Sunday 8 December 2013

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Snooker in 2013 is over!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from me! See u in 2014! Cheers!

Draw for Masters 2014 in January

Full draw for the Masters, starting on 12 January 2014:

Seeding in brackets

Mark Selby (1) v Mark Davis (15)

Stuart Bingham (8) v John Higgins (13)

Judd Trump (5) v Marco Fu (10)

Ding Junhui (4) v Shaun Murphy (9)

Neil Robertson (3) v Mark Allen (11)

Stephen Maguire (6) v Joe Perry (16)

Barry Hawkins (7) v Ricky Walden (12)

Ronnie O'Sullivan (2) v Robert Milkins (14)

Day 13 UK Championships 2013 Final Robertson 10-7 Selby

A superb match the world number 1 pulls of a magnificent final session, 5-1 down at one point, wins it by 3 frames fantastic final.

Thanks for reading & following this with me, Merry Christmas & a very Happy New Year see u in January for the 2014 Masters good night!
 
Frame 1: Mark Selby the defending champ breaks off in a great reception at the Barbican in York, a beauty of a long red to get the Aussie Robertson going, Neil goes behind the green for a snooker, Mark rolls into the pack, great long red for Selby as well, gets the blue in the centre the defending champ could be in with the first chance, good start 27 with the latest black & looking composed, gets the blue but the red almost went in the pocket for a foul, good recovery gets a 2 ball plant could be a frame winner this break, brings up the half century 4 reds in a little cluster in the centre of the table beautifully played! Tough red from the cushion in the centre pocket potted, frame sealed now for the century, cannons are working nicely here lost position on 80 fabulous black deservedly applauded, CENTURY! Well played Mark Selby, a brilliant 130 1-0 Selby.

Frame 2: Early safety battle in this frame, poor safety from Robertson & Selby may have a chance, everything is covered by the looks of it, plays safe does Selby, Robertson almost fluked a red into the middle pocket, neither player giving a inch at the moment, looks like Robertson may have a chance, middle distance red dispatched, 12 made currently a nice start, may need a long pink to keep break going, but he turned it down, both players playing good safety shots, Mark misses a long red & Neil looking to take advantage, Neil cannons the 4 reds on the bottom cushion black now available, blues after the reds in the early part of this break, 31 & black on now, pots it we could be heading for a level game, nice long red to ensure the frame can Neil respond with a century of his own? Cracking red along the cushion, 63 break we are level 1-1.

Frame 3: Fabulous long red position went awry for Mark Selby, Robertson misplaced a safety & Selby is in the balls, 49 for Selby missed red in green pocket, Robertson misses a red by a fair distance, and so does Selby, Neil pots a red can still win this frame, only gathers the blue & then a red is missed from the Aussie, good safety play from both players here, Mark just misses a red whilst swerving foul called, gets it 2nd time around, a good red by Selby going for green beautiful position, double attempt missed good effort though, poor safety from Neil, frame ball red potted! Gratefully applauded looking like the defending champion will re-take the lead & he does. 2-1 Selby

Frame 4: Middle distance red which Neil missed he should have potted chance for Selby, nice split on the pack for Mark, pink & black are out of action so blue is the colour of choice, 39 and position is lost, not a wonderful safety from Neil & Mark Selby has a chance to go into the interval 2 frames ahead but position has deserted him, he has recovered baulk colour brown potted, back in position to win frame, hasn't won it yet, Selby behind the black Neil can see a red on the side cushion, tried to bring reds into play a little messy that, Selby seals the frame next pot, a break of 35 up to the blue 3-1 Selby at mid session interval.

Frame 5: Reds tightly bunched in the opening exchanges, two reds hanging over the corner pocket, white goes in that same pocket very unfortunate though, scrappy frame at the moment, Mark over-cuts a red, Neil could be in, he isn't missed blue, a 57 break from Selby puts him in pole position for a bigger lead. Selby leads 4-1.

Frame 6: Robertson's confidence isn't there at the moment for me, Selby back in the balls, 18 for the defending champ, Robertson takes his eye off the pot, Selby back in, 9 points in the frame Robertson tried to come back in this frame but lost position after a break of 30, green to black left, good long green from Selby frame won, 5-1 to the defending champ.

Frame 7: Robertson in the balls, choosing blues at the moment after reds, position awry for Neil pots the awkward blue though 36 break now, 54 break now looking good for the frame a really key one too, Neil fouls the pink just (the red went in didn't matter), Selby misses a red, great long red in to the yellow pocket, Selby needs to clear up to win this frame, not a good safety from Mark, Neil clinches the frame after a little tactical battle he badly needed it, frame clinched with a lovely red to the green pocket. 5-2 to Selby.

Frame 8: Neil in the balls 38 break at the moment reds in a cluster good chance, a frame winning break 86 red struggled in to the pocket, great long blue to get to 99, red into the middle CENTURY! 114 colours left, 123 break in the end, cracking break 5-3 Selby see u tonight!

RECAP: Mark Selby got into a 5-1 session lead with some fabulous play, Robertson took the last two 5-3.

