General Snooker Thread

[Bobfoc]

This final frame is so tense.

[hugobomb]

The final has been outstanding so far 6-5 Trump and we've already had six centuries 

[Bobfoc]

Barring a major shift, this is Trump's year. It's interesting to think that he was mightily close to going out in the first round.

[Bobfoc]

This is one of the best performances I've seen.

[Chris2K]

Hopefully this will be the year Trump needed to reach the potential he's always shown, and can carry it on for a while to come. His play is so much fun to watch when he's on form.

That double from Higgins and the subsequent reaction from the crowd was probably the highlight of the final though.

[hugobomb]

Nigel Bond just knocked Trump out of the UK Championships. 6-3, won the last five frames

[Baddar]

I like Judd Trump, but these shorter matches in the big tournaments in the early rounds are a good thing in my opinion. More chance of shocks like this happening. Ronnie will be delighted.

[Bobfoc]

I only managed to catch the last three frames, but I'm very happy with the result. Trump annoys me a little, but I'm mainly pleased because having him dominate would be boring. Ronnie losing would be great too, but I think he's got to be favourite based on recent form now that Trump's gone.

Full credit to Bond too. For a 54-year-old who's been out of the top 16 for 20 years to beat the World Champion and World Number 1 in the second biggest tournament of the season is some achievement.

[hugobomb]

Ronnie knocked out by Ding. Also, Nigel Bond continued his run and knocked out Gary Wilson 6-5, winning the last four frames. Fantastic job by him to make the quarters at 54

[Baddar]

Barry Hearn says he has secured dates in July for the World Championships at The Crucible, which would air on BBC when the Olympics were due to take place. 

[Bobfoc]

Seems like wishful thinking to me, but I hope I'm wrong. In theory, you could hold the World Championships later in the year if things don't work out for July.

[Baddar]

31st July is the new start date.  All 17 days will be on BBC.

[Baddar]

The Championship League will be live on ITV 4 from tomorrow afternoon. 

[Bobfoc]

Snooker is one of the few things that won't lose too much in the way of atmosphere without a crowd. I do worry about how safe it's going to be, though. There'll be a lot of touching the same parts of the table.

[Baddar]

All players will be staying at the venue and tested upon re-entering if they leave at any point. No guests allowed either. 

[Bobfoc]

Willie Thorne has died. That's a big loss. For all the personal demons he had, he was an entertaining commentator and pundit.

[Baddar]

Following the qualifiers, the first round draw for the World Championship has been made. Picks in bold for the lolz;

Judd Trump v Tom Ford

Yan Bingtao v Elliot Slessor

Stephen Maguire v Martin Gould

Kyren Wilson v Anthony Hamilton

John Higgins v Matthew Stevens

David Gilbert v Kurt Maflin

Jack Lisowski v Anthony McGill

Mark Allen v Jamie Clarke

Mark Williams v Alan McManus

Stuart Bingham v Ashley Carty

Ding Junhui v Mark King

Ronnie O'Sullivan v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh

Mark Selby v Jordan Brown

Shaun Murphy v Noppon Saengkham

Barry Hawkins v Alexander Ursenbacher

Neil Robertson v Liang Wenbo

I understand that picking just two of the non seeds to win has almost 0 chance of actually coming to fruition, but you tend to back the better/more experienced in longer matches.

[Chris2K]

Ronnie is being very vocal about how it's too early to be having crowds in, and I think he's absolutely right. Every outdoor sport hasn't gone to the lengths of bringing crowds in, yet an indoor sport has no problems in doing it. Not only that, but because of the long sessions the crowds don't have to wear masks during the matches. I really hope nothing goes wrong just because Matchroom don't want to miss out on some money.

[Bobfoc]

O'Sullivan/Un-Nooh should be very enjoyable for anyone who likes fast-paced snooker. Un-Nooh probably should have beaten Trump in last year's first round, and I hope he gets past Ronnie this time. Trump/Bingtao in the second round could be a really interesting one too.

Alan McManus deserves special mention as well. He's 49 now and will be the oldest entrant since Steve Davis in 2010. It's quite an accomplishment because McManus, while always a solid performer, was never one of the elite players in the game. Even in the nineties, during his prime, and at a time when there was less strength in depth than the decades after, he only got as high as sixth in the world.

[Baddar]

5 hours ago, Chris2K said:

Ronnie is being very vocal about how it's too early to be having crowds in, and I think he's absolutely right. Every outdoor sport hasn't gone to the lengths of bringing crowds in, yet an indoor sport has no problems in doing it. Not only that, but because of the long sessions the crowds don't have to wear masks during the matches. I really hope nothing goes wrong just because Matchroom don't want to miss out on some money.

It is an odd one. 

I have to say, if I had a ticket, I wouldn't fancy wearing a mask for that length of time. Those rooms are hot enough as it is. If masks were mandatory, I'd rather not go at all. I think that's why they've made the decision. 

But yeah, I agree there shouldn't be crowds yet for indoor events.