UK Championship 25/11 - 7/12

[Masterdoctorgenius]

this man is damn lucky

but justice resumed

[daffie]

A dismal excuse for a final I'm afraid to say. I don't see Judd coming back from 9-4 down. Onwards to The Masters it is then..

[brusque]

at least that was a hard spanking ..... I hope Trump will put a lid on the naughty snooker part for a while

[brusque]

a fluke was the only way Jud could win a frame n he could not even do that .... what a high standard .... RoS must be chuckling inside

[daffie]

How lucky was that?! Judd rushing things again tho...chance missed...again.

[Masterdoctorgenius]

how unlucky was that

[Masterdoctorgenius]

Has it been mentioned as to why Ronnie is breaking off left-handed all of the time. He seems to have been leaving a 'shot on' everytime that he does this.

he says wiht his left hand he can widen the the angle

[daffie]

Ronnie has been doing that for years now. Don't know why or if there's any particular (technical) reason for it.

[bluenose1940]

Has it been mentioned as to why Ronnie is breaking off left-handed all of the time. He seems to have been leaving a 'shot on' everytime that he does this.

[Masterdoctorgenius]

This is a bad time for Trump to leave O'Sullivan these early chances. A loose red and O'Sullivan with his hand on the table, right from the break-off...

not many expect ronnie knock in the long ones anymore hence they dont care to leave them. maybe they do it intentionnaly to leave tempters and annoy ronnie if ronnie misses. good tactic but doesnt work. his LP improved dramatically since 2012

[daffie]

Yep right away in amongst the balls he is. Black tied up though, so not easy at all.

[Odrl]

This is a bad time for Trump to leave O'Sullivan these early chances. A loose red and O'Sullivan with his hand on the table, right from the break-off...

[daffie]

That was a nice ditty with Steve Davis about centuries. Hendry and Ronnie's first when they where 11 years old! Terry Griffiths...he was 24 Goes to show how much this game has changed since the 90s when Hendry came along and changed the way the game is played.

[Ronnie's tip]

Yes its been poor but I think the fact the COC was such a high standard makes this match a hard one to live up to. This is a far bigger prize though and also you can't underestimate the fact that its been a long event, 7th match of the tournament, they are bound to be feeling pretty tired at this stage. Experience counts for a lot in matches like this and of course Ronnie has a major advantage in that department. Trump is still relatively a novice in big finals, only the 3rd major BBC final event of his career.

He will be a stronger player for it in the long run, the fact that he is the only player currently offering a challenge to O'Sullivan is a worry for the game.

I think there's a few who can beat ROS - Selby, Robertson and Trump. ROS is naturally the favourite most of the time but that's because he's simply the best. We also should remember that it's not rare for things like this to happen. John Higgins from 07-11 just felt invincible and there wasn't the same complaints as there is now. Hendry had it too. It's not so different to football or tennis. It's just a fact of life. The best players scare the rest - there's only usually a small group who you feel can actually defeat the very best. I do think snooker would be better with an elite group like the era of prime Higgins/ROS/Williams, but those days don't happen very often.

I believe the bigger worry is the next generation. When ROS goes and the era of Robertson/Selby slows down, who is there to stop Ding and Trump? Those two could easily be the exact same as ROS is now. From 27 and below, I can only think of two top players.

[cebs]

Hazel just said Selby vs Murphy will be the first match at the masters, is this right?

Surely it will be Ronnie as he won it last year?

I thought that was the normal format for tournament winner to open the next one and the only match for which the public knows one of the player's for sure. I've bought extra tickets for some friends for the Sunday and will be annoyed if it's not Ronnie. Not saying Selby vs Murphy will be a bad match but not the same.