2015 World Championships - Discussion Thread

[CaledonianCraig]

First topic message reminder :

So another world championship at The Crucible is upon us. Who will emerge victorious and be crowned the world champion? For me a lot depends on the early rounds. Players who will get better as the tournament goes on I feel will be the likes of Neil Robertson, Mark Selby and John Higgins so them avoiding an early exit will put them right in contention. Obviously, Ronnie O'Sullivan will be one of the favourites and his chances will hinge on avoiding top notch match play players ie Mark Selby and John Higgins in the latter stages. Ronnie is at his best in matches against expansive shot players who play an open game and whose misses leave chances. This year it is wide open I think so here is hoping we have a great fortnight of snooker. Enjoy and start discussing here when the matches get under way........

[CaledonianCraig]

Post-match Ronnie playing down his motivation for more titles and Hendry not buying it. Ronnie in his interview said if he can get to five then great but he's not fussed. Hendry was not buying it saying Ronnie will be aiming to top his record.

[Mike Selig]

I can't see Bingham getting much joy out of Ronnie. I think McGill's run will come to an end also against Murphy.

Trump vs Ding could be really interesting. Hope both players bring their A-game.

Trump for me can only challenge Ronnie if the latter struggles with his safety, but I tend to agree he will want things open which suits O'Sullivan more. Trump doesn't quite (yet?) have the match play to keep things tight when he has to and grind out chances. Over the longer match I think Ronnie will win.

On the other hand I think Robertson can keep things tight if he wants to. Him and Selby (and an on-form Higgins) are the ones I'd most fancy against Ronnie, so assuming they both get there it could be a cracking final.

[CaledonianCraig]

The Quarter-Final matches to get under way this morning are Shaun Murphy against Anthony McGill and Ding Junhui takes on Judd Trump.

[CaledonianCraig]

Murphy bidding to stamp his authority on this match early . He opens with two century breaks and leads McGill 2-0. Trump leads Ding 1-0.

[CaledonianCraig]

Trump leads Ding 3-0 and McGill gets his first frame on the board with a scrappy frame and trails 2-1.

[CaledonianCraig]

At their mid-session interval Murphy leads McGill 3-1. Trump leads Ding 3-0 and on a break so could be 4-0 at the mid-session interval.

[CaledonianCraig]

McGill's break of 66 takes the fifth frame and he trails 3-2. Trump strikes a century and is hammering Ding 5-0 and is showing he is going to be a strong contender.

[CaledonianCraig]

A fluked green enables McGill to a break of 89 and he levels at 3-3. Trump looking good to take a 6-0 lead.

[CaledonianCraig]

McGill playing very good match play stuff here and another sizeable break of 60+ and he now leads Murphy 4-3. Ding finally gets a frame on the board but trails 6-1.

[CaledonianCraig]

Murphy takes the final frame of the session and goes in level at 4-4 against McGill. On the other table Trump ends his session 6-2 ahead of Ding.

[CaledonianCraig]

This afternoon sees the other two quarter-finals getting under way. Neil Robertson takes on Barry Hawkins and Ronnie O'Sullivan plays Stuart Bingham.

[CaledonianCraig]

O'Sullivan bags the first frame with a century break to lead 1-0.

[CaledonianCraig]

Bingham takes a tense frame and levels it up at 1-1.

[CaledonianCraig]

On the other table Barry Hawkins pinches a marathon first frame to lead Robertson 1-0.

[CaledonianCraig]

Robertson strikes back straight away to level at 1-1 whilst 'Ballroom' Bingham goes 2-1 up against The Rocket.

[CaledonianCraig]

O'Sullivan gets himself level with another century and it is 2-2 at the mid-session interval.

[CaledonianCraig]

Robertson leads 2-1.

[CaledonianCraig]

Two missed blacks off their spot by Bingham and he pays the price. Ronnie takes the frame and leads 3-2.

[CaledonianCraig]

Scrappy and lengthy frames on the other table but Robertson looks like leading 3-1 as they go to their mid-session interval.

[CaledonianCraig]

Once more Bingham misses unexpectedly when in and Ronnie reciprocates but Bingham only takes advantage at about the fourth chance. Big frame you feel and Stuart takes it to draw level at 3-3.

[CaledonianCraig]

Another scrappy frame and Bingham takes it to lead 4-3. On the other table Robertson leads Hawkins 3-2.

[CaledonianCraig]

Hawkins now level with Robertson at 3-3. The Hawk doing well.

[CaledonianCraig]

A frame in which both players had their chances is won by Stuart Bingham and he leads O'Sullivan 5-3 going into their second session. Quality start to this session but poor standard towards the end.

[CaledonianCraig]

A tale of two halves in the Hawkins/Robertson match as well. All Robertson early on and led 3-1 then Barry Hawkins steeled himself and froze Robertson out and won four frames on the bounce and The Hawk leads 5-3.

[CaledonianCraig]

Tonight's matches sees McGill and Murphy resume at 4-4 and Trump resumes 6-2 up against Ding.

[CaledonianCraig]

Solid start to the evening session for Anthony McGill with a break of 137 and he leads Murphy 5-4 and likewise for Judd Trump who with a 102 break leads Ding 7-2.

[CaledonianCraig]

Trump extends his lead to 8-2. Murphy looks set to level this up at 5-5 but McGill has one last chance to retrieve the situation.

[CaledonianCraig]

Murphy levels it up at 5-5. And Trump leads Ding now 9-2.

[CaledonianCraig]

Ding stops the rot and wins his first frame of the session and trails 9-3 at their mid-session interval.

