World Championship 2012 (Day 10) - Captain Carter flies over Trump to reach quarters

19:46:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Carter fights back to get a place in the QFs
Ali Carter won an incredibly tense battle of cues against Judd Trump by 13-12, securing himself a spot in the quarter-finals, followed by Welshman Matthew Stevens who obtained a 13-11 victory over Barry Hawkins.

The Carter Airlines customers went through quite a bumpy flight, Ali finishing the first session on a 5-3 scoreline, but finding himself being lead by 9-7 at the end of the second one.

When the last session started, Trump consolidated his position at 10-7, but Carter managed to pull back a frame (break of 80 hit in the process) with the first chance he got and prove he's still there fighting.

Trump: very close and yet so very far away
Once against Trump detached himself and in an attempt to hit a maximum break (stopped at 96) changed the scoreline into 11-8. Still, he didn’t quite get away with it, as Carter was forcing his way back into the match to maintain the two-frame distance, this time with a break of 94.

However, things started to get messy when Trump moved one away from victory, leaving Carter three frames behind and in a very tough posiiton.

Comeback? You can bet! The Captain used breaks of 81, 32, 39 and 53 to force a decider, the best way this match could end, since both players were pushing themselves to the max throughout the entire match.
Carter, happy as can be after winning the match

First in was Trump, but after just nine points he missed, letting Carter in. 20 points later his break ended after losing position. The safety shots battle began, but after quite some time, Trump found his way through the balls and started potting.

However it didn’t last too long a missed red with the rest bringing Carter back to the table, this time to collect a more considerable amount of points, 47 to be more precise.

Trump was in need of four snookers, but he kept on playing and after some pretty amazing snookers, got three. Carter was in trouble, but the experience helped him keep it together and when Trump failed to put the last red safe, we went on and potted it to win the match.

Stunning, dramatic and bloody fantastic: that's how this match was!

Stevens advances into the next round
On the other table, Matthew Stevens and Barry Hawkins started their last season by being on an 8-8 scoreline and with the Welshman flying two frames up with a bit of help from runs of 33, 22 and 65.

Still, by the time the mid-session interval was kicking off, Hawkins was drawing level with breaks of 64 and 63. It was 10-10.

At returning into the arena, Stevens put his nose back in front after winning a scrappy frame and continued potting to get just one step closer to the finish-line, at 12-10.

Hawkins tried to come back into the match an partially managed to do it as he won the 23rd frame, but Stevens was careful to avoid the decider and ended the business during the next frame with a top break of 57.


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World Championship 2012 (Day 9) - O'Sullivan, Trump and Jones lead the way towards quarters

01:30:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Rocket Ronnie is two frames away from the QFs
Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump and Jamie Jones managed to end their first two sessions of snooker by taking considerable leads over their opponents and are now favourite to book a place in the quarter-finals.

Ronnie O'Sullivan almost ended Mark Williams' dream to reach the next round after finishing the first session leading by 5-3 and the second one at 11-5.

During the second session the Rocket flew beautifully, his cue action style bringing him breaks of 107, 74, 51, 68, 128 and 93 for taking no less than six frames in a row and get himself at 11-4.

If Williams hadn't won one of the remaining two frames, the match would have ended without having a third session, but fortunately for the fans that have tickets for Monday, as well as for himself, Mark used a top break of 86 to cash both frames.

At the next table, Ali Carter's luck of having a 5-3 lead over Judd Trump was about to change, the player from Bristol making his way back into the game with a top break of 125 and not stopping his offensive even when Carter put his nose back in front at 6-5 with a beautiful 112 clearance.

This time, Trump didn’t just level the match, but he also went on to get in the leading position for the first time with an 80 break. The session ended a few minutes after, at 9-7 in favour of the 2011 UK Championship winner.

Also in a great form was Jamie Jones, the "Kiddo" managing to take full advantage of Andrew Higginson's mistakes of missing frame ball most of the time and ending the second session with a 10-6 advantage, while Matthew Stevens and Barry Hawkins finished theirs on a draw of 8-8.

Tomorrow, the action continues with:

1pm
20* Ali Carter 7-9 Judd Trump
24* Matthew Stevens 8-8 Barry Hawkins

7pm
19* Jamie Jones 10-6 Andrew Higginson
21* Mark Williams 5-11 Ronnie O'Sullivan
*denotes the final session of the match

TV coverage:
13:00 - 16:00 British EuroSport
13:00 - 16:00 British EuroSport 2
13:00 - 18:00 BBC Two 
18:00 - 22:00 British EuroSport
19:00 - 20:00 BBC Two
19:00 - 22:00 British EuroSport 2
23:20 - 02:10 BBC Two (the highlights)

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World Championship 2012 (Day 8) - Good Day in quarters

22:35:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Welshman Day gets into the QFs
Ryan Day booked himself a place in the next round after defeating the last of the remaining Chinese players in this tournament, Cao Yupeng by 13-7.

