NI Trophy Semi-finals discussion

[hegeland]

Saturday, August 30
13.00
John Higgins v Dave Harold. Ref: Pete Williamson
19.45
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Allister Carter. Ref: Michaela Tabb

Eurosport HD/Eurosport 1 live 15.00-16.30
Eurosport 2 live 19.45-end

TG4 live 13.00-16.00 & 19.45-22.45

Pleased to see Harold in another semi-final. Can he keep his good form from yesterday Higgins will have to work hard to get a victory.

Can anyone see Ali win over Ronnie? Anything can happen but the odds are not exactly in his favour.

[Blondie]

...I think they'll both be good matches Hege, with Dave in high spirits reaching his first ranking event s-f in over 5 years. And it's good to see him playing so well, I think he's been using a new cue too. And great as well to see John showing signs of returning to form, maybe a battle of wits in the end...

And after Ali's 18-8 defeat in Sheffield, I think he'll be 'up for' a good game, and it'll be interesting to see how Ronnie responds after the nail-biting session with Barry.....

[hoggar]

I think Ronnies stats on the Captain is like 9-0 or something like that. He has never lost to him in a ranking tournament, I think. However, his form has not been stellar and Ali played great to beat home boy Allen, so this is a much better opportunity for him to turn the tables than in the WC final, which he basically had lost long before it even started. I still think Ronnie will win, but Ali could give him a strong performance.

Very entertaining game between Harold and Higgins. When he plays like this its hard to believe its the first semi in five years. Higgins has also finally upped his performance a bit. To me, this is wide open. 1-1 at the moment.

[Marc]

with Dave in high spirits reaching his first ranking event s-f in over 5 years. And it's good to see him playing so well, I think he's been using a new cue too. And great as well to see John showing signs of returning to form, maybe a battle of wits in the end...

Hiya blondie!!!

yepp i agree with ya...Dave Harold has said hes worked harder than I've ever worked during the summer. and he has a great record against stephen maguire that is 3 wins out of 3 against him up ta now. I think it it would be fantastic if he could get to a final.

Its the interval now in the semi and harold leads higgins 3-1 so it could be on!

[hoggar]

Hiya blondie!!!

yepp i agree with ya...Dave Harold has said hes worked harder than I've ever worked during the summer. and he has a great record against stephen maguire that is 3 wins out of 3 against him up ta now. I think it it would be fantastic if he could get to a final.

Its the interval now in the semi and harold leads higgins 3-1 so it could be on!

The question here is; how does Harold know how much you worked during the summer, Marc?

[Marc]

The question here is; how does Harold know how much you worked during the summer, Marc?

I think the question on everybody's lips really is whether or not i should turn up and post on here after ive been intoxicated by consumption of alcoholic beverages the night before

[hoggar]

You should, I think we all agree.

4-1 for Harold. He looks positively solid.

[Gothic35]

I must say, Dave's long potting is great for a player his age.

[João]

I must say, Dave's long potting is great for a player his age.

Most of them are shots for nothing though. Usually ends out of position and needs to snooker Higgins on one of the block area but no doubt this has been huge part of his success so far.

[rivercard]

Hm, looks like I'm the only one who's not really enjoying the 'Every Shot Is A Struggle Show' by Dave Harold..
Anyway, the truth is that Dave is currently the better player of the two, his pot success must up to 93-94%, and his safeties are way better than John's.

I really would like to see a final between Harold and O'Sullivan, huge contrast in styles, and I'm not sure how/if Ronnie could handle it if Harold would make a good start (like today).

[noel]

Hm, looks like I'm the only one who's not really enjoying the 'Every Shot Is A Struggle Show' by Dave Harold..
Anyway, the truth is that Dave is currently the better player of the two, his pot success must up to 93-94%, and his safeties are way better than John's.

I really would like to see a final between Harold and O'Sullivan, huge contrast in styles, and I'm not sure how/if Ronnie could handle it if Harold would make a good start (like today).

The contrasting styles would certainly be interesting to observe from a psychiatric point of view.
The watching-paint-dry pace of Harold's agonizing decision-making and form could drive the Rocket to refuse to miss a single shot for fear of losing... his sanity.

[hoggar]

Hm, looks like I'm the only one who's not really enjoying the 'Every Shot Is A Struggle Show' by Dave Harold..
Anyway, the truth is that Dave is currently the better player of the two, his pot success must up to 93-94%, and his safeties are way better than John's.

I really would like to see a final between Harold and O'Sullivan, huge contrast in styles, and I'm not sure how/if Ronnie could handle it if Harold would make a good start (like today).

That would certainly be interesting. I think last time they met was in the first round of the WC 2006, when Ronnie steam rolled Harold 10-4, but this is a different Harold. A great opportunity for Ronnie to put action behind his words to be more resilient to the occansional boredom these days... because he will have to face a lot of boring waiting when Harold carefully aims every single shot.

[rivercard]

The watching-paint-dry pace of Harold's agonizing decision-making and form could drive the Rocket to refuse to miss a single shot for fear of losing... his sanity.

A great opportunity for Ronnie to put action behind his words to be more resilient to the occansional boredom these days... because he will have to face a lot of boring waiting when Harold carefully aims every single shot.

I think it's safe to say, that Ronnie would not like a long match with Harold one bit. If he's watching the match now, I think he's hoping Higgins can make a comback.

If Harold wins, I hope Ronnie will be his opponent in the final, because a Carter-Harold final would be a bit of an anti-climax for me (no disrespect, they are both good players).

[hoggar]

Tg4 stopped sending on me Its 1-5 according to BBC, anyone watching it wanna fill me in?

[drlog147]

5-3 to harold now