World Snooker Championship 2016
Best Moments
15 of the 17 annual days of Snooker at The Crucible have already been completed, and we've got a lot of stories from the tournament that was being expected to be the greatest World Championship ever.
I'll be reflecting on the most remarkable moments so far:
World Champion Out On Day One
Stuart Bingham had one of the most amazing Crucible performances last year when he beat 3 former Champions including Ronnie O`Sullivan plus Judd Trump in the way of winning the title for the first time. This year then he was against the so called "Crucible Curse", as never a player won his first two World Titles consecutively at the Crucible.
When the draw came out he wasn't the luckiest boy in the World, he drew Ali Carter in Round 1 and everybody knows Carter is a Top 16 player and just dropped out of it having to play the Qualifiers because in the previous two seasons he had health issues. Anyway this season he's been great, and already won a title, the prestigious Paul Hunter Classic. He's so used to be a seeded Carter that he even sat in the left seat which is the one for the highest seeded player, and was alerted by the referee to change.
All that combined with Bingham's poor form this season could only finish with one result: First big shock of the tournament as World Champion loses 10-9 in Round 1. Stuart Bingham is yet to win a title after becoming Champon of the World and for me it's all he needs to recover self belief, settle down and start winning again. He's not the first World Champion to lose in the 1st Round next year and he's not the 1st player to struggle after becoming World Champion for the 1st time, it has happened to everyone. His only worry is that he's already 39 and although I believe he'll still comeback to lift trophies, he's got to do it as soon as possible to make most of the time he has left.
17th April 2016, Steve Davis Calls It A Day
It's like picking a favourite child to say what's my favourite moment of this year's World Championship, but this one is up there.
Steve Davis announced live on the BBC that his defeat against Fergal O`Brien in the 1st Round of the World Championship Qualifiers had been his last match as a professional, and although his retirement have been waited for many years now, it's always a big day when the player who had a massive influence in the modernization of the game and making it be UK's most beloved sport quits.
When he entered the Crucible arena holding the Trophy he lifted 6 times in the 80's and received a standing ovation from the Crucible crowd, then got tears in his eyes when Rob Walker "tried" to interview him while the crowd didn't stop clapping I'm sure many people got themselves crying too.
Credits to BBC on a great tribute they did for the player who most won titles in Snooker!
Martin Gould's unbelievable Century
German Masters Champion Martin Gould may have had the most difficult draw for the 1st Round against Ding Junhui, but despite the 10-8 defeat the Englishman had time to show his class (and run of the ball) in a very worth watching Century Break he made in the last frame of the 1st Session, which many people described as the most Amazing Century Break in Crucible's history.
#TeamBaird
Young Sam Baird must have earned quite a few fans this year at the Crucible with his playing style: quick, attacking and dangerous!
Baird made his debut at the Crucible in 2013 and was trashed 2-10 by Stuart Bingham. Then he failed to make it through the Qualifiers for the next two years and was considered an "easy draw" for the top seeds in the 1st Round this year. However the young pretender beat Michael White 10-7 scoring two Century Breaks in that match to be the lowest ranked (59) player to advance to the last 16. In the last 16, nothing less than the World Number One and 2014 Champion Mark Selby for him. Anyway there was no smiles from the "Jester" this time as Baird cameback from 7-11 behind to 11-11. But at the end Selby won two tight frames to progress.
Rocket Falls
Overwhelming favourite to win the title, Ronnie O`Sullivan couldn't make it past Round 2 for the 1st time in 7 years as he lost 12-13 to Barry Hawkins. He still fought back from 9-12 down to force a decider but his unexpected weakness in the safety game this year was Hawkins' delight.
And as the Rocket fell, you'd expect the "Juddernaut" to come together, and so he did. A 13-10 defeat to Ding Junhui got Judd Trump's name amongst the big casualties in the first 2 rounds. In fact, Mark Selby (No1) was the only player ranked in the Top 13 in the World to make the Semi-Finals, and the only in the Top 7 to make the Quarters. And we had a Semi-Final between two Qualifiers (Ding Junhui [17] and Alan McManus [29]).
Nostalgic Crucible
We had a nostalgic World Championship this year, and the big story was Alan McManus making the Semi-Finals. He was Ranked 6th in the World at his peak in the middle 90's, won the Masters in 1994 and two Ranking Events, last of which in 1996. His best result at the Crucible had been reaching the Semi-Finals in 1992 and 1993. But now, 20 years far from his peak, already working as a commentator for ITV and at 45 years of age, Alan McManus simply repeated his best Crucible campaign in the most competitive and high standard age of the game!
Ding Junhui isn't far from his peak, but anyway he made the Semi-Finals at the Crucible for the first time in 5 years and funny enough, after playing the Qualifiers for the first time since 2007.
