Dafabet Masters - The Final: Mark Selby v Ronnie O'Sullivan

TheRocket wrote:

Skullman wrote:

TheRocket wrote:Well, the big four were just something special, that's why they were called big four. And we never gonna see something like that again.

Why not? What's stopping more special players arriving. Do you see any other sport where some people from ten years ago were seen as the peak and were never topped again?

I wanted it to be different but I'm only honest. No of the current guys have the skills of peak Hendry,O'Sullivan , Higgins or Williams. I've seen tournaments where a Ding played at an extreme high level, Selby, Robertson, Trump. They all did it in some matches, but just to create a rivalry like the big four, pushing each other to the limit, being a league of their own. It's not surprising that Ronnie and Higgins won 6 of the last 7 World Champs.

I'm not saying an of the top guys will match them, but never means never. I hoping that they'll be some teenagers in China somewhere right now who can get very close.

And you know, I think, every sport need some kind of rivalries. In the time of the big four we had so many.

Those guys have played so many times against each other, beating each other in so many finals, playing the best snooker you can see. Comparable with Federer-Nadal, Nadal-Djokovic.

I think, nowadays Snooker fails heavily in that deparment. We need some kind of rivalries. If you have rivalries, it's guaranteed you will get good Snooker.

Doug Mountjoy won the UK at 46. The snooker he played that week would have massacred anyone but O'Sullivan this week.

Blavdes wrote:Yup there's a lot of 'anyone but Ronnie' on here that's why it's important for us to revel in his victories

I can see Ding winning the Worlds this year, even if he has a strop his overall game now is good enough to see it through.

That's the reason why there are certain differences between snooker fans and Ronnie O'Sullivan fans IMO.


I'm not overly keen on Ronnie. I never have, and I never will. In my personal view, I think that he's done a lot which can really do the image of the sport damage, Refusing to pot a black for a 147. Repeatedly not turning up to events which he'd entered, joking around about serious subjects, walking out of the UK Championships.

None of that however stops me from congratulating him on his achievements, nor admiring the standard with which he can play the game. The Masters finals of 2005 and 2014 are arguably two of the most impressive displays in Finals in recent years. He plays the game well, and as a snooker fan, I enjoy watching him play.

However, snooker does have some fans which are just strictly Ronnie fans, where it is more important that Ronnie wins than seeing a good match or terrific final, e.g. those who declare any tournament Ronnie doesn't enter (like this tournament last year) just tinpots.

You can talk to a Snooker fan about Snooker but only about Ronnie to a Ronnie fan. There are a majority of people who can be both, but some will line up solely behind Ronnie like a 6 year old supporting whoever's top of the Premier League come 5pm Saturday nights

See this discussion thread about the Final has reached 21 pages

According to what SO said yesteday, think that equalls or beats the record in a discussion thread final here on SI

I think that's just for Masters finals. I'm guessing the world final threads must be longer, especially with the amount of people who turn up here just for the worlds.

PLtheRef wrote:

Blavdes wrote:Yup there's a lot of 'anyone but Ronnie' on here that's why it's important for us to revel in his victories

I can see Ding winning the Worlds this year, even if he has a strop his overall game now is good enough to see it through.

That's the reason why there are certain differences between snooker fans and Ronnie O'Sullivan fans IMO.


You can talk to a Snooker fan about Snooker but only about Ronnie to a Ronnie fan

Not all of them are like that you know, and in this website we have prime examples of that like me, SnookerOverdrive and TheRocket.

EDIT: I see you edited your post PL, so sory about that.

Andre147 PGC wrote:See this discussion thread about the Final has reached 21 pages

According to what SO said yesteday, think that equalls or beats the record in a discussion thread final here on SI

I'm proud

Andre147 PGC wrote:

PLtheRef wrote:

Blavdes wrote:Yup there's a lot of 'anyone but Ronnie' on here that's why it's important for us to revel in his victories

I can see Ding winning the Worlds this year, even if he has a strop his overall game now is good enough to see it through.

That's the reason why there are certain differences between snooker fans and Ronnie O'Sullivan fans IMO.


You can talk to a Snooker fan about Snooker but only about Ronnie to a Ronnie fan

Not all of them are like that you know, and in this website we have prime examples of that like me, SnookerOverdrive and TheRocket.

