The Snooker Thread

[niko_cee]

Deciding frame.

:drool:

McGill's face when he somehow managed to go between those reds rather than disturb them in the last was classic.

[niko_cee]

For all his seething that is unbelievably unlucky to be on nothing there.

[Don]

What sort of Caucasian retard wears Gucci shoes? And gets blonde highlights.

[Boydy]

Ffs Kyren

[Jimmy Floyd]

Who is the knobhead play by play man? He talks utter shite.

[Don]

I'm weeping at this. Gtf off my telly, you fucking melt.

[niko_cee]

I understand why is exists but I really hate the miss rule.

[Don]

Apologies to Ian for doubting his final prediction. This is some mong-off.

[Yevrah]

This is unreal.

[niko_cee]

This game has gone nuts.

[Jimmy Floyd]

They should both be quarantined for two weeks after this, there is clearly a sickness in the room.

[Boydy]

White straight into the middle pocket :lol:

[niko_cee]

:D

wtf!

[Jimmy Floyd]

McGill to win the final frame 100-90, come on.

[niko_cee]

That's just so lucky it's not even funny.

[Ian]

OOOOOOOOOOOoooooft. :drool:

Mon the Tartan Nugget and his scowly wee face.

[niko_cee]

Thought he'd missed that by miles.

[Yevrah]

This is ridiculous.

[Ian]

Could either of them not have just cut that?

[niko_cee]

And McGill did. :D

[Jimmy Floyd]

The most points in a frame in snooker history (not just world champs) is 192, it's under real threat here.

[niko_cee]

Best frame ever.

[Yevrah]

And so it continues. :drool:

[Boydy]

This is mental. :D

[niko_cee]

Was fully expecting McGill to follow the black in with the white there.

What a mong.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Wilson has had some genuinely shocking wides in this frame.

[niko_cee]

They really need to get some fakes 'oooohhs' in the audio.

[niko_cee]

Just can't see McGill clearing even if he wins the battle of the green. That Black is ripe for missing as well if he somehow got to it. Probably better to try and win by snookers.

[Don]

:D

Stop the theatrics, you twat.

[niko_cee]

No. Fucking. Way.

[Jimmy Floyd]

That was the only apt way for it to finish. If indeed that is the finish.

[Don]

Jesus, this could drag for another hour now.

[Ian]

This is incredible.

[Ian]

Sadly because they broke social distancing guidelines with that handshake we'll need to replay the frame.

[Don]

The state of this stroke-faced melt.

[Don]

Selby's gone white shirt. Big error.

[Ian]

Was literally just coming in to say he'd taken your advice for O'Sullivan.

He's mind-gaming the shit out of him.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Ronnie looks like he's been making love to Dr Steve Peters all afternoon.

[Don]

Next four frames in 25 minutes, please Ronnie and let's cancel the drinks break given temperatures. Ta.

[Yevrah]

Moving that red was fapworthy.

[Ian]

O'Sullivan's face at that miss. :D

[Jimmy Floyd]

He's right on the edge of genius and madness here.

[Dark Soldier]

Yeah he's literally on the verge of punching the ref or getting two 147s in a row

[niko_cee]

That shot on the pink suggest madness/punch the ref is the more likely outcome.

[Yevrah]

I haven't seen much play today, but I genuinely cannot believe he's only a frame behind.

[Yevrah]

He could see more of that pink.

[Yevrah]

If Ronnie's breaking in the next frame I genuinely think he might just smash the reds open.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He just looks bored, these constant hit and hopes are horrendous.

[niko_cee]

:D

Imagine doing that and getting one in.

[Yevrah]

:D

Imagine doing that and getting one in.

Potting one is not that hard, it's getting on a colour.

[Yevrah]

Oh and much like happened with Ray Reardon, Dr Steve Peters has now done all he can.

[igor_balis]

If Ronnie's breaking in the next frame I genuinely think he might just smash the reds open.

Quentin hann used to do that.

[Dark Soldier]

And then he does this. Not bad.

[igor_balis]

Also ronnie o Sullivan getting away with being a thick petulant spastic cus he's class sorta reminds me of the classic incel whine that the difference between a big romantic gesture being seen as creepy or otherwise being entirely dependent on the appearance of the person making it.

