19.com Northern Ireland Open Final !!!

Remember that pink Ronnie missed?

SnookerFan wrote:

masterdoctorgenius wrote:

Cloud Strife wrote:I think Judd will be fresh as a daisy tommorow. Winning breeds confidence and nobody has been winning as much as Judd recently.

I don't buy into this tiredness excuse that BSP and others are trying to seed in everyone's mind.

I am quite surprised that he overcome the choke of last sunday.

That wasn't really a choke. Both players played well.

2nd wind? Agree, they played extremely well, match of the season so far, 8 centuries in a bo19, new record.

I thought O’Sullivan’s pre and post match interviews where a lot more measured today, and I think that showed in his performance tonight (that green aside). In the pre match he said that his current attitude about it all being fun and not caring about wining or losing and going for his shots etc just suits his mindset at the minute, and that he’s not saying it’ll always be like that and that he does care to an extent etc, which he wasn’t even suggesting earlier in the week or last. And then the post match was a lot more professional than anything he’s said over the last two weeks as well, so I think we’re starting to see a bit of a change already and I think that’ll be reflected in his performance tomorrow.

I’m under the impression that this current not caring attitude is pure rubbish talk because he’s trying to take the pressure off himself regarding his current one year ranking, because I’ve no doubt he’ll want to play in the Coral events after winning two last year. As someone pointed out earlier, even runner up tomorrow will help towards his position for these combined with a decent run in the UK or even the Scottish.

During the week there when questioned he has already backtracked on not competing in the majors this season, saying he’ll compete in York because they have good coffee. Nothing to do with the raaanking points obviously.

Wildey wrote:Ronnie plays down everything these days. i just think its a Steve Peters coping tool for him.


Ronnie wont be happy losing this match its his Chance this season of putting Judd in his place.

Totally agree, removes some of the pressure. Judd flying right now but not invincible, if Robbo can do it Ronnie can do it too.

This is truly a huge match. Its the main rivalry of this sport and the whole Snookerworld virtually was waiting for them to meet. Fans,commentators etc.

Its not just about winning the title. Its about beating the other best player and sending a strong message to him. As the next meeting is probably just around the corner.

As Steve Davis once said, "play as if it means nothing when it means everything"

Works for Ronnie. Who are we to blame?

Andre147 wrote:Ronnie loves to play down everything to take the pressure off himself.

Sometimes he may seem like he's talking rubbish, but it works for him and we've seen it this week.

Other times it obviously doesnt work, like in Crawley.

He likes it in Belfast he doesent like Crawley

Erza Scarlet wrote:As Steve Davis once said, "play as if it means nothing when it means everything"

Works for Ronnie. Who are we to blame?

Think we saw it first hand last year after he won the UK. I’ve never seen him celebrate like that and you could really tell that it meant the world to him, but yet he’d spent the week talking about how he was just there to have fun when all the attention was on whether or not he could win a record breaking 7th UK and 19th major. Difference this time it’s 37 ranking events.

Wildey wrote:

Iranu wrote:Ronnie was comfortably better than Judd today outside of the last two frames of the afternoon session.

Neither player was tested but Judd made it seem like he was by playing as badly as Higgins.

Yea but if Ronnie plays like that Tomorrow he will not win the match it was 2 or 3 chance Snooker to kill frames Off.

Trump has always played better historically against Ronnie than he has against Higgins.


Judd safety game was pretty good today much better than the other 3 players.

Oh yeah definitely.

But if they both play the way they did today, Ronnie wins comfortably.

That won’t happen of course, I expect Judd to go up a gear. Not sure about Ronnie. I do expect the ultra-aggressive shots to stop though.

He cares a lot about records.

And he's done a very good job by breaking most of them. In 2011 he was like miles away from Hendrys records.

Its a pity he wont break the World title record but he's had a fantastic career and one more World title would be the icing on the cake.

O'Sullivan plays as well as he ever has when there is no pressure on him. But he hasn't won what his talent deserves because he hasn't coped as well with pressure as Hendry did.

vodkadiet1 wrote:O'Sullivan plays as well as he ever has when there is no pressure on him. But he hasn't won what his talent deserves because he hasn't coped as well with pressure as Hendry did.

And because the quality of opposition he faced during his prime years was far stronger than what Hendry faced. Mind you, Sullivan did win considerably more in his prime than Hendry did.

