Snooker WM 2016

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FINALS

Selby 14 - 11 Ding

Best of 25
Winner takes 335,000 Pounds

Streams available: Eurosport, WorldSnooker (non-German areas), BBC
​

Sources:
World Snooker
BBC Coverage
World Snooker Streaming (pay to view)
Snooker.org Information

for religious reasons Eurosport advertisment is not listed, ghastly policy towards German viewers

 

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The Crucible - Trivia​

In 1977 Sheffield has turned into snooker's most important venue, as its Crucible Theater became the venue for the annual world championships. Fighting for the title just once is the dream for any player, lifting the trophy the utmost important goal for each professional and the torunament itself the Mekka of fanatics. The prize money has always been huge, especially in comparison to any given cup. However, besides the money, prestige and fame that comes with an ultimate win in Sheffield, there's the challenge to end up victorious – the requirements to stay focussed, concentrated and spot on. No other tournament uses similar distances.


Legends

Steve Davis

Steve „Interesting“ Davis is the person reporters refer to when they explain when Snooker became a professional sport. Davis turned heads in the 80s after lifiting the title thrice in 81, 83 and 84. It seemed this new type of dedicated player couldn't be stopped, as he excelled in every aspect defining the game: strategical play, foresight, positional efficiency and break building. His performance was stellar and expanded what had to be expected from someone willing to stand on top of the rankings.

However, when it comes to the Crucible Davis' name shouldn't be dropped without adressing the most thrilling final ever. In 1985 Davis faced the Irish legend Dennis Taylor in the finals. The finals itself were boring at first, since Davis lead with a clear 8-0. Yet Taylor managed to come back and suddenly the score was a 17-17. It took almost an hour for the ultimate frame, when the drama unfolded. Only black left and 18.5 million viewers watching, live.

The downside – we get to watch it every Crucible at least once.

​

Stephen Hendry

By any measurement Hendry is the most successful player ever. What Davis used to be in the 80s, Hendry was in the 90s. Similar to Davis Hendry went on a rampage and there was literally nobody good enough to come even close to his level of play. Even the best, the very best, couldn't stop him if Hendry set his mind to it. Seven titles later his records have yet to be topped by any other player.


Alex Higgins

Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins shouldn't be worthy listed as title holder, he only lifted the trophy twice. In comparison others, namely John Higgins and Ronnie o'Sullivan, were better, also players like MJW have equal scores. Yet, Higgins was an outstanding player in many regards. By far the most interesting technique of modern snooker, outlandish potting skills and an attitude towards the game which can only be described as... exotic. A rebel, there to entertain, always interacting with the audience. Play from a different world.

Der Screenshot ist schlauerweise ein Link​

The Crucible Curse

The Crucible has a special curse for those who won. Ever since the first finals was played out nobody could defend the title from the get-go. Regardless who tried: Davis, Taylor, Higgins (Alex), Higgins, Sullivan, Higgins (John) – nobody was good enough. No Selby, Robertson or Murphy, nobody came close.


Another very special 'cursed child' of the crucible is Jimmy White. He managed to come to the semis ten times, six times into the final round and the one table set-up. Where he lost, six times. Most memorable 1994: He lost 17-18 against aforementioned Stephen Hendry. His only commentary: „he's beginning to annoy me“ - after losing the fourth time to Hendry in a WC final.

 

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Defending Champion, Sheffield 2015

Last year's world championship was one of the better tournaments, at least in hindsight. At first a ton of upsets happened, at least considering the season. As is tradition, Mark Selby, the first time winner of 2014, had a hard time to keep going as he almost lost to Kurt Maflin. Only one round later Anthony McGill dethroned the champion and wrote another chapter in the book of the Crucible curse.

In other games more established players did well, yet not too outstanding. Half of the matches were rather one sided, with Eurosport's and BBC's focus being on Ronnie o'Sullivan. Especially the ROS games against lesser players turned out to be of little interest.

