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.

2013 World Championship Draw

Ronnie O'Sullivan v Marcus Campbell

Ali Carter v Ben Woollaston

Stuart Bingham v Sam Baird

John Higgins v Mark Davis

Shaun Murphy v Martin Gould

Graeme Dott v Peter Ebdon

Matthew Stevens v Marco Fu

Judd Trump v Dominic Dale

Neil Robertson v Robert Milkins

Ricky Walden v Michael Holt

Mark Williams v Michael White

Stephen Maguire v Dechawat Poomjaeng

Mark Allen v Mark King

Ding Junhui v Alan McManus

Barry Hawkins v Jack Lisowski

Mark Selby v Matt Selt
 

The draw for the 2013 World Championships has just been completed. Throwing up some interesting matches. 

A repeat of the 2006 World Final between Peter Ebdon and Graeme Dott while former Grand Prix Champion Marco Fu will take on twice runner up Matthew Stevens. 

Ronnie O'Sullivan will start his defence against Scot Marcus Campbell on Saturday at 10:00.

Awesome Ding Junhui wins PTC Grand Finals!

Ding came from 3-0 down to defeat Neil Robertson 4-3 in a scintillating final in Galway. It was a superb way to round off St Patrick’s Day in Galway

Robertson was ruthless in opening a 3-0 lead, clinically taking his chances when they came. Ding had done nothing wrong; this was just the highest level of match play from the Aussie. It wasn’t until the 4^th frame that Ding got a chance and what followed was four near perfect frames, with a little luck along the way.

Ding was on a 99% pot success & 100% long pot success midway through the final frame, Robertson’s 95% wasn’t too shabby either but last night it wasn’t enough. Robertson was graceful in defeat, realising he had played well and had just run into an opponent at the top of his game.  

20 frames across five matches were required to win this title, Ding won eight of those frames with centuries, one of which was a 147. This sort of display of scoring and consistency throughout the week won’t have gone unnoticed from his peers. However this event was a sprint, 20 frames won won’t even be enough to get through the first two rounds at the World Championships. So Ding has showed he can do it over the short format, he has still the crack the 17 day marathon that the Crucible is.

This event was well attended but badly organised, six matches a day were too many and some matches didn’t begin till after 11. This wasn’t fair for the player or the fans; hopefully World Snooker will look into this for next year’s event.

Haikou and Good Night

Mark Allen retains Haikou World Open
 
Yesterday Mark Allen became the 13^th different ranking event winner of the season after defeating Matthew Stevens 10-4 in a one sided final.

The Antrim potter was a big favourite after his exemplary display against John Higgins in the semi finals and he started the stronger racing into a 3-0 lead. The remaining 6 frames were shared as Stevens just about kept himself in the match.

Resuming at 6-3 Allen nicked the first frame and dealt a body blow to his opponent and from there won three of the next four to win the title with relative ease. Allen has shown some signs of maturing this week and has been able to raise his game when it matters and conserve energy at other times of the week. These strengths will be invaluable if he wants to win the marathon of the mind that is the World Championships, which begins in Seven weeks.

The tournament as a whole was very entertaining and there were very few shocks, maybe a sign that the players are really upping their game in the lead up to the Crucible. This event needs to look at ticket prices however as all week it appeared empty, even the final had more empty seats than filled.

There was a return to snooker for ITV who covered the event all week very professionally and it was very nice to hear Clive Everton commentating again on a full ranking event. Hopefully the BBC took notice of the Commentator/Colour Commentator roles that were employed by Everton and Foulds and look at their own commentary situation for the future.

The PTC Finals will take place in Galway on the 12^th of March and Beyond the Baize will cover this event in full.

Ronnie O’Sullivan to defend World Title

Ronnie O’Sullivan has announced his intention to defend his World Championships Title he won last May. 
 

The Four time world champion will return to the World Championships stating “I was bored – time to get back.”

It will be his first major tournament appearance since last year’s World Championships but Ronnie has said he feels refreshed and just "needed to take a break."

World Snooker has confirmed that they haven’t yet received his entry but after this announcement will be expecting it before the deadline on Thursday.

Stephen Maguire wins 2013 Welsh Open

Maguire defeats Stuart Bingham 9-8 to win fifth ranking title.

Last night in Newport, Stephen Maguire ended his five year wait for a major ranking title. In the afternoon session Maguire looked on top, taking a 4-2 lead, but Bingham fought hard to level at 4-4 going into the evening session.

Bingham continued to control as he won three of the opening four frames to take a 7-5 lead at the mid-session interval. The turning point came in frame 13, Bingham missed a crucial blue to go 8-5 and Maguire cleared to reduce his arrears to one frame.

Maguire had a new lease of life and took the next two frames to lead 8-7 and only require one for the title. In the 16^th frame he was in the balls but a thunderous kick cost him and after being put in a good, but not impossible snooker he went for a “hit and hope” shot without any real thought. It cost him the frame to the delight of the Newport crowd and we had a decider which Maguire won with a classy 82 break.

This will come as a relief to Maguire, five years is a very long time for someone of his class to have not won a major ranking title. Stuart meanwhile has had another excellent week and is now an established top 8 star.

The tournament as a whole was a big improvement on previous years, larger crowds and a high quality of snooker was on show. John Higgins and Mark Williams had another poor tournament while there were good performances from Ken Doherty and Alan McManus who both reached the quarter finals.

There is only nine days until the next ranking event where Mark Allen will begin his defence of his World Open title.

Ali Carter wins 2013 German Masters

Last night Ali Carter defeated Marco Fu 9-6 to capture his third ranking event title.

"The Captain"  recovered from a 5-3 deficit after the first session to win six of the seven frames played in the evening session.

Carter came out flying in the evening with two quick centuries, he won the the first three frames and reversed the pressure. Marco was unable to raise his game to match and Carter closed the final out comfortably.

Carter's cue arrived to the party fashionably late when BA left it behind at Heathrow airport, it arrived just in time for Carters opening match. Afterwards Carter said the thought of having to pull out of the tournament or play with another cue made Carter realise how much this tournament meant to him. 

Although he didn't play vintage snooker he potted the most crucial balls, something he has become very prolific at. Winning his semi against Robertson with a high break of 47 highlighted this doggedness and determination. 

As for Marco, most people would hope this is a platform for him to consistently get to the latter stages of big events this season. However his entire career he has been frighteningly inconsistent and has never been able to back up a good performance. 

Several big names crashed out early, John Higgins suffered a shock loss to Peter Lines in the opening round. Stephen Maguire, Judd Trump & Mark Williams all lost in round two, which for Trump and WIlliams must be worrying as their form hasn't been encouraging of late. 

There were standout performances from a couple of players. Barry Hawkins was sublime in beating Mark Allen and ending Mark Selby's winning streak before losing in Semi's to Marco Fu. Michael Holt played well to reach the quarter finals, before losing to Ali Carter.

Yet again the German Masters has highlighted itself as one of the premier events on the calendar. A wonderful arena and big crowds throughout the five days make this one of the player’s favorite events. My pre-tournament predictions weren't very successful but they only highlighted how open every tournament is this season.