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Snooker


Remmie
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As great a break builder as Hendry was, don't think there's any doubt which player has the greater talent when at the table and flowing.

 

It's just when Ronnie's not at the table, and especially when the other player is slowing the game down, frustrating and breaking up his rhythm, that the wheels can come off.

 

Hendry's certainly no Ebdon, I just think there's a grim inevitability of which Ronnie we would end up seeing in such a contest.

 

Don't get me wrong, only one person I'd want to see win, and preferably while playing left-handed.

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Ronnie's more talented than Hendry but we've all seen what happens when his head goes.

 

Hendry would do that to him fairly comfortably in my opinion, if they were playing each other at their peak.

 

As soon as that happens, Ronnie beats himself.

 

He controls his temperament so much better these days. Stays patient and plays the right shot almost every time

Doesn't let poor frames and mistakes get to him the way they did,

My only question about Sheffield is whether the long matches really suit him these days

He seems to thrive on shorter games and playing once or even twice a day like in the Welsh Open he won last week

By his own admission he doesn't like sitting around for a couple of days waiting for the next round.  His concentration at 40 will be tested 

in long close games. If he can deal with that and stay focused no one will touch him.

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I reckon Hendry had less top class opponents, Jimmy White was a great adversary for most of his era, early on Steve Davis and later on John Higgins were his main opponents, nowadays there are probably 8-10 opponents that are capable of winning a ranking title.

 

Lets look at the top 10 then and now

 

1995-96

1 Stephen Hendry 

2 Steve Davis  

3 Ronnie O'Sullivan  

4 John Parrott  

5 James Wattana  

6 Alan McManus  

7 Jimmy White  

8 Darren Morgan  

9 Ken Doherty  

10 Peter Ebdon  

11 John Higgins  

12 Nigel Bond  

13 Dave Harold  

14 Tony Drago  

15 Terry Griffiths  

16 David Roe

 

Now:

 

1 Mark Selby

2 Stuart Bingham

3 Neil Robertson

4 Ronnie O'Sullivan OBE

5 Judd Trump

6 Shaun Murphy

7 John Higgins MBE

8 Barry Hawkins

9 Mark Allen

10 Joe Perry

11 Ricky Walden

12 Ding Junhui

13 Mark Williams MBE

14 Marco Fu

15 Martin Gould

16 Michael White
 

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Not even close.

 

Hendry won his titles in a poor era in my opinion.

 

The biggest challenge was Jimmy White, who although I loved him, bottled it every time.

one of my most gutting moments in sport that- when Jimmy missed that black in '94.

 

along with Tom Watson coming so close to winning the Open in 2009

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Lizzie saying what I'm trying to say. Hendry would control the fuck out of him. Can't agree with the easier era stuff either. We'd go mad if somebody said Liverpool's European Cups were easier than Barcelona's because they were won in the 70's.

I'm sorry Rob but it's absolute bollocks to try and claim Hendry didn't win his titles in an easier era.

 

White, Bond, Doherty and Peter fucking Ebdon he beat in finals.

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one of my most gutting moments in sport that- when Jimmy missed that black in '94.

 

along with Tom Watson coming so close to winning the Open in 2009

 

I'd backed him at 200/1 on the Friday morning as my long-shot. Think I put a fiver e/w on him. Fucking gutted when he missed that final putt. Cink pissed the play-off. 

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Lizzie saying what I'm trying to say. Hendry would control the fuck out of him. Can't agree with the easier era stuff either. We'd go mad if somebody said Liverpool's European Cups were easier than Barcelona's because they were won in the 70's. 

 

At his best I firmly believe no one, not even Hendry , would beat O'Sullivan. No amount of control or safety can stop him potting his way out of trouble when in form, What he does that others don't is score so quickly. He just rattles off frames in minutes and steamrollers opponents . No time to re-group, no time to play your way back into the match. It's just a few half chances and bang bang bang. Lastly no one intimidates him .Hendy used to win matches on many occasions before he even potted a ball .

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I'd backed him at 200/1 on the Friday morning as my long-shot. Think I put a fiver e/w on him. Fucking gutted when he missed that final putt. Cink pissed the play-off. 

e/w is top 4 or 5 depending on bookies? nice touch nevertheless. great links player and a proper gentleman to boot.

