Snooker World Championship 2013

[Yurgon]

Finally the best weeks of the year have started! :)

 

I haven't watched O'Sullivan's first match, but judging from the score it looks as if he may defend the title. Personally, I think Ding deserves to get the title, but I doubt he's strong enough this year. Hmm. Triple crown for Selby anyone? :)

 

Currently watching Hawkins vs. Lisowski, looks like Hawkins is in very good shape as well.

[Yurgon]

Murphy played a strong second session, defeating Gould 10:5. He seems to be in good shape as well.

[Yurgon]

Damn, Higgins is out already. But I'm not yet ready to declare Davis a safe bet as the next champion. :)

 

So, what's up, guys, no other Snooker fans around, or are you just too tired to join in on the discussion after a long day in the Crucible? :D

[cichlidfan]

I love billiards, though I don't follow the pros, but I know absolutely nothing about snooker excepting the fact that they use similar hardware. ;)

[Yurgon]

I love billiards, though I don't follow the pros, but I know absolutely nothing about snooker excepting the fact that they use similar hardware. ;)

 

It's a wonderful sport! It took me some time to get acquainted as the rules are a bit different from 8-Ball and 9-Ball, but it sparked enough interest in me to watch it regularly. I've been loosely following Snooker for a couple of years, but I try to watch as many games as possible during the World Championships that take place towards the end of April every year.

 

Todays big surprise: First-time participant Dechawat Poomjaeng beat veteran Stephen Maguire in a true nailbiter match 10-9. His next opponent will be first-timer Michael White, who defeated two times World Champion Mark Williams.

 

And Mark Selby (lots of Marks? Hell no. In different matches, Mark King beat Mark Allen, Mark Davis defeated three times World Champion John Higgings, Marco Fu leads 6:3 over Matthew Stevens, and let's not forget defending champion Ronny O'Sullivan managed a clear 10:4 over Marcus Campbell after pausing for an entire year :D) finished the first session 6:3 over Matt Selt, staying on course for a possible triple crown (winning the Masters, the UK Championship and the World Championship in one season).

 

Quite a few surprises so far, and lots of great snooker!

[cichlidfan]

I will have to give it a watch, and look up the rules. :thumbup:

[leafer]

Snooker is played on much bigger table and the balls are much smaller. Basically aloth harder. :D

[Yurgon]

This explanation looks okay.

 

Possibly more in-depth but a bit harder to read because of the encyclopedic style is the Wikipedia article.

 

Basically, players win the game by winning a set amount of frames. Frames are won by scoring points.

 

To score points, a player must first pot a red ball (any of the red balls), then pot any of the 6 colored (non-red) balls, then the cycle begins again: red, color, red, color. Reds score 1 point, colored balls score from 2 to 7 points. After potting, reds remain off the table while the colored balls will be put back onto their spots.

 

Once all reds are gone, the colored balls must be potted in ascending order:

Yellow (2 points)

Green (3 points)

Brown (4 points)

Blue (5 points)

Pink (6 points)

Black (7 points).

 

The player with the most points wins the frame.

 

If one player has more points than the opponent could score with the remaining balls, the opponent is allowed to give up a frame, or he may try to force the player into committing fouls by hiding the white ball behind a ball "not on" so that the player cannot directly hit the ball "on". That situation is called a "Snooker", hence the name of the game. :)

 

The scoreboard typically looks like this:

Player 1   |  Points  |  Frames  (Distance)  Frames  |  Points  |  Player 2
Right now, there is...
Robertson  |     14   |     1       (19)        0    |     4    |  Milkins

 

So in that example, Neil Robertson has scored a total of 14 points in the current frame, he has already won 1 frame, the distance is "Best of 19" *. His opponent, Robert Milkins, has scored a total of 4 points in the current frame and has not yet won any frames.

 

One thing that used to confuse me when I started watching Snooker is that the referee counts the current break, not the amount of points scored per frame. It's quite possible that a player's score reads something like "65", but the ref just says "One" if that's the first point the player scored in a row.

 

* Distances: The distance is "Best of X", which means a maximum number of X frames will be played, or in other words: The first player to win (X+1) / 2 wins the match. With "Best of 19", that's 10 frames, and we'll see best of 25 in the quarter finals, best of 33 in the semi finals and best of 35 in the final.

 

And by the time I was done writing, Robertson had won the second frame, now leading 2:0. :)

[bobd]

Snooker is played on much bigger table and the balls are much smaller. Basically aloth harder. :D

 

If I remember correctly (many years ago), the size of the balls are larger in relationship to the size of the pockets. On a regulation billiards table two balls are very close to going in the pocket at same time. Not true on a snooker table.

[Yurgon]

This year it's really tough to make a prediction, what a great tournament so far!

 

Michael White played two fantastic games, but I think neither Mark Williams nor Dechawat Poomjaeng played their best Snooker. However, reaching the quarter finals on his Crucible debut is well deserved, and who knows if it'll end there.

