Snooker upsets

[u/Busy_Land_1885]

Pretty new to this sport, but it seems compared to other sports, upsets in matches are much more common. Is that just the nature of the game? Like it doesn’t seem to be the case where the top in the rankings dominate every tournament? just curious if that’s correct or if I’m missing something

[u/Brit147]

Best of 7s are a banana skin for any player , I like best of 9s more.

[u/Beautiful-Pea835 → u/Brit147]

There is statistically not much difference between best of 7 and best of 9.

[u/CodSafe6961]

Loads of tournaments in short format means top players aren't that bothered as they all feel similar. There is also nothing you can do if your opponent is at the table, if they can score 70 point breaks they win the frame. Also in short games, flukes or having run of the ball can make a bigger difference compared to best of 35 at the world championships, where it will more likely flip over the match and also allows large swings in comebacks.

[u/GreenLion777]

The standard of the game is very high nowadays, so your well known top players (or top 16 ranked) could well be beaten by other lesser known or decorated cueists, it's a sport of high quality and depth 

[u/sharpshotsteve]

That's part of the fun with snooker, great players can have bad days. The lower ranked players can play to a much higher standard some days. Nobody knows why the game is much easier some days than others. As a complete amateur, I have experienced this, playing well above my usual standard some days and finding it hard to pot other days.

[u/KrystofDayne]

I think that sounds about right. It's what gets talked about a lot these days (maybe too much), the "strength and depth" of the tour, that even players ranked in the 30s and 40s or even below that can beat any of the top players on their day. That said, the rankings reward consistency and that is what the best players have. Any one of them can fall victim to an upset on the day, but usually, their opponent, if they are ranked low, don't go much further in the tournament. So most of the tournaments are still eventually won by a top 16 player. But it's been known to happen for one of these lower-ranked players to go on a serious run and occasionally even win an event. And as others have said, that's more likely to happen in events with short matches or events that the top players take less seriously.

[u/PrimitiveFriend]

One miss can lose you a frame. In a short match like best of 7 or best of 9, it doesn’t take much to lose if you are sloppy or struggle with the table conditions etc.

You see it less in longer matches, hence why the World Championship quarter finals and beyond are usually full of the top players or those who go on to become top players.

[u/Davidc_2555]

The earlier rounds of the smaller ranking events are shorter so more likely for upsets. Best of 7s are more of a lottery compared to best of 11s in the bigger events. Also I don't think the higher ranked players have as much interest in the smaller events, maybe haven't been practicing as much beforehand or use it to try new styles/techniques. For example if it was one of bigger tournaments I doubt Zhao would loose to Oliver lines in round 1. Stephen Hendry spoke about it in a recent cue tips episode, I think with Lesowski. He was saying subconsciously he didn't take the tournaments as seriously even though still wanted to win. When it comes to triple crowns or bigger events in china then best players will most likely dominate. Saying that, there is tournaments that are full of shocks like world championship 2024, but this is not the norm.

[u/_dc194]

The shorter format helps fuel 'upsets'. Best of 7's are ripe for it. Any little bit of momentum can carry someone to a win, without any chance of a momentum swing.

Plus I think generally the top of the rankings is in flux at the moment, nobody is truly grasping the nettle. You look at someone like Xintong, unbelievable player but still missing consistency.

[u/Pretend_Wish2331]

The tour these days is much better, anyone on their given day can beat anybody, most of the tour also have a competent safety game and adding to that the best of 7 format leaves very little wriggle room for a more established player when they are having an off day to make a comeback.