There was only one “shock” in the last 128, the defeat of Kyren Wilson, but the last 64 brought a bit more with the exits of Mark Selby, Mark Allen, Marco Fu, Luca Brecel, and Liang Wenbo.
Ben Woollaston played really well in beating Mark Selby. Here is his post-match.
One interesting point is that for him, Mark Selby is just a mate, there is no fear factor coming into it. Today Judd Trump will play Jack Lisowski and Jack has the upper hand in their head-to-head. I suppose the fact that they were homies for years and share the same management also “removes” any intimidating factor that Judd might have when playing other players.
I didn’t see anything of the Mark Allen v Yuan Sijun match, however, it’s clear that Yuan is a player worth keeping an eye on, not just because of yesterday’s result, but because his results since the start of the season: he only turned pro in 2017, he’s won 10 out of 14 matches already this season and reached the QF in the China Championship.
Judd Trump made three centuries in a row as he came from 3-1 down to beat Zhao Xintong 4-3 at the BetVictor English Open.
A tremendous match saw China’s Zhao go 3-1 up with breaks of 55 and 84; Trump taking frame three with a run of 90. World number five Trump then rattled in 126, 108 and 109 to win in fine style. He goes through to play close friend Jack Lisowski in the last 32 in Crawley on Thursday.
“Zhao played really well, his long potting was amazing,” said Trump. “I was lucky to win in the end. I played a good last three frames. Zhao is one of the few players other than Ronnie I have really enjoyed playing. He is very natural and great to watch. It will be another very tough and close game tomorrow with Jack because he is probably the most improved player on the tour.”
World number one Mark Selby suffered a 4-3 defeat against Ben Woollaston, the biggest shock of the tournament so far.
Woollaston, ranked 42nd, trailed by 49 points with three reds left in the deciding frame but made a brilliant 51 clearance to beat his fellow Leicester pro and set up a last-32 match with Ricky Walden.
“Once I potted the last red and got on the black, I knew I had a chance to clear up,” said 2015 Welsh Open finalist Woollaston. “It was just about holding myself together. I was fortunate because Mark doesn’t often lose from that kind of position. I used to be a bit in awe of some of the top players but not any more. And when I play Mark I just feel as if I’m playing against a mate because I have known him for 20 years.
“You have so many disappointments in snooker but if I could have a week where I win a trophy it would all be worth it. I am trying to do that in every tournament. Winning today won’t mean much unless I can get to at least the quarters or semis.”
Matthew Stevens saw off Jimmy White 4-0 to set up a match with Ronnie O’Sullivan, who made a 147 earlier in the day. John Higgins top scored with 93 in a 4-1 win over Nigel Bond.
Barry Hawkins made breaks of 121 and 106 in a 4-3 win over Sam Craigie while World Champion Mark Williams eased to a 4-0 win over Alexander Ursenbacher.
European Masters champion Jimmy Robertson saw his winning streak come to an end as he let slip a 3-0 lead over Jordan Brown, losing 4-3.
Lisowski came from 3-1 down to beat Ian Burns 4-3 with a top run of 100 while Neil Robertson top scored with 79 in a 4-2 win over Oliver Lines. Shaun Murphy made a 91 in the last frame as he beat David Gilbert 4-2.
And Ronnie was in the studio at the start of the evening with Jimmy playing at that time. The postmatch with John Higgins was quite interesting. It’s clear that Ronnie isn’t alone in his opinion that the current schedule and system are not sustainable if players are to deliver quality performances.
And here is Ronnie speaking about the pressure of making a maximum
Today will see two rounds played to completion: the last 32 in the morning and afternoon, and the last 16 in the evening. Ronnie will play Matthew Stevens at 1 pm UK time. Should he win, he will face the winner of Craig Steadman v Eden Sharav in the evening. It’s still best of 7.
Ronnie beat Allan Taylor by 4-0 in the last 64 round of the English Open 2018. The defending champion was far from his best, missing long pots and running out of position quite too often for his liking. But he had his moments of brilliance too: he made a great 135 in frame two and finished the match with a flawless 147, his 15th in professional competition. But what pleases me, even more, was the way he managed to steal the third frame, having struggled badly for most of it. That’s the kind of frame that he would probably have lost a few years ago, and that would have left him angry at himself and unable to get over the disappointment, never mind making a 147 on the back of it.
