly afterwards & it would be lauded by critics & fans alike as a marvelous return to form for the ever illusive artist. It was that first song though that kept coming to mind as I watched The Masters unfold last week.</p><p><b><i>"Where Are We Now?"</i></b></p><p>Well firstly lets start with the positives. Judd Trump last night won a second Masters title with a 10-8 victory over Mark Williams. In a wonderful final, that at various times swung one way then the other, it was Trump who held his nerve at the business end to claim his 4th Triple Crown. In doing so Trump again showed the all round aspects of his game that he has developed over the last number of years. The Trump of even 5 years ago would not have won that final. He will now be hoping this victory proves to be a much a springboard to his career as his victory here in 2019 was.</p><p>Unfortunately though, great and all an occasion as yesterday was, there is a cloud hanging over the sport at the moment which could have major repercussions for the sport for years to come.</p><p>I refer of course to the the match fixing/betting scandal that has engulfed the sport with 10 tour professionals currently suspended pending the conclusion of the investigations ,this number includes top stars Yan Bingtao & Zhou Xintong. World snooker chairman Jason Ferguson has stated that these lengthy & thorough investigations are nearing their conclusion & not all players will face the same charges, but even at that, we are still a long way from reaching an end to this saga.</p><p>Exactly what all this will mean going forward is impossible to tell. The global pandemic has already left us with no tournaments in China for the last 3 years & although things are opening up there again, we can't be sure, should the investigation conclude that these 10 Chinese players are guilty, just how that would be received by the authorities over there. This coupled with Dings recent comments, which were before this all broke, you get the feeling the snooker boom in China could be coming to an end & a return to what we had pre Covid is far certain.</p><p>The other thing highlighted by potential long term absence of these players, is again the real lack of young talent breaking through in the game. In The Masters, with a field that comprised of the top 16 players over the past two seasons, the youngest opponent that Judd faced this week was 42yr old Ryan Day, Indeed it would have been hard to avoid a 40 something in a draw that included 9 of them. The youngest player was Luca Brecel at 27. </p><p>By contrast I had a look at The Masters that took place at the time that Bowie song was released. That tournament in January 2013 was won by a 29 yr old Mark Selby & the oldest participant was Mark Davis aged 40. Also there, was a 23 year old Judd Trump, who already had one world final appearance & a UK Championship title to his name. 10 years on we are yet to see another talent emerge who even threatens to reach the levels Judd has.</p><p>The fact is we have relied on the "class of '92" for a long time now, but with them all now heading towards their late 40's we can't continue to expect them to carry the sport on their shoulders. Behind them the likes of Robertson, Selby & Murphy are also now entering the autumn of their careers & the next generation of Trump ,Allen & Ding are all now older than greats like Davis & Hendry were when their best days were behind them. After that I fail to see where the next champions are going to come from.</p><p>All in all we are facing in to uncertain times & the prospect of a very hard decade to come. Hopefully some real stars emerge soon & I suppose one thing that the last few seasons have shown its that, if you do establish yourself, you can have a lot longer a sporting career than the vast majority of professionals in other sports.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-26950641053726310612022-11-21T02:39:00.003-08:002022-11-21T02:39:58.187-08:00UK Championship Allen's win & other things.<p> Mark Allen last night added a second Triple Crown title to his cv ,producing a stunning comeback to beat Ding Junhui 10-7 and claim the 2022 UK Championship.</p><p>At one stage in the afternoon it had looked like we might be in for an early evening as Ding, playing some beautiful snooker, stormed in to a 6-1,but the hallmark of Allen this week has been a tenacity & determination to dig out a result when things looked bleak & that's what we saw again here. </p><p>Coming out in the evening Allen would have been looking at winning the first mini session to give himself a chance, but he did even better than that and went to the mid session interval having leveled up at 6-6. From here & despite a century from Ding, there looked only one winner. So it proved as Allen won a lengthy 17th frame to claim a famous win.</p><p>This was Allen's second title from three ranking finals this season & the way he is competing at the moment, it'd be a brave man to say its going to be his last. |For Ding, although the week ultimately ended in failure, he can look back at great run here that hopefully propels him back up the rankings again. A fully confident Ding is a joy to watch on the table and a potential winner wherever he cues up.</p><p>This match of course came at the end of fortnight that saw the UK Championship reclaim its identity as one of the sports premier tournaments. The years of the flat 128 draw had done nothing for the event except make it feel rushed and hard to follow. Now restored to a "World Championship model" it has the feel of a proper event again. The qualifying rounds were made freely available & like we see in Sheffield in April, they felt like a tournament in and of themselves. The "judgement day" multi table coverage is always a great treat.</p><p>Personally I'd love to see them go one step further & make Quarters & Semi finals best of 17's again. This would only require two morning sessions for the Last 32.Some would argue that having the two semi finals being played simultaneously would be a bad thing. but I think it's a sacrifice worth making to bring us more multi session matches. If you don't do it in the second biggest tournament then where?</p><p>When I'm at it I want to buck the common social media trend & say how much once again I enjoyed the BBC coverage. I know we a spoiled with the amount of snooker we see for free on tv, but I still think noone does it better than the Beeb. Now if only they can be persuaded to keep John Virgo in the commentary box beyond this season, as he proved yet again this week that he is still the greatest voice in the game.</p><p>Finally once again to salute our champion. Mark Allen embarked on some major lifestyle changes during the summer, not just for his snooker, but for his general wellbeing. Its is wonderful to see him getting his just rewards. For him that's 2/3rds of the Triple Crown now completed. Can he add the final 1/3rd on the first Monday of May next year? You couldn't bet against it.</p><p><br /></p>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-62510917690362209512022-11-07T03:56:00.004-08:002022-11-07T03:56:54.097-08:00Champion of Champions A few take aways<p> Ronnie O'Sullivan last night claimed the Champion of Champions title for a forth time with a 10-6 victory over Judd Trump.</p><p>Ronnie started the stronger & looked to be heading towards an easy win when he extended hid lead to five frames at 6-1.A 147 in the next sparked Judd into life & when in the evening he got back within one at 7-6, it looked like we were in for a dramatic finish. Ronnie however had other ideas & he stretched away again after the mid session interval to seal his second title of the season.</p><p>So what did we learn from the tournament as a whole? Well starting with the runner up, after a relatively quiet couple of seasons by his standards, Judd looked to be getting back to his very best here. Strange as it sounds, I think he played a lot better this week than he did last season when he won the title. His victories over Allen & Selby should serve notice that when it comes to deciding the big ones, he's going to be right there in the mix.</p><p>Predicting success in sport of course is a dangerous game, but I would be shocked if we don't see Mark Selby back in the winners enclosure sooner rather than later. His personal battles over the last year have been well documented, but he continues to show signs of his game recovering & I just get the feeling that one week with a decent tailwind will see him hold a trophy aloft again.</p><p>The enigma that is Fan Zhengyi was the story early in the week. Since he came from nowhere to win the European Masters at the start of the year, he quickly disappeared back there as he struggled to get wins on the board. Coming here he'd only managed two victories all season, but doubled that tally in one day here with two deciding frame wins over Neil Robertson (4-3) & Ryan Day (6-5) He couldn't quite reproduce these heroics in the semi final against Ronnie, but it showed once again that there are some very talented young players on the tour who on their day are a match for anyone, they just need to make it their day on a more consistent basis.</p><p>Off the table it was Judd Trump (33) again making the headlines as the self appointed voice of the younger generation. I jest here of course, but to be fair to Judd, it is good to see him with a genuine interest in trying to improve the game. A lot of his ideas over the years I would disagree with, but making a day out at a snooker tournament more of an event off the table, with things taking place in the venue is certainly something that should be looked at. Once you discover what a wonderful game this is you are hooked, the key for me in achieving this is to grow the feel good factor of attending snooker tournaments.</p><p>This brings me on to the tournament itself. This is a Matchroom promoted event & as such they can do what they like, but I just feel the presentation here was not fitting for a tournament with the grand title of "Champion of Champions". The Polo shirts (albeit better than last years) still make it look more like a pool tournament, the high sided sponsor screen around the perimeter & the colour scheme made the whole thing on screen seem a bit tacky. The poor attendance until the second half of the week only added to the sense of a tournament taking place in an empty warehouse. As I said above, the secret to our sport growing is properly showing off the one we have, that must not be done by cheapening it.</p><p>Anyway on we go to the UK Championship, which is on earlier this year to avoid a clash with the World Cup. Ronnie will go there in search of an eighth UK title & one thing that was shown here again last week was the undeniable fact that, when Ronnie is on it ,there is still no-one who can touch him. </p>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-75961645020068146412022-05-03T11:47:00.002-07:002022-05-03T11:47:50.908-07:00World Championship. King RonnieWell he did it, Ronnie O’Sullivan last night removed the final obstacle to him being hailed the greatest of all time, by equaling Stephen Hendry’s 7 world title haul.<div><br /></div><div>Watching the championship last year as we entered the last wk there was a sense of inevitability about Selby winning the title. This time around that feeling was there for Ronnie from round1 ball 1 ,He had looked focused, determined & confident for much of the season, but here he just looked on a different level & if we’re honest, apart from an anxious afternoon session yesterday, his progress to the title was as serene as he could wish for.</div><div><br /></div><div>More about our champion later though. Here are a few other things I took away from the championship.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our runner up Judd Trump can also feel rightly proud of his efforts here. It has been a difficult season for Judd who, despite lifting two trophies, never reached the heights of recent seasons. Here we saw what a tough all round competitor he has become.A Summer with the cue put away for a while will do him a world of good & I expect him to come roaring back next season.By the way what a gracious interview after the final as well! </div><div><br /></div><div>Our defending champ Mark Selby fell in Rd2, but after his recent troubles he can be rightly proud of his defense. Hopefully he’s back to his best next season. The rest of the old “class of ‘92” did themselves proud as well reaching the semi finals with Higgins showing his usual battling qualities & Mark Williams playing superbly throughout the tournament before falling to Trump in a decider. As for the pre tournament favourite Neil Robertson, I think we just have to accept he’s not going to be the multiple world champion his talents deserve. Of our younger stars , Zhao Xintong showed he still has a bit to learn over the longer distance, but Yan Bingtao looks like a champion in waiting, with a style that just seems to be tailor made forThe Crucible. He’s going to be a handful here for many years to come. </div><div> </div><div>After all the stories during the season the topic of the world championship continuing here past the end of its current contract in 2027 was always going to be a subject of debate.The BBC did a piece which included a few desenting voices, but I think on the whole after the last 17 days the feeling is that we should never leave here. Even Judd changed his mind on it!! </div><div> </div><div>I found the coverage overall to be excellent.Hazel again cemented her place at the top of tree when it comes to sports broadcasting & the BBC team as a whole were really good , with Jack & Joe continuing to get better all the time.”JV” was also at the top of his game in the commentary box. He really will be irreplaceable when his time ends.</div><div><br /></div><div>I didn’t see as much of Eurosport’s coverage, but Jimmy & Alan are always worth listening to & Radzi is settling into his position better all the time. Rachel was also as great as ever when tasked with the unenviable job of interviewing the losers.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Finally though let’s return to our champion.The one thing every sport fan realizes as they go through life is that every record can be broken & feats that seemed at their time like they’d last forever are often bettered far quicker than we expected. That said though I think with Ronnie we have an exception to all those rules. Not only is he the winning most player the games ever had, he has achieved this status while simultaneously being the face of his sport & its most beloved character.On top of all this he has done it all with a style & natural flare that the rest of us can only dream of. He is an absolute one off & I think the greatest genius sport in general has ever seen. Long may he reign.</div></div>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-63839570848755449222022-04-12T04:34:00.005-07:002022-04-12T04:34:49.269-07:00World Championship Preview <div>Those of us who remember Question Of Sport back in the David Coleman days will recall the viewers , "answers on a postcard please", Mystery Guest competition.These were basically a series of sports stars with their faces hidden doing ordinary everyday tasks & you had to guess who they were.These clips were always accompanied by an old Johnny Nash song that included the lyrics "There are more question than answers & the more I find out the less I know". As I started trying to write this preview piece & the more I drilled down into the likely contenders, the more this song started to play around in my head.</div><div><br /></div><div>The obvious favourite on from this season is <b>Neil Robertson,</b> but you just can't ignore his record here since his victory in 2010. I can think of at least five championships since then where he has looked the likely winner in week one, only to bow out when things start to heat up. When thinking of Neil , I often think of the great horse Desert Orchid. In his day "Dessie" as he was affectionately known by the racing public, was an equine superstar who transcended to sport.Grey horses always look more spectacular anyway, but he had the brilliance to go with it. The only problem was he also had a tendency to jump slightly right at his fences, so on a left handed track, this cost him ground every time. Now for non racing people The Cheltenham festival is "The Crucible" of horse racing, but unfortunately for Dessie it was also a left handed track. Every year he would win multiple races, arrive at Cheltenham as a favourite & and on all but one glorious occasion leave empty handed.It could just be the case that Neil is not suited by the venue and is destined to always come up short.