Pink Ball wrote:

vodkadiet1 wrote:O'Sullivan plays as well as he ever has when there is no pressure on him. But he hasn't won what his talent deserves because he hasn't coped as well with pressure as Hendry did.

And because the quality of opposition he faced during his prime years was far stronger than what Hendry faced. Mind you, Sullivan did win considerably more in his prime than Hendry did.

If Hendry played O'Sullivan at The World Championships where then they were both in their prime then Hendry wins every time. O'Sullivan had to wait until Hendry was garbage before he could beat him at Sheffield.

There is no conversation here.

Hendry > O'Sullivan

Vodka is right in terms of the Crucible.

Five titles and six finals is far too low for a player of his calibre. Even Higgins has two more world finals now. And thats because ROS has often struggled with the pressure.

In the other tournaments he has managed to fulfil his potential and surpassed Hendry.

TheRocket wrote:Vodka is right in terms of the Crucible.

Five titles and six finals is far too low for a player of his calibre. Even Higgins has two more world finals now. And thats because ROS has often struggled with the pressure.

In the other tournaments he has managed to fulfil his potential and surpassed Hendry.

The Rocket.

vodkadiet1 wrote:

Pink Ball wrote:

vodkadiet1 wrote:O'Sullivan plays as well as he ever has when there is no pressure on him. But he hasn't won what his talent deserves because he hasn't coped as well with pressure as Hendry did.

And because the quality of opposition he faced during his prime years was far stronger than what Hendry faced. Mind you, Sullivan did win considerably more in his prime than Hendry did.

If Hendry played O'Sullivan at The World Championships where then they were both in their prime then Hendry wins every time. O'Sullivan had to wait until Hendry was garbage before he could beat him at Sheffield.

There is no conversation here.

Hendry > O'Sullivan

I don't think they ever faced each other in their prime at the World Championship. 2002 was probably the closest we got. O'Sullivan had a lot of growing up to do before that. Hendry was on a bit of a slide from there on.

There is certainly a conversation to be had. Hendry's opposition before he turned 27 paled in comparison to the competition Sullivan faced before he was 27. I, the most knowledgeable figure in snooker, would be inclined to give Sullivan the nod for this one. Hendry was great, but his relatively poor efforts during his prime years are an irrevocable blot on his copy book.

Pink Ball wrote:

vodkadiet1 wrote:

Pink Ball wrote:

vodkadiet1 wrote:O'Sullivan plays as well as he ever has when there is no pressure on him. But he hasn't won what his talent deserves because he hasn't coped as well with pressure as Hendry did.

And because the quality of opposition he faced during his prime years was far stronger than what Hendry faced. Mind you, Sullivan did win considerably more in his prime than Hendry did.

If Hendry played O'Sullivan at The World Championships where then they were both in their prime then Hendry wins every time. O'Sullivan had to wait until Hendry was garbage before he could beat him at Sheffield.

There is no conversation here.

Hendry > O'Sullivan

I don't think they ever faced each other in their prime at the World Championship. 2002 was probably the closest we got. O'Sullivan had a lot of growing up to do before that. Hendry was on a bit of a slide from there on.

There is certainly a conversation to be had. Hendry's opposition before he turned 27 paled in comparison to the competition Sullivan faced before he was 27. I, the most knowledgeable figure in snooker, would be inclined to give Sullivan the nod for this one. Hendry was great, but his relatively poor efforts during his prime years are an irrevocable blot on his copy book.

I havent seen prime Hendry so I cant say a lot about it but if Jimmy White was just one frame away from beating Hendry and the other time had a 14:8 lead surely prime O'Sullivan would be capable of beating prime Hendry at the Crucible. Especially the 2004 version.

Goldenballs147 wrote:

Erza Scarlet wrote:As Steve Davis once said, "play as if it means nothing when it means everything"

Works for Ronnie. Who are we to blame?

Think we saw it first hand last year after he won the UK. I’ve never seen him celebrate like that and you could really tell that it meant the world to him, but yet he’d spent the week talking about how he was just there to have fun when all the attention was on whether or not he could win a record breaking 7th UK and 19th major. Difference this time it’s 37 ranking events.

He was pretty focused at the UK I feel maybe too focused because he was slow in the final for his standards I remember the commentators and some players on Twitter picking up on this. He was extra careful. Think that was when SightRight was in full gear.

