The last 16 round started yesterday of course, with two matches already underway, but I chose to wait until the conclusion of the last 32 before venturing into predictions. So here goes…

Joe Perry v Mark Allen

This is one of the matches that already started and it currently stands 5-3 to Allen. Really however it should have been 4-4 and I fully expect this match to be very, very close. Mark Allen is a big occasion player and I would normally make him favourite. But Joe Perry is playing very solid and should be under little pressure having already exceeded expectations by beating the Defending Champion and World n°1. I’ll sit on the fence here. Prediction: 13-11 either way.

Kyren Wilson v Jamie Jones

Everyone will remember Jamie Jones run to the QF in 2012. Can he repeat the same feat this year? Possibly. But Kyren Wilson is not nicknamed “the Warrior” for nothing and I believe that he will prevail. In fact I believe that he’s a serious contender to reach the Final. There is no doubt that he will want it, the question is about how he will be able to handle the Crucible pressure  and how the memories from the Masters defeat will affect him. Prediction: Kyren Wilson to win 13-9

John Higgins v Jack Lisowski

“Theppy” gave John Higgins a good run for his money. John branded Jack an “upgrade” on Theppy. In many ways is a great summary of why Jack might well cause an upset here. Just like Theppy, Jack is ridiculously talented and frighteningly attacking. However he’s shown in the first round that he also has a solid safety game and that he’s able to rein his attacking instincts in when necessary. On form he puts any opponent under huge pressure. I will be bold here. Prediction: Jack Lisowski to win 13-8 

Ricky Walden v Judd Trump

Ricky is on the mend but not at his best just yet, and his confidence is still fragile. Judd only just survived the last 32 and once again showed extreme vulnerability under pressure and a denial attitude afterwards. This could become a twitch fest if it goes to a third session. I really struggle to predict the outcome here. So I’ll go with what I’d like to see… Prediction: Ricky Walden to win 13-11

Ding Junhui v Anthony McGill

Anthony was realistic and totally honest yesterday evening: he will need to improve massively to stand any chance. Ding looks relaxed and happy as well. He seems to deal with the pressure of expectations much, much better than in the past. For all of Anthony’s fighting qualities, I think that Ding will prevail comfortably. Prediction: Ding Junhui to win 13-6

Barry Hawkins v Lyu HaoTian

Young Lyu HaoTian has already exceed expectations being the only debutant to reach the last 16. Yesterday evening he was 4-0 down at MSI, but finished the session only 5-3 down. Hopefully he will be able to enjoy the match and give a good account of himself. Can he win? I doubt it given Barry Hawkins record at the Crucible over the last years. There is nothing fancy nor fussy about Barry. Just rock solid. Prediction: Barry Hawkins to win by 13-9

Mark Williams v Robert Milkins

You can never be quite sure what you will get from Milkins. He can be extremely dangerous or he can miss all sorts. It’s largely on the day. Over three sessions I somehow doubt that he will maintain the consistency he would need to beat an old fox like Mark Williams, especially when said old fox seems to be back near his best and more hungry than ever. Prediction: Mark Williams to win 13-8

Ronnie O’Sullivan v Ali Carter

Ali impressed me favourably in the first round. He played very well and there were no signs of impatience or surrendering to frustration at all. Ronnie came through, fighting hard  after a disastrous first session. This match should be close. The stats are massively in favour of Ronnie though. Prediction: Ronnie to win 13-10

We had only two sessions yesterday at the Crucible, but there was drama aplenty as the last 32 round concluded. Anthony McGill fought like a lion to edge Ryan Day by 10-8. Anthony didn’t play well and was bluntly honest about his performance. Ryan Day was just equally honest about how he managed to lose from 7-3 and 8-5 up: “I collapsed” was his assessment when interviewed right after the match. I didn’t expect that to happen this time, after winning three events this season, and neither did Stephen Hendry who was commentating. But he did and that’s the Crucible for you.

There was none of those two honesty in Judd Trump’s press conference as you will read below. Anyone who watched that match will know that he was gone under pressure towards the end of his dramatic match against a wonderful Chris Wakelin. Chris looked dead and buried at 8-4 down but decided to go for the all out attack in an attempt to put his opponent under pressure, and, boy, he did! For Judd to claim that the misses weren’t caused by pressure is either completely dishonest or worryingly delusional. Neal Foulds on Eurosport seriously questioned Judd’s temperament and his chances to be a World Champion one day.  But Judd is through after Chris took a couple of risky shots too many in the decider.

The last 16 round started yesterday as well. I didn’t watch much of it, but from what I saw, 4-4 would have been a fairer reflection of the first session between Allen and Perry.

Here are the reports on Worldsnooker:

Afternoon session

Thursday 26 Apr 2018 06:30PM

honAnthony McGill stormed back from four frames behind to stun Ryan Day 10-8 at the Betfred World Championship.

It’s another fine Crucible win for the former World Championship quarter-finalist McGill. The Glaswegian reserves some of his best performances for snooker’s Theatre of Dreams and inflicted the Crucible curse on Mark Selby in 2015. Although, he did suffer a crushing 10-2 defeat against compatriot Stephen Maguire last year.

Scotland’s McGill was pinned firmly against the ropes after a superb first session display from his opponent. Day became only the second player to compose two breaks over 140 in a single session at the Crucible, as he established a 6-3 advantage.