</div><div><br /></div><div>While on the "horses for courses" theme, there is noone who seems more suited to the Crucible marathon than the defending champion <b>Mark Selby</b>. Last year he looked the winner from a long way out & just seemed to be have that ability to control his matches.. This year however has been a very difficult year for him. After defeat at The Masters, he revealed he has been battling with his mental health. After that he tried his best to plough on, but still struggling on the table, he withdrew from a couple of events to focus on his recovery. The fact is we just don't know what Mark Selby is going to show up on Saturday morning. All we can hope is that he is now in a good place mentally & that he gives his usual top notch performance.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you had only seen two snooker matches this season & they were the Champion of Champions & Turkish Masters final, you would be going in strong on <b>Judd Trump</b> here ,but the fact is, those performances aside, he has looked a shadow of the player who has hoovered up titles the last few seasons. He talked after his defeat in the recent Tour Championship about been fed up with the game,so its hard to see how he can turn it around here</div><div><br /></div><div>The old "Class of '92" have continued to defy father time & have all got titles to their name this season. In that Tour Championship<b> Ronnie</b> looked totally up for it, becoming the only player to record 5 centuries in back to back matches ,before being pipped by Robertson in the match of the year. He looks good,but as ever with him here, the question is how he handles the bad sessions.. <b>Higgins</b> went on to reach that final ,his 6th final of the season, but as was the case earlier in the year, he got within one of the title only to falter..This was the most gut wrenching of them all as he lost 10-9 from leading 9-4.Even for all the mental fortitude he has displayed in the past, its hard to see how he can recover from that to challenge for a 5th world title here. The other member of the trio<b> Mark Williams</b> continues to do it his way & you just never know what he could do ,but he'll have to be on it like he was in '18.</div><div><br /></div><div>Elsewhere on peoples shortlist will be UK champion<b> Zhao Xintong</b>, who showed how good he is in York last December & then demolished Yan Bingtao in the German Masters final. The main question mark over him is lack of experience over the longer matches.This was evident in his loss to Higgins in the Tour Championship, but such is the rate of knots that he is learning at, you couldn't rule him out.Likewise his fellow countryman <b>Yan Bingtao</b> is maybe lacking in the experience over the longer matches, but seems to have the style of game that might just be suited by it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bearing in mind all of the above there are others to consider, but they will need a strong tail wind to be holding the trophy come May 2nd & like those named previously, they all have their own issues to overcome, <b>Kyren Wilson</b> has had a mediocre season really, but has shown a liking for the the venue previously,.<b>Barry Hawkins,</b> has had some superb performances here in the past ,but can he really be considered a contender now? <b>Shaun Murphy</b> got within three frames of the title last year ,but has been dogged by injury this season & <b>Mark Allen</b> has been a bit hit & miss since he won the Northern Ireland Open. </div><div><br /></div><div>So there you go.As I said at the outset, there are so many question marks coming in here & at time of writing we don't even know the survivors from the qualifiers yet.I mean the one world final that Ding reached was after coming through the qualifiers. If her were to do it again could you really rule him out??</div><div>However though if I was to stick my neck out , I just have a feeling that we might have a record equalling 7th world title for Ronnie , but don't hold me to that!!!!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> </div>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-86622983100620827002022-02-16T04:28:00.001-08:002022-02-16T08:06:15.984-08:00World Champion 2022? A look at the contenders two months out.<p> Two months from today, on April 16th, all eyes will turn to The Crucible theatre in Sheffield, as the curtain is raised on 17 days of snooker drama, that in the end will crown the 2022 world champion.</p><p>So with this much of the season played, what have we learnt so far? ,who are the real contenders? & who are the potential dark horses?</p><p>Well at this stage, the man undoubtedly at the top of most peoples list is our most recent title winner , <b>Neil Robertson</b>. That win was Neil's third success of what has been a disrupted season for him, but it'd be a brave man to say that'll be his last. He just looks at the moment like someone completely at ease with his game, but in assessing his chances this year, can we really discount his Crucible campaigns of the last decade? Time & time again over that time, Neil has got to the Crucible as one of the favourites, but after flattering to deceive in the first week, he has fallen apart in week two. The reasons for this seem to be as much a mystery to him as the rest of us, but if I was to give him my cents on the problem, I'm of the opinion that he tends to slip into overthinking mode & the further he gets into the tournament, the more in his mind it becomes about trying not to lose, rather than pushing on to win. I actually think this was the same the year he won it, but the difference that time was we ended up with a last four who were all of that mindset & he managed to be last man standing. Unless he can address this issue ,I fear we'll see him get bogged down again & be left scratching his head as to how history has repeated itself.</p><p>The favourite still in many bookies lists is <b>Judd Trump</b>, but this can only be based on his efforts over the last few seasons, not on anything we've seen this year & certainly not on his Crucible record. Despite winning the Champion of Champions earlier in the season, I'm struggling to think of the last time we saw Judd play at his absolute best. A few times this season he's looked like he may be ready to catch fire ,but it just hasn't happened yet. It could well be, that despite his protestations that he see's every tournament the same, he has geared his season this time around peaking for Sheffield & we'll see a new Judd over the next few tournaments, but we're going to have to, if he's add to his world title tally.</p><p>If the above two mentioned have questionable Crucible records to overcome, that certainly couldn't be said of our defending champion <b>Mark Selby,</b> who seems to have a game & temperament tailor made for the Crucible.He simply dominated the tournament last year & looked the likely winner from a day one.This season has of course been very different for him & his brave decision to go public with his mental health struggles has helped shine a light on a problem that frankly needs more public understanding. We all hope the help he is now receiving will see him get back to good place mentally. This year for him that'll be the priority, but needless to say if that were to happen by the Crucible, he would again be a hard man to beat.</p><p>Elsewhere the "Class of '92" continue to defy father time & all three have again lifted titles this season. At times they have all produced fabulous snooker, but have each on occasion struggled to back up a good performance again in the next match. Now there are two schools of thought as to how this would play out in a multi session match.The first is, no matter how long the match, one bad session can end you. I'm of the second school of thought, that see's this an advantage, but only if you have the ringcraft to limit the damage. If you can make your bad session a 5-3 or 4-4 instead of a 6-1 or 7-1,then you can certainly turn any game around. These great champions certainly fall in to that category.</p><p>At the other end of the scale we have the young pretenders..<b> Zhou Xintong</b> , <b>Yan Bingtao,</b> <b>Hossein Vafaei</b> & <b>Luca Brecel</b>, have all been flying the flag for the twentysomethings & have all now established themselves as top players. The question is are any of them yet ready for the "marathon of the mind" that is the Crucible. At this stage you would have to say that Yan is potentially the best suited, with a steady temperament & willingness to get down & dirty in matches, but such is the exuberance of the other three, you could certainly see them make waves even if in the end they were to ultimately fall short this time.Their day is not far away though.</p><p>Elsewhere there a few I'd put into the "needing every light to be green" category. These would be players like <b>Barry Hawkins</b>, who has played superbly in reaching two finals in the last month, only to run into Robertson on each occasion & that in a nutshell has always been Barry's problem at the Crucible.He has beaten the biggest names in the sport there, but still fallen short in the final shake up. <b>Mark Allen</b> is another who is capable of anything & with his legal problems seemingly behind I fancy him to challenge for another trophy before the seasons end, but I just don't see it being the world crown. Also here I'd put <b>Shaun Murphy</b>, after all, he fell only a few frames short of the title last year, but has been blighted by injury this term. If the coming months see him find some form,he could make another bold bid to add to his 2005 success. Another often touted for Crucible success is <b>Kyren Wilson</b>, but he has produced little this season to suggest that this will be his year either.</p><p>Two months is a long time in snooker terms & a lot could change between now & the Crucible, but at this stage if i was to be pushed of a prediction, I just have a feeling we could be toasting a member of the "class of '92"again. Now which one,,,,,,,,,,,,,</p><p><br /></p>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-70111373418713982282022-01-17T02:57:00.005-08:002022-01-17T03:02:07.528-08:00The Masters 2022 - A few takeaways from the week<p> Neil Robertson last night claimed his second Masters title with a 10-4 victory over Barry Hawkins in front of another packed house at the Alexandra Palace. In truth the final itself was a bit of a damp squib, but that in no way takes away from what was another fabulous week of drama on the green baize. </p><p>So here are some of my takeaways from the week.</p><p><b>1.</b> In the days following Zhao's victory in the UK Championship & then Brecel's victory in the Scottish Open, many were quick to jump on the bandwagon that we were now seeing a changing of the guard. What we saw here was, that for all the talent they undoubtedly possess, these young guns have a bit to go to match the ring craft of the old guard just yet. Both Yan & Zhou were out played & out thought by Williams & Higgins respectively.There is no disgrace in that & they both strike me as the type of people who will learn from the experience.The point is that anyone who thought these great champ would now disappear gently into the good night, were maybe jumping the gun a bit.</p><p><b>2.</b> Judd Trump's quest for another Triple Crown title fell short again with his 6-5 defeat to Barry Hawkins in the semi final. As I said before, I think its inevitable he will top Ronnie's ranking title haul & he should be the first player to reach the 2000 century mark, but unless his record improves in these events, he will never take his place among the real greats of the sport. that said I think there were some real flashes this week of the Judd of the last few seasons emerging again.I have a feeling we wont be waiting too long to see him with another trophy., but its what he does at The Crucible, that will define his season.</p><p><b>3. </b>It was surprising to see us all to see how badly Mark Selby was playing on Friday evening & unfortunately the answer cut more deeply than it being a simple bad night at the office<b>.</b>On Saturday,he revealed on twitter that he is currently struggling with his mental health & is now seeking the help he requires to get him through these troubles. This was an extraordinarily brave thing for him to do & all we can do is wish him the very best.He hopefully takes great encouragement from the outpouring of support he received following the tweet. Thankfully we are now living in a time where peoples understanding of mental health issues are growing all the time.None of us are immune & seeing people like Mark standing up in this way may encourage others to seek the help they need also.</p><p><b>4.</b> We heard endless commentary on the atmosphere at the Ally Pally this week & for the most part it was excellent, but lets be honest, there were also times when things really threatened to get out of hand. The fact that these incidents mostly happened in the evening session is probably no coincidence. This is where the refs need to be aided by strong stewarding & some chucking out if necessary. I don't know what it was like there, but it certainly made for some uncomfortable viewing.This is not a road we want to see the sport slip down. Maybe in future Rob could tone down the hyping up of the crowd a bit for the evening sessions & this also applies to whoever is in charge of the music that is pumped in between frames. We have a great sport that is built on respect at every level, lets not let that be ruined by a few idiots.</p><p><b>5.</b> I posted a tweet during the week about what a wonderful job John Virgo was doing in the commentary box & the massive positive reaction I got, yet again showed what an unforgivable mistake it would be for the BBC to drop him at the end of the season. "JV"brings something extra to a commentary that just isn't there with anyone else across all snooker broadcasting. Good and all as Stephen Hendry is, its particularly noticeable how much his standard improves when he is alongside Virgo. This is what the best do in any sphere, they raise the performance of those around them. Hopefully the powers that be reconsider. They got it wrong a number of years ago when they prematurely benched Clive Everton. Hopefully lightening doesn't strike twice. </p><p><b>6. </b>Finally though lets salute our champion once again. This was Robertson sixth Triple Crown title & that total only really starts to reflect what wonderful player he is.Its probably fair to say he wasn't at his absolute best this week & really should have gone out to Williams in that epic semi final, but yesterday, when the chance came, he powered through the finish line like all great champions do. This win was bridging a 10 year gap since his first Masters title & he'll be hoping it can be the catalyst to him filling in that other great omission on his cv, another world title to go with is 2010 crown. For now though lets all rise for one of sports greatest ambassadors.</p>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-11340579848073748252021-12-06T02:44:00.001-08:002021-12-06T02:44:54.944-08:00UK Championship A Round Up<p>Zhao Xintong last night announced himself as one of the stars of our sport, with a superb 10-5 victory over Luca Brecel to claim the 2021 UK Championship title.</p><p>Zhao has been on the radar of those in the game for a long time & long flagged as one of the most talented players we've ever seen, but his career has not been plain sailing to this point. Just three years ago he fell off the tour, but bounced straight back on through Q School. Since then he's done ok ,but to this week, hadn't really been pulling up any trees.That all changed here though, as he produced a series of stunning performances on his way to the title.