Stephen Hendry snooker blog
Posts tagged Championship League
Fu marches into Championship League winners’ group
0746 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
Marco Fu advanced into the Championship League winners’ group for the first time last night with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Neil Robertson in the Group Four play-off final.
Robertson had been tipped by many as a potential winner in this year’s Championship League, but the Australian was comprehensively beaten by an in-form Fu at Crandon Park last night.
The 32-year-old Hong Kong player stormed to a 1-0 lead in the final with breaks of 59 and 67; and then made it 2-0 with another impressive break of 70. By this point, there only ever looked like being one winner, and Fu made sure of his place in March’s winners’ group by not conceding a single point in the third and final frame.
It was a deserved victory for Fu, who had been in blistering form over the two days. A remarkable total of six centuries – including a 144 against Ali Carter in the round-robin, before a break of 110 in his tense semi-final against Mark Williams yesterday evening – made him the clear outstanding performer in Group Four.
Fu now joins Stephen Maguire, John Higgins and 2009’s Championship League winner, Judd Trump, in the winners’ group. If he can reproduce his group form in March, Fu will have to be considered as one the favourites to win the event.
However, the Hong Kong star has an unfortunate tendency of falling at the final hurdle in tournaments. Whether this is down to nerves or other factors, the general consensus is that Fu should have more trophies to his name by this stage of his career – he’s undoubtedly capable.
And it’s been a mixed start to 2010 for Fu after his exit in the first round of the Masters to Peter Ebdon; but this Championship League win should boost his confidence.
Meanwhile, Robertson will have another chance to qualify for the winners’ group after finishing second to Fu in the play-off final. He will compete in Group Five of the Championship League and will be expected to at least reach the final again.
Williams and Ebdon will also be in Group Five, though, along with Mark Allen, who won half of his round-robin matches in Group Four.
Rob Swan
Trump triumphant in Group Three of Championship League
0748 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
Judd Trump, the 2009 Championship League winner, moved a step closer to a return to the Premier League Snooker competition by winning Group Three of 2010’s Championship League, last night.
The 20-year-old sealed his place in the winners’ group after defeating Mark Allen, 3-2, in the Group Three play-off final; and also overcame the challenges of Neil Robertson, Marco Fu, Ali Carter and Joe Perry earlier in the session.
Trump had previously failed to qualify from Group One and Two, but he made sure of his place in the winners’ group after beating Carter 3-0 in the play-off semi-final, before a narrow 3-2 win against Allen.
The left-handed player had enjoyed a tremendous start on day one of Group Three, winning all four of his first four matches, and only slipped up against Stephen Hendry on day two of the group.
“I’ve played decently in spells but I probably played better in the first two groups as I’m still missing a few easy balls,” Trump said.
“I enjoy this event, I don’t know what it is about it but I just relax and play well. It’s a good tournament and I like the atmosphere.
“It’s just more quick-fire compared to other competitions and the best-of-five format suits me.”
He now joins Stephen Maguire and John Higgins in the Championship League winners’ group, which is scheduled to take place in the last week of March. The winner of that will be guaranteed a place in the Premier League Snooker competition, and Trump will be keen to get there again after reaching the semi-finals of last year’s tournament.
An exciting and talented youngster, Trump caught the attention of the snooker world in 2004 by hitting a competitive maximum break of 147 aged just 14 years and 208 days. It was a remarkable achievement made all the more exciting by the fact he had broken Ronnie O’Sullivan’s record set in 1991.
Since then, the Bristolian – nicknamed Haircut 100 because of his boyband hairstyle – has continued to progress at a fast pace, and is expected to be a major challenger for the big prizes in the sport before too long.
Rob Swan
Championship League delight for Higgins
0760 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
John Higgins produced a brilliant display in last night’s Championship League Group Two playoff final to seal his place in March’s winners’ group.
The 34-year-old Scot secured his passage through to the playoffs with four wins out of six in the initial group stages, including a 3-0 hammering over Championship League debutant Ronnie O’Sullivan.
The Rocket rarely got going in the competition – his mind presumably occupied with thoughts of next week’s showpiece event at Wembley Arena. Just two wins for the current Masters champion resulted in elimination from the tournament, while Mark Selby was knocked out after he also suffered four defeats.
Higgins, though, was in fine form throughout the day. Barring a couple of brief slip-ups against Marco Fu and Ali Carter, the three-time world champion got better as the day progressed, and by the evening had hit top gear.
His toughest test came against the reigning Championship League holder, Judd Trump, in the playoff semi-finals. The 20-year-old came out of the blocks flying and appeared on course to reach the final himself after the opening two frames.
But 2-0 up and seemingly in control, Higgins was forced to showcase his quality and determination, and pulled the game back from the brink to 2-2.
And in the fifth and final frame, a quite brilliant 98-0 win saw Higgins into the final, where he faced Carter.
