With semi finals being best of 17 in this event, they are played on successive days. Today saw Mark Selby book his spot in the final with a 9-3 win over Martin Gould.

Here is the report on Worldsnooker

Friday 3 Nov 2017 02:43PM

Mark Selby produced a relentless standard to sweep Martin Gould aside 9-3 and reach the Oppo International Championship final in Daqing.

The Jester from Leicester is now just one match away from retaining the title he won here last year, having reached a 22nd ranking final of his career. It would only be the second occasion the 12-time ranking event winner has defended a title in consecutive years, having achieved the feat for the first time at this year’s World Championship.

Gould came into today’s clash having defeated world number one Selby in their previous two ranking event meetings. However, a devastating first session from Selby effectively put pay to the Pinner Potter’s chances of reaching a fourth ranking final.

The 36-year-old Gould had started positively, by taking the first frame with a run of 53. However, that was as good as it got for the 2016 German Masters winner in the afternoon session. The world number one stamped his authority on the game and surged clear with breaks of 119, 127, 59 and 72. That helped him to establish an almost unassailable 7-1 lead going into the evening.

When they returned Selby picked up where he left off. With several of the balls situated on the cushion he got the better of a safety exchange and then compiled 97 to move one from the win. A dogged Gould showed his fighting abilities by claiming the next two frames. However, it was to be in vain as Selby got over the line a 9-3 winner. He will face either Chinese teenager Yan Bingtao or three-time ranking winner Mark Allen in the final.

Selby said: “I’m over the moon. I played very well in the first session after the opening frame. I scored well and capitalised on my opportunities. It was quite difficult coming into tonight as you know you just need to mind your own work and not do anything silly to get through. I’m just happy to get over the line and reach another final.

“To defend any tournament is very special. This one is probably one of the majors in the calendar and up there with the UK Championship. To be in the final is fantastic, but I don’t want to be stopping there. I want to defend it.

“Yan is a fantastic talent and everyone has been talking about him for a few years. He is now starting to show his potential. Mark as we all know is a fantastic player. He’s in the top 16 and always a tough player to face.”

Gould was disappointed not to have produced his best snooker today, but keen to take the positives on a strong showing this week.

“You can’t take anything away from him, that’s why he is world number one,” said world number 22 Gould. “If you told me before we came here that I would be in the semi-finals I would have bitten your hand off. It stands me in good stead. We have Shanghai coming up and the UK Championship around the corner. A couple of good tournaments to come and you never know, I could get myself into the top 16 and play in my home event at the Masters in January.”

Worldsnooker also announced that this event will stay in Daqing until 2020

Friday 3 Nov 2017 02:49PM

The future of the International Championship in Daqing has been secured, with the event to stay in the city until at least 2020.

The agreement between World Snooker, the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association, Daqing Municipal Government and CCTVSE will last for the next four years, until the 2020/21 season.​

This week’s event is the third year that the tournament has been held in Daqing, and the city in China’s Heilongjiang Province has now established itself as the home of one of the premier events on the World Snooker Tour.

The prize fund this season is £750,000 with £150,000 going to the winner, making it the highest pot for any tournament held outside of the UK.  The lucrative event will expand even further over the course of the deal, with the total prize money growing to £775,000 in 2018/19, £800,000 in 2019/20 and £825,000 in 2020/21.

WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson said: ” We are delighted to secure the future of the event in this city and I want to thank all parties for their help in creating this agreement to keep this fantastic tournament in the city of Daqing.

“This week our players have been competing for the most money ever offered in a ranking tournament outside of the UK. The players and officials love coming to Daqing and it has been a superb week of snooker on the tables. Many millions of people around the world are watching on television, putting Daqing in the global spotlight.

“Since the International Championship moved to Daqing we have been introducing the sport to the local community with exhibitions for schools and oil field workers (watch here). They have been enthusiastically received and that has been a joy to see. This has helped us to create a lasting infrastructure for the event and in turn has allowed us to attract blue chip sponsorship. That is a tremendous thing for the tournament and our sport.”