</p><p>For all the long potting, which was unbelievable by the way, it was also his style of play around the table that got people excited.He hits the ball so crisply, seeming to get maximum cueball control from little effort. It was said many times last week & I agree with it, that to watch him is reminiscent of watching a young Jimmy White. Perhaps though the most impressive thing of the lot was his ability to power through the finish line in his matches showing no fear of success. This above all else may be the thing that elevates him to the very top of the game.</p><p>This may also prove to be a big week in the career of Luca Brecel. His performance to beat Kyren Wilson in the semi final was snooker as well as it can be played. Luca has been around a while now and everyone knows how good he is, but if he's had one fault over the years , it has been in the shot selection department. The old adage that 90% of the game is playing the right shot is as true at the top of the game as it is down the club for a league match on a Tuesday night. It was good to hear him say in interviews this week that he is making a conscious effort this season to address this failing. That can only stand him in good stead for the future.</p><p>The joy and excitement we saw over the weekend was a far cry from the controversial early days of the tournament.The whole "amateurgate" controversy after Shaun Murphys comments overshadowed the early days & without getting in to it, I think Murphy will be the first to accept it was not the time to bring it all up. Worse still was Neil Robertson, who created the ultimate rod for his own back ,by weighing in to the debate before his match up with the "amateur" John Astley. Whether this has any bearing on the match we'll never know, but I'd say if he had his time again , he'd have kept his mouth shut.</p><p>The other great online debate of the early days came following the failure once again of Judd Trump to make a showing in a Triple Crown event. Its now 10 years since he won his only UK title & his record in the big ones is in sharp contrast to the other events on tour that he regularly hoovers up.The question is can he be considered a true great if his record doesn't improve in these events? Well of course the first thing to say is, it still can improve, he still has many years to go before we're assessing his ultimate place on the all time list, but for me ,even if as I expect, he becomes the first player to top 50 ranking titles , unless his Triple crown record improves, he wont be challenging the sports "Mt Rushmore".</p><p>The old "class of '92" all failed to reach the weekend ,with Willaims , still suffering the after effects of Covid, going out to Hamilton, Higgins falling in a decider to Zhao & Ronnie losing out in another decider to Kyren Wilson in the last 8. World champion Mark Selby also failed to make an impact, losing out to another young star in Hossein Vafaei.</p><p>On the back of all this ,there will be those who will suggest that we have now seen a changing of the guard in the sport, but such talk is certainly a bit premature. The current big names haven't gone away & they will be chomping at the bit to get back in ring, starting at this weeks Scottish Open. The one thing we did see yesterday & it was particularly apparent on social media, was a genuine excitement about the final. There is a feeling watching the triumph of Zhao Xintong, that we are getting in on the ground floor of what could be a glittering career. The future all of a sudden looks very bright.</p>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-65502710347297730362021-11-24T08:41:00.000-08:002021-11-24T08:41:19.108-08:00Damned Lies & Snooker Statistics<p> A number of years ago The Racing Post published a table that showed the win/loss percentages of the top jockeys in photo finishes,where the margin was a short head. At this time Tony McCoy was the biggest name in the sport, "the punters pal" who,when it came to the small margins, could be relied upon above all others to galvanise every last effort from his mount. However in this study his record was a distant second to Mick Fitzgerald.This provoked a lot of discussion in racing circles at the time,as a indisputable truth held by many,had now been proven to be wrong or had it? Taken in isolation the figures don't lie,but what a percentage written on a page couldn't quantify is the number of times that the genius of McCoy got a horse to within a short head of victory, when others would have trailed in way behind.In actual fact he was being a victim of his own success.</p><p>A love of stats has been a growing phenomenon in most sports in recent times with the easy access we all have to information at our fingertips,to a large degree this is a good thing,but we need to be careful what we gleam from them. </p><p>For a recent example ,take John Higgins. At the weekend he lost his third final in the space of the last five weeks. If this was another pro with no titles to his name & he kept losing finals, you could probably point to his lack of bottle & question if he really was the top player, but with John,as when he lost those three world finals in a row in recent years,instead of looking at these as negatives ,these defeats can be looked at as proof of just how good Higgins still is.In each of these events, there were numerous times when lesser players would have gone out, but the fighting spirit that John has shown throughout his career kept coming to the fore & although he ultimately ran out of steam in each of the finals, his efforts in getting their should only enhance his reputation instead of diminishing it. The lesson here is that life is more complicated than the final score.</p><p>The same can be said for the century break. These are another bunch of numbers loved by the stats boys who obsess over the amount made by individuals in their careers or the amount made in a particular tournament or indeed season. Last week we saw Neil Robertson reach the milestone of 800 career centuries,while Mark Selby recorded his 700th. Laudable personal achievements these may be, should these modern records been used as sticks with which to beat those of previous generations? Yes the modern game produces a lot more century breaks than we saw 20/30 years ago,but to say this is purely down to a higher standard is over simplifying things & again speaks of a failure to look behind the numbers.</p><p> The game I started watching in the 80's is very different to what we see today, with heavier clothes & snooker balls making a lot of the shots we see as standard today impossible to play back then. Hendry is credited with pioneering the shot off the blue to break open the pack in 90's, but the fact is that this shot was not possible before then, or to put it a better way, it was not a percentage play with the force needed to achieve it on slower tables. </p><p>Percentage snooker was the approach of the vast majority back then ,with a century break only something to be pursued if the opportunity arose once the frame was safely in the bag .At the other end of that spectrum you had the likes of Alex Higgins, who went in to full exhibition mode once the frame was secured. Does anyone who saw Alex at his best really think 87 official career centuries is any barometer of his status in the game compared to the monster totals we see now? or for that matter, is it any measure of Ray Reardon with his total of 53?</p><p>OK you may shout, if centuries are not the infallible way to judge greatness,surely there is no disputing total ranking titles as the ultimate measure of success? Well yes and no. A look at the current leaderboard of ranking titles certainly seems to back up that thesis ,with the top four places occupied by O'Sullivan 37, Hendry 36, Higgins 31 & Davis 28. The problems start yet again when you start to delve deeper. Yes Steve Davis has 28,but he had far fewer ranking tournaments to play in in his prime than the others have had & indeed his first two UK Championship finals weren't even ranking events.Even when we get to the Hendry era, though the number did increase, it was nowhere near where it has been in over the past decade.</p><p>So if century breaks & ranking titles won aren't reliable, then what is?Well now we get to the real problem,because the answer is no statistic taken in isolation is. I was a life long Steve Davis supporter so in the above paragraph I stated some facts about numbers that supported my argument for his place at the top table. if I was a Hendry fan, I'd point to his 7 world titles as the ultimate accolade in the game, a Ronnie fan, will say look his Triple Crown record and longevity in the sport, in the next decade when Trump inevitably breaks the ranking title & century records ,his fans will no doubt hail him as well.Likewise many will read my above comparisons with the century breaks & see my argument to be me just looking at the past through rose tinted glasses.</p><p>The trick for us all is to enjoy what we are watching, remember the special nights& milestones we witness & to try not fall too far down the stats rabbit hole.As Homer Simpson said "People can come up with statistics to prove anything, 40% of all people know that"</p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-69227560400862091362021-11-15T05:48:00.000-08:002021-11-15T05:48:57.769-08:00A Storm in a T-Shirt<p> One of the great myths in sport is the story of the great wave of new fans who are only waiting to start watching, if only we change X,Y,Z. Maybe its a case with all minority sports, but the two I follow most closely, namely snooker & horse racing, both seem to be becoming ever more obsessed with subscribing to this falsehood. Watching British racing from afar, this has lead to a situation where the sport has actually started to slowly eat itself from the inside. Thankfully in snooker we haven't quite reached that level of self-flagellation yet,but after reading some of the comments surrounding the sport in recent times, we can't get too complacent. </p><p>Over the last few months it seems everyone in the sport is coming forward with idea's as to what we need to do to open the floodgates to these vast numbers of new fans who are only waiting to come aboard. These have varied from shorter matches, to newer commentators, to shorter matches at the world championship,to a different venue for the world championship & most persistently a change to the dress code, which brings us to this weeks Champion of Champions event in ITV4.</p><p>Hinted at in recent weeks & unveiled over the weekend, this matchroom promoted event will see the player don black shiny polo shirts, with their name on the back as well as their nicknames.In a word, these look awful. Since its revival in in 2013 ,The Champion of Champions has quickly established itself as one of the games most prestigious events, but these changes make it look almost tacky.</p><p>This is not to say I'm against everything that isn't a waistcoat & bow-tie , I think the open neck black shirts the use for Home Nations events are casual without looking scruffy & the named polo shirts they wear in the shoot out suit that event,</p><p> My real question here is to what purpose are these been changes made? If its it to give the event its own separate identity, then it might achieve that (,but not in the way they hope).it could also be designed to catch the eye of the casual punter flicking through the channels by looking less formal . or it may even be a marketing ploy that hopes to see young snooker fans going online to buy replicas of their favourite players.Whatever the thinking behind it, for me it misses the mark.</p><p>Apparently Judd Trump was part of the consultation process on this, Judd has been one of the most vocal of the sport participants when it had come to airing his views on things in the sport over the last year & whereas I would disagree with him in almost everything he has suggested, I do accept its all coming from a good place & a genuine desire to to see the sport grow.As far as I'm concerned though ,both he & the governing body are barking up the wrong tree with this. </p><p>The irony is, for all we hear about the stuffy old formal wear turning people away from the sport, I have seen in my own club on many occasions the excitement & pride on the faces of the junior members when they are fitted for their club waistcoats for the first time.They see it as snooker uniform & something to work towards. I don't think a shiny club polo shirt would carry the same gravitas.</p><p>Ultimately of course this week will be judged & remembered by what we see on the table ,not by what the players are wearing, but we can't get complacent about what makes our sport so special. If we go too far down the road of dumbing it down, we not only run the risk of not attracting new fans,but also alienating the ones we already have.</p><p> </p>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-13867135493530367082021-10-19T08:43:00.002-07:002021-10-19T11:03:43.426-07:00Northern Irish Open - Talking PointsAfter a 6 week break since the British Open, the first of the seasons Home Nations events in Belfast ,was much anticipated in the snooker community & as a spectacle it certainly lived up to expectations.<div><br /></div><div><b>Mark Allen</b></div><div>There really is only one place to start with a review of the week & that is with our champion. Since this tournament came back on to the calendar 6 years ago Allen's record in it had been patchy at best, but with the home crowd getting ever more excited as the week went on & the pressure increasing on him,he continuously rose to the occasion.Just how much winning this title meant to him was obvious as he potted match ball in the final. Allen has for years been one of the top players in the game & should really have more titles to his name.Hopefully he can now get his off table issues sorted to everyone's satisfaction & start pushing again for the big ones.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>John Higgins</b></div><div>When Higgins moved two up with three to play the other night, it seemed yet another ranking title was heading its way back to Scotland, but he just couldn't land the final blow. That shouldn't take away from another great week for the "The Wizard of Wishaw". At the end of last season John seems to have made the decision that if he is to last in this game he needed to make some lifestyle changes. Over the summer he adopted a serious fitness regime & the results were there to see last week. In so far any of these things can predicted,I would be shocked if we don't see him lift a few trophies this season. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>The men in form</b></div><div>The old Championship Leagues over the last two seasons have been much derided by snooker fans, but victory for David Gilbert in its most recent incarnation, not only removed the "best player to not win a ranking title" from his cv ,but has also given him the confidence in himself to mix it with the best. Once again here he played really well all week before going down to Higgins in the last 8. On this form he'll certainly be going deep in plenty of tournaments this season.</div><div>Also in this category I'd put two players at opposite ends of their careers. Ricky Walden has been plagued by injury the last few years, but with those issues seemingly behind him he looked like his old self here again here & at the other end of the age spectrum, Yan Bingtao, continues to impress with his all round matchplay. Its hard to believe he is still only 21 & he continues to look the natural successor to Ding Junhui as the standard bearer from China.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Tetchy Ronnie</b></div><div>One again last week Ronnie O'Sullivan made the headlines & not for what he did on the table. Over the few days he was in the tournament he made a series of statements that, as ever with him, bore a fair bit of truth, but could have been expressed more diplomatically. For example I don't think anyone would argue that a Home Nations win is equal to a Triple Crown victory,but to look back at some of the victors in these events they have provided their career highlight & that should not be minimised.Also his comments about the lack of atmosphere were fair enough,but do we expect much else in the early rounds, especially in a multi table set up? Anyway no matter what we do in life, we have times where we're just not feeling it & last week seemed to be that for Ronnie.Hopefully the next event see's him in better humour.