The Scottish Open 2018 started yesterday at the Emirates Arena, in Glasgow, and, to be honest, what happened off the table was just as interesting as what happened on it.

Here is the Eurosport Preview, with Neil Robertson who is looking to defend his title:

With a review of the previous Home Nations event, the Northern Ireland Open and the UK Championship, that just finished on Sunday night.

And also, Neil’s Robertson interview ahead of his title defense

Of course, Ronnie pulled out and this was Neil Robertson opinion on that:

He is right, playing at the level Ronnie did in York, for nearly two weeks, is extremely demanding mentally and emotionally and, coming to a setup like this one, in front of a comparatively poor crowd, is difficult. Fans are of course disappointed that he isn’t there, but then they would probably also be disappointed if he was there and didn’t perform. All the more credit though to Mark Allen who is playing in Glasgow. I hope that he has a good tournament and doesn’t run out of energy.

It wasn’t a great day for the Scots. Stephen Maguire and Anthony McGill lost in the first round, losing to Billy Joe Castle and Zhang Yong respectively. Maguire’s “performance” was terrible. Ross Muir, John Higgins, and Graeme Dott progressed, but John Higgins played very badly, except in the decider. It transpired that he was suffering from broken ribs, after a “football accident”.

…

“It’s a floating broken rib, it’s happened before,” he told Eurosport.

“It’s a football injury. It was the League Cup final up here last weekend (Celtic beat Aberdeen on 2 December) and I’d had a few drinks…”

Asked if he would pulled out if it had been any other tournament, the Scot replied: “Yes, without a doubt.

“My family and friends were coming to see me. It’s the only chance they get. They’ve not seen me in a final lately.”

….

John’s notion of a football accident had me smiling. Isn’t that rather a “drinking accident”? Anyway, I can’t see him going much further playing that way!

But it’s not just a rib John Higgins broke, he also broke a record yesterday, as this was his 1000th professional match win (source cuetracker.net )

John was also asked about Ronnie’s “breakaway” ideas. Here is his answer, during his post-match interview:

So, we now have John Higgins, Mark Allen, Mark Williams, Joe Perry, and Stephen Maguire wanting changes, and John definitely interested in an alternative platform.

Eden Sharav also progressed, as his opponent, Hossein Vafaei, didn’t show up. Eden is a local boy, but now plays for Israel, his father’s country. That’s twice that they are set to play each other, and twice that Hossein withdraws. There were suggestions that this was related to religious beliefs – and it might be – but I rather think it’s related to the consequences he could face, being an Iranian athlete if he accepts to play an Israeli. To get you an idea of what I mean, I suggest that you follow those links and read what happened in other sports.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/iranian-wrestler-who-threw-match-to-avoid-israeli-banned-for-6-months/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/2-players-banned-for-playing-against-israeli-team-selected-for-iran-world-cup/

https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/pg5937/israel-politics-and-the-curious-case-of-tennis-pro-malek-jaziri

It’s hard to know what could be the consequences for Hossein, or his family if he was to play Eden, so I would refrain from judging. What I do know though is that this places the WPBSA in a very difficult position. They obviously can’t condone such attitude, but on the other hand, it might not be the player’s choice at all, and by forfeiting their match, they lose money and ranking points.

Other than that, there weren’t many “shocks”. You can follow the tournament on snooker.org

 

 

Ronnie beat Mark Allen by 10-6 to win his seventh UK Championship, setting a new record. Steve Davis with six, is now second. This win also brings his tally of “Triple Crowns” to a record of nineteen, one better than Stephen Hendry.

This is the first time that a player defends the UK Championship crown since Stephen Hendry in 1996, and for this to be achieved 25 years after winning his first UK title, at only 17, is an extraordinary achievement.

Ronnie was clearly delighted and a bit emotional whilst being interviewed by Hazel Irvine and celebrating with the fans. Great to see!

Congratulations Ronnie, this was superb!

Here is the report on Worldsnooker:

Sunday 9 Dec 2018 10:41PM

Ronnie O’Sullivan won a record seventh Betway UK Championship title – and a 19th Triple Crown victory in all – by beating Mark Allen 10-6 in the final.

O’Sullivan outplayed his opponent to take the £170,000 top prize in York, coming from 2-1 down to win nine of the last 13 frames, scoring a century and seven more breaks over 50.

After receiving the trophy O’Sullivan jumped on to the barriers around the table to hold it aloft in celebration, then climbed, Pat Cash-style, into the crowd to share the moment with friends and fans. It was a rare show of emotion which revealed just how much these landmark achievements mean to him.

