Shanghai Masters Qualifiers - Who's going to China?

16:49:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Yesterday evening the last matches of the Shanghai Masters qualifying rounds took place, so now we are in possession of the entire and complete list of players who booked themselves a place September's Chinese tournament.

And what a better way to start this piece than by naming the one and only "Nugget" of snooker Steve Davis, who managed to get a ticket to China after a tremendous run that included hammering Alfie Burden 5-1 and whitewashing Andrew Higginson 5-0 (breaks of 102, 96, 58 and 92 inclued in the victory package).

Another Davis, but this time Mark Davis is also flying to China in a month, as he also whitewashed his opponent, David Gilbert by 5-0, while Ireland's Fergal O'Brien didn't  miss the chance to play against one of the Top 16 players either, and performed the third whitewash of the last round, his victim being Rod Lawler.

Davis qualified for Shanghai
But if legend Steve Davis is due to fly to Shanghai in September, not the same happened for the likes of Jimmy White and Ken Doherty, Jimmy being knock down by Jamie Jones 5-1, while Kenny got a cruel 5-4 treatment from Scotland's Marcus Campbell.

Marco Fu continued the beautiful run that got him a place in the Australian Open semi-finals and beat Mark Joyce 5-4, the runner-up of the same snooker event, Peter Ebdon recovered from a 3-1 deficit to go all the way until the end and win 5-4 over David Grace, while the actual champion of the Australian Open, Barry Hawkins defeated the veteran Dave Harold by the same scoreline in order to get his plane ticket to China.

The Pink snooker soldiers’ attack proved to be a pretty furious one, Dominic Dale crashing Anthony McGill 5-0, Robert Milkins beating Michael Holt 5-3, while Jimmy Robertson obtained the same result by playing against Anthony Hamilton.

Below you have the full list of players that succeed to qualify for the 6th edition of the Shanghai Masters tournament:

Jamie Cope 
Tom Ford 
Mark King 
Dominic Dale 
Jamie Jones 
Ryan Day
Robert Milkins
Peter Ebdon 
Mark Davis
Steve Davis
Joe Perry
Fergal O'Brien 
Marcus Campbell 
Jimmy Robertson
Marco Fu 
Barry Hawkins 



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The WPBSA concludes: a two year ban for Joe Jogia

10:31:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Joe's been banned from snooker for the next two seasons
The sentence was released yesterday that Joe Jogia had been banned from any involvement in the games of snooker or billiards up until the conclusion of the 2012 World Championship, which means for two whole seasons.

 So, what was the story behind this harsh decision, as some would call it? Simple: remember this year's Shoot-Out tournament? Jogia had to play against Matthew Selt, but decided to withdrew from the event due to a knee injury.

 So what's the problem then? The problem is that some pretty suspicious betting patterns have been noticed regarding this particular match. Bets that favorite Matthew Selt to win and, logically, for his opponent (aka. Joe Jogia) to lose.

What followed next was Joe Jogia's suspention in May, until the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association's  Disciplinary Committee would investigate the case and decide what to do.

 Joe was furious and stated he had nothing to do with the allegations, in his fury ending on accusing the WPBSA of "racism". It's true, that a few days after that he changed his mind about it.

Anyway, long story short, the Disciplinary Committee came to a conclusion yesterday and I must say it wasn't in Joe's favour. On the contrary, he ended up banned from any involvement in the games of snooker or billiards for the next two seasons to come and was fined £2000 (investigations costs).

 The WPBSA's press realease reads:

 "The Disciplinary Committee of the WPBSA has today heard the case of Joe Jogia in relation to the suspicious betting patterns on his match with Matthew Selt that was due to take place at the Sky Snooker Shootout at Blackpool on Saturday 28th January 2012.

It was alleged that a series of bets were placed on Matthew Selt to win this match and the pattern of betting was deemed to be suspicious. As a result betting was suspended on the match on the evening of 23rd January 2012. On 26th January 2012, Joe Jogia withdrew from the match citing an injury and the match did not take place.

An investigation was conducted by the WPBSA which found that on and between 20th and 24th January 2012, a total of 19 bets were made or attempted, all at different betting shops in the Leicester area on Matthew Selt winning this match against Joe Jogia. 14 bets to a total value of £4,830 were placed and 4 bets to a total of £2,300 and 1 bet of an unknown amount was declined.

It was established that the two persons placing the bets were known to Joe Jogia as associates and telephone records demonstrate that in the period leading up to and following the placing of bets Joe Jogia was in repeated contact with them. There was no contact prior to 16th January 2012 then he sent 33 text messages and made 3 calls to one of the persons placing the bets and 42 text messages and 1 call to the other.Joe has failed to provide a consistent or detailed explanation as to the reason for the contact.

Initially, Joe Jogia claimed that the reason for the betting must be that people were aware of an injury that he had suffered, but 4 of the suspicious bets were placed before he claimed to have suffered the injury and a further 7 of the bets were placed before he sought medical attention.