Marco Fu, 38, was also a "fresh old face" in the Semi-Finals of the Crucible. He made his debut there in 1999, became the 2nd player to beat Ronnie O`Sullivan in Round 1 in 2003 and had made the Semi-Finals for the last time in 2006. His opponent in the Semi-Finals, Mark Selby, was winning the title just in the year before last but he also isn't a new kid on the block, his 1st Crucible Final came back in 2007, I can still remember that hairstyle and fast playing style... Can you?
The Final
Ding Junhui made history not just for being the first Asian to reach the Final, but in his match against Alan McManus he made 7 Century Breaks alone. That's a new Record for a Crucible match, and a World Record equalizer (Stephen Hendry in the 1994 UK Championship). Alan McManus produced 3 Century Breaks of his own, and that smashes the old World Record of 8 Century Breaks in a single Snooker match, making this the highest standard Snooker match ever!
Mark Selby will be his opponent, the World Number One wasn't near Ding's fluency in his Semi-Final, but also broke a Record: He won the longest frame in Crucible's history (76min11sec) against Marco Fu. But Selby won't be considered an underdog against Qualifier Ding, his abilities of scrapping frames down and grind his way through is something he's always feared for. And Ding Junhui doesn't have the same experience as Mark Selby, who's going into his third World Final. He lost 13-18 to John Higgins in 2007, but in 2014 denied Ronnie O`Sullivan to celebrate a hat-trick wins coming from 3-8 and 5-10 behind to win 18-14.
Ding Junhui will have a few extra motivations to lift the trophy, as if it was needed... He can become the 11th man in Snooker's history to complete the Triple Crown, the first Asian player to win the World Championship - and that could be massive for China, and for Snooker - and he also would become only the 3rd player in Crucible's history to win the World Championship as a Qualifier - after Griffiths in 1979 and Murphy in 2005. I ask myself how ironic it would be if a player who was in the Top of the World Ranking a few years ago win his first World Championship as a Qualifier.
Well the broadcaster are the BBC as usual, but you can watch in a number of other channels around the World and if you have no time for TV I'll also be doing LiveScores in our Facebook Page, hopefully it works alright :-)
The Final of the World Championship will be played over Sunday (1st May) and Monday (2nd May) and you can follow results, videos and anything else about the Snooker liking Ronnie O`Sullivan Brasil's page on Facebook by clicking here.
QUICK WORD:
Well, you might have noticed already that the blog have changed a bit. The URL/Domain/Adress is now ROSBRAZIL.BLOGSPOT.COM and the name is Blog ROSBrasil Snooker. But don't worry, we keep under the same brand, Ronnie O`Sullivan Brasil like our Facebook page. Of course, the man himself have recognized it and we're not leaving it anyway. 😊
Keep in touch because some exciting stuff are coming up in the Blog over the next few weeks and I wouldn't want to miss it if I was you!
World Champion Out On Day One
Stuart Bingham had one of the most amazing Crucible performances last year when he beat 3 former Champions including Ronnie O`Sullivan plus Judd Trump in the way of winning the title for the first time. This year then he was against the so called "Crucible Curse", as never a player won his first two World Titles consecutively at the Crucible.
When the draw came out he wasn't the luckiest boy in the World, he drew Ali Carter in Round 1 and everybody knows Carter is a Top 16 player and just dropped out of it having to play the Qualifiers because in the previous two seasons he had health issues. Anyway this season he's been great, and already won a title, the prestigious Paul Hunter Classic. He's so used to be a seeded Carter that he even sat in the left seat which is the one for the highest seeded player, and was alerted by the referee to change.
All that combined with Bingham's poor form this season could only finish with one result: First big shock of the tournament as World Champion loses 10-9 in Round 1. Stuart Bingham is yet to win a title after becoming Champon of the World and for me it's all he needs to recover self belief, settle down and start winning again. He's not the first World Champion to lose in the 1st Round next year and he's not the 1st player to struggle after becoming World Champion for the 1st time, it has happened to everyone. His only worry is that he's already 39 and although I believe he'll still comeback to lift trophies, he's got to do it as soon as possible to make most of the time he has left.
17th April 2016, Steve Davis Calls It A Day
It's like picking a favourite child to say what's my favourite moment of this year's World Championship, but this one is up there.
Steve Davis announced live on the BBC that his defeat against Fergal O`Brien in the 1st Round of the World Championship Qualifiers had been his last match as a professional, and although his retirement have been waited for many years now, it's always a big day when the player who had a massive influence in the modernization of the game and making it be UK's most beloved sport quits.
When he entered the Crucible arena holding the Trophy he lifted 6 times in the 80's and received a standing ovation from the Crucible crowd, then got tears in his eyes when Rob Walker "tried" to interview him while the crowd didn't stop clapping I'm sure many people got themselves crying too.
Credits to BBC on a great tribute they did for the player who most won titles in Snooker!
Martin Gould's unbelievable Century
German Masters Champion Martin Gould may have had the most difficult draw for the 1st Round against Ding Junhui, but despite the 10-8 defeat the Englishman had time to show his class (and run of the ball) in a very worth watching Century Break he made in the last frame of the 1st Session, which many people described as the most Amazing Century Break in Crucible's history.
