2014 World Championship - Discussion

[j6uk]

Quite simply, Selby broke him. If people cannot accept or understand that then possibly if they study and learn a bit more they will develop a knowledge of the game that allows them to appreciate what is going on.

Selby was mentally tough enough to overcome Robertson and then Ronnie, if people are to ignorant to credit him for overcoming the best two players in the world then more fool them.

The red Ronnie took on in the second last frame was the questionable shot selection of a desperate man, yes, he'd have got it when miles in front of Hawkins but the truth is Selby made him miss. Well done to the new world champ.

i see this as reflective as your understanding of the match is rather simplistic

[j6uk]

yes ron's break off was always tying the black up witch suited selby, safety very poor (hitting most thick or thin), his new hair style and new tips also didn't help matters dealing with the pressure on the final day.

[Cov86]

I consider myself a neutral for this final as I don't particularly like Selby or ROS for different reasons. I just was hoping for a great match.

However I agree with vmax above. Was a really disappointing final. I didn't even watch the last few frames (normally the most exciting bit) as it was just torturous snooker.... and I say that as someone who normally enjoys the tactical scrappy frames.

Selby is no doubt a very good player and mentally rock solid as most players would have all but given up at 8-4 down. However his tactics of slowing the game down (frequently over a 1 min to decide on safety shots) and playing very negative snooker is not great to watch.

From ROS's side I was quite disappointed at his inability to cut through those tactics; he got totally sucked in and can only blame himself after losing a massive lead. However I was impressed with his gracious runner up speech and his attitude is much better than in previous years.

Overall the match 'never got going' for me. I even felt like the commentary team were struggling to enjoy the game....... I think everyone was expecting fireworks and it was a bit of a let down in the end.

[Masterdoctorgenius]

first of all, congratualtion to selby and all his fans.

he deserved it. showed true grit and determination and was the better player on the 2nd day.

Ronnie, chin up. you had great last three years. 2 titles and final. wasnt meant to be. missed some key shots. but it is human nature. you win some, you lose some. And as long as you play you can maybe some more WC.even if not, you will remain a legend

once again, congrats to all selby fans. ur man deserved it.

[alabadi]

in my view the person who cannot score more than 50 points in the whole match and cannot clear a frame at one visit at least one time, cannot be proud of himself to win in the way .

let me see if I can count, I could have sworn that Selby had 1,2,3 err yes nine 50+ breaks and errr 3 one visit winning breaks. 2 when it counted and the pressure was on in the last 3 frames

I think you must have been watching a different match.

listen he won plain and simple, Ronnie had his chances at various points to make more of it but couldn't so it wasn't his day.

accept it and move on

[vmax4steve]

Dreadful final, I deliberately missed the afternoon session and went out for a ride on my motorbike instead it was so painful to watch.
O'Sullivan was never in the best form the whole tournament but his biggest mistake was his public new found 'respect' for Selby's mental strength, read gamesmanship that he spoke of before the final.
After outing Selby at The Masters and forcing him to stand toe to toe in that final where he beat him convincingly he showed Selby to be who he was, a great player who nevertheless hasn't got the confindence in his own game to win against the best without resorting to his tactics of slowing the game right down and deliberately implementing scrappy frames through his shot selection.

To my mind this new respect has come from Barry Hearn, Ronnie says it was through working with Steve Peters for the last few years but the Masters was only a couple of months ago so that doesn't wash with me at all. Hearn doesn't want any controversy to potentially upset any sponsors, either present ones or new ones so the mandate was sent down to Ronnie to patch things up with Selby and Ronnie acquiesced giving Selby license to do what he does.

Then again it could have been Ronnie believing he now has the mental fortitude to put up with whatever Selby & co can throw at him trying to show that he can beat anyone no matter what the tactics. If that is the case then he was wrong and should have called him out again, but the fact remains that Ronnie wasn't at his best throughout the whole tournament, just showing the occasional glimpse of his true genius in two frame bursts that in the end wasn't good enough against Selby's monumental grind.

[jb134]

Quite simply, Selby broke him. If people cannot accept or understand that then possibly if they study and learn a bit more they will develop a knowledge of the game that allows them to appreciate what is going on.

Selby was mentally tough enough to overcome Robertson and then Ronnie, if people are to ignorant to credit him for overcoming the best two players in the world then more fool them.

The red Ronnie took on in the second last frame was the questionable shot selection of a desperate man, yes, he'd have got it when miles in front of Hawkins but the truth is Selby made him miss. Well done to the new world champ.

[richo]

No, it will be based on earnings, so he´ll start well inside top 16. No. 4 I think after Selby, Robbo and Ding. And deserved so.

Thank goodness for that. His ranking of like 30 or whatever was lunacy.

[hmiko]

Of course as o Sullivan said ,he is the modern Cliff Thorburn ,the sport returned in the state it was 30 years ago.

I see Ronnie as the greatest player of all times and Id love to say that Selby was grinding him but I did not saw that this was the patterrn exactly. Did Mark go defense when he had an opening? didnt he take his chances when he got them? I think it was Ronnies failure to get the break fluency (which makes him the best there ever was) , and thus drugging the game into a strategic one in which Ronnie dislikes .

[j6uk]

Mark did what he had to do to win so cant blame him for that. he cant beat ronnie at his own game so would have been silly to try. it was down to ronnie to deal with it but selbys safty was much better and they were running his way which happens.
didnt make good viewing for me but wasnt as uncomfortable as the Ebdon game!
Unfortunately all the players cant be exciting and they're just doing what they have to do.
Thought it was a bit sad when he tried to win the match with the Miss rule but fortunately it didnt happen and a solid clearance won the day.

i agree with most of this baring whats underlined. this was it for me in terms of him potting mid to long range balls when the pack was open but, playing the white into baulk and tucking up. imo thats sh!t stick sick snooker

[dieselman147]

Mark did what he had to do to win so cant blame him for that. he cant beat ronnie at his own game so would have been silly to try. it was down to ronnie to deal with it but selbys safty was much better and they were running his way which happens.
didnt make good viewing for me but wasnt as uncomfortable as the Ebdon game!
Unfortunately all the players cant be exciting and they're just doing what they have to do.
Thought it was a bit sad when he tried to win the match with the Miss rule but fortunately it didnt happen and a solid clearance won the day.

[stavros]

Of course as o Sullivan said ,Selby is the modern Cliff Thorburn ,the sport returned in the state it was 30 years ago.

[j6uk]

I think it's time for the Selby haters to retire.

i don't think there are selby haters as such, we all admire it but, its just too painful to watch him operate

[The Rook]

I'm delighted for Selby winning his first World Championship. Brilliant come back (not Mark's first against ROS), and I thought O'Sullivan was very gracious in defeat.

I think it's time for the Selby haters to retire. Selby might not be the "great-est" player ever, but he is indisputably a "great" one now – after winning all the major titles and a sustained period at #1. This whole lucky/unsporting journeyman argument is far more damaging to the credibility of the few remaining fools who support it than the reigning champion and #1.

[luke-h]

Luck certainly was with Selby in the whole match that was obvious from early on,in my view the person who cannot score more than 50 points in the whole match and cannot clear a frame at one visit at least one time, cannot be proud of himself to win in the way we all saw yesterday .He freezed his oponents rythm and probably because this is the only way to beat Ronnie o Sullivan.The only person who really ever stood against Ronnie was John Higgins.

Thats exactly what he did, he has the trophy but it must be quite satisfying for O'Sullivan to know the only way he could beat him is with these tactics.