World Championship Snooker

Lags was the chief 'Bradman denier'. It kept him happy and periodically stopped him posting all that other guff.

Snooker isn't a patch on billiards. Discuss.

Or buying more cocaine in the back alley outside the tournament.

Better than buying it in a blind alley.

nice google . . .

Cheers.

tac wrote:in scoring more heavily, you mean average break or something like it?

Number of centuries scored is the most commonly used stat to see how heavily a player scores. Number of 147 breaks is also a good indicator. I may be wrong but I don't know of any snooker player from the 80s to have scored more than 1 competitive 147, whereas Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O' Sullivan have 18 between them (O' Sullivan also having the 5 fastest on record, the fastest being 5 minutes and 20 seconds, worth a youtube visit if you haven't seen it).

vilks, but that could just be because the game was mnore conservative in the 80s . . .

It could also be because there are a lot more tournaments these days, and more than a handful of top-flight players.

FWIW:

1 January 11, 1982* Steve Davis John Spencer Lada Classic
2 April 23, 1983* Cliff Thorburn Terry Griffiths Embassy World Championship
3 January 28, 1984* Kirk Stevens Jimmy White Benson & Hedges Masters
4 November 17, 1987 Willie Thorne Tommy Murphy Tennents UK Championship
5 February 20, 1988 Tony Meo Stephen Hendry Rothmans Matchroom League
6 September 24, 1988 Alain Robidoux Jim Meadowcroft European Open (Q)
7 February 18, 1989 John Rea Ian Black Scottish Professional Championship
8 March 8, 1989 Cliff Thorburn Jimmy White Matchroom League
9 January 16, 1991 James Wattana Paul Dawkins Mita/Sky World Masters
10 June 1991 Peter Ebdon Wayne Martin Strachan Open
11 February 1992* James Wattana Tony Drago British Open
12 April 22, 1992* Jimmy White Tony Drago Embassy World Championship
13 May 9, 1992 John Parrott Tony Meo Matchroom League
14 May 24, 1992 Stephen Hendry Willie Thorne Matchroom League
15 November 1992 Peter Ebdon Ken Doherty Royal Liver Assurance UK Championship
16 September 1994 David McDonnell Nic Barrow British Open (Q)
17 April 27, 1995* Stephen Hendry Jimmy White Embassy World Championship
18 November 25, 1995* Stephen Hendry Gary Wilkinson Royal Liver Assurance UK Championship
19 January 5, 1997* Stephen Hendry Ronnie O'Sullivan Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge
20 April 21, 1997* Ronnie O'Sullivan Mick Price Embassy World Championship
21 September 1997 James Wattana Pang Wei Guo Catch China Challenge
22 May 16, 1998* Stephen Hendry Ken Doherty Doc. Marten's Premier League
23 August 10, 1998 Adrian Gunnell Mario Wehrmann Thailand Masters (Q)
24 August 13, 1998 Mehmet Husnu Eddie Barker China International (Q)
25 January 13, 1999 Jason Prince Ian Brumby British Open (Q)
26 January 29, 1999* Ronnie O'Sullivan James Wattana Regal Welsh Open
27 February 4, 1999 Stuart Bingham Barry Hawkins UK Tour - Event 3
28 March 22, 1999 Nick Dyson Adrian Gunnell UK Tour - Event 4
29 April 6, 1999* Graeme Dott David Roe British Open
30 September 19, 1999* Stephen Hendry Peter Ebdon British Open
31 September 21, 1999 Barry Pinches Joe Johnson Regal Welsh Open (Q)
32 October 13, 1999* Ronnie O'Sullivan Graeme Dott Grand Prix
33 November 4, 1999 Karl Burrows Adrian Rosa Benson & Hedges Championship
34 November 22, 1999* Stephen Hendry Paul Wykes Liverpool Victoria UK Championship
35 January 21, 2000* John Higgins Dennis Taylor Nations Cup
36 March 24, 2000* John Higgins Jimmy White Irish Masters
37 March 24, 2000 Stephen Maguire Phaitoon Phonbun Regal Scottish Open (Q)
38 April 5, 2000* Ronnie O'Sullivan Quinten Hann Regal Scottish Open
39 October 25, 2000* Marco Fu Ken Doherty Regal Scottish Masters
40 November 7, 2000 David McLellan Steve Meakin Benson & Hedges Championship
41 November 19, 2000 Nick Dyson Robert Milkins Liverpool Victoria UK Championship
42 February 25, 2001* Stephen Hendry Mark Williams Malta Grand Prix
43 October 17, 2001* Ronnie O'Sullivan Drew Henry LG Cup
44 November 12, 2001 Shaun Murphy Adrian Rosa Benson & Hedges Championship
45 October 28, 2002 Tony Drago Stuart Bingham Benson & Hedges Championship
46 April 22, 2003* Ronnie O'Sullivan Marco Fu Embassy World Championship
47 October 12, 2003* John Higgins Mark Williams LG Cup
48 November 12, 2003* John Higgins Michael Judge British Open
49 October 4, 2004* John Higgins Ricky Walden Totesport Grand Prix
50 November 17, 2004 David Gray Mark Selby Travis UK Championship
51 April 20, 2005* Mark Williams Robert Milkins Embassy World Championship
52 November 22, 2005 Stuart Bingham Marcus Campbell Masters Qualifying Tournament
53 March 14, 2006 Robert Milkins Mark Selby 888.com World Championship (Q)
54 October 23, 2006 Jamie Cope Michael Holt Royal London Watches Grand Prix
55 January 14, 2007* Ding Junhui Anthony Hamilton Saga Insurance Masters
56 February 16, 2007* Andrew Higginson Ali Carter Welsh Open
57 September 19, 2007 Jamie Burnett Liu Song Royal London Watches Grand Prix (Q)
58 October 14, 2007 Tom Ford Steve Davis Royal London Watches Grand Prix
59 November 8, 2007* Ronnie O'Sullivan Ali Carter Northern Ireland Trophy
60 December 15, 2007* Ronnie O'Sullivan Mark Selby Maplin UK Championship
61 March 29, 2008* Stephen Maguire Ryan Day China Open
62 April 28, 2008* Ronnie O'Sullivan Mark Williams 888.com World Championship
63 April 29, 2008* Ali Carter Peter Ebdon 888.com World Championship
64 October 2, 2008* Jamie Cope Mark Williams Shanghai Masters
65 October 29, 2008 Liang Wenbo Martin Gould Bahrain Championship (Q)
66 November 8, 2008* Marcus Campbell Ahmed Basheer Al-Khusaibi Bahrain Championship
67 December 16, 2008* Ding Junhui John Higgins Maplin UK Championship
68 April 28, 2009* Stephen Hendry Shaun Murphy Betfred.com World Championship
69 June 5, 2009* Mark Selby Joe Perry Jiangsu Classic

