Ronnie beat Mark Selby by a convincing 5-1 in the quarter finals at the Welsh Open 2016 in Cardiff.

Ronnie lost the first frame of the match. A not so good break-off from Ronnie allowed Mark to sink a great long red and make a winning break from there. Ronnie came back to the table, needing snookers, but promptly missed a black and Mark finished the job. An excellent 93 in the next got Ronnie settled. In frame three Mark missed a long red and, from there, Ronnie embarked in a 147 attempt but he missed the 8th black. He was lucky though that the black ran safe. There were more than enough points on the table but Mark was forced to play mostly with the blue and found himself 63-56 ahead with only the black remaining. It was Ronnie who won the black ball battle with a fantastic long pot. After that it was one way traffic … and a breakbuilding masterclass. Indeed Mark scored just three points in the last three frames as Ronnie scored breaks of 61, 75 and 132.

Here is a bit of stat attack (thanks Steve Kent on twitter)

Up to now in the tournament, Ronnie has played 21 frames, won 18, lost 3, made 18 breaks over 50, including 7 centuries. Not too shabby.

A “mischievous” Ronnie is interviewed after the match

Going by what transpired on twitter, a “tongue in cheek” Ronnie claimed that this tournament is good practice for his numerous coming exhibitions. He insisted that at 40, he wants to entertain and admitted that he went for the 147 in frame three following Paddy Power’s offer to pay him 61000£ if he manages to do one.

“I just went out there and went for my shots,” said O’Sullivan. “I’ve got a chance (of the title), it would be ridiculous to say otherwise, but Neil Robertson is the all round professional now. He’s like Steve Davis was in the eighties and Hendry was in the nineties: very disciplined and wanting to set a benchmark as far as his legacy. You’ve got to play out of your skin to beat him.” (source Worldsnooker)

Big thanks again to Tai Chengzhe for these pictures

And here is the full match. Enjoy!

And Ronnie post-match interview (BBC)

Again a complete round was played yesterday in Cardiff, this time the last 16, with two notable casualties: John Higgins, the defending champion, and Judd Trump.

The Welsh players had mixed fortunes, with Mark Williams going out to Mark Selby, and Michael White getting one of the best wins of his career by sending the defending champion John Higgins home.

So it’s now quarter finals time, and best of 9.

Ding Junhui seems to be over a long period of bad form and is still in the tournament, he will face Neil Robertson today. Mark Selby, the world n°1, will take on Ronnie, who beat him in the Masters in January. No doubt they both will be up for the battle.

Ben Woollaston, finalist last year is still there as well, facing Joe Perry, Judd Trump’s conqueror. Finally, Mark Allen will play Michael White … and the crowd probably.

Hector Nunns on inside snooker reflects on Michael White’s win and the day ahead:

WELSH HOPES CARRIED BY WHITE INTO THE QUARTERS

Hector Nunns February 18, 2016

Michael White is the man Wales is looking to on Friday to continue his run at the BetVictor Welsh Open and become the first Welshman to win the title for 17 years.

Not since Mark Williams lifted the trophy in 1999 has there been a home winner of a tournament that was for many years staged in Newport.

But the 24-year-old White’s impressive 4-1 win over defending champion John Higgins, with three ranking titles in the past 12 months, kept that possibility alive.

White is of course no longer a ‘prospect’ or ‘hope for the future’. Blessed with attacking instincts and a fine potting game the world No17 has already won one ranking event, the Indian Open in Mumbai last year.

Ronnie O’Sullivan had some very glowing things to say about him on Thursday, noting that White had all the attributes you would want to see in a world champion in the making.

White, of course, was very unlucky not to qualify as of right for the Crucible last year, finishing as world No16 but pitched into three brutal qualifiers as a result of Ali Carter’s ranking being frozen after his health battles.

While this was the correct decision, Sheffield was the poorer for not having an in-form White present. No one can guarantee coming through those three qualifiers now, and he lasted only one before losing to Craig Streadman.

However he will have a grand stage to play on Friday night against Mark Allen, who edged past Barry Hawkins 4-3.

White said: “Beating John was a fantastic win for me, up there with one of the best of my career. For some reason I was very laid back ahead of the match, and I think it showed.

“A lot of it is mental and I have the confidence at the moment, I am very focused and positive. I stayed with John, as you have to, and my safety has really improved.

“To get a victory like that here at home in Wales is special, my phone was going berserk even before this. My mum and friends had come up to watch today, they are over the moon.

“It is good for Wales and good for the tournament, and it would be great to get a Welshman in the final. There has been no home winner since 1999 I think, Mark Williams.