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Return of the crowds</b></div><div>Finally much was made again during the week of the return of the viewing public & how much more we appreciate them after all the closed door tournaments last season. The crowd certainly got more involved as the week went on & by Sunday night, with the home favourite in the final, they were in full voice. The scenes here were reminiscent of the old Wembley Conference centre & although they did at times threaten to stray over the line of what is acceptable , there is no doubting the part they played in the dramatic finale.It was great to see.</div><div><br /></div><div>So there we have it, A couple more weeks of qualifiers now to keep us entertained before the English Open begins on November 1st & from then on to Christmas its go,go,go.</div><div><br /></div><div>Talk to ye again next week.</div><div><br /></div>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-90688318016152770612021-10-13T03:14:00.001-07:002021-10-13T03:14:31.314-07:00The "147" Still Magical After All These Years<p> <i>This was the only time in all the years I'd known Joe that he revealed nerves.When the cheering had died down an we began to move from the table to my office he gasped; Ted! For Gods sake pour me a large brandy". After sinking it even faster than the last black in his 147, he phoned his wife June, who knew how much that maximum break meant to him and told her the good news. Understandably enough, she burst into tears.- </i><i><b>Ted Lowe on the Joe Davis's first 147.</b></i></p><p>There was a moment the other day, when Mark Allen rolled in that length of the table yellow to keep his break alive, that the camera flicked to the audience & people were literally hopping up and down from their seats with excitement. If anything shows just what a hold moments like these have over the snooker world, it was this. After all, can you think of any other sporting achievement that still means so much after it has been done for the 170th time?</p><p>This coming January 11th, we will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first official televised 147, when Steve Davis took 11 minutes & 53 seconds to create that bit of snooker magic at The Oldham Civic Centre, famously winning a Lada Car for his trouble ( the tournament was the Lada Classic after all )</p><p>By irony his opponent on the night was John Spencer, who a couple of years previously had been denied this honour when the tv cameras were not rolling for his "maxi" & the break itself was then confined to history because the pockets were not templated properly.</p><p>Over the years of course we have seen the number of players achieving the break continuously increase,but still in 40 years, when you look at the amount of frames played, 170 is still a small enough number to make being a member of the club feel pretty exclusive.</p><p>This is understandable when you think of all the things that have to fall in to place to make it possible.Firstly you have to pot the opening red and finish on the black. Ideally this would be early in the frame,before any safety has pushed reds to safe positions.Then, if you've started with three or four reds & blacks, you might start to think "this is on" ,but the state of the match comes in to play. The first priority in every frame is to win it, so invariably at some stage a player will have to make a conscious decision to commit to it, often turning down easier position on another colour to stay on the black. If a match is still in the balance this is a brave choice to make. Once the tenth red has gone down the frame is safe,but now nerves come in to it. At this stage the crowd are all fully aware of whats happening and are willing every ball in. As their excitement builds you need to keep your own in check. If you are playing in a multi table arena, play will have stopped on those tables as you start to clear the colours.All eyes are on you now & everyone expects you to do it. You have cleared the colours hundreds of thousands of times, but this is different. Palms getting sweaty you try to stay calm. Eventually you get to the final black, ideally just off straight with your hand on the table, you roll it in & the place erupts.</p><p>Sadly at times, after completing all the hard work, that final black at times can prove at step too far. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh ,twice missed the final black in the same season, but the most famous final black miss was from poor old Ken Doherty. Playing Matthew Stevens in the 2000 Masters final, with the 147 prize of a Honda Sportscar waiting to be claimed, Ken missed the easiest of blacks.The crowd still rose to give a standing ovation as Ken departed the table, but this was more the clap of sympathy you get at football matches when a player is stretchered off. Thankfully Ken did get to join the "147 club" later in his career, but after his World championship win in 1997, it is that missed black he will be most remembered for.</p><p>In the 40 yrs since Steve created that piece of snooker history, we have witnessed so many great maximum moments, so whether your favourite is Bill Werbernuik peaking around the curtain at his friend Cliff Thorburn, Kirk Stevens leaping in the air, Ronnie whizzing around in 5 minutes or one you were in the audience to witness yourself ( for me it was standing backstage in the arena as Ding Junhui cleared the colours in the PTC Garnd Finals in Galway) Long may the 147 be something that thrills the snooker world.</p><p><br /></p><p><i><b><br /></b></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-263845718915980512021-10-05T06:19:00.001-07:002021-10-05T06:19:49.370-07:00The Ranking Problems Solved- A Proposal<p> Well after a bit of a false start in August,the season gets going again in earnest this weekend with the Northern Ireland Open kicking off in the wonderful Waterfront theatre in Belfast. With this in mind I figured it was high time I revved up the old blog again, but now in the guise of a weekly column covering some of the hot topics in the sport. </p><p>The question then was where to start? I decided I might as well go all in with a new proposal designed to solve the problems with our current ranking system.</p><p>One of the early changes made during the "Hearn revolution" was to address the problems with the old ranking system.The system, as it was,was stagnant & served only to protect those at the top of the game.The changes made introduced a 2 year rolling ranking system based solely on money earned.This on the face of it seemed much fairer, as players were rewarded on current form, but problems also emerged.Chief among these was the discrepancy in prize money between the world championship and every other event.</p><p>For the most obvious example we have to look back at the 2015/16 season.In the May of 2015, Stuart Bingham had sprung one of sports biggest surprises when he beat Shaun Murphy in the final to claim the world title. This undoubtedly is the pinnacle for any snooker player,but it comes with its own baggage. For the following year, you are introduced wherever you go as "The world champion".This can weigh heavy on your shoulders & especially as a first time winner. That was certainly the case with Stuart, as he struggled with the new level of expectation on him & he arrived at the Crucible the following year with just one final appearance & a string of early defeats to his name.Despite this however & because of the enormous level of prizemoney available at the Crucible, he was still only a victory or two there form ending the season as world no.1. Not even Stuart's biggest fans could have suggested at the time that such a ranking was a fair reflection of current form</p><p>This again reared its head last month,when by virtue of his most recent world championship victory Mark Selby ascended to the top of the ranking again, much to the disgust of his predecessor Judd Trump. Now this one was slightly different, the last two seasons have seen the calendar chop & change,so prizemoney form the pre covid world can be lost without a like for like chance to stop the damage, but even allowing for that, can anyone really argue that considering the way he has dominated the last two seasons, that Trump isn't the worlds best player?</p><p>These are only a couple of examples & the world championship is at the extreme,but when things get back to normal & we have some of those big money tournaments in China again, there is a real danger things get tilted too far towards a certain events.</p><p>So whats the answer? </p><p>Well for me I've always liked to idea of a more structured points system. So my proposal is we set the events in to four tiers. Now despite with I've said above I do believe that nothing should rival the world championship, so that would be the sole Tier One event, but the rest ,based on prestige would be divided up between the other three tiers.</p><p><b>Tier One -</b>World Championship</p><p><b>Tier Two - </b>eg<b>. </b>UK Championship, International Championship, China Open </p><p><b>Tier Three -</b>eg<b> </b>Home Nations events, British Open </p><p><b>Tier Four -</b>eg.<b> </b>Gibraltar Open, Shoot Out</p><p>The points would the be distributed as follows</p><p> <b>Tier One Tier Two Tier Three Tier Four</b></p><p><b>Winner 1500 1000 750 </b><b> 600</b></p><p><b>Runner Up 1000 750 600 450</b></p><p><b>Semi Final 750 600 450 300</b></p><p><b>Last 8 600 450 300 150</b></p><p><b>Last 16 450 300 150 100</b></p><p><b>Last 32 300 150 100 50</b></p><p><b>Last 64 150 100 50 25</b></p><p><b>Last 128 0 0 0 0</b></p><p><br /></p><p>*Two quick notes here,the points for the world championship qualifiers would have to be decided on which qualifying system is in use & places in the Cazoo series would still decided as now on prize money. Which tier each event in this series would hall in to would also have to be decided upon.</p><p> The post covid landscape allows the opportunity to redraw the calendar & if its done properly with this system, it allows players a better opportunity to structure their seasons around the events they want to play in,with a view to peaking at the right times. A new calendar may be something I visit again in coming weeks. </p><p>One potential drawback with this is where is the incentive for places to put on new events with bigger prize money? This is however where I see a real chance to shake things up,with events not coming up to scratch facing demotion. By this I mean an event must be held to a certain standard regardless of prizemoney om offer ,that is playing conditions, venue ,atmosphere. fans. The incentive is that events that meet these standards can be promoted up a tier. As years go by maybe a 5th tier could be introduced to accommodate more events based on this template.</p><p>So there you have it. My proposal to solve the ranking crisis. Please let me know what you think.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-38733896963017651722021-05-04T02:12:00.002-07:002021-05-04T02:15:27.501-07:00Crucible 2021 - A Few Thoughts<p>Well here we are in the morning after the night before and as the dust settles on another world championship ,I'd like to share a few thoughts on the last fortnight.</p><p><b>Mark Selby</b></p><p>There really is only one place to start and that is with the now four time world champion, Mark Selby.</p><p> After his defeat to Ronnie here in last years semi final, you just started to wonder was his chance of another world title gone, but helped by coach Chris Henry, he has had a solid season and came to Sheffield as maybe one of four players with a realistic chance of lifting the title.</p><p>Once here the standard of matchplay he produced was simply awesome.He controlled matches from the outset with a mixture of dogged safety & brilliant break building. In that form he is nearly impossible to play against and so it proved here as some of the games most fluent break builders fell under his spell.The more the tournament went on, the greater the sense of inevitability of a Selby victory became. Its not the prettiest to watch at times, but boy is it effective.</p><p><b>Shaun Murphy</b></p><p>I couldn't write this piece without also mentioning our gallant runner up. This has been a tough year for everyone,but particularly in snooker terms for Shaun who is now based in Dublin. This meant for him a constant stream of flights,covid tests and self quarantining when he got home.Understandably on the back of that he has not had a great season,but he certainly made up for that here. He dispatched Trump in the quarter finals, produced a stunning fight back to beat Wilson in the semi final & fought all the way to the end in last nights thrilling final.Shaun has always been one if the games true talents and it was nice to see that old confident stomp around the table again.</p><p><b>Rest of "The Big 4"</b></p><p> The other members of the games current "Big 4" all failed to get out of the two table set up. </p><p>First to go in the second round was our defending champion.Ronnie had come here on the back of a strange season for him,that saw him reach five ranking finals and lose them all.Here he had started to show flashes of form.but after a terrible second session against McGill. his comeback fell just short in a decider. Such are the margins in this game though that, but for the kick on that red to the middle in that decider, he could well have defended his title.The good thing to hear after the game was his desire to dedicate himself to working with Steve Peters again.</p><p>Judd Trump & Neil Robertson both went out in the last 8. Trump has been the games dominant player since he lifted the title here in 2019,winning trophy after trophy, but has failed to replicate that dominance in the "Tripe Crown" events. He never really looked at ease here and although he fought hard against Murphy,his overall performance seemed a bit jaded. I think going forward he needs to start building his season around peaking at the right times.</p><p>That looked to be exactly what Neal Robertson had done after his little sabbatical earlier this year. He came back to impressively win the Tour Championship & many thought the 2010 champion was set to make make a long overdue run at the title again. This was not to be though,as the old demons came back to haunt him against Wilson in the quarter final.It just seems Robertson is simply not a player suited by the Crucible & it may be the case that his one world title there was an even greater achievement because of that. </p><p><b>The Nearly Man</b></p><p>Kyren Wilson,started this tournament with the aim of going one better than he managed last year when he was runner up to Ronnie. but once again he was to flatter to deceive.He started slowly, but then produced a superb performance in beating Robertson & had a great first half to his semi final with Murphy.As we've seen with him in the past though, when the pressure comes on in the truly big games, he just seems to have a bit of a glass chin.His post match comments about Murphy's fist pumping celebration were a bit silly and can be put down to his disappointment at falling short again.On the plus side for him, his cueball control has visibly improved this season & with his age profile, time is on his side.</p><p><b>The Young Guns?</b></p><p>Its a statement of where the game is at the moment ,that when we talk of the games young talent, the names mentioned are lads hovering around the 30yrs old mark. Apart from them ,we of course have Masters champ Yan Bingtao (20), but although he came here with the chance of becoming the youngest ever champion, that never really looked on the cards.There seems to be a real dearth of talent in the younger ranks or if the talent is there, it hasn't stepped up to the mark yet. The average age of the semi finalists this year was 37 , in 2001 it was 26. Regardless of how good the older players are, this is not sustainable long term for the sport.We need kids to be writing to Santa for snooker cues & 6ft tables again!