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haxman

Well-Known Member
Jan 14, 2007
16,911
8,146
The same Ronnie was whinging on Twitter just the day before about having lent £125,000 to someone and getting ripped off. I'd have thought he'd be happy to make 10 grand of it back.

https://twitter.com/ronnieo147

As @kr1978 said, he has history of turning down 147s. Jan Verhaas had to tell him to pot the black in a tournament years ago "for his fans". The guy is a grade A helmet but he's the best there's ever been.
 

Kingellesar

This is the way
May 2, 2005
8,706
9,209
Yeah I love watching him play but when he does stupid crap like this it makes you angry.

Especially having watched the Snooker shootout tournament at the weekend and seeing some of the mid carders/low ranked players fighting for the prize money and were appreciative of the 2k/4k/8k etc. and he does crap like that. For some that 10 grand is half of what they earn a year, all for him just putting 1 ball instead of another.
 

Borks

Well-Known Member
Jun 22, 2014
1,524
3,300
It has very little to do with Ronnie being "too rich" for £10k, he's protesting about the prize relative to the difficulty of achieving it. You can't compare it to missing a penalty because I could score a penalty fairly easily but I'll never have a 147 break in my life, nor will I ever have a 9 darter. If a 147 is so easy, fellow pros would be knocking them in for fun, but they aren't.

Ronnie spends a fair bit of his time trying to make snooker more popular to kids because he wants the sport to grow and him getting pissed off with what he perceives as a lack of incentive for achieving a maximum just shows his frustration. This has nothing to do with what £10k means to different people.
 

Kingellesar

This is the way
May 2, 2005
8,706
9,209
147 is very hard but due to more tournaments these days a lot more players are getting them. It's not as though this was the first 147 for 5 years or something.

How pissed off would you be if you were at an event and a player passed on the chance to get a 147 because he felt the prize was too cheap?

I believe it used to be £147,000 at the world championship for getting the maximum? Well we all know snooker has gone through a lot of changes and it was in a very bad way not so long ago, its now in a very strong position and the prize money has gone up significantly. If it was ridiculous amounts like that still, there was 6 last season...thats a lot of money for snooker.

Also isn't it now a rollover jackpot for maximum breaks in the ranking tournaments? Which Robertson won in December.....

Also 9 dart finish prize money isn't a lot from what I have just seen, some even as low as £2,500.
 

Borks

Well-Known Member
Jun 22, 2014
1,524
3,300
147 is very hard but due to more tournaments these days a lot more players are getting them. It's not as though this was the first 147 for 5 years or something.

How pissed off would you be if you were at an event and a player passed on the chance to get a 147 because he felt the prize was too cheap?

I believe it used to be £147,000 at the world championship for getting the maximum? Well we all know snooker has gone through a lot of changes and it was in a very bad way not so long ago, its now in a very strong position and the prize money has gone up significantly. If it was ridiculous amounts like that still, there was 6 last season...thats a lot of money for snooker.

Also isn't it now a rollover jackpot for maximum breaks in the ranking tournaments? Which Robertson won in December.....

Also 9 dart finish prize money isn't a lot from what I have just seen, some even as low as £2,500.

6 in a season really isn't that many IMO. If you exclude everyone bar the top 16 players, that's still an average of each player getting one every 2 years and 8 months. These are the top professionals in their field and practice many hours a day to reach the level they're at. I'm not saying every 147 should be £147k nor that £10k is too small, but if Ronnie thinks that snooker needs youngsters playing it and wants the snooker organisation to incentivise kids with big money then fair enough.

The majority of us dreamt about being a rich footballer when we were younger but despite the thousands of players in England making a living from it, it's still a tiny percentage of the population. Now imagine if you needed to be in the top 16 or 32 to make a successful career out of it, not so realistic.
 

haxman

Well-Known Member
Jan 14, 2007
16,911
8,146
147 for Ding Junhui. He had no problem accepting the 10 grand.
 

Spurger King

can't smile without glue
Jul 22, 2008
43,881
95,147
Is this cheating?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/36126523

I know it's not technically cheating (and is actually pretty smart), but it's not really in the spirit of the sport is it?

If stuff like this becomes acceptable, what's to stop someone rolling up behind a low-valued colour, willingly taking the 4 point penalty, and knowing that you'll likely get those 4 points back along with a better chance on a red?

Not really having a go at Ding for a bit of opportunism, but has he exposed a massive flaw in the game?
 

Kingellesar

This is the way
May 2, 2005
8,706
9,209
Ding is so boring, one of the worst snooker players I have witness for just plain and utter boringness. We are going to the semi finals at the end of the week and I fear he will be one of them.

I mean fair play to him, he has had to qualify this year having dropped out the top 16 but I just find his play so boring. His attitude is a bit of an issue too, last night he tried conceding a frame when it was Judds go but Judd said no he wanted to play on, you could sense a bit of tension between the two then, whether it stemmed from that above, as I believe that was a frame or two before and Judd felt he had been wronged by that.

Everytime Judd was infront and Ding needed 3/4 snookers as well Judd kept looking as if to say "why the fuck is he playing on". I think both are getting at each other, its certainly an interesting game to watch but both have been very poor in terms of general play and mistakes.
 

dagraham

Well-Known Member
Sep 20, 2005
19,115
46,080
Is this cheating?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/36126523

I know it's not technically cheating (and is actually pretty smart), but it's not really in the spirit of the sport is it?

