If the Judd Trump v Marco Fu match was fantastic on day 3, the Mark Selby v Mark Williams one was even more extraordinary yesterday. Mark Williams was trailing 3-1 after the MSI and Mark Selby was looking unstoppable and then … “Willo” showed the world how the Jester can be derailed from his winning tracks. It was an incredibly tactical performance, messing up the table and breaking the rythm. At a point the commentators on BBC were about “doing a Selby on Selby”.  It almost worked. It was clear at a point that Selby had lost his confidence, partially at least. And then, Williams in the balls in the decider had a terrible kick on a blue that took the ball out of it’s intended path, missed, and credits must be given to Selby for the way he got himself together to clinch the match with a remarkable 89.

The second match on the day was the total opposite, it was about as one-sided as one-sided can be. My dark horse Barry Hawkins absolutely trashed a totally out-of-sorts Shaun Murphy.

Here is the Selby v Williams match report on Worldsnooker:

Wednesday 18 Jan 2017 05:58PM

Mark Selby won an enthralling match 6-5 against Mark Williams in the first round of the Dafabet Masters to boost his hopes of holding all three Triple Crown titles simultaneously.

Once again the Alexandra Palace crowd was treated to a dramatic conclusion as this was the fourth consecutive afternoon match to go down to a decider. And Selby, renowned for his calmness under pressure, made a brilliant clearance having benefited from a stroke of bad luck for Williams who got a kick at a crucial moment in the last frame.

World number one Selby goes through to the quarter-finals to face Shaun Murphy or Barry Hawkins on Friday afternoon (tickets still available – click here for details).

And having won the World Championship in May and the UK Championship in December, Leicester’s Selby is looking to become the first player to have all three Triple Crown trophies on his mantelpiece since Williams himself won all three in the same season in 2002/03.

Welshman Williams won the opening frame with a break of 65 before Selby hit back with 139 – the new target for the £10,000 high break prize – 62 and 109 to lead 3-1. After the interval, Williams battled back to 3-3 and he had a chance to win frame seven but missed the final green, allowing Selby to clear and regain the lead.

A run of 50 gave Williams frame eight and again he had to chance to edge ahead, but missed the brown with the rest late in frame nine, letting Selby clear to go 5-4 up.

Breaks of 53 and 58 from Williams set up the decider, and he had first chance but made just 20 before suffering a kick when attempting to pot the blue to a baulk corner. It missed its target and that proved his last shot as Selby’s clinical 89 saw him home.

“When Mark got that chance in the last frame, I just thought I was going out,” said Selby. “I didn’t expect him to miss and if it wasn’t for the kick, I don’t think he would have done.

“Sometimes this season Mark’s played some great stuff and been back to his best in patches. I knew it was going to be a tough game and it turned out to be.

“I know how hard this tournament is to win. Every match you play is worthy of being a final. At 5-5 when he was in the balls I was thinking, there goes my ‘slam’ but thankfully enough I got a chance, so it’s still on.

“It’s got to be up there with one of my best breaks to win a match. Under the circumstances it was very pleasing.

“It would be an unbelievable feat to hold all three majors, in this day and age where the standard is. I’m still in the tournament now, so hopefully I can kick on and come Sunday I might be in there with a chance to do that. It’d probably be the greatest achievement of my career.”

Williams said: “He played fantastic and that’s why he’s world number one. He’s just class on and off the table. You can’t have a better player to represent our sport.

“I think the others like Ding, Trump and Robertson are excellent players, but they’re not in Mark’s league. He’s just miles above them and he could be number one in any era, he’s got everything.”

You can find the whole match on youtube, it’s worth it!

And the Murphy v Hawkins match report on Worldsnooker:

Wednesday 18 Jan 2017 10:16PM

Last year’s runner-up Barry Hawkins crushed Shaun Murphy 6-1 in the first round of the Dafabet Masters at Alexandra Palace.

Murphy won this title two years ago but was barely in the match this time as his opponent dominated and stormed into the quarter-finals. In-form Hawkins, who won  a group in the Championship League last week, goes through to face Mark Selby on Friday afternoon (tickets still available – click here for details).

World number 12 Hawkins clearly enjoys playing at this venue as he enjoyed a superb run to the final last year – albeit one which ended with a 10-1 defeat against Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Londoner Hawkins won a scrappy opening frame tonight then took the second with a break of 79. Murphy had a chance to win the third from 64-0 down, but missed a tough last red to a baulk corner on 36, and that proved costly as his opponent went 3-0 ahead.

