2019 Grand Prix

[vmax]

Yes, correct call. They made change to the rule because of an incident with Ronnie a few years back where he was snookered on the colours and amongst the reds he was bridging over a ball. After a few failed attempts he claimed he had fouled with his bridge hand and the ref was unable to call miss. It perplexed his opponent at the time I think John Higgins and it was a big turning point in the frame.

So the rules have been changed to stop a player tactically gaining an advantage so a miss can still be called even if a player fouls by touching a ball with his hand or cue etc.

So that's deliberate now as well as missing the ball on, shame as I did this many times as a uk 8 ball player in order to get them to waste one of their two visits. Didn't always work as some just got down and tapped the ball twice again.

[Billy]

So that's deliberate now as well as missing the ball on...

First off, thanks for the clarification, @cueman. Now that you mention it I remember the O'Sullivan incident.

As for the miss ruling, I don't think it's there to stop players deliberately fouling, just to stop them gaining an advantage from a foul - deliberate or not.

[kligu]

Anyone else here hoping for a Carter comeback tonight? I can well remember their last 16 match at the Crucible in 2012. Trump missed a sitter with the extended rest in the decider after having led 12-9. Ali compiled an eventually match-winning break. But Judd nearly got the three snookers he needed. What a decider that was!

[DeanH]

Don't mind a bit of a come back but would prefer JT to win - nothing special about that just preference

[Guitarnolife]

Great tense! Hoping for a decider really

[Mark187187]

I reckon Carter would look p1ssed off even if he won

[Odrl]

So Selby's average shot time is 29 seconds max this season, yet you say 25.7 seconds isn't particularly slow. Well that's only 4.3 seconds away from 30 which gets him on the slowest list.

Just to be clear, 25.7 seconds is his average shot time in the 12 matches where he was slower than his opponent. His average shot time in all matches he's played this season is listed as 23.23 seconds (it differs slightly from CueTracker, for some reason), which puts him at number 52 among the 125 players listed. You can see the full list here. He is also within half a second of John Higgins, who I think everyone will agree is a reasonably fast player.

As I said before, 45 different players have played matches with an average shot time of over 30 seconds this season, according to the list that was posted in December. Lee Walker is by far the worst offender with 16 such matches, followed by Martin O'Donnell with 12, Lu Ning with 11 and Peter Ebdon with 10. The other players on the list are all somewhere between 1 and 9 matches. You can see the list here. Selby's name does not appear. :wink:

You can quote time stats all you like but when Selby takes two minutes to play a run of the mill safety and mucks about with do I or don't I need an extension/mini butt/rest and tries them all out, it's because of the state of the match, his own form and the form of his opponent, and gamesmanship is what he's doing. If he isn't doing it now because of the clampdown then great, but he's still taking over 25 seconds a shot average and that's painfully slow in my book, and if his opponents are as slow as he well that's probably because he's tied up a frame looking for a re-rack or got them in roll up snookers with umpteen misses played.

Well, either he has periods where he is remarkably fast to bring his average shot time down and compensate for all the time wasting, or he is simply not doing it to the extent you are implying. Your dislike of Selby is well documented, and I seem to remember you saying on several occasions that you don't actually watch his matches if you can help it, so I am not surprised you remain unconvinced. I don't think there are any stats that could change your mind, so there really wouldn't be any point in quoting any more of them. :smile:

True I don't like his style of snooker, but when he's on form and his opponent isn't he flies so as far as I'm concerned it's deliberate.

Well yeah, but surely that is completely logical and true of virtually every player, is it not? If you are playing one-visit snooker you will play quickly and fluently, and if you play crap it will be slow and tedious. The difference between Selby and most other players though is that Selby still makes the right decisions and keeps his composure even when he is not playing his best (or at least he did prior to this season), and he never mentally gives up in matches. That means he wins a few more of them than some people think he should, and he gets his share of unwarranted hate as a result.

Now, there are a few players who will still play extremely fast and never adjust their pace even when they struggle, Robert Milkins for example, but I don't consider that to be a particularly positive characteristic, nor does it have anything to do with sportsmanship.

[neuronic]

I'm really enjoying this... great safety play from Ali right now, from both players, actually. Tense.

[Cue crafty]

I reckon Carter would look p1ssed off even if he won

Lol! He does appear to be his own worst enemy. In all sport there is a fine line between tenacity and petulant temper... to me more often than not Carters temper has made him lose.
For someone who has played all his life he is for me terrible at "accepting the rub of the green".

He's fighting well tonight and making it interesting but I expect to see him erupt at some point if Judd gets a few lucky strokes!

[neuronic]

The man's been through so much sh**, he has every right to look pissed the rest of his life...^^

[Mark187187]

I remember when he got his 147 at the crucible. Ebdon tried to shake his hand, and ali nearly pulled his arm off. Then he beat his chest like King Kong, and beat the air like he'd just knocked Mike Tyson out.

[Cue crafty]

The man's been through so much sh**, he has every right to look pissed the rest of his life...^^

True, don't get angry get even!!

[Mark187187]

Agreed, but he was like this already 😋

[DeanH]

The man's been through so much sh**, he has every right to look pissed the rest of his life...^^

I have also, recently ... but I don't look like Mr Angry :wink:

[neuronic]

I have also, recently ... but I don't look like Mr Angry :wink:

Well, cudos to you then... some people struggle when life kicks them into the balls repeatedly

Looks almost over now, I don't see Mr. Sourface coming back from 6:9...