With the Quarters coming closer the most consistent players prevailed:

McGill – Murphy
Hawkins – Robertson
Ding Junhui – Trump
Bingham – Sullivan

The names show how little quality were expected, as many better players were missing. However, despite all negativity on my part all matches were really great; well maybe apart from ROS lackluster performance against Bingham. Outstanding: Roberston vs. Hawkins and McGills fight against Murphy.

As for the semis goes:

Murphy – Hawkins
Trump – Bingham

At that stage most of us predicted a Trump vs. Murphy finals. Trump so far played stellar and flawless, Bingham seemed to lose energy with every frame against Sullivan and Hawkins generally missing the experience needed to best a Murphy in killer form. And here it all started: Bingham turned heads, he simply never gave up and pushed Trump to the limit, a Trump who played out all his talent could offer. And it wasn't enough, Bingham went through.

The finals were great, in my eyes the best finals of the past decade, easily. Murphy player seriously, no mercy and spot on. And again, the dark horse of the tournament wouldn't cave in, wasn't giving any leeway and always stood beside the table, smiling and punishing even the tiniest mistakes. Eventually anyone cheered for Bingham.

In retrospect Bingham had one of the hardest ways to earn the title. There was no luck involved, he had to beat, in this order, Robbie Williams, Graeme Dott, Ronnie o'Sullivan, Judd Trump and eventually Shaun Murphy. It was a hard road, but one he mastered.

 

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World Ranking Changes


The previous seasons didn't hold much of surprises when it came to the world rankings. However, more interesting changes will happen very soon, such as a change of leadership and strong names dropping.

First off, many don't quite understand the world ranking. In the past any outsider might have understood how the system worked: Players earned points for finishes. This is no more. Thanks to a new management earned cash is more important. However, some tournaments do not count in and never did – such as the Shoot Out or invitationals like the Masters, the Wuxi Classic, the Championship League or the Senior World Championships.
Secondly, time somewhat matters. Money can't be piled up so to speak, otherwise players like John Higgins and Ronnie o'Sullivan couldn't be dethroned ever. Therefore every money win counts only if it was won in the past two years. That's how the official ranking is generated.

Now for some important add-ons: The Top 16 are seeded into any given official 'main tournament' event – in other words in every non-invitational. They're also allowed to skip qualifiers. The first round of seeded player is the Round of 32; which is crucial as it allows for a lot more leeway. Yet, if they lose this opening match they don't get any money, whereas other players just might win something by simply coming to the Ro64. By comparison it's not too bad for a top ranked player to not get something, as most tournaments don't offer much money in the early stages.
Many outsiders don't know it, but to be a 'professional' you need a certificate underlining your status. This professional license allows you to participate in any tournament (qualifier) without having to pay an entrance fee. If you don't have one, you might have to pay up front. To list an example, the entrance for a PTC event were about 200 pounds for an amateur.

Related to this license: You are automatically granted a license if you're within the Top 64. Below this list your license is just temporary. If you have one, it usually is for two years. If you have not, you might need to qualify for the main tour in other ways. For instance, the best players from the PTC tournament were given two-year licenses, same goes for the world amateur championship winner. The more important (and harder) way is to qualify through Q-School – an amateur event series, in which the best eight get a card. There are four Q-School events at the end of every season. And they cost a lot of money, iirc something around 1k pounds per participant. Flight, hotel and other things not included.


Back to the world rankings. Mark Selby lead the table for a long, long time, as he was able to win an average of one world ranking title and 1.5 PTC titles a season. He rarely lost in the first round and his average finish was around the quarter finals. Additionally, he won in Sheffield 2014, earning him a large boost of 300.000 pounds. As a result he was leading the rankings with a gap of more than 250.000 pounds at times. However, since the time is factored in, he now will drop from #1 to #7 after being rather dominant. The new leader will be the reigning world champion Stuart Bingham (mostly due to his title last year).

The person to drop the most is Ding Junhui; in 2014 he managed to win five titles within just one season, thus also matching a record held by Stephen Hendry in the 90es. Though mostly holding smaller titles, Junhui usually was Selby's closest rival in 2014. However, the past two seasons were really bad for the Chinese star, therefore he started dropping since February, as his last money started to drain. Right now he fall from #4 to #17; currently he has to play the qualifiers for Sheffield. Taken into account that he earned another 6.600 pounds in the past week, he is back to #15. His status within the Top16 now heavily depends on his run in Sheffield this month.


