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Elisabeth
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Posts by Elisabeth
Ding had his eyes on the pies
0888 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
This year’s UK Championship in Telford was sponsored by Pukka-Pies, a family company based in Leicestershire that manufactures pies, sausage rolls and puff pastry.
During the tournament it was announced that the winner of the championship was to receive his body weight in Pukka Pies. Apparently UK champion Ding Junhui’s weight was equivalent to 276 pies. Had the other finalist, John Higgins won, there would have been quite a few more pies, 320 to be exact.
Before the weigh-in that preceded the last couple of matches, Ding made sure he wore a few extra layers of clothes to increase the number of pies in the event of him winning the championship. He also wanted to put a few snooker balls in his pockets but wasn’t allowed to do so.
Christmas is a time of giving and conveniently enough, the holidays are just around the corner so Ding has decided to donate the pies to a group called Homeless and Rootless at Christmas.
They’re based in Sheffield, where Ding lives during the snooker season, and are the only help organization for homeless people open during the holidays.
There probably can’t be a worse time to be homeless and hungry than during this period of the year so Ding’s pies will come quite in handy. The marketing controller of Pukka-Pies’ was very happy to hear Ding is planning on giving the pies to charity.
Santa Claus does exist and his name is Ding Junhui.
When will we see a Chinese world champion?
0888 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
Chinese Ding Junhui, or “Enter the Dragon” as snooker fans like to call him, has done almost everything required to be dubbed a true snooker warrior. He won the China Open and the UK Championship in 2005 and the Northern Ireland Trophy in 2006.
Ding also won this year’s UK Championship, beating the reigning world champion John Higgins in the final. Among the non-ranking tournament victories, the Jiangsu Classic and World Series stand out as the most important. Aside from that, he has scored two televised maximum breaks which is more than some of the seasoned players can brag about.
Not just any maximum breaks either, but in big tournaments like the Masters and the UK Championship. Ding also broke the record for the most unanswered points in any snooker tournament when he scored 495 against Stephen Hendry in the 2007 Premier League.
So when will this young super-talent win a World Championship? Looking at his title winnings and records, the time seems ripe. With the massive competition in today’s snooker, however, it may very well take time. Today’s snooker climate is quite different from what it used to be during the glory days of Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry.
New players are constantly being added to the professional tour, from the UK as well as from China and other countries. To win a World Championship in the 21st century everything has to click. Not only does the player have to be in perfect form but that of his opponent has to be at least slightly worse. Previous matches will also have a great impact on your playing.
And let’s not forget how drained Peter Ebdon was in the 2006 World Championship final against Graeme Dott, to give an example. He was simply too exhausted to give Dott a match after having gone to 17-16 against Marco Fu in the semi-final.
Many talented snooker players were predicted to become world champions at the beginning of their career – Marco Fu, Stephen Maguire, Mark Selby and Matthew Stevens to mention a few – but have yet to accomplish this prestigious goal. Whether Ding Junhui will happily lift the trophy in the coming years or join the bunch who just weren’t meant to be world champions remains to be seen.
Snooker loophole – nuts, are we?
0888 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
Snooker tournaments have been played for almost a century so you would expect all possible and impossible combinations of situations to have occurred at some point on the table.
It does however happen from time to time that a referee makes a decision that causes players, audience and commentators to wonder. The rules apparently don’t cover every possible scenario and sometimes the referee has to make an interpretation of the rules rather than a definite verdict.
This Saturday’s UK Championship semi-final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins involved one of those strange incidents that will make people talk for weeks to come. A change of the rules might also be necessary.
It was in frame 13 that O’Sullivan snookered himself. He first missed the brown and the yellow balls six times. On the seventh attempt, O’Sullivan accidentally touched the black ball and Jan Verhaas, the referee, called a foul but not a miss as there hadn’t been a shot. O’Sullivan was then told to remain seated while the table was left to Higgins who had to play. The balls weren’t replaced.
Verhaas has been a professional referee for 16 years and should know the rules. Experts are now discussing whether there might be a loophole in the rules. If a player could just touch a ball to get a foul and get out of a difficult situation, then there’s a problem. Even though snooker is the kind of sport where cheating is very much frowned upon and where most players are sportsmanlike and wouldn’t even dream of trying, the rules still have to be crystal clear and make sure cheating isn’t even possible.
More importantly, the players shouldn’t be distracted by confusing decisions by the referee. Higgins lost that frame, not just because of the rules but because he lost his focus and that’s one of the worst things that can happen to a snooker player.
Ding pots UK Championship to end dramatic week
0889 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
Ding Junhui has potted the title at the second biggest snooker tournament of the year, the UK Championship, in the final act of what has been a dramatic week in Telford to say the least.
