Snooker
- Thread starter The Uncouth
- Start date
Delboy99
Sire
..... still cannot rule Ronnie out, it all depends on how he feels on the day. If he is up for it he is more than capable of disposing of both of these together hair and all. If his brain is still at home then much more of a different story, he always plays the way he feels these days and lost a lot of his hunger as he grew older and richer. More often than not it is just a pass time and gives him some added income to run his new shop. Potting balls often just becomes an academic exercise. 
I believe ronnie is in decline, others are no longer intimidated by him and while he is still capable of winning the form book doesn't lie...... still cannot rule Ronnie out, it all depends on how he feels on the day. If he is up for it he is more than capable of disposing of both of these together hair and all. If his brain is still at home then much more of a different story, he always plays the way he feels these days and lost a lot of his hunger as he grew older and richer. More often than not it is just a pass time and gives him some added income to run his new shop. Potting balls often just becomes an academic exercise.
Delboy99
Sire
..... don't believe it is decline which makes the rest of them intiminated. I really think deep down that it is down to his frame of mind at the time of each tournament. He is so temperamental they know full well whether he is going to perform well or just mess about on the day. Ronnie is a true genius, probably the best that there has ever been around a table. But sadly it is purely down to whether he wants to perform like his younger days when he still had the hunger and the desire to win, the will to win big money is no longer an issue. Sadly that is why I think a lot of his followers see his play as a lot more inconsistent. He has an internal battle with himself.
The Hare
Mare
Robertson is playing well but often does at the beginning and maybe peaks too early. Thisyear he has the advantage of missing a large part of the middle of the season.
O'Sullivan has played a lot this year and I don't think his sometimes Kamikaze approach will win as he has had a busy season for him.
Trump has been below form the last 2 months but perhaps this will help him regain focus and he is obviously the best at the moment.
Selby has improved his game and can grind anyone down with his excellent safety play and concentration. Problem for him is Mark Allen who has had a quiet season and maybe he will be rejuvenated by his pal winning the Welsh Open. Must be fresh as not played many games.
Shaun Murphy has had a quiet year and maybe it is time for him to return to form. On similar grounds Bingham played very well at the Qualifiers and will be tough for Ronnie if he beats Ding.
Then Bingtao is remarkably resilient and no push over at all.
I would be looking at a bigger price, players with a quiet season, Bingham, Murphy or Allen perhaps.
O'Sullivan has played a lot this year and I don't think his sometimes Kamikaze approach will win as he has had a busy season for him.
Trump has been below form the last 2 months but perhaps this will help him regain focus and he is obviously the best at the moment.
Selby has improved his game and can grind anyone down with his excellent safety play and concentration. Problem for him is Mark Allen who has had a quiet season and maybe he will be rejuvenated by his pal winning the Welsh Open. Must be fresh as not played many games.
Shaun Murphy has had a quiet year and maybe it is time for him to return to form. On similar grounds Bingham played very well at the Qualifiers and will be tough for Ronnie if he beats Ding.
Then Bingtao is remarkably resilient and no push over at all.
I would be looking at a bigger price, players with a quiet season, Bingham, Murphy or Allen perhaps.
Delboy99
Sire
..... personally if I were having a bet here, I would look no further than those in the top six:-
1 Trump - 2 O'Sullivan - 3 Robertson - 4 Selby - 5 Higgins - 6 Kyren Wilson.
Murphy is currently 7th, Allen 13th, while Bingham has slipped down to 18th and I feel that none of these have been displaying signs of any revival. Just my feeling though and could be a thousand miles away.
Delboy99
Sire
World Snooker Championship: Ding Junhui leads Stuart Bingham
By Owen PhillipsBBC Sport at the Crucible Theatre, SheffieldLast updated on
4 hours ago4 hours ago.From the section Snooker
| Betfred World Snooker Championship |
|---|
| Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 17 April-3 May |
| Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four and Red Button, with uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app. |
A high-quality game saw Bingham score two centuries to build a 3-1 lead.
