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A few thoughts

Postby Pink Ball

Firstly, sorry I haven't been posting much, if you're one of the few people who likes me. I was away for much of the World Championship wit a sick relative, so didn't find much time for here, and only occasionally on snookery dookery.

Well done Mark Selby. Love watching him play, it's very different, and I loved watching his many duels with Ding. Dare I say that wearing down Ding in the 15th frame when Ding was on a roll was the winning of the match.

Those who say that's not talent: buck you. Did you see how good the man is tactically? If you can intimidate your opponent with big breaks, why should you not be able to use your tactical nous (laying snookers, escaping snookers, escaping and laying snookers at the same time) to wear down an opponent if that's what you're good at?

I don't like Selby. Nothing to do with his play, I don't like him as a person (won't divulge any further, some of you will have already figured out) - won't matter to him. But much like Ronnie, love his snooker, but can't get behind him. Just the way it is. Don't shoot me.

That said, though I think his B game is awesome, Selby simply would not have won ten years ago playing that, he wouldn't have made the quarterfinals. People can throw their noses up at that, but I know it's true. Todays players just aren't good enough to regularly take advantage.

Ding, I'm a massive fan. He was the player of the tournament. I'm really proud of the way he fought back from 0-6, and those subtle racists who seem to think they can call an eleven time ranking event winner 'mentally weak' might be put back in their spot. To make a game of it when humiliation beckoned in front of an estimated 200 million people takes character.

He didn't lose this final down to tactical naivety. He's a brilliant tactician and proved it in the final. Selby struggled to shake him off.

I don't think Ding will ever win the world championship now, but I'm happy that he's at least shown that he can be class at the crucible, and I don't think not winning it will define him like it defined Jimmy.

Those getting up on their high horses that people who don' like Selby's play aren't real snooker fans? buck you, and I say that as someone who loves watching Selby. The AC Milan team on the 80's and 90's were boring as buck, brilliant, but boring as buck. Did you have to find them entertaining to be a football fan? I personally enjoy watching Selby, but I don't think I'd look down on anyone who hates his style of play - it's an acquire taste.

Bare in mind that a lot of the people lauding Selby and decrying how much disrespect he's shown don't show any respect towards the best player of the last 20 years, Ronnie O'Sullivan, who is fantastic to watch. If you take offence at how little credit Selby gets, take a look at yourself first when you disrespect and degrade the achievements of a man who will go down in history as far greater than Selby.

I'll be off for the summer, buckers. Don't care if you don't like what I say - I'm just laying down truth bombs and y'all can't handle it.

Pink O'Ball.

Re: A few thoughts

Postby Andre147

Couldn't have put it better myself Pinks :hatoff: :clap: :hatoff:

I too never liked Selby, but like yourslef I always appreacited his amazing level of tactical play and his ability to disrupt some of the best breakbuilders fluency, namely Ronnie of course.

Not liking him doesn't mean we aren't true fans of Snooker, like the I am some twats love to say, as you rightly put it.

Maybe Ding won't ever win a World Champs, maybe he will. But yeah, if he doesn't, he too will go down with Jimmy as the 2 best players never to win that title.

And I'm starting to have doubts regarding Trump, but still I rate his chances higher than Ding's.

Re: A few thoughts

Postby Wildey

Andre you said before 2014 he will never win the World Title with his style of play now hes won 2 in 3 years lol

Re: A few thoughts

Postby Andre147

Wildey wrote:Andre you said before 2014 he will never win the World Title with his style of play now hes won 2 in 3 years lol


True, and I wasn't the only one saying it.

Therefore Selby deserves even more credit winning it with that particular style of play. No other player in the game could sustain the mental fatigue Selby has and still win a World Title, nevermind 2.

It's hard enough to win one with your breakbuilding powers at maximum, so as I said Selby, especially this year, had to dig deep to win it mostly with his B and C game. He won it, that's all that counts.

Re: A few thoughts

Postby Clara8633

Pink Ball wrote:
I don't like Selby. Nothing to do with his play, I don't like him as a person (won't divulge any further, some of you will have already figured out)



That's a shame. It's the first time I've heard someone say they like his style of play but not his person, and would like to know why.

Re: A few thoughts

Postby Holden Chinaski

Wildey wrote:Andre you said before 2014 he will never win the World Title with his style of play now hes won 2 in 3 years lol

And in 2013 you said Ronnie would never make it to the final of the worlds. <doh>

Re: A few thoughts

Postby TheSaviour

Andre147 wrote:
Wildey wrote:Andre you said before 2014 he will never win the World Title with his style of play now hes won 2 in 3 years lol


True, and I wasn't the only one saying it.

