4 Centuries in a Row - History in the making

[TheOne]

And don't forget that your culture appreciates a job well done. In other words they celebrate excellence and tradition. In the United States pool had a huge following at one point and sort of died when team sports came into their own. Pool, as a professional sport, just seemed to fade into the background.

But, ultimately it comes down to money. If Snooker pros were making a few thousand pounds for winning a tournament then the public would be less interested, I believe. I think that it really is interesting for "normal" people to see professionals contesting for more money than their homes are worth.

John

True John, money is obviously the bihhest factor. Interesting you mention team sports, as a football (ok soccer if you insist ;-) fan amongst other sports I notice that there is nothing bigger than a world cup. Everyone loves to get behind there country as the mosconi cup has proven.

I think its time for a 9 ball world cup!

I feel that 9 ball has grown enough for the sport/game to have a quality world cup (team event). For example how strong would these teams be if they had to submit say a 5 man team.....

USA,Canada,Taiwan,Phillipines,China,Japan,Korea,Britain,Holland,Germany,
Finland,Australia,Sweden,France,Spain,Mexica,etc etc

I think the quality of a 16 or even 32 team 9 ball world cup would be fantastic, in vegas of course

 

[X Breaker]

Snooker is a popular game on TV in Asia. It is very popular in Hong Kong and China and I even watched it in Taiwan, where pool was THE game.
I like snooker and I never found that boring. But then I used to play a lot of snooker so I am not a viewer who does not even know the rules.
I had the pleasure of watching Marco Fu ran a 147 in front of me. That was his second 147. I still remember his last black which was a steep cut with his cue ball on the rail and he pounded that in. He did that while he was still in Vancouver, Canada before he went to the UK--that was about 9 years ago. I still remember he was saying how he was not really in stroke and he could not clear the table and things like that the game before, then out of the blue, he not only cleared the table but got a perfect game!
He used to have a very natural form and he would lift his head up almost everyshot. He also had a pretty unusual stroke and he liked to spin the cue ball a lot. I heard he went to take some lesson with Terry and I am wondering how he is doing now.
He had so much talent yet was so humble and easy going. I really miss watching him play.
Marco had a challenge match in Hong Kong set up on the 9 foot table with Jennifer Chen. It was in front of a large crowd and he lost his match.
Talk to you later mate

 

[Gerry]

Thanx!, actually I was practicing on the table and a guy from the UK asked for a game and I said sure, I broke, he scored maybe 30 or so, and I hit em with a 78!. I was pounding the pink and blue since I suck shooting the black. He was astounded with the fact that I also played with my normal pool cue. My normal best breaks were about 25 to 50 at the time. I doubt I'd win ANY snooker contest

Oh sorry, by dormied I mean one player has mathmatically won the rack, and the other player can not catch up....Gerry

 

[TheOne]

Snooker is a popular game on TV in Asia. It is very popular in Hong Kong and China and I even watched it in Taiwan, where pool was THE game.
I like snooker and I never found that boring. But then I used to play a lot of snooker so I am not a viewer who does not even know the rules.
I had the pleasure of watching Marco Fu ran a 147 in front of me. That was his second 147. I still remember his last black which was a steep cut with his cue ball on the rail and he pounded that in. He did that while he was still in Vancouver, Canada before he went to the UK--that was about 9 years ago. I still remember he was saying how he was not really in stroke and he could not clear the table and things like that the game before, then out of the blue, he not only cleared the table but got a perfect game!
He used to have a very natural form and he would lift his head up almost everyshot. He also had a pretty unusual stroke and he liked to spin the cue ball a lot. I heard he went to take some lesson with Terry and I am wondering hoe he is doing now.
He had so much talent yet was so humble and easy going. I really miss watching him play.
He had a challenge match in Hong Kong set up on the 9 foot table with Jennifer Chen. It was in front of a large crowd and he lost his match to Jennifer.

Wow, a few things I never knew, didnt know he was based in Vancover! He was and is a fine player, seems to have dropped of a little lately and Ding has probably overtaken him as the leading Asian player. Still Im sure he'll be around for a while, I think the influx of Asian players is great for the game. A 147 is a fantastic acheivment and oure lucky to have seen it in person. Great result by Jennifer!

 

[hobokenapa]

John Higgins just made 4 centuries in a row in the final against Ronnie O, the first time anyone has done this. It his splitting the etreemly tight pockets in half and playing like GOD. He's 8:2 up and just potted along red and has a chance for 5 in a row!