The Welshman took a comfortable lead of 6-2 over the Chinese opponent with a bit of help from breaks like 53, 32, 87 and 62 and even if the second session found Day not in such a great form, the player still managed to end it by putting his nose in front.

Cao hit in breaks of 43, 125 and 37 to win no less than three frames in a row and get just one point behind Day at 6-5, but the Welshman acknowledged the danger and used a century break of 112 points to go two frames ahead.

Cao Yupeng's Crucible dream ends here
Once again Cao put himself one point away from drawing level, but like before Day denied him the right to catch up, this time using a break of 72.

The session ended at 9-7 but when the final one started the old memory of a struggling Day just vanished as the Welshman stormed in and took the four needed frames with runs of 113, 53, 87 and 119.

Now, Ryan awaits for the winner of the Matthew Stevens v. Barry Hawkins match to know against who he'll be playing in the quarter-finals.

Ronnie O'Sullivan took a 5-3 lead over Mark Williams, while in the other match Ali Carter flew 5-3 up ahead of Judd Trump.

Tomorrow the Crucible-action continues with:

10am
19 Jamie Jones v. Andrew Higginson
24 Matthew Stevens v. Barry Hawkins

2.30pm
20 Ali Carter v. Judd Trump
21 Mark Williams 3-5 Ronnie O'Sullivan

7pm
19 Jamie Jones v. Andrew Higginson
24 Matthew Stevens v. Barry Hawkins

TV coverage:
10:00 - 13:00 British EuroSport
14:00 - 18:00 BBC Two
16:00 - 18:00 British EuroSport
19:00 - 22:00 British EuroSport 2
19:30 - 22:00 British EuroSport
00:25 - 02:25 BBC Two

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World Championship 2012 (Day 8) - Hendry crushes Higgins Crucible dream

17:13:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Hendry books a place in the QFs
Defending champion, John Higgins saw his Crucible dream crushed by an incredible 13-4 scoreline performed by an eager-to-compete Stephen Hendry. 

Hendry started his Crucible journey with a great 147 during the match he played against Stuart Bingham and continued to show the same cue style action against his fellow countryman John Higgins.

Although Higgins took the first two frames of the match, by the end the first session Hendry was way ahead of him at 5-3 using breaks of 81, 69, 123 and 67. 

Defending champ, John Higgins was sent home
Things didn't seem to go John's way at returning into the arena either, Stephen extending his lead at 7-3 before Higgins could win his only frame of the second session and of what was left of the match.

The session was ended with Hendry's runs of 48, 43, 66 and 83 that were sending him one step closer to the finish-line at 12-4.

Needless to say that today Higgins come back into arena to only play for his pride, a comeback looking very unlikely from his position.

Sadly he didn’t stay in the arena too much as he missed the pink on 20, Hendry coming to end the match with a break of 64 in order to set a meeting with another fellow countryman, Stephen Maguire, in the quarter-finals.

Hendy and Higgins' reaction after the match can be seen below:




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World Championship 2012 (Day 8) - Maguire storms in for quarters spot

14:01:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Maguire fires his cue for a place in the QFs
Stephen Maguire became the second player, after Neil Robertson, to book himself a place in the quarter-finals after winning 13-7 against Joe Perry.

Scotland's Maguire ended the first session of cues-crossings by taking a 5-3 lead, lead sustained by breaks of 101, 101, 52, 65, 66 and 82, the second one developing not much differently, runs of 47, 39, 91, 80 and 75 giving him a comfortable advance of 11-5.

Perry heads back home

His opponent, Joe Perry was mostly kept in his seat, although when he was "allowed" to feel the table his contributions weren't that bad, the Englishman using runs of 115, 68, 56, 47 and 103 to win his five frames.

As the last session started it was clear that Perry needed to comeback and very quickly considering that his rival was just two frames away from winning the match. So he tried his best, but sadly only managed to pull back two frames before Maguire won a scrappy affair to extend his lead at 12-7.

The next frame was won by the Scottish player with a clear break of 79, the scoreboard freezing at 13-7.
Now, Maguire is waiting for the winner of Higgins v. Hendry match, which by the looks at it, is going to be Hendry.

At the other table, Ryan Day extended his lead over China's Cao Yupeng at 9-7.

Below you can watch Maguire and Perry's reaction after the match.






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World Championship 2012 (Day 7) - Robbo advances in quarter-finals

00:39:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Robertson gets a well deserved place in the QFs
Neil Robertson beat David Gilbert 13-9 to grab the first quarter-finals spot of this year's World Championship edition.

The 2010 world champion has had a great season winning no less than two PTC events and the Masters and if we are looking at his Crucible performance from the last days we will see that he's heading towards conquering the title once more.

Interestingly enough the first session started with Gilbert taking a great 3-1 lead over the Australian player with runs of 53, 76 and 44, but as the lads returned from the 15-minute break, Robertson stormed in to finish on first place at 5-3.

The second session began with Neil's runs of 48 and 34 that were winning him the 9th frame, but Gilbert fought back and nearly caught up with his opponent at 5-6.

Knowing that he has a dangerous player in front of him, a player that eliminated a top-seed in the first round, Robertson used a series of 76, 77, 82 and 92 to fly all the way to 10-5, Gilbert only managing to cash the following frame and trail 10-6 as the second session was ending.

Great display by Gilbert, but his crucible run ends here
The last of their snooker encounters followed the same pattern, with Robertson taking the first frame and Gilbert the next two.

Still this time Robertson's runs of 60 and 39 were putting him just one away from a place in the quarters and although Gilbert tried to comeback by taking the 21st  frame, the Australian ended the match with breaks of 44 and 42.

Very close to follow Robertson's footsteps in the next round is Stephen Hendry, who after two sessions is leading the defending champion, John Higgins by 12-4.

Ryan Day ended his first snooker session with Cao Yupeng by being 6-2 ahead, while Stephen Maguire is leading Joe Perry 11-5 after two sessions.

Tomorrow the action continues with:

10am
18* Joe Perry 5-11 Stephen Maguire
23 Ryan Day 6-2 Cao Yupeng

2.30pm
17* John Higgins 4-12 Stephen Hendry
21 Mark Williams v. Ronnie O'Sullivan

7pm
20 Ali Carter v. Judd Trump
23* Ryan Day v. Cao Yupeng
*denotes the final session of the match

TV coverage:
10:00 - 12:00 British EuroSport 2
10:00 - 13:00 British EuroSport
13:00 - 17:30 BBC Two
14:45 - 17:30 British EuroSport
16:45 - 17:30 British EuroSport 2
19:00 - 20:00 BBC Two
19:00 - 22:00 British EuroSport
19:00 - 22:00 British EuroSport 2
00:20 - 01:00 BBC Two (the highlights)

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World Championship 2012 (Day 6) - Williams grabs Last 16 spot

00:29:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

The Welsh Potting Machine to meet the Rocket
Mark Williams grabbed the last of the remaining Last 16 spots after defeating China's Liu Chuang by 10-6. 

The Welshman, although took his time to settle in, cruised towards victory and showed class in beating his opponent.

The lads started sharing frames up until 2-2, but as they returned from the 15-minute break Williams started his assault by firing in breaks of 43, 40, 46, 72 and 111 to complete the first session and lead his opponent by 6-3.

The conclusion of the match saw the same Welshman continuing his marathon of breaks, a series of 72, 40, 36 and 40 putting him one step closer to the Last 16 round, at 9-3.

Liu Chuang's Crucible experience ends in the first round
But the qualifier from China tried his best to get back into the match and won no less than three consecutive frames with runs of 50 and 54.

Still, Williams closed the match with a top break of 33 to get his Last 16 round ticket for a classical rendez-vous with Ronnie O'Sullivan.

At the next table, Joe Perry and Stephen Maguire met for their first session, the Scotsman getting a 5-3 lead at the end of it.

Tomorrow, the action continues with:

10am
17 John Higgins v. Stephen Hendry
22 David Gilbert 3-5 Neil Robertson

2.30pm
18 Joe Perry 3-5 Stephen Maguire
23 Ryan Day v. Cao Yupeng

7pm
17 John Higgins v. Stephen Hendry
22* David Gilbert v. Neil Robertson
*denotes the final session of the match

TV coverage:
10:00 - 13:00 British EuroSport
10:00 - 13:00 British EuroSport 2
13:00 - 17:15 BBC Two
16:45 - 17:30 British EuroSport
19:00 - 22:00 British EuroSport
20:45 - 22:00 British EuroSport 2
00:10 - 01:00 BBC Two (the highlights)

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World Championship 2012 (Day 6) - Captain Carter lands in Last 16

16:55:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Captain Carter is flying again
Ali Carter recorded a beautiful 10-2 victory over Mark Davis after a match that saw the Captain flew like a dream (and of course also cueing like a master of the green baize) to safely land in the Last 16 where he's meeting with Judd Trump.

