World Championships Round 1 Review

We are seven days into the marathon of the mind that is the World Championships. So far we’ve had a handful of centuries, shocks and the appearance of everyone’s favourite new player, Dechawat Poomjaeng.

Defending Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan made light work of experienced campaigner Marcus Campbell on day one, defeating the Scot 10-4. O’Sullivan’s game looked sharp in all departments apart from his long game, but this has never stopped him in previous years.

He will face Ali Carter in the next round in a repeat of last year’s final. The “Captain” went through the gears in his second session against Ben Woollaston winning all of the required five frames. His long game looked very strong - exactly what will be required to take his chances against O’Sullivan.

Stuart Bingham is on the verge of a very comfortable win over debutant Sam Baird who struggled to settle in the first session. Leading 8-1 going into today’s final session he looks certain to make it into round two.

Mark Davis made it three wins over John Higgins this season with a strong performance in defeating the four time former champion. His safety and potting were of the highest class and through both sessions he outplayed a rather bedraggled looking Scot. At the age of 40 it’s refreshing to see an older player hitting his peak later in life.

Shaun Murphy has slipped under the radar coming into this year’s World Championships despite having had a solid season. His game is always suited to the longer formats and he had a comfortable win over the tricky Martin Gould.

His opponent Graeme Dott survived eight gruelling hours in the lion’s den with Peter Ebdon. Ebdon, the 2002 World Champion, was taking slow play to a new level as he struggled with his game. Dott at times looked thoroughly frustrated but did well to raise his game and come through a 10-6 winner.

New father Marco Fu avenged his defeat to Matthew Stevens at this stage last year by defeating the Welshman 10-7 yesterday. Getting over the winning line proved difficult but it’s been a decent year for Marco and I fancy he will cause Judd Trump a few troubles in the next round.

Speaking of Trump, he had an easy victory over Dominic Dale. Moving through the gears effortlessly in the second session to win 10-5, however Fu will prove a much sterner test.

Neil Robertson is currently leading 5-4 over Robert Milkins. This was a tough first round draw but I still expect the Aussie to progress. His 143 was a new highest break for him at the tournament.

Ricky Walden was in superb form against an out of sorts Michael Holt. He was clinical in the balls and his overall game looked very good, however he won’t be given the same chances against Neil Robertson – assuming the Thunder from Down Under progresses.

Extremely talented Welsh youngster Michael White made his breakthrough in defeating Mark Williams. It was a solid performance against an under cooked Mark Williams who’s dreadful season ended on a low. With Stephen Maguire losing to Dechawat Poomjaeng, White will now be the favourite to progress to his first ranking event quarter final. 

Dechawat Poomjaeng became everyone’s new favourite player when he held his nerve to defeat the World Number Four Stephen Maguire. His very slow play around the table seemed to be forgiven due to his eccentric behaviour and bright personality. However behind these strange antics was a very driven and impressive performance.

The biggest shock of the first round was Mark King’s very remarkable victory over Mark Allen. He thrived under the intense spotlight and played his best snooker when the finish line approached. It was probably the best match I’ve seen from King but, for Allen, it’s a big setback as he was heavily fancied at the start of the tournament.

Promising youngster Jack Lisowski showed he still isn’t quite ready to breakthrough as he was swept aside by Barry Hawkins. Hawkins was very clinical and cleaned up Lisowski’s mistakes.

Mark Selby wasn’t that impressive in his first round victory over Matthew Selt. However that won’t bother the Jester, winning is all that matters in round one. He will be a big favourite against Hawkins but unless he improves he could struggle.