2023 UK championship

[DeanH]

The portal was down earlier today. Admins, any idea why?

I did not notice anything, anyone else?
Seems ok now.

[terrytibbs]

Why are they doing the draw for the masters now when some of the match ups depend on the result of this final? Idiotic. Just wait until after the result of this final. Could also be distracting for Ronnie and Ding.

[fkhan]

Why are they doing the draw for the masters now when some of the match ups depend on the result of this final? Idiotic. Just wait until after the result of this final. Could also be distracting for Ronnie and Ding.

The seeds are confirmed. It was a battle between Ding, Vafaei and Lisowski. Ding qualified.

[Cue crafty]

Best I've seen from Ding in some time, definitely looks like he's pretty much gonna go for it and take his chances.

[PatBlock]

WST live score says its 4 - 4, ding with 76 - ROS 0, Ding on a break of 6 and 67 left on the table. Since it's been that way for the last 20 minutes or so, I presume the session is over and it's actually 4 - 4 now, and not 5 - 4?
Way to go guys, thoroughly professional, as usual.

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[DeanH]

WST live score says its 4 - 4, ding with 76 - ROS 0, Ding on a break of 6 and 67 left on the table. Since it's been that way for the last 20 minutes or so, I presume the session is over and it's actually 4 - 4 now, and not 5 - 4?
Way to go guys, thoroughly professional, as usual.

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LOL
and I have noticed over the months that if it is the last day of an event, say, you go to a live score for a match, and go to the Matches, the event changes to the next event coming up and not the current event!!
Anwyay, I hope the "new" one will be NOTHING like this one, in look and feel as well as function (working!)

[PatBlock]

LOL
and I have noticed over the months that if it is the last day of an event, say, you go to a live score for a match, and go to the Matches, the event changes to the next event coming up and not the current event!!
Anwyay, I hope the "new" one will be NOTHING like this one, in look and feel as well as function (working!)

How is it possible, to get something so simple, so consistently wrong.

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[PatBlock]

....players are still missing easy balls on the thick side more often than the thin side which is the obvious sign of poor cueing.

I don't get this, could you explain please Steve? Logic would suggest that once the cue ball is not heading where you intended it to, it has a 50/50 chance of a thicker or thinner OB contact than expected, why do you think it tends toward the thicker contact?

Imagine two shots both involving the blue on its spot, both with the white ball on the green side of the table aiming for the yellow middle pocked.
Shot A: quarter ball shot on the blue, taking the white up towards baulk.
Shot B: quarter ball shot on the blue, taking the white towards the top of the table.
In shot A, a thicker contact means that the cue ball has drifted slightly to the left.
In shot B, a thicker contact means that the cue ball has drifted slightly to the right.
So how come the outcome is effectively reversed? Do you see what I mean?

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[snuker duper]

Ronnie is toying with Ding. He's playing in 2nd gear all day and is 7-7. Ronnie wins 10-8

[trains]

Its a shame Bingtao and Xintong aren't on the tour, I think they're both better than Ding.

[fkhan]

Well done ROS.

[vmax]

I don't get this, could you explain please Steve? Logic would suggest that once the cue ball is not heading where you intended it to, it has a 50/50 chance of a thicker or thinner OB contact than expected, why do you think it tends toward the thicker contact?

Imagine two shots both involving the blue on its spot, both with the white ball on the green side of the table aiming for the yellow middle pocked.
Shot A: quarter ball shot on the blue, taking the white up towards baulk.
Shot B: quarter ball shot on the blue, taking the white towards the top of the table.
In shot A, a thicker contact means that the cue ball has drifted slightly to the left.
In shot B, a thicker contact means that the cue ball has drifted slightly to the right.
So how come the outcome is effectively reversed? Do you see what I mean?

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When playing with sidespin one must take into account the deflection of the cue ball off the tip and the spinning cue ball. The cue ball will swerve more when spinning with the lay of the nap than it would when spinning against the lay of the nap because the lay of the nap drifts the cue ball that way anyway so this is magnified.

So missing thin is all to do with unwanted sidespin and the lay of the nap; seeing as 90% of shots are played across the table, because that's where the pockets are, poor cueing will result in off centre striking therefore the cue ball deflecting off the tip and slightly swerving as it travels towards the object ball will contact the object ball on the thin side because of the deflection of the cue ball and lay of the nap.

Potting a high black off it's spot from the green side of the table with check side (left hand side) means you aim just before the near jaw to allow for the cue ball to deflect to the right and then swerve beyond the chosen line because it's spinning in the same direction as the lay of the nap, so you aim thicker than with a plain ball shot to allow for this swerve and drift to the left to counteract the initial deflection to the right.

Same shot but with running side (right hand side) you aim near jaw to allow for the deflection of the cue ball to the left but seeing as the cue ball is spinning against the lay of the nap it doesn't swerve nearly as much, if at all when played with pace, so it kind of stays more true to the aiming point.

Therefore any plain ball shot aimed at the centre of the pocket when cued poorly (struck off centre cue ball) will carry unwanted sidespin and therefore always miss thin because the effect of the sidespin in relation to deflection and the lay of the nap hasn't been accounted for.
Therefore any plain ball or sidespin shot that gets a bad contact will miss thick on all angled pots and can miss both thick and thin on dead straight pots (these are obvious to see as bad contacts) because of a prolonged contact and seeing as these pros have the best cue actions in the world we can 99.9% discount poor cueing to blame on easy pots that are missed thick.

Ding has the yips at the moment, not a severe case but it's there for all to see and he tends to miss easy balls thin because of his deceleration on the shot, Hendry calls it all the time when he sees one as he's been through this himself so knows what's happening.
The Aramith balls kick far more often than the old SC balls because they are made from a softer resin and cannot be so highly polished so therefore a rougher surface means more friction on contact and also means chalk and dirt will stick to the balls more easily. Less and less nap, table heaters, ball polish and special chalk have been introduced to remedy this but when conditions are humid or when Ronnie uses Triangle chalk these bad contacts are more likely.

[The Boss]

Ronnie now has an identical record with Rafael Nadal in tennis - 22 major titles from 30 finals

[PatBlock]

vmax

That's very interesting, thanks for elaborating.

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[MrRottweiler]

Cracking week of snooker and with Dennis and Ken in the commentary box I was able to watch a match and read at the same time like the good old days. Nice to see Mark Williams give a quick nod to Ding when he won the hour long frame in the semi final as if to commiserate him for losing a long battle. Not many players would have thought to do that and showed what a class act Mark is. Ding was lucky to get to the final but put up a good fight. I don't know if Ding has a coach but every time I watch him play I wonder if he would benefit from a sports psychologist.