That cushion was soon added to this afternoon, as Day moved 7-3 up thanks to a break of 51. McGill then mounted a charge to eat into the Welshman’s lead and as he did so, a shroud of tension moved over the Crucible Theatre.

Both players started to miss straightforward shots, but it was the 27-year-old McGill who dug out consecutive frames to cut his arrears in half at 7-5.

Day moved further clear at 8-5, but McGill continued to reel him in. Three frames on the bounce saw him draw level at 8-8. The former Indian Open Champion McGill then fired in a break of 60 to move one from victory, before an extraordinary 18^th frame.

It came down to the pink and black, with both players making glaring errors under extreme pressure.  Day spurned an opportunity to force a decider when he missed the pink off the spot. The Welshman eventually fluked the second last ball, but with the black glued to the top cushion a safety battle ensued.  Ultimately a misjudged shot from Day left the black over the corner and allowed McGill to get over the line and set up a last 16 clash with Ding Junhui.

McGill said: “It’s the World Championship, it’s a tournament worth trying in. You lose most of the matches from the position I was in, 99 percent probably. But you’d lose them all if you gave up and that kind of happened last year. I was playing Stephen Maguire and I was 7-2 down and never settled. I had a bit more fight in me this year and anything can happen.

“I was thinking during the match that my weakness is my potting. I’m good at the safety, but you don’t get any points for safety. My potting is just not good enough and the chances are I’ll get found out in the next game but it’s just good to be still involved.

“Ding is one of the best break builders there has ever been. He’s good at cannons around the black spot, just nudging balls out the way, it’s phenomenal. I’m in for a tough fight but at least I’m in one. I’ll need to pick it up because you can dig in and all that but eventually you have to play some good snooker.”

Day remarked: “It was scrappy. I think Anthony won a couple of frames where his highest break was 25 or something, it wasn’t great really.

“Next season is a long way away. It’s going to be a good month or so before I pick up the cue again, but I’m not really thinking about it now. I’m just going to have a bit of a break, and go again at the start of next season.”

On the other table, the second round got underway as Mark Allen took a 5-3 lead over Joe Perry.

World number 22 Perry knocked out defending champion Mark Selby in the first round and he started well today, taking the opening frame with a top break of 50.

Masters champion Allen hit back to win three in a row with runs of 94, 99 and 67. Perry’s break of 73 made it 3-2, then Allen also made a 73 to take frame six, before Perry nicked the seventh by clearing from yellow to black to halve his deficit.

The last frame of the session came down to the final pink. World number 16 Allen attempted a cross double and missed one centre pocket, but the pink rolled across the table and dropped into the opposite centre to give him a two-frame lead. They return for eight more frames on Friday at 10am, then play to a finish on Friday from 7pm, with first to 13 frames to go through to the quarter-finals.

Evening session

Thursday 26 Apr 2018 11:39PM

Judd Trump narrowly avoided a shock defeat in a thrilling clash with Crucible debutant Chris Wakelin, taking a final frame decider to win 10-9 at the Betfred World Championship.

For the second year in a row the Trump was involved in a tense and emotion fuelled battle with an underdog. 12 months ago the Ace in the Pack suffered one of the biggest ever first round upsets at the Crucible, when he was stunned by a 10-8 defeat against Rory McLeod.

On this occasion the 2011 runner-up was pitted against world number 55 Wakelin, who emphatically secured his place at the Crucible thanks to a 10-1 defeat of Tian Pengfei in the final round of qualifying.

Former delivery driver Wakelin assumed the role of the chaser from the off and trailed for the majority of the tie. Despite coming out of the first session 6-3 behind, he did enjoy a special moment when he compiled a run of 141 – the highest break of his career.

Breaks of 51 and 57 helped 28-year-old Trump to move 8-4 in front this evening and at that stage he had looked set for an early finish. However, Wakelin stepped up to the plate and ramped up the pressure on Trump and he dramatically buckled.

A run of 68 helped Wakelin to reduce the gap to 8-5. Trump then had the opportunity to quell any hopes of a fightback, but missed the final pink to allow Wakelin to close the gap to two.

The eight-time ranking event winner continued to misfire as Wakelin took the next two frames to draw level for the first time since the beginning of the match at 8-8.

Trump then moved 9-8 ahead and was in position to snatch victory in the following frame. After trailing 65-0, he strung together a run of 61 as he looked to come from behind to take the frame, but missed a tricky black to the middle and allowed Wakelin to deposit it and force a decider.

The emotional turmoil for both players was there for all to see amid sizzling tension in the Crucible arena.

Trump missed two straightforward blues and a simple red which afforded Wakelin opportunities to steal the match. He failed to capitalise, dramatically going in-off when potting the pink on the third chance. Eventually Trump got over the line on the final green and Wakelin failed in his attempts to get the required snookers.

“I had a big lead and almost threw it away, I knew the balls would punish me. I was surprised in the end to get another chance,” said Trump. “I’m relieved to get through, but I know I’m going to have to up my game. I don’t want to play like that in the next round and lose, or there would be no point winning today.

“Sometimes you miss under pressure, but a few of those misses weren’t down to pressure, they were just bad misses. On the last red there were two balls together, and it was an easy clearance but I completely took my eye off it. I think in the last frame the balls were so perfect that we got carried away a little bit and rushed at the table. Chris will be devastated to have lost that one, he dug in and played really well for his first time here.”

