Betfred World Championship Final: Ding Junhui v Mark Selby

GJ wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:

GJ wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Selby is now ahead of his great rival Robbo. Will be interesting how the Australian strikes back. No way this won't spur him on.

Not feeling too confident on that tbh

Why?

His worlds record since 2010 is worrying , yes he has 2 uk's and 1 masters but in the big moments he has come up short like v Selby in 14 and Hawkins in 15

I hope my fears are wrong though

Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, Selby was a man on a mission that year. And Hawkins played one the matches of his life. Sometimes, you just can't help how the other guy plays.

Holden Chinaski wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Mark Selby is maybe the toughest competitor snooker has ever seen. Even better than Higgins and Davis in that regard. And now he's a multiple world champion.

Well done.

Well done Selby but toughest ever? No disrespect but that's a bit much. He would have a lot more titles if he was the toughest ever. He's very good and extremely tough but he's no Hendry, Davis, Higgins, Ronnie...

I don't think the people you listed there could win the world title while playing only 2 or 3 good sessions in the entire tournament.

Iranu wrote:The whole final felt kind of flat.

I'm glad i'm not the only one who felt that. Compared to his celebrations in 2014, you'd have thought that it was grinning Ding who had won the title instead of Mark; he looked gloomy as all hell. Very weird.

It was a so-so final, but then it's hard to top the standard set by last year's final. All that matters is that he is now quite certainly the best man of his generation -- Mark Selby.

Snooker Overdrive wrote:

Holden Chinaski wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Mark Selby is maybe the toughest competitor snooker has ever seen. Even better than Higgins and Davis in that regard. And now he's a multiple world champion.

Well done.

Well done Selby but toughest ever? No disrespect but that's a bit much. He would have a lot more titles if he was the toughest ever. He's very good and extremely tough but he's no Hendry, Davis, Higgins, Ronnie...

I don't think the people you listed there could win the world title while playing only 2 or 3 good sessions in the entire tournament.

Higgins probably. No clue about Davis, but I suspect he could.

Skullman wrote:

GJ wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:

GJ wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Selby is now ahead of his great rival Robbo. Will be interesting how the Australian strikes back. No way this won't spur him on.

Not feeling too confident on that tbh

Why?

His worlds record since 2010 is worrying , yes he has 2 uk's and 1 masters but in the big moments he has come up short like v Selby in 14 and Hawkins in 15

I hope my fears are wrong though

Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, Selby was a man on a mission that year. And Hawkins played one the matches of his life. Sometimes, you just can't help how the other guy plays.

Fair point I suppose I never thought he would have 4 majors when he won that grand prix in 2006 so I guess I expect too much

Holden Chinaski wrote:Wild always says that results are all that matter but the way you play is important as well. Not only for the viewers but even more for the players themselves. Nobody wants to play their B game all the time, even if they win.

Nobody wants to play their B Game everyone wants to play their A+ Game but when all said and done who cares its about getting over the line playing the best you can at all times and sometime you have to have a plan B and Selby does it better than anyone.

Oh yeah, have thought since before the championship, but didn't want to mention it for fear of jinxing...

Probably a complete coincidence but Selby seems to like that WN1 spot now. Won the title to nick it off Robbo in 2014, and I remember a couple of times in 2014/5 when Ronnie would've taken the spot if Selby didn't get the title in the next event. He won the German Masters and China Open to stop him.

And here, he needed the title to keep it and has done so.

Holden Chinaski wrote:Against the draw Selby had this year? I think they can. Sorry, not trying to sound bitter, that's just how I see it.

Thing is, against those guys players know they'd have to play their best win and their game plan is probably more in line with their natural play style. Think Selby's reputation is starting to preced him and some people resign themselves to a scrap before handshake...

Skullman wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:

Cloud Strife wrote:Is it just me or does Selby not really look all that happy? You'd think he was the runner up the way he looks.

Exhaustion I think. Same thing happened after his UK win in 2012.

Don't think he's all that happy about the way he played to win. Think he said as much after the 2012 UK, that it felt weird winning while playing so crap (paraphrased). He'll take the title gladly, but he wants to win playing well as much as people prefer to see the winner play well.

