MASTERS 2014

First topic message reminder :

Discussion page for this years masters

Tense final frame decider between Judd and Marco atm. Marco looking good to win it.

I really want him to do it. I did like how they announced him as the GOAT, when he was presented as the winner tonight though.

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Duty281 wrote:Another Masters win tonight for Ronnie. Further underlining his GOAT status.

Means he gets to bid for all three Triple Crown events in a single season, plus a shot at a record-breaking 8th crucible world title, at the World Championship in a few months.

I'm still unsure about that.

O'Sullivan has all the pure numbers now but it's taken him 30 years to do it, that longevity is admirable. Hendry won all his triple crown events in a ten year timespan, that works out being 18 of the 33 he competed in.

Bloody Saudis changing the game.

A new tournament to be held in Saudi Arabia will feature a 'golden ball' which is worth 20 points & can be potted after a player completes a 147 meaning the maximum break will be 167!!

Of course there's no details on if the ball will be on the table for the whole frame or what will happen if it's potted early.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/68027678

Soul Requiem wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Another Masters win tonight for Ronnie. Further underlining his GOAT status.

Means he gets to bid for all three Triple Crown events in a single season, plus a shot at a record-breaking 8th crucible world title, at the World Championship in a few months.

I'm still unsure about that.

O'Sullivan has all the pure numbers now but it's taken him 30 years to do it, that longevity is admirable. Hendry won all his triple crown events in a ten year timespan, that works out being 18 of the 33 he competed in.

Yeah, it's generally a question of whether you're more impressed by Hendry's decade long dominance or O Sullivan's longevity at being at, or around, the top of the game for thirty+ years.

On pure numbers and longevity, O'Sullivan overwhelms Hendry at nearly every turn. I think it's also pretty damaging for Hendry's GOAT claims that he fell away so quickly after the 90s, and has losing H2Hs against all of Ronnie/Higgins/Williams.

The last two O'Sullivan needs to achieve to top it off is winning the unprecedented 8th at the Crucible and eclipsing Hendry's time spent at number one in the world (about 97 weeks away).

Oakdene wrote:Bloody Saudis changing the game.

A new tournament to be held in Saudi Arabia will feature a 'golden ball' which is worth 20 points & can be potted after a player completes a 147 meaning the maximum break will be 167!!

Of course there's no details on if the ball will be on the table for the whole frame or what will happen if it's potted early.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/68027678

It's a nonsense. I heard that the 'golden ball' will only become available after a 147 is completed. The referee will then place it somewhere (presumably the black spot?) and the player will have a chance for the 167.

A big worry I have for the game is the iconic Crucible venue's deal to host the Worlds expires in 2028, and Qatar and Saudi are reportedly very interested in hosting the event.

Ronnie up to 41 ranking titles now. The World Grand Prix final was a bit of a tough watch, but last night against Ding he was stupendous. Some of the best snooker I've ever seen.

Ronnie's currently on a run of three consecutive tournament victories and fourteen straight matches won. Will be the best season of his career if he captures the Worlds...