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Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby SnookerFan

I was just reading the rather interesting thread in the other room about defending majors, and we were discussing how Ronnie gets to the final of the Masters more often then not recently. Now, it's obvious to me that the format of the Masters suits Ronnie more. Playing closer to home, a few days between matches. Matches only best of 11, until you get to the final. It seems to suit him, hence his success.

Obviously, the World Open is in Glasgow, not London. But how do you think this 'Fast Furious Snooker' will appeal to Ronnie. If he's only got to win three frames, he isn't going to sit there and get bored. But might the location, non nearness of home effect him? If he has more time on his hands due to shorter matches, will this affect his mindset.

We probably won't know until the start of the tournament, I just thought it was an interesting point.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Wildey

best of 5s is a lottery and at the end of the day it doesn't matter whats ronnie mindset over this distance if the other player keeps him in his seat he might never get much chance to play anyway.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Roland

It's not a lottery otherwise I'd stand a chance. If you lose, chances are you've played a few bad shots.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Witz78

i actually think this short format in proper tournament conditions (TV, played in an arena etc) will minimise the shock factor that we get in the PTCs and other small format matches.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Wildey

Sonny wrote:It's not a lottery otherwise I'd stand a chance. If you lose, chances are you've played a few bad shots.


chances are you played 1 bad shot and lost the match 3-0 as well.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Wildey

Witz78 wrote:i actually think this short format in proper tournament conditions (TV, played in an arena etc) will minimise the shock factor that we get in the PTCs and other small format matches.

i think otherwise the short format over a week is easier than the PTC

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Witz78

wildJONESEYE wrote:
Witz78 wrote:i actually think this short format in proper tournament conditions (TV, played in an arena etc) will minimise the shock factor that we get in the PTCs and other small format matches.

i think otherwise the short format over a week is easier than the PTC


u mean that shocks are more likely in the World Open because theres more time between matches?

On the flipside id say this reduces the chances of shocks as the top pros are more used to normal tournament conditions, having a break between matches etc so will be fully recovered by the time they play so fatigue wont be to blame.

Sure the later stages there are a few matches per day to play but say of the last 16 left in the tournament id expect at least 8 of the big names to still be involved

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Wildey

I Like what they done with the world open(ranking points aside) but i think the Pro Am junkies will see it as their World Championship and will take it very serious knowing its their best hope of a ranking title.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby SnookerFan

wildJONESEYE wrote:I Like what they done with the world open(ranking points aside) but i think the Pro Am junkies will see it as their World Championship and will take it very serious knowing its their best hope of a ranking title.


Are there any pro-am junkies?

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Roland

Who knows what he's on about this time

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Wildey

SnookerFan wrote:
wildJONESEYE wrote:I Like what they done with the world open(ranking points aside) but i think the Pro Am junkies will see it as their World Championship and will take it very serious knowing its their best hope of a ranking title.


Are there any pro-am junkies?


the like of bingham,pinches etc they play pro am for fun and won many times on that circuit this is their best chance to win a ranking tournament

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Witz78

wildJONESEYE wrote:
SnookerFan wrote:
wildJONESEYE wrote:I Like what they done with the world open(ranking points aside) but i think the Pro Am junkies will see it as their World Championship and will take it very serious knowing its their best hope of a ranking title.


Are there any pro-am junkies?


the like of bingham,pinches etc they play pro am for fun and won many times on that circuit this is their best chance to win a ranking tournament


yeh i was thinking of Bingham when you mentioned pro-am junkies, he was the name that jumped straight into my head and yeh Sonny, you must know what Wild means by the term Pro Am Junkies.