The preview:
The match:
The review:
and if you can’t wait until the last frame here’s the shortcut!
The maximum:
Ronnie was quite down on himself in the postmatch considering he just won. Such patchy performance will never please him. But he’s through to the next round and will play either Jimmy White or Matthew Stevens.
Ronnie O’Sullivan made a brilliant 147, the 15th of his career, to wrap up a 4-0 win over Allan Taylor at the BetVictor English Open.
O’Sullivan has now made four more 147s than any other player, with Stephen Hendry behind him on 11 maximums, followed by John Higgins on eight.
Today’s 147 was his second of the year having made one at the China Open in April. It’s the 143rd maximum in snooker history and second of the week; Thepchaiya Un-Nooh having made one on Tuesday. They will share the £17,000 bonus prize, earning £8,500 each as long as the break is not equalled this week.
Defending champion O’Sullivan had already made a 135 in the second frame against Taylor, also taking two other scrappy frames as he went 3-0 ahead. In the fourth he was barely out of position as he potted 15 reds with blacks then cleared the colours. The blue was a thin cut to a centre pocket, coming in and out of baulk to keep position, and he played it to perfection before slotting in the pink and black.
“It’s nice to get a 147 for a good crowd,” said the world number three, who now meets Jimmy White or Matthew Stevens in the last 32 on Thursday. “The last time I played really well was at this tournament last year in Barnsley. Since then I have been hit and miss. I started working with (coach) Stephen Feeney because I felt I had to try something. It’s the last throw of the dice. I had a really good six or seven years before that working with Steve Peters.
“The game evolves and gets better. New talent brings fresh ideas so you have to try to learn from that. For me as a purist it’s all about feeling as if I am capable of winning tournaments.”
Clearly, Ronnie isn’t in the most optimistic mood right now, but things can change, and most probably will. Ups and downs have been the story of his career and his life.
The 128 became 64 and only one top 16 player fell by the wayside: Kyren Wilson who lost to Sunny Akani by 4-3. This certainly is unexpected given Kyren’s form of late, but, of course, Sunny is a very good player; he has proven that in the past, notably by giving Ronnie a right scare last season. Yet, Kyren lead 2-0, with two big breaks and, at that stage, Sunny had potted just one ball. In the next frame though, the young Thai made a great 133, a new career-high break, and got on the scoreboard. Kyren took the next, to lead three one … and then lost three on the trot, and the match.
The highlight from day 2 though came thanks to “Theppy”. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made a 147 … on a side table. But you can still watch it here:
So it was a great day for the Thais!
Here are the reports on the last 128 by Worldsnooker:
World number one Mark Selby took just 49 minutes to beat Sanderson Lam 4-0 in the first round of the BetVictor English Open in Crawley.
Selby is looking for his second title of the season, having won the China Championship last month, and looked in fine form against Lam as he knocked in breaks of 78, 106 and 79. He now meets Ben Woollaston on Wednesday (tickets available – click here for details).
“I only played one or two bad shots in the match so it was nearly faultless,” said Leicester’s 35-year-old Selby. “I made a good break to win the first frame then after that I played well.
“Last season I won two big tournaments in China but lost early doors in the big BBC tournaments. This season I am working harder and hoping to change that in the BBC events. So to get a tournament win under my belt in China gives me the confidence to kick on for the rest of the season. I feel in good shape.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan began the defence of his title with a 4-1 victory over Kurt Maflin. O’Sullivan, playing in a ranking event for the first time this season, set up a second round match with Allan Taylor by knocking in breaks of 104, 70 and 82.
Shaun Murphy top scored with 66 in a 4-1 win over Mike Dunn while World Champion Mark Williams eased to a 4-1 win over Dominic Dale, firing breaks of 116, 54 and 109. Neil Robertson made breaks of 100 and 112 in a 4-2 win over Ross Muir.
China’s promising Luo Honghao came from 3-0 down to beat Adam Duffy 4-3 with a top break of 128. Ryan Day made a 141, the highest break of the tournament so far, in a 4-0 win over Ashley Hugill.