</p><p><b>Judds Comments</b></p><p>In the week before the championship ,Judd caused a bit of a stir with his "State of the Nation" interview with Phil Haigh. Among the points he made was a reference to the need for change in the way the sport is presented. It was to his credit then, that when he was knocked out, he put his money where his mouth was & joined his great friend Jack Lisowski as part of the BBC team. They both added immensely to the coverage & pairing them with the more experienced members of the team really helped them settle. That said I wouldn't be putting any of our old friends out to grass just yet. It wouldn't be the same without JV shouting at the cueball would it?</p><p><b>Calendar of event 21/22?</b></p><p>After the year we have had, it was certainly a nice novelty to have crowds here these last 17 days,but what shape will the calendar take for nxt season? With the vaccination programme going well & as long as we see no new resistant variants of the virus, its possible we could see a normal enough programme within the UK, but I wouldn't be at all sure about events in Europe & I'd have serious doubts about events in China. I suppose its a matter of waiting to see what the coming months bring. We always have MIlton Keynes!!</p><p>Finally, lets talk once more about our champion. There can't be any question now that Selby doesn't rank among the greats,but were on that list would you place him? The fun game here on social media is to watch the various generations try to discredit what they didn't see, be it the Davis ,Hendry or even Ronnie era! Personally & this is only my opinion, I'd now put him in a group alongside Mark Williams, just behind the sports "Mt Rushmore" of Davis ,O'Sullivan,Hendry & Higgins. I'm sure plenty will disagree!!</p><p>Anyway hope ye all enjoyed the 17 days of snooker escapism that this tournament brought us. Heres to next season, it'll be here before we know it!!</p>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-86130872586544140632020-08-18T03:14:00.005-07:002020-08-18T03:25:53.766-07:00World Chapmpionship ,A Few Thoughts<p> Well as we all emerge from our 17 days inside the snooker watching bubble to find sadly that the world hasn't changed a whole lot, I just thought I'd note a few things that stood out for me over the two weeks.So here goes.</p><p><b>1. The Champ</b></p><p>There reallly is only one place to start isn't there & thats with the newly crowned six time world champion.</p><p>Such was the effect that his loss to Selby in the 2014 final seemed to have on Ronnie, I , like many others thought the chances of him adding to his previous five world titles were slim.This was borne out by some pretty insipid performances here since. The first signs that things might be different this year came in his second round match with Ding.This was a close match against one of the games other big names, but unlike in recent years he found a way to win it & then did the same against Williams in the last 8.We'll talk about the semi final later ,but his performance again on day 2 of the final was superb.He may conatantly talk down hw much these big wins mean to him,but make no mistake.equalling the record of his childhood idol Steve Davis will be very special for him.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>2. The Defending Champ</b></p><p>Often the crown on a first time world champ weighs heavy throughout the next season & they struggle to produce their best snooker.That certainly was not the case this season for Judd Trump who, if anything, grew into role and dominated the year picking up a record 6 ranking along the way. He seemed to be riding the crest of a wave all the way to breaking the legendary "Crucible Curse" ,but then a global pandemic struck.The great inponderable for Judd willl be, what would haven happened if the tournament had been played as normal in April?, because since action resumed he hasn't looked the same player. His title defence here never really got going here & he only really limped past Tom Ford & Yan Bingtao ,before Wilson proved far too strong in the quarter final. It will be interesting to see just how he bounces back from this when the new season begins. </p><p><b>3. Underperforming Big Names</b></p><p>Once again a number of the big names failed to produce on the games biggest stage.First round defeats for Mark Allen ( who admittedy did knock in 5 centuries) Stephen Maguire & Shaun Murphy,who to be fair obviously wasn't there mentally after the recent death of his former manager & friend. Ding Junhui was perhaps a bit unlucky to run in to Ronnie in Rd2 just as he was just showing signs of finding some form. Neil Robertsons woes continued at the Crucible & its a glaring omission from his otherwise stellar cv that he's never again even reached the final since his victory in 2010.</p><p><b>4. Emerging Talent?</b></p><p>I think it says a lot for where the game has now got to that a world semi final between Wilson (28) & McGill (29) is seen as a battle of the "young guns" As so often is the case when Ronnie speaks, his over the top way of saying things & the resultant hysteria often belie the more serious point he is making. There are no doubt a lot of talented players down the rankings, but I'd struggle to name any who I could say with certainty would make the leap to the very top. </p><p><b>5. The Controversies</b></p><p>It wouldn't be a world championship if there wasn't a bit of controversy along the way and the first incident here happened before a ball was even struck.</p><p>Having battled his way through qualifying to reach the Crucible for the first time in 12 years, Anthony Hamilton withdrew from the championship on health grounds over fears of the crowd been let in to see the the matches.Anthony has asthma, as well as far as I know is living with his eldery parents & ,quite rightly in my opinion, saw the letting in of crowds ,all be they limited, as an unnecessary risk. </p><p>Obviously someone withdrawing so close the the event is ot ideal, but the reaction of Barry Hearn left a real sour taste in the mouth. He accused Hamilton of playing the qualifiers with no intention of ever playing at the venue & thus denying someone a rightful place. He repeated this on every media platform that would give him the space to do so & even took to twitter to take on any of Hamiltons fellow pros who dared support him.</p><p>The work Hearn has done to get snooker back to where it is has been phenomenal & getting this event on in the middle of a global pandemic was perhaps his biggest achievement, but that said , every so often the mask just slips a bit to show a pretty nasty guy.</p><p>The arguments didnt stop there & we had "Line of sightgate" between McGill & Jamie Clarke.This was pretty much storm in a teacup stuff & probably boiled down to Clarkes lack of experience in the venue & McGill. like all of us when we're struggling, finding every little thing annoying.It was a pity it blew up the way it did & seemed to have effect Clarke for the rest of that session.</p><p>The other big controvery which lit up twitter the other night was the comments of Mark Selby after his defeat in that extraordinary semi filal with Ronnie. Selby accused Ronnie of disrespecting both him & the game with his rather unorthodoxed way of escaping some of the snookers he laid.</p><p>Two things with this. Firstly whether he felt this or not, this was not the time to express it & it just had a air of sour grapes about it, Secondly there was no disrespect here to either him or the game. What Ronnie did was exorcise some of those 2014 demons where he allowed Selby bog him down. Here he made a conscious decision to go out on his own terms. (Anyone who watched his brilliant Q&A's with Hendry during lockdown will have heard his views on that final) In doing so he may have lost a couple of big frames, but he kept his momentum & backed himself to score if he got the chance. he then produced a stunning burst of three frames that will long live in the memory.</p><p><b>6. BBC Coverage</b></p><p>Eyebrows were raised when it was announced in the week before the championship that Hazel Irvine wouldn't be part of the team for this year,but we really shouldn't have worried. I think the coverage this year was superb. Jason Mohammad really grew in to his role as main presenter, bringing a perfect mix of in depth analysis from the pundits & also throwing in some good fun too. Also excellent was Seema Jaswal & Radzi who brought a real infectious enthusism to proceedings.</p><p><b>7.Those Semi finals!</b></p><p>Last Friday has been hailed as the most exciting day in snooker since the '85 final & it's hard to argue. Plenty has been written about both so I'm not going to rehash them,but I think the most notable thing here was the amount of texts & Whatsapps I got from people on friday who would not be big snooker people.This is what snooker & in particular the world championship brings.That long unfolding drama,with two players with nowhere to hide leaving everything on the table. Its why snooker makes the blood flow through our veins and the hair on back of our necks stand like no other sport can!!</p><p><b>Conclusion "Born to Run"</b></p><p>Finally in my life I have been lucky enough to see Bruce Springsteen live on a number of occasions & I always felt the highlight & lowlight of every gig is hearing "Born to Run"Its the highlight because its my favourite song & the lowlight, because once its over I wont hear it again. The secret of course is to try not to think of it in either of those terms & to just enjoy it & savour it in the moment. I think we also need to look at Ronnie that way & instead of constantly talking about the record books & arguing over who is the GOAT, lets instead enjoy the now with our own "Rock & roll star".Long may he reign.</p><p><b><br /></b></p>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-39406052221523947472020-05-18T08:18:00.000-07:002020-05-18T08:18:00.701-07:00The Games Greatest ,My Two CentsIn the absence of actual snooker to talk about in recent weeks & following an interview with Barry Hearn, the corner of twitter that the sport inhabits has been alught with people discussing their all time top 10's. So I decided , I may as well dust off the old blog & throw my own opinon in to the mix.<br />
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Two quick things before I start, Firstly in these old pub arguments, with so many variables, there can be no definitive right or wrong answer,We can all just offer our own opinions & everyones is as valid as everybody elses, (the one exception here is Michael Mcmullen, who in the recent SnookerScene Podcast was just way off the mark!!) Secondly, my top 10 is taken purely from players I've seen in my lifetime.I am too young to remember Ray Reardon & John Spencer in their prime,so I have left both out of this list.<br />
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So anyway lets begin.<br />
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10. Mark Selby<br />
A controversial one to start with, putting the three times world champion & long time no.1 so low on the list, but if I'm honest, as a player , there are probably 10 or more I'd rank as at least his equal. the thing that seperates Selby from them is his unbelievable big match temprament. Time and time again he has dug a victory out of nowhere & if you could bottle his bottle, you would be a very rich man. He is an exapmle of what hard work can achieve & an example to any budding snooker player.<br />
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9. Judd Trump<br />
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As always with these things, the placings are a movable feast, so in a few years time, there is every probability that Trump will be higher than ninth,but for now that is where I rank him. Trumps career has been a curious one of false dawns. As a young teenager ,such was his reputation, that many expected him to do "a Ronnie" and blitz his way on to the circuit,but it didn't quite happen that way. It wasnt until he won the China Open in 2011 & followed it with world final appearence the following month, that he really arrived as top pro. He followed that up with the UK title that december & it looked like he could go on to dominate the sport for a decade, but again it just didn't happen.<br />
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It wasnt until about 18 months ago. when he made a few changes to his backroom team, including bringing in his brother that he finally started to become the player he's always threatened to be. Far from the world crown weighing heavy on his head, he has instead kicked on, with 6 ranking titles this season & with the combination of his main rivals, not getting any younger, plus no real threat coming through behind, we may well be facing into that decade of dominance I talked about earlier. Time will disclose all.<br />
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8.Ding Junhui<br />
if this were a list of the games most influential players, Ding would proably rank a lot higher , such has been his role in the rise of the sports popularity in his home country. This is probably best summed up in the tweet last yr from legendary athlete Michael Johnson, who expressed surprise on a trip to China, that the answer he lept getting to his " who is yur biggest sports star" was a snooker player. His breakthrough victory over Hendry, to win the China Open, while still an amateur propellled him to stardom. The huge weight of expectation placed on him from his adoring fans has not always rested easyily on him, but there is no doubt that he has been a trailblazer for his country & when he has produced his best,there have been few more beautiful breakbuilders in the game. The one big omission from his cv is the world title, but even if his career finishs without that wrong been righted, he is by far the best player we have seen emerge from that part of the world & even with so many now coming behind him, they will have to be very special indeed to overtake his achievments in the game.<br />
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7. Alex Higgins<br />
Ok , I know! , If i'm not including Reardon because he was past his prime when I started watching snooker how can I include Higgins? Well I suppose the answer is that, although Higgins best days were indeed behind him when the sport came on my radar, I still saw enough glimpses of his genius to appreciate how good he was. The phrase " his own worst enemy" could have invented to describe Alex ,but that should never take away from the snooker player he was. When Alex decided to put it all in to the game, he was simply superb. That 69 break againt Jimmy in '82 will forever be part of snooker folklore. I was lucky enough to be at Goffs in 1989 , where still limping after a broken ankle, he produced a wonderful display to beat Hendry in the final for what turned out to be his last hurrah. Such was his genius, I just don't think I could have this list without him on it<br />
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6.Jimmy White<br />
For a generation of snooker fans ,watching Jimmys attempts to claim his elusive world title have scarred them for life,but perhaps , as big a sadness is that his career has been defined by that failure. Reaching 6 world finals in the first place is a phenomenal achievement & when you look at a career haul of around 30 titles , you start to get a picture of how good he was. He is probably the only player to really span the Davis to Hendry era's & was just unlucky, that for about a 10 yr period, he was the second best in the world behind both.<br />
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5. Mark Williams<br />
Into the top 5 then & the first mention of the graduates of the class of '92. Williams, by any measure , has had a superb career. His victory in the 2018 world championship was a sporting fairytale after his career had seemed in terminal decline when hed failed to qualify just 12 months previously. His laid back demeanor belies a ruthless competitor & there have been few better than the Welshman at winning the scrappy frames. For a couple of seasons around the turn of the century he was practically unplayabe. I remeber in 2000, following a second successive Crucible semi final defeat to Williams, John Higgns exclaimed he didnt know what else he could do, that hed played as well as he ever could and had fallen short again.<br />