Ding, the 2016 runner-up, hit breaks of 105, 86 and 88 to level at 4-4 and took the ninth when the black rattled from one corner pocket to the other side.
Sixth seed Kyren Wilson trailed Gary Wilson 5-1 but fought back to 5-4.
Qualifier Gary Wilson made the most of some uncharacteristic errors by his opponent as four scores of more than 50 helped him win five consecutive frames after losing the opener.
But a break of 82 settled the 2020 runner-up and back-to-back centuries ensured he cut the gap to just one.
Kettering's Kyren Wilson, 29, was second best against the 2019 semi-finalist for much of the session, but rallied superbly and finished with a magnificent clearance of 139, the highest break at the Crucible so far this year. Could this be another Bingham exit?
The Hare
Mare
The seeds doing very well so far, only moody Maguire beaten in a game of shocking standard compared to the rest. Some impressive performances though, O'Sullivan will have a tough game against McGill in the next round. Higgins and Jamie Jones the worst winning performances so farso they will need to show much better in the next round.
Will put up some new prices for games ahead tomorrow.
Will put up some new prices for games ahead tomorrow.
Delboy99
Sire
..... I watched some of the Ding v Bingham game earlier on, and it is proving to be a tough contest with them locked on at 9-9 and to finish later the deciding frame. Earlier Lisowski managed to beat Carter on the final frame while Mark Allen leads 7-2., and Trump is up by the same margin.So looks like a few tough matches in the opening rounds but not a lot of shocks as yet.
Delboy99
Sire
Judd Trump yet to be impressed by World Snooker Championship rivals.
Judd Trump has not seen a standout performance in the World Snooker Championship so far after comfortably booking his spot in the last 16 on Wednesday afternoon. The world number one picked up a 10-4 victory over Liam Highfield without really needing to hit top gear, but was dominant regardless. There have also been big wins for other tournament favourites, with Ronnie O’Sullivan and Neil Robertson also scoring clear victories as the Rocket downed Mark Joyce 10-4 and the Aussie thrashed Liang Wenbo 10-3. Jamie Jones, Anthony McGill, Mark Allen and Dave Gilbert have all also picked up impressive wins, but Trump has not been stirred by anything he has seen yet in Sheffield.
Asked if he has noted a standout performance yet, Judd said: ‘Not really, no. ‘I’ve watched a fair bit, especially when you’re up here there’s not much else to do so I’ve watched a fair bit the last few days. ‘For me, no one has really stood out so far, I don’t think. Everyone’s just going to gradually get there.
‘There’s been a lot more one-sided games than I expected and it was the same in qualifying so I’m not quite sure why that is. ‘Maybe the standard has been so close over the last couple of years, the real top players may have pulled away slightly again, but there’s always a shock or two here and there and if it hasn’t been so far, it’s still to come then. ‘It’s always exciting the World Championship, it always surprises you.’ Trump has happy enough with his own performance, which saw him make one century and eight breaks of 50+, but he was more pleased that he was sticking to his pre-match plan of enjoying himself. He took some days off before the trip to Sheffield to rediscover a passion to practice and is adamant that he will play with the freedom he does in the practice room when on the match table. ‘A lot of days off is still just two or three for me, so probably not many to other people,’ said Trump after beating Highfield. ‘It was just to get a bit of excitement back going into practice, the season had become a bit of a drag. It was kind of two seasons in a row, with no time off.
