Stephen Hendry snooker blog
Posts tagged Liang Wenbo
Ding pots UK Championship to end dramatic week
0785 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?
Higgins and O’Sullivan set up semi-final showdown
0788 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
0789 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.
One-man show for O’Sullivan
0790 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.
Stevens fails to take his chances
0791 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
Yesterday was an exciting day three of the UK Championship in Telford with many high-quality snooker matches. All the last 32 matches were completed and four of the last 16 matches kicked off.
Matthew Stevens didn’t manage to put up any real fight against Ronnie O’Sullivan in yesterday’s match. At 7-3 he could very well have taken the next frame as both players gave an excellent safety performance. But he failed to take his chances and missed too many easy shots and as always with O’Sullivan, you will be punished for that. The match ended 9-3 and O’Sullivan will now meet Peter Ebdon which should be a thrilling encounter. Will O’Sullivan be able to deal with Ebdon’s deliberate and tactical play without getting too restless?
Ali Carter had to fight hard for his victory over Rory McLeod who managed to take no less than seven frames. McLeod played very well and we haven’t seen the last of him. Having won the Masters qualifying event, he will be given a new chance to prove himself at the Wembley arena in January.
One of the last 16 matches that began yesterday was that between Mark Selby and Stephen Hendry. This first session ended 5-3 to Selby and while he was the better player, Hendry definitely still has a good chance of winning.
An uneven match to say the least took place between Liang Wenbo and Mark King. At 7-1 to Liang there’s not much hope on the horizon for King. Stephen Lee beat Mark Allen who unfortunately had severe cue problems.
Stephen Maguire leads Stuart Bingham 6-2. Maguire didn’t seem to have too much trouble focusing despite the fact that he missed his grandfather’s funeral due to the tournament.
John Higgins took the lead over Neil Robertson, 5-3, and Ding Junhui didn’t seem to have any trouble beating Mike Dunn 9-5 even though the latter lead 5-3 at one point. Defending champion Shaun Murphy awaits Ding in the last 16.
The biggest surprise of the day was Marco Fu’s match against Peter Lines, No. 64 in the world rankings, which ended 9-3 to the latter. Could it have been because of jetlag that Fu didn’t do better or was it just Lines who had found incredible form after years in the shadows of the big tournaments? Either way, Lines’s next match against Mark Williams should have him shaking in his boots.
Be sure not to miss today’s last 16 matches at 1:30pm. There should be a nail biter or two on the schedule.
No Chinese victory in Shanghai
0875 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
Even though snooker fans know that surprises are common and that anything can happen in the game,
Ronnie O’Sullivan was still a big favourite for the Shanghai Masters final.
Both the English and the Chinese were quite convinced he would win even though hoping for anything else than a Chinese victory was impossible for the home crowd. The fact that Liang Wenbo made it to the final was a surprise in itself, and an important one for Chinese snooker.
With that, not only did he show that he has the potential of a world class player, but that he can hold his nerves to beat a top eight player like Shaun Murphy and reach the final of a ranking tournament. Playing on home ground probably helped a bit but we might need to get used to seeing Liang in the finals of these types of big tournaments from now on.
O’Sullivan didn’t play at his best, far from it. He seemed disappointed at not being able to clear the table at times, even though the frame was already won. Only one century was made – something we’re certainly not used to when it comes to O’Sullivan.
Liang seemed very eager to win. He was visibly pumped up, and most of the audience was on his side, but in the end his lack of experience forced him to surrender. After all, this was his first final in a ranking tournament. Shaun Murphy, this year’s winner of the highest break, said the day before that Liang had played too many “silly shots”.
Clearly, the ability to determine when to attack and when to play defensive shots is something that matures as players get a little more experience of big tournaments. The match ended 10-5 and moved Liang to the provisional world top 16.
At the closing ceremony when speeches were being held in both Chinese and English, O’Sullivan seemed a bit restless. As always it is the game of snooker that intrigues him the most, not the talk afterwards. Starting the season off by winning his 22nd ranking title, he has shown that he’s fit for a fight and that his fans can still count on him for another season.
China’s next big thing in snooker
0876 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
Liang Wenbo, whose first name is actually pronounced “Wenbooa”, is slowly becoming just as famous as fellow country-man Ding Junhui. Both players have had a huge impact on Chinese snooker the past few years and are essential for the growth of snooker in China. The country now hosts two important professional tournaments – China Open and Shanghai Masters, both which are ranking tournaments. It’s obvious that snooker is constantly gaining popularity in China and players like Ding and Liang are definitely one of the causes.
Up until the 2009 Shanghai Masters, Liang’s most memorable performance was probably in the 2008 World Championship. He was the third Chinese player to qualify and managed to reach the quarter final where he lost to O’Sullivan. Earlier in 2009 he also won the Beijing International Challenge which was his first professional title.
But it was when Liang reached the 2009 Shanghai Masters final that he really surpassed himself. With that he rose to thirteenth in the provisional world rankings, thereby taking Ding’s spot. However, Liang doesn’t want people to compare his playing style or career to Ding’s. They are good friends and have clearly stated that they want to represent their country in the best way possible. So far they have succeeded very well in doing so. Both are in the provisional world top 16 and are often seen in major events.
So, from now on, let’s follow Liang’s advice and focus on what China has to offer as a country as opposed to comparing the styles of different players. The Chinese definitely have something going on in this sport and may pose a healthy threat to the British players in the near future.
Will British players jet ahead or lag behind in Shanghai?
0890 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
The Shanghai Masters is a relatively new ranking tournament that has been held since 2007, replacing the Malta Cup. Just as the name indicates, this event takes place in China.
The first player to win was Dominic Dale, and the following year, victory went to Ricky Walden.
Now that people are getting used to the Shanghai Masters, we’re naturally also getting more excited as this year’s event is coming up shortly. Previously, many players have complained about the inevitable jet-lag that will occur when tournaments are being held on the other side of the world (from Britain’s point of view that is, since most players are from the UK).
So, the question is – will the player who is most resistant against time differences have an advantage? That brings us on to another aspect – how will those who don’t have to worry about jet-lag, the Chinese players, get on?
Liang Wenbo and Ding Junhui are both obvious names here. Both have shown great effort in previous years to become their country’s big heroes. The choice of wildcards, unrevealed at this point, will be interesting. Dare one take a guess that there will be a few Chinese newcomers among those? China naturally wants to support its own players, and the Shanghai Masters gives them a great chance of showing snooker at its best on home ground.
One thing is for sure though. With a broken wrist, Mark Williams definitely has the odds against him. As bad as jet-lag may be, it’s probably safe to say anyone would prefer that over injury.