Who's Gonna Win the Worlds?

Think it will be someone from the bottom half, much stronger section, with Robertson, Maguire Allen, Ding and Selby the most capable. From the top half anybody could get to the final, could even be a qualifier who makes a good run in that side of the draw.

But for the winner I'm going for Selby.

I'm back.

I know, it's been a while. Let me explain why vanished and why I'm back now (I will be writing regularly in this great forum again from now on.)

After Ronnie announced he would pull out of the season, my normally everlasting enthusiasm for snooker was tarnished. I watched a lot of the events but I just didn't feel as involved as usual and that's why stopped commenting although I still read some the threads.

Another reason was that I started working full time for the first time. We all know that snooker is a brilliant game but it's extremely time consuming. It was just impossible to watch as much snooker as I normally did.


Alright. I will be able to watch almost all the World Championship and I'll post as much as I did the previous years. But first I want to comment on a couple of things that happened during my absence.

1. Ronnie's decision to play in the World Championship:

I'm very glad Ronnie is back and that he will give it his best shot this year. Deep down I knew he would be back rather sooner than later and now he is.

Ronnie's chances?
A world title is near to impossible to defend nowadays even if the player is sharp and full of confidence. Ronnie hasn't played a real match for nearly a year now and it would be ridiculous to think that won't effect him. He needs an easy opponent in the first round someone like White / Holt / Doherty and not someone like Fu / Perry / Day / Ebdon. He will have to play himself into form in the first rounds (Carter would come handy) to have a chance to beat any of the major contenders like Robbo / Trump / Selby.
Should Ronnie somehow defend his title, it would not only be his greatest ever achievement it would quite possibly be the greatest achievement in snooker history. But if anyone can do, it's Ronnie.


2. Mark Selby

He finally made the most out of his consistency and his mental strength. It's an incredible achievement to win more than one major a season but he already did that and the biggest is yet to come. SHOULD he win the Worlds as well this year, that would make him an all time great.


3. Neil Robertson

"Mr Unbeatable in Finals" looked all of a sudden like couldn't win a final anymore. But he of course he won the China Open and is one of the big favorites for the World title. Still funny how his 100% record was crushed so vigorously.


4. Judd Trump

Looks like he's gone off the boil after his magnificent International Championship victory. I haven't watched him for quite some time now but there must be something wrong with his game at the moment. I wouldn't rule him out as a contender for the worlds though. He will be extra motivated for this one.


5. John Higgins

Always a contender for the big one. I also didn't see a lot of him since the Shanghai Masters but it looks like he hasn't recovered as well from his terrible last season as he did in 2011 and 2009. I doubt he'll reach the latter stages of the tournament. But you never ever underestimate John Higgins.


OK, that's all for today. Damn, it feels good to be back.

Welcome back Snooker Overdrive

Yeah missed you posts here, and some were beggining to wonder that with Ronnie not playing almost all season you were only a fan of snooker purely because of him, but I always said you weren't and you're one of the most fairest posters around here, and I fully understand your absense with the reasons you mentioned.

As for Ronnie himself.. he's obviously not in the favourites club, but I fully agree with you that he needs a somewhat easy opponent first round, and not one like Fu, Gouldy, etc.. and yeah in that way he would play himself into form and then if he faced Carter 2nd round wouldnt be bad.. but anyway..

Selby for me is the favourite, and if he somehow were to win it, he would complete the Triple Crown of UK, Masters and World titles, an amazing achievment which I believe only Davis, Hendry and Williams have done. Robbo too would be my 2nd favourite, and with Judd it will all depend on how he starts..

And Higgins.. we can never discount the man, as he's often proved after a poor season (though he won in Shanghai) that he can win the Worlds, though don't think he'll win it this year and therefore that pattern since 2007 may have come to an end.

Very good to have you back Mr Overdrive

My full thoughts:

Hard to see past the winner of the potential Robbo v Selby semi as the overall winner. If only one makes it to the semi, they'll be the winner.