The Top 16 itself is very tightly organized. Places 1 to 11 are rather high up, any player has a record of 210.000++ pounds to his record. The upfollowing five places are located in between 200.000 and 180.000 pounds. At the moment following players (Top 16 with stars to their name) will have a hard time to defend their spots:

Barry Hawkins*, Marco Fu*, Ding Junhui*, Stephen Maguire*, Liang Wenbo, Michael White, Kyren Wilson.

By simply looking at the names it's rather certain that Junhui and Michael White have the worst changes to hold up hopes, at least given their current performances. The real fight should happen between Maguire and Wilson, maybe even for Wenbo if he starts to play chaotically again.


As for surprises below the Top 64 mark goes: Zhang Anda, one of China's greatest talents, seems to have a hard time going up. Other veterans like Peter Lines, Gerard Greene, Jamie Cope and Barry Pinches seem to constantly fall short. Especially in the case of Gerard Greene and Peter Lines this underlines how high the level of play is – both are not bad at all.


Speaking of level of play – it is stonger than ever. I can't remember a time in which so many talents had such a hard time to compete with the rest of the field. By simply looking at the best fifty players I couldn't point to a single name that shouldn't belong.
This also holds true for amateurs, the past season showed a ton of names without name making their way up. Most interestingly, at least currently, is the Chinese Youngster Xiao Xintong. He started popping up in the AT1 and following tournaments here and there. It seems he is a VERY strong break builder, as he often shows breaks of 135 points or more; despite not being professional, he has stronger records than many other professionals had during their prime. He's definitely a guy to look out for.

picture unrelated

 

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Favourites


Related to the last topic, here's for the favourites. First off, there are none. If the past two seasons showed one thing it is uncertainty. The level of play might be sick when you look at the average player, but it's an entirely different issue for the elite class – it seems the outcome of a tournament singularly depends on daily performance and nothing else. Anyhow, I'll try to give some prediction, which will, as is tradition, be ignored by reality later this month.


Stuart Bingham showed that you have to take him serious in the last year. He's clearly a champion and he earned his title the hard way. However, he won't be able to defend it, there's no way, not even if you consider what happened last year. The pressure is on, he has a hard time to deal with it. He's one of the oldest champions in the history of snooker, he is the focus of journalists and fans alike, and he's being chased by the strongest players of the past decade, as well as the target of the uprising young stars. That, combined with the length of the past season, should really be too much. At least this year. As sad as it is. The situation can not be compared to last year, not by a longshot.

Bookies will probably feature Ronnie o'Sullivan as the clear favourite. Rightfully so if you have simply look at numbers; winning two titles, standing in the finals of the Championship League – that's a statement. Then again, ROS mostly dominated in short lived tournaments, those with small distances and in the late season. Every of his opponents had to endure a long season before meeting him, and especially during the masters, most of his rivals lost and did not really challenge him. I don't want to say he hasn't earned his titles, I'm trying to say: Sheffield is a different arena. One that'll demand more. This time his opponents will prepare, they'll go long distances and that's naturally ROS weak spot – psyche. In the last year he seemed less interested and just hadn't the last drive. It's prolly his disadvantage to have already every title there is. If he wants to win, he has to turn into a cold blooded killer. Not sure if he will be able to do that. However, his participation in the finals is a totally plausible scenario.

The next group of maybes are: Murphy, Robertson, Selby and Trump. Each is a class of their own, the tripple crown trio and the biggest talent of modern snooker. In Trump's case it's not overdoing it, he plays better with two hands than many Top 32 players, he is coming close to the 400 century mark and already passed tons of legends on his way. Yet, what misses, is the attitude the other three have – the last bit of determination. Any of the four can take the title, for every one of them you'll find pros and cons. E.g. Robertson might just be overtowered due to his lack of routine during this season, Selby might just break apart, because he doesn't play well this year (in comparison to what he can really show), or Murphy's up and down form in the previous months. God knows how far those four come, maybe none of them reaches the semis, maybe two of them will make for a great final.

