Stephen Hendry snooker blog
Posts tagged The Masters
Mark Selby out in first round to Mark King
0394 days
by admin
in Uncategorized
Mark Selby came to Wembley Arena as the defending in the Ladbrokes Mobile Masters. And for the first two frames he played like one.
To read the full story: http://snooker.bettor.com/mark-selby-out-in-first-round-to-mark-king/news/1337595
Selby stuns O’Sullivan in epic Masters final
0750 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
Mark Selby produced one of the finest comebacks the illustrious Masters final has ever seen with a shock 10-9 victory against world No. 1 Ronnie O’Sullivan.
The Rocket had taken a 9-6 lead, late into the evening session; but was incredibly pegged back by his opponent, who capitalised on the usually nerveless O’Sullivan’s errors to lift the coveted non-rankings trophy.
The 26-year-old won the last four frames in spectacular fashion as the crowd packed inside Wembley Arena were treated to a classic final.
It meant Selby had gained revenge for last year’s final defeat against the same opponent, while adding to his 2008 Masters title in the process.
Few would have bet against the 34-year-old O’Sullivan from claiming his fifth title going into the 16th frame. Looking comfortable and displaying his customary brand of mesmeric shots, the Rocket looked for the all the world to be cruising to yet another title.
However, the Jester from Leicester never gave up the fight, and with the score at 9-8 there was one particular shot which perhaps cost O’Sullivan the match. When it would have been far less dangerous to play a safety shot off a loose green towards the end of the 18th frame, he decided to take it on with his left-hand, looking to put enough cut on to sink what would have been the pot of the tournament.
But it proved too tricky, and the ball ricocheted off the pocket to allow Selby to clear up and take the match to a decider.
Despite the clock rapidly approaching midnight, the crowd inside the arena were more vocal than ever before, but were now supporting the underdog, who by this point had captured the audiences’ imagination with his thrilling comeback.
Selby described it as “like playing in the lion’s den” with “90 per cent of the fans supporting Ronnie” at the start of the match, but it was his own lion-heart performance which prompted shouts of “come on Mark!” from the stalls as Monday morning approached.
His entrance song, Underdog by Kasabian, had proven a very apt choice, and in the deciding frame the underdog had triumphed, spectacularly potting a difficult long red before adding runs of 27 and 37.
O’Sullivan must have known he was a beaten man at this point – he certainly had the look of one. His shots became increasingly – and very unusually – lax, and when he missed a red to the centre, the 34-year-old shook the hand of Selby to concede the match.
Delight for the world No. 7 ensued, as did a huge cheque for £150,000.
“At 9-6 down I thought my chance was gone and I expected Ronnie to win,” a delighted Selby admitted.
“I looked dead and buried, but I knew it wasn’t over until the last ball was potted. Then when it got to 9-9 I felt I was more confident than him. I just wanted one chance – in the end I got more than that and I did enough. I’m pinching myself because it’s hard to believe. “
Meanwhile, O’Sullivan was gracious in defeat and felt he was beaten by the better player on the night, but admitted that he still faces an ongoing struggle to overcome psychological barriers.
“I have to look at the big picture and I surprised myself by getting to the final this week,” O’Sullivan said.
“I didn’t play well enough to win so I can’t be disappointed. I will keep pitching up to tournaments and trying to compete.
“I’m always out to win, but the battle is with myself. I’m trying not to have too many highs and lows. For 17 years I’ve been playing like a plum, and being hot and cold made me depressed. I can’t do that to myself any more. I felt it today and I said to myself ‘don’t go there’. The frustration is that if I got it right I would smash all these players up, I’d demolish them.”
The runner-up prize of £75,000 provided little solace for the beaten finalist, who had wasted a golden opportunity to catch up with Stephen Hendry’s record of six Masters titles.
But at 26, Selby continues to improve and clearly has a fondness for this prestigious tournament. The newly crowned Masters champion will be back next year to defend his title – as he unsuccessfully attempted last year – with a few more fans following last night’s absorbing comeback.
Rob Swan
Williams edges past Murphy into Masters semis
0753 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
Mark Williams produced his second impressive Masters performance last night with a 6-4 win over Shaun Murphy to advance to the semi-finals.
The left-handed Welshman looked confident and assured throughout – despite the minor car crash which left him with whiplash on Monday night – and will now play Ronnie O’Sullivan on Saturday afternoon for a place in the final.
