World Grand Prix 2023

[PatBlock]

Here's an appropriate spoonerism for Mark to contemplate. Crushing Blow....

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[PatBlock]

ITV X is crap. Just sayin'.

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[PatBlock]

Wow, Allen completely gone.

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[PatBlock]

Wow, Trump completely gone. This is crazy.

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[Odrl]

That was a great evening of snooker, at least until the decider.

[PatBlock]

That was a great evening of snooker, at least until the decider.

What was wrong with the decider? I thought it was nail bitingly entertaining.

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[Odrl]

What was wrong with the decider? I thought it was nail bitingly entertaining.

It was high quality stuff before that, but then a few real sitters being missed.

Rob Walker is such cringe.

[neuronic]

I think both of them nailed it in their post match interviews

[PatBlock]

It was high quality stuff before that, but then a few real sitters being missed.

Expected really, under the circumstances. And it certainly cranks up the tension.

Rob Walker is such cringe.

+1 to that.
I think there's a spelling mistake in his last name.

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[trains]

It was high quality stuff before that, but then a few real sitters being missed.

Rob Walker is such cringe.

Don't forget he also compere's and then runs into the commentary booth at the mecca of snooker the Crucible for his wonderful insightful commentary there, we've still got that to look forward to !!

[Odrl]

Don't forget he also compere's and then runs into the commentary booth at the mecca of snooker the Crucible for his wonderful insightful commentary there, we've still got that to look forward to !!

I will give that a miss, thank you.

[fkhan]

Looks like Allen's highest ranking till date. Weight loss and going bankrupt has had an impact I think.

[vmax]

I’m not sure what the problem is it’s not like the Aramith balls are a new thing ,we’ve all been Using them for 25 years or so .Taom chalk has eliminated most of the kicks ,cloths have improved even down to club table level ,even the heaviest cloths are not like the slow clunking things from years ago where you had to aim at the far jaw of the middle pocket against the nap to pot the ball ,who wants to go back to that .
.

That middle pocket thing dissapeared when the middles were opened up in the late 80's and you could then pot balls at speed rather than have to drift them in from an angle using the lay of the nap, once the cloths became faster you didn't have to do that. We see it now all the time. If aramith balls hadn't been introduced the game would have stayed relatively the same and one must remember that they weren't introduced because they were better, they were introduced as a result of an industrial takeover by a chemical giant who decided to monopolise the billiard ball market with an inferior product and were allowed to succeed. What other sport has allowed that to happen ?

Did addidas say to FIFA, well we're not going to supply leather footballs size 5 at your regulation weight anymore, we have just invented a new plastic that we're going to make footballs out of, they will be about 2/3rds regulation weight and will allow the game to become a series of dead ball situations because they will swerve and dip in the air, 'keepers won't be able to hold them and everyone will dive around for free kicks in order to use the new balls properties, defending will become a lost art as players will be afraid to put a foot in because of all the diving and millions of fans will be lost to the game, but we will get the media to lie about everything and sell it to the next generation as something that's actually honest and real with stats to back it up and we'll all make millions.
Actually no, FIFA themselves made different regulations at a series of world cups about the ball used as they wanted to replicate the way the ball behaved at the 1970 world cup in mexico played at altitude where the air is thinner and the old regulation leather ball behaved differently in a way that made for the probably the best world cup ever held.
What they didn't take into condideration is that the game had reached it's zenith as far as players were concerned, Best,Law and Charlton in the UK, Beckanbauer, Cruyff, Eusabio and Riva in europe, Pele, Rivelino, Cubillas in south america, there have never been better footballers all at the same time as then.

Those series of decisions by FIFA were deliberate, in snooker a series of decisions had to be made in order to make an inferior ball work when aramith decided to no longer produce super crystalate. First the cloths were shaved to reduce the nap and cut the resistance between the balls on contact, (so they knew what was happening and why but didn't tell the players), but that only made the situation worse as fibres were picked up by the ball as they rolled along the cloth, this is why Alex Higgins religiously cleaned the cue ball in the late 80's, I remember him taking a cue ball up to a camera during a tournament and showing it had bits of green fluff on it. Then table heaters to reduce the resistance even further, didn't work. Then aramith introduced a 'better quality' ball in the tournament champion which were better matched to the regulation weight the same as SC balls, which in turn gave rise to the premier, which are about ten grammes lighter and vary wildly, as they had to sell their sets that didn't reach tournament champion quality, then when they didn't work they introduced the 1g and still the balls kicked on a regular basis so it was then the chalk's fault and someone in finland came up with a chalk that didn't spread over the cloth as much when the tip contacted the cue ball, but you will miscue more often (thanks for that) and pay fifteen quid for the privilege, yet there are still kicks and bad contacts when conditions dictate moisture in the atmosphere, like cold damp and humidity.
With SC balls you simply hit the ball a bit harder to counteract a slow table, with aramith balls you have no idea how they will react. Those slow clunking things were ok for all of us back in the day, you had to be a level above to be a good player then, century breaks were rare and rightly so, now they are so common it's expected, there is no longer a prize for a 147.

First of all there is/was nothing wrong with super crystalate, the aramith ball is trying hard to replicate it but can't as their resin is softer, can't be so highly polished so therefore it will always be conducive to the odd bad contact especially when conditions aren't perfect. Next time you play keep a count of the balls you miss, how many were missed thin or thick, remember that a bad contact means a thicker contact. Poor cueing means putting on unwanted side so you miss thin, missing thick means lining the shot up wrong or a bad contact, you decide what happening to you.

[fkhan]

https://metro.co.uk/2023/01/24/mark-...cism-18155627/

Hendry's view on Allen's win.

[itsnoteasy]

https://metro.co.uk/2023/01/24/mark-...cism-18155627/

Hendry's view on Allen's win.

I don't see anything wrong with either perspective there. Hendry liked an open attacking game so for him Allen's style of play was hard to watch and I would imagine most would agree it wasn't pretty. Allen's point of view that his only job is to win matches is also correct, he's not there to entertain he's there to win that's the be all and end all of being a pro player.