The second night of exhibition in Lincoln, on Sunday, was similar in its organisation to the first one: a welcome reception for the VIPs, followed by John Virgo’s trick shots, then Ronnie playing eight frames against local players, with a break after four frames. Ronnie won all matches easily, had 3 tons in the first four frames, but no 147 this time. Ronnie was clearly impressed by WDBS player Joe Hardstaff, his last opponent.
There was something special to conclude the week-end though: Jason Francis was to conduct a Q&A session with John Virgo and Ronnie, after the matches finished, and VIPs were invited to write down their questions for both John and Ronnie whilst enjoying the VIP buffet. They could ask absolutely anything and, as you would expect, there were so many questions that Jason had to go through a very “harsh” selection process and eventually was only able to keep about one in 5! The very first question that was asked to Ronnie, and was answered, was “Will you play in the World Championship?”. That question was always going to come out … and the answer it got was “Yes”. Which prompted a big cheer from the crowd.
Here are the images of the night:
A very big thank you and well done to Nigel and Ali Coton for this fantastic week-end: it was awesome, and you were awesome!
It was another great event yesterday at the Drill Hall in Lincoln. Organised by Nigel and Ali Coton in collaboration with Snooker Legends, the exhibition aimed at gathering some money for two good causes as well as to provide a great night of entertainment. It was a success on both accounts.
Ahead of the action proper, there was un buffet for players and VIPs, with Nigel taking the opportunity to explain the evening program, as well as the nature and goals of the causes that were to benefit from the success of this exhibition
It was a packed house at the Drill Hall
With two lucky bastards being treated with very special reserved seats! Thanks Nigel!
The evening started with a few trick shots by John Virgo
The action proper came next with Ronnie taking 9 local players over one frame. Ronnie won all nine frames, quite comfortably, scoring three centuries: a 110, a 140 and a 147. The previous time Ronnie was in Lincoln, he had 7 centuries, including a 147. It was always going to be difficult to better that, but Ali Coton had been quite clear that she hoped for another 147. Ronnie obliged … and it was Nigel Coton on the receiving end!
Here are the action pictures. Yes, it’s mainly Ronnie, he didn’t give the opposition too many opportunities nor too much table time. The highest break against him was … 7!
There was an interval after the first four frames, during which
Chris Kirkwood from the Drill Hall was presented with a cheque of £500
The first two rounds, scheduled from Wednesday to Friday – March 14-16, are played over 7 frames. The semi-finals will be held on Saturday – March 17, best of 9 frames, while the Sunday final – March 18, will be played in two sessions with a maximum of 19 frames.
In 2016, Bucharest staged the European Masters with a memorable final between Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan, won by Trump 9-8.
Although Ronnie is on the original poster, he’s not playing in it. I’m certain that this will be a huge disappointment for many Romanian snooker fans. On the other hand, this tournament isn’t carrying ranking points and I believe that Ronnie doesn’t want to over-play. He doesn’t want a repeat of the exhaustion that hit him last December. Other top 16 players not in it are Ding and, of course, Marco Fu.
Mark Williams crushed Graeme Dott 9-1 in a one-sided final to win the D88 German Masters in Berlin.
It’s the 20th ranking title of Williams’ career and he becomes the fifth player to reach that landmark after Stephen Hendry (36), Ronnie O’Sullivan (31), John Higgins (29) and Steve Davis (28).
And it’s the Welshman’s second ranking crown of the season having lifted the Northern Ireland Open trophy in November. Not since 2002/03, when he won the World and UK titles, has Williams collected two pieces of ranking silverware in the same campaign. Add the fact that he won the invitational Six Red World Championship in September, and this is certainly his best season in 15 years. The £80,000 top prize lifts 42-year-old Williams three places to seventh in the world.