It’s the first time Williams has progressed to the Masters semi-finals since he won the event seven years ago – based on his last two convincing performances, this could well prove a good omen.
Displaying some of the vintage snooker which has allowed him to win this tournament on two previous occasions, Williams sunk numerous long pots and racked up several big breaks during the match, and is now eagerly-anticipating his semi-final clash against the Rocket.
“I’m going to be playing the best player in the world in the second biggest tournament, I’m over the moon. We both played well and it was a good game,” the 34-year-old said.
“The big arenas, the best players, it’s what we play for. I know what I’m capable of and looking forward to a good game.”
Williams lost the opening frame as his opponent looked the better player in the opening stages of the match. However, the Welshman recovered with a break of 76 in the second frame to level proceedings.
He then went 2-1 up after two breaks of 53 and 56; and in the third, yet another fifty from the two-time world champion put added daylight between the two competitors.
Another high break, 62 this time, earned Williams his fourth consecutive frame and a seemingly unassailable 4-1 lead.
But the only three figure break of the match came from Murphy in the sixth frame. A 100-0 scoreline offered the 2005 world champion a glimpse of hope, but this began to fade almost immediately as Williams hit back with a total of 68 to take a tense seventh frame.
5-2 and now with victory in sight, Murphy so nearly achieved the unthinkable as he pulled the next two frames back in emphatic fashion.
The high-quality match was drawing to a close, though, and Williams survived an incredibly nervy final frame to book his place in the first of Saturday’s two semi-finals.
Rob Swan
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
Below-par Higgins crashes out of Masters
0754 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
Along with the likes of Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Williams, world champion John Higgins was among the favourites to win the 2010 Masters. However, last night he became the first big-name casualty of this year’s tournament after losing to Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen 6-3.
The three-time world champion was sloppy throughout, while his opponent performed admirably following the death of a close friend last week.
Allen admitted that emotions nearly got the better of him towards the end of the match, but the 23-year-old kept it together, held his nerve, and won the final two sets to book his place in the quarter-finals.
“It was a bit emotional towards the end, when it got to the last few balls I was trying not to cry. He was a member of the pool team I play for and a good friend,” Allen said afterwards.
The provisional world No. 1, Higgins, enjoyed a decent enough start to the match, taking the lead after a tightly-contested opening frame. Allen’s miss on the final green allowed his opponent to seal a 77-53 first frame win – but the World No. 11 had already shown enough fight to suggest he wouldn’t be a pushover.
And he proved this to be the case in the next three frames, winning them all to take a surprise 3-1 lead. To outline how well Allen was playing at this point, in frames two and three, Higgins failed to pot a single red as his Northern Irish opponent scored 77 and 73, respectively.
After being outplayed in the previous two frames, the fourth was more controversial as Higgins was deemed to have fouled while potting a routine black. The Scot appeared bemused with the referee’s decision, while replays failed to determine whether or not the call was correct.
“It puzzled me a great deal, every player knows if they touch a ball and I’m sure I didn’t,” the Scot said.
“I’ve looked at the television replays and couldn’t see the evidence. It doesn’t take much to make you feel sorry for yourself when you’re not playing well.”
But in frame five, Higgins reduced the deficit to 3-2 with a tactical 70-46. It appeared that an O’Sullivan-esq comeback was on the cards. However, Allen recovered well in the sixth, racking up a huge 124-6 win after two visits to the table of 51 and 73.
Higgins bounced back in the seventh, pulling the match back to 4-3, but Allen dominated the final two frames. First with a break of 69 in the penultimate frame before a break of 57 secured a 108-0 win in the final frame – along with his place in the quarter-finals.
After the match, both players revealed how they felt they hadn’t performed well on the night. Although it was the expected response from Higgins, his opponent would have been forgiven for revelling in his victory slightly more.
“It wasn’t very good. I made breaks when I needed to, but my concentration very poor,” Allen commented.
“I’ve won three games this season which is terrible really. The only time I played well was in the UK and I got beat!”
Despite his self-critical analysis, Allen was still pleased to have sealed the win, but recognised that Higgins’ poor performance was a factor in the 6-3 scoreline.
“It was definitely a good win and will help my confidence. John didn’t play well but you need the likes of Ronnie or John to be off-colour,” he said.
Meanwhile, a despondent Higgins conceded that Allen was a worthy winner, but was frustrated that the Masters remains his bogey tournament after this latest first round exit.
