Judd beat Ronnie by 5-3 yesterday evening in the QF of the Players Championship 2017.

Ronnie couldn’t sustain the level of excellence he had shown in the last 16 whilst Judd was excellent in all departments, especially before the MSI. That’s this match in a nutshell.

Ronnie found himself 3-1 down at the MSI, with a 90% pot success, 82% safety success and 100% long pot success – stats that would normally win you a match – but he only had got 32% of table time and that’s the one that tells the story. Judd prevented him to play: Ronnie scores only 18 in the last three frames of the mini session and his highest break was 36, which he had scored in the opening frame, a frame he had won in two main visits.

The positive aspect of the match is that, despite everything, Ronnie continued to apply himself and fight, although, as the pundits observed, he was playing with more caution and less positively than usual. Alan McManus suggested that he was playing the man rather than the table. I’m not sure of that. My view is that Ronnie isn’t confident at all at the moment and that was the key factor. Since he’s won the Masters he’s not been able to play well consistently. It’s obvious that he has been putting the hours in before this tournament, it showed in the last 16, and even in the QF in spells. But yesterday, he went into his shell a bit, refusing a couple of pots he would usually take during the first mini-session. He came back more aggressively after the MSI and, honestly, I’m not sure what could have happened over a longer format. My feeling is that doubts were beginning to creep in Judd’s mind …

I found Judd’s quotes during the ITV4 aftermatch quite interesting. He stated that practicing with Ronnie had helped his own game massively, he learned a lot and helped him to bring to the level he’s at now. Ronnie is also coaching three young Chinese players, including the very young Yan Bingtao who, as a rookie, managed to climb into the top 64 already. My husband’s reaction after yesterday’s match was “He shouldn’t do that, they improve so much they beat him afterward!”. Maybe … but, in fact, despite some raging outbursts over the years, the fundamental fact is that Ronnie loves his sport, with a passion, and is deeply concerned about the lack of young talents coming through to secure the future. I know that what I just wrote will be met with skepticism by a few but, see, passion hurts when things don’t go the way one wishes, and snooker has brought Ronnie deep suffering at times, as well as triumph and elation at other times. Wearing his heart on his sleeve he’s always expressed his feelings, positive or negative, unfiltered, on the moment.

Finally, Ronnie again gave another noncommittal postmatch interview. He refused to discuss the match, in particular when Neal Foulds suggested that Judd had got the run of the balls, and instead suggested that he needed to lose weight and eat healthier before the WC because his waistcoat was a bit too tight and hindering his movements … or get a bigger waistcoat. He didn’t look too down about losing. I’m not sure how he really felt. actually. In recent months he has said, on multiple occasions, that he is accepting that he isn’t as good as he once and won’t be winning as much as he used to do was but wants to continue to play and compete as long as he enjoys the challenge. And, he’s working hard too.

Some surely will suggest he should retire if he feels like this and if winning isn’t everything to him. I disagree. It’s up to the player to decide when the time has come for them to retire and everyone is different. Steve Davis continued to play well beyond his glory days. Was he wrong? He had a few brilliant spells late in his career, including that deep run in the 2010 World Championship when he beat John Higgins, the defending Champion, in the last 16, before losing to Neil Robertson, the eventual winner, in the QF. I will never forget the atmosphere in the Crucible when Steve was playing that year: the entire audience was living every ball with him. Jimmy White is still playing and if he loses his tour card, he will be absolutely devastated. He’s also still very popular and heavily supported by the fans. So?

Anyway …

Here is the match report by Worldsnooker:

Wednesday 8 Mar 2017 10:29PM

Judd Trump has come through a blockbuster clash with Ronnie O’Sullivan, winning 5-3 to reach the last four of the Ladbrokes Players Championship in Llandudno.

Both players are used to facing each other on the big occasion, their last four meetings in ranking competition had been finals, with the Ace in the Pack and the Rocket winning two each. One of those clashes was in Llandudno, where Trump rattled off six frames in a row to defeat O’Sullivan 10-7 in the 2015 World Grand Prix final.

O’Sullivan was looking to reach the 65th semi-final of his career this evening, whilst Trump was looking appear in the last four of an event for the 7th time this season.

Despite the Rocket taking the opener, Trump dominated the opening part of the match courtesy of a brutal display of long potting.  He made breaks of 86 and 113 on his way to establishing a 3-1 lead at the interval.