I actually think O'Sullivan's stupidity is underrated somewhat.

[Yevrah]

I mean.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I believe he's the only true genius currently operating in sport, and I'm not sure I've seen many more in my lifetime (maybe Warne, that's all I can think of).

[niko_cee]

Hell of a red.

[igor_balis]

Oh yea he's untouchable in snooker terms, but i think people give him far too much credit as a bloke.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He's only ever one magical red from winning a frame, or one half decent Selby safety from losing it. In many ways it's absolutely the right strategy for him.

[Shindig]

I believe he's the only true genius currently operating in sport, and I'm not sure I've seen many more in my lifetime (maybe Warne, that's all I can think of).

Federer counts. I might, might put Marquez in that bracket if he hasn't ruined his arm for life.

[Yevrah]

I've got goosebumps.

[niko_cee]

You'd be getting concerned if you were Selby.

Now I've said that he'll no doubt shit his way to the win.

[Dark Soldier]

Genius at work. And yet if he misss a long red you can see his head going again.

[Yevrah]

He's breaking again in this final frame, isn't he....

[Jimmy Floyd]

Even missing that pointless long red at the end could throw him off, it's amazing stuff to watch.

[Dark Soldier]

He's breaking again in this final frame, isn't he....

Yep.

[Yevrah]

It was huge for him to win that 32nd frame without getting bogged down in a shit off at the end.

[Yevrah]

Oh my Christ.

[niko_cee]

He didn't need that red out and that pocket has been his nemesis all game.

[Yevrah]

He didn't need that red out and that pocket has been his nemesis all game.

Yeah, I thought he was trying to get round the back of it when I saw the white ball go near it, but before he played the shot I didn't think for one minute that it was a particularly difficult positional one to pull off, so not sure why he was anywhere near it.

[Kikó]

Ronnie ffs.

[niko_cee]

Three reds in the open, he could have played on all of them and just walked out for there the winner. He's mad.

[Yevrah]

He's gonna be behind the black here.

[niko_cee]

Hit and hope for the ages.

[Yevrah]

That was a ridiculous shot there by Selby.

Ronnie. If that's a snooker. :D

[Yevrah]

Hit and hope for the ages.

He can't beat him by out tactic-ing him so I can sort of see the logic in it.

Those last two shots. :hail:

[niko_cee]

Got to be one of the greatest days of snooker.

[Kikó]

Ronnie 😎

[Yevrah]

I cannot believe this.

[Yevrah]

Without a shadow of a doubt the best win of Ronnie's career.

Utterly unreal.

[Jimmy Floyd]

That was just pure greatness from Ronnie.

[Kikó]

Surely he's smashing the final as well?

[CJay]

That was so good.

[niko_cee]

Wilson needs to get off to a hot start, which isn't impossible.

Selby would crush him. With O'Sullivan you never know but he's probably about as keen on winning it as he can be now.

He's been properly sandbagging the whole tournament. Keep it tight by being daft through the early sessions and then just turn up and clean house when it matters. As if that much thought goes into it.

[-james-]

This interview. :lol:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Completely unhinged interview again, I love it.

[ScousePig]

Ronnie likes his cue action.

[Don]

+1 :drool:

Mon the cue action.

[Shindig]

Fans will be in for the final so that might shake things up a bit.

[niko_cee]

"I just dragged him down to my level"

:D

[Yevrah]

He's probably got some form of mental illness, but he is a genius, there's no doubt about that.

I've been watching snooker for over 30 years now and I've never seen anything like those final 3 frames. Missed one ball, potted two ridiculous long reds, a total clearance, won another frame one in one visit, an unbelievable escape from a snooker and all after not playing that well and against one of the toughest, if not the toughest competitor the game has ever seen.

He's played better for longer in matches before, but given the circumstances, that's as good as it gets.

[Yevrah]

"a little bit disrespectful"

Selby so butthurt.

[-james-]

Hell of a seethe.

[Baz]

Fuck sake.

[Don]

Holy shit, what a seethe. INJECT IT IN MY VEINS. Get the fuck back to the Leicester lockdown you dirty COVID-ridden cunt.

[Yevrah]

The turgid snooker you play at times is disrespectful to the game son. You can fucking do one.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's not disrespectful. I thought it was a legitimate strategy to throw Selby off, which it seems to have done.

