Stephen Hendry snooker blog
Posts tagged Rory McLeod
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
Slimmed down White looks forward to Masters
0764 days
by admin
in Uncategorized
Snooker legend Jimmy White expects to enter the Masters in better physical shape than in recent years, all because of his stint in the Australian jungle for the ITV1 hit show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
The 47-year-old has revealed that he lost weight during his three weeks on the programme, and expects to feel the benefits at next week’s prestigious tournament.
“I lost 22lb and that will be a real benefit to me in my snooker,” explained the 1984 Masters champion.
“Before there were some shots that I couldn’t reach.
“I’ve always been one of the best players with the rest but I’d rather be able to reach the shot without it.”
The Whirlwind was handed a wildcard for the event at Wembley Arena after missing the UK Championship as a result of his appearance on I’m a Celebrity… and admits that he missed the sport during his absence from Britain and can’t wait to return to action.
“I was thinking about snooker a lot and I was gutted to miss the UK,” White added.
“In one of the trials I had to do there was a snooker ball and that brought all the memories flooding back.”
He will meet world No. 16 Mark King in the opening round of the competition and is confident of beating his opponent if he finds his best form. Meanwhile, it’s expected that White’s appearance will generate a lively atmosphere inside the arena – something which the six-time World Championship finalist is very much looking forward to.
“I’ve always had great support from the crowds at Wembley so I’m looking forward to getting back there and enjoying that,” White said.
“King is a tough competitor but if my game is there I can beat him.”
White and King’s hotly anticipated match will take place on Sunday evening at 7pm. The winner will then advance to Round 2 of the tournament, where they will face the victor of the other Round 1 match between Mark Williams and Rory McLeod.
Rob Swan
The Whirlwind bags a wild card
0782 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
A few weeks ago Rory McLeod, who reached the last 32 in this year’s UK Championship, won the whole Masters Qualifying Event and received a wild card to the Masters tournament at Wembley next year.
The second wild card was announced today. Jimmy White, who won both the World Series of Snooker in Prague and the Sangsom 6-Red Grand Prix earlier this year, has been chosen by World Snooker. White gave up his place in the UK Championship qualifiers to join the reality tv show, I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, where he finished third.
The Masters is an invitational tournament where the world’s 14 best players are automatically qualified for the last 16 stage while those in spots 15 and 16 will have to go through a round against the wild cards. McLeod will play against Mark Williams and White will take on Mark King on Sunday 10th January 2010.
One of the favourites to get the Masters wild card this year before White was announced was this year’s Shanghai Master’s finalist, Liang Wenbo. However, World Snooker picked White because of his immense popularity among snooker fans, especially in London where the tournament is going to be held.
Jimmy White won the Masters in 1984 9-5 against Terry Griffiths.
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.
Wild card to Wembley
0828 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
Rory McLeod’s name keeps coming up a lot these days. At the age of 38 when most players will experience a decline in their play, McLeod has instead found new form and peaked. In last year’s UK Championship he made three centuries against Ronnie O’Sullivan and earlier this year he qualified for the World Championship for the first time. The success continued and he won the whole Masters Qualifying event and received a wild card to Wembley. This was his first professional tournament victory. McLeod, who turned professional in 1991, is now 39th in the world rankings which is a record for him.
Next year’s Masters will be the final test for him. Where will he place in the tournament? Will he surpass himself or be eliminated in the first match? This could be his chance of proving himself as a world class player.