Stephen Hendry snooker blog
Posts tagged Ali Carter
Power Snooker ready for switch on
0467 days
by Ismail Vedat
in Uncategorized
Snooker has been undergoing a major transformation over the past few months, and the arrival of Power Snooker is the latest attempt to change the face of the game.
Since Barry Hearn gained control of World Snooker by becoming chairman last year, he has introduced more ranking tournaments and more prize money, and the players are much happier than they have been in recent years.
Viewing figures however have dropped over the last 20 years, and the creators of Power Snooker, Rod Gunner and Ed Simmons, believe their idea can be a success. Not since the epic 1985 world championship final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis that was decided on the black has snooker enjoyed such high viewing figures, that final pulling in 18.5million viewers.
Power Snooker is hoped to do to snooker what Twenty20 has done for cricket, and the rules of the game are a change from the norm. Games will last 30 minutes and points will count rather than frames. There will be nine reds, rather than the usual 15, and they will be arranged in a diamond, not a rack.
The middle red will be the Power Ball, and when potted this will trigger a two-minute power play with any balls potted counting as double points. The players will also play against a 20-second shot clock.
The event will be full of glitz and glamour, and the players will also have a microphone attached to them so the audience can hear every word they say.
The format may not be to the liking of the traditionalists, but the quick-fire play that will be on show will suit one man. The Rocket, Ronnie O’Sullivan.
The three-time world champion is one of eight players to be playing at London’s Indigo2 Arena on Saturday. O’Sullivan has a match against 15-year old Belgian champion Luca Brecel. The inclusion of the wonder-kid is what Gunner wants the competition to be all about. “Luca is a young precocious talent and the young generation adapts to new rules very quickly,” said Gunner. “I firmly believe that sport is entertainment. Snooker has been stagnating and young people today want energy and instant gratification.”
O’Sullivan is the favourite to land the £35,000 first prize, and he is looking forward to playing in it. “Hopefully, it suits my game better than the others,” he said. “It’s difficult to make predictions but it’s going to be an exciting event to watch. It will show snooker in a different light and the sport desperately needs that.”
In the other games, reigning world champion Neil Robertson takes on current Premier League champion Shaun Murphy. Masters champion Mark Selby takes on Shanghai Masters winner Ali Carter, and the Whirlwind Jimmy White is up against UK champion Ding Junhui.
Whether Power Snooker is a success or not, all eyes will be on O’Sullivan to deliver.
Mark Williams progresses to last 16
0504 days
by Ismail Vedat
in Uncategorized
Mark Williams advanced to the last 16 of the snooker World Open after beating Ali Carter 3-1.
Two-time world champion Williams has been in fine form over the last few weeks, beating Mark Selby 4-2 in the Premier League last week and beating Brazil’s Igor Figueiredo in the first round here in Glasgow, and it was he who took the opening frame with two quick-fire breaks.
Carter, who won the first ranking tournament of the season in Shanghai, had a good chance to level the match, but after he made a couple of mistakes with a break just falling short of 50, Williams came back and doubled his lead.
Carter looked odds-on to win the third frame, being 72-0 in front, but Williams managed to clear the table and level the score at 72-72, forcing a re-spotted black. To win the match, Williams tried an ambitious shot as he tried to cut the black from a difficult angle, but he left the ball over the pocket, allowing Carter to keep his hopes alive of staying in the tie.
However, Carter’s hopes were dashed within minutes as Williams sealed the match in style, making a break of 96 to complete a fine victory.
“Every time I was in the balls I felt as if I was going to make a decent break,” he said. “Starting off quickly in matches has not always been my strong point, I probably lose the first frame more often than anyone.
“It’s not easy to play well in these best-of-fives and you know you could go out there, lose 3-0 and not even get a poke. But so far I’ve done well. The last time I played best-of-fives was in a pro-am in Ilford when the top prize was £500, and this week we’re playing for £100,000,” said Williams.
Mr. Consistent lifts the Welsh Open trophy
0736 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
With Stephen Maguire, reigning champion Ali Carter and the world’s best player Ronnie O’Sullivan all in the semi-finals of the 2010 Welsh Open – John Higgins didn’t particularly stand out as the favourite to win the Welsh Open despite being snooker’s ‘Mr. Consistent’.
