2020 World Snooker Championship

swarmberg

Was a great last two weeks. Working from home has it's benefits as normally wouldn't get to see that much of the world champs.

horseofstone

What was the prize money for first place does anyone know?

This is it

horseofstone wrote: »

What was the prize money for first place does anyone know?

£500,000

Sultan of Bling

sligeach wrote:

This programme on the making of toilet paper is an apt replacement filler for the short-lived snooker.

Nothing worse when someone you don't like wins the biggest prize in their sport.

sligeach

sligeach wrote: »

This programme on the making of toilet paper is an apt replacement filler for the short-lived snooker.

Can see somewhat of a corollary alright

One of your less disagreeable posts :pac:

extra-ordinary_

Arthur Daley wrote: »

Enjoyed those 17 days. Maybe not always classic play, not a great final but glad Ronnie won once Willo and Trump went out. The Friday of the semis will go down as one of the great days in sport.

Two nicely matched semi-finals and at the time thinking the Selby/O'Sullivan was the real final. Would think McGill will prove the better player than Wilson going forward.

ebbsy

I see Ronnie was having a poke at Selby with " you need to have won it 4 times " !!!!!!

AllForIt

Pighead wrote: »

Well for years the debate has been solely between Ronnie and Hendry and as I said above Hendry generally just said he is happy to be in the conversation for best snooker player ever. Where have you seen him say Ronnie is the greatest player 'plenty of times'? I've heard him say he's the most naturally talented and most gifted but never seen him admit Ronnie is the greatest player.

I've heard Hendry on a number of occasions say, when he was commentating on Ronnie matches, that Ron is the greatest snooker player he's ever seen. Particularly when Ronnie plays pots that looks not particularly difficult to the casual TV viewer and plays the shot with such aplomb.

Arthur Daley

And one good thing - only 8 months to the next visit to the Crucible.

Always a dull, anti climactic feeling at the end of a World Championship

More work will get done starting tommorow anyway

Sultan of Bling

Sultan of Bling wrote: »

Nothing worse when someone you don't like wins the biggest prize in their sport.

Maybe he was disappointed the snooker was over early.

Benefit of doubt, he may have considered that 'Cr*p' in missing out on a couple more hours of Ronnie genius

sligeach

AllForIt wrote: »

I've heard Hendry on a number of occasions say, when he was commentating on Ronnie matches, that Ron is the greatest snooker player he's ever seen. Particularly when Ronnie plays pots that looks not particularly difficult to the casual TV viewer and plays the shot with such aplomb.

Hendry would back himself at his peak every time over O'Sullivan at his peak. So would I. I think a lot of people forget just how brilliant he was at his peak, he was a machine.

Hendry responds emphatically when asked what would happen if he and O’Sullivan met each other at their very peak. “I believe I would win. If we had a four-session match, where things change, I would back myself every time.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/embarrassment-anger-sadness-the-decline-of-the-great-stephen-hendry-1.3664047?mode=amp

AllForIt

hetuzozaho wrote: »

Defo. And if someone thinks hendry is best that's fine by me. An absolute goat like Ronnie haha.

Did you watch the interview with Ronnie and Davis. And Davis was saying he couldn't compete with hendry as the sport gets better as the years go by. Interesting Ronnie is still at the top against the new generation. I'd say hendry and other pros appreciate the longevity. I think the longevity comes from the ridiculous natural talent he has which for me puts him streets ahead. Will be interesting to see how long he keeps knocking them in.

Although Davis says that, Davis was prolific for a decade before Hendry came along. I do think Davis was a bit 'burnt out' after that long at the top. And he taught Hendry what he needed to do to be even better. He set the bar. So I don't think Davis should feel in any way that 'he wasn't that good', when Davis was responsible for raising the standard of the game, especially in terms of safety play.

ebbsy

AllForIt wrote: »

Although Davis says that, Davis was prolific for a decade before Hendry came along. I do think Davis was a bit 'burnt out' after that long at the top. And he taught Hendry what he needed to do to be even better. He set the bar. So I don't think Davis should feel in any way that 'he wasn't that good', when Davis was responsible for raising the standard of the game, especially in terms of safety play.

Couldn't have put it any better myself. Davis set the bar for Hendry. O Sullivan has now matched Davis.

Davis was the first guy I saw that was destroying guys left right and centre. When he was playing at his pomp you know he was going to win. His opponent knew it as well.

Thats how great Ronnie's achievement is.