In other words pros who know they arent good enough to compete at the highest level, so to frurther reward their mediocrity they frequent Pontins to hustle the up and coming amateurs and fellow journeymen at these Pro-ams

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Monique

To come back to the initial post I don't think it will suit him. In general he's often a slow starter in matches. More often than not he's very anxious and needs a couple of frames to settle. I must say I'm not too happy to see he hasn't entered PTC2 and 3 and apparantly not EPTC1 neither (although there is still more than a week to do so). Last year he didn't do great in the Championship league snooker neither. Whatever he claims (and probably thinks) short formats don't really suit him. Best of 11 in the Masters is longer than the standard best of 9 and he has a good record overall in the WC, he's reached the semis or more 8 times in 17 participation, that's not bad, only Hendry did better. So I don't expect much in that tournament and being away from home doesn't help usually.
In fact I expect his ranking to suffer big time ... and that might wake him up ... or not.
Last edited by Monique on 19 Jul 2010, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Wildey

i don't think it will suit a lot of players Selby another slow starter Neil Robertson isn't quick out of the blocks and the amount of times recently Hendry been 3-1 down at the interval ive lost count.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby SnookerFan

Yes, certainly a best of five match doesn't tell you much about a player, especially if he's playin an amateur. It was bad enough when I thought it was best of seven. <laugh>

Maybe players other then Ronnie will suffer through this concept, or not really embrace it. Whether this is a benefit or a hindrance remains to be seen.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Wildey

SnookerFan wrote:Yes, certainly a best of five match doesn't tell you much about a player, especially if he's playin an amateur. It was bad enough when I thought it was best of seven. <laugh>

Maybe players other then Ronnie will suffer through this concept, or not really embrace it. Whether this is a benefit or a hindrance remains to be seen.

i just think Lower Rank players will embrace it more.

7,000 ranking points for a Pro Am format god they died and gone to heaven.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby N_Castle07

from msn.com

Top 10 worst losers in sport

"Many a good whine comes from sour grapes", as the old saying goes, and there are few who can whine quite like an athlete who loses a match, race or fight.
Inevitably, for these people who spend their lives in the pursuit of victory, it's when the stakes are highest, the pressure greatest and the stage biggest, that losing brings out the worst in them - and of course, that's when we get to witness it all.
No sport is exempt. You can find examples in every discipline and in every country - on this list alone there are bad losers from tennis, cricket, rugby, football, snooker and athletics. And it's not just the players either; there are sour-graped coaches, managers, fans, spouses and even politicians. It's a testament to how much sport has come to mean in our society that the passions, frustrations and disappointments of losing have so often overcome these sportsmen's ingrained etiquette (and yes, it's telling that this list is entirely made up of men!).
MSN Him reveals 10 of the worst losers in sport.

Ronnie O’Sullivan

Never the most stable of sportsmen, snooker audiences have long been prepared for the unexpected when watching 'Rocket Ronnie', whether it be playing whole matches left-handed or feigning sleep when he feels his opponent is playing too slowly.
However, no-one was quite prepared for the moment when Ronnie simply walked out of his quarter-final match against Stephen Hendry at the 2006 UK Championships. At 4-1 down, O'Sullivan missed a simple pot mid-frame in the sixth and decided to forfeit the entire match. He called it a "bad day at the office", the sport's governing body called it a show of disrespect and fined him £21,000.

Jeff Tarango

After John McEnroe had hung-up his headband, it was generally felt that tennis had outgrown the childish on-court tantrum, but in 1995 Jeff Tarango and his family reminded us what we were missing.
Following a third disputed line call, Tarango threw down his racket and uttered those words so familiar to children throwing tantrums all over the world: "That's it, I'm not playing!"
After a heated argument with the umpire Bruno Rebeuh, he walked off the court, forfeiting the game and landing himself with a £30,000 fine. His wife promptly picked up where he'd left off, slapping the hapless umpire in the face, commenting later that "Jeff couldn't hit him because he might be thrown out of tennis."