The Scot’s convincing 5-2 win against Mark Selby should have been a clear indicator that Higgins meant business in this year’s tournament at the Newport Centre, though; and he duly sprang a surprise by beating the in-form O’Sullivan for a place in the final.
Although this was easily Higgins’ toughest test in the competition, he still needed to overcome the challenge of the 2009 Welsh Open champion, Ali Carter, to land his hands on the rankings event trophy for a second time.
Regardless of his form coming into the tournament’s final, few could have imagined the one-sided nature of the opening session. The reigning world champion stormed to a 5-0 lead – hitting several 80+ breaks in the process – leaving his opponent wondering how to force his way into the match against a man relentless on his pursuit for glory.
Earlier in the day, sport’s focus had been firmly fixed on Britain’s Andy Murray, who despite his best efforts, was comprehensively beaten in the Australian Open final by the great Roger Federer.
It was a similar story in south-east Wales yesterday evening. Carter, assuming the role of Murray, was simply outclassed by Higgins. And when he produces that level of snooker it’s almost impossible to stop the man nicknamed the Wizard of Wishaw.
Higgins took a 6-2 lead going into the evening session; and during the interval the engravers must have been busy carving his name into the trophy because the Scot’s pending victory seemed inevitable.
It proved exactly that. The 35-year-old won the final two frames of the final session to record an emphatic 9-4 victory against Carter and seal the Welsh Open title for the first time in a decade.
This latest win took the 2009 Player of the Year’s ranking event tally to 21 – just one behind O’Sullivan – and he was delighted to win the Newport tournament for a second time.
Higgins said: “I was delighted with the way I played for the first five frames. That was the best I’d ever felt really. I was just properly zoned in.
“It’s hard to win any tournament these days with the quality of players around but I’m over the moon about winning the Welsh Open for a second time.
“The crowd here are one of the best. The Newport Centre is a great arena to play in.”
The three-time World Champion is now expected to overtake the Rocket at the top of the world rankings – if he matches his display at next month’s China Open then he will guarantee his place at the top of the rankings for the start of the 2010/11 season.
Meanwhile, Carter was slightly despondent that he had failed to retain his Welsh Open title, but conceded he had been beaten fairly by the better player on the night.
“I was under all sorts of pressure and I was just glad to make a game of it. I would have been glad to get back to 7-5, but he’s done me 9-4 in the end,” the 30-year-old added.
“The crowd have been great this week and I am disappointed I couldn’t keep my title, but I had a good go.”
The China Open, hosted at the Beijing University Students Gymnasium in the country’s capital, will begin on March 29th and conclude on April 4th; and Higgins will be looking to round off a spectacular season with a victory in the far-east, before another World Snooker Championship at the Crucible in May.
Rob Swan.
Carter marches on
0740 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
The reigning Welsh Open champion Ali Carter faced a stern test in the form of Neil Robertson at the Newport Centre yesterday, but once again proved his worth in this rankings tournament with a performance sure to make him a strong favourite for a place in Sunday’s final.
A comfortable 5-2 victory against the Australian was a clear indicator that Carter is on course to reach the tournament’s latter stages. However, he will now play another of the sport’s in-form players in the quarter-finals – the conqueror of Stephen Hendry – Ryan Day.
Carter’s match against Robertson was far from the classic many had anticipated before the first shot of the evening session, but the 30-year-old displayed the type of ruthlessness which champions are renowned for producing when it matters most.
A superb break of 115 at a pivotal time in the match put the 2009 Welsh Open winner firmly on course for a place in the last eight; and when Robertson missed a green in the seventh frame with the score at 46-35, Carter duly obliged in putting an end to the game by potting a final black.
Robertson, who won this rankings event in 2007, had been outclassed by a man on a mission to become the first player to win consecutive Welsh Open titles since Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2004 and ’05.
Meanwhile, the unfancied Day triumphed against Hendry in the last 16 to seal a quarter-final berth. Competing in his homeland, Day was largely written off because of his poor record against the Scottish legend – four defeats in as many matches for the Welshman – however, he sealed a brilliant 5-3 victory to send home a delighted crowd away from the Newport Centre.
