Crucible 2023

He does but if you can't pot anything when you come to the table it's easy to get drawn into the Selby game. It's what's happened to Allen over these 4 sessions and now he looks broken. Selby is horrific viewing but he is excellent at heat he does.

 

I also actually like frames being a scrap from the last few reds and the colours onwards, especially if a snooker or two is needed.
I prefer that a lot more than seeing one player dominate a frame with a massive break.

 

My biggest issue with Selby is the procrastinating over shots. Fairly often it's obvious to me what shot he's going to play then he spends a couple of minutes "thinking". Again I don't think he necessarily does it as a form of gamesmanship but it la very painful watching. Then the nature of how Sleby plays pulls the other player into it and we get matches like this semi final, which has been awful.

 

When O’Sullivan beat him in a semi final the other year, he did so by playing the last few frames with very unorthodox shots.
Those shots clearly rattled Selby.
At the time commentators said he was lucky how the shots came off.
Ronnie later admitted he was behind and realised he was not gonna beat Selley playing that way.

 

I remember that. Selby was proper rattled in his interview afterwards, called him disrespectful

 

He is good at what he does, and he obviously knows its effective, and horrible to watch and horrible to play against.
Mark Allen is normally up for scrapping, and I thought at 6-3 he was getting the job done. However, I wonder if he wishes he'd played his own way a lot more.
The commentators said the other day that Selby took over 7 minutes in a recent tournament, to 'think' about his next shot.

 

Yes i remember, at one point Ronnie was escaping snookers with hit and hope approach. It's probably the way to go with him (maybe not as extreme)

 

Mark Allen is certainly scrapping at the minute. He's not doing much wrong and Selby hasn't been able to capitalise when he has. Allen's potting under pressure has been phenomenal in this last couple of hours.

 

Wow, this is captivating viewing!.
Its just reached midnight, and Allen has just pulled it back to 16-14.

 

Selby for the title.

 

Well done Mark Selby, now I can go to bed!

 

Surely not with Mark Selby.
I will also say well done to the Beeb for their coverage, which is always ace, especially for these World championships.

 

That's if you can stand the insufferable Murphy on commentary and John 'Mr Banality' Virgo. Steve Davis generally looks bored in the studio (or the Millenium Gardens) and then there is the cliche factory that is Hazel. The best of them is Stephen Hendry, whose comments are incisive, and who doesn't feel the need to fill every moment of silence with something meaningless. I often find myself switching to Eurosport where you can enjoy the boyish enthusiasm of Joe Johnson or the dry humour of Neal Foulds. Anyway, many thanks to Mark Selby. I went to bed at 9.30 pm and got straight off!

 

I don't take to Neal Foulds.He always seems overly critical somehow I think because I've grown up with John Virgo I enjoy his commentary. I also don't find Steve Davis boring, he has a lot of enthusiasm for good snooker and explains things well. Stephen Hendry makes me laugh with how exasperated he used to get with the likes of Judd and Liwoski!

 

Have you heard Alan 'Angles' McManus commenting on Lisowski Helen? I don't know what's going on there but it's kind of weird!

 

No, tell me more.

 

A touch obsessive is all I'll say!

 

OK.

 

Tickets bought for next year!

 

Had a look but seems to have gone stupidly expensive to when I last went (2018)