The Snooker Thread

[niko_cee]

Selby's face there was a thing of beauty.

[Ian]

Runny-balls donning it here.

[igor_balis]

On one hand it would be good to have more up and coming players breaking through, but I absolutely love how a 44 year old qualifier can get to the semi finals of the world champs and make someone as good as Selby look like a bit of an idiot.

I also have no idea what you lot see in Murphy, i get proper smarmy school prefect/partridge vibes.

[Yevrah]

This is glorious. G'wan Ball Run.

[Ian]

I also have no idea what you lot see in Murphy, i get proper smarmy school prefect/partridge vibes.

I mean even then that would still leave him as more likeable than both SnookerBot and Kyren "That's Why They Call Me The Warrior" Wilson.

[Ian]

All these re racks are blistering entertainment. Aren't there three more frames to go??

[igor_balis]

I mean even then that would still leave him as more likeable than both SnookerBot and Kyren "That's Why They Call Me The Warrior" Wilson.

Aw ffs did he say that? I quite like him, he seems like a nice lad. Murphy comes across like the kind of bloke who went round his mates after school and spent the whole time talking to their parents.

[Shindig]

I've got a mental image of Murphy trying in vain to invite Selby to his church during practice.

[igor_balis]

I've got a mental image of Murphy trying in vain to invite Selby to his church during practice.

I'd probably rather that than the Kasabian tribute band TJFL is going to see in Coalville. Would gain a lot more respect for him if he used this for his entrance music:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOPPVb_3gdE

[Ian]

Aw ffs did he say that? .

In an interview at his home one day he said something or other about mental strength and then "I guess that's why they call me the Warrior." Also (to his wife) "I mean there's Home Kyren and Snooker Kyren isn't there?"

He doesn't seem like a bad person just enough of a fanny that I can't really get behind him. Plus it looks like his face was put on before it'd set.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I swear Selby's snooker becomes more of a ghastly eyesore with every passing year.

[Ian]

This frame could go on for hours yet.

[Jimmy Floyd]

This really is taking 'one for the purists' to new heights.

[Ian]

A pot!

[Ian]

Oh fuck off, Selby.

I'm sure his attitude sometimes is "Well if I can't enjoy this I don't see why anybody else should."

Just end the frame and leave me to my nightmares of you taking five minutes to plot your next safety.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He's playing the long game, trying to upset Bingham's circadian rhythms.

[Yevrah]

This frame still going. :D

[Ian]

Thank Christ for that.

[Gray Fox]

THE JESTER in full on piss taking mode at the end there.

[Shindig]

I like the idea of Selby becoming the barricade all champions have to conquer.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I genuinely think he was just trying to keep Bingham out of bed there.

[Ian]

There are definitely times he does it just to wind up his opponent.

[Boydy]

I missed most of the evening and didn't see that much of the afternoon either but the highlights don't seem to be on now because of Selby's dicking about. Prick. :mad:

[Yevrah]

I feel this is once again appropriate...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfVEkGhYkNc

[Jimmy Floyd]

If you get it below the din, Neal Foulds giving Selby shit for five minutes on the right hand table is great.

[Ian]

I missed most of the evening and didn't see that much of the afternoon either but the highlights don't seem to be on now because of Selby's dicking about. Prick. :mad:

It was 95% Selby staring at the table with his cold, dead eyes while Bingham crumbled into dust anyway.

[igor_balis]

horror stuff from wilson but murphy has been great the last few frames

[Ian]

Selby's emotional inhibitor briefly shorted out there and allowed him to react to something.

[Gray Fox]

I haven't watched yet today, but is Selby bogging Ball-run down with boring, scrappy frames?

[Ian]

They've completed one frame in about the last 90 minutes, i think, because of yet another re-rack. Bingham's on a decent break now though and hopefully about to make it 14-13.

[igor_balis]

bingham just played a very thin cut like i do playing pool

[igor_balis]

ballbag bingham playing proper shit now

[Gray Fox]

THE JESTER has played his joker card. Bogged him down to the point of making everything awful.

Only Selby wins if he takes the lead.

[Kikó]

Not to distract from the tension but Bingham's get up is atrocious.

[Gray Fox]

Bollocks. Where's a kick when you need one?