The last of the first-round matches were also decided last night, with the second round set to be concluded by this evening.
Ding Junhui became yet another big-name Chinese casualty in the opening rounds of this competition – meaning that not one player from the country will feature in the tournament’s second round. The world No. 13 was beaten 5-3 by Jamie Cope despite some impressive breaks of his own – including a 127.
Cope will no doubt be buoyed by yesterday’s victory, but he will need to see off the challenge of the world’s best player this afternoon if he’s to reach the last eight. Not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination and one which is extremely difficult to envisage him passing.
There were also first round wins for Welshman Mark Williams and 32-year-old Scot Graeme Dott, who has set up an intriguing last 16 match against his compatriot John Higgins.
The reigning champion of the Championship League, Judd Trump, couldn’t quite put enough pressure on the winner of this month’s prestigious Masters tournament, Mark Selby. Trump, who advanced to the winner’s group of this year’s Championship League just last week, lost 5-2 to the Jester from Leicester. Perhaps this tournament came slightly too earlier for the 20-year-old but there’s no doubt he will be a major threat in this rankings event and others like it in the forthcoming years.
The remaining six matches of the quarter-finals will be contested today over two separate sessions. The first one will begin at 1pm and will feature a wealth of snooker talent including Stephen Maguire, Matthew Stephens and the Rocket himself.
Into the evening session, and Andrew Higginson and Mark Williams will go head-to-head, as will Mark Selby and Mark King before the much-anticipated battle of the Scots – Dott v Higgins.
So, the rankings event is hotting up nicely with four days left to play. Is anyone capable of stopping Carter in his tracks in this competition?
Rob Swan
Preview: 2010 Welsh Open
0747 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
Hot off the heels of last weekend’s epic Masters final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby comes the first rankings tournament of the year. The Welsh Open is regarded by some players as one of the best in the snooker calendar despite a winning prize which pales in comparison to that of the World Championships.
Hosted in Newport, south-east Wales, the 2010 Welsh Open gets underway on Monday and will finish the following Sunday. The winner of the rankings tournament will receive a cheque for £35,000 – still a decent sum of money, but well behind the £250,000 given to the winner of the World Championships.
Before 1992, the event was a prestigious amateur one and designed for Welsh players only; but its popularity ensured interest from the rankings circuit in the early 1990s, and since then the tournament has flourished into one of the most exciting of the season.
The event’s home is the Newport Centre; however, it has been played away from the 2,000 capacity venue in the past. The Welsh Open was known as the Regal Welsh Open until 2003 but then lost its main sponsor. Between 1999 and 2003, the event was played at the Cardiff International Arena, before a year at the Welsh Institute of Sport in Cardiff in 2004.
But the Welsh Open was brought back to its spiritual home in 2005, where it has remained ever since.
Ali Carter is the reigning champion after beating Joe Swail 9-5 at the Newport Centre last February. It was the 30-year-old’s first rankings title and he secured it in thrilling fashion after coming back from 5-2 down to win 9-5. And 12 months earlier, the current Masters champion, Selby, recorded his first world-ranking title with a brilliant comeback against the Rocket in the tournament’s final – now, where have we heard that one before?
Meanwhile, Stephen Hendry is the only player to have three Welsh Open titles to his name. The Scot sealed his third title in 2003, having won the inaugural event eleven years earlier and his second in 1997.
The likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Steve Davis, Mark Williams and the late Paul Hunter trail just behind on two titles – a clear indicator of how highly the top players regard the rankings event.
Unlike the Masters, the Welsh Open starts with 32 competitors in the first round – all of whom have qualified for the tournament via the Welsh Open qualifiers, which have been played all this week, apart from the reigning champion Carter, who qualified by default.
Most of the sport’s big guns have now qualified and are poised to find out who they’ll be facing in the last 32. Hendry, O’Sullivan, Selby, Higgins etc are all present and correct and will be among the favourites to seal the first rankings title of the decade.
But as seen in previous years, this event does have a tendency of producing one or two surprises.
Back in 2007, unranked Andrew Higginson made it all the way to the final of the tournament, scoring a quite brilliant maximum break along the way, and only just lost out to Neil Robertson in the final by a single frame.
“The week has been beyond my wildest dreams,” Higginson said after his 9-8 defeat.