Judd Trump and John Higgins were among the first round winners as snooker’s top stars thrived at the BetVictor English Open in Crawley on Tuesday.
Trump beat Robin Hull 4-1 with a top break of 104 to set up a last 64 match with Zhao Xintong. World number five Trump hasn’t won a ranking title for over a year but hopes he is coming into form.
“I played some good stuff in spells, we both struggled a bit,” said 29-year-old Trump. “I feel as if my scoring is coming back. For me it’s about enjoying my snooker, practising hard and trying to learn from some of the other top players while they are still around.”
Higgins beat Li Yuan 4-1 with top runs of 75 and 88 to set up a second round match with Nigel Bond.
“I have been struggling this season and that was probably as well as I have played,” said Higgins, who was runner-up to Mark Selby at the recent China Championship. “I haven’t been practising or playing well since the start of the season. I was surprised that I got to the final in China because my play was terrible. I can try to win matches this week and build a bit of momentum and confidence.”
Highlight of the day was a 147 for Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the first frame of his 4-1 win over Soheil Vahedi, earning him a possible £17,000 bonus. Read more on that story here.
European Masters champion Jimmy Robertson kept his momentum going with a 4-1 win over Michael Holt, making breaks of 81, 71 and 68.
“I’m on a bit of a roll at the moment and full of confidence,” said Bexhill’s Robertson. “I played really well tonight. I know a lot of people in this area, when I was growing up I was playing in clubs all over Sussex. Quite a few people are here to support me.”
Veteran Jimmy White scored an impressive 4-2 win over China’s Lyu Haotian. That made it back-to-back wins for 56-year-old White as he beat Fergal O’Brien in last week’s International Championship qualifiers. Today, the Whirlwind fired breaks of 81, 74 and 63.
World number nine Kyren Wilson became the only top-16 ranked player to lose in the first round as he went down 4-3 to Thailand’s Sunny Akani. From 3-1 down, Akani took the last three frames with top runs of 78 and 62.
Luca Brecel top scored with 109 in a 4-0 win over Niu Zhuang while Mark Allen beat Anthony Hamilton 4-2 with a top break of 91. Jack Lisowski came from 2-1 down to beat Fergal O’Brien 4-2
One thing that Worldsnooker didn’t report though was that Higgins, speaking to the ES pundits, very bluntly said that losing two World finals has “taken the stuffing out of him” and that he isn’t enjoying his snooker one bit. He actually said he “hates” it at the moment.
Shaun Murphy didn’t play well – and honestly acknowledged it – but still won. Judd Trump played some fantastic snooker mixed with some bad shots, he needs to find consistency; the 104 he made in frame 2, however, was truly remarkable.
Jimmy White beat Lyu Haotian, by 4-2, with three big breaks. I have a feeling that Jimmy has been working his socks off in preparation for his Seniors UK Championship defense next week in Hull. Should he and Ronnie win today, they are on course to play each other!
With Jimmy playing, Ronnie was in the studio for the afternoon and evening sessions.
MissingClip – Afternoon session
MissingClip -Evening session
Quite a few interesting points made in these discussions too.
Regarding his comments on Monday, Ronnie didn’t back-off but clarified what he meant, and it’s hard not to see his point. Also, despite claims by WS that other players were unanimously happy, it became clear that this isn’t the case, with Maguire and Allen expressing similar concerns as Ronnie did, and sure enough, Peter Ebdon, even if he didn’t say anything, must not have been too amused either.
It’s also interesting that Ronnie believes that Higgins, in fact, feels burnt-out and that this is why he’s so negative. It could well be the case. Jimmy went the same way when he observed that lower-ranked players, not getting to the latter stages of tournaments, don’t play that much and therefore probably feel OK with the busy calendar, but that indeed top players are at risk of burn-out unless they pick and choose.
Ronnie, on twitter, had launched two polls.
This one, in particular, sparked a discussion in the studio
Barry Hearn replied that “top 16 are seeded”. Yes, they are, but it takes a good dose of bad faith not to understand what Ronnie meant, which was “seeded into the last 32” like it was earlier. That’s a quite overwhelming majority and it was over 5000+ votes. It’s clear that the fans want to be guaranteed to the best players at the latter stages. My guess is that the broadcasters and sponsors would agree too. Yes, it’s a form of protection… unless it’s, like at the Crucible, and whatever money the top players might get in the last 32 wouldn’t count towards the rankings if they lose. In that case, it’s actually added pressure.
