The buzz, did it go this year.

[throtts]

I could not get in to this WC for some reason, probably due to alot of the big names going out early. I thought Ronnie had a good chance to go all the way looking at his draw from the start specially with what happened early on to the big guns and then with his rest too. Actually, the overall enthusiasm seem to be lacking from the BBC crew, the last evening session start seem to produce a bigger buzz in previous years, the players entry was somewhat bland and there was no shot of the championship. Maybe it's just me though.

What's your thoughts, guys and what can be done to put life back in to snooker in the UK, like back in 80s.

[Maverick54]

I too watched virtually every frame that was televised but felt really flat about it all. When the big names fell out it almost seemed inevitable that Ronnie would win it. Then his speach after didnt help matters much.

I so wanted the likeable Barry Hawkins to win it but new before a ball was struck that he was never going to be up to the occasion.

Had Barry won we would all be feeling like we did when England won the World cup in 66 and folks would be flocking to snooker halls in their droves. Sadly Ronnie might be the greatest player to pick up a cue and the biggest box office draw in the game but his attitude towards Snooker is doing more harm than good. Wish he would retire for good now and leave the world of snooker to find a new hero to give the game a lift.

[SnookerFan]

I don't think the buzz went, but it kind of had Ronnie O'Sullivan's name written all over the tournament. He looked likely to win from quite early on. Personally, I didn't appreciate his stupid comments, or masturbatory gesture with his cue. And as usual, the BBC pundits were lining up to kiss him backside. In the final, all the experts were making it sound like Barry was a rank amateur who didn't deserve to be in the final, despite him having a more difficult route to the final than Ronnie. Hendry even said there wouldn't be a fourth session in the final. For somebody who usually talks nothing but sense, that was a massive blunder.

But no, I don't think it lost it's buzz. In fact, that was the most I've ever enjoyed watching Ronnie win. I think Hawkins was a credit to the tournament. I saw him live beating Lisowski, and never thought he'd have such a good run. He beat Selby and Ding Junhui comprehensively, and despite struggling in the first two sessions against Walden, he stuck in there, made an exciting comeback and won the match. Walden running into Barry's dressing room to congratulate him was the moment of the tournament for me.

There was stuff there to be enjoyed, even if it was a tad below other years.

[cueman]

I think the reason possibly for the lack of buzz is because we have snooker now for nearly the whole year. By the time the WC comes around we always associate it with being the end of the snooker season. However as the old season ends the new one begins shortly afterwards so its like we never get a break from the game and the players must feel the same. Even the football season is shorter than this and when the new season begins it feels like a new season.

I just felt a lot of the players came here with very little time to prepare and I don't think mentally they had anything left in the tank to produce their best form.

I think also the problem that I feared right from the start was it being all about O'Sullivan, it seemed the rest of the players were just making up the numbers and perhaps they felt that way too. I'm sure we'll hear some comments from various players over the coming weeks as I imagine they won't be happy at the way the game is going at the moment. Seeing how Ronnie is treating the game I'm sure other players feel like he is too big for the game and they won't accept having to do things by the book whilst O'Sullivan gets preferential treatment from Hearn and co.

[ferret]

I usually also watch every frame and have done for many years, last year I even posted a picture of my two SKY Box and TV's setup to do exactly this but this year I watched no more than 5 frames from the event.

Too much Snooker on through out the year to get excited about The World Championships, every time you skip through EuroSport there is Snooker on, they should really rename EuroSport to EuroSnooker.

Barry Hearn wants more money in the game and bigger prizes for the winners well this is not going to happen as dramatically as he hopes if he is pimping out 8 PTC events for £200-£300K and them expect to get millions for The World Championships.

BBC viewing figures until last Friday were down on last years, not sure about the final yet as I will not get those figures until Friday but website traffic for all the Snooker website that my company hosts is also down, some by as much as 25% and this has also shown in keyword searches through Google.

The market is being diluted too much to get the less hardcore fans excited about a major event, if it goes on like this then instead of bringing life back into the sport Barry will of ended up killing it as a sponsor is not going to sponsor a event which is loosing viewing figures.

[SnookerFan]

I usually also watch every frame and have done for many years, last year I even posted a picture of my two SKY Box and TV's setup to do exactly this but this year I watched no more than 5 frames from the event.

