Biggest choke in a World final
Its a tough question so you can vote for two options.
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TheRocket - Posts: 16419
- Joined: 23 September 2012
- Snooker Idol: Federer-ROS-Messi
TheRocket wrote:yeah cant disagree Ash. Its almost impossible to pick one or two out. So my poll isnt really useful.
If I had to choose two I'd say Jimmy and Ronnie in 1994,2014 respecitively as well. White had Hendry on the ropes and gifted away his last chance to finally win a World title.
Ronnie in 2014 was in total control of the match against a weak Selby but suddenly lost the plot from nowhere. Higgins in 2017 was similar but he was older and past his prime. And he showed character by getting to two more World finals.
Dan-cat wrote:Selby got in Ronnie's head so bad. He only lead 10 - 7 I think at the end of the first day, Selby had played awfully most of the day. Ronnie must have gone to bed that night feeling a lot worse than Selby. Selby probably felt like he was winning.
I dunno if I'd call it a choke. Selby messed the table up so effectively. I remember a Ronnie quote saying 'I couldn't see where the next red and colour were gonna come from everytime I got in.'
Ahhh... multi-session matches. Love them.
Ash147 wrote:Dan-cat wrote:Selby got in Ronnie's head so bad. He only lead 10 - 7 I think at the end of the first day, Selby had played awfully most of the day. Ronnie must have gone to bed that night feeling a lot worse than Selby. Selby probably felt like he was winning.
I dunno if I'd call it a choke. Selby messed the table up so effectively. I remember a Ronnie quote saying 'I couldn't see where the next red and colour were gonna come from everytime I got in.'
Ahhh... multi-session matches. Love them.
A mentally strong Ronnie wouldn't be thinking about that though, but his head just seemed to go after missing the black at 10-5. He was only leading 10-7 against Hawkins at the end of the second session in 2013, but he remained strong and went on to get the job done, with arguably more expectation on him to win that match.
The other thing about 2012-2014 Ronnie was that he didn't care about the long tactical exchanges, he actually seemed to be enjoying those. His safety play during that time was some of the best I've seen him play. So for him to suddenly lose the plot after having to play safety, which he should have expected with Selby, just doesn't make that much sense.
There's no reasonable way to explain Ronnie's loss that year, but it was horrible to watch. It was the first time I'd had to switch off a match that Ronnie was in, and at the end of a WC final too, but that fourth session was such difficult viewing.
Johnny Bravo wrote:Ronnie's loss devastated me.
Damn u Selbo.
D4P wrote:Johnny Bravo wrote:Ronnie's loss devastated me.
Damn u Selbo.
Ronnie fans will never get over that one. There's just no way to feel OK about it...
Iranu wrote:D4P wrote:Johnny Bravo wrote:Ronnie's loss devastated me.
Damn u Selbo.
Ronnie fans will never get over that one. There's just no way to feel OK about it...
Yeah, but as a pathetic Selby fan I loved it.
D4P wrote:Iranu wrote:D4P wrote:Johnny Bravo wrote:Ronnie's loss devastated me.
Damn u Selbo.
Ronnie fans will never get over that one. There's just no way to feel OK about it...
Yeah, but as a pathetic Selby fan I loved it.
Cocky
Iranu wrote:Numerically speaking Ronnie’s is the ‘least bad’ but if you were watching it you know that’s not the full story. No way he’d have lost against anybody else.
8-0 is still quite early on in the match (did Taylor come back to 9-7 or something? Amazing that I don’t know off the top of my head. The BBC should do a feature on that final). To really choke a match I think it has to happen in the latter stages or final session.
To lose from 6 frames ahead needing 4/5 frames each... I think I’d have to say either Jimmy or Stevens. I’m not sure how big a choke it was from Stevens as I didn’t watch it. It’s often referred to as a huge choke, though.
It’s weird, I don’t think of 2017 as a choke, really. Not like Ronnie, Jimmy and Stevens anyway. It really seemed like Higgins just... ran out of gas more than anything else. Unlike Ronnie I don’t think it mattered who he was playing beyond Selby’s ability to take
That black from Jimmy... Ronnie’s pink was easier but in context, Jimmy’s black was definitely the biggest choke in terms of a single shot.
SnookerFan wrote:Remember when Ronnie missed a pink?
D4P wrote:SnookerFan wrote:Remember when Ronnie missed a pink?
I've never watched the match, but I gather that this missed pink was a turning point. What happened...?
SnookerFan wrote:D4P wrote:SnookerFan wrote:Remember when Ronnie missed a pink?
I've never watched the match, but I gather that this missed pink was a turning point. What happened...?
He missed a pink.
Badsnookerplayer wrote:I find it strange that Ronnie chokes as he seems to have the most laid back attitude to the game.
If you watch his match against James Cahill, he fights back quite well and at 8-8 he has just the colours to clear and produces the most almighty bottle job on a simple pink. To him, that game would have had far less importance than to Cahill and yet Cahill seemed more assured at the end.
Sports psychology is very easy to the outsider.