As you can guess, most headlines in the press revolved around Ronnie’s comments.
Ronnie won his opening match at the English Open 2018 today, beating Kurt Maflin by 4-1. This earned him his first ranking points this season. Here are the frame scores:
Ronnie wasn’t at his absolute best but played well considering he’s not played much this season at all. He certainly isn’t match-sharp just yet but should improve as he plays more matches.
Tournament and match preview:
And Andy Goldstein couldn’t resist: he had to mention their “Olympics”!
Ronnie O’Sullivan: Defending champion critical of English Open venue
By Andrew Raeburn
BBC Sussex
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Ronnie O’Sullivan won the 2017 English Open in Barnsley
Ronnie O’Sullivan has described the venue for this year’s English Open as “a hellhole” and urged World Snooker to spend more money on tournament hosts.
The five-time world champion, 42, won his first-round match at the K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley against Kurt Maflin but was unhappy with conditions.
“It’s such a bad venue, it demotivates you to want to play. This is about as bad as I’ve ever seen,” he said.
World Snooker said other players’ feedback was “overwhelmingly positive”.
O’Sullivan is the defending English Open champion, having beaten Kyren Wilson in Barnsley in 2017.
But after defeating world number 50 Maflin in just over an hour, he did not hold back on his thoughts on the Sussex venue.
“I don’t know what this gaff is but I’ve just done an interview and all I can smell is urine,” he added.
“It’s just got no atmosphere in there. I’m practising and I’ve got wires all around the table. There’s no security, you’ve got people running at you left, right and centre.
“It’s not the fans’ fault. They [World Snooker] obviously haven’t got the budget to run it properly.
“I don’t know where their budget is but they’re cutting corners. I think they should invest in good venues. Players deserve better.”
A statement from World Snooker said: “We are surprised to hear these comments from Ronnie given that he has made no formal complaint and the feedback from the other players has been overwhelmingly positive.
“The partners we are working with on the event agree with our view that K2 Crawley is an excellent venue with very good facilities.”
In response to comments from Ronnie O’Sullivan at the BetVictor English Open on Monday, World Snooker said: “We are surprised to hear these comments from Ronnie given that he has made no formal complaint and the feedback from the other players has been overwhelmingly positive. And the partners we are working with on the event agree with our view that K2 Crawley is an excellent venue with very good facilities. There was a fantastic crowd in the arena today and the ticket sales for the event have already surpassed the total sales for 2016 and 2017. We look forward to seeing Ronnie play in the next round.”
K2 Crawley, the host venue for the tournament, added: “We are sorry and disappointed to hear that Ronnie has voiced some concerns over the venue, especially after feedback from everybody else has been so positive. We have been working closely with World Snooker to make this competition the best it can be and they are extremely happy with how the first day has gone, and in fact, we hear that ticket sales have already surpassed total numbers sold for all previous English Open venues. To be involved with this event is a privilege and we are pleased that K2 Crawley’s great accessibility and facilities will mean that more snooker fans than ever before can enjoy the tournament – we are certainly excited to see what the rest of the week holds!”
This reminds me of Ronnie’s comments when the Welsh Open moved to Cardiff for the first time… Of course, the previous English Open venue, Preston, has a lot of history; it was the home of the UK Championship, and it’s where Ronnie won his first-ever ranking event, the 1993 UK Championship, at only 17. Maybe another venue was always going to be at a disadvantage in his eyes because of this.
That said, comments about Crawley on social, even before this outburst, weren’t particularly nice. And Shaun Murphy who represents the players and heads the “Players Commission, was very “diplomatic” in his answer when interviewed by Andy Goldstein after his win over Mike Dunn. Basically, he explained that finding venues, large enough to accommodate eight tables, with good viewing space in the main arena, plus practice tables, plus space for the officials, the players between matches, the sponsors and the media, is a real challenge and that this leisure center was ticking the boxes. However, he didn’t directly respond to Ronnie’s criticisms.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has just three targets left – winning a record eighth world title, running with the fastest Kenyans and… becoming a Buddhist MONK in Thailand
The Rocket aims to complete his Bucket list as he scales down his playing activity and enters new phase of “reinvention”
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has three key items left on his Bucket List.
