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Can Ding win the world title?

Postby SnookerFan

Here's a twitter attack from Reanne Evans.

reanne evans ‏@evans_reanne This is the first year iv believed that dings temperament is good enough to win worlds #grown

Agree? Disagree?

Can he finally banish his Crucible Curse. It's the only thing he needs to win. I'd love to see him do it. Anybody want to predict him to win, this early in the season?

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Wildey

Well nobody is in a better position to be World Champion this year. He has nothing to lose hes Made Money hes Won tournaments his ranking is secure and if he doesn't win it he has that old hat excuse Burn out to fall back on.

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Snooker Overdrive

Of course he can win it. His main competition will be:

- Ronnie O'Sullivan:
Defending Champion, one of the hardest men to beat in the World Championship if his head is in the right place; he will put everything he got in this title defense

- Neil Robertson:
he won't go out early 2 years in a row, I except a really good run and we all know how good he is

- Judd Trump:
in a slump at the moment but he's extremely dangerous at his best, especially in the majors

- Mark Selby:
also not at his best currently but one of the toughest competitors imaginable, I think he'll go far next year

There are a couple of more contenders obviously but I expect all these players to have good runs and all of them are more than capable beating Ding. So it won't be easy at all.

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Roland

Of course he can and if he does he will be the saviour of snooker in taking the title from Ronnie.

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Wildey

simplysnooker wrote:Don't buy this Crucible Curse people say he's got if I'm honest.

Ronnie had a "crucible curse" of unable to reach the final for 8 years...he soon broke that

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby PLtheRef

He's certainly good enough to win the title, he always has been however it is now an if rather than a when when we have this discussion as to whether Ding will win the World Championship some day.


For someone as good as he is to have a World Championship record which includes just the one semi-final is very poor indeed.

Session matches aren't a problem for Ding, he's just won two of them to win the International Championships. He's also won the UK Championships twice under the 17 frame format.

He's got a good temperament now, but a 17 day marathon of the mind is a different proposition altogether.

He can win, indeed it could be said he should win but I think he needs more experience of the four session format.

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Witz78

Its a vicious circle.

DIng can def win it but until he actually does then a lot of people (perhaps him included ? ) will always have nagging doubts that he cant.

Its a bit like Simple Franklin trying to convince himself that he can definetly walk past a kebab shop without going in. Doing it is another thing !!

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Roland

Snooker Overdrive wrote:
Sonny wrote:Of course he can and if he does he will be the saviour of snooker in taking the title from Ronnie.


You make it sound like snooker needs be liberated from an evil ruler.


Snooker needs to escape Ronnie in terms of the British media having proper interest in the sport when he's not winning instead of going home when he gets knocked out. If Ronnie had done what Ding did in the Chengdu final we wouldn't hear the end of it, as it is Ding gets next to no coverage and when it was covered you have things like this:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/gene ... 20023.html

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Wildey

yea i do think Snooker can properly Move on after Ronnies Retired.

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby SnookerFan

Sonny wrote:Snooker needs to escape Ronnie in terms of the British media having proper interest in the sport when he's not winning instead of going home when he gets knocked out. If Ronnie had done what Ding did in the Chengdu final we wouldn't hear the end of it, as it is Ding gets next to no coverage and when it was covered you have things like this:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/gene ... 20023.html


I saw that link when you posted it on twitter. An absolute disgrace that people can write stuff that inaccurate. Surely it isn't that difficult to google who Ding beat in the tournament. <doh>

Couldn't make it clearer that they know nothing about the sport.

Almost as bad as this.

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Sickpotter

Jewell wrote:
Wildey wrote:yea i do think Snooker can properly Move on after Ronnies Retired.


What a strange comment!

Please enlighten us!

How will snooker move on when Ronnie retires? And what exactly will it be moving on from?


Too many have been suggesting that without Ronnie snooker will die. That's not the case, it will move on.

It will move on from the mindset that Ronnie is snooker.

Ding will attract enough sponsorship that the loss of Ronnie will be negligible from a sponsorship standpoint.

From a fan standpoint, the additional exposure in China with Ding at the top would easily attract enough new fans to negate the loss of the "Ronnie or nothing" crowd.

