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]

Fabulous match that. Match of the tournament so far and Barry Hawkins has pipped Neil Robertson 13-12. Shame there had to be a loser really. Hawkins proving again that he comes alive at The Crucible and he will play Shaun Murphy in the semi-final.

[temporary21]

A couple of great matches, thoroughly enjoyable. I wonder if Bingham can push trump and see what he's made of.  Here just as a poster btw

[VTR]

The draw has opened up a bit for Trump here. Could it finally he his time?

With all due to respect to the other players, they are not capable of blowing their opponent awatly in the manner an in form Robertson or O'Sullivan can

[CaledonianCraig]

The draw has opened up a bit for Trump here. Could it finally he his time?

With all due to respect to the other players, they are not capable of blowing their opponent awatly in the manner an in form Robertson or O'Sullivan can

Blowing away opponents? I can't really recall Robertson ever doing that to a top notch opponent at business end of the world championships and likewise with Ronnie especially over the last few years.

[VTR]

The draw has opened up a bit for Trump here. Could it finally he his time?

With all due to respect to the other players, they are not capable of blowing their opponent awatly in the manner an in form Robertson or O'Sullivan can

Blowing away opponents? I can't really recall Robertson ever doing that to a top notch opponent at business end of the world championships and likewise with Ronnie especially over the last few years.

Ronnie was in the last 3 finals, winning 2 of them with comfortable victories in the final itself. I think its fair to say he is a player you wouldn't want to meet over Bingham and Hawkins. Likewise Robertson, he is a much better all-round player than those two and extremely dangerous when he gets going. He will be absolutely kicking himself for being taking out by Hawkins.

Perhaps blowing away their opponent was the wrong choice of words in the context of WCs, but I know who I would rather play out of those four.

[TheMessi]

All these stories about Ronnie (grimaces, chalk on table, etc..) was a bad augure about his state of mind. He was going through a mentally fragile phase and it was too visible from the start.

It's a shame, he is still producing the best shots and his long poting was excellent. It just got rattled and played a bit too fast.

It's a genius so as good as he is he can't control the monkey in him.

[CaledonianCraig]

The draw has opened up a bit for Trump here. Could it finally he his time?

With all due to respect to the other players, they are not capable of blowing their opponent awatly in the manner an in form Robertson or O'Sullivan can

Blowing away opponents? I can't really recall Robertson ever doing that to a top notch opponent at business end of the world championships and likewise with Ronnie especially over the last few years.

Ronnie was in the last 3 finals, winning 2 of them with comfortable victories in the final itself. I think its fair to say he is a player you wouldn't want to meet over Bingham and Hawkins. Likewise Robertson, he is a much better all-round player than those two and extremely dangerous when he gets going. He will be absolutely kicking himself for being taking out by Hawkins.

Perhaps blowing away their opponent was the wrong choice of words in the context of WCs, but I know who I would rather play out of those four.

But it all depends though. Ask Ronnie and he'd prefer playing a Robertson/Murphy/ Trump-like player over your top notch all-round match player-types. Those are the players that tie Ronnie up in knots, play with his mind and frustrate the hell out of him. Bingham and Hawkins are sort of that type of player whereas Murphy, Robertson and Trump are much more open attacking sorts. Ronnie has won five world titles but will he win another? Looking less likely with every passing year. If Judd Trump wins this year it could be the start of many for him. We shall see.

[CaledonianCraig]

All these stories about Ronnie (grimaces, chalk on table, etc..) was a bad augure about his state of mind. He was going through a mentally fragile phase and it was too visible from the start.

It's a shame, he is still producing the best shots and his long poting was excellent. It just got rattled and played a bit too fast.

It's a genius so as good as he is he can't control the monkey in him.

Yes I'd agree with that to a certain extent but his long potting was no more (probably less so) excellent compared to others in the tournament such as Trump, Murphy, Hawkins, Robertson and I'd even say McGill.

[CaledonianCraig]

We are down to the one table situation and the semi-finals. This afternoon at 1pm Shaun Murphy starts his semi-final against Barry Hawkins.

[VTR]

The draw has opened up a bit for Trump here. Could it finally he his time?

With all due to respect to the other players, they are not capable of blowing their opponent awatly in the manner an in form Robertson or O'Sullivan can

Blowing away opponents? I can't really recall Robertson ever doing that to a top notch opponent at business end of the world championships and likewise with Ronnie especially over the last few years.

Ronnie was in the last 3 finals, winning 2 of them with comfortable victories in the final itself. I think its fair to say he is a player you wouldn't want to meet over Bingham and Hawkins. Likewise Robertson, he is a much better all-round player than those two and extremely dangerous when he gets going. He will be absolutely kicking himself for being taking out by Hawkins.

Perhaps blowing away their opponent was the wrong choice of words in the context of WCs, but I know who I would rather play out of those four.

But it all depends though. Ask Ronnie and he'd prefer playing a Robertson/Murphy/ Trump-like player over your top notch all-round match player-types. Those are the players that tie Ronnie up in knots, play with his mind and frustrate the hell out of him. Bingham and Hawkins are sort of that type of player whereas Murphy, Robertson and Trump are much more open attacking sorts. Ronnie has won five world titles but will he win another? Looking less likely with every passing year. If Judd Trump wins this year it could be the start of many for him. We shall see.

Agree - but I am looking at it from the perspective of Trump. He has been comfortably beaten by Ronnie in particular in the past. Its a major obstacle out of the way, he now goes favourite to win it in my view. If Ronnie and Robertson were still in, I think he'd be third favourite.

[CaledonianCraig]

With regards to Trump against Ronnie I'd disagree. Agreed if we are talking about Trump and Ronnie of two or three years ago when Ronnie was better and Judd was much more cavalier and gung ho. Now Ronnie is on the wane and Trump has developed into a far better all round player who can mix it in safety exchanges and realises he cannot go for pots all the time.

[VTR]

Is Ronnie really on the wane? He won the UK and Champion of Champion this season, beating Trump in the final on both occassions. I know Trump more recently beat Ronnie in a big final, but I will only believe Ronnie is on the wane if he goes a few months without winning a big tournament.

Those two wins were both less than 6 months ago!

[CaledonianCraig]

Those are sprints though compared to the worlds. Concentration and consistency counts most at The Crucible and Ronnie (the pundits all ex-pros have spotted it) just didn't have the focus. The form player of the tournament has been Trump by some way from Robertson (who is out now) and Murphy. Ronnie just wasnt in their sustained class territory.

[VTR]

Yes Ronnie was unfocused for this one, I think it depends how much he wants it in the future, then he will be a real threat again.

Trump was the form man, but he will be much more comfortable facing Bingham than Ronnie I am sure. I don't know what happened to Robertson, he looked so good, then to lose to Hawkins is a devastating loss for him. Hawkins is decent, one of the better journeyman sort of players, but nowhere near being a top tier player like Robertson.

[Josiah Maiestas]

You could tell against Stevens after going 2-0 down Ronnie was annoyed and could just tell he wouldn't get to the final this year. Ron had a very flat look about him against Stuart and deserved to lose, I think Stuart may be left behind early by Judd though..

Surprised how good a scorer Hawkins is these days wow Neil could never get on top of him, great scoring match by those 2. Hope he can defeat Murphy who loves himself too much

[CaledonianCraig]

It would not surprise me at all if Hawkins did win this semi. Hawkins can mix it with the big scoring aggressive sorts and his safety is very good as well. Murphy, is a fabulous potter and break-builder but shot selection and safety sometimes suspect which Hawkins may exploit.

[CaledonianCraig]

Yes Ronnie was unfocused for this one, I think it depends how much he wants it in the future, then he will be a real threat again.

Trump was the form man, but he will be much more comfortable facing Bingham than Ronnie I am sure. I don't know what happened to Robertson, he looked so good, then to lose to Hawkins is a devastating loss for him. Hawkins is decent, one of the better journeyman sort of players, but nowhere near being a top tier player like Robertson.

