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Re: Race to the Crucible: Judgement Days (April 13th~14th)

Postby vodkadiet1

PLtheRef wrote:
Andre147 wrote:
vodkadiet1 wrote:
Andre147 wrote:
Alex0paul wrote:Why can’t they just do the bloody draw tonight


Wouldn't make sense. Imagine play ended close or past midnight, how silly would it be making the draw then.

Don't have a problem with it being tomorrow morning. What I have a problem with is how WST somehow manages to cockerel it up every year, there's always something...


And to think The Crucible main draw for 1993 was known in September 1992! Danny Fowler must have had nightmares for 7 months!


I know, that's even more ridiculous. At most, have the qualifers a month before the Worlds, not 7 months off!


To add on to this, I believe that for a time during the mid-1980s to mid-1990s the draw was a complete one i.e. it was known that the qualifier from the first section would play the number 1 seed, the second section play the number 16 seed and so on down to the 16th section playing the number 2 seed; so the players in Danny Fowler's section would have known they would be up against Hendry if they reached the Crucible.


Yes, The second time the draw was made after qualifying was 1996, live on Grandstand with Steve Ryder!

However, it was made once before that after qualifying. And that was in 1990, when it was made on Sportsnight with Gary Lineker pulling the balls out of one of the bags! I think it was Steve Ryder hosting then as well, because I vividly remember him saying to Lineker "Your favourite Gary" after he pulled Willie Thorne's name out of the bag.

When the draw was known before qualifying had even started it was open to some sort of abuse. I am sure Mark Bennett must have lost to Surinder Gil on purpose knowing Hendry was awaiting. Bennett hated the cameras and would have hated playing Hendry at The Crucible. The last time he played a big match on television he got drunk in the semis of the 96 Grand Prix where he lost to Euan Henderson. He hated the spotlight.
Last edited by vodkadiet1 on 15 Apr 2021, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Race to the Crucible: Judgement Days (April 13th~14th)

Postby KrazeeEyezKilla

I never knew the draw used to be done like that. The last few years I've always posted what the draw would have looked like with that system. It wouldn't work with players knowing they are likely to play the top player before qualifying even began.

Re: Race to the Crucible: Judgement Days (April 13th~14th)

Postby chengdufan

gallantrabbit wrote:Have felt for a while that Craigie had it to go up the rankings. If he works hard he could go top 20 or 30 I think.

He's a good player on his day. He's very good at making difficult pots.
His positional play is horrendous though, and he has a tendency to miss easy pots.

He was lucky really that his opponent yesterday played terribly. Against another player he probably wouldn't have qualified.

But yes, he's capable of being a top 20/30 player in terms of talent, for sure.

Re: Race to the Crucible: Judgement Days (April 13th~14th)

Postby Wildey

chengdufan wrote:
gallantrabbit wrote:Have felt for a while that Craigie had it to go up the rankings. If he works hard he could go top 20 or 30 I think.

He's a good player on his day. He's very good at making difficult pots.
His positional play is horrendous though, and he has a tendency to miss easy pots.

He was lucky really that his opponent yesterday played terribly. Against another player he probably wouldn't have qualified.

But yes, he's capable of being a top 20/30 player in terms of talent, for sure.

Yea But this is not a one off for Craigie he finished 3rd in the WST Pro Series hes shown a massive improvement over the later part of this season maybe its no coincident that pubs been close and we have been in lockdown


He was 3-0 and 5-2 down and he made 3 centuries and 4 half centuries in the match just imagine his scoring if his positional play was better and he didn't miss easy pots.

Re: Race to the Crucible: Judgement Days (April 13th~14th)

Postby chengdufan

Wildey wrote:
chengdufan wrote:
gallantrabbit wrote:Have felt for a while that Craigie had it to go up the rankings. If he works hard he could go top 20 or 30 I think.

He's a good player on his day. He's very good at making difficult pots.
His positional play is horrendous though, and he has a tendency to miss easy pots.

He was lucky really that his opponent yesterday played terribly. Against another player he probably wouldn't have qualified.

But yes, he's capable of being a top 20/30 player in terms of talent, for sure.

