snooker world championship final

I can't work out if Higgins was actually genuinely amused there or whether he was all "yeah, yeah, you're funny, now fuck off" at Selby. I'm enjoying this hugely anyway, though Higgins has been utterly rotten all day today.

― ailsa, Monday, 7 May 2007 20:02 (6 years ago) Permalink

So, only six frames this afternoon - what was all that about? Just ran out of time? I've never known a session to be truncated by two before.

13-11 at 9:15pm - it's gonna be a late one.

― Michael Jones, Monday, 7 May 2007 20:15 (6 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, they explained it during the last frame - the players need a chance to rest/refresh/compose themselves, and that's more important than the 8/8 thing. Especially after having played at this level for 16 days already.

― StanM, Monday, 7 May 2007 20:18 (6 years ago) Permalink

Won't they continue on Tuesday if it's still not over by, say, midnight?

― StanM, Monday, 7 May 2007 20:19 (6 years ago) Permalink

No, it'll be one of these epic "where were you when..." Dennis Taylor v Steve Davis in 1985 corkers with everyone sleeping in for work tomorrow morning.

They actually explained it away earlier on the BBC as due to other telly needing to be shown because I for one really REALLY needed to watch Eggheads and the Great British Menu rather than any more snooker, erm, hang on a sec...

― ailsa, Monday, 7 May 2007 20:21 (6 years ago) Permalink

LOL at 1 person clapping 1 time before realising they're the only one and stopping - "Great shot! ... oh, it wasn't, I R pwnd"

― StanM, Monday, 7 May 2007 20:50 (6 years ago) Permalink

Selby was 100-1 at the bookmakers after last night!

― StanM, Monday, 7 May 2007 20:59 (6 years ago) Permalink

go on mark

― ken c, Monday, 7 May 2007 21:06 (6 years ago) Permalink

Go on both of them! It's midnight over here and there's still a possible 9 frames to go (if it's going to be 17-18 or 18-17) - 9 x 45 minutes is going to finish, like, next week or something! OMG!

― StanM, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:02 (6 years ago) Permalink

I might have to revise my answer on the hours-of-sleep thread after this. Seriously, I might just nick off to bed and they'll proably still be playing this yellow when I get back up at 6.30.

― ailsa, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:18 (6 years ago) Permalink

This is insane - 21min on one ball. They've already cited the Griffiths-Thorburn match from '83 - the one that finished at 3:51am (see also: Pernfors-Wilander at the US Open) despite The Grinder knocking in a 147.

I'm going to say Higgins 18-15 around 2am. I know I won't see the end. Of this frame.

― Michael Jones, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:27 (6 years ago) Permalink

epic.

the misses on the brown, the flukey pot, then snookered on the blue...

― Jarlrmai, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:32 (6 years ago) Permalink

Aye, I'm loving this. Anything involving Griffiths/Thorburn/Charlton or whatever = yawnsville, not to mention that tedious Dott/Ebdon final last year. This, however = total stone cold classic. Expect to find me slumped over my desk in a big yawning heap some time tomorrow (if I'm not still watching this!)

― ailsa, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:36 (6 years ago) Permalink

Oh well, I'm off to bed. My bedside portable has a sleep function on it (which I used to great effect during the '94 World Cup), so I might just turn the sound right down and have it set for another three hours.

I think Higgins would streak away with frame 28 but it's another safety battle...

― Michael Jones, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:44 (6 years ago) Permalink

They're playing like they don't have to go to work tomorrow, these two.

― StanM, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:45 (6 years ago) Permalink

next frame, more safety..

i'd love a sleep function on my radio.

I need a new clock radio

I want DAB and Alarm and Sleep function.

― Jarlrmai, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:46 (6 years ago) Permalink

think > thought

I bet Ava comes into our bed if it gets to 17-17.

― Michael Jones, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:47 (6 years ago) Permalink

bugger, higgins goes 2 head again...

― Jarlrmai, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:50 (6 years ago) Permalink

maybe not...

― Jarlrmai, Monday, 7 May 2007 22:51 (6 years ago) Permalink

he has.

― Jarlrmai, Monday, 7 May 2007 23:04 (6 years ago) Permalink

cor century

― ken c, Monday, 7 May 2007 23:39 (6 years ago) Permalink

12 hours later

― ken c, Monday, 7 May 2007 23:53 (6 years ago) Permalink

After 12 hours and 3 minutes, stick a fork in it.

xp

― Dom Passantino, Monday, 7 May 2007 23:53 (6 years ago) Permalink

Poor Mark :-/

― ailsa, Monday, 7 May 2007 23:56 (6 years ago) Permalink

Let's not take away from Higgins though, eh?

― ailsa, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 00:02 (6 years ago) Permalink

Excellent stuff. Higgins showed class in those last few frames. Where did he pull that out from? I was so sure this was going to the final frame and a 3am finish.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 00:10 (6 years ago) Permalink

Well played John Higgins. Poor bastard had to give up booze and Celtic to win it! Those last three clearances were astonishing under the circumstances. He's a class act and having only one world title was never a fair reflection on how good he's been for the last 10 or 12 years.

Selby looks like a future winner, but then so do half of these young scamps who keep knocking stupid shots in for fun. He needs to sort out all this 1min48sec thinking time shite though - unless it's a stupid bastard hard snooker every player knows what shot he has to play within seconds. If he keeps that up I'm going to call him Edbon II and hate him.

That yellow ball. Fucking hell someone just pot the fucking thing then play safe on the green for five weeks!

