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In the end I decided to pick up where I left off, so I've watched the third session in its entirety, and the fourth one with a slight delay. Good decision I reckon, as it was brilliant stuff all the way. :smile:
Very well played to Mark Selby, his second World title in three years, which puts him in a very elite group of players. He overtakes Neil Robertson as the best player of his generation, for now at least, and he is still young enough to add to his legacy. I remember an argument between two former members of this forum around six years ago, about whether Selby will match Mark Williams' achievements when he retires, and I remember commenting that he had very little chance of doing so. Well, six years later Selby has won two World titles, three Masters titles and a UK title, and it looks inevitable that he will win a few more big titles over the next couple of years. I was wrong to underestimate him then, and I was wrong in my prediction ahead of this final as well...
Selby certainly saved his best for last in this tournament, playing by far his best match in the final. He missed a few more balls than he did in the 2014 final, but he also found more fluency throughout the match and made a couple of good breaks under pressure. His safety was tremendous as well, and that steal in the second frame when he needed a snooker probably set the tone for the entire final. Another highlight was the 15th frame, where he must have laid 20 snookers or so, including three in a row with just pink and black left on the table. He lost the frame in the end, but it was enough to turn the momentum in his favour again. I think the frame to go 16-11 ahead was probably the final nail in Ding's coffin. A fantastic clearance that was, starting with a great double and ending with a fantastic pot on the final black. You certainly can't fault his bottle. One prediction I did get right was the one about certain obnoxious characters emerging and expressing their hate for Selby throughout this final, and I'm glad they have had their day ruined. :wink:
Selby has now also ended the season as the world number one for the fifth time in a row, which looked almost impossible before this tournament started. I have great respect for Stuart Bingham and all he has achieved in the last five years, but it does seem more fitting that Selby holds this spot. Under the previous ranking system Selby's reign in the last five years would have been uninterrupted, which means he would only need four more years to equal Hendry's record. It's probably a much more difficult achievement these days though, because the World title contributes so many points that it's difficult to compensate for it with other events. If you don't hold a World title in the two-year period that counts towards the rankings, you are probably not going to be number one.
A few words about Ding as well... Somewhat disappointing in the early part of this final, which probably cost him in the end. It was clear he was very nervous early on, and he admitted as much himself. I thought the fact that he hadn't won this title before would work in his favour here, since he would be the more motivated of the two, but it didn't quite work out that way. Selby's experience proved vital in the end, and he was much better prepared mentally for this final. Still, every credit to Ding for coming back to within a frame on a couple of occasions, after the very demoralizing start. He made more big breaks than Selby in the final, so you could say he lost it in the close and scrappy frames. He probably played the best snooker of the tournament, but the only way to deserve a World title is to actually win it, and Ding came up short this year. Hopefully he comes back stronger and wins it in a year or two. :smile:
All in all, it was a very interesting World Championship. I would say the standard of play was about average, with most of the players who were considered the favourites failing to play their best, but it was still an exciting tournament. The run of Alan McManus was a particularly pleasant surprise. We have had this before, an ageing former top player suddenly finding some form and knocking out one of the favourites, like Davis and Hendry did to Higgins in 2010 and 2012 respectively, but the fairytale usually ends pretty quickly. Well, McManus played to a high standard until the very end of his run, giving Ding one hell of a game before going out, so every credit to him. I hope he can carry this form into next season as well, although I wouldn't expect any miracles.
Unfortunately not everything was great in this tournament, and the playing conditions simply have to be mentioned. It was kick after kick, balls jumping centimetres into the air at times, which was awful to see after the relatively "kick-free" China Open. Some of the matches were also ruined by big bounces, particularly those played on table one in the 1st and 2nd round. This is simply unacceptable, and I will not be convinced that it's somehow unavoidable.
I also have mixed feeling about the Eurosport coverage this year. We only had one table on Eurosport International for the entire tournament, which was a slightly unpleasant surprise after the previous couple of years. I got the feeling Eurosport didn't really care much about viewers on the continent this time. While the UK viewers got two tables and studio analysis, we didn't even get the opening narration this time. You know, the part where David Hendon says something like "welcome to day 3 of the blah blah blah...". Instead it was just a graphic of the draw with some music playing. They also cut to commercials in the middle the commentator's sentence after virtually every frame, and the broadcast of the final ended seconds after Selby lifted the trophy, without a word of goodbye. Now, I don't particularly care about those things, I'm mainly interested in the snooker, but the whole thing was a little embarrassing this year and lacked class.