Lett-hander Hawkins made smooth runs of 89 and 85 to extend his lead to 5-0. Murphy pulled one back with a thumping long pot on the final pink in frame six. But his hopes of a fight back were soon quashed as Hawkins secured victory in the next with a break of 50.

“I’m really pleased with that,” said Hawkins. “I played well throughout the match, and didn’t give Shaun any easy chances. He missed a couple which is uncharacteristic but overall, I got off to a good start and got him on the back foot straight away.

“I was expecting a tough game. Shaun’s a great player, but to beat him 6-1 at the Masters is a great result. I didn’t see that coming. I knew I was playing ok so I knew if I got off to a good start and played some good safety then I’d get some opportunities.

“I wasn’t thinking about last year coming in. You just turn up wanting to play well and hopefully have another good run because it’s such a good tournament to be involved in. It’s pride in performance, you want to put on a good show. People are paying money to come and see you so you want to play well.

“It doesn’t get any easier playing Mark Selby. He’s full of confidence, the best player in the world at the moment. When I come out and play him on Friday, I’m going to have to be on top of my game again. I’ll need an inspired performance. It’s a massive occasion for me and I’m looking forward to it.”

Yesteday, Worldsnooker published this:

Wednesday 18 Jan 2017 01:21PM

World Champion Mark Selby, crowd favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, John Higgins and defending champion Shaun Murphy are among snooker’s cue kings who have already confirmed their participation in next month’s Ladbrokes World Grand Prix in Preston.

The world ranking event will take place at the iconic Guild Hall for the first time, from February 6 to 12. It will feature 32 players from a one-year ranking list which has been running throughout the season.

There is still one counting event to go – the German Masters which runs from February 1 to 5 – after which the final line up will be confirmed.

But several top stars already assured of qualification have entered the tournament and the following matches have been scheduled in order to give fans the chance to buy tickets for their favourite players in advance.

Monday February 6

7pm

Judd Trump v opponent

John Higgins v opponent

Tuesday February 7

1pm

Stuart Bingham v opponent

Shaun Murphy v opponent

7pm

Ronnie O’Sullivan v opponent

Marco Fu v opponent

Wednesday February 8

1pm

Mark Selby v opponent

Neil Robertson v opponent

A spokesman for World Snooker said: “It’s shaping up to be an amazingly strong field at the Guild Hall, with so many great champions in line to qualify. And there will be a few exciting up and coming players in the mix as well. It will be all to play for at the final qualifying event in Germany to see who can nail down a spot in Preston.

“We have so much history at the Guild Hall, going back to 1978 when the UK Championship was staged there for the first time. It’s a wonderful venue and we’re looking forward to bringing the World Grand Prix there. For the fans in the arena it’s going to be a thrilling experience as the atmosphere at live snooker is totally unique.”

The event will receive extensive live coverage each day from ITV4.

Fans can book tickets, which start at £13, for every session including the showpiece final on Sunday February 12, but seats MUST BE BOOKED FAST as certain sessions will sell out soon. For full details call 01772 80 4444 or CLICK HERE

Worldsnooker’s report on Judd Trump v Marco Fu:

Tuesday 17 Jan 2017 04:55PM

Marco Fu continued the form he showed in winning last month’s Scottish Open as he beat Judd Trump 6-5 in a sensational first round clash at the Dafabet Masters.

The Alexandra Palace crowd were treated to another thrilling contest – the third consecutive afternoon match to go to a deciding frame. And this was the best of the lot in terms of standard as the two players fired a remarkable five centuries and nine more breaks over 50 in the 11 frames.

Trump looked to be cruising at 3-0 up but he was eventually eclipsed by a stunning Fu fight back. The world number eight from Hong Kong played arguably the best snooker of his career in Glasgow last month, winning his third ranking title by beating John Higgins 9-4 in the final, and on today’s evidence he will be a danger again this week.

Fu, whose only Masters final appearance came in 2011 when he lost to Ding Junhui , now faces Mark Allen on Thursday evening (tickets still available – click here for details).

Bristol’s Trump made a break of 102 to win the opening frame, then came from 56-0 down to take the second with an 87 clearance. Fu again had first chance in frame three but his 64 was not good enough as Trump cleared superbly with 67.

Fu ignited his revival with 130 and 88 to get back to 3-2, then Trump’s 79 gave him frame six. In the seventh, Trump lead 63-10 only for Fu to make a 58 clearance which started with a doubled red to a centre pocket.

