Snooker's Biggest Quiz

[Lindea]

Hawkins and Swail have never been in a ranking final?

[JPK123]

Is it Mark King and Jamie Cope because the rest all hold places in the top 20 of the rankings?

[dantuck_7]

Lindeas answer so far seems the best. I was thinking of something else (quite obscure) with regard to the rankings.

[t.lavery55]

Matthew Stevens and Joe Swail`s surnames both begin with
an S?

[Monique]

Matthew Stevens and Joe Perry are both marked as "Start 14" in the current official ranking ... Odd!

[snookersfun]

R163

This is probably not in keeping with the rest of this thread, but out of....

Barry Hawkins
Matthew Stevens
Mark King
Joe Swail
Joe Perry
Ryan Day &
Jamie Cope

Who are the odd two out? What reason?

Matthew for having a different length (or even longer) first name than everybody else and Day having a different length (or even shorter) family name than everybody else. (the others come in pairs)

[Alex0paul]

Jamie Cope and Mark King reached ranking event finals when they were outisde the top 16 and it wasn't enough to promote them into the top 16?

[davis_greatest]

OK... a clue please dantuck? It could be anything!

Even my orang-utan is shrugging his shoulders here...

[dantuck_7]

Have a look at the ranking points associated with each of the players. Alex0Pauls answer probably deserves a point.

[davis_greatest]

Matthew Stevens and Joe Perry are both marked as "Start 14" in the current official ranking ... Odd!

Yes, that is odd! The World Snooker website therefore shows 17 players with a start ranking inside the top 16 (and no one ranked at number 18)! Think of the confusion that would have caused if they had all turned up to play the "last-32" matches...

[dantuck_7]

I think Alex0Paul has come out with a far better answer so he can have the point.

I'll try and get on the leaderboard now.

[davis_greatest]

Congratulations Alex0Paul!

So here is the scoreboard after round 163:

Pos. . . . . . . . Score . . . . . . Player
..1 . . . . . . . . . 24½. . . . . . . snookersfun
..2 . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . Davis greatest
..3 . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . Cessy143
..4 . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . Robert602
..5 . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . Lindea
..6 . . . . . . . . . 12½. . . . . . . Alex0Paul
..7 . . . . . . . . . 10½. . . . . . . Mitsuko
..8 . . . . . . . . . 10½. . . . . . . chassmi
..9 . . . . . . . . . . 7½. . . . . . . The Statman
10 . . . . . . . . . . 6½. . . . . . . Cyril
11 . . . . . . . . . . 5½. . . . . . . Ginger Freak
12 . . . . . . . . . . 4½. . . . . . . PaulTheSoave
13 . . . . . . . . . . 3½. . . . . . . rambon
14 . . . . . . . . . . 3½. . . . . . . hegeland
15 . . . . . . . . . . 3½. . . . . . . JPK123
16 . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . semih_sayginer
17 . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . Valderie
18 . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . kellie-text
19 . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . April Madness
20 . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . Ellena
21 . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . Obligation
22 . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . berolina
23 . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . Mal
24 . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . pat39
25 . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . JoanneT63
26 . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . In-off
27 . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . mcmanusrules
28 . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . Ronnieisthebest
29 . . . . . . . . . . . ½. . . . . . . abextra

ROUND ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR

...TO FOLLOW....

[davis_greatest]

ROUND ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR

(...shamelessly taken from a question I asked on the old BBC Five Live... but it was quite a while ago.... so no cheating please! The Statman answered it then! Maybe a bonus half-point if you read to the end)

It is Monday 3 May 2010. I am watching BBC7 with my friend, and there is more of that bloody snooker on. Worse still, there is no sound, because my friend for some unfathomable reason does not like the commentary and insists on using the Mute button. That means that I am not even able to learn English grammar from Professors Virgo and Thorne - just staring at balls being knocked around a green screen!

Anyway... it is no surprise to see that Davis is looking unstoppable. Bidding for his 3rd consecutive World Title in a triumph that would make him a nine-time World Champion, it is a repeat of the final of 26 years ago, with the 52-year old Legend up against James White Esq.

It has been a see-saw battle, with each player taking a few frames and then his opponent doing the same, which has seen this extraordinary encounter reach its climax at 17-17. My friend, one of 30 million viewers in the UK and 800 million globally, looks on expectantly as the final frame is about to commence. Even I glance up occasionally.

White breaks off and leaves a long red on. Davis, whose long potting has returned to amazing consistency over the last 3 years, blasts in the opening red, clean as a whistle, causing beaten semi-finalist Neil Robertson to gasp in amazement from the bar where he is watching proceedings and stroking his hair. By the time that Davis has knocked in 57, he is about to play a crucial shot off the blue to open up the remaining bunch of reds.

Unfortunately, I never see the next shot, as I remember that there are some weeds in my back garden which I must remove, and I head outside.

By the time my garden is clear, I return to see what is happening. "What's the score?" I ask my friend. "Ssssh!" she says, a huge Jimmy fan.

I am pleased to see Davis at the table. It looks like the frame is nearly over, with only white, pink and black on the table. I look at the scores - Davis leads by 15 points! The pink is in the jaws of one of the top pockets, with the white at the other end of the table, tight on the baulk cushion, diagonally opposite. The black is near the blue spot and I can see that it is snookering Davis on the pink. Or at the very least, partially snookering him.

The camera moves round to show the angle and it looks like Davis can just hit the thinnest edge of the pink, sticking out, to pot it. Or can he? I am not sure. It is certainly very, very tight, to get past the black.

Davis gets down, feathers the cue, and sends the white heading diagonally across the table towards the pink. But - what's this?! The cue ball glances the black first on its way, knocking the black towards the cushion, the black then heading perilously towards the pink. "Foul!" screams my friend. "Hahaha! Go on Jimmy!!!!"

Davis stops to look at the table as the balls come to rest, and the camera zooms in on the black and pink. They are now touching, the pink dangling over the pocket, impossible to hit without first hitting the black. It is astonishing that the pink has not dropped. In fact, the slightest touch on the black would knock in the pink. There is no way that one could fail to knock it in - everyone can see that. It is, I assume, even obvious to John Virgo.

The white (ball, not the man), meanwhile, has travelled back to the baulk cushion.

"Hehe!" continues my friend. "And it's going to be a free ball!" she delights, as the Whirlwind steps forward for a cursory inspection of pink and black. Suddenly, Jimmy stops, smiles and turns, and he and Steve are shaking hands.

What happened? And who will be the defending champion when the 2011 888.com World Championship kicks off?

(No bonus half-points for reading to the end really. But at least you got this far.)

[April madness]

just guessing: Davis conceded the frame?

(though it is against any logic, of course Davis should be the champion)

[davis_greatest]

just guessing: Davis conceded the frame?

.......Why?