International Championship 2015 - Discussion

[DeanH]

Maybe he thinks people have forgiven him now and is ok to start winning again!

doesn't look like it

no respect for this guy

[sealer]

no respect for this guy

[j6uk]

the monster just tor through everyone, an every time someone put up a fight higgi just slapped them back into place an carried on tearing

[golferson123]

What a 2015 it's been for Higgins.

been said before but class is permanent

[SnookerFan]

What a 2015 it's been for Higgins.

[jrc750]

wtf. 3 rankers in one year after not having won for nearly 3 years.

Maybe he thinks people have forgiven him now and is ok to start winning again! 😆

[Odrl]

What to say at the end of the week?

Pretty good event as a whole. Once again it showed that the slightly longer matches just make for better entertainment, and certainly the two-session semi-finals are a very good idea, even if they were a bit one-sided on this occasion. The venue looked really good as well, some matches didn't get much of an audience, but the last couple of days were really well supported, which is not always guaranteed in the Chinese events. I hope snooker returns to Daqing next year.

Very well done to Eurosport for this week as well. I know I criticize them a lot, and I think for good reason, but on this occasion they actually showed both sessions of the final live, along with everything else. And they were starting the matches at 7am as well, getting the likes of Johnson out of bed to commentate, unlike some other events where they miss the first three or four frames. :smile:

The snooker itself was nothing special, although certainly not bad either. Well done to John Higgins for winning his third major title of 2015, and I'm sure he will regard this one as the biggest of the three, not just because of the high prize money, but also because of the way he played throughout the week. Credit to Gilbert as well. A few years from now someone might be looking through old results and see his 10-5 defeat, and probably think he played rather poorly, like a lot of surprising finalists do when facing the likes of Higgins, O'Sullivan, Selby and others. But not the case here at all, Gilbert never really cracked under pressure, but Higgins played the kind of snooker that had made him favourite in the first place.

I was so busy last week that I missed the deadline for the fantasy game I'm playing, but even here luck has stayed with me, because I had Higgins in my team, and who knows whether I might have traded him had I had the chance. :wink:

Looking forward to more snooker in November. :smile:

[DeanH]

Well done to David Gilbert for getting to, and playing pretty well in, his first ranking major final, now rank 21, biggest pay cheque (I am sure his new wife will have that taken care of :wink, and hopefully a springboard to good times
But unfortunately he came up against John Higgins who was just playing near-perfect snooker all event.

[Masterdoctorgenius]

wtf. 3 rankers in one year after not having won for nearly 3 years.

[Odrl]

Gilbert is handling the pressure pretty well, but unfortunately for him, Higgins has been relentless. Yet another crucial clearance, he's made three or four like that in his televised matches this week. :smile:

[DeanH]

International Championship 2015 - Discussion

an enjoyable first session
it did seem from the start of Eurosport coverage that Gilbert needed Higgins to miss for him to get any headway but after the msi he regained composure and showed his game
looking forward to 11:30

[motorhead]

Yea I mostly see him play in the premier league/champions league whatever it is called now and you can tell he's got a game that can take you to higher spots in the rankings.

[Odrl]

Just a quick prediction before I go to bed...

The first time I saw Gilbert play was in the 1st round of the 2007 World Championship, where I believe he led Stephen Hendry 5-1 at one point, but just started missing a few when he had a real chance to run away with the match, and he ended up losing 10-7. We didn't see him much on TV in the following years, but the best match I saw him play was probably in the 2009 Welsh Open, where he thrashed Mark Williams in the final qualifying round (the match was held over to the venue) with some great one-visit snooker. He scores really well when he is on form and he can be quite fluent, so it's a little surprising he hasn't had more success in the game. It's not just that he hasn't won anything, he doesn't even get through the early rounds all that often. It could all change after tomorrow though. This will be the biggest match of his life, kind of like it was for Woollaston and Gould when they faced Higgins in ranking finals recently. I am not expecting him to win, but I do hope he does himself justice and plays the way he has been all week. :smile:

As for Higgins, not much to be said really. A chance to win his third major title in a little over six months, which would again put him among the best players in the world after a few years of mediocrity. He has a habit of starting these finals really well and stamping his authority on the match, and it takes a good player to respond to that. It's a question whether Gilbert has the experience and the mental strength to do that, particularly since he has never been in this position before, and the pressure of the occasion might get to him a little. And even if it doesn't, there is still the huge task of actually beating an in-form Higgins in a two-session snooker match. I will go for a 10-4 win for Higgins, but obviously I am hoping for a closer match. :smile:

[Skypigeon]

wtf is happening in the snooker world right know. a self called journeyman is winning his 3rd ranker of the year and 2nd of the season. this is so wrong.

Nothing wrong with that mate! He's just the best!

[Masterdoctorgenius]

wtf is happening in the snooker world right know. a self called journeyman is winning his 3rd ranker of the year and 2nd of the season. this is so wrong.