[Shindig]

"Yay, crowds are back and we're going to witness the snooker final."
<3am on Tuesday morning, Shelby calls for another re-rack>

[niko_cee]

Baldy's really shat the bed in the last three frames.

[niko_cee]

Have the BBC just stopped coverage of this or is it in some sort of interval?

[Ian]

No, BBC only seem to cover it in bits and pieces. Still live on Eurosport or the BBC red button (I think.)

[Boydy]

I thought they'd stopped and have to come back after the other match finishes?

[Ian]

Maybe I'm wrong, other days BBC have definitely changed to other programming and sent snooker to the red button while Eurosport covered live and I thought the same happened earlier but I've just left Eurosport on.

[Shindig]

Yeah, they palm it off to the website or red button.

[niko_cee]

I'd completely forgotten just how madly epic that Wilson/McGill semi was last year.

[Shindig]

Murphy looks like he's finding his way there.

[Ian]

Murphy. :cool:

Incredible comeback, especially to sustain it across multiple sessions.

[niko_cee]

Yeah, that last session was a bit silly. 100% long pot success whilst reeling off 5 in a row?

[Boydy]

Fuck off Selby

[Ian]

+1.

'Mon the Murphy.

[Yevrah]

Amazing how often Selby gets brain freeze.

[Yevrah]

Jimmy White and Ronnie aside I don't think I've ever wanted a player to win a final more than I do with Murphy here.

[Ian]

Yeah this is about as invested as I get, I think.

More of what we saw from Murphy yesterday, please.

[Boydy]

I hate this navel-gazing shit. The game's fine, leave it alone.

[Yevrah]

Why the fuck is the current World Number 1 in the commentary box?

[Boydy]

Because he had a whinge about how the commentators are all older.

[igor_balis]

after finding out murphy is a god bothering pro-life twat as well as a general irritant, i'm fully on team jester

[Shindig]

Whereas Selby wishes everyone was dead?

[Boydy]

after finding out murphy is a god bothering pro-life twat as well as a general irritant, i'm fully on team jester

Oh, what?

[niko_cee]

You're post about him the other day provoked me to look at his wiki and there's some interesting/funny shit in there.

@Igor

[Ian]

Oh god is he?

Oh well, he's still preferred dickhead here.

The Jester looks like he strangles them fresh from the womb.

[igor_balis]

Oh, what?

NEWS UPDATE

he is, apparently, no longer a "god botherer", but i will present these tweets:

999312349797453824

999385623332098048

984136792935985153

991779038506246144

i love him randomly doing a poll :D my own take is that he's just a bit of a div, really

spending 8 hours a day in dark smoky snooker clubs with other snooker weirdos from early childhood would stunt the development of other aspects of anyone's personality to be fair - you just have to see their walkout music picks to confirm that

[Ian]

His personal life section on Wikipedia does make it sound like like he had the sort of childhood that almost guarantees you're going to end up a weirdo.

However: "Murphy's wife filed for divorce in 2009 on the grounds of infidelity after The People newspaper published an exposé revealing he had spent the night with an escort girl he had met at a religious youth group. Murphy's then manager, Brandon Parker, issued a statement confirming that Murphy had slept with the woman but denied he had been unfaithful, stating that Murphy did not have sex with her."

There's a lot to unpack here but "an escort girl he met at a religious youth group"???

[Shindig]

"They slept together but didn't fuck." I mean, if it's good enough for Michael Jackson and Sia ...

[Gray Fox]

The best part was when he was hiding away from it, she threatened to serve him his papers while he was live on TV at the Crucible.

[igor_balis]

shame selby is so tedious cus i actually prefer tactical battles and safety play to break building, but taking 5 minutes per shot and just being a humourless grump gives it a bad name. it's like the snooker equivalent of being a slow, defensively solid batter in cricket (good) who self-servingly runs out his partners and protects his average in run chases (bad)

[Ian]

I'm with you there. Matches where they just trade century breaks don't do much for me, back and forth frames are better if the Selby joy vacuum isn't at full pelt.

[Yevrah]

Bit of a turgid first mini-session that.

[Yevrah]

And this is absolutely horrible to watch.

[Dark Soldier]

And this is absolutely horrible to watch.

Yet we can't stop.