Although there was no evidence to show that Joe Jogia would have gained financially, the Disciplinary Committee found that the frequency and timing of this contact, his lack of a consistent explanation for the contact and the suspicions raised by the pattern of bets placed by his associates, created an actual or apparent conflict of interest for him as a Member of the WPBSA, or otherwise risked impairing public confidence in the integrity of his Match with Matthew Selt.

The WPBSA Disciplinary Committee found that he is in breach of the following members rules:
SECTION 2 - BETTING RULES
2.Betting misconduct
It shall be a breach of these Rules for a Member to do any of the
following:
2.1.4General:
2.1.4.1to engage in any other conduct (ie beyond that specified in
paragraph 2.1.1 to 2.1.3) that is corrupt or fraudulent, or creates an actual or apparent conflict of interest for the Member, or otherwise risks impairing public confidence in the integrity and/or the honest and orderly conduct of the Tour and/or any Tournament or Match;

Joe Jogia was today banned from involvement in the game of snooker and billiards until the conclusion of the 2014 World Championship and ordered to pay £2000 as a contribution towards the cost of the hearing and investigation of the case.
WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson said "In protecting the public image of our sport the WPBSA has strong links with the gambling commission and the betting industry. The integrity of our sport is of paramount importance and today's outcome highlights how seriously the WPBSA will treat such matters." "

Will this be the end of Joe Jogia's career as a snooker player?

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Snooker returns to Sheffield - Shanghai Masters qualifiers 2012

09:33:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Let's qualify for Shanghai!!!
It was about time to return to Sheffield, the city that absolutely adores snooker, although the World Snooker Academy facility doesn't necessarily means big crowds (the space has always been an issue).

 However, it's the best place to "get your feet wet" and since the players are looking forward to playing in Shanghai in September, something must be done first and that's: to qualify.

 So, for the next four days, Sheffield is staging the qualifying rounds of the Shanghai Masters tournament, at the end of them 16 players getting their China ticket for the event that's taking place between 17 and 23 of September.

 With the "best of nine" frames to be played, the race for China starts today, the match schedule being the following one:

 Round One


10am
1) Hossein Vafaei Ayouri v Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon
2) Chen Zhe v Scott Donaldson
3) Paul Davison v Aditya Mehta
4) Craig Steadman v Luca Brecel
5) Jamie O'Neill v Tony Drago
6) Ian Burns v Pankaj Advani

2.30pm
7) Liam Highfield v Zhang Anda
8) David Grace v Michael Leslie
9) Robbie Williams v Floyd Ziegler
10) Sam Baird v Ben Judge
11) Martin O'Donnell v Fraser Patrick

 7pm
12) Rod Lawler v Gareth Allen
13) Daniel Wells v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
14) Sean O'Sullivan v Tian Pengfei
15) Kurt Maflin w/o Mohamed Khairy
16) Joel Walker v Cao Yupeng
* all hours are UK time

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Maguire wins in Gloucester

23:41:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Magus on fire again
Sunday evening Stephen Maguire recorded a well-fought 4-3 victory in front of Jack Lisowski, in order to win the UK PTC Event One from Gloucester and thus proving he's really into these type of mini-tournaments (the Scotsman won last season's PTC 12 event by beating Joe Perry 4-2).

An at least three days unshaved Maguire started his UK PTC 1 journey by taking on his country-man Eden Sharav, whom he crashed 4-0, Paul Davison who got a 4-1 "cue approach", then followed by another decisive and irrevocable 4-0 in front of Gary Wilson, only to see him taking down yet another opponent, this time Andrew Pagett by 4-2, in order to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Here, he had a lot of trouble catching up with Barry Hawkins and his incredible restless cue style of playing snooker, but he finally prevailed to beat the reigning Australian Open champion by 4-3, only to have a much smoother run by meeting Andrew Higginson in the semis, whom he beat 4-1.

The final against Lisowski wasn't by any means an easy one, mainly because the young lad was on top of his form, having beat names like Mark Williams and even his best mate and practicing partner, Judd Trump in the previous rounds.

It was clear right from the beginning that this was going to be an old time cue crossings affair, with both players ready to give the other one the final shot.

Jack Lisowski's form will defo bring him a trophy very soon
The one who broke the ice was Maguire, after Lisaowski missed a red at 31, the Scotsman's 84 break being more than sufficient to give him the first frame. However, Lisowski fought back and with a break of 70 point equalised the situation at 1-1.

Another over half century break, this time a 75, was putting Maguire in the lead at 2-1 while a brilliant clearance of just 26 points from the Englishman was drawing level once more.

From this point on the scrappiness became part of the game, but it was such a lovely and entertaining one. Impossible to take your eyes of it, in my opinion, as you could cut the tension with the knife, if that's even possible.

Once more Maguire managed to put his nose back in front at 3-2, but two runs of 26 and 25 were sending the match into a decider, Lisowski proving to be hard to intimidate even if this was the first time he reached a professional event final.

Focusing on winning
The last frame started pretty well for the Scotsman, that until the black refused to enter into the right pocket and stayed on the table, breaking the fluency of his game at just 16 points.