Wakelin said: “It’s been one of those days. I’ve tried my hardest, and have not left anything out there. The balls that I missed I put one hundred percent into, and the frames that I lost I tried my best. I did have chances in the decider which is probably the most important thing about it. All you ask for is one opportunity and I had plenty, so that’s very disappointing. You practise all those hours, days, weeks and years for that moment but sadly today I fell short.

“There are lot of positives to draw. I never gave in, I was trying right to the end. I made my Crucible debut, and it’s an amazing arena. You dream of playing here, even more you dream of winning here. It’s been a really good season for me, I’ve enjoyed practising and testing myself. We’re very privileged to play snooker. I try not to take that for granted at all.”

Meanwhile, Barry Hawkins took a 5-3 lead over Lyu Haotian as their second round match got underway.

Hawkins, runner-up in 2013 and a semi-finalist on three other occasions, was off to a tremendous start as breaks of 91, 71, 64 and 129 put him 4-0 ahead.

China’s Lyu, who knocked out Marco Fu in the first round on his Crucible debut, took the fifth frame with a 73 then Hawkins went 5-1 ahead with a 103. In a high quality session, Lyu responded with 95 to take the seventh frame and a 42 clearance to win the eighth.

They resume on Friday at 2.30pm.

…

So after day 5  at the Crucible, we lost another seed and former World Champion in Neil Robertson, but, with John Higgins and Mark Williams winning, the “Class of 92” is in the last 16.

Judd Trump was very composed during the first session of his match against Chris Wakelin, who, himself was  very good overall, especially considering that he’s a debutant. Interestingly Judd’s approach to this year championship has been devoid of any bold claims and in this article he explains how and why he’s been away from social media. Probably the right decision.

Here are the reports on Worldsnooker:

Morning session:

Wednesday 25 Apr 2018 01:49PM

Mark Williams completed an impressive 10-5 defeat of Jimmy Robertson to reach the second round of the Betfred World Championship.

Williams, Crucible king in 2000 and 2003, missed out on reaching the final stages last year after a 10-7 defeat to Stuart Carrington in qualifying.

This season the Welshman has transformed his fortunes, claiming a first ranking title since 2011 at the Northern Ireland Open and adding further silverware at the German Masters. In total he has now won 20 ranking events. Williams’ resurgence has seen him fly up the world rankings and he is now in 7^th position.

World number 34 Robertson has appeared at the Crucible four times, but is yet to win his first match at the Theatre of Dreams. However, he can take solace from a season which has seen him reach a ranking quarter-final for the first time at the German Masters.

Williams dominated the opening session of this encounter, establishing a 7-2 advantage. It looked unlikely that Robertson would be able to overturn the extensive deficit. However, he started strongly this morning by taking the opening two frames.

Williams then snuffed out any thoughts of a comeback with a typically emphatic response, firing in the highest break of the tournament so far – a sublime run of 140. He backed that up with a break of 100 in the following frame to move one from victory and eventually emerged a 10-5 victor. He’ll now face either Neil Robertson or Robert Milkins in the second round.

“The damage was done in the first session really. It’s first to ten but the first frame was massive, and I beat him on the black and that put him under pressure. He should have won the first two frames really,” said the 43-year-old. “I’m coming into this tournament playing the best I’ve played for many years. I’ve got as good as chance as anyone left in the tournament.

“Neil Robertson is one of the best players in the world, but I don’t play the player, I never have. I just play the balls. Whoever it is I’m looking forward to it. I beat Robert Milkins 10-1 here in 2005, but you don’t beat people like that here anymore. I’d love to have another 147 against him just to see his face.”

Robertson said: “Mark played really well. Over the two sessions he was the better player. I missed a couple of good chances, but it’s tough because he doesn’t give you many, you’re glued to the baulk rail and in trouble all the time. He never really let me get going. It’s gutting to come here and lose again, but I’ll try hard to get back again next season.

“I love playing at the Crucible now. The first time I was here I was dreading it and was really nervous. This time I felt pretty good out there. It didn’t look like that maybe but that’s because he made it really tough for me. I enjoy playing here now, so I can’t wait to get back here.”

Meanwhile, four-time Crucible king John Higgins took a 6-3 lead over Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.

Scotland’s Higgins, who has won two ranking titles this season, took a 4-1 lead with top breaks of 62 and 51, then Crucible debutant Un-Nooh pulled two frames back.

In the eighth, Higgins potted 13 reds with blacks and looked on course for his first Crucible 147 until he missed a difficult penultimate red to a top corner on 104. He went on to win the last frame of the session to lead by three. They resume tonight at 7pm.

Afternoon session:

Wednesday 25 Apr 2018 05:57PM

Neil Robertson became the sixth seeded player to be knocked out of the Betfred World Championship in the first round as he went down 10-5 against Robert Milkins.

Robertson joins Mark Selby, Stuart Bingham, Shaun Murphy, Marco Fu and Luca Brecel as the top 16-ranked players to exit the tournament within the first five days. It’s the second time he has lost to world number 37 Milkins at the Crucible, having done so in 2013.

World number ten Robertson has won two titles this season – the Scottish Open and Hong Kong Masters – but has failed to make an impact on the Triple Crown events, losing in the last 32 of the World and UK Championship and not even qualifying for the Masters.