[niko_cee]

O'Sullivan getting into Selby's head (and forcing this chimp out) is some sort of 8D chess.

[CJay]

That’s class. 😁 Disrespectful hitting the ball too hard.

[Yevrah]

It's not disrespectful. I thought it was a legitimate strategy to throw Selby off, which it seems to have done.

Exactly. Ronnie doesn't piss and moan about Selby taking 90 seconds over routine safety shots at times.

[Don]

5 May 2014 I had to watch that fucking Palace-Liverpool game in the downstairs of Picadilly's Riley's and then trundle upstairs to watch my favourite sportsman get bummed by this cunt.

Let it be said, redemption is sweet.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Selby was blatantly playing up to it at times as well (rolling up behind balls when other shots were on) so he can't complain at all.

[Yevrah]

Selby was blatantly playing up to it at times as well (rolling up behind balls when other shots were on) so he can't complain at all.

Indeed. If respecting the game is code for "he didn't play into my hands", then no, he didn't do that.

An maybe, just maybe Mark, you shouldn't be so much of a boring cunt in future and actually try to win rather than trying not to lose.

[Yevrah]

Look at the state of this shit, for example:

1294382277741486081

[Gray Fox]

Rewound this on iPlayer and watched it after getting in from work.

Ronnie :cool:

Still wasn't his fluent best but the way he trumped THE JESTER at the end of that safety exchange was glorious. Rent free in his head afterwards too.

Wilson doesn't seem the type to purposefully put on the turgid shit so it may be a decent final. What a day of snooker that was.

[Yevrah]

Ended up down a snooker shaped twitter rabbit hole after the final and stumbled across Stephen Hendry's, where he seemingly just answers (most) questions honestly. https://twitter.com/SHendry775?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp% 7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Most interesting so far is that he hasn't made a 147 under any circumstances for 5 years now.

Then I discovered that Peter Ebdon is a massive anti vaxxer https://twitter.com/pdebdon

[Shindig]

I never had him down as a faith healer.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I like where Hendry says 50% of 'kicks' are actually bad cueing. Always been a bugbear on commentary where they just whitewash shit shots.

[Yevrah]

Everything O'Sullivan did tonight was intentional. He hadn't lost it at all.

From a month ago:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKux4Lce9FA&t=1671s

Genius.

[Yevrah]

If the time stamp doesn't work it's from 27m50s. "Which match would you replay again if you could?"

[Gray Fox]

There's definitely a difference in Ronnie when he talks to/of someone of his ilk. You can see it whenever it's Hendry, Davies, Higgins or Williams etc.

I'm really glad he stopped Selby though. He's also now got the chance to match his hero in Davies on 6 titles.

[Don]

That's fucking gold. His line about staying single too, this man speaks to my soul :D

[John Arne]

In response to O'Sullivans comments on the standard of younger players, 50 year old Ken Doherty said...


“I love Ronnie, but I have to say something about that,” admits the 1997 world champion, Ken Doherty, who is still ranked inside the world’s top 64

:)

[Boydy]

Kind of wish the crowd wasn't in today. Not hearing "Come on Ronnie!" the past two weeks was quite nice.

[Don]

This is how it begins, people start preferring fake crowd noise :sick: Yesterday's semis would have been something even greater with a crowd.

[Boydy]

I like the crowd otherwise. Just chuck anyone out who shouts "Come on Ronnie".

He doesn't even like his fans, he said as much in an interview the other day.

[Boydy]

He's won it, what, five times? He doesn't need three-teeth Barry from Barnsley's personal coaching.

[Don]

Without Barry the man is just a lonely wanker hitting a ball with a stick. We are all Barry.

[Ian]

If anything snooker crowds should be more raucous and annoying.

Fuck off with all your "reeeeeeeef he picked his nose in my peripheral vision!!!!!!" and "ffs I can't do a good snooker if somebody in the back row's phone vibrates :( :("

It's a pub/club game. There should be 20 pissed up people staggering about the table at all times, bumping into the players and shouting about the football.

[Gray Fox]

Get the Snooker Vuvuzela out.

[John Arne]

Is it on now? Can't see it on the BBC 2 stream i'm watching.....