If stuff like this becomes acceptable, what's to stop someone rolling up behind a low-valued colour, willingly taking the 4 point penalty, and knowing that you'll likely get those 4 points back along with a better chance on a red?

Not really having a go at Ding for a bit of opportunism, but has he exposed a massive flaw in the game?

I know what you mean about it not neccasarily in the spirit of the game, but if I've understood you correctly, the situation you describe couldn't happen. If a player deliberately rolled up behind a colour without caring whether he gave away a foul or not, his opponent could just make him play from where the balls finished. There would be no advantage as they'd just put themselves in the shit.

Ding's shot yesterday was a rare situation. I think it was touching ball and rather than choosing to play away from it he did a deliberate miscue to make sure the white basically stayed where it was.
 

Spurger King

can't smile without glue
Jul 22, 2008
43,881
95,147
Has O'Sullivan inadvertently destroyed snooker?

Not placing any blame on him directly, but indirectly he's pretty much defined the peak of snooker entertainment. Can it ever be more than a shadow of the sport when he was at his peak?

I suspect most people would say 'no', but hear me out. I remember the dazzling Jimmy White being eclipsed by perhaps the most ruthlessly efficient snooker-playing the game will ever see in Hendry. I didn't think anyone could top that, but O'Sullivan (even if he never matched Hendry's title record, and I doubt he ever will now) came along and played the game about as good as it is possible to play it.

I look at the game now and I don't see anyone even remotely capable of matching the heights we saw in the 90's. Trump is talented but makes some idiotic decisions, Robinson is too inconsistent, and there's absolutely nothing spectacular about Selby.

Many of the greats from the 90's continue to dominate the sport. Williams, Higgins, O'Sullivan, even the less than great McManus did well in the World Championship this year. Half expecting Nigel Bond to resurface and win a few trophies!

Obviously snooker will keep rolling, but I can't be the only one to think that the overall quality has dropped, with O'Sullivan representing the high water mark?

Selby and Ding must be one of the most tedious finals of all time. Two unlikeable, slightly above average players fighting it out to be world champion. I fear that O'Sullivan really was as good as this sport is going to get.
 

dagraham

Well-Known Member
Sep 20, 2005
19,115
46,080
Has O'Sullivan inadvertently destroyed snooker?

Not placing any blame on him directly, but indirectly he's pretty much defined the peak of snooker entertainment. Can it ever be more than a shadow of the sport when he was at his peak?

I suspect most people would say 'no', but hear me out. I remember the dazzling Jimmy White being eclipsed by perhaps the most ruthlessly efficient snooker-playing the game will ever see in Hendry. I didn't think anyone could top that, but O'Sullivan (even if he never matched Hendry's title record, and I doubt he ever will now) came along and played the game about as good as it is possible to play it.

I look at the game now and I don't see anyone even remotely capable of matching the heights we saw in the 90's. Trump is talented but makes some idiotic decisions, Robinson is too inconsistent, and there's absolutely nothing spectacular about Selby.

Many of the greats from the 90's continue to dominate the sport. Williams, Higgins, O'Sullivan, even the less than great McManus did well in the World Championship this year. Half expecting Nigel Bond to resurface and win a few trophies!

Obviously snooker will keep rolling, but I can't be the only one to think that the overall quality has dropped, with O'Sullivan representing the high water mark?

Selby and Ding must be one of the most tedious finals of all time. Two unlikeable, slightly above average players fighting it out to be world champion. I fear that O'Sullivan really was as good as this sport is going to get.

Agree, there is going to be a huge vacuum created when Ronnie gives up and I'm not sure anyone is going to fill it.

As for this final, I don't particularly like Ding, but I cannot tell you how much I hate Selby. Watching him is like going to the fucking dentist. God knows what it must be like to play the ****.
 

Spurger King

can't smile without glue
Jul 22, 2008
43,881
95,147
Agree, there is going to be a huge vacuum created when Ronnie gives up and I'm not sure anyone is going to fill it.

As for this final, I don't particularly like Ding, but I cannot tell you how much I hate Selby. Watching him is like going to the fucking dentist. God knows what it must be like to play the ****.

I've mentioned my dislike for Selby previously. Just seems to be a bit of a wanker. Can't be good when he gets served papers in the middle of a match.

I'm rooting for Ding. I like the way snooker has taken off in Asia, and I think it would help the sport a lot if a Chinese player wins. He's just completely uncharismatic.

O'Sullivan will probably go on for another five years, and win more tournaments due to the lack of competition. A fading star outshining the best of the rest isn't really going to reflect well on snooker.
 

kr1978

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
5,322
8,463
I'm actually enjoying this final (most people I know aren't) it's a good tactical, attritional game.

Really want Ding to win as apart from it being good for the overall game it also means we won't have another bloody Leicester love in with Selby!!
 

mpickard2087

Patient Zero
Jun 13, 2008
21,886
32,512
Selby wins it :dead: put me down as another who doesn't like him... His style of play, his suits, his face. Everything.
 
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