It was 1993 when O’Sullivan lifted the UK trophy at the age of just 17, beating Stephen Hendry in the final. A quarter of a century later he has surpassed several of Hendry’s records and, now 43, year by year he continues to strengthen the argument of those who claim that he is snooker’s greatest ever player.

Rocket’s Records
Seven UK Championship titles (ahead of Steve Davis’ six)
19 Triple Crown victories (ahead of Hendry’s 18)
986 centuries (ahead of Hendry’s 775)
15 maximum breaks (ahead of Hendry’s 11)
Seven Masters titles (ahead of Hendry’s six)

…and those he is still chasing
Hendry’s seven World Championship titles (O’Sullivan has five)
Hendry’s 36 ranking titles (O’Sullivan has 34)

O’Sullivan has dominated the Betway UK Championship more than any other event in recent years, capturing the title in 2014, 2017 and 2018. Losing to Mark Selby in the 2016 final was his only defeat among his last 28 matches in York. His previous UK crowns came in 1993, 1997, 2001 and 2007.

And the Chigwell cueman has made a tremendous start to the current season, adding this title to the Shanghai Masters and Champion of Champions. In the five tournaments he has contested, he has won 26 out of 28 matches and earned £531,000.

Allen missed out on his second Triple Crown title having landed his first at the Masters in January. Still, 2018 has been by far the best year of his career as he also won his fourth ranking title at the International Championship last month. Tonight’s runner-up prize of £75,000 moves the 32-year-old Northern Irishman up to sixth in the world rankings, equalling his career best.

Leading 6-2 after the first session, world number three O’Sullivan extended his lead in a tense opening frame tonight, sealing it by potting the penultimate red with the rest to a top corner. Allen pulled one back with runs of 56 and 37 to make it 7-3.

O’Sullivan made 30 in the next before missing a red to a top corner, and after a safety exchange Allen converted a difficult three-ball plant to set up a run of 105 and close the gap again. But frame 12 went O’Sullivan’s way as breaks of 46 and 41 put him 8-4 up at the interval.

Allen led 59-6 in frame 13 but could only watch as his opponent made a brilliant 57 clearance to go five up with six to play. In the 14th Allen potted nine reds with blacks, but then on 72 missed a red to a centre pocket when the balls had looked well placed for a 147.

O’Sullivan missed a red to a centre pocket early in frame 15 and Allen made breaks of 59 and 30 as he raised his chances of a fight back by closing to 9-6. But O’Sullivan quashed his hopes in the 16th with a match-winning break of 78.

“It was a pleasure to be a part of that final, and if I had lost I would have been devastated,” said O’Sullivan. “It’s about cherishing these moments and enjoying them. Mark is a fantastic competitor, he has got great bottle and courage and I think he’ll win the world title. He has that ingredient and you need that at Sheffield.

“To beat Hendry’s 18 majors, to get to 19 is crazy. I don’t want to stop there, I want to put some distance between me and the next players to make it harder for them to catch me.

“I was emotional at the end because I’m playing for the fans and I want to give them enough to smile about. It’s pay back time, I owe it to them. I have a special rapport with them, I’m the people’s player and I understand that. They go through it with me, when I get victories they feel it with me.

“As long as I am healthy and fit I think I have another ten years of entertaining. I will always play snooker, that’s a given. I’ll always find a platform, it has to happen. I’m really looking forward to the future, it’s exciting.”

Allen said: “Hats off to Ronnie, he played awesome. It was fine margins, I was a little flick here and there from being a lot closer. I didn’t feel I’d done much wrong in the first session but got punished and was 6-2 down. His long game was devastating. It’s up to me to go away, keep practising and try to get closer to Ronnie’s level because he is a long way ahead of everyone else.

“Even at 9-4 I was still positive, then at 9-6 I fancied it. I hung in there but it was too much to do. I hate losing, I’ll never be happy with second, but I’ve had a really good year. I’ll keep working hard and hope to have an even better 2019. I’m looking forward to the Masters now and the chance to defend the title.

“At the end I gave Ronnie massive congratulations for making history. I don’t think there’s any question now that he’s the greatest ever.”

And on the BBC website:

UK Championship: Ronnie O’Sullivan beats Mark Allen to win seventh title

By Shamoon Hafez

BBC Sport at the York Barbican

Ronnie O’Sullivan won the UK Championship for a record seventh time by outclassing Mark Allen 10-6 in York.