[Gray Fox]

I'm watching via iPlayer.

This has been shocking.

[Don]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/53407605

BBCOne till 16:30 I think (I'm iplayering it).

[John Arne]

Ta lads.

[niko_cee]

I'd forgotten there were crowds back in for this so thought they'd taken me up on the idea of piped in 'oooohs'.

[niko_cee]

Without wanting to state the obvious, Wilson could have done with winning that first frame, and not missing that red just then.

[Ian]

This is as good as done.

I was gonna say "And it looks like Wilson knows it" but then he always looks like that. For all I can tell he might be having a whale of a time.

[Yevrah]

I missed this afternoon's session, but the first two frames of this have been abysmal.

This must be the worst Ronnie's played in a final to be six frames ahead by some distance.

[igor_balis]

More like KRYEN Wilson

[niko_cee]

Hopefully he stages a series of mini-comebacks so they can keep mentioning that "they call him the warrior" every few frames.

[niko_cee]

I don't think I've ever seen someone miss a ball so close to a pocket by so much before.

[niko_cee]

Not quite sure of the mind games benefit of dragging that out there really, certainly beyond it going to 3 snookers (it sort of made sense at first), and then clearing up just sets further mentalist alarm bells off.

[igor_balis]

I love ken but i can't help but think of ft purcell when i hear him


https://youtu.be/Lqlp_CuG_TE

[Giggles]

How long does O’Sullivan usually pout for?

[Yevrah]

147 here.

Or just 9 then.

[Gray Fox]

Struggles on a simple backspin shot. Yet will now likely go smash a century in.

Or not.

[Gray Fox]

That last one could swing it.

This is the very worst I've seen Ronnie in any match and he's 10-7 up. Surely he wont be as 'bad' again tomorrow?

[Giggles]

Was never going to live up, but that was some shit fest.

[niko_cee]

Feel a bit for Wilson, he deserved to be at least 9-8, weirdly.

Many a stone cold classic is forged in the fires of dreadful sessions, so you never know. If my sandbag theory has anything itnit O'Sullivan will keep it tight/be behind going into 8pm tomorrow before putting his foot on the gas and being back to his best for a few frames.

[Don]

Give us a 147, please lad.

[Yevrah]

First man to win at the crucible in three different decades it is then.

[Yevrah]

I think Kyren will need to lose these shit eating grins if he ever wants to be World Champion.

[Don]

Getting rid of the designer clobber and Beckham highlights would indicate he's made strides. Trump coming out to I Made It (Cash Money Heroes) with his diamante studded shoes was the limit for that kind of nonsense.

[Gray Fox]

Ronnie winning the session 7-1. Almost complete domination.

[Giggles]

It was never going to live up, but that’s up there with the worst ways to spend a few hours.

[Giggles]

The fake crowd noise is definitely better than mongs.

[Yevrah]

That was a touch of class from Kyren.

Fair play to Ronnie. This is the worst he's played to win one, but I thought 5 would be his lot after the last few years.

The last 3 frames against Selby the highlight by a mile.

[Yevrah]

The fake crowd noise is definitely better than mongs.

What sort of cunt shouts "give us a century Ronnie".

[Gray Fox]

Stephen Hendry has entered the World Tour for the next 2 seasons. Just the 8 years after retiring.

[Yevrah]

That is interesting. Curious to see how he does.

[Ian]

Presumably he thinks he's still good enough to compete and it's not just the boredom talking.

[Kikó]

Well Ronnie, Williams and Higgins are all clearing up in one form or another so why not. Hope he can refind his form.

[Yevrah]

As I'm sure you all know he had some weird yips style thing that utterly ruined his game, but apparently he's been using Siteright for a bit (the team that rejuvenated Mark Williams) and is back on it bar the match sharpness.

Would be the best story ever if he came back and was good enough to win things.

[Kikó]

But probably also an indicator that the game is fucked that a 50 year old can come back and still win major trophies despite being out of the game for nearly a decade.

[-james-]

Small sample size but losing 4-2 to Jimmy White and dropping 3 frames to Nigel Bond in the recent Seniors tournament doesn't really bode well.

[Yevrah]

But probably also an indicator that the game is fucked that a 50 year old can come back and still win major trophies despite being out of the game for nearly a decade.