I'm more enjoying McManus on commentary thinking he's some kinda poet.

[Dark Soldier]

"Absolutely fabulous shot" - he bounced off a cushion bruv, simmer down before your lob-on rouses the dead and infirm.

[Spikey M]

Nearly an hour without potting a ball. :cab:

[Boydy]

I've not seen any stats on it but is Selby the player involved in the highest number of reracks? I imagine he leads by a mile.

[Spikey M]

His head's gone.

[igor_balis]

this is terrific stuff

[Jimmy Floyd]

If Murphy plays better today it could be epic. He knows he's got the crowd completely with him and is starting to play off it.

Also (I haven't had much of the BBC studio stuff during this tournament, mainly off Eurosport), why is John Parrott knocking balls in on a table in the background while Hendry and Davis do their punditry?

[Yevrah]

It is indeed. If Murphy's break building was better he'd be level now.

[Yevrah]

Also (I haven't had much of the BBC studio stuff during this tournament, mainly off Eurosport), why is John Parrott knocking balls in on a table in the background while Hendry and Davis do their punditry?

Occasionally they'll cut to him and he recreates (badly) one of the shots from the frame.

[Yevrah]

That, I believe, is Blockbusters.

Shame.

[Dark Soldier]

Bit stagnant and dull yesterday but today has been cracking

[Yevrah]

Really enjoying it too.

52 points from three visits by Murphy in this frame is so frustrating though.

[Ian]

It's been good today but unfortunately for Murphy it seems like Selby is absolutely in the mood to capitalise any mistake. Could do with him rattling off some more frames here.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I gave up at 13-9, then turned on again to see this, maybe God will only allow me to watch Selby crab his way around the table. Mon Murphy.

[Yevrah]

That was delightful. Keep that fucker in his chair.

Huge last frame this.

[Boydy]

I feel like Selby is just trolling viewers now.

[Yevrah]

Jim is definitely banned from being one of them from here on in.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Because Selby is a humanoid robot of some kind, nothing affects him emotionally like it does with other players, and he can emerge from any 'adversity' with complete ease.

[Shindig]

It's almost as if this fella's a three-time Champion, lads.

[Yevrah]

It's almost as if this fella's a three-time Champion, lads.

Oh he's a brilliant, brilliant player and had/has the game to be the best ever. He's just absolutely horrible to watch.

[Dark Soldier]

Hes easily top 10 ever but man's just a master of the old school grind. So many players these days wanna hit century after century and he knows how to get under their skin.

Similar to when Dott won it with fuckawfulness. Literal cloud of depression over the table that year.

[Shindig]

I don't mind him but then I've never looked at snooker as a sport to be played at pace. And it's not like the grind is all Selby has.

[Jimmy Floyd]

O'Sullivan downing him at the end of that semi last year, at the end of an otherwise consummate Selby performance, was a work of utter genius and seemed to scar Selby for ages. Shame Ronnie ran out of steam this year or we could have had a repeat.

[Jimmy Floyd]

This first frame alone should see us through to morning.

[Ian]

They're just gonna keep shuffling the balls toward that pocket the black is over until it's re-racked, aren't they?

[Ian]

That shot on the pink just as he was putting it together feels like how half of the frames Murphy has lost have gone, and Selby will mop it up from here.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's so careless and frustrating to watch, and is presumably why his lone title was 16 years ago.

[Ian]

It seems impossible to guess with him which way it's gonna go as well. he'll rattle off some cracking shots and then the next one bonks harmlessly into the side of the pocket.

[Boydy]

McManus really talks a lot of shit.

[igor_balis]

get on eurosport

[Boydy]

Who does commentary there?

I don't have it anyway.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've always wanted to know how much actually goes into being a snooker referee, and how you actually become one in the first place. Other than the rules we all know, there isn't that much to it, is there?

If it pays more than £50 a day I might make the switch over from cricket.

[Dark Soldier]

Murphy's fucking mammoth skull would need a wobble here if his neck was capable.

[Jimmy Floyd]

This kid with the big hair on the beeb is a talented presenter. Will go far.

[wullie]

This is a lovely fightback but there's no way Selby doesn't grind his way to a victory and the remote possibility of a smile.

[Boydy]

I hope it goes to a decider.

