30.4.08

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

I don’t know about you but my nerves are shredded by this extraordinary 888.com World Championship.

Last night saw more drama as Peter Ebdon failed on the 15th black on a 147 only for Ali Carter to knock in a maximum in the very next frame.

This came a day after Ronnie O’Sullivan’s 147, earning Carter a share of the £157,000 prize – although you couldn’t rule out another max before this remarkable Crucible event is over.

Carter is training to be an airline pilot and the ‘Captain’ charted a course to snooker history in fine style, not least in potting the last black, which would have been a pressure ball to win a frame, let alone make a 147.

It was the first time there have been two maximums in the TV stages of a major event.

After all the complaints about below par conditions, nobody can say they are anything but perfect now.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very happy Hendry is in the semi's.

Do you know where he will start in the provisional rankings next season should he lose tomorrow?

Anonymous said...

well not tomorrow, the match I meant :)

Anonymous said...

Hendry should finish the season at least 6th in the rankings. O'Sullivan now guaranteed No 1 spot thanks to Maguire's capitulation last night.
Hendry must be delighted with how things have panned out. All his opponents so far haven't turned up, with the exception of Allen who started well but imploded, yet people are still saying he's back to his best. He's playing better than he has for some time, but O'Sullivan will bring him back down to earth.
I have to say I'm a bit underwhelmed by the Semis now. I was expecting the likes of Ding, Maguire, Selby, Murphy, possibly either Allen or Cope come to the fore but none of them turned up. It's good to see Carter doing so well, but otherwise it's disappointing that we still have to rely on O'Sullivan and Hendry at this stage in 2008, even though both are undoubtedly great players and deserve to be in at this stage of the tournament. It doesn't bode well that the newer generation went off the boil big time.

Sam T

Anonymous said...

I should also add that even if Hendry wins the tournament, he'll remain 6th when the rankings are published.
Equally I should also add that I have nothing against the old guard so to speak, it's just frustrating that the new generation haven't done as well as they should have in this tournament. Both Hendry and O'Sullivan could have been vulnerable if put under pressure.

Sam T

Cue Talk said...

Absoulutely fantastic maximum by Carter. Would have liked to have seen him go on and win the entire competition.

Cue Talk UK Snooker Forum