Last men standing

-

So as the Masters reaches the penultimate stage of the semifinals, four contenders remain to contest for the Waterford Crystal. Which one has the courage and determination to reach the winning line?

 

An obvious candidate is Ronnie O’Sullivan. This man has won more Masters titles than any other candidate. The once volatile player has now mastered his all round game and banished his mental demons with the help of his sport’s psychologist, Steve Peters. A person who knows this venue inside out and who is able to rally the London audience.

 

His opponent, Ding Junhui, learnt his craft in China but in his early career lacked belief. The famous scenes at the Masters when he lost to Ronnie stand out. Ding broke down in tears at the end of the match and Ronnie comforted him, holding and kissing his opponent in the jaws of defeat. A player who has risen from that dark place and become a nurtured cues man

 

On the other side of the draw is Judd Trump. Trump, who was able to play the game at a very early age, has risen through the rankings, narrowly missing out on the World Championship to John Higgins and then claiming victory in the Shanghai Masters and UK Championship. He plays “naughty snooker”, a brand that reminds me of Alex Higgins and Jimmy White. However his Achilles’ heel is confidence. A weakness that any opponent should pounce upon.

 

The final contender is Neil Robertson. The Australian who came to England with a suitcase and £200, carries on the Australian mantle of Eddie Charlton. A quiet and often reserved family man who once had a computer game addiction turns into a fiery beast on the table. Like Peter Ebdon, he is very vocal in a pressurised match. A dangerous man who never gives up until the last ball is potted in a match.

 

My prediction is that Ronnie O’Sullivan will play Judd Trump in Sunday’s final. A brave forecast but having watched snooker for so many years, this seems the likely outcome.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Ooty Club, birthplace of snooker

-
Image
Snooker was first born millions of miles away from the UK in a small town in the Nilgiri hills of Southern India. Recently Dennis Taylor went to this club and played on the first ever table produced. The Ooty Colonial Club was set up amongst 65 hill stations for the British army. Built by Sir William Rumbold In 1836, the club was built in a colonial style  and houses a bar and billiard room. A relic of the Raj period, the mixed bar still has a strict dress code and is set in a building and surrounding area that could be produced by bursting a time bubble and even has the original ball room. Inside the Billiards Room, stands the first ever snooker table made. A rare antique that is still playable and reminds us how old the game and how far it has travelled
Read more

Place your bets

-
Image
Match fixing in snooker has unfortunately been in operation since the very early days of the game with reports of Joe Davis having "carried" weaker opponents in multi-session matches to maximise the gate revenue. This trait continued through the history of the sport with players such as Willie Thorne and Alex Higgins claiming they were offered large sums of money to lose matches. Players may not enter a match fixing agreement on their own free will, being subject to threats of violence if they fail to submit. The lucrative criminal act is largely based in the Far East where gangs devise money making scams in various sports, using their players to infiltrate the individual sport and extract multimillion currency earnings. Although this happens, World Snooker has been very vigilant to attempt to stamp out this criminal activity in recent years. The main punishment being heavy fines or bans from the game. Recognisable figures such as Quentin Hann, Stephen Lee and Joe Joggi...
Read more

Which way, left or right?

-
Image
One of the greatest spats that occurred in snooker history was between my friend Alain Robidoux and Ronnie O’Sullivan. It occurred in 1996 at the World Championship. Ronnie, a then young whipper snapper at 19, trounced Alain in the match, winning 10-3. However beyond the win, a spat occurred when Ronnie decided to take a number of shots left handed. Robidoux criticised O’Sullivan after the match for being “disrespectful”. Ronnie hit back at Alain saying “if he wants to act like a baby that’s up to him” adding “ the crowd enjoyed it, that’s the main thing”. This was probably the first time that a player had dared to take multiple shots left handed and led to players attempting the same feat. Perhaps this wouldn’t have been become a regular occurrence if this hadn’t of happened. This snooker bust up led to Alain refusing to shake Ronnie’s hand at the end of the match. Robidoux later explained his actions saying “Ronnie was being disrespectful to his fellow professionals and should sa...
Read more