World Snooker Championship

[BDunnell]

Should be. I expect the tickets are a bit cheaper.

Your forum name change confused me for a moment!

[EuroTroll]

Should be. I expect the tickets are a bit cheaper.

Your forum name change confused me for a moment!

Yeah. I just thought, since I haven't been a student for 8 years now, the name "studiose" is no longer appropriate.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I was a massive fan a few years ago but I haven't had the time to follow the snooker recently. I usuallt watch the final of the tournaments shown on BBC though.

Last summer I played snooker a few times every week. I was getting good enough to regularly get 5 or 6 ball breaks. But you really lose it when you stop practicing.

[EuroTroll]

Last summer I played snooker a few times every week. I was getting good enough to regularly get 5 or 6 ball breaks. But you really lose it when you stop practicing.

That's quite good! I've played a couple of times, but getting two successive pots was a challenge. Makes one appreciate the skill of professionals even more, though. And I'm much better off sticking to pool while slightly inebriated.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

That's quite good! I've played a couple of times, but getting two successive pots was a challenge. Makes one appreciate the skill of professionals even more, though. And I'm much better off sticking to pool while slightly inebriated.

I think the real skill in snooker is controlling the cue-ball. If the white ball is in a good position then 9/10 times I will pot the next shot, but the white will fly off down the other end of the table

[Eki]

I haven't been a student for 8 years now

But you'll always be wiruwiru.

Why not wiruwalge? Trademark issues?

BTW, did yoy know that Viru Viru is an international airport in Bolivia?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viru_Vi...tional_Airport

And that wiru are a people in Papua New Guinea?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiru_people

[EuroTroll]

I think the real skill in snooker is controlling the cue-ball. If the white ball is in a good position then 9/10 times I will pot the next shot, but the white will fly off down the other end of the table

I guess that's where all the varieties of spin come into play, and of course touch and judgement. It is a very difficult game, but I'm sure very rewarding once you notice you're getting better.

[EuroTroll]

Why not wiruwalge? Trademark issues?

I'd rather not come across as an alcoholic. (For those not in the know, Viru Valge is a brand of vodka in Estonia.)

No, I did not know about the Bolivian airport or the Papuan people. I hope they don't mind...

[EuroTroll]

Hardly a surprise, but perhaps it's worth mentioning that old-timers Tony Drago and John Parrott are out, losing in round 3 and round 1 of the qualifiers, respectively.

I thought the young Pole Kacper Filipiak would do more, but he lost in round 2.

[BDunnell]

Hardly a surprise, but perhaps it's worth mentioning that old-timers Tony Drago and John Parrott are out, losing in round 3 and round 1 of the qualifiers, respectively.

I thought the young Pole Kacper Filipiak would do more, but he lost in round 2.

None of the much-touted young players — Filipiak, Luca Brecel, etc — seem really to be making much headway in tournaments. I had expected we would have seen more of them by now.

By the way, your mentions of Drago and Parrott remind me that there are some super facts about players of the past on Wikipedia, the cause of much hilarity for me. Such as, about Alain Robidoux: 'Robidoux slid rapidly down the rankings following the 1997 season. He blamed his decline on the destruction of his favourite cue, which he referred to as "the Eel". The incident occurred after Robidoux returned the handmade cue to its maker – an elderly craftsman in Canada – for repairs. But when the cuemaker saw that the cue's butt had been adorned with the logo of Riley, a leading UK cue manufacturer, he took such grave offence he smashed the cue into pieces and sent the remains back to Robidoux. Several years later, Robidoux was asked whether the passage of time may have eased his anger towards the cue maker; "I want to kill him," was his heartfelt response.'

And this about Willie Thorne: 'He peaked at no. 7 in the rankings in the mid-1980s, while also battling a serious gambling problem. In one famous incident, Thorne bet £38,000 on a match involving John Parrott, betting that Parrott would lose as Parrott had lost his personal cue and had to use one supplied by the venue. Much to Thorne's dismay (not least because he was actually commentating on the match), Parrott recovered from a slow start to win, only worsening Thorne's debts.'