AllForIt

sligeach wrote: »

Hendry would back himself at his peak every time over O'Sullivan at his peak. So would I. I think a lot of people forget just how brilliant he was at his peak, he was a machine.

I don't think anyone is downplaying Hendry. He took Davis's game and improved on it, is the way I look at it. Saying that Hendry is the second best player ever in the modern era is hardly an insult.

You talk about Hendry's peak, but at his peak he lost to Ebdon and Doherty in the Worlds. His game wasn't infallible, no ones is.

Ronnie never had a peak, he's a different kettle of fish altogether, always has been. It's quite hard to compare them in actuality when you take into account their personal lives and character.

hetuzozaho

AllForIt wrote: »

Although Davis says that, Davis was prolific for a decade before Hendry came along. I do think Davis was a bit 'burnt out' after that long at the top. And he taught Hendry what he needed to do to be even better. He set the bar. So I don't think Davis should feel in any way that 'he wasn't that good', when Davis was responsible for raising the standard of the game, especially in terms of safety play.

The standard just wasn't as high when Davis was doing his thing.

gormdubhgorm

ebbsy wrote: »

I see Ronnie was having a poke at Selby with " you need to have won it 4 times " !!!!!!

Don't think it was at Selby, has said it before. Plus said have win 15 ranking titles aswell.I agree with him on the benchmark.

AllForIt

hetuzozaho wrote: »

The standard just wasn't as high when Davis was doing his thing.

This is true. It was really only White that gave him a run for his money.

alan partridge aha

AllForIt wrote: »

I don't think anyone is downplaying Hendry. He took Davis's game and improved on it, is the way I look at it. Saying that Hendry is the second best player ever in the modern era is hardly an insult.

You talk about Hendry's peak, but at his peak he lost to Ebdon and Doherty in the Worlds. He game wasn't infallible, no ones is.

Ronnie never had a peak, he's a different kettle of fish altogether, always has been. It's quite hard to compare them in actuality when you take into account their personal lives and character.

Friend of mine who was at the last session Hendry v Doherty, said Hendry was falling asleep he was that tired.

hetuzozaho

AllForIt wrote: »

This is true. It was really only White that gave him a run for his money.

It's just sport in general isn't it. Always getting better.

sligeach

alan partridge aha wrote: »

Friend of mine who was at the last session Hendry v Doherty, said Hendry was falling asleep he was that tired.

Ya, and he lost to Ebdon by a single frame in the final.

Neeson

taytobreath wrote: »

Ronnie on Eurosport now comparing hair cuts throughout the years

Any mention of this?

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/television/2471302/laila-rouass-disgusts-loose-women-panel-by-revealing-fiance-ronnie-osullivan-cuts-his-pubes-in-their-garden-with-scissors/amp/

henke

It's hard to compare who is greater as they are both so both have very different strengths and weaknesses. Hendry won 7 worlds in 9 years. Incredible consistency which took serious dedication and highly impressive. It's fair to say Ronnie could never match those sustained levels of consistency.

On the flip side all of Ronnie's worlds have spanned three decades and if your talking ranking titles they have now spanned four decades. That is some stat and shows incredible longevity which is fair to say Hendry could never match.

Davis too won all his the 80s. I do wonder is that highly driven competitive levels just not sustainable in the longer term. Is the strike rate of Hendry in the 90s just not possible over say 2 plus decades.

AllForIt

https://twitter.com/markwil147/status/1295075687225794563

Good of Williams to say that.

zuutroy

sligeach wrote: »

Ya, and he lost to Ebdon by a single frame in the final.

And he was gifted 2 world titles by Jimmy, but whatever helps.

take everything

AllForIt wrote: »

Although Davis says that, Davis was prolific for a decade before Hendry came along. I do think Davis was a bit 'burnt out' after that long at the top. And he taught Hendry what he needed to do to be even better. He set the bar. So I don't think Davis should feel in any way that 'he wasn't that good', when Davis was responsible for raising the standard of the game, especially in terms of safety play.

Davis is a legend in his own right.
I got a (6 ft) snooker table when I was probably 8 or 9 because of him.

petronius

ROS is the GOAT - the most talent - I felt sorry for Wilson you felt he could turn it on when he needed to.
How many world championships if he wasnt messing or lost focus some years
Roughly Hendry won 7 over a decade - Ronnie has won 6 over 2 decades
Fairplay to Ronnie he was gracious to Wilson after the match.

