The shutter has gone up for the last time in 2016 and weāre down to one table now. The Crucible staff are already hard at work getting the arena ready for the first of the semi finals at 13.00 tomorrow.
Weāre at the business end now
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Have you taken in a trip to the Crucible since you moved to the UK?
I havenāt to my shame. There is just so much going on
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First of the semi finals getting underway now. Hoping for another Crucible classic that goes the full distance but I just feel that its a bridge too far for Alan McManus and Ding will win something like 17-6 or 17-7.
How old is Angles now, Geoff? Could you please do some analysis on snooker world championship age trends? My sense is that snooker isnāt as ridiculous as golf majors in terms of auld lads winning it or at least getting to the latter stages. But I may be wrong.
Heās 45. Oldest man in the tournament. Neal Foulds on Eurosport is acknowledged as one of snookerās foremost historians and is sensational on the stats. Foulds has just confirmed what I speculated was possibly the case last night - Angles is the oldest semi finalist since 52 year old Ray Reardon lost to Steve Davis in 1985.
The safety play is as good as over and the break building can be, its just that when they get into their 40ās, that inexplicable momentary lapse of concentration happens more frequently. Thatās a trend with all players when they move past the 40 mark. Ray Reardon in 1978 (he was 45) was the last man over 40 to win a world title.
Ding has taken the first frame.
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Ding 3 zip up already and playing some sublime snooker,in the best form of his life right now.
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Surprising miss by Ding on 45, in frame 4. Alan really needs to win this frame or my pre-match prediction of 17-6 or 17-7 will start to look wildly optimistic.
Ding is going to take some beating in this tournament.
Ding 4-0 ahead at the mid session interval.
Didnāt Ronnie OāSullivan become the oldest winner ever when he won it in 2012, and then retained the title the next year?
Canāt remember was Stuart Bingham older last year but Iād say heās around the same age as OāSullivan.
I called it from Day 1, I thought his cueing was unreal from the get go
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snooker from the very highest level!
Stuart was 43 last year, ronnie would been around 36 four years ago
No, he became the oldest winner since Ray Reardon in 1978. Ronnie was 36 and a few months when he won it in 2012, a few weeks older than Denis Taylor was in 1985. Stuart Bingham was two weeks off turning 39 when he won it last year.
I got that badly wrong there about Bingham, if someone was going to correct me though I am glad it was you
Jesus Denis Taylor hasnāt a notion, he is getting every shot wrong
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Alan is the 5th oldest ever player at 45 years 98 days to reach the semi finals
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Fred Davis was 64 in 1978 and Ray Reardon was 52 in 1985. Any idea who the other two are?
End of session
Ding 6-2 McManus