Gloucester’s Milkins is through to the last 16 in Sheffield for the third time and will now face Mark Williams.

Robertson, the 2010 World Champion, trailed 6-3 overnight but took a 48-minute opening frame today by potting pink and black then won the next to close to 6-5. The Australian had first chance in frame 12 but could only make 8 and his opponent compiled runs of 48 and 36 to go 7-5 ahead.

That proved the turning point as 42-year-old Milkins dominated the next three frames, knocking in breaks of 69, 55 and 54.

“I played really well, I put a lot of pressure on Neil,” said Milkins. “It was looking at bit dodgy when he got it back to 6-5, but I nicked a frame and got spurred on, I saw the match out well.

“The qualifiers have all had match practice and we’re sharp. I’ve got better every match I’ve played. It puts me in good stead for taking on Mark Williams. We are used to playing these seeded players more now because there are more tournaments. I’ve played Neil loads of times and I’ve beaten him already this year, so there’s no fear.

“I can only speak for myself, but I fear Ronnie! The first thing I looked at was which side of the draw he was in. Everyone knows they can beat Ronnie, I know I can but can I do it out there? To do it over that amount of frames it’s going to be very tough for anybody to beat him. If I do play him I want to play him in the quarter-finals not in the first round.”

Robertson said: “I had bad problems with my cue tip heading into the match, that was pretty evident last night. Rob played so well that he never allowed me to recover from that.

“I put on a new tip this morning and had an hour with it and it was alright, but going out there is completely different. But I’ve got to give Rob credit for how well he played, he was relentless throughout. I had a slight sniff at 6-5 but he rattled off the last four frames amazingly well.

“Long gone are the days where there are shocks in the first round. If I was a qualifier, unless I drew Ronnie O’Sullivan, I’d be quite happy to play anybody knowing I’ve won three matches in a week, against someone coming in cold. Rob came here with nothing to lose. He walks out to the cider drinker song and the crowd goes nuts. He has approached it the right way.

“Ten years ago there would probably be only two or three banana skins in the draw, now there are a lot more. It’s good for the game to have more players coming through, and not to have them crumble.

“For me to come away with two big trophies after a tough season away from the table, I’m pretty happy with that. I’m just disappointed not to have had a good run here as well.”

On the other table, world number four Judd Trump built a 6-3 lead over Chris Wakelin.

The highlight of the session was a superb 141 total clearance from Crucible debutant Wakelin in the fifth frame, the new front-runner for the £10,000 high break prize. He also compiled runs of 95 and 69 in a high quality session, while Trump knocked in 58, 64, 72 and 51.

They play to a finish on Thursday from 7pm.

Evening session:

Wednesday 25 Apr 2018 10:05PM

John Higgins held off a spirited performance from Thepchaiya Un-Nooh to win 10-7 and reach the second round of the Betfred World Championship.

The four-time World Champion Higgins went on a run to the final last year and had looked set for fifth Crucible crown when he led Mark Selby 10-4. However, Selby charged back to inflict a heartbreaking 18-15 defeat on the Scot.

There has been no let-up from Higgins this season, he’s seen his ranking title tally rise to 30 with victories at the Indian Open and the Welsh Open and he will be a strong contender for the £425,000 top prize this week.

Crucible debutant Un-Nooh made himself the fifth player from Thailand to compete in the final stages of the World Championship by qualifying. The charismatic potter from Bangkok is one of the most exciting players to watch on the World Snooker Tour. He plays at breakneck speed with an average shot-time of 17.22 seconds, only Ronnie O’Sullivan plays quicker.

The match provided the fireworks that many predicted it would. Both players threatened to fire in the first maximum break at the Crucible since Stephen Hendry’s 147 in 2012. Higgins was first to attempt the magic break, potting 13 reds with 13 blacks before breaking down on 104. That came in an opening session which saw the Scot establish a 6-3 advantage.

When they returned the pair came storming out of the blocks, Un-Nooh composed a quick-fire break of 121 to reduce his deficit and Higgins responded with a contribution of 81 to make it 7-4. It was then the Thai’s turn to have a go at snooker’s perfect run.

Un-Nooh famously missed final blacks for 147 breaks on two occasions in the 2015/16 season, at the UK Championship and World Championship qualifying. Today he potted 14 reds and 14 blacks before missing the final red to the top left corner with his score at 112.

The Thai continued to impose himself on the match, closing the gap to 7-6 and then spurning an opportunity to restore parity. Higgins punished him with a break of 77 to move 8-6 ahead and eventually emerged a 10-7 victor.

Higgins will now face another quickfire opponent in the next round when he meets world number 30 Jack Lisowski.

Higgins said: “Thepchaiya maybe goes for one shot too many, but he’s brilliant to watch and I’m delighted to win 10-7. I knew he would hit me with maybe three frames where I wouldn’t get a shot. Tonight at 7-6, he took his eye off a red when he had me in all sorts of bother. I let him in but he missed the red when all the balls were there. I managed to get a two frame advantage again and that settled me down.

“I was disappointed not to make the 147. It’s difficult out there to make a maximum break, the pressure is pretty intense. I would love to do one here at the Crucible, it would be an amazing feeling. That’s something I’ll try and do before my career finishes.