O’Sullivan retained his title to move to 19 World, UK and Masters trophies – surpassing Stephen Hendry’s record in the ‘Triple Crown’ events.

A run of six frames in a row allowed the Englishman to dominate the final.

Northern Ireland’s Allen rallied to trail 9-6, but O’Sullivan closed out the match with a break of 78 to collect the trophy and the £170,000 top prize.

• I don’t want to stop now – O’Sullivan

Five-time world champion O’Sullivan sat out the 2015 event, but has dominated at the Barbican in recent years, claiming three titles since 2014.

He has now won a remarkable 27 of his 28 matches here since 2014, the only blemish being his 2016 final loss against Mark Selby.

O’Sullivan was tied with Steve Davis on six tournament victories but this win – 25 years after his first triumph – takes him past his fellow Englishman.

‘The Rocket’ celebrated by tipping a bottle of water over his head and jumped into the crowd after being presented with the trophy.

“History is fantastic,” O’Sullivan told BBC Sport. “It’s amazing, I can’t believe it.

“I played very well, but I still had to convince myself because that is how hard it felt. It’s great to create history, great to beat Steve Davis’ record.

“It’s amazing to beat my hero Stephen Hendry’s record. He was the ultimate player. I’ve still got eight world titles to get, so I’m chasing that one.”

O’Sullivan continues to rule

Despite turning 43 during the tournament, world number three O’Sullivan looks to be improving with age and is the most feared, most consistent and most successful player on tour by a distance.

He has been vocal regarding the amount of travelling players have to do for events across Britain, Europe and Asia, and has spoken about wanting to form a breakaway tour in order to continue competing. This was just his third out of a possible nine ranking events this season.

His record, though, is superb – winning here, reaching the final of the Northern Ireland Open and semi-finals of the English Open.

His triumph at the invitational Shanghai Masters in September made him the first snooker player to pass £10m in prize money and he also won the aptly named Champion of Champions event in Coventry.

His first victory in the UK Championship, aged 17, made him the youngest winner of a ranking event – a record which still stands – and he has further landmarks in his sight.

O’Sullivan is now just two ranking titles short of Hendry’s overall record of 36, and the 101 break he made in the second frame was the 986th century of his career, 14 short of the 1,000 mark, which no player has achieved before.

Despite his advancing years, he will also close further on Selby’s world number one ranking with a deep run at the Scottish Open which begins on Monday, and will chase an eighth Masters title at Alexandra Palace next month.

Allen unable to come up with the goods

World number seven Allen came into the tournament in good form after winning the International Championship last month, and defeated former world champions Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham en route to the final.

But he has now lost two finals in York, the first to Judd Trump in 2011, and Northern Ireland’s long wait for a first UK champion since Alex Higgins in 1983 goes on.

Masters champion Allen was not at his best in the tournament, and loose safety play and missed opportunities were heavily punished by his final opponent.

“Ronnie played awesome, particularly in the first session,” said Allen. “I did not feel like I did that much wrong. I got punished and fell 6-2 behind and his long game was devastating, so was his safety.

“It is up to me to go away, practise and try and get closer to Ronnie’s level. He is by far and away ahead of everyone else.

“I still fancied it at 9-6, even though you are relying on him to make mistakes. I was never giving up.

“I hate losing and I will never be happy with second but there are lots to be positive about.”

The story of the match

The pair shared the first four frames in rapid fashion, O’Sullivan making breaks of 101 and 85, while Allen stroked in a 74.

But ‘The Rocket’ took control with further breaks of 66, 57 and 65 as he won five frames in a row.

O’Sullivan started the evening session by pinching a scrappy ninth frame, though Allen stopped his opponent’s run of frames with breaks of 56 and 105.

However, O’Sullivan snatched a 23-minute tactical battle to go two from victory.

There looked to be no way back when Allen broke down on 45 with O’Sullivan compiling a cool 57 clearance in response.

Allen missed the 10th red when on for a maximum 147 break but won the 14th frame and pulled another back before O’Sullivan crossed the line with a 78 break.

Celebration!

images shared on social media and by Worldsnooker

And these great ones are from Tai Chengzhe. Thank you Tai!

Coverage

The match (full BBC coverage)

First session

ES Preview

ES MSI analysis

ES Review

Second session

ES Preview

ES MSI Analysis

ES Review

Interviews

Highs and lows of the Championship

What a match! What an achievement!