The high scoring continued as Fu made 110 for 4-4 then Trump edged ahead with a 112.  World number four Trump had his match-winning chance in frame ten but he missed the black off its spot on 36, and Fu duly punished him with 80 for 5-5.

A fluked red gave Fu the first chance of the decider and he made 22 before running out of position. After a brief safety exchange, a fantastic long red from Fu set up another chance and this time there was no mistake as he finished in style with 102.

“I haven’t played a lot better than this in my career,” said 39-year-old Fu. “It’s one of the best wins of my career, the way it was going when I was 3-0 down against a top class player. He played very well, he didn’t give it away. I think I earned it at the end, so it’s up there.

“It was a relief because I did it the hard way. I was 3-1 down at the interval and it was difficult to handle the disappointment. But I’m very pleased that I played much better after that, I took my chances and I was very relieved I got over the line.

“I was a little nervous coming into this match. I wanted to keep the good form going after Scotland but this is a different tournament. The Masters always gives you some nerves. I think everyone will suffer from it.

“At 3-0 down I still knew I could do damage if I got chances. The table is playing lovely. When the table’s like this, it helps all of us to play well.

“I’m very happy that I’m still in the tournament because the way it was going, I could have been going home today. Now I’m looking forward to my next match against Mark.”

That’s some stats!

Worldsnooker’s report on Neil Robertson v Ali Carter:

Tuesday 17 Jan 2017 10:21PM

Neil Robertson made a strong start to his Dafabet Masters campaign with a 6-3 win over Ali Carter, setting up a mouth-watering quarter-final with Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Robertson’s form has been inconsistent in recent months and he lost in the first round of the UK Championship in November. The Australian regained sharpness at the Championship League last week and will look to add to his silverware collection in the second half of the season.

First he faces a potentially epic clash against crowd favourite O’Sullivan at Alexandra Palace on Thursday at 1pm (tickets still available, click here for details). Their last Masters meeting came at the semi-final stage in 2015 when Robertson won 6-1.

World number seven Robertson won the opening frame tonight with a break of 85, and he led 49-0 in the second only for Carter to take it with an 83 clearance. Robertson then regained control of the contest and won the next three frames with runs of 78, 49 and 69.

Carter fought back to 4-3 thanks to breaks of 73 and 93. But his hopes of an upset were soon ended as Robertson took the next two frames with 73 and 117. In fact in the last frame he could have made 144 to set a formidable target for the £10,000 high break prize, but he ran out of position on the final yellow.

“I enjoy playing Ali, he’s a wonderful player,” said 2012 Masters champion Robertson. “He scores heavy when he’s in and he plays the game properly. I’m better against top players who don’t make it scrappy. I was really put under pressure at 4-3, the way he came back. To finish it off the last two frames the way I did was very pleasing.

“I was pretty annoyed I didn’t make the high break, but I was glad all the hard work that I did over Christmas worked and to put it in a performance like that was really satisfying.

“Usually I have a break over Christmas for about three weeks. But I kept practising. I was in Norway so I practised on Kurt Maflin’s table, and then played the Championship League, heading into this. I made a lot of big breaks there so I knew my game was in really good shape. My long potting’s never been better, my scoring’s never been better. It’s just a matter of being patient and eventually the performance will come.

“It’s going to be an unbelievable atmosphere against Ronnie. It’s different playing him here than to the Crucible. The amount of support he gets and the crowd’s encouraged will be a bit noisier here which is fantastic. It’s a wonderful venue, an amazing tournament with incredible history. I’m going to have to be at my best to beat him on Thursday.”

Well … let’s hope Ronnie will be over the flu by Thursday, if he is it should be a great match!

Yesterday we saw two completely different matches at Ally Pally.

In the afternoon, Mark Allen beat John Higgins in a deciding frame, after a very tense battle. There were twists and turns, good snooker and unexpected mistakes … the perfect recipe for a good afternoon at the snooker. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise how close this one was: the head-to-head between the two stands at 9-9 …

Joe Perry battered a tired Stuart Bingham by 6-1 in the evening. Joe, who had recently expressed his frustration at the state of his game, and considered his future, played very, very well indeed and is now again in love with his snooker. Stuart, who had just become a father on Saturday was out of sorts and, although he made a marvelous 132 in the only frame he won, will be very disappointed with his performance. That said it’s not as much as a surprise as it seems because Joe holds a very comfortable 9-5 head-to-head advantage against Stuart.

The report on the John Higgins v Mark Allen match on Worldsnooker:

Monday 16 Jan 2017 05:12PM

Mark Allen got the better of an exciting final frame to beat John Higgins 6-5 in the first round of the Dafabet Masters at Alexandra Palace.

Four-time World Champion Higgins was left to rue crucial misses in the last frame which allowed his opponent to edge through to a quarter-final clash with Judd Trump or Marco Fu on Thursday evening (tickets still available, click here for details).

Scotland’s Higgins has a mixed record at the Masters – he won it in 1999 and 2006 but has now suffered 12 first round exits. Antrim’s Allen now has the chance to reach the semi-finals for the third time having lost at that stage in 2011 and 2015.

Higgins won a scrappy opening frame then made a 111 in the second to lead 2-0. World number ten Allen hit back to take the next two frames with a top break of 51. The next four frames were also shared – Allen making the better breaks with 81 and 104 in the sixth and seventh.

Allen was on 67 in frame nine when he missed the blue to a centre pocket, letting Higgins in to make a 67 clearance to force a repotted black. After a safety exchange, Allen converted a superb long range pot into a top corner to go 5-4 ahead. Higgins responded with a run of 77 in the next to set up the decider.

First chance went to Higgins and he made 30 before missing a red to a top corner. Nerves took hold as both players passed up opportunities, Higgins missing the yellow to a baulk corner and the black off its spot when he led 32-19. The third of those errors was vital as Allen compiled a run of 44 which proved enough for victory, as Higgins was unable to get the snookers he needed on the colours.

“I was just glad John missed the black in the last frame as that gave me another chance, and I took it well,” said 30-year-old Allen. “It was very tense in the last. I noticed John shaking quite a bit. Him missing the black off the spot was unexpected – but not so much to me.

“It shows how much it means to John considering what he’s done in the game. It was just one of those matches you didn’t want to lose. One thing I have always had is bottle.

“I’m not playing that great. I played ok in spells there. My safety was good today, I was very impressed with my safety. So if I can keep doing that and find a bit of rhythm in the balls, I can battle hard and never give up. That’s one of my best attributes. It’ll stand me in good stead when I find that good form I’m looking for.

“If you don’t play well here, you’re going home. I think I like to think that I can raise my game against the very best players in the world.”

Allen was also asked about a gesture at the end of the ninth frame when he raised his hand to his ear, towards the crowd, after potting the respotted black.

“It was just a bit of fun,” said the Ulsterman. “I enjoyed the pot on the black, I think it was the first time since 2004 I’ve potted a long ball. There was absolutely no malice towards John. It was great that he did it at the end of the next frame as well and I think that was the spirit the game was played in.”

Higgins said: “I thought I got a kick on the black (in the last frame) when I was playing it into the reds. It bounced, but obviously it’s a bad miss and it’s the miss that cost me the game. I had a good chance at the start then I missed a bad red. I’ve got no complaints. I missed the clutch balls at the end and if you do that, you don’t win.”

The report on the Stuart Bingham v Joe Perry match on Worldsnooker:

Monday 16 Jan 2017 10:12PM

Joe Perry scored an emphatic 6-1 win over world number two Stuart Bingham on Monday night to reach the quarter-finals of the Dafabet Masters for the second time in his career.

Bingham, the 2015 World Champion, became a father for the second time just two days ago and he looked fatigued as he made two many errors against ninth seed Perry, who now meets Ding Junhui on Friday evening (tickets still available – click here for details).

Cambridgeshire’s Perry has been on a patchy run of form in recent months but produced an impressive display tonight in front of an enthusiastic Alexandra Palace crowd.

He made a break of 116 to take the opening frame, then nicked the second with an excellent long pot on the respotted black, after Bingham had passed up the chance to seal the frame when he missed the final blue.

Bingham hit back with a break of 132, the highest of the tournament so far, but Perry won the next three frames with runs of 76, 77 and 107 to lead 5-1.

Both players missed chances in frame seven and it came down to the colours, and Perry cleared from blue to black to seal victory.

“I’m thrilled with my performance,” said 42-year-old Perry. “It was totally unexpected but you just never know when you’re going to hit form at this game. I’ve probably been playing some of the worst snooker I’ve ever played in my career over the past few months.

“I just thought tonight, I don’t care what happens, I might lose 6-0. But it’s amazing what can happen when you put no pressure on yourself, no expectations.

“It’s nice to win here. It’s stopped the mad thoughts I’ve had about not ever playing again. That winning feeling is great, I don’t think you can replace that with anything. I was never ever going to give up snooker, I just fell out of love with it for a while. Twenty five years in the same job is hard.