EDIT: I see you edited your post PL, so sory about that.

No problem, - genuinely don't think you, SO or TR or really anyone from this site has a preference of Ronnie over snooker, I just think that there are people who are only interested in Ronnie and once he goes out, they have no interest in an event whatsoever yet still call themselves snooker fans

Snooker Overdrive wrote:

Andre147 PGC wrote:See this discussion thread about the Final has reached 21 pages

According to what SO said yesteday, think that equalls or beats the record in a discussion thread final here on SI

I'm proud

Funny that the old record (which still beats this for posts BTW) was also 10-4. Must be something about one sided finals that really about discussion

PLtheRef wrote:You can talk to a Snooker fan about Snooker but only about Ronnie to a Ronnie fan. There are a majority of people who can be both, but some will line up solely behind Ronnie like a 6 year old supporting whoever's top of the Premier League come 5pm Saturday nights

I see the gripe with 'glory supporters' and football is a good comparison in that regard, but lets say Ronnie is playing like Barcelona, in my opinion if people want to jump on the bandwagon to support the team or player who are playing the most attractive style then so be it. People like to watch winners win and if it's easy on the eye then that's even better, that's life and sport, so I don't really think it's right that 'fans of snooker' should look down on 'Ronnie fans'.

PLtheRef wrote:

Andre147 PGC wrote:

PLtheRef wrote:

Blavdes wrote:Yup there's a lot of 'anyone but Ronnie' on here that's why it's important for us to revel in his victories

I can see Ding winning the Worlds this year, even if he has a strop his overall game now is good enough to see it through.

That's the reason why there are certain differences between snooker fans and Ronnie O'Sullivan fans IMO.


You can talk to a Snooker fan about Snooker but only about Ronnie to a Ronnie fan

Not all of them are like that you know, and in this website we have prime examples of that like me, SnookerOverdrive and TheRocket.

EDIT: I see you edited your post PL, so sory about that.

No problem, - genuinely don't think you, SO or TR or really anyone from this site has a preference of Ronnie over snooker, I just think that there are people who are only interested in Ronnie and once he goes out, they have no interest in an event whatsoever yet still call themselves snooker fans

You're right, there are a few out there that when Ronnie isn't in a tournament or goes out early for instance have no interest whatsoever in the sport.

I'm not gonna lie, when I first started watching snooker back in 2005 it was Ronnie who made me at first love this sport, because we all tend to have our favourite players and especially when we start watching a sport we tend to watch a player and identify with him, but then obviously when I started knowing snooker better I loved and love to watch other snooker players, all of them really, because what matters first is the sport in question, not just only one player.

Blavdes wrote:

PLtheRef wrote:You can talk to a Snooker fan about Snooker but only about Ronnie to a Ronnie fan. There are a majority of people who can be both, but some will line up solely behind Ronnie like a 6 year old supporting whoever's top of the Premier League come 5pm Saturday nights

I see the gripe with 'glory supporters' and football is a good comparison in that regard, but lets say Ronnie is playing like Barcelona, in my opinion if people want to jump on the bandwagon to support the team or player who are playing the most attractive style then so be it. People like to watch winners win and if it's easy on the eye then that's even better, that's life and sport, so I don't really think it's right that 'fans of snooker' should look down on 'Ronnie fans'.

It's not looking down at all, its distinguishing that there are two groups which there is IMO. Whoever contested the final tonight the form would have been busy. However, as I said, in some cases, there are people who are solely Ronnie fans, who if Ronnie had been eliminated by Milkins or Walden wouldn't have given the tournament another glance.

I'm distinguishing the two groups. Snooker fans, and Solely Ronnie fans. Break-off's name change to RocketRonnie was apt, because its a forum which caters for Ronnie's fans. No problem with that

I could never comment on a "only Rooniefans forum" though...

There's just too many BS in those and they are so biased towards him it's unbelievable... Thank God a place like SI exists.

Ronnie's just one of those sportsmen who are even popular for those who are not interested in Snooker. Comparable with Federer. This leads to the point, that people who are watching Snooker or Tennis only do it because of these characters and when they lose, they stop watching it because they don't have or build any connection to the sport by itself.

