2019 World Snooker Championship

[snookerball]

No. On course to smash the centuries record this year. There was some real quality in the early rounds which there often isn't, especially from the qualifiers and underdogs.

I'd take Selby out in favour of White but apart from that spot on.

[Mark187187]

To be honest I think Higgins future game would be best served by going out in this match.

If we wins the final he equals Ronnie's record, and you can be damn sure Ronnie would want to get that 6th title more than perhaps he has in the past few years since he really wanted to win back in 2012/2013 to join Davis and Hendry and leave Higgins slightly behind. (not personally at Higgins, but record books speak). It would make the next few years getting to the final tougher with a Ronnie who really cares about the worlds again.

If he loses in the final I can genuinely see him retiring. He's already talked about how he's had much more respect for Jimmy White now he's lost two finals in a row and can't understand how he didn't quit the game having lost 6. The difference between Jimmy and John is that John already has a decent record of winning the worlds, having won 4 finals. Whilst I'm sure players don't care about this stuff as much as us, going from 4 time winner to 4 time winner and potentially 4 time runner up would be a bit of a knock.

Losing in the semis probably wouldn't hurt so much in the long run, it would give him enough confidence to know he can still compete with the best without falling at the final hurdle again and all the conflated issues.

That's nonsense. This could feasibly be Higgins last chance to win his 5th title. There's no way a loss in the semis is better than that.

Ronnie wants to win every year, whatever he says. What Ronnie wants or does has no impact whatsoever on Higgins record. If Higgins gets 5, that's better than having 4, how can that make his record look worse?

[Mark187187]

Overall, would you say as a tournament whole, this is the worst standard of snooker seen at the Worlds for a while ?

Very very few one visit kills

Hendry could have come out of retirement and won this year !

No. On course to smash the centuries record this year. There was some real quality in the early rounds which there often isn't, especially from the qualifiers and underdogs.

[arsalanjami]

what do you guys think of this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYP655z1ryo

[peterpackage]

Overall, would you say as a tournament whole, this is the worst standard of snooker seen at the Worlds for a while ?

Very very few one visit kills

Hendry could have come out of retirement and won this year !

[Billy]

I'll be truly gutted if at least one of these underdogs fails to reach the final.

[peterpackage]

If Gilbert was leading 14-10 i would say it would be 50/50. At 13-11 behind, Higgins is favourite

Hopefully Gilbert can get some good advice overnight, but it's still a lot of pressure on him and if he does inch close to the finishing line, he will find it hard to get over it

Judd needs to step it up and go into the final session with a commanding lead

[Odrl]

It's weird that losing three finals in a row could have a such a psychological effect on a player, especially someone who wasn't even one of the big favourites in any of the last three Championships. We talk about Hawkins' great record at the Crucible in recent years, which is basically a series of SF defeats, but somehow losing in the final on a consistent basis isn't seen in the same kind of positive light, especially by the player himself.

Even if Higgins does go on to lose the final, which is just one of several possibilities at this point, he has to remember the circumstances in which this has happened. He wasn't the favourite who threw good opportunities to win the title away, he actually exceeded the expectations of most snooker fans by putting together three good runs, while most of his rivals underperformed. For me, the players who should be way more devastated by their performances at the Crucible over the last three years are O'Sullivan, Robertson, Murphy and Allen. Not a single SF between them. :wink:

[travisbickle]

To be honest I think Higgins future game would be best served by going out in this match.

If we wins the final he equals Ronnie's record, and you can be damn sure Ronnie would want to get that 6th title more than perhaps he has in the past few years since he really wanted to win back in 2012/2013 to join Davis and Hendry and leave Higgins slightly behind. (not personally at Higgins, but record books speak). It would make the next few years getting to the final tougher with a Ronnie who really cares about the worlds again.

If he loses in the final I can genuinely see him retiring. He's already talked about how he's had much more respect for Jimmy White now he's lost two finals in a row and can't understand how he didn't quit the game having lost 6. The difference between Jimmy and John is that John already has a decent record of winning the worlds, having won 4 finals. Whilst I'm sure players don't care about this stuff as much as us, going from 4 time winner to 4 time winner and potentially 4 time runner up would be a bit of a knock.

Losing in the semis probably wouldn't hurt so much in the long run, it would give him enough confidence to know he can still compete with the best without falling at the final hurdle again and all the conflated issues.

You might as well be talking Japanese to me mate :biggrin-new:

[Billy]

You wanna be right or you wanna be Mystic Meg?

Neither, especially the former.

More like Septic Peg

You're not wrong.

[snookerball]

To be honest I think Higgins future game would be best served by going out in this match.

If we wins the final he equals Ronnie's record, and you can be damn sure Ronnie would want to get that 6th title more than perhaps he has in the past few years since he really wanted to win back in 2012/2013 to join Davis and Hendry and leave Higgins slightly behind. (not personally at Higgins, but record books speak). It would make the next few years getting to the final tougher with a Ronnie who really cares about the worlds again.

If he loses in the final I can genuinely see him retiring. He's already talked about how he's had much more respect for Jimmy White now he's lost two finals in a row and can't understand how he didn't quit the game having lost 6. The difference between Jimmy and John is that John already has a decent record of winning the worlds, having won 4 finals. Whilst I'm sure players don't care about this stuff as much as us, going from 4 time winner to 4 time winner and potentially 4 time runner up would be a bit of a knock.

Losing in the semis probably wouldn't hurt so much in the long run, it would give him enough confidence to know he can still compete with the best without falling at the final hurdle again and all the conflated issues.

[Cue crafty]

Aw Bless re fruit lol.

I'm not sure if I'm a fan after the betting thing tbh, but the kids should watch and copy him re matchplay and I felt for him last year after the Selby loss.

Maybe this, or last, year was the last for the olde bods? But I sense that John trumps Judd or maybe Dave does?

I have respect his game only and don't care to look deeper than snooker from a fan perspective. I too feel however this maybe his swan song, whatever the outcome.

[blahblah01]

Indeed me old fruit - Higgins is an all time great in every sense. Sheer class.

I see him as the "pace maker" that those who are left have to beat. He ain't gonna go away, get nervous, retreat etc. The player who wins will have to produce exceptional snooker to win. For me that's very few misses and taking a high % of chances. Dave didn't do that tonight, personally I would enjoy seeing him do that to tomorrow.

Aw Bless re fruit lol.

I'm not sure if I'm a fan after the betting thing tbh, but the kids should watch and copy him re matchplay and I felt for him last year after the Selby loss.

Maybe this, or last, year was the last for the olde bods? But I sense that John trumps Judd or maybe Dave does?

[Cue crafty]

Yep.

I thought Higgins battled back well though...

Indeed me old fruit - Higgins is an all time great in every sense. Sheer class.

I see him as the "pace maker" that those who are left have to beat. He ain't gonna go away, get nervous, retreat etc. The player who wins will have to produce exceptional snooker to win. For me that's very few misses and taking a high % of chances. Dave didn't do that tonight, personally I would enjoy seeing him do that to tomorrow.

[blahblah01]

Higgins has been talking about retiring this year, and has been open about how devestating losing 2 WC finals has been for him. I suspect that he wouldn't bounce back from another loss this year. I wonder if he has put added pressure on himself, knowing each game good be his last?

I'm more of the mind that with only Judd left he wishes that head found his mojo before now..... A bit risky to let his odds drift do much in this one though :wink: