2019 World Snooker Championship Thread

[CaledonianCraig]

The Crucible is alive again to the sound of cues smashing into the cueball for the 2019 Snooker World Championship.

On Day One the champion Mark Williams got off to a steady start to lead Martin Gould 6-3. Ding Junhui also leads 6-3 against Anthony McGill and Neil Robertson is home and hosed leading debutant Cypriot Georgiou 9-0.

[CaledonianCraig]

In the evening session of Day 1 and Mark Williams takes the first frame of the evening to go 7-3 up over Martin Gould. On the other table Tian Pengfei (China) leads Steven Maguire 1-0.

[CaledonianCraig]

Tian misses a sitter and Maguire levels it up at 1-1 with a break of 80.

[CaledonianCraig]

Maguire takes the third frame to lead 2-1. On the other table Williams leads Gould 8-4 and looks good for a place in the Second Round.

[No name Bertie]

Ronnie O'Sullivan doesn't quite have the temperament for the World Snooker Championship (compared to his natural ability) - which requires endurance, focus, immense mental strength.  It will be interesting to see how things turn out.  Judd Trump, Neil Robertson as well as O'Sullivan seem to be the in form players - but can't discount Selby, Williams and Higgins.

[CaledonianCraig]

Mark Williams won 10-7 last night against Martin Gould whilst Tian holds a narrow 5-4 lead over Steven Maguire in their match. This morning John Higgins begins his match against Mark Davis whilst Ding resumes 6-3 up against Anthony McGill.

[CaledonianCraig]

Ding and McGill share the first four frames this morning and Ding is two frames from victory at 8-5. On the other table John Higgins and Mark Davis are level at 2-2.

[CaledonianCraig]

Ding on the brink of victory leading 9-5.

[CaledonianCraig]

Higgins now finding a nice groove and leads 5-3. Ding still not over the finish line yet. McGill trails Ding 9-7.

[CaledonianCraig]

Higgins taking control and leads Mark Davis 6-3 at the end of their first session.

[CaledonianCraig]

Ding finally wraps up a 10-7 win over Anthony McGill. A good start to the tournament for him against a potentially tricky opponent.

[Duty281]

Think it'll be a Higgins-Trump final, though I'd love O'Sullivan to win it once again.

[CaledonianCraig]

Think it'll be a Higgins-Trump final, though I'd love O'Sullivan to win it once again.

If Higgins wins it'll be a hell of a turn around in his year. Earlier in the season a disillusioned Higgins spoke of being on the brink of retiring from the sport.

[CaledonianCraig]

This afternoon's matches sees Luca Brecel resume 5-4 ahead of qualifier Gary Wilson. On the other table Shaun Murphy gets his match under way against Luo Honghao of China.

[Duty281]

Heading for two whitewashes in the first round - Robertson and Murphy both 9-0 up. Only ever been one whitewash in Crucible history, I believe, back in 1992.

[CaledonianCraig]

Maguire came through 10-9 in a final frame decider against debutant Tian whilst Michael Giorgiou avoided the dreaded whitewash as he lost 10-1 to Neil Robertson.

[CaledonianCraig]

Shaun Murphy dishes out a whitewash to Luo Honghao winning 10-0. Mark Selby is deep in trouble this morning trailing Zhao from China 4-1.

[CaledonianCraig]

Selby sinking into deeper trouble and trails Zhao Xintong 5-1.

[CaledonianCraig]

Mark Selby has somehow got out of this session trailing just 5-3. He was all over the place and his head in a mess at 5-1 down but as Zhao went off the boil and began to miss chances Selby knuckled down and took the final two frames of the session and looked all the better for it. They were pulled off a frame early due to the long nature of the frames so will play a possible eleven frames in their final session.

[CaledonianCraig]

This afternoon sees John Higgins resume 6-3 up on Mark Davis. On the other table Ronnie O'Sullivan starts his match against amateur Jamie Cahill.

[CaledonianCraig]

James Cahill wins the first frame on the black ball to lead Ronnie 1-0. On the other table Higgins leads Mark Davis 6-4.

[CaledonianCraig]

Ronnie back level at 1-1. Tactical play on the other table in the Higgins V Davis match.

[CaledonianCraig]

Davis right back in this match now as he takes the second frame of the session to trail John Higgins 6-5 barring snookers.

[CaledonianCraig]

Ronnie leads Cahill 2-1. On the other table Higgins at the table seeking to come from behind to win the 12th frame.

[CaledonianCraig]

In a frame which both players have had their chances it is Higgins who takes it to lead 7-5. That could be a pivotal frame. On the other table Cahill levels it at 2-2 against Ronnie.

[Duty281]

Very commendable from Cahill. Hasn't been overawed by the occasion in the slightest, and has taken the chances presented to him.

[CaledonianCraig]

Mark Davis shrugs off the previous frame and takes the next frame to trail John Higgins 7-6 at their mid-season interval. He is right in this match as Higgins is far from fluent so far today.

