2022 World Championship

[GeordieDS]

Jack Bingham

[fkhan]

Well done John. Time to grab the blood pressure pills for tomorrow's match, ROS Vs John.

When was the last time we had the trio from the class of '92 in a WC SF?

[Mark187187]

I think its absolutely nailed on for Ronnie to equal Hendry's 7th. Sounds a bit daft but its almost like a fix the way the form and results have worked out. O'Sulivan never had an easier passage or run to the semi's. Nobody left in playing well, he's basically going to walk it. Possible record final victory beating Davis 18-3 anyone?

Couldn't really tell you how well Ronnie is playing. It's not hard to look good against Marc Allen and Steven Maguire when they turn up and play the way they did. Thought he looked pretty average yesterday, despite the scoreline. I thought Mark Williams in round one was the highest standard I've seen anyone play so far this year. Judd did alright to win 8 on the spin today, and he played pretty badly in the year he won it up to the semis and then turned it on, particularly in the final. John could hit some form quite easily and isn't going to roll over. Everyone has been a bit streaky, I think any of them could win it. Far from being nailed on for Ronnie, I think it's as open as it's ever been.

[balkend]

Well done John. Time to grab the blood pressure pills for tomorrow's match, Ros Vs John.

When was the last time we had the trio from the class of '92 in a WC SF?

That missed pot into the bottom left pocket will haunt Jack all summer, so near yet so far

[Billy]

The snooker lost out to my bed calling (again) last night, but I just checked on the result. Pretty gutted for Jack to have come that close

[ken147]

I feeling a Higgins Vs Trump final. With Higgins falling short yet again in a major final. :-0

[mikee]

Higgins must be wondering how he’s still in this event playing pretty average at best ,the non character Williams that speaks with a Welsh accent has been in good form all tournament,Trump looks like he’s just hitting form at the right time .I think the title could be between them .Still not sure Ronnie will do it ,the pressures massive on him no matter what he says in interviews .

[JimMalone]

Well done John. Time to grab the blood pressure pills for tomorrow's match, Ros Vs John.

When was the last time we had the trio from the class of '92 in a WC SF?

It is the third time after 1998 and 1999.

[Cue crafty]

Well done John. Time to grab the blood pressure pills for tomorrow's match, Ros Vs John.

When was the last time we had the trio from the class of '92 in a WC SF?

I hope Ronnie can make a good match of this, John does seem to cook on gas against Ron in their recent games so hope its not all one way traffic!

[fkhan]

That missed pot into the bottom left pocket will haunt Jack all summer, so near yet so far

Yes. He refused it earlier in the break.

[fkhan]

It is the third time after 1998 and 1999.

Thank you.

[Odrl]

It took me until 4 in the morning to catch up with all of the matches last night, but I'm glad I did. A masterclass of breakbuilding from Higgins in the last two frames, but he was still lucky to survive. When he was about to play that safety in the decider, I said to myself that he would hit the red on the way back. It just seemed inevitable.

Mixed feelings about the SF line-up... On the one hand, it's extremely old, with three players who would become the oldest World champion ever if they won it. But since a lot of the top 16 is really old at the moment, there was always a chance we would get a year like this at some point. I am also a little disappointed by the standard of play. After the 1st round, it looked like a lot of the players were playing really well, but now with only four players remaining, no one is really playing like a World champion just yet. On the other hand, there are no real outsiders this time. All four semi-finalists are former champions and extremely prolific winners, so we don't have to get through any matches where one player can't realistically win it. That doesn't actually happen all that often.

Mark Williams vs Judd Trump: Looking forward to this one, as the two almost never play each other in proper snooker. They play in quite a similar way, relying on long pots to be going in for their game to work. And they were both tested a little bit yesterday. Williams finally found an opponent who didn't just collapse against him, so he had to fight to stay in the match at one point when he was two frames down. For once he did play well under pressure though, which was a pleasant surprise. He made a couple of good breaks in the last two frames. As long as he didn't peak too early, he looks to be in good shape here, and is arguably playing the best snooker out of all the semi-finalists. Trump definitely didn't peak too early. He was decent at best in getting to the quarter-finals, and then played absolutely dreadfully yesterday morning. He was let off the hook in that session, then came out much stronger to win in the evening. He was finally beginning to look a bit like himself, getting in with some very difficult long pots. If he can combine that with a bit of scoring, he could be the man to beat over the weekend. I don't know how to call it... If there isn't much of an improvement from Trump, I think Yan was the bigger test for Williams, but the potential is always there with Trump. I'll go for Williams to win 17-13.

John Higgins vs Ronnie O'Sullivan: Another tough one to call. O'Sullivan is the only semi-finalist who hasn't really been tested yet, apart from maybe having to come back from being 3-0 down in the opening round. Even though the draw for him wasn't any easier than it was for the others, his opponents just didn't show up. The good thing about O'Sullivan in this tournament has definitely been his attitude, fighting for every frame even if it's a little bit fragmented, and there hasn't been any nonsense that you sometimes see from him. On the other hand, his game is not in brilliant shape at the moment. He is still missing a few, and it could cost him now that only the best players are left. Higgins's progress to the semi-finals was unreliable to put it mildly, but he did find his touch when he needed it with his back to the wall last night. I think scoring has been the main problem for him. He is just breaking down way too often, either missing from close range, or losing position with misjudged cannons and stuff like that. I think that's the main difference between the two players. Even at his worst, O'Sullivan almost always puts a few breaks together when he gets chances, but Higgins is less reliable in that respect. He needs to raise his game pretty dramatically to outplay O'Sullivan, I think. That said, he has a positive record against O'Sullivan once you filter out the shot-clock snooker and stuff like that, and he's definitely had the better of him recently. If both players come out strong, I would make Higgins the favourite. My gut feeling says he doesn't quite have it though. I'll go for O'Sullivan to win 17-12.

Hoping for both matches to go a little closer than what I've predicted though.

[JimMalone]

It’s tough to pick. The form varies so wild.

I say it will be a Trump - Higgins final.

[GeordieDS]

Bad early signs for Williams missing by that much

[neuronic]

Mark J. seems to have angered the snooker gods somehow...