Luciano Gaucci

When hosts South Korea knocked Italy out of the 2002 World Cup in the last 16, it was one of the biggest upsets in the tournament's history. Italian fans were understandably furious, but few had an outlet to vent their anger like Perugia chairman, Luciano Gaucci.
South Korea's winning golden goal had been scored by Perugia player Ahn Jung-Hwan and Gaucci promptly sacked him, commenting that he had "no intention of paying a salary to someone who has ruined Italian football. That gentleman will never set foot in Perugia again."
Gaucci eventually backed down but Jung-Hwan felt justifiably wary of playing under such a volatile chairman and opted for a transfer.

Jon Drummond

Unhappy with a decision to disqualify him for a false start during the 100m at the 2003 World Championship, macho US sprinter Jon Drummond decided to stage a protest. In a staggering display of childish petulance, he occupied the track for over an hour, lying across the lanes and repeatedly shouting "I did not move!", before eventually being led away in tears.
When his manager met the press some hours later he claimed the sprinter was still in tears and was being forced to rehydrate.

John Howard

Following his country's home defeat in the dying seconds of the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final, Australian Prime Minister John Howard put on a fine display of sour-graped diplomacy as he presented the England players with their winners' medals.
Viewers were shocked to see Howard shuffling along the line, barely looking the players in the eye and handing over the medals with all the grace of a dinner lady doling out mashed potatoes. England captain Martin Johnson recalled afterwards that Howard had been: "chucking them out. It was a case of: 'here, have one of these. Must go, I'm late'".

Harbhajan Singh

Known for his fierce competitive spirit, Mumbai Indians stand-in captain Harbhajan Singh was a favourite with his home supporters, but his behaviour in the Indian Premier League match against the King's XI Punjab made many question whether his desire to win might have got a touch out of hand.
After losing the match, Singh was approached by Punjab paceman Sree Sreesanth, who offered his hand in consolation. Singh promptly slapped him in the face and reduced the young bowler to tears. "When you lose, you don't feel happy" Harbhanjan later explained. The IPL weren't impressed and banned him for 11 matches.

WG Grace

Cricket's first superstar, WG Grace dominated the game in the second half of the 19th century with bat and ball skills that were well before their time - as was his use of gamesmanship. Such was his yearn to win that he once ran a batsman out when he left the crease to pat down a lump in the pitch.
However, his most infamous moment of ill-grace came when he replaced the bails having been given out and continued to bat, commenting to the umpire: "they have come to watch me play, not you umpire."

Rafael Benitez

At times, the title race of the 2008/09 Premier League season threatened to be overshadowed by the playground taunts being thrown between Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benitez.
In the final months of the season, barely a day passed when the back pages of the tabloids were not filled with the spat as first the Spaniard flew off the handle claiming that the Man United manager got special treatment, then Fergie responded by calling Benitez "'arrogant".
Despite this, few could quite believe it when Benitez pointedly refused to personally congratulate or praise Ferguson for winning the title, commenting only that: "I say congratulations to United because they have won it, and that's it."

Will Carling

The 1995 World Cup may have been won by South Africa but the man everyone was talking about afterwards was a Kiwi - Jonah Lomu. His single-handed destruction of England in the semi-finals was a brutal unveiling of the new breed of rugby professional.
While most people couldn't wait to see more of the man-mountain, England captain Will Carling, still smarting from having been run over as though he were made of straw, could only comment sourly: "He is a freak, and the sooner he goes away the better."

Angel Valodia Matos

The prize for worst loser in sporting history has to go to Angel Valodia Matos, Cuba's taekwondo representative at the Beijing Olympics.
Matos was leading in the second period of his bronze medal bout against Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov, when the judge suddenly disqualified him for taking too long over an injury.
The heated argument that ensued was brought to a swift conclusion when Matos delivered a devastating high kick into the side of the Swedish judge's face and had to be dragged from the floor by his coaches. He was later banned for life by the World Taekwondo Federation.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Wildey

i dont think Ronnie is a Bad Loser as such Bad Losers wouldn't quit mid match to go home.

Ronnie is a perfectionist and if he doesn't play like he thinks he should thats when he goes off on one not necessarily by losing.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Roland

No, he wasn't a bad loser in the Masters final when he walked off before Selby got the trophy was he?