Someone always has to replace the crowd favourite to keep the sport moving/alive/attractive.

With Ding's success this year and the sport's growth internationally, he's well positioned to help the sport move on when Ronnie retires.

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby TheRocket

<laugh> Oh dear, again Ronnie O'Sullivan is the subject in a thread which has nothing to do with him. And strangely always those who are angry about his big popularity among fans and media are the ones who are mentioning his name in every single thread.

Ronnie O'Sullivan himself btw has never said that the sport would die without him. He is not responsible for the fanboys who are saying it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFoovHY3fo0
Skip to 2:44.

Nothing to add. IMO it would be big loss but the World is marching on. And Snooker is marching on. Snooker didn't die without Alex Hurricane Higgins, not without the Golden Boy and the same will be the case with the Rocket. Period.

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Wildey

id welcome *************************** put in place of the name ronnie on this forum

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Sickpotter

The thread still is about Ding and the world title, Ronnie, the current WC was bound to be mentioned.

How can people discuss Ding becoming the WC and not discuss the effect of a new WC on the game as compared to the previous holder?

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Wildey

id love to see someone under 30 win it this year at this rate Ray Reardons record as oldest crucible champion under threat.

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Andre147

TheRocket wrote:<laugh> Oh dear, again Ronnie O'Sullivan is the subject in a thread which has nothing to do with him. And strangely always those who are angry about his big popularity among fans and media are the ones who are mentioning his name in every single thread.

Ronnie O'Sullivan himself btw has never said that the sport would die without him. He is not responsible for the fanboys who are saying it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFoovHY3fo0
Skip to 2:44.

Nothing to add. IMO it would be big loss but the World is marching on. And Snooker is marching on. Snooker didn't die without Alex Hurricane Higgins, not without the Golden Boy and the same will be the case with the Rocket. Period.


Fully agree TR, Ronnie was bound to be mentioned but not in this kind of way of "Snooker will move on without him and all that" when nothing concerning that was being discussed.

Of course it will move on and survive without him, BUT no one can say it won't be bad for the game when he retires.

Anyway, focussing moe on this thread, of course Ding can win the World Title, the big IF is if he can sustain this sort of form over a 17 day period. He has only reached one semi at the Worlds, so for me there are still some things to be questioned. But he still has age on his side and I honestly believe he will become World Champion, when though is another matter.

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Andre147

And for the record, Sonny was the one who started all this Ronnie crap when he said Ding winning the World Title from Ronnie would save snooker rofl

As if it's Ronnie's fault some of the media don't fully appreciate Ding's achievments in winning the Internacional Champs :chuckle:

I for one know it was one of the best finals I've ever watched, and Ding's performance with 5 tons plus his rock solid temperament was too one of the best performances in a ranking final for me. Ding deserves all this praise for the things he has done for the past 2 months, hell, he deserves every praise since winning the China Open way back in 2005.

Ding is the main man responsible for the huge snooker boom in China, so for me nothing better than he becoming World Champion, multiple World Champion given this kid's talent and ability to play this very very difficult game.

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Andy Spark

There is a good chance he won't win any World Championship titles during his career, if he remains the only Chinese player good enough to win it. So much pressure on him.

My advice: He needs to plan his season better to avoid burn out. He needs to upset people more by not turning up to events like Ronnie. Ding was clearly burnt out at the UK Championship. Burnt out during the first proper major of the season courtesy of his commitments in China, not clever! I would strongly urge Ding to defect and then throw a party to celebrate his new British citizenship. :party:

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Wildey

Burn out is nothing but a convenient excuse Was Ronnie also burn out or just rubbish in york?

Neil Robertson has almost Won as much matches this season than Ding has played

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Roland

I'm sure Ding will heed your advice Andy :redneck:

Ding will win it one day. People writing him off forget how much he's won and how young he still is. He's got 15+ years to go at the top of the game. He'll probably win it 3 or 4 times.

I was going to clarify my original comment seeing as this thread has been dredged from the past, but I see I already did that

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Andy Spark

Wildey wrote:Burn out is nothing but a convenient excuse Was Ronnie also burn out or just rubbish in york?