“I never seem to play well here. I can only liken it to a golfer who doesn’t play well on certain courses. I’ve lost so many first round matches but it’s the manner in which I’ve lost them,” Higgins added.
“Take nothing away from Mark, if you look at the points total he had about a 1000 and I had a 100. I was lucky to get three frames today.”
Allen will now play Mark Selby in tomorrow’s second quarter-final and will be gunning for revenge. The pair met at the same stage last year, but the Jester from Leicester advanced to the semis after a narrow 6-5 victory.
Rob Swan
Whiplashed Williams waltzes into quarters
0755 days
by Rob Swan
in Uncategorized
Mark Williams had suffered the effects of whiplash after a minor car crash on Monday evening and felt sore throughout his second round Masters match against Ali Carter; but this had little effect on the Welshman’s performance as he fought bravely through the pain barrier and defeated his opponent 6-3 in the process.
Williams and seven-time world champion, Stephen Hendry, were both involved in the road accident following a night out. The 34-year-old’s car was stationary at the time of the collision, but was shunted from behind at traffic lights. Fortunately, only minor injuries were sustained, and the Welshman was given the green light to play just 24 hours later.
At the end of the first frame, those packed inside Wembley Arena could have been forgiven for questioning whether or not such an incident had even occurred. Williams hit a break of 98 without reply to seal the opening frame, although the amount of time he needed to take each shot – along with a series of slight grimaces every now and then – suggested he had only just been passed fit to play.
Carter went one better in the second frame, compiling a 99, and then took a 2-1 lead in the frame after with a 71 in the third.
Williams recovered, though, and equalised with the highest break of the match. His 102 was arguably the standout moment of the match, as the game became scrappier after the interval.
The scoreline was then reversed once again in the fifth – Williams stumbling to a 66-3 frame win – but Carter again levelled proceedings in the sixth after a break of 98.
As the match became more tense, the errors began to seep into both players’ games. But Williams was clearly up for a scrap-fest and won the next three frames to secure his place in the last eight.
The two-time world champion and Masters winner, who had spent the morning in hospital on painkillers, had performed valiantly and admitted he’d surprised himself at times during the match.
“The pain was ok; it got worse when the tension started to build at the end. It meant I got down to shots slower which might have helped!” the world No. 15 joked.
“I surprised myself, I didn’t expect that and felt good out there. I couldn’t rush any shots because of the pain. That was probably some of the best stuff I have played for some time.
“I’ll try and get a massage tomorrow and hopefully it should get better.”
Williams will now play the man who knocked his fellow passenger, Hendry, out of the tournament, Shaun Murphy, tomorrow evening at 7pm.
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
Angry Allen must focus his aggression
0760 days
by Elisabeth
in Uncategorized
There has been a lot of buzz around 23-year-old Mark Allen from Northern Ireland lately. This young, upcoming star became professional only four years ago and despite his age,
Allen has already had a very impressive career. He is currently number 11th in the world rankings and on his record you’ll find a last 16 placement in the World Championship, a semi-final in the Northern Ireland Trophy, a quarter-final in the China Open and a victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan that took him to the quarter-finals in the World Championship. With all of the above and a Jiangsu Classic victory to boot, Allen has every reason to be proud.
But this natural-born talent has had some serious mood issues in the past. The Northern Ireland team banned him from the Pontin’s for banging his cue, hitting the table and behaving rudely to other people. In the 2007 Aberdeen Grand Prix, Allen took out his anger on the snooker table again.
He was warned by the referee but replied with cuss words which in turn resulted in Ken Doherty calling him “a disgrace” after the match. Doherty was later blamed for being a bad loser by Allen since he had recently lost to him.
But let’s hope Allen doesn’t forget that snooker is a gentleman’s sport. Temper tantrums are probably looked upon more seriously in snooker than in other sports and can lead to tournament bans. Besides, they might affect the game negatively.
After all, big snooker stars like Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis always seemed to be able to maintain their composure throughout the most trying situations. If Allen can learn from the legends, he might be able to reach his full potential. If he can avoid future bans, who knows how far he can go?
Watch out for Allen in the 2010 Masters. Last year he made it all the way from the wildcard position to the quarter-final. This time around he’s in the top 16 and is therefore automatically qualified for the tournament. His first match will be against John Higgins.