[CaledonianCraig]

McGill takes a scrappy frame to edge ahead again at 6-5 with Murphy looking ragged for the first time in the tournament. Ding takes another frame but still trails 9-4 but that ensures the match cannot be finished tonight.

[CaledonianCraig]

Murphy takes another scrappy frame and goes in level at 6-6 at their mid-session interval. Trump looks certain to go 10-4 up on Ding.

[CaledonianCraig]

Judd Trump with another century and leads Ding 11-4. Scintillating stuff from Trump.

[CaledonianCraig]

A century from Shaun Murphy takes him into a 7-6 lead.

[CaledonianCraig]

And yet another Trump century and he ends the day 12-4 ahead and surely now in the semis.

[Mad for Chelsea]

scarily good stuff from Trump, back-to-back centuries (taking his total for the match so far to 4) see him lead Ding 12-4, and that one's as good as over. Ding hasn't even played badly, but he's been outclassed by a terrific display from Trump here.

[CaledonianCraig]

scarily good stuff from Trump, back-to-back centuries (taking his total for the match so far to 4) see him lead Ding 12-4, and that one's as good as over. Ding hasn't even played badly, but he's been outclassed by a terrific display from Trump here.

Yes. Trump is a far more accomplished all-round player now. This could be his year.

[CaledonianCraig]

Is Murphy now making his class and experience tell? He leads McGill 8-6 now.

[CaledonianCraig]

Murphy mopping up another chance and he is guaranteed to lead overnight. Murphy leads 9-6 with one frame left to play tonight.

[CaledonianCraig]

McGill desperately needed that final frame of the day and he got it and will go into tomorrow trailing Shaun Murphy 9-7.

[Mad for Chelsea]

yep, very important frame for McGill that, a world of difference between trailing 9-7 and 10-6.

[VTR]

Didn't expect Trump to he trouncing Ding. Strange to think they only have one final between them, whilst the likes of Graeme Dott have been in multiple finals and even won it.

They don't want to join Jimmy White in the list of best players never to win it!

[CaledonianCraig]

Proof that a great all round match game is very much a match for potting skills VTR. Look at the players who give Ronnie most problems? Is it the out and out attacking potters? No. It is the great all-round match play players such as Mark Selby and before him John Higgins.

[VTR]

Proof that a great all round match game is very much a match for potting skills VTR. Look at the players who give Ronnie most problems? Is it the out and out attacking potters? No. It is the great all-round match play players such as Mark Selby and before him John Higgins.

Yep, agree with that, which of course explains that Dott and Ebdon were able to win it. Who would your top 5 never to win the Worlds be? I would go for something like:

Jimmy White
Ding
Judd Trump
Matthew Stevens
Paul Hunter

[CaledonianCraig]

Proof that a great all round match game is very much a match for potting skills VTR. Look at the players who give Ronnie most problems? Is it the out and out attacking potters? No. It is the great all-round match play players such as Mark Selby and before him John Higgins.

Yep, agree with that, which of course explains that Dott and Ebdon were able to win it. Who would your top 5 never to win the Worlds be? I would go for something like:

Jimmy White
Ding
Judd Trump
Matthew Stevens
Paul Hunter

Yes I'd go with something like that. I can't think of anyone else to add to that list. If we were putting that list in some sort of order it would be Jimmy White, Judd Trump, Matthew Stevens, Paul Hunter and Ding. The most unfortunate name on that list being the late Paul Hunter as if he had not lost his life too soon due to cancer he most likely would have become a world champion.

[Mad for Chelsea]

to be fair, Trump is still pretty young, and you would think has more than enough time to win one. He certainly seems to have become a much better all-round player this year, while very much keeping his attacking instincts. A potent combination, and while I'm not making him favourite quite this year (though that may change depending on the outcome of this morning's session matches), I would still make him odds on to win it sometime.

[VTR]

Paul Hunter was a very sad loss to the game as he was a great player and also charismatic. As you say Craig, an almost certain World Champion had he not passed away so young.

MfC - yeah, I would expect Trump to win it one day, but if you'd have asked in 2011 would he win one by now then I would have said yes then. Of course he is still young, but he has to take the opportunities such as this year when they come along. I am hoping he can win it as I like his game and love a left-hander being one myself

[CaledonianCraig]

I am really thinking now that this is Trump's year. And it proves that being a fantastic potter is NOT all that it takes - though it helps. Trump has been all the rage for the last three or four years but his gung-ho style was never along going to get the job done. He has went away and worked and had added another dimension to his game - a tactical and strategic game. Ronnie was much the same and had to improve safety aspects and he did that and world titles started coming his way.

[CaledonianCraig]

And in the blink of an eye Judd is in the semis beating Ding 13-4. Fantastic display. As for Ding I just don't think he has what it takes for the world title. For some reason he just doesn't fill me with confidence. Sure, he mops up plenty of tournaments but at The Crucible he just fails to turn it on.

[Mad for Chelsea]

Ding missed a black off the spot (not a straightforward one, but a poor miss it must be said), and Trump needs no second invitation. Certainly the best all-round display in a match so far in this tournament, and if he carries that form he'll be very hard to stop.

As for Ding, my gut-feeling is that his positionnal play isn't good enough: too often he runs out of position and needs good pots to get back in. While he's a fine potter, when you're frozen out of the table as much as he was in this match it's just too much pressure.

[Mad for Chelsea]

Hawkins with a fine break after Robertson misses an easy pink, makes it 5 in a row to lead 6-3!

Well this is a surprise. Long way to go yet, but you feel Robertson could really do with taking at least 2 of the next 3, doesn't really want to be 8-4 or worse down at the interval...

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