2019 World Snooker Championship

[JimMalone]

My google paramaters when I type "John Higgins" are:

Higgins.jpg


So again a different one.

[Stony152]

Trump hasn't even turned 30 yet and he's only 150 centuries behind Higgins. He's definitely going to surpass the total that O'Sullivan gets to unless Ronnie plays deep into his forties and Trump decides to retire relatively early.

[JimMalone]

So, only the World final remains... To be honest, I am a little relieved that we have two top players meeting in the biggest match of the season, because having an outsider in the World final would increase the chances of getting a one-sided match, and that's definitely not something I want to see here. :smile:

Totally agree with you.

[Stony152]

I'm having trouble getting excited about this final. I was really hoping that Robertson would make it. Something like Robertson vs Brecel would have been great. Two non-UK players. Or Ding finally getting his first world title would have made me happy. I suspect his ship might have sailed.

[Stony152]

Google knows too much about everyone - I tend to tell different lies to most websites, but it does get confusing when emails start arriving in April wishing me a happy birthday - my birthday isn't in April

My brother-in-law is always getting on me about being too truthful when registering for sites, etc. He's paranoid about privacy and not giving out personal information. I've been on the internet for 25 years and haven't had any issues or problems. I think it helps not owning any property and not having much money. Any hackers using my personal information would be very disappointed.

[PatBlock]

So, only the World final remains... To be honest, I am a little relieved that we have two top players meeting in the biggest match of the season, because having an outsider in the World final would increase the chances of getting a one-sided match, and that's definitely not something I want to see here. :smile:

I'm a little disappointed that we don't have an outsider in the final, because having an outsider in there would increase the chances of us experiencing something truly special and memorable. OK, should be a good, maybe even great, match, but we've been here before and for me, it's a shame that the fairytale ending is now no longer a possibility.

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[gavpowell]

I think google definitely knows too much about me.

Google knows too much about everyone - I tend to tell different lies to most websites, but it does get confusing when emails start arriving in April wishing me a happy birthday - my birthday isn't in April

[Stony152]

Well it's pulled them in from somewhere, as it's not doing so for anyone else! Perhaps because you're on US Google and so everything is seen through the lens of "The Russians are coming!"

It looks like the Russians have already come and taken over.

I'm actually using google.ca. I can't imagine too many Canadians googling John Higgins. I just tried DuckDuckGo which I rarely use to get a neutral perspective. I get results like actor, estate agent, referee, attorney, roofing, and obituary. Bing gives me Denise Higgins as a popular search.

I think google definitely knows too much about me.

[gavpowell]

That's not really true. Those two look that way because when they came up yesterday I actually clicked on them and did a search. If I had taken that screen shot a few hours earlier they all would have been the same colour and the remove option wouldn't have been there. Now it's possible that a few years ago I did some searches about the incident and google remembered those. But then I knew that the event didn't happen in Russia, so I wouldn't have done that specific search.

Well it's pulled them in from somewhere, as it's not doing so for anyone else! Perhaps because you're on US Google and so everything is seen through the lens of "The Russians are coming!"

[blahblah01]

I'll believe you. Lol

[DeanH]

So you're looking to kidnap his wife?

I don't think I have ever searched "John Higgins" before so these are relevant to global Google search results.

[blahblah01]

search engines are designed to learn from your previous searches (as well as sponsored hits ) and so everyone sees different results for the same search criteria.

I don't see any mention of Russia or NOTW or anything in the immediate hits.
Only those that have search for such terms so in the past will see the same, and the more they search for it the higher up the relevance listing it will be - FOR THEM.
If you look for something you are likely to see it
If you think he his dodgy you will see everything he does as dodgy; if you think he is wafting around the table playing well, that is what you will see.

So you're looking to kidnap his wife?

[Odrl]

Interesting, when I type in John Higgins I get "referee", "snooker" and "ref" as suggestions before I get "wife" or "russia", and I don't have any history. :smile:

[Stony152]

The two top results are a different colour and offer you the option of remove, because they're in your search history. You've skewed your results I'm afraid.

