Rolf Kalb Reflects on Legendary Career with Rob Walker

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[@omegaman6494]

No one's done more for snooker in Germany than Rolf Kalb. Massive respect!

[@Antonratenheimer]

Amazing from WST to honor Rolf like that, since Snooker is still pretty much a UK-centric Sport. Rolf has been the voice of Snooker for the fans in Germany for sooo long and I grew up loving Snooker definitely because of Rolf's commentating style and fantastic insight. All the best to Rolf in retirement, thank you for the service you've done to Snooker for Germany and in general...you will be dearly missed! 🥲

[@schlicktown]

the voice of snooker in germany! he will be missed dearly! i learned the rules of snooker from his commentary since the late 90ies :) big foot steps to be filled :D

[@deanknoote114]

Love this interview

[@eah8101]

I agree with the others: I am German and first came to know and like snooker after seeing it on Eurosport *AND* listening to Rolf's commentary -- for many years, to me snooker and Rolf Kalb were almost the same thing -- it won't be the same without him -- but I wish Herr Kalb happiness and success

[@brahimwhatelse3375]

i have listend rolf kalb maybe more than 20 years ago, when i have a parabole, i used to watch eurosport international, and i watch snooker in german because i live in France near germany, and we havn't no choice to watch in french or english, so it was cool with the time and i have his voice in my mind since!

[@countbasie20]

started to watch snooker on eurosport about 25 years ago and he was already there. he has always been there since then. I really can‘t imagine watching the game now without him commentating. he will surely be missed by many including myself.

[@aurigo_tech]

Ja, ich glaube Rolf Kalbs Einfluss darauf Snooker in Deutschland populär zu machen ist nicht zu unterschätzen. Natürlich sind wir weit davon entfernt dass es wie in UK oder China ist, aber in den vergangenen 20 Jahren gabs es schon ein sichbares Wachstum, eben auch reflektiert dadurch dass es ein festes Maintour Turnier hier nun gibt.

[@UniversalControl]

Rolf! Legend!

[@ruleyramundo]

Great ambassador for the sport outside of the UK. 👏 👏 👏

[@chuckjones1358]

Thank you Rolf for your contribution to the game we all love

[@donmacedone]

Such a pleasant voice and a real expert on this sport. Enjoy your retirement Mr. Kalb!

[@sonnwin9963]

pure legend!!!

[@giorgijugeli2558]

Ihr/Euer Rolf Kalb❤

[@philip9650]

Two extremely classy broadcasters

[@ludiges]

Ich wünsche Herrn Kalb alles gute in der Zukunft. Seit über 30 Jahren sehe ich Snooker bei Eurosport. Durch den Kommentator Herrn Kalb habe ich die Regeln gelernt, so, dass ich glaube, als Schiedsrichter arbeiten zu können. Herr Kalb war in jedem Spiel ein neutraler Kommentator, mit vollem Einsatz. Tiptop, dafür danke ich ihm. Alles Beste für seinen Ruhestand. 👍😇🍀🥂🎆

[@ludiges]

Übrigends ich bin jetzt 69 Jahre jung.

[@alanchamberlain9902]

Anyone know what happened to Nick Hill the Mc from the 80s?

[@ravivarman2020]

@1:00 Is Rob referring to Dennis taylor or john virgo?

[@equisde8026]

I don't think there's any problem with either of them

[@ruleyramundo]

The irony is Rob is well past his sell by date 😉 😜 😆 🤣

[@jamesandmikey32]

God he's so hot

[@alanchamberlain9902]

Alan Hughes was better, Rob is a nice guy but over the top

[@omegaman6494]

agree that Alan was better, but Rob has really grown on me

[@deerstreams]

I think this needs to be put into perspective a little. Rolf Kalb certainly was exactly the right person to introduce the German audience to the sport back in the early 90s. His understanding of the technical and tactical aspects of the game was just a little bit ahead of the average audience back in those days, so the kind of beginner tutorial that his commentary style provided was appreciated. However, he never really moved on from that style so the main viewership quickly overtook him in that regard. He was always passionate about snooker, though, which was infectious and garnered the sport a big following in Germany, but he couldn't contribute much for the viewers who wanted a little more than the mere explanation of the rules or some gossip about the private lives of the players. So I would say two things are true here: he will be missed, but he also probably should have taken this step many years ago already. Regardless, thanks for everything, Rolf, and good luck and health for the next chapter of your life!

[@cmburns83]

While I agree that I would have enjoyed more technical background and perspective from Rolf, I’d say it is somewhat unfair to say that he did not take his game ahead. Love UK commentators and the angle their are providing, but bear in mind they are all former professionals, which is a perspective Rolf could hardly ever have achieved. My love and respect for Snooker is fully owed to Rolf and his art of making the sport accessible for new spectators. I also feel it is a good time for him to resign, just as he intended, on his own terms. I will always respect him and remember him deerly but also look forward to what the new guys can bring to the table.

[@loganroy3381]

I agree and disagree at the same time. Rolf Kalb was my introduction to snooker and I probably wouldn't have understood anything about the game if he hadn't explained what was going on. So, to get new viewers into the game, his beginner-friendly commentary is great and exactly the right thing for his audience, it gets people interested in the sport who literally don't know anything about it. You can always move on to the English channels at a later point, which I've done long ago, but there needs to be a gateway into snooker-fandom, and he's provided that for many, many years. He also just has a great voice for broadcasting, none of the other German commentators come close.

[@sharkey9]

Well said. Rolf never evolved and never had any sort of understanding for the game. Still to this day he misjudges sooo many things, it's clear he's not a player. On the other hand, Snooker would not be as popular in Germany without Rolf. I always loved Rolf being extremely eloquent, holding a much higher linguistic standard than most other commentators anywhere. But that degraded as well, all those permanent "eerms" and "aaahs" as well as being confused went out of hand in the last few years. So I agree with your conclusion, he should have quit years ago but still thanks and love to Rolf and his family.

[@Masterdoctorgenius14]

Technisch hatte er nicht viel Ahnung, aber viel Hintergrundwissen abseits des Tisches hatte er.

[@udtojanpestillos2094]

Da hast du absolut recht. Aber trotzdem hat er den Sport in Deutschland näher gebracht. Auch ohne technisches Wissen war er immer mit Leidenschaft dabei.

[@Wah-mu4vn]

Meanwhile- Jack Lisowski who became a professional snooker player over a decade ago since has won zero tournaments lmfao Why we call him the GOAT at winning fuckall 🐐

[@loganroy3381]

Was hat das jetzt mit Rolf Kalb zu tun?

[@Glasschin]

@@loganroy3381 shaizan hausen kraut

[@WayneAnthonyHolmes-fr6zn]

@@loganroy3381 Trump has a bad attitude for 1 world title in 19 years