Saturday 7 December 2013

Day 12 UK Championships 2013 Semi Final 2

Result Mark Selby (Eng) 9-5 Ricky Walden (Eng)

Mark Selby made the 100th 147 break in the history of professional snooker on his way to beating Ricky Walden 9-5 in his UK Championship semi-final.

Defending champion Selby, 30, led 4-2 at the time in the best-of-17 match.

He lost position after potting the final pink but managed to roll the black into the middle pocket to complete his second maximum clearance.

History of the 147

  • First (and first televised): Steve Davis (Eng), The Classic, 1982 (v John Spencer)
  • First World Championship: Cliff Thorburn (Can), 1983 (v Terry Griffiths)
  • Most: Stephen Hendry (Sco) & Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng), 11
  • Fastest: O'Sullivan, five minutes, 20 seconds, World Championship first round, 1997

Selby can reclaim the world number one ranking from Neil Robertson if he beats the Australian in Sunday's final.

Englishman Selby looked to be cruising at 6-2 up at the interval, despite not playing at his best, and edged to within a frame of victory by winning the first two on resumption as Walden missed a host of regulation pots.

But Walden finally found some form with a break of 50 to end a losing run of five frames and followed that up with a 62 in the next to make it 8-4.

Selby looked to have the match won when he reached 58, but an error let Walden back onto the table and the 31-year-old won his third straight frame with a superb clearance of 85.

However his run came to an end as Selby hit a sparkling century to seal the match at the fourth time of asking.

"I didn't think I played fantastic at all," Selby told BBC Sport. "The 147 came out of nowhere. I was struggling.

"Ricky had chances but he didn't take them and I was just picking up the pieces.

Analysis

"If you take away the 147, Mark will probably be disappointed in the way he played. He'll be disappointed to get to 8-2 and then see the match last so long. But that said, he'll be delighted to get into the final to defend his title."

"I probably played at 50-60% and missed balls with some amateurish play. I don't know why, perhaps it was about concentration, but I can't afford to make those mistakes against Neil."

Steve Davis made the first competitive 147 in 1982, while Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry have both made 11 during their careers.

Selby will pocket £55,000 for his feat, in addition to the tournament's high break prize of £4,000, as long as nobody else makes a perfect clearance.

The Leicester player made his first 147 at the Jiangsu Classic in China in 2009.

Earlier this year he missed the final black of an attempted maximum clearance in the second round of the China Open.

Selby, who needed a brilliant shot on the brown to get down for the blue during his 147, admitted that the memory of that miss in China had gone through his mind as he got towards the sharp end of his record break.

"It did, once I ran out of position on the green," he added. "Then when I potted pink, I automatically thought I'd be on black so when I wasn't I thought to myself, 'Oh not again,' but thankfully I potted it.

"To do it in a big tournament like the UK makes it a special moment."

Looking ahead to Sunday's final against Robertson, who held off an impressive fightback from Stuart Bingham on Friday to progress, Selby said: "Neil is a great player, he's number one.

"He's been so consistent over the last two years. It'll be a tough game so I'll need to perform better than I have done."

Friday 6 December 2013

Day 11 UK Chamionships 2013 Semi Final 1

Neil Robertson (Aus) 9-8 Stuart Bingham (Eng) Result

World number one Neil Robertson fended off a brilliant late fightback from Stuart Bingham to reach the final of the UK Championship for the first time.

Australian Robertson, 31, had the better of the opening session, taking a 5-3 lead into the interval in York.

He then rattled off the next three to move to within a frame of victory, before a Bingham revival saw the Englishman take five successive frames.

But Robertson held his nerve to win the decider and claim a thrilling 9-8 win.

It was a brave performance from Bingham, who had led from the front in his defeat of world champion O'Sullivan in the quarter-final on Friday.

But in the semi-final, the Englishman, 37, was kept off the table as Robertson blitzed into a 5-2 lead in the best-of-17 frame match.

Bingham won the last frame before the interval, but still looked in trouble as Robertson won the next three to move to within a frame of his first UK Championship final.

However, Bingham edged the next two and then punished mistakes from Robertson, winning the 16th frame with a century to force a decider.

Both players had opportunities early on, but it was Robertson who capitalised first to snatch victory and set up a final against defending champion Mark Selby or Ricky Walden, who play their last four encounter on Saturday.

Thursday 5 December 2013

Day 10 UK Championships 2013 1/4 finals

Quarter-finals (best of 11 frames)

Mark Selby (Eng) 6-5 Barry Hawkins (Eng)

Mark Allen (NI) 2-6 Ricky Walden (Eng)

Neil Robertson (Aus) 6-2 Stephen Maguire (Sco)

Stuart Bingham (Eng) 6-4 Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng)

Wednesday 4 December 2013

Day 9 UK Championships 2013 Round 4

Last 16

09:30

David Morris (Ire) 1-6 Stuart Bingham (Eng)

Ricky Walden (Eng) 6-4 Ding Junhui (Chn)

13:00

Judd Trump (Eng) 4-6 Mark Allen (NI)

Mark Selby (Eng) 6-2 Graeme Dott (Sco)

19:00

Robert Milkins (Eng) 0-6 Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng)

Neil Robertson (Aus) 6-1 Joe Perry (Eng)

