2022 World Snooker Championship (Apr 16th - May 2nd)
- Thread starter BeiberLvr
- Start date
Geosnookery
Well-known member
Four years ago Ronnie lost out to an amateur, James Cahill, in the first round of thre World Chamionship.
I and many others thought it ‘the end’.
Two world titles later and glad we were wrong.
I doubt if he will retire but he will likely be more selective in choosing what tournaments to enter. He now has a few more years without having to be conscious of earning ranking points to stay in the top 16.
Re Trump…this loss may do him good. He isn’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea and his more gracious attitude has earned him some fan points. He’ll be in the top 10 for the next 20 years.
I and many others thought it ‘the end’.
Two world titles later and glad we were wrong.
I doubt if he will retire but he will likely be more selective in choosing what tournaments to enter. He now has a few more years without having to be conscious of earning ranking points to stay in the top 16.
Re Trump…this loss may do him good. He isn’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea and his more gracious attitude has earned him some fan points. He’ll be in the top 10 for the next 20 years.
telinoz
Registered
Ronnie over the last 3 to 4 years has made this a hobby, even though he puts the practice in and has had done lots of regular exhibition matches with the Legends Tour group (Jimmy white often in it, with Stephen Hendry) and John Virgo, Michaela Tabb etc.
On those he has had lots of 147's.
With this attitude of having 4 or 5 other things going on, effectively other jobs, it means he can turn up and play with a lot of freedom.
He is not going anywhere for at least 5 years IMO at the top of the game.
He will always be playing, even when the time comes to be off the main tour - he'll dominate the seniors tour for 30 years, ha ha!
On those he has had lots of 147's.
With this attitude of having 4 or 5 other things going on, effectively other jobs, it means he can turn up and play with a lot of freedom.
He is not going anywhere for at least 5 years IMO at the top of the game.
He will always be playing, even when the time comes to be off the main tour - he'll dominate the seniors tour for 30 years, ha ha!
Pretty cool having a hobby that shows a profit. £500,000 minus expenses still must be a little profit there.
Does the player who breaks off in snooker (the breaker or "breaker-off" or "break-offer") have an advantage (i.e., win the frame more frequently than lose it) as he does in most pool games?
In this year's World Championship Finals, the opening breaker won 15 of the 31 frames (9 of 16 for O'Sullivan and 6 of 15 for Trump). But that, of course, is quite a small sample. Is it close to 50/50 for the top pros more generally?
I found a blog post from 6 years ago where someone looked at all of the World Championship Finals from 2000 through 2016. He found that the player who broke off won about 50.2% of the frames. That's pretty good evidence that it's not a significant advantage to break off, at least for the top guys. But, interestingly, 14 of the 17 Championship winners in those years broke off in the opening frame of the Finals. However, apparently only 3 of those Finals went to a decider (hill/hill). https://www.snookerisland.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=468&t=6768#p437259
In this year's World Championship Finals, the opening breaker won 15 of the 31 frames (9 of 16 for O'Sullivan and 6 of 15 for Trump). But that, of course, is quite a small sample. Is it close to 50/50 for the top pros more generally?
I found a blog post from 6 years ago where someone looked at all of the World Championship Finals from 2000 through 2016. He found that the player who broke off won about 50.2% of the frames. That's pretty good evidence that it's not a significant advantage to break off, at least for the top guys. But, interestingly, 14 of the 17 Championship winners in those years broke off in the opening frame of the Finals. However, apparently only 3 of those Finals went to a decider (hill/hill). https://www.snookerisland.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=468&t=6768#p437259
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In one of the final sessions, both Judd and Ronnie fumbled. I mean bad fumbles. It was anybody's win to take. Ronnie misses and returns to his corner. Something happened, though, and the referee comes over to Ronnie in his corner. And they have words. The ref accused Ronnie of something. Ronnie said, "What did you see? You saw nothing." Drama!
Now comes the Ronnie merchandise, a coffee mug that says "You saw nothing." Hahahahaha! I want one. Read more here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/o...hip-launching-new-7-Collection-Trump-win.html
Now comes the Ronnie merchandise, a coffee mug that says "You saw nothing." Hahahahaha! I want one. Read more here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/o...hip-launching-new-7-Collection-Trump-win.html
A few years ago Steve Davis started a discussion about breaking off being a huge disadvantage, since the players were getting better and better with their long pots.
He even started to just roll the cueball to the back of the pack instead of breaking off in the traditional way.
Anyway, nobody else really jumped on to that train and it was very unpopular with the fans too, since it was very boring to watch.
Wasn't it Mark Williams who did that?
Mark has done it before. Maybe he got inspiration from Steve?
I think, I have seen Davis playing a roll up break off in the premier league back in ...2005, maybe?
But I can´t find any video evidence...maybe he played side cushion first to roll up to the reds?
Anyway, defensive break offs have been played before, but as I said, they never gained any popularity with the players or the fans.
Edit:
Found it: 3:41 in the video. A bit different, but same idea:
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I think the actual math of counting points during a break is a big barrier in our pool halls as well. But maybe there is an app for it.
Alex Higgins did it now and again, but to be fair that was probably Alex being Alex and nothing to do with strategy.
Steve Davis might well be correct with his analysis but I doubt it's any more than a marginal advantage.
...and this is one of the great things about the game in an informal setting. Both players are dancing around each other all the time. Bottom line - it's a game, and a social one.
Drug dealers are able to work with grams ,ounces,kilo's,pounds and count money. Where there is a will there is a way.
As for the break Ronnie is responsible for the most common break used today. He started leaving the cue ball more towards the center of the table then the old standard of ending in the corner.
Ronnie breaks off handed and it seems when he was playing poorly he had switched back to a right handed break. Now his is back off handed.
Ronnie breaks off handed and it seems when he was playing poorly he had switched back to a right handed break. Now his is back off handed.
CanadianGuy
Well-known member
the break will be the next evolution, as it was in pool, the guys are almost good enough now where they can open the reds and hide the cueball behind the baulk colors
i think the reasoning is rather it's a disadvantage when playing against long potting young guns. that's why an aging steve davis did that lag break, and mark williams too. that break is kinda pointless though cuz 2-3 visits in it's usually the same lay of the balls as with a standard break
CanadianGuy
Well-known member
yes, of course that issue becomes addressed as the players refine the shot, I suspect they do not practice the shot much, certainly in the past it was an afterthought
8:22 on this video shows the cue ball control shot of the tourney
these guys are getting to the point where they couldn't place the cue ball much better with their hand
8:22 on this video shows the cue ball control shot of the tourney
these guys are getting to the point where they couldn't place the cue ball much better with their hand
There was some discussion by the commentators a year or two ago about how the balls were breaking. In one match, the balls were doing the classic 14.1 reassembly thing where they came back together. Of course, if the balls are tight, that's impossible. In other matches several balls are always loose and there is often a shot to one side or the other.
I used to play where the standard break was on the red one up from the corner. I guess it was to get more reds open.
I used to play where the standard break was on the red one up from the corner. I guess it was to get more reds open.