NI Trophy Semi-finals discussion

[Miss Walker]

Miss Walker!! GREAT to see you again!

As long as he's not called Bob - or Bob Harold ;-)

His initals are J.R. after the Harold bit, but he is not into cowboy hats as he is VERY english And unfortunatly NOWHERE near as loaded.

Maj-Babe: Good to be back, LOL XXXOOOXX (lol). I have just watched ALL of AbFab on DVD the other day, sweetheartdarlingsweetydarlingsweety, now there is a nick

[Table_of_Reds]

My first post in a year - wow

Anyhoodle, Ali should have won the match, and I say this as a ROS-fan. Ronnie was extremely lucky to get this. I wish Ali had shown this type of play during the WC final, we would all have been a bit more happy.

As for tomorrow, I have no idea what will happen - I can see either Dave Harold or ROS winning this. Incidentily, my uncle is called Harold. Uargh.

So can I. To be honest I can't see any other player other than ROS and Harold winning tommorrow's (today's technically) final.

[hoggar]

Oh, blast the infernal time difference from England to Asia! I've been able to follow the afternoon games, but the evening ones are in the middle of the night. Gutted to have missed last nights epic. Sounds like Carter displayed some confidence and bottle, if he keeps that up he might very well win the eleventh or twelfth.

Apparently, Harolds final berth is his first in 14 years, which is a record, and should he win, it would be the first time in 15, which would also be a record. It could happen, but I doubt it. Ronnie has played well, but not at his very best and he has been forced to make both comebacks and endure late challenges. This has not been a strong side of him in the past, and I think that might mean he is also more set to endure Harolds ultra rapidity at the table. I doubt very much another Ebdon-esque breakdown.

[João]

Anyhoodle, Ali should have won the match, and I say this as a ROS-fan. Ronnie was extremely lucky to get this.

I couldn't agree more. He's had all the luck in this tournament but well there's no champ without luck, sadly.

[Ellena]

Luck favors the brave ones.. but isnt fair to say it was all luck. Ronnie played good this tournament, those who say he didnt must have very high standards..He had his low moments , made mistakes , maybe risked to much ..but on the whole played well.
Unlucky mom for Ali to miss that red last night, but was a difficult pot.. Both played great snooker , not to many mistakes , in fact the one who got the chance to be among the balls after the break, won the frame.. Luck favored Ali too a couple of times in this match.. after all, luck its part of the game.
Was the best match in NIT imo, i wouldnt say the best of the year as many more are to come...
Im curious how the final will be, 2 so very different styles battling for the trophy...should be interesting. Mon the Rocket!:snooker:

[rich45]

Even after Ali missed that red, it still required good judgement for Ronnie to come round off two cushions to knock it in and land on the black. Good stuff Ronnie!

[Black_cat]

Let's talk about luck, then, since some people are convinced Ronnie's win last night was due to his good fortune.
Carter was "lucky" to get back in the match when Ronnie broke down on 51 or something. This is where "luck" kicked in, allowing Carter back at the table when the match seemed at Ronnie's mercy. Also, his subsequent miss on the red meant another bout of "good luck" for Ronnie. Whether he could capitalise on it depended only on himself.
As it has already been said on this thread, a "lucky" win would have been fluking the match ball or a snooker. It wasn't the case last night.
The way I see it, once the player has earned the right to be at the table and there has been no kick, no fluke, no unintentional snookers, "luck" is out of the question. It's just the player in question and his ability and strength.
God gives the milk, but not the pail. Good saying, that.

[Rane]

Let's talk about luck, then, since some people are convinced Ronnie's win last night was due to his good fortune.
Carter was "lucky" to get back in the match when Ronnie broke down on 51 or something. This is where "luck" kicked in, allowing Carter back at the table when the match seemed at Ronnie's mercy. Also, his subsequent miss on the red meant another bout of "good luck" for Ronnie. Whether he could capitalise on it depended only on himself.
As it has already been said on this thread, a "lucky" win would have been fluking the match ball or a snooker. It wasn't the case last night.
The way I see it, once the player has earned the right to be at the table and there has been no kick, no fluke, no unintentional snookers, "luck" is out of the question. It's just the player in question and his ability and strength.
God gives the milk, but not the pail. Good saying, that.

I´ll still call it good fortune, when you get back to the table in a situation where you have no control over the outcome of the match. And he was in that situation both against Hawkins and Carter, but he took his chances when he got them, and that can´t be said about the others. But if he had played superior, he wouldn´t have ended in a situation, where he needed the others to make a late mistake.

[noel]

Let's talk about luck, then, since some people are convinced Ronnie's win last night was due to his good fortune.
Carter was "lucky" to get back in the match when Ronnie broke down on 51 or something.
God gives the milk, but not the pail. Good saying, that.

Yes it is.
O'Sullivan is the cream. Truly... he polishes it off... no luck involved... in fact, I feel lucky to be able to see Tiger play golf, to have seen Gretsky play hockey, Jordan play basketball, Ali box... to see Ronnie play snooker. They simply elevate the game. It ain't luck...
This vid from today... check it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ1P_dropf4



Noel