[Yevrah]

When the grim reaper comes for Mark Selby I hope it takes the form of a containing safety shot.

[Ian]

Murphy will come to regret that, you suspect.

[Dark Soldier]

Yeah fair fucks to him thinking fuck it let's have it, but silly shot.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Just got sucked into a wiki hole on past world championships, leading me to the knowledge that 1948 champion Fred Davis played on long enough as a full professional to have played an official competitive game against Ronnie O'Sullivan (!), but upon seeking out the 1948 championship itself the article said:


For the second year running the final was contested by Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson. Davis won his first World title by defeating Donaldson 84–61 in the final, although he reached the winning margin already at 73–52.

I thought it was weird they were playing a single-frame final in those days, although I thought maybe it was a much more low key affair... then I realised the score was in frames, not points. That's right, the final was played over the best of 145 frames, and they played out the full 145, even though the 73-frame winning post had been passed ages earlier. I suppose this should have been a clue:


The final was held at the Leicester Square Hall in London, England, from 19 April to 1 May.

Give me Selby v Higgins or something over that distance.

[Ian]

That Selby/Bingham frame the other day felt longer than that, to be fair.

[-james-]

At some point that surely just turns into informal lagers.

Fred Davis' wikipedia page led me to this (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_World_Masters), apparently his last ever tournament. Looks a pretty incredible affair (what on earth is sudden death?), but I was drawn to the women's section where most of the bracket have their own wikipedia pages. Karen Corr took home 15 grand, which a quick google tells me is equal to the entire prize fund for the Women's World Championship 2019. What happened?

[CJay]

I really want to go to bed. :moop:

[Shindig]

At some point that surely just turns into informal lagers.

Fred Davis' wikipedia page led me to this (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_World_Masters), apparently his last ever tournament.

I found myself watching some youtube stuff, hoping to catch his last televised match. Instead I found some billiards match. I have no idea how billiards work. Breaks were going up despite nothing being potted. I'm glad it died out.

[niko_cee]

Ah billiards, I think it's alright once you get into it. I vaguely recall playing it once.

Talking of things dying out, there's always talk of there being no snooker clubs anymore, fewer and fewer pool tables in pubs etc, but I have distant recollections of bar billiards tables being a regular sight in establishments (presumably when I was a kid) and they always looked unfathomably intriguing. Can't say I've seen one of those for decades.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Any kind of table pub sport is just taking up space that could be used by another 20 people drinking £5.50 pints.

Snooker clubs were done in by a combination of the smoking ban, and Tony Blair's broader war on traditional working class leisure. A costly one, in the long run, when you look at the Red Wall all voting Tory.

[Boydy]

Snooker clubs probably just don't make that much money.

[Jimmy Floyd]

They made enough money to keep going for decades until you weren't allowed to smoke in them.

Rates hikes probably an issue as well (but it's all part of the same gentrification process).

[Yevrah]

Pool tables are gone from all pubs round here too. That definitely coincided with the smoking ban and publicans realising they could charge twelve quid for a burger.

[Yevrah]

And pubs are probably nicer and definitely less cancerous that way, but it's killing snooker and that, combined with shocking tour mismanagement before Hearn turned up is why we have absolutely no youngsters of any note coming through.

[Ian]

We've had this discussion before but it it's also just not cheap to play. You're relying on the youth wanting to spend seven quid an hour (which, why the fuck would they just to get into a sport?) or a parent or whoever dragging them along to play.

That'll be related to your previous comments on it taking up floor space they could be using to serve drinkers or whatever but it is what it is and they need to find a way to make it sustainable and/or entice younger people into playing more than they currently want to.

On afternoons when I'm at a loose end I'd happily go along to my nearest place and just practice on a table by myself but chuck in drinks (whether it be soft drinks or a couple of pints) and I'd be looking at the better part of £30 which.... no.

[Yevrah]

As someone who played a bit as a kid, I'm with you Ian. It was fucking expensive.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I did lol at Judd Trump wanting them to 'appeal to a younger audience'. Mate, you're walking around a dimly lit green baize table knocking balls into holes, playing a bit of Cardi B over the top isn't going to change the audience.

[Kikó]

They should look at changing their business model so that it's not £7 an hour. I'm sure they could work out some new way that makes it affordable and bring people in. Maybe make it like hooters.

