An amazing match finish

[TheThaiger]

Bob:

I agree. One thing that most pool players (and most readers here) fail to recognize, is that a snooker table's cloth is a nap cloth, with an installed nap "direction" (i.e. head to foot). It's easy for most pool players, who play all day long on worsted cloth (like Simonis), to underestimate the effects that the nap has on a slow traveling ball. Ali didn't properly adjust for the fact that he was shooting "with the grain" of the nap. And amazingly, he repeated the error three consecutive times. (So accurate was his lack of adjustment, that the cue ball hit the rounded knuckle of the side pocket in EXACTLY the same way, to cause that cue ball to finish in almost EXACTLY the same position. We're talking within a ball's diameter each time, missing the black by the same millimeter each time.)

So with the fact that the cue ball finished in such a precise position in all three attempts, I don't think it was stroke/mechanics error. Rather, I feel it was an aiming/compensation error.

-Sean

Very, very few pro snooker players have stroke errors.

 

[driven]

I have to agree with what has already been said regarding the accuracy of his stroke and hitting an absolute center ball each time, truly amazing, thanks for sharing.

 

[hang-the-9]

The previous most remarkable shot sequence I've seen was this (IIRC):

Oliver Ortman was playing Ernesto Dominguez in Las Vegas, maybe at the BCA Open. Oliver won a game leaving him needing two more. He broke the rack and since it was a Sardo-sponsored event, the nine ball just sat there. The six ball made the grand tour and returned to the rack area to knock the nine in putting Oliver on the hill. Oliver broke with the six in the same position, and -- you guessed it -- the six followed the same path and knocked the nine in the corner for the match win.

And some people don't think nine ball is broken.
View attachment 197889

I have seen a similar thing happen with using the magic rack, but in my case, the guy 2 railed the corner ball towards the 9, making it in the side 2 times and almost making it a 3rd time.
The snooker shot were just amazing. If I did not know any better I'd think it was an instant replay. I would have tried a different shot on the 3rd try though hehe.

 

[beetle]

I love the perplexed look on his face after every shot!

 

[Cameron Smith]

Bob:

I agree. One thing that most pool players (and most readers here) fail to recognize, is that a snooker table's cloth is a nap cloth, with an installed nap "direction" (i.e. head to foot). It's easy for most pool players, who play all day long on worsted cloth (like Simonis), to underestimate the effects that the nap has on a slow traveling ball. Ali didn't properly adjust for the fact that he was shooting "with the grain" of the nap. And amazingly, he repeated the error three consecutive times. (So accurate was his lack of adjustment, that the cue ball hit the rounded knuckle of the side pocket in EXACTLY the same way, to cause that cue ball to finish in almost EXACTLY the same position. We're talking within a ball's diameter each time, missing the black by the same millimeter each time.)

So with the fact that the cue ball finished in such a precise position in all three attempts, I don't think it was stroke/mechanics error. Rather, I feel it was an aiming/compensation error.

-Sean

I don't think the nap of the cloth played that much of a role. These guys play almost exclusively snooker so there is no way he wouldn't allow for it, or even forget about it. Honestly, for me it comes down to the shot itself. He's got a 10 foot shot in jaws of the pocket cueing over the rail trying to make the thinest of contacts. He missed cause it's a really hard shot. I'm just surprised he didn't adjust to make a thicker contact or look for another option. I mean, I think playing a looser safe and hoping Ronnie doesn't clear up is a better option percentage wise than what he was attempting given the last two outcomes.