Yea But this is not a one off for Craigie he finished 3rd in the WST Pro Series hes shown a massive improvement over the later part of this season maybe its no coincident that pubs been close and we have been in lockdown


He was 3-0 and 5-2 down and he made 3 centuries and 4 half centuries in the match just imagine his scoring if his positional play was better and he didn't miss easy pots.

Yes, he's definitely good enough to be regularly making the latter stages. If I were his coach, I'd tell him to take an extra second on the easy shots, just to compose himself. Could make a world of difference.

Re: Race to the Crucible: Judgement Days (April 13th~14th)

Postby Cloud Strife

Juddernaut88 wrote:
SnookerFan wrote:
Wildey wrote:
SnookerFan wrote:When was Wakelin last at The Crucible?

2018


Remind me who he played.


Judd Trump. It went to a decider. Wakelin was in amongst the balls but went in off and Judd eventually got over the line and won 10-9.


Typical lucky Judd.

Re: Race to the Crucible: Judgement Days (April 13th~14th)

Postby cupotee

chengdufan wrote:
Wildey wrote:
chengdufan wrote:
gallantrabbit wrote:Have felt for a while that Craigie had it to go up the rankings. If he works hard he could go top 20 or 30 I think.

He's a good player on his day. He's very good at making difficult pots.
His positional play is horrendous though, and he has a tendency to miss easy pots.

He was lucky really that his opponent yesterday played terribly. Against another player he probably wouldn't have qualified.

But yes, he's capable of being a top 20/30 player in terms of talent, for sure.

Yea But this is not a one off for Craigie he finished 3rd in the WST Pro Series hes shown a massive improvement over the later part of this season maybe its no coincident that pubs been close and we have been in lockdown


He was 3-0 and 5-2 down and he made 3 centuries and 4 half centuries in the match just imagine his scoring if his positional play was better and he didn't miss easy pots.

Yes, he's definitely good enough to be regularly making the latter stages. If I were his coach, I'd tell him to take an extra second on the easy shots, just to compose himself. Could make a world of difference.


whats your take on xiao guodong,nothing embarrassing losing to wakelin but guodongs been around for ages now and doesnt seem to be making any impact

Re: Race to the Crucible: Judgement Days (April 13th~14th)

Postby chengdufan

cupotee wrote:
chengdufan wrote:
Wildey wrote:
chengdufan wrote:
gallantrabbit wrote:Have felt for a while that Craigie had it to go up the rankings. If he works hard he could go top 20 or 30 I think.

He's a good player on his day. He's very good at making difficult pots.
His positional play is horrendous though, and he has a tendency to miss easy pots.

He was lucky really that his opponent yesterday played terribly. Against another player he probably wouldn't have qualified.

But yes, he's capable of being a top 20/30 player in terms of talent, for sure.

Yea But this is not a one off for Craigie he finished 3rd in the WST Pro Series hes shown a massive improvement over the later part of this season maybe its no coincident that pubs been close and we have been in lockdown


He was 3-0 and 5-2 down and he made 3 centuries and 4 half centuries in the match just imagine his scoring if his positional play was better and he didn't miss easy pots.

Yes, he's definitely good enough to be regularly making the latter stages. If I were his coach, I'd tell him to take an extra second on the easy shots, just to compose himself. Could make a world of difference.


whats your take on xiao guodong,nothing embarrassing losing to wakelin but guodongs been around for ages now and doesnt seem to be making any impact

You should listen to him on commentary. His analysis is second to none; he's a very intelligent reader of the game.
He is also dedicated and puts in more practice than the other Chinese players.

He's got two issues. First is his shot execution isn't quite as good as the most talented players. This means I don't think he'll ever be top 16 material (though I could be and hope I'm wrong).
Second is the mental side of the game. He is well-known for getting into a negative mindset, believing that he won't win. And we all know what effect that can have. It's related to the shot execution issue, for which there's not much he can do. When the shot that is in his mind doesn't come off he lets it get to him too easily.

If I were his coach, I'd be looking for ways to implant the belief that if the shot doesn't come off, he shouldn't beat himself up about it. Play against the table, not against your mind.

