Stephen Hendry snooker blog
Posts tagged Peter Ebdon
Stephen Hendry and Peter Ebdon continue to win
0503 days
by Ismail Vedat
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.”
The Force not strong enough for rampant Rocket
0754 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
Ronnie O’Sullivan survived a mid-session blip against Peter Ebdon to seal his place in the Masters semi-finals.
The Rocket stormed to a 4-0 lead, producing some of his best snooker along the way, but became sloppy in the fifth and sixth frames – letting Ebdon back into the match.
A superb snooker in the sixth allowed the Force to pull the score back to 4-2 – without it, there’s little doubt that O’Sullivan would have cruised to victory even quicker – and for a short time, an unlikely comeback suddenly didn’t appear entirely beyond the realms of possibility.
But just as he did in his first round match against Neil Robertson, O’Sullivan refused to panic – or look even remotely flustered for that matter – remained typically cool and extended the deficit to three frames by sealing the seventh.
With the match slipping away from Ebdon’s grasp – the score now at 5-2 – he needed something special to keep himself in the match, and achieved it by winning the frame 65-1.
Unfortunately for Ebdon, his opponent – and the crowd favourite – found his best form again by the end of the match, just as he did against Robertson.
And the inevitable soon followed. The Rocket gave the fans inside Wembley Arena a real show in the ninth and final frame – hitting a break of 106 to win the match and advance to his ninth Masters semi-finals.
He will now play the winner of this evening’s second quarter-final between Mark Williams and Shaun Murphy, on Saturday afternoon at 1pm.
Rob Swan
Sublime O’Sullivan seals dramatic comeback
0755 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
Ronnie O’Sullivan produced a stunning comeback from 3-0 down in yesterday’s second-round Masters match against Neil Robertson to seal his place in the quarter-finals.
The Rocket was up against the in-form Australian, who enjoyed the best of the opening frames and appeared to be cruising towards a surprise win. However, O’Sullivan hit back in spectacular fashion in the fourth frame – displaying some of the vintage snooker which has fired him to stardom over the last two decades – found his best form and eventually won the match by six frames to four.
Looking overjoyed with his 3-0 lead, Robertson walked out of Wembley Arena for a brief interval having just punched the air in delight after amassing a seemingly unassailable advantage against a below-par O’Sullivan.
Perhaps the Australian took his foot off the gas, but a far more likely explanation for his eventual defeat was the resurrection of arguably the greatest player to have ever played the game.
Against any other competitor, Robertson would have expected to have seen this match off after the opening three frames.
But this was O’Sullivan; and a brilliant 114 roused the expectant crowd as the World No. 1 began to exert his dominance and take control of this second-round match.
Looking like an entirely different player, O’Sullivan’s brilliance soon began to unnerve his opponent, as the comeback looked increasingly inevitable with every passing shot.
The four-time Masters champion levelled the match in the sixth frame after an effortless 87, while a safety shot from Robertson failed to pay off in the seventh as O’Sullivan duly capitalised to take a 4-3 lead.
Many players would have been resigned to their fate at this stage, but Robertson must be commended for his never-say-die attitude, and sensationally hit back in the eighth frame with the highest break of the tournament so far – a wonderful 140 total clearance – to leave the game on a knife-edge.
With nothing to separate the two players at 4-4, it was impossible to call a favourite.
But O’Sullivan hasn’t earned the coveted, universal reputation as the best player of all time for no reason. And in what proved the penultimate round, another century – 106, this time – allowed the Rocket to place one foot inside the last eight of the tournament.
With victory in sight, the last frame saw O’Sullivan hit top gear, and his faultless potting and cue ball placing delighted the crowds and he stormed to a 80-8 tenth frame win.
Everyone packed inside Wembley had been treated to a masterclass from the three-time World Champion. The comeback was complete, and O’Sullivan will now face Peter Ebdon in the first quarter-final tomorrow afternoon.
In the aftermath of his comeback, the self-critical O’Sullivan played down the manner of his win, and revealed that he wasn’t surprised or particularly happy with the final result.