Although not having the best of seasons, Carter seems to be back on track after his performance during the China Open (where he reached the quarter-finals), but more importantly after today's performance.

Breaks of 65, 49, 72, 101, 76 and 57 were bringing the Essex-man an 8-1 lead over a very ill Mark Davis whose only contribution in the first session was to win a frame.

Mark Davis's illness made him struggle

As the match restarted Carte carried on with runs of 44 and 48 to put him one away from victory, while Davis tried to save his honour with breaks of 45 and 37 to cash his second frame and also the last.

Minutes later a wonderful clearance of 132 points was sealing Carter's victory at 10-2.



On the other table the first Last 16 round match saw Neil Robertson taking an outstanding 5-3 lead over David Gilbert, after being lead 3-1.

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World Championship 2012 (Day 5) - Hawkins kneels down Selby

01:24:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Hawkins earns a spot in the Last 16
Not a day has passed since the beginning of this year's World Championship without having a qualifier taking down a top-seeded player and after Joe Perry and Ryan Day's victories from earlier on, it came down to Barry Hawkins to upset world number one Mark Selby by 10-3.

It was raining breaks for the On Q Promotions lad, Hawkins' runs of 73, 58, 64, 47, 63 and 41 bringing him a considerable lead of six frames to three with the first session finishing, while his green baize opponent was nowhere to be found in the arena.

Mark Selby, who had to pull out of the final stages of China Open due to a neck problem, has been seriously ill trying hard to get back in form until the World Championship started. In a better form, but not quite healed yet, it was easy to see the world number one struggling to pot the balls, thus only winning three frames the entire match.

Selby's neck problem kept him from finding form
The last session it was a one-way-traffic-affair, with Hawkins firing in breaks of 41, 56, 39 and 46 for a 10-3 final result and a place in the next round where he's meeting with Welshman Matthew Stevens.

At the next table, Ali Carter and Mark Davis (another victim of illness) completed their first session, with the Captain taking a very good and well deserved 8-1 lead.


Tomorrow's match schedule:

1pm
7* Ali Carter 8-1 Mark Davis
22 David Gilbert v. Neil Robertson

7pm
18 Joe Perry v. Stephen Maguire
9* Mark Williams 6-3 Liu Chuang
*denotes the last session

TV coverage:
13:00 - 17:15 BBC Two
19:00 - 22:00 British EuroSport
20:45 - 22:00 British EuroSport 2 
23:20 - 00:10 BBC Two (the highlights)

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World Championship 2012 (Day 5) - Trump overcomes illness to win

01:05:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Trump fight back illness
Judd Trump beat Dominic Dale 10-7 to book himself a place into the next round. 

The player from Bristol has been suffering from food poisoning, not being able to eat much and clearly struggling with finding form at the beginning of the match. 

Still, he managed to put himself together and cruised towards victory in his quest for the big title.

Welshman Dale opened the match with a great 3-1 lead sustained by breaks like 59 and 75, but as the first session was coming to an end, last year's World Championship runner-up was making his way back into the game, trailing by just one point, at 5-4.

As the match restarted, Trump continued his fight and levelled the match at 5-5, but Dale was careful enough to detach himself once again with runs of 20 and 43.

Dom Dale's Crucible run ends in the first round
Not in the best form of his life, but eager to prevail this battle of cues, Trump hit the only century break of the match (114) to draw level once more, but as before Dale put his nose back in front with an 80 one. 

Sadly for the Welshman, who's suffering from a sore hand due to hard practicing for this event, that was going to be his last won frame.

Runs of 40, 57, 40 and 42 were winning Trump four consecutive frames, hence also a ticket into the Last 16, where he's waiting for the winner of Ali Carter v. Mark Davis match.

At table number two, Mark Williams took a 6-3 lead over China's Liu Chuang at the end of their first snooker encounter.
 

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World Championship 2012 (Day 5) - Perry and Day book Last 16 spot

17:07:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Add caption
The fifth day of cue action started with Joe Perry's incredible 10-1 win over Graeme Dott and continued with a thrilling final-session-match that saw Ryan Day winning 10-9 over Ding Junhui.

The upsets series continue ...

What happened with Dott? Hard to say. Is this the worst he's played this season? Sure thing. 

But on the other hand Perry wasn't on top of his form either. It's fair to say that the Englishman's snooker was better than the one his opponent played, but we all know that Perry can do so much more than that and now he's got a great chance to prove it, with a booked Last 16 spot.