Players who have a shot, but not more, are Hawkins, Perry, Walden, John Higgins, MJW, Marco Fu and Mark Allen. They all are great talents, experience wise a lot above the rest of the field and can show brilliant snooker. Yet... I just don't see it for any of them to last two weeks. It's entirely possible, but it'd require a lot of things happening in the grid.

Dark horses, in my opinion, are: Gould, Carter, Junhui, Ryan Day, Dott, Brecel and Kyren Wilson. All of them just might turn heads, all of them have what it takes to reach a final and win a trophy, but none of them traditionally did well in the Crucible, OR are currently on top of their form.

 

[Chapatiyaq]

Finally took the time to read it all. Great read, and the video of Alex Higgins was awesome (some ballsy shots). I will be rooting for Robertson, although I feel like he could very well be eliminated early.

 

[Reary McFooface]

Wilson is probably the darkest horse. He has the attitude and endurance of a top tier player, especially in the Crucible that's so important. Ding has been playing really well in the quali matches, but I don't see him winning any pressure matches. Michael White is similar, he profited a lot from the shorter matches and is way too impulsive to pull through. No idea what's going to happen with Ronnie, just as always, he might sweep the whole thing or he might lose against Gilbert in the first round. Really hard to pick favorites.

grid youtube

 

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Round 1

Bingham – Carter
Maguire – McManus
Walden – Robbie Williams
Higgins – Day
Trump – Wenbo
Gould – Junhui
Mark J Williams – Dott
Neil Robertson – Holt
Murphy – McGill
Fu – Ebdon
Hawkins – Anda
o'Sullivan – Gilbert
Allen – Mann
Perry – Kyren Wilson
White – Baird
Selby - Milkins

Best of 19
Loser takes 13,250 Pounds (if not seeded)
​

My Predictions, First Round


Carter 10 – 7 Bingham

One of the better matches in my eyes. Carter showed good performance in the qualifiers and has the experience to beat Bingham. The reigning champion will face enormous pressure, hasn't played well aside from his finals appearance and might be out first round. It'd be sad to see any of the two leaving early, but one has to go.

Maguire 10 – 5 McManus

Both played well this season, at least well-ish. Maguire is back in shape, or at least closer to his old form. He should easily take this.

Walden 10 – 4 Williams

Walden just went into two major finals, which should give his confidence a boost. Williams on the other hand isn't exactly a no-name to the Crucible arena, but... I don't see it.

Higgins 10 – 8 Day

This one could be either very close or very one sided. Day played two very great seasons, yet he isn't doing well in the big venues.

Trump 10 – 5 Wenbo

This will be another highlight of the first round. Trump should take it easily, as he matured a lot and Wenbo still plays too greedy and risky. If Wenbo worked on his strategy he might have a shot, but Trump is still the safe bet.

Gould 10 – 7 Ding

Ding showed his top tier strength in the qualifiers, but otherwise disappointed a lot in the past two years. Gould is up and coming and is, due to his seed, probably better rested. I don't see how he should lose, though the match is going to be tense.

MJW 10 – 9 Dott

Too close to be called, I think. Dott usually starts to go into overdrive in the big venues, although the title will not be in his reach. MJW started slacking off towards the late season, so anything is possible – if MJW plays relaxed it's his win.

Robertson 10 – 6 Holt

Holt played well, but a determined Robertson should utterly destroy him. In the qualifiers Holt barely made it through. Yet, you never know for sure with Robertson this season.

Murphy 10 – 6 McGill

McGill slacked off, but he can produce great play. If it was any other arena with this distance, I'd say 10-3 in favour of Murphy.

Fu 10 – 5 Ebdon

Ebdon will take up to six frames due to his ability to make frames scrappy. However, Fu can handle this style VERY well, so I guess Mr. Vegan-Power will meet his maker here.

Hawkins 10 – 4 Anda

Anda is a dark horse and it's a bit of a surprise he managed to go this far. Hawkins is just way too good for him. Probably one of the most one sided games this round.