In front of a crowd of over 2,000 at the Tempodrom, Williams made a century and six more breaks over 50 in a dominant display; the most one-sided ranking final since Mark Selby beat Ding Junhui 10-1 at the 2016 International Championship. Over the weekend Williams won 15 frames and conceded just two, having beaten Judd Trump 6-1 in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Williams insists that he almost quit professional snooker last summer, unable to see the end to a barren streak without a ranking title which stretched back to 2011. More in hope than expectation, he turned to coach Stephen Feeney and his Sight Right method, which helps players to align themselves correctly. Working with Feeney and fellow pro Lee Walker, Williams has been a man reborn in recent months and is playing some of the best snooker of his career.
Scotland’s 40-year-old Dott was playing in his first ranking final since the 2010 World Championship but failed to reproduce the form which saw him knock out the likes of Barry Hawkins and Shaun Murphy in Berlin. He missed out on his third career ranking title though the £35,000 runner-up prize sees the Larkhall cueman jump three places to 25th in the world.
A break of 79 gave Williams the opening frame and he dominated the second to lead 2-0. He made a 56 in the next but then Dott responded with an excellent 64 clearance to gain a foothold. And the Scot had chances to make it 2-2 but Williams eventually cleared from blue to black in frame four to lead 3-1.
That proved crucial as Williams built momentum with runs of 79 and 66 to lead 5-1. He won frame seven on the colours then compiled a break of 110 to go 7-1 up at the end of the first session. And the evening session lasted just 31 minutes as Williams made further runs of 66 and 50 in winning the two frames he needed to seal the rout.
“I’m over the moon,” said Williams. “I hadn’t won a tournament for donkeys’ years, now I’ve won three this season. My long potting was very good today and I played well all the way through. I felt zoned in from the start. I kept on going for my shots and felt at ease.
“I was genuinely thinking about giving it up after last season. I told my wife that I’d had enough and I couldn’t keep playing the same way. She was the one who talked me out of it, and what a turnaround it has been.”
Asked if he feels he could be a contender at the Crucible in the Spring, where he triumphed in 2000 and 2003, Williams added: “It will be the best I have felt going into the World Championship for many years, I will have loads of confidence. Whether I can win it again remains to be seen – it is so long and so hard to win. But I’m really looking forward to it now.”
Dott said: “It sounds funny when you’ve lost 9-1 but I actually didn’t think I played that badly. It’s the first time I have lost that heavily and felt ok. I have had some thumpings before at the Crucible, losing 13-3 and being in bits because I couldn’t pot a ball, but today I felt comfortable. My safety was poor, Mark wasn’t really missing anything, and nothing went right for me.
“I should have made it 2-2 early on but maybe the way he was playing, it wouldn’t have made any difference. I played Mark when he was at the peak of his game and he was as good as that today.”
Williams and Dott will be in ranking event action again at the Coral Shoot Out in Watford which starts on Thursday, for ticket details click here.
After the match the ES pundits, Neal, Jimmy and Ronnie reflected that Mark was probably playing as well, if not better, than he was around 2000-2003 when is was the dominant force in the game and that he will definitely be a major contender at the Crucible come April. Bring it on!
Pundits at work…
Some Ronnie in commentary box…
2018 German Masters: Mark J Williams – Graeme Dott (frames 5-7)
Graeme Dott reached his first ranking event final in eight years by beating Shaun Murphy 6-4 in the semi-finals of the D88 German Masters.
Scotland’s 40-year-old Dott played some superb snooker to get through to his first ranking final since he lost to Neil Robertson in the 2010 World Championship final. On Sunday in Berlin he’ll face Judd Trump or Mark Williams over 17 frames for the £80,000 top prize. World number 28 Dott will be aiming for his third ranking title having won the World Championship in 2006 and the China Open the following year.
Prior to this week, Dott had not gone beyond the last 16 of a ranking event this season, though he did show signs of his best form in a 6-2 win over Trump in the last 32 of the UK Championship.
A high quality contest against Murphy featured 11 breaks over 50 in the ten frames. Dott took the first with a run of 66 then Murphy levelled with a 98. Larkhall’s Dott regained the lead with a 78 then Murphy’s 96 made it 2-2 at the interval.