After safety shots and a few more points scored by the Scotsman, the table and the final's faith for that matter, seemed to be at Lisowski's mercy as the youngster started potting feverishly one ball after another. But surprise, surprise! He missed the yellow on 56 and left his green baize rival with a great chance to clear up.

And so he did, Maguire clearing the table for victory and for winning the first UK PTC Event One title.

Maguire, glady receiving his UK PTC Event One trophy
As an end note to this cue story, I must say that watching this match brought me a kind of déjà-fu felling. It kind of resemblance the 2011 World Championship final, between a heavy name of the green baize and a very experienced player John Higgins (in our case Stephen Maguire) and one very eager to compete and the master of taking on the most incredible shots ever, Judd Trump (in our case Jack Liswoski).

The conclusion was the same as one year ago, with the more experienced player winning, but it kind of left me with the same felling like before, namely that the younger player is very close from putting him name on a ranking event trophy.

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UK PTC Event One - the snooker show starts tomorrow

10:03:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

The lads have had a few days off, but the snooker fun restarts tomorrow in Gloucester, at the South West Snooker Academy where the first UK PTC event is kicking off.

As many of you already know, the PTC events series have changed its structure a bit, so now not only do we have PTCs staged in both in the UK and on the European continent, but also in China.

 And with one APTC (Asian Players Tour Championship) out of our way and after all that travelling, it's time to come back home and play what we know best.

 The UK PTC Event One is going to kick off tomorrow, Sunday revealing a new champion that's going to get a nice trophy, along with £10,000 and 2,000 previous ranking points for a better position on the rankings.

 So without any further ado, let's get the boys on the baize and play!!!

 Tomorrow's match schedule:


4pm Round 1
1) Adam Bobat v Alex Taubman
2) Ronnie Kralj v Reanne Evans
3) Long Wang v Thomas Wealthy
4) Robert Tickner v Hans Blanckaert
5) Alex Davies v Gary Wilson
6) Allan Taylor v Kyren Wilson

7pm
7) Ian Brumby v Harvey Chandler
8) Andrew Milliard v Brandon Sargeant
9) James Gillespie v Danny Brindle
10) Lloyd Condron v Steven Hallworth
11) George Marter v Darrell Whitworth
12) Jack Bradford v Ricky Norris
*all hours are UK time

All matches are being played on "best of seven" rule. The event is not covered by EuroSport, but you can always watch the players on World Snooker Live SportTV or on SportLemon.

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Hawk(W)ins Australian Goldfields Open

16:33:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Barry Hawkins, the 2012 Australian Open champion
Barry Hawkins won 9-3 over Peter Ebdon to conquer his first ever ranking title, in the final of the Australian Goldfields Open. 

If at the beginning of this year Barry Hawkins was lifting the trophy of the Shoot-Out event, now it was time to see him win a proper ranking event in response for his hard work and devotion to the game of snooker.

The race was a tough one, Barry having to take on China's Xiao Guodong (whom he hammered 5-1), the Welsh Dragon, Matthew Stevens (whom he beat 5-2), both last year and this year terrifying Matthew Selt (whom was defeated 5-3) and his mate and baize partner Mark Davis (who lost 6-4).

The final battle was given against a much revived Peter Ebdon, who unfortunately for him didn't get into the match early enough, Hawkins on the other hand, having a smooth run of the ball that finally guided him to the victory.

Ebdon managed to win a very scrappy affair that was marking his first point on the scoreboard, before Hawkins flew decisively at 4-1 up with only a few more frames to go until the first session was coming to an end.

Peter Ebdon, thye 2012 Australian Open runner-up
Two century breaks, of 113 and 106 were hit in the process of freezing the scoreline at 5-3, when the mid-session interval kicked off, leaving Ebbo with a lot of catching up to do after the break.

Ebdon tried and tried, but it seemed useless in front of such a determined-to-win opponent who was grabbing one frame after another.

Breaks of 133, 26, 74 and 51 secured Hawkins to be leaving with a trophy in his arms by the end of the day, as the final result says it all: 9-3.

After the match, Ebdon said that although it's always hard to lose, he's more happy than ever to have reached the final (considering the problems with his cue), but more importantly that he's delighted that Barry won his first ranking event.

Barry and his well-fought, well-deserved trophy
Asked how he feels, Barry hardly found words to describe his ecstatic feelings and that he's over the Moon with the final result, almost breaking out "like an idiot" (as he himself stated) when the MC mentioned the fact than he's been away form his family for so long, playing on the Main Tour.

Barry Hawkins today’s win is indeed a brilliant victory and a very interesting one, if we take into account the fact that last year Stuart Bingham was also winning his first ever ranking event.
Seems like the Australian Open has been turned into a genuine launch facility for the players that are not in the spot light very often, but who are very talented and ambitious.

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Australian Open 2012 - the semi-finals

12:29:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

The final battle is being given between Ebon ....
Yesterday revealed the last two men standing in the Bendingo arena, Peter Ebdon's 6-2 victory over Marco Fu and Barry Hawkins's 6-4 result recorded by playing Mark Davis, getting them a place in today's grand final.

Ebdon seems to be in a great form and the perfect frame of mind as after reaching the semis in a fabulous way, he continued his run defeating one-very-back-to-form Marco Fu by 6-2.

