World Championship Snooker

[Yen_Sid]

Originally Posted by mrmuzeman

I was also interested in Maguire but Robertson is a bit of a livewire and he'll face him next so im steering clear of that.

Agreed MrM. I think I tipped Robertson last year as a potential winner but it wasn't to be. Well this year my tip for the top prize is Maguire, definitely one of the men in form. With this in mind I'll have a wee correct score bet on this one I think, just for fun. On current form I'd be surprised if Robertson overcomes Maguire, although as stated, he is a bit of a livewire and definitely has the game.

Williams/O'Sullivan looks as if it could be a cracker if Williams is in the mood. Hard to bet on him at all really as you never know in recent years what your going to get. I'll have another fun bet correct score on this one as an interest. Just have a sneaky feeling that the rocket could lose this one if he's not on top of things from the start, Williams is well capable of rattling off 5 frames before Ronnie gets into gear. Strange thing is that Ronnie is capable of exactly the same, yes it's very tough to call if they both have some form, should be a good one.

Maguire to win 13-8. @ 8/1 (Paddypower)
Williams to win 13-10 @ 16/1 (Paddypower)

[mrmuzeman]

Seems weird seeing the older quality players such as the following at such high odds for this tourny

Doherty 35/1
Hendry 40/1
Williams 40/1
Ebdon 45/1

Would have been sweet to be on Hendry and Ebdon pretourny at those odds now. Hendrys actually looking pretty good in the main. Hendry v Day in the 1/4s, wouldnt have predicted that.

Quite a few surprises coming in now, Murphy going out is a bummer but hes played pretty crap today so deserves it. So thatll be Carter v Ebdon for the 1/4s, again would never have predicted that with Selby and Murphy featuring in that 1/4.

[mrmuzeman]

Bookies are avin a laff with Liang Wen Bo at 4/6 to beat Joe Swail I reckon. Id have Swail as a favourite. Swail @ 11/8 is a rock solid value bet imo.

Wen Bo beat Doherty 10-5 and credit due was very impressive for sure but thats basically all theyve got to go on, hes not even in the top 50 in the world. Hes never done anything before, you cant and be ranked that low and looking at his wiki page his lifetime earnings are 10k! Hes 21 not like a 17 year old or anything. Absolutely no experience of the big stage, advanced progression in tournies or long matches or anything like that.

Swail dispatched Lee 10-4 well enough and thats a good win although Lee was wank. But its the experience/track record hes got im looking at more than anything. Hes ranked 17 but has been in the top 16 a couple of times before and earnt 1m quid playing the game. Hes reached the semi finals of 9 ranking events including the World Snooker Championships on 2 occasions. Hes immensely experienced in everything apart from doing the business when it comes to the latter stages and winning. This is the second round so that doesnt matter one jot.

I dont get it, even if Wen Bo is fancied to go well for a 2nd match running I cant see how he can be any better than a 50/50 chance against such an experienced campaigner.

[mrmuzeman]

Other than Swail above, taken a few quid on Ebdon at 12/1 to win, for old times sake My outright bet on Murphy went up in smoke and I gota have someone on the outright at the 1/4s stages.

Even though hes playing lame this season hes played ok here and got through the first 2 rounds albeit only against Cope and King. Its just his determination though, however bad hes playing or whoever hes against youd never have him any worse than a 2/1 shot in any individual match cos of his grinding battling qualities.

I fancy him to beat Carter in the 1/4s in another closeish match (when it comes to the crunch Ebdon totally shits on Carter mentally) and if anyone can take Maguire out of his comfort zone in the semi its Ebbo. Think back to when he did Ronnie in that snailpaced match a few years back. At double figures its worth a crack. A very small crack though like a hairline one.

Betting aside Id love Hendry to win though, thatd be sweet to see the king of the 90s back on the world snooker throne, hoisting aloft the crown of victory. 8/1 dont impress me at all to back it but id like to see him win again.

[Winrew]

Ronnie O'Sullivan hit a quite brilliant 147 to seal a 13-7 victory over Mark Williams and cruise into the last eight of the World Championship in Sheffield.

You can watch it from this link ( i think )

BBC SPORT | Other sport... | Snooker | O'Sullivan 147 sees off Williams

[2damnhype]

I would like either Ebdon or Hendry to come through, but i just cannot see that happening.

I think Ryan Day will have too much consistency for Hendry, who over the last two rounds has been given a raft of opportunities by first Allen, then Ding - although to be fair, he still has to put them away.

I have just backed Swail to overcome the 9-7 deficit (sp?) against WenBo, as said above Swail has a decent record in this competition and I think he will be able to follow up he fine mornings work to come through this.

Am really enjoying watching the coverage this year, just a pity i missed the Maximum this afternoon, does that mean Ronnie means business this year? Its an oft discussed topic but its a real surprise that Ronnie has only wn this titel twice, it says more about his demons than his talent.

[mrmuzeman]

What a game that Wen Bo v Swail one was, put all the other 2nd round games to shame Shame Swail lost 13-12 One of the best games ive ever seen for drama though.