Anyway, Hendry is by far the worst loser in snooker.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Wildey

that had nothing to do with him being a "bad loser" that was more to do with him hating losing to selby for the second time from a similar position.

and btw i agree Hendry is by far the worst loser in snooker....his press conferences after defeats are legendary and lasts few seconds <laugh>

that could be why he enters PTC selectively less he plays less he loses rofl

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Casey

Hendry is a bad loser as is Federer and that is why they were the greatest in their sports :bowdown:

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Noel

N_Castle07 wrote:CONTENTS AWESOME!


... forgot one?


Image


=o)

Noel

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby N_Castle07

Sonny wrote:No, he wasn't a bad loser in the Masters final when he walked off before Selby got the trophy was he?

Anyway, Hendry is by far the worst loser in snooker.


For me that would be a better example than him walking out of the UK. Also the time when Selby beat him in the Welsh and he said to the press that Selby plays snail pace snooker.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Roland

Yep, sore loser but only to Selby :redneck:

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Wildey

Sonny wrote:Yep, sore loser but only to Selby :redneck:

yes i find that interesting ...

i think theres to much made of selbys tactics i honestly think now people got a pre conceived idea of how selby plays they or ronnie for that matter just reacts that way because its expected without actually looking at his actual play.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Noel

wildJONESEYE wrote:
Sonny wrote:Yep, sore loser but only to Selby :redneck:

yes i find that interesting ...

i think theres to much made of selbys tactics i honestly think now people got a pre conceived idea of how selby plays they or ronnie for that matter just reacts that way because its expected without actually looking at his actual play.


Everyone blames Selby for what he does to negatively affect his opponent's play.
Kids learn how to do that early on playing with mates... we're all used to it by now, the pros certainly are
and when Selby pisses down at the table , even someone as sensitive and moody as Ronnie can say "Aw, duck it!".
I think it has to be MORE. Selby must put out an instant "hate-on" aura... wait... aroma!
Maybe he expells a silent but deadly psychologically and sucks his opponents in by saying [ just before it hits ] ...
"Ahhhhhhh... Smell that?... can you smell that? It smell like.... FRESH BAKED BREAD!!!!"
Incredibly childish, rash-like and quite unforgivable.


=oP

Noel


PS. I now call this "The Mr. P Effect"

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Monique

Ronnie wasn't at all a sore loser in Sheffield in May. He praised Mark's game and wished him well. In fact he does praise his opponent almost each time he loses, what he says about his own game and himself is ... about his own game and himself and there is nothing more to read in it.
As for Selby's tactics (negativity and slow play) he has used them with others, notably Carter and Higgins, and with success in the first case and they are very real, but he does not play that way all the time, not even against Ronnie. Have you noticed how often there are re-racks in the Mark Selby matches as compared to other players? They are ligit, ok, and the other player should be able to deal with them but that doesn't mean they have to love it or pretend they do.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Wildey

Monique

to be fair to mark there are a lot of RE Racks but not of Mark's Doing. he plays attacking safeties that leave others stumped and they play negative to get out of it thats why theres a lot of re racks and more often than not its mark that asks for a re rack.

Re: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Postby Monique

Wild as I said it's ligit and the other player should be able to deal with it. Contrary to others it seems I have no problem with players expressing their feelings, even negative ones, or not so "sporting" ones, after a match. When they are caught minutes after a loss they sometimes feel emotional, they are human. What I don't like is double standards. I have written this already but Hendry was very rude after losing to Selby but neither the press nor the forums pounced on it. To me it's OK though: just shows how much he cared and how hurt he was. After losing to Dott, Selby pointed out at the luck of the draw being responsible for him being much more tired than his opponent (Dott had had days off before the match) and IMO he's right. It can't be helped but it does play a role. Nobody accused him of using "excuses" or "moaning", while by experience I'm certain Ronnie wouldn't have "got away" with it.