“The atmosphere here really is incredible. I never thought we could replace the Wembley Conference Centre. That place was special, but I think this is very close if not on par with it now.

“I’ll have some friends supporting me against Ding. I’m not going to put any pressure on myself again. I wasn’t going to beat myself up because I missed a couple of easy balls, which is probably what I’ve been doing. I put too much pressure on myself to play well and if you do that, there’s only one way you can go.”

The Masters is one of the best tournaments in the calendar, in my view, it’s even the best, with this great venue, one table from the start and every match highly competitive, especially this year. Indeed for the first time, all players involved are ranking events winners. Every match is a tough one.

Ronnie who had a serious cold over Christmas and wasn’t feeling well in Goffs, was still under the weather and it showed! BUT … he got a new hair cut for good luck!

He certainly didn’t come to the match as well prepared as he would have wanted and how he won it, I will never know! He neither it seems …

Here is the match report on Worldsnooker:

Sunday 15 Jan 2017 05:22PM

Ronnie O’Sullivan scored a dramatic 6-5 win on the first day of the Dafabet Masters, after his opponent Liang Wenbo missed match-ball black in the penultimate frame.

China’s Liang had a golden chance to score a surprise 6-4 win over the six-time Masters king. Needing to clear the colours, he got down to the final black which was a few inches above the top cushion. But he wobbled his attempted pot in the jaws of a top corner, leaving it for O’Sullivan to make it 5-5. Handed a lifeline, O’Sullivan went on to make a brilliant break of 121 in the deciding frame.

The Rocket, who beat Barry Hawkins 10-1 in the final last year to equal Stephen Hendry’s record of six Masters crowns, goes through to face Neil Robertson or Ali Carter in the quarter-finals at Alexandra Palace on Thursday at 1pm (tickets still available – click here for details).

Chigwell’s 41-year-old O’Sullivan is chasing his first title since the Welsh Open 11 months ago, though he has reached three finals this season. With the majority of a 2,000 capacity crowd behind him in London, he is always a formidable force at snooker’s biggest invitation event.

A sell-out crowd of 2,000 enjoyed the contest

O’Sullivan won the opening frame thanks to an excellent long pot on the last red, and he took the second as well courtesy of an equally good pot on the penultimate red with the rest. Liang, who won his first ranking title at October’s English Open, fought back to 2-2 with runs of 109 and 48.

After the interval, O’Sullivan responded with 89 and 80 to lead 4-2. A high quality contest saw Liang hit again back with 65 and 83 for 4-4. O’Sullivan led 39-0 in frame nine before he missed a black off its spot, and Liang’s runs of 50 and 33 saw him take the lead for the first time.

And the Chinese  cueman had his opportunity for glory in frame ten after O’Sullivan had missed the pink off the last red when 26 points ahead. But Liang’s miss on the black proved the crucial moment and he spent most of the final frame in his seat.

“You’ve got to feel for Liang,” admitted world number 13 O’Sullivan. “He should have won that match. He should have put me away.

“I don’t think I was much of a fight throughout the whole match, I just managed to nick a few frames through my experience. Maybe that was the difference. I didn’t feel very good in myself. I’ve had a bit of a virus. I just felt really lethargic, really tired. So it was difficult to really feel like I wanted to hold a cue, let alone try and compete and win a match in probably the most competitive tournament we have.

“Hopefully in the next couple of days I can shake off this bug and feel better. I’m a bit of a momentum player so when I get on a roll I can flow, but when I feel like that, it’s hard.

“I don’t think your B and C game can win you tournaments these days. It might win you the odd match here and there. If I’d have lost there, I’d have been happy just doing a bit of punditry work because I just like being at tournaments, having a laugh with the lads.

“Liang’s a good competitor, he’s a very good player. He’s a winner now and I’m sure he’ll win again. The key is to improve on your weaknesses.”

Here are a few images of the match thanks to my friend Tai Chengzhe.

 Much appreciated Tai!

And a few  “faces” shared on twitter by Dan Mulan, the Getty photographer

Finally some videos … 

The BBC preview, the match and the interview with BBC pundits right after it:

And the press conference with Worldsnooker:

It’s interesting that Ronnie was feeling so out of sorts that he didn’t even realise that by playing the yellow the third time he would have lost the frame, and the match, had he missed it. Under the circumstances, the 121 he made in the decider is all the more remarkable. Let’s hope that the 4 days he has now will allow him to rest and practice a bit. He will need to improve massively he wants to win this event. But he’s still in it and for now, it’s all that matters!