Clearly that's gone down the bin now lol

vodkadiet1 wrote:O'Sullivan plays as well as he ever has when there is no pressure on him. But he hasn't won what his talent deserves because he hasn't coped as well with pressure as Hendry did.

That's because Ronnie is known to destroy most of his opponents and run away with matches because he's just the better Snooker player. Why would he need to cope with pressure on the level of Hendry? Should he start missing balls on purpose to give the other guys a chance to put him under pressure?

Too many excuses fly around here like "Murphy has a mental block vs Ronnie" when no one wants to admit that Ronnie is just the better snooker player so he's bound to have a better record.

Erza Scarlet wrote:

vodkadiet1 wrote:O'Sullivan plays as well as he ever has when there is no pressure on him. But he hasn't won what his talent deserves because he hasn't coped as well with pressure as Hendry did.

That's because Ronnie is known to destroy most of his opponents and run away with matches because he's just the better Snooker player. Why would he need to cope with pressure on the level of Hendry? Should he start missing balls on purpose to give the other guys a chance to put him under pressure?

Too many excuses fly around here like "Murphy has a mental block vs Ronnie" when no one wants to admit that Ronnie is just the better snooker player so he's bound to have a better record.

O'Sullivan intimidates Murphy. O'Sullivan was himself intimidated by a 'Prime Hendry'.

Hendry dominated snooker like no one ever.

O'Sullivan is a very good player, but he is no Hendry.

vodkadiet1 wrote:

Erza Scarlet wrote:

vodkadiet1 wrote:O'Sullivan plays as well as he ever has when there is no pressure on him. But he hasn't won what his talent deserves because he hasn't coped as well with pressure as Hendry did.

That's because Ronnie is known to destroy most of his opponents and run away with matches because he's just the better Snooker player. Why would he need to cope with pressure on the level of Hendry? Should he start missing balls on purpose to give the other guys a chance to put him under pressure?

Too many excuses fly around here like "Murphy has a mental block vs Ronnie" when no one wants to admit that Ronnie is just the better snooker player so he's bound to have a better record.

O'Sullivan intimidates Murphy. O'Sullivan was himself intimidated by a 'Prime Hendry'.

Hendry dominated snooker like no one ever.

O'Sullivan is a very good player, but he is no Hendry.

Ronnie intimidates a lot of players not just Murphy and you only get that reputation through superior level of play and you still haven't answered my question.

People don't put him under pressure because he makes big breaks, win frames then runs away with the match hence the purpose of being a frontrunner and in Ronnie's case, probably the best frontrunner. Every single Snooker player would like to play like this unless you think they come to the table to play mediocre snooker to put pressure on themselves so they can prove how good they are under pressure.

I don't know what Hendry dominating Snooker's got to do with this but okay.

Andre147 wrote:

TheRocket wrote:Vodka is right in terms of the Crucible.

Five titles and six finals is far too low for a player of his calibre. Even Higgins has two more world finals now. And thats because ROS has often struggled with the pressure.

In the other tournaments he has managed to fulfil his potential and surpassed Hendry.

Yeah Ronnie has every record except the most important one, The World Champs.

I wouldnt say he cant cope with the pressure there, but more so because that tournament is way too long for him and he often isnt willing to put the effort required to win. Hendry on the contrary loved that tournament and couldnt wait for it to start and he wouldnt mind if the tournament was longer, he would do everything to win it. Ronnie lacks that mentality at The Crucible.

Still, for someone who doesnt enjoy that tournament, he's done better than most players.

Well said Andre.

You are a very measured O'Sullivan fan after all.

O'Sullivan could still win more World Championships, he is that good.

As fat as I know this is the first time a tournament has had the same finalists two years running since the Masters 2009/10. For ranking events it's the 90-94 World Finals.

TheRocket wrote:I havent seen prime Hendry so I cant say a lot about it but if Jimmy White was just one frame away from beating Hendry and the other time had a 14:8 lead surely prime O'Sullivan would be capable of beating prime Hendry at the Crucible. Especially the 2004 version.

That wasn’t prime Hendry. Hendry was still very young at that stage. I’d say he was in his prime from 1996 to about 2000, 2001. People just don’t think of that as his prime because he won far less.