World Championship (Thurs 3rd of May) S Final Disscusion !

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Ronnie hasn't stamped his authority on the match so far. Stevens had way too much table time in my opinion.

Once Ronnie gets going like against Williams or Robbo he can reel of 5 or 6 frames in a row in half an hour.

If he gets going.

Skullman wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:

randam05 wrote:Wow, not often I dont enjoy snooker, but that was boring.

Yes it was hard work, no big nice fluent breaks, everything was awkward tonight.

Tomorrow is a different day

Yes very scrappy and poor standard tbh. There's a fine line between tension and players being crap.

Think we saw a bit of both in this two semis. The first one had more tension, the 2nd also had it of course but Matt was indeed playing crap today. Mind you, Ronnie wasnt playing that much better, his solid match-play snooker his what got him to have that lead

Skullman wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Ronnie hasn't stamped his authority on the match so far. Stevens had way too much table time in my opinion.

Once Ronnie gets going like against Williams or Robbo he can reel of 5 or 6 frames in a row in half an hour.

If he gets going.

What are the chances that Ronnie won't get going once in a 4 session match? Because one very good session will virtually seal the match. 6-2 for Ronnie tomorrow and it's game over.

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Ronnie hasn't stamped his authority on the match so far. Stevens had way too much table time in my opinion.

Once Ronnie gets going like against Williams or Robbo he can reel of 5 or 6 frames in a row in half an hour.

Agree Reckon he will do that on the 2nd or 3rd session

Interesting stat; Ronnie O'Sullivan has lost every Crucible semi final after winning the opening session 5-3. Hendry in 2002 and Dott in 2006. Also in the Dott match, he led 5-2 before losing the final frame of the session to leave him in the dreaded position of leading 5-3

dire stuff tonight

Ronnie prob couldnt believe his luck he was 4-0 up at the break when hed played so dire, though Stevens was even poorer.

I fully expected Ronnie to come out firing ofter the break and crank up the volume and secure a 7-1.

In the end he was lucky not to lose all 4 frames after the interval.

But a 5-3 lead after playing so poor is a result id say and Stevens really will need to up his game big time just to stay in touch tomorrow i feel.

Ronnie seemed to lose focus and concentration after the interval i noticed as his patience wore thin after such a slow paced plod of a match and he started going more gung ho and playing low percentage shots like he has done in the past when the red mist has descended.

Snooker Overdrive wrote:

Andre147 wrote:6-2 would have been better, and he had a chance to do that.

Every session could have been better unless it's 8-0. Looking back to what could or should have been is useless. You take the scoreline as it is and try to do your best on the next day.

Yes I agree, no point in looking back at what mistakes you made or what scorelines would have been better. Just saying that he did really had a chance for 6-2, but never mind, it's history now and all you have to do is look forward to the next session and try to win it if possible

Skullman wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:

randam05 wrote:Wow, not often I dont enjoy snooker, but that was boring.

Yes it was hard work, no big nice fluent breaks, everything was awkward tonight.

Tomorrow is a different day

Yes very scrappy and poor standard tbh. There's a fine line between tension and players being crap.

Spot on well said

Alex0paul wrote: leave him in the dreaded position of leading 5-3

Yes that's really dreadful

Alex0paul wrote:Interesting stat; Ronnie O'Sullivan has lost every Crucible semi final after winning the opening session 5-3. Hendry in 2002 and Dott in 2006. Also in the Dott match, he led 5-2 before losing the final frame of the session to leave him in the dreaded position of leading 5-3

What about the other three semis he lost?

Skullman wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:

randam05 wrote:Wow, not often I dont enjoy snooker, but that was boring.

Yes it was hard work, no big nice fluent breaks, everything was awkward tonight.

Tomorrow is a different day

Yes very scrappy and poor standard tbh. There's a fine line between tension and players being crap.

But you missed the first 4 frames. Ronnie played a lot better before the interval, punishing Stevens and playing good match play snooker.

Skullman wrote:

Alex0paul wrote:Interesting stat; Ronnie O'Sullivan has lost every Crucible semi final after winning the opening session 5-3. Hendry in 2002 and Dott in 2006. Also in the Dott match, he led 5-2 before losing the final frame of the session to leave him in the dreaded position of leading 5-3

What about the other three semis he lost?

Trailed Ebdon 4-3, Hendry 6-2 and was 4-4 with Higgins before Higgins won 8-0 to go 12-4 up.

Alex0paul wrote:Interesting stat; Ronnie O'Sullivan has lost every Crucible semi final after winning the opening session 5-3. Hendry in 2002 and Dott in 2006. Also in the Dott match, he led 5-2 before losing the final frame of the session to leave him in the dreaded position of leading 5-3

INTERESTING STAT

Ronnie was won every game in this championship that he has been 5-3 up or down after 8 frames

5-3 up v Williams
5-3 down v Robbo

Alex0paul wrote:

Skullman wrote:

Alex0paul wrote:Interesting stat; Ronnie O'Sullivan has lost every Crucible semi final after winning the opening session 5-3. Hendry in 2002 and Dott in 2006. Also in the Dott match, he led 5-2 before losing the final frame of the session to leave him in the dreaded position of leading 5-3

What about the other three semis he lost?

