Topic: The Snooker thread

[voodoo ray]

What’s the winter gardens?

the place hazel and the pundits are in the afternoons. someone playing on the table that looked like a bloke in a dress and someone tried showing some hand-drawn 'sign' on camera mentioning something about women's sport. someone looking like security went and got it.

[Statto Red]

Who had Dave Gilbert and Jak Jones as the first two confirmed semi finalists?

Strange from Maguire, one snooker needed & he concedes the frame & match, snooker quite gettable too even though he was hampered by the pink.

[Statto Red]

What’s the winter gardens?

They have the cue zone in the Winter Gardens throughout the tournament, & its where the BBC present the morning/afternoon coverage from until the quarter finals, the BBC move the coverage from the theater itself from tomorrow, when it's down to one table format.

[meady1981]

the place hazel and the pundits are in the afternoons. someone playing on the table that looked like a bloke in a dress and someone tried showing some hand-drawn 'sign' on camera mentioning something about women's sport. someone looking like security went and got it.

Protesting about the pockets I expect

[meady1981]

Bit more like it from Ronaldo. It’s obviously the sponsor patch that’s been holding him back.

[voodoo ray]

Protesting about the pockets I expect

The lad in the dress defo didn't have any.

[Hazell]

Who had Dave Gilbert and Jak Jones as the first two confirmed semi finalists?

This person:

I've always been a fan of Maguire, hope he makes it through. It's probably the match I'm most looking forward to, 2 of the others could be pretty one sided and don't really like watching Wilson.

[Boston Bosox]

looks like it's going to be 8-8

[fridgepants]

the place hazel and the pundits are in the afternoons. someone playing on the table that looked like a bloke in a dress and someone tried showing some hand-drawn 'sign' on camera mentioning something about women's sport. someone looking like security went and got it.

When a trans woman won a women's tour tournament all the weird transphobes on Mumsnet were suddenly experts on snooker and how sex-based differences (height, hand span, testosterone, apparently) affect ability to play, as though Zhao Xintong wasn't beating big tall players constantly that season. (There's an argument that snooker being such a male-dominated world might give an advantage to a player who grew up male but transitioned after they started playing seriously, because it would have been easier in some ways to 'join in' hence the women's tour existing as a separate thing in the first place despite the main tour being open to all players, but they didn't know enough about snooker to look at it that way.)  I wonder if it was one of them.

[Schmarn]

Thought Ronnie might sprint off at 8-6. Bingham did well there, Ronnie didn’t get a sniff in those two frames.

At least Ronnie is cueing well. Fancy him to win still but Bingham won’t hand it over. I reckon 13-10 Ronnie.

The other semi looks like going all the way. Higgins will be half dead if he scrapes through again. I’ll go Kyren 13-12.

Should be another cracking night.

[Knight]

When a trans woman won a women's tour tournament all the weird transphobes on Mumsnet were suddenly experts on snooker and how sex-based differences (height, hand span, testosterone, apparently) affect ability to play, as though Zhao Xintong wasn't beating big tall players constantly that season. (There's an argument that snooker being such a male-dominated world might give an advantage to a player who grew up male but transitioned after they started playing seriously, because it would have been easier in some ways to 'join in' hence the women's tour existing as a separate thing in the first place despite the main tour being open to all players, but they didn't know enough about snooker to look at it that way.)  I wonder if it was one of them.

Anyone who thinks being a biological male won't give advantages in a sport like snooker doesn't understand sport. Or male vs female physiology. As the sporting world now accepts.

[fridgepants]

The IOC - and by extension WST - classes it as a game of skill ie. sex differences have minimal bearing on participation. WST are happy for men and women to compete on the main tour together in recent years. So I'd be happy to defer to their view, as they're in the sports science field and I am not. (As someone female who is taller than the average man, with feet that don't fit into 'women's shoes' for the most part, I'm very wary of biologically essentialist arguments that assume all women are tiny, if only because nobody wants to be thought of as a big galoot.)

I was more amused by a group of anti-trans people suddenly being experts in a sport they hadn't given a fuck about until five minutes earlier.

[Peabee]

Anyone who thinks being a biological male won't give advantages in a sport like snooker doesn't understand sport. Or male vs female physiology. As the sporting world now accepts.

