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.