2021 World Championships

[PatBlock]

It's ok to celebrate every little win I reckon, it means you are engaged and living in the moment. Most game / sports players need to ride the momentum to drive themselves forward and make themselves believe they have a chance. Happy to see this from any player, especially Shaun TBH, who has been accused of not looking like he wants to be at the races.... He's an intelligent bloke and I'm fairly sure he knew what's been said about him in this regard. He had a crowd and he played to them and fed off them as well.

I'm not saying there was anything wrong with it, far from it, just that it may have given Selby a little extra boost, that's all.

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[Cue crafty]

I'm not saying there was anything wrong with it, far from it, just that it may have given Selby a little extra boost, that's all.

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I know mate, just feeding off Marks comments

[PatBlock]

I know mate, just feeding off Marks comments

Parasite.

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[PatBlock]

I've been waiting for your witty riposte CC, hope I haven't offended you, only kidding mate.

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[DeanH]

Definitely much more lively recently. Only a month or so ago we only had about a dozen regular posters. Unrelated to that, but does anyone know why the snooker forum facebook just keeps posting hundreds of photos of the 2009 world championships?

Had a reply
They are previously unreleased professional photos posted for fans to enjoy.

[Cue crafty]

I've been waiting for your witty riposte CC, hope I haven't offended you, only kidding mate.

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Lolz, I "liked" your comment , I had to "Tick" the box to do that!! ( Do you see what I've done there)

[Kargetina]

As a huge Selby fan, Murphy's mini-celebrations were all good sport to me. You're in the final, you're giving everything you have, you've just won an important frame, go ahead and fist pump. People are doing summersaults when scoring a goal in the first match of a season, if you can't celebrate in the final of the World Championship, something is wrong.

I can't believe that doofus Bingham called Selby disrespectful because he fist pumped when he potted the last 3 balls. Selby had a heartbreaking defeat in the semi's last year that no doubt contributed mightily towards this year's run, he had just won what was a grueling match, going back to final and he isn't supposed to show some emotion?

If anything, i prefer to see how much this means to the player rather than them behaving like robots. I absolutely loved Selby's roar when he potted the last black in the final.

[Starsky]

I love the players showing emotion myself . There seemed to be more emotion coming out this year which I think is part due to the situation with the pandemic and having fans back again.
I’d difficult to take what players quote in their post match interviews as their true feelings especially if the interviewer is fishing for a reaction .

Might try a few fist pumps down the club when I get back playing matches just to see my opponents reaction

[PatBlock]

Lolz, I "liked" your comment , I had to "Tick" the box to do that!! ( Do you see what I've done there)

Haha, nice one CC, knew you wouldn't let me down.

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[Cue crafty]

I’d difficult to take what players quote in their post match interviews as their true feelings especially if the interviewer is fishing for a reaction .
l:

I agree totally, I guess it's a publicity stunt in many ways to get press, but that's really paparazzi type crap press! Do we really need that, I don't think so but maybe the sponsors suggest it?!? The players are coated in logos these days and so is the background on the wall etc so the more views over something controversial the better for them!!

From a players point of view, if he does the gentlemanly thing and praise his opponent and say he is of the highest calibre etc blah, then he probably gets slated as Murphy has done in the past and if he says what he really thinks.....he gets slated too!! Not a job I'd fancy as a player, I'd probably end up doing an Australian accent and talk about ranking points mate!!!

Ronnies interviews are begining to make sense now I've thought of this!!

[Starsky]

Ronnies interviews are begining to make sense now I've thought of this!!

Your right , I never really thought about it like that .
Just answer all questions with references to things like your cue action or tip and you’ll dodge any chance of your answers being skewed to make a headline about your opponent .
Of course the downside is that you’ll make everybody think you've lost the plot but you’ll know it’s all just a cunning plan

[Kargetina]

So, this win by Selby has solidified the All time Top 5:

#1/2 O'Sullivan and Hendry
#3 Steve Davis
#4 John Higgins
#5 Mark Selby

Higgins vs Selby will be an interesting battle for the #4 spot in the near future. What do you think Selby needs to do to surpass him? Another World title and getting within 5 ranking titles? Their head to head is dead even apart from ranking titles.

World Championships:

Higgins 4 vs Selby 4

Triple Crown:

Higgins 9 vs Selby 9

Ranking titles:

Higgins 31 vs Selby 20

Head-to-Head:

Higgins 15 vs Selby 16

Year-end number 1:

Higgins 4 years vs Selby 7 years

[Ronnie's tip]

So, this win by Selby has solidified the All time Top 5:

#1/2 O'Sullivan and Hendry
#3 Steve Davis
#4 John Higgins
#5 Mark Selby

Higgins vs Selby will be an interesting battle for the #4 spot in the near future. What do you think Selby needs to do to surpass him? Another World title and getting within 5 ranking titles? Their head to head is dead even apart from ranking titles.

World Championships:

Higgins 4 vs Selby 4

Triple Crown:

Higgins 9 vs Selby 9

Ranking titles:

Higgins 31 vs Selby 20

Head-to-Head:

Higgins 15 vs Selby 16

Year-end number 1:

Higgins 4 years vs Selby 7 years

Realistically it will be tough for him to surpass Higgins on total ranking wins but he is very likely to go past him on majors. I don't know how many ranking titles would equate to a UK/Masters title but another world title and another Masters/UK would definitively put him above Higgins.

I think Selby will do it because of how players are still elite into their 40s now. I think Selby will win at least one more WC and surely 5-6 more ranking events. The players who had a peak period around 03-10 are very unfortunate that their prime coincided with less ranking events. Think of a prime O'Sullivan/Higgins with an additional 30 ranking tournaments to play in?!

[Mark187187]

So, this win by Selby has solidified the All time Top 5:

#1/2 O'Sullivan and Hendry
#3 Steve Davis
#4 John Higgins
#5 Mark Selby

Higgins vs Selby will be an interesting battle for the #4 spot in the near future. What do you think Selby needs to do to surpass him? Another World title and getting within 5 ranking titles? Their head to head is dead even apart from ranking titles.

World Championships:

Higgins 4 vs Selby 4

Triple Crown:

Higgins 9 vs Selby 9

Ranking titles:

Higgins 31 vs Selby 20

Head-to-Head:

Higgins 15 vs Selby 16

Year-end number 1:

Higgins 4 years vs Selby 7 years

It's all subjective. That said, Higgins was around when there were only 6 tournaments a year and still has 11 more ranking events. I don't think it's all that close really for me. Selby vs Williams is probably a closer comparison.

[trains]

Selby had only started secondary school when john Higgins won his first ranking event so it's not easy to assess on that basis but I'd shade Selby ahead of Higgins now , trump has 2 more ranking event wins than Selby , the knock on trumps 22 wins is that a lot were the shorter format but for me that's counterbalanced by winning in a strong era , trump for me even if he never reaches Selby's number of wc's still has the potential to surpass Selby but he'd still need to be within a couple of Selby's wc crowns for that though.