Whilst I have heard good comments by players about the conditions and hospitality in Daqing, it is a rather remote place and audience at the venue has been very poor, which isn’t great for the players, nor for how it comes across on television. I’m not sure what, if anything, can be done to attact more people at the venue but it would really improve the image of the tournament.

Worldsnooker has today published some information regarding the Northern Ireland Open 2017 

Thursday 2 Nov 2017 01:50PM

Mark Allen and Ronnie O’Sullivan are among a star-studded line-up for this month’s Northern Ireland Open snooker world ranking event in Belfast.

The tournament runs from November 20 to 26 at the Belfast Waterfront and will feature 128 players battling for the £70,000 top prize and the Alex Higgins Trophy.

The dates for first round matches for several of the top players have already been confirmed, as follows:

Monday November 20

Shaun Murphy (afternoon session)
Neil Robertson (afternoon session)

Mark Allen (evening session)
Joe Swail (evening session)

Tuesday November 21

John Higgins (afternoon session)
Judd Trump (afternoon session)

Ronnie O’Sullivan (evening session)

Other stars in the field include Jimmy White and defending champion Mark King. The full draw and format will be announced shortly.

Antrim’s Allen admits he need to deal with the pressure of playing in front of his local crowd, as he will lead the home charge alongside Belfast’s Joe Swail.

Last year, Allen won four matches to reach the quarter-finals before losing to Anthony Hamilton. But the world number 11 feels he needs a different mindset this time to give himself a chance of going all the way to the trophy.

“To be completely honest, I hated every minute of it last year,” said 31-year-old Allen. “I thought I would thrive in the atmosphere, which was unbelievable, but I just didn’t handle it at all well. I hope, after last year’s experience, I will be able to deal with it better this year.

“I’d never felt pressure like it before. I pressured myself because I wanted to play well for the people of Northern Ireland. In most snooker tournaments you are playing for yourself and I need to get into that mindset. It is quite selfish, but thinking the way I did was off-putting last year.

“I need to do it for myself. If I was to win the Northern Ireland Open it would mean so much to me and the knock on effect of having more coverage back home and boosting the profile of the sport would be great. However, all those things should be secondary to snooker matches. Unfortunately last year they weren’t.

“I have to say that I do have great memories of playing in Belfast. I played my first ever professional tournament at the Waterfront (the 2005 Northern Ireland Trophy) and had a couple of brilliant wins over Steve Davis and John Higgins, before losing to Stephen Hendry. It was a really good experience straight off the bat. One minute you are turning professional and the next you are suddenly thrust on to the biggest stage against the best players.”

The Northern Ireland Open will be the second of the season’s Home Nations events, and a player winning all four will bank an extra £1 million bonus.  Ronnie O’Sullivan won the English Open so he’s a quarter of the way to this unprecedented bonus and he will resume the chase in Belfast.

Tickets for the Northern Ireland Open are on sale now and start at just £10. With all 128 players in action over the first two days, it’s an incredible chance to see top class live sport.

For details CLICK HERE or call 028 9033 4455

The quarter finals in Daqing today delivered drama and surprises in equal measure.

Mark Selby cruised through with a 6-2 win over Robbie Williams who was playing a QF match for the first time in his career. Normal service …

In all other three matches though it was the lowest ranked player who prevailed.

Martin Gould beat Ali Carter by 6-5, and, in my opinion, what made the difference in the deciding frame is the players attitude: Martin went full blood for the chances he got, no matter how difficult, Ali was more careful, waiting for better opportunities … that eventually never came.

Mark Allen won a thriller, beating Judd Trump by 6-5. The 60 clearance Mark made to lead 5-4, taking the frame by just one point, is one of the very best break under pressure you will ever watch.

AND … Yan Bingtao beat John Higgins by 6-2. The boy – he’s only 17 – loves the big stage and is no intimidated by the big names. I was actually expecting Yan to win; as I said John hadn’t been really tested until this stage and although the scores were one-sided in his previous matches, what I had seen hadn’t entirely convinced me. This win from the young man puts Ronnie’s defeat slightly in perspective: without denying that Ronnie was far from his best, that win, and today’s win are first and foremost the result of Yan excellent performances.

Here are the reports by Worldsnooker:

Afternoon session:

Thursday 2 Nov 2017 12:47PM

Mark Selby is two wins away from retaining his OPPO International Championship title following a 6-2 win over Robbie Williams to book a semi-final spot.

The world number one defended his Crucible crown at the World Championship in May. It was the first time he has ever defended a ranking title in consecutive seasons. Following his victory here in Daqing in 2016, he will be hoping to achieve the feat for a second time this week.

Despite the defeat, Williams can reflect on his his most significant run in a ranking event. He reached the semi-final stage at the 2013 Indian Open. However, this is the 30-year-old’s biggest career payday, racking up £21,500.

Williams was the first to grasp the lead after claiming the opening frame. However, the 12-time ranking event winner responded by claiming the subsequent two frames with runs of 90 and 59.

The world number 63 wasn’t going to let Selby out of his sights early on and compiled a gutsy break of 106 to ensure parity at 2-2 heading into the interval.

When they returned Selby made his charge to the line, winning four consecutive frames and making breaks of 81, 60 and 93 along the way.

“I took my chances more times than not today. Robbie had a chance to make it 4-3 and if he did it could have been a different game,” said Selby. “It’s going to be played over two sessions tomorrow and think every player likes the longer format. It gives you more chance to get involved into the match. In best of nines you need a quick start, but tomorrow there will be more time to settle into the game.”

Martin Gould booked his place to take on Selby tomorrow with a tense 6-5 defeat of world number 14 Ali Carter. It will be the Pinner potter’s sixth semi-final appearance of his career.

Gould moved into a 5-3 lead, making a top run of 105 along the way. However, he spurned opportunities to close out the match and Carter punished him by taking two on the bounce to set up a decider.

It was in vain for the Captain, as Gould seized the moment, making a break of 81 to secure his place in the last four.

Gould said: “I had a couple of chances to win 6-3 and if you don’t take them sometimes it comes back to bite you. I am just thankful that I got a good opportunity to clear up in the decider. As long as you get to six first it doesn’t matter.

“It is going to be a tough match tomorrow. It’s the semi-finals of a major event and you aren’t going to play some random guy off the street. You will face the best.

“I don’t care whoever I play. If I play like I know I can then I am able to beat anybody. That includes Selby and Ronnie O’Sullivan. It is just a matter of how I turn up on the day. It is the same for everyone. If you turn up and play how you can then anything is possible.”

Evening session:

Thursday 2 Nov 2017 02:46PM

Yan Bingtao kept his brilliant run going at the OPPO International Championship in Daqing by beating John Higgins 6-2 to reach the semi-finals.

China’s 17-year-old Yan thrashed Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-1 earlier in the week and has also knocked out Ricky Walden and Jack Lisowski, before another emphatic win over legend Higgins today.

Yan, who won the Rookie of the Year award last season, is through to the semi-finals of a ranking event for the first time. The world number 53 will face Mark Allen over 17 frames on Saturday.

Yan Bingtao – Five Facts
– Won the World Cup for China alongside Zhou Yuelong in 2015 at the age of 15.
– Beat Shaun Murphy at the Champion of Champions when he was 15.
– During the season he lives in Sheffield.
– Last season he became the first pro player born in the year 2000.
– Reached the quarter-finals of the German Masters and the last 16 of five other events during his debut season.

Yan took a 3-0 lead with top breaks of 52 and 99 then four-time World Champion Higgins pulled one frame back. After the interval, Yan made a superb 123 to go 4-1 ahead. Higgins got the better of frame six but there would be no fight back from the Scot as his teenage opponent won the seventh and then sealed victory in the eighth with a run of 89.

“I’m happy with my performance and it’s a little break through for me,” said Yan, already guaranteed £32,000 for reaching the semis. “I coped with the pressure well. I got off to a very good start and after I built a 4-1 lead I knew the chances were there for me, as long as I could control myself. Luckily I held it together.

“I’ll stay calm and not think about winning the title just yet. I wanted to get to my first semi-final, so the pressure came from there. It doesn’t really matter who I play next, the key is to bring my best to the match table.”