“It’s as if I’m playing an upgrade on Thepchaiya in the next round. A few years ago Jack Lisowski was maybe going for a shot too many, but he’s cut that out now. I believe he practices a lot with Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan, so if you don’t round your game to compete with those guys on the practice table, all you’ll be doing is picking balls out of pockets. He’s obviously learning off those guys, and he’s a totally different player now. He beat me over in China recently where he played great, and he’s another one who makes the game look ridiculously easy. But I’ll enjoy the game and look forward to it.”

Afterwards Un-Nooh was disappointed to once again miss out on a maximum break prize, with potentially £50,000 up for grabs for a maximum break.

“I was thinking about the big prize money! I wanted to show my supporters that I could do it, but I missed the last red. It was really hard to get back for the black and I missed it,” said Un-Nooh. “It annoyed me, it got on my mind. The last blacks from two years ago still haunt me. The thoughts of those two black balls came into my mind, so I missed the red.”

Ryan Day established a 6-3 lead against world number 14 Anthony McGill in the opening session of their first round meeting.

Welshman Day narrowly missed out on automatic qualification for the Crucible, finishing the China Open ranked 17^th. After dropping only nine frames at qualifying he appears to have carried that form over to the Theatre of Dreams.

He moved 2-0 ahead with a sublime break of 141. However, McGill showed great character to hit back with breaks of 65 and 75 and draw level at the mid-session.

When they returned Day moved 4-3 in front and crucially won an enthralling eighth frame. McGill required a snooker on the pink, which he got, before hammering home a superb long pot which left tricky position on the final black. He jawed it and left the final ball at Day’s mercy to go 5-3 up.

He hammered home his advantage in style with a tournament high break of 145 to make it 6-3. Amazingly that run saw Day become the first player in Crucible history to make two breaks of 140 or more in a single session.

They will play to a conclusion tomorrow at 1pm.

Those are yesterday’s results. Two more seeds left the scene: Luca Brecel and Stuart Bingham. That makes it four former world champions beaten in round one already and there could be more.

Ding looked relaxed and was  smiling at the table, and in his postmatch chat on BBC. He played extremely well but wasn’t pressured at all by Xiao. Ding, who is to become a dad in August, simply looked happy and feeling good within himself which makes him very dangerous. He revealed that he bought a house in Sheffield s, clearly, he’s here to stay!

Ricky Walden who had a terrible two last years health wise, battled his way in the second round. He wobbled a bit towards the end of the match; I guess that his confidence wasn’t exactly sky-high coming into the match. But he managed to get over the line and I’m happy for him. Luca Brecel simply wasn’t good enough, even if there were patches of brilliance. For whatever reason he’s not doing his huge talent justice.

Mark Williams largely dominated his match against Jimmy Robertson. Jimmy is a very talented player but has struggled to show it on the big occasions until now. He had occasions in nearly every frame and the score could easily have been 5-4 either way. But Mark Williams experience, and shrewdness,  certainly made the difference.

Jack Lisowski was magnificent in beating Stuart Bingham in a very entertaining, quality match. Jack’s talent is immense but he’s not really achieved accordingly until now. However, in this match, it was obvious that he has matured a lot. It showed in his shot selection and in his more composed attitude and pace around the table.  The match was interrupted at the start of the evening session because the lighting above the table failed (well one in four sections of it) and the technical crew had to provide an emergency solution…

Neil Robertson trails Robert Milkins by 6-3 as they are due to resume today. Crucially Neil won the last frame of the evening. The 6-3 deficit is by no way impossible to overcome: Ronnie and Ali Carter did it earlier this week. But Robert did beat Neil at this same stage in 2013 and this surely will be in both players mind ahead of the final session of their match.

Morning Session (Worldsnooker report)

Tuesday 24 Apr 2018 11:45AM

Ding Junhui fired a century and seven more breaks over 50 as he stormed to a 10-3 win over Xiao Guodong in the first round of the Betfred World Championship.

Ding’s ultimate ambition is to become the first Chinese player to lift snooker’s most famous trophy, and he has come close in recent years, reaching the final in 2016 and the semis in 2017. On the evidence of his tremendous display against Xiao, the 31-year-old is well set for another crack at the title. World number three Ding returns to the Crucible baize on Sunday to face Anthony McGill or Ryan Day in the last 16.

From 2-0 down in the first session on Monday, Ding won six of the next seven frames with top runs of 68, 124, 57 and 72. And he needed just 51 minutes today to add the four frames he needed, making breaks of 61, 51, 78 and 98.

“I played well in the end,” said Ding, who won his 13^th ranking title earlier this season at the Yushan World Open. “I just went for my shots and made some breaks. I didn’t play a lot of safety, I just went for the shots without caring, it surprised me.

“Xiao is always looking to beat me. You could see in the first session he played quite well at the start to lead 2-0. He’s a good player, but he doesn’t have that much experience of beating the top 16. He needs more experience to improve.

“I’m confident in my form but I try not to worry about form too much, I’m just looking forward to another chance. It’s good to smile out there, it takes the pressure away if I play some bad shots.

“Everyone is under pressure here, but Mark Selby had the most pressure because he was the defending champion. It surprised me that he lost in the first round. I’d like to play Ronnie O’Sullivan later in the tournament because I want to improve myself and I want to play the hardest ones to beat, to test myself.”

On the other table, Jack Lisowski finished 5-4 ahead of Stuart Bingham in a match which concludes tonight.