Stars have come and left. Dreams have been crushed for some and realised for others. We have seen some spectacular matches and many surprises.
One of the biggest sensations in this year’s UK Championship was defending champion Shaun Murphy’s fall against Ding in the last 16. It was a tangible loss and took a while to digest. Another shock was Peter Lines’ (ranked 64th) victories over Ian McCulloch, Nigel Bond, Marco Fu and Mark Williams on the road to the quarter-finals. This year’s Grand Prix finalist, Liang Wenbo, had another great tournament with 9-3 and 9-2 wins over Ryan Day and Mark King, respectively. He has really shown that he’s a player to count on this season.
The biggest thriller of the tournament was the semi-final match between Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins.
Higgins had been playing his best snooker and it seemed impossible for O’Sullivan to outwit him. Higgins stole the fifth frame right out of O’Sullivan’s hands, even though a snooker was needed, which must have been discouraging. At one point O’Sullivan was trailing 8-2 and things were looking hopeless. But neither the fans nor O’Sullivan wanted to give up and he found his second wind, took six consecutive frames and the match went to the final 17th frame. The semi-final was eventually won by Higgins but the world’s two most popular players had created an instant classic.
After such a tough match Higgins must have been exhausted and even though he played very well his energy didn’t last to win the final. Ding, winner of the UK Championship in 2005 and this year’s other finalist, had the opportunity to rest on Saturday, which might very well have had an impact on the outcome of Sunday’s final. That said, Ding also played some incredible snooker. The safety play in particular was absolutely brilliant. Strong defence is something that is definitely needed against Higgins who is one of the cleverest players on the tour.
Ding has proved time and time again that he is a young player to count on and that it would be a big mistake to underestimate him. When is the next time The Dragon will set the snooker world on fire?
Ding and Maguire in semi-final thriller
0891 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
We have reached the seventh day of the Pukka-Pies UK Championship in Telford and the afternoon session of the first semi-final between Ding ”The Dragon” Junhui and Stephen ”On Fire” Maguire has just ended with Ding leading 5-3.
Maguire was the first player to come in and play and reached 29 points. Ding made a few short visits to the table only to hand over to Maguire who scored another eight points. Some tactical defensive shots were made but Maguire was the one who won the defensive battle and confidently took the frame.
Frame two was all Ding’s until he missed a red ball. Very unfortunate. After a couple of shots from both guys, Ding managed to take control of the frame again and levelled at 1-1.
The Chinese looked strong in the third frame, playing almost flawlessly and taking the lead at 2-1.
At first Ding seemed to have the upper hand in the fourth frame and Maguire made a couple of mistakes he normally wouldn’t make. After a while though he found an opening and managed to steal the frame from Ding. Very well played by Maguire.
Ding took 68 points with the first thing he did in the fifth frame and left 67 points on the table for Maguire. Maguire managed to snooker him and a small flame of hope was lit but the position of the rest of the reds was too unfavourable and Maguire had to concede the frame.
So far in the match Ding looked like the better player even though Maguire was trailing only one frame. Ding split the balls perfectly at the exact right moment and won the next frame with an 83 break.
At this point, Ding dominated when it came to potted balls, with 100 to Maguire’s 49.
Frame seven began with Maguire snookered on the red balls and fouling twice. More snookers were then produced and Ding fouled as well. Ding then came in on a long red and made some incredible shots to score 31 points. The timer came up to show that Maguire hadn’t potted a ball in 34 minutes. He really had to improve his game if he wanted to even have a chance of winning this. But Ding took command once again and went to 5-2 before Maguire knew it.
Last frame of the session was crucial for Maguire. He could either go to a convenient and more secure 5-3 or a not quite as hopeful 6-2. First thing that happened was Ding missed a long ball and let Maguire in. The reds were well positioned and Maguire split them perfectly. After having barely potted a red Maguire fell out of position though and had to leave over to Ding. However, after a few clever safety shots from Maguire, Ding missed a fairly easy red ball and let Maguire back in to draw closer at 5-3.
For a while Maguire looked disheartened but he managed to pull himself together by the end of the session and reach a not too shabby result.
Commentator Ken Doherty compared the players after the first break and suggested Ding’s typical poker face might give him an advantage to Maguire’s more emotional image.
It remains to be seen if Maguire’s state of mind can change for the better tonight when this thriller of a match continues.
Higgins and O’Sullivan set up semi-final showdown
0892 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
Yesterday’s UK Championship quarter-finals both ended almost the same way – 9-2 and 9-3.
Even though most people believed that John Higgins would win, 9-2 was still a somewhat depressing result for Liang Wenbo. However, being an up and coming young star he’ll probably accept the prize money of £16,450 and the ranking points for reaching the quarter-final stage with a smile on his face when his initial disappointment has waned.