ROS 10 – 7 Gilbert

A lot will depend on the outcome of this game. Gilbert is a great talent and he finally showed it; ROS is the bigger talent and everything will work in his favour. Or at least maybe. I expect some thrilling game and I'm really looking forward to the score. Anything is possible.

Allen 10 – 4 Mann

Yeah, no idea. Same as for Hawkins – Anda, however with Mann being slightly better this season.

Wilson 10 – 9 Perry

Too close to call. Two very, very great players. Perry, in my eyes, is one of the most stabile players of the last ten years, Wilson is definitely one of the Top 8 players of the future. Wilson, in my eyes, is slightly better off, given that he won so much in recent times.

Baird 10 – 7 White
I don't see how Michael White will get through Baird. Not that Baird is SO amazingly good, but the dark horse will have nothing to fear, whereas the Welsh youngster really played as if he is bored in the past ten tournaments or so.

Selby 10 – 6 Milkins

Milkins is greedy and Risky, Selby is ten times better even if he only produces his B game. The six frames is the most I give to the Milkman, and only if Selby has a bad start. If Selby plays like he did in 2014, there's no chance in hell Milkins gets more than four frames on the board.


The rest of my prediction on the contest of snooker.org:

Spoiler

Ro16
Carter > Maguire
Higgins > Walden
Trump > Gould
Robertson > MJW
Murphy > Fu
Sullivan > Hawkins
Wilson > Allen
Selby > Baird

Ro8

Higgins > Carter
Robertson > Trump
Murphy > ROS
Selby > Wilson

Semis

Robertson > Higgins
Selby => Murphy

Finals

Robertson=>Murphy/Selby

=> means anything can happen.

If it's like last year we'll see Perry, Walden or maybe even Fu lifting the trophy

 

[piko]

MJW represent! Great play by him, leading 9-2 over Dott right now.

 

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I recommend the front page article about Davis' retirement.

This season he decided to enter sport’s biggest event in order to give his father Bill the chance to watch him on live streaming one last time. Sadly, Bill died at the age of 89 last month, leaving Steve to play in the tournament as a tribute. Davis almost broke down in a press conference today when he said that his match against O’Brien was the only one he’d ever played without his father.

Full Article

This season and emotional background stories

 

[piko]

oh. my. god. Gould just made the most ridiculous century I've ever seen. It had it all: Great positional play, crazy long pots, doubles, difficult cuts and some mind-blowing flukes to top it off. Watch it. (Frame 9 vs. Ding)

WATCH. IT.

 

[Celetuiw]

@ Steve David retirement: Yeah it's really some big news. I recall seeing his name on the list for the qualifier (?) and i really wished he'd make it. I watches some games of Steve on youtube, but i never saw him in live action since i got interested in snooker just a year ago. Well to me it seems, his retirement was thoroughly thought through and he has the right mindset about it. Wish him all the best, great sportsman, great person imho!

@Gould vs Ding: thx for the tip Piko. I just saw the end of the match, but i missed frame 9, i was busy playing snooker myself xD
Will watch it tomorrow.

Yet again the Crucible shows a tendency to produce quite a bit of upsets, i love it!

Spoiler

Holt -> Robertson, McGill -> Murphy are the big one's to me, McManus -> Maquire is also a bit suprising. Gilbert played quite well too against ROS, but not really a big suprise.

 

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Baird plays impressive. Been a while I saw a player taking on Selby in tactical play like that.

 

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Point Scores after the Qualifier:

foo-rear: 173
Gecko: 142
Chapa: 110
ex'ratt: 89
piko: 79
endrox: 58

thouhgts on the tournament so far:

Surprises: Robertson and Murphy out, both played good enough I think. Also, Baird's performance against Selby was so much better than anticipated. Hopefully this gives him motivation to carry on with this form, he really did very well. Quite entertaining games if you enjoy strategical snooker.

As for the rest of the tournament goes, I think Higgins will march on to the Semis, having the easiest grid by far and finally showing what he is capable of. Between Trump, Junhui and MJW it's going to be a coinflip, really no idea what'll happen.

Selby, at least in his current form, should get through to the Semis as well, both Wilson and Allen don't really have a game which should challenge Selby's forceful play.