Once again Dott edged ahead, thanks to a break of 69, only for world number six Murphy to take the next two with 55 and 69 to lead 4-3. England’s Murphy was first among the balls in frame eight but broke down on 42 and his opponent made a 74 clearance.
The ninth followed a similar pattern as Murphy made 52 then Dott cleared with 66 to go 5-4 up. And the Pocket Dynamo was whirring at top speed in the tenth with a match-winning 121.
It was indeed a very high quality match, played at a nice pace, with both players going for their shots. Anyone who watched this match and continues to insist on Dotty’s “slow and negative” tag needs a serious brain check. Both players got a standing ovation at the end of the match and totally deservedly so. It was superb.
Mark Williams moved a step closer to his second ranking title of the season with an emphatic 6-1 victory over Judd Trump in the semi-finals of the D88 German Masters.
Welshman Williams has already had his best season in many years, having won the Northern Ireland Open – his first ranking title since 2011 – as well as the Six Red World Championship. Now the 42-year-old from Cwm will have the chance to win his 20th career ranking title when he takes on 40-year-old Graeme Dott in Berlin on Sunday in a battle between two of the circuit’s most experienced pros. First to nine frames will take home the trophy and a top prize of £80,000.
World number ten Williams is aiming to win the German Masters for the second time, having captured the crown in 2011, the first time it was held at the Tempodrom. This will be his first meeting with Dott in a ranking final.
Two-time World Champion Williams won the opening frame tonight with a break of 68 then added a scrappy second by clearing from the last red. A run of 109, his first century of the tournament, put him 3-0 ahead.
World number three Trump looked out of sorts for much of the contest, though he did win frame four with breaks of 51 and 44. A fragmented fifth went Williams’ way and he took the next with a 51 to lead 5-1. Trump had chances in frame seven but couldn’t take advantage and his opponent eventually made a 42 clearance to secure victory.
“I didn’t play too well but Judd looked nervous from the start, maybe he expected to steam-roller me,” said Williams after reaching his 32nd ranking final.
“I managed to keep things tight and get on top, I knew he would go for crazy balls. He seemed to give up towards the end. There were a couple of scrappy frames that could have gone either way. My safety was good.
“I can’t believe I’m in another final. I’ll keep riding the wave until it comes crashing down.”
The final starts at 2pm local time.
Where to start about this one?
I said before this match that Williams would be too clever for Trump and so it proved, and it also showed, once again, that Trump’s response to pressure is inadequate. He’s now piling up battle scars and it has become a real issue that, for all his natural talent, could put his career in jeopardy.
Here are Mark Williams quotes as reported by Eurosport, a more complete and unfiltered version of the ones above:
” I think that was a poor match from me to be honest, but Judd just looked nervous from the off. Perhaps he was expecting to steamroller me. He was under pressure and I just knew – it’s hard to outscore or outpot him; but he’s never going to outsafety or outgrind me. I just thought if I can get on top of him I know he’s going to go for some crazy balls, but some of those towards the end, it was like he gave up.”
Telling it as it is.
One has to wonder as to why Judd Trump – who outside the table comes across a humble and rather shy person – is taking this kind of brazen attitude. Maybe, it’s actually because he isn’t that self-confident inside, it’s not uncommon. Whatever the reason it doesn’t help him or his image one bit. I know I start to sound like a broken record, but maybe it’s time for him to accept there is an issue and a see a sport psychologist. He has all the talent in the world but he’s not going to live to it this way.
And then Ronnie was commentating on the match, and he’s doing a sterling job of it. He’s not just commentating on the shots, he’s explaining his vision on the table, anticipating what the next shots should/will be and explaining why. He’s also clearly extremely concentrated when watching … and he’s got good eyes!