The first session ended with "The Gentleman" of snooker taking a decisive 8-1 lead by hitting in breaks of 39, 44, 51, 48, 43 and 42; in the opposite corner Dott being ready to surrender as nothing was happening for him when he was finally getting his turn at the table.

Devastated by his run Dott didn't manage to win more than one frame, the match ending after little more than a 20-minute second session and runs of 59 and 56 recorded by Perry for setting a meeting in the Last 16 with another Scotsman, Stephen Maguire.

The second match of the day saw Ding Junhui taking full advantage of his opponent’s weaknesses, Ryan Day's mistakes costing him an initial 6-4 lead but … not the match.

With a first session where the leitmotiv was high quality snooker, it was really not surprise to see the lads sharing frames up until the last one, with Day taking a slight lead of 5-4.

As the second one kicked off the Welshman seemed to be continuing his good run started the day before, but that was one an appearance, although he did win the 10th frame to force a two-frame lead.

What happened next was a classical 'Ding-case' with the Chinese player not only levelling the match, but also taking the lead at 9-6 with breaks of 38, 52, 56, 69, 46 and 57.

Still, Day managed to keep it cool and started his comeback. One frame at a time, no rush. Breaks of 57, 79 and 33 were forcing a decider, putting quite a pressure on his Chinese opponent.

As the last frame began, the Welshman missed a pink that meant a huge chance for Ding. Still 48 points later the Welsh Open champion was missing a red giving Day a life-line, the qualifier clearing up until the pink with a great 64 to win the match.

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World Championship 2012 (Day 4) - Higginson outclasses Lee

01:27:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Higginson wins his first Crucible match
Qualifier Andrew Higginson beat world number 8 Stephen Lee by 10-6 after a great battle of cues held here in Sheffield. 

This is the first victory that Higginson has recorded at the Crucible, this being the second time he plays in the World Championship.

Although at first the snooker encounter between Lee and Higginson was a very equilibrated one, the boys sharing frames up until the end of the first session and performing some really high standard quality snooker, at the start of the second and also last session things began to slip away from Lee.

Higginson had a small advantage of 5-4 entering into the last session, an advantage that he extended to 6-4 by taking the 10th frame. Still Lee cleared the table with a great 102 to restore the one-frame gap with the first chance he got.

What happened next was a typical case of trying to get back into the match, at the same time as your opponent makes the impossible to stop you, so each time Higginson was extending his lead at two frames, Lee was pulling one back.

Big Bear Lee heads home
However, the situation changed from 8-6, when Lee wasn't able to cash the following frame, Higginson's 51 break putting him one step closer to a place in the Last 16.

The next frame saw Andrew hitting in runs of 28 and 61 to end the match and obtain his first ever Crucible victory, a victory that's even more important since it comes from taking on such a tough opponent.

Higginson is meeting another qualifier Jamie Jones, in the Last 16 round on April 29 and 30.

On the other table, Barry Hawkins leads Mark Selby 6-3 after the first session.


Tomorrow's match schedule:

10am
3* Graeme Dott 1-8 Joe Perry
13* Ding Junhui 4-5 Ryan Day

2.30pm
8* Judd Trump 5-4 Dominic Dale
9 Mark Williams v. Liu Chuang

7pm
7 Ali Carter v. Mark Davis
16* Mark Selby 3-6 Barry Hawkins
*denotes the final session

TV coverage:
10:00 - 13:00 British EuroSport
10:00 - 13:00 British EuroSport 2 
13:40 - 17:15 BBC Two
16:45 - 17:30 British EuroSport
19:00 - 22:00 British EuroSport 2
19:15 - 22:00 British EuroSport 
00:10 - 02:10 BBC Two (the highlights)


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Mark Allen apologies for comments

21:48:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Mark Allen apologied for the comments he made in the press conference after he was defeated by Cao Yupeng 10-6 in the first round of the World Championship. 

The On Q Promotions player's statement reads:


"Following my recent comments in the press conference after my first round defeat to Cao Yupeng, I would like to formally apologise to anyone who may have been offended."

"Having taken some time to reflect on my comments I can appreciate that I over-stepped the line at a time when I was heavily influenced by the emotions of a disappointing defeat."

"I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Cao Yupeng if he felt that my comments were insinuating he were a cheat."

"I stand by my opinion that the shot in question was a foul, but I also stand by my previous comments in the press conference that Cao was the better player and fully deserved to win. I genuinely wish him the best of luck for the rest of the tournament."

"I would also like to apologise to World Snooker. I appreciate the hard work by many people to grow our sport and I am truly horrified to think that my actions could be perceived to be detrimental to this."