[Yevrah]

I did lol at Judd Trump wanting them to 'appeal to a younger audience'. Mate, you're walking around a dimly lit green baize table knocking balls into holes, playing a bit of Cardi B over the top isn't going to change the audience.

I'm also waiting for the day someone has the heart to tell him, that at thirty-two this year, he's not young anymore.

[niko_cee]

:D

But he wearing some dope kicks whilst doing his punditry stint!

[wullie]

That 1991 Masters page brings back a lot of Big Break memories, feels like Tony Drago was on it every week. They should get that back on Challenge, I think I've seen every repeat of Bullseye on there now.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Two players under 27 in the main draw this year, both of them Chinese. K.Wilson (29) the only under-30 to make it past the last 16.

Conversely, half the draw was 37 or older.

[Ian]

Did anybody watch Gods of Snooker on the BBC? I'm about halfway through episode 1 and enjoying it so far.

[Yevrah]

I did, it was pretty good. I enjoyed all the swearing particularly.

[Ian]

Yeah I've just finished it and it was pretty good.

I know Higgins was famous for his extra-curriculars and that he'd be drinking during games but the clips of him in this where he was so obviously bladdered during matches were a bit of an eye opener to me.

Stephen Hendry was and looked ridiculously young during first tournaments. :D

[Yevrah]

1990 was the first year I remember watching lots of, so I only really caught the arse end of his career, when he was a completely pissed up twat.

Different sports obviously, but the similarities between the NBA as portrayed in The Last Dance (prior to Jordan's arrival) and snooker (before Davis and Hendry turned up) are uncanny. Sport seemed to be a vehicle to get loaded and screw women back then.

[Shindig]

Accidentally watched episode 3 first. Good stuff but Higgins will basically just be Mark E. Smith to me. A permanently pissed hand grenade.

[Ian]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/58003683

That's some top NARRATIVE there.


Mark Allen will play ex-partner Reanne Evans in the British Open in August, four months after he requested that she be removed from a television studio.

Evans was working as a BBC pundit at the World Championships when Allen said he didn't want her to be in a TV studio where a practice table was situated.

Was she doing anything wrong or is he just a bitter shitebag?

[Yevrah]

I follow snooker and the DRAMA to a reasonable degree and I haven't a clue.

[Disco]

The studio stuff is proper small time so he's a dick either way.

[Giggles]

Maybe she was being a bike or something.

[Boydy]

I was reading about that earlier too. That's not even his most recent ex-partner which I had initially assumed. He's in some bitter legal battle with her and decalred himself bankrupt recently presumably to prevent her getting much.


He sounds like he's just a cunt tbh.

[Yevrah]

Yep, he's definitely one of those.

[igor_balis]

To coin an OSW phrase, he's such a rat-faced knacker.

[Disco]

I'm left wondering what Justin Credibles safety game is like.

[Ian]

Incredible, obviously.

[igor_balis]

I'm left wondering what Justin Credibles safety game is like.

safer than a lance storm chair shot baby

[niko_cee]

So, is this grudge match going to be worth following or is he just going to lol her off the baize?

[Ian]

It would be funny if she won but I've no idea if there's any real likelihood of that.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's so bizarre watching this with Stephen Hendry's earnest commentary over the top. She blanked his pre-match handshake, obvs.

[Jimmy Floyd]

She's won the second frame, and he looks RATTLED.

[Gray Fox]

I hope she goes on to batter him.

[Ian]

I stuck it on briefly and he flubbed the two shots I saw. 'Mon Evans.

[Jimmy Floyd]

She's started the next with six reds six blacks :D

Such theatre and she seems to have some vocal 'support' in there too.

[Ian]

She's got this.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He keeps tapping the table for quite routine safety shots. Safe to say that heads have very much gone here. Total demolition job by her.

[Ian]

Bit worried I jinxed her there.

Luckily Allen isn't able to make up for the misses.

[Browning]

I can't remember the last time I watched Snooker, but even I'm finding this tense.

[Ian]

It definitely is tense. :D

Allen bottled that decision with the red to the corner there.

[Ian]

Oooof. Now then.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

He's a right bastard.

As is Ian for the jinx.

[Ian]

Yeah my timing wasn't good.