Yep. No-one in England is picking it up anymore and the Chinese need another generation of players or so to not be useless.

[Mellberg]

I'll start watching again if Stephen Hendry gets anywhere near the latter stages of a big tournament. Probably watch his first match back too.

[Don]

BBC2 now. Watch him go :drool:

[Jimmy Floyd]

He looks good for 26.

[Don]

:D

lll

[Don]

Good to see Yan the Man arrive onto the scene, man's got swagger.

[Boydy]

Can they not get a fucking professional interpreter in? Amateur shit. :D

[Yevrah]

This is brilliant. :D

[Don]

Proper alpha energy :cool:

[Don]

1374712083728760835?s=20

[Yevrah]

That is fantastic, they should absolutely televise it.

[Boydy]

Watching the Tour Championship on itv4 now and Neil Robertson has curly hair. He looks so weird.

[Mellberg]

Hendry vs White is the first time I've been excited/interested in snooker for about 20 years. Is it on the box?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Watching the Tour Championship on itv4 now and Neil Robertson has curly hair. He looks so weird.

Proper Ronald McDonald.

[Yevrah]

Hendry vs White is the first time I've been excited/interested in snooker for about 20 years. Is it on the box?

I can't ever recall qualifiers being televised so if that continues it won't be. With Barry at the helm there's a fighting chance sense will be seen mind.

[Mellberg]

You'd like to think so. If I asked my mom who Jimmy White and Stephen Hendry are she'd know. Ronnie O'Sullivan...maybe. John Higgins, no chance. Biggest match in years. Needs to be on TV.

[Yevrah]

If you have Twitter you could ask Hendry himself. He seems to respond to almost everything.

[Jimmy Floyd]

If all else fails it'll be on a bookmaker feed.

[Boydy]

It'll probably be shite.

[Mellberg]

I'm not expecting 1994, but it'll be good for nostalgia alone.

[Yevrah]

Match will be on the Eurosport App, 19:30, Monday.

https://www.eurosport.com/snooker/world-championship/2020-2021/stephen-hendry-v-jimmy-white-2021-how-to-watch-live-online-in-the-uk-livestream-details_sto8198248/story.shtml

[Baz]

lol at Kurt Maflin.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Half hour warning for Hendry v White. Eurosport app or the betting sites.

[Mellberg]

:thbup:

[Yevrah]

Just signing up now. :drool:

[-james-]

Betting feed here also (no registration required): https://ezlive.bet/stream/player/player.aspx

[Yevrah]

Not a classic so far, I must say.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Jimmy jawing out when splitting the reds and leaving a wide open table, I'm sure he can hear the chopper blades and the screams of dying comrades already.

[Jimmy Floyd]

This third frame has been like my dad playing your dad.

[Yevrah]

I’m loving it but my God it’s shit.

[Yevrah]

Black ball frame. :drool:

[Ian]

I would LOVE IT if the ginger (you can shave it off, Anthony, but you can't fool us) seethe-machine knocked O'Sullivan out here.

When that black didn't drop at the end of that break he looked at it as if it'd insulted his mother.

[Jimmy Floyd]

In my (and his) old age I've turned into a right Ronnie fanboy. My younger self would not be impressed.

[Ian]

I mean the ideal scenario would be that he always makes the final but never wins because that way you get to see more of him playing but not having to watch him win the tournament because he's a bit of a fanny but I got into how furious McGill looks on a regular basis last year so the more I get to see him seething at nothing the better.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The ideal scenario would be if there were 4 or 5 of Ronnie spread around the draw, one of whom blazes into the final and the other ones all get knocked out by increasingly comical people.

On that subject, I recently became obsessed with the first lines of some minor snooker players' Wiki bios.


Barry Pinches (born 13 July 1970 in Catton, Norwich) is an English professional snooker player, recognisable for his bright and flamboyant waistcoats, which usually feature the yellow and green colours of Norwich City F.C.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Barry_Pinches_PHC_2016-1.jpg/220px-Barry_Pinches_PHC_2016-1.jpg

Rod Lawler (born 12 July 1971) is an English professional snooker player. He is noted for his slow playing style, which gave rise to his nickname, "Rod the Plod"

Farakh Ajaib (born 3 February 1991) is a Pakistani professional snooker player from Lancashire.