Asked about comparisons with Ding Junhui – who won his first ranking title at the age of 18 in 2005 – Yan responded: “Ding is a legend for China, it would be so hard for anyone to achieve more than he did for the modern day young players. All I can do is to be the best Yan Bingtao.”

Allen won an exciting match against Judd Trump by a 6-5 scoreline, to reach his second consecutive semi-final in China having got to the same stage of the Yushan World Open.

Northern Ireland’s Allen led 3-1 with a top break of 117 then Trump made 89 and 58 in getting back to 3-3. The next two were shared then Allen made a superb 60 clearance to take the ninth from 59-0 down. Trump made a 110 to set up the decider.

Both players had chances and it came down to the last few balls. Allen cleared from the last red to pink to clinch victory – the key shot coming when he potted the green and nudged the blue off the side cushion.

“I have showed all week that I’ve got good battling qualities,” said world number 11 Allen. “That’s the third decider in a row I have come through. To get one over on Judd in such a big tournament gives me a massive boost.

“Yan is an awesome talent. He’ll be a top 16 player and a tournament winner in no time – but hopefully not this week. He has no fear against the top players – having beaten Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins he’s not going to worry about me. He’ll bring a lot of support and it should be a good atmosphere. I’ll give it my best shot.”

Someone who will be following the action over the next two days is Neil Robertson: he needs Mark Selby to defend his title for him to be in the Champion of Champions next week. Of course, Mark Selby is more than capable to do just that, however if anyone else wins on Saturday night, that person will take the last spot in the very lucrative event next week, and Neil will have to watch it from home.

A last thing: should Yan Bingtao win this tournament, he would become the youngest ever full ranking event winner, taking that record off Ronnie who holds it since 1993. Ronnie would still remain the youngest ever winner of a Triple Crown event … well … unless … you know …  there is the UK Championship in December

The last 16 round was played today in Daqing and it yielded only one really surprising result: Neil Robertson was defeated by Robbie Williams, with a 6-2 score. Robbie Williams had never before reached the QF stage of a full ranking event. This means that Neil, who didn’t qualify for the Shanghai Masters,  faces a really tough battle to stay in the top 16 ahead of the Masters.

Yan Bingtao continues his good run, with a 6-4 win over Jack Lisowski. It was a high scoring match, that followed the same pattern as the previous ones for Yan: he first surged ahead, led 3-1 at the MSI, with a 98 and a 103 in the first 2 frames, lost his way a bit mid-match, was pegged back 4-4, then regrouped and won the last two frames. He will face John Higgins tomorrow.

Mark Selby played much better than he had in earlier rounds and seems to find his form right in time for the latter stages. Ali Carter and Judd Trump scored impressively today and are certainly serious contenders for the title as well. Mark Allen and Martin Gould also are playing well, judging by the scores only. I’m not so sure about John Higgins who won by 6-1 today, against Mark Joyce, a one-sided score but all frames except one seem to have been very close affairs. The only player in the top 50 that Higgins played in this comp until now is Dominic Dale who hasn’t got past round 3 of any event since the Paul Hunter Classic 2016, so I’m not sure how hard he has been tested.

Special mention for Martin O’Donnel who lost to Mark Allen in a deciding frame, despite having 3 centuries in the match. Martin had a very late night yesterday as his match against Sunny Akani was pulled off in the afternoon, resumed when a table became free in the evening … and then went to a decider. All things considered Martin did really well today.

Day 3 in Daqing saw the last 32 round played to a conclusion, in front of … nearly nobody. Daqing is a rather remote place North of China and the sponsors rely mainly on television channels and streaming for audience. Still this is a big venue and it was almost empty all day, with no atmosphere, which doesn’t look good on television and, more importantly, is not great for the players. Clearly early exits from both Ronnie and Ding are a bad blow for the organisers.

What happened today on the baize? Well, it was a rather mixed bag for the higher ranked players: Ryan Day, Joe Perry, Stephen Maguire, Ricky Walden, Luca Brecel and Kyren Wilson lost today, whilst Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, Ali Carter, Judd Trump, Mark Williams, Mark Allen, Liang Wenbo and John Higgins progressed.