Re: Race to the Crucible: Judgement Days (April 13th~14th)

Postby lhpirnie

chengdufan wrote:
cupotee wrote:whats your take on xiao guodong,nothing embarrassing losing to wakelin but guodongs been around for ages now and doesnt seem to be making any impact

You should listen to him on commentary. His analysis is second to none; he's a very intelligent reader of the game.
He is also dedicated and puts in more practice than the other Chinese players.

He's got two issues. First is his shot execution isn't quite as good as the most talented players. This means I don't think he'll ever be top 16 material (though I could be and hope I'm wrong).
Second is the mental side of the game. He is well-known for getting into a negative mindset, believing that he won't win. And we all know what effect that can have. It's related to the shot execution issue, for which there's not much he can do. When the shot that is in his mind doesn't come off he lets it get to him too easily.

If I were his coach, I'd be looking for ways to implant the belief that if the shot doesn't come off, he shouldn't beat himself up about it. Play against the table, not against your mind.

He was on the verge of top-16 a few years ago. But what stopped him in his tracks was a mistake in the final of the Shoot-out, which allowed Michael White to overtake him with seconds to spare. Following that, he dropped from 18 to 51 in the rankings, and he's never made up all the lost ground. People say the Shoot-out is just a silly giggle, but any title can be the springboard to confidence. Having said that Michael White didn't fare too well.

Re: Race to the Crucible: Judgement Days (April 13th~14th)

Postby Andre147

lhpirnie wrote:
chengdufan wrote:
cupotee wrote:whats your take on xiao guodong,nothing embarrassing losing to wakelin but guodongs been around for ages now and doesnt seem to be making any impact

You should listen to him on commentary. His analysis is second to none; he's a very intelligent reader of the game.
He is also dedicated and puts in more practice than the other Chinese players.

He's got two issues. First is his shot execution isn't quite as good as the most talented players. This means I don't think he'll ever be top 16 material (though I could be and hope I'm wrong).
Second is the mental side of the game. He is well-known for getting into a negative mindset, believing that he won't win. And we all know what effect that can have. It's related to the shot execution issue, for which there's not much he can do. When the shot that is in his mind doesn't come off he lets it get to him too easily.

If I were his coach, I'd be looking for ways to implant the belief that if the shot doesn't come off, he shouldn't beat himself up about it. Play against the table, not against your mind.

He was on the verge of top-16 a few years ago. But what stopped him in his tracks was a mistake in the final of the Shoot-out, which allowed Michael White to overtake him with seconds to spare. Following that, he dropped from 18 to 51 in the rankings, and he's never made up all the lost ground. People say the Shoot-out is just a silly giggle, but any title can be the springboard to confidence. Having said that Michael White didn't fare too well.


I think the same, and unlike White, I think if Xiao won the Shoot-Out he would go on to better results, possibly Liang Wenbo like and win a proper ranking event.

Re: Race to the Crucible: Judgement Days (April 13th~14th)

Postby Reg Varney

lhpirnie wrote:
chengdufan wrote:
cupotee wrote:whats your take on xiao guodong,nothing embarrassing losing to wakelin but guodongs been around for ages now and doesnt seem to be making any impact

You should listen to him on commentary. His analysis is second to none; he's a very intelligent reader of the game.
He is also dedicated and puts in more practice than the other Chinese players.

He's got two issues. First is his shot execution isn't quite as good as the most talented players. This means I don't think he'll ever be top 16 material (though I could be and hope I'm wrong).
Second is the mental side of the game. He is well-known for getting into a negative mindset, believing that he won't win. And we all know what effect that can have. It's related to the shot execution issue, for which there's not much he can do. When the shot that is in his mind doesn't come off he lets it get to him too easily.

If I were his coach, I'd be looking for ways to implant the belief that if the shot doesn't come off, he shouldn't beat himself up about it. Play against the table, not against your mind.

He was on the verge of top-16 a few years ago. But what stopped him in his tracks was a mistake in the final of the Shoot-out, which allowed Michael White to overtake him with seconds to spare. Following that, he dropped from 18 to 51 in the rankings, and he's never made up all the lost ground. People say the Shoot-out is just a silly giggle, but any title can be the springboard to confidence. Having said that Michael White didn't fare too well.


What's Michael Georgiou up to these days?