This win places Ronnie in second place on the one year list, a certainty for the first ITV event, the Grand Prix, and for the second one the Players Championship most probably as well. And he’s well placed for the third one too!

Now it’s onto Glasgow for the Scottish Open. I don’t expect miracles from Ronnie there… this one must have taken a lot out of him, mentally and emotionally, but hey, lets just enjoy the moment!

 

 

 

So after 12 days we have just two players remaining in York, Ronnie, the defending champion, and mark Allen, the reigning Masters champion. There were a lot of early exits for top players but, eventually, it’s two of the very best who will be competing in the Final. Marl Allen is at the top of the current one year list, and this only confirms that he is the man in form. Ronnie is currently 6th, quite remarkable for a player who is only competing in his third ranking event of the season, and a win today would propel him to number 2.

Here is how we got here:

Ronnie beat Tom Form in the semi finals and you can read all about that match here.

Mark Allen beat Stuart Bingham in the other semi final, a match that went the distance.

Here is the report on Worldsnooker:

Saturday 8 Dec 2018 10:54PM

Mark Allen will face Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final of the 2018 Betway UK Championship after the Northern Irishman defeated Stuart Bingham 6-5 in a thrilling last four clash in York.

The Pistol has enjoyed great success at snooker’s Triple Crown events in 2018. He will now have appeared in two of the three Triple Crown finals this calendar year. Allen secured the best moment of his career so far by beating Kyren Wilson 10-7 in the Masters final back in January.

This will be the second time that Allen has graced the UK final, after being runner-up to Judd Trump in a memorable clash in 2011.

Allen faces the daunting task of downing defending champion O’Sullivan tomorrow, who has won 26 of his last 27 matches here in York. However, 32-year-old Allen has had the upper hand in their Triple Crown head-to-head record, having won all three of their meetings to date.

2015 World Champion Bingham was making his third appearance in a UK Championship semi-final this evening. However, he is yet to make the final having lost all three of his semi-final matches in York.

Despite Allen taking the opening frame with a break of 99, it was Bingham who took charge in the opening stages this evening. He claimed three frames on the bounce to secure a 3-1 lead at the mid-session interval.

They traded century breaks when they returned. Allen fired in a run of 104 to move within a frame, before Bingham reasserted his authority with a sublime 132 to lead 4-2.

Bingham then spurned opportunities to hammer home his advantage in the seventh frame, allowing Allen in to steal it on the final pink.

Two breaks of 54 in consecutive frames helped Allen to move 5-4 in front. However, Bingham forced a decider and high drama ensued.

The recent English Open champion Bingham was dealt two major blows, going in-off on twice when potting reds. That afforded Allen the opportunity to book his second UK final appearance with a break of 64.

Allen said: “There is nobody in the sport that I haven’t beat, so there is nothing to fear in that way. It has always been my own performance that worries me the most. I want to go out there and entertain like every other top player does. This week it was more grit and determination that got me through.

“I’m looking forward to the final. That is why we play the game. You want to face the greatest ever on the biggest stage. The UK final is a pretty big stage. I’m excited, I’m looking forward to it and I have an alright record against Ronnie.

“You are going to be judged in your career on how many Triple Crown events you have won. I just have one at the moment so I have a long way to go if I want to be regarded as a top player in the history of the sport, but I’m just excited to have the chance to win another.”

In both matches, the players seemed to struggle with their positional accuracy, notably the over-hit a lot of shots. The table had been recovered and was obviously playing very differently from what it had done on the previous day.

The Final  today will be refereed by Marcel Eckardt, from Germany.

Mark Allen has indeed beaten Ronnie in all three of their triple crown matches. However I’m not sure that we can draw much from this. Two of those wins came in 2009 (WC) and 2011 (Masters) in early rounds at a time where Ronnie was really low. The last one came this year at the Masters, in the QF: Ronnie was unwell and Mark in great form and on his way to win the title.

After being taken to a decider by Ken Doherty, Ronnie won all his matches here in York comfortably. The draw of course opened up for him after Judd Trump and Ding Junhui crashed out. During his postmatch interviews yesterday said that, in a way, he was feeling less pressure going into the final because Mark Allen is a top player and this is a fifty-fifty match so he’s not expected to win easily. He has however a lot at stakes: a possible record-breaking 7th UK title, going with a record-breaking 19th Triple Crown.

Mark Allen had a tougher route: he had to beat Neil Robertson, Stephen Maguire and Stuart Bingham en route, although, it’s fair to say that Maguire had a stinker in the QF.

As much as I’d like to see Ronnie lift the trophy tonight, on form, I have to make Mark Allen the favourite, but only just because Mark has a history of putting too much pressure on himself at times. Le’s hope it’s a great match.

 

This is it, today we are at the one table setup.

Ronnie will face Tom Ford in the afternoon, then Mark Allen will face Stuart Bingham in the evening.

In the background, the discussion around Ronnie’s “breakaway” comments continues to rage.

How did we get there?

You can read all about Ronnie’s win over Martin O’Donnell, and the raging discussion here.

This is how Tom Ford, Ronnie’s opponent got to the SF (Worldsnooker)

Leicester’s Ford scored an impressive 6-2 win over Joe Perry to reach his third ranking semi-final. He has made just one final before – at the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic where he lost to Mark Selby.

World number 36 Ford made breaks of 76 and 80 in taking the first four frames. Perry pulled one back with a 121 and had chances in frame six but Ford crucially took it on the final black. Frame seven went Perry’s way but when he missed the black off the last red at 45-56 in the eighth his chance was gone as Ford potted yellow, green and brown to clinch the result.

“Joe let me off today, I expected him to play better,” said Ford. “Winning the sixth frame to go 5-1 was a big moment.

“Ronnie is the greatest player ever and I know I will need to score heavily to have a chance. The fans will cheer him on and 99% will be on his side.”

Asked how he would prepare for tomorrow, Ford added: “I just want to get back to my hotel room now because my three-year-old son Jack was in a nativity play today so I want to see the pictures and videos.”

As for the other semi-final, here is how we got there (Worldsnooker)

Friday 7 Dec 2018 11:06PM

Stuart Bingham produced a sublime display to brush Kyren Wilson aside 6-1 and book a semi-final spot at the Betway UK Championship in York.

Despite the barnstorming victory, Bingham did have a bittersweet moment this evening as he agonisingly missed out on a 147, breaking down on 120 after missing the final yellow in the third frame. However, he won’t rue that for too long after securing a third UK Championship semi-final appearance.

It’s the first time Bingham has ever beaten world number 11 Wilson, having lost all four of their meetings prior to this evening. Kettering’s Wilson will leave York disappointed that he didn’t cash in on his fine form this week, which included a superb 6-2 win over Barry Hawkins yesterday evening.

Basildon’s Bingham took the opening two frames, before his near miss on the maximum put him 3-0 ahead. He then consolidated his considerable advantage by making a break of 53 to go into the mid-session four in front.

When they returned, the five-time ranking event winner moved one from victory with a break of 84. Wilson responded, but it was Bingham who got over the line to secure an emphatic 6-1 victory.

Bingham said: “I was fortunate that Kyren had an off day, but he was due one after beating me in our first four meetings. I just kept it tight, he made his mistakes and I seemed to capitalise on them.

“I missed the pink on 134 for £167,000 at the 2002 World Championship. Once you have done that, you can miss anything and it doesn’t really get to you. That was 16 years ago and it still haunts me, so in terms of today it was more about getting the job done than making the 147.”

Bingham will face Mark Allen in the last four after the Northern Irishman defeated close friend Stephen Maguire 6-1 in his quarter-final tie.

Allen and Maguire had only met twice in ranking competition prior to this evening. The Masters champion was a comfortable winner on this occasion, making breaks of 53 and 122 along the way.  This will be the first time Allen has reached the semi-finals of the UK Championship since appearing in the final in 2011.

“I started well. In the first three frames I didn’t miss many and got on top. With a 3-0 lead in a first to six the job isn’t done, but you will need to play poorly to lose from there,” said Allen. “The thing I struggled with most was playing Stephen. I didn’t get any enjoyment out of playing him at all and it felt like a hollow victory.

“Stuart has probably been the form player this week. He has been awesome and scored very heavily. I am going to have to play better, but it will be the one table setup in a UK Championship semi-final against a class act like him. What’s not to be excited about?”

It was all a bit strange really. Joe Perry maybe had nothing left in the tank after beating Judd Trump – he looked very flat. Kyren Wilson played really badly, looked totally out of sorts and never looked like he could give Bingham any sort of challenge. Maguire started very poorly, just like yesterday, but there was no “after MSI miracle” this time. All the matches were rather one-sided and that was certainly unexpected, especially in the evening.

Anyway … here is Bingham 147 attempt: