2023 World Championship

[147888J]

Possibly might get a popularity spike now but in general our snooker scene isn't bad, far better then France for example.
If you wanted you could play a tournament on most weekends on the season, there are regular 'club tournaments', the official bbsa tournaments - national and per province, the weekly league matches and other open tournaments.
And there is a organiser named 'DMT' that organises 10 tournaments in a year where the finest players (and me) go to.
The club where i go most of the time has 10 tables and on a regular Friday night or weekend day it would be difficult to get a table because they are all occupied.

Sounds more active than most of the UK tbh...

[balkend]

Whatever it is Mark's wife Vicky has to "stay strong" about, I found it a little bit out of place for Luca to mention it in his victory interview... whatever it is, the time and the place to make anything public or keep it private is theirs to choose. Luca just took that from them, I felt.

Just saying.

Agree 100% , showed lack of tact , not his business to comment

[Delphi]

I'm sure he ment well by showing support for whatever is wrong, Mark didn't seem to be upset about it and they went out for drinks together last night.
So i wouldn't see it all so negative.

[Hal]

Well, I have not been as happy for a newly crowned World Champion since Mark Williams won in 2018.
Both players played awesome stuff, this has been one of the best finals I have seen since I follow snooker.
It must have been intimidating for Luca when Mark started to win frames at 16-10, there is no other such scary opponent as Mark Selby, even when you are well ahead.
He held his nerves in the end, so, congratulations to Luca, well-deserved winner. And congratulations to Mark Selby, for being such a gentleman and gracious in defeat. I would have been equally happy if Mark had won the title. One of the greatest players of all time, I believe there are more World titles for him in the future. I enjoyed the good spirit in which the final has been played.
By the way, Brecel has now won 3 big titles over the long distance beating Murphy, Higgins, and now Selby in the final - quite an achievement itself.

[the lone wolf]

Agree 100% , showed lack of tact , not his business to comment

He would of been full of adrenaline and in a dreamscape state of mind.

I'm sure on reflection and hindsight Luca is aware of this and possibly regrets his words.

We can let this one slide.

Well done Luca!
You may well be the catalyst Snooker needs to be reach its true global potential.

[itsnoteasy]

To be fair to Bracel, Selby mentioned it first in his interview.

[vmax]

Well I switched on the tv yesterday lunchtime, BBC2 HD just to see what the score was, 9-8 to Luca, so I watched the first frame and of course it drew me in. Despite what people on here think I'm not a Selby hater, the way he played yesterday was brilliant, only one re-rack you see he can do it without resorting to gamesmanship, he's as good as anyone and needs to believe it more. Couldn't stop Luca with endless bouts of safety so he went for it and it nearly paid off.
I must apologise for any remark about the state of his mental health last season and the fact he went missing, didn't know about his wife's health problem, perfectly understandable, the ones you love always come first. I hope it's nothing terribly serious and if it is then I wish her all the best, and don't diss Luca that he let it slip in the after match interview, he's genuinely concerned and needed to show it.

As for Luca, I thought he'd blown it and if Mark hadn't missed that black he probably would have but I'm pleased he won, but the pockets are too generous, this needs to be addressed to keep my interest.
Now what of Si next season, will he move forward or will this be a one tournament wonder ?

[vmax]

And there we have it, the real reason for all the hate. You know Steve, you once accused Odrl of being so far up Selby's backside.... Well, next time Ronnie's down there, giving it a wipe, Say hello for us will you.

-

He did it to Ding as well but that time it was a different ref, just making a loose connection and of course you've picked up the sh*tty end of the stick and edited my post to make a point that's out of context.

[Rane]

Great win. I think this win can raise the interest in mainland Europe and we could well see a lot of belgians coming through. Belgium has a long tradition as maybe the strongest country in caroom, so there´s already a cuesport tradition to build on.

[PatBlock]

To be fair to Bracel, Selby mentioned it first in his interview.

That's right. Lets not start demonising this guy as well ay.

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[PatBlock]

....Despite what people on here think I'm not a Selby hater....

Well if it walks like a duck..... What are we supposed to think? You rant more on here about him than anyone else, none of it very positive, until now, which is a very refreshing change. I'm glad you watched and enjoyed it yesterday.
Oh, sorry if I edited you out of context there.

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[cueman]

For me the biggest satisfaction seeing Luca win is it's a triumph of pure talent and playing the right way over substance.

I thought the most interesting take on comments from Luca after is, they did it their way, despite a lot of pressure and criticism from other people telling him that living in Belgium, instead of living in UK he would not improve.

He also went against all the coaching myths that you need to have perfect stance and shorter more compact cue action. He just gets down, and hits the ball. If you saw him for the first time, as opposed to many other players who have very deliberate pre shot routines, you would be mistaken for thinking he's some 9 ball pool player. It's that I really like about him, and that enables him to generate more cue power than most, a bit like Trump, he has an unorthodox style which he developed all of his own. Two of the best potters and shot makers in the game, both defying the coaching books.

The area he's worked on most is mentally, that is probably more important now in snooker than technical stuff. All players can play, the extra few percent to win is between the ears. To think it wasn't that long ago he turned up at the masters with two cues and was really at a crossroads. To turn that around and become world champ a few years later is a remarkable turn around.

[Cue crafty]

Good post cueman +1 to that!

I had the feeling watching him in the championship, that he and his team had decided if I get through the first round I'm just going to take the rest of the comp as a joy ride and have fun and play free flowing snooker. There were a few occasions where he nearly became conscious of where he was before managing to return to plan and have fun.

The old Steve Davis adage never loses it importance. Play as though it means nothing when of course it means everything!!

[itsnoteasy]

The two players, in my opinion, are the exact opposites. Until now obviously but I would say Brecel had all the talent and more, you could ever wish for but lacked that ferocious drive to be a, big tournament winner, whereas Selby has the biggest drive to win I have ever seen but doesn't have that natural talent, he admits that himself, it's sheer hard work and to total dedication to the game that's made him one of the best ever.
Its the old saying of, there's many ways to skin a cat but in a huge clash of styles the more attacking player won in the end, he refused to let the game get bogged down and attacked at every opportunity, this took away one of Selbys weapons and it proved to be just enough of an advantage.

Anyway, now that sideshow is over the main event starts today, the world seniors!
I'm getting in early, I hate Cliff Thorburn he's so slow, only joking he's a good lad.

[vmax]

Well if it walks like a duck..... What are we supposed to think? You rant more on here about him than anyone else, none of it very positive, until now, which is a very refreshing change. I'm glad you watched and enjoyed it yesterday.
Oh, sorry if I edited you out of context there.

-

I've posted before that Selby is a great player and is as good as anyone and shouldn't need to resort to those kind of tactics and yet he keeps doing it. I didn't watch any of Mark Allens matches either because he's doing it as well and the two of them facing each other was anathema to me, and to many other snooker fans as well.
I'm of the opinion that he does it because he fears the great potters with modern conditions that favour them, but he's one of them as well and on monday he realised it but a bit too late.
I hope he carries it on, if he doesn't I'll switch it off, and not just him but anyone else that plays that way.