Snooker

Been a few mad things this time around. Isn't he mic'd up for a Netflix documentary.

Still, he's the best to ever do it. Was only going one way that final.

Think the emotion just got to him at the end there. Just incredible achievement to keep battling against all that snooker and indeed life could throw at him.

Yeah it did. Two fav players are him and Alex Higgins

He's simply the greatest. No one in any other field or sport brings as much satisfaction and joy when he's at the table, at his peak. Hope he goes on and gets number 8 now. I'm sure he will!

He's simply the greatest. No one in any other field or sport brings as much satisfaction and joy when he's at the table, at his peak. Hope he goes on and gets number 8 now. I'm sure he will!

Yeah i agree. along with Hamilton. 

He's simply the greatest. No one in any other field or sport brings as much satisfaction and joy when he's at the table, at his peak. Hope he goes on and gets number 8 now. I'm sure he will!

A joy to watch over the last few weeks.

Yeah it did. Two fav players are him and Alex Higgins

Yeah Alex was something else. I was nagged into building a snooker room in my son's garden, last year. He's a Steve Davis fan, I think Alex was the best ever for drama etc. but I had lost interest in the game now I have to go round there once a week to play and watch it on the box. So I didn't watch all that much this year but yes Alex and ROS and Jimmy White are the 3 best who ever played.

Yeah Alex was something else. I was nagged into building a snooker room in my son's garden, last year. He's a Steve Davis fan, I think Alex was the best ever for drama etc. but I had lost interest in the game now I have to go round there once a week to play and watch it on the box. So I didn't watch all that much this year but yes Alex and ROS and Jimmy White are the 3 best who ever played.

People are quick to forget Hendry who had a great mix of steel and flair.

People are quick to forget Hendry who had a great mix of steel and flair.

That it's taken Ronnie this long to equal Hendry in the Worlds says it all about how amazing the guy was in the 90s. Fascinating hearing Ronnie chatting with Stephen a couple of days back on the BBC saying if Hendry had adapted his game to something more defensive later on in his career then he would have added more titles to his name.

All about those two.

People are quick to forget Hendry who had a great mix of steel and flair.

Yeah and may be because he was more of a slightly robotic figure. I liked him and I was interested a lot more thru his time. Such an attacking player as well. But Alex started me and my 5 brothers off with snooker but we all appreciate Hendry. Great player and can be talked about in the same breath as ROS.

He was certainly the most talented player ever to hold a cue and now he's got the 7th world title he's the greatest player for me. When you factor in the demons he's had to battle to get there, to win 7 over a 20 year period is a stunning achievement.

Yeah Alex was something else. I was nagged into building a snooker room in my son's garden, last year. He's a Steve Davis fan, I think Alex was the best ever for drama etc. but I had lost interest in the game now I have to go round there once a week to play and watch it on the box. So I didn't watch all that much this year but yes Alex and ROS and Jimmy White are the 3 best who ever played.

Funny you mention White as he was my third choice. All 3 mentioned are basically exciting to watch and peoples champions. 

Champion of Champions started yesterday and Selby looked as good as he has for a long time. I know he had problems off the table last year and his form suffered because of it but he looked good in both matches yesterday. He's not everyones cup of tea with the way he plays but an on form Mark Selby is good for snooker.

Today's matches are Neil Robertson against Fan Zhengyi, which should be a relatively easy win for the Aussie if he's on form. Fan is a decent player, he wouldn't be in the tournament if he wasn't, but he's not at Robertson's level. The other match is Kyren Wilson and Ryan Day, which is slightly harder to pick. Wilson is rightly the favourite and should win but Day is always capable of an upset especially if Wilson isn't quite at it.

And then the two winners of the savvys matches will meet in the quarter final tonight.

Tomorrow is Trump v Brecel & Mark Allen v Joe Perry. Again two difficult matches. Trump hasn't been great this season, including a first round exit in the last tournament, which Mark Allen went on to win and retain his Northern Ireland trophy. Brecel has won the Championship League already this year. Like I said, Allen won the last tournament and is the in-form player but Joe Perry is an experienced player who could cause him some problems.

And then on Thursday it's Rob Milkins against O'Sullivan which I can only see one winner. Ronnie hasn't been at his best but Rob Milkins shouldn't be causing an even off-form O'Sullivan problems. The other match will be Zhao Xintong taking on the women's world champ Mink Nutcharut. Hopefully she can give a good account of herself against a lad who surprised a few by winning the UK and German Masters last year but hasn't done much since.

Well I didn't expect Fan to beat Robertson but that's exactly what he's done with two great breaks in the last two frames to clinch it 4-3. Great display from the young lad. Robertson will be disappointed with how he played for most of the match.

This match between Zhao and Mink is the exact reason why I detest mixed gender sport and it's F**k all to do with the actual people playing the sport - it's the F***ing commentators, mind you Ken Doherty is on commentary so I'm probably getting more pissed off than I should just because I can't bare listening to him.

