the rolling towards the pocket snooker championship thread

Stunning double. Doubt this will be beaten for drama this year.

And, almost as amazingly, Robertson beats Gould 13-12: shame on the beeb for not cancelling a Dad's army repeat.

Robertson beats Gould 13-12

ok what the fuck

also huzzah steve davis

but srsly what the fuck at the robertson-gould game

dad's army.... uh... lol?

RT @owen_g: Higgins cleared of main match fixing charge. QC had "no reason" to disbelieve him. Banned 6 months on other charges,back 1 Nov 3 minutes ago via TweetDeck

guardian_sport

FUCK

OFF

HIGGINS

this dude is a nightmare

just when you thought it was saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

and like that, you are asphyxiated

Tee hee.

That finish was fucking awesome, let's be honest. Just think how many titles he'd have if he wasn't punting frames at £75k a go.

the frame when williams went 29 up with 27 on the table was incredible.

perfect semi-finalists in this Masters

the two young British pretenders and the two most talented Oriental players

Marco Fu is a waste of talent, more like.

I <3 him, want him to win this tournament

Ding off to a good start, not really fussed who wins as both decent players.

fu shd be level :(

UK championship 2012 drinking game: every time a commentator mentions that Luca Brecel is 17 years old and/or from Belgium - drink!

Unconsciousness to follow.

Mark Selby is so painfully fucking sloooooooooooooooooooooooow it almost makes me want Graeme Dott to beat him. Almost.

For Ronnnie to make a final after being out for nearly a year really is some achievement. You could argue he hasn't had to beat anyone much however he easily beat Judd Trump.

yeah .. the final aint going to be all that though is it given at ththe other semifinalists are not exactly firing on all cylinders.

For the three frames he had to win last night I don't think he struck much above a 50 break but his positional play was a joy to watch: great brown to red in the first frame to kill that off.

Then a red to pink with his left hand in the last.

There is one weakness in his game in that if he has to pick up the rest he'll likely miss but that is only because he is so good with his left! There is no sportsman or woman anywhere who can say that this ability has actually created a weakness!!

Trump was totally bullied and subdued. In that first frame he should've gone for a cannon into the small pack of reds about two shots earlier but he was so vary of Ronnie and tried to pick as many points as possible that he then ended up going for a harder shot, missed and Ronnie took it anyway.

This could be the most underwhelming final since Hendry-Bond. You give Hawkins absolutely no chance. Only thing is you always suspect Ronnie could already be thinking the trophy is his. Its alright for us to think that, not him.

OTM. I don't think Hawkins has a chance. My estimate is it will be a one-sided affair, but that doesn't have to mean it'll be an underwhelming final. Not if O'Sullivan entertains as he did yesterday.

I didn't at all mind Ronnie not scoring high breaks, his positional play indeed was a joy to watch. Not seem him as focused, making the right decisions for a while. If he brings that to the table today I'll be a happy man.

It is a shame though that the competition seems so much worse. And that is compared to a man who hasn't played for a year.

1st Frame: great shot with a rest for a 70-ish break, scrap what I said before.

Hawkins misses his rest shot and O'Sullivan turns on the style for a 92 break. Top fkn class!

Hawkins now switched on tho'. good to see..

Amazing run of frames so far - v high standard considering both players seem unhappy with the table/cloth.

o'sullivan is some kind of genius huh

my annual campaign for him to be SPOTY rumbles on

it'll be some man united player tho. or alistair cook, when a terrible aussie team get theirs

it's a shame he's such a prick

nah he's a lej, bruv

well, i thought that was a great session ..
hope it stays at this kind of level ..
would love barry to keep ronnie under pressure.

Thank god they wheeled John "WHERE'S THAT CUEBALL GOING" Virgo out back to the old folk's home. Mr. Obvious has nearly ruined watching snooker for me.

I can see Ronnie getting in a bit of a tizzy tonight, he doesn't seem focused any more.

Amazing stuff again from Ronnie, two centuries then some brutal safety play to take a three frame lead overnight.

Truly terrific last frame (might not be a better frame in the final). Ronnie has all the answers so far and brilliant from Hawkins - he's asking the questions. It will probably suit him to come from behind anyway...

Yeah this was good stuff.

ah now that was incredible

Hawkins makes a terrific century, and Ronnie misses a sitter of a red in the next - first sign of nerves.

Break of 66: 15-12

Barry couldn't keep it up and Ronnie punishes, now to within one of a fifth world title: 17 - 12

wins with an 88 break, awesome.

That shot to get up for that last red was great. My love-hate relationship with Ronnie has gone back to love this week.

Awesomely awkward victory speech there

lolled at "whore's drawers", yes.

That was fab! "We're live, aren't we Hazel?"

12 year ban for Stephen Lee for match fixing - BBC reporting that he avoided a life time ban but when you're 38 and already on the slide, 12 years out of the game should just about do it. Great cueist, could've been a contender.

I'd forgotten about the existence of Quentin Hann. Apparently he was banned for 8 years in 2006 for match fixing. I have no recollection of that at all.

just watched final frame of selby - higgins. one of the great frames

knew I had seen this before

http://www.virginmedia.com/images/tabb2.jpg

http://31.media.tumblr.com/a07215930685f05ccd9e666bba9f709f/tumblr_mobthnv7OM1su2hd3o1_1280.jpg

Awful portrait.