The consensus in Texas was that the cloth was slower than typical. The cloth was ironed once and that did make it faster. I've heard that for the big pro tournaments they shave the cloth.
Corey still in snooker championship
- Thread starter CBuck
- Start date
I'm thinking the pockets on the Canadian table would be much easier than the one in Houston. The one in Canada has pockets that look more like they belong on a pool table.
Yeah, I think I didn't explain it well.
The British are playing on heated slate, which makes the table much kinder.
..and the cloth they use now is MUCH faster, which makes a lot of shots more
possible.
I think the tables in Texas are equivalent to British 'club' conditions...if you
can run 60 on them, you can run 100 on 'match' conditions.
The two "silver legged" tables in Houston are Riley Aristocrat Tournament tables with championship cut pockets, these were the standard tables on the professional World Snooker Tour before the Chinese STAR tables which are now used.
I have actually been informed by the one of the proprietors of the club in Houston, that one of the Aristocrats they have was actually used in the 2006 World Championship.
Indeed, you are right, without the table heaters and the Strachan No. 10 snooker cloth, they would be far slower and less responsive than those used in World Snooker Tour competition.
Also, all tables used in World Snooker Tour tournaments will have brand new cushions, which makes the pockets a bit easier as the balls tend to slide into the pockets. After a few days play however when the newness has worn off, the pockets will generally play a bit tighter.
its not shaved, its cut to a lower nap when its manufactured . its a different weight cloth, it wears fast. a couple years ago Higgens wanted it changed every 2 matches. it is changed out often, and ironed. So it plays much faster.
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That's true. I was at the Crucible for the Ronnie vs Bingham match at I recall seeing one century in the session from Ronnie, and he was playing some of the best snooker I've ever witnessed. The tables played tough, but I remember Ronnie asking for the table to be reclothed. I think a change in the slate heaters did the trick though.
Someone mentioned that making a 60 break in club conditions is the equivalent of a century in championship conditions... A 60 break is a 60 break regardless on conditions IMO. Playing on a championship table is by far more testing IMO. My highest break at my club is 132, compare that to championship tables my highest break is 94. I take my hat off to anyone making centuries regularly on a championship table.
its a trade off, bigger pockets with slower cloth. SUPER fast cloth-small holes. I dont have the experience to know which is the easier. I owned a champion table-small holes, tough action. for Ronnie they are all bar-box's.
how he does what he does is beyond me.
Bigger pockets make life much easier and the cloth isn't that much slower so you can still Jimmy White the CB around the table with ease.its a trade off, bigger pockets with slower cloth. SUPER fast cloth-small holes. I dont have the experience to know which is the easier. I owned a champion table-small holes, tough action. for Ronnie they are all bar-box's.
If you haven't seen Ronnies 5 minute 147 then give it a watch. Still the greatest thing I've ever seen in any cue sport.
i have watched it many times, i watch lots of snooker, i watched countless matches this year on BBC, i was in Germany. I liked his 88 or 92 clearance against Carter last year-that was about the best frame i ever saw, remember
that one?... I liked his 88 or 92 clearance against Carter last year-that was about the best frame i ever saw, remember
Thanks for the reference. I just watched. Pretty nice splitting of the red and black off the shot on the brown, eh?
Hi! Good to hear from you!
Indeed, I went up there and many players were complaining about how poor the tables were running, and that they were pretty slow compared to previous years.
I forgot to go there, i was in Cologne the whole time, i watched it everyday, saw many matches and yes the tables did appear to run a bit slow. especially in the final. I noticed it before Ronnie stared tugging at the cloth near the middle pocket. It looked short to me-when they went down to one table more so.
I noticed after the first 3-4 days there were some hi breaks but not near as many as normal-only when the reds opened up favorably-didnt see many awkward reds brought into play and big break building. For a while i figured it was just what i was watching, i mentioned it here on AZB that the standard of play seemed a bit off. I wasnt sure until I saw the tallied up numbers on breaks etc and i know the template for the pockets is the same on Star as Riley-so it had to be the cloth. I guess the slate heaters were not enough to keep it dry or the fitters didnt stretch it right, something was off. Still good fun!!
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