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Alice Klar
Apr 13, 2016
The chances that I'm the only one here who likes snooker are strong but since this competition begins in earnest today, I thought I'd try to get a discussion going.

Will reigning champion Stuart Bingham make it two in a row? Will Shaun Murphy beat him again? Will Ronnie O'Sullivan turn up? Will he wear shoes? Will Ali Carter ever be able to play without every shot being framed by a discussion of his illness?

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Trin Tragula
Apr 22, 2005

I wonder if the other players are having a whip-round for whoever can beat Peter Ebdon? I love watching his pale Cliff Thorbun impression, I can get loads of work done while he's chalking his cue and I still don't have to miss a shot, but he can't be any fun to play against.

Alice Klar
Apr 13, 2016
Ebdon is one of the perennial names who hang around the top class of snooker but can't excite me at all. See also, Barry Hawkins, Graeme Dott, Joe Perry. It's a boring day when they're playing each other.

There are barely more exciting things happening on the other table. Carter and Bingham are similarly unexciting players but Bingham's reigning champion-ness at least adds something to that match.

HappyCamperGL
May 18, 2014

It's nine minutes since either Bingham or carter potted a ball.

Trin Tragula
Apr 22, 2005

I genuinely love watching Exciting Young Things coming off the rails when suddenly you have to win 13 frames for the match, and they just don't have the stamina for it and get bored to death. Makes me think there should be room in the calendar for a big major tournament at the start of the season where they play longer matches and make the final best-of-31 like the UK Championship used to be, because it is a bit odd that all through the season the longest match anyone ever plays is best-of-19 in a ranking final, and then suddenly they rock up in Sheffield and it's best-of-19 from the start.

HappyCamperGL
May 18, 2014

Curse of the crucible strikes again.

Alice Klar
Apr 13, 2016
Here endeth the reign of Baron Greenback.

Never seen anyone look as nervous as Carter during snookers required.

Alice Klar
Apr 13, 2016
McGill's on fire this morning, and not just his hair.

EDIT: And he's taken out the sock puppet likeness of David Cameron.

Alice Klar fucked around with this message at 12:53 on Apr 17, 2016

Jedit
Dec 10, 2011

Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

Steve Davis has officially retired. It was probably a few years past time - he said last year that he filled in the entry form for the World Championships on autopilot without really knowing why he was playing - but he loves the game and I don't think he wanted to retire while his father was still alive.

Trin Tragula
Apr 22, 2005

I never really understood what a good player he must have been in the 80s until 2010, when he beat John Higgins at age 52 and got into the quarter-finals.

Jedit
Dec 10, 2011

Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

Trin Tragula posted:

I never really understood what a good player he must have been in the 80s until 2010, when he beat John Higgins at age 52 and got into the quarter-finals.

I'm still not sure you understand. People talk of Hendry as the player who transformed the game, and to some degree they're right, but it was Davis who really did it. He was the first player to treat snooker as a serious profession, putting in 40 hours a week of practice even when there wasn't a tournament on. This allowed him to perfect the game as it was played: you'd play until you got into trouble, then put your opponent into trouble so he'd put you back in. Davis won because it was very hard to get him into trouble, he could play longer before getting into trouble, and he was better at getting other people into trouble. What Hendry did was concentrate more on winning frames in a single visit and getting out of safeties without putting the opponent among the balls.

When you saw Davis later in life he was playing a lot like the South African player Perrie Mans used to in the 70s. Mans famously never made a century break in a 26-year career, and in 1978 reached the final of the World Championship without ever making a break over 33 (my earliest snooker memory, and indeed one of my earliest memories period, is him beating Fred Davis in the semis that year).

On the subject of Fred Davis: with Steve's retirement there are now only four people on the tour who played Fred in a ranking event - Jimmy White, James Wattana, Mark King and Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Trin Tragula
Apr 22, 2005

Walden v "Not That" Robbie Williams is pretty amazing; both of them look like they can barely pot a house plant at the moment.

edit: they're still terrible and Stephen Hendry sounds so sad on commentary

Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Apr 18, 2016

Jedit
Dec 10, 2011

Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

Hendry's had a few "loving hell, why did I quit?" moments over the last couple of years, usually when commentating on matches like that. There were serious noises that he was going to come out of retirement when the World Championship qualifying was opened up to give every living world champion a wild card. I'm happy he didn't, though; he loved winning, not playing.

