by PLtheRef » 12 Mar 2021 Read
What if indeed!
I always find theses kinds of threads interesting because similar to a thread about Finals these are all matches where you would have expected the player on the wrong-side of the scoreline to have gone on and won the contest.
1973 John Spencer 19-12 up on Ray Reardon - lost 23-22 (Ray then beat Eddie Charlton 38-32)
At the time of the 1973 Final, Spencer was the more successful player in the World Championships of the two, having won the title twice already to this point and had been runner-up the previous year to Alex. Reardon, champion three years before had been hammered by Spencer in the Semi-Finals in his defence and then had lost his opening match the year before. Despite having initially surrendered his title to Reardon in 1970, of the two at that stage of their careers, Spencer had the upperhand.
Had Spencer reached the Final, then there is a good chance that he would have beaten Charlton in the Final, maybe by a similar margin to the one Reardon achieved (despite being 7-0 down after the first session)
1979 Eddie Charlton 17-16 up on Terry Griffiths - lost 19-17 (Terry then beat Dennis Taylor 24-16)
If there is ever a title which got away for Eddie Charlton, its 1979. 17-16 having recovered from well behind against Griffiths who was in the biggest match of his career, he would have come against Taylor in a similar position in terms of a maiden Crucible Final appearance. A Final between Charlton and Taylor would have probably gone the way of the Australian.
1982 Jimmy White 15-13 up on Alex Higgins - lost 16-15 (Alex then beat Ray Reardon 18-15)
This is an interesting one as White certainly should have won the match 16-14. How would he have gotten on against Reardon? I would have expected Reardon to win this one fairly comfortably, around 18-11 18-12 ish as Jimmy was still relatively 'green' to this situation, not in the Top 16 and in a maiden World Championship Final (despite reaching the Semi-Finals of the UK Championship earlier that season).
1983 Tony Knowles 15-13 up on Cliff Thorburn - lost 16-15 (Cliff then lost to Steve Davis 18-6)
In a way this is similar to Jimmy's match against Alex the year before. Despite his exploits the previous year, Tony was still only ranked World Number 15 though similar to 1982 he produced some good displays in 1983 sending World Number 1 Reardon out in the Last 16. Against Steve Davis in a maiden world final? That would always be a tough prospect, add onto the fact that Steve would have more than wanted revenge for the 10-1 of the year before and it would be hard to make a case for Tony, although I would have expected it to be closer than the eventual scoreline between Davis and Thorburn - perhaps another 18-12.
2002 Matthew Stevens 16-14 up on Peter Ebdon - lost 17-16 (Peter then beat Stephen Hendry 18-17)
I know several have made the case that Hendry would have won an 8th World Championship had he come up against Stevens in the Final but I'm not as certain. Stevens had been to the Final before and would have learned the lessons of letting slip a 13-7 advantage, in addition Stevens had a growing record against Hendry, having dispatched him 13-5 the previous year.
Would he have beaten Hendry? Maybe, Maybe not, but I think that Hendry would have been more of a favourite to beat Ebdon than Stevens over Best of 35
2003 Paul Hunter 15-9 & 16-14 up on Ken Doherty - lost 17-16 (Ken then lost to Mark Williams 18-16)
Even with a place in a maiden World Championship Final at stake, at 15-9, Hunter should have that match won, having been in command for so much of the contest. That said, it is a testament to Ken and in particular his exploits in 2003 that he was able to mount that comeback. From 16-14, it was anyone's contest.
Had Paul made it through to the Final how would he have done against a Mark Williams in form of his life? Having reached the Final for the loss of 19 frames (just one shy of the record low). - I don't think there was any stopping Williams that year and I think he would have defeated Hunter 18-13, 18-14.