AllForIt

take everything wrote: »

Davis is a legend in his own right.
I got a (6 ft) snooker table when I was probably 8 or 9 because of him.

Totally agree about Davis. Some ppl hated him but I loved his cold clinical effective style. I though at the time no one could ever be better than him.

Like you, we got a 6ft snooker table as a one-of pressie for all 6 of us one Christmas. Well, my dad bought it for me primarily but we all played on it in the spare room, you know that 'sitting room' that everyone had in the late 80's that was put aside for guests, but was never used. My mother wasn't happy about it at all as the walls became covered in chalk marks. The room wasn't quite big enough for the table.

BQQ

petronius wrote: »

ROS is the GOAT - the most talent - I felt sorry for Wilson you felt he could turn it on when he needed to.
How many world championships if he wasnt messing or lost focus some years
Roughly Hendry won 7 over a decade - Ronnie has won 6 over 2 decades
Fairplay to Ronnie he was gracious to Wilson after the match.

I’d say there’s a few players kicking themselves
A golden opportunity passed up

Trump never got going in the tournament, but over the last year is clearly the best in the world

Selby obviously letting ROS off the hook in the semi

Mark Allen was scoring better than anybody, but allowed his first rd match turn into a shootout thinking it wouldn’t matter
All he had to do was play a little safety


Edit: didn’t mean to quote your post Petronius

Wildlife Actor

hetuzozaho wrote: »

It's just sport in general isn't it. Always getting better.

This.

In any sport you can only be the best in your own era.

What is stunning today will appear quaint in time. If not in 20 years, then definitely in 40 years.

To judge any athlete by the standards of a different era, or by the fiction of a standard that covers all eras, only cheapens their achievements.

TheW1zard

Id say hendry was a better match player
So is selby and higgins.
But ronnie is the best talent.

He would be in top 16 with his left hand only.

petronius

No worries BBQ.

SPOTY for Ronnie is a bit premature - there will be more sport squeezed in before december
but Ronnie is certainly a personality but sometimes it sounds put on... like cue-action the other day

Hendry and Davis are the only ones you can compare to Ronnie - both Davis and Hendry dominated for a decade
but then lost it and were not - J. Higgins dirtied his bib - yet 4 times world champion and still playing at a high level - perhaps he left a world championship behind him .

The Golden Miller

People lose the run of themselves in the aftermath of what they just saw. All the Ronnie being the GOAT stuff is back, because he just won. And over 3 decades? Just because he played at a high level for 3 decades, doesn't mean he necessarily played at a higher level than Hendey did for one decade. Doesnt mean Hendey was better either.

Standard improves across all sports for various reasons, generally external. To say Davis or Hendey played weaker competition in their era is disingenuous. Their standard would rise accordingly to the era they'd play in, more tournaments, slightly thinner cloths and faster tables, better heated tables, cues, pockets etc. It's a game of millimeters as it is. Williams makes far more centuries than he ever did at his peak, and still breaks down around the 70 mark most of the time these days.

Raw talent and Alex Higgins was just as good as any. Played drunk, wrong stance, old concepts of safety and break building. Played fast and drunk and always lost the run of the cueball. The amount of unbelievable single ball pots he made every frame, despite doing everything wrong, just to keep a 50 break going was unbelievable. Raw natural talent, just as good as Ronnie imo, if not better

hetuzozaho

People lose the run of themselves with Alex Higgins

AllForIt

Because we were a bit bereft of snooker this evening due to an early close, I had to watch back the final few frames of the Ronnie/Selby semi this evening.

I actually couldn't watch it at the time and nipped out to the shops for some alcopops to calm myself down. I so didn't want to see Selby do his thing on Ronnie yet again. I don't normally pick a side, but in this case I so wanted to see Ronnie beat Selby.

Now that I've watched the final few frames again without interruption, I have to disagree with Jimmy's shot of the Championship. For me the shot of the championship was when Ron was down 16 - 14, and he potted a red by the blue to the green pocket from the black area, where he made a total clearance from it.

He was unstoppable from that point. Selby's facial expressions watching Ronnie said it all. He knew it was all over before it was all over.

irs

It's hard to compare Hendry and O'Sullivan because neither of them could have had each others career. There were too many other great players around for O'Sullivan to have the kind of dominance Hendry or Davis had in their 20's but Hendry in his 30's had to try and compete with a much stronger younger generation than O'Sullivan has had.