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Hendry at top form was pretty formidable to be fair. Would have been a fantastic match to see them both at their very best trading punches. A top form Williams and Higgins wouldn't be far off that standard as well.

Willian's not so much although I loved watching him play.

 

Higgins at his peak is up there with Hendry. Ronnie pisses all over anyone else though.

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Ronnie has beaten Dott, Carter twice and Hawkins in four of his five final wins. Cumulatively much worse than those you've listed there

 

You need to look at who they beat in the earlier rounds. Finals are often one sided affairs if a couple of the top seeds get beat from the same side of the draw.

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You need to look at who they beat in the earlier rounds. Finals are often one sided affairs if a couple of the top seeds get beat from the same side of the draw.

 

Aye, maybe, I was just replying to LF's point about the finals.  

 

It's a difficult question to answer really because there are so many variables.  

 

The standard of competition - I agree with what LF is saying about the standard in general and I think there's more strength in depth now but my feeling is that the top handful of players are probably at the same standard overall.  How can you judge this?  People take the game more seriously now due to the prize money, etc and the tables, etc are better.

 

On the stats - Hendry has 8 more ranking titles but has played in 40 more ranking tournaments.  Ronnie has more century breaks and at a higher rate.  (528 in 6276 frames in ranking events compared to Hendry's 519 in 7691), but then, again, the conditions are better now, so does that offset Ronnie's edge here to some extent?

 

Ronnie has had a longer career with ups and downs whereas Hendry dominated for a whole decade more or less. Obviously, his personal issues, etc, cloud the issue somewhat.  People are saying Hendry would out-think or dominate Ronnie at both their bests, but I don't think that's necessarily true because Ronnie at his best just goes out there and wins.  Especially the more mature Ronnie of today. 

 

Personally, I think Ronnie shades it simply because he's a true freak of nature and has more talent but I don't think it's black and white and it's a very tough question to try to use actual evidence to answer one way or the other.  Ronnie at his very best for me can't be beaten though.  But then Hendry was at his best more frequently than Ronnie is/was.  

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They could have a left-handed game. Pretty sure Ronnie would win.

 

Either way, I'm really enjoying Ronnie's later years. Amazing to watch him at the table. The game won't be the same once he packs in. Whereas Hendry quitting - I don't think it was as big a deal (although it was obviously still a big deal, but he'd been on the wane).

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You can never belittle anyone's achievement in sport from any era you can only beat and dominate what is in front of you .... To compare Ronnie and Hendry well you can't really it's like saying who was best Nicklaus or Woods.....

 

What I will say though is did anyone dominate as much as Steve Davis? When snooker got massive in the early 80's that cunt seemed to win everything, ok maybe there wasn't the depth the other two have had but fuck me he hardly seemed to lose, not that I was a fan I was always a Higgins man myself.

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Aye, maybe, I was just replying to LF's point about the finals.  

 

It's a difficult question to answer really because there are so many variables.  

 

The standard of competition - I agree with what LF is saying about the standard in general and I think there's more strength in depth now but my feeling is that the top handful of players are probably at the same standard overall.  How can you judge this?  People take the game more seriously now due to the prize money, etc and the tables, etc are better.

 

On the stats - Hendry has 8 more ranking titles but has played in 40 more ranking tournaments.  Ronnie has more century breaks and at a higher rate.  (528 in 6276 frames in ranking events compared to Hendry's 519 in 7691), but then, again, the conditions are better now, so does that offset Ronnie's edge here to some extent?

 

Ronnie has had a longer career with ups and downs whereas Hendry dominated for a whole decade more or less. Obviously, his personal issues, etc, cloud the issue somewhat.  People are saying Hendry would out-think or dominate Ronnie at both their bests, but I don't think that's necessarily true because Ronnie at his best just goes out there and wins.  Especially the more mature Ronnie of today. 

 

Personally, I think Ronnie shades it simply because he's a true freak of nature and has more talent but I don't think it's black and white and it's a very tough question to try to use actual evidence to answer one way or the other.  Ronnie at his very best for me can't be beaten though.  But then Hendry was at his best more frequently than Ronnie is/was.  

 

I agree , Ronnie on his day is genius and I'm convinced he's the best there he's ever been. And still going strong

He would have the best record too if he didn't have times he went full hatstand when younger

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