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Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Yes
7
21%
No
26
79%
 
Total votes : 33

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby Andre147

Sickpotter wrote:Better question is will he equal Davis's 6, until he gets there why look at his chances to take Hendrys record.


Good point, he can definately equal Davis record and win one World Title in his 40s, but Hendry's record seems too far away now I'm afraid.

Plus one winning one in his 40s in this day and age would be as good as winning 2 or 3 World Titles.

He just has to put the hours and effort in if he truly wants another.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby vodkadiet

2 matches have cost O'Sullivan the chance of equalling Hendry's record. Losing to Ebdon in 2005, and losing to Selby last year. It won't happen now.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby mantorok

vodkadiet wrote:2 matches have cost O'Sullivan the chance of equalling Hendry's record. Losing to Ebdon in 2005, and losing to Selby last year. It won't happen now.


Agreed, in 2005 he was playing very well, but the main tragedy was that Murphy won it instead.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby vodkadiet

mantorok wrote:
vodkadiet wrote:2 matches have cost O'Sullivan the chance of equalling Hendry's record. Losing to Ebdon in 2005, and losing to Selby last year. It won't happen now.


Agreed, in 2005 he was playing very well, but the main tragedy was that Murphy won it instead.


He would have walked it had he beaten Ebdon.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby Skullman

mantorok wrote:
vodkadiet wrote:2 matches have cost O'Sullivan the chance of equalling Hendry's record. Losing to Ebdon in 2005, and losing to Selby last year. It won't happen now.


Agreed, in 2005 he was playing very well, but the main tragedy was that Murphy won it instead.


Why a tragedy? Murphy deserved that year.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby mantorok

Skullman wrote:
mantorok wrote:
vodkadiet wrote:2 matches have cost O'Sullivan the chance of equalling Hendry's record. Losing to Ebdon in 2005, and losing to Selby last year. It won't happen now.


Agreed, in 2005 he was playing very well, but the main tragedy was that Murphy won it instead.


Why a tragedy? Murphy deserved that year.


Because we've had to put up with him ever since.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby Andre147

vodkadiet wrote:
mantorok wrote:
vodkadiet wrote:2 matches have cost O'Sullivan the chance of equalling Hendry's record. Losing to Ebdon in 2005, and losing to Selby last year. It won't happen now.


Agreed, in 2005 he was playing very well, but the main tragedy was that Murphy won it instead.


He would have walked it had he beaten Ebdon.


Not sure, Murphy at that time was fearless and he hadn't got any battle scars against Ronnie.

Sure Ronnie would have likely won it, but his semi v Murphy wouldnt have been an easy one.

We'll never know of course, but yeah those 2 matches cost him, I would also say in 2006 he had a great chance. No way would he let Ebdon bully him again like in 2005.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby TheRocket

The defeat in 2005 was a real body blow for him, knowing that he was probably playing his best Snooker around 2004/2005 when working with Reardon.

I remember when people were saying that O'Sullivan is gonna dominate the next few years , especially after that ridiculous high standard he produced in the WC and the Masters. He was head and shoulders above anyone else back then.

But that's history now. I don't think, he'll get to 7 but if he got to 6 somehow, equalling Davis, he would do a very good job.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby KrazeeEyezKilla

Murphy might have beaten Ronnie in 2005 but I don't think it would have had anywhere near as big an effect on him as the defeat to Ebdon. He struggled to hit top form for a while after that. That period after Williams went into decline and before Higgins revival was a great chance to win a couple but he only got one. His failure to win one during the 90's didn't help either. By the time he had one title Hendry was winning his fourth and by the time of his second Hendry had six.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby GreenRiver

Is it possible? Yes.

Will it actually happen though? No, I doubt it.

In all honesty, I don't think it matters that much. Ronnie has nothing left to prove. Even if he were to never win another snooker match in his life, he has already cemented his place in the Snooker Hall of Fame.

A more interesting question to me is whether top players should retire while they are still near the top or whether they should carry on playing as long as they can.

Ronnie is 40 now. Should he quit while he is ahead?

I'm an admirer of Ronnie's and I wouldn't like to see him ending up like Jimmy White unable to even qualify for the Crucible anymore.

Having said that, whereas Jimmy sadly seems to have become a bit of a joke for carrying on playing way past his best and still insisting he can become World Champion, Steve Davis's stature seems to have only grown during the twilight of his playing years as an ambassador for the sport, in spite of his ranking falling to that of the also rans and journeymen of the sport.

Can we imagine Ronnie playing when he is 50? Would it be a good thing to see Ronnie as an elder statesman or would it be sad to see him as a shadow of his former self?

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby Cloud Strife

Ronnie79 wrote:A worse defeat was the 06 semi to Dott when he completly crumbled from 8-8 to 8-16 and Dott won it that year. He would definitely have beat Ebdon in that final


There's a number of them he threw away, tbh. It's all ifs, buts and maybes, at this point. No point dwelling on them.

As a fan, I'm satisfied with Ronnie's standing within the game. Anything else he achieves from here on in should be considered a nice bonus.

Don't care if he beats or equals Hendry's record. It means nothing.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby Andre147

Cloud Strife wrote:
Ronnie79 wrote:A worse defeat was the 06 semi to Dott when he completly crumbled from 8-8 to 8-16 and Dott won it that year. He would definitely have beat Ebdon in that final


There's a number of them he threw away, tbh. It's all ifs, buts and maybes, at this point. No point dwelling on them.

As a fan, I'm satisfied with Ronnie's standing within the game. Anything else he achieves from here on in should be considered a nice bonus.

Don't care if he beats or equals Hendry's record. It means nothing.


Absolutely, many only count titles as the definition of a great player, but there many more aspects to consider.

