Over the course of the World Championship I’ve challenged one snooker aficionado to highlight the best quirky, outlandish, unusual, laughable and questionable observations of each day.
As if to further enhance his (or her!) alter ego as snooker’s sleeper, this spy has elected to go through the tournament in disguise.
Read below for the latest offering, but who is behind the Free Ball?
Ace’s Up
By Free Ball
I’d imagine I wasn’t the only disciple waiting with bated breath for the Trump versus Ding meeting. Alas, the contest appears all but over after only two sessions.
As mentioned before, I’m an ardent fan of Ding. I’ve loved watching him mature as a player and man. That can be said for the other players, but we all have our favourites, right? I had butterflies in my stomach when they started yesterday morning; the anticipation of a battle royale. It’s a relatively unusual feeling for me these days, normally kept in the locker for a tight finish or a possible maximum. But you can’t win a match without being given some kind of chance.
Judd Trump was awesome. Some of the shots he took on were incredible but, like all great potters, were made to look easy. It was becoming clear very quickly (there was no choice in the matter), that he wasn’t going to miss. At times while watching the first session almost fly by, I found myself simply mesmerised. He doesn’t need to over complicate positional play – he’ll just pot the next ball anyway. His safety ain’t too shabby now either.
We’ve all seen it before. Not just with Trump, nor with the great snooker machines of the past like Davis and Hendry. Sometimes, any player will just rarely miss in a session or match. But it’s a beauty to behold. I couldn’t begin to comprehend what a feeling it must be to have. Well maybe the occasional time on a pool table, but that really isn’t the same.
But who knows, maybe in the semi-final the eye will just be out a fraction? I hope not for the sake of the tournament. Quality counts, and at his best, Trump now has that in abundance.
Alternatively, Ding could resort to dirty tactics in the final session today. I’d suggest paying a yodeller to put Judd off, or failing that, distract him by throwing a few chalks on the table.