Well, at least he played better in the final than in the other matches. I also noticed that his break offs were much better than in the other matches where he almost always left two reds on the left as a shot to nothing.
Anyway, he won! Yay!

Iranu wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:

Holden Chinaski wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Mark Selby is maybe the toughest competitor snooker has ever seen. Even better than Higgins and Davis in that regard. And now he's a multiple world champion.

Well done.

Well done Selby but toughest ever? No disrespect but that's a bit much. He would have a lot more titles if he was the toughest ever. He's very good and extremely tough but he's no Hendry, Davis, Higgins, Ronnie...

I don't think the people you listed there could win the world title while playing only 2 or 3 good sessions in the entire tournament.

Higgins could, and has in 2011, depending on what you consider to be a good session.

Ronnie though, no. He needs one good session per match.

Higgins played better in 2011 than Selby this year. Remember Mark was poor in every single session until the final one in the semis.

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Higgins played better in 2011 than Selby this year. Remember Mark was poor in every single session until the final one in the semis.

Don't know about that. Was allowed to play decently against Milkins first session, was competent against Baird for two sessions. Only saw middle session against Kyren which was quite poor, no idea about first and third ones. Not A game but solid B rather than lower down the alphabet.

Something definitely not right between him and his mrs

Holden Chinaski wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:

Holden Chinaski wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Mark Selby is maybe the toughest competitor snooker has ever seen. Even better than Higgins and Davis in that regard. And now he's a multiple world champion.

Well done.

Well done Selby but toughest ever? No disrespect but that's a bit much. He would have a lot more titles if he was the toughest ever. He's very good and extremely tough but he's no Hendry, Davis, Higgins, Ronnie...

I don't think the people you listed there could win the world title while playing only 2 or 3 good sessions in the entire tournament.

Against the draw Selby had this year? I think they can. Sorry, not trying to sound bitter, that's just how I see it.

Fair point. You can't ask for a better draw than Selby just had, also it's not like the no name opponents played out of their skin like Gould against Robbo in 2010.

But all that matters is the title. He might have played a superb match against Ronnie had he not lost to Barry and we wouldn't have this discussion right now.

Alex0paul wrote:Something definitely not right between him and his mrs

It was an odd atmosphere

Skullman wrote:

Holden Chinaski wrote:Against the draw Selby had this year? I think they can. Sorry, not trying to sound bitter, that's just how I see it.

Thing is, against those guys players know they'd have to play their best win and their game plan is probably more in line with their natural play style. Think Selby's reputation is starting to preced him and some people resign themselves to a scrap before handshake...

Funnily Ronnie dealt very well with Selby in their two matches this year without getting dragged down into safeties. Looking forward to more matches between these two, the ultimate battle snooker has to offer currently

GJ wrote:

Alex0paul wrote:Something definitely not right between him and his mrs

It was an odd atmosphere

He's been acting strange throughout the tournament. Sometimes he was too emotional, and at the end not emotional enough.

GJ wrote:

Alex0paul wrote:Something definitely not right between him and his mrs

It was an odd atmosphere

Still think there's some reason why he took those last two tournaments off and giving himself some time off is as accurate as Ronnie coming back to pay school fees. Of course, it's all just wild speculation...

The triple crown of snooker in 2015/16 went to Neil Robertson, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Selby. Familiar names.

Are all these tournaments really going to be full ranking events?!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snooker_season_2016/2017

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Are all these tournaments really going to be full ranking events?!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snooker_season_2016/2017

Something's got to replace the PTCs. Barry's not going to let the players sit around and twiddle their thumbs. I'm guessing some will be more minor than others.

That clearance from Selby in the last frame was class, because he was under pressure and he played some tough shots. Congratulations
And I also enjoyed Paul Collier as ref in the final, he was very strict when it came to some noises and fizzes from the public.

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Are all these tournaments really going to be full ranking events?!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snooker_season_2016/2017

Not like it matters, when winning the Worlds alone will soon earn you more (money and ranking 'points') than winning 4 or 5 high-end ranking events. Still not something that sits easy with me, but that's just how it is I suppose.