‘With how I’ve been playing and how I’ve been doing it just got a bit too much practicing every single day. ‘I just went away and tried to get that enjoyment factor back like when you were a kid, hitting some balls around and just playing with freedom in this tournament. ‘I played decent, I’m just happy with the freedom I played with. I didn’t feel under pressure or anything like that I just tried to go out and enjoy myself, if Liam played better than my then so be it. ‘A lot of top players can worry about that first round and what’s to come but I just tried to switch it on its head and enjoy myself as it I was the underdog and played as if I was in practice, having a knock down the club.’ Trump plays Dave Gilbert in the last 16 over three sessions on Sunday and Monday. MORE : Judd Trump strolls past Liam Highfield in World Snooker Championship first round MORE : Judd Trump: It’s easier for me to say nothing but I want to see snooker thriving.
Judd Trump has not seen a standout performance in the World Snooker Championship so far after comfortably booking his spot in the last 16 on Wednesday afternoon. The world number one picked up a 10-4 victory over Liam Highfield without really needing to hit top gear, but was dominant regardless. There have also been big wins for other tournament favourites, with Ronnie O’Sullivan and Neil Robertson also scoring clear victories as the Rocket downed Mark Joyce 10-4 and the Aussie thrashed Liang Wenbo 10-3. Jamie Jones, Anthony McGill, Mark Allen and Dave Gilbert have all also picked up impressive wins, but Trump has not been stirred by anything he has seen yet in Sheffield.
Asked if he has noted a standout performance yet, Judd said: ‘Not really, no. ‘I’ve watched a fair bit, especially when you’re up here there’s not much else to do so I’ve watched a fair bit the last few days. ‘For me, no one has really stood out so far, I don’t think. Everyone’s just going to gradually get there.
‘There’s been a lot more one-sided games than I expected and it was the same in qualifying so I’m not quite sure why that is. ‘Maybe the standard has been so close over the last couple of years, the real top players may have pulled away slightly again, but there’s always a shock or two here and there and if it hasn’t been so far, it’s still to come then. ‘It’s always exciting the World Championship, it always surprises you.’ Trump has happy enough with his own performance, which saw him make one century and eight breaks of 50+, but he was more pleased that he was sticking to his pre-match plan of enjoying himself. He took some days off before the trip to Sheffield to rediscover a passion to practice and is adamant that he will play with the freedom he does in the practice room when on the match table. ‘A lot of days off is still just two or three for me, so probably not many to other people,’ said Trump after beating Highfield. ‘It was just to get a bit of excitement back going into practice, the season had become a bit of a drag. It was kind of two seasons in a row, with no time off.
‘With how I’ve been playing and how I’ve been doing it just got a bit too much practicing every single day. ‘I just went away and tried to get that enjoyment factor back like when you were a kid, hitting some balls around and just playing with freedom in this tournament. ‘I played decent, I’m just happy with the freedom I played with. I didn’t feel under pressure or anything like that I just tried to go out and enjoy myself, if Liam played better than my then so be it. ‘A lot of top players can worry about that first round and what’s to come but I just tried to switch it on its head and enjoy myself as it I was the underdog and played as if I was in practice, having a knock down the club.’ Trump plays Dave Gilbert in the last 16 over three sessions on Sunday and Monday. MORE : Judd Trump strolls past Liam Highfield in World Snooker Championship first round MORE : Judd Trump: It’s easier for me to say nothing but I want to see snooker thriving.
The Hare
Mare
The Top 16 continue to outclass the Qualifiers. Only 2 qualifiers so far though Shaun Murphy continued in dreadful form as his Covid hit season continues so there may be 3 qualifiers in the last 16. Some impressive displays from Selby and Williams today. These are my predictions for the 2nd Round starting tomorrow.
