China in Your Hand
With the China Open drawing to a close, Robertson’s dominance has shone through this competition and he has rarely dropped a frame. At the time of writing this blog, he leads Lisowski 8-1 in the final. Neil seems to have lost that confidence issue with Ronnie off the scene and flourished, showing the form and style of play that we admire him for.
In contrast Lisowski looks a shadow of his former self and has up to this point, failed to combat Robertson’s ruthless play. When Jack is allowed in, his play is flat and he is unable to capitalise on Robertson’s occasional errors. Unfortunately when your game is an attacking style of play, you are more susceptible to making mistakes.
It is a shame that Lisowski currently plays this way because I am a great fan of his. Like a car running out of petrol, he always falls short of the winning line and uses up his best play before the final. I would definitely say he has a confidence issue because no matter who he plays in the final, his winning streak drys up and retracts into his shell. Snooker champions are not faint hearted and until he conquers his snooker demons, he will never amass any trophy titles.
Similarly, Robertson can’t lay on his laurels today if as seems expected that he wins in Beijing today. With the World Championship just around the corner, Ronnie will back in the mix at the Crucible. This dangerous force can only be slain by Robertson if the thunder continues to make noises. If the storm leaves Neil, then O’Sullivan will triumph and just add to his successful season titles and career World Championship wins.
Lisowski will have to quickly lick his battle wounds before Sheffield or he will continue to be a nearly man. This sport can be so cruel but any potential champion has to go through the ringer before they come out the other side a winner. The China Open has become that training ground, it makes a player a better all round sportsman and focuses the mind for the ultimate goal of a crack at one of the jewels of the triple crown.
With Robertson now in touching distance of the Chinese title, Lisowski can only build on his frames’ defeat. If he walks away, only winning one frame, that would be humiliating but with possibly three or four , he would have reduced the damage limitation. Lisowski, like an early Trump needs to flourish and hopefully time will be kind to his career.
This has been an intriguing and exciting China Open where most of the top sixteen fell foul in the early rounds. This in my opinion made the tournament more exciting and showcased a lot of players that normally remain in the snooker shadows. It has had an added effect of strengthening the remaining top seed players, giving them the motivation and form to progress. Hence the quality of players in today’s final.
In contrast Lisowski looks a shadow of his former self and has up to this point, failed to combat Robertson’s ruthless play. When Jack is allowed in, his play is flat and he is unable to capitalise on Robertson’s occasional errors. Unfortunately when your game is an attacking style of play, you are more susceptible to making mistakes.
It is a shame that Lisowski currently plays this way because I am a great fan of his. Like a car running out of petrol, he always falls short of the winning line and uses up his best play before the final. I would definitely say he has a confidence issue because no matter who he plays in the final, his winning streak drys up and retracts into his shell. Snooker champions are not faint hearted and until he conquers his snooker demons, he will never amass any trophy titles.
Similarly, Robertson can’t lay on his laurels today if as seems expected that he wins in Beijing today. With the World Championship just around the corner, Ronnie will back in the mix at the Crucible. This dangerous force can only be slain by Robertson if the thunder continues to make noises. If the storm leaves Neil, then O’Sullivan will triumph and just add to his successful season titles and career World Championship wins.
Lisowski will have to quickly lick his battle wounds before Sheffield or he will continue to be a nearly man. This sport can be so cruel but any potential champion has to go through the ringer before they come out the other side a winner. The China Open has become that training ground, it makes a player a better all round sportsman and focuses the mind for the ultimate goal of a crack at one of the jewels of the triple crown.
With Robertson now in touching distance of the Chinese title, Lisowski can only build on his frames’ defeat. If he walks away, only winning one frame, that would be humiliating but with possibly three or four , he would have reduced the damage limitation. Lisowski, like an early Trump needs to flourish and hopefully time will be kind to his career.
This has been an intriguing and exciting China Open where most of the top sixteen fell foul in the early rounds. This in my opinion made the tournament more exciting and showcased a lot of players that normally remain in the snooker shadows. It has had an added effect of strengthening the remaining top seed players, giving them the motivation and form to progress. Hence the quality of players in today’s final.
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