After some careful consideration I don't think Allen will do it this year. All this year he has been stopped by players playing well, like Ding and Robbo, and when Hawkins was playing well in Germany. his draw is too hard.

As for Ding, he'll have a bad session against Allen, Selby or Robbo and if you look carefully you'll notice he hasn't done brilliantly in longer matches. I think he's only won one best of 11 this season and that was against a wildcard.

Higgins Not been brilliant, but if you dig a little, he normally only has one good session in longer matches and is brilliant at damage limitation when he's not playing his best, which got him through a few of his matches back in his great 2010/1 season. If he gets past Bingo he's a real contender, especially considering Carter barely beats him, and Ronnie has only won one ranking match against him in the last ten years.

As for Judd, he hasn't beaten a top16 since Barry Hawkins in the Masters, and only using rankers his last victory over a top16 player was when he won the International Championship. Throwing logic aside for a moment, a gut instinct is telling me he'll do better than others expect. There might even be a BBC feature on him not doing well and I can't think of anything that will inspire him more.

Finally as a (relative) outsider, I think Mags will do reasonably well and will run Robbo close (if it's him he faces in the quarters).

As for Ronnie, apparently he's playing well in practice, but so has Jimmy White for the last 15 years or so

Thanks Andre147 and Skullman.

Nice to see you two still going strong! I'm looking forward to the intense discussions we'll certainly have in the next couple of weeks.

I thought about posting during the UK and the Masters final but I didn't post anything during the tournaments and I only watched a couple of matches, so it didn't feel right to post only on the last day.

firstly can someone call themselves a fan of the sport if in their opinion the sport is tarnished by a player deciding not to play.

Answer not in a million years.

snooker is far bigger than bloody Ronnie and the sooner that bloody drum is stopped banging the better it would be for snooker long term.

Wild WC wrote:firstly can someone call themselves a fan of the sport if in their opinion the sport is tarnished by a player deciding not to play.

Answer not in a million years.

snooker is far bigger than bloody Ronnie and the sooner that bloody drum is stopped banging the better it would be for snooker long term.

We all have our favourite players and he said he continued to watch snooker, though not as often because of his work and all, and slightly with a bit less enthusiasm, but that's not a bad thing. My favourite player will always be Ronnie, but I continued to watch this sport as I ever done with or without him, and the buzz for me didn't drop,though with Ronnie in it makes it even more special of course. Of course if this year's Worlds proves to be the final tourney for Ronnie, I suppose it would be a bit sad especially for all his fans but we obviously have to move on and no one is saying that a player is bigger than the sport itself, it will never happen, but one thing you can't argue is that some players are indeed special for everything they've done in the game and make the sport even better to watch, and Ronnie is certainly one of them.

Work or other things fair enough there's much more important things in the world than snooker easter i lost my father so snooker was nowhere near the top of my priority or thoughts but the sport is not tarnished because a player decides to retire or not play....it moves on with or without them.

Wild WC wrote:firstly can someone call themselves a fan of the sport if in their opinion the sport is tarnished by a player deciding not to play.

Answer not in a million years.

snooker is far bigger than bloody Ronnie and the sooner that bloody drum is stopped banging the better it would be for snooker long term.

Wild you haven't changed at all

No need to be upset. It's not like I stopped watching snooker, I obviously had to cut a lot of hours because of my job and combined with Ronnie's absence, I just didn't feel like posting here anymore.

I would have been back for the Worlds no matter what, Ronnie in it or not. I know I can't prove that but it's still true.

Since 2003 I have been watching football and I still do today. But there were a couple of years I didn't watch it at all. But just like snooker it's a way too great of a sport to abandon it for good.

Wild WC wrote:Work or other things fair enough there's much more important things in the world than snooker easter i lost my father so snooker was nowhere near the top of my priority or thoughts but the sport is not tarnished because a player decides to retire or not play....it moves on with or without them.