Well he wanted it real bad last year V Selby but that counted for nothing. As for Trump, of course he'll be happier playing Bingham but it will be very interesting to see how Stuart adapts to the one table situation here. He may feel uninhibited as he has got further than he has before and it may leave him with a nothing to lose mentality whilst Trump knows he is hot favourite so that may affect him in other ways. We shall see.

[CaledonianCraig]

Murphy off to a flier and takes the first frame with a break just short of a century.

[Josiah Maiestas]

If they both play at their regular level then Trump should run out the winner, Bingham may feel he's done enough this year beating Ronnie at the crucible could weigh him down against Trump subconciously.

[Mike Selig]

I agree with VTR. Ask Trump whether he'd rather be in a last 4 with Murphy, Bingham and Hawkins or Murphy, O'Sullivan and Robertson and I think we know what the answer would be. Nobody is saying it will be easy, but Trump has got to fancy his chances now.

Also I think Robertson is more of an all-round player than Bingham. It's just that Bingham was very very hot against Ronnie and the latter was a bit off. At this level that's all it takes.

Robertson vs Hawkins was really of the highest standard. If Hawkins isn't too worn out I quite fancy him against Murphy.

[CaledonianCraig]

Oh it is a no brainer that he'd sooner face Bingham but there again I'd hazard a guess that was what Ronnie was thinking prior to starting his QF and Bingham bit him on the ass big time so to speak. I read somewhere this morning that Bingham was crying with joy with his wife last night post-match so will he be emotionally drained for the semi?

[Mike Selig]

Oh yeah Ronnie would have fancied Bingham big time, but hey.

Hawkins still cueing beautifully, but oh dear misses a fairly easy red into the middle. Murphy should probably take this frame now for a 2-0 lead.

[Mike Selig]

Murphy's not going to miss those opportunities. 2-0 it is.

[CaledonianCraig]

Murphy snatches the second frame as Hawkins misses what was virtually frame ball. Hawkins trails 2-0. Of course you would have to think Hawkins must be tired. His QF ended late last night and went to a final frame decider so he hasn't had much of rest. Hope he makes a match of this but Murphy looking good.

[TheMessi]

Is Ronnie really on the wane? He won the UK and Champion of Champion this season, beating Trump in the final on both occassions. I know Trump more recently beat Ronnie in a big final, but I will only believe Ronnie is on the wane if he goes a few months without winning a big tournament.

Those two wins were both less than 6 months ago!

It's simply all down to his mind. Will he accept and/or cope with being more regularly challenged? Not sure.

The good news is I like all 4 remaining contenders with a preference to Murphy possibly over Trump. ...just!

[Hammersmith harrier]

Ronnie has always had the same problem, he struggles against players who make him think and it's too easy an excuse to blame it on his mindset, certain players just know how to beat him. I for instance would never expect Trump or Murphy to really test him in the worlds as they would give him too many opportunities.

[CaledonianCraig]

Another frame with chances slips away for The Hawk and he trails 3-0.

[VTR]

Early danger signs for Hawkins here. Needs to try and get out of this session 5-3 down at the worst, I think he would take that if you offered it to him now

[CaledonianCraig]

Early danger signs for Hawkins here. Needs to try and get out of this session 5-3 down at the worst, I think he would take that if you offered it to him now

I suggest he'd rip your arm off for that. I agree with JP he must be bloody tired after last night's heroics. Murphy getting ludicrous running of the ball here.

[CaledonianCraig]

Wow great finish to that frame there. Great moment there when they both looked at each other and just laughed. Murphy leads 3-1.

[VTR]

Early danger signs for Hawkins here. Needs to try and get out of this session 5-3 down at the worst, I think he would take that if you offered it to him now

I suggest he'd rip your arm off for that. I agree with JP he must be bloody tired after last night's heroics. Murphy getting ludicrous running of the ball here.

Yep, he looks very tired! I think its damage limitation in this session then come back refreshed tomorrow. Nicking that last frame will help as Murphy looked set to take it and lead 4-0, which would have brought 7-1 in as a real possibility, and that's a mountain to climb even in a long match.