Lisowski, whose only previous match at the Crucible was his 2013 debut when he lost to Barry Hawkins, took a 5-2 lead with top breaks of 105, 54 and 128.

Bingham, the 2015 champion, pulled one back with a run of 60, then in the last frame of the session he potted 11 reds with blacks before missing the 12th red on 88.

Afternoon Session (Worldsnooker report)

Tuesday 24 Apr 2018 07:00PM

Ricky Walden prevailed in his clash with Belgium’s Luca Brecel 10-6 to clinch a place in the second round of the Betfred World Championship.

Walden’s Crucible run comes after a difficult couple of years for the Chester potter. He had suffered  a dip in form after struggling with a back injury. However, this season he has had an upturn in fitness after receiving an epidural steroid injection last summer. Following a solid 2017/18 campaign, former World Championship semi-finalist Walden is once again showing the extent of his talent on the sport’s biggest stage.

For the second year in a row it is a disappointing first round defeat for Brecel, who is yet to win a match at snooker’s Theatre of Dreams since making his debut in 2012 and becoming the youngest ever player to grace the Crucible aged 17. Last season he surrendered a 7-1 advantage in an agonising 10-9 defeat against Marco Fu.

Walden emerged from the first session with a healthy 6-3 advantage. He looked to be in fine touch in the break building department and fired in five contributions over 50 with a top run of 105.

He started off this afternoon’s play with the same fluidity to his game. The 35-year-old delighted the Crucible crowd with a superb 122 break to move further ahead at 7-3. However, from there the game became less open as nerves crept into play.

Both players showed signs of frustration, but it was Brecel who clawed his way back into the match when he pulled back within three at 8-5. The Belgian then took the 14^th frame on the final black to make it 8-6 and turn up the heat on his opponent.

Crucially Walden then won a marathon 47-minute frame to edge one from victory and a break of 60 then saw him get over the line a 10-6 victor.

Walden said: “I played well for most of the game, just losing my way in the last few frames, but overall I’m very pleased. Once you’ve come through qualifying you’ve won three games and you’re match sharp. It’s a horrible situation to have to qualify but once you do come through it is a benefit.

“I scrapped it out in a different way today which you need to do at the Crucible because it gets a bit tough out there sometimes. There’s Crucible pressure, it’s like no other and your mind sometimes goes elsewhere so it’s a different kind of pressure and I’m pleased I scrapped it out.”

“I’m just going to work hard now. A year ago I would’ve said I’d take four weeks off but I’m not going to do that this year. I’m so in love with the game that I just want to work hard and come back stronger,” said Brecel. “It’s always exciting to play here, it’s just a pity that I couldn’t play my game. I was feeling confident in practice but it means nothing when you don’t do it on the match table.”

Mark Williams dominated the opening session of his first round match with Jimmy Robertson and requires just three more frames for the win at 7-2.

The two-time Crucible king missed out on a place at the final stages of the World Championship in 2017, but has come into this year’s event with renewed confidence. He won his first ranking title in six years at the 2017 Northern Ireland Open and backed that up with victory at the German Masters.

Williams top scored with a break of 102 today and the pair will return to play the match to a conclusion tomorrow morning at 10am.

Evening Session (Worldsnooker report)

Tuesday 24 Apr 2018 10:56PM

Jack Lisowski put on a stunning display to defeat 2015 World Champion Stuart Bingham 10-7 at the Betfred World Championship.

26-year-old Lisowski hadn’t appeared at the Crucible since his debut in 2013. On that occasion he succumbed to a 10-3 defeat against Barry Hawkins. However, Lisowski arrived at the World Championship this year off the back of a season where he’s finally started reaching the levels of consistency which match his considerable talent.

He reached the semi-final stage of a ranking event for the first time at the Shanghai Masters, as well as making a further two quarter-finals and appearing in the last 16 five times. Jackpot has achieved this without abandoning his fast-paced aggressive brand of snooker. He’s the third fastest player on tour, averaging just 17.94 seconds per shot this season.

The qualifiers have been running riot at the Crucible this year, adding credence to the argument that the arduous qualification process adds match sharpness for those who come through it to reach the final stages. Bingham has become the fifth seed to be knocked out at in this year’s tournament.

Lisowski led 5-4 after a first session packed with big breaks, top scoring with a sublime 128. However, Bingham did claim the final two frames of the morning to set up a dramatic finale.

The world number 30 settled straight away this evening. He compiled a break of 60 to take the initiative in the opening frame and move 6-4 in front. The pair then traded frames before Bingham claimed a dramatic 13^th. He made 56 after fluking a blue early on in the break. The 41-year-old then clinched the frame with a tremendous cut on the final black to make it 7-6.

That had no bearing on Lisowski’s approach. He hit immediately back with a break of 98 to move two from the win at 8-6. Again they traded frames as Lisowski found himself 9-7 up. He then came from behind to take his crucial tenth frame of the match on the final black to secure a momentous first win at the Crucible.

Lisowski said: “I had a century in the first frame and the noise was crazy, it’s nice to get a clap. Stuart and I are similar players who play fast and attacking snooker, none of the frames were scrappy or took too long. We both scored quite heavily, it’s our style to make breaks. I think we suit each other’s games, and the match didn’t get bogged down. It was good fun—a good game played in good spirits.

