UK Championship 2012 - Day 3

It might have been Monday, a day many of us don't fancy due to the fact that we have to go back to work, but for the snooker players that enrolled into the second most important tournament on the colourful cue sport calendar, it was just another busy day at the office.

The surprises didn't stop in showing themselves, Luca Brecel managing his best performance ever and sending home a Top 16 player, Ricky Walden by 6-5, on the opposite corner Mark Williams crashing out of yet another event after being defeated 6-3 by his namesake, Mark King.

Neil Robertson took a great start after hammering Tom Ford 6-1, the same scoreline being recorded in the snooker meeting between Matthew Stevens and a very ill (suffering from shingles, as he himself admitted) Dominic Dale.

Ricky Walden v Luca Brecel

It was one of those matches that makes you wonder about how great is to have a clash between experience and youth’s boldness and although in snooker, in many cases, experience is often the one prevailing, this time it was the other way around.

Walden stormed in as to take a 2-0 lead with runs of 45 and 79, but his younger opponent found no difficulty in coming back and ending the first session on a tight 2-2 scoreline.

After the 15-minute break the cue-crossing continued with the same Walden flying two frames up (breaks of 64 and 94 being part of the package), followed by a similar replay from Belgium's prodigy who caught up with him at four apiece.

The world number 12 put his nose back in front, being now just one away from victory, but Luca managed not only to force the decider, but also to win it in order to obtain his greatest ever achievement in a ranking event.

Mark Williams v Mark King

At the near table the two Mark's were also trying to entertain the audience, as well as getting a place in the next round. And for the "King" the dream came true.

Although Williams was the one to break the ice and get the first frame under board, the next three were all cashed by King with just top break of 57.

After the interval things only got worse for the Welshman as King took a 5-1 lead by hitting a beautiful 103 century. However he did find the strength to carry on and get two more frames in his bag and also hit a century (105), before King closed the deal at 6-3.

Neil Robertson v Tom Ford

Robertson had the time of his life by playing Ford, the Australian player scoring no less than four century breaks in a match that was almost one-sided.

With runs of 129, 112 and 74 Robbo got on a comfortable 4-0 lead, while a perfect 100 put him just one away from the finish line.

Poor Ford only grabbed a frame, before another century, this time an 127, stroked the scoreboard as the "Thunder from Down Under" was winning 6-1.

 



Matthew Stevens v Dominic Dale

Far from his best, but in a better state of mind than his opponent, Matthew Stevens obtained the last of the remaining spots in the Last 16 with a 6-1 result in front of a very ill Dominic Dale, now having to face Marco Fu in the next round.