King v White discussion thread

[beechy1212]

The wildcard was the right decision. No one can predict what happens next. White didn't justify it though with that performance. He got his chance and didn't take it. He wont get another chance and nor should he, unless he earns it himself. So it's solely down to him now.

It will take a lot of hard work to get over that game for Jimmy. Watching tonight, it seemed he suffers from nerves and tension a lot more than ever before. Add that to a game that isn't up to scratch, you get a 6-2 beating by a top 16 player that also didn't look great.

[wildJONESEYE]

88% vs. 81% pot success, nothing wrong with the match but I agree with wild, the descisions been proven wrong.

whats a worry is if people tuning in to see a match featering a im a celeb contestant and reporting it in a celeb mag as a miss fest bore....

i liked it but it did snooker no favours what so ever when the gutter press gets hold of it lets hope they wont.

[beechy1212]

1.
If you had Alex Higgins, Ray Reardon and a free bar there'd also be a great atmosphere, doesn't mean it would promote the game to a new generation!

Lets be honest though, Snooker has never been played at such a high level as it is now, yet it's never been so unpopular.

[ore]

This tournament didn't need jimmy White to fill the arena. Both previous matches were packed, without jimmy or Ronnie. by the way, congratulations to Mark for the easy victory!

Maybe most of the audience had day tickets because of JIMMY playing in the evening

[RocketRoy1983]

Lets wait to see the official TV figures before saying it was the wrong choice eh jesus!

[CueAntW147]

We still need to see the old players in particular favourite players regardless.........

Much like a hand over situation to the new players coming through, no harm in generating interest in snooker by whatvever means no harm seeing Jimmy tonight who still is the most popular player in the game.

What we need to do though is look at how we do it, stands to reason we won't see Jimmy much on the competitive side but he still clearly wants to play & fans still want to see him, so what we can do is use his popularity in exhibitions like the legends tour & maybe in a doubles or televised pro celebrity type tournament......this will bring some of the fun back & still generate interest in snooker which is the key thing at the minute i reckon..........its not just about the top 16.........or big tournaments Pot Black proved that.........

[noel]

whats a worry is if people tuning in to see a match featering a im a celeb contestant and reporting it in a celeb mag as a miss fest bore....

i liked it but it did snooker no favours what so ever when the gutter press gets hold of it lets hope they wont.

wild... think about it differently for a change... there is "excellent play" but there is also "excellent result"...
they are very very different...

Let's say, if there was one... even ONE kid who watched that and thought... "even I could do that!!!" and goes back to his Club and practices his butt off for ten or fifteen years and DOES... DO BETTER THAN THAT...
then YES it DID do snooker favours!

You want "quality play" watch Ronnie and Neil.
This match never intended to be that. I hope you didn't think it would be.


=o\

Noel

[bonoman1970]

Does anyone know if Jimmy has changed his cue recently? Im sure he is not using his old faithfull, might explain why he had such poor touch tonight. He would also have been better off not inviting all the "celeb cling-ons" they surely must have distracted him a little bit ,if it was me it would do my head in -Gino di whatever his name is...taking photos during the game and Ronnie Wood well nuff said!
The main reason Jimmy didnt perform tonight was mainly nerves tho ,I am sure ,had he won a couple of frames early on he would have been a different player.
He has nothing to be embarressed about, a great champion, just had a bad day ,
It happens
just ask Marco Fu and Ding, they didnt do too well either!

[RGCirencester]

Dunno about the cue, he leant his extensions to King so you can assume they have at least the same butt socket.

[CueAntW147]

wild... think about it differently for a change... there is "excellent play" but there is also "excellent result"...
they are very very different...

Let's say, if there was one... even ONE kid who watched that and thought... "even I could do that!!!" and goes back to his Club and practices his butt off for ten or fifteen years and DOES... DO BETTER THAN THAT...
then YES it DID do snooker favours!

You want "quality play" watch Ronnie and Neil.
This match never intended to be that. I hope you didn't think it would be.


=o\

Noel

Great post & spot on.........

Can't see how a packed arena with all eyes on it & some celebrities in the audience can be considered a bad thing......its a good thing its how we develop it thats important.

It would have appealed to a new breed of fan or player coming through to see a packed venue & wanting to be part of it, what incentive would it be if it was an empty venue like we keep seeing.........none at all........

Interest is interest which is good & sadly many of the top 16 players we have don't generate much at the moment......there's much more to snooker than bland players knocking big breaks in...........

[david16]

Jimmy White showed tonight that he did not deserve to be there in the first place.

It wasn't exactly a big surprise that he would get well beaten was it.

To think his 1st round match was given the star billing evening session ahead of 2 x 2nd round matches of 4 players in the top 16 played earlier in the day as well.

Normally the 1st round is played before the 2nd round begins, but somehow at the (so called) Masters the White 1st round match is played after 2nd round matches are completed. The Masters for a very long time now has been a very distant 3rd behind the World and UK and White's beating tonight does nothing to help close the gap in fact it's even further behind now in importance and prestige.

[wildJONESEYE]

wild... think about it differently for a change... there is "excellent play" but there is also "excellent result"...
they are very very different...

Let's say, if there was one... even ONE kid who watched that and thought... "even I could do that!!!" and goes back to his Club and practices his butt off for ten or fifteen years and DOES... DO BETTER THAN THAT...
then YES it DID do snooker favours!

You want "quality play" watch Ronnie and Neil.
This match never intended to be that. I hope you didn't think it would be.


=o\

Noel

quality is not the issue Jimmy was totally out of his depth and it was embarasing for him having to be this big barry hearn trump card and he fell flat on his face.

[matoski]

OK, I've heard a lot of comments about jimmy's popularity, but realy, i can't see what makes him so interesting at the table? Even in his prime he was no more interesting or amusing than any of the rest of snooker pros. Do people love him from compassion and sympathy for the six lost finals at the Crucible? Or maybe because of his bad guy attitude off the table (drinking, partying with Alex Higgins, unfinished elementary school)? Realy, can someone explain to me?

[CueAntW147]

He never did have the same charisma as Alex...........but what he did have was the ability to entertain a crowd on the table, or as Alex put it " Jimmy like myself plays snooker that is not only pleasing to our eye, but pleasing to the spectators eye "

He was quick & played exhibition type shots in normal matches, he's a nice guy but did his talking on the table, and at that time during the 80's & 90's there wasn't many players who played this way.......edge of the seat, quick play, big shots not tryed or seen before..........thats what made him popular.

Plus he represented normal hard working people, like one of your own mates out there & yes like Alex some bad boy antics off the table that sort of kept the old school snooker hall image alive & well in the modern game.......

[matoski]

" Jimmy like myself plays snooker that is not only pleasing to our eye, but pleasing to the spectators eye "

Alex's playing of snooker was not at all pleasing for my eye, because he had a terrible cue action.