Premier League 2011 (week four) - Rocket rocks in Doncaster

Rocket Ronnie rocks

Ronnie O'Sullivan was crowned the king of Premier League's forth week of cue action after crashing Matthew Stevens 3-0 in the semi-final and beating the "Captain" Ali Carter by 3-1 in the final. With the 6 points that he earned last night added to his previous 2, the "Rocket" flies directly to the top of the list.

The Dome always welcomes snooker and this time snooker was going to repay it by putting quite a show. Both semi-finals were played at full speed and although the final wasn't exactly what we expected it to be (the rhythm seemed lost), the final frame was surely something many of us didn't see in a long time ( for some it might have even been a first!)

Matt Stevens, not thrilled by the whitewash

The first semi-final featured the names of Ronnie O'Sullivan and Matthew Stevens, but as we were still getting used with the cue action ... puf! it ended. After 28 minutes, O'Sullivan's breaks of 47 and 94 represented the perfect ticket to the final. He obtained a clear victory of 3-0 over the 'Welsh Dragon" that didn't get too much time table and seemed to be doomed to stay in his seat.

A few minutes later another two snooker gladiators were entering the arena: Ding Junhui and Ali Carter. And what do you know? Although this was Carter's first match in the Premier League, he managed to win it in the best possible way: by performing the second whitewash of the night, 3-0 against the "Chinese Sensation". 
With breaks of 44, 50, 70 and 91 the "Captain" was due to meet the "Rocket".

Ding Junhui, second man to be crashed 3-0

After such a thrilling and fast show many of us thought the fun will continue ... but it didn't. The first two frames of the final were scrappy, making the scoreline go 1-1. Still, O'Sullivan's break of 68 from the third frame added some more spice to the game and considering players' latest performances I, personally, thought they will go all the way. 

And maybe they would have gone, if Carter wouldn't have missed to hit a red ball three times on a row although more than one ball was visible. He threw that frame away and the match, for that matter.

A good run for Carter ... but it ended totally wrong

And so the final ended on Ronnie's favour (3-1), although something tells me the "Rocket" would have wanted to obtained that victory in a totally different way. But, in the end a win is a win, no matter what. Too bad it had to end like that for Ali, who cued beautifully last night.

So, after four weeks of action the best man seems to be O'Sullivan, who has 8 points, followed by Mark Williams, Matthew Stevens, Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson, all with 6 points. Ding Junhui and Ali Carter have 4 points each, John Higgins only 3, while Jimmy White has yet to collect one.

The Premier League caravan will make its next stop at Weston-Super-Mare on October the 6^th, when Mark Williams will face Judd Trump, while John Higgins will take on Matthew Stevens.