The match tonight… I think it’s the best match I’ve ever seen.
Like a perfect dance… Ronzo century break, Mark century break, Ronzo incredible miss, Mark incredible miss, Ronzo perfect snooker, Mark perfect snooker… And, to go on… Coming out of a snooker with another snooker – on both sides, impossible shots – both sides, playing with their left hand – both sides, shots with the rail to the opposite rail pocket – both sides and last but not least… “So you think you can beat ME kid?” types of shots – both sides…
A perfect dance… So synchronised that you don’t even notice when they miss shots and think that they’re all part of a perfect choreographic scheme. Like a dear teacher of mine would say… “Many hear, few understand”.
What Mark Selby did tonight… What a spectacular player he is… I’m not his fan, but I couldn’t help but see the truth. I’ve seen Stephen Hendry in his good days, all over again. I’ve seen the light, I’ve seen a wonderful spectacle, I’ve stayed in front of the laptop and tv speechless, for hours and hours.
Now usually when I watch snooker I do it with one eye on the tv/laptop and the other on whatever thing I feel like doing at that time… Today I was absolutely stunned.
For those of you who’ve missed this one of a kind Crucible worthy final, I’ll quickly tell what happened.
Selby started the match in great form, punishing O’Sullivan for the first miss and winning the first frame. Then a mad O’Sullivan rushed over to 4-1 with two superb century breaks on his way. Just when we thought the final will be another show off, Selby woke up from wherever he was sleeping at and went to 3-5, encountering a beautiful century break on the way. At that point we’ve met another Selby. A beautiful, mature, patient Selby. A master of his art.
From then on the score was always close… 4-5, 4-6, 5-6, 5-7, 6-7, 6-8… Then at 8-6, the brave, wonderful Selby seemed to have lost his way and O’Sullivan drove like mad to 9-6, but boy was he in for a stunner… With just one game for Ronnie to win the finals, Selby woke up again, but not to his previous shape… Seeming tired, but unwilling to give up, he fought for every single point and ball, with gorgeous snookers being exchanged between the two masters of the game. Snooker from snooker, snooker against snooker, hard snookers all around, till he eventually reached O’Sullivan (with some slips on the way, but an angel on his shoulder) and took the score to 9-9.
And then, at 9-9 he delivered a solid game, again fighting for every single ball. Not in a rush, not troubled, maybe only drained out, Selby played it all “a la carte”, leaving O’Sullivan bedazzled and eventually admitting his defeat.
The thing I loved best about this match is that I didn’t imagine someone would come along to beat O’Sullivan in what was one of his best forms. Sure, lots of people can beat Ronzo when he’s out of shape and Higgins can try and beat him when he’s in shape… Ronzo could even say he wasn’t in his best form, because he didn’t deliver perfection and two centuries were not even close to his perfect match… Fine… But that doesn’t condemn Selby’s majestic play in any way. He stood up to Goliath. He proved there is a player out there who will fight his butt off to make it, who will play perfection too. Maybe not over and over and over again… But if I’m in to see some perfection (like the one splattered all over the place by the beautiful Ronson) by someone else too, then I’m in.
Also, on another note, Selby loves cut shots. The blinder the angle, the better. I kept on thinking WHY would he play position like that, but I was wrong. They’re his shots. He mastered them. And, by whole, both players had absolutely SUPERB control on the cue ball throughout the match with extremely few misses in that area.
In the end (as in right after the last ball had been potted) it seemed to me like neither of them found the right words to say (although it’s understandable after this amazing thriller)
Tell you what boys… This wasn’t A match… It was THE MATCH. If I were to choose only one snooker match to see in a lifetime, then this is the match I’d choose. It had it all. And in such a gorgeous way…
Hell, Selby played soooooooo good, that I’m starting to believe I am his fan… Maybe I am, after all…
I bow to the Jester. And so has THE KING (no, not Mark King, but Ronnie), even if he did so in the very last frame (and surely not taking any of his merits away). WELL DONE, CHAMP ! What a match… Thank you for allowing me to see such gorgeous performances in my life time, you guys. 
p.s. In spite of saying so many words about tonight… There really are no words… This match was one that I’ll remember forever in my heart. It was too much for words.
(Image from here)
wow you own a blog as well, you should promote it somehow as well
wow you own a blog as well, you should promote it somehow as well…
Nah, it’s just for fun.