Just two years later it would be Swail’s turn to revel in the limelight cast upon him by the Newport rankings tournament. Aged 39 at the time and without a rankings win to his name, he was presented with his best opportunity at last year’s Welsh Open, but eventually allowed Carter back into the match and was punished for it.
Despite the final results, these two examples offer hope to the lower-ranked players qualifying for this year’s Welsh Open that they can reach the latter stages of the event.
So soon after the high-quality Masters it’s hard to look past the top-ranked players. O’Sullivan will be out to avenge his defeat in Sunday’s final, Selby will be looking to continue his impressive recent form, while Carter will be desperate to retain his title; but there’s something special about the Newport Centre and snooker which allows those less-fancied to shine.
Once again, the action starts next Monday, and will certainly be one not to miss.
Rob Swan
Whiplashed Williams waltzes into quarters
0755 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
Mark Williams had suffered the effects of whiplash after a minor car crash on Monday evening and felt sore throughout his second round Masters match against Ali Carter; but this had little effect on the Welshman’s performance as he fought bravely through the pain barrier and defeated his opponent 6-3 in the process.
Williams and seven-time world champion, Stephen Hendry, were both involved in the road accident following a night out. The 34-year-old’s car was stationary at the time of the collision, but was shunted from behind at traffic lights. Fortunately, only minor injuries were sustained, and the Welshman was given the green light to play just 24 hours later.
At the end of the first frame, those packed inside Wembley Arena could have been forgiven for questioning whether or not such an incident had even occurred. Williams hit a break of 98 without reply to seal the opening frame, although the amount of time he needed to take each shot – along with a series of slight grimaces every now and then – suggested he had only just been passed fit to play.
Carter went one better in the second frame, compiling a 99, and then took a 2-1 lead in the frame after with a 71 in the third.
Williams recovered, though, and equalised with the highest break of the match. His 102 was arguably the standout moment of the match, as the game became scrappier after the interval.
The scoreline was then reversed once again in the fifth – Williams stumbling to a 66-3 frame win – but Carter again levelled proceedings in the sixth after a break of 98.
As the match became more tense, the errors began to seep into both players’ games. But Williams was clearly up for a scrap-fest and won the next three frames to secure his place in the last eight.
The two-time world champion and Masters winner, who had spent the morning in hospital on painkillers, had performed valiantly and admitted he’d surprised himself at times during the match.
“The pain was ok; it got worse when the tension started to build at the end. It meant I got down to shots slower which might have helped!” the world No. 15 joked.
“I surprised myself, I didn’t expect that and felt good out there. I couldn’t rush any shots because of the pain. That was probably some of the best stuff I have played for some time.
“I’ll try and get a massage tomorrow and hopefully it should get better.”
Williams will now play the man who knocked his fellow passenger, Hendry, out of the tournament, Shaun Murphy, tomorrow evening at 7pm.
Rob Swan
Impressive Maguire knocks out hot-stepper King
0756 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
Stephen Maguire advanced into the quarter-finals of the Masters last night with a 6-3 win against the tournament’s pre-match entertainer.
Maguire saw off the challenge of the man now dubbed in some quarters as “the hot-stepper”, Mark King, after his antics in Sunday’s wildcard round match against Jimmy White.
King once again entertained the crowd on his entrance last night – dancing to some rather untraditional, expletive-filled hip hop. But with the beeps in all the right places, none of the crowd appeared too offended by Ice Cube’s aggressive lyrics – or even King’s dodgy dance moves – and saw the funny side instead.
After a 6-2 victory against local hero White, King now faced a far tougher opponent in the form of “the Livewire”, but began the match where he left off against the recent I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! contestant by winning the first frame.
And in the second frame, things got even better for the 35-year-old as a run of 78 put him 2-0 ahead.
It was the next frame where Maguire finally began to gather some momentum and came out the other side of a scrap-fest with the first of his six frames on the board – a 63-18 scoreline pulling back a vital frame for the winner of last week’s Championship League Group A playoff final against Mark Selby.
Then, a brilliant break of 121 levelled the match for Maguire in the fourth. The Scot had well and truly arrived, but King remained defiant, taking the fifth frame 66-54 to take the lead for a second time.
