UK Championship 2009 - final discussion

[spike]

Sessions: 2pm & 8pm

Final - Ding Junhui v John Higgins ref: Eirian Williams


Discuss..

[Looki]

I think Ding will take his second title tonight. He has plaeyd some great stuff in his two previous matches so his form is coming back to where it was a couple of years ago. (Also I put a little money on him in the bookies ) Playing Ronnie in the final would've been a true test for Ding, would've been nice to see how he handles Ronnie nowadays but it will be tough with Higgins also.

BTW, should there a thread for UK Final Predictions?

[gettingbetter]

I'm torn. Higgins is my favourite player and although he did win two tournaments last season, he really does deserve to win something this season - also, he's made it to the semis for every event thus far, so he would be unlucky not to win something. Also, having 3 WCs and 3 UKs would be good.

On the other hand, you have the brightest snooker player. He has already made it to a final this season and he is showing good form like he did four years ago. Not only would winning the UK be good for Ding, but I think it would be good for snooker and snooker in China.

With all that said. I hope Ding wins, but I think John will.

[ore]

3rd final involving Chinese player this year. And 4 out of 6 players in the finals are not from UK/Ireland.

[very.tee]

I think saftey may play quite a big part in this match...

John's saftey is better but Ding doesn't look like he's gonna miss amongst the balls.

If John can keep it tight and not miss anything too easy, I think he'll win it:snooker:

[Masterdoctorgenius]

but the real final was yesterday

hopefully higgins and ronnie will meet in the masters final

could be a cracker again

[attilahun]

John will be more relaxed today after that great semifinal against Ronnie. I think he can win it. He played in the worlds against Cope who potted everything but John won it in the end...it will be the same story today, hopefully.

[Odrl]

After yesterday's events, I find it impossible to predict the final with any sort of confidence. I almost got the result of Higgins-O'Sullivan right, but the following statement says it all...

It might be pointless anyway, because I can't see him getting a sizable lead against O'Sullivan, nor letting it slip if he should get it.

At 6-2 for Higgins, I was already thinking that I would predict something like 10-7 in the final, in Higgins' favour. But now, there's no way of telling how yesterday's match has affected him.

I didn't think Higgins was that great in the first session against O'Sullivan. He probably could have lost every single frame, or at least 7 of them. But he made a couple of crucial breaks at important times, while O'Sullivan couldn't. Could Ding have taken some of those frames off Higgins? I think he could have. He's probably been the most impressive scorer this week. He's no match for Higgins tactically, so he is not going to be the favourite to get the first chance in most frames. He does pot a lot of long balls, but Higgins hasn't been too bad in that department either. If Higgins scores 70 breaks, instead of breaking down early, he should be the stronger player. And he is expected to do that, that's why he's the favourite. But I expect Ding to score well, so I don't think Higgins will be winning this one with two-visit snooker.

Higgins has won the last couple of matches between them, but truth be told, Ding is playing much better now than he was in that period. So I don't think Higgins will have such a psychological edge over Ding as O'Sullivan would have. So the two questions are... Will Ding have confidence in his own game even if Higgins puts pressure on him? And will Higgins be able to recover after the mentally draining SF match? Hopefully, the answer to both is "yes".

[montoya10]

But in the end, the result matters, and you almost got the correct scoreline..

If Higgins can build a lead heading into the second session, I think he is going to throttle away in the second

Hopefully, he won't be able to come out of blocks so fast, though. I expect another mid-level quality game here..

[spike]

So the scene is set which on paper should be an enthralling final. Two time UK Champion against the 2005 UK Champion.

Both are highly effective when in amongst the balls, but i think a good all round safety game is essentially what's going to be key in this final. For me John's tactical awareness is in a class of it's own and this is what ultimately could find Ding out.

Overall this week i have been impressed with Ding's temperament especially in his match against Ali Carter. Especially when he was behind 3-0 and 7-5. Even at times when he was put under the most severest of pressure in that match he never dropped his head once.

Higgins has certainly had the tougher passage to the final, but his all round game looks in good shape and despite being involved in such an exhausing semi-final mentally i dont think that will affect John's performance in anyway today. That final frame with how he held his nerve is a true testament to his character.

I think it's going to go close but i feel Ding will win 10-8..

[montoya10]

We're underway..

Ding with a superb long red

[spike]

Just the start Ding needed. He looks to be cueing really well so far..

[montoya10]

Just the start Ding needed. He looks to be cueing really well so far..

And he almost cut a memorable brown to the middle

An 81 break to win the opener is a solid start..

[wzrd]

I'm afraid yesterdays match might have left John emotionally drained. But let's see how the match unravels. Hopefully it will be tight!

[very.tee]

John's missing a few early on but Ding seems to be playing really well at the moment.