Alice Klar
Apr 13, 2016
Milkins is playing beautifully this morning. Selby looks like he's had two hours of sleep.

Babby Sathanas
May 16, 2006

bearbating is now adorable
My tiny knowledge of snooker combined with watching it this morning has led me to decide that Miltank is my favourite player because he constantly looks like he's being told off by his mummy. :(

[edit]

Rollout missed. Miltank fainted. :(

Babby Sathanas fucked around with this message at 12:49 on Apr 19, 2016

Deteriorata
Feb 6, 2005

Babby Sathanas posted:

My tiny knowledge of snooker combined with watching it this morning has led me to decide that Miltank is my favourite player because he constantly looks like he's being told off by his mummy. :(

[edit]

Rollout missed. Miltank fainted. :(

I root for Barry Hawkins because he looks like a thug straight out of a Looney Tunes cartoon from 60 years ago crossed with Edward G. Robinson.

I also growl his name as "Master Baaary 'Orkins" like I'm Long John Silver.

Yes, I'm actually 10 years old - but I love Snooker.

Alice Klar
Apr 13, 2016
Trump vs. Liang is the first truly great matchup of this tournament and I'm very excited to see how it ends.

EDIT: That said, neither are at the top of their game.

Alice Klar fucked around with this message at 16:36 on Apr 20, 2016

Deteriorata
Feb 6, 2005

That was a hell of a shot by Liang to pot that red off the black in the corner. :stare:

My man Master 'Orkins (arr, matey) has polished off Zhang Anda 10-5, finishing off with a break of 141 (highest so far). Next up is Ronnie O'Sullivan, which should be a pretty good match.

Pilsner
Nov 23, 2002

I'm following it myself here too, from Denmark, on Eurosport. I'm not sure if Americans can buy access to Eurosport Player, but if you pay, I think why wouldn't they.

http://www.eurosportplayer.com

It's a slow, but interesting and highly varied game. I recently tried playing it myself at a local billiards hall, and goddamn the table is huge! A game with an equally newbie friend took one hour, but fun.

Deteriorata
Feb 6, 2005

Pilsner posted:

I'm following it myself here too, from Denmark, on Eurosport. I'm not sure if Americans can buy access to Eurosport Player, but if you pay, I think why wouldn't they.

http://www.eurosportplayer.com

It's a slow, but interesting and highly varied game. I recently tried playing it myself at a local billiards hall, and goddamn the table is huge! A game with an equally newbie friend took one hour, but fun.

Not available in the US. I use undisclosed internet wizardry to watch it on the BBC.

Pvt. Public
Sep 9, 2004

I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.

Deteriorata posted:

Not available in the US. I use undisclosed internet wizardry to watch it on the BBC.

Also in the US and I do the same.

Gambrinus
Mar 1, 2005

Pilsner posted:

I'm following it myself here too, from Denmark, on Eurosport. I'm not sure if Americans can buy access to Eurosport Player, but if you pay, I think why wouldn't they.

http://www.eurosportplayer.com

It's a slow, but interesting and highly varied game. I recently tried playing it myself at a local billiards hall, and goddamn the table is huge! A game with an equally newbie friend took one hour, but fun.

Yes. Like darts, it's one of those things that looks a lot easier on TV than it actually is in real life. Anyway, what with living overseas for a few years I'm a bit out of touch with snooker these days. It always reminds me of revising for exams in university though.

Babby Sathanas
May 16, 2006

bearbating is now adorable
I loved all of Judd Trump v Liang Wenbo, they're both so good, I was just sad it didn't go to a frame 19.

On the other hand, Fred Perry v Kyloren Wilson is a comedy of errors.

Jedit
Dec 10, 2011

Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

A full match snooker table is 12 feet by 6 feet, if anyone was wondering.

Pvt. Public
Sep 9, 2004

I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.

Jedit posted:

A full match snooker table is 12 feet by 6 feet, if anyone was wondering.

There used to be a pair of 14 by 7s (which I didn't even know existed) in Oxford at some pool and snooker club near downtown. That caught me off guard when I went to play while in town for work.

Alice Klar
Apr 13, 2016
I've been loving McGill as an underdog for the past couple of years but he was no match for Fu tonight.

Scrappy frames all round. Enjoyable match.

