Are you snooker loopy?

It's been another one of those odd world championship tournaments; most big names are out (O'Sullivan, Robertson, Trump, Higgins ...) and the upcoming semi finals feature two huge underdogs; 'angles' McManus (age 45) and Marco Fu, up against respectively my favourite to lift the world cup Ding Junhui and his biggest threat Mark Selby.

I only caught the later quarter finals; hearing Willie Thorne call yesterdays match between Barry Hawkins and Marco Fu the best snooker game he's seen his entire life left me perplexed (and worrisome for his mental health). It was average snooker with small 30 breaks at best and Hawkings' performance was a letdown overall. Much more interesting was the Higgins vs McManus match with some excellent tactical frames and a deserved win for the oldest player to go through to the semi-final since 1985.

I'm rooting for Ding, who is it going to be Timmer?

Guilty

But I did leave him the opportunity to start his own dedicated curling thread.

All I remember is the professional player with his upside down glasses when I accidentally saw a snooker match on TV, and that he was quite good at it. That's pretty much it concerning my knowledge of the sport.

You'd be shocked that I actually watch the championship when I can (though I'm not sure I will tune in today, as I have stuff to do and maybe a concert later. I'll surely also lose a bit of the final as well, as I'm going to the Hans Zimmer concert on Sunday).

What can I say?

Some dismal performances. Judd Trump wasn't up to his potential and I don't really understand why did he continue playing when Ding gave up a frame. Ali Carter was "another ballgame" with my favourite being him making the cue jump totally over the black ball he was supposed to pot. Yeah, that was downright hilarious.

I kinda feel sorry for Ronnie O'Sullivan, while I think Barry Hawkins deserved the win. That moment when the cue and the red went into the hole AT THE SAME TIME was also one of the "highlights" for me. I don't think I'll understand what Higgins pulled off last night for a long time (he had a won match, but he lost more due to his bad performance than Alan MacManus' own form).

I know the players (I know about Ali Carter) are very negative about the tables, but I don't think that is only the case. Some, putting it very mildly, simply don't seem to be on top form.

Oh, and I have to check Trump's tweet AFTER losing to Ding. He's been quite condescending.

I'd have felt far more sorry for Hawkins if he'd lost after O'Sullivan's sublime and epic fight back, Hawkins hadn't beaten O'Sullivan for 14 years ( 14 YEARS!!! Does it get much more disheartening than that ). Amongst the balls Ronnie was as good as ever, it was his lack of practice in 'scrappy' matches that proved his undoing.

I didn't watch it ( at least the final 7-8 frames ). Francis?

Never trusted John Higgins since that incident. I'd nickname him John 'The Highwayman' Higgins and his entrance music would be Adam and The Ants 'Stand and Deliver'.

What is the meaning of one of the players "needing Snooker"? What does "Snooker" mean in that context, apart from being the name of the game? I never got that part of the rules.

You get a snooker or snooker someone by leaving the white cue ball in behind a colour ball preventing your opponent from from hitting the object ball directly. He then has to 'escape' from that snooker situation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6nY_UIip4w

You are trying to force an error, resulting in foul points awarded (minimal 4 points, more when you accidentally hit blue 5 pink 6 or black 7 or get a 'free' ball). So even if your opponent crossed the winning line and scored more points than are left on the table, in theory you can play on for snookers.

Of course when the balls are badly situated and it’s highly unlikely that you can still come back, most players will just concede instead of try for snookers. They know that while in theory it is possible to still win, the chance of actually getting a snooker and having your opponent foul as a result is slim. Which is why few players will continue when more than 3 snookers are needed, the general practise is 1 or 2.

Sometimes they may set up a snooker hoping that the opponent will pick a shot that will put the cue ball in a desirable place, too.

Just imagine Baseball if it was extremely exciting Tom, that's Snooker.

76 minutes

I saw the entire frame on eurosport, they were broadcasting live. I saw that the BBC was 15 minutes behind or so and when the frame looked over, I switched over to check out the commentary from Thorne and Virgo.

Lots of scrappy play these last two days and you can tell the duration of the tournament has taken its toll on the energy and mental state of the players, many of which have been there from the qualifiers' stage.

I can see this going to a deciding frame tonight.

How did Marco Fu not feel that nudge on the red with his finger? He must have missed it because, with all the cameras, he couldn't have thought he would get away with trying not to admit the foul.

No decider but still an epic last tactical frame. I hope Ding gets it, not a fan of Selby but perhaps for the better that's he's through as he'll put up a good fight.