ExCUESes ExCUEses!

Unfortunately Gabi cant be with us today as she is involved in important study activities.  Don’t worry, she will be back tomorrow with all the latest from in and around the Crucible.

In the meantime we take a light-hearted view on – “Who will be King of exCUEses this year?”  With just one round out of the way there are already a few contenders!

Graeme Dott
The defending champion didn’t blame the Crucible Curse for ending his 2007 campaign prematurely.  Instead, the little Scot sited his opponent Ian McCulloch as the reason why he lost.  That is what opponents are supposed to do aren’t they?  I didn’t think that the guy sitting next to you in the Crucible was just there to make Dott look good!!!  And as for blaming McCulloch’s style of play – Wee Graeme is hardly well known for his charismatic and flamboyant approach.

Neil Robertson
“The Cushions were bouncing” – Um, they are made of rubber – that’s what rubber does!  I know what he means in that occasionally the ball gets an unpredictable reaction off the cushion and can contribute to the players losing position.  Is a bit like kicks though and is just part f the game that they all have to deal with.  O’Sullivan managed to cope by making 9 50-plus breaks in 12 frames. 

Mark Williams
Pre-tournament, the popular Welshman would have been a contender for King of ExCUEses but admirably he didn’t have any.  He just said that he played “like a fish” and that Swail played better and deserved to win – Nice one Mark!

I am sure that there will be some more crackers before the trophy is lifted but here’s a quick look at some classic snooker excuses.

JOHN HIGGINS – World Championship 2000
Higgins said: “My biggest regret in snooker was losing 17-15 to Mark in the 2000 semi-finals. I led 14-10 going into the final session and when we got out there to restart, Mark didn’t shake my hand.

“It completely threw me for the whole session. Instead of concentrating on the match and trying to get to 17 frames I was wondering why he did that, even though it was probably just an oversight on his part.

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN – Masters 1996
O'Sullivan had forged an 8-3 lead against Steve Davis in the best-of-19 Masters final at Wembley in 1997 when a female streaker entered the arena. The Rocket promptly lost the next seven frames - and the match - later claiming that the shock interruption had, er, broken his concentration.

Funny, we had always assumed by the way Ronnie carried himself that he had seen a naked woman before. The Nugget, naturally, was unmoved by such fleshy delights.

STEPHEN HENDRY – Malta Cup 2007
On losing to Ali Carter 5-4 in the quarter final, Hendry revealed…

"I had a chicken and prawn meal and it didn't taste good."

More from Gabi tomorrow!

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