They traded frames after the match resumed, before a magnificent break of 109 from O’Sullivan forced kept the match alive at 4-3.

Trump got in first in the eighth frame, making 60 as he looked to put the tie to bed. However, O’Sullivan found himself at the table with another opportunity. He compiled a run of 31 before failing to find position on the final red. After a brief safety exchange Trump made it and went on to secure the tie.

Next up for the world number three is a semi-final meeting with either Neil Robertson or Ali Carter, who face each other tomorrow afternoon.

Trump remarked: “It was getting quite tough. If it went 4-4 it would have been an edgy one and he probably would have been favourite. I felt like I controlled the whole game and it was mine to lose.

“The main difference between us was the safety. Every time he came to the table he was in a bit of trouble,” said the 2011 UK Champion. “I played a lot against Ronnie in practice and exhibitions in the summer and I kind of got used to his game. I know what he is all about and that I can compete with him now.”

Some more pictures, courtesy of Tai Chengzhe, thanks Tai! 

Here are the videos of interest:

The match:

Missing Clip 2017 Players Ch’ship: preview of the Ronnie O’Sullivan – Judd Trump match

Missing Clip  2017 Players Ch’ship: MSI of the Ronnie O’Sullivan – Judd Trump match

Missing Clip  2017 Players Ch’ship: review of the Ronnie O’Sullivan – Judd Trump match

With the QF to start in only a couple of hours, it’s time for a quick round up of what happened in the last 16…

Looking back at my predictions, I didn’t do too badly: I got 7 winners right out of 8 matches although I was quite off with some scores it must be said!

Mark Selby 5 – 4 Ryan Day

This is actually exactly the result I expected, for the reasons I considered. Mark Selby isn’t playing at his best currently, far from it, but he’s much more solid than Ryan under pressure and, of course, he’s more used to win big matches. It made the difference.

Marco Fu 5 – 1 Anthony McGill

I didn’t see the match, so it’s hard to comment, but I did expect a closer score especially as Marco had a bit of a dip in the two previous events.
Ding Junhui 5 – 4  John Higgins

The result I hoped for, I won’t lie. I like Ding’s game. But I wasn’t expecting the way it happened: at 4-0 down, I expected Ding to collapse. It’s happened so often in the past and with the recent loss of his mother he could have been forgiven not to be 100% focused. But what a come back! I have no doubts about Ding’s temperament anymore.
Stuart Bingham 1 – 5 Anthony Hamilton

The result I expected but not the score I expected. I watched only short bits of this one but it’s fair to say that Stuart was completely out of sorts there whilst “the Sheriff” was extremely solid and efficient.
Barry Hawkins 0 – 5 Neil Robertson

I didn’t watch this one and I’m baffled … OK, Barry Hawkins has the odd bad day in office and it’s usually very bad. Just remember the 2016 Masters final! But still, he had been the man in form recently and Neil certainly wasn’t. Neil Robertson said after the match that he has been working hard. It will be interesting to see if his new-found form is confirmed in the next round.
Allister Carter 5 – 4 Shaun Murphy

The result and a close match as I expected. Again I didn’t see the match, but Ali is the type of player who will cause problems to the ultra attacking: he’s a very solid all-rounder who plays conservatively. And he probably came to this one fresher than Shaun who was still potting balls (and winning) in Gibraltar on Sunday night
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5 – 1 Liang Wenbo

Again the result I expected but not the score I expected. Simply Ronnie played much better than I dared to hope for. Fingers crossed he can sustain this form in the coming days and weeks.
Judd Trump 5 – 2 Mark King

I could see two scenarios here and in fact we had a bit of both. Judd Trump completely outplayed Mark King for the first three frames. Then Mark started to play the type of game that allowed him to beat Ronnie in Berlin. But he wasn’t quite as solid as he had been then and he was too far behind. Judd stayed patient, applied himself and that was that.

Ronnie played very well in beating his close friend Liang Wenbo by 5-1 in the opening match of the Players Championship 2017. It didn’t start that well though as two elementary mistakes from Ronnie allowed Liang to make the first telling break of the evening. Ronnie looked a bit disheveled and flustered and it later transpired that he had only arrived at the venue a couple of minutes before his match, having been caught in traffic. Not ideal!  However after Liang missed at 52-0 up, Ronnie managed to steal the frame aided by a brilliant 72. This settled him and after that he never looked in danger. The match was over before they had reached the MSI on the other table.