"It is fair to say that this season has been one of ups and downs. The highs of winning my first ranking title and finishing runner-up in the UK championships have been overshadowed by some ill judged comments from myself."

"I realise that I need to ensure that my off table behaviour matches the standard and level of professionalism I set for my on table etiquette. I will return for the 2012-13 season with an improved approach to giving my opinions publicly."


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World Championship 2012 (Day 4) - Rocket ends Ebdonator's Crucible dream

19:48:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Rocket lands in the next round
Ronnie O'Sullivan found no difficulty whatsoever to defeat Peter Ebdon 10-4 in his way to reaching the Last 16 round.

The German Masters champion ended the first session with a 7-2 lead, scoreline for which he used breaks of 103, 50, 43, 43 and 81, while his opponent's mistakes cost him a great deal, the possibility of a total comeback into the match seeming very far away.

In all fairness, it must be said that Ronnie was far from his best and that his cueing style needs serious improvement to reach the high standard we all know he’s capable of, in order to continue his Crucible run

The last session saw O'Sullivan with a brand new hair-cut, a lucky one, if I may say so, the first frame being easily captured with a break of 80 points.

Ebbo's heading home
Ebdon tried to make a difference and won the very next one, but O'Sullivan was determined to end the match quickly, a break of 68 turning the scoreline into 9-3.

Runs of 45 and 51 were guarantying Ebbo to play at least one more frame, but as the lads came back from the interval Ebdon left a red ball down to the left pocket stopping his break at 50.

O'Sullivan came to the table for a 54 and when his opponent's safety shot on the last red went wrong, he went on to clear with a 19 for a 10-4 victory.

On the other table, Joe Perry took a significant lead of 8-1 over a very unable-to-settle-in Graeme Dott. 

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World Championship 2012 (Day 3) - Welshman Stevens on loose

00:10:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Matthew Stevens, the "flying Welshman"
The last match of the day to see completed its two sessions sent Welshman Matthew Stevens in the Last 16 round after a great 10-3 victory over the man from Hong Kong, Marco Fu.

Stevens was in a great form today aiming for breaking the record and performing the second whitewash ever to happen at the Crucible, but his opponent proved not to be very fond of that idea.

Breaks of 67, 33, 81, 67, 66, 55 and 38 were helping the Welshman to fly all the way to 8-0, while Fu was clearly struggling to find his form.

Worrying times for Marco Fu
Still, just before the session was over Fu managed to avoid the potential whitewash and pulled back a frame after hitting a 62 break.

As the second and last session started Marco decided to have a go and added one more frame to his small collection, while Stevens took the next one to go one step away from victory, at 9-2.

Runs of 26 and 51 were bringing Fu the 12th frame, but it was a bit too late for a comeback. Stevens used a series of 36 and 32 to end his opponent's misery at 10-3.

Stephen Lee and Andrew Higginson got together at the next table to dispute their first session,with the PTC 5 champion taking a 5-4 lead.

Tomorrow's macth schedule:

10am
8 Judd Trump v. Dominic Dale
13 Ding Junhui v. Ryan Day


2.30pm
3 Graeme Dott v. Joe Perry
10* Ronnie O'Sullivan 7-2 Peter Ebdon

7pm
6* Stephen Lee 4-5 Andrew Higginson
16 Mark Selby v. Barry Hawkins
*denotes the final session

TV coverage:
10:00 - 13:00 British EuroSport
10:00 - 13:00 British EuroSport 2
13:00 - 17:15 BBC Two
16:45 - 17:30 British EuroSport  
19:15 - 22:00 British EuroSport
19:00 - 22:00 British EuroSport 2
00:10 - 02:10 BBC Two (the highlights) 

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World Championship 2012 (Day 3) - Stunning Crucible-debut for Jamie Jones

20:16:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Great Crucible debut for Jones
The Welsh Crucible-debutant Jamie Jones obtained a great 10-8 victory over the 2005 World Championship Shaun Murphy after performing a remarkable comeback from being lead 7-5 down.

It's his first appearance here at the Crucible, but he's proved to have worth it. Jamie Jones performed in a spectacular way to win his first round match of his first World Championship and get a place next to the best players, in the Last 16 round.

The first session of the match was very balanced, the lads taking turn on who wins the next frame, the partial result showing Murphy with a slight advantage of 5-4.

At returning into the arena for the final session, the Englishman extended his lead with a bit of help from a 73 break, only to see Jones pulling on back right after it.

