It was good fun at times but there was some insufferable cnuts in the crowd some matches. I’m all for the more vibrant atmosphere but some know your limits.
They must have cleared them out as today's crowd seemed better.
School night.
Completely agree, was a fantastic finish to the competition but some of the twats just need to lay off the shandy a bit.
He's a blast from the past. He was quite entertaining. There was another older player, Cliff something? Not Thorburn, who hated safety so went for crazy pots all the time.
Yeah i think its a crazy decision to make it a ranking tournament, especially when theres “proper” snooker ones that arent.
The Masters is the obvious example, part of the Triple Crown but not a ranking event. But then with only 16 players and invite only I suppose it has to be non-ranking.
Cliff Wilson?
I don't like that turn of phrase in regards to Ronnie. He's the most talented player to ever pick up a cue but it's not down to how much he wants it. He's an imperfect player just like anyone else and he has his off days. The difference with Ronnie is that when he has an off day, the narrative is set that "he's not interested" or "his head's not right" which is nonsense. Every player has days where they struggle to get going or don't quite get the rub of the green and he's no different.
To be fair you only have to look back at some of his interviews, albeit not so much the last couple of years or so, to see that there have been many occasions where he's lost interest and simply 'not been bothered'. He's also threatened to quit the sport on numerous occasions.
Yeah I know the deal, I've been watching him for over two decades now and I agree that there has been times that his mental health has been to blame but that's not what I'm disagreeing with. It's the bit I bolded "if Ronnie turns up and really wants it, he will win it." that I disagree with. Before the semi's in some of these tournaments, you only need four or five frames to win the match. The Top 32 on the circuit let alone the Top 16 or Top 8 are more than capable on their day of making four or five 70 breaks over the course of 7/9 frames. So even if he's in good form, with a positive mind frame he's still beatable.
You've got a point! The matches, despite them only being qualifiers are amongst the longest played on the tour. By the very nature of the sport they always contain the best up and coming young players (slightly surprised Yan Bingtao didn't make the final round) and older players that can no longer command a top 16 spot. Look at Matthew Stevens, 2 time runner-up, playing against 1997 champion Ken Doherty. Mark Davis and Joe Perry also against each other, both have been seeds at the Crucible in recent years.I almost see these qualifiers as a second best tournament of the year. Missing all the best players thou.
Thanks for the link! Never would have known about this, it's ideal to have on in the background while at work.
He made one and missed the final black in the last frame for another, would have been the first ever... obviously...
