Snoooooooker

[Good Intentions]

What I saw of the Jones/Carter match was magical. You didn't even mention that Jones had two total clearances in a row in the first session of the match, scoring almost 300 points without reply.

[Nick Ink]

What I saw of the Jones/Carter match was magical. You didn't even mention that Jones had two total clearances in a row in the first session of the match, scoring almost 300 points without reply.

Right. I didn't see that, unfortunately. Must have been at work. But he looks like a very promising player.

Forgot to say, the odds now look like this:

Ronnie 8/15
Maguire 100/30
Ali Carter 11/2
M.Stevens 12/1

[Good Intentions]

Those odds are bonkers.

[Nick Ink]

Those odds are bonkers.

You're right. Twelves on Stevens is daylight robbery!

[Nick Ink]

THE BETFRED.COM WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIPS SEMI-FINAL NEWS

         
     
Ronnie O'Sullivan 12 V 8 Matthew Stevens  (Best of 33)

This has been a great semi-final so far and both players have been excellent. Stevens fought back form 5-2 down to level at 5-5, but then Ronnie had one of his purple patches where he just floated around the tbale like a ghost for an hour and a half, reeling off 6 frames in a row with four breaks over 90. Stevens found himself 11-5 down overnight, and yet he'd hardly played a bad shot.

Although his psychological demons are well documented, it's still a bit of a mystery why O'Sullivan has only won 3 titles in his 20 years at The Crucible, and this year he's just had the odd session in every match where he's been sublime.

Having said that, Matthew Stevens has come out in tremendous form this morning, winning the mini-session 3-1 and taking it to 12-8 overall. If he can keep winning those mini-sessions 3-1, he'll overhaul the Rocket, but surely O'Sullivan can't be kept quiet that long? Riveting stuff!

         

Ali Carter 14 v 10 Stephen Maguire (Best of 33)

A slightly similar story in this one. Carter went 14-7 up at one point yesterday, befor Maguire suddenly got a steely glint in his eye and took the last 3 to give himself a snowball's this afternoon. He'll have to beat The Pilot 7-2 to get over the line though, and is heavily odds against. That would be the third time that Maguire, once tipped to "dominate the game for the next 10 years" by O'Sullivan, has lost in the semis. Always the bridesmaid syndrome for the table-punching misery guts.

[Nick Ink]

Awesome snooker from both players. Matthew Stevens only made 2 mistakes, but they cost him frames both times. The mini-session went 3-1 to Ronnie and it's 15-9 going into tomorrow's final session. Ronnie as good as in the final now and 1/4 on to win the whole thing.

[Nick Ink]

As those scorelines suggested, the final will be contested between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ali Carter, and it's a repeat of the 2008 final which O'Sullivan won 18-8.

If Ronnie wins again, he will join John Cheatingweasel on 4 world titles, and if Carter wins it will be his first.

O'Sullivan has been talking about retiring (again! he's done it practically every year since he was 17) after this tournament, while Carter has showed massive determination to come back from a health problem that almost forced his retirement.

It's a best-of-35 frames match, over 4 sessions and 2 days, and it finishes Monday night here. The bookies make The Rocket a certainty at five to one on, and most of the viewing public will be behind the occasionally lovable rogue.

There are only two more days of this everyone and then it's over (for another year anyway) I promise!

[Nick Ink]

Bow ba ba bow ba bow ba bow bow ba ba bow bow bow....

Frame 1: An intriguing ten minute safety exchange ends with a 57 from Ronnie, and a 1-0 lead for the favourite.

Frame 2: A beautifully controlled 117 break makes it 2-0. Carter has looked defensive and edgy so far - ominous.

Frame 3: Ronnie finally misses something and Carter capitalises, gradually smoothing down his cue action and sealing the frame with an important 87 break.

Frame 4: A complete mess of a frame, with an early safety bout leaving all the reds in a tangle on the side cushion. This doesn't suit Ronnie, and Carter eventually gets the better of an ultra-scrappy frame. He'll be very happy with 2-2 at the mid-session interval - that gird frame was the big one.