For me Ronnie is already a true legend and couldnt care less if he equals Hendry's record or not. I actually dont consider Ronnie the greatest but I fully respect those who do and their reasons for it, which are more than valid.

The GOAT debate is a nonsense really, both Hendry and Ronnie are truly amazing players in their own right and should be respected as such, regardless of how many titles each one has.

Of course I would love if Ronnie won at least one more World Title, but he long ago doesnt have anything else to prove.

I never thought after 2011 he would win another title, nevermind a World one, so to win another, and then take a full season out and defend it for me couldn't have been in my wildest dreams, neither would in Ronnie's I imagine.

As I said, both are legends in their own right.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby Holden Chinaski

Andre147 wrote:
Cloud Strife wrote:
Ronnie79 wrote:A worse defeat was the 06 semi to Dott when he completly crumbled from 8-8 to 8-16 and Dott won it that year. He would definitely have beat Ebdon in that final


There's a number of them he threw away, tbh. It's all ifs, buts and maybes, at this point. No point dwelling on them.

As a fan, I'm satisfied with Ronnie's standing within the game. Anything else he achieves from here on in should be considered a nice bonus.

Don't care if he beats or equals Hendry's record. It means nothing.


Absolutely, many only count titles as the definition of a great player, but there many more aspects to consider.

For me Ronnie is already a true legend and couldnt care less if he equals Hendry's record or not. I actually dont consider Ronnie the greatest but I fully respect those who do and their reasons for it, which are more than valid.

The GOAT debate is a nonsense really, both Hendry and Ronnie are truly amazing players in their own right and should be respected as such, regardless of how many titles each one has.

Of course I would love if Ronnie won at least one more World Title, but he long ago doesnt have anything else to prove.

I never thought after 2011 he would win another title, nevermind a World one, so to win another, and then take a full season out and defend it for me couldn't have been in my wildest dreams, neither would in Ronnie's I imagine.

As I said, both are legends in their own right.

:goodpost:

I'm a fan of both Hendry and Ronnie. Hendry has more titles and dominated more, but Ronnie has a better all-round game and keeps playing well as he gets older. It's an endless debate. The conclusion is they are the two greatest ever.

Hendry and Ronnie changed the way the game is played. Those young guys now who are making century after century, splitting the pack from the blue and black, screwing the reds open, they are all students of the great break building masters Hendry and Ronnie. Even Selby was a Ronnie fan.

Steve Davis and John Higgins are not be forgotten as well. Both legends of the game as well. But Hendry was just from another planet, he was so aggressive and effective. And Ronnie is just a genius. A flawed genius. But when he's playing good he's an artist who's controll of the cue ball and level of sublime positional play and fantastic break building we will probably never see again.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby GreenRiver

Yeah, it doesn't matter whether or not Ronnie equals Hendry's tally.

Some Hendry fans seem to like citing the 7 world titles as proof that Hendry is the best player in history but we should remember that Hendry does NOT hold the record for most world titles won - Joe Davis does.

If the sole criteria for judging a players greatness is number of world titles then Hendry is NOT the best ever - Joe Davis is.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby TheRocket

GreenRiver wrote:Can we imagine Ronnie playing when he is 50? Would it be a good thing to see Ronnie as an elder statesman or would it be sad to see him as a shadow of his former self?


In my eyes it'd be rather sad but I don't think it's gonna happen. ROS is a winner and wants to be the best. If he thought that he can't compete with the topplayers or can't compete for titles he'd retire I think.
Last edited by TheRocket on 01 May 2015, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby Sickpotter

GreenRiver wrote:Yeah, it doesn't matter whether or not Ronnie equals Hendry's tally.

Some Hendry fans seem to like citing the 7 world titles as proof that Hendry is the best player in history but we should remember that Hendry does NOT hold the record for most world titles won - Joe Davis does.

If the sole criteria for judging a players greatness is number of world titles then Hendry is NOT the best ever - Joe Davis is.


The discussion is about the modern era when comparing title totals so Joe Davis is not involved. Think about it...all world titles won when he hand picked the field compared to the modern game where you face off against the top 128 in the world. No comparison.

Both are greats of the game.

Everyone will have their favourite and their preferred criteria when it comes to the GOAT debate so it's pretty pointless to argue over what will boil down to opinion.

We should all just be happy we were around to see Hendry and ROS and respect their achievements without getting wound up about it :hatoff:

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby GreenRiver

Sickpotter wrote:The discussion is about the modern era when comparing title totals so Joe Davis is not involved. Think about it...all world titles won when he hand picked the field compared to the modern game where you face off against the top 128 in the world. No comparison.


That is my whole point though - the premise that winning more world titles proves that you are a better player than someone else is flawed.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby Sickpotter

The whole point of competition is to win.

If one thinks of a GOAT one has to include wins as part of the benchmark. It's not the only benchmark but it's certainly among the most important.

Event structures and player fields must be similar to be comparable so you have to stick with events from the modern game, say 1980s to present.

Anyway, the thread is not a GOAT debate, there are plenty of other threads on the topic where everyone's put in their 2 cents.

Re: Will Ronnie equal Hendry's World Title Record?

Postby Cloud Strife

Ronnie79 wrote:Anyone who says it doesnt matter if ronnie reaches hendry's 7 titles is talking crap. A player will be defined by what he wins. In the cold light of day 5 worlds for ronnie's talent is not enough.


You're right, 5 titles is not enough for someone of Ronnie's ability.

And I disagree with you to an extent regarding titles defining a player's career. Yes, it does for about 99% of players. It certainly did for a characterless robot like Hendry who is purely defined by what he won and nothing else.

And then you have the 1% like Alex, Jimmy and Ronnie who go above and beyond mere titles. Their careers mean more than what they simply won.