Quarter Final Round up

Barry Hawkins became the first player to reach this year’s Semi Finals with an impressive victory against an under par Ding Junhui. The story of the match was set in the first session, Ding cued badly and looked under increasing pressure and irritation at his poor form, and little changed as the match progressed. With the weight of a nation on him, a rather large and demanding nation at that, he crumbled and looked beaten as he came out for the final session trailing 9-7.

Hawkins was clinical and ruthless and took the opening four frames to progress. Although a ranking tournament winner, reaching the semi finals will easily be the best achievement of Barry’s career and his cool and calm finish to the match impressed me.

Barry Hawkins opponent will be Ricky Walden after he completed a 13-6 victory of Welsh prodigy Michael White. Walden was the more mature and composed during the match and was able to steal a few frames that killed off his opponent. Michael White has had a dream Crucible debut and it won’t be long till we see him in a Crucible Semi Final.

Ricky Walden and Barry Hawkins will both see this as a golden opportunity to reach a World Final and I expect a very close and edgy Semi Final.

Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump’s quarter final was heavily hyped and it didn’t let anyone down. We saw all 25 frames and the final frame was one of the all time classic final frame deciders. Filled with tension, emotion and superb play it was probably the quickest 50 minutes of the season. Trumps aggression in the final frame won it for him I felt. Murphy went a little too negative when he got chances, trying to not lose the frame while Trump grabbed it with both hands.

Probably the match the fans wanted awaits us now in the Semi Final when Judd Trump meets Ronnie O’Sullivan. Stuart Bingham was unable to perform to his ability in his Quarter Final with O’Sullivan and was defeated 13-4. While much has been made of how well O’Sullivan played, he was gifted a number of guilt edge chances and wasn’t made to work for many of his frames. What we did learn is that O’Sullivan is cueing beautifully and if you give him a chance in the balls he will won’t hesitate to punish his opponent.

I have just returned from a couple of days in Sheffield and will be posting up a piece about visiting the World Championships.

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.

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.

Will Ronnie O'Sullivan defend his Snooker World Championship?

Ronnie O'Sullivan has until the 28th of February to decide.

The four times World Champion hasn't played since his first round loss at the PTC 3 in Gloucester. The Rocket was expected to make his full ranking return at the inaugural International Championship in October, which he pulled out of at the 11th hour citing on-going health problems. Shortly after he announced he would take no further part in the 2012/2013 season. 

Life without Ronnie? 

The game of snooker is bigger than any one player, that is for sure and in Ronnie's absence it has given plenty of player’s opportunities to shine. None more so than Stuart Bingham who lit up last year’s Premier League, a competition O'Sullivan has dominated for 10 years.

But the appeal is still there, while the game has lots of up and coming stars and established stars there a few marquee names. John Higgins and Mark Williams remain, but with the retirement of Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis and Jimmy Whites uncontrollable slide towards retirement the game lacks real A List players.

O'Sullivan is still the sports main attraction, but in his absence Judd Trump has become a fans favourite. Also young attacking players such as Luca Brecel and Jack Lisowski are on the cusp of breaking through at a major TV event. In the future I can see the burden of being the "Entertainer" being passed around more than it currently is. 

It would be strange having a World Championship without O'Sullivan, especially given he is the defending champion. But like every other tournament we've had over the years without him, the tournament will go on and will still be as enthralling. 

O'Sullivan in Numbers

4 World Championships

4 Masters

4 UK Championships

24 Ranking Titles

670+ Centuries

11 Maximum Breaks