I never said the sport was tarnished ...

mate im not upset but i cant for the life of me fathom out how the sport was tarnished?

ive enjoyed this season better without hendry playing its been more enjoyable just enjoying great snooker without being a fan of a player.

Andre147 wrote:

Wild WC wrote:firstly can someone call themselves a fan of the sport if in their opinion the sport is tarnished by a player deciding not to play.

Answer not in a million years.

snooker is far bigger than bloody Ronnie and the sooner that bloody drum is stopped banging the better it would be for snooker long term.

We all have our favourite players and he said he continued to watch snooker, though not as often because of his work and all, and slightly with a bit less enthusiasm, but that's not a bad thing. My favourite player will always be Ronnie, but I continued to watch this sport as I ever done with or without him, and the buzz for me didn't drop,though with Ronnie in it makes it even more special of course. Of course if this year's Worlds proves to be the final tourney for Ronnie, I suppose it would be a bit sad especially for all his fans but we obviously have to move on and no one is saying that a player is bigger than the sport itself, it will never happen, but one thing you can't argue is that some players are indeed special for everything they've done in the game and make the sport even better to watch, and Ronnie is certainly one of them.

Check out these 2 Judd Trump - centuries:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARnTzGDrH44

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzYdkzdphW0


Ronnie has put in and on some amazing breaks, but I personally think Judd has surpassed him in that department. What a centuries are those 2 ones for example.... !!! And I believe Jimmy has and can greatly benefit from the arise of Judd. They are both lefties, and Jimmy can play like a train with flair also.

Snooker Overdrive wrote:

Wild WC wrote:Work or other things fair enough there's much more important things in the world than snooker easter i lost my father so snooker was nowhere near the top of my priority or thoughts but the sport is not tarnished because a player decides to retire or not play....it moves on with or without them.

I never said the sport was tarnished ...

you said " my normally everlasting enthusiasm for snooker was tarnished." one player should not have that effect on a snookerfan.

Wild WC wrote:firstly can someone call themselves a fan of the sport if in their opinion the sport is tarnished by a player deciding not to play.

Answer not in a million years.

snooker is far bigger than bloody Ronnie and the sooner that bloody drum is stopped banging the better it would be for snooker long term.

who are you to say who is and is not a fan for christ sake, you got some sort of ego or chip on your shoulder. FANS = those who support the game in any way, most especially those that travel to and pay to watch snooker at the venue. If snookerdrive wanted a break or did not want to comment cos his fav player was not around thats his business - does not make him not a fan of the sport. Perhaps he was gutted

Put that in your pipe and smoke it

Wild WC wrote:

Snooker Overdrive wrote:

Wild WC wrote:Work or other things fair enough there's much more important things in the world than snooker easter i lost my father so snooker was nowhere near the top of my priority or thoughts but the sport is not tarnished because a player decides to retire or not play....it moves on with or without them.

I never said the sport was tarnished ...

you said " my normally everlasting enthusiasm for snooker was tarnished." one player should not have that effect on a snookerfan.

Well it did, at least partially. You know I commented on as many matches as I could in the last couple of years even if Ronnie crashed out in the first round or didn't even show up. Why would I do what?

But enough of that, I came back to talk about snooker not to argue about my reasons why I was absent.

my enthusiasm for snooker was tarnished when John Higgins was caught on tape by NOTW.......I also took a break from posting at that time. I will burn in hell according to wild.

Smart wrote:my enthusiasm for snooker was tarnished when John Higgins was caught on tape by NOTW.......I also took a break from posting at that time. I will burn in hell according to wild.

Smart wrote:

Wild WC wrote:firstly can someone call themselves a fan of the sport if in their opinion the sport is tarnished by a player deciding not to play.