Also the current rating position I have for players left in:
I am tempted by McGill against O'Sullivan at a big price.
| MY ODDS A | MY ODDS B | BOOKIES A | BOOKIES B | ||
| Ronnie O'Sullivan | Anthony McGill | 1.31 | 4.27 | 1.22 | 5.00 |
| Stuart Bingham | Jamie Jones | 1.46 | 3.17 | 1.40 | 3.30 |
| John Higgins | Mark Williams | 1.46 | 3.18 | ||
| Mark Allen | #N/A | #N/A | |||
| Neil Robertson | Jack Lisowski | 1.17 | 6.73 | 1.22 | 4.55 |
| Barry Hawkins | Kyren Wilson | 1.68 | 2.48 | ||
| Yan Bingtao | #N/A | #N/A | |||
| David Gilbert | Judd Trump | 9.62 | 1.12 | 6.00 | 1.17 |
Also the current rating position I have for players left in:
1 |
| |
2 |
| |
3 | Neil Robertson | |
4 |
| |
5 | Mark Williams | |
6 | Barry Hawkins | |
7 | Mark Selby | |
9 |
| |
10 |
| |
11 | Yan Bingtao | |
12 | Kyren Wilson | |
14 |
| |
16 | David Gilbert | |
17 | Anthony McGill | |
20 | Jamie Jones | |
26 | Jack Lisowski | |
40 | Kurt Maflin | |
52 |
|
I am tempted by McGill against O'Sullivan at a big price.
Delboy99
Sire
.... just depends on how Ronnie turns out. If he is up for it, I fancy him every time on merit to conduct his stroke of genius. However it all depends on the day and the right frame of mind. McGill is not always top notch either.
Delboy99
Sire
Hearn has been great for snooker, admits Allen.
Mark Allen admits he has not always seen eye to eye with Barry Hearn but that hasn't stopped him hailing the 'phenomenal job' done by the outgoing World Snooker Tour chairman.Hearn (72) announced this week that he would be retiring after an 11-year spell at the helm Allen feels has 'transformed' the "I've always said he (Hearn) could sell snow to the Eskimos," Allen said following his 10-2 first-round victory over Lyu Haotian at the Crucible. "The difference in the number of tournaments in the calendar and the prize money is 100% down to him. Ten years ago, six or seven tournaments a year was the norm - now we feel like proper snooker players.
"He's always the most generous donator to charity events as well, and no one sees that."
Antrim ace Allen returns to the table on Saturday for a second-round clash likely to be against three-time world champion Mark Selby.
"Mark's record speaks for itself and he tests every facet of your game," Allen said.
"But I enjoy the challenge that brings and I've got a good record against him. It's nice to win a match comfortably here - I'll take it easy for a few days and let the other guys sweat it out."
Tournament favourite Judd Trump completed his routine passage into the last-16 yesterday by overcoming Liam Highfield 10-4.
The World No.1 led 7-2 following a dominant first session and though Highfield made the highest break of the contest, an excellent 138, Trump eased through to set up a clash with David Gilbert.
Mark Williams will meet John Higgins in the last-16 after powering past Crucible debutant Sam Craigie 10-4, while four-time semi-finalist Barry Hawkins saw off Matthew Selt 10-3.
The Hare
Mare
2nd Round Completed
Final odds prediction after First Round complete. Odds are before start of match - O'Sullivan obviously 4-4 already.
Interesting I have Hawkins favouritem as I said at the beginning of first round too good to be true usually lose. Only 2 qualifiers, playing each other. Suppose the long rest for the seeds without the usual travel to China is a big help.
On First Round displays Williams would beat Higgins and Bingham beat Jones. I can't imagine Higgins being that bad now though!
| MY ODDS A | MY ODDS B | BOOKIE A | BOOKIE B | |||
| Ronnie O'Sullivan |
| 1.31 | 4.27 | 1.22 | 5.00 | |
| Stuart Bingham | Jamie Jones | 1.46 | 3.17 | 1.40 | 3.30 | |
| John Higgins | Mark Williams | 1.46 | 3.18 | 1.57 | 2.50 | |
| Mark Allen | Mark Selby | 2.20 | 1.83 | 2.75 | 1.53 | |
| Neil Robertson |
| 1.17 | 6.74 | 1.22 | 4.55 | |
| Barry Hawkins |
| 1.68 | 2.48 | 2.20 | 1.73 | |
| Shaun Murphy | Yan Bingtao | 2.38 | 1.73 | 2.00 | 1.91 | |
| David Gilbert | Judd Trump | 9.64 | 1.12 | 6.00 | 1.17 |
Final odds prediction after First Round complete. Odds are before start of match - O'Sullivan obviously 4-4 already.