“I don’t want to have to rely on the occasion of being 3-0 down in front of a big crowd to salvage some pride. I can’t pot a ball in practice,” the Rocket admitted.
“My attitude will be the same in my next match – I won’t be surprised if I win or lose.”
O’Sullivan also revealed his concerns with his long potting and that he wouldn’t have been overly disappointed had he been eliminated from the tournament.
“I made just two out of 10 long pots, and I think Neil will be disappointed to have beaten someone making just two of 10 long pots.
“I’d give my long potting two out of 10. It’s hard to get excited.
“To make two or three centuries in a match is not a big deal, that’s how the modern game is. I would have accepted winning or losing today.”
Even if the man himself wasn’t in jovial mood after pulling the match back from the brink, everyone else with even a passing interest in the sport will be eagerly-anticipating another classic performance from the Magician tomorrow afternoon.
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
Selby and Ebdon storm into quarter-finals
0757 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
Mark Selby, the 2008 Masters champion, and former world champion Peter Ebdon overcame their opponents in the second round of the Masters to ensure that at least two Englishman will compete in this year’s quarter-finals.
Selby saw off the challenge of the current UK Champion, Ding Junhui, in the first of Sunday’s two matches. The Jester from Leicester was in blistering form throughout the match and needed just seven frames to send the Chinese 22-year-old crashing out of the tournament – winning the tie by six frames to one.
Coming out to the Wembley crowd to Underdog by Kasabian, Selby’s progression to the quarter-finals was rarely in doubt. In fact, the song choices should really have been reversed – Ding came out to Eye of the Tiger by Survivor but finished the bout looking more like Clubber Lang than Rocky Balboa.
Selby went 5-0 ahead after dominating the first five frames – his pot success percentage immaculate, well into the high 90s.
Ding showed glimpses of his fighting spirit and capitalised on a rare slip-up from his opponent in the sixth, doing brilliantly to clear up after Selby had amassed a break of 53.
But this was as good as it got for the Chinese snooker star, as Selby finished the job in hand in the seventh to set up a mouth-watering potential quarter-final against John Higgins or Mark Allen.
Next up at Wembley was Ebdon, who was looking to make it to the quarter-final stage of the Masters for the first time since 2008 after last year’s crushing 6-0 defeat in the last 16 of the competition against Ali Carter.
However, after a terrible first two frames it seemed as if the 39-year-old was on course for another disappointing Masters performance, as his opponent, Hong Kong’s Marco Fu, took a 2-0 lead.
Ebdon managed to regain his composure after another series of errors in the third – fortunately for The Force, Fu made his own mistakes in that frame to allow the Englishman back into the match.
He then levelled proceedings in the fourth after a break of 47 as the two players went into the mid-session interval at 2-2 – a scoreline that Fu would have been kicking himself at – the crowd equally as bewildered as the Hong Kong-born star at how Ebdon had managed to sneak back into contention.
However, Ebdon returned after the interval a different player, and finally began to make his presence felt inside the arena.
Breaks of 66 and 63 and in the third and fourth frames, respectively, fired Ebdon 4-2 in front. And in the crucial seventh frame, the Briton withstood the pressure exerted by Fu to put himself 5-2 ahead, just one frame off a place in the quarters.
Any hopes that Fu had of mounting a late comeback were quickly extinguished as his opponent accelerated into top gear. An impressive break of 93 in the final frame was more than enough evidence to suggest that Ebdon should never be ruled out of contention, as he secured a 6-2 win along his place in the next round.
But his biggest test will come on Thursday afternoon as he gears up to face the winner of the clash between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Neil Robertson – tomorrow afternoon’s match which promises to be the stand-out tie of next round.
Rob Swan
The Masters: a guide
0762 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
The Masters. A tight clash between the top players and an opportunity for the audience to see the best snooker there is. High quality playing, excitement and prestige – that’s The Masters in a nutshell. It really is a great way to start the new year.
Although not a ranking tournament, this is still one of the most prestigious tournaments a player can win, just as the name indicates. Only the top 16 are automatically invited, as well as a few wildcards who are determined through a special qualifying tournament. The prize fund in The Masters is the second biggest after the World Championship and it’s also the tournament that has been around the longest after the World Championship.
