2014 Gdynia Open - Return of the Magician

One happy bunny - Shaun Murphy

Shaun Murphy beat Fergal O'Brien 4-1 to lift the 2014 Gdynia Open trophy and put a long-expected stop to the silverware drought. Since 2011 when he cashed the PTC Grand Finals title, the player we all know as "The Magician" has struggled to find his form and was unable to win any ranking events.

However the spell dissipated tonight when Murphy managed to write his name in shiny lights. Not to mention that early on, he hit a marvellous 147 by playing against Jamie Jones. How about that for a return into the spotlight?

We all felt for him when after losing 6-1 to Mark Selby in the semis of the 2014 Masters, he even mentioned retirement from snooker, in a overwhelming moment filled with frustration, but as it turns out he didn't give in and the results of keeping his chin up were revealed in Poland.

The very-focused O'Brien in action

The final against Fergal O'Brien wasn't an easy one by far, although many have the tendency to write off the Irishman; he can still play. And when you see that focused-almost-Grinchy face of his when he’s on a pot, you realise how much it means to him to reach the final.

The start of the match was a bit edgy and it ended on the colours. At 49-43 in favour of Murphy things got pretty messy but after Fergal gave 8 penalty points to his opponent, Shaun wrapped up the opener.

It seemed like the second frame was going his way also, but when he took his eyes of the black, while the reds were nicely spread on the table, things looked dark for "The Magician". Fergal rushed in, but sadly he missed a pink to the right centre and ended his break at 34, Shaun returning for a nice and steady 75 that was bringing him another frame.

Runs of 65 and 63 were sure to put Murphy 3-0 up with only one frame needed to cross the finish-line, but Fergal took his chances and with a combo of breaks (24, 34 and 36) managed to avoid being whitewashed.

Shaun receiving his long-awaited trophy

The inevitable happened quickly, as the better player, in this case Shaun, hit a great century break (103) to end the match at 4-1 and get his much-deserved share of glory.
Delighted with his performance throughout the entire event, Murphy was presented with the trophy and a cheque for £80,000. Not too bad, I’d say!    

Even though the Gdynia Open is not a major ranking event, I'm sure any silverware is cherished by the Englishman who's looking pretty good to make his full return to the green baize. He still has a lot to work, for I’m sure all those years spent in the shadow didn't do him any good, but if someone can, he's the man for the job.

Apart from that, it goes without saying how thrilling it was to see new faces reaching the final, and by that I mean Fergal O'Brien. The Irishman didn't have a good control over the cue ball and that has cost him a lot during the final, but the fact that he got until this point proves he's pretty much in the run for bringing up his cue and taking anyone. That has passion written all over it.

Ding masters German Masters

Ding Junhui, the 2014 German Masters champion

Ding Junhui added one more trophy to his beautiful collection by beating Judd Trump 9-5, in the final of the 2014 German Masters held in Berlin's Tempodrom. 

So after a magical victory in Shanghai, after winning the Indian Open and beating Marco Fu to take on the International Championship’s trophy, Ding is slowly but surely, in his way to break Stephen Hendry's record of winning five consecutive major ranking events. He didn't win the UK Championship, but seeing him rocking around that snooker table, tells you that sooner or later we shall see this “Chinese wonder” take over the Scotsman's record.

But getting back to the German Masters final, it must be said that many have seen Judd as favourite to win. Especially since the Englishman seemed so focused, so composed and eager to win throughout the entire competition. No wonder that when the final started, he rushed in and took the opener with a break of 80.

Judd Trump, the 2014 German Masters runner-up

Ding replied with a break of 87 to level the match at one apiece, but Trump was definitely "in the zone", runs of 48 and 39 helping him to grab two consecutive frames and a valuable 3-1 lead.
But the reigning Shanghai Masters champion wasn't impressed and with a 76 break was pulling back a frame.

Still, this wasn't the start of a comeback, as Trump furiously responded with breaks of 35 and 33 to go 4-2 ahead, with two more frames to be played in this session.

Two more frames that Ding captured by hitting in runs of 51 and 81, for a perfect draw of 4-4 and a fresh start from "zero" in just a few hours.

Focused Ding

When the players re-entered into the arena, Ding unleashed his brilliancy and started potting one ball after another. A beautiful break of 125 was the one that was putting him in front, a position that he’s never held since the start of the match, while runs of 101, 72 and 38 were smoothing his way to the finish-line.

From the player who saw himself being led by one of the most dangerous players on tour, Ding was now just one frame away from lifting that most-desired trophy.

But Trump wasn't going to give in so easily, so when Ding started to make a few mistakes, Judd was there to capitalise on them. So a few misses, a foul and a free ball and Trump was keeping the match alive. It was 8-5.

The last frame made its debut with a long red missed by Trump, this leaving Ding in charge of the match's faith. But 11 points later he was missing the brown, Judd getting one more chance to make a difference.

Ding posing with his new trophy

Sadly, the Judd Trump that all snooker fans love and adore was no longer there: the pressure and the frustration of having his opponent just one step away from victory messed with his head, and so he went on missing a very important shot while entering the bunch or reds.

With the reds nicely spread one might think this was over ... wrong! Ding only managed to pull out a break of 36 before missing a long red to the yellow pocket, thus granting Judd's a life-line.

Unfortunately for the 2011 UK Championship winner, a careless shot on the blue, left him with just a break of 31, Ding returning to the table and clearing with a 20 break (well, almost clearing, for the black jumped off the table - probably of excitement).

A notable nervous, but above all happy Ding Junhui, shared his thoughts about this victory with Germany's top snooker commentator Rolf Kalb, mentioning that he's happy to have started the new year with such an important victory (the Chinese new year has started on 31^st of January) and that he hopes to win even more tournaments.

The Tempodrom arena

One more time I, as well as many others, find ourselves in the position of playing with the idea that maybe, just maybe this year we shall see a Chinese world champion at the Crucible.

But even if we don't, it must be said that Ding managed to bring that lost sparkle to the German Masters tournament. Although I'm a huge fan of this competition and of snooker being played in Germany, I must confess that not having a sponsor, as well as bringing the entire gang of 64 players here, has left me with the impression that I was watching a PTC, rather than a major ranking event.

On the other hand though, the people's reaction towards snooker and the way the crowds have been supporting the players this past week, shows how much German people love their snooker. So maybe it won't hurt to give them a more "proper" tournament. Just saying!