West Ham Online

"Ding, Brecel, Selby, Carter and Williams have already gone home. if Ronnie doesn't win it this year then I fancy either Ray Reardon or Graham Miles."

A Bingham v Wilson final will be watchable

"Haha! I don’t know much about snooker, other than the fact the Ronnie - and possibly Trump - ARE the entertainment as most casual fans see it. Yesterday was the sport’s worst nightmare. Viewing figures will probably plummet now, except in Wales."

End of thread.

happygilmore 11:47 That post hasn't aged well mate ;-)

Who would have thought we could end up with Gilbert O'Sullivan in the final of the World Snooker 2024

Need Ronnie to win tonight otherwise will be some very boring semi finals

"It was. Remember getting home and had recorded Charlton v West Ham FA Cup match on ""video"". Settled down to watch that trying not to fall asleep when my sister popped her head in and said that West Ham had lost, could have killed her! Watched it anyway and Cottee gets on the end of a McAvennie lob to win it late on. Then I fell asleep for two days!"

"zico, it sounds exhausting"

"Takashi Miike 11:41 Wed May 1 When I was 17 a mate of mine and I did a 24 hr snooker marathon in aid of local SEN kids. Didn't realise that most people that did that usually had 8 or so players rotating. Longest 24 hrs of our lives, especially our poor parents who had to sit there and score this dullfest of two crap snooker players taking an age over a frame. My dad tried to spice it up offering £5 for each break over 15. Think we cost him £20!! All this for £165 in sponsorship money from stingy neighbours. Never again!"

Russ of the BML John Spencer made the call (allegedly) I can't now recall the name of the finalist he was asking for other than it was not a household name or anyone that went on to win any majors. It was one of the minor ranking tournaments though that he had made the final of around the early to mid nineties. I do remember he got beat in the final

"Russ - Fair enough mate, thanks. Trump OUT."

Gary Strodders shank 2:18 Wed May 1 Who were the two players?

"Manuel - Higgins and his manager at the time were invited to Ukraine to discuss ""throwing frames"" as part of a huge spread betting consortium. He was filmed actually agreeing to throw certain frames in four upcoming matches for a payment of £261k. World Snooker were looking at banning both he and his manager for life. It looked like he would be for a while. In the end he wasn't charged with accepting a bribe and knowingly entering into fraudulent activity because it wasn't clear on the video if he had formally agreed. If he had been he would've been banned for life. Instead he was found guilty of failing to report fraudulent activity which saw him banned for six months and fined. Apparently his manager was a wrong'un and he played on that and that he was bullied into it. May well have been. Who knows for sure. Only Higgins and his manager."

Higgins greed got the better of him and he showed total disrespect for the sport that already gave him a very comfortable living A great match player and very dogged but far from entertaining Snooker has always had a stigma attached to it for betting scandals and match fixing with various players getting caught and banned. Even to this day the bookies are very wary of frame betting . I worked in the head office of one of the big bookmakers in the early nineties and the traders and odds compilers were always wary A colleague once even took a call from a very well known senior pro and former world champion supposedly asking on behalf.of another player who was in a final the following day if he could back against himself to hedge so he could boost his winnings amd prizemoney should he lose as expected He was given short shift but nobody seemed to surprised at the request

"Russ - I really like Higgins and he's one of the greats, the betting scandal was over 20 years ago and I've never really read up on it to be honest, but it was forgotten about a long long time ago. A life ban, my word. If you wanted that Sven Roeder would be after the death penalty :-)"

"I was the same, very good at pool but struggled on the big tables. speed of play wise, I was even quicker than ronnie which is probably why I struggle to watch some of the slower players and grinders. always remember listening to jimmy white talking in a documentary saying that he went out there to entertain himself first, it's why he was so great to watch"

"I was the same, very good at pool but struggled on the big tables. speed of play wise, I was even quicker than ronnie which is probably why I struggle to watch some of the slower players and grinders. always remember listening to jimmy white talking in a documentary saying that he went out there to entertain himself first, it's why he was so great to watch"

Got a lot of respect for these snooker players. I was pretty decent at pool in my time but put me on a snooker table I was crap. The size difference of table and balls is a massive step up. Only time I could play was on a three quarter size table with balls same size as pool balls. You have to have the born talent.

"Fuck me Eurosport are Shit,that little weasel Richy and McManus are wankers,how Jimmy white can listen to their bullshit"

Manuel - I was knackered last night but no way I was missing that. Thought Allen had it in bag and then it swung to Higgins. The safety battle as outrageous. I have never really liked Higgins since he shit on the sport that made him with that betting scandal. I think he should've been banned for life. But last night I did feel an ounce of congratulations for him.

"Great end to the Allen Higgins match, with Higgins prevailing 13-12."

"I was listening to an interview with Steve Davis and when asked whether just any regular person could be as good as him or another top pro even if they did all the practice in the world, he just flat out said ‘no’. It was just innate natural talent. Not even in a boastful way at all. Just very matter of fact and also very true."

Come On You Irons = Graeme DOTT