Indeed, the match continued to be blighted by errors and silly mistakes by both players going into the last few frames. Whether it was a lack of concentration or a battle of nerves, neither player truly hit top gear at Wembley Arena last night.
Maguire took the sixth frame, though, with a narrow 59-56, and then took the lead for the first time in the match – taking the seventh frame following a break of 78.
In the final two frames, the 28-year-old Glaswegian racked up an 87 and an 82 in the eighth and ninth frames, respectively, to secure a place in the quarter-finals against either Ryan Day or Joe Perry.
So, the Masters waves goodbye to a man who lit-up the first two rounds with his inspired entrances; while Maguire moves a step closer to winning this prestigious non-ranking tournament for the first time.
Meanwhile, there were no surprises in the final first-round match between Mark Williams and Rory McLeod.
The Welshman reportedly drove through two feet of snow in a borrowed 4×4 from his sponsor, from his home community of Cwm all the way to London, and it proved well worth the treacherous journey as he sealed a 6-2 win over McLeod and his place in round two of the tournament.
The two-time Masters champion never really looked that convincing, and conceded that the match had been “scrappy all round”.
However, the wildcard-round victory means he will now face Ali Carter this evening for a place in the quarter-finals, where the winner will face the conqueror of Stephen Hendry, Shaun Murphy.
Rob Swan
Delighted Murphy advances to quarters at Hendry’s expense
0756 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
Stephen Hendry was knocked out of the Masters yesterday evening in the second round of the tournament, losing a pulsating 6-4 match against Shaun Murphy at Wembley Arena.
The Scot already had six Masters titles to his name before taking to the table last night, but was bidding to make it seven with another victory this winter.
A truly dominant force in this competition at the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s, Hendry was competing for his first Masters trophy victory since 1996.
But his opponent, Murphy, looking to progress past the quarter-finals of the tournament for the first time, held his nerve in a tense duel inside Wembley to seal his place in the next round at Hendry’s expense.
It could have been an entirely different outcome had Hendry not missed a simple green in the final frame – a decisive error which the Scot would have inevitably replayed over in his head last night.
“There is no excuse for missing a green like that. It was part twitch and part changing my mind,” the world No. 10 said.
“I was down on the shot thinking, ‘Should I stun it off the cushion?’ but in the end I didn’t do what I wanted.
“It’s frustrating as I played quite well. To lose like that was hard to take because Shaun looked a bit nervous.
“If it had gone to the last frame I’d have had a good chance.”
Both competitors played their part in this match unfolding as a thrilling contest. Hendry, whose record of five consecutive Masters titles between 1989 and 1994 remains unequalled, hit a 114 in frame two to level the match, and then took the lead in the third frame after another impressive run of 79.
However, this merely spurred on Murphy, who admitted after the match that the crowd’s shouts of support for Hendry provided “free inspiration” for him.
The 2005 world champion took a 4-2 lead with an 81, but was immediately pegged back in the seventh frame following a mesmeric 104 by his opponent.
Not to be outdone, Murphy kept his cool and remained unmoved by the crowd favourite’s exploits, and then displayed his fighting spirit once again to hit a superb 106.
A tight, penultimate frame went to the Scot, which in turn set up a stirring finale. But missing that simple green in the tenth frame – with the score neatly poised at 54-32 – eventually sealed Hendry’s fate once again.
However, this wasn’t before one last kick in the teeth for the Masters legend. On what turned out to be the final shot of the match, Murphy played for safety but inadvertently ended up fluking the blue to seal his place in the quarter-finals, leaving Hendry with that all too familiar sinking feeling.
The world No. 3 will now face the winner of tonight’s match, either Ali Carter or Mark Williams, on Thursday evening, with a potential semi-final against Peter Ebdon, Ronnie O’Sullivan or Neil Robertson lined up if he can end his quarter-final hoodoo, and move a step closer to winning that first coveted Masters title.
“Any match against Stephen is a major event so I’m delighted to win,” a buoyant Murphy said.
“It was a high standard with big breaks and good safety. To win the biggest three events would be a boyhood dream come true. My record in this tournament isn’t great – I normally watch it from home so I’m not sure I want to break my routine! ”
Rob Swan