2019 World Snooker Championship Thread

[CaledonianCraig]

First topic message reminder :

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]

And out of position on 49. Gilbert breathes again.

[CaledonianCraig]

What a pot. Higgins edges closer but cannot see how he gets on this last red.

[B.A. BARACUS]

situations like this seperate the men from the boys and higgins showing why he has won 4 world titles

[CaledonianCraig]

I really feel for Dave. He couldn't bear to look.

[B.A. BARACUS]

higgins turning the screw now, excellent matchplay snooker

[CaledonianCraig]

Great shot there from Dave.

[B.A. BARACUS]

easy safety for gilbert and the chance to take the initiative in the safety battle

[B.A. BARACUS]

gilbert may as well go for this pot, if it goes in the match is there to be won

[CaledonianCraig]

Incredible stuff this. Drama. Gilbert with a chance.

[B.A. BARACUS]

incredible drama

[B.A. BARACUS]

gilbert must have 9 lives

[B.A. BARACUS]

poor shot from gilbert, seems like he rushed it

[CaledonianCraig]

What a great match. Epic. Well played John Higgins. I really feel for David Gilbert. What a great performance to get to the semis. He'll be back.

[Duty281]

Sporting theatre at its finest. Gilbert had a chance but couldn't grasp it. The old master is relentless and valiantly and heroically fought back from 6-11 down. Magic stuff.

[B.A. BARACUS]

gilbert just faltered at the most crucial time, in terms of the semi overall, gilbert will feel like he as missed a trick here, higgins was there for the taking in the earlier sessions and gilbert just fell short.

Tremendous effort from higgins and looks like it could be a repeat of the 2011 final

[B.A. BARACUS]

higgins will have to improve if he is to beat trump but tomorrow is another day and he could produce a vintage performance

if trump gets through to the final, he will be champing at the bit to overturn the 2011 defeat, remember watching that match and trump was unlucky to lose

[88Chris05]

A bit gutted for Gilbert. Hopefully he can kick on from this experience and make himself a serious contender on a consistent basis for the big titles in the future. He's a great player to watch with a lovely touch around the table. Feel for him but he had his chances.

As for Higgins, he made a mug out of me, not for the first time. I thought he was dead and buried in this match at 7-12 down. Not sure he's quite got it in him to beat Judd (presumably) over four sessions....But we'll see. He's truly phenomenal.

[CaledonianCraig]

Gutted for David. Great bloke with great heart. He'll be back. He's moved up onto a new level in his career.

[B.A. BARACUS]

both players emotional, feel for gilbert but even higgins admitted that gilbert could have been out of sight at 13-5, still he's done well to get to the semi's and hopefully he can push on from here

[CaledonianCraig]

This evening's semi sees Trump resume 14-10 up on Gary Wilson. He needs three more frames to meet John Higgins in the Final.

[CaledonianCraig]

Wilson should have won that frame. Trump takes it and leads 15-10.

[CaledonianCraig]

Wilson with a break of 68 looks like pulling a frame back. Trump leads 15-11.

[CaledonianCraig]

Trump pounces on a slack safety shot from Wilson to make it 16-11. One frame away from the Final.

[CaledonianCraig]

Trump seals his place in the Final beating Gary Wilson 17-11. Wilson can be very proud of his run to the semis as a qualifier and he'll be hoping to use this as a springboard for his career. Judd Trump won comfortably in the end without being at his best. The Final tomorrow and Monday should be a classic.

[Duty281]

No drama this evening. We get the final I thought would happen, and hopefully it'll be a great one.

I think I narrowly favour Higgins. Very narrowly. As I mentioned the other day, the H2H is decisively in Higgins' favour - the Scot leads 22-9 overall, currently on a run of 9 consecutive wins against Trump, and Higgins has triumphed in all 6 matches the two have played over a medium to long haul (best of 11 frames or greater).

Higgins' mental game and experience also counts for more. He has played some dreadful snooker at times in this tournament, but he has also delivered decisively at key moments. Trump is in better overall form, but he has also had slumps through this tournament, like when he was 5-1 up against Ding but slipped to 7-9 behind, before ultimately recovering.

It should be close, and I'll say Higgins will edge it 18-16.

[CaledonianCraig]

No drama this evening. We get the final I thought would happen, and hopefully it'll be a great one.

I think I narrowly favour Higgins. Very narrowly. As I mentioned the other day, the H2H is decisively in Higgins' favour - the Scot leads 22-9 overall, currently on a run of 9 consecutive wins against Trump, and Higgins has triumphed in all 6 matches the two have played over a medium to long haul (best of 11 frames or greater).

Higgins' mental game and experience also counts for more. He has played some dreadful snooker at times in this tournament, but he has also delivered decisively at key moments. Trump is in better overall form, but he has also had slumps through this tournament, like when he was 5-1 up against Ding but slipped to 7-9 behind, before ultimately recovering.

It should be close, and I'll say Higgins will edge it 18-16.

Pretty much sums up my thoughts too. One thing that may weigh in Judd's favour is that he has has a less stress-free route through. Higgins has had tight hard fought matches against Stuart Bingham, Neil Robertson and David Gilbert which affected him emotionally. We shall see. Should be a cracker loaded with drama.

[No name Bertie]

Judd Trump is still only 29 and so it could be argued he is still evolving while John Higgins at 43 is just trying to keep things going using all the tricks he has learned under his disposal (can't teach an old dog new tricks?).  