#TeamBaird
Young Sam Baird must have earned quite a few fans this year at the Crucible with his playing style: quick, attacking and dangerous!
Baird made his debut at the Crucible in 2013 and was trashed 2-10 by Stuart Bingham. Then he failed to make it through the Qualifiers for the next two years and was considered an "easy draw" for the top seeds in the 1st Round this year. However the young pretender beat Michael White 10-7 scoring two Century Breaks in that match to be the lowest ranked (59) player to advance to the last 16. In the last 16, nothing less than the World Number One and 2014 Champion Mark Selby for him. Anyway there was no smiles from the "Jester" this time as Baird cameback from 7-11 behind to 11-11. But at the end Selby won two tight frames to progress.
Rocket Falls
Overwhelming favourite to win the title, Ronnie O`Sullivan couldn't make it past Round 2 for the 1st time in 7 years as he lost 12-13 to Barry Hawkins. He still fought back from 9-12 down to force a decider but his unexpected weakness in the safety game this year was Hawkins' delight.
And as the Rocket fell, you'd expect the "Juddernaut" to come together, and so he did. A 13-10 defeat to Ding Junhui got Judd Trump's name amongst the big casualties in the first 2 rounds. In fact, Mark Selby (No1) was the only player ranked in the Top 13 in the World to make the Semi-Finals, and the only in the Top 7 to make the Quarters. And we had a Semi-Final between two Qualifiers (Ding Junhui [17] and Alan McManus [29]).
Nostalgic Crucible
We had a nostalgic World Championship this year, and the big story was Alan McManus making the Semi-Finals. He was Ranked 6th in the World at his peak in the middle 90's, won the Masters in 1994 and two Ranking Events, last of which in 1996. His best result at the Crucible had been reaching the Semi-Finals in 1992 and 1993. But now, 20 years far from his peak, already working as a commentator for ITV and at 45 years of age, Alan McManus simply repeated his best Crucible campaign in the most competitive and high standard age of the game!
Ding Junhui isn't far from his peak, but anyway he made the Semi-Finals at the Crucible for the first time in 5 years and funny enough, after playing the Qualifiers for the first time since 2007.
Marco Fu, 38, was also a "fresh old face" in the Semi-Finals of the Crucible. He made his debut there in 1999, became the 2nd player to beat Ronnie O`Sullivan in Round 1 in 2003 and had made the Semi-Finals for the last time in 2006. His opponent in the Semi-Finals, Mark Selby, was winning the title just in the year before last but he also isn't a new kid on the block, his 1st Crucible Final came back in 2007, I can still remember that hairstyle and fast playing style... Can you?
The Final
Ding Junhui made history not just for being the first Asian to reach the Final, but in his match against Alan McManus he made 7 Century Breaks alone. That's a new Record for a Crucible match, and a World Record equalizer (Stephen Hendry in the 1994 UK Championship). Alan McManus produced 3 Century Breaks of his own, and that smashes the old World Record of 8 Century Breaks in a single Snooker match, making this the highest standard Snooker match ever!
Mark Selby will be his opponent, the World Number One wasn't near Ding's fluency in his Semi-Final, but also broke a Record: He won the longest frame in Crucible's history (76min11sec) against Marco Fu. But Selby won't be considered an underdog against Qualifier Ding, his abilities of scrapping frames down and grind his way through is something he's always feared for. And Ding Junhui doesn't have the same experience as Mark Selby, who's going into his third World Final. He lost 13-18 to John Higgins in 2007, but in 2014 denied Ronnie O`Sullivan to celebrate a hat-trick wins coming from 3-8 and 5-10 behind to win 18-14.
Ding Junhui will have a few extra motivations to lift the trophy, as if it was needed... He can become the 11th man in Snooker's history to complete the Triple Crown, the first Asian player to win the World Championship - and that could be massive for China, and for Snooker - and he also would become only the 3rd player in Crucible's history to win the World Championship as a Qualifier - after Griffiths in 1979 and Murphy in 2005. I ask myself how ironic it would be if a player who was in the Top of the World Ranking a few years ago win his first World Championship as a Qualifier.
Well the broadcaster are the BBC as usual, but you can watch in a number of other channels around the World and if you have no time for TV I'll also be doing LiveScores in our Facebook Page, hopefully it works alright :-)
The Final of the World Championship will be played over Sunday (1st May) and Monday (2nd May) and you can follow results, videos and anything else about the Snooker liking Ronnie O`Sullivan Brasil's page on Facebook by clicking here.
QUICK WORD:
Well, you might have noticed already that the blog have changed a bit. The URL/Domain/Adress is now ROSBRAZIL.BLOGSPOT.COM and the name is Blog ROSBrasil Snooker. But don't worry, we keep under the same brand, Ronnie O`Sullivan Brasil like our Facebook page. Of course, the man himself have recognized it and we're not leaving it anyway. 😊
Keep in touch because some exciting stuff are coming up in the Blog over the next few weeks and I wouldn't want to miss it if I was you!
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