That's not really true. Those two look that way because when they came up yesterday I actually clicked on them and did a search. If I had taken that screen shot a few hours earlier they all would have been the same colour and the remove option wouldn't have been there. Now it's possible that a few years ago I did some searches about the incident and google remembered those. But then I knew that the event didn't happen in Russia, so I wouldn't have done that specific search.

[Odrl]

So, only the World final remains... To be honest, I am a little relieved that we have two top players meeting in the biggest match of the season, because having an outsider in the World final would increase the chances of getting a one-sided match, and that's definitely not something I want to see here. :smile:

It's also nice that we have two players who have so much history between them, although their rivalry has been hugely one-sided in favour of Higgins so far. Obviously the 2011 World final stands out as the biggest match they've ever played, but I don't think it's necessarily a good comparison for what we are likely to see this time. Trump was only 21 at the time, and he had a very one-dimensional game that relied very heavily on long-potting, so Higgins was always going to be favourite over four sessions. Higgins was a different player as well at the time, he was the best player in the world and almost undefeated that season after coming back from his suspension. There weren't really any question marks about his game or his mental resilience, we all knew he would put in a strong performance and probably win unless Trump played out of his skin. It was much more evenly matched a year later when they met in the final of Shanghai Masters, but yet again Higgins prevailed after coming back extremely strongly from a 7-2 deficit. The one match that probably gave Higgins the biggest psychological edge for the remainder of their rivalry was in the 2014 World Open, when Trump took a 4-0 lead with Higgins barely scoring any points, only for Higgins to return the favour and make it 4-4 with one-visit snooker, then win the decider as well. Similar story in the SF of the 2016 Scottish Open, when Higgins came from 5-1 down to win 6-5. And there was another unlikely escape for Higgins in the 2015 China Open, when he was losing 59-0 in the decider and came back in two incredible scoring visits to win it on the black. It's just such an impressive list of comebacks that it surely must have some sort of effect on Trump, and that may come into play if the match goes close or if Trump gets a lead and Higgins starts coming back at him. Even last year I had the feeling Trump was capable of playing better snooker than Higgins, and the same thing in the China Championship this season, but both times he wobbled and lost a close match he should perhaps have won.

But enough about history. Every match is different of course, and the circumstances are very different than they were in 2011. Higgins is still the higher seed, but the rankings don't take Trump's triumph at the Masters into account, and also a big part of Higgins' points comes from the 2017/2018 season, whereas Trump's big results are more recent. I would therefore say Trump is the better player at this point in time and should perhaps be considered a slight favourite on paper. It's funny to talk about Trump's age being an advantage here, since no one has actually won the World title in their 20s since Robertson in 2010, whereas players in their 40s or late 30s have basically dominated the game in recent years. I still think it's a valid argument though. Higgins clearly struggles to keep up his standard of play for four sessions these days. Two years ago he looked like he would beat Selby easily, before completely running out of steam at the end of the second session, and last year he played underwhelming snooker in the first three sessions and just left himself so much to do, so even mustering the strength to put in one strong session wasn't enough in the end. This time he is playing against a younger and fitter opponent who hasn't won this title before, so he should be at a disadvantage. On the other hand, even if Trump concentrates properly and plays sensibly, he isn't exactly a model of consistency himself, or at least he hasn't been in this Championship so far. He put in a couple of strong sessions when he needed to, but his long-potting has been uncharacteristically poor so far, so he wasn't able to blow his opponents away with the kind of snooker he is known for. Credit to him for getting to the final anyway though, he has shown a willingness to really fight for it, and I think he has really matured as a player and as a person now, so I don't think he will throw this title away by doing anything stupid.

I'm expecting Higgins to be vulnerable in at least one or two sessions here, so I think the match will most likely come down to whether Trump can sense those opportunities and do some damage. He definitely did not against Ding in the 2nd round, but he kind of did against Maguire and Wilson in later matches, so the signs are promising. On the other hand, if the match goes close or if Higgins starts doing one of his famous comebacks, I think Trump could wobble and let it slip again. Trump to win 18-15. :smile: