Who will win this years World Championship?

First topic message reminder :

First topic message reminder :

Who's your favourite for this years title ?

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


We're down to the last 4, so let us know who you think will finally clinch it.

Matthew

It could have been such an important steal.

Big miss , Stevens has to win this last frame or i think thats it . Cant see him coming back if he loses it .

And this looks to be Ronnie's "bad" session too.

Or not. Game over

when did you last see Ronnie deliberate over a shot for so long ?

Here comes the "Stevens stretch"...

Wow, simply wow

Hibbz wrote:Right, I'm off to bed now but I expect an answer to my Foulds question before I check again tmrw people.

Well balls to the lot of you I've remembered myself, it was Geoff Foulds and he was Neal's dad.

MATCHU!!!!

Oh dear

Well done Matchu. Threw that one away didn't you?

Lost the last 3 frames... thats it then.

what are the odds on a Stevens win now ?

14/1

what are the odds on a Stevens win now ?

Probably worse than Blackburn staying up

Love a long shot though

How Ronnie got out of that session at 4-4 is totally down to Matchu. Those last 3 frames he had his chances and just could'nt bring it hom. If he was only 4 down i would still hold a glimmer of hope but at 6 down, he has no chance.

bit harsh billy. In the first of those three he only played one shot

He did miss a relatively simple colour in each of the last two frames though, but Ronnie played some good stuff too, and was good enough to take advantage.

Matt missed the easy pink at the end of frame 23, then he missed easy brown in 24th frames with only 1 or 2 reds left. Bad mistakes which gift Ronnie the match.

Yep sorry, the first one was quality from Ronnie, you are right

I just think that he really should have won that session 6-2. He had many opportunities to do that. I fear that may have been Ronnies bad session this year as well.

That's what I said earlier. He didn't even play badly.

Evening all. First post on these snooker boards so be kind please. Haven't managed to watch any of this champs until the session today, which I thought was excellent, had everything, breakbuilding, tactical play, great safety and of course some agonising misses!

Stevens came out all guns blazing and I was afraid he would push the boat too far out (as people sometimes do when attempting a fightback) but no, he was tight when he needed to be, and took on shots only when there were a genuine frame-winning chance or there was nothing else on. Ronnie didn't get frustrated which somewhat surprised me. He also played some great snooker, including that brilliant cushion first safety which was then topped by Matthew's great red along the cushion!

In the end though it was all about 2 misses from Matthew: that pink and brown in the last two frames. Neither were easy shots, I thought he should have just rolled the pink in and played the tricky yellow, and the brown was pure pressure (having played a 1 in 10 shot on the red and given himself the chance to clinch the frame, the brown was one he'd have expected to make, but difficult enough to miss), he hit it too hard. Ronnie took full advantage.

Overall I thought Matthew should have won 5-3. 6-2 would have flattered him, but 4-4 and particularly after winning the last 4 frames and Ronnie should now make the final. Matthew probably needs to win the opening session 4-0 this evening, even 3-1 would leave Ronnie 16-12 (although we've seen some comebacks already this champs) which is probably a bit much.

Anyway, a great session of snooker.

It was great Mike, and the whol match has been quality. Basically it boils down to Matthew needing to win 8-1 to win the match. Impossible task i feel, especially since Ronnie is playing so well.

Cheers billy. I'm sorry to have missed most of the play this year (in my defence I am in the wrong time zone ATM). I think Matthew really needed to finish 13-11 or at worst 14-10.

Will try to catch some of the latter semi.

Unless Carter has sorted out his mental issues when playing Ronnie, I can't see either of those two threatening him that much in the final: Maguire is too inconsistent to challenge him over BO35 IMO.

Yes its the old cliche the only person that can beat Ronnie now is Ronnie himself . He annoys the hell out of me yet i love watching him play when hes got his head right .

You have missed a truely brilliant tournement Mike.

So Carter and Mags to play to a finish now. Can Mags still do it?

"Of making rhymes I will never tire, here comes Stephen Maguire."

Hey where is it on the red button? MotoGP & final score, do me a lemon.

Oh no it's there. Phew.

I dont have the red button here in Holland. I just have the BBC and its on

Oh yeah it's on BBC1, I didn't even think to look there.

Hope Maguire apologised for going behind the green or Carter will throw his toys out of the pram again.

Are we about to see Maguire show some bottle here and come back?

Such an important frame for Maguire to win here but he is really on the back foot

Massive chance for Mags here

Some very strange choice of shots going on...

Maguire there could have put Carter back in snookered, putting him back in from the baulk cushion, or developping the black and putting Carter in trouble. He chose to take on the brown? Really?

Lovely snooker behind the black though, frame very much in the balance. Maguire slight favourite possibly but he needs this.

Well thats it now. Mags cannot come back

Ah very nice from Carter there to finish. Some controversy over no miss being called (surely if so then it shouldn't have been called on the first attempt where he seemed as close to it as the 5th miss?), but Carter played the more solid overall.

The miss rule is a srange one and is very open to interpretation. I dont like it myself. Alli is in again.

I like it in so much that when there is an easier escape on but a player goes for the tough one because he knows he's more likely to leave it safe that way (and he'll leave it safe even if he misses the red). I think in practice referees call "miss" as a default option too much: perfect example being Carter's first shot today, the only real way to hit the ball and a very good effort (as borne out by the fact he didn't get as close in his next 4 attempts).

To me there is too much interperation. Its a hard rule but i understand why it was brought in.

Mags is fighting here but it looks way to much of a hill to climb.

Oooh that was unlucky, right choice of shot to bring out the red but nudged the it next to the pink and somehow didn't land on the black over the pocket.

Still, frame very much game on again.

Can only imagine he was trying to canon red and pink there? Thought that was the wrong choice personally, they were fairly easy to canon off blue surely?

Carter gets an absolutely beautiful fluke (particularly given that he developped red and pink in the process) and that, surely, is that.

Maguire's temparament remains a bit iffy, when the going gets tough his shot selection gets strange and he often resorts to just whacking the balls.

Well thats what i dont like about Alli Carter. He complains when someone flukes and doesnt acknowledge it, when he flukes he also doesnt acknowledge it and raise his hand.

Poor old Mags, must think that everything is against him.

2008 rematch.

Only chance Carter has in final is if Ronnie breaks both his wrists.

In fairness Maguire had two major slices of luck in the previous frame when he snookered Carter after missing fairly standard pots.

Haven't noticed Carter not acknowledgeing flukes, that to me is poor form (I understand there is some hypocrisy about apologising for a massive fluke and then happily making a century from it, but still, it's like when a net-cord at tennis sets up an easy passing shot, it's something I like about the game).

:O Shocking miss there Carter.

Carter is playing much better than he was in 08 Josiah, i think that he could match Ronnie. It wont be a hiding.

To be fair Mike, I don't think Maguire and Carter get on.

eirebilly wrote:Carter is playing much better than he was in 08 Josiah, i think that he could match Ronnie. It wont be a hiding.

Carter has been very strong at times in these 2 weeks so far, credit to him. Ronnie will take a 5-3 or 6-2 lead 1st session on him, then just steadily carry it on. Only Selby, Trump or Higgins for me could take on Ronnie.