World Snooker Championship

Rita_Poon said:
I agree he can turn up and rinse whoever, not seen that aura since Hendry, in that he's the youngster mixing it up. He misses less than Hendry did but we've not yet seen him crucified and left for dead. O'Sullivan still has the game to do it but not the patience or temper to force his best when required. It's not the old guard I see as the hurdles for zhao, it's his fellow chinese that aren't that far behind him. The fat kid from the masters for instance. bingtao has 18 months of ban left.
Click to expand...
Bingtao was excellent - but Zhao ate him for breakfast in the German Masters final here in Berlin a few years ago: 9-0. I suspect the inferiority complex is deep there...
 
Drico said:
Bingtao was excellent - but Zhao ate him for breakfast in the German Masters final here in Berlin a few years ago: 9-0. I suspect the inferiority complex is deep there...
Click to expand...
zhao is beating a lot to nil or to 1. His long game is so precise that older shots that'd usually be safe 9/10 are being taken on and got 9/10. Them that've beaten him have had to gun sling and out shoot him. I do wonder how Davis or Griffiths at their negative peaks would have taken the game to him.
 
Rita_Poon said:
zhao is beating a lot to nil or to 1. His long game is so precise that older shots that'd usually be safe 9/10 are being taken on and got 9/10. Them that've beaten him have had to gun sling and out shoot him. I do wonder how Davis or Griffiths at their negative peaks would have taken the game to him.
Click to expand...
They wouldn't beat him - not on their 80s standard. But great players could play in any era because they would adapt and evolve. They'd take fewer chances than, say, a Trump, and so would leave less. While Zhao plays to a higher standard now than the likes of Davis or Griffiths ever did, I don't think he is as strong as they were tactically. They'd compete by trying to outsmart him in much the same way the modern Davis, Mark Selby, would.

Right now, actually, he might be the biggest threat to my prediction that Zhao will go back-to-back. A Selby on it is a match for anyone. What a clash that would be. Looking at the draw, they can only meet in the final...
 
Drico said:
They wouldn't beat him - not on their 80s standard. But great players could play in any era because they would adapt and evolve. They'd take fewer chances than, say, a Trump, and so would leave less. While Zhao plays to a higher standard now than the likes of Davis or Griffiths ever did, I don't think he is as strong as they were tactically. They'd compete by trying to outsmart him in much the same way the modern Davis, Mark Selby, would.

Right now, actually, he might be the biggest threat to my prediction that Zhao will go back-to-back. A Selby on it is a match for anyone. What a clash that would be. Looking at the draw, they can only meet in the final...
Click to expand...
Ebdon as well, could he strangle a match and make it a war of attrition. It wasn't cultivated watching spectacle but he could grind diamonds him.
 
Rita_Poon said:
Ebdon as well, could he strangle a match and make it a war of attrition. It wasn't cultivated watching spectacle but he could grind diamonds him.
Click to expand...
That's what makes this game so compelling. There are different ways to skin a cat. For me, anyway, the flamboyant flair players only prove their true worths when defeating the suffocating grinders, proving that they have the all-round game to triumph. Alex Higgins managed that - having lost world finals to Ray Reardon and Cliff Thorburn. But then he was winning since the early 70s. Jimmy White never quite managed it. The defeats to Davis and Hendry were expected, but the loss to Parrott - a superb player, but not the dominant player of his generation - told a tale. Jimmy couldn't reliably do it against the smarter players. Basically, Parrott was a better all-round player.

I don't think Judd Trump adds to his single world title, because, in my view, there are better all-round players out there most years. There are better tacticians and magicians - Selby and Zhao for example. Murphy and Robertson already suffered the same fate in the days of O'Sullivan, Higgins, and Selby.

I think Zhao beats all the potters - Trump, O'Sullivan, Murphy, Williams, Robertson - right now. So, it'll take a top-of-the-range tactician to beat him over the long haul. There is only one man for that job...but his head seems gone.

One wonders what the likes of Kyren Wilson can bring to the table. Perhaps a maverick like Williams - something of a hybrid - could have a few days of inspiration. But I don't see many beating Zhao. He is seeded to face Ding, Murphy, and Robertson in the second round, quarter-final, and semi. I can't see him losing to any of those over the long haul. First round is the joker. Trump, meanwhile, is slated to face Si, Selby, and Wilson. I'd have him second favourite in the latter two clashes... Of course, Selby might bomb out in the first round.

O'Sullivan and Higgins are in the Zhao half.
 
Drico said:
That's what makes this game so compelling. There are different ways to skin a cat. For me, anyway, the flamboyant flair players only prove their true worths when defeating the suffocating grinders, proving that they have the all-round game to triumph. Alex Higgins managed that - having lost world finals to Ray Reardon and Cliff Thorburn. But then he was winning since the early 70s. Jimmy White never quite managed it. The defeats to Davis and Hendry were expected, but the loss to Parrott - a superb player, but not the dominant player of his generation - told a tale. Jimmy couldn't reliably do it against the smarter players. Basically, Parrott was a better all-round player.

I don't think Judd Trump adds to his single world title, because, in my view, there are better all-round players out there most years. There are better tacticians and magicians - Selby and Zhao for example. Murphy and Robertson already suffered the same fate in the days of O'Sullivan, Higgins, and Selby.

I think Zhao beats all the potters - Trump, O'Sullivan, Murphy, Williams, Robertson - right now. So, it'll take a top-of-the-range tactician to beat him over the long haul. There is only one man for that job...but his head seems gone.

One wonders what the likes of Kyren Wilson can bring to the table. Perhaps a maverick like Williams - something of a hybrid - could have a few days of inspiration. But I don't see many beating Zhao. He is seeded to face Ding, Murphy, and Robertson in the second round, quarter-final, and semi. I can't see him losing to any of those over the long haul. First round is the joker. Trump, meanwhile, is slated to face Si, Selby, and Wilson. I'd have him second favourite in the latter two clashes... Of course, Selby might bomb out in the first round.

O'Sullivan and Higgins are in the Zhao half.
Click to expand...
White beat himself, so close once again and the old scar tissue was still so fresh. "Once in a generation talent Jim, it's about time now..." Parrott (9 ranking event wins) was in the form of his life. We've seen a few burn bright then fade, Stevens was multi finalist in a four year period then fell away.
Re zhao, there's an aura about him, frame one, long shot one, goes for it and gets it, and the opponent rolls their eyes, "he's in again here straight off!", it must be a huge psychological burden. What will tell is when he runs into another player that is in smoking-hot-form, think higgins a few years ago at the Irish when he only lost a single frame winning it all. I'd take Robertson's long potting, Murphy's rest game, Selby's tactical and snooker laying/escapism, O'Sullivans world class left hand ability and renegade shot making, Trump's power, higgins match play, Williams temperament, and Ding's in the balls lightning break builds, in one player and have seemingly the perfect snooker player face zhao.

What a compliment.

With the Chinese so snooker loopy, and there being a big net cast to find the next talents, it's the players that overshadow zhao that are the frightening prospect.
 

Welcome

Join the Everton conversation today.
Fewer ads, full access, completely free.

→ Log in 🔑 Register
🛒 Visit Shop

Support Grand Old Team by checking out our latest Everton gear!
Back
Top