Two consecutive frames were going to enter Ebbo's pocket before Fu could make anything, a break of 108 points guaranteeing his first frame. Still, Ebdon didn't let the Hong Kong man go too far and cashed two more frames to make the scoreline 4-1 in his favour.

None of the two players was ready to give up at this point, not even Marco, so after a frame that lasted about 40 minutes, he managed to enrich his frame collection at two.

It was a good effort, but Ebdon’s runs of 53 and 82 were putting an end to this snooker affair and sending him in the final.

... and Barry Hawkins
One very "pinkish" cues battle was given between Barry Hawkins and Mark Davis, with the first named one winning it by 6-4.

Hawkins was careful enough to highlight his dominance into this match and flew all the way to 3-1, leaving his opponent with a lot to think about as the mid-session interval was kicking off.

After the mini-break though, things changed and the match began to look like a real competition as Davis pulled back two frames to draw level at 3-3 (breaks of 98 and 93).

Hawkins put his nose back in front, this time at 4-3, but again Davis fought back and equalise the situation at four apiece.

However the Shoot-Out champion succeeded to break the pattern and took the next two frames with runs of 67 and 74 to go 6-4 up and get his well-deserved snooker rendezvous with Peter Ebdon.

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Australian Open 2012 - the quarter-finals

01:05:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Fu flies in the semis
The quarter-finals of this year's Australian Goldfield Open event ended with no Top 16 player being able to grab a place into the next round (aka. the semis), Shaun Murphy, Stephen Lee and Martin Gould all being defeated by their opponents.

After a 5-4 with Ding Junhui the other day, Peter Ebdon re-made the scoreline by playing Shaun Murphy. The players, both with a world title in their bag, started by sharing frames and actually, the entire match was spent like that.

Breaks like 50, 94 and 111 were enough for "The Magician" to grab four frames, but a series of 111, 79, 55 and a 56 guaranteed Ebbo the chance to play in tomorrow's semi-final.

His opponent is Marco Fu, the Hong Kong snooker star getting an out-of-sorts Stephen Lee hammered by 5-1, after a match whose biggest breaks were a 99 and a 59 one.

Barry Hawkins continued his good run and saw off Matthew Selt, who seems unable to overcome the "quarter-finals curse" and lost the battle of cues by 5-3 (ironically the same scoreline he was defeated with, last year by Shaun Murphy).

Hawkins books semis spot
The Shoot-Out champion took an early 2-0 advance over his green baize opponent, but Selt managed to level the match. Still, Hawkins put his nose back in front and even if Selt fought back with a break of 75, it was going to be the Pink Army member who will win the fight.

Another Pink soldier and recently crowned kind of the 6-Red World Championship from Thailand's Bangkok, Mark Davis has also recorded a victory and with it secured himself a spot in the semi-finals.

His "enemy", Martin Gould although was able to end the first session by drawing level at 2-2 after making just a top break of 52 to overcome Davis' runs of  92 si 54, didn't manage to keep that playing style after the match restarted.

Hence, Mark Davis took his time and potted the right balls in order to win 5-2 and set a snooker encounter with his mate and practicing partner, Barry Hawkins.

Tomorrow, the semi-finals (best of 11) are being played as it follows:

1pm
32) Peter Ebdon v Marco Fu
 
7.30pm
31) Barry Hawkins v Mark Davis
*all hours are local time

TV coverage:
09:30 - 11:00 British EuroSport
15:00 - 17:00 British EuroSport 2

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Australian Open 2012 - Day 4

14:18:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Local-star Robbo is out
More and more surprises happened during the forth day of the Australian Goldfield Open tournament, local-snooker-star Neil Robertson crashing out of the competition after being beat 5-1 by Mark Davis, at the same time another Top 16 player, Matthew Stevens getting a cruel 5-2 treatment from a very eager-to-win Barry Hawkins.

 Yesterday marked Neil Robertson's end of run in his home land tournament, Mark Davis having a lot to do with it.

 Although Robbo opened with a break of 88, a huge kick during the second frame stopped him from taking a 2-0 lead, but cleared the way for Mark Davis and his "rain of breaks" (67, 65, 81 and 61) that practically left Robertson not standing a chance.

 Also hammered, also out of the tournament was Scotland's Jamie Burnett who lost the cues battle against a pretty determined Marco Fu, whose breaks of 66, 77 and 65 certainly did the trick.
Ebbo keeps on potting for victory
Matthew Stevens and Barry Hawkins got together into a very scrappy affair, the one prevailing in the end being the Shoot-Out champion who is to meet Matthew Selt in the next round.

 And since we are on the Matthew Selt subject, the player who during last year tournament had a glorious run seemed that he's back for more victories than ever as he is to be responsible for another exit, this time his victim being Ryan Day.

 The lads went hand in hand, step by step up until three apiece but from that point on it was Selt who made it happen as he flew at 5-3 and into the quarter-finals.

 Ding Junhui and Peter Ebdon engaged into an epic "fight of cues" with the world champion managing to get the Chinese star into all sorts of trouble.

