Regardless of what Steve Davis said in commentary, it was very, very tedious, as I predicted it would be, but the end result was good. Dott isn’t exactly the most fluent of players, but he was able to slowly chip away at the score line. It was looking like a really late finish (like 2am+) at one point what with Ebdon coming back, thankfully Dott stopped the rot.

I can’t help but think that if Ebdon had played to even half of his potential in the first three sessions then it would have been a different result. And I have to admit how good a sportsman he is, incredibly gracious in defeat.

But it looks like I’m not the only one who didn’t enjoy the final, but still watched it to its bitter conclusion:

That has to go down as the most tedious game of snooker ever seen.

Not bad, but I think we can do better:

One for the purists? I doubt it. Even the commentators were running out of expletives to describe the scintillating pace, brilliant potting and masterful tactics both players were displaying. <snip> An ultimate result was the only real outcome of this awful game of snooker, and that took too long. I stayed up to watch the conclusion for the same reason we read the end of a book we have already started – to get the result.

Hmmm, pretty sarcastic.

The best man on the day won, but I have never seen a Final with so many empty seats.

Sad but true and one of the chaps at work commented on the same, but can you blame them? If the play is slow going it is really tough to sit there and watch it. You can’t just get up and make a brew or go for whizz halfway through a frame.

I remember a few years back going to Preston to watch Nigel Bond and Joe Swail play. It took over 2 hours to play four frames, my bladder nearly detached itself and made its own way to the nearest convenience. (Beers at the bar beforehand weren’t a good idea).

This years tournament has been a bit of a disappointment. Due to the odd way the matches have gone I’ve not watched a great deal. There must have been something in the water that put most of the top 16 off.