What have been your favourite matches of 2009?
I can immediately think of three featuring John Higgins: his 13-12 victory over Mark Selby at the Crucible, 6-5 defeat to Neil Robertson in the Grand Prix semi-finals and 9-8 victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan at the same stage of the UK Championship.
O'Sullivan's 10-8 defeat of Selby in the Masters final was gripping viewing while Mark Allen's comeback against Higgins in the World Championship semi-finals was as compelling as it must have been nerve wracking for John.
I'd be interested to read the 2009 memories of snooker fans so please leave them below.
26 comments:
My best i thought was Higgins 13 Selby 12, that was until last week's Higgins v O'Sullivan semi final at the uk. A gripping encounter, Higgins coasting at 8-2, O'Sullivan's fight back, and i'm sure we will all not forget the huge debate surrounding Jan Verhaas.
my top 3 matches
1. O'Sullivan vs. Selby (Masters)
2. O'Sullivan vs. Higgins (UK)
3. Higgins vs. Robertson (Grand Prix)
As good as the O'Sullivan-Higgins match turned out to be (it made me want to scream at the TV like a madman) I put it down to 2nd place, because I'm a biased Ronnie fanboy and he lost, so... yeah.
Plus, the fact that it was only a semi-final. The O'Sullivan-Selby Masters final had a truly epic feel towards the end, especially when they went down to a battle over the colours in the 17th frame...
In my opinion, that match has been somewhat obscured and overlooked since then, just because we've had a lot of deciders. It was fantastic.
I guess we can only hope at this point that Ronnie won't ditch his defence of the Masters just to go on that stupid show... I hope that's just a rumour.
For me one special game has to have been Higgins 5-6 Robertson. That day I told a lot of my snooker hating friends to give that a go and watch on tv. They all loved it! Personally, and more bizzarely watching the incredibly stressfull live scoring on my favourite player Michael Holt v Dominic Dale during the worlds qualifiers was a nerve-jangling match. A great holt comeback and an incredible safety battle on the final black in what really was a turning point and trust me, watching that black ball game on live scoring almost killed me.
I live 110sport :D
Higgins v Robertson
Grand prix. Final black. Need I say more.
Hendry v Ding world championships
Hendry vMurphy world championships were both superb matches.
Also Robertson v Murphy in the world semifinals was right up there although the very highest quality have probably been the two robertson v higgins matches in the last two tournaments and selby v higgins at the world championships
Hi everybody!
My top 3 matches:
O'Sullivan-Selby (Masters 2009)
Higgins-Robertson (2009 Grand Prix)
O'Sullivan-Higgins (2009 UK)
For me 2009 was a great year because O'Sullivan lost alot of matches.
Loads of amazing matches this year, but my memory of the year is probably the Hendry maximum at The Crucible - one more flash of brilliance from him, and maybe there won't be many more.
Mark King v Rory McLeod at Sheffield. Magic stuff.
Allen 13- 11 against O'Sullivan at the Crucible.
Eight of us were lucky enough to go down that day to the Crucible, of which only one or two are true snooker fans. All agreed it was amongst the best atmospheres for a sporting occasion they had been witness to.
Allen has the potential to be a superstar of the sport, he overshadowed even O'Sullivan that day. For the good of the sport I hope he can improve on his poor start to the season in 2010, snooker needs him.
You nailed the top 4 Dave but I don't agree with Higgins v Allen. Some may have thought Allen was coming back but I never for one second thought Higgins wouldn't be able to step it up and win comfortably in the end.
Ding v Liang was a good Crucible match, as was Cope v Higgins and Allen v O'Sullivan. And Hendry v Murphy had its moments too.
My top matches:
1) Selby 12-13 Higgins
2) Higgins 9-8 O'Sullivan
3) O'Sullivan 10-8 Selby
4) Robertson 6-5 Higgins
Hi Dave,
It's interesting because in our blog we are selecting the best of 2009 ("snooscars 2009" - the oscars of snooker :D)
For us the best match was without doubt Higgins vs Selby (World Championship) - it's amazing because Selby played at his very best and still lost...
That 75 break in the decider from Higgins was also one of the highs of the year as well (we placed it in number 2 for the "break of the year", just behind Stephen Hendry's 147).
The second place should go to Robertson vs Higgins at the Grand Prix, where Robertson had the match of his life. Immaculate break building, great potting and lots of drama as well.
After those 2 the choice was really difficult...
However, after some thinking and re-watching the highlights we could finally decide.
3rd: Higgins vs Cope (World Championship). Another high quality match with great drama too.