― onimo, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 00:14 (6 years ago) Permalink

yeah, that yellow was like watching arsenal. SOMEONE FUCKING SHOOT.

― ken c, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 00:16 (6 years ago) Permalink

Selby looks like a future winner, but then so do half of these young scamps who keep knocking stupid shots in for fun. He needs to sort out all this 1min48sec thinking time shite though - unless it's a stupid bastard hard snooker every player knows what shot he has to play within seconds.

That's because he's still basically a pool player trying to be a snooker player - does the daft/spectacular shots so well, but still learning on the tactics front. I think.

― ailsa, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 00:22 (6 years ago) Permalink

Yes, pool players are noted for fucking around all day picking shots out.

― onimo, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 00:26 (6 years ago) Permalink

No, that's not what I meant. I meant when he realises that the knocking-shots-in pool-player tactics aren't going to work in a a situation, and he actually has to think about the long game, he's not quite so good at that yet, because it's a different skill. I may be wrong. Hence the "I think" tagged on the end.

― ailsa, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 00:30 (6 years ago) Permalink

I think he was just trying to keep Higgins out of his stride. It's ok thinking about the odds shot but if you look at something like that yellow ball borefest I reckon Selby had >70% of the table time. On a lot of occasions I'd named his shot for him 2 minutes before he played it.

― onimo, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 00:34 (6 years ago) Permalink

give selby a break. he's 23 years old and had to qualify to get into the competition. he's never played a match like that in his life, and he had to come back from 12-4 down. I think there is something to breaking Higgins' stride, especially because I'm pretty sure that had they not stopped the afternoon session 2 frames early he would have gone into the final session 11-13 or maybe even 12-12.

Despite his love of the trick shot and his over-reliance on pulling shots off with the rest, I think he proved himself to be quite excellent in the tactical area.

I wanted him to win, but I was pleased with Higgins, especially those last few frames. Selby took the loss well and Higgins took the win well. I'm just mourning the loss of daily snooker. I'll have to do something else with my time now, seeing as I don't have the comfort of watching a green table with a bunch of balls rolling around. Le sigh.

― Gukbe, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 00:45 (6 years ago) Permalink

Maybe I'm just mourning the loss of snooker in my life in general. Is it shown (or heard of) in the U.S.?

― Gukbe, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 00:46 (6 years ago) Permalink

I am giving him a break - I just touted him as a future winner. I am also moaning about the time taken over his shots. It's a fair criticism, he did keep me up to stupid o'clock despite losing by 5 frames.

― onimo, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 00:49 (6 years ago) Permalink

Well done Johnny Higgins! A good Celtic man!

― Tom D., Tuesday, 8 May 2007 09:31 (6 years ago) Permalink

As one Leicester fellow to another - sigh. If only he'd won we could have added him to our statue...

― Ned Trifle II, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 09:39 (6 years ago) Permalink

Is it shown (or heard of) in the U.S.?

no.

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 10:14 (6 years ago) Permalink

No, they prefer pool there (snigger)

― Tom D., Tuesday, 8 May 2007 10:15 (6 years ago) Permalink

Selby is last year's pool world champion, hence his surprising plants sometimes.

― StanM, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 10:19 (6 years ago) Permalink

And that female referee who did the semi final between Murphy & Selby has been a well known pool referee for a while now too. So stop sniggering.

― StanM, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 10:23 (6 years ago) Permalink

No, I like pool but it's kids stuff really

― Tom D., Tuesday, 8 May 2007 10:24 (6 years ago) Permalink

(try to ignore the childish (hey! childish comments by snooker fans! what a coincidence! xpost) comments)

― StanM, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 10:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

I loved the yellow ball contest! Those safety exchanges were great! (and I say this when watching it with a fever last night).

I think Selby did the 1m40secs thinking time on his semi-final too.

He has adapted a bit of pool to snooker. I saw him make a century with 3 plants, then another with two. So his knowledge of pool plays a part.

This wz def one of my favourite finals. Hope that Selby does go on and win it but it remains to be seen, he could become another Matthew Stevens - does seem to be 'tougher', tho'.

― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:09 (6 years ago) Permalink

Yes, 19 minutes on the yellow ball! Brilliant!

― Tom D., Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:13 (6 years ago) Permalink

Snooker players have been playing plants since forever, it's not a concept in any way exclusive to pool.

Also, Selby's been well known in snooker circles since his junior days, he's not some Johnny-Come-Lately pool player who thought he'd give snooker a bash.

― onimo, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:16 (6 years ago) Permalink

Why did they change his nickname for the final session? (all tournament, it had been "the jester from leicester" and for the final session of the final, it was "marvellous mark selby") Maybe changing nicknames is bad luck and that's why he lost!

― StanM, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

"Snooker players have been playing plants since forever, it's not a concept in any way exclusive to pool."

I know that! But there ws one or two that he picked out that other players might not have, I don't think. Don't remember a someone picking them out and getting that many plants in a championship. But yes obv I could be reading way too much into the pool connection (have only played pool on a computer :-)), how maybe a few maybe pick on the fact that Roger Fed played a lot of squash when younger.

― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:26 (6 years ago) Permalink

I don't associate plants with pool anymore than snooker

― Tom D., Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:29 (6 years ago) Permalink

Why did they change his nickname for the final session? (all tournament, it had been "the jester from leicester" and for the final session of the final, it was "marvellous mark selby") Maybe changing nicknames is bad luck and that's why he lost!

-- StanM, Tuesday, May 8, 2007 11:25 AM (12 minutes ago)

Anti-Leicester bias.

― Ned Trifle II, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:39 (6 years ago) Permalink