Zat wrote:It could also be because there are a lot more tournaments these days, and more than a handful of top-flight players.

Nope, there was more snooker played in the 1980s due to it being far bigger and more sponsorship in those days. There have been numerous tournaments cancelled. Obviously there have been some new ones created in recent years (particularly in the far east) but there were still more tournaments played in the 80s.

Terrific achievement from Davis - hope he can put up a good fight against Robertson too. He's up there with Tom Watson, Roger Milla and Jack Hobbs as a great old sportsman.

Some people might claim that Hendry was the best ever player the game has produced, but Davis shades it form me.

Hendry took the game to a new level with his aggressive break building - but I think changes to the technology (the balls / baize were different in the 80s) meant that Davis had to have different skills. There's no way Hendry will be around at 52.

Davis is also a very accomplished 9-ball pool player too (regular in the Mosconi Cup and almost won the World Title).

Zat wrote:It could also be because there are a lot more tournaments these days, and more than a handful of top-flight players.

There's actually a lot fewer tournaments than when snooker was at its commercial/TV peak in the 80s.

The style of play has changed completely, Hendry led the way in a generation of players who made it predominantly about long potting and break-building and winning the frame in one visit. There's still "scrappers" who have succeeded in recent years, Ebdon and Dott for example, and Davis still remains competitive as he can out-safety most of the younger generation. But players are just much more adventurous in the shots they take on these days, which is why the Crucible century record seems to increase nearly every year. Perhaps better equipment has played a part as well?

Gary 111 wrote:Hendry took the game to a new level with his aggressive break building - but I think changes to the technology (the balls / baize were different in the 80s) meant that Davis had to have different skills. There's no way Hendry will be around at 52.

I think Hendry could still be around at that age if he wants to, he's probably ranked at least as high as Davis was at his age, and Davis seems to have managed to maintain his standing around the fringes of the top 16 for the past decade. It's all about whether you can keep the motivation at that stage though, some players will drop out of the top 16 and lose interest while others will come back. Hendry's rivals during his peak years, like White, Parrott and Doherty, have seen time catch up with them in terms of results when they reached their 40s, don't know if we will see any of those play at the Crucible again now.

Parrott has retired, Doherty was at the crucible this year but I think you are right about White.

Hendry will retire before he gets to 52, unlike Davis he still only enters tournaments because he believes he can win them. Davis has admitted he doesn't realistically stand a chance at winning this year (though I think him, along with everyone else has a slight hope that he can produce a fairy tale).

The only players I dislike that are still left in the draw are Hendry and Murphy, who both have tough draws. Would be nice for them to both be knocked out before the quarters so that I can relax and just enjoy the snooker.

Basil wrote:Some people might claim that Hendry was the best ever player the game has produced, but Davis shades it form me.

Joe Davis?

I think Bas was referring to Steve Davis.

I know, but Joe has legitimate claims to being the best ever

Steve Davis - legend.
Joe Davis - legend also - but to a lesser degree.

Snooker had become seriously professional with the money rolling in when S Davis kicked off ... with around 20 or so young guns kicking at his heels.

The older era when Joe Davis dominated was more sedate and less aggressive due to the lack of money in the sport ... kinda like like the Gentlemen VS Players syndrome.

And I would hazard that snooker was still a little brother to billiards in Joe and Fred's day, no?

tac wrote:And I would hazard that snooker was still a little brother to billiards in Joe and Fred's day, no?

Very true.
It's a shame that billiards has almost disappeared now.

Fred was the main reason for snooker becoming popular IIRC

vilkrang wrote:
He'll get absolutely battered by Robertson in the next round though.

As I thought. The best Davis can hope for is that it isn't all over tonight and he manages to take it to a third session.

update?