UK Championship (2011 ) Day 5 - Welsh Potting Machine breaks down

"On fire" Walden reached the QFs

The fifth day started with another top seeded player being defeated by an "outsider", Mark Williams losing 6-3 to Ricky Walden. At table number two Shaun Murphy and Martin Gould got in a thrilling match at the end of which "The Magician" won 6-4.

Last year he was reaching the final of the UK Championship and sadly was losing to John Higgins although he was just one step away from victory. This year however, he only managed to reach the Last 16. 
Mark Williams, because that's the guy I've been babbling about, "The  Welsh Potting Machine" had broken down as Ricky Walden was rocking around the snooker table.

The interval was seeing one leader, one clear leader and he's name was Walden. Breaks of 68, 85 and 81 were guaranteeing the Englishman a 3-1 advantage over Williams' 73 break that was only getting him a frame.

Last year runner-up goes home

Still, after the break the Welshman seemed more focused. And he put his cue into action rapidly by scoring in runs of 59 and 54 to draw level at 3-3. He seemed to be back in business.

A horrible kick at the beginning of the 7^th frame was letting Walden in, 58 points later the 2008 Shanghai Masters champion putting his nose in front, 4-3.
From this point on, Williams entered into that dark zone he was into a couple of frames before and he remained there until the end of the match.

Walden used breaks of 53 and 56 to win the next two frames and seal a well deserved victory of 6-3.

Murphy wins after a veru tense snooker encounter

On the other table things seemed to be going one way and one way only (aka. Shaun Murphy's way). The 2005 world champion was leading the recent winner of the Power Snooker event, Martin Gould 4-0 (breaks of 86, 36, 33 and 102 being responsible).

After the break, Murphy was sure to collect 48 points off the table in order to go just one step away from victory at 5-0. But then it happened: the comeback. Probably one of the greatest comebacks of this tournament, although it wasn’t going to be a complete one.

Gouldie hit a marvellous 133 to win his first frame of the day, got into a very scrappy affair next to pull back another frame and hit a series of 64 and 101 to go 4-5. One more frame needed and he would have completed his comeback.

A remarkable comeback from Gould, but sadly not a winner

The next frame was a tough one. Safety shots were involved, snookers, tension, pressure, fouls ... the entire recipe for being glued to your TV or computer's screens. In the end though, Murphy managed to pot a great yellow and go until the pink to win 6-4. Phew, that was a thrilling match!

Ricky Walden and Shaun Murphy are meeting in the quarter-finals of the UK Championship and it's interesting to recall that the last time that happened was during the quarter-finals of the Brazil Masters when Murphy won 4-1 over Walden, as well as the tournament. Should we expect revenge?

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