The commentators and pundits on ITV4 all agreed that this is probably the best he’s played all season.

Here is the match report on Worldsnooker (excerpt):

Monday 6 Mar 2017 11:31PM

Ronnie O’Sullivan was in devastating form as he eased past Liang Wenbo to make the last eight of the Ladbrokes Players Championship in Llandudno.

The Rocket has been struggling to find his best form since claiming a record seventh Masters title in January.  It was at this year’s Masters that the pair last met, where Liang spurned a straightforward black to win the match and O’Sullivan progressed 6-5.

Liang was first out of the blocks in the opener with a run of 52, but O’Sullivan hit back with a contribution of 72 to go one ahead. The English Open Champion Liang restored parity, but from there the Rocket took control. Breaks of 65, 118, 101 and 71 saw him burst to an impressive win.

The result sets up a potential clash with world number three Judd Trump who faces Mark King tomorrow. Trump and O’Sullivan have met in Llandudno before, the Ace in the Pack came from 7-4 down to win the 2015 World Grand Prix final 10-7.

Here is a mini photo gallery thanks to Tai Chengzhe

Ronnie stuck to his word and resolution to avoid discussing snooker with the media and, apart from some comments on a few shots and  how difficult it is to play a close friend, basically this quote summarizes his presser with the ITV4 pundits

It’s a nice event, but I’ve got to get out of Llandudno for a few days.  It’s a bit windy, there’s not much to do around here.

Here is the match:

Missing Clip 2017 Players Ch’ship: preview of the Ronnie O’Sullivan – Liang Wenbo match

Missing Clip 2017 Players Ch’ship: MSI of the Ronnie O’Sullivan – Liang Wenbo match

Missing Clip 2017 Players Ch’ship: review of the Ronnie O’Sullivan – Liang Wenbo match

Worldsnooker has now published the format for the last 16 of the Players Championship 2017. Matches are best of 9, with an interval.

This is how it pans out, with my short preview for each match in the round:

Mark Selby (1) v Ryan Day (16) – Tuesday 1pm

Mark Selby has not been in the best of form since his UK Championship win last December. Ryan Day has got some excellent results lately: a final in the World Grand Prix, the final of the Winners Group in the Championship League Snooker and a semi-final yesterday in Gibraltar. He’s a cracking player when on form. Can he cause an upset? It is possible, but Mark Selby being Mark Selby I still expect the World Champion to win this one especially if it gets close.

Prediction: Mark Selby 5-4 Ryan Day.

Marco Fu (8) v Anthony McGill (9) – Tuesday 1pm

This one is very, very difficult to call. Marco Fu, when on form, is extremely dangerous and a month again I would have picked Marco as the winner without thinking twice. However when not on form he can be really poor, and since his semi-final in the World Grand Prix,  he’s gone out of the Welsh Open early and failed to qualify for the China Open. On the other hand, Anthony McGill is in this draw mainly  because he won the Shootout (no comments). Other than that he’s done nothing great recently either. So I will side with Marco.

Prediction: Marco Fu 5-3 Anthony McGill

Ding Junhui (5) v John Higgins (12) – Wednesday 1pm

This is a match between two players who’s forms have been up and down. Neither of them got great results recently although John Higgins won the Championship League Snooker just over a week ago. But this is a very peculiar tournament, behind closed doors, with a very short format. I wouldn’t read too much in it. So this is a big question mark for me: I have no clue.

Therefore I will go with the wishful prediction: Ding Junhui 5-3 John Higgins.

Stuart Bingham (4) v Anthony Hamilton (13) – Monday 7pm

Stuart Bingham has won the last ranking tournament he’s entered: the Welsh Open (no I’m NOT counting the Shootout!); he’s playing well. Anthony Hamilton has won his first ever ranking event in Berlin last  month beating Stuart in the semi finals, and Ali Carter in the final; he’s playing well too. So? Well … I predict a decider and I’ll be bold.

Prediction: Anthony Hamilton 5-4 Stuart Bingham

Barry Hawkins (3) v Neil Robertson (14) – Tuesday 7pm

I can see only one winner here going by recent performances.

