2017 World Championship - Main Event

[Stony152]

Is Judd trying to lose?

[cueman]

Trump is struggling like crazy against McLeod....He's all over the place!

Pressure, pure and simple. With the way McLeod plays as well, its not easy to get any rhythm against him. To be honest I think Trump is probably paying the price for being the best player this season. All those finals and the long season, perhaps he's also running on empty and doesn't have enough in the tank for the 17 days. I don't think he's playing well enough to be a contender, this match even if he were to win will only knock your confidence for the rest of the tournament anyway. Maguire in the next round is massive favourite regardless of who comes through.

[peterpackage]

"it's not how good your best is, it's how good your worst is"

a quote from Steve Davis

Judd needs to show us how good his worst is to get through this round. I disagree if Judd wins, it will affect his confidence. High level tournament sports doesn't work like that. At this level things are not linear. One day a top player can play like a club level muppet, the next day like a world champ.

How many tournaments (not just snooker) have been won by someone who struggled and only just got over the line in an early round ? too many to count. And how many times has a player who looked like a world beater in the early rounds and coasted through to the semis suddenly get whipped.

Judd just needs to win this match, plain and simple, then everything resets for round 2

[cueman]

"it's not how good your best is, it's how good your worst is"

a quote from Steve Davis

Judd needs to show us how good his worst is to get through this round

That is why Selby for me is still a massive favourite. No player can play well each session but his best is as good as anyone's and his worst is better than anyone else's too.

Ronnie and Trump don't even have a 'C' game, they go completely unless they are potting and break building. Only player who can match Selby is Higgins and I doubt he can last the 17 days now.

[Cue crafty]

Trump isn't winning this match. McLeod has done a number on him and as I've been saying for the past few seasons, Trump really needs to get someone like Steve Peters in to help him deal with the mental side of the game.

Most the top players have a coach or someone in to help, Trump is one of the few who works alone and for me you can only go so far in the game that way.

I couldn't agree more - I like Trumps game, I enjoy watching him play well, but he needs to admit to himself that the mental side of the game is not his best asset. You are a bigger man if you realise where your weaknesses are and try to combat them. With the right level of support in this area he could potentially be unstoppable.

[shmeeko69]

He was 2006 World Champion too. Food for thought.

I'm surprised a couple of folk on this forum had Carter as a clear favourite. You should never
ignore previous form at this venue and the fact that he's also got over the line should always from
part of your analysis.

Dott hasn't done much in other venue's but the Crucible is a place that doesn't spook him.

[kligu]

What's up with Judd? No midsession tweet?

[Odrl]

I'm surprised a couple of folk on this forum had Carter as a clear favourite. You should never
ignore previous form at this venue and the fact that he's also got over the line should always from
part of your analysis.

Dott hasn't done much in other venue's but the Crucible is a place that doesn't spook him.

I guess you can't really argue with three finals, that would be a good record for almost everyone in the game. He has never quite had the consistency though, he has only reached the business end of the World Championship four times in 17 appearances.

But I think the main reason why some people doubted Dott (myself included), is just how unremarkable his form has been this season. He has played in something like 18 events, of various prestige, and hasn't reached a single quarter-final. With so many events on the calendar these days, you can find a good run here and there for almost any player. So, even with relative outsiders such as Carrington, Ford or Grace, you can find a good result to point out somewhere, but with Dott you really have to go back 14 months to find anything worth mentioning. Still, I guess his form had to return at some point. :smile:

[Dark]

In the list of most likely to least likely upsets I had Carter - Dott as the third most likely upset only behind McGill - Maguire and Day - Xiao but I still expected Carter to win a tough match by being the better player by a little bit and converting it into a couple of frames advantage.

[peterpackage]

Even though snooker has come a long way, when you look at the draw, Britain and China make up almost the whole draw. I do think having one American superstar in the sport would do wonders for it.

Anyway back to Trump and McLeod, McLeod is not playing great either.Trump needs to bear down and give it everything

Now it looks like he has a minor injury, that's nothing, Kurt Angle won Olympic gold with a broken neck !

Trump needs to man up, this is a career moment for him

[Neil Taperell]

Minor injury ???? Not fallen on his shoes has he........on no he can't have ......that would be a major injury

[JimMalone]

Trump isn't winning this match. McLeod has done a number on him and as I've been saying for the past few seasons, Trump really needs to get someone like Steve Peters in to help him deal with the mental side of the game.

Most the top players have a coach or someone in to help, Trump is one of the few who works alone and for me you can only go so far in the game that way.

Especially since the mental aspect is maybe the most important aspect in top sports.

[JimMalone]

This could be a pretty important frame. 6-8 or 7-7 is a big difference.

[BigDazUK]

McLeod is hitting everything ridiculously hard.

[peterpackage]

Problem for Judd is he isn't getting blown away, he has chances in just about every frame but they are all so messy.