Kyren Wilson lost in the deciding frame to Martin Gould, but made his first competitive 147 in the 10th frame of the match. It’s a great feat but I’m not sure it helped him under the circumstances. Playing a decider, with all the focus and concentration is requires, right after scoring a 147, never mind a first one, certainly is a tough call for anybody.  Whatever … here it is:

Mark Selby, Mark Allen, Neil Robertson and Liang Wenbo all had to work very hard for their wins.

Mark Selby was pegged back to 4-4 from 4-1 up by Tom Ford, before winning the last two frames. Mark didn’t play particularly well, for what I was able to watch, but nobody is more apt at winning when not playing great. He did it again. Tom had 5 breaks over 50, for only 2 for Mark, but Tom never was the best under pressure on the main table and Mark took full advantage.

Neil Robertson trailed Matt Selt 3-0 and 5-2 but managed to win the last 4 frames. Neil had 3 centuries in this match too: 101 (fr4), 129 (fr8) and 117 (fr9). Again, what separated the top player, Neil, from the good player, Matt, was the ability to perform under pressure.

The battle between Mark Allen and Mark King went to a deciding frame and they scored 11 breaks over 50 between them. It’s a shame that this match wasn’t on television.

Liang Wenbo surged to a 4-0 lead before having to stifle a gutsy comeback from Li Hang. Of course those two were both part of the Grove stable in the past and, surely, know each other and each other game inside-out. Li Hang was never going to be intimidated.

And what about the young giant killers, Yan Bingtao and Oliver Lines?

Well … Yan won his match, beating Ricky Walden by 6-4 on an outside table, whilst Oliver lost to Robert Milkins by the same score.

Yan started very strongly, leading 3-0 and 5-1 before losing his way a bit. Just like yesterday in fact. The difference though was that Ricky, contrary to Ronnie, was able to find his game and won three frames on the bounce before Yan regrouped and finished the job.

Oliver story was the exact opposite. He went 5-0 down before hitting back, winning 4 frames on the trot. But he had left himself too much to do, and Robert took frame 10 for the match.

All detailed results are on Cuetracker

Day 2 in Daqing was more eventful than the first one, with both Ronnie and Ding crashing out. Those two are the Chinese crowds favourites and I’m not sure that the sponsors feel really happy tonight, but it is what it is.

Ronnie’s defeat is covered here

Ding went down by 6-4 to Oliver Lines and, although the scoreline looks a bit more honourable, he played worse than Ronnie IMO. He had loads of occasions as neither player were able to finish frames in one visit for most of the match. As a comparison, Ronnie and Yan had 6 breaks over 50 in the seven frames they played, Ding and Oliver had 3 in 10 frames. That said Oliver deserves a lot of credit for this win, in particular for being able to up his game with the winning line in sight. Only too often lower ranked players “freeze” at that stage, as if overwhelmed by the enormity of what they could achieve. Oli won the last three frames of the match and made his only two big breaks precisely in those frames.

Speaking of lower ranked players “choking”, this is exactly what happened in the Mark Selby v Cao Yupeng match, in my opinion. The match was close and both players scored big breaks during the first seven frames, Cao leading 4-3 at this stage. Mark then won the next three to take the match. It’s not that he upped his game – both were struggling to make any telling break at that stage –  but he stayed calm and made fewer mistakes than his opponent whose game disintegrated.

I haven’t seen anything of the Shaun Murphy v Mei Xi Wen match, so it’s hard to figure out what happened there, but Mei lead 3-0 and had 6 breaks over 50, for 3 to Murphy, and still lost.

Liang Wenbo as well had to battle hard, as he needed to win the last two frames to overcome Lee Walker in a decider. And Mark Williams led Yu Delu 5-1, but was pegged back to 5-4 before eventually finishing a 6-4 winner.

Other big names going out were Barry Hawkins and Anthony McGill, both soundly beaten 6-2 by Jack Lisowski and Mark Joyce respectively.

So it wasn’t all plain sailing for the top boys….

But the most unfortunate player was Hossein Vafaei whose flight was delayed so much that he never arrived in time to play his match.