But yeah. I think these fans are registering themselves into pure Ronnie or Federer forums anyway, which is fair enough.

SnookerIsland though is obviously a pure snookerforum, we all have our favourite players and we want them to win but we are Snookerlovers in the first place. I'm watching every tournament and enjoying it till the last ball is being potted.

Andre147 PGC wrote:

PLtheRef wrote:

Andre147 PGC wrote:

PLtheRef wrote:

Blavdes wrote:Yup there's a lot of 'anyone but Ronnie' on here that's why it's important for us to revel in his victories

I can see Ding winning the Worlds this year, even if he has a strop his overall game now is good enough to see it through.

That's the reason why there are certain differences between snooker fans and Ronnie O'Sullivan fans IMO.


You can talk to a Snooker fan about Snooker but only about Ronnie to a Ronnie fan

Not all of them are like that you know, and in this website we have prime examples of that like me, SnookerOverdrive and TheRocket.

EDIT: I see you edited your post PL, so sory about that.

No problem, - genuinely don't think you, SO or TR or really anyone from this site has a preference of Ronnie over snooker, I just think that there are people who are only interested in Ronnie and once he goes out, they have no interest in an event whatsoever yet still call themselves snooker fans

You're right, there are a few out there that when Ronnie isn't in a tournament or goes out early for instance have no interest whatsoever in the sport.

I'm not gonna lie, when I first started watching snooker back in 2005 it was Ronnie who made me at first love this sport, because we all tend to have our favourite players and especially when we start watching a sport we tend to watch a player and identify with him, but then obviously when I started knowing snooker better I loved and love to watch other snooker players, all of them really, because what matters first is the sport in question, not just only one player.

I think you've summed up how anyone gets into this sport. My first abiding snooker memory that I watched fully was Hendry v Williams in 1999. I was aware of Hendry was going for some sort of record. Fast foward 12 months and I was keen on how Hendry would do in his defence before he lost to Bingham. That said, following the tournament from round 1 it gave me a lease of getting to know more and more snooker players and by 2001 I was eagerly following several of the events

TheRocket wrote:Ronnie's just one of those sportsmen who are even popular for those who are not interested in Snooker. Comparable with Federer. This leads to the point, that people who are watching Snooker or Tennis only do it because of these characters and when they lose, they stop watching it because they don't have or build any connection to the sport by itself.

But yeah. I think these fans are registering themselves into pure Ronnie or Federer forums anyway, which is fair enough.

SnookerIsland though is obviously a pure snookerforum, we all have our favourite players and we want them to win but we are Snookerlovers in the first place. I'm watching every tournament and enjoying it till the last ball is being potted.

Yeah that's right, and the Federer comparison is a good one. Same with Tiger Woods in Golf for instance, a sport I also love to watch. And yeah me too, I watch every single tourney until the last ball is potted and there's a winner, because the Ultimate Winner is always Snooker.

A lot of great points made by everyone imo that's what I like about this forum - a wealth of knowledge about the game and many players.

Personally it was Jimmy White and Ronnie who I always supported, not necessarily the winners but for entertainment value. Now I enjoy watching anyone really even when there's no crowd but doubt i'd ever have got into the sport if it wasn't for the 'entertainers'.

Andre147 PGC wrote:I watch every single tourney until the last ball is potted and there's a winner, because the Ultimate Winner is always Snooker.

That sounds very poetic

Snooker Overdrive wrote:

Andre147 PGC wrote:I watch every single tourney until the last ball is potted and there's a winner, because the Ultimate Winner is always Snooker.

That sounds very poetic

Yeah it was wasn't it

This what the new 5-times Masters Champion had to say in his press conference:

"It's a great feeling," said O'Sullivan. "I expected it to be 10-9 or 10-8 because Mark is such a competitor and there's not much between us. He plays better when he's behind and you're never over the line against him until you pot the last ball.

"I missed an awful brown to go 9-1 and then I was concerned he would get it back to 8-4, so I was pleased to win the frame to go 9-3 at the interval. I told myself to just keep competing. The match against Ricky Walden was a one-off, I was never going to be able to do that against Mark.