Peter Devlin (born 10 August 1996) is an English professional snooker player and rapper from Leyton in East London.

Anthony Stephen Hamilton (born 29 June 1971) is an English professional snooker player noted for his strong break-building technique and distinctive appearance.

https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/GettyImages-912835076.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&zoom=1&resize=644%2C429

Stuart Carrington (born 14 May 1990) is an English professional snooker player. He practises frequently with Steven Hallworth and Ian Glover in Grimsby.

(all my best to Steven and Ian, whoever they are)

[Ian]

"snooker player and rapper."

https://wpbsa.com/wp-content/uploads/PETER-DEVLIN.png

:D

I haven't had the snooker on this week so I haven't been able to focus on my own obsession: dreadful, ill-fitting snooker nicknames.

Youtube did suggest Mitchell and Webb's snooker commentary sketches the other day so I've been working my way through those. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvL-4Pm3Zmw&list=PLXEe9gEX_-A0hUJ7H5WYXKW9zZB9VtzOa)

[Jimmy Floyd]

Anthony Hamilton features again in that one, 'The Sheriff of Potting'em' is unkillable.

[Ian]

I must have linked this in here before: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_snooker_player_nicknames

I'd forgotten that as well as "The Tartan Nugget" it lists "License to Thrill" for McGill.

And "The Canarian" for your man Barry Pinches.

[Yevrah]

'Table of Reds' is absolutely brilliant.

[Jimmy Floyd]

John Rea: 'King of the Baize'
Highest ranking 62 (1986–87)

Think I must be missing something there.

The Asian ones are all entertainingly riding the rollercoaster of racism as well.

[wullie]

Mr Poombastic stands out as a particular highlight on that page.

[Shindig]

If I was Chen Zhe, I'd be filing a complaint. :D

[Ian]

'Table of Reds' is absolutely brilliant.

Just got to this one. :D

[Gray Fox]

What's died on top of Robertsons head?

[Ian]

His lockdown hair is one of the best things in the championship.

[Gray Fox]

He deserves the Championship for going out in public like that, never mind the tournament.

[Boydy]

It looks much better than his old hair.

[Ian]

License to Thrill Anthony McGill ahead of O'Sullivan. :drool:

[Don]

Lot of time for this new break-off, what's the story behind it, did Williams bring it into fashion?

[Ian]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/apr/21/mark-williams-defends-controversial-break-off-after-first-round-win

That was the thing I'd seen.

[Ian]

How good is Lisowski? I mostly only watch the World Championship but I feel like it's been at least a few years now the commentators bang on about how talented he is while he doesn't really do anything.

I mean I'm not saying he's shit or anything but the hype always seems to vastly outweigh his performance.

[igor_balis]

Ding ain't ever gonna win it is he :(

[Don]

Yeah that's all I saw on the Williams thing too. It makes for a much more exciting battle for the viewer.

God I love to see that permanently seething ginger shit in the mud almost as much as I love to see Ronnie in non-meltdown mode.

I saw Trump talking smack about Ronnie too. Shame they can't meet until final.

[igor_balis]

mcgill playing some absolute shite this evening

[niko_cee]

That red was horrific from the tartan nugget, he must have missed it by about a foot.

[Ian]

Yeah it's mad how much worse "The Glasgow Gladiator" is playing than earlier.

[Don]

:sick:

[Ian]

Didn't even occur to me that O'Sullivan wouldn't win from the position he got himself into.

[Yevrah]

McGill is the real deal in this format. He'll win it at some point.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He reminds me of Graeme Dott.

[Yevrah]

He's better because he can break build.

[Disco]

The salted porridge of snooker players.

[niko_cee]

I noticed it earlier with an article about that chap who infected a bunch of people with covid which seems to have been corrected (I think it originally started "A man has been in Spain arrested . . .") but really, do the Beeb even have people writing their shit for them or is it all just Russian bots?


Mark Williams completed a dominant 13-7 second-round win over fellow multiple world champion John Higgins in a re-run of the 2018 World Championship final.

The 45-year-old Welshman increased his overnight lead to 10-3 with a five-frame burst in the morning session.

