2017 World Championship - Main Event

[JimMalone]

A lovely clearance from Higgins to win on the black.

That was classic Higgins. Great to watch.

[rman]

Glad Ronnie has won. I have no idea why Murphy decided to wade into the dispute between Ronnie and Hearns but all it did was fire Ronnie up. Murphy is a good player but he really does come across as an arrogant and snidey player.

[JimMalone]

So now that Higgins leads 9-7 he should be the favorite to get into the next round. Have only seen the last few frames of this match, but they were great to watch.

[Dark]

So now that Higgins leads 9-7 he should be the favorite to get into the next round. Have only seen the last few frames of this match, but they were great to watch.

Surely the highest quality match so far by quite a margin. Both looked to be playing very well. If Allen wins the first frame then he is a chance but it would be a surprise if Higgins lost from 10-7 up.

[Odrl]

A good morning of snooker then. :smile:

Murphy did a little better against O'Sullivan this time, but he still made way too many mistakes and didn't really have an answer when O'Sullivan raised his game. It's a shame for him in a way, because he is clearly capable of holding his own against the three or four other players who are in O'Sullivan's class these days, but against O'Sullivan himself he just doesn't have the confidence or the mental strength needed to compete. I think O'Sullivan will start favourite against the winner of Ding-Liang, but he is bound to have a tough game in the semi-finals if he gets through.

The other table was a little more interesting this morning, Higgins winning the session 6-2 to take control of the match. Allen was outplayed, but he still had a great chance to win at least two of the frames he lost, so he can't be happy with being 9-7 behind ahead of tonight.

I am out for lunch, so I hope I don't miss too much of Ding-Liang. :smile:

[JimMalone]

As I'm always also watching the rankings closely here's a little fact that I find to be quite interesting:
With his loss to O'Sullivan Murphy will drop at least three places and be at best only number #7 at the end of the season. If Hawkins wins his next match, Murphy will already be down to 8.

There is only one bigger loser and this is of course Stuart Bingham who loses the points for his 2015 World Championship title. He ill be #9 at the best, but also fall behind Mark Allen or Liang Wenbo if one of them advances to the quarterfinals. And of course Ronnie can come from behind and surpass him as well.

[Odrl]

There is only one bigger loser and this is of course Stuart Bingham who loses the points for his 2015 World Championship title. He ill be #9 at the best, but also fall behind Mark Allen or Liang Wenbo if one of them advances to the quarterfinals. And of course Ronnie can come from behind and surpass him as well.

Obviously Bingham hasn't been a prolific winner since his 2015 World title, but this is still kind of surprising, because my general impression has been that Bingham has still done better than the likes of Allen and Liang over the past two seasons. He certainly would have been ahead under the previous system, where all those semi-finals would have mattered a little more. :smile:

[JimMalone]

Obviously Bingham hasn't been a prolific winner since his 2015 World title, but this is still kind of surprising, because my general impression has been that Bingham has still done better than the likes of Allen and Liang over the past two seasons. He certainly would have been ahead under the previous system, where all those semi-finals would have mattered a little more. :smile:

Bingham had a pretty bad 2015/16 season, but yes I still expected him to be ahead of Allen - well for now he is and as I think Higgins will win I guess he will stay -, who was even worse (at least for my feeling). The man from Northern Ireland has won the Players Championship in 2016 though, which makes up for a third of all his points.

[vmax4steve]

This was a nice start of the day! To those complaining about kicks: have another look, that ball wasn't going kick or no kick, happens to me all the time when I try to apply to much side spin.

It was a kick/bad contact, there wasn't any need for side and none was applied, look again as the cue ball practically stopped when it should have run on to position on the black.
Nice how Ronnie rubbed it in by not having the cue ball cleaned though, just to have a dig at Murphy's cue action

[jw147]

It was a kick/bad contact, there wasn't any need for side and none was applied, look again as the cue ball practically stopped when it should have run on to position on the black.
Nice how Ronnie rubbed it in by not having the cue ball cleaned though, just to have a dig at Murphy's cue action

Just shows how silly the rankings can be at times after looking at Ronnie's dismantelation job on Murphy. Enjoyed watching that, especially the "kick"...

[trains]

Re the 16th frame of the Higgins Allen match where Higgins fluked a red to get in then when he missed left Allen with a difficult shot, does anyone remember John Higgins losing a key frame or deciding frame to bad ballrun ?

[VillaGuy]

Ronnie saying he feels younger now than when he was playing 20 years ago because he looked bloated and was drinking heavily, all said with Allen on the practice table behind him I wouldn't be surprised if this is a little dig

[Dark]

Ding trying to wrongly call a foul on himself but the referee was alert and didn't let him.

[narl]

What is the black line maguire has on his finger? it looks like its tattooed on but its only on the top portion of his finger, not the underside.

[DeanH]

What is the black line maguire has on his finger? it looks like its tattooed on but its only on the top portion of his finger, not the underside.

I think it replaces his wedding ring, which he does not wear when playing - or so I have heard