“It was a great win for me. Stuart’s won this tournament before and is one of the best players in the world, so to come here and win after five years ago being so disappointing, it shows that my game has improved. I felt I didn’t compete against Barry Hawkins in 2013. Today I was just looking to get comfortable in the game. It’s such a tough setup to play in if you’re not used to it, but five years have passed and I was able to cope with it a lot better this time.”

Bingham remarked: “He’s riding a wave. He’s either got Thepchaiya Un-Nooh or John Higgins next. If John gets through, he won’t give him as many chances as I did today. If he goes for his shots and they all go in he’s going to be hard to stop, but I don’t think he can keep potting them. Obviously he did today.

“It was an entertaining game. The first session had three tons and a 50 in the first four frames. I had a half-chance for a maximum, every year I try and get one here but it wasn’t meant to be. It was a free-flowing game, but I’ve come out second best.

Another seed is in danger of an early exit as Neil Robertson fell 6-3 behind against Robert Milkins. It’s a repeat of their first round clash in 2013 which Milkins won 10-8, arguably the best result of his career.

Breaks of 54 and 72 helped world number 37 Milkins go 2-0 up, then the next two were shared. Tenth seed Robertson won frame five and he led 52-0 in the sixth, only for his opponent to steal it with a 73 clearance to go 4-2 ahead.

Gloucester’s Milkins made a 91 in frame seven and took the next as well to lead 6-2. Australia’s Robertson, the 2010 Crucible king, won the last of the session by clearing the colours, but he still needs seven of the last ten frames when they return on Wednesday afternoon.

…

These were yesterday’s results.

Mark Allen played well to beat Liam Highfield, who was impressive in patches, his long game in particular was deadly. However Mark’s experience and maturity were too much for his debutant opponent. After the match, Liam was interviewed, as all players are, and this is what he had to say (BBC)

World Snooker Championship 2018: Liam Highfield grateful for Crucible debut after almost quitting

By Owen Phillips

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Liam Highfield said rounding off his season by making his World Championship debut capped a remarkable 12 months which saw him nearly quit snooker because of Crohn’s disease.

The 27-year-old went out in the first round to world number 16 Mark Allen, who said the match was closer than the 10-5 scoreline suggested.

Highfield described his Crucible bow as a “great feeling” despite the loss.

“This time last year I was in hospital,” the world number 64 added.

“To be honest I didn’t think I would ever be competing again.”

The Stoke-on-Trent potter has the same auto-immune disorder as world number 15 Ali Carter.

Chron’s disease affects the digestive system with symptoms including abdominal pain, weight loss and fatigue.

Highfield’s most serious flare-up came last year when he had to have three blood transfusions and spent a month in hospital.

“I went from 12 and-a-half stone to 9st 12lbs in three weeks,” he said.

“They thought they would have to take my bowel out and have a bag. It’s nice to just play snooker.

“I didn’t play for nine weeks and went four months without a competition. I thought maybe it was time to chuck it in because so much was against me.”

But he has returned to the top of the sport and has managed to have a “pretty good season”, reaching the fourth round at the Welsh and Northern Ireland Opens and also making the quarter-finals of the Indian Open.

He lost to eventual winner John Higgins in Visakhapatnam, but it was Highfield’s best ranking performance to date.

And making his Crucible debut has left him eager to return again soon.

“I really enjoyed it out there and felt comfortable,” Highfield added.

“I was maybe a bit surprised how comfortable I felt. In the first session I expected not to be able to pot a ball.

“I have watched loads of other players come out here and hoped I could be there. Now that it is ticked off the list and hopefully I can really go far in it one day.”

It sure puts things into perspective. The match was indeed closer than the score suggests and Liam can be proud of his achievements this season. I hope that his health improves and that he can achieve his dreams in the sport he loves.

Jamie Jones v Shaun Murphy was an entertaining match to watch and brought back memories of 2012. Jones is a bit of a mystery: he’s more than capable but disappears for long periods then suddenly produces some brilliant stuff. He did yesterday.

I didn’t see a ball from the Ding v Xiao match but the score as it stands is about what I was expecting. Playing a national hero is never easy for the Chinese players, who, BTW, always seems to draw each others…

Ricky Walden 6-3 advantage over Luca Brecel had as much to do with Luca playing badly (as he has done for most of the season since the China Championship) than Ricky returning gradually to form. I’m pleased for Ricky because he loves his snooker and because I never enjoy seeing a player’s career marred or ended by health issues.

Barry Hawkins v Stuart Carrington was … painful. Both players were struggling, and, full credits to them, both battled to the bitter end. But it wasn’t pretty. As himself said afterwards, it was a case of doing a job for Barry and he did it.

Here are the reports on Worldsnooker

http://www.worldsnooker.com/jones-stun-magician/

Monday 23 Apr 2018 07:08PM

World number 51 Jamie Jones recorded a thrilling 10-9 victory against 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy at the Betfred World Championship.

The Welshman couldn’t have qualified for the event in a more emphatic fashion. He destroyed 2016 English Open Champion Liang Wenbo 10-0 in the final round of qualifying to ensure his place here. However, he was forced to call upon all of his fighting abilities in this clash – coming from 4-1 and 8-5 down.

It was a case of déjà vu for world number eight Murphy. He lost out to Jones 10-8 in the first round in 2012 when the Welshman made his Crucible debut. The Magician has now dropped out at the first-round stage in two of the last three years following his run to the final in 2015.

