The UK Championships

First topic message reminder :

Now well under way at The Barbican Centre is The UK Snooker Championships. It has been expanded this year with more players making the TV stage and more tables in action at the same time. This format has been much-criticized by quite a few players with the tables being criticized and lack of atmosphere. However, I must say it is great to see some new faces get a chance to strut their stuff on TV. Anyway we are now nearing the Quarter-Final stage and today in action are Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Graeme Dott and Peter Ebdon (four ex-world Champions) this afternoon.......Enjoy and discuss.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

The Special Juan wrote:Maguire would have put up a better show than this.

No comment.

Come on, you must agree!! This will be the biggest hiding since Maguire played ROS 7 years ago (10-2).

Ronnie leads 9-4 and the end is in sight.

The Special Juan wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:

The Special Juan wrote:Maguire would have put up a better show than this.

No comment.

Come on, you must agree!!  This will be the biggest hiding since Maguire played ROS 7 years ago (10-2).

Sorry I can't agree. Maguire just doesn't do it for me. He always gets spoken of as a great player but in all the crunch matches I have seen him in he has been pretty poor and beaten fairly heavily - over-rated for me.

He played well against David Gray in 2004 Aside from that.....

I think this final just demonstrates what I have said before on here and got shouted down for it. The standard now is way below that of say ten to twenty years ago as if you missed chances then you were punished far more readily than is being seen here.

Nah I have to disagree. This has been a one-off poor tournament. The very best (i.e. my top tier players) will punish you 90% of the time. I might write an article taking directly comparing today's players against the rankings of 1994 and 2004.

Judd you are a disgrace.

The Special Juan wrote:Nah I have to disagree.  This has been a one-off poor tournament.  The very best (i.e. my top tier players) will punish you 90% of the time.  I might write an article taking directly comparing today's players against the rankings of 1994 and 2004.

This is the final and I expect the very best and this has been very disappointing - one of the poorest I can remember for some time. Also viewing figures have dropped and I would hazard a guess that the average age of the top ten has rocketed up. Where are all the youngsters coming through? In the nineties you had Ronnie, Mark Williams and John Higgins whilst today you have ???

CaledonianCraig wrote:

The Special Juan wrote:Nah I have to disagree.  This has been a one-off poor tournament.  The very best (i.e. my top tier players) will punish you 90% of the time.  I might write an article taking directly comparing today's players against the rankings of 1994 and 2004.

This is the final and I expect the very best and this has been very disappointing - one of the poorest I can remember for some time. Also viewing figures have dropped and I would hazard a guess that the average age of the top ten has rocketed up. Where are all the youngsters coming through? In the nineties you had Ronnie, Mark Williams and John Higgins whilst today you have ???

Where are all the youngsters coming through? - there's always youngsters. See James Cahill, for example. You'll need to define "young" though, considering you don't reach your peak til about 30.

In the nineties you had Ronnie, Mark Williams and John Higgins whilst today you have ??? - I imagine in 10 years time you'll be berating a lack of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic in tennis!!

Yes there are always youngsters of course but what are their calibre? That is the question here and Cahill can't be held up as a shining light yet until he is winning majors like Ronnie, Mark and John were at a young age. Heck Trump was being hailed as the next big thing and a yardstick to today's quality but this shows he isn't as high quality as some would have us believe.

At these UK's as well we have even had old dinosaurs like Jimmy White and Nigel Bond doing the rounds - why haven't they yet been eradicated by new kids on the block?

Obviously, this is my view point but also what match ups do we have now that are mouth-watering? In the 90's you had Hendry, Williams, O'Sullivan, Higgins, White and Davis all making up great match-ups but who do you have today? One of them you'd say is this match up tonight and look at its standard of quality (or lack of it).

CaledonianCraig wrote:At these UK's as well we have even had old dinosaurs like Jimmy White and Nigel Bond doing the rounds - why haven't they yet been eradicated by new kids on the block?

It's unfair to use Jimmy as an example in this tournament - he made the last 64 and was beaten (i.e. won a solitary match and that was against Dave Harold). The way the rankings work at this moment, it's quite hard for youngsters. It's too complicated for me to explain but if you're on a two year tour card and fail to finish insie the top 64, all the money you've won that season is wiped from your ranking (I think).

Too little too late from Juddley.

well at least Trump has turned up. Surely too little too late, but two lovely centuries in a row give him a small sliver of hope.

