I love the snooker, and this tournament is a yearly sporting highlight for me, been to it a few times too, can watch it all day.
I don't know if Ding is favoured so much for marketing reasons so much as his ability certainly deserves a world title, his close cue ball control break building is sublime. Also he has been bred to win it, and the pressure on him is ridiculous, unfair, from China. When he lost the final a few years ago one of the papers there went full page on how he had failed. This despite having had a super tournament, and indeed season, among the elite. People like this guy, they want that weight off his back. So do I, love to see him win it, but he is getting his ass handed to him tonight by Hawkins as the favourites continue to exit this years fascinating tournament, so many favoured blue blood players not making it out of the early rounds this year.
The trade off for that might be we wont see so many one visit frames as would be ideal, as more and more 'on their day' players make up the survivors. It may suffer due to that as it draws on when they are playing each other and not giant killing.
Hearn has done some good things, but I take your point also. But there are more tournaments now, there is a living there for more than the top sixteen elite, which was necessary for the greater health of the sport, you had to be top sixteen in the game to be financially ok, for so long. Picture, tennis or golf, in comparison for example, that is Hearns doing.
Higgins was more naive I seem to remember, he ended up in some sting or other and got taped. I don't think he threw any matches and those ITK have accepted him back in the fold. He also jettisoned his management who got him in that mess iirc. Maybe, just, just about clean I reckon.
O'Sullivan's play will be missed, but his self obsessed, indulgent egotistic post match look at me everyone, rambles, not so much. God knows what the shoulder barge was for, ended up looking a right *~ck.
Allen, I cannot warm to, I want to cheer him on like we did Higgins, Taylor and Doherty but it's just not there, but he can play, he can score heavily and quickly, top players fear him, without him fully joining the top player echelons himself, despite having the game to do so. Again, another match favourite on the wrong end of a scoreline tonight going into tomorrow V Wilson.
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