2018 UK Championship

[Billy]

Akani Songsermsawad. He won 6-3, won the last three frames without his opponent scoring a point. :smile:

Nice. I like him. Glad he came through.

Thanks.

[RaveDave]

You are right of course, my apologies. :smile:

No need to apologise, its all good.

[RaveDave]

Last 16

Sullivan Ding Trump in top half
Robertson Allen Williams Hawkins in bottom half

King Ron's draw Walking byes till the semis.

[ZiggyPrince]

Okay folks..call it now. Who wins the tournament..bookies have Ronnie the 7/4 favorite. Personally can't see past the rocket myself after that 6-0 destruction.

Moreover, if he wants to breakaway and lead a new revolution in snooker then I think winning this tournament sends out a message to Hearn.

"I'm the boss"

[ZiggyPrince]

Who Do You Fancy To Win The Tournament?

Anyone else get the feeling that the rocket is still in second gear after barely getting out of first against KO'D in that epic match?

Personally can't see past the rocket myself..and I don't think this will be a tournament of surprises.

The wheat will be separated from the chaff after this round of last 16 matches. Rocket Ronnie to blow them all away.

Thoughts?

[Neil Taperell]

could be Lisowski's time to show the potential that all the commentators keep talking about . Interesting to see how he stands up to the test .

Personally think that he goes for one too many shots and O'sullivan will take advantage

[Cue crafty]

Akani Songsermsawad. He won 6-3, won the last three frames without his opponent scoring a point. :smile:

Nice. I like him. Glad he came through.

Thanks.

Yes. I find him very entertaining to watch play. Some interesting shot choices. There are some good subtle differences in the way he approaches the game.

[Cue crafty]

Those Aramith balls are destroying the amateur game of snooker imo . Our local league - top division , 14 teams - lists 18 breaks above 30 after 10 rounds . Only 3 breaks above 40 . So that's 280 frames of snooker played with 18 breaks over 30 , highest 51.

It's shoite - all clubs are playing with the Aramith pro tourney balls or the 1G rubbish . Thick contacts on fine shots and just plain inconsistency of contact . These balls are not designed for real snooker tables , and make a mockery of fine cueists but they don't seem to realise it.

15 years ago that number of breaks would have been done in two rounds .

I go down to my local club for solo practice regularly- like to try and iron me many faults out , if I do a few line ups with the pro tourney Aramiths I get a few medium size breaks and an occasional 80+. Take my own SC down then I usually take about 1 line up to get going then knock a couple clearances or big tons in . Can't do that with the silly Hearn garbage balls . I'm in my 60's so I've played for forty + years and I've never seen the game in such a **** state . No wonder the local leagues are shrinking .

I get fed up even writing about it. When did it all go wrong? ?

Ramalama- Who looks after the balls and cleans and weighs them to make sure their tolerances are in reasonable bounds? Don't be surprised if the white is about 4 grams lighter than most of the set and pings around like a table tennis ball. Then if the other colours have differences in weight over 3 or 4 grams there will be inconsistency and break building becomes a nightmare. These balls somehow lose some of their mass over time, especially the cue ball.

I ask cos I never forget the time the club Manager where I used to play told me (whilst giggling ) How funny he thought it was when a league player strolled up demanding the "match balls" for his pre match practice session - he said "feckin idiots don't even know that over time the match balls have got accidentally mixed in with the club balls" !!!!!

I bought my own after that...... Set of Aramith TC's.

I remember the old SC balls (JUST), they had a lovely "clack" when they hit each other, really solid but still reactive, sadly most sets seemed to crackle on the surface over time. The Aramith balls seem plastic in comparison.

[DeanH]

At the Pro events, I think the Tournament Director and the lead referees look after the sets of balls and they are assigned to a table and their number of uses noted and once "old" they are replaced with a new set. So I doubt a set on the pro circuit would have any degradation compared to clubs where the sets are years old

[Odrl]

Okay folks..call it now. Who wins the tournament..bookies have Ronnie the 7/4 favorite. Personally can't see past the rocket myself after that 6-0 destruction.

I think it's too early to say, because it's only now that the top players will start meeting each other. O'Sullivan has had a very easy draw so far and hasn't really played all that well. Doherty had a complete meltdown against him from 4-1 up, and Zhou Yuelong had great chances in every frame and wasted every single one of them. I don't have much confidence in Lisowski to stand up to O'Sullivan, but Trump just might in the semi-finals.

As for the bottom half, 7 of the top 8 seeds have made it through to the last16, so there are potential champions wherever you look. :smile:

[billabong]

At the Pro events, I think the Tournament Director and the lead referees look after the sets of balls and they are assigned to a table and their number of uses noted and once "old" they are replaced with a new set. So I doubt a set on the pro circuit would have any degradation compared to clubs where the sets are years old

I assume these "old" balls are sold off ?

I know it happens in the Billiards, after a championship. Great way into a still good set of balls, imho.

[Nifty50]

I assume these "old" balls are sold off ?
I know it happens in the Billiards, after a championship. Great way into a still good set of balls, imho.

That's a lot of sets finding there way onto the 2nd hand market. Surprised e-bay isn't awash with them.

[Neil Taperell]

What a great steal by O'Sullivan to win the 3rd Frame . Yellow and blue were great shots and the black was made to look very easy as well .

[vilkrang]

Poor performance from Jack so far. Could be losing 3-1 after this and has had enough chances to be 3-1 up.

[Neil Taperell]

Can't miss blacks off spots at this level , costing him .