Higgins will meet Ronnie O’Sullivan in Saturday’s semi-final. O’Sullivan’s quarter-final was the third match in this tournament where he beat someone 9-3. This time Mark Selby was the victim.
Selby fought hard and wouldn’t give up. He scored a 136 break in the first frame of the evening session and was very close to taking a few more frames that O’Sullivan eventually stole from him. But strong will apparently wasn’t enough against O’Sullivan, who was simply the better player.
The semi-final is the first time O’Sullivan and Higgins meet in the UK Championship. Their latest meeting in a ranking tournament was in this year’s Grand Prix when Higgins beat O’Sullivan 5-4 in the second round.
Saturday’s match is going to be different though as they’re playing best of 17 frames in an overall bigger and more important tournament. Their latest meeting in a long format match was the quarter-final in the 2007 World Championship, which Higgins won 13-9.
O’Sullivan won the UK Championship in 1993, 1997, 2001 and 2007 while Higgins hasn’t won it quite as many times. His two victories were in 1998 and 2000.
Selby playing catch-up against unstoppable O’Sullivan
0892 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
Mark Selby and Ronnie O’Sullivan met this afternoon in the first session of the quarter-finals. Here’s a report on the match, frame by frame.
Frame one:
As soon as the match started Selby was the first player to pot some balls but missed on a red. O’Sullivan then scored one point but missed. Selby went to 34 when he missed and let O’Sullivan in. For the longest time it seemed like this frame could go to either player but O’Sullivan was the one who took advantage of the position of the balls in the end and won the frame 83-34.
Frame two:
O’Sullivan was tinkering with his leather tip on the cue at the beginning of frame two and one couldn’t help thinking of the 2006 World Championship when it got so badly messed up that he gave the cue to a little boy in the crowd.
The frame started out excitingly. Neither of the players wanted to let the other in but then Selby made a bad defence shot where the white ball got stuck among the reds. O’Sullivan wasted no time or opportunity and scored 61 points before he missed. Selby then scored 30 points before missing a quite difficult red. O’Sullivan potted a long red to get back in the game. It really looks like his long-shot technique has returned just in time for this tournament. A few shots later he potted a seemingly impossible yellow ball and left Selby needing snookers. 2-0.
Frame three:
The third frame started with a fatal miss by O’Sullivan. Selby quickly jumped to the opportunity and scored 63 points. O’Sullivan made a quick visit at the table but Selby had soon returned to take the frame.
With two offensive, fast players like these the referee hardly has time to put the coloured balls back on the table before they’re ready to shoot.
Frame four:
Statistics showed that the players’ tournament long-pot success was 62% (Selby) and 59% (O’Sullivan).
O’Sullivan started out on a long red ball and the rest of the balls were nicely scattered on the table which made for a possible high break. Just when you thought he was going to fail, he worked himself out of the situation and completed a 104 break. 3-1.
Frame five:
O’Sullivan looked hungry yet again and potted a long red. As stated before, his long pot success has definitely taken him far in this tournament. He went on to pot a few more and then spread the reds perfectly. O’Sullivan scored 70 points and Selby needed snookers. Selby managed to snooker O’Sullivan on a red ball and needed to pot all the balls to go to a re-spotted black. For a while it looked as if there was a good chance of this happening. But then before we knew it Selby needed two snookers – which he got – but then he missed on the blue ball and the frame was over.
Frame six:
Selby missed an important blue ball and when O’Sullivan came to the table he snookered himself on the same ball. A small dispute over the replacement of a yellow and a red ball arose that took some time to sort out. Selby finally got a chance but he was beginning to look nervous at this point knowing that he needed to win both this frame and the next two to catch up on O’Sullivan in this afternoon session. Luckily for Selby, he won the frame and went to 4-2.
Frame seven:
O’Sullivan seemed unbeatable, he didn’t seem to be capable of missing a single ball. Shortly into the frame, he made a 94 break and gave Selby some food for thought.
Frame eight:
Almost flawless playing from O’Sullivan again until he missed at 49 points and left Selby with a chance. Selby really made the most out of it, potting some quite difficult balls, but only managed to score 55 points and missed the final blue ball. O’Sullivan came to the table once more only to clear the table and steal yet another frame from poor Selby.
The session thus ended 6-2. O’Sullivan definitely provided the audience with high quality snooker. There was nothing wrong with Selby’s playing, in fact there hadn’t been all day. O’Sullivan was simply too good for him this afternoon.
The other quarter-final session between John Higgins and Liang Wenbo ended with the same result, in Higgins’ favour. It looked for a good while as if he was going to score a maximum break but he came out of position on the second last red ball and had to play a blue ball. The break eventually ended on 129 points.
Both matches have so far provided us with excellent snooker, even if O’Sullivan and Higgins didn’t meet any real resistance.