Therefore Selby deserves even more credit winning it with that particular style of play. No other player in the game could sustain the mental fatigue Selby has and still win a World Title, nevermind 2.

It's hard enough to win one with your breakbuilding powers at maximum, so as I said Selby, especially this year, had to dig deep to win it mostly with his B and C game. He won it, that's all that counts.


:chin:
Selby is no where near the best break-builder there is you know.. He got some other weapons and strenghts. Let´s take someone like Sam Baird, Michael Wasley, Neil Robertson or even Corey Deuel, or even that Gary Lees against who Jimmy played during this year´s World Seniors Championships and who played some sublime snooker while obviously being slightly rusty. They all do the break-building much better than Selby, Ding or Ronnie. No any really great break-builder can afford to just whack the pack of reds open. Like Ronnie, Ding or Selby always does. The risk of scratching something unpurpose in is a way too big. Or losing the cue ball control. They whack the pack open while playing 8,9 or 10ball, but then it is just advantage the more balls goes in..

Sam Baird did relatively well against Selby, given he has almost an amateur appraoch and looks. Against someone who has practise 6 or 8 hours per day since something like 10 years old. Sam only lost 11-13 and made a 100 break. If fancy to looking and finding a really great and best snooker, then look someone like Sam Baird. Current top-pros will start to lose ground against those sort of players soon if they can´t get their basics to sorted. I am not saying that Selby wouldn´t be the favourite to win some further titles, but favourites doesn´t always win. Let´s think Nico Rosberg vs Lewis Hamilton for example.. Lewis has a very little chanches to beat Nico at saturday´s.. That´s because Nico is a quicker and more solid driver. But Lewis can still ver well win the races, and can still very well to win title. That´s down the tactics, strategies and financial and other backing he might gain.

Re: A few thoughts

Postby SnookerFan

Think of all the animals you've ever heard about
like rhinoceroses and tigers, cats and mink
There are lots of funny animals in all this world
But have you ever seen a panther that is pink?

Think!

A panther that is positively pink,

Well here he is, the pink panther
,
The rinky-dink panther,
Isn't he a panther ever so pink?

He really is a groovy cat,
and what a gentleman, a scholar, what an acrobat !

He's in the pink - the pink panther
The rinky-dink panther,
and it's as plain as your nose,
that he's the one and only, truly original,
Panther-pink (panther) from head to toes !

Image

Re: A few thoughts

Postby Dan-cat

I thought panthers were pink when I was a small boy.

Pinkie - I loved your post :)

I was absent for much of this year's WC for the same reason - My Mum was ill and staying with me - and her one request was that I didn't watch the snooker the whole time she was with me, and then I went to a music festival in Nevada for the final weekend.

The WC feels like the reward for being a good snooker fan throughout the year (and trust me I certainly put the hours in!) so I felt short changed. I have managed to go back and watch some of the matches, but it's just not the same when you know the result. I still haven't watched the final yet, saving that for a rainy day.

Re: A few thoughts

Postby SnookerFan

Dan-cat wrote:
SnookerFan wrote: thank you you lovely man :)


Aaaah. Snugglebottoms. :love:

Re: A few thoughts

Postby TheSaviour

PINK BALL

Reading your post through again I noticed you mentioned Ronnie being the best player. That´s highly debatable. To say at least.

Ronnie is really good of hiding his weaknesses. It is obvious to anyone with even a half snooker-brain how ridiculous amount of sheer natural talent he do posses. There are many other´s also there who obviously has it too, but Ronnie´s just got it even a much more. Because of his sheer natural talent he can play really solidly. But he can´t see or at least execute some straight and clean lines. While I would like to mention people like Shaun Murphy or Anthony McGill can. Or Stephen Hendry also was able to play that kind of a snooker. Anthony´s last break during that Indian Open final was a great example of that. Ronnie could never round up the cue ball the way Anthony did ROCK-SOLIDLY from green to yellow. With some crystal clear lines. Or immediataly after that from green to brown. Or how that break started with a very difficult red to the middle and the cue ball travelled. With a crystal clear lines. And a nice amount of touch. Shaun can also play snooker like that. And those are important shots when playing a really high-quality snooker. Ronnie would mess up something while trying to play a shot like that. If Ronnie gets shots like that right he has fluked it. He can´t do it purposely. He is just a very good of hiding of his weaknesses. So instead he does something else. Which very likely also is something very usefull. But still not the same thing.