Playing in his home county, Carter was keen to win the playoff final to book his place in March’s winners’ group; but it was the on-song Higgins who dominated proceedings, capitalising on his opponent’s every mistake.
A 3-0 whitewash earned the Scot £3,900 in prize money, and he will be back in action next Wednesday in Round 2 of the Masters against Mark Allen.
Meanwhile, the Championship League will now take a week’s break before Group Three of the competition gets underway on January 18th.
Rob Swan
Purple Ronnie makes Championship League debut
0761 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
Ronnie O’Sullivan, who hit the headlines earlier in the week after it was revealed he will defend his Masters crown with a bizarrely purple-coloured cue, endured a disappointing end to his Championship League debut – after suffering defeat in his final two matches of the evening.
The outspoken snooker idol was defeated 3-1 by Ali Carter and 3-0 by Neil Robertson on Wednesday evening, but prior to that, beat Mark Selby 3-2 and Marco Fu 3-0 in Group Two of the Essex tournament.
Displaying glimpses of his best form, including one particularly eye-catching century of 138, the 34-year-old sealed £700 in prize money after winning half of his 14 frames.
Despite beating the Rocket, Carter had earlier slipped to a 3-0 defeat to the reigning champion Judd Trump, before an equally uninspiring 3-0 whitewash at the hands of Selby.
Perhaps the 30-year-old was saving his best form for the current Masters champion, as he needed just four frames to produce one of the shocks of the evening at Crandon Park.
However, Carter did see off John Higgins, 3-1, in the opening match of Group Two, bringing his prize money total to £600 at the end of the session.
Meanwhile, the Australian, Robertson, could only muster one victory on his first day of the tournament; but it came against the star name.
A 3-0 demolition of O’Sullivan will have inspired a lot of confidence ahead of the Masters. The pair are set to meet in Round 2 of the famous tournament on Tuesday afternoon for a place in the quarter-finals.
Group Two will resume – and conclude – today, with the likes of O’Sullivan, Robertson, Selby and Higgins all vying for a place in the winners’ group.
Rob Swan
Maguire into Championship League winners group
0762 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
Stephen Maguire continued his Masters preparation with an impressive 3-0 victory over Mark Selby in the Group One final of the Championship League.
The Livewire was on top throughout, and won the opening frame after breaks of 33 and 59. The second was slightly less comprehensive for the Glasgow-born player, but Maguire still produced a break of 33 to put victory well within his reach.
He duly grabbed the opportunity with both hands in the third frame – a break of 71 sealing his place into the Championship League winners group.
Maguire sealed his passage into the play-off final in dramatic fashion. He lost the first two frames against his opponent, Ali Carter, in the semi-final but stormed back to win the match 3-2 – producing a quite brilliant 140 in frame three, in the process.
Meanwhile, Selby saw off the challenge of 2009′s champion Judd Trump with a 3-1 victory in the semis.
Trump, the defending champion, had levelled proceedings in the second frame, but a superb break of 128 by the Jester from Leicester in third turned the match on its head. And in the fourth and final frame, breaks of 33 and 43 earned Selby a place in the play-off final.
Although he was defeated, the 2008 Masters winner still amassed £1400 in prize money – the same amount as the Group One winner, Maguire.
The Scot will now play either Mark King or the legendary Jimmy White in Round 2 of the Masters next Monday, and will be hoping his Championship League form will continue into next week’s prestigious tournament, where he will be looking to build on last year’s quarter-final finish.
Rob Swan
Trump experiences mixed Championship League start
0763 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
The current champion of the Championship League, Judd Trump, enjoyed two wins in Group One of the competition before a defeat by Mark Selby in the final match of the evening.
Trump, who beat Selby by three frames to two in last year’s Championship League final, beat Ryan Day 3-1 and inflicted a 3-0 whitewash over John Higgins, but was comfortably beaten 3-1 by the Jester from Leicester at Crondon Park.
The 20-year-old hit one century break to add to his five from 2009, but while the focus was mainly on the reigning champion, Stephen Maguire had the best night out of all seven competitors in Group One.
The Livewire went unbeaten on the first day’s play, with impressive wins against Shaun Murphy, Higgins and Ali Carter.
Carter was only narrowly defeated by Maguire, though, and the 30-year-old racked up £1100 in prize money – the highest sum of the evening – after a comprehensive 3-0 win against Ryan Day, and the result which guaranteed to make snooker fans stand up and take notice: a 3-2 win against last year’s finalist Selby.
Meanwhile, Murphy endured a nightmare start to the competition with a brace of 3-0 defeats to Maguire and Carter, before an equally unimpressive 3-1 defeat against Higgins.
The 2005 world champion was eliminated in the group stages of 2009’s tournament and isn’t fancied to progress any further this year.
And finally, Day also had a day to forget after a poor start to the campaign with three defeats from his first three matches.
The remaining Group One fixtures will take place today, so stay tuned to http://www.stephen-hendry.com/ for the latest results.
Rob Swan