4th: Maguire vs Robertson (Masters 2009) - this wasn't a very dramatic match but the overall quality was just as high as it could have been; the 5 consecutive centuries were quite amazing. Robertson played superbly but Maguire simply wasn't missing a shot.
Apart from the top 4 (it's always a subjective choice), some matches deserve to be mentioned as well: Hendry vs Ding (WSC), O'Sullivan vs Selby (Masters final), Hendry vs Murphy (WSC) and more...
I would love to see Lee vs Allen from the recent UK Championship. It's really a shame that it hasn't been televised...
Player of the year:
1. John Higgins
2. Neil Robertson
3. ?
4. ?
The possibilities for the 3rd and 4th place are: Ding Junhui, Shaun Murphy and Ronnie O'Sullivan...
Break of the year:
1. Stephen Hendry's 147 (WSC)
2. John Higgins' 75 (WSC - deciding frame against Selby)
3. John Higgins' 80 (WSC - deciding frame against Cope)
4. Ding Junhui's 76 (UK - deciding frame against Carter)
(...)
João E. Silva
www.thesnookerplanet.net
The ones you mentioned are the best but Maguire Robertson in the Masters was good, 5 centuries in a row between them.
All above are great choices, for me
the turnaround in the UK match Ali vs
Ding + the patient handling of the
final vs Higgins will be the best
memories.
Simply because the sport needs Ding
Junhui back on track, with the poten-
tial as a serious contender in Sheffield.
(that I got 25/1 for Ding to win the UK when being 2-5 down to M.Dunn has absolutely nothing to do
with my choice:-)*
Robertson, Allen and Wenbo, also gives hope for the future.
David;
Another good discussion to end the year with.
I would agree with David Caulfield that the Stephen Maguire v Neil Robertson match at the quarter finals of the Wembley Masters was a stand out match, so was the quarter final between the two Marks - messrs Selby and Allen.
As good as those matches were, I have to vote for the Neil Robertson v John Higgins semi-final at the recent Grand Prix. It had absolutely everything in the 11 frames. From Higgins going into the mid-session interval with a 100% pot success and still only 2-2, to coming back from 5-3 down and losing the decider on the black.
David, changing subjects I have just booked up my tickets for next months Welsh Open. By phoning the Newport Centre I saved £2.30 on each ticket - compared to booking it online with World Snookers Official Ticketing Agency SEE Tickets. They wanted to charge both for a booking fee (80p) and a transaction fee (£1.50).
I also submitted my application for next years World Championship this morning to the Crucible Box Office, again by booking through the venue I wasn't charged any additional fees.
Anyway, David, keep up the good work in 2010.
Ryan
I think the match of the year was Ronnie v Higgins, just ashame he didnt complete what would have been the greatest comeback of all time. Then you have Robertson v Higgins, and you refer to Higgins v Selby, but how about Higgins v Cope. For standard there was arguably no better match than Maguire v Robertson which contained five consecutive centuries. Ronnie v Selby was a fist pumping classic, four frames decided on the black. It was final of the year. Overall the quality of finals has been the one disappointing aspect of a great year for the sport, with fantastic Masters and World Championship tournaments. Also with the news surrounding Walker it has been the first god year off the baize for ages.
Went into a charity shop saw a video called History of Snooker and it went up to 2003, but I have a video that is the same title, but goes up to 2002, cant see the point of releasing it again so quickly.
Although Ebdon has been involved in some enthralling encounters this year, I'll have to go for the King v McLeod match at the Crucible. Three sessions of outstanding entertainment that can only have whetted the appetite for potential sponsors.
I also have some video's Jamie called History of xxx i thought it would be a cast starring Vin Diesel and Ice Cube, unfortunatly it didn't but it was sure action packed... ;)
some great matches mentioned but nothing gets close to mr earls christmas handicap final where i beat dave jarrett 3 1 in a great match with a fantatic 13 clearance to take the title. nail biting stuff as i took the title and winners cheque of 23 pound
The Sullivan vs Hendry semifinal at the 2002 World Championship. The quality was amazing, and with Ronnie's comments in front of the match, and the importance of the match it is number one for me.
Every match Ronnie O'Sullivan has lost.....
The Clap its about the best of 2009 lmfao please keep up i'm still LOL..
Match of the year 2009 :
Sir Rodney Walker vs Barry Hearn
Although we still don't know the final score.
@ Anon 11:22
There haven't been many this season. Sorry about that.
:D
The Clap = Dr Who.
@ Samantha
Even if there was only one, it would still make me smile ;)
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