Topic: The Snooker thread

[Boston Bosox]

oh look bing's got in and missed again.

Yep 



I jinxed him

[Eeyore]

his loss of form was years before that. it's been well over 15 years since he was actually any good.

He only dropped out of the top 16, a decade ago.

[voodoo ray]

He only dropped out of the top 16, a decade ago.

only because of a mini resurgance of a year or so.

his career is really quite odd.

[Boston Bosox]

1 Frame Away

[Keith Lard]

So boring … this is the kind of stuff that puts people off snooker. Even I’m thinking of turning off and watching something on Netflix … such fucking dull characters in these semis

[voodoo ray]

obviously jones can't just win it in one visit. nope. has to miss a ball he should pot and carry on the fucking torture.

[Keith Lard]

obviously jones can't just win it in one visit. nope. has to miss a ball he should pot and carry on the fucking torture.

Someone shoot me 🫠

[meady1981]

I think they’re both just goosed

[TheShanklyGates]

We'll be getting a new world champion on Monday! Wilson has to be the favourite but Jones has had an excellent tournament too.

[voodoo ray]

it's finally over

[Red-Soldier]

Wilson has been one of the best players in the tournament.

They are both there on merit.

[Keith Lard]

I’d be crushed to have bought final tickets in advance and then have to watch Wilson v Jones 😂

Wouldn’t be surprised if people are selling them for cut price on stub hub. I’d pay quarter of the ticket price.

So many empty seats.

All that being said, I’ll tune in for the evening session on Monday if it’s close.

[Keith Lard]

Wilson has been one of the best players in the tournament.

They are both there on merit.

Absolutely … Jak Jones has been damn solid. Throwback snooker.

[meady1981]

I’ve actually quite enjoyed the tournament in a way. Bit of a scrappy up any down one. Some of it has been laughably entertaining.

[meady1981]

Someone being told off for eating sweets, someone possibly passing out drunk or asleep in the second row, the door incident in the Ronnie game, the multiple reds replacement. It’s all felt a bit chuckle brothers and has reminded me of the 80’s.

[Keith Lard]

Someone being told off for eating sweets, someone possibly passing out drunk or asleep in the second row, the door incident in the Ronnie game, the multiple reds replacement. It’s all felt a bit chuckle brothers and has reminded me of the 80’s.

Lol for definite. Doesn’t help have utter dick heads like Hearn and O’Sullivan constantly talking down UK snooker and Ronnie constantly taking a shit on the sport. I swear when he’s gone the sport will boom again. Stupid twat

[Keith Lard]

I’ve actually quite enjoyed the tournament in a way. Bit of a scrappy up any down one. Some of it has been laughably entertaining.

It’s been ok. Forgettable really

[Eeyore]

We'll be getting a new world champion on Monday! Wilson has to be the favourite but Jones has had an excellent tournament too.

My guess would be Wednesday at this rate.

[Keith Lard]

One highlight is I love Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis on the comms and doing punditry. Proper living legends and so entertaining.

Check out Stephen Hendry’s cue tips YouTube channel. It’s dynamite. Such a great guy and love his funny, caustic commentary.

And Steve Davis the epic DJ … just couldn’t make this shit up. Greater characters.

Likes of Davis, Hendry, Alex Higgins, Jimmy White, Dennis Taylor … list goes on. We had amazing characters in the game that respected the sport. Give me that any day over having an utterly self involved twat like O’Sullivan being the poster boy.

[voodoo ray]

My guess would be Wednesday at this rate.

they probably could do with considering a reserve day....

[Wabaloolah]

One highlight is I love Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis on the comms and doing punditry. Proper living legends and so entertaining.

Check out Stephen Hendry’s cue tips YouTube channel. It’s dynamite. Such a great guy and love his funny, caustic commentary.

And Steve Davis the epic DJ … just couldn’t make this shit up. Greater characters.

Likes of Davis, Hendry, Alex Higgins, Jimmy White, Dennis Taylor … list goes on. We had amazing characters in the game that respected the sport. Give me that any day over having an utterly self involved twat like O’Sullivan being the poster boy.

completely agree

[Robinred]

I’d be crushed to have bought final tickets in advance and then have to watch Wilson v Jones 😂

Wouldn’t be surprised if people are selling them for cut price on stub hub. I’d pay quarter of the ticket price.

So many empty seats.

All that being said, I’ll tune in for the evening session on Monday if it’s close.

Given your extreme dislike of O’Sullivan, why are you so averse to the idea of having tickets for a final he’s not in? And your comment about empty seats is honestly just plain daft. If you’re averse to snooker that’s not one winning clearance after another, your comments evoking memories of past greats don’t make much sense either.

[Keith Lard]

Given your extreme dislike of O’Sullivan, why are you so averse to the idea of having tickets for a final he’s not in? And your comment about empty seats is honestly just plain daft. If you’re averse to snooker that’s not one winning clearance after another, your comments evoking memories of past greats don’t make much sense either.