Too much Snooker on through out the year to get excited about The World Championships, every time you skip through EuroSport there is Snooker on, they should really rename EuroSport to EuroSnooker.

Barry Hearn wants more money in the game and bigger prizes for the winners well this is not going to happen as dramatically as he hopes if he is pimping out 8 PTC events for £200-£300K and them expect to get millions for The World Championships.

BBC viewing figures until last Friday were down on last years, not sure about the final yet as I will not get those figures until Friday but website traffic for all the Snooker website that my company hosts is also down, some by as much as 25% and this has also shown in keyword searches through Google.

The market is being diluted too much to get the less hardcore fans excited about a major event, if it goes on like this then instead of bringing life back into the sport Barry will of ended up killing it as a sponsor is not going to sponsor a event which is loosing viewing figures.

You say that like it's a bad thing. How can people on a snooker forum complain that there's too much snooker on?

[trains]

Commentators associated with an age where black and white tv's were still mainstream and churning out the eternal neverenders Thorburn Big Bill Knowles and Griffiths during the final day mid session intervals.
If there is a genuine lack of buzz the BBC should get their annual exemption waved too.

[hotpot]

I did,nt watch much of it this year at all . I thought the standard of the matches i did watch to be really poor , so many players under performing and going out early set the tone for a poor tournament .

[gem]

I did,nt watch much of it this year at all . I thought the standard of the matches i did watch to be really poor , so many players under performing and going out early set the tone for a poor tournament .

I don't mind lots of snooker on throughout the year and I really enjoyed this years event even though it was by a long way the poorest level I have ever seen.


Hearn and others are always trying to say how good the standard is but I don't think there is a great level at the top.
Many players can look good in some events but look at how Ronnie played and won.
He is still great in the balls but just didn't have a huge challenge throughout. Not his fault either as you can only beat whoever in put in front of you.
Each match his opponents had plenty of chances and an in form Higgins or Selby would have given him trouble.

[hotpot]

Trump , Selby , Robertson , Maguire , Williams , Higgins , Ding , Allen , all played well below what you expect off them . I think if Trump played like he did against Higgins in the final two years ago it would have been good enough to pip Ronnie .

[vmax4steve]

I did,nt watch much of it this year at all . I thought the standard of the matches i did watch to be really poor , so many players under performing and going out early set the tone for a poor tournament .

I watched as much as I could but I agree with you that the standard of play was poor this year. I blame the balls and the ridiculously high number of kicks and bad contacts for the players poor form. Ronnie dealt with them better due to his therapy with Dr. Peters not letting things get to him like it did with the other players.
If those kicks and bad contacts had happened as much in the final as in the previous rounds I think Hendry could well have been right about the match not making the final session as Hawkins game improved when the kicking returned to normal levels.

[SouthPaw]

Yes it wasn't that enjoyable for me personally, though i still watched a good bit of it, there was only maybe four sessions where i saw top drawer action, Ronnie included in two of those, without Ronald it probably would have been a lot worse, but i think there's plenty of young talent to make it interesting again next year...

[gavpowell]

Well just to act as something as a counterbalance, I watched as much as possible and it was bloody wonderful! Unlike many of you, I don't watch these poxy little PTC events, so maybe that helps, but for me, the World Championship is the moment I look forward to all year, and not just in terms of the snooker calendar. So many big names went out early, so what? I was delighted to have the chance to see some of the new blood and a bit more of the older but lower profile blood! The only years I haven't watched the snooker all the way through have been 2006 and when Hendry won his seventh.

[Billy]

You say that like it's a bad thing. How can people on a snooker forum complain that there's too much snooker on?

Quite!! It does seem a very odd thing for a snooker fan to complain about.

And throtts, you're certainly not alone, as the replies have already indicated. I too wondered if it was 'just me' that wasn't feeling it this year, but obviously it wasn't. I think SnookerFan has a point about the hype surrounding O'Sullivan - I know I'd certainly heard enough well before the end had come.

I don't mind admitting, I'm usually a bit teary-eyed when that very last ball is potted and the roar goes up, but I was very unemotional this year and didn't even watch out the credits - which I always do, hoping to savor the last few minutes, but that was maybe because I got the impression the title meant very little to the winner.