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Day 8 UK Championships 2013 Rounds 3+4

Third round latest's

1300: Fergal O'Brien (Ire) 1-6 Ding Junhui (Chn)

1300: Mark Selby (Eng) 6-0 Stuart Carrington (Eng)

1300: Neil Robertson (Aus) 6-3 Li Hang (Chn)

1300: Marcus Campbell (Sco) 2-6 Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng)

Third round results

Mark Allen (NI) 6-5 Michael Holt (Eng)

Mark Williams (Wal) 5-6 Ricky Walden (Eng)

Mitchell Travis (Eng) 1-6 David Morris (Ire)

Matthew Stevens (Wal) 2-6 Robert Milkins (Eng)

Fourth Round

1900: Barry Hawkins (Eng) 6-5 Shaun Murphy (Eng)

1900: John Higgins (Sco) 3-6 Stephen Maguire (Sco)

Monday 2 December 2013

Day 7 UK Championships 2013 Rounds 2+3

2nd round

19:00

Adam Duffy (Eng) 3-6 Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng)

Third round (best of 11 frames)

19:00

Graeme Dott (Sco) 6-3 Ali Carter (Eng)

Liang Wenbo (Chn) 5-6 Stephen Maguire (Sco)

Judd Trump (Eng) 6-2 Xiao Guodong (Chn)

Third round

Jamie Burnett (Sco) 4-6 John Higgins (Sco)

Noppon Saengkham (Tha) 2-6 Shaun Murphy (Eng)

Scott Donaldson (Sco) 3-6 Joe Perry (Eng)

Stuart Bingham (Eng) 6-2 Anthony McGill (Sco)

Gary Wilson (Eng) 4-6 Barry Hawkins (Eng)

Second round

Mark Selby (Eng) 6-3 Tian Pengfei (Chn)

Neil Robertson (Aus) 6-1 Robbie Williams (Eng)

Mitchell Travis (Eng) 6-4 Kurt Maflin (Nor)

Peter Lines (Eng) 2-6 Ricky Walden (Eng)

Mark Davis (Eng) 5-6 Scott Donaldson (Sco)

Luca Brecel (Bel) 5-6 Stephen Maguire (Sco)

Yu De Lu (Chn) 5-6 Matthew Stevens (Wal)

Andrew Higginson (Eng) 4-6 Li Hang (Chn)

Jamie Burnett (Sco) 6-5 Chris Wakelin (Eng)

Chris Norbury (Eng) 0-6 Anthony McGill (Sco)

Stuart Bingham (Eng) 6-2 Jimmy White (Eng)

Rory McLeod (Eng) 3-6 Mark Williams (Wal)

Judd Trump (Eng) 6-0 Dechawat Poomjaeng (Tha)

Liu Chuang (Chn) 5-6 Robert Milkins (Eng)

Rod Lawler (Eng) 1-6 John Higgins (Sco)

Mark Allen (NI) 6-3 Dave Harold (Eng)

Joe Perry (Eng) 6-3 Daniel Wells (Wal)

James Wattana (Tha) 1-6 Ding Junhui (Chn)

John J Astley (Eng) 1-6 Stuart Carrington (Eng)

Graeme Dott (Sco) 6-5 Nigel Bond (Eng)

Ali Carter (Eng) 6-0 Jimmy Robertson (Eng)

Gary Wilson (Eng) 6-3 Vinnie Calabrese (Aus)

Zhang Anda (Chn) 3-6 Barry Hawkins (Eng)

Sean O'Sullivan (Eng) 4-6 Noppon Saengkham (Tha)

Paul S Davison (Eng) 3-6 Shaun Murphy (Eng)

Xiao Guodong (Chn) 6-2 Jamie O'Neill (Eng)

Peter Ebdon (Eng) 1-6 David Morris (Ire)

Michael Holt (Eng) 6-4 Alan McManus (Sco)

Michael White (Wal) 4-6 Marcus Campbell (Sco)

Michael Leslie (Sco) 3-6 Liang Wenbo (Chn)

Fergal O'Brien (Ire) 6-3 Mark King (Eng)

Sunday 1 December 2013

Day 6 UK Championships 2013 Morning & Afternoon Sessions

09:30

Peter Lines (Eng) 2-6 Ricky Walden (Eng)

Mark Davis (Eng) 5-6 Scott Donaldson (Sco)

Luca Brecel (Bel) 5-6 Stephen Maguire (Eng)

Yu De Lu (Chn) 5-6 Matthew Stevens (Wal)

13:00

Andrew Higginson (Eng) 4-6 Li Hang (Chn)

Jamie Burnett (Sco) 6-5 Chris Wakelin (Eng)

Chris Norbury (Eng) 0-6 Anthony McGill (Sco)

Stuart Bingham (Eng) 6-2 Jimmy White (Eng)

Rory McLeod (Eng) 3-6 Mark Williams (Wal)

Judd Trump (Eng) 6-0 Dechawat Poomjaeng (Tha)

Liu Chuang (Chn) 5-6 Robert Milkins (Eng)

Rod Lawler (Eng) 1-6 John Higgins (Sco)