Greater Snooker rivalry

I know there are other rivalries as well but which of these two rivalries you think is the greater one because these two rivalries for sure have been the standout ones in the 21st century.

Ronnie and John Higgins are from the same generation and its the most prolific rivalry in Snooker history. ROS vs Selby started to become a big deal in the late 00's and they've had most of their meetings in the Triple Crown events and there is needle as well.

I voted Ronnie vs John.

I voted Ronnie vs Higgins due to the overall history.
However you feel there is "needle" between Ronnie and Selby to an extent which makes there matches interesting.

I voted Selby. Probably on the back of last year’s Worlds; that semi has reignited the war.

Hendry v White - to be continued in 2021

SnookerEd25 wrote:Hendry v White - to be continued in 2021

if it was a Best of 19 id favour Hendry.

Jimmy in recent years goes worst the longer the match Best of 11 id say its closer.

Some Bookies actually got Hendry at 300/1 to win the World Championship whereas Jimmy is 1000/1

Stephen played one match and won 1 frame in almost 10 years so god knows how they work that one out.

Ronnie v his chimp.

Wildey wrote:

SnookerEd25 wrote:Hendry v White - to be continued in 2021

if it was a Best of 19 id favour Hendry.

Jimmy in recent years goes worst the longer the match Best of 11 id say its closer.

Some Bookies actually got Hendry at 300/1 to win the World Championship whereas Jimmy is 1000/1

Stephen played one match and won 1 frame in almost 10 years so god knows how they work that one out.

It's the unknown quantity. They're 100% certain Jimmy won't win it. But we just don't know how well Hendry will play. It's very unlikely, but we can't be 100% sure he won't ace it.

Holden Chinaski wrote:Ronnie v his chimp.

In a contest to see who is hairier?

Ronnie-Selby is greater. Ronnie-Higgins is too pally.

chengdufan wrote:

Wildey wrote:

SnookerEd25 wrote:Hendry v White - to be continued in 2021

if it was a Best of 19 id favour Hendry.

Jimmy in recent years goes worst the longer the match Best of 11 id say its closer.

Some Bookies actually got Hendry at 300/1 to win the World Championship whereas Jimmy is 1000/1

Stephen played one match and won 1 frame in almost 10 years so god knows how they work that one out.

It's the unknown quantity. They're 100% certain Jimmy won't win it. But we just don't know how well Hendry will play. It's very unlikely, but we can't be 100% sure he won't ace it.

Just saw on instagram they've drawn each other....shame as I'd like both to do well but lovely these two are meeting again

On the plus side, one of them goes through to 2nd round, and they play Xu Si, which shouldn't be too hard on paper.

Can't see either getting past 3rd round though, one of the toughest draws in Zhou Yuelong.

When did they make changes to the qualifying process? I swear Ding Junhui had to play 3 qualifiers in 2016? but now there are a lot of players just outside the top 16 that only have to play 1 qualifier.

Juddernaut88 wrote:When did they make changes to the qualifying process? I swear Ding Junhui had to play 3 qualifiers in 2016? but now there are a lot of players just outside the top 16 that only have to play 1 qualifier.

They changed back to a tiered structure last season.

HappyCamper wrote:

Juddernaut88 wrote:When did they make changes to the qualifying process? I swear Ding Junhui had to play 3 qualifiers in 2016? but now there are a lot of players just outside the top 16 that only have to play 1 qualifier.

They changed back to a tiered structure last season.

Thanks for that

This one is a pretty difficult call. I feel like Ronniggins is the right answer and Ronnie would say it without a doubt if you ask him, but the climax is way higher between Ronnie and Selby. But still let's not forget this fact, the 2001 final could have changed the face of the snooker history, even more than the 2014 final or 2020 semi.

HappyCamper wrote:

Juddernaut88 wrote:When did they make changes to the qualifying process? I swear Ding Junhui had to play 3 qualifiers in 2016? but now there are a lot of players just outside the top 16 that only have to play 1 qualifier.

They changed back to a tiered structure last season.

Prefered what they had from 15-19.

Ronnie/Higgins is the greater, OVERALL rivalry. Come from the same generation played more matches against each other and still going strong, Ronnie himself said Higgins is his greatest rival but Ronnie/Selby have more interesting matches due to the needle and difference in styles

thing is Selby didn't play Ronnie in Ronnie's 1st half of his career (1993-2007), only in the very late 2000s (2008+) the rivalry started, Selby missed a good chunk of Ronnie's prime compared to the other way around where Ronnie lived through Selby's entire prime

Ronnie vs the boring grinder is the biggest rivalry by far, they hate each other's guts.