[Josiah Maiestas]

I hate when a good pot is ruined by the white going in. 3-1 is about right Shaun has been the better player

[CaledonianCraig]

Murphy looks in command now at 4-1 as he hits another sizeable break. The Hawk needs to dig deep.

[CaledonianCraig]

Good frame for Hawkins to take. He is struggling but is hanging in there - he trails 4-2.

[CaledonianCraig]

All of the one visit frame wins are coming from Shaun Murphy here - another century. He leads 5-2. Looking good for him. Barry must rediscover his form in tomorrow's sessions and somehow win the last one today to hang in there.

[CaledonianCraig]

This will hurt Barry if he loses this frame.

[CaledonianCraig]

And Murphy snatches the frame after trailing by fifty points. Murphy takes a 6-2 lead into their next session. One thing is sure - Hawkins cannot afford another session like that.

[Josiah Maiestas]

Shaun would be the only other person to have beaten Hawkins at the crucible aside from Ron since 2012, if he keeps this level up

[CaledonianCraig]

Trump leads Bingham 2-1. Decent start to the match with tense finishes.

[Mike Selig]

Bit scrappy so far, both players looking a bid edgy.

Trump took the opening frame comfortably and looked odds on for the 2nd one, but missed a tricky red leaning over the blue and Stuart Bingham cleared up really nicely.

Scrappy 3rd frame but Trump takes it and leads 2-1 so far with plenty of chances, flukes and good fortune for both players. Some good safety, and some amazing "naughty snooker" from Judd in the first frame.

[CaledonianCraig]

Good break here from Ballroom Bingham. A break of 89 pulls him level at 2-2 at the mid-session interval.

[CaledonianCraig]

Another scrappy frame pocketed (pardon the pun) by Stuart Bingham and he leads an unsettled looking Trump 3-2.

[CaledonianCraig]

Bingham pinches another frame from under Trump's nose and a break of 74 gives him a 4-2 lead. He cannot be behind going into tomorrow.

[CaledonianCraig]

That should settle Judd down. A big break of 75 and he hauls it back to 4-3.

[CaledonianCraig]

Bingham takes a 5-3 lead into tomorrow and it could have been more.

[Mike Selig]

Yeah I think both players will be reasonably happy with the scoreline given the way the match turned out. Bingham will be pleased to be ahead but Trump will be happy to be still well in it given that he was quite a bit below par. Nobody really took the game by the scruff.

Nicely set up for tomorrow.

[Hibbz]

Blimey, what is Murphy wearing? He looks like a Christmas tree bauble.

[VTR]

Feel free to shoot me down in flames but what would Bingham in the final do for the image of snooker? I follow it and know he is a cracking player, but let's be honest, if someone with a passing interest tuned in, it could re-inforce the negative stereotypes of it not being a real sport as you can be out of shape and make the world final. Also, he is a pretty charisma free zone whilst playing.

Players like O'Sullivan, Robertson, Trump are probably not everyone's cup of tea, but they do attract new fans, and that is something that snooker seems to badly need.

[CaledonianCraig]

Feel free to shoot me down in flames but what would Bingham in the final do for the image of snooker? I follow it and know he is a cracking player, but let's be honest, if someone with a passing interest tuned in, it could re-inforce the negative stereotypes of it not being a real sport as you can be out of shape and make the world final. Also, he is a pretty charisma free zone whilst playing.

Players like O'Sullivan, Robertson, Trump are probably not everyone's cup of tea, but they do attract new fans, and that is something that snooker seems to badly need.

I see where you are coming from but equally don't you think it sends out other messages? His win over Ronnie showed that if you don't focus or lack motivation then you will get beaten (take note Ronnie) and it also sends a message to keep persevering even after years of hardships and with hard work you can reach your end goal.

[CaledonianCraig]

Murphy taking Hawkins to the cleaners here - he leads Hawkins 8-2 and has just struck another century break. The Hawk just passing up far too many chances. That must stop and fast or by the end of this session this match will be over as a contest.

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