[CaledonianCraig]

Ronnie very lucky to lead 4-3 against Cahill.

[CaledonianCraig]

On the other table John Higgins is a frame away from victory leading Mark Davis 9-7.

[CaledonianCraig]

Cahill levels it up at 4-4 as Ronnie hitting some embarrassing misses.

[Duty281]

ROS in his tired/disinterested frame of mind. Seems to be par for the course for him at World Championships nowadays. Cahill would be well in front if it weren't for some key misses.

[CaledonianCraig]

John Higgins completes a 10-7 win over Mark Davis but knows he will have to improve his game to progress further.

[CaledonianCraig]

ROS in his tired/disinterested frame of mind. Seems to be par for the course for him at World Championships nowadays. Cahill would be well in front if it weren't for some key misses.

Tiredness cannot be used as an excuse though. An afternoon start here and his last tournament was 3 weeks ago.

[CaledonianCraig]

Amateur James Cahill takes a deserved 5-4 lead into his second session against Ronnie. He may even kick himself that his lead is not bigger.

[88Chris05]

The O'Sullivan - Cahill match has been abysmal. Don't think I've ever seen O'Sullivan play worse than he has today - he's missed sitter after sitter, his positional play has been all over the place, he's been giving his safety shots nothing like their due care and attention and essentially just looks like he can't be bothered with it all.

Cahill comes out of the first session 5-4 up and to be honest O'Sullivan is a little lucky to be trailing by only one (he got lucky in the seventh frame where he needed a snooker and got just about the jammiest one you'll see, which gave him a chance to nick it on the black). If you'd have offered Cahill 5-4 beforehand he'd have obviously been overjoyed with it, but I suspect he might be rueing the fact that he didn't turn the screw a little more and extend that lead, because O'Sullivan looked there for the taking in that session. He'll know that it's almost impossible for O'Sullivan to be that bad again when they resume tomorrow.

[Duty281]

5-4 Cahill. O'Sullivan couldn't capitalise on a Cahill miss. I still expect O'Sullivan to win this one, but can't seem him going much further in the tournament. If Cahill were to hold on and triumph, it would surely be one of the greatest upsets in snooker history - O'Sullivan was 1/80 pre-match, Cahill was 22/1.

[CaledonianCraig]

This evening Joe Perry begins his match against Dave Gilbert. On the other table Mark Selby resumes trailing Zhao Xintong 5-3.

[CaledonianCraig]

Mark Selby now with the momentum and is now level with Zhao at 5-5. On the other table Gilbert leads Perry 1-0.

[CaledonianCraig]

Selby and Zhao go in level at 6-6 at their mid-season interval. On the other table David Gilbert leads Joe Perry 3-0.

[CaledonianCraig]

David Gilbert now 4-0 up on Joe Perry. Meanwhile, Mark Selby now leads Zhao 7-6. How will the youngster respond?

[CaledonianCraig]

Selby won through to the Second Round last night winning 10-7 whilst David Gilbert leads Joe Perry 6-3.

This morning amateur James Cahill will resume 5-4 ahead of Ronnie O'Sullivan. On the other table Stuart Bingham and Graeme Dott start their match.

[Duty281]

Surprised Selby got through after his awful first session against Zhao. Still, in spite of that and the relatively poor season he's had, he's got a kind draw and should get past Wilson in the second round.

[CaledonianCraig]

James Cahill keeping his nose in front to lead 6-5. A Ronnie miss and Cahill clears up to take the frame.

[Duty281]

ROS still in reckless, attacking, I-don't-give-a-toss mode. Cahill getting lots of opportunities as a result.

[CaledonianCraig]

Great composure from the amateur and Cahill now leads Ronnie 7-5.

[CaledonianCraig]

Ronnie dishing out misses like The Candy Man in a sweet shop and is now on the brink of 8-5 down. These instances are exactly why I do not see him as GOAT.

[CaledonianCraig]

On the other table Stuart Bingham leads Graeme Dott 2-0.

[CaledonianCraig]

Dott wins the third frame on the black and trails Bingham 2-1.

[B.A. BARACUS]

For whatever reason ROS seems unable to perform at his best in the Worlds - that may seem a strange comment considering he has won it 5 times but in relation to his talent and longevity, he should have had more than 5 titles.

I can only assume that it is the pressure of the Worlds that he struggles with.

Other 'Triple crown' events such as the UK champs and Masters pale in comparison to the World Championships, any snooker fan knows it and ROS knows it.

All great players are ultimately judged on world titles above any other measure when it comes to evaluating their careers and ROS in my opinion struggesl to handle the pressure of the crucible.

That is why, for me, having watched Hendry in his pomp, he will always be the GOAT, Ronnie may be more talented but Hendry was a winning machine and imperious under the greatest pressure that only the crucible can create

[CaledonianCraig]

Cahill gifts a chance to Ronnie and for once he gets the job done. Cahill will be kicking himself but still leads 8-6.

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