Finally, commiserations to my fantasy rival _royle for losing out on second place overall. First place was of course out of reach. :tongue: It was one of the few times that O'Sullivan didn't do much for me, and I completely misfired with Robertson, but of course Selby came to the rescue. :smile:
The recent announcement of the 2016/2017 calendar gives me the unpleasant feeling that the best-of-7 format will continue to replace proper snooker, so I wish I could be more optimistic about next season. If they stage glorified PTCs such as the Indian Open and try to market them as major ranking events, I won't be watching. But, as always, I'm hoping for the best. :smile:
Very well played to Mark Selby, his second World title in three years, which puts him in a very elite group of players. He overtakes Neil Robertson as the best player of his generation, for now at least, and he is still young enough to add to his legacy. I remember an argument between two former members of this forum around six years ago, about whether Selby will match Mark Williams' achievements when he retires, and I remember commenting that he had very little chance of doing so. Well, six years later Selby has won two World titles, three Masters titles and a UK title, and it looks inevitable that he will win a few more big titles over the next couple of years. I was wrong to underestimate him then, and I was wrong in my prediction ahead of this final as well...
Selby certainly saved his best for last in this tournament, playing by far his best match in the final. He missed a few more balls than he did in the 2014 final, but he also found more fluency throughout the match and made a couple of good breaks under pressure. His safety was tremendous as well, and that steal in the second frame when he needed a snooker probably set the tone for the entire final. Another highlight was the 15th frame, where he must have laid 20 snookers or so, including three in a row with just pink and black left on the table. He lost the frame in the end, but it was enough to turn the momentum in his favour again. I think the frame to go 16-11 ahead was probably the final nail in Ding's coffin. A fantastic clearance that was, starting with a great double and ending with a fantastic pot on the final black. You certainly can't fault his bottle. One prediction I did get right was the one about certain obnoxious characters emerging and expressing their hate for Selby throughout this final, and I'm glad they have had their day ruined. :wink:
Selby has now also ended the season as the world number one for the fifth time in a row, which looked almost impossible before this tournament started. I have great respect for Stuart Bingham and all he has achieved in the last five years, but it does seem more fitting that Selby holds this spot. Under the previous ranking system Selby's reign in the last five years would have been uninterrupted, which means he would only need four more years to equal Hendry's record. It's probably a much more difficult achievement these days though, because the World title contributes so many points that it's difficult to compensate for it with other events. If you don't hold a World title in the two-year period that counts towards the rankings, you are probably not going to be number one.
A few words about Ding as well... Somewhat disappointing in the early part of this final, which probably cost him in the end. It was clear he was very nervous early on, and he admitted as much himself. I thought the fact that he hadn't won this title before would work in his favour here, since he would be the more motivated of the two, but it didn't quite work out that way. Selby's experience proved vital in the end, and he was much better prepared mentally for this final. Still, every credit to Ding for coming back to within a frame on a couple of occasions, after the very demoralizing start. He made more big breaks than Selby in the final, so you could say he lost it in the close and scrappy frames. He probably played the best snooker of the tournament, but the only way to deserve a World title is to actually win it, and Ding came up short this year. Hopefully he comes back stronger and wins it in a year or two. :smile:
All in all, it was a very interesting World Championship. I would say the standard of play was about average, with most of the players who were considered the favourites failing to play their best, but it was still an exciting tournament. The run of Alan McManus was a particularly pleasant surprise. We have had this before, an ageing former top player suddenly finding some form and knocking out one of the favourites, like Davis and Hendry did to Higgins in 2010 and 2012 respectively, but the fairytale usually ends pretty quickly. Well, McManus played to a high standard until the very end of his run, giving Ding one hell of a game before going out, so every credit to him. I hope he can carry this form into next season as well, although I wouldn't expect any miracles.
Unfortunately not everything was great in this tournament, and the playing conditions simply have to be mentioned. It was kick after kick, balls jumping centimetres into the air at times, which was awful to see after the relatively "kick-free" China Open. Some of the matches were also ruined by big bounces, particularly those played on table one in the 1st and 2nd round. This is simply unacceptable, and I will not be convinced that it's somehow unavoidable.
I also have mixed feeling about the Eurosport coverage this year. We only had one table on Eurosport International for the entire tournament, which was a slightly unpleasant surprise after the previous couple of years. I got the feeling Eurosport didn't really care much about viewers on the continent this time. While the UK viewers got two tables and studio analysis, we didn't even get the opening narration this time. You know, the part where David Hendon says something like "welcome to day 3 of the blah blah blah...". Instead it was just a graphic of the draw with some music playing. They also cut to commercials in the middle the commentator's sentence after virtually every frame, and the broadcast of the final ended seconds after Selby lifted the trophy, without a word of goodbye. Now, I don't particularly care about those things, I'm mainly interested in the snooker, but the whole thing was a little embarrassing this year and lacked class.
Finally, commiserations to my fantasy rival _royle for losing out on second place overall. First place was of course out of reach. :tongue: It was one of the few times that O'Sullivan didn't do much for me, and I completely misfired with Robertson, but of course Selby came to the rescue. :smile:
The recent announcement of the 2016/2017 calendar gives me the unpleasant feeling that the best-of-7 format will continue to replace proper snooker, so I wish I could be more optimistic about next season. If they stage glorified PTCs such as the Indian Open and try to market them as major ranking events, I won't be watching. But, as always, I'm hoping for the best. :smile:
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