I understand there are contradictions in what I say

There is a place for a self involved twat like O’Sullivan. I love watching him play. I just wish we had more big time winning characters in the sport today.

And I like all the boys that were in the semis. I just found myself nodding off a bit at times. If we’d had just one big player like a Mark Williams, Ronnie or Selby in the semis it’d be different.

Last years worlds were great. Loved watching Luca.

Contradiction of the day - I love watching Mark Selby 😂

[Robinred]

I understand there are contradictions in what I say

There is a place for a self involved twat like O’Sullivan. I love watching him play. I just wish we had more big time winning characters in the sport today.

And I like all the boys that were in the semis. I just found myself nodding off a bit at times. If we’d had just one big player like a Mark Williams, Ronnie or Selby in the semis it’d be different.

Last years worlds were great. Loved watching Luca.

Contradiction of the day - I love watching Mark Selby 😂

Fair enough. Hope you tune in and against your expectations, actually enjoy it.👍

[Keith Lard]

Fair enough. Hope you tune in and against your expectations, actually enjoy it.👍

I’m sure I probably will mate and it’s often these ones that seem a bit underwhelming that end up being corkers. Strangely I also usually love the tactical play. Suppose I just wasn’t in the mood for it this evening.

You know, I think I wanted to be a bit entertained after the dreariness of recent weeks watching Liverpool. Could really do with us giving a team a good hiding.

[Keith Lard]

Oh, and btw I’m really down on O’Sullivan right now because of the saudi ambassador crap and the way he talked down the masters. I love going to ally pally and watching a few sessions there. He can just be a complete vibe killer.

All that aside, I can’t deny I enjoy watching him play and stirring things up at times. Just wish he’d not play into the hands of sportswashing scumbags and nasty wideboys like the hearns of this world, who would gladly asset strip uk sport for personal gain.

[west_london_red]

Oh, and btw I’m really down on O’Sullivan right now because of the saudi ambassador crap and the way he talked down the masters. I love going to ally pally and watching a few sessions there. He can just be a complete vibe killer.

All that aside, I can’t deny I enjoy watching him play and stirring things up at times. Just wish he’d not play into the hands of sportswashing scumbags and nasty wideboys like the hearns of this world, who would gladly asset strip uk sport for personal gain.

He’s a stooge for the Saudis, all he’s doing when he criticizes the venues and money is shilling for them.

The ‘LIV’ Snooker tour is just a matter of time and he’ll be it’s poster boy.

[Robinred]

Oh, and btw I’m really down on O’Sullivan right now because of the saudi ambassador crap and the way he talked down the masters. I love going to ally pally and watching a few sessions there. He can just be a complete vibe killer.

All that aside, I can’t deny I enjoy watching him play and stirring things up at times. Just wish he’d not play into the hands of sportswashing scumbags and nasty wideboys like the hearns of this world, who would gladly asset strip uk sport for personal gain.

The Hearns are the very embodiment of the term ‘working class’ Tories - I detest them. Ronnie is surprisingly, though admittedly naively, a person who’s espoused left wing views in the past. His advocacy for Saudi is still entirely unacceptable, but I strongly suspect he’s politically a child, so I cut him some slack.

[Keith Lard]

He’s a stooge for the Saudis, all he’s doing when he criticizes the venues and money is shilling for them.

The ‘LIV’ Snooker tour is just a matter of time and he’ll be it’s poster boy.

Yup bang on

[Keith Lard]

The Hearns are the very embodiment of the term ‘working class’ Tories - I detest them. Ronnie is surprisingly, though admittedly naively, a person who’s espoused left wing views in the past. His advocacy for Saudi is still entirely unacceptable, but I strongly suspect he’s politically a child, so I cut him some slack.

Yup also agree with this!

[Wabaloolah]

I think it's great that there will be a different winner again this year, I'm also glad O'Sullivan is out as I can just enjoy the final without having to want whoever he's playing to win.

Obviously I hope Jak wins as I used to work in Cwmbran but suspect Wilson will be too strong

[Wabaloolah]

JJ up to 14th in the world, up 30 places even if he doesn't win

[Keith Lard]

I think it's great that there will be a different winner again this year, I'm also glad O'Sullivan is out as I can just enjoy the final without having to want whoever he's playing to win.

Obviously I hope Jak wins as I used to work in Cwmbran but suspect Wilson will be too strong

You guys are getting me well into this final now

Yep I want Jak to win too. I like his scowly face, and he's a really good player. Been impressed with him ever since I first watched him after the Si Jiahui match ... someone made me laugh when they said he looks like the guy who goes to a wedding in the evening.

As for Wilson being too strong, I wouldn't bet against Jak too. He seems to be made of good stuff for the crucible. And now he has experience of the single table setup and has beaten a proper winner like Bingham (who beat Ronnie, so I suppose Jak indirectly beat Ronnie lol), I think this will give him great confidence going into the semi.

