Posts tagged Mark Davis

Stephen Hendry and Peter Ebdon continue to win

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503 days
by in Uncategorized

Stephen Hendry delighted the Scottish crowd by winning 3-0 at the snooker World Open last night over Mark Davis.

Seven-time world champion Hendry has yet to drop a frame in the short format after beating Belgium’s Bjorn Haneveer in round one 3-0 as well.

Hendry took less than an hour to beat the world No.18 Davis, making a top break of 70 along the way.

“Mark didn’t play as well as he can, fortunately for me, and I was able to pick up the pieces,” said Hendry. “I’m hitting the ball well but what happens when you have no results behind you is that you lose composure. I took my eye off the object ball a couple of times when I should have won the frame in one visit.

“My confidence will come back if I have a decent run with some good performances, even just getting to a quarter or semi-final. I haven’t got the form behind me to be able to say I’m going to win a tournament, but if I can get to the later stages then I know how to win,” added Hendry.

Peter Ebdon was also victorious, beating Fergal O’Brien 3-2. Ebdon, the 2002 world champion, went 2-0 in front, but O’Brien pulled a frame back after potting the final pink and black. He then levelled the match after making a break of 129. In the decider, Ebdon had breaks of 37 and 31 to cross the finishing line.

“I’m delighted to win but I didn’t deserve it, I made too many mistakes,” said Ebdon. “These matches are very significant for me rankings-wise because I’m trying to get back into the top 16.”

Champion Carter through to second round

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742 days
by in Uncategorized

The current holder of the Welsh Open title, Ali Carter, comfortably beat Mark Davis in the first round of this year’s tournament with a convincing 5-1 victory.

It was an ominous start from the 30-year-old, who hit a 120 break in his first frame to put Davis firmly on the back foot.

Carter’s opponent did equaliser in the second frame, but this would be as good as it got for the 37-year-old, as the champion broke into his stride and began to exert his dominance.

And although Carter never truly hit top gear during the remainder of the match, it was still a reasonably impressive performance from the man nicknamed “The Captain”, as he sealed further breaks of 57 and 64.

Whether or not he will be able to replicate the form of 2009 during this week remains to be seen, but he now faces a major test in the form of Australian Neil Robertson in the second round of the competition.

World No. 9, Robertson, sealed a 5-2 win against China’s Liu Song. Although it might look like a routine victory on paper for the Australian, Song managed to hold the 27-year-old to two frames a piece before the interval.

Song admitted he was nervous at first, but soon settled into the match. However, Robertson proved too strong for the 26-year-old, who will now concentrate on qualifying for the China Open next month.

Meanwhile, there was a shock result involving Peter Ebdon, as he was hammered by Barry Hawkings. The 2002 world champion, Ebdon, was whitewashed by the world number 17 in a result which no-one in their right mind would have predicted before the tournament started.

There’s now a strong possibility that Ebdon will lose his place in snooker’s top 16 after this defeat – if he does, it will be the first time in 16 years that he has slipped out of the elite bracket.

And finally, the third Englishman to advance to the second round was Andrew Higginson, after he beat Marco Fu by five frames to two.

The result leaves Ding Junhui as the sole Chinese competitor left in the competition; while Higginson will now face either Mark Williams or Fergal O’Brien in the last 16.

The first round action will resume this afternoon, with the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Shaun Murphy and Stephen Hendry all vying for a place in the next round of the Welsh Open.

Rob Swan

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