2021 World Championships

[MrRottweiler]

It's like they think some apprentice is putting the tables together who is more interested in slacking off. I would nerd out watching the fitters at work especially when it's the world championship. They should sell 'all-night' tickets for people to watch the tables being put together for extra revenue. They could play The IT Crowd and Father Ted on the big screens with Richard Ayoade at the refreshments counter.

[Odrl]

I mean, it's not as if people are looking at the stats without watching the match and then concluding that the pockets must be too generous. The complaints are based on balls hitting the jaws and still going in when they shouldn't. The pockets vary from table to table, from tournament to tournament, and I think it's pointless to pretend otherwise. We can all see it. Generally, I think this Championship hasn't been too bad, especially in the first couple of days, but obviously there are still some shots that raise questions. For instance, Wilson's pot in the last frame when he was on 48. Should that have gone in?

[Danger Steve]

With the slide on these newly clothed cushions anything is possible!

[mikee]

With the slide on these newly clothed cushions anything is possible!

Yeah i agree ,every table plays different ,rubber is cut by hand ,the cloth is a natural product ,how the blocks are fitted pocket shape ,slight difference in cushion height ,temperature etc .One thing that you can be sure of is when you get a low down camera angle from behind the pocket and see a ball catch the outside jaw and drop ,it always looks bad ,see that shot from a different angle and it looks not too bad .Too many people that play on tight Billiard tables from years ago complain that these shots wouldn't go in at their club ,and thats true ,but some of those tables are hard as the cushions are slightly longer and you can't have the same size opening at the slate fall and at the back of the pocket ,they narrow at the pocket plate which makes shots near the cushion almost impossible at pace .Now World snooker never used to change the cushion cloth all the time like they do now ,its not needed ,only the bed cloth needs changing ,the reason these tables play iffy with new cushion cloth on is because the cloth is tight, slightly pulling down on the rubber ,this cause slide and balls to sometimes die off the bounce as the rubber is slightly compressed .Useing a slightly heavier no 10 cloth of 35oz which was used a few years ago instead of the 30 oz would make the game more of a level playing field ,then you have a situation where the aramith balls don't play as well on the heavier cloth .Its a minefield out there .

[Cue crafty]

All of us who have played this game know sometimes there is a shot that wobbles like crazy but still drops for some reason, maybe inertia who knows. All the reasons Mikee explain s above add to the complexity.

I'm not sure where all these daft complaints come from regarding the pockets being too easy etc, but I've got a feeling it's from people who aren't as good at this game as they wish they were and complain because they think the pro's on TV are having it made easy for them to look good.

Newsflash - they just are good.

[John Flaf]

Enjoying both semi's some cracking play from 3 players, as said before it's not like SM to be angry maybe this has impacted his game.

Not going to name my fav for the title, prob jinx him but his grandad played in goal for arsenal.

[PatBlock]

Enjoying both semi's some cracking play from 3 players, as said before it's not like SM to be angry maybe this has impacted his game.

Not going to name my fav for the title, prob jinx him but his grandad played in goal for arsenal.

That's a nice bit of trivia John, sent me straight to google.

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[Neil Taperell]

Trump & Lisowski both of the BBC Coverage .......finally trying to appeal to a younger audience and bring a players perspective to things ............attempting to catch up with Eurosport .

[Danger Steve]

Trump & Lisowski both of the BBC Coverage .......finally trying to appeal to a younger audience and bring a players perspective to things ............attempting to catch up with Eurosport .

Jack has been on TV since he was knocked out and actually I think he’s done really well, it can’t be easy, but he’s taken to it.

[JimMalone]

Mark Williams complained about the pockets as well, said they were the biggest he had ever played.

I personally think it's not much different than at most tournaments within the last years. For my feeling there have been tournaments were they have been more generous and also at the World Championship 2019 for example.

However I would like to see the pockets generally a bit tighter again. I feel within the last two or three years they have certainly become a little bit bigger.

[Nifty50]

Enjoying both semi's some cracking play from 3 players, as said before it's not like SM to be angry maybe this has impacted his game.

Not going to name my fav for the title, prob jinx him but his grandad played in goal for arsenal.

Who was his Grandad? A Murphy I assume?

[P.Smith]

To me it looks like there are a lot of balls going in during the semi-finals that weren't earlier in the tournament so it must be something to do with the table being recovered.

[vmax]

I mean, it's not as if people are looking at the stats without watching the match and then concluding that the pockets must be too generous. The complaints are based on balls hitting the jaws and still going in when they shouldn't. The pockets vary from table to table, from tournament to tournament, and I think it's pointless to pretend otherwise. We can all see it. Generally, I think this Championship hasn't been too bad, especially in the first couple of days, but obviously there are still some shots that raise questions. For instance, Wilson's pot in the last frame when he was on 48. Should that have gone in?

They not only changed the cloth on table one after the first match, O'Sullivan v Joyce, but they put new cushions on it and the pockets then played very generous.
Pocket slide off the jaws with a new cloth is very much a truism, but once the nap wears down a bit it stops. Now do they put a heavier nap cloth on the cushions and a very fine napped cloth on the bed ? because a very fine napped cloth on the cushions wouldn't give much slide off the jaws, in my experience anyway, it's simply the cut of the pocket jaws, and the fact that they're cut by hand doesn't matter, they're cut to fit a standard template that no one else has access to.
Those Rasson tables are even worse, a foot faster and pockets even bigger.

[JimMalone]

That was a great way to win a frame

[vmax]

Murphy just wins a frame almost entirely due to a roll up snooker behind the blue, yawn!
Shootout rule would stop this at a stroke.