I thought Ronnie O'Sullivan went a bit flat towards the end of his match against Joe Perry at the Northern Ireland Trophy in Belfast last night but he still did enough to make it through and, in these early rounds, that is all that counts.I've been impressed with Ronnie's discipline, particularly in his opening round match with Ken Doherty.
He said last night that only John Higgins is capable of beating him when he's playing at his best.
I would agree with this assessment and an O'Sullivan-Higgins final would be a great way to start the new season.
But I would be interested to see what happens if Ronnie faces Mark Allen in the semi-finals.
One thing I've noticed about O'Sullivan is that he really doesn't like it when the crowd are against him.
This happens rarely but would be the case against Allen. Therefore, he is no certainty to reach the final.
That said, the world champion is looking good and more than capable of moving up a couple of gears to capture the first ranking title of the campaign.
11 comments:
It is not a certainty he would have the crowd againt him. On 606 a poster stated that he was at the ROS-Doherty match and that with the exception of a few "snooligans" who had been boozing people had been fair and appreciative of what they got to watch. ROS himself said in his post-match the atmosphere was great ...
Having said that Ronnie is NEVER a certainty ...
OT: what do you make of Maguire's refusal to do his post-match press conference? Will he be in trouble?
I thought Maguire was wrong. Higgins v Liang was the more attractive match on paper. Also, players are contracted to do press conferences. They are mandatory. He will therefore be liable for disciplinary action.
What's all this about Maguire?
What happened?
Maguire was unhappy that he did not play on the main TV table, instead Higgins was given top billing.
It was little surprise that the world number two refused to do his post-match press conference following his brave comeback
Maguire got angry because he was not on television table. Being the defending champion he expected to be. And he refused to do his post-match press conference.
That's it.
It would seem (reading one or two websites) that Maguire was unhappy about being on an outside table as opposed to the TV table. Why he felt that or whether there was anything more than that though I'm not sure.
I would venture to suggest that had he played better against McManus he would have been happier, but even so he's in the last 8 of the first ranking event of the year, and with other top guys looking rusty at best that's not a bad start to season.
It's a shame that he can't just relax a little more - along with Higgins I think he's the only other player on the tour at present who can live with Ronnie when The Rocket brings his A game.
As for Ronnie, he does seem to be developing into Mr Consistent. Even accounting for docked points last year he was miles ahead on the one year list and in the rankings overall.
Bad news for the rest, and he could well buck the trend of players not being able to win the World Championship in their late thirties if he keeps this up.
Sam T
I should think that Stephen Maguire must be used to being rebuffed and ignored by now! I don't blame him for thinking that this time he would get a bit more respect as the defending champion, but, sadly, no. Same old story.
he got his wish of the tv table today and got dumped out by harold - ha
Well you reap what you sow - Maguire was put on the TV table today and lost to Dave Harold!
As well as Harold has played this week, you would have to conclude that Stephen is going to have to improve his temperament (and soon) to get anywhere near Ronnie's prediction a few years ago of 'dominating the game' - and although it was certainly not an unreasonable prediction at the time, I bet Maguire wishes that Ronnie had kept his mouth shut.
Sam T
O'Sullivan was VERY lucky to win yesterday evening.
Yes and no. When there is high pressure errors are common and there was high pressure. Look at recent examples: Tom Ford's blue last year in GP against ROS, Ronnie's blue in the Masters against Mags, the Swaim - Liang match in WC, this QF match between ROS and Hawkins (both missing badly in the decider) ... Thing is the better players trademark is they tend to take their chances more often than not under those circumstances...
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