[AnothrSpacecat]

agree muze, i was delighted when the chinese lad won it, hes clearly had no experience of that kind of game before but managed to pull it off.

fantastic finish.

heres a tip for future tense snooker games, DONT PLAY POKER WHILE WATCHING that was spine tingling stuff and made every call on the poker feel 100 times worse, on the face of it the poker game was easy and there was no pressure involved, i think i just got caught up in the emotion of the snooker

[mrmuzeman]

I wanted them both to win both really likeable characters. Wen Bo established himself in those 2 matches as by far the most entertaining Chinese player. Fu is like a robot and Dings face always looks ultra bored and depressed. I actually really dont like Ding at all, an extremely boring character he cuts.

I still like my bet on that one though, really was a 50/50 just didnt get on the right side of the coinflip.


Anyway onto the 1/4s (featuring only 3 of those 'expected' to make the 1/4s - O'Sullivan, Maguire and Perry).

Day 1/1 v Hendry 1/1

Bookies spot on offering Evens on either. Id hate to pick a winner in this one, theres a case to be made for either, should be a VERY close contest. Worth looking at total frames etc perhaps.

Ebdon 5/6 v Carter 11/10

I think Ebdon is a bit overpriced in this one, id make him a bigger favourite 4/6. Ive got him outright though as part of that basis so not betting it. Knowing what mentally goes on with these 2 usually Ebdon should end up coming through. He may have played himself into a wee bit of form cos of the longer match format. If Carter is ahead he has a rep for being a bottler and Ebdon is anything but. For Carter to win I think hes gona have to establish a comfortable lead.

O'Sullivan 1/6 v Wen Bo 5/1

Its hard to see past Ronnie so I agree with the odds. On general play Wen Bo should give Ronnie a good game but after seeing him crack against Swail in the previous round it gives you zero confidence in him actually winning. Also he may be mentally spent to some degree, must have taken a lot out of him. He has come right out the blocks in both his other rounds first session though (both 6-2), so there might be something that can be considered there on the frame betting.

Maguire 2/7 v Perry 7/2

A fair favourite in Maguire I would make but I think this is a wee bit too much. Perry isnt a big dog, 3/1 max imo. Every other bookie bar Coral is going 5-2>3/1 on Perry and thet seems more fair. For a bit of value thats a decent wager. Maguire showed possible signs of tiring against Robertson (or maybe he took his foot of the gas) as there was a 10 frame stretch in the match where Maguire actually lost 7-3. I did hear him say hed wished he could have tied it up in 2 sessions though cos he would have liked a day to rest.

[mrmuzeman]

Regarding my above comments the following ill be looking at.

Day v Hendry

Over 21.5 Frames (13-9 or closer) 8/11
Over 22.5 Frames (13-10 or closer) 11/10

O'Sullivan v Wen Bo

1st session 5-3 Wen Bo 7/1
1st session 6-2 Wen Bo 28/1

and as I said Ebdon 5/6 and Perry 7/2 I think are backable prices.

Very tempted to take one of the total frame bets on Day v Hendry.

[Yen_Sid]

Great game last night.

The one thing that unfortunately will always stick in my mind is when the Chinese boy missed the snooker which meant Swail could win. Ref replaced the balls, and as the studio panel showed it was in the wrong place, very close yes but not quite the same. This meant that the Chinaman could now see the yellow so he just gets down and slow rolls off the side of it and lands a good safety shot. Now, snooker has always had much pride in the honesty and professionalism of it's players, like calling a foul on themselves etc etc etc. My point is that Wen Bo must've known that all of a sudden he wasn't snookered any more. To me this looks very bad and very unprofessional, or am I wrong? Any views fellow snooker fans?

All that apart, was indeed a great game and can only be good for the game (cheating apart ) seeing a new young face in the QF.

[2damnhype]

I was listening to The Masters commentary when someone (might have been Paul Casey) was penalised when his ball moved on the green when he had put the putter behind it. He called the penalty on himself and Allis and Ken Brown both said that Golf and Snooker were two of the few remaining sports where players called penalties on themselves. I think the situation last night was slightly different, I had backed Swail, but got more than a run for my money so have no axe to grind. Wen Bo has afterwards said that he could originally see some of the yellow but was worried about going in off. After the cue ball was replaced though he played for the yellow, with no side on the cue ball and hit it quarter ball, he must have realised that the cue ball was in a different position, but i think allowances have to be made for the situation - the guy is making his professional debut, he thought he had won the match half an hour earlier, its a deciding frame in a match where he has seen his control slip - no wonder he isn;t thinking straight!!

We play the miss rule in my local league and it causes all sorts of grief, we don't have the benefit of TV pictures that would allow us to reposition the balls perfectly each time - they have this at the Crucible, and if the pictures were referred to each time then issues like this would not arise. Yes Joe Swail had the opportunity to voice concern, but as Yen Sid has said, in Snooker you do to a certain extent trust your opponent to confirm there is not a massive difference in the repositioning of the balls.

when it comes to the crunch Ebdon totally shits on Carter mentally

There aren't too many that do rival Ebdon in this department, but in that category its a total mismatch. I shall be taking Ebdon to come through this.

[mrmuzeman]

Days playing like an absolute spaz wtfs going on there Hendrys been great though, loving the thought of a Hendry v Ronnie semi.

[Bigkegman]

Originally Posted by mrmuzeman

Days playing like an absolute spaz wtfs going on there Hendrys been great though, loving the thought of a Hendry v Ronnie semi.

mouthwatering stuff - fingers crossed

[2damnhype]

Fair play to Carter tonight - held himself together well for his 147.

Wonder if Ali will go halves on a Bentley with Ronnie?