 It was a match that had it all: drama, big breaks, tension, a re-spotted black. The players weren't separated by more than one frame and although Ding forced the decider it was Ebbo's 70 break that sent him into the next round.

 Martin Gould also secured himself a spot into the next round as he managed to win 5-4 over Cao Yupeng in a match that saw the biggest break of this tournament, a perfect 143 hit by the Chinese snooker player.
Today the action continues in the quarter-finals with:

1pm
29) Shaun Murphy v Peter Ebdon
30) Stephen Lee v Marco Fu

7.30pm
27) Matthew Selt v Barry Hawkins
28) Martin Gould v Mark Davis
*all hours are local time 

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Australian Open 2012 - Day 3

00:32:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

World number one is out
The surprise series continued during the third day of the Australian Open also, with world number one Mark Selby being knock down of the competition by Scotsman Jamie Burnett 5-3.

 At the same time the legends gang lost yet another member, Ken Doherty losing his second match to Martin Gould by the same scoreline.

An early exit, that's what today meant for Mark Selby, the world number one not being able to settle in and take control of the match.
 
The interval was finding Burnett in charge at 3-1 and although Selby tried his best to come back, the Scotsman kept on "freezing" him, until a break of 62 points put an end to the match and also to Selby's misery by 5-3.

 The same scoreline was the conclusion of Ken Doherty v Martin Gould match, a match that saw the legend who reached last year's semi-finals being sent out, "Gouldie's" biggest breaks coming to the end of the snooker encounter in forms of 70 and 72.

 Ding Junhui recorded a brilliant 5-0 victory over Alan McManus, the Chinese star hitting in breaks of 53, 68, 113 and 76 to prove that he's still a dangerous opponent and also to book a snooker date with Peter Ebdon.
Ding Junhui takes a good start
Shaun Murphy seems to be back on track and after a pretty shaky start against Marcus Campbell he returned full of energy into the arena, enough to win himself the match against Tom Ford by 5-1.
 
Hence, the 2005 world champion has booked himself a place in the quarter-finals where he's meeting the winner of Ding Junhui v Peter Ebdon match.

 Also with a secured spot in the quarter-finals is Stephen Lee, the PTC Grand Finals champion recording a 5-2 victory by confronting Jamie Cope.

 Lee hurried up to fly all the way to 3-0 and although his green baize rival fought back, "The bulldog" of snooker responded promptly and ended the match with the first chance he got.
Barry Hawkins ended Xiao Guodong's run by 5-1 and he now faces Matthew Stevens in his quest for a place in the quarter-finals.
 
Below you have Day Three list of results:


14) Ding Junhui 5-0 Alan McManus
5) Barry Hawkins 5-1 Xiao Guodong
18) Mark Selby 3-5 Jamie Burnett
7) Martin Gould 5-3 Ken Doherty
23) Shaun Murphy 5-1 Tom Ford
25) Stephen Lee 5-2 Jamie Cope


Tomorrow the Bendigo's most prestigious snooker events continues with:
 
1pm
26) Marco Fu v Jamie Burnett
20) Barry Hawkins v Matthew Stevens


Followed by
19) Matthew Selt v Ryan Day
24) Peter Ebdon v Ding Junhui


7.30pm
22) Mark Davis v Neil Robertson
21) Martin Gould v Cao Yupeng
* all hours are local time


TV coverage:
07:00 - 10:00 British EuroSport 2
10:30 - 13:30 British EuroSport 2
20:45 - 22:15 British EuroSport

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Australian Open 2012 - Day 2

01:03:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Defending champ, Stu Bingham is out
The first surprises of  “Ozzy” snooker event that's being held in Bendigo, took place during the second day, the defending champion Stuart Bingham suffering a very early exit due to Matthew Selt's 5-4 victory, the same happening for this year's World Championship runner-up, Ali Carter who got beat 5-3 by China's Cao Yupeng.

Surprise, surprise to see Stuart Bingham out of the tournament, not just because he's the defending champion, but also because he's been in such an outstanding form recently winning the Pink Ribbon, the APTC 1 and reaching the finals of the Wuxi Classic.

Still, today it wasn't his lucky one and Matthew Selt, the player who rocked around the snooker table in last year tournament, got a brilliant 5-4 victory and now is due to meet Welshman Ryan Day in the second round.

Also sent home was Ali Carter, the Englishman who came so near to win the world title just a few months ago taking a pretty bad start and losing by 5-3 to Cao Yupeng.

After the match Carter invoked a kind of déjà-vu feeling getting on a rough start right from the beginning of the season and admitted he's not very fond of travelling, but that his results are more influenced by the lack of practice rather than the busy schedule that involves a lot of travelling.

At the opposite corner, Shaun Murphy won his first Australian battle of cues by performing a 5-4 "cue treatment" on Marcus Campbell. 

Mark Davis continues his good run
Breaks of 65, 55 and 78 brought "The Magician" the first three frames of the match and although just before the interval kicked off, Campbell manage to pull one back, Murphy regained the three-frame advantage after the break.