Neil Robertson has almost Won as much matches this season than Ding has played

Robertson did not win matches under the same pressure. It's not the number of frames you play so much as the pressure you play them under that burns you out. Ding complained of being tired after the loss, as much as admitting he was burnt out and the standard of his play was well below what we are used to seeing from him.


Also Ronnie was not burnt out or "rubbish" in York, he just had a slight dip in standard at a crucial time in a sprint format. Can happen to anyone. IMO The frame slashing at the event was a disgrace, mark my words, there is no way you'll get the same degree of multiple winners of that event now compared to the World Championship.

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Skullman

Andy Spark wrote:
Also Ronnie was not burnt out or "rubbish" in York, he just had a slight dip in standard at a crucial time in a sprint format.


FWIW, he was below par throughout the tournament with the exception of his match against Milkins and maybe when he was 4-1 down to Bingo, imo.

Andy Spark wrote: IMO The frame slashing at the event was a disgrace, mark my words, there is no way you'll get the same degree of multiple winners of that event now compared to the World Championship.


I'm not sure what you mean by that? Are you saying there'll be less multiple winners of the UK than before or that players of less class will be multiple winners of this event?

If it's the latter, I have to disagree. Players of less class rarely any event more than once.

Take the Welsh Open. Was never more than best of 9s, less than the UK is now, but the two most prolific winners are Hendry and Higgins and the only multiple winner who isn't a WC was Paul Hunter. Or the PTCs. They're the real sprint format of the tour and the most prolific winners are Selby and Trump, with Higgins, Robbo and ROS not far behind.

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Andy Spark

Skullman wrote:
Andy Spark wrote:
Also Ronnie was not burnt out or "rubbish" in York, he just had a slight dip in standard at a crucial time in a sprint format.


FWIW, he was below par throughout the tournament with the exception of his match against Milkins and maybe when he was 4-1 down to Bingo, imo.

Andy Spark wrote: IMO The frame slashing at the event was a disgrace, mark my words, there is no way you'll get the same degree of multiple winners of that event now compared to the World Championship.


I'm not sure what you mean by that? Are you saying there'll be less multiple winners of the UK than before or that players of less class will be multiple winners of this event?

If it's the latter, I have to disagree. Players of less class rarely any event more than once.

Take the Welsh Open. Was never more than best of 9s, less than the UK is now, but the two most prolific winners are Hendry and Higgins and the only multiple winner who isn't a WC was Paul Hunter. Or the PTCs. They're the real sprint format of the tour and the most prolific winners are Selby and Trump, with Higgins, Robbo and ROS not far behind.

Don't really want to go off topic, but to clarify my statement about the degree of multiple winners under the current formats, I mean that the best player or players of the future will still be able to win around four, five or six World titles, but they will only be able to win around two or three UK titles. That will be the legacy of frame slashing at the UK Championship.


In fact I care far more about having more than one event a year that is long format than any shot clock issue. I am perfectly willing to admit that there are two sides to the shot clock debate, both with intelligent arguments, however, I am absolutely and completely unconvinced by any arguments for there being just one event a year that is long format. This is the one issue I care about in snooker more than any other.

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Ayrshirebhoy

Your sprint format theory is rubbish andy. I'm not happy with the uk being cut but the final was played by world no 1 and 2

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Roland

A longer match is more like a novel with a beginning, a middle and an end and if it's close at the end then the pressure tends to be greater given what's gone before. However when all is said and done races to 4, 5 or 6 when on television in front of a crowd with big prize money and presitige on offer it comes down to one thing: bottle. Those with it get through, those with less don't.

PTC events which are broadcast on Eurosport demonstrate this better than anything. Races to 4 over a 3 day period and look at the list of winners. All top names.

Andy - I do wish you'd state the case for shot clocks instead of saying there are good arguments for, because there aren't.

Re: Can Ding win the world title?

Postby Wildey

Best players will always come out on top.

Look at Greatest players of all Times % of tournaments won in best of 11s or under.

Ronnie O'Sullivan 83%
Stephen Hendry 84%
Steve Davis 85%
John Higgins 83%
Mark Williams 85%