Interesting I have Hawkins favouritem as I said at the beginning of first round too good to be true usually lose. Only 2 qualifiers, playing each other. Suppose the long rest for the seeds without the usual travel to China is a big help.
On First Round displays Williams would beat Higgins and Bingham beat Jones. I can't imagine Higgins being that bad now though!
The Hare
Mare
@
Delboy99
Yes Hawkins is as high as he ever gets on my ratings - 6th. The problem with Hawkins is that he is a very good player and reliable until it gets to clinching that final frame, so he quite often will lose just by the odd frame which boosts his rating. For instance the semi Final loss to Ronnie in the Tour and the German loss to Trump he was unable to clinch the deal. See results below for this year. My ratings are based on frame scores and a method similarr to the ELO Chess ratings, I think you have a thread on the football comparing them with another method. My formula uses the actual frame score so that results of games with more frames have a higher weighting. Also unlike traditional ELO ratings the computer re calculates all results and ratings with the new data so should be an improvement! Wilson is interesting as the best he has ever made is I believe 5th. So even though I say when something looks Too Good To Be True it often is - in this case Wilson is much too short - at best 5th v 6th would make him a slight favourite not an 8/11 shot. Certainly likely to be a very close game.
Delboy99Yes Hawkins is as high as he ever gets on my ratings - 6th. The problem with Hawkins is that he is a very good player and reliable until it gets to clinching that final frame, so he quite often will lose just by the odd frame which boosts his rating. For instance the semi Final loss to Ronnie in the Tour and the German loss to Trump he was unable to clinch the deal. See results below for this year. My ratings are based on frame scores and a method similarr to the ELO Chess ratings, I think you have a thread on the football comparing them with another method. My formula uses the actual frame score so that results of games with more frames have a higher weighting. Also unlike traditional ELO ratings the computer re calculates all results and ratings with the new data so should be an improvement! Wilson is interesting as the best he has ever made is I believe 5th. So even though I say when something looks Too Good To Be True it often is - in this case Wilson is much too short - at best 5th v 6th would make him a slight favourite not an 8/11 shot. Certainly likely to be a very close game.
| Barry Hawkins | 10 | 3 | Matthew Selt | 21/04/2021 | World - Sheffield | R32 |
| Barry Hawkins | 9 | 10 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | 27/03/2021 | Tour Champs - Newport | SF |
| Barry Hawkins | 10 | 7 | Judd Trump | 25/03/2021 | Tour Champs - Newport | QF |
| Barry Hawkins | 2 | 1 | Joe Perry | 19/03/2021 | WST Pro Group 3 - Milton Keynes | RR2 |
| Barry Hawkins | 2 | 1 | Fergal O'Brien | 19/03/2021 | WST Pro Group 3 - Milton Keynes | RR2 |
| Barry Hawkins | 2 | 1 | Sam Craigie | 19/03/2021 | WST Pro Group 3 - Milton Keynes | RR2 |
| Barry Hawkins | 2 | 1 | Mark Davis | 19/03/2021 | WST Pro Group 3 - Milton Keynes | RR2 |
| Barry Hawkins | 2 | 0 | Luca Brecel | 19/03/2021 | WST Pro Group 3 - Milton Keynes | RR2 |
| Barry Hawkins | 0 | 2 | Luo Honghao | 19/03/2021 | WST Pro Group 3 - Milton Keynes | RR2 |