“I know Ronnie O’Sullivan has said some nice things about me, that means a lot from someone of his calibre – I didn’t know he had ever watched me!

“I also need to make sure I am in the top 16 at the start of April for the Crucible that will be one goal achieved, and I am well on the way.”

Higgins was not the only big gun to fall by the wayside, with Judd Trump going down to Joe Perry.

The marquee game will be three-time winner O’Sullivan against world No1 Mark Selby in the afternoon, but Neil Robertson up against Ding Junhui, finally finding some form, isn’t far behind.

Perry and last year’s runner-up Ben Woollaston, who clearly has taken a shine to Cardiff and this venue, go into their match knowing it could have been a lot worse on paper.

 

All the results and statistics are available on cuetracker.net . Thank you Ron Florax.

Ronnie booked his place in the quarter-finals tomorrow with a 4-1 win over Yu Delu. 

Yu might well be the lowest-ranked player remaining in the tournament, he’s no easy opponent and Ronnie certainly didn’t underestimate him.  They know each other’s game very well, having practiced together at the Grove, and Yu beat Ronnie in the Players Championship Grand Final in 2014.

The first frame was error-strewn, both players making mistakes aplenty. Yu got ahead and potted the final green to go 22 ahead with 22 on. However, Ronnie managed to clear to earn a respotted black, only for Yu to win it with a fluke…

Ronnie got in early in the second frame and from there made a fluent 96 that got him settled. From then on it was one-way traffic as the scores clearly show.

After the match, Ronnie said that he was happy with both his scoring and his safety.

He will face Mark Selby in a best of 9 quarterfinals tomorrow afternoon.

Here are some quotes from the press conferences

“I played some reasonable safety and scored well,” said Masters champion O’Sullivan. “I tried to find some rhythm and not worry about the scoreline. I was pleased with how I approached it.” (source Worldsnooker)

“I’m pleased to still be in the tournament. No matches here are a gimme,” said O’Sullivan.“John Higgins, the second greatest player I have ever seen, has been beaten. It takes a top player to have a slightly off day and you are going out.”

“Yu Delu is a brilliant player so I was a bit nervous at the start,” said O’Sullivan.“I maybe was giving him a little bit too much respect. I lost the first frame but got some momentum going after.” (source BBC)

“Michael White is definitely top eight, knocking on the door and if he won the world title this year I wouldn’t be surprised,” said O’Sullivan.

“I really like him as a person and I don’t think you can deny the talent he has, the snooker brain he has and the most important thing, he has bottle.

“He has all the ingredients to be a definite world champion and I love his attitude. He has a love and an enthusiasm for the game and we’re talking about a possible multiple world champion – he has going to win big, he has to.” (source Walesonline)

Some pictures by Tai Chengzhe, big thanks to him!

Finally, here is the full match, if you missed it or want to watch it again:

Day 3 in Cardiff saw 32 become 16 as round three of the Welsh Open 2016 was played and completed. It once again proved that all the ramble about best of 7 being just a lottery is nonsense: 12 of the top 16 are playing in round 4 today, and only Yu Delu is ranked lower than 32. Michael White, Luca Brecel and Ben Woollaston may not be in the top 16, but Luca and Ben are both ranking event finalists whilst Michael is ranking event winner. So?

Anyway, today promises to be an interesting day and here is Hector Nunns preview on inside-snooker:

LAST-16 LINE-UP WITH EVERYTHING READIES FOR BATTLE

Hector Nunns February 17, 2016

It is always interesting to see how other players react in a week when Ronnie O’Sullivan is doing one of his ‘headline-grabbing’ routines. Most aren’t bothered. A few are bothered.

All of them get asked what they think about whatever it is that the Rocket has said or done to stir things up this time. Some are cute and sidestep the potential minefield. Others are just plain honest. Another, smaller group, cannot help but reveal frustration at the box office appeal and earning power of their tour colleague.

Is there some jealousy? Maybe – but only in certain, very limited quarters. And even then, you can understand it to a degree. Just look at what has happened this week.

From day one the agenda has been centred on O’Sullivan from the moment he allowed a personal “devil” to play with his head, rejecting the 147 attempt and blaming it an insufficient cash prize.

But as we approach day four and the last 16 of an important ranking tournament, where players are desperate to do well for many reasons, we see that fairly quietly a very attractive line-up has assembled itself.

There are good match-ups, fine potential quarter-final and semi-final clashes, big names, and opportunities to build a greater legacy all over the place.

Just look at who is playing for a place in the quarter-finals. You have Ding Junhui, struggling to keep his top-16 place and avoid what for him would be the ignominy of having to play three brutal qualifiers to reach the Crucible, taking on the in-form Luca Brecel.