His first priority is to finish his career with EIGHT world titles — elevating him above Stephen Hendry (seven), Steve Davis and Ray Reardon (both six).
Ronnie O’Sullivan has just reached the £10m earnings mark and has spectacular targets for when he finally winds down his career to retirement
Then, once the cue is officially hung up, he wants to run with the best Kenyan athletes.
And finally, at some stage within the next decade, he fancies becoming a Buddhist MONK in Thailand!
Say what you like about the Rocket but he is always entertaining — off the baize as well as on it.
Tomorrow O’Sullivan begins the defence of his BetVictor English Open crown in Crawley. It is his first ranking event of the 2018-19 season.
Yet O’Sullivan, who recently surpassed £10million in career prize money, has NOT been enjoying his snooker in recent years.
The 42-year-old plans to scale down his playing activity and continue to cut down on the constant travelling as he enters a new phase of “reinvention”.
While his world ranking will suffer, he thinks a reduced schedule could be his best chance, in the long-term, of adding to his tally of five world titles.
O’Sullivan may have won five tournaments last season but he told SunSport: “I have to be realistic. I’m in a rebuilding and reinventing phase of my game for the next year, 18 months or two years.
“I won’t play as many tournaments as the other guys. And my game will probably suffer because of that.
“But I’m saying that now, rather than answer the question in six months when people say: ‘Oh, he’s gone.’
“Sometimes it’s better to be open and realistic about the situation. You tend to get other players in the game saying you have gone because you aren’t winning as much as they expect.
“But I’ve always said: ‘Don’t write me off.’ I’ll let you know when I’m finished. And I’m not finished yet.
“I’m not quitting completely. Maybe in another six to nine months I’ll get the hunger back to travel more because my game is in good enough shape. Maybe then I might be prepared to put myself through a more strenuous schedule.”
Many argue O’Sullivan — who can play right AND left-handed — is the most gifted snooker player in history.
The man himself hopes he will be remembered somewhere in the middle between the “machines of the game” (Hendry and Davis) and the “people’s favourites” (Jimmy White and Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins).
He said: “Hopefully people will say I’ve won the titles but I also did it in a way that the snooker fans love to see snooker played.”
Of course, in the next few years, he could well have settled the “greatest of all time” debates, particularly if he adds three important records to his CV.
O’Sullivan, a Eurosport TV expert, said: “I’m sure I’ll break Hendry’s record of 36 ranking events (he already has 33).
“I know as long as I’m still alive in the next two years, I’ll get 1,000 centuries.
“If I can reinvent myself and go in the right direction, then eight world championships isn’t out of the question.
“If the cards fall right, I could go on until 50 as other players are showing it’s possible at the moment in snooker. I don’t see a reason why it can’t be achieved.”
Once his stellar career is officially done, O’Sullivan wants to travel. One trip will be to East Africa and then the Far East.
He said: “There are a few things I’d like to do after snooker. I’d like to go to Kenya and run with the Kenyans.
“I’d also like at some point to go to Thailand and live with Buddhist monks.
“These are things which interest me and are important to me.
“A friend of mine is a Buddhist. I had a feeling because he’s so peaceful and lovely. I thought: ‘I wouldn’t mind trying that.’
“Now isn’t the time because I’m too busy, and I have a family life.
“But it is one of those Bucket List things: to live in Thailand, maybe even have a sabbatical over there.”
The bold part has been highlighted by me. This is because there is a huge difference between what the tittle suggests and what this quote actually says. Having heard it from Ronnie himself, he’s pretty confident that he will reach 1000 centuries and 36 rankers, winning more World titles, nevermind 8, is something else. Yes, of course he’d like to do it, but I’m very certain that if he wins a 6th he will be over the moon already. That’s his youth hero, Steve Davis, record.
