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Selby should have enough in his locker to see off the inconsistent Hendry; although we all thought that about John Higgins v Steve Davis.
Ronnie O’Sullivan remains the one to beat – depending if he can maintain his focus – and not let the those dark fairies get in the way.
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Only 1 century so far in the Hendry v Selby match but really should have been 3 centuries…Hendry had chance early and Selby late on.
Shaping up like a top contest though Hendry will be disappointed to be 4-4. Personally never think Hendry is at his best in a morning session so fancy Selby to take the lead in tomorrow mornings session…maybe a 6-2 session win. That will probably see him through. Although, as noted, I want Hendry to win. Not only is he Scottish, he is my sporting idol from when I was a child, still is i suppose. Best player to ever pick up a cue (imo).
Couple of belting matches today, just finished watching Ding/Murphy which was a cracker and O’Sullivan/Williams earlier.
Still feel it’s such a shame at how bizarre a person Ronnie O’Sullivan is. We had the fingering the ball last week and attempting the pot before the ref had put the ball back on the spot, and then today thought he was totally disrespectful to his fellow Pro’s and the guy who was interviewing him with some of the answers he gave.
As I say, such a shame because he’s without doubt the most naturally gifted player I think I’ve ever seen or ever likely to see in my lifetime…
Couple of belting matches today, just finished watching Ding/Murphy which was a cracker and O’Sullivan/Williams earlier.
Still feel it’s such a shame at how bizarre a person Ronnie O’Sullivan is. We had the fingering the ball last week and attempting the pot before the ref had put the ball back on the spot, and then today thought he was totally disrespectful to his fellow Pro’s and the guy who was interviewing him with some of the answers he gave.
As I say, such a shame because he’s without doubt the most naturally gifted player I think I’ve ever seen or ever likely to see in my lifetime…
Your spot on. It is a real shame that Ronnie doesn’t look interested at times & can be direspectful to the game & his fellow players. I don’t think there’s much doubt in him being the most naturally gifted player, that has ever picked up a cue & the game certainly needs him.
Mark
Some of the greatest sportsman in their profession were not always the most highly decorated. Ronnie has by far the highest
ceiling
to his game, thus making him the greatest player to ever pick up a snooker cue IMO.
It’s common knowledge amongst all the pros playing today, that if Ronnie brings his A game they may as well go home. If his father hadn’t of spent the last 20 years in prison, I’m sure he’d have racked up any amount of world titles by now for good measure. It screwed him up almost completely.
Ronnie wants this one more than he has wanted any title ever in his life. Be warned!
A big session in store tonight.
Carter v Murphy could go either way and although Carter was one of my pre tournament picks my gut feeling is that Murphy will edge it but whoever wins has got a very tough semi against Robertson.
My other pick Selby has to somehow stick with O’Sullivan but if he can keep it close I can see him winning 13-11 or 13-12. Dott did remarkably well to beat Allen and he will give either player a tough match in the semis.
A big session in store tonight.
Carter v Murphy could go either way and although Carter was one of my pre tournament picks my gut feeling is that Murphy will edge it but whoever wins has got a very tough semi against Robertson.
My other pick Selby has to somehow stick with O’Sullivan but if he can keep it close I can see him winning 13-11 or 13-12. Dott did remarkably well to beat Allen and he will give either player a tough match in the semis.
It’s Selby’s to lose, although Robertson is playing some excellent snooker.
Mark
Well these semis are turning into a major disappointment for me. Carter has never recovered from his bad start and he’s never looked like getting back on terms. Dott continues to impress and winning the last 3 frames today was probably as big a blow to Selby as it was to me
Well these semis are turning into a major disappointment for me. Carter has never recovered from his bad start and he’s never looked like getting back on terms. Dott continues to impress and winning the last 3 frames today was probably as big a blow to Selby as it was to me
It’s a pity that the final has been overshadowed by the NOTW video & the Higgins betting scandal. Their timing never ceases to amaze me & are a real rag of a newspaper.
This could be the beginning of the end for John Higgins & just don’t understand why he would ever contemplate taking a bribe, especially as he’s made a good living from the sport.Mark
From the bits of the video that I have seen it doesn’t look good for Higgins. Any ban will probably end his career so I hope he is innocent. Apparently the NOTW have more revelations planned for this sunday so he will be sweating until then.
I was even more astonished than Steve Davis was when he beat John Higgins. Now it all makes sense. Higgy couldn’t get back to Scotland quick enough. Do you think his thoughts might have been elsewhere at the time ?
It certainly doesn’t look good for him. It was reported on Scottish tv news that he is absolutley distraught.
I think he has either been very naive, very greedy – or both.
He’s one man I would never have suspected as being tempted to take bribes. I also agree with a previous poster who asked why on earth Higgins would even think about doing such a thing. He’s not exactly poor, is he ? The wealthy, it seems, are never wealthy enough.
It all also begs the question as to why those NOTW journalists targeted Higgins in the first place. Had they been given a lead from someone in the know that he might be up for such a thing ?
His agent has a lot to answer to as well. The Russian Mafia story simply reeks of desperation and doesn’t hold any water. How John Higgins is going to wriggle out of this is anyone’s guess. All he has done is tarnish an otherwise impeccable reputation.
It’s all a bit sad really.
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At this point in time, until evidence to the contrary is released in to the public domain, only John Higgins knows the true extent of his innocence. However, I thought the statement he made yesterday was particularly revealing.
Amongst the usual declarations of sadness and devastation, Higgins said that he loved the sport of snooker more than anything. Would this be the same sport of snooker that boasts the Crucible as the traditional home of its world championship, a tradition he said (in a BBC interview last year) he wouldn’t care about breaking if going to China meant playing for more money?
Higgins has made it perfectly clear in the past that he is motivated by money and, whilst I sincerely hope that snooker won’t have to revisit the Quentin Hann and Stephen Maguire sagas, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the News Of The World’s accusations had at least some foundation.
It’s sad that instead of talking about Neil Robertson & a great achievement, we now end up discussing the NOTW rag paper. I have watched the video & I must admit it doesn’t look good at all for Higgins. I can only guess that his manager Pat Mooney has played a large part in this, but to what extent, I don’t have a clue !
Apparently NOTW are going to reveal more details about other bribes in the snooker world this sunday & try to sell more papers & keep their quality journalism tag !
Mark
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