It's interesting that O'Sullivan, Higgins & Williams now have a combined 13 World titles, the same number and Hendry & Davis. Yet Hendry and Davis won all theirs between 21-31 while the other three won theirs between 22-44 with five in their 20's, six in their 30's and two in their 40's.

Exclamation Marc

Betfred made the £25,000 donation to Jessie May Children’s Hospice at Home despite not making the 80 centuries given that it was down to a ball.

Fair play.

Brian?

TheW1zard wrote: »

Id say hendry was a better match player
So is selby and higgins.
But ronnie is the best talent.

He would be in top 16 with his left hand only.

I’ve been following and playing snooker for over 30 years and I still don’t understand this “best match player” tag. Surely the better match player wins the most matches.

Ronnie himself made a very point last night. He won his titles over way more matches than Hendry. Hendry was no.1 in the world for 9 straight years but then again in 2007-2008. He could have hung around longer and won the odd tournament but he just wasn’t enjoying it anymore.

gimli2112

I backed Hendry to win one year and during the tournament he broke his arm, he still won.

zuutroy

Brian? wrote: »

Ronnie himself made a very point last night. He won his titles over way more matches than Hendry. Hendry was no.1 in the world for 9 straight years but then again in 2007-2008. He could have hung around longer and won the odd tournament but he just wasn’t enjoying it anymore.

An often made assumption that's not right. Hendry has still played more ranking tournaments than O'Sullivan (only 2 now though!)

TheW1zard

Brian? wrote: »

I’ve been following and playing snooker for over 30 years and I still don’t understand this “best match player” tag. Surely the better match player wins the most matches.

Ronnie himself made a very point last night. He won his titles over way more matches than Hendry. Hendry was no.1 in the world for 9 straight years but then again in 2007-2008. He could have hung around longer and won the odd tournament but he just wasn’t enjoying it anymore.

I suppose they mean the best player over a few sessions?
for example both in their prime hendry v o sullivan - id fancy o sullivan best of 7 but hendry say best of 33.

Also some players they say are harder to play against (selby higgins etc) because they wear you out. But I suppose thats the game which is the point youre making i think!

Either way theyre all better than me lol

tanko

Hendry retired because he couldn’t pot a ball to save his life.

ThewhiteJesus

Brian? wrote: »

Higgins does/did have a weakness, his concentration lapses.

I love watching him play, but the reason he hasn't won as much as Ronnie or Hendry is that he wasn't as good all round. I don't understand the "greatest all round player" tag.

John Higgins is a cheat and should never be allowed play again, for all the talent he has.
He is not a better player than osullivan or hendry though as suggested earlier.
Top three of all time is osullivan hendry davis.
That's undeniable

walshb

Hendry is on record saying that Ronnie greatest natural talent/player he has ever seen....

But also said that over 4 sessions he wins...

I think too much made this....Ronnie on form, in the mood, beats Hendry over 4 sessions....

It's not like it's first to 100.....

Head to head over 33 (four sessions) they are 1-1......

Hendry is superb, but Ronnie just does it........

So so strong everywhere when on form....

walshb

ThewhiteJesus wrote: »

John Higgins is a cheat and should never be allowed play again, for all the talent he has.
He is not a better player than osullivan or hendry though as suggested earlier.
Top three of all time is osullivan hendry davis.
That's undeniable

He beats them all at peak...

The man was too good everywhere......

Rothko

tanko wrote: »

Hendry retired because he couldn’t pot a ball to save his life.

Funny how he made a 147 at the Crucible in 2012 then.

tanko

He didn’t pot too many in the QF when he lost 13-2 to Stephen Maguire.

The Nal

Rothko wrote: »

Funny how he made a 147 at the Crucible in 2012 then.

Yeah but his general game had gone by then. He had to qualify and had dropped out of the top 16. He was ranked in the 50s around then.

I always find today the most depressing day of the year. Doesn't matter if its in April or August.

zuutroy

The Nal wrote: »

Yeah but his general game had gone by then.

I always find today the most depressing day of the year. Doesn't matter if its in April or August.

I'm finding that having to do all the work I've put off for the past 4 weeks is helping take my mind off it!

Sultan of Bling

tanko wrote:

He didn’t pot too many in the QF when he lost 13-2 to Stephen Maguire.

The fact he got to the qf probably suggests he could. He beat the then reigning champion John Higgins 13-4 in the previous round.

Every one has a bad day at the office.

ultrapercy

hetuzozaho wrote: »

People lose the run of themselves with Alex Higgins

They sure do, most over rated sports person ever.