Here is the evidence:
There was alos a discussion between the pundits and Mark Williams after the match regarding the future of the game. Neal Foulds reflected that both finalists were in their 40th and where are the youngsters? “There aren’t any” was Ronnie’s brutal answer, before elaborating on this brutal statement. The amateur game is in strong decline as compared to the scene himself and Mark had known. As a result the young players who turn pro are not properly prepared for the pro circuit. They are good potters but they lack knowledge about tactics, and the psychology of winning and losing. In addition they face top players and get battered more often than not, they don’t really have an opportunity to develop and they get dispirited. It’s hard to argue with that diagnostic. His view is that, like most other sports, snooker should have a secondary tour where up and coming players could learn their trade in a more progressive way and, also, academies to support the younger players. Neal reflected “Like in China!”, following what Ronnie predicted that in ten years the Chines players will dominate the game. Jimmy White added that in his days the selection process was such that you had to be a proven winner on the amateur scene before turning pro. He didn’t openly criticise the current process through the Q-school bit it was plain that he doesn’t think much of it.
I don’t have a clue who is going to win today, I like both players and would be happy for either to win. Maybe I have a minute preference for a Dott victory. It’s been too long since he’s last won something, he’s too good a player to stay win only two titles and he went through a lot over the last years.
Whatever, it should be a great match … let’s enjoy it!
Some commentary by Ronnie:
2018 German Masters: Shaun Murphy – Grame Dott (frame 9)
2018 German Masters: Judd Trump – Mark J Williams (frames 5-6)
All four quarter-final matches were played yesterday evening in the Tempodrom and here is the report on Worldsnooker:
Judd Trump came through an enthralling meeting with Ding Junhui 5-3 to book his place in the last four of the D88 German Masters in Berlin.
This evening’s heavyweight clash saw world number three Trump take on world number four Ding in what was a repeat of the 2014 German Masters final, when Ding took home the title.
Ding came into the match with a 6-4 edge over his counterpart in the head to head record and China’s number one had also been victorious in their previous two meetings at the 2016 International Championship and 2016 World Championship.
Trump is looking to make amends this week for a gut-wrenching semi-final defeat at January’s Masters at Alexandra Palace, where he surrendered a 5-2 lead against Kyren Wilson to lose 6-5. After racing out to an early advantage tonight the Ace in the Pack faced another fightback, but this time held his nerve to progress.
The showdown was very much a tale of two halves, with a pulsating showing of break building prior to the mid-session, before the pressure descended on German snooker’s most prestigious venue the Tempodrom.
Trump charged out of the blocks in the opener with a tournament high run of 140. He was on course to go two ahead before suffering a kick in the second frame, which allowed Ding to steal. It was then the Englishman’s turn to snatch frames from his opponent, making clearances of 64 and 40 to go 3-1 in front at the mid-session.
When they returned Trump had looked set to clinch victory after moving 4-1 ahead and leading 57-0 in the fifth frame. However, he went in off while going into the pack and the match swung. Ding cleared to take the frame on the black and reduce his arrears to 4-2.
That was followed by an epic 53 minute seventh frame, which saw both players spurn opportunities before Ding pulled within one. However, Trump managed to get over the line in another nerve shredder by doubling the final pink to progress 5-3.
“I was ahead and cruising,” said the eight-time ranking event winner. “I went in off after going into the pack in the fifth frame and then I thought it was going to be the same as the Masters. The balls went scrappy, I lost the next two frames and I was under it. I was so pleased to get through in the end.”
2006 World Champion Graeme Dott recorded a remarkable fightback to come from 4-0 down to defeat Xiao Guodong 5-4 and book his second Tempodrom semi-final appearance in the space of three years.
With the score at 4-1, Xiao led the fifth frame 62-30. However, the typically tenacious Scot managed to dig deep to snatch the frame on the black. He then went on to claim the following three frames to book his place in the last four.
Dott will now face world number five Shaun Murphy who also required a deciding frame to progress, as he defeated Riga Masters champion Ryan Day 5-4.
There was never more than a frame between the pair this evening. With the scores locked at 4-4 Magician extracted 36 points worth of fouls from his opponent in an epic decider which he took 80-60 to progress.
Mark Williams overcame the challenge of Jimmy Robertson with a 5-3 win to secure a semi-final clash with Trump.
2011 German Masters winner Williams was competing in his seventh ranking quarter-final of the season. In stark contrast to his opponent, who was making the first ranking event quarter-final appearance of his career.