Sorry, ladies.

Hopefully she's just setting him up for extra misery.

[Lewis]

I am watching snooker.

[Lewis]

Or is it 'the snooker'?

[Ian]

"Some snooking" is the common way of saying it.

[Ian]

She could've done with this composure when she flubbed that red in the last frame. :moop:

[Jimmy Floyd]

I think it's only 'the darts'. Snooker is just snooker.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

She could've done with this composure when she flubbed that red in the last frame. :moop:

Do you hate all women or is it just those in sport?

[Ian]

That must be one of my most effective jinxes ever.

You normally need to be watching England play cricket for those sort of instant results.

[Yevrah]

Sort of glad Allen won in the end as I'd have been gutted to miss that.

Stephen Hendry's comeback may be continuing tonight vs Chris Wakelin. I say may be as the scheduling for this tournament is for some reason kept a bit of a secret.

[Yevrah]

Hendry won last night and looked ok despite only having a high break of 47. :sick:

[Ian]

I mean he's not gonna beat anybody good, is he?

[Yevrah]

I mean he's not gonna beat anybody good, is he?

I'd be very surprised if he did, but this short form format (and unseeded draw) is a bit of a joke so he has more chance here than elsewhere.

[Yevrah]

Hendry back on with one of the most tragic opening frames you could conceive of. 0-1 vs Gary Wilson.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Has he improved at all since that Jimmy White shit-off?

[Yevrah]

Judging by the opening frame and start of the next of this, he's somehow got worse.

Commentators excusing him with lack of 'match practice', but I don't believe in that. If you're good at snooker, you're good at snooker - Jimmy White has been banging on about how good he still is in practice for two decades now while being completely useless in matches during that time.

On the plus side for Hendry, his awfulness seems to be rubbing off on Gary King.

[Yevrah]

List of horrors so far include:

Breaking off and somehow leaving the white ball eight foot from the baulk line and in amongst the reds
Coming back to the table when he needed snookers (for that elusive match practice) only to miss a routine starter
Missing a host of pots I wouldn't be that chuffed to get so far in frame two
Shanking a long pot attempt miles wide
Probably more I've missed as I'm working while casually glancing up at it

Honestly, if he's not going to put six hours practice a day in, I don't know why he's bothering.

[Yevrah]

3-0 loss and out.

[Shindig]

It's bizarre to think of snooker players going downhill with age. The table doesn't change over time and it's not a physical game. It should just be mental sharpness but that would imply practice would bring that back. Are ... are the other players just better now?

[Giggles]

Everything deteriorates with age.

[Kikó]

Considering John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan are both pretty ancient and near the top of the rankings suggests it's more Hendry losing what made him good (practice maybe) more than purely his age.

[Yevrah]

Hendry wasn't very good by the time he retired and practice might not change that, but there's no way he's going to rock back in and beat people consistently without it.

[Giggles]

People deteriorate at different rates.

[Gray Fox]

I think it was Steve Davies that said it was the eyes that go. Once they go, you don't get it back.

[Shindig]

Steve did have his moments, though. Made the Quarter Final of the world championships in 2010. That was the last time he qualified for one.

[Yevrah]

Been watching Judd Trump in the US Open 9 ball championship this week. He's playing now and looking good for the last 32 (I think!).

[Giggles]

Been watching Judd Trump in the US Open 9 ball championship this week. He's playing now and looking good for the last 32 (I think!).

Where’s that on?

[Yevrah]

Sky Sports Mix at the moment.

[Yevrah]

Here's the schedule.

https://cuescore.com/tournament/US+Open+Pool+Championship+2021/9209905

No idea how this loser/winner stuff works, but it has the whiff of a Swiss format about it.

[Giggles]

Class. Love watching 9 ball.

[Giggles]

He made some cunt of not just rolling in that 7 though.

[Yevrah]

The guy he's playing is genuinely wank (but somehow better than either of his first two opponents), to the point whether I wonder if I'd bothered with 9 ball in any way shape or form seriously I'd be in Atlantic City playing myself.

[Giggles]

I obviously don’t watch it that much after all because I’ve never seen that thing they use to hold the 9 ball on the break before.