| Barry Hawkins | 1 | 2 | Jack Lisowski | 19/03/2021 | WST Pro Group 3 - Milton Keynes | RR2 |
| Barry Hawkins | 2 | 1 | Ricky Walden | 12/03/2021 | WST Pro Group D - Milton Keynes | RR |
| Barry Hawkins | 2 | 1 | Alexander Ursenbacher | 12/03/2021 | WST Pro Group D - Milton Keynes | RR |
| Barry Hawkins | 2 | 1 | Gerard Greene | 12/03/2021 | WST Pro Group D - Milton Keynes | RR |
| Barry Hawkins | 2 | 0 | Duane Jones | 12/03/2021 | WST Pro Group D - Milton Keynes | RR |
| Barry Hawkins | 2 | 0 | Farakh Ajaib | 12/03/2021 | WST Pro Group D - Milton Keynes | RR |
| Barry Hawkins | 2 | 0 | Paul S Davison | 12/03/2021 | WST Pro Group D - Milton Keynes | RR |
| Barry Hawkins | 0 | 2 | Jimmy Robertson | 12/03/2021 | WST Pro Group D - Milton Keynes | RR |
| Barry Hawkins | 3 | 4 | Matthew Selt | 04/03/2021 | Gibraltar - Milton Keynes | R64 |
| Barry Hawkins | 4 | 2 | Luo Honghao | 02/03/2021 | Gibraltar - Milton Keynes | R128 |
| Barry Hawkins | 4 | 6 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | 26/02/2021 | Players - Milton Keynes | SF |
| Barry Hawkins | 6 | 2 | Stuart Bingham | 24/02/2021 | Players - Milton Keynes | QF |
| Barry Hawkins | 6 | 5 | Zhou Yuelong | 23/02/2021 | Players - Milton Keynes | R16 |
| Barry Hawkins | 4 | 3 | Anthony McGill | 18/02/2021 | Welsh - Newport | R32 |
| Barry Hawkins | 3 | 4 | Shaun Murphy | 18/02/2021 | Welsh - Newport | R16 |
| Barry Hawkins | 4 | 0 | Simon Lichtenberg | 17/02/2021 | Welsh - Newport | R64 |
| Barry Hawkins | 4 | 1 | Chris Wakelin | 15/02/2021 | Welsh - Newport | R128 |
| Barry Hawkins | 3 | 1 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | 11/02/2021 | Champions League 5 - Milton Keynes | LGE |
| Barry Hawkins | 3 | 2 | Mark Selby | 11/02/2021 | Champions League 5 - Milton Keynes | LGE |
| Barry Hawkins | 1 | 3 | Kyren Wilson | 11/02/2021 | Champions League 5 - Milton Keynes | LGE |
| Barry Hawkins | 1 | 3 | Joe Perry | 10/02/2021 | Champions League 5 - Milton Keynes | LGE |
| Barry Hawkins | 1 | 3 | Mark Williams | 10/02/2021 | Champions League 5 - Milton Keynes | LGE |
| Barry Hawkins | 1 | 3 | Allister Carter | 10/02/2021 | Champions League 5 - Milton Keynes | LGE |
| Barry Hawkins | 3 | 1 | Mark Williams | 09/02/2021 | Champions League 4 - Milton Keynes | LGE |
| Barry Hawkins | 0 | 3 | Judd Trump | 09/02/2021 | Champions League 4 - Milton Keynes | LGE |
| Barry Hawkins | 1 | 3 | Jack Lisowski | 09/02/2021 | Champions League 4 - Milton Keynes | LGE |
| Barry Hawkins | 3 | 2 | Tom Ford | 08/02/2021 | Champions League 4 - Milton Keynes | LGE |
| Barry Hawkins | 3 | 0 | Mark Selby | 08/02/2021 | Champions League 4 - Milton Keynes | LGE |
| Barry Hawkins | 1 | 3 | Kyren Wilson | 08/02/2021 | Champions League 4 - Milton Keynes | LGE |
| Barry Hawkins | 0 | 1 | Zhou Yuelong | 06/02/2021 | Shoot Out - Milton Keynes | R64 |
| Barry Hawkins | 1 | 0 | Gary Wilson | 05/02/2021 | Shoot Out - Milton Keynes | R128 |
| Barry Hawkins | 5 | 6 | Judd Trump | 30/01/2021 | German - Milton Keynes | SF |
| Barry Hawkins | 5 | 1 | Jordan Brown | 29/01/2021 | German - Milton Keynes | QF |
| Barry Hawkins | 5 | 2 | Jak Jones | 28/01/2021 | German - Milton Keynes | R16 |
| Barry Hawkins | 5 | 4 | Ryan Day | 27/01/2021 | German - Milton Keynes | R32 |
Delboy99
Sire
Snooker Results
Filter by section. Currently selected: World ChampionshipWednesday 21st April 2021
Round of 32
- Shaun Murphy 10 Mark Davis 7
- Mark Williams 10 Sam Craigie 4
- Mark Selby 10 Kurt Maflin 1
Tuesday 20th April 2021
Round of 32