As can be said about the other members of the '92 club that I've yet to come to, How much would they have won without the other two around?<br />
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4. John Higgins<br />
Into the top 4 or as it might be known, the Mt. Rushmore of the sport. When it comes to matchpay snooker John Higgins there may be equal,but there have been none better the the "Wizard of Wishaw". He has always been granite around the table and if you needed someonw to clear the table to save your life ,your first call would be to this man. The one mystery in his career was the 9 years between his first & second world titles, but once he got his second wind ,he wasnt long rectifying that, with two more following in quick succession. One of the joys of my snooker watching life was a match between him & Ronnie at Goffs in the late '90's. I had a standing ticket & positioned myself on the upper level looking directly down at the table. the exhibition of break building & cueball control I saw that nght will always stay with me. Higgins is one of those players that its a pleasure to watch constructing a break, & equally watchable in a safety battle , because he just comes up with the most exquisite shots. The evidence of the last three finals suggest another world title might be just out of his reach now, but I would love to see him lift another one.<br />
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3. Stephen Hendry<br />
I suppose its a sign I'm getting older, that while I'm still banging the drum for the Davis era, there is a whole generation now who don't remember the Hendry one.Make no mistake though, (& as a Davis fan how I hated him) Stephen Hendry was for a period as close to unbeatable as you could get. In the early'90's in particular he cast a shadow over the rest like we will proably never see again. he didn't just walk around the table ,he prowled! A superb long potter & break builder, it was almost the worst thing you could ,to leave him with no choice but to try pot something ,His record of titles speaks for itself. The main reason I place him third behind the two I will list ahead of him is ,i think his one failing was his lack of a real "B game" , he rarely won ugly. Now in the '90's it can be reasonalby argued he played so well so often he didn't need one & in truth he prob was just too stubborn in his approach to develop one, but it is still a black mark against him & possibly a contributing factor in what looked a premature retirement.<br />
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2. Steve Davis<br />
It has become fashionable in recent years to put down the standard of play in the '80's, but to do so belittles some excellent players & none more so than "The Nugget". If Hendry cast a shadow over the rest in the '90's ,then we are talking about Davis as a sort of solar eclipse in the 80's. A well honed technique, a religious dedication to practice & a ruthless streak when it came to winning ,saw him become one of the most famous sportsmen in th world. What set him apart from others though was his almost childlike fascination with the game. He seemed to see every frame as a puzzle that needed to be solved and so every challenge was exciting. In his latter career he still had moments that served to remind people how good he was, be it his comeback victory over an on fire O'Sullivan to win 1997 Masters, reaching the 2005 UK championship final or beating reigning champion John Higgins, to reach the Crucible quarters in 2010. i have to say nothing in this sport annoys me more than people failing to respect just how good Steve was.<br />
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1.Ronnie O'Sullivan<br />
There really isn't anyone who disputes this anymore is there? Not only is Ronnie the greatest snooker player we have seen , or are ever likely to see, he is also possibly the most natural sporting genius we will ever see in any sport. From winning that first UK at 17, to still producing the standard he is now 27 years later says it all. yes there have been stumbles along the & times when his life off the table has threatened to overtake his career on it, but time & time again he has managed to successfully steer things around. The one stick that people have left to beat him with has been his failure to beat Hendrys haul of 7 world titles,but at this stage, I don't think the fact that Hendry enjoyed a couple more good fortnights in Sheffield is enough measured against everything else Ronnie has done.<br />
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So there you have it. I'm sure many will disagree with my choices, but they are my opinions.Feel free to disagree in the comment section here or on Twitter.<br />
<br />TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-14720264490471172512019-12-16T13:01:00.001-08:002019-12-17T02:50:51.182-08:00As one decade ends, Thoughts on what the next one might bringAs the final trophy of the decade was held aloft by Mark Selby last night, thoughts inevitably strayed back to what the last ten years have meant in the game & indeed,what the next ten years might bring.So I decided to dust off the old blog and share some of those thoughts.<br />
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Before looking forward then,a brief look back.</div>
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When you consider the depths the sport had sunk to At the start of the century,its quite remarkable to see it such rude health today and of course that is down to the genius of one man,Barry Hearn.</div>
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Without going in to too much detail the headlines speak for themselves,More tournaments in more places than ever before,with in total 54 more ranking titles on offer this decade compared to the previous one,an increase in prizemoney from £3.5 million to over £!6 million with the promise of more to come & a bigger world wide audience watching the sport than ever before,there really hasn't ever been a better time to be a professional snooker player.</div>
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Yes not everything has been perfect, the flat 128 format is not to everyones liking,the shortening of the matches in the UK Championship has knocked some of the sheen of a once great tournament & it'll be a cold day in hell before I recognise the Shoot Out as a ranking event,but the positives far outweigh any negatives and you shudder to think where we'd be if "Bazza" hadn't won that vote!</div>
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The other main change in the last decade has been the rise in the average age of the tournament winners. the accepted wisdom of the last 25 years.of this been a young mans game,has been shattered as 40 became the new 20.The reason for this are two fold.Firstly, in the past the thing that happened as players got older was their appetite for practice diminished,With so many tournaments now, players are in a constant state of match fitness, so the hard hours down the club have taken slightly less relevance. The other reason,is sadly a real lack of top talent coming through at the younger end of the scale.</div>
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So where does this leave as we look ahead to the "20's"</div>
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The <b>Class of '92 </b> have continued to thrill us much longer than any of us could have expected,but tide or time wait for no man & with Williams seemingly already slipping in to semi retirement,Ronnie missing more than he is playing this season & Higgins still fighting valiantly,to the point of yet another cue change,to try and find some consistency again,the end for this remarkable trio could be appearing soon on the horizon. That said I would be shocked if, before they do eventually leave the the stage, they didn't all have another title or two in them with a fair chance Ronnie could still add to his Triple Crown tally</div>
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Also heading towards the veteran stage of their careers as the new decade beckons are former triple crown winners <b>Selby, Robertson & Murphy.</b>It was perhaps appropriate that Selby, as the decades most prolific ranking winner,should win last nights Scottish Open & in the next few years he'll surely add to his already impressive 17 ranking titles .The same probably applies to Robertson & Murphy, but we are seeing now with all three a real struggle to get the consistency of old.So yes I do see them all winning more tournaments, but as to whether they will be winning them at the ages the three mentioned in the previous paragraph have ,I have my doubts.</div>
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All of which means is that we may well be entering a prolonged period of <b>Judd Trump </b>dominance in the sport. it could even be said that we are already there,with his victories at this year Masters & World Championship,as well as his big wins already this season. There is no reason why he can't add multiple Triple Crown victories to his cv in the coming years.Of his peers, his main competitors are probably Mark Allen, Kyren Wilson & a recently resurgent Ding junhui,but they will have to step it up to another level on a consistent basis if they are to compete with the Trump of the last 12 months.As for the players coming behind,I really don't see anyone capable of reaching that level & therein lies possibly the main problem facing the sport in the coming years.</div>
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Its something we have been hearing for many years ,& as of yet it has failed to materialise, but by pure weight of numbers coming through the teen ranks,it looks like China could well be the sports preeminent nation by the time the next decade finishes. We have this season seen Yan Bingtao rise above the others around him,becoming the third Chinese player to win a ranking title as well as reaching the UK semi finals and if the likes of Zhou Xintong,Zhou Yuelong,Yuan Sijun & Luo Honghao can make the leap,or indeed the next crop of young players who are inevitably coming through, the majority of the sports silverware will be heading East in the not to distant future.</div>
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From an Irish point of view, the opposite sadly applies. We started the decade with Ken Doherty & Fergal O'Brien flying the flag for the Rep.Of Ireland & despite a few false dawns with players getting on & then falling off the tour,we finish the decade with those two still our highest ranked players. There is a serious problem with snooker in this country at the moment & a big effort is needed by the governing body RIBSA to arrest the slide in interest. Just what they can do is another question! The one bright spark on the horizon is young Ross Bullman,who hopefully can gain a main tour place in the next year or two. </div>
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Staying at home, it'd be great to see a big tournament return to these shores sooner rather than later. The couple of years the PTC Grand Final were held in Galway they were well attended & the crowds that go to Goffs every year for the the "Legends Tour" show there is still an appetite for live snooker in this country. Personally my dream would be to see something return to Goffs,but anything anywhere could only be a shot in the arm for the game here.</div>
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Anyway thats it from me for now. Please feel free to add any thoughts of ur own to the above here or on Twitter,</div>
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Till next time</div>
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Terry Griffiths to all</div>
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TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-4850612775669256122019-01-21T04:01:00.002-08:002019-01-21T04:01:55.718-08:00The Masters -Thoughts On The WeekBefore we get going,I just want to announce that I've decided to change things up a bit with the blog & it will now be a weekly column concentrating on a different issue within the sport each week,so if anyone has anything they want to see discussed,please leave your suggestion in the comment section or contact me on Twitter @thegreenbaize<br />
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Anyway on to the matter in hand and a look back at what we learned over the last week at the Ally Pally.<br />
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Well there really is only one place to start & that is with our champion <b>Judd Trump</b>.His 10-4 victory over <b>Ronnie O'Sullivan</b> was as commanding a performance as you are likely to see in a big final and was really just a continuation of what he showed all week. In truth he has looked the likely winner of this tournament from frame one.<br />
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Like so many in the past I have been very critical of what appeared to be a lack of respect from Trump for both his talent & the game as a whole, I don't agree with the opinions flying around on social media last night that those suggestions have been proved incorrect,if anything, I think, this week has strengthened that argument. Trump himself has talked about a renewed determination to make the most of his career and the changes he has made really seem to be paying off. Just as the criticisms of the past were well warranted,he equally deserves to be lauded now and will be a force to reckoned with wherever he plays for the rest of the season.<br />
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There was also plenty of talk in the aftermath of last nights final that we had just witnessed a "changing of the guard" & "end of an era". I think this may also have been a tad premature.This was Ronnie's 13th final appearance at The Masters and and it would be a brave shout to say it will be his last. If anything,for fans of "The Rocket" seeing how the manner of this defeat seemed to really annoy him last night,it may well spark a renewed effort from him going forward ,even moreso than if he'd coasted to the title here. This one hurt and he'll not want it repeated!<br />
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Elsewhere the worrying form of <b>Mark Selby</b> in the "Majors" continued here as after a superb performance in his opening match,he looked all at sea in his quarter final against Trump. This has been a continuation of what we've seen from him over the last season and a half and although he has lifted titles in that time,you have to start wondering are his best days behind him?<br />
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Selby turns 36 in June and although snooker has increasingly become an older mans game in the last decade I just don't see him any signs that he can still produce the consistency he once did and in many ways the same applies to <b>Neil Robertson</b>,who turns 37 in a few weeks.Of course such predictions may be made look very silly in the coming months!<br />
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On another note,after what has been a very poor spell by his standards, it was great to see <b>Ding</b> <b>Junhui </b>again showing a bit of form. Hopefully he can kick on from here as it would be a real shame to see his career just peter out,without lifting a few more titles and maybe giving the Worlds another good rattle.For all the talk we've heard of the young players from China coming through,Ding is still the undisputed no.1 from that part of the world and the more success he continues to have ,the more the sport there will grow.<br />
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Finally just a word on the venue which has become the natural home for this tournament in recent years.Sometimes this sort of "fake auditorium" can really have a poor atmosphere,but here they have somehow managed to make a 2000 seat arena also appear quite intimate. Even watching on tv last week you could cut the tension with a knife at times.Snooker is a sport that really thrives on packed arenas full of people engaged in whats going on.Speaking of which,next stop on the tour is The Tempodrom for The German Masters!<br />
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Talk to ye next week.<br />