[Yevrah]

Me neither. Seems an odd thing to do given there isn't really anywhere on the table it could end up that'd be hard to pot. In fact, as I type that I wonder if it's encouraged to stay where it starts with that thing to stop racks ending in seconds if it went near a pocket instead.

[Yevrah]

Trump back on, apparently against someone good this time.

[Giggles]

Seen that lad interviewed with Trump earlier. A Scot but sounds like he’s been in the US a long time. Sounded fairly confident of taking him anyway.

[Yevrah]

Yep. He's 5-0 up already.

[Gray Fox]

Is he facing Jayson Shaw? Because if so Shaw will twat him.

[Yevrah]

He is indeed.

Apparently Trump was bookies favourite beforehand. If I'd known that I'd have started a train.

[Giggles]

Is he facing Jayson Shaw? Because if so Shaw will twat him.

He’s well into the process of doing just that.

[igor_balis]

Seen Mark Allen walking out of some door here this morning, unfortunately I only clocked it was him too late to call him a cunt.

[Giggles]

The final is just starting now.

[niko_cee]

I tuned in to Shane Van Boening getting absolutely smashed by some Singaporean the other day and there seemed to be a bit of a rules stoush underway as to whether an extension had been called.

[niko_cee]

It was against this Yapp geezer who is in the final.

[Yevrah]

I've enjoyed this tournament, but it's manifest nonsense that you can theoretically lose a match without playing a shot.

[niko_cee]

Aye, 9 ball pool is a bit of a circus. Is it winner stays on in terms of the break in this one? I only ever tend to watch the Mosconi Cup when that's on and I think they alternate it in that format.

[Giggles]

It’s winner breaks. Biado won the lag and was 2-0 up without Yapp having a shot.

[niko_cee]

That 'top rail bank shot' just there proves what a farce this is as an endeavour.

[niko_cee]

That cut to the middle was more unbelievable because he played it, rather than the somewhat comedy way it dropped in. They never play to the middle normally do they?

[Giggles]

There’s that stupid fucking rail rule again.

[niko_cee]

Aye, that's just ridiculous. Surely the cushion rules can only ever apply in a non-snookered situation?

[niko_cee]

10-ball is a new one on me.

[niko_cee]

This guy's luck is unreal.

[Giggles]

He’s having a serious run of the balls.

[niko_cee]

Heck of a comeback there.

[Giggles]

He had a good few shit turnouts off breaks too but ploughed on. Would love if he’d made that plant in the winning rack and win it then and there.

[Gray Fox]

Used to play a fair bit of the American pool stuff, back when I lived somewhere that had a decent club nearby.

It was good until that mate would come. He'd always line every shot up to aim a plant towards the 9 ball, then smack it as hard as he could. Made you realise how stupid the game can be if you think about it.

[Boydy]

Looks like Higgins is about to beat Allen in the final of the NI Open in Belfast. You love to see it.

[Boydy]

Ah no, Allen's gonna win, the prick.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Shaun Murphy lost 6-5 to young Chinese amateur Si Jiahui in the UK Championship last night, and had this to say:


A furious Shaun Murphy has said "amateurs should not be allowed in professional tournaments" after losing 6-5 to Si Jiahui at the UK Championship in York.

Si fell off the main tour at the end of last season and only entered the UK Championship as an amateur top-up in the field.

Having dominated from the outset and led 5-1, the Chinse rookie looked to have let his chance slip when watching Murphy rally to 5-5 and then appear on course to win the deciding frame.

However, when the 2008 champion missed the final blue, Si stepped in to claim a famous victory, one which left Murphy furious.

Murphy told BBC Radio 5 Live afterwards: "I feel extremely hard done by that I have lost to someone who shouldn't even be in the building.

"I don't know why we as a sport allow amateurs to compete in professional tournaments. This is our livelihood. This is our living. We are self-employed individuals and not contracted sportsmen. We don't play for a team.

"The other 127 runners and riders in the tournament, it is their livelihood too. It is wrong, in my opinion, to walk into somebody who is not playing with the same pressures and concerns I am.

"He played like a man who does not have a care in the world, because he does not have a care in the world. It is not fair, it is not right.

"I am not picking on him as a young man, he deserved his victory. Amateurs should not be allowed in professional tournaments, the end.