Answer not in a million years.

snooker is far bigger than bloody Ronnie and the sooner that bloody drum is stopped banging the better it would be for snooker long term.

who are you to say who is and is not a fan for christ sake, you got some sort of ego or chip on your shoulder. FANS = those who support the game in any way, most especially those that travel to and pay to watch snooker at the venue. If snookerdrive wanted a break or did not want to comment cos his fav player was not around thats his business - does not make him not a fan of the sport. Perhaps he was gutted

Put that in your pipe and smoke it

you go too snooker and buck about in bars yea what a bucking fan you are baldy bucking runt

you haven't got a bucking clue why i cant bucking go to watch the bucking sport so in future keep your bucking opinions to yourself you bucking runt

Wild WC wrote:

Smart wrote:

Wild WC wrote:firstly can someone call themselves a fan of the sport if in their opinion the sport is tarnished by a player deciding not to play.

Answer not in a million years.

snooker is far bigger than bloody Ronnie and the sooner that bloody drum is stopped banging the better it would be for snooker long term.

who are you to say who is and is not a fan for christ sake, you got some sort of ego or chip on your shoulder. FANS = those who support the game in any way, most especially those that travel to and pay to watch snooker at the venue. If snookerdrive wanted a break or did not want to comment cos his fav player was not around thats his business - does not make him not a fan of the sport. Perhaps he was gutted

Put that in your pipe and smoke it

you go too snooker and buck about in bars yea what a bucking fan you are baldy bucking runt

you haven't got a bucking clue why i cant bucking go to watch the bucking sport so in future keep your bucking opinions to yourself you bucking runt

change the record

Holty

I'll go for D.Poomjaeng this year

Jewell wrote:

Wild WC wrote:ive enjoyed this season better without hendry playing its been more enjoyable just enjoying great snooker without being a fan of a player.

That's because Hendry clearly wasn't the force of old. Now I'm not trying diss Hendry here, at least not on purpose anyway, but just trying to make a point. When you see your favourite player not performing to their capabilities for so long it can become a relief when they retire.

But my question is this: Would you have felt the same way if Hendry had retired in 1996? When his dominance was showing no signs of coming to an end? Surely you would have lost abit of enthusiasm for the sport, if he had retired at that point?

you will get more sense speaking to a 2 year old than speaking to wild

Wild, calm down and stop the attacks. It's completely obnoxious.

Overdrive welcome back, good to see you around

Casey wrote:Wild, calm down and stop the attacks. It's completely obnoxious.

Overdrive welcome back, good to see you around

Thanks

Snooker Overdrive wrote:

Casey wrote:Wild, calm down and stop the attacks. It's completely obnoxious.

Overdrive welcome back, good to see you around

Thanks

Yeah definately, those attacks are pointless and everyone is entiteled to do what they want and still love the game, as Snooker Overdrive does.

I too am looking forward to some of our snooker discussions we had last season.

Smart wrote:

Wild WC wrote:

Smart wrote:

Wild WC wrote:firstly can someone call themselves a fan of the sport if in their opinion the sport is tarnished by a player deciding not to play.

Answer not in a million years.

snooker is far bigger than bloody Ronnie and the sooner that bloody drum is stopped banging the better it would be for snooker long term.

who are you to say who is and is not a fan for christ sake, you got some sort of ego or chip on your shoulder. FANS = those who support the game in any way, most especially those that travel to and pay to watch snooker at the venue. If snookerdrive wanted a break or did not want to comment cos his fav player was not around thats his business - does not make him not a fan of the sport. Perhaps he was gutted

Put that in your pipe and smoke it

you go too snooker and little kitten about in bars yea what a little kittens playing fan you are baldy little kittens playing lovely man

you haven't got a little kittens playing clue why i cant little kittens playing go to watch the little kittens playing sport so in future keep your little kittens playing opinions to yourself you little kittens playing lovely man

change the record

Casey wrote:Wild, calm down and stop the attacks. It's completely obnoxious.

Overdrive welcome back, good to see you around

what attack?

ROS

Dominic Dale, for the win.

Wild WC wrote:

Casey wrote:Wild, calm down and stop the attacks. It's completely obnoxious.

Overdrive welcome back, good to see you around

what attack?