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<br />TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-32284635163897310492018-08-22T07:28:00.004-07:002021-05-16T11:05:50.651-07:00The Nugget & I, A Fans Story fully UpdatedFive years have now passed since I first posted this personal tribute to "The Nugget" and it remains to this day the blog for which I've received the most feedback .Of course with the passage of time some of what I've written no longer applies,but for this update I've decided to leave the original article untouched.However I have added at the end the most glorious postscript.<br />
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"How many times have I been here before" That was the thought that went through my head last Thursday as the clock ticked past midnight and Steve Davis completed his stirring comeback from 3-1 down to beat Jamie Jones 4-3 in the ET3 event in Doncaster. He would go on to the last 16 on Saturday where he was narrowly defeated 4-3 by Marco Fu,but that is not what I'm here to write about,rather this is an account of how in an ever changing world "The Nugget" has remained the one constant in my life for the last 35 yrs.<br />
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Thinking about it maybe is was always going to be thus,as September 1978 was not only the month Steve turned professional but also the month of my birth.This happy coincidence has meant my life has run in parallel with the career of the great man and boy what a career it has been.</div>
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Obviously at this remove it would be impossible to remember the exact moment I started to watch snooker and follow Steve,but I do have vivid memories of the "85" World final and was sufficiently interested in it to remember been possibly the only Irishman crying for Steve (I was only 7) when Taylor potted that black to lift the title.</div>
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My other memory from this time was a trip to Dublin on the eve of my First Holy Communion and walking half the city with my ever so patient parents,as we searched in vain for a blazer with a black waistcoat so I could look like the main man on my big day.To my disgust the nearest we could find was a maroon one which I refused to wear as it was too "Alex Higgins"!</div>
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Moving on the next thing to cross off the list was to see him play As I've said before i was lucky enough to live within a few miles of Goffs,the home of the Irish Masters,so to my delight that chance came in 1987 when,with my father,we made the first of what was to become an annual pilgrimage to semi finals Saturday.His opponent on this occasion was Terry Griffiths and after Steve had recorded a 6-2 win I remember queuing for his autograph and only his,as after Steve signed my book I took it and walked away just as Terry was getting ready to scribe his name on it.</div>
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The 80's drew to an end with Steve claiming a 6th World title with his most comprehensive win to date,an 18-3 victory over John Parrott.Surely,I thought,as the new decade began that this dominance of the game was set to continue!</div>
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Of course we now know it didn't .A combination of the arrival in the big time of Stephen Hendry (God how the 12 year old me hated him) and an alignment problem meant the man who had been almost unbeatable was now just another one of the pack. Titles were still won,but they were becoming fewer and further between.It should be noted that a despite this,a run of consistent form in 1994 had him just one victory away from regaining his World no.1 ranking but his world championship semi final defeat to Hendry meant that this would never again be the case.</div>
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The 90's rolled on and I would be lying to say it was always easy to watch,as it seemed at times that Steve's biggest opponent was not the man sitting in the opposite chair,but instead the ghost of his former self.That said though,as is often the case,this only made the victories,when they did come,all the sweeter.</div>
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The most sparkling of these at this time was his epic B&H Masters triumph over Ronnie O'Sullivan in 1997 at the old Wembley Conference Centre. This had looked most unlikely as Ronnie,playing snooker from the Gods raced into an 8-4 lead.Steve was not for lying down and he fought back to win 10-8.By this stage I had long given up watching the match from my armchair and was now kneeling in front of the tv willing every pot in.I think i still have the final stages on video somewhere.</div>
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Into a new century we moved and Steve seemed to change his outlook towards the game.Gone now the shackles of trying to compete with the past,but in their place an acceptance that everything must pass and a desire to keep trying to be competitive against a new generation of players.</div>
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This new approach has on occasion produced some stunning results,like his fabulous run to the final of the UK Championship in 2005 and his memorable second round victory over defending world champion John Higgins at the 2010 World Championship.(I'm not too proud to admit that this one also brought a tear to my eye) I for one couldn't think of better way to sign off if indeed this is to be his last hurrah at the Crucible</div>
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As for me my one remaining wish was to get a chance to play a frame against the great man and.thankfully that opportunity came in an exhibition,when I outbid all my rivals in a auction(I wont say how much I paid) to get that chance.The frame itself is something I will never forget as I struggled to control my shaking hands to play my opening shot.Steve to his credit gave me a generous handicap and plenty of chances which,as I managed to start potting a few,was enough to see me win the frame.The result was only secondary though to the thrill of playing the great man and to be honest I would have been equally happy to have sat there watching Steve knock in a century against me.</div>
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Thats it then and here we stand on the 22nd August 2013 the day of Steve's 56th birthday and he is still holding back the tide with the occasional displays of brilliance.</div>
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As for myself I have finally accepted that I'm not going to make it on the baize and have instead turned my hand instead to writing about the sport I love.Obviously to that end I have to try and be as impartial as possible when composing articles but I hope having read this you will forgive me,if every so often,that goes out the window when The Nugget is playing.</div>
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<b>August 2018</b></div>
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As we all know time or tide wait for no man and a slump in form during the 2013/14 season meant a strong world championship performance was needed to keep Steve on the tour. Unfortunately,despite one more heroic display, that had us once again on the edge of our seats, he went down 10-8 to Craig Steadman and so dropped out of the top 64.He did get a reprieve,when Barry Hearn announced the legends wildcards, but in truth he was probably only going through the motions at this stage & when he lost to Fergal O'Brien in the Worlds qualifiers in April 2016, a month after the sad death of his father & greatest supporter Bill, retirement seemed inevitable.He finally announced it at the Crucible, where he got to parade the famous trophy one more time to the rapturous applause of the crowd & I'm sure I wasn't the only one watching with a tear inn my eye an era drew to a close.</div>
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And that should indeed should have been it,but in January of 2018, when Stephen Hendry was forced to withdraw from the Senior Irish Masters,Steve was convinced to dust off his cue one more time and return for a last hurrah to the scene of so many of his triumphs in the past at Goffs Co.Kildare.</div>
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The return to this stage seemed to once again inspire Steve as he swept past Denis Taylor 3-1 in his first match & followed that up with a 3-0 victory over John Parrott in the semi final. The strange anomaly of all the years I had seen Steve play here was that we had never got tickets for the final,but that wasn't to happen again this time, as 31 years after the first,I made one final pilgrimage to see the "The Nug" .</div>
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As I walked in past the beautifully manicured hedges that surround this wonderful sales ring & past the statue of the horse Be My Guest,my thoughts drifted back to all the times I had walked this way in with my own late father.Boy how he would have loved to have been with me that night as Steve once again produced some superb snooker to beat Jonathan Bagley 4-0 to claim the Senior Irish Masters title in what was his last ever competitive snooker match.This really was the stuff of fairytales.</div>
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And so, this time, that is that ,What is left for me to say but simply, thanks Steve.</div>
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TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-15484528934262723762018-05-08T09:20:00.000-07:002018-05-08T09:20:24.086-07:00World Championship The Talking PointsSo as Mark Williams puts some clothes back on & the dust settles on another world championship, what exactly did we learn over the last two 17 days?<br />
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<b>The Class of '92</b><br />
In the piece I wrote in the wake of last years final ,I suggested that after seeing the way that Higgins faded on the final day against Selby,we were perhaps now at the stage where the games biggest prize might just be beyond these three great champions. Well how wrong was I, as Higgins & Williams once again proved the old adage of form been temporary ,but class been permanent.The way this year went whose to say this wont be be witnessing something similar next year?<br />
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<b>Ronnie O'Sullivan</b><br />
The main surprise ,after the sensational season he's had, was just how limply Ronnie, exited the tournament in round two.It is ever more likely that his final defeat in 2014 to Selby will be the closest he gets to a sixth world crown. However seeing his two oldest rivals contest the final may just give him the push he needs to really make one more concerted effort to get back to the Crucible summit & it will be interesting to see if his playing schedule next season is built around peaking in late April.<br />
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<b>Mark Selby</b><br />
Its been a strange season for Selby,who on the face of it had a decent campaign by picking up the International Championship & China Open titles, but elsewhere largely having a miserable time of it. In one prediction I did get right,I said in my preview that if he were to be vulnerable it would be in the early rounds and so it proved as Joe Perry dumped him out on the opening day.<br />
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It would be foolish to suggest that this heralds the end of Selby as a major force in the game, but you just wonder if we have been spoilt by the standard that O'Sullivan, Higgins & Williams have maintained into their 40's. This has not been the norm and at 35 Selby is older than Davis or Hendry were ,when their game went into terminal decline.Of course the game is different now,with more tournaments putting less emphasise on long periods of heavy practice & not really the talent coming behind that they were faced with, but I'm just saying, though I do see plenty more titles in Selbys future, it would be dangerous to just presume his best form will automatically return.I think this is even more so the case with 36 yr old Neil Robertson.<br />
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<b>Beaten semi finalists Wilson & Hawkins</b><br />
Its a rare thing to have two cracking semi finals at the Crucible ,but that's what we got here as Wilson & Hawkins pushed their opponents all the way.<br />
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It has been a difficult season for Hawkins off the table, but he showed his liking for the Crucible to again make a bold bid for the title. The fact he just came up short again in the semi final will be gut wrenching for him & you just wonder how many more times he can go to the well here and recover from the disappointment.<br />
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Wilson on the other hand gave the impression here that he will be contesting at the business end of this championship for many years to come.A great break builder, he is calm under pressure and has a self belief that he will win that never comes across as cocky.He will have learnt a lot from his first experience of the single table set up here and I would be shocked if he's not a major contender in all the big events next season as well as back at the Crucible.<br />
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<b>Ding & Trump</b><br />
Another year, another chance slips by for the two most talented players currently at the top of the game yet to claim the world crown.After two great runs at the title in the last two years,it seemed Ding had laid his Crucible ghosts to rest, but they came back to haunt him in abundance here as he bowed out tamely to Hawkins in the quarter finals. The most disappointing thing about him here was to see just haw little fight there was in him when Hawkins started to pull away.He would do well to spend his summer studying how John Higgins handles adversity as with his current attitude it would be hard to see him ever lifting the trophy here.<br />
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Judd Trump is another a the stage in his career where the world title, that at one stage seemed his destiny, is something that will forever allude him.Here again this year he was very lucky to escape from the first round against debutant Chris Wakelin ,before finally bowing out to John Higgins in a decider in the last 8.This on the face of it, was a good performance, but it was his comments, once again, about his opponents "luck" that struck me. This seems to be a trend with Trump in recent times after defeat, he blames everything bar his own shortcomings for his defeat. If this sort if attitude continues to go unchecked he will continue to be the sports top nearly man.One "Triple Crown" title is a poor return on his talent. It may be up to someone in his circle to start pointing out some uncomfortable home truths to him.<br />
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So thats it then, as a season dominated by the over 40's ends with Mark J Williams deservedly getting his name on the sports most famous trophy for a third time, we are as always left with a mountain of questions as to what the new season will bring.Lets hope whatever happens it will prove as enjoyable as the one just past.Enjoy your summer.<br />
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<br />TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-57554624503241645742018-05-07T15:37:00.002-07:002018-05-07T15:37:53.461-07:00Mark Williams 2018 World ChampionMark Williams is the 2018 world champion after finally seeing off John Higgins 18-16 in one of the best finals we've seen here in many years,<br />
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The story of the season has been the resurgence of the "class of 92" so it was, in retrospect, not that big a surprise to see two of them in the final, but perhaps what we might not have expected, was just how much both men would have left in the tank after 17 days of intense competition.<br />
