2021 World Championships

[itsnoteasy]

He's raking it in with this tat. Saw him posting photos of himself signing piles of driftwood cues and a massive box of black snooker balls.

" driftwood cues" I'm stealing that.

[Shockerz]

What a match, just brilliant from McGill. Thought he was gone, didn't think he had it in him, a classic.

He certainly held it together and showed massive grit.

I wonder if it spurred him on when Ronnie banged his cue down in the last frame.

[vmax]

I feel for Ronnie after that defeat, came out for the evening session on fire and had to take a break, lost the match to a bad contact which put him out of position and some bad running with the next missed pot. Hats off to McGill, sensational second session from him where he didn't give Ronnie a sniff but he'd gone in the evening and was saved by the snooker gods. Like Ronnie said, he'd gotten away with it last year but not this, it's the way it is, take some time out to chill and be ready for next season.
What's the odds for McGill to play like a plonker next round ?

[vmax]

I feel for Jack after Neil wins two frames off flukes, time for nomination snooker ? what d'ya think ?

[Odrl]

I feel for Ronnie after that defeat, came out for the evening session on fire and had to take a break, lost the match to a bad contact which put him out of position and some bad running with the next missed pot. Hats off to McGill, sensational second session from him where he didn't give Ronnie a sniff but he'd gone in the evening and was saved by the snooker gods. Like Ronnie said, he'd gotten away with it last year but not this, it's the way it is, take some time out to chill and be ready for next season.
What's the odds for McGill to play like a plonker next round ?

You're making it sound like was out of O'Sullivan's hands after he got the kick. What really cost him was the terrible positional shot from the straight blue, which he took over a minute on, and then a pretty pitiful effort of potting the mid-range red. Nothing to do with the snooker gods at all. Especially as McGill then had a very similar shot during his own clearance and played it superbly.

[Danger Steve]

You're making it sound like was out of O'Sullivan's hands after he got the kick. What really cost him was the terrible positional shot from the straight blue, which he took over a minute on, and then a pretty pitiful effort of potting the mid-range red. Nothing to do with the snooker gods at all. Especially as McGill then had a very similar shot during his own clearance and played it superbly.

Agree with this!

[Mark187187]

Agree with this!

Agree also. He missed the red by a mile and the kick wasn't even that bad. He still had plenty of options after the mini kick. It's not like he missed because of a kick and left Anthony in amongst the reds or he lost because of a fluke etc Even after the penultimate frame, his positional play was all over the place in the decider and Anthony just held it together better. If you ignore ROS declarations that he doesn't feel pressure, doesn't care etc, it's not rocket science what actually happened

[vmax]

You're making it sound like was out of O'Sullivan's hands after he got the kick. What really cost him was the terrible positional shot from the straight blue, which he took over a minute on, and then a pretty pitiful effort of potting the mid-range red. Nothing to do with the snooker gods at all. Especially as McGill then had a very similar shot during his own clearance and played it superbly.

The blue was also a bad contact IMO, the reverse side on the cue ball died forcing him to go for a red that he didn't play for, and now once again doubting his cue action. If you actually played the game then you might understand what goes on in a players mind after things like that happen, especially during a decider.

[Mark187187]

The blue was also a bad contact IMO, the reverse side on the cue ball died forcing him to go for a red that he didn't play for, and now once again doubting his cue action. If you actually played the game then you might understand what goes on in a players mind after things like that happen, especially during a decider.

I play, and I don't blame missing a pot by 6 inches on anything/anyone but myself.

[vmax]

I play, and I don't blame missing a pot by 6 inches on anything/anyone but myself.

You can miss a ball by six inches at 9 ball and still pot it

[Mark187187]

You can miss a ball by six inches at 9 ball and still pot it

I played snooker for 20 years before I played pool. I never made excuses for bad play. I don't think (supposedly) the best player of all time needs excuses made for him either. You don't lose 13 frames in a 3 session match through bad luck

[Odrl]

I play, and I don't blame missing a pot by 6 inches on anything/anyone but myself.

I don't think O'Sullivan does either, at least I don't remember him ever using bad luck as an excuse. I don't doubt that kicks and other little setbacks affect you mentally, but in the end it's still your fault when you let it get to you. To be fair to O'Sullivan, I think he usually deals with stuff like that pretty well. But last night he messed it up, whatever the reason.

[Starsky]

I don’t think you need to over analyse what happened last night in the decider. He played a poor shot positionally which forced him to play a harder shot than he should have had . It happens all the time and in snooker and you could see he was frustrated with himself especially given the occasion .
Whether it was pressure or the disappointment of the previous poor shot he messed up the next one .

[JimMalone]

After that disappointing first round things are heating up.
The McGill - O'Sullivan match really showed how much can change from session to session. McGill played a tremendous session, especially with his long pots. And in the evening suddenly he didn't pot any.
I really thought the pressure, spurred by O'Sullivans fantastic display, was too much for Anthony, but chapeau to his countenance, which was totally there when he needed it. Over this last two World Championships he is finally kinda the player I expected him to be after he beat Mark Selby in the 2015 edition with a similiar excellent performance.

And Hawkins - Wilson is also meeting its expectations. Both are pretty similiar players in my mind. Both just an inch below the absolute elite, both have quite a well all-around game, both are always peaking at the crucible - but both tend to have some slips of the pen, which can cost them. I hope this will be a decider and whoever wins this should give us a cracker against Robertson.

[JimMalone]

Ending 13-10 it didn't quite as tense as I had hoped in the end. Hawkins lost this yesterday, when he fell back 4-9 from 4-4.
For Wilson it's his sixth quarterfinal in a row.