2018 World Championship

[Billy]

You are Phil Yates and I claim my free set of snooker balls.

[Csmith]

Robertson and Bingham?
Robertson might have only been in one final but his peak form is one of the best in the game imo
And he hold that crazy record of the biggest number of century breaks in one season.
Bingham isnt of a class capable of winning biggest titles but in 2015 he raised his form above the rest of the field and proved himself.

Yup. Not making any assumptions about either players. I expect Robertson to regain his form and return to the final one day. If Bingham never makes another final it may only be because he was such a late bloomer.

[the lone wolf]

It's actually quite amazing. I went all the way back to 1975 and I couldn't find any other instances of the top two seeds meeting in the final or both losing in the first round.

So in the history of modern snooker (more than 40 years) each event has only happened once.

1982 - Davis and Thorburn both lost in the first round.
1987 - Davis and Johnson met in the final.

That's it. Very weird.

This shows just how tough it is to become the snooker world champion.
17 days to prove yourself amongst the best IMO it's the hardest world title to win in major sport...
But I'm biased

[JimMalone]

Before and after. If you look at his shot selections, they were often very attacking. The issue I think is that Ebdon also had this idea that he had to out-think everything, maybe to keep his focus or something. Still, brilliant shot-maker

John Higgins once said in an interview, that for him Ebdon was (aside from the likes of Hendry, O'Sullivan, Selby) always the hardest opponent, because "you would never know, what shot he was playing. With most players you could predict it, but Peter always came up with something different you didn't expect". Of course this is from my memory and those are not his original words, but this was about the meaning.

[JimMalone]

Another good result if he can do it. I’m not adding to the ‘Is Bingham a good player?’ debate a couple of you have been having, but his game and style of play do absolutely nothing for me, nor has he ever really impressed me to any notable level.

Well, how can somebody, who became World Champion in Snooker not be at least a "good player"?

I think there have been better players that have never been World Champion and I wouldn't include him in my Top 8 (or maybe Top 10) active players, but his performance in the 2015 edition, when he grabbed the title, was quite impressive to me.

[JimMalone]

Good to see Walden and Lisowski win yesterday.
Today it will be interesting to see if Neil Robertson can come back.

[vilkrang]

Just want to reiterate what others have said about Ebdon, ie. that he was an an incredible attacking shot maker and would go for some shots that would seem like outright lunacy but would get them quite often.

In his latter years the speed at which he played was stupidly slow but he was still going for the crazy shots. If you hear him in commentary his co-commentators often make comments as to the crazy shots he would play.

He was definitely an attacking player throughout his career, just not a very fast player towards the end.

[vilkrang]

Also, that long red that Lisowski potted in frame 12 yesterday was absolutely outrageous, particularly with the table being so open.

I really hope that they don't have the Williams fluke nominated for shot of the tournament as it will probably win because it looked good but at the end of the day it was a total fluke to pot it and no matter how flashy it looks, a fluke shouldn't be shot of the tournament.

[jrc750]

Also, that long red that Lisowski potted in frame 12 yesterday was absolutely outrageous, particularly with the table being so open.

I really hope that they don't have the Williams fluke nominated for shot of the tournament as it will probably win because it looked good but at the end of the day it was a total fluke to pot it and no matter how flashy it looks, a fluke shouldn't be shot of the tournament.

Would be a good idea if they showed the top 5 outrageous flukes alongside the shot of the Tournament

[pottr]

2018 World Championship

Anyone else who makes a derogatory comment like 'even Greame Dott won the WC' disqualifies their opinions.

if it's that easy, I'll sit here with baited breath waiting for jonny anonymous to qualify and lift the title...

Oh, don't forget the additional runner up medals too!

[bigandyg]

Well said Pottr

[Dave Walton]

Anyone else notice Robertson seemed to have damaged his tip in the final frame yesterday? Cursed under his breath (f*ck) as he was looking at his tip walking out of the arena.

[gavpowell]

Anyone else who makes a derogatory comment like 'even Greame Dott won the WC' disqualifies their opinions.

Although I agree in the case of Dott because he can and has played really well, but in some cases it's no different to boxing - someone gets a lucky punch or the opponent has an off night and you have a world champion who wouldn't normally be considered a world-class contender, even if they're better than the 99%. Especially the way Dott and Ebdon played in their final!

[pottr]

You can't equate someone winning a World Snooker title with having a 'puncher's chance' at boxing.

You can maybe win one frame on outrageous look... but a world title? Come now.

[pottr]

Well said Pottr

Especially when you consider he won it with a really dodgy, poorly made cue... eh Andy? x