If the most impressive player won the World Championship

!!!HEALTH WARNING TO HIPSTERS AND THE POLITICALLY CORRECT: DO NOT TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!!!

Every year at the World Championship, there's one player that stands out as having played the best snooker and looks destined to win -- but they often don't go on to take the title.

So what would the winners list look like if that player won every year? Though this is not to be taken seriously, it might just highlight the importance of matchplay and temperament in actually finishing the job. Only the years in bold were actually won by the player in question. The only criteria is that my choice had to have made at least the semi-finals in the year in question (I would have given Selbo 2009 but for that).

I can't remember prior to 1981. Only Crucible winners included.

Steve Davis (8): 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989
Ronnie O'Sullivan (7): 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014
Stephen Hendry (6): 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
John Higgins (3): 1998, 1999, 2009
Jimmy White (3): 1982, 1991, 1992
Judd Trump (2): 2011, 2015
Mark Selby (1): 2017
Ding Junhui (1): 2016
Graeme Dott (1): 2010
Stephen Maguire (1): 2007
Marco Fu (1): 2006
Shaun Murphy (1): 2005
Mark Williams (1): 2003
Matthew Stevens (1): 2000
Cliff Thorburn (1): 1980
Terry Griffiths (1): 1979
Ray Reardon (1): 1978
John Spencer (1): 1977

That´s a very impressive statistics. So Murphy actually deserved his 2005 World Title (?) That´s highly surprising. He was a qualifier.

So Judd already should had a two World Titles. He´s an entertaining player, for sure, and has had his moments. But he´s a criminal. That´s my problem with Judd Trump. He´s a criminal.



But he actually is. I can write anything I wan´t to write, as long as there isn´t any insults towards the personality.

I reckon Shaun certainly derserved his Champion of Champions 2017 title. I mean because he was able to stop Ronnie. It is an extremely difficult ball game, make no mistake.

When usually people are just very happy to be solid. Or to look very smart. And that´s it, that´s should do it. The more calculative person to win it on a day. But it quite doesn´t work like that. Just whacking the ball straight and solid and they should have a massive fan-base?? And (or?) to look somewhow smart without having any evidence to back it up.

But Shaun´s a more like a chess-player. Just like Steve Davis actually used to be and probably still is. Shaun comes with a right timing to win something, to stop the trot. And I am bit a chess-player too; I come with a right timing to write something what I reckon to be funny or usefull as soon as I have discovered that Shaun has now won something..

Okay. If you say so.

How's the move going Saviour?

Badsnookerplayer wrote:How's the move going Saviour?

Where's he moving? His local Loony Bin?

SnookerFan wrote:

Badsnookerplayer wrote:How's the move going Saviour?

Where's he moving? His local Loony Bin?

Portugaaaal mate, Portugaaaaal mate

I wouldn't say White was the best player in 1991.

I would say he was better than Hendry in 1994, so I would swap those years.

Sullivan in 2005 for me. He was in peak form that season and started off the World Championship where he finished off in 2004. If not for Ebdons ludicrous time wasting Murphy wouldn't be a (Former-) World Champion now.


The year 2015 is the most difficult to tell. Trump, Robertson and Murphy played all at a very high standard. In terms of allround game Robbo was definitely the best imo. You could argue that he was the most impressive in 2014 as well.

TheRocket wrote:Sullivan in 2005 for me. He was in peak form that season and started off the World Championship where he finished off in 2004. If not for Ebdons ludicrous time wasting Murphy wouldn't be a (Former-) World Champion now.


The year 2015 is the most difficult to tell. Trump, Robertson and Murphy played all at a very high standard. In terms of allround game Robbo was definitely the best imo. You could argue that he was the most impressive in 2014 as well.

ha ha. I loved the time wasting from Ebdon because it gave us some classic Ronnie moments. The look he gave Ebdon each time he came back to his seat had me in stitches. He made Ronnie lose the plot big time but I think I would have thrown that match myself. Lifes too short to wait for someone to take a pot.

Peter Ebdon was on the board of the WPBSA at the time. So the referee couldn't warn him, as effectively Peter was his boss.

All revealed in Clive Everton's book 'Black Farce and Cueball Wizards' an extremely compelling read. Support Clive in his dotage, order it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Farce-Cu ... 1780575688

TheRocket wrote:Sullivan in 2005 for me. He was in peak form that season and started off the World Championship where he finished off in 2004. If not for Ebdons ludicrous time wasting Murphy wouldn't be a (Former-) World Champion now.