The fact that Ronnie can produce a sub-par performance and win the UK so easily at the age of 39 says more about the rest than it does Ronnie though. And that is my point. If this was the 90s he would have had either Henry, Williams, Higgins, Doherty, White or Davis snapping at his heels - there is simply not that calibre of players arounaround at the moment.

CaledonianCraig wrote:The fact that Ronnie can produce a sub-par performance and win the UK so easily at the age of 39 says more about the rest than it does Ronnie though. And that is my point. If this was the 90s he would have had either Henry, Williams, Higgins, Doherty, White or Davis snapping at his heels - there is simply not that calibre of players arounaround at the moment.

Do you mean the final or the tournament overall? For the latter, he's had the easiest draw I've ever seen in my life, up until the final.

Onwards Judd! 

Marvellous, valiant spirit in the face of the abyss. So frustrating that he gifted O'Sullivan two frames at the start of the session.

Well in the semi Bingham choked big style against him and he laboured a bit against McGill. Not knocking him though as he has deserved it but it's not saying a lot that he can win it without a real great opponent. The greats of today like Selby and Robertson hardly looked great either at this tournie which again says a lot about their lack of consistency.

Nine each. Phenomenal.

Well Ronnie won in the end but I had to pop out when 9-5 so cracking fightback by Trump and credit to him for that. He really must tighten up his all-round game though as potting is not all that matters you need to NE able to play decent level of match play snooker as well.

I still think the writing's on the wall for ROS. He is declining, albeit much slower than every other pro around that age. But now's not the time to think about that. Well done to him for dragging himself over the winning line in the end. Another big'un in the bag.

Ronnie's head though is now in a far better place than it has ever been. In interviews on BBC he was saying he was looking forward to another five or ten years in snooker and he was loving it. That is such a difference to the Ronnie of old of 'I hate it and I am quitting' fame. I think that definitely helps him cope mentally far better when his form isn't so great (like here in the final). It means he applies himself better and is willing to graft his way to victory. I think the concentration thing is his problem now and that hits all players at a certain age - even the legends. That will really hinder him at tournaments with long-formatted matches such as world championships and is why I think he will not beat Hendry's record.

Well that was a good but ultimately futile fightback. Judd must be kicking himself to only start playing when he had nothing to lose, he was poor before that.

I think players still lose to Ronnie's aura rather than the player himself. Yes he can be devastating, but his long game is inconsistent so the other player will get chances. I feel that when his opponents do get a chance they don't relax like they might against other players. Bingham's meltdown is a good example, he'd have closed that out against anyone else.

Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Shaun Murphy 10-5 to win the 2017 UK Championship. O'Sullivan, 42, equalled Steve Davis' tally of six UK titles and Stephen Hendry's record of 18 victories in 'Triple Crown' events - the UK and World Championships, and Masters.

Great evening session from O Sullivan, but Murphy did gift him far too many opportunities.

A shame as it was shaping up to be a classic.

2018 UK Championship

O’Sullivan 10-6 Allen

Ronnie wins a record 19th 'Triple Crown' event

With Trump blowing hot-and-cold, Higgins back into all-too-familiar self-pity mode and Selby, inexplicably, disappearing off the radar ( at least for the moment ) there would appear to be plenty more to come.

The names, Bond....Nigel Bond

Couldn’t have opened up any better for ROS who looks in brilliant form. A shame in one way as a Trump/ROS final would have been great.

Great to see John Wayne back on fire, scoring heavily and even, wait for it, smiling. Long may that continue.
Hazel looking hotter than ever.
Come on, Nigel. Can he be the oldest Ranking winner since Fred Davis ? You’re right. Probably not.

Ding knocks out Ronnie 6-4

No classic. Turgid at times in fact but well done, Nigel. Fantastic fightback.

Ding played some of his best snooker for years in knocking out Ronnie.

Fantastic comeback from Nigel Bond who just held his nerve in the final frame.

Such a wide-open tournament now.

Good to see Matthew Stevens at the business end of a Major. Let’s hope he can give The Jester an argument

White & Foulds are correct. The overall standard hasn’t been great. Cue for an upset winner ?

2020 UK Championship Final

Neil Robertson 10-9 Judd Trump

Not the best quality of finals, but still a superb, tense, late night spectacle.

Yes, quality wasn't the best, but it was perfectly tense and engrossing.

Trump should have won it with chances in both the penultimate and final frame, but couldn't hold his nerve.

Robertson now up to five Triple Crown titles, ahead of Trump on three.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/59392405

Embarrassing comments from Murphy who ranted that amateurs shouldn't be allowed in pro tournaments...just after getting beat 6-5 by an amateur in the UK Championship.