The Welshman was never behind this evening and compiled runs of 89 and 57 on his way to the win.
To this report I will only add this: Judd Trump was indeed cruising and Ding was well out of sorts, when the in-off threatened to turn the match on its head. To Judd’s own admission, memories of the previous defeats started to weight on his mind. His anxiety was visible when he was there sat in his chair. My feeling is that, in those situations, he tries to “force” things a bit too much, to get over a the line as quickly as possible, and, as a result offers his opponents unexpected opportunities. When you are 4-2 up, you can afford to be patient, especially when your opponent is clearly struggling with some aspect of their game.
So today we have:
Mark Williams v Judd Trump
I think that the cunning Welshman will be too clever for Judd, unless Judd manages to pot him off the table. But I expect Mark Williams to dictate the style and the pace and to come out the winner.
Shaun Murphy v Graeme Dott
It’s hard to predict this one as I haven’t watched Dotty playing yet. Again Shaun Murphy, on form, could simply pot his opponent off the table. But the “snooker terrier” never says die and if it comes to a battle of patience and will to win, I would definitely favour Graeme. He’s granite. Note that I’m not using the word “grind”. Graeme Dott is a very attacking player, whatever some people might think. His reputation of being slow and negative is totally undeserved and comes from one single match: the 2006 World Final against Peter Ebdon. On that occasion, with so much at stakes, both players were exhausted and struggling.
The Last 16 round concluded this afternoon at the Tempodrom and it yielded a quality line-up for the quarter finals to be played tonight:
Jimmy Robertson v Mark Williams
Ding Junhui v Judd Trump
Ryan Day v Shaun Murphy
Graeme Dott v Xiao Guodong
Jimmy Robertson has never been at this stage of any tournament before; to get here he had to beat Gary Wilson in a very tense match. He faces a difficult challenge now in Mark Williams who seems to be back near his best. Mark’s tactical game is among the very best and, to his own admission, Jimmy isn’t the best equipped in that department, but Jimmy is a very heavy scorer when in the balls. Mark will start favourite, of course, but the pressure is on him and if he can’t neutralise Jimmy’s potting power … who know?
Ding Junhui seems to be back, close to his best, but not quite there yet. Clearly the worst of his eyes issues are behind him but, yesterday night his long and mid range potting were not yet as reliable as they used to be. Ding capitalised on Ricky Walden’s error more than he created opportunities for himself. In the balls though he was deadly. Judd came on top of Joe Perry who is a hard match player. I didn’t see anything of the match but I would be surprised if Judd took against Joe the kind of liberties he took against Kyren Wilson at the Masters. If both play to their strengths this should be a very interesting match that will likely go the distance.
Ryan Day came out the winner by 5-4 over Mark Davis in what must have been a very high quality match. Since winning his first ranking title, Ryan looks a different player. Gone are the days where he crumbled under pressure on the biggest stages. Shaun beat Mark Joyce very comfortably and played very well in spells. However there were also uncharacteristic mistakes – some, really elementary ones – and if Shaun doesn’t cut those out against Ryan tonight, and offers his opponent several chances per frame, he will be punished. I favour Ryan in this one.
Graeme Dott was cruising at 4-1 but had to fight hard in the end to beat the unheralded Mei Xiwen in a deciding frame. Graeme is as hard as it comes and never gives up. He’s also badly under-rated by many. Never forget that he’s a World Champion, and over that format, nobody “flukes” a World title. Xia Guodong, who beat Mark Selby yesterday, took another top player scalp today as he outplayed Liang Wenbo. In fairness Liang has not been at his best this season, far from it in fact. But Xiao impressed me yesterday. I have no clue how this match will go and it’s a shame it won’t be streamed. It could be fascinating.
Liang’s defeat this afternoon means that he will definitely not be at the Grand Prix in Preston.
2006 World Champion Graeme Dott recorded a remarkable fightback to come from 4-0 down to defeat Xiao Guodong 5-4 and book his second Tempodrom semi-final appearance in the space of three years.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 