Australian Goldfields Open 2011 - Day 1
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| Amazing start for Mark Davis |
The first two matches started at a very "rude" hour for the UK residents (aka.04:00), with Shaun Murphy taking on Andrew Higginson, while David Gilbert was facing James Mifsud.
For Murphy things couldn't have been simpler, as he cashed his first victory with a 5-3 scoreline over Higginson, at the same time, the Q School graduate, David Gilbert hammering wild-card James Mifsud 5-1. So the first two spots of the Last 16 round have been occupied.
Later on, the first surprise of the day was about to happen as the magnificent Judd Trump and the experienced Mark Davis were involved in a very important "snooker meeting".
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| Juddy Trump hasn't been in a great form |
It was 3-2 in favour of Davis when the OnQ Promotion recruit decided to re-make the gap and transform it into a 4-2 in no time. However, a steady 62 was proving that Trump was still alive, as the scoreline was now 4-3, but it was too late and Trump's form wasn't the best we've seen. And so, Mark Davis took the 8th frame to end up on a 5-3 final result and get a place into the next round. Brilliant performance!
At the near table Jamie Cope was facing Tom Ford and despite many people's belief that Tom isn't a strong player, he managed to overcome Cope's 102 break and win the battle with a 5-2 result. Ford is set to meet the winner of the match Mark Allen v. Ryan Day in the Last 16.
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| The one and only - the brilliant Stephen Hendry |
As usual, Hendry seemed pretty strong to take the first two frames with breaks of 42, 53 and 51, but Gould fought back with his entire munitions to draw level at 2-2.
After the interval, although Martin was favourite to put his nose in front, missed the final brown to let Hendry in, but he took revenge very soon, as he once again levelled the match by hitting a break of 59, during the next frame.
It was three a piece, when the Scotsman started to pot one ball after another like a machine. And he didn't stop until he cleared the table with a beautiful 120 break! It was pure class! It was the Stephen Hendry that we all love and admire. And that Hendry succeeded to take full advantage of the fact that Gould missed the blue of its sport and make a 57 break, break that was enough to get him the final frame, for a 5-3 victory.
Great start for the seven-time world champion and I really hope he'll be improving that form of his with every match that he plays in.
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| Sadly Gouldie must return home |
Still, Ebbo had a very fast start, breaks of 75 and 60 bringing him the first three frames of the day. It didn't seem like Rory had too much of a choice in the way the match was going, until he draw level and took the lead 4-3. From this point on, it was just a matter of time before he could see himself playing in the Last 16, because he won! Yeah! He came back from being lead 3-0 and managed to win 5-3! How about that? Or to quote Joe Johnson "How's your luck?" Hats off for McLeod's determination.
The second day will start as well as the first one, meaning too early :-)), but at least we have great expectation for a genuine snooker show. Check the schedule below for more info.
From 04:00 (UK time)
16. Dominic Dale v. Steve Mifsud
20. Rory McLeod v. Shaun Murphy
followed by3. John Higgins v. Matthew Selt
7. Ali Carter v. Marcus Campbell
From 10:30 (UK time)
15. Neil Robertson v. Nigel Bond
8. Mark Allen v. Ryan Day
TV coverage:
10:30 - 13:30 British EuroSport 2
22:00 on British EuroSport 2
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