UK Champ. 2009 - Semi-final Discussion

[missneworleans]

Unbeliavable
If John doesn't win now I'd Ron is a favourite
as about that incident it's very diffucult to judge...ronnie shaked his head but that could be just a comedy.only verhaas knew what it was

[steedee]

haven't seen higgins look this done in since the selby comeback in 07. one more john c'mon!

templeton, what you say makes wonderful sense but we all know refs always call miss whether they try their best or not.

you simply should not gain an advantage by commiting a foul

[Wim]

Strange he is panicking with such a score

[Odrl]

Yes, Higgins hasn't been able to find any sort of composure after that incident. He could lose this...

[Templeton Peck]

I agree, Steedee; the criteria for the miss rule should be extended to include 'accidental' misses as well. Jan Verhaas did apply the rule correctly, it's defined badly. If Higgins loses tonight then he's been shafted, but he was shafted by the rule book not by the ref.

[spike]

What an amazing night of Snooker! The tension and excitement of the possibility of a great comeback is still on the cards..

[very.tee]

I think I've had enough of this comeback now John looks really out of sorts right now, it's very worrying...

Come On John!

[missneworleans]

8-7 unbelieavable!
i know it's a bad joke but what about this shock of the decade

[miscuehamburg]

I agree, Steedee; the criteria for the miss rule should be extended to include 'accidental' misses as well. Jan Verhaas did apply the rule correctly, it's defined badly. If Higgins loses tonight then he's been shafted, but he was shafted by the rule book not by the ref.

I'm not sure if Verhaas should have put the white back touching the red as no miss was called?!

[lk8]

The rule clearly says the player has to the best of his ability, try and hit the ball on. In other words it only outlaws deliberate missing i.e. playing the shot in such a way that it reduces teh chance of hitting a ball on. If Ronnie fouled by accident then he hasn't infringed the miss rule because he was trying to the best of his ability to hit the ball on. Jan Verhaas was correct in not calling a miss. What he got wrong though was in moving the white afterwards which he shouldn't have done if a miss wasn't called.

the way I see it is, touching a ball while preparing to play the shot, is FOUL AND A MISS, the only exception is...

(d) After the cue-ball has been replaced under this Rule, when there is a clear path in a straight line from the cue-ball to any part of any ball that is or could be on, and the striker fouls any ball, including the cue-ball while preparing to play a stroke, a miss will not be called if a stroke has not been played. In this case the appropriate penalty will be imposed and
(i) the next player may elect to play the stroke himself or ask the offender to play again from the position left, or
(ii) the next player may ask the referee to replace all balls moved to their original position and have the offender play again from there, and
(iii) if the above situation arises during a sequence of miss calls, any warning concerning the possible awarding of the frame to his opponent shall remain in effect.

because this will interfere with the 3 MISS Rule...

[missneworleans]

I'm not sure if Verhaas should have put the white back touching the red as no miss was called?!

yes! haven't noticed that! and if he didn't put it back, John would have had a ball!

[steedee]

I agree, Steedee; the criteria for the miss rule should be extended to include 'accidental' misses as well. Jan Verhaas did apply the rule correctly, it's defined badly. If Higgins loses tonight then he's been shafted, but he was shafted by the rule book not by the ref.

yeah fair enough mate.

at least we've seen an incident now which can highlight the flaw in the rule

[Templeton Peck]

An accidental foul is not a deliberate miss no matter how you look at it. The mistake was moving the white because Higgins may have been able to pot the red if it was no longer toughing.

[Wim]

Still Higgins shouldn't be upset that much given the score then

[miscuehamburg]

C'moon John