Murphy has been sent to pack his bags
One more time, Murphy tried to show his opponent that he's in charge, a break of 101 bringing him a 7-5 lead. But from that point on, everything turned into a battle of nerves as Jamie took the following four frames with runs like 68, 38, a brilliant 136 clearance and a 36. The scoreline was now in his favour at 9-7.

Gutted, but still eager to win this snooker encounter Murphy managed to pull back a frame with runs of 46 and 28, but it was useless: Jamie was cruising towards victory with series of 24 and 26.

The Welshman lifted his fist and punched the air as the frame ball was entering the pocket happy to have made a success out of his first Crucible appearance.

Back on table number two, although not in his best form, but still rocking, Ronnie O'Sullivan took a comfortable 7-2 lead over Peter Ebdon.


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Barry Hearn talks about the new season, wild cards and Allen and Williams' recent comments

19:10:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Things are getting hot in Sheffield, World Snooker Ltd. Chairman Barry Hearn making a few announcements in today's press conference about the coming snooker season and the future actions to be taken against Mark Allen and Mark Williams, following their recent comments on the media and their personal Twitter accounts.

Another big announcement was the fact that Luca Brecel and Tony Drago will receive a two-year spot on the Main Tour.


Hearn's statement reads:


"A change of format for the German Masters and Welsh Open next season. Players ranked 33-96 will play one match, with the winners to face players ranked 1-32 (exact format, in terms of how many players at the venue, is to be confirmed)."


"German Masters prize money increased to 300,000 Euros with a top prize of 60,000 Euros. Welsh Open up to £250,000 with the winner to get £50,000."


"European Tour (part of the Players Tour Championship series) events in Belgium, Bulgaria, Poland, two in Germany and one more. Prize money for each increased to 70,000 Euros. Snooker is the most watched sport on Eurosport, with outstanding viewing figures."


"Prize money for PTC Grand Finals increased to £300,000 with a top prize of £100,000."


"Future prize money increases are likely to be given to PTC events as they have the fairest structure. Snooker should be a meritocracy with less protection of the top players. Ability should be the only criteria. The PTC events are also likely to be given more ranking points."


"The two places allocated to Europe in the tour qualifying criteria will be given to the top two players from continental Europe not already qualified. They are Tony Drago and Luca Brecel. They will both be given a tour card for the next two seasons."


"Two years from now, a ranking system based on prize money rather than ranking points will be introduced. For the next two seasons, the money list will run parallel to the points list. The two advantages of the money list will be a) it's easier to understand for the general public b) New players coming on to the tour will have a better chance to climb quickly."

Update: WPBSA statement on Mark Allen's case:

' Mark Allen was recently fined £1,000 for comments made in China during the Haikou World Open last month, and now faces further action.


WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson said: "The WPBSA is responsible for the governance of snooker worldwide and takes very seriously comments made which could be perceived to be directed at a particular nation. The Chairman of the disciplinary committee Nigel Mawer is making further inquiries into this incident. Mark Allen will be given 14 days to respond to the letter." '




Below you have the press conference where Hearn's talking about taking actions against Allen and Williams.



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World Championship 2012 (Day 3) - Maguire sends Brecel home

15:20:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Maguire: Not on-fire, but a winner
World number 7 Stephen Maguire defeated Crucible-debutant Luca Brecel by 10-5 in his way to the Last 16 round. 

Although "On-fire" Maguire wasn't actually on-fire, his form being no where as good as a few months ago, his experience made all the difference.

The match started with the Scottish player taking an incredible 4-0 lead by firing in breaks of 41, 46, 54 and 40, but as the first session ended Brecel managed to win three frames with important runs of 96, 116 and 63 to trail 6-3.

A very good Crucible debut for Luca
Today, as the match re-started, Belgium's prodigy hit a marvellous 86 break to pull back a frame, but he made several mistakes during the next two frames, allowing Maguire to cash them by using breaks of 101 and 94. 

The 2012 German Masters runner-up was now just one step away from victory, 9-4.

Still Brecel didn’t give in and managed to win a very scrappy affair to prolong the suspense, but sadly for the 17-year-old lad two horrible misses committed during the next frame were costing him the match. 

Maguire was winning 10-5 and he's now waiting for the winner of tomorrow's match between Graeme Dott and Joe Perry.

At table number two, Matthew Stevens took an impeccable lead of 8-1 over a total out-of-form Marco Fu after the first session.

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World Championship 2012 (Day 2) - Robertson and Hendry in the Last 16

23:29:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Robbo had no difficulty to reach the Last 16
The last two matches of the day ended on the same result, 10-4, the winners being two former world champions, Neil Robertson and Stephen Hendry. Both of them had a terrific first session taking valuable leads against their opponents, so this evening they just needed to wrap things up so they could land in the next round.