478 points without reply!

When I first saw this headline, I thought you'd run the 100 at Straight four times Craig! How is that going by the way?

 

[X Breaker]

Wow, a few things I never knew, didnt know he was based in Vancover! He was and is a fine player, seems to have dropped of a little lately and Ding has probably overtaken him as the leading Asian player. Still Im sure he'll be around for a while, I think the influx of Asian players is great for the game. A 147 is a fantastic acheivment and oure lucky to have seen it in person. Great result by Jennifer!

Yes, I will never forget that. I feel very lucky being that when it happened.
Marco was borned in Hong Kong but moved to Canada with his family when he was around 8. He had his education in Canada. Marco was a straight A student and he graudated high school in Vancouver.
Marco is fluent in Chinese and English. He is a true gentleman and a real asset to the game.
9 Ball is a different game. Marco also played Jennifer when they were both in Canada and he lost that match as well. I think it is kind of funny.
As far as I know, Marco never played 9 ball.
Send me an email if you want to dicuss what we discussed last time when we met.
Take care,
Richard

 

[Boro Nut]

Pardon my snooker ignorance here, but do you stop a frame if 1 player has dormied the other?, or do they play them out for averages and such?

In one-to-one tournament play only the frames won count, not the points scored.

Snooker has it's roots in English Billiards. Without a definite end this was played either for a pre-agreed time, number of sessions, or points total.

In it's infancy snooker was often scored the same way. The number of frames could be irrelevant if the winner was decided to be the first player to score 500 points say. This was termed the 'Long Game'.

In intra-club competitions and leagues it is still sometimes used. Each team player will play for a point(s) per frame won. There will be an extra point(s) for the 'Long Game' (ie total aggregate score for all frames). In these situations all frames need to be fully played out regardless of score, and it is not unusual to see someone leading by 100 points in the last frame still going for snookers in order to win the long game too.

Boro Nut

 

[X Breaker]

When I played snooker, I usually let the other guy finish his run even if I have already lost the game. To me, it is courtesy. My opponent may want to run the highest run in his career or was trying to add one more century to his belt so I don't think it was right to stop him. It is also courtesy to spot balls for your opponent and to count his points for him while he is shooting.
Everyone is different and some players do not do that. It is just me.
Richard

 

[Gerry]

When I played snooker, I usually let the other guy finish his run even if I have already lost the game. To me, it is courtesy. My opponent may want to run the highest run in his career or was trying to add one more century to his belt so I don't think it was right to stop him. It is also courtesy to spot balls for your opponent and to count his points for him while he is shooting.
Everyone is different and some players do not do that. It is just me.
Richard

Yea Richard, thats how we played, it was kinda like being a ref spotting balls for the other guy!. It was good for me because I could watch how guys were playing the rack from tableside not from my chair....Gerry

 

[sniper]

I think its time for a 9 ball world cup!

I feel that 9 ball has grown enough for the sport/game to have a quality world cup (team event). For example how strong would these teams be if they had to submit say a 5 man team.....

USA,Canada,Taiwan,Phillipines,China,Japan,Korea,Britain,Holland,Germany,
Finland,Australia,Sweden,France,Spain,Mexica,etc etc

I think the quality of a 16 or even 32 team 9 ball world cup would be fantastic, in vegas of course

I would love a 9 ball world cup! correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the WPA has a world cup event on their schedule for sometime next year but no details have been released.

 

[JDB]

John Higgins just made 4 centuries in a row in the final against Ronnie O, the first time anyone has done this. It his splitting the etreemly tight pockets in half and playing like GOD. He's 8:2 up and just potted along red and has a chance for 5 in a row!

478 points without reply!

Is that similar to a 4 pack in 9 ball...lol. Just kidding

 

[TX Poolnut]

Found this report online. ENJOY!

PA Snooker: Higgins destroys O'Sullivan in night of records
By Brian Burnside
Published: 17 October 2005 http://sport.independent.co.uk/general/article320184.ece

John Higgins blew away Ronnie O'Sullivan last night with a sensational potting masterclass which won him the Grand Prix in Preston.
The Wizard of Wishaw was simply irresistible as he beat the mercurial O'Sullivan into submission, rewriting the record books en route to a 9-2 victory at the Guild Hall.
Higgins, last season's British Open winner, led 5-2 after the afternoon interval, of which he won the last three frames.
The success continued following the resumption as the on-song Scot won the next three frames without the Rocket scoring a point.
The world No 6 amassed a breathtaking 494 unanswered points, breaking three long-standing snooker world records.
The previous record for unanswered points in a ranking event was 485, set by Higgins himself in 2000 when he beat Nottingham's Anthony Hamilton at the World Championship.
His impressive ball-potting also saw him set a new world record for the most ever unanswered points in any match, previously held by Stephen Hendry.
Higgins' fellow Scot had 487 unanswered points against Jimmy White when he beat him 6-0 in the 1996 Masters at Wembley.
His four back-to-back centuries had also never previously been achieved in a ranking event.
Higgins' 103 break in the last frame of the afternoon session was followed by runs of 104, 138 and 128 to start the evening.
"I won it for my two boys tonight," said Higgins, referring to his children, Pierce and Oliver.
"I just felt as though I wasn't going to miss. It just reminded me of how I used to play a few years ago."
Despite defeat, O'Sullivan paid tribute to Higgins, whom he termed as "an artist". "That was fantastic snooker," said the Rocket. "It really was unbelievable. I've never seen anything like that before. He just destroyed me. You've just got to take your hat off to him. He was amazing."

Just some good reading to my AZ family. Hope ya’ll enjoyed it.

 

[Gerry]

That must be like having 500 run on you in straight pool! ....G

 

[Cornerman]

what does "dormied" mean?

A golfing term from match play. A player is "dormie" when there aren't enough holes left for his opponent to win the match, but there are enough for the opponent to halve/tie the match.

Fred

 

[AuntyDan]

Yes mainly due to the break shot which seperates snooker from pool, its highly unlikely for a player to make a red from the break so usually both players have an equal opportunity to win EVERY frame, more often that not each frame is usually won by the player that players the best safety. And then pots the most balls of course (obviously there are some flukes sometimes), apart from 1 pocket this is something pool continues to struggle to achieve.

Thanks TO, but you've forgotten about Straight Pool which has a break format almost identical to Snooker; playing a safety break off the corner ball and trading safeties until someone leave a ball open or spots a dead plant. ("Combination" for the US readers.)

Higgins' achievment is magnificent, I've always felt running 100 in Snooker is equivalent to 100 in Straight Pool, taking into account the equipment and training differences. (And NO I don't want to start the whole Snooker/Pool debate again thank you very much!)

Do any of the Pool historians know the record for consecutive 100+ runs in Straight Pool tournaments?

 

[Bobby]

Thanks TO, but you've forgotten about Straight Pool which has a break format almost identical to Snooker; playing a safety break off the corner ball and trading safeties until someone leave a ball open or spots a dead plant. ("Combination" for the US readers.)

Higgins' achievment is magnificent, I've always felt running 100 in Snooker is equivalent to 100 in Straight Pool, taking into account the equipment and training differences. (And NO I don't want to start the whole Snooker/Pool debate again thank you very much!)

Do any of the Pool historians know the record for consecutive 100+ runs in Straight Pool tournaments?

I don't know the record for most 100's in tournament
straight pool, although I'm sure Mosconi has the
record. But I've heard a funny story about Dick
Lane, he was gambling after hours at a tournament
years ago and he was playing Ed Kelly 100 point
games, so Kelly runs 100 and out the first two
games and Lane quits him and makes a game with
Jimmy Mataya, well Mataya then runs 100 and out
2 consecutive games! Dick Lane had to sit there
and watch a total of 400 balls being run on him
that night.
By the way I think Allen Hopkins holds the dubious
distinction of being the only player to have been
eliminated from the World Straight Pool champion-
ships by having BOTH his opponents (winners bracket
and loser's bracket) run 150 and out on him! Gene
Nagy did it to him and then Lou Butera did it next.
I'm not 100% sure if he's the only player to have
that happen to them but I've heard from more than
one source that he is.

 

[Bob Jewett]

... Do any of the Pool historians know the record for consecutive 100+ runs in Straight Pool tournaments?

I think Hohmann may hold it now.

 

[shortshooter]

Without reply means without the opponent getting a point, the opponent of course would come back to the table.

Hi Chris.

Another thing,

When a player has made a century, or thereabouts, and pretty much won the frame, if he then misses and leaves little points on the table then the opponent usually concedes and doesn't knock in the remaining balls and therefore make a point or 2.
This is the most common way to attain unanswered points.

Later.....

Jon.