Snooker (and other cue sports)

I watched the end of the Higgins v O'Sullivan match - a real epic, and I'm delighted to see John Higgins back to his best; although he still needed a couple of visits in some key frames, and Ronnie's sharpness in the first couple of sessions seemed to fade as the match went on. The concession at the very end was very odd too - understandable, but it's very untypical (i.e. I've never seen it happen) that a player actually interrupt a break to end the match - not surprised it would be Ronnie to do something like that, but at least it ended the game quickly. 😅

Incredibly, these guys have been playing these epic matches against each other for 30 years now, and they are still right at the very top of the sport... amazing stuff.

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Disappointed to see Selby go out rather meekly - he had his chances but made too many mistakes. I don't rate Wu Yize particularly highly, but he must be doing something right.

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edit: Another decider in the Trump v Vafaei match - and despite not being a fan of the latter, I have to say that he was very, very impressive in the final frames against Trump and fully deserves his place in the QFs. The 24th frame in particular was really quite special. :eek:
 
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I watched tonight's session between Barry Hawkins and Mark Allen - really incredible level of playing from both players. They hit 3 centuries in a row, and six frames in a row where the winner didn't concede any points. The last frame was very tight and tomorrow's final session should be a cracker.

On the flip side, I watched one frame (Frame 8) of the Zhao v Murphy match - it's easily the worst frame of snooker I've seen in the tournament so far. Both players were quite shockingly bad - I assume they have picked it up a few gears tonight, but you couldn't see a bigger contrast between two tables at the Crucible.
 
Just looking through the stats and it could well be, unless Shaun Murphy prevails, the first time in 25 years that there hasn't been an Englishman in the semis.
 
TheCracker
Just looking through the stats and it could well be, unless Shaun Murphy prevails, the first time in 25 years that there hasn't been an Englishman in the semis.
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Shaun Murphy has done it - I haven't seen much of the match; Frame 8 was just sooooo bad I gave up on them!! But apparently Murphy has been excellent today, and beating Zhao is a huge win for him.
 
Touring Mars
Shaun Murphy has done it - I haven't seen much of the match; Frame 8 was just sooooo bad I gave up on them!! But apparently Murphy has been excellent today, and beating Zhao is a huge win for him.
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Looks like all that endurance training from Peter "Iron Man" Ebdon paid off.
 
Higgins went through tonight, he beat Robertson 13-10 and will play Murphy in the semi finals.
 
Ugh, what a disaster for Mark Allen - 16-14 up and he missed an easy black to win the match, and ended up losing 17-16.

Wu Yize deserved to win after Allen missed at least two more shots that would have pretty much sealed the win - he's basically thrown it away :(

Allen will never forget that missed black.
 
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Wu Yize has just won the 2026 World Championship. He beat Shaun Murphy in an epic contest which went to the deciding leg 17-18.
 
Holy, that's unbelievable. I've always liked Wu's slightly rockstar-ish style and on the other hand never liked Murphy, he seems to be the epitome of a stuck up elitist who's always present if there's a row between players with either someone having a problem with him or vice versa, but I never thought the final could go this way.

Having said that, I would have been very happy too see Allen win the entire thing and he probably could have done it without that one black ball, but he now knows he can do it and there are always future world championships to come.
 
Tremendous final, both players were playing some exceptional snooker.

Murphy had his chance, but he struggled to kill off frames in a single visit and the deciding frame was no exception.

Both players played some great shots, but Wu Yize just pulled off great shot after great shot - ironically, both players stumbled on a few 'easy' pots, but Wu took some massive risks - but his potting was so good, and under the highest possible pressure in the sport, that the risks paid off - that yellow with the rest, and the red into the middle pocket in the final frame, were both pivotal moments.

Murphy's last frame win - to come back from 70-0 to steal the frame, was an absolutely amazing break - but alas it just wasn't quite enough. But he can hold his head high, and the match will be remembered as one of the highest quality finals in Crucible history.
 

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