"This is our livelihood. This is how I put food on the table. This is how I earn money. Since turning professional at 15, I have earned the right to call myself a professional snooker player. He hasn't done that. He shouldn't be on the table."

One of the more deranged rants I have heard in a while.

[Yevrah]

Yeah, that is absolutely insane and completely wrong. Knew there was something bubbling under all those smiles.

[Shindig]

Must be going through another divorce.

[niko_cee]

Or he has an amateur accountant who's made off with all his money.

[Gray Fox]

Is this the same Shaun Murphy who won the world title as an amateur qualifier?

[John Arne]

...And competed the Open as an amateur a few years back.

Whilst we are at it, let's stop any team from outside of the top 2 divisions from entering the FA Cup. Absolute wasters.

[wullie]

I'm into that idea, Sutton United are still in the cup and my arse is getting twitchy.

[igor_balis]

Yeah Murphy is a fucking weirdo.

[Gray Fox]

Actually guys he's a hero. He posed for pictures and signed autographs.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWpEkkqIPT6/

CWpEkkqIPT6

[Ian]

You're gonna need to do a snip of whatever it is you're trying to show us I think if you want it to appear in the post.

Unless it maybe works if you actually have an account.

[Don]

Looks like such a downy :D

[Gray Fox]

You're gonna need to do a snip of whatever it is you're trying to show us I think if you want it to appear in the post.

Unless it maybe works if you actually have an account.

It's his response to the picture I'm on about. I think you have to click to see it. Doing this has made me feel older.

[Shindig]

I saw the response and I've not got an account so others will be able to see it.

Holly's being a mild bitch, to be fair. "It would be best if you died." :D

[Ian]

Oh maybe Instagram is just blocked at work.

I see it now. :D

[Shindig]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/59407192

Turns out he's got plenty of support. I never considered how it could be knacking player development up. If they're topping up 128 people draws with amateurs and they're mostly getting dumped out in round 1, it does nobody any favours. The sport might just be dying a slow death, though.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's the same balls that the 'top players' come out with in every individual sport. They believe they are owed guaranteed easy money and will scream and cry until they get given it (for example by a more exclusive tour) rather than having to keep earning it on merit every year.

[Yevrah]

If the players had their way every tournament would only have 32 players in it and the top 16 would be seeded in the first round, with no qualifiers.

For the most part they're absolute mugs who haven't a clue what's best for their sport, but what's odd about Murphy's latest comments is that he's normally on the right side of the debate and not even close to the sort of nonsense he's come out with here.

[niko_cee]

Neil Robertson's been sawn-off by one now. :lol:

[Yevrah]

Loving that. :D

[Kikó]

As always, Ronnie is great value https://www.eurosport.com/snooker/uk-championship/2021-2022/uk-championships-2021-i-don-t-care-ronnie-o-sullivan-tells-beaten-shaun-murphy-to-get-another-job_sto8641187/story.shtml

[Jimmy Floyd]

What job did Ronnie go and get? Welder? Hod carrier?

[Ian]

Maybe he's writing more of those books.

[niko_cee]

What job did Ronnie go and get? Welder? Hod carrier?

Wasn't he a farm hand or something?

[Yevrah]

Ronnie on BBC2 now, against the former Indian Open semi-finalist Robbie Williams.

[Boydy]

What the fuck is going on with Mark Allen?

https://www.bbc.com/sport/snooker/59428726.amp

[Shindig]

Gambling debt.

[Boydy]

Is it?

How does it stop him playing snooker though? Surely he needs to play to earn money?

[Shindig]

Catch 22, isn't it? Give an addict money and see what they do with it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Maybe he has to sell his cue and/or waistcoat.

[Shindig]

Or his body. Think on that.

[-james-]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/59457433


The Scottish Open starts in Llandudno on 6 December.



Obviously.

[Yevrah]

The state of snooker is absolutely tragic at the moment.

[-james-]

Just switched this on and Mark Allen looks like the walking dead.

[Don]

Ronnie on form alert.

[Giggles]

In not unexpected news, I see O’Sullivan is acting the twat again.

[Ian]

What's he doing / saying now?

[Giggles]

1466820705388056579

[Yevrah]

You can tell when Ronnie's away with the fairies as he's constantly telling everyone how fine he is.