Frame 5: Carter gets in first but falters at 42. Ronnie grabs one he probably shouldn't have and goes 3-2 in front.

Frame 6: O'Sullivan misses a couple and Carter levels it again at 3-3. The pundits seem eager to attribute his steely performance to a pint of carrot juice drunk in the mid-session interval.

Frame 7: An unbelievable clearance of 92 from Ronnie, and the best moment of the match so far. He came to the table with balls against the cushions, the table all over the place, and the commentators saying he'd "do well to get 20". Sublime skill and instinctive vision and positional play, one of the greatest clearances the Crucible has ever seen.

Frame 8: And suddenly the genius is back into gear. Ronnie floats around the table with a devestating 141 and leads 5-3. Magnificent stuff. They're back for 8 more tonight

[Good Intentions]

141! Glad I'm not the one who has to play against him.

[Nick Ink]

Patchy but compelling in the evening session - Carter trails 10-7 overnight, but will perhaps be the happier of the two and relieved to be still very much in contention.

I'm still predicting Ronnie to pull away tomorrow afternoon, and I go for an 18-11 final scoreline.

[Antero]

The pundits seem eager to attribute his steely performance to a pint of carrot juice drunk in the mid-session interval.

what is this i don't even

[Ignatius]

Duce Staley used to get a lot of attention for favoring pickle juice to replace his electrolytes during games. I think he even released his own branded pickle juice drink eventually?

[Nick Ink]

The pundits seem eager to attribute his steely performance to a pint of carrot juice drunk in the mid-session interval.

what is this i don't even

Carter has fellow pro and recently evangelical vegan, Peter 'The Force' Ebdon in his inner circle. The Force has been quite outspoken on the importance of carrot juice in the battle against Carter's health problems (Crohn's).


              A pint of carrot juice                                                              Peter 'The Force' Ebdon

[Antero]

The pundits seem eager to attribute his steely performance to a pint of carrot juice drunk in the mid-session interval.

what is this i don't even

Carter has fellow pro and recently evangelical vegan, Peter 'The Force' Ebdon in his inner circle. The Force has been quite outspoken on the importance of carrot juice in the battle against Carter's health problems (Crohn's).

I swear to god you are some sort of insane genius making this shit up.

[Good Intentions]

I know if I were a pint of carrot juice I'd also wear a knitwear drawstring jumper with a corduroy jacket.

[Nick Ink]

Okay, it's the final session of the tournament. Ronnie leads 15-10 and it could potentially be all over in the blink of an eye.

[Nick Ink]

16-10 - Ronnie into the groove immediately.

[Chet]

i like watching him but i hope he fucking retires already. he's a bit of a dick.
same thing every year with that guy.

[Nick Ink]

You're very harsh!

one more each - 17-11 now, and Ronnie needs just one more. I for one am delighted to see the game's best player looking happy and relaxed and playing sublime snooker. He deserves to be remembered as a 4-time champion.

[Nick Ink]

I'm still predicting Ronnie to pull away tomorrow afternoon, and I go for an 18-11 final scoreline.

Just call me Nostradamus Ink!

That's all folks! 

[Good Intentions]

It's been a month since the World Snooker Championship ended, and I've been hankering for more of that brightly-coloured, deliberately-paced action to watch while eating dinner and relaxing after work. So, choosing a highly-viewed snooker item that looked interesting, I watched the 1997 Liverpool Victoria Final between Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan. It is an astonishing game of snooker. Well worth 80 minutes of your time.

[Nick Ink]

It's been a month since the World Snooker Championship ended, and I've been hankering for more of that brightly-coloured, deliberately-paced action to watch while eating dinner and relaxing after work. So, choosing a highly-viewed snooker item that looked interesting, I watched the 1997 Liverpool Victoria Final between Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan. It is an astonishing game of snooker. Well worth 80 minutes of your time.

Ah, were we ever so young? Fantastic stuff! I'd not seen that before. Mind you, the 'comedy' sequence at around 45 minutes (complete with right-wing nutters Gary Bushell and and John McCririck) was a bit painful!

On a less savoury note, a new match-fixing scandal has hit the game this week, with little-known Joe Jogia under investigation.