Snooker Championship League (group 2) - Williams pots victory

04:27:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Mark Williams succeds in making it to the "Winners` group"
It is said that after the rain the sun appears and this saying seems to apply more then enough for Mark Williams. After a very good start in the Premier League and some pretty good matches along the way he didn’t succeed in reaching the semis and after that came the excruciating defeat he suffered in the UK Championship final, although he was ahead of John Higgins 9-5. Sometimes I find myself wonder how the players find the strengths to carry on after a horrible defeat or after more then just one...it’s something they do so often and they have my sincere admiration for that.
Mark Williams is one of those guys who even if he plays badly he keeps on playing, but let’s be honest! In Group 2, he rocked so well around the snooker table that he deserved the victory he obtained yesterday in the final played against "The Rocket". Such a thrill to see him win something after all that bad luck.


Some things need to be repeated, so I must say this: "snooker is full of surprises"! Otherwise, how can you explain the poor shape Neil Robertson was in these last two days? :-P He only won one match, as well as his colleague Jamie Cope (who succeeded in doing so in the last day, by beating Shaun Murphy 3-2), so both of them are out of the competition. Not a pretty picture for the current world champion, but let’s hope he’ll make a full recovery during the coming Masters.
Although he seemed like in a very good form, reaching the Group 1 final and playing very good, Ali Carter’s luck wasn’t there with him in Group 2. He only won two matches obtaining 2 points, this meaning he came out on fifth place. The good news is that he will have another chance for he will team up with the boys from Group 3. Better luck next time, "Captain"! :-)


Higgins and Murphy not quite there yet...
The ones who made history these last two days were without any doubts Mark Williams, John Higgins and Ronnie O`Sullivan. They were on fire so they reached the semis in their quest for a place in the "Winners` group". Along with Shaun Murphy, who succeeded in making it to the semis also, the boys have played like always: good, old classic snooker.
The first semifinal was between two giants, Ronnie O`Sullivan and John Higgins. They’ve had a brief encounter just before this one and "The Rocket" was the one who practically crashed "The Wizard of Wishaw" by 3-0. During the semifinal, things weren’t going to be any different, the match being ended on the same scoreline 3-0, in favor of O`Sullivan. The second semifinal that Higgins lost.
Meanwhile, Mark Williams and Shaun Murphy were fighting for a place in the final also, but "The Welsh Potting Machine" was running like in the good times, winning the battle with a 3-0 lead. Such a blast!

Now was the time for Ronnie to meet Mark and that encounter was going to be bloody and messy, as both of them are such wonderful players. How can I describe better the final? Well, how about a feast of breaks? And not any kind of breaks, but century ones! :-)) Although O`Sullivan seemed more confident being backed by a series of 115 and 132, Williams succeeded in hitting a 138, equaling Ronnie’s highest break from the other day and closing the deal with a final score of 3-2. No comment, just applause! :-)


So, until this moment we have two "Marks" in the "Winners` group" (Mark Selby and Mark Williams) and five more are needed. But it’s better not to rush in, so Championship League competition will take a short break until the 24th of January when the players from Group 3 will start their run towards the "Winners` group". Until then...we have a wonderful event coming up this weekend - The Masters ;-)

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