There have been two main sponsors of the event during the years. Benson & Hedges, a cigarette brand, sponsored The Masters until 2003 when a new restriction on tobacco advertising took effect. The tournament was without a sponsor in 2004 but then Riley’s, a billiard club, became the sponsor for one year. In 2006 Saga Insurance, an insurance company that deals with health, travel, home and car insurance among other things took over.
The first Masters was held in 1975, at the Wembley Conference Centre in London moving to Wembley Arena in 2007, and the winner of this very first version of the tournament was John Spencer, an English player who together with Ray Reardon dominated the game in the 1970s. He played the final against Reardon and won 9-8 after a re-spotted black.
The player who has won The Masters the most times is Stephen Hendry with his six victories. Between 1989 and 1993 Hendry took the trophy five consecutive times. His latest Masters victory was in 1995. Ronnie O’Sullivan isn’t very far behind with his four Masters wins. Both Steve Davis and the late Paul Hunter have won three times. The latter has almost become associated with the tournament because all of his finals were exceptionally exciting, ending 10-9.
Hunter, who died in October 2006, may be most famous for his Masters victories and it was the biggest tournament he ever won. Jimmy White even started a campaign to have The Masters renamed after Hunter as a tribute. World Snooker, however, decided that The Paul Hunter Scholarship was a more appropriate mark of respect. The scholarship will be used to help a young talented snooker player improve and accomplish his goals. In 2007 a foundation in Hunter’s memory was founded and the Paul Hunter Foundation has since then aimed to give young players, and especially disabled youngsters, an opportunity to play snooker.
Only two maximum breaks have ever been made in The Masters. The first 147 was made in 1984 by Kirk Stevens in the semi-finals, and the second was made by Ding Junhui in 2007 in the wildcard encounter against Anthony Hamilton. The first century ever made in the tournament was made in 1979 when Alex Higgins made a 132 break. Ken Doherty, who had also been in the final the year before, was extremely close to making a maximum break in the 2000 final. He was just to pot the final black ball when he missed it and later lost the match to Matthew Stephens.
In the 2009 Masters the four wildcards were Mark King, Judd Trump, Mark Allen and Ricky Walden of which the latter two proceeded to the knockout stage. The 2008 Masters winner Mark Selby, John Higgins, Maguire Maguire and O’Sullivan were the four semi-finalists. Selby and O’Sullivan proceeded to the final that went all the way to 10-8 in favour of O’Sullivan that managed to take his fourth Masters title. 18 centuries were made during the qualifying stages and 32 during the television stages. The highest break was 140 and was made by John Higgins.
There have been quite a few spectacular finals in The Masters over the years. Hendry has been in eight finals and finished as the runner-up in just three of them. In 1991 he managed to come back after 7-0, winning the match 9-8. Davis made a pretty good comeback in the 1997 final after having trailed 8-4 against O’Sullivan. The match eventually ended 10-8 in the favour of Davis. The 1998 final between Mark Williams and Hendry was decided after a re-spotted black. Hunter is probably one of the most famous Masters finalists after having provided the audience with true nail biters time and time again. In 2001 he managed to win even though his opponent, Fergal O’Brian had led 6-2. In the 2002 final Mark Williams had led 5-0. Paul Hunter then found his form, came back 5-5 and won the tournament. In 2004 he came back and won after having trailed 6-1 against O’Sullivan.
The winner of the first Masters tournament received £2000 in prize money while the victorious player in 2009 received as much as £150,000. The total prize fund was £480,000. 1991 was the first year when the winner’s prize reached six figures.
England has the most wins in The Masters with 14 victories. Wales have won six times and Scotland nine of which six of the victories were those of Stephen Hendry. There have only been a few non-UK victories. In 1979 South Africa’s Perrie Mans beat Alex Higgins in the final and Cliff Thorburn of Canada won The Masters three times and was the runner-up once.
Something about The Masters that is always intriguing is the old and young players and how they are going to do in the tournament. With the prestige involved in The Masters we somehow expect the older players to win time and time again. At the same time we are aware that a shift of generations will be necessary at some point in the future.