"I've got five World, five Masters and four UKs now and I never dreamed I would do this well. It's just nice to be playing and competing at 38 because most of the others now are in their late 20s or early 30s. I have set myself a target of winning the world title when I'm in my 40s. Tom Watson nearly won the Open at 59.

"I'm competing with the players from the new era and the standard is high. To beat Mark 10-4 after the epic finals we have had is great. The way I've played in the last two years is how I wanted to play for the previous 18. Better late than never I suppose."

http://www.worldsnooker.com/page/NewsAr ... 47,00.html

SO you have to post the link, we can't make quotes here without posting it. Cheers.

To think this time last year Ronnie was doing voluntary work on a farm in Essex and one year later wins his fith Masters title

He came to watch the semi between Dotty and Selby because he said he missed the buzz and being at tournaments, and that was the catalyst for him to return to the Crucible on his remarkable defence of the World Crown.

The Masters is a very special tournament for me as well.

As I said plenty of times before, I started watching snooker in late 2006, so the 2007 Masters was the first Ronnie title I was able to enjoy live. I remember that final like it was yesterday. Ding played so well in that tournament and went into the final as the favourite. And he started great going 2-0 up and I was thinking, oh rubbish this will be very tough, especially because Ding beat Ronnie in final of the Northern Ireland Trophy earlier. We all know what happened after that and I remember just sitting there absolutely amazed.

Of course now I'm more used to witnessing great performances and Ronnie won plenty since 2007 but Ronnie in this 2014 Masters made me feel a bit like back in 2007, just being absolutely mesmerized by what Ronnie is capable of and how he's pushing the boundaries and achieving things, I thought were just impossible.

2007 was indeed something special, one of the best displays of all time, 2005 Masters final also. I don't agree with Ronnie btw, I think playing wise he was stronger around 04-08. But mentally he's surely stronger now and that's why he probably thinks, he is overall stronger now. Even though I wouldn't say btw that he was mentally weak back then because you won't win so much if you're not an competitive animal. He was still solid back then.

Yeah he was, his best period standard wise is probably 2001-2002 and then 2004-2008, but yeah like you said he now feels he's playing way better because he's improved mentally.

And you know that Ebdon match at the Worlds 2005 when he simply collapsed and his head was gone definately was a huge turning point in his career, and more recently his work with Steve Peters has done him the world of good.

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Of course now I'm more used to witnessing great performances and Ronnie won plenty since 2007 but Ronnie in this 2014 Masters made me feel a bit like back in 2007, just being absolutely mesmerized by what Ronnie is capable of and how he's pushing the boundaries and achieving things, I thought were just impossible.

That's another thing - Ronnie's performances this tournament have been truly inspirational. Like you say he's achieving things, a standard of play, that I never dreamed possible let alone come from Ron himself and at his age. The phrase 'impossible is nothing' kept coming to mind during his demolition of Walden.

The reaction of people on twitter just shows what he's achieved this Masters. People young and old, male and female, some who otherwise would have no interest in the sport have been mesmerized by Ronnie's performances and that has to be great for the game.

Hendry said he played 'perfect snooker' against Walden, Jimmy White had the biggest and warmest smile when Ronnie collected the trophy. Two legends of the game saluting the current master says it all.

Dr. Steve Peters deserves a knighthood too.

I'd like to add a disclaimer that I expect this victory to be perhaps Ronnie's very last major title so taking the opportunity to eulogise him while there's still the chance, before the procession of Ding, Robbo and Selby titles

Why should this be Ronnie's last Major? He doesn't lack the motivation for the Majors atm, and that's the main thing with him, so no I don't think this is the last we've seen Ronnie lift up a Major trophy. Of course it has to end somewhere, but surely he will win at least another one when he definately retires from the game.

As a Ronnie fan you sure aren't very confident in him.

Andre147 PGC wrote:Why should this be Ronnie's last Major? He doesn't lack the motivation for the Majors atm, and that's the main thing with him, so no I don't think this is the last we've seen Ronnie lift up a Major trophy. Of course it has to end somewhere, but surely he will win at least another one when he definately retires from the game.

As a Ronnie fan you sure aren't very confident in him.

Ronnie has proved he is still there playing to a extremely high standard so he is definitely in the mix of potential winners for every tournament he enters