The year 2015 is the most difficult to tell. Trump, Robertson and Murphy played all at a very high standard. In terms of allround game Robbo was definitely the best imo. You could argue that he was the most impressive in 2014 as well.

I'm not one for defending Ebdon's dull as ditchwater play. Since I started in 2002, the only World Title I voluntarily turned off and went to bed for was Ebdon vs Dott.

However, I always felt we couldn't lay all the blame on that loss on Ebdon. Ronnie was way ahead in that match. Yes Ebdon's tactics were dull to many of us, myself included. But Ronnie should've been able to deal with them. Also, he had plenty of opportunities at the table, plenty of opportunities to kill that match off. He threw away several good chances to win frames, just because he'd got bored of Ebdon's strategy, and couldn't be bothered to play any more. It's not like Ebdon kept him completely off the table.

That's what Steve Peters helped Ronnie with. He now competes much better in games, where his opponent plays a different style. In the Ebdon match, he was almost choosing not to take chances that came along. That's not all down to Ebdon's style.

TheRocket wrote:Sullivan in 2005 for me. He was in peak form that season and started off the World Championship where he finished off in 2004. If not for Ebdons ludicrous time wasting Murphy wouldn't be a (Former-) World Champion now.


The year 2015 is the most difficult to tell. Trump, Robertson and Murphy played all at a very high standard. In terms of allround game Robbo was definitely the best imo. You could argue that he was the most impressive in 2014 as well.

2005 was a disaster.

Just look at this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIyfLTFrN_U

Ronnie made a 147 by the time Slowdon made a break of 12, urgh!

Dan-cat wrote:Peter Ebdon was on the board of the WPBSA at the time. So the referee couldn't warn him, as effectively Peter was his boss.

All revealed in Clive Everton's book 'Black Farce and Cueball Wizards' an extremely compelling read. Support Clive in his dotage, order it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Farce-Cu ... 1780575688

Watching that match live the commentators said he should be warned no mention of it being stopped because he was on the board though

Not sure how you managed to chose Fu for 2006

Dan-cat wrote:Peter Ebdon was on the board of the WPBSA at the time. So the referee couldn't warn him, as effectively Peter was his boss.

All revealed in Clive Everton's book 'Black Farce and Cueball Wizards' an extremely compelling read. Support Clive in his dotage, order it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Farce-Cu ... 1780575688

That really is a farce... It's a disgrace what happened at that world championship.

Play like that was what gave strength to the arm of the shot-clock charlatans.

Is Judd Trump a criminal?

Holden Chinaski wrote:That really is a farce... It's a disgrace what happened at that world championship.

Yes, I'll agree with that to an extent. Shouldn't have mattered if he was on the board.

During the match, the referee is the boss. No matter what.

Pink Ball wrote:!!!HEALTH WARNING TO HIPSTERS AND THE POLITICALLY CORRECT: DO NOT TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!!!

Every year at the World Championship, there's one player that stands out as having played the best snooker and looks destined to win -- but they often don't go on to take the title.

So what would the winners list look like if that player won every year? Though this is not to be taken seriously, it might just highlight the importance of matchplay and temperament in actually finishing the job. Only the years in bold were actually won by the player in question. The only criteria is that my choice had to have made at least the semi-finals in the year in question (I would have given Selbo 2009 but for that).

I can't remember prior to 1981. Only Crucible winners included.

Steve Davis (8): 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989
Ronnie O'Sullivan (7): 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014
Stephen Hendry (6): 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
John Higgins (3): 1998, 1999, 2009
Jimmy White (3): 1982, 1991, 1992
Judd Trump (2): 2011, 2015
Mark Selby (1): 2017
Ding Junhui (1): 2016
Graeme Dott (1): 2010
Stephen Maguire (1): 2007
Marco Fu (1): 2006
Shaun Murphy (1): 2005
Mark Williams (1): 2003
Matthew Stevens (1): 2000
Cliff Thorburn (1): 1980
Terry Griffiths (1): 1979
Ray Reardon (1): 1978
John Spencer (1): 1977

1980 belonged to Alex Higgins. If he hadn't taken on so many flair shots for the audience, he would have won it instead of the boring grinder Thorburn.