The first ranking event played on British soils starts tomorrow and it’s also the first ranking even Ronnie will be playing in. He’s the defending champion, but he’s not on the poster… probably because he entered it late-ish
The event has a new venue, in Crawley, Sussex, and the WSS fitters are hard at work
This is an Eurosport event, and, as ever, they will be keen to mix serious punditry, good interviews and some fun and banter.
A few things have already emerged on social media:
This is a very positive interview with Ronnie:
and on a lighter note, they now have a “room 101” feature. Apparently, snooker “people” will be asked what, if given the opportunity, they would ban in “room 101”
here is Ronnie’s pick:
Also, it seems that Ronnie and Andy Goldstein will compete in some “Olympics” of their own. I suspect that this one will last through the whole Nations Series. Andy and Ronnie went to school together, they are very good mates even if their banter can get very “rough” at times … it’s still just boys teasing each other!
This was Ronnie’s reaction on twitter to his performance in the first discipline, long jump:
I Think I need to work on my long jump, I hope my snooker ain’t as bad as this next week
Ronnie O’Sullivan added,
0:19
Eurosport UKVerified account@Eurosport_UK
It’s the Ronnie O’lympics! @ronnieo147‘s long jump technique …
After four days of battling it out in Barnsley, you’ll find the results of the International Championship 2018 qualifier here on snooker.org
Three members of the top 16 didn’t make it: Luca Brecel, Shaun Murphy and John Higgins.
Luca hasn’t been in any sort of form for a long time, He was beaten 6-5 by Jordan Brown, a player who hasn’t exactly impressed until now. The only positive aspect as far as Luca is concerned is that he battled back valiantly, as he had done last week in Lommel.
Shaun Murphy is another one whose form has gome walkabout of late. He was beaten by 6-0 by Sam Baird. I suppose that moving to Ireland, and having a new baby who, unfortunately, suffered health issues, has taken priority over snooker and practice. Shaun was nowhere near his best, or even his average and his assessment of his match was “Mayday…” on twitter.
John Higgins was beaten, and well beaten, by 6-3, by Peter Lines. Now this is a weird one! John and Peter have played each other 8 times in total. Peter leads 6-2 in the head-to-head. Ok, two of Peter’s wins came in the Shootout, but still, even discarding that, it’s 4-2 to Peter. Even more bizarre, the last time John had the upper hand was in 1994!
There were some high quality matches in those qualifiers. I picked these two:
Judd Trump beat Lu Ning by 6-4. Lu Ning played really well and so did Judd. There was none of the “taking things for granted” that we had seen over the last season in this one. Judd was focused, composed and playing the right shots.
David Gilbert had to come from behind to beat Sam Craigie by 6-5; Sam lead 4-0. Both played well, and hard.
I know that I might “sound” like a broken record, but it’s not right that Sam and Lu get nothing out of this match in terms of money and points. There was nothing mediocre in their performance, they fully played their part in an excellent match for the viewing public and the ones watching on the stream.
Those who see the World Seniors Tour as a pastime for pensioners better think again. The “veterans” did very well in those qualifiers.
Ken Doherty beat Chris Totten (6-4), Mark Davis beat Elliott Slessor (6-4), Alan McManus beat Jamie Clarke (6-5), David Lilley, an amateur who competes on the Seniors Tour, beat Ricky Walden (6-4), James Wattana beat Anthony Hamilton (6-5) AND Jimmy White, who will defend his Seniors UK title in a bit more than a week in Hull, beat Fergal O’Brien (6-5). Of course, Peter Lines, already mentioned above, is a former World Seniors Champion as well.
Finally, I was pleased to see Luo Honghao finally getting some results: he beat Michael White very convincingly by 6-1.
As for Kurt Maflin, Ronnie’s first round opponent on Monday, he was scoring very heavily. This will definitely be a tricky opener for Ronnie, especially with the short format.
A tremendous match saw China’s Zhao go 3-1 up with breaks of 55 and 84; Trump taking frame three with a run of 90. World number five Trump then rattled in 126, 108 and 109 to win in fine style. He goes through to play close friend Jack Lisowski in the last 32 in Crawley on Thursday.
Barry Hawkins made breaks of 121 and 106 in a 4-3 win over Sam Craigie while World Champion Mark Williams eased to a 4-0 win over Alexander Ursenbacher.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 