UK Championship 25/11 - 7/12

[neuronic]

Yeah, Dott did great there and I was really happy for him since a) he's such a great, sadly underrated player considering his somewhat limited arsenal of shots, and b) he had such a rough time over the last years. Would rather see him than Robert Milkins at the Masters actually. No offense.

Isn't it astonishing how seldom the combacker really gets to win the decider by the way? Seems to me that most of the times the player who held a big lead wins a deciding frame...

[Odrl]

So... best match of this year's UK?

Two-session matches are generally more exciting than one-session matches, and we only had one of those this year, so it's not really fair. :smile:

But of the best-of-11 matches, two stand out for me. Ding-Cahill certainly created a bit of late-night drama, and it was a great story in the end. But for quality alone, it's got to be Robertson-Dott. It was amazing to see Dott playing so fast and efficiently in the first five frames. He hardly missed a ball and outscored Robertson 410 to 74. But Robertson's reply in the next five frames was even more amazing, outscoring Dott 538 to 48. I didn't think Dott would hold his nerve in the decider, but somehow he found one last push. Both great matches. :smile:

[daffie]

So... best match of this year's UK?

Ding - Cahill without a doubt for me...that was tense and dramatic with each and every shot/frame and with very likeable characters who played the match with much fun and love (maybe Ding a bit less in the latter frames ). Cahill was a revelation for me, great composure around the table and a very personable lad as well. And it's not often I stay up for a match (not a semi or the final) that finishes at 2 in the morning, to catch a mere 4 hours of sleep before another workday

Edit : a very enjoyable UK for me personally...many very good and dramatic matches and many comebacks. Couldn't have wished for more.

[neuronic]

So... best match of this year's UK?

Since we had so many quite amazing comebacks, gotta be a comeback match I would guess. Nigel Bonds comeback might have been the most "shocking" since he actually made it through (Hawkins pretty much crumbling away, though). Judds comeback yesterday made the final great (which it wasn't before he started actually playing IMHO). Anyway I think Ding's comeback was the most impressive one, especially the way he clinically played to get the free ball and went on to win the frame from there when he already needed three fouls. But what reaction from Cahill in the decider.

All in all a pretty enjoyable UK, don't you think?
Still want the BO17 matches back.

[daffie]

This may sound silly, but Ronnie has looked a much improved player in the last couple of seasons. He was always massively talented, of course. But he would often lose games because his mentality wasn't right. He seems to have sorted that out now.

I actually reckon he'd be a ten time world champion if he'd been like this his entire career.

He'll win The Crucible this year, in my opinion.

Oh it's very clear for me ROS has improved immensly over these past years. Like you say he's very healthy mentally nowadays and it really seems like he is in a good place himself about life and snooker. Of course we all know Dr Steve Peters has been the one responsible for this (and of course Ronnie himself). I have never been a huge fan of his, mainly due to the fact that when he's in form there most often isn't any player that can stand up to him and consiquently a match will always be very one-sided...and I like my matches close Exceptions are Selby and indeed Trump...but only if he can find his confidence.

But I can appreciate Ronnie getting through the very difficult periods in his life and coming out on top. That's very commendable imo and I'm glad to see it. I think Ronnie is a very likeable person(ality) and he treats other players with the respect they deserve. That's very important to me in a snooker player.

I also think indeed probably Ronnie with his current mindset and heatlhy outlook on life and snooker, he will remain top-dog for the coming 5-10 years. Unless a Trump can catch up fast and Selby doesn't get too distracted by his personal life Who else can match ROS in top form? Not many come to mind...Marco Fu maybe when he's on top of his form. Stuart Bingham and Barry Hawkins are two more players that can take Ronnie on when they are on top of their form.

[P.Smith]

What was the crowd reactions like? Pro Ronnie or pro Trump?

For most of the match it was definitely pro-Ronnie, but then they started favouring Judd when he began his fight back, by the time the final frame decider came around the crowd reactions were about neck and neck, absolutely thunderous for both players. Tremendous atmosphere to be a part of.

[SnookerFan]

This may sound silly, but Ronnie has looked a much improved player in the last couple of seasons. He was always massively talented, of course. But he would often lose games because his mentality wasn't right. He seems to have sorted that out now.

I actually reckon he'd be a ten time world champion if he'd been like this his entire career.

He'll win The Crucible this year, in my opinion.

[SnookerFan]

I'd only had about four hours sleep the night before. After it went 9-9, I must've dropped off. I suddenly woke up wondering why they were interviewing Trump.

[Masterdoctorgenius]

I think he did play a little bit better, although O'Sullivan and Williams really should have finished him off. Some of his opponents certainly wobbled against him in that period, like they do against O'Sullivan now, but I suppose both players worked hard to get that luxury. :smile:

Selby's performance in the 2012 UK Championship might be a good contender as well, never found any fluency all week, but still somehow fought to win the title.

fair enough. but i dont care if he wins through sheer genius or true grit and determination as long as he wins the tourney or is comeptitve enough in his matches.
u cant play always well.

[Odrl]

what about higgins win at the WC 2011? Did he play better there than ronnie ronnie did at the uk?i dont think so higgins was left off the hook not once not twice but thrice time

I think he did play a little bit better, although O'Sullivan and Williams really should have finished him off. Some of his opponents certainly wobbled against him in that period, like they do against O'Sullivan now, but I suppose both players worked hard to get that luxury. :smile:

Selby's performance in the 2012 UK Championship might be a good contender as well, never found any fluency all week, but still somehow fought to win the title.

[Masterdoctorgenius]

I got my good evening of snooker in the end. At 9-4 I never thought this match would come anywhere close to being a classic, but the last hour or so was great stuff. And that's all that will be remembered from this match, except by the few of us who have a good memory for mediocre snooker. :smile:

Every credit to Trump for the way he came back into the match. He really had O'Sullivan under pressure and I thought he just might win when O'Sullivan missed that black off the spot in the penultimate frame. As Trump said, he still has a lot to learn, and I do hope he looks back at some of his tactical choices and some of the frames he threw away in the first session and in the first couple of frames tonight. If he looks back to some of his performances this week, and some of O'Sullivan's, he will probably wonder how the hell he is not the UK champion. He probably would have been, had he not left himself so much to do tonight.

A big thanks to O'Sullivan for getting me lots of points in the fantasy game, the title and a maximum as well, can't ask for more than that. :smile: He played better with each match, and he once again took command early on in the final, like so many times before. He wobbled a little towards the end, but played a pretty strong decider. I think the key shot was the safety he played to put Trump under pressure, the one that resulted in Trump bringing a red up the table and giving him the chance to play the snooker. He could have easily lost the match if he hadn't played such a good shot there. :wink:

And finally, let's end on a somewhat negative note... Sometimes you get tournaments where everyone seems to be playing really well, sometimes it's only a couple of players, but the winner almost always has to play some good snooker throughout the week. O'Sullivan didn't play too badly tonight, but I think his performance throughout the tournament is probably the worst I have seen from any winner of a really big tournament since I've been watching snooker. I usually try not to resort to overstatements to make a point, so I hope I am not doing so here. He was let off the hook so many times by various players, and he was rarely pushed to raise his game, which is a great shame. He was the one left standing in the end, which is all you can ask from a player, but some of his rivals will have to have a think about the mediocre standard that was required to win this tournament and why they themselves weren't able to achieve it. :wink:

Looking forward to the Masters. :smile:

what about higgins win at the WC 2011? Did he play better there than ronnie ronnie did at the uk?i dont think so higgins was left off the hook not once not twice but thrice time

[daffie]

not yet daffie, got the PTC in Portugal that start on Wednesday

Hey that's fantastic..cheers for the heads-up Dean! I see Eurosport will have coverage from friday onwards...good stuff! :snooker:

[DeanH]

Uhm...so what now?! No snooker until Jan 11th...think I'll go into hibernation until then

not yet daffie, got the PTC in Portugal that start on Wednesday

[daffie]

Just arrived back home from watching the final. My god what a session of snooker that was and the atmosphere inside the arena for that final frame decider was just electric.

Actually funny going back in this thread and reading all the 'no possibility of a comeback here' posts. I've been a Judd fan for a few years now and I'm very pleased to see he has proved a lot of his critics wrong tonight. It's completely understandable how people could think that though, at 9-4 down Judd looked like a completely broken man, he was literally sitting in his chair with his head in his hands, no idea how he mustered that sort of comeback.

Ronnie is quite simply a class act though, came out in the final frame and it didn't even look like the comeback had phased him, despite his humble words afterwards saying it did. The snooker behind the green won him the match, as there really was no escape. I also have to say that the run of the balls did favour Ronnie throughout the match, but would still say that the overall best player on the day won.

Roll on The Masters :snooker:

Must have been something being there to watch the final in the arena...wow! And I think your review is how I felt about the final as well...pot for pot, frame by frame

Uhm...so what now?! No snooker until Jan 11th...think I'll go into hibernation until then

[daffie]

What are you on about?

ronnie...ronnie...ronnie...ronnie...ronnie...ronni e....ronnie...ronnie...ronnie...

I think that about covers it