Ronnie and John's rivalry is more friendly. Sure, they want to beat each other, but they also respect one another and there's no hate whatsoever.

Pink Ball wrote:Ronnie-Selby is greater. Ronnie-Higgins is too pally.

Finally, someone making/speaking some sense around here.

Fanbases wise Ronnie vs Selby easily though LOL

I've never encountered a John Higgins "fanbase"

Acé wrote:Ronnie/Higgins is the greater, OVERALL rivalry. Come from the same generation played more matches against each other and still going strong, Ronnie himself said Higgins is his greatest rival but Ronnie/Selby have more interesting matches due to the needle and difference in styles

thing is Selby didn't play Ronnie in Ronnie's 1st half of his career (1993-2007), only in the very late 2000s (2008+) the rivalry started, Selby missed a good chunk of Ronnie's prime compared to the other way around where Ronnie lived through Selby's entire prime

Pretty much this. Thats why I did vote for Ronnie vs Higgins because they played against every version of the other guy.

H2H shows that Selby even has problems against Jack. And the Ronnie in the pre Reardon era was a lot more agressive and purely relied on potting and scoring. And he did it obviously to a much higher level than Jack. The last three frames of the World semifinal last year is the way he played when he was at his peak.

I think if Ronnie and Selby had come up in the same era their rivalry would basically have gone exactly the same way as Ronnie and Higgins.

Iranu wrote:I think if Ronnie and Selby had come up in the same era their rivalry would basically have gone exactly the same way as Ronnie and Higgins.

Nope. Ronnies H2H against Selby would be much superior than it is against Higgins.

TheRocket wrote:

Iranu wrote:I think if Ronnie and Selby had come up in the same era their rivalry would basically have gone exactly the same way as Ronnie and Higgins.

Nope. Ronnies H2H against Selby would be much superior than it is against Higgins.

I’m sure it would be more in Ronnie’s favour because Higgins is a better player than Selby but what I mean is, Ronnie’s wins (at least big wins) would have come far more in the first half of their careers and Selby’s in the second half, for the reason you said about how Ronnie used to play.

TheRocket wrote:

Iranu wrote:I think if Ronnie and Selby had come up in the same era their rivalry would basically have gone exactly the same way as Ronnie and Higgins.

Nope. Ronnies H2H against Selby would be much superior than it is against Higgins.

Fully agree. If Ronnie can still win the biggest matches in Snooker today, when he's 45, imagine what he would do in his absolute prime, between 2001-2005. he would destroy Selby most of the times.

Acé wrote:Fanbases wise Ronnie vs Selby easily though LOL

I've never encountered a John Higgins "fanbase"

Not met HendryFan?

TheRocket wrote:Pretty much this. Thats why I did vote for Ronnie vs Higgins because they played against every version of the other guy.

H2H shows that Selby even has problems against Jack. And the Ronnie in the pre Reardon era was a lot more agressive and purely relied on potting and scoring. And he did it obviously to a much higher level than Jack. The last three frames of the World semifinal last year is the way he played when he was at his peak.

H2H would be in far more favour of ROS if an old ROS can be competitive and still win and Selby's always struggled vs ROS apart from the Scottish Open when ROS is like 45, there'd be so many matches where ROS just outpots him through pure offensive, free-willing play including 90s ROS

if he can handle Higgins as he did up until 05 then he can handle Selby for sure, even more so, Higgins has more scoring power than Selby

SnookerEd25 wrote:Not met HendryFan?

No is that just a singular poster?

i've never encountered a Higgins fanbase on this forum, or anywhere else for that matter, you dont see heavily debated debates between ROS and Higgins compared to ROS and Selby

Andre147 wrote:

TheRocket wrote:

Iranu wrote:I think if Ronnie and Selby had come up in the same era their rivalry would basically have gone exactly the same way as Ronnie and Higgins.

Nope. Ronnies H2H against Selby would be much superior than it is against Higgins.

Fully agree. If Ronnie can still win the biggest matches in Snooker today, when he's 45, imagine what he would do in his absolute prime, between 2001-2005. he would destroy Selby most of the times.

Ronnie's prime only started after 2004, when he learned the tactical and safety part from Reardon.
And the best version of Ronnie is the 2012-2014 version.

Acé wrote:

SnookerEd25 wrote:Not met HendryFan?

No is that just a singular poster?

i've never encountered a Higgins fanbase on this forum, or anywhere else for that matter, you dont see heavily debated debates between ROS and Higgins compared to ROS and Selby

Wildey and BSP are the only grinder fans I know of.
And ROS vs Selby is the bigger rivalry cause they hate each other, there's no needle between ROS and Higgo