My tip for the final would be lump on Ronnie -5.5 on the handicap, it's evens with bet Fred. I don't see Carter causing him to many problems. I know Carter beat Maguire well, but it was more to do with how poor Maguire played, rather than Carter playing better than usual
Ronnie will crush him if he plays as well as he has done so far. Carter has not a chance unless he can get under Ronnie's skin to force him into mistakes. That is far from impossible though.
Well he did get under Maguire's skin, by playing realy negative particularly in the first session. So I'd imagine he will try similar tactics today, particularly with that prat Ebdon advising him.
I can't stand Carter. It would have been a better spectacle if it was Trump in the final. That said if Ronnie plays like he can then he can beat anyone.
Carter may start to play his normal game, i feel watching him that he has maybe listened to much to Peter Ebdon on how to try ''upset'' Ronnie's play, the best way to upset his play is to win more frames than him, it will make for a better game if he loosens up abit. Ronnie will win either way though so i guess maybe damage limitation.
It's pretty close on the handicap, he leads by 5 going into the final session. Hopefully he gets off to a good start in the final session
What do you make of the pressure being put on snooker players with Hearn's revamped 50-week, 27-event tour, which will take full effect next year? How many hours would that make someone like Ronnie playing a year (excluding practice)? How much time would he have with his family? Sounds to me as though Hearns is a bit of a dictator with little thought for the players. Why can't snooker players just enter whatever tournament they like except for those requiring qualifiers? Being forced to play will only cause mental and emotional strain which can't be good for the game.
The problem is that the tournaments are all over the world. Loads of sportsmen have time commitments (like jockeys for example) but it is the fact that they are being asked to spend half the year in China which rankles. They don't get the luxuries afforded to F1 drivers either! The trouble is they are being 'forced' to play to keep their ranking.
I agree with Hearn, Snooker players have had it easy for years, and they need to realise how lucky they are earning a living from playing sport. The Snooker players have been moaning about a lack of money in the game, and that's because it's not that popular in England anymore, were as in China there Snooker mad, so Hearn needs to take advantage of the games popularity in China
Does that mean that, if the best player in the World chose only to compete when he wanted to, he would lose his ranking (which wouldn't in itself be a problem) and therefore not be able to compete in the major series. Or, if Ronnie chose to just compete in say the World Championship, couldn't he do so by working his way through qualifying rounds as a non seeded player? Just to make a mockery of the rankings.
It's abit like Golf Ron, Westwood and Donald have been the world number 1 at various times, not because they are the best players in the world but because they can be bothered to travel around the world playing in all the smaller tournaments picking up ranking points. Where as other superior players who have actually won majors can't be bothered to play in every tournament. Ronnie was on the verge of slipping out of the top 16 before this years worlds, and if your not in the top 16 you have to pre qualify, and depending on how far you are down the rankings depends on how many qualifying matches you have to win
I have to say that the perceived notion that all snooker players have had it easy is a myth... I do know a few professional snooker players and also a lot that are trying to turn pro and its one of the hardest things to do AND earn a living. To turn pro at any sport is hard and you obviously have to have a talent and be gifted but there are other factors involved... The snooker game is not a big sport, if indeed you want to class it a sport, and this idea that they are earning millions or enough to be buying big fancy flash cars is so far off the mark its untrue. Most snooker players will not make £20,000 a year in prize money, and that is not a wage to go out splashing it on top of the range cars...!!! Its not like golf where the sport is world wide and players you have never heard of before have won over £100,000 a year from golf, probably have a resident club to practice and coach at, and a glut of sponsors to promote there clothing ranges. Footballers at some lower league clubs in the 2nd division will be on £500 a week, some less but its a weekly or monthly payment wage... (yes i do know that some are struggling to pay there players but its the weekly thing that im getting at...) and im sure the top 32 earners in football bring home more than £20,000 a year...!!! Snooker players dont know where the next payday is coming from if they do not win at a tournament. Or know for sure that they will at least cover the cost of entering the competition, plus the living and travel costs. Snooker is not as popular as it was and yes there are other places where its kicking off big time, but it is a sport where you can earn good money from but this will only happen to the top 40 players in the world... NO snooker player at the moment, outside the top 50 will have made more than £20,000 this year from prize money, fact... I do know that the lack of tournaments pre the Barry Hearn take over was an issue but to me snooker is a game that is punching very much above its weight. The players that are very good at it get paid very well, Hendry has cleared £8m in prize money, but Joe Bloggs from Preston hasnt won one tournament or trophy in his 10 year career and hasn't won over £100,000 in that time...(i know that as a fact...) What Barry Hearn is trying to do is give them more tournaments, therefore more prize money, and therefore make a better living out of the game. He has said he wants to base the rankings on the way the golfers do. But 3 years ago over 100 US golfers broke the $500,000's in prize money and didnt ONCE finish in the top 25 in any of the tournaments that they entered. The pool of players to money ratio just isnt there... I love the game of snooker and class myself as above average and miles behind anything resembling a pro, but the professional circuit is a nightmare if you want it to be classed as a professional sport...
I wasn't suggesting the guys down the bottom of the rankings have it easy, it's the guys at the top who have had it easy. The Ronnies and the Hendry's off the game years ago could maintain there top 16 ranking by only working a part time schedule. So in my book a part time schedule is having it easy *
Yeah, i know where your coming from as i do think the payment or distribution of the pot money has always stayed in the top 16 and hardly ever filtered down... The players in the top 16 were always guaranteed a place in the top tournaments regardless of what they achieved and this kept it a very cosy little earner for the likes of Griffiths, Mountjoy even Steve Davis at the back end of their careers... I do think its a better format now but its just gone from a 2 months qualifying season to a 48 week, multiple tournaments very very quickly... I agree China will have a big say in the sport but i fear that we will end up with a split, like in the darts, and one will be a very substandard game and the other will get bigger and bigger... Ronnie is right to say what he thinks, maybe blackmailing is a bit ott, but at 37 years old Ronnie still has 5 years left at the top of his game without working too hard...
Ron this is something that snooker players hate but have to do... If your not putting in 4-6 hours a day, every day then you will be passed very quickly by someone who is... One bloke who has now retired from the game but was once a pro told me that if your not Ronnie O'Sullivan then you will get nowhere...!!! What he meant was that the standard of player in the qualifiers all have Maximums to their names, all can pot balls off the chandeliers and all have balls of steel... What separates the wheat from the chaff is the mental side of the game. That self belief that i wont miss this tricky shot, wont lose the frame or match off this one shot... If you watch the top boys now, if they miss a ball after making a 60 break they are no longer confident of winning that frame. The opponenant now has the ability and belief in clearing the table with whats left and stealing the frame off you... Snooker is a very tough game mentally, always has been...
I can imagine red. Thanks for the info. Doesn't take long for me to get a headache playing. Not that I've played for ages, nor been any good.
