Premier League (week two) 2011 - Williams triumphs in Guildford

Mark Williams takes control of victory

After the first week of the Premier League was fully dominated by Matthew Stevens, his country-man, Mark Williams rocked around the snooker table last night in Guildford. After crashing Jimmy White 3-0, he qualified to play in the final with Shaun Murphy, whom he beat by 3-1.

Although it can't be said that Williams had an excellent performance last night, it was sufficient enough to win him the semi-final and the final. And if some might think that winning over Jimmy White is not as hard as it was when the Whirlwind was in his hey-day, to win in front of Shaun Murphy is surely not an easy task.

The evening started for the Welshman with a very cool and relaxed break of 105, break that could have been higher if he hadn't missed the brown. However, after that moment of magic things got really scrappy between him and Jimmy: the cue ball was potted by both players, missing shots became a common thing, the fluency of potting the ball suddenly disappeared. Still, with a top break of 60, "The Welsh Potting Machine" managed to win his first match of the night, 3-0.

Worrying times for Jimmy White

This result it's a bit worrying for Jimmy, because this is his second match and he still hasn't scored any points. He only has two cue battles left, one with Ding Junhui and one with his good friend Ronnie O'Sullivan, and none of them will be a piece of cake to win.

The second semi-final featured the name of Premier League's king, Ronnie O'Sullivan and his last year rival to the title, Shaun Murphy. Even though many were inclined to think the history will repeat itself, it didn't. After O'Sullivan broke the ice with runs of 22 and 27, Murphy draw level and even if "The Rocket" put his nose in front once more after winning the 3rd frame of the evening, Murphy’s 115 break made the scoreline go 2-2. And that means sudden death - shoot-out rule in action!

The Premier League King loses his first match

Just as the 10-minutes frame started O’Sullivan committed a foul, this giving Murphy a "ball in hand”. By placing the cue ball wherever his magical heart desired, Shaun managed to pot enough balls (a break of 85), to beat Ronnie 3-2 and secure himself a place in the final next to Williams. 
It must be added that after O’Sullivan committed that foul he went back to his chair and had a very distinctive smile upon his face - something tells me he forgot for a second that a foul during the shoot-out frame means the opponent can place the cue ball where he wants.

The final started pretty well for the "Magician" as he hit a 65 break, but he kept on missing one chance after another to close the frame and so Williams stole it right from his nose. Still, Murphy took the next one to draw level at 1-1, but that was about it for the 2005 world champion, as the Welshman cashed the following frame to go back in the lead (2-1) and ended in great style, with a beautiful 101 for a clear victory of 3-1.

Murphy didn't have enough magic to win the day

So, after two weeks for Premier League we have two Welshmen in front of the list, both Matthew Stevens and Mark Williams having six points, closely followed by Shaun Murphy with four points, John Higgins with three and Ronnie O’Sullivan with two. Unfortunately, Jimmy White and Neil Robertson have none.

The Premier League caravan will continue its journey the next stop being scheduled for September 22nd at Motherwell, where John Higgins will face Neil Robertson and Ding Junhui will take on Shaun Murphy. 
See you then! ;-)