Trailed Ebdon 4-3, Hendry 6-2 and was 4-4 with Higgins before Higgins won 8-0 to go 12-4 up.

Thanks

Stat master, probably only beaten by the guy who makes the Crucible Almanac.

Witz78 wrote:

Alex0paul wrote:Interesting stat; Ronnie O'Sullivan has lost every Crucible semi final after winning the opening session 5-3. Hendry in 2002 and Dott in 2006. Also in the Dott match, he led 5-2 before losing the final frame of the session to leave him in the dreaded position of leading 5-3

INTERESTING STAT

Ronnie was won every game in this championship that he has been 5-3 up or down after 8 frames

5-3 up v Williams
5-3 down v Robbo

Witz78 wrote:

Alex0paul wrote:Interesting stat; Ronnie O'Sullivan has lost every Crucible semi final after winning the opening session 5-3. Hendry in 2002 and Dott in 2006. Also in the Dott match, he led 5-2 before losing the final frame of the session to leave him in the dreaded position of leading 5-3

INTERESTING STAT

Ronnie was won every game in this championship that he has been 5-3 up or down after 8 frames

5-3 up v Williams
5-3 down v Robbo

Well said Witz

They like to come out with every bad record Ronnie has, so that they can SOMEHOW find a PATTERN or something like that to see Ronnie lose

However Stevens' three defeats in semi finals have all come after losing the opening session 5-3 so something has to give.

Alex0paul wrote:However Stevens' three defeats in semi finals have all come after losing the opening session 5-3 so something has to give.

Andre147 wrote:

Witz78 wrote:

Alex0paul wrote:Interesting stat; Ronnie O'Sullivan has lost every Crucible semi final after winning the opening session 5-3. Hendry in 2002 and Dott in 2006. Also in the Dott match, he led 5-2 before losing the final frame of the session to leave him in the dreaded position of leading 5-3

INTERESTING STAT

Ronnie was won every game in this championship that he has been 5-3 up or down after 8 frames

5-3 up v Williams
5-3 down v Robbo

Well said Witz

They like to come out with every bad record Ronnie has, so that they can SOMEHOW find a PATTERN or something like that to see Ronnie lose

Exactly when he was 5-3 down to Robertson someone said he never won a match being 5-3 down or something like that and now he's 5-3 up and it's also no good. Ronnie gets it wrong everytime

My take on the stats:

Whoever reaches seventeen frame wins the semis final. (Except when it was best of thirty one. People who reached seventeen frame then were considered show 0ffs)

Skullman wrote:My take on the stats:

Whoever reaches seventeen frame wins the semis final. (Except when it was best of thirty one. People who reached seventeen frame then were considered show 0ffs)

At the end of the day that's what it's all about.

I've just got back from the Crucible so this is my read on the sessions.

Maguire v Carter

It's fairly obvious who is the better player and who was the aggressor today. Maguire pulled off some phenomenal attacking pots and never seemed to get the running he deserved. Carter played probably the most negative style of snooker I've ever seen in the latter stages of the World Championships, he seems content to mop up the pieces and let Maguire do all the hard work. It's a dangerous tactic and he will come unstuck tomorrow because Maguire's luck can't remain as bad as it was today.

Ronnie v Stevens

I felt that Ronnie was showing Matthew far too much respect out there early on. He certainly didn't show Robbo the same respect yesterday and look what happened there. For once Ronnie was taking too long on his shots and it didn't do him any favours, I was willing him to click into gear but he was pretty flat. I think because his opponent never looked like scoring heavily he didn't need to kick on but I expect him to pull his finger out tomorrow.

The other thing which I've said time and again is that Stevens really only has himself to blame for not focussing on his rest play. Yes when he's in a position of little or no pressure against lesser opposition he can pot a few balls with his left hand or with his extension with a long bridging hand, but in the semi-final of the World Championships he comes unstuck. In the opening frame he took on a silly yellow, from the arena seats you could see how much he was stretching and bridging over a ball, his body position was ridiculous, I said to my mate "He's going to miss this" and he did. Then later on he played a left handed shot and I said "Watch him run out of position" and he did. Then Ronnie played a left handed shot and I said "Watch him land perfectly on the next ball and show Stevens how to play left handed" and he did. So frustrating to see Stevens throw his chances away through laziness and lack of discipline.

All in all I expect better tomorrow from Maguire and Ronnie and for them both to be leading come the end of the day.

I was very surprised at the support Ali Carter seemed to be getting from the Crucible crowd today. I can only put this down to sympathy for his Chrone's Disease which the BBC has probably been focussing on (I don't watch the BBC so I'm only guessing) because it sure as hell can't be because of his snooker.