- Mark Allen 10 Haotian Lu 2
- Judd Trump 10 Liam Highfield 4
- Barry Hawkins 10 Matthew Selt 3
Delboy99
Sire
.... I watched a lot of the last session between Ronnie and Anthony McGill last night. Thought Ronnie was on the verge of pulling off a great come back victory. Played steady and went into a 12-11 lead. McGill came back to level and it was down to the last frame decider. I can really say that Ronnie lost this on the wrong choice of shot selection with one horrendous shot which let McGill in and it was all over for Ronnie from that point on when McGill cleared the table to end Ronnie's challenge for this year. I feel wrong decisions or trying flair shots at the wrong time is costing him dearly and he has only himself to blame for a rush of blood. he is going to have to give himself a good talking to if he wants to get any further titles.
Delboy99
Sire
World Snooker Championship: Jack Lisowski on track to be 'top player' after great season
Last updated on1 hour ago1 hour ago.From the section Snooker
| Betfred World Snooker Championship |
|---|
| Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 17 April-3 May |
| Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four and Red Button, with uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app. |
The Bristol cueman, 29, is still chasing a first ranking-event title, but has reached six finals in total, three of which came this season.
He said: "The standard Neil is playing is as good as anyone has ever played.
"To not be far off that is a good sign for me and my game. I am so close."
Lisowski's three ranking-final defeats this season all came against his close friend, the world number one, Judd Trump.
And previous final heartaches were at the hands of former Crucible champions Robertson - twice - and Mark Selby.
"I am so close. I am knocking on the door," Lisowski added. "It has been a great season and a great year for me.
"Neil played amazing stuff all match. He played so well and pretty much points and shoots. He is so accurate in his potting and with his cue ball. He was so consistent.
"I played a top, top player. Hopefully I have shown I can be a top player too.
"It was a just a few frames that didn't go my way. He got two flukes and cleared up to win those frames so I didn't have a lot of luck, but I still stayed in the game and was holding my own.
"I am playing one of the best players in the world in a long format and my game pushed him."
The Hare
Mare
Great stuff Delboy. McGill played very well against Ronnie but as you say O'Sullivan (and Williams) are going for too many hard shots. Higgins wasn't playing well enough to defeat Williams though to be fair Williams didn't miss many.
On looks I would say nearly all the last 8 are playing at the top of their game now, maybe Trump and Wilson the only ones yet to show their very best. That is not necessarily bad as the next week is a long slog for all and as Trump has shown many times this year it is the end of the tournament you need to be at your best not the beginning.
Should be close and competitive from now on in.
On looks I would say nearly all the last 8 are playing at the top of their game now, maybe Trump and Wilson the only ones yet to show their very best. That is not necessarily bad as the next week is a long slog for all and as Trump has shown many times this year it is the end of the tournament you need to be at your best not the beginning.
Should be close and competitive from now on in.