The Premier League caravan reaches Preston

Preston will have its share of snooker

We are travelling north to the city of Preston, a beautiful city which knew fame and prestige being a boomtown during the Industrial Revolution. For the Preston people and all the others snooker fans who will come from near of far away, the Premier League reserved a big surprise because they will have the chance to see not two snooker matches (as usual), but three! So, six big names from the snooker world will play in a "tic-tac" format, trying to be at their best and please the public who adores them. What a snooker feast!
The town of Preston must feel very privileged, since this will be the first and last time when three matches will be disputed. I think I feel some jealousy in the air! ;-)


The first two to break the ice, will be the Chinese Marco Fu and the defending champion Shaun Murphy. Our "made in Hong Kong" cue man will have to give his best, since he has just one point in his bag, from the match where he fought Ronnie O`Sullivan at the beginning of this month. The match ended on a draw (3-3), so each player received one point, still not enough if you want to secure a place in the semis or the big final.

Marco Fu is to fight Shaun Murphy

Shaun Murphy, our contemporary "Merlin" was the one who opened the Premier League rounds, defeating Ding Junhui 5-1 and receiving as a reward 2 points to cherish and multiply :-P Still, he needs to keep up the good work if he wants to keep his title of Premier League champion.


"The Chinese Sensation" Ding Junhui and "The Welsh Potting Machine" Mark Williams are to fight in the second match of the evening, These two talented boys fought last week in the quarter-finals of the World Open, in what was one of the most exciting matches of the tournament. Ding was leading 2-0, when Mark made a remarkable comeback to win the next three frames and by doing so, he also won the match (3-2).

China and Wales clash

Mark had an amazing performance two weeks ago, at the Premier League round 2, when he recovered from 2-0 in favor of Mark Selby and won the match 4-2, receiving 2 points for the effort. He was into the Premier League arena after five years of wondering through the ranking system so his victory meant a great deal.
Ding Junhui was the one who received 0 points from the battle against Shaun Murphy, losing as I’ve said before 5-1, but thanks to the draw from playing Ronnie O`Sullivan in round two, he got his first point. As his fellow-country Fu, he also needs to get back on the track and earn as many points as possible if he wants to play into the finals stages of this tournament.


And, with your permission, I present you the last match of the day which will have as main characters, the fresh winner of the World Open tournament , Neil Robertson and “The Jester from Leicester” Mark Selby.

Robertson and Selby fighting for their first points

Neil will make his first appearance on the Premier League caravan, this year. He is a fast player so the main rule - 25 seconds per shot - will not be an obstacle he could not suppress. He is a very gifted player and a very ambitious one, so it’s going to be interesting to watch him play "The Shark" Mark Selby, who by the way, wasn’t at his best lately, but I’m sure he wants to get back into the game as soon as possible.
Mark has 0 points in this bag for losing 4-2 to his namesake Mark Williams so he needs to put quite a performance into this match in order to get some more points.


These being said, I invite you all, not to miss the chance of seeing these six wonderful players doing what they do best - playing terrific snooker! The Premier League is going to be covered LIVE tonight by SkySports 2 (here`s the link) from 18:00 (UK time).
Enjoy snooker and see you tomorrow for some gossip! ;-)