I think snooker is the single only reason I miss the BBC.
I think snooker is the single only reason I miss the BBC.
Gutted. Really wanted to see Williams win.
Been watching some of the Welsh open on Eurosport/iPlayer this week and O'Sullivan looks so measured and calm about everything. Number 8 could be in store in two months time.
Or he could just as easily strop off.
Some fairly epic jinxing from Yev.
I watched most of it and he could not pot a ball.
Told you. Can't take owt for granted with him.
I've been watching the qualifiers for the World Championships on Discovery+ this week. Jimmy White is on now and absolutely shitting it up (7-2 down) against some absolute no mark. Stephen Hendry lost 10-4 to James Cahill yesterday and I think all of the Womens are out too.
Stan Moody (the 16 year old) did win a match, but he's getting battered in the second round now.
I've been watching quite a bit of 'Stephen Hendry's Cue Tips' on youtube of late. https://www.youtube.com/@stephenhendryscuetips
Really good channel which only started 5 months ago. It's nice how Hendry usually plays a frame with snooker players, ex-snooker players and non-snooker players, and has a chat and a bit of a laugh with them like he's in a snooker club.
Also, Hendry is a surprisingly good interviewer. Shows a genuine interest and asks good questions.
Last edited by AJ23; 06-04-2023 at 08:28 PM.
+1 for that channel as well. It's about as good as it could be and better than I thought it would be.
The one with Steve Davis was great. Not sure if I have the stomach to watch a John Terry edition.
I skipped that one too, albeit the comments were fun.
Annual audit of player ages at the WC is not looking good, unless you're Chinese. In the 16 seeded players the average age is 39.4 with one player (Brecel) under 30, and in the final 32 of qualifying, there are only 7 players under 28: Xu, Pang, Zhou, Page, Si, Wu and Fan.
Barry 'the Hawk' Hawkins misses out for the first time since 2005.
Ronnie is right. The standard of young players is decreasing drastically. Hardly any characters either. 20 years ago there were so many good players and characters. Even Quinten Hann was a good watch in his own bizarre interesting way. Now we've got boring Mark Selby and co. Over the years I've seen quite a few snooker clubs nearby close down. Could be a problem there.
The smoking ban killed the profitability of snooker clubs and in turn the development of youngsters in the sport itself.
Chinese interest should have made up for that, but it simply hasn't. If I was being charitable I'd say it's a hard thing for their kids to excel at when it involves moving here to do it and if I wasn't, I'd say the Chinese might just be a bit rubbish at snooker.
Snooker strikes me as the kind of thing where you need to be pushed [by better players] to really get good/better. Without those gatekeeper players, or the ability to play them, it's hard to really improve beyond being very talented. That said, from my very local experience snooker actually has a reasonably strong club culture, unlike other 'cue sports' which are dying on their arse big time.
It's not just snooker though. It might be at the forefront, but I can see loads of other sports struggling for players in the future. Without going all old man on the world, you simply don't see kids playing sport in general life in the way that you used to. I don't blame them, if the tech we have now existed when I was young I'd never have gone out either.
Definitely. I peaked early on with snooker because of a lack of better players to learn from. I played exclusively with other lads my age and we were all 40-50 break players. I excelled more at pool because I was in teams with older lads who were/are on the tour.
Robertson looking scary good
He is, but as the past has taught us that doesn't generally have much bearing on whether he'll win the whole thing.
Would be cracking if he got a 147 here.
Some good needle set up for Friday with Vafaei vs. Ronnie.
Nothing says fossil fuels burning the planet like Joe Perry v Robert Milkins in the crucibile last thirty-two.
They also pulled a similar trick just as we were going in to see dippy the dinosaur, as nothing gets people on your side like targeting snooker and free dinosaur exhibits for kids. They must be double agents hired by Shell
Oh fuck what did I miss?
Edit: fucking helmets
Them snooker tables cost a fortune, don’t they? Nice wee sentence incoming.
Huge fan of the ref stopping fatty on the other table from getting up there
Hopefully they had seven colours of shite knocked out of them backstage.
Can imagine Higgins is fucking fuming he wasn't there to throw a snide punch while shouting hold me back.
The most powder anyone's seen around a snooker table since Jimmy White retired.
Ronnie still exists
Just Stop Oil are shit at picking targets.
the worst protest of this ilk is still when some XR dweebs started fucking with the trains a couple of years ago. trying to save the planet and you target public transport. nice one lads.
All in for Noppon here even though he's surely losing. A lot of players are objectionable but there's something about Lisowski in particular I can't get on with. Probably his face
Probably the fact he comes across smug as fuck but has fuck all to show for it (ie. zero professional event wins). Being best buds with "Judd" probably doesn't help him, other than getting stints on BBC as a pundit when he bottles another tournament in the mid-stages.
We are all Judd Trump.
I've not seen Trump recently, excited to see if the hair's still clinging on for dear life.
Maximum for Wilson.
The second session of Trump vs McGill this afternoon should be a cracker.
I still think Trump will edge it but it will be scenes if he doesn't. Proper toys out of pram stuff when he gets dumped out.
Has to be said, Trump has been magnificent here.
I've clearly cursed Judd and this is now looking ominous.
He's just had a massive reprieve. Can't afford to go 6-9 down.
EDIT: Never mind. That pink miss could kill him off.