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Starting out today Williams would have been delighted the way he rallied to claim that 10-7 overnight lead, having been earlier pegged back to 7-7, and things just got better straight out the gate today as he took the first four frames to the interval to lead 14-7.<br />
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Williams was now looking a man completely at one with his game as he serenely floated around the table,there was even whispers of it finishing with a session to spare, but we should know by now, you count out John Higgins at your peril.Back came the Scot after the interval,but although he did take three of the next four, he still had it all to do trailing 15-10 coming into the night session.<br />
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What Higgins needed to produce tonight was a perfect session of snooker and it certainly started that way, with a 131 in the opener to close to 15-11.The next two frames followed a similar pattern, as Williams was suddenly struggling to get over the line in frames and two big dishes (67 &82) from Higgins saw him close to with two at 15-13.<br />
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Amazingly he also took the next to the go to the interval just the one behind at 15-14 and then followed it up with a 62 break when they resumed to draw level at 15-15.<br />
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Just what was going through Williams head at this stage is anyones guess,but having lost 8 of the previous 9 frames, he showed just why he has won so many big tournaments over the years to steady the ship and edge ahead again at 16-15,<br />
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A 100 break in the 32nd frame moved him to the brink at 17-15 and the title looked all but his as his break reached 63 in the next, only for him to then miss match ball pink.Higgins being Higgins cleared nervelessly with 65 to make it 17-16.<br />
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By now we were wondering what else could happen in this one,but in got Williams again in the next and this time there was no mistake as he sealed the title with a fine break of 69.<br />
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So a third world title for Williams, 15 years after his second and one year after failure to qualify for the championship had him contemplating retirement. Whether this revival is entirely down to his devotion to the "SightRight" techniques or the fact that trying something new just gave the encouragement to practice seriously again its impossible to know, but what it has done is provide one of the games greats with a boost of confidence that has seen him back in the winners circle three times this season, including the biggest one of all.<br />
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For Higgins after all he has battled, not just in this match, but at various times over the fortnight, this will be a crushing defeat. He will look back at the slow start he made yesterday as perhaps the key moments in this match and although he can be rightly proud of how he fought his way back into it, you just wonder if now after a second world final defeat in a row ,if a fifth title will just prove beyond him.<br />
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We must finish though, by again saluting our champion. It was so nice to see his family living every shot from the balcony,especially when you remember that for his kids, this is their first time seeing him on top of the world. It also serves as a timely reminder for a newer generation of snooker fans, who perhaps don't pay due respect to the past, that when we dine out on talk of the games all times greats, Mark J Williams deserves his place at the table.TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-76476556720280344022018-05-06T15:10:00.000-07:002018-05-06T15:10:11.097-07:00World Final Day One.Nostalgia was very much the order of the day today,as we started the best of 35 final wondering,would we be seeing John Higgins lift the trophy for a fifth time, 20 years after winning his first or would it be Mark Williams claiming a third title 15 years after his second?<br />
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For all though that these two are the oldest pairing to reach a final in Crucible history,,there is no fluke about it, as both have shown all season that they are still forces to be reckoned with in the game and have at various times in the last two weeks produced some of their very best snooker.<br />
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The question starting out today,was just how much they both had left in the tank for this one,with focus especially on Williams following his late night finish in the semi final.<br />
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Any worries on this score were quickly put to bed though as Williams settled immediately to lead 4-0 and it was Higgins who was struggling to find his touch. We knew however it would only be a matter of time before he did and having got off the mark in frame five,he took three of the next four to trail by two at the end of the first session, the score 5-3.<br />
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Into tonight's nine frame session and if the afternoon was about settling, tonight was about showing they meant business ,as the standard noticeably went up a notch. Here the four frames to the interval were shared to move the score along to 7-5,but when Higgins then took the next two to level at 7-7 you sensed he might be finally getting on top.<br />
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Williams was having none of it though as he responded to Higgins's equalising century with one of his own to regain the lead at 8-7, before also taking the next to extend it to 9-7.<br />
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One frame left then and although both had chances it was again Williams who took to just edge the session and extend his overnight lead to three again at 10-7.<br />
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So advantage Williams then,but this one is a long way from over and since we're dealing in nostalgia, wouldn't it be nice if we had a final frame decider for the first time in 16 yearsTheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-63391425448092304242018-05-05T16:26:00.001-07:002018-05-05T16:26:36.067-07:00SEmi HinalThe 2018 world final will be a case of back to the future as John Higgins faces off against his fellow "class of 92" graduate Mark Williams for the games biggest prize.<br />
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First up John Higgins reached his seventh Crucible decider after a hard fought victory over Kyren Wilson..I said in my preview of this match that if Wilson were to win this, he probably needed a good start to capitalise on any tiredness Higgins may have been feeling after his last eight tussle with Trump, but although Higgins was visibly showing signs of fatigue, Wilson couldn't make the most of it and Higgins would have been delighted to emerge with a 5-3 lead from the opening session.<br />
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This turned out to be the key moment in this one as,try as he might over the following two days Wilson was continuously playing catch up. If the match against Trump showed Higgins's at his determined best,this match showed just what a dogged matchplayer he can be,even when not at his best For large parts of this match Higgins scoring just wasn't there,but he kept eking out the frames he needed to maintain his advantage throughout.<br />
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Starting today he still lead by two at 13-11 and by the mid session interval that had moved along to 15-13.From here it was fight to the line and as so often in the past This was where Higgins showed his class,knocking in breaks of 100 & 98 to seal a 17-13 win.<br />
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So for Higgins a chance to right the wrongs of last years final defeat to Selby, for Wilson some time to reflect on a season that saw him reach a Masters final & experience the one table set up at the Crucible for the first time.He can take a lot of positives from what he did here & it would be a shock if we don't see at the business end here for many years to come.<br />
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The other semi final seemed to following a similar pattern as Hawkins opened up an early two frame lead at 5-3,that turned into 9-7 & 13-11 over the next two sessions.<br />
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The standard had been pretty high in this in this one over the first 24 frames,but with a place in the final at stake, that was not to continue into the final session.<br />
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Twitching was the name of the game as the last session turned into a bit of a slog with both players struggling to find some rhythm. It was Williams though who was putting the frames on the board and he levelled things up at the interval at 14-14.<br />
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Best of 33 had now become best of 5,but by now nothing was coming easy to either of these two great competitors.Hawkins did edge ahead again at 15-14,but William again drew level ,before taking the lead for the first time in the match at 16-15.<br />
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The next frame was a long tense affair,but eventually Williams potted a marvellous long pink and then rolled in the black to reach the world final for the first time in 15 years.<br />
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So will it be a 5th title for Higgins or a 3rd for Williams?<br />
Well after 15 gruelling days of competition, the world final always to some degree comes down to who has the most left in the tank and this time that might be even more relevant than ever .These two great champions have been pushed to the limit at various times over the fortnight and it could very easily boil down to who has something left for one last push to the top of the hill.<br />
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It is for this reason I just favour Higgins, he has the most recent experience of these back to back four session matches and although he did fade on the final day against Selby last yr,I still think he will have enough in reserve for another world crown this time <b>score prediction 18-13</b>TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912061829482026370.post-62444048696254461722018-05-02T15:31:00.003-07:002018-05-02T15:31:51.623-07:00Quarter Final Round up plus Semi Final PreviewAnd then there were four, after a day that delivered three one sided victories,but one dramatic finish that had the Crucible rocking.<br />
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On paper the match up between John Higgins & Judd Trump looked to be the tie of the round and boy was that to be proven to be correct,in what was a match for the ages.<br />
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Higgins had reached this stage with some superb snooker in his opening two matches , whereas Trump had largely struggled to reach this stage.<br />
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For all that though, it was Trump who got off to the better start to lead after the first session 5-3. When he extended that lead to 7-3 this morning he looked to be taking control, but we should know better at this stage than to write off Higgins & back he came to not only draw level ,but to maybe consider himself unfortunate not to lead 9-7.<br />
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That last frame of the session did go to Trump though to leave it 8-8 and present us with a mouth watering best of nine for a place in the last four.<br />
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Into the night then and it was once again Trump who stamped his authority early to lead 11-9. Higgins though did yet again what great champions do when their back id to the wall, he knuckled down and fought back , taking the next three to lead 12-11.<br />
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Higgins was in first in the next,but this time it was Trump who showed the type of character that he has so often in the past lacked to clear to the blue and force the decider.<br />
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Higgins would not be denied though and he made the most of his second scoring chance to secure a hard fought 13-12 win.<br />
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In the semi final he will face the youngest man left in the tournament, in Kyren Wilson.<br />
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Wilson reached the single table set up for the first time with a sparkling 13-6 victory over Mark Allen. <br />
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Many , myself included , thought this would be a closely fought encounter,but a superb second session saw Wilson establish an 11-5 overnight lead and the from here the result was never in doubt.<br />
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Talking of one sided matches, Barry Hawkins once again showed his liking for this place with a 13-5 demolition job on Ding Junhui.<br />
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Following Ronnies exit in the last round many were predicting that this would be the year that Ding finally delivered the games biggest prize,but having looked in fine touch in the earlier rounds ,he was once again found lacking when the pressure came on and really bowed out here quite tamely.If this is something he wants to rectify,he would do well to watch a recording of John Higgins tonight<br />
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Hawkins will face Mark Williams,whose revival has been one of the stories of the season and the Welshman will be quietly fancying his chances of a third world title here after another strong finish to see off Ali Carter.<br />
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A close finish had looked on the cards here also, but starting the night leading 9-7 Williams floated his way to a 11-7 lead that left the result in little doubt.Carter dug deep to close to 11-8,but that was to be his last frame of the match, Williams running out a comfortable 13-8 winner in the end.<br />
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So what of the semi finals. Well the old sentimentalist in me would love to see a Higgins v Williams final,but really such is the degree of respect in the snooker world for all four of these competitors, no matter who wins it will be a great story.<br />
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As far as predictions go I think the key question in the Wilson v Higgins match will be just how much that last eight match took out of the veteran Scot.<br />
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Of course it is a four session match over three days,but we have seen time and time again just how important those early exchanges can be. I think if Higgins can at least stay close in the first session tomorrow he may just have a bit too much experience at this level for his young opponent.<br />
<b>Prediction 17-12 Higgins</b><br />
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If that one is hard to call then the match between Hawkins & Williams is nearly impossible.<br />
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Hawkins has of course been a regular at the business here in recent years,but perhaps the main difference this year is the fact that he has reached this stage without much drama and as a result will have plenty more left in the tank.<br />
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For Williams,I think, in recent years he has felt that these days were behind him and now finding himself here again he wont want to give it away easily.<br />
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For that reason I just favour the Welshman to edge this and give us that dream final ,but it will be close <b>Prediction</b> <b>17-15 to Williams</b><br />
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<br />TheGreenBaizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02446074964782709486noreply@blogger.com0