 

Ronny O'Sullivan currently leads 5:1 against Ali Carter, looks like he's in a rush to reach the next round. But I'm not writing off Carter just yet, although it would come as a surprise if he won the game.

 

Stuart Bingham seems to be in fantastic shape. If he can hold that shape, there seems to be no reason at all why he shouldn't win the title.

 

Mark Selby has a hard time playing against Barry Hawkins. Currently 23 points each in the 21st frame, with ten frames each. I think Selby should have the advantage because he's had a lot more successes in the past to back him, but that doesn't seem to count today.

 

Judd Trump is another player in fantastic shape, and judging from the amount of century breaks played in the current season, Ding Junhui looks to be in practically as good a shape.

 

Shaun Murphy had a hard time with Graeme Dott, I'd say it would be a bit of a surprise if he got the title. But it wouldn't be the first surprise in that regard. :)

 

Huh, by now Hawkins won the frame, leading 11:10 over Selby. We'll soon know which of the two will enter the quarter finals.

[Yurgon]

So, we've got Ronny O'Sullivan vs. Barry Hawkins playing the final on Sunday and Monday.

 

O'Sullivan vs. Trump surely was a great match. Hawkins and Walden had a couple of phases where they couldn't show their best game.

 

I'd say O'Sullivan is clearly the favorite, but Hawkins beat a couple of great players on his way into the final. I'm looking forward to it! :)

[159th_Viper]

Hawkins is gonna get a beating second-to none :)

[Yurgon]

Hawkins is gonna get a beating second-to none :)

 

After two sessions, O'Sullivan leads 10:7. I admit, I wouldn't have been surprised if his lead had been a lot stronger, but Hawkins played very well today. Looking forward to the final sessions tomorrow. :)

[Yurgon]

15:10 after the third session. I haven't seen O'Sullivan in such a good shape for a long time, wow!

[Yurgon]

18:12 - and the fifth title for O'Sullivan. What a fantastic match, and congratulations to Barry Hawkins who also played a brilliant tournament. :thumbup:

[sobek]

Snooker is played on much bigger table and the balls are much smaller. Basically aloth harder. :D

 

The cues usually have smaller diameter as well. Basically pool with a Sean Connery amount of chest hair.

Edited May 6, 2013 by sobek

[asparagin]

The cues usually have smaller diameter as well. Basically pool with a Sean Connery amount of chest hair.

 

That doesn`t make it harder, it gives you more control.

 

@ cichlidfan:

 

In a nutshell, snooker gives you more gameplay freedom: you can use different tactics depending on situation, it is also about making decisions and evaluate risk.

Pool uses also tactics but it is more dependent of skill, while skill is just a premise for snooker.

Edited May 6, 2013 by asparagin

[Ali Fish]

i dont watch snooker anymore, The last HD tv got ruined from it. i wish they could make the TV scene a bit more dynamic i.e more movement.

[Yurgon]

i wish they could make the TV scene a bit more dynamic i.e more movement.

 

You should have watched it, then. They had some type of camera-arm that the director kept using to pan in on the table all the time during the afternoon-session. I'd say he may have had a bit too much coffee. Anyways, it made for a rather dynamic TV picture. :)

[sobek]

That doesn`t make it harder, it gives you more control.

 

You have to be a lot more precise about where you hit the cue ball. That does constitute making it harder in my book. Of course you can exert more spin onto it as well, but again, you have to be significantly more precise.

[cichlidfan]

Actually, the cue tip diameter in relation to ball diameter is more relevant. If both are smaller in snooker but are at a similar ratio to their billiard counterparts, then the ability to control the ball spin should be quite similar.

[asparagin]

You have to be a lot more precise about where you hit the cue ball. That does constitute making it harder in my book. Of course you can exert more spin onto it as well, but again, you have to be significantly more precise.

 

It only makes it harder if you´re playing for the first time.

But try plying snooker with a pool cue: that´s hard.

[cichlidfan]

It only makes it harder if you´re playing for the first time.

But try plying snooker with a pool cue: that´s hard.

 

I haven't seen a discussion of cue's specific to snooker but as far as billiards (BCA Rules) you can use a pretty small cue tip (9mm) and apparently the balls are only 8% smaller than a billiard ball. It seems like the 12' long table and the skinny pockets might be more significant than the ball and cue size with regard to snooker being more difficult.

[leafer]

I've never played billiard but played snooker before trying pool and thought pool was a lot easier. On snooker table those narrow angle shots are a pain in the butt not that I know what that feels like. :D

[cichlidfan]

I've never played billiard but played snooker before trying pool and thought pool was a lot easier.

 

Billiards is a general term for lots of different 'pool' games. I can see where the strategy is more in 'play' with snooker as compared to something like Eightball adding a level of complexity most American variations lack. I am a 9-ball player myself, which does involves a limited amount of strategic play.

 

Btw, my cue would not be good for snooker. I play with a slightly heavy cue with a fat 13mm tip. :)