ROS/Fu/Hawkins going to be another coinflip, really interested to see what'll happen here. I missed the games, but it seems ROS has a tough time beating Hawkins. Even if he manages to defeat Hawkins, Fu might just crack him open, given that Fu plays slowly and strategically. If ROS wants to lift the trophy he'll have a stony road in front of him - Fu and Selby seem too hard I think, both with styles designed to stop him from going far.

Favourites, imo: Selby, (whoever survives Ding/Trump/MJW), Higgins in that order. I dont quite see it for Hawkins, ROS or Fu.

Anyhow, despite Robertson and Murphy it's a quite packed Ro16 already.

 

[piko]

Well deserved win by Hawkins. He finally beat his nemesis! I'm gonna root for MJW now. The "dog man" needs support.
Trump played pretty badly this afternoon. Ding was far away from being in the driver's seat, he just made less mistakes.
A very interesting WSC this year, that's for sure.

 

[Reary McFooface]

Yeah, Trump built up Ding by giving him way too many opportunities and trying insane shots. He was way too anxious and lost his cool a few frames into the sessions, every time. Ding played well against MJW in the morning, though. The ROS - Hawkins match was great, especially the last frame, so much tension. Wilson got hit by Selby pretty hard, I wonder if he can come back from that first session. Selby recovered really well from the painful Baird match.

 

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Haven't seen a poor match so far, turns out really great. I feel for McManus, seems he really has a problem with his neck 8[

edit:

What really amazes me about the matches is the standard of play, regardless of what you look at. Compared with the average tournaments most players really stepped up their game by a lot. Be it the stronger long pots, or the precision of their safeties. Honestly, I can't blame Trump for his shaky pots, given that Ding made it super hard to actually come into play. Even in this afternoon's game of Higgins v McManus almost all safes tended to end dead weight on the top cushions. However, the strongest safes thus far came from players I hadn't expected to do this strong - Ding, Hawkins and especially Baird. Really impressive stuff to time balls like that on a cloth so fast.

On a different note, I still think this should be Selby's tournament, given the nature of this year's tournament style and his future opponents.

 

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The safety game of the semis was just absurd.

 

[piko]

Not a single post after the final?
Classical Selby win imho. He reminds me a lot of Steve Davis. Gritty, tactical snooker with inch perfect safeties and killer clearances when they're due. Ding didn't manage to play as well as in the semis, but that has also a lot to do with Selby's game. Especially on the second day Selby was playing amazingly well. Surely, not the most memorable final, but still very entertaining.

 

[Gelöschtes Mitglied 683020]

From the semis on this championship offered only fantastic sessions imo, with my personal highlight being the shots from Fu and Selby in their final session. Ding was a deserved finalist, but it never felt as if he has any real chances beating Selby. On a sidenote, this'll be the fifth consecutive year in which Selby defends his #1 spot, so the comparison to Davis really isn't far fetched at all.

and, here they are:

 

[Reary McFooface]

Ding didn't manage to play as well as in the semis, but that has also a lot to do with Selby's game.

Yes and no. It also has a lot to do with Ding being Ding. His safety game often was on par and better than Selby's, he managed to negate the early 6-0 lead of Selby, but when the pressure came on to take the game into his own hands, he failed to make the important pots after having to fight so hard for the opportunities to get them. Unlike Trump, Selby knew how to play against Ding and didn't give him many chances and never let him get into a good rhythm. It's not the kind of game you want to see for a final, barely a moment of doubt that Selby was going to take it, but it's not like the tournament didn't have enough of those already.

Overall the best championship I've seen. I might be very biased because I went out of my way to catch up on matches I couldn't watch, but damn, so many great and close ones. McManus grasping on and finally winning until he faced a Ding he could never get into a pinch, Baird actually coming the closest to beating Selby of all the players in the tournament, Wilson fighting his way through Perry and Allen. A determined Hawkins taking everything he could from Ronnie and winning and almost coming back against Fu after completely blowing the first session, Trump's comeback against Liang, Holt's spectacular play against Robertson. I didn't see a single match that didn't have a deserving winner.