A young player that has done very well three years in a row without being able to reach the final is Maguire. In 2007 he lost the semi-final 6-4 to O’Sullivan who won The Masters that year. The year after he came to the quarter final but couldn’t get past Mark Selby. Maguire then reached the semi-final in 2009 but lost 6-1 to O’Sullivan who went ahead and won the entire tournament. It seems like it would be Maguire’s turn to win this tournament soon. Who knows, if it hadn’t been for O’Sullivan he might have already.
Ding Junhui is another young player that was so close to taking the trophy but let it slip away. In 2007 he made an amazing performance throughout the entire tournament until the final when exhaustion took its toll.
Another young top 16 player who will appear in the 2010 Masters is Mark Allen. In 2008 he came to the third round in the qualifying stages where he lost to Liang Wenbo. The year after, however, he made a quite impressive performance when he, as a wildcard in the tournament, managed to reach the quarter final.
This year’s version of The Masters will have two true veterans in Stephen Hendry and Peter Ebdon. While Hendry’s past performances in The Masters are unprecedented Ebdon seems to have an affinity to quarter-finals. He has been in the Masters quarter-final no less than seven times. His best finish in the tournament were the semi-finals in 1995 and 2005.
The qualifying stages will take place October 26 to 31 2009 and the main 2010 Masters will be held between January 10 and 17 in Wembley Arena and will be broadcasted by both BBC and Eurosport. Don’t miss it.
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.
O’Sullivan had the upper hand against Ebdon
0791 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
Frame one:
Peter Ebdon was the first player to come in and play. He showed off his great defensive tactics at 24 points, but Ronnie O’Sullivan wasn’t far behind, won the defence duel and took the frame.
Frame two:
Ebdon missed a long red ball and let O’Sullivan in. O’Sullivan missed at 34-0 but got away by the skin of his teeth. He started racking up points soon after and won another frame.
Frame three:
Ebdon was the first player to start making points but it wasn’t long before O’Sullivan returned to the table to end the frame with a 114 break.
Frame four:
Ebdon was contemplating the situation, trying to come up with a way to turn the tables on O’Sullivan. At the beginning of the frame it wasn’t obvious who was going to take it. Neither player could really find anything to play on. O’Sullivan presented Ebdon with a tricky shot behind the brown ball. Ebdon missed it, O’Sullivan then went on to miss as well and Ebdon was free to make a couple of points. However, after a situation with a red ball close to the cue ball, Ebdon accidentally touched the red with his cue and the referee called foul. O’Sullivan was then back in the frame but missed at 56-24 on a difficult red. Ebdon scored another eight points and then played a safety shot. O’Sullivan was snookered and missed three times. Ebdon missed a tricky red, O’Sullivan potted it but failed on the last yellow. Ebdon couldn’t pot it either and after a few turns O’Sullivan potted the yellow ball and went on to win the frame.
Frame five:
The fifth frame was all Ebdon’s altogether but he still had a lot to catch up on.
Frame six:
O’Sullivan played a safety shot on a red ball which resulted in a situation that could only lead to a re-rack. Ebdon’s long pot game was terrible in this frame while O’Sullivan’s was quite okay. He was definitely the better player here and it became more and more obvious as they carried on. Ebdon wasn’t able to take the chances he was given. This meant another frame victory for O’Sullivan who now went to 5-1.
Frame seven:
Ebdon missed another important red. It really hurt to see his technique in this much of a bad shape. O’Sullivan on the other hand only seemed to play better when he had the upper hand. However, Ebdon finally found some form here and managed to get control over the white ball. He managed to make 47 points before he missed an easy red again. As soon as Ebdon got another chance he seemed to blow it on a long red. This just wasn’t Peter Ebdon’s day. It was finally down to the blue ball that Ebdon potted with quite a bit of luck to leave O’Sullivan needing snookers. Frame seven went to Ebdon.
Frame eight:
Another fatal miss on a long red ball by Ebdon. O’Sullivan soon became busy at the table again and ended this first session with a 118 break. 6-2 to O’Sullivan. This match resumes tonight at seven.
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.