 

Nonsense. It's historically been played in social clubs dominated by men (it was originally called a gentleman's sport until the modern era), leading to it being a male dominated sport, and therefore boys growing up were also more likely to play from a young age. It's a skill game. How are men more skilled than women?

That whole "anyone who thinks X, doesn't understand Y" is a cliched non-argument too.

[Peabee]

The IOC - and by extension WST - classes it as a game of skill ie. sex differences have minimal bearing on participation. WST are happy for men and women to compete on the main tour together in recent years. So I'd be happy to defer to their view, as they're in the sports science field and I am not. (As someone female who is taller than the average man, with feet that don't fit into 'women's shoes' for the most part, I'm very wary of biologically essentialist arguments that assume all women are tiny, if only because nobody wants to be thought of as a big galoot.)

I was more amused by a group of anti-trans people suddenly being experts in a sport they hadn't given a fuck about until five minutes earlier.

Same with chess. Men are more successful because far more men have been playing it from a young age and dedicating their lives to it. Nothing biological.

[Knight]

Nonsense. It's historically been played in social clubs dominated by men (it was originally called a gentleman's sport until the modern era), leading to it being a male dominated sport, and therefore boys growing up were also more likely to play from a young age. It's a skill game. How are men more skilled than women?

That whole "anyone who thinks X, doesn't understand Y" is a cliched non-argument too.

Re your final line, fair comment I shouldn’t have said that. I’d argue physiological differences matter in snooker - reach and cue power. But also, even if it’s a skill game. Biological men have hand eye coordination advantages too.

[amir87]

Bingham looking very comfortable here.

[Statto Red]

Bingham looking very comfortable here.

Yeah, stole a frame to go 10-9 up that O'Sullivan should have won, in for a cracking last few frames.

[Robinred]

Re your final line, fair comment I shouldn’t have said that. I’d argue physiological differences matter in snooker - reach and cue power. But also, even if it’s a skill game. Biological men have hand eye coordination advantages too.

C’mon both. You’re both good posters who add value to the site. If you’re going to have an argument, make it about something worthwhile, not a topic that the Tories have weaponised in their latest bout of culture wars (listening to Kemi Badenoch on R4 today, using this issue to score cheap media points, was depressing).

[meady1981]

Oh Ronnie!

[meady1981]

Phew.

[Statto Red]

WTF was O'Sullivan thinking on that yellow, he just needed to roll it in, but managed to pinch the frame anyway, 10-10 at the mid session.

[voodoo ray]

https://twitter.com/eurosport/status/1785733164217823499

Not great.

[voodoo ray]

Bloody farcical scenes with that fucking door.

[TheShanklyGates]

Feels like Ronnie's on the brink here.

[meady1981]

Feels like Ronnie's on the brink here.

He's not been on it at all really

[Red-Soldier]

He's not been on it at all really

Bingham is the first decent player, he's played.  Bingham rolling back the years, here.  Looks good.

[amir87]

Some of Ronnie’s decision making has been erratic at best but fair play to Bingham for punishing him.

[Schmarn]

Bingham playing like peak Hendry after being middling all year.

Ronnie only has himself to blame though. Some poor shots at key moments has left Bingham with open balls.

[voodoo ray]

Ronald isn't beaten until he is. Still wouldn't be surprised to see him win 13-12.

[Schmarn]

Ronald isn't beaten until he is. Still wouldn't be surprised to see him win 13-12.

I dunno, Bingham is getting the luck now. He missed that black to the near jaw and it still dropped.

[TheShanklyGates]

Ronnie's completely gone here.

[meady1981]

Seems to be more interested in proving his point to the referee to be honest.

[Schmarn]

Wow. Did Bingham just bottle it?

[Statto Red]

I can't believe Bingham missed that pink

[Red-Soldier]

Huge miss that.  That was the match.

Considering the balls he's potted, recently, that was such a bad error!

[TheShanklyGates]

That'll be that.

[voodoo ray]

well in Bing.


good luck if you predicted that last 4.

[Red-Soldier]

Bingham is a dangerous player, when he's firing.  Very streaky.

[Boston Bosox]

Bingham Wins

[damomad]

Wonderful session of snooker, both in terms of quality and excitement. Hope Bingham goes all the way.