Prediction: Barry Hawkins 5-2 Neil Robertson.

Ali Carter (6) v Shaun Murphy (11) – Wednesday 1pm

Another one that’s difficult to predict. But … Shaun has just got a rather tiring week-end in Gibraltar and had to travel back only today. Ali Carter has the type of game that can cause Shaun problems: he’s a very sound all-rounder with a solid brain. He’s very capable in tempting the very attacking “Smurph” in taking a few too many.

Prediction: Ali Carter 5-3 Shaun Murphy.

Ronnie O’Sullivan (7) v Liang Wenbo (10) – Monday 7pm

A rematch of the Masters first round  … with the same result? Possibly. It’s hard to predict Ronnie’s form. It’s not been great recently but he’s been playing a lot of best of 7 and I’m not sure it suits him best. He tends to do better in longer matches. Remember he was 4-1 down on Joe Perry in the Masters final… Liang can be unpredictable: a ferocious potter when on form but prone to the odd reckless shot under pressure. I expect it to be close, but I slightly favour Ronnie.

Prediction: Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-4 Liang Wenbo.

Judd Trump (2) v Mark King (15) – Tuesday 7pm

Now this one … I suppose most will favour Judd Trump here, but, I’m not so sure. Mark King is very good at winning in broken play, messing the table, no big breaks but picking the awkward balls. I don’t think this will suit Judd. Either Judd will be able to impose his game, and win most frames in one visit, or I can see Mark King winning this. Those who watched the final yesterday will know what I mean: Judd lost the frames that went scrappy.

Prediction: Mark King 5-4 Judd Trump OR Judd Trump 5-1 Mark King (you choose, I can’t)

With my apologies to all the ones I just jinxed  (doh!)

Following the conclusion of the Gibraltar Open 2017, and Shaun Murphy’s win, the draw of the Players Championship 2017 is finally known and here it is:

Mark Selby (1) v Ryan Day (16)

Marco Fu (8) v Anthony McGill (9)

Ding Junhui (5) v John Higgins (12)

Stuart Bingham (4) v Anthony Hamilton (13)

—————————————-

Barry Hawkins (3) v Neil Robertson (14)

Ali Carter (6) v Shaun Murphy (11)

Ronnie O’Sullivan (7) v Liang Wenbo (10)

Judd Trump (2) v Mark King (15)

The two matches in blue will be played tomorrow evening starting at 7 pm UK time. The tournament will be on ITV 4 and on Eurosport as well.

As this is a tournament involving only the 16 best players of the current season, there are absolutely no easy matches as you would expect. The last 16 is played over best of 9.

Ronnie is first in against his close friend Liang Wenbo and this is a match that isn’t comfortable for either of them. It’s never easy to play someone you really like, and whose game you know inside-out …

Should he win his last 16 match, Ronnie is likely to face Judd Trump, who is n°2 on the list for a reason! He’s made the final of the last two ranking tournaments he entered and is the man on form. He will be hard to beat for anyone.

Now a few thoughts about the Gibraltar Open …

First congratulations to Shaun Murphy, the Gibraltar Open 2017 Champion 

… who is all the more happy with the win I’m sure because losing would have meant playing tomorrow evening in Llandudno. I’m not sure how he would have pulled that trick, unless WPBSA provides a private jet for such emergency situations caused by their own rather mad schedule? Somehow I doubt it …

That schedule also created a situation where the draw of the event starting tomorrow was only know tonight, less than 24 hours before the start of play. It’s far from ideal. The media have very little time for any kind of build-up, some players might have been put in a very difficult situation, planning the travel and accommodations  might be a nightmare. Anthony Hamilton for instance only learned tonight that he’s playing tomorrow…

The Gibraltar Open is a very low money tournament but it still caused some significant moves in the provisional seeding and ranking lists. In particular, Nigel Bond reaching the semi finals means that he is now inside the group of most succesful eight players not in the top 64, whilst Jimmy White is now out of it. Remember that the eight players in that list at the end opf the season  get a new two years tour card. Of course there are two more tournaments to play, the China Open and the World Championship, so this list can and probably will change before the end of the season. The World Championship qualifiers are fairly lucrative and therefore very important for all players with a chance to finish the season inside that list. Jimmy would be absolutely devastated if he dropped off the tour.