A gritty three-frame riposte featuring two tons kept Higgins, 45, in touch for the evening.

But three-time champion Williams, 46, closed out an impressive victory with breaks of 76, 85 and 77.

Come on.

Shame he isn't actually 44 or 47 (he's 46).

[Kikó]

He's 45 until he's 46.

[Ian]

Given the position he was in after the first 6 or 8 frames or whatever it was yesterday Robertson has properly fucked this. Played some rancid shots.

[Boydy]

It said earlier he had 50% pot success in this session. :sick:

There goes my bet.

[Ian]

Yeah. He's missed some that should have been proper gimmes as well.

They also showed another of Wilson's charismatic interviews earlier. He always seems a bit of a bellend.

Selby mullering Williams too.

Hopefully there's a bit more entertainment in this afternoon's games.

[Ian]

No idea how that one hasn't gone in for Trump. Bit mad that the cue ball has managed to go in from that.

[Boydy]

Oh shit, Trump out now too.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Has anyone visibly aged less this century than Shaun Murphy?

[Ian]

Selby's going to bore his way to the title.isnt he?

I'm hoping for Murphy from here, I guess.

[wullie]

Fell in love a little bit with Murphy in his post-match Zoom call on BBC, he seems a lovely man. I'm rooting for the big lads over the lads lads lads in both games now.

[Ian]

Yeah I think Murphy always comes across really well and would similarly LOVE IT if Bingham knocked out 'the Jester.'

I'm obviously gutted that the Tartan Nugget got knocked out.

[Boydy]

Fell in love a little bit with Murphy in his post-match Zoom call on BBC, he seems a lovely man. I'm rooting for the big lads over the lads lads lads in both games now.

Same here. Hope he wins now. So many of them are so fucking boring when they talk. Jack Lisowski on commentary the other day almost had me asleep.

[Gray Fox]

I’ve progressed from “anyone but Higgins” to now “anyone but Selby.”

Murphy would be nice to see though.

[Ian]

It's impossible to root for Selby.

[wullie]

https://i.imgur.com/jTcBOAN.png

Can't tell if this is an actual picture or put through that face app

[Jimmy Floyd]

His right eye looking at you, his left eye looking for a safe route back to baulk.

[Boydy]

His right eye looking at you, his left eye looking for a safe route back to baulk.

:D

Ha

[Ian]

What the fuck sort of a nickname is 'Ball-run'?

#nicknamewatch

[niko_cee]

I've always liked it as it seems somewhat self-deprecating (ie he's a lucky bugger).

Didn't get much of it in that frame although it was nice to see Selby miss that red, so I guess that counts as some.

[Ian]

I went to make myself lunch and have a shower and come back to lots of thrilling chat about cushions and cloth.

What's happened? Has the table done something freakish?

[Ian]

I hope Murphy sorts his shit out, here. Do not want a JESTER VS. WARRIOR final.

[Yevrah]

+1 for anyone but Selby. Sadly it's his to lose now.

[niko_cee]

His right eye looking at you, his left eye looking for a safe route back to baulk.

:D

Yeah, this is good. Even more so if you try to read some predatory double meaning into 'safe route back to baulk'.

[Ian]

Wilson missing getting that just wrong basically the exact same way seven or eight times was some going.

[Yevrah]

It always staggers me how pros don't understand the merits of the miss rule and what would happen if it was binned.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It always staggers me how pros don't understand the merits of the miss rule and what would happen if it was binned.

Every frame would end in cynical tippy-tap wouldn't it? 4, or even 8 or 12 points is nothing in most frames.

[Ian]

Since watching the Mitchell and Webb snooker bits I hear every post-miss "Ooooh" from a commentator as "Oh and that's a bad miss."

[Ian]

That is rotten luck from Bingham to pot the blue and snooker himself.

"Nothing from Selby" say the commentators, as if there's any reason to expect emotional response from a dead-eyed automaton who's never once done a convincing human smile.

[Shindig]

He's going to write a bleak autobiography at some point.

[niko_cee]

Ball Run Bingham!

:cool:

[Ian]

Alright well his luck has balanced itself out.

[Ian]

Great frame, that.

[Gray Fox]

Ball-run is about to come out and walk right into several drawn out tactical exchanges, I feel.