In order to not sound sexist the commentary team just patronise the girl with almost every shot she's played rather than judging her as a snooker player. She's in the tournament on merit so judge her as a player not as a female. If she plays a bad shot, which she has on occasion, say it rather than being scared of being called sexist because you were honest. If she plays a good shot, which she has, don't go overboard just because it's a bird playing it. It was the same with Fallon Sherrock in the darts a couple of years ago.

It doesn't feel like it's a snooker match between two players, it feels like a man against a woman which, in my opinion, is more sexist because we're being reminded that she's a woman first and snooker player second which isn't fair on her.

Looking like a Trump V ROS final. Fan might cause an upset. I'd take Trump to win regardless. ROS can turn it on and be unbeatable but Trump is in top form. Best of 19 Trump to win 10-7.

Hasn't been the best final so far but Trump just knocked in a maximum and then cleared up the following frame to end the session three behind at 6-3. Bit disappointed Ronnie showed no acknowledgement of the maximum, I can understand why but come on lad it's a 147, at least shake Judd's hand or pat him on the back or something.

Judd probably didn't want the session to end there because it's the best he's played today but Ronnie will be happy to go into the evening session with a comfortable lead. But if Trump can nick the opening frame tonight, then O'Sullivan may just start to worry.

UK Championships kicked off yesterday and defending champ Zhao Xintong is already out, losing 6-2 to Sam Craigie who will now face Ryan Day in the last 16 after the Welshman beat Jimmy White.

The other matches yesterday saw Mark Allen face a scare against fellow Ulsterman Jordan Brown but The Pistol managed to get over the line 6-4. While The Warrior Kyren Wilson won 6-3 against Matt Selt. That has the potential to be a belter of a match.

Today's matches saw Luca Brecel holding a two nil lead over Lyu Haotian before the Chinese lad got it all square before the mid-session interval. And the other match looks to be having an upset on the cards as Joe Perry is twatting Neil Robertson 4-0 at the interval. I don't know if it's a shock because of Perry's ability but it would be an upset.

They've gone back to giving the top 16 a pass to the last 32, which is why Wilson and Allen are facing each other so "early" into the competition. I get why, especially for snooker's second biggest ranking event but I do like the top players having to prove that they are top players from round 1 (128 players)

Ronnie beats Matthew Stevens 6-2.

Looked very good at times today.

Another comfortable win for Ronnie to book his place in the last 8.

6-0 win Zhou Yeulong and wrapping it up with yet another career century.

Tom Ford wins 6-3 against Luca Brecel for a place in the quarter finals.

I’ve backed Ding Junhui in the handicap betting -1.5

Tom Ford wins 6-3 against Luca Brecel for a place in the quarter finals.

Don't know much about that Ford fella. Any good? Seems to pop up now and again

Don't know much about that Ford fella. Any good? Seems to pop up now and again

He's in the top 32 in the world, so he's obviously got some ability. And he's capable of having a decent run from time to time but is nowhere near consistent enough to be a regular threat in tournaments.

He'll play either Perry or Bingham in the quarters, which might give him some belief that he's got a chance of a place in the last four where he'll play (probably) Ronnie or Ding/Jamie Clarke. If he gets past Perry/Bingham and Ding can beat O'Sullivan then there's a chance he could make his first ranking final since 2016. But if it goes as expected and it's Ronnie he faces, then I wouldn't give him a snowballs chance. I don't really think he'd get past Bingham (if he wins) and is near his best.

They were talking after his match yesterday though that Ford is now with some sports psychiatrist who is helping him mentally. So maybe if he can get some self-belief he'll be able to become more consistent. John Parrott did call him the most miserable winner ever though because he only ever talks about the bad in a match rather than what he did well.

The other results from yesterday were Mark Allen beating Kyren Wilson to set up a quarter final match with Sam Craigie, who beat Ryan Day last night as well. Today's matches are the Perry/Bingham & Ding/Clarke matches as well as Trump against Shaun Murphy and Hossein Vafaei versus Jack Lisowski. The winner of those matches will face off against each other in the quarters - meaning whoever gets out of that little section will certainly have earned their place in the semis.

And in other news, there's a little spat going on between Murphy and O'Sullivan. Shaun apparently said something about how he hates the way O'Sullivan disrespects the game in interviews and the like and Ronnie has responded by saying it's water off a ducks back. They are two polar opposites when it comes to their off-the-table ways. Shaun has been involved in the running of the game, especially players welfare and the like and is very much somebody who the authorities would love to be face of the game because there's no baggage with him, very prim and proper whereas Ronnie as we know is constantly fighting with the authorities, does disrespect the sport and his opponents in almost every tournament now, does come with a lot of personal baggage but at the end of the day he also gets bums on seats so can get away with it. It's nowhere near as heated or personal as what Alex Higgins and Steve Davis were in the 80s but the difference here is it's the maverick, not the professional, who is actually winning the titles.