World Open - Day 7

18:30:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

The coolest MC ever :-)
Let’s put it this way, yesterday snooker was at its best! Five matches and ten terrific players who fought for a place in the quarter finals and from there...who knows, maybe in the semis and in the big final. With every victory the player feels that he is closer and closer from lifting that fancy trophy that you’ve all been seeing on the telly. You know...that trophy that it’s in the arena and every player passes it while they are being introduced by the ceremony master. It’s something very oriental about this trophy, in my opinion...I’m expecting that any minute now a genie will come out of it and ask : " What are your wishes master?" :-)))) Whaaaat? That’s how I see it! :-P But let’s leave this and start today’s story about yesterday’s snooker. :-))


Jamie Cope was to fight Ricky Walden in a very interesting match. First frame was won by Ricky and the second by Jamie...and that was about it...for Jamie. That was going to be he’s first and last frame to be won. Ricky took the lead 2-1 by hitting a beautiful 98 break and finally closed the deal at 3-1. It’s true, Cope wasn’t in his best form, his mistakes becoming the next best thing for Walden.

Ricky Walden: Hm...yep I can pot this!
The second match of the day was also the match that we all have been waiting for. After the battle between Ronnie and Jimmy White, the time had come to see Ronnie in a battle with his second idol, Stephen Hendry. The match started with a series of safety shots; it seemed like no one of them were prepared to pot a ball and they needed to warm up a bit. But in the end, Ronnie broke the ice and won the first frame with a beautiful 93 break. Now was Hendry’s turn, so he hit a 95 break to take over the second frame. When Ronnie took the lead 2-1, we were all expecting to see a tight match with more emotions and tension involved...and to see the boys play more, for this rule of best of five it’s becoming really annoying when two titans are playing. But that wasn’t going to happen, for "The Rocket" won the next frame also, for a 3-1 victory.


It was a beautiful match and even if Hendry is not playing like he used to do it, I think the guy played damn well in his golden times, so we can cut him some slack now.:-P Still, with some effort, I think he is capable to win a snooker event. I truly believe he has it in him! After the match Hendry declared for 110sport.tv: " I would have rather he beat me 3-0 with three big breaks rather than me missing chances like the ones I had. The atmosphere was great and I was disappointed that I couldn’t put on a show for those that gave me such great support."
The crash of titans (part two) - Hendry and O`Sullivan
On the other hand, things aren’t quite easy The Rocket also. "You make a 147, play Jimmy White, play Stephen Hendry, it's over isn't it?", said Ronnie for the BBC. He admitted he won quite easily the matches against Jimmy and Hendry, but against other players he might find it difficult, that’s why he must improve his playing.
Either way, we had the opportunity to watch two titans in action. Two wonderful players doing their best to play snooker for a crowd that was going crazy with every shot! :-)


Next in line the match between Alan McManus and Stephen Maguire, a match which ended 3-0 in favor of Maguire. It was that kind of match where a player (this time was Alan) wasn’t going "to feel" the snooker table too much (his biggest score being 27, in the second frame) while Maguire was going to rock around that same table.
Gouldie on cue
Neil Robertson and Andrew Higginson offered us the only match ended on a decider for yesterday. The two players were one frame apart the whole match, but in the end Neil took the victory in his hands with a 3-1 scoreline.


The last match of the day was going to be a short yet very entertaining one. The two players: Stephen Lee and Martin Gould. And if I say Martin Gould, then you all know that quality snooker is in order. ;-) Martin crashed Lee 3-0 and played some high class snooker, clearing the table twice (in the first and second frame). What a terrific player!


Today, in the quarter-finals we shall see the following matches:
Mark Williams v. Ding Junhui
Peter Ebdon v. Martin Gould
Ronnie O`Sullivan v. Stephen Maguire
Ricky Walden v. Neil Robertson


And the TV programme looks something like...:
13:00 – 14:00 (BBC 1)
13:00 - 16:00 (EuroSport)
19:00 – 21:00 (BBC 2)
19:00 - 22:15 (EuroSport)
00:50 – 01:40 (BBC 2)
01:40 – 03:40 (BBC 2 Extra)

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