Duty281 wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/59392405

Embarrassing comments from Murphy who ranted that amateurs shouldn't be allowed in pro tournaments...just after getting beat 6-5 by an amateur in the UK Championship.

And with the added hypocrisy that Murphy entered The Open golf qualifying a couple of years ago as an amateur...

Should have just played better and beaten the young man who wasn't good enough last year to retain his position in the 128 professionals.

As a follow-up, Robertson agreed with Murphy's comments saying that 'it's very dangerous' to allow in amateurs who have 'free hits' at the pros.

Well...Robertson was bang on. He just lost 6-2 to amateur John Astley. Very dangerous indeed.

That's Robertson's title defence over at the first hurdle. Shock defeat as he was thought to be in good form going into this event, winning the English Open a couple of weeks ago.

I enjoyed O'Sullivan's reaction to Murphy's comments - "I don’t care. I’ll play amateurs, women, referees, anyone, I don’t care."

It’s certainly been the year of the underdog. Stephen Maguire’s game hits a new low whilst Ronnie’s 8th title is surely there for the taking.

Yes, most of the more illustrious names have fallen to the wayside:

Maguire losing 6-0 to Brecel. Williams edged out 6-5 by Hamilton. Bingham lost 6-5 to Noppon. Trump lost to Selt 6-3, which I didn't think was a massive surprise because Trump found his game v Wakelin a bit of a struggle. Allen lost 6-5 to Gilbert; with Allen's personal problems I'm surprise he actually made it that far. Plus both Higgins and Selby were defeated quite comfortably, in addition to Robertson and Murphy losing to amateurs.

Also had Andy Hicks rolling back the clock two decades to squeeze through to the last 16, with three consecutive 6-5 wins.

Just got Ronnie and Wilson left as the big names and that's set to be a quarter-final match-up.

Duty281 wrote:Yes, most of the more illustrious names have fallen to the wayside:

Maguire losing 6-0 to Brecel. Williams edged out 6-5 by Hamilton. Bingham lost 6-5 to Noppon. Trump lost to Selt 6-3, which I didn't think was a massive surprise because Trump found his game v Wakelin a bit of a struggle. Allen lost 6-5 to Gilbert; with Allen's personal problems I'm surprise he actually made it that far. Plus both Higgins and Selby were defeated quite comfortably, in addition to Robertson and Murphy losing to amateurs.

Also had Andy Hicks rolling back the clock two decades to squeeze through to the last 16, with three consecutive 6-5 wins.

Just got Ronnie and Wilson left as the big names and that's set to be a quarter-final match-up.

I think the door is wide open for Ronnie. All potential challengers of note are out. Now it is down to how he goes about the tournament and retaining focus.

Though it's probably foolish to predict anything at this odd tournament, it seems the winner of Wilson-O'Sullivan tomorrow will be the overwhelming favourite to lift the trophy.

There are still some dangerous names around, like Brecel and Hawkins. Could be a maiden triumph for Zhao, who hasn't yet delivered on his supposedly mammoth potential. And Andy Hicks is still in it after a fourth consecutive 6-5 win. Amazing run.

Duty281 wrote:Though it's probably foolish to predict anything at this odd tournament, it seems the winner of Wilson-O'Sullivan tomorrow will be the overwhelming favourite to lift the trophy.

There are still some dangerous names around, like Brecel and Hawkins. Could be a maiden triumph for Zhao, who hasn't yet delivered on his supposedly mammoth potential. And Andy Hicks is still in it after a fourth consecutive 6-5 win. Amazing run.

Plus Anthony McGill. Butttt.....I am not buying into the hype about Kyren Wilson. In the latter stages of the Worlds he has spectacularly capitulated twice now. Ronnie will win today perhaps 6-2 or 6-3. I see Hawkins more capable of causing problems for The Rocket in my opinion.

Fantastic match Ronnie v kyren goes to a decider

Well played Kyren Wilson. He has done what I haven't seen from him before. Stood up and refused to buckle in a pressure cooker match to beat O'Sullivan 6-5. He goes into the semis and goes favourite to win the tournament. Luca Brecel beat Anthony McGill 6-2 on the other table.

Phenomenal match, easily the best of the tournament. Wilson did incredibly well to maintain his composure after missing out on a great opportunity at 5-3 up.

That could be a career-changing win for Kyren Wilson - a win that pumps him full of belief he maybe lacked at the business end of tournaments against the very best players.