Who will win this years World Championship ?

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Who's your favourite for this years title ?

One of the seeds ? Or will it be a qualifier ?

Yes he got to a semi once but didn't he get absolutely hammered in that?

I am watching replays but Hendry is not playing badly

Exactly eirebilly. In previous recent years Hendry would have been unable to take advantage of those chances to any great extent but this year he is scoring much more heavily when given a chance.

He's not playing badly, he's just not playing like his first session v Bingham. Absolutely understandable though.

I think he did get hammered but it was a dominant ROS.

Was it a dominant Ronnie though? Seem to recall O'Sullivan got beaten in the final. May be wrong though.

Hendry is playing like i havent seen him play for years

Yes eirebilly he is looking very focussed. Long may it continue.

Absolutely CC. I love watching Hendry when he is playing like this

Me too Billy. Watched him closely here during the 90's and he was the picture of invincibility back then. Coming back to rip Jimmy White 10 straight frames when 14-8 down with ruthless potting was a delight to watch. His lack of safety has caught up with him now but he's one of the best breakbuilders ever and to be knocking 147's in at this level at 40 is pretty good.

Taylorman wrote:Me too Billy. Watched him closely here during the 90's and he was the picture of invincibility back then. Coming back to rip Jimmy White 10 straight frames when 14-8 down with ruthless potting was a delight to watch. His lack of safety has caught up with him now but he's one of the best breakbuilders ever and to be knocking 147's in at this level at 40 is pretty good.

The major problem Hendry has been having since those halycon days of the 1990's is that his potting isn't as good nor as consistent as it once was. Therefore he has struggled in recent years to beat players who he would have beaten easily in his prime.

If Hendry's potting ability ever came back, he'd wipe the floor with 90% of players nowadays. The only way to beat him is/was to have a fantastic safety game.

If he hadn't lost his potting ability, would he have won 10 titles?

Hendry really transformed the game with his breakbuilding ability and all out attack. For me, him and Davis are the best players to have graced the game.

Spot on eirebilly. For longevity, their consistency at their peak and the way they dominated the sport this puts them above Higgins, O'Sullivan and Williams.

Everytime the WSC comes around I vote for Hendry - now the one year in ages he actually is showing a little focus. He's not on the list

They have both just been brilliant CC, not just winning counting the titels either.

Hendry in the balls, this could be over soon.

Yes great ambassadors for the sport. Both are/were born winners but even though those days have past they are still dedicated to the sport and giving it their all.

13-4 Hendry

You cant help but admire their dedication.

Hendry goes through 13-4. Wow. Solid performance from Hendry but last night Higgins was rank rotten (putting it mildly).

Hendry was very Honest there. "I was lucky that i came up a against John playing the worst snooker he ever has here"

eirebilly wrote:Hendry was very Honest there. "I was lucky that i came up a against John playing the worst snooker he ever has here"

Agreed but it must be remembered that Higgins played pretty well in the first session and Hendry won it 5-3.

Yeah but after that he was dire.

Williams and O'Sullivan poses to be a great match. I heard on the BBC that Williams hasnt beaten Ronnie in a ranking match for over 10 years

eirebilly wrote:Yeah but after that he was dire.

My point was though that even Higgins playing at a decent standard lost a session to Hendry so who is to say that if the match hadn't continued in that same light that Hendry would have still won the match. Not denying Higgins was rank and that helped Hendry but doesn't mean the result would have been different apart from in the scoreline.

I am not taking anything away from Hendry. He is playing very well indeed. I am just saying that it was great honesty from Hendry to acknowledge that Higgins was playing the worst than he ever has at the crucible.

Well there goes my hero

Come on Ryan!

Ronnie looks in fine form

Still think that Robbo will beat the winner of this.

Robbo will win the title. No one will come close to him I feel.

I still think that Ronnie will win this but it will be close.

Robbo is just on another level right now.

Absolutely. Robbo's got a fantastic allround game now. Potting is fantastic, break building is fantastic, safety is right up there. He'll never dominate the sport but he's good for a couple of ranking titles a year (majors).

Williams is playing poo. You cant do that against Ronnie.

Starting to get the feeling ROS is a big match player nowadays only.

He is still pure quality when on this form.

Beautiful clearence from Williams. 2-2 at MSI

Did anyone see the Hendry frame earlier? I was out. Did Higgins just give up or was Hendry playing well?

Higgins was in, fluffed and Hendry made a 64 break leaving Higgins needing one snooker. In the end, Higgins left a very pottable red and shook Hendry's hand.

Higgins clearly looked upset with himself but also strangly relieved.

He needs to put the hours in again. Go away, have some rest, put some hours in and come back stronger next season I think.

Hendry's odds on winning the title are in from 80-1 to 15-2

Ronnie is looking very good. This could be a classic

3-2 now for Williams

Come on MJW!!!! Still fancy Big Robbo to mash him in the next round but hey, if Ronnie is out I'm happy.

I would love Williams to win but i cant see it. I am still amazed that gboycottnutt said that Ronnie would smash MJ.

Just trolling

eirebilly wrote:I would love Williams to win but i cant see it. I am still amazed that gboycottnutt said that Ronnie would smash MJ.

That is because Mark hasn't beaten Ronnie for over 10 years now so mentally it must be a big hurdle for Mark to overcome.

I am not talking about Ronnie beating MJ gboycott as i think that he will. I am refeering to you saying that Ronnie will thump MJ 13-2/3. That was astonishing considering how good a player MJ is.

What's with Ronnie and the teenage haircut ?

When Ronnie is at the top of his game only Higgins can beat him (and he needs to play at his best).

4-4 would be an accurate reflection of what I've seen but probably 5-3.

As for that haircut, I was just thinking that. He's taken a leaf out of Mario Gomez's book.

4-4 would be an amazing score for Williams if i am honest. Ronnie has gifted him a couple.

MJW has looked in good touch though. He's hardly played poorly.

He has played well but Ronnie has been better.

Yeah and now Ronnie has a chance for that 5-3 lead.