World Snooker Championship
- Thread starter summerisle
- Start date
Drico
Player Valuation: £70m
The thing that amazes me about Selby is his fortitude and resilience. We know he's a master tactician and we know he has an all-round game that is probably superior to anybody ever. But the way that match went tonight - most people would crumble. Most players would cave in. All of the greats have, pretty much. Davis lost 7-0 and 8-0 leads to Alex Higgins and Dennis Taylor in UK and world finals. He nearly lost from 12-4 against Jimmy in 1984. Even Hendry effectively bottled the 1999 black-ball respot Masters final to Williams. Ronnie was never renowned for his mental strength and lost from unassailable positions (including to Selby). John Higgins - probably the only real rival to Selby as a total matchplayer - collapsed from having a big lead over the same man in the 2017 world final to a shocking defeat, stretched out on the rack. It's really only Mark Williams who compares, mentally.
Fate really threw it at him tonight - and mad things started to happen. All the ingredients were there for the final, understandable collapse (the bad karma sportsmanship boomerang, missed blacks off spots, a blown title-winning chance, Trump with the big mo). But he always seems to find a way to dig it out. I mentioned earlier I could still see it going 9-8 and Selby falling over the line. We've seen it so often. The moral of the story is you really can't let him get a run on you. He tends to do maximum damage when he does - 10 frames in a row at one point against Trump today (the last five two weeks ago, the first five today). That translated into two titles.
I say he fell over the line - and it felt like that - but he actually won two of the last three frames. Seemingly, when he falls over the line, he's still moving faster than his opponent.
Fate really threw it at him tonight - and mad things started to happen. All the ingredients were there for the final, understandable collapse (the bad karma sportsmanship boomerang, missed blacks off spots, a blown title-winning chance, Trump with the big mo). But he always seems to find a way to dig it out. I mentioned earlier I could still see it going 9-8 and Selby falling over the line. We've seen it so often. The moral of the story is you really can't let him get a run on you. He tends to do maximum damage when he does - 10 frames in a row at one point against Trump today (the last five two weeks ago, the first five today). That translated into two titles.
I say he fell over the line - and it felt like that - but he actually won two of the last three frames. Seemingly, when he falls over the line, he's still moving faster than his opponent.
Last edited:
Drico
Player Valuation: £70m
Styles make matches.
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