However, we could see some inconsistency in the 2005 world champion's game soon after, this allowing Marcus to crawl back and force the decider. Lucky for Murphy, he regained his "winning conscience" rapidly and was able the win the last frame in order to set up a snooker rendezvous with Tom Ford.

The favourite scoreline of this tournament (aka. 5-4) was also the "piece of resistance" for Peter Ebdon v. Michael Holt match, with the veteran on the winner position after hitting in breaks of 59, 50 and 61.

The recent champion of the 6-Red World Championship, Mark Davis continued his good run and got a decisive 5-2 victory in front of Jack Lisowski, thus booking himself a meeting with the "Thunder from Down Under" - Neil Robertson, while Marco Fu didn’t find any difficulty in hammering Joe Perry 5-1 .

Below you have Day One list or results:

11) Shaun Murphy 5-4 Marcus Campbell
17) Joe Perry 1-5 Marco Fu
8) Allister Carter 3-5 Cao Yupeng
9) Mark Davis 5-2 Jack Lisowski 
3) Stuart Bingham 4-5 Matthew Selt
13) Peter Ebdon 5-4 Michael Holt

Tomorrow the action continues with:

1pm
14) Ding Junhui v Alan McManus
5) Barry Hawkins v Xiao Guodong

Followed by
18) Mark Selby v Jamie Burnett
7) Martin Gould v Ken Doherty

7.30pm
23) Shaun Murphy v Tom Ford
25) Stephen Lee v Jamie Cope
 *all hours are local time

TV coverage:
07:00 - 10:00 British EuroSport 2
10:30 - 13:30 British EuroSport 2

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Australian Open 2012 - Day 1

23:49:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Robbo wins his opening match
The snooker season kicked off officially in Australia after the first day of the "OZ" Open saw the local star, Neil Robertson hammering snooker's special 007 Agent Nigel Bond 5-1, at the opposite corner the wild-cards not getting the start they've dreamt of and losing their cue crossings.

He's probably one of Australia's most brilliant snooker exports and he's delighted to play on home ground; Neil Robertson proved once more he's up for the game and managed to win his first battle of cues with a 5-1 scoreline over Nigel Bond.

Two tons, of 113 and 135 worn the Aussie’s signature and left his green baize opponent speechless and unable to react. After this victory, Robertson is due to meet the winner of Mark Davis v. Jack Lisowski match.

Unfortunately, at the opposite corner, the Australian wild-cards lost their chance to move forward into the tournament, Johl Younger getting a 5-2 defeat from China's Cao Yupeng, while Alan McManus made Jamies Mifsud surrender with a 5-0 result.

A genuine cues-crossing was the one given between Ricky Walden and Jamie Cope, the lads deciding not only to go all the way to the last frame but also to share one frame at a time. In the end though, Walden didn't manage to cope with Jamie and lost by 5-4.

The same scoreline was recorded by Stephen Lee in front of Rory McLeod, but also by Welsham Ryan Day in front of Andrew Higginson.

A pretty rusty Matthew Stevens, who wasn't afraid to admit that he kind of took a break from practicing (for about two months), still managed to beat Liang Wenbo by 5-2 and he now awaits to meet the winner of Barry Hawkins v Xiao Guodong match, while Tom Ford took a very solid start and sent Dominic Dale on his way home after a decisive 5-2 win.

Below you have Day One list of results:

1) Cao Yupeng 5-2 Johl Younger
2) Alan McManus 5-0 James Mifsud
6) Matthew Stevens 5-3 Liang Wenbo
12) Dominic Dale 2-5 Tom Ford
15) Stephen Lee 5-4 Rory McLeod
4) Andrew Higginson 4-5 Ryan Day 
10) Neil Robertson 5-1 Nigel Bond
16) Ricky Walden 4-5 Jamie Cope

Day Two match schedule:

1pm
11) Shaun Murphy v Marcus Campbell
17) Joe Perry v Marco Fu

Followed by
8) Allister Carter v Cao Yupeng
9) Mark Davis v Jack Lisowski

7.30pm
3) Stuart Bingham v Matthew Selt
13) Peter Ebdon v Michael Holt
* all hours are local time

TV coverage:
07:00 - 10:00 British EuroSport 2
10:30 - 12:00 British EuroSport 2
12:00 - 15: 30 British EuroSport
21:00 - 22: 00 British EuroSport 2


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The Australian dream starts tomorrow

19:34:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

"Tomorrow, tomorrow, the sun will shine on Bendigo tomorrrrroooooow" - come on clap your hand and sing it with me! No? Oh well, you can't blame a girl for trying to start a snooker musical, right? 

Anyway, back to serious matters now, tomorrow sees the start of the second Australian Open edition. And with the EURO 2012 and the Wimbledon finished, snooker will definitely get the attention it deserves.

It's true that this edition is a "pour" one regarding the heavy names that entered to play in Bendigo, O'Sullivan still being on a break, while names like Higgins, Williams, Allen, Maguire, Dott and Trump are not to be seen on the draw, but it's not the first time we let the qualifiers and the remaining of the Top 16 players to cross their cues and make the green baize a genuine field of battle.
Because that's what's going to be.

May I remind you that last year we've seen Ken Doherty reach the semi-finals and Matthew Selt practically rocking around the snooker table? Not to mention that the champion, Stuart Bingham was the underdog of the match where he and Mark Williams fought for the trophy.

Last year saw a brilliant edition and a wonderful snooker exhibition and I dare to say this year we shall see it once more.

The Australian fans are eager to see their favourite players in action, Neil Robertson is definitely thrilled to play at home, while Stuart Bingham gets off as the defending champion and one-very-tough-opponent-to-beat if we recall his latest achievements like winning the Pink Ribbon event, the APTC and reaching the final of the Wuxi Classic tournament.

So, if you live on the European continent set your alarm clock really early and start cheering for the lads that are playing until next Sunday in Australia's Bendigo, because they deserve it.

Below you have the first day match schedule:

10am
1) Cao Yupeng v Johl Younger
2) Alan McManus v James Mifsud
 
1pm
6) Matthew Stevens v Liang Wenbo
12) Dominic Dale v Tom Ford

Followed by
15) Stephen Lee v Rory McLeod
4) Andrew Higginson v Ryan Day

7.30pm
10) Neil Robertson v Nigel Bond
16) Ricky Walden v Jamie Cope
 * all hours are local

TV coverage:
07:45 - 10:30 British EuroSport
10:30 - 13:30 British EuroSport 2
16:00 - 17: 15 British EuroSport 2
21:00 - 22:00 British EuroSport 2

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Mark Davis - once, twice, 6 Red world champion

18:47:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

An ecstatic Mark Davis lifted the SangSom 6 Red World Championship trophy on Saturday, after winning 8-4 over the 2005 world champion, Shaun Murphy. 

Thus Davis gets on the right foot for this season and collects what is his second six-red trophy, the first one being conquered back in 2009 in Ireland.

He reached the semi-finals of the Wuxi Classic a week ago, but sadly lost by just one point to Stuart Bingham, 6-5. Still, this time Davis went all the way and got himself a well-deserved title, although is not a ranking one.

The 6 Red journey started with a face-to-face encounter with Darren Morgan, whom he beat 5-3, continued with the local-star James Wattana, whom he defeated by 5-4 and although he lost 5-3 to Hossein Ayouri he carefully caught up after winning over Stephen Maguire by 5-2 and Mohammed Ibrahim by 5-4.

As the groups matches came to an end Davis had to take on his namesake, the legend Steve Davis who got a cruel 6-1 treatment from the Englishman who practice at the South West Snooker Academy from Gloucester.

Next followed Stephen Lee with whom Davis has a very tight cue-crossing that ended on 6-5, Panompai Powises who was easily saw off with a 7-5 scoreline and the Wuxi Classic champion Ricky Walden who was crashed 7-2 in the semi-finals.

The final against Shaun Murphy took a very equitable start, the lads going together up until 4-4. But from this point on, Davis stormed in and not only took control of the match, but also denied the 'Magician' to bag another frame.

The score board froze at 8-4, when Mark Davis was crowned champion of the SangSom 6 Red World Championship from Thailand's Bangkok.

Proudly lifting his hard-fought-for trophy, Davis looks forward to the second ranking event of this season, the Australian Goldfields Open, due to start this Monday. Will he continue to rule the green baize in Bendigo also?

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Interview with Martin Gould

21:17:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Martin, in the 2011 PTC Grand Finals
The season has just started but the green baize gladiators are already busy bees, travelling high and low the planet to feed the hungry fans of snooker. Still, through all that practicing, packing, flying, playing, he re-packing and flying back home, Martin Gould fond the time to answer a few questions.

As you all know, Martin is a proud owner of a Top 16 spot, a talented and ambitious player, a very loved and popular figure of the snooker industry and probably one of the most active players on FaceBook, always keeping in touch with his fans.

In the next minutes you'll discover a little bit about the person behind the player, Martin's thoughts on the last season, his expectations about the new one, the amazing victory from last year's Power Snooker tournament and many more.

1. Looking back at the recently ended season, how would you say it was? What were your biggest achievements or/and failures?

Martin: "It was a good start to season, but with a few ups and downs along the way. Surely that getting in Top 16 was the best part as well as playing at my home tournament."

"As for failure … I guess not winning many matches."


At the 2011 Power Snooker tournament
2. You had a good run during the PTC series (reaching the semis two times and the final once) and you were one of the players who took part in every event no matter where it was held. Do you consider this series of events a good chance for a snooker professional player to test his endurance (I say this because for those who reach the final, they have to play four matches per day) ?

Martin: "I do like the PTCs, they are good challenge and indeed I’ve seemed to do well in them since they started. Still I’ve had three finals but lost themall."


3. In November 2011 you managed not only to lift that shiny Power Snooker trophy, but also to beat the defending champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan by doing do. It must have been a great feeling to win over such a tough opponent, especially since many have claimed that this format is fitting O’Sullivan like a glove. Do you remember how you felt in those moments?

Martin: "The Power Snooker win was fantastic! It was a weekend I really enjoyed and game suited me because of my background playing pool. But to come back from 150 points behind to beat Ronnie was the icing on the cake."

"Plus the crowd was unreal! Never felt anything like it."


Martin and his Power Snooker trophy
4. You also reached the QFs of another “speedy” competition (the Shoot-Out). It seems like this new way of playing snooker is getting people attention and they like it. But what’s your opinion about them: events like Power Snooker and Shoot-Out should only happen once a year because classical snooker is the real deal or should they become more frequent?

Martin: "I think the 20/20 style of snooker is a great addition, but yes I do think one of each a year is just perfect in my eyes"


5. We have a brand new season ahead of us, one that requires travelling … a lot. How fond are you of mixing travelling with playing snooker?

Martin: "The travelling is hard, being away from family and friends and my girlfriend Hannah. But I wouldn’t change my job for no-one. I love snooker and entertaining fans all over the world."

6. In July you’re taking on the legend Ken Doherty in the second edition of the Australian Open. What are your thoughts about this snooker encounter?

Martin: "It will be a tough match, but I am looking forward to the challenges ahead and I’ll be trying to get off to a good start this season."


7. What are your expectations from the new season? Maybe you have a title or two to conquer, in mind ;-)

Martin: "I never really set targets. My main aim is to wake up everyday and still be really enjoying playing snooker. I think it’s the best way to be."


At the Brazilian Masters with R. Walden and S. Lee
8. How does a normal Martin-day looks like? How many hours of practice do you have, what do you like to do in the spare time, anything you would like to share.

Martin: "My normal day starts around 7.30 am if I am going to practice. Shower, change, cup of tea, cigarette and then out the door by 8.45 am in order to be at club by 10 am and practice ‘till around 7pm."

"But if I not playing snooker, I relax at home with my PS3, playing games and watching DVDs."


9.  And one last question:

Where do you get the motivation to carry on after a defeat? And also, what’s the recipe for keeping your feet on the ground after a huge victory?

Martin: "Nobody likes losing, but I take it on the chin! Everyone has a bad day and we all know to do better next time."

"I’ve always been level headed so I am able to keep my feet on the ground no matter what. I don’t like to think I am big headed as that’s not my nature"

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Snooker in July 2012

20:36:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

One month of travelling has just ended the other day and here we are, back for more.

Seems like the Asian continent is getting more and more snooker friendly, so this year between 2 and 7 of July we are flying to Thailand's Bangkok to be part of the "SangSom 6 Red World Championship". A tournament that seems to get a lot of attention from the fans, as well as a lot of "booo-s" from the purists who don’t see how playing with six reds could qualify for playing snooker. Either way, is a tournament that will definitely see some interesting upsets and scorelines.

Two days after the end of the Thai tournament we are switching continents and land in Australia's Bengido, where the second edition of the Australian Goldfields Open is taking place between 9 and 15 of July with Stuart Bingham as defending champion.

The end of the month will find us back home with the first UK PTC event being held between 18 and 22 of July at the South West Snooker Academy from Gloucester and the qualifying rounds for the Shanghai Masters in Sheffield from 24 until 27 of July.


1. SangSom 6 Red World Championship

When?: 2-7 July
Where?: Bangkok, Thailand
Defending champion: Mark Selby
Who's playing?: click here for the draw.
Prize money: winner (2,000,000 THB), runner-up (800,000 THB), losing semi-finalists (400,000 THB), losing quarter-finalists (200,000 THB), Last 16 (100,000 THB) and for the Last 32 (50,000 THB).
Ranking points: -


Welcome to Australia, mate!

2. Australian Goldfields Open

When?: 9-15 July
Where?: Bendigo, Australia
Defending champion: Stuart Bingham
Who's playing: click here to see the draw.
Prize money: winner ($70,000), runner-up ($30,000), losing semi-finalists ($20,000), losing quarter-finalists ($15,000), Last 16 ($10,000), the Last 32 ($7,500) and for the Last 48 ($2,000). There's also a prize money of $2,500 for the highest TV-break and one of $500 for the highest non-TV break.
Ranking points: winner (5,000), runner-up (4,000), losing semi-finalists (3,200), losing quarter-finalists (2,500), last 16 (1,900), last 32 (1,400 and 700*), last 48 (1,150 and 575*), last 64 (900 and 450*), last 80 (650 and 325*) and for the last 96 (400 and 200*).
* seeded loser


3. UK Players Tour Championship Event One (UK PTC 1)

When?: 18-22 July
Where?: South West Snooker Academy, Gloucester, UK
Who's playing?: click here for the draw.
Prize money: winner (£10,000), runner-up (£5,000), losing semi-finalists (£2,500), losing quarter-finalists (£1,500), last 16 (£1,000), last 32 (£600) and the last 64 (£200).  
Ranking points: winner (2,000), runner-up (1,600), losing semi-finalists (1,280), losing quarter-finalists (1,000), last 16 (760), last 32 (560) and the last 64 (360).


Shanghai chicken anyone?


4. Shanghai Masters (the qualifying rounds)

When?: 24-27 July
Where?: World Snooker Academy, Sheffield, UK
Who's playing?: update needed.





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