The 20-year-old Belgian enjoyed a huge slice of luck against Shaun Murphy, but it goes for you when you’re on a roll, and Brecel comes to Cardiff straight from Berlin where he got to a first ranking final. It is not only a match to savour, but quite possibly a taste of finals to come.

Defending champion John Higgins against one of the home Welsh favourites Michael White is another cracking tie on paper. This was the event where Higgins ended his title drought 12 months ago, going on of course to win two more ranking titles in 2015.

In all three of those finals Higgins was a strong favourite, and good players as they are someone of the Scot’s calibre would privately take Ben Woollaston, Martin Gould and David Gilbert all day long for three ranking titles. That would though be to overlook other excellent displays in particular in Daqing where Higgins took out Mark Selby 9-4 and Shaun Murphy 6-0 en route to the showpiece.

White is of course a ranking-event winner, as now is Gould – who plays last year’s Cardiff runner-up Woollaston. O’Sullivan should beat Yu De Lu, and there will be huge support for another 40-year-old, Mark Williams, as he takes on world No1 Mark Selby.

Judd Trump, the final man into the last 16, will certainly have his eye on lifting the trophy ahead of his match against Joe Perry after some recent near misses. And Neil Robertson, Marco Fu, Mark Allen and Barry Hawkins are all sufficiently motivated and capable of adding to their title tally.

There has been a lot of talk about what is ‘good for the game’ this week. For any player left in, they are quite rightly thinking about themselves and what the title would mean. It is an individual sport, and that is how it should be. Holding the trophy on Sunday night would mean something different, special and unique to whoever had the honour.

Away from the strong individual motivations at stake, though, what would be the best result for the sport? As in Germany, there is just a feeling that a Brecel title sometime soon would signify an important milestone moment for where snooker needs to go next.

He is certainly not the favourite – and 15 others, not least next opponent Ding, would strongly disagree.

All the results and statistics are available on cuetracker.net . Thank you Ron Florax.

 

Sporting a new haircut, Ronnie beat Jimmy Robertson by 4-0 tonight in the last 32 round of the Welsh Open 2016.

The three first frames were quick as Ronnie played the same brand of fluent snooker as he did yesterday. The last frame was quite different. A relatively long containing safety battle yielded a very awkward table. Neither player was able to build a winning break and both applied themselves patiently. They traded some very good safeties. But eventually it was Ronnie who was able to score better and prevail. The whole match lasted about one hour.

After the match, when interviewed by Jamie Broughton, he expressed his satisfaction about his mindset during the match and to have built some momentum.

Here are Ronnie’s quotes after the match (source Worldsnooker)

“These events leave you with a lot of time on your hands, waiting around for one match a day,” said O’Sullivan, chasing his second title of 2016 having won the Masters last month. “Maybe they should stick an adult crèche here to entertain us because I get so bored. Today I’ve had a haircut, been for a Chinese, been for a coffee, been to a cafe, went to the shops to buy some food, had a sleep and then played a game of snooker. I’d rather play two matches a day.

“I wasn’t born with a great temperament in the way that John Higgins, Mark Selby and Neil Robertson were. We all have weaknesses and I have to work on that.

“Coping with the mental challenge is a skill and I wish I had learned that 20 years ago because I would have won a lot more titles. It was a good professional performance today, I was happy with my mindset. It started scrappy but I was able to keep my cool.”

Some pictures of Ronnie’s new haircut, big thanks to Tai Chengzhe

 

2016 Welsh Open: preview of the Ronnie O’Sullivan – Jimmy Robertson match (BBC)

You can watch the full match (again) here:

2016 Welsh Open: Ronnie O’Sullivan – Jimmy Robertson

And while others continue to do battle, chances are he’s now going for those:

Dim Sum, he loves them! Bon appétit! 

 

Day 2 in the Motorpoint Arena saw all the 64 players still in the tournament play their round 2 match.

Despite this being best of 7 – allegedly a lottery – most of the top players progressed with the notable exceptions of Ricky Walden, Ali Carter and Peter Ebdon. Ricky’s form has been very poor for quite some time so this isn’t a big surprise. Someone who has been in really bad form for over a year is Ding Junhui but he seems to be on the comeback now.

The Welsh crowd will be delighted to see all four of Matthew Stevens, Ryan Day, Mark Williams and Michael White still in it, although none of them, except maybe Matthew, had it easy.

One thing that baffles me is why Worldsnooker holds matches until late evening when tables are free. That’s hard on the players and referees and I’m not the only one wondering: Alan McManus posted the question on twitter this morning as well.

All the results and statistics are available on cuetracker.net . Thank you Ron Florax.