What were they laughing at over on the Williams/Holt table?

Babby Sathanas
May 16, 2006

bearbating is now adorable
Is Ronnie O'Sullivan a professional Tintin impersonator?

[edit]

Lickle Sam Bird - man or beetroot? :iiam:

Babby Sathanas fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Apr 23, 2016

Alice Klar
Apr 13, 2016
Baird vs Selby is absolutely heartwrenching. What a fightback!

Jedit
Dec 10, 2011

Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

Alice Klar posted:

Baird vs Selby is absolutely heartwrenching. What a fightback!

I called it at 13-11 Selby when the match leveled. It's so common that someone makes a great fight back to level but they just can't sustain that pitch once the pressure is off. Then the guy who has spent the last several frames in his seat closes it out because now he's fresh. It doesn't always happen - there was the year Ken Doherty came back from X-1 down with X to play two or three rounds running, and of course Hendry-White 14-14 in 1996 - but it's for me the more frequent scenario.

HappyCamperGL
May 18, 2014

Alice Klar posted:

I've been loving McGill as an underdog for the past couple of years but he was no match for Fu tonight.

Scrappy frames all round. Enjoyable match.

What were they laughing at over on the Williams/Holt table?

It was probably the ridiculous bounce Williams got off the cushion here. First video on this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/36121634

The tables do seem to have noticeably shitter this year.

Jedit
Dec 10, 2011

Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

HappyCamperGL posted:

It was probably the ridiculous bounce Williams got off the cushion here. First video on this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/36121634

The tables do seem to have noticeably shitter this year.

There have been complaints, and for once they're being listened to.

Having a hard time believing the Hawkins-O'Sullivan match. Ronnie is two frames down despite being ahead in every significant metric, and of the seven frames he's won he took three with centuries and three more with 80+ breaks.

Deteriorata
Feb 6, 2005

Jedit posted:

There have been complaints, and for once they're being listened to.

Having a hard time believing the Hawkins-O'Sullivan match. Ronnie is two frames down despite being ahead in every significant metric, and of the seven frames he's won he took three with centuries and three more with 80+ breaks.

It's like the tortoise and the hare. O'Sullivan races away with a big break, then misses an easy shot and lets Hawking back in. Hawkins plods along, picks up O'Sullivan's scraps, and wins the frame.

It's pretty good to watch.

Babby Sathanas
May 16, 2006

bearbating is now adorable
Ronnie McDonald is gonna tire himself out I reckon, he can't have that many grams of coke to keep him going. I can see it tying up quickly and Master Barry 'Orkins will finish up cleanly and easily.

Oh btw it's now impossible for me to say his name without going Master Barry 'Orkins.

Deteriorata
Feb 6, 2005

Babby Sathanas posted:

Ronnie McDonald is gonna tire himself out I reckon, he can't have that many grams of coke to keep him going. I can see it tying up quickly and Master Barry 'Orkins will finish up cleanly and easily.

Oh btw it's now impossible for me to say his name without going Master Barry 'Orkins.




Avast, me hearties! Surely that scurvy dog O'Sullivan has got the black spot now. Master 'Orkins be makin' him walk the plank. We be takin' the Jolly Roger to the Spanish Main, now!

:yarr:

Babby Sathanas
May 16, 2006

bearbating is now adorable
Ronnie made Barry smack himself in the mouth. This rules.

Alice Klar
Apr 13, 2016
Fantastic performance by Barry Hawkins but I'm disappointed to see Ronnie leave the tournament so early. Lots of great players left but not very showy players.

Jedit
Dec 10, 2011

Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

Alice Klar posted:

Fantastic performance by Barry Hawkins but I'm disappointed to see Ronnie leave the tournament so early. Lots of great players left but not very showy players.

That in-off was heartbreaking.

Deteriorata
Feb 6, 2005

Master 'Orkins is understandably flat after his match against O'Sullivan. :(

It was a good run, Barry. Strike the colors and man the rowboats.

HappyCamperGL
May 18, 2014

Really great performance by Ding.

Edit - they just changed to the Selby Wilson match. Wtf is Mark wearing!? Burgandy waistcoat and trousers. Smh.

HappyCamperGL fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Apr 26, 2016

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Babby Sathanas
May 16, 2006

bearbating is now adorable
Stil rooting for Kyloren Wilson. I want to believe.

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