Trump only has two triple crown titles and so one would expect at some point he would be expecting to become a regular major winner. He seems certain to beat O'Sullivan's career record for century breaks (he already has 609 century breaks - not sure if the modern player plays more - hence the high number).  

With John Higgins he has 9 triple crown titles which includes four World Championship titles.  If he wins five World Championships that would match O'Sullivans record (and they are both 43 years old) - which would surely place Higgins in the top tier of snooker players ever to have played the game.   I personally would think it would make a great story for Snooker if Higgins wins - this is the third year in a row he has made it to the World Championship final - maybe it will be third time lucky.  

But there is a very talented young and hungry player that stands in his way in the name of Judd Trump - who must surely believe he has to start winning these tournaments to stamp his name on the sport.

ps There have been predictions for some time that Chinese / South-East Asian players will end up dominating the game - but as yet it hasn't happened.

[CaledonianCraig]

For me it is a great match-up. Two totally different players each highly capable of winning different types of frames. It is also great for Trump that it is Higgins he meets in the Final. If he wins he will get full kudos for winning the world title beating an all-time great of the sport. That feat could not be downplayed whereas if he had beaten David Gilbert people would say oh well he should have won anyway or that the draw opened up for him or some other lame excuse.

[No name Bertie]

John Higgins has a few words to say on the scheduling - which all seem fair: 2pm and 7pm starts with 2 x 8 frames of snooker having to be played. His complaint is that there is not enough time between the two blocks of snooker to properly recuperate / feed.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/48164719

[88Chris05]

Despite his impressive head-to-head record against Trump, I can only see more final loss heartache for Higgins in this one. Think the timing of the match and the circumstances have swung things in Trump's favour and he'll win a competitive but not super-close match. Maybe 18-13, 18-14, something like that.

Higgins has had a pretty touch route to the final whereas Trump's side of the draw opened up quite nicely for him and none of his matches have been too taxing. Trump is, along with O'Sullivan, the most devastating break builder in the game and if he gets presented with the chances Gilbert was routinely presented with (but didn't take), he could blow a slow-starting Higgins out of the water early on.

Mind you, every time I think Higgins is done at the highest level he seems to prove me wrong. Higgins at his best beats Trump at his best just about every time, but I don't think he's at that kind of level anymore and, as I've said throughout the tournament and even before it, Trump has new steel and conviction about him these days. I think he'll get his revenge for 2011.

Should be a great match either way.

[CaledonianCraig]

John Higgins has a few words to say on the scheduling - which all seem fair: 2pm and 7pm starts with 2 x 8 frames of snooker having to be played.  His complaint is that there is not enough time between the two blocks of snooker to properly recuperate / feed.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/48164719

I can see John's view point as in why are they kicking their heels until gone 2pm? The afternoon session could start at 1pm and it would give both players extra time between sessions. I also take Judd's view saying it didn't bother John in four years he won it. Perhaps that is the sign that Higgins is getting older and more battle weary.

[CaledonianCraig]

The Final gets under way. May the best man win.

[CaledonianCraig]

Nervy start with chances for both but Trump gets it with a 50+ break. Trump 1-0. Can someone fetch Judd a proper bow-tie as the one he has on looks like a paper cut--out worn by a midwest poker player in the Wild West.

[CaledonianCraig]

Higgins doesn't get a run of the balls from a split and Trump gets in and punishes him a break of 63 and leads 2-0 barring snookers.

[CaledonianCraig]

Higgins gets the snooker and can now tie with four balls left on the table.

[CaledonianCraig]

But Trump pots the brown and Higgins needs a snooker again.

[CaledonianCraig]

And Trump does seal the frame and does lead 2-0.

[Duty281]

Trump looking good and settled early on, though Higgins was very unfortunate with the split of reds in the second frame.

[CaledonianCraig]

Higgins with a great clearance of 139 seals his first frame of the final and Trump leads 2-1.

[CaledonianCraig]

And Trump bounces straight back with a big break of his own of 105 and he takes a 3-1 lead into the first mid-session interval. High quality stuff this.

[Duty281]

Great quality start to the final. Both players have settled early and two centuries already.

[CaledonianCraig]

Higgins, with a break of 69, takes the 5th frame and Trump leads 3-2.

[88Chris05]

Both players seem to be in good nick so far. But Trump looks immense when he gets in amongst them.

[CaledonianCraig]

Higgins opens with a long red and is building a possible frame-winning chance here.

[CaledonianCraig]

Only a break of 34 but has to play safe.

[CaledonianCraig]

But Higgins bags the frame at the second attempt and is back level at 3-3.

[Duty281]

Higgins looking very good, arguably the best he has played all tournament. Pot success around 95% and absolutely no sign of fatigue.

[B.A. BARACUS]

Shaping up to be a classic - higgins already looks in much better form than his semi, in fact i would say he is playing right at the top of his game and if he is able to maintain this for the whole match then i cannot see how trump beats him as his all round game is better than trumps.

Trump has to be at his best to claim him first title if higgins keeps playing like this

[CaledonianCraig]

Trump goes close to potting a long red but leaves it on and Higgins is in again.

[B.A. BARACUS]

i feel trump made an error in judgement when 3-1 up, he had a simple red with the rest and black on the blue spot, he tried to free the black spot and ended up on nothing.

the saying, 'eat what's on your plate' comes to mind, there were enough balls in the open to compile a decent break, without taking the chance to free the black spot....he has barely had a shot since.

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