Come To Milton Keynes: Snooker 2020-21

[Discordant Resonance]

The all-time century record goes, and presumably we'll see another ten added by the end of the final.

[Discordant Resonance]

If the five remaining frames aren't finished by 7, will they delay the second semi?

[longeared]

I'd been wondering that myself, but Hazel's just said on the telly that they'll be taken off after a certain time, probably not long after 6ish. So basically if someone comes out and wins all three frames at a reasonable sort of pace they'll get finished this afternoon, anything else and they'll be coming back later. Could be a very late finish to tonight given that Wilson - Murphy are locked at 12 all.

[Discordant Resonance]

Which will approximately be the end of this frame, given the lie of the table.

[longeared]

They've said they won't start a new frame after 6, so given the pace of play and the black already being on the top cushion this will presumably be the last frame of the session.

[Discordant Resonance]

Selby only one away now, and secures that 16th with a century.

[longeared]

Right, so Selby's wrapping this frame up, he's going 16-14 up and needs one more, it's three minutes to six so are they going to play another? Bear in mind this is a government test event and the protocols relating to admitting spectators (for the evening session) are different and more structured to what they would be in a normal year...

[longeared]

Yup, they're going to play one more. So if Selby wins it he's in the final, if Bingham wins then they're coming back later on whenever the other semi finishes for maximum two frames.

[longeared]

Balls of steel counter attack from Bingham means they're going to come back later. Not sure that's ever happened before. (Edit; Hazel says it hasn't)

[Discordant Resonance]

Can't remember Murphy playing this well at the Crucible for at least a decade - powers into a 14-12 lead, and seems on a mission to wrap things up as soon as possible.

[longeared]

Murphy's big issue has always been consistency. When he plays well he's as good as anyone, he just doesn't produce that level enough. He's been absolutely flawless in the three frames I've seen this evening (missed the first as I was watching the F1 qualifying), he leads 16-12, only one away and they're already at the interval. Given that Kyren is making mistakes to let Murphy in it's hard to see him winning five frames on the bounce, so all in all this might not be as long an evening as first thought.

[Discordant Resonance]

Didn't realise he was living in Dublin now, which sets up an interesting trivia question if he does win the title, though the wording would be somewhat contrived - "the second World Snooker Champion while resident in the Republic".

[longeared]

Murphy wins that frame as well for a 17-12 victory, he won 13 of the final 15 frames making it a bit like last year's Welsh Open final. Now we've seen all that flashy potting and big breaks we can get back to some Proper Snooker as Selby and Bingham come back soon, they're both on the practice tables.

[longeared]

Absolutely masterful tactical display from Selby with real cat and mouse snooker on the green, Bingham eventually made an error running past the object ball to leave it pottable and Selby cleared the colours for 17-15. Just in time for EFL on Quest + 1 as well, nice one Mark. Selby do as Selby does.

[Satchmo Distel]

Has Selby's play been slower than Cliff Thorburn's was in 1983? What's the record for slow play at The Crucible?

[longeared]

Don't know, that's before my time and there aren't formal statistics on it. Selby slowed the game down as a tactic (although he's not the fastest player on tour anyway) rather than it being natural slow play. There's some players on tour who always play slowly but don't get on the telly much - I've seen Rod Lawler play live and that was painful.

2-2 at the interval by the way, three tight frames and Selby won the fourth in one visit.

[David Agnew]

Has Selby's play been slower than Cliff Thorburn's was in 1983? What's the record for slow play at The Crucible?

Oh, no. Everything was slower about the game in Thorburn's day. Not just players like him and Griffiths being considered with their shots, but the cloths were slower and the balls were heavier, and there were fewer high breaks. Thorburn's 147 from the first pot to the final black was over sixteen minutes (including a one minute break where he composed himself before the last red). The final session in that match started at 7pm, and finished nine frames later at 3:51am. Another late Thorburn finish was his last ever match at the Crucible, when he lost 10-9 to Nigel Bond (having been 9-2 up) that finished after 2am with only a handful of people still in the crowd. Selby's never been in a match that comes as close. His final with John Higgins finished at 00:55, the latest ever, but that was mainly thanks to the third session finishing early through unbelievably bad play before the interval, rather than slow play.

Selby's not as slow as the plodders like Lawler, Rory McLeod, Dave Harold and Lee Walker (McLeod in particular does everything in slow motion. I've seen him walk to the Crucible an hour before his match was due to start and wondered if he'd get there in time), and while some of it is gamesmanship, he's not at the level that Peter Ebdon sank to. Selby's biggest problem is that he overthinks stuff at times, and his slowness comes from the fact he's a very tactical player during the safety exchanges - probably the best tactical player there's ever been.

[jwdd27]

Thorburn was painful to watch - Christ knows how slow he'd have been if he wasn't coked up - as were quite a few others - Eddie Charlton, John Spencer, most of the pre-television crowd.

Selby 10-7 up overnight, no century breaks so far and not a great watch, I had a small wager on Selby when he went 6-4 behind and was briefly odds against. That is my only interest in the match, I dislike both players.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

I prefer 'tactical' snooker, as long as both players are playing excellent safety and escape shots and it's not just 'roll up to baulk', 'roll back to top cushion' stuff. Sometimes knowing as soon as a player has potted the first red that they're going to clear up and win the frame without the other player getting out of their seat is just as boring.

[longeared]

Selby bent the game to his will in last night's session, just outplaying Murphy tactically, leaving him really tricky escapes or half chances that a frazzled Murphy missed and Selby would then ruthlessly clear up. It's the sort of snooker that probably doesn't appeal so much to the broader audience who would prefer to see Ronnie or Judd flamboyantly making big breaks. I thought it was absolutely terrific and would far rather watch that than the one way traffic of last year's final.

[longeared]

Real brawl of a match this, they've just traded frames all day and Selby leads 16-13 at the interval needing two more. There's been two centuries now, same as the number of reracks.

[longeared]

Selby wins a tactical battle (again) and with the reds all over the table goes on to make a total clearance of 120. One away now, Murphy is not going to win five on the bounce so that should be that sometime in the next hour.

[Discordant Resonance]

Though, TBF, Murphy is making a decent fist of things with consecutive centuries.

[longeared]

Selby takes it 18-15, that pink to black shot was hugely impressive in the circumstances. Well done Mark, well deserved, been the best player in the tournament.

[Jah Womble]

Murphy spoke well after defeat: he was a shade unlucky, but probably shouldn’t have attempted to pot that tight red.

Selby deserves it - he’s clearly the top-dog at the moment.