Ding to meet Maguire in semis
0893 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
Yesterday’s UK Championship quarter-finals turned out to be quite exciting. The match between Ali Carter and Ding Junhui in particular was a true thriller.
Ding tried to repeat last year’s feat of a maximum break and almost made it, but failed after having potted 12 red balls. Carter on the other hand entered the “century of centuries” club when he made his 100th century break. Carter and Ding, with Carter leading most of the time, battled each other until the very last frame when Ding finally clinched the victory.
The match between Peter Lines and Stephen Maguire took a more expected turn. The afternoon session ended 6-2 and it looked as if Maguire was going to really outclass Lines. However, Lines managed to take three more frames and the match ended 9-5 in Maguire’s favour. Not too bad a result for a player who hasn’t been in the quarter-final of a ranking event since 1999.
So the world No.6 and No.7 on the latest updated provisional world rankings will meet in the semi-final on Friday. Knowing the capacity of these two players, there will be drama for sure. When Ding and Maguire met in the second round of this year’s Grand Prix at the beginning of October, Ding won 5-1.
Ding fails to dominate as Carter plays it safe
0893 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
Ali Carter met Ding Junhui in one of this afternoon’s first quarter finals.
Carter opened the first frame with a 124 break and Ding had to remain seated.
In the next frame, Ding managed to take 21 points but then had to hand over the table to Carter who quickly got stuck on a red ball and was forced to play a safety shot. Ding then let Carter in after an unfortunate shot. After a few more turns, Carter went on to win the frame and go to 2-0.
Safety success statistics came up at the beginning of the third frame and showed that Carter’s rate was 100% versus Ding’s 76%. Carter definitely looked hungrier, more positive and more eager. Another frame went to Carter. Ding really needed to sharpen up at this stage and luckily he did.
We were wondering if this match was going to turn into a repeat of yesterday’s encounter between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Peter Ebdon when Ding suddenly took command of the fourth frame and produced a 95-10 result to win it.
After the break Ding totally dominated the fifth frame and managed to rack up an 81 break before failing on a difficult red. With that the match was still on.
As of frame number six, Carter’s pot success was 92% while Ding’s was 91%. Ding found an opening and managed to rack up 17 points before missing the pink, giving Carter another chance at the table. But Carter missed the pink as well and the frame could seemingly go to either player when Carter found an opportunity to make some points.
It was around this time that Ding’s eye twitch started to act up. He seems to get it after playing for a while, or when he’s under pressure, but he won’t let it affect his playing. After a few turns with both players at the table Ding was finally the one to come out victorious, 3-3.
At the same time Stephen Maguire played Peter Lines on the other table. Lines really had to work hard in this match but has done very well so far.
A hard and very even first frame went to Maguire. The next frame was almost identical to the first and was also won by Maguire. Lines took the third frame but it could just as easily have gone the other way. Lines then dominated the beginning of the fourth frame and was disappointed when he suddenly missed at 55. But he was soon given another chance after a bad safety shot. Maguire took the next frame and went to 3-2 and before you knew it he had gone to 4-2.
Both matches will be decided later and give us two semi-finalists.
One-man show for O’Sullivan
0894 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
Yesterday’s last 16 match between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Peter Ebdon could have been a nail biter but instead turned into sort of a one man show. O’Sullivan took the lead early on and kept it up until the very end. He played very well and everything seemed to work for him, even the long pots that he’s had some trouble with lately. O’Sullivan didn’t have to give the match his all though as Ebdon’s form was quite bad. His long pot success rate was especially low and he failed to take his chances when he needed to. The match ended 9-3 and O’Sullivan now has a potentially tough encounter against Mark Selby ahead of him. Selby didn’t have too difficult a time beating Stephen Hendry 9-5, even though Hendry fought well.
Stephen Maguire’s victory over Stuart Bingham was very convincing and he will now face Peter Lines in the quarter finals. Lines success in the match against Mark Williams was of course a surprise considering his spot at 64, in the world rankings but Williams wouldn’t give up without a struggle and the match ended 9-8.
Not quite as surprising, but still something of a minor sensation was Liang Wenbo’s 9-2 victory over Mark King. Liang now has a tough match against John Higgins to look forward to. Speaking of Higgins, he was quite sure to win over Neil Robertson at 8-6 but Robertson gave a powerful effort to make Higgins sweat a little. For a while it looked like he was going to make it but Higgins refused to give in and won 9-8.
Premier League winner and defending champion Shaun Murphy is no longer in the tournament after a disappointing 9-3 loss against the 2005 champion, Ding Junhui.
Finally, Ali Carter beat Stephen Lee 9-5 and will meet Ding in the last eight. More exciting, high-quality snooker is coming up later today. There’s still a lot to look forward to.