Also, I watched the post match interview with Wilson after he beat Gilbert Grape. Seems a lovely fella, but I get the impression he might get a bit in his own head tomorrow. Was talking a lot of about eating salmon, using hypnotherapists, etc. Whereas Jak seems to be made of simple granite. Come on Jak Be our grumpy Welsh wedding crasher underdog winner

[Keith Lard]

JJ up to 14th in the world, up 30 places even if he doesn't win

Dayum, that's awesome. That's the great thing about breakthrough players ... next year, they become star attractions. To state the obvious

[mattD]

Wilson v Gilbert would have been a good final.

A shame Gilbert just fell away towards the end there but he's fabulous to watch when on form, likewise Kyren. The first session or so in that semi-final was top quality from the pair of them.

Hoping Wilson wins this title. He deserves it.

[Eeyore]

He’s a stooge for the Saudis, all he’s doing when he criticizes the venues and money is shilling for them.

The ‘LIV’ Snooker tour is just a matter of time and he’ll be it’s poster boy.

Not advocating Ronnie being an ambassador for the Saudi's. However, the money and the venues are genuinely poor and he was saying that way before the Saudi's got involved in snooker.

The truth is that the vast majority of professional snooker players earn a pittance.

This is Barry Hearn talking about what players earn.

“I probably would never have brought that in (£20,000 basic expenses for contracted players),” Hearn told BettingSites.co.uk. “Because I like death and glory. Get in there and win, and make a lot of money. Or you starve, and that’s brutal, but sport is brutal. And I always felt that you need to put that thought in people’s heads. Ruthlessness. This is not a world for losers. We can’t all win, but we can all try to win.”

 

[Wabaloolah]

Wilson v Gilbert would have been a good final.

A shame Gilbert just fell away towards the end there but he's fabulous to watch when on form, likewise Kyren. The first session or so in that semi-final was top quality from the pair of them.

Hoping Wilson wins this title. He deserves it.

why does Wilson deserve it over Jones?

 He'll deserve it if he wins 18 frames of snooker

[Keith Lard]

Not advocating Ronnie being an ambassador for the Saudi's. However, the money and the venues are genuinely poor and he was saying that way before the Saudi's got involved in snooker.

The truth is that the vast majority of professional snooker players earn a pittance.

This is Barry Hearn talking about what players earn.

“I probably would never have brought that in (£20,000 basic expenses for contracted players),” Hearn told BettingSites.co.uk. “Because I like death and glory. Get in there and win, and make a lot of money. Or you starve, and that’s brutal, but sport is brutal. And I always felt that you need to put that thought in people’s heads. Ruthlessness. This is not a world for losers. We can’t all win, but we can all try to win.”

 

Got to agree with this to be honest ... we can't compare selling out in football to selling out in snooker. It's a joke that the winner of the worlds only gets less than a week's wages of what Jordan Henderson earned out in Saudi. Barry Hearn was right when he said the winner of the world championships should be getting £2m.

[meady1981]

If you’re Ronnie O’Sullivan, lauded as the greatest player of all time, and consistently talked of as one of the most talented sportspeople pound for pound that there is, you’re probably going to be a little underwhelmed that your 30year career winnings is about the same as Thiagos takings for being injured for a year. I’m not sure it’s even purely the money that’s the factor for him he’s always appeared pretty frugal for what he is. He seems to want to just be pampered and have first class amenities that other sports figures do, which they offer in Asia. Let’s face it, Snooker in Britain is still amateur hour and Hearn and co see him as a necessary annoyance. That’s probably why things like the door being open and people bumbling around get to him so much.

I’m not necessarily agreeing with any of this. The Fawlty Towers aspect of snooker is why me and my wife still watch it. It is ridiculous sometimes but beautifully charming. I can understand why he would want out and to be treated like a god though. That’s what all genius’s want.

[Statto Red]

Got to agree with this to be honest ... we can't compare selling out in football to selling out in snooker. It's a joke that the winner of the worlds only gets less than a week's wages of what Jordan Henderson earned out in Saudi. Barry Hearn was right when he said the winner of the world championships should be getting £2m.

Yeah, this is a breakdown of the prize money on offer at the world championship

Winner: £500,000
Runner-up: £200,000
Semi-finalists: £100,000
Quarter-finalists: £50,000
Last 16: £30,000
Last 32: £20,000
Last 48: £15,000
Last 80: £10,000
Last 112: £5,000
Highest break (qualifying stage included): £15,000
A bonus of £40,000 is on offer for a maximum break made at the Crucible

You really need to be reaching the quarter finals to make any decent money, even then that might not be enough to pay bills & such

The Crucible itself iconic for Snooker, is quite a small venue, it only holds 980 people, the Alexandra Palace which hosts the masters has a much larger capacity.