PTC 6 - the last day

05:29:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

A small step for a player, a huge step for snooker
Yep, one more PTC event reached its final destination yesterday and this one is the last one too. The PTC 6 event closes the PTC series but leaves the door open for the EPTC series, so in the end the big brains of World Snooker will analyse all the players that were involved in this tournaments and pick only 24 (the best of the best) to take part in the PTC final next year in March. And this one will be televised! Yep, that’s right! Snooker on bread, LIVE in your own cozy homes! ;-) But until March 2011 there is still time so let’s just focus on the last day of the PTC 6 event.
As always I’m going to start by introducing the star of the day, the champion of the hour - Dominic "The Spaceman" Dale!!! Yes, he is the champion, the one who lifted the PTC 6 trophy! But let’s being from the top, ok?


The last 16 round and the biggest surprise ever, when Ali Carter was knocked out by the one and only Jimmy White! Is this guy for real or what? He was rocking around that snooker table for the last two days, winning every match and playing great snooker! He is such a star, no wonder he is "The Whirlwind":-D It’s true that the only reached the quarter-finals, but he had the most incredible run in this PTC event and if I were to take into account the 4-2 victory against Neil Robertson (from the EPTC 2 event) then the result would be "WOW"! He’s back in business, baby! It’s not just a fluke, it’s Jimmy White playing like the legend that he is! Such a thrill to see him doing so well! I personally think that if he keeps up the good work he can win one of these events, for we still have four more to go (EPTC, I mean) so he has enough time to brow away any resistance and get a trophy! ;-)

Martin Gould, the PTC 6 runner-up

Martin Gould beat Anthony McGill 4-2, as well as Ian McCulloch did with Andy Hicks and Liang Wenbo with Shaun Murphy. The matches Marcus Campbell v. Graeme Dott and Dominic Dale v. Matthew Stevens both ended on the same scoreline, 4-1 with Marcus and Dominic reaching the quarter finals.
The last to complete the 1/4 formation were Stuart Bingham and Mark Selby, both whitewashing their opponents: Daniel Wells and Jamie Jones by 4-0.


In the next round things got tougher and tougher as Mark Selby lost 3-4 to Dominic Dale as well as Jimmy White in the match played against Liang Wenbo.
Martin Gould booked himself a place into the semis by beating Stuart Bingham 4-2 and Marcus Campbell followed him with a 4-1 scoreline against Ian McCulloch.


Both semi-finals ended on a 4-1 score, crying out loud who dominated in each match. So, Martin Gould beat Marcus Campbell and Dominic Dale the last Chinese standing, Liang Wenbo to reach the big final.
The ultimate match was a very tight one, with a lot of pressure involved as the two were on frame apart most of the time. Since this situation couldn’t continue forever, they ended up on a decider. At 3-3 and the score looking something like 70-16 (for Gould) I was about to write the congrats message to the winner. Big mistake! In snooker, you don’t sing victory until the last ball is potted. Dominic needed three snookers for a safe comeback and....he succeeded four! What a performance! He won the match and the final 78-70! What a victory for the Welshman! What a marvelous victory!
I feel really sorry for Gouldie for I know he`s worked really hard for this. He is in such a great form and to reach the final means a lot. But I’m sure his time will come, for he is too great player not to win a snooker tournament ;-)

Dominic Dale and the PTC 6 event trophy
It’s interesting to see that this is Dominic’s third ranking title, for he has only won the 1997 Grand Prix and the 2007 Shanghai Masters. Ok, so this is not a major ranking tournament, but it counts! According to Barry Hearn’s "new game order" it counts, so Dominic deserves tones of congratulations! As well as Martin Gould. Both of them are fantastic players who share the same passion for snooker. :-)


Today I have the century break list, but among them there are also the ones from yesterday, so it’s like a 2 in 1 breaks treat :-))) : Mark Allen (101), David Grace (101), Simon Bedford (101), Robert Milkins (101), Liu Song (103), Matthew Stevens (105,113, 142), Liang Wenbo (110,131), Alan McManus (111), James McBain (112), Jimmy White (113), Rod Lawler (113), Stuart Carrington (115), Mark Selby (116), Barry Hawkins (117), Andrew Higginson (120), Marco Fu (125), Dominic Dale (127,136), Neil Robertson (133) and Xiao Guodong (138).


I don’t want to end this article without remanding you who are the 2010 PTC`s winners:
PTC 1: Mark Williams
PTC 2: Mark Selby
PTC 3: Tom Ford
PTC 4: Barry Pinches
PTC 5: Ding Junhui
PTC 6: Dominic Dale


These being said, let’s hear it for all the players that took part in this PTC series, for all of them deserve our respect and consideration. Congrats to both finalists and for you my dears… have a wonderful week! :-)

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