Neil Robertson had to face legend Ken Doherty, a player that has been estranged from the Crucible (as a player) for quite some time. No wonder that when he first entered the arena he kissed the red carpet. 

The match seemed to get on a pretty balanced way with the lads sharing the first two frames, but when the first session ended on a 7-2 result in favour of Robertson, things were pretty clear.

Kenny kissing the red carpet
This evening session saw a pretty determined-to-come-back Doherty just a top break of 39 bringing him the first frame, while his opponent was restoring the difference after hitting a 66 one.

Still, "The Darling of Dublin" didn't give up the fight and tried to force his way back into the game with a 56, to which Robertson replayed with a 72 to turn the scoreline into 9-4.

The next frame was also entering the Australian’s pocket, Doherty's Crucible dream being crushed yet one more time.

The way Stephen Hendry played his first session against Stuart Bingham was amazing. Pure class from a revived genius that finished his first snooker encounter with the Australian Goldfield Open champion on an 8-1 scoreline.

Hendry wins his first match
However, what happened tonight wasn't anything like yesterday, Hendry's form not being the one he showed to have the day before.

Bingham saw in this the perfect chance to get three frames on board with breaks of 55, 53 and 36, but the Scotsman didn't put himself into all that trouble to just give in now.

So he closed with a series of 35, 24 and 96 in order to book himself a place in the Last 16, where he's meeting the defending champion John Higgins for the first time at the Crucible.

Tomorrow's match schedule:

10am
4* Stephen Maguire 6-3 Luca Brecel
15 Matthew Stevens v. Marco Fu

2.30pm
5* Shaun Murphy 5-4 Jamie Jones
10 Ronnie O'Sullivan v. Peter Ebdon

7pm
6 Stephen Lee v. Andrew Higginson
15* Matthew Stevens v. Marco Fu
*denotes the final session

TV coverage:
10:00 - 13:00 British EuroSport
10:00 - 13:00 British EuroSport 2
13:00 - 17:15 BBC Two
14:30 - 17:30 British EuroSport 2
14:30 - 17:45 British EuroSport
19:00 - 22:00 British EuroSport
10:00 - 22:00 British EuroSport 2
23:20 - 00:10 BBC Two (the highlights)

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World Championship 2012 (Day 2) - Cao Yupeng shocks Allen

20:26:00 Ramona Dragomir 1 Comments

Cao Yupeng reached the Last 16 round
As the day unfolds here at The Crucible more and more drama is being added to the packet, as another top seeded player, this time Mark Allen experienced an early exit under the form of a 10-6 scoreline carefully managed by China's Cao Yupeng.

Yupeng had to win four matches in order to get his Crucible-ticket, so he cam here to prove a point. Still, with such a tough opponent like Mark Allen it seemed hard to believe that the Chinese player will prevail the battle of cues and especially with such a scoreline. But it happened.

The cues-crossing started with Cao taking the first three frames under his belt with runs of 70, 29 and 69, while Allen only managed to pull back a frame.

Still, as the first session came to an end the scoreline was a bit more balanced, the proud of Northern-Ireland being lead by just one point, 5-4.

Today the match re-started with a very-eager-to-win Yupeng whose breaks of 33, 17 and 108 brought him two consecutive frames. Still struggling, Allen did all his best to catch up with his opponent but only managed to pull back a scrappy frame, as Cao advanced to 9-5 after hitting in runs of 35, 40 and 113.

A great 101 clearance from the Haikou World Open champion was keeping the match alive, the next frame proving to be a massive one.

When Cao missed the blue on 43 the drama started. Scrappiness was the name of the game, until Allen collected 12 points with only the colours left on the table.

Another shock at The Crucible: Allen's out
Yellow, green and brown all went in but the Northern Ireland player lost position for the blue. He needed all the remaining balls to give himself at least one more chance to properly come back into the match. 

A few minutes later he managed to do the impossible and sent the last of the tree remaining balls into the pocket, but sadly lost the cue ball into the yellow one. With Allen needing the last black to win and the cue ball potted, the penalty points were declaring Cao Yupeng winner, 10-6.

It was a horrible way to lose the match and totally unfair, but on the other hand they weren't on a decider not to mention that Allen's performance throughout the match wasn't the best. Maybe the real issue here is that he didn't seem to give too much credit to his opponent and the Chinese player proved to be quite a dangerous one.

In the other match Shaun Murphy and Jamie Jones ended their first session with "The Magician" taking a 5-4 lead, both players taking turns on who wins the next frame. Pretty tight and with great perspective to continue this way tomorrow after-noon.

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