Jones took the opening frame of the session, but it was Murphy who made the most significant charge towards the finish early on. He fired in consecutive breaks of 59, 102 and 101 to establish an 8-5 advantage.

Former Crucible quarter-finalist Jones re-grouped at the interval and came out firing with three frames on the bounce to level at 8-8. Murphy took the next to move one from victory, but his opponent showed his steel with a sublime run of 124 to make it 9-9. Jones made 41 early in the decider before running out of position. He then got the better of a safety exchange and added 30 to seal victory.

“I think this is my best victory,” said Neath’s 30-year-old Jones. “I’ve never faced pressure like I felt today. I’ve played plenty of deciders, but there’s pressure at the Crucible in frame one, never mind the decider. So to come through having held myself together is very pleasing. It’s all about momentum. If the interval hadn’t come today at 8-5, I think Shaun might have pulled away. It’s difficult to deal with those stops and starts with the intervals, but you’ve just got to play every frame as it comes and just try your best.

“Maybe it was meant to be. I always enjoy playing Shaun, he plays the game in the right way. He’s very entertaining and goes for his shots. It’s nice as a player to see him going for shots all the time because he won’t pot them all the time. He looks devastating when they’re going in, but if they don’t you tend to get a couple of chances, and I capitalised on them today.”

Murphy said: “I must give Jamie full credit, because when he sets foot into the Yorkshire borders there seems to be this weird change in him. That’s not me being critical, but if I was in his team I’d be trying to work out what happens to make him play far better here than he generally does elsewhere. If he can play like here then he should be higher up the rankings than he is.

“I’m just pleased I won this tournament in 2005 when I didn’t know what I was doing and had no battle scars and didn’t understand fear. I’m a bit older now and a bit more frightened.”

Asia’s top star Ding Junhui established a 6-3 advantage against compatriot Xiao Guodong.

The 2016 Crucible finalist holds an impressive record against Xiao, having won four of their five professional meetings.

Ding trailed 2-0 early on but hit back to win six of the next seven frames as he fired in contributions of 68, 124, 57 and 72. They resume on Tuesday at 10am.

http://www.worldsnooker.com/knackered-hawkins-survives-carrington-test/

Tuesday 24 Apr 2018 12:19AM

Barry Hawkins came through a marathon seven-hour battle against Stuart Carrington, winning 10-7 to reach the second round of the Betfred World Championship.

Hawkins turned 39 today though he had just 18 minutes to celebrate his birthday after finishing a late night clash at 11.42pm. But the world number six was relieved to reach the last 16, where he will face Lyu Haotian.

Londoner Hawkins has been one of the Crucible’s most consistent performers in recent years, reaching the final in 2013 and three other semi-finals. He has also shown impressive form in the past two months having got to the final of the Welsh Open and China Open, and while he wasn’t at his best against world number 56 Carrington, the result will add to his momentum.

Hawkins led 5-3 after the first session and soon extended his advantage to 7-3 tonight with breaks of 66 and 82. Carrington hit back with three frames in a row, compiling runs of 79 and 74, before Hawkins won an epic 56-minute 14th frame on the colours to lead 8-6.

Carrington took frame 15 and had first chance in the 16th, but could only make 27 and his opponent countered with 79 to go 9-7 up. Hawkins made 35 early in the next, and when Carrington missed a black off its spot, he added 38 to seal the victory.

“I’m knackered, but at least I’ve got a few days off now,” said three-time ranking event winner Hawkins. “To be honest, I don’t care how I play as long as I win. Plenty of people in the past have played really badly in the first couple of rounds and gone on to do really well and won it. For me it was just about getting through that first game.

“It’s a decent birthday present, and I’m still in the tournament. It was a battle, Stuart’s a tough player, he makes it hard for you. I was struggling with my game but I was pleased with my attitude. I stayed calm and having a bit more experience than him here definitely made a difference.

“I could see he wasn’t going to give up. I know he can score heavy when he gets going, he’s done it to a few players in the past. Luckily for me he kept missing a few and I managed to hold myself together at the end.”

Carrington said: “I was just trying to grind it out in the end because I was struggling that much. I made a bit of a match of it but I think that was down to Barry under-performing.  At 7-6 it was anybody’s game, but I made mistakes in the end.”

Meanwhile, Ricky Walden took a 6-3 lead over 13th seed Luca Brecel in a match which plays to a finish on Tuesday afternoon.

Walden, a Crucible semi-finalist in 2013, went 2-0 up with a top break of 68. Frame three came down to a respotted black and Brecel fluked it to a centre pocket to halve his deficit.

Three-time ranking event winner Walden then knocked in runs of 105, 90, 74 and 76 to take four of the next five frames and go 6-2 ahead. Belgium’s Brecel took the last of the session with an 89 to trail by three overnight.

On Sunday morning, the possibility that the tournament could lose three more seeds, after the Defending Champion exit, looked very real and Worldsnooker had published this article, quoting Joe Perry, explaining why having to qualify my be a blessing in disguise.

Sunday 22 Apr 2018 10:27AM

The qualifying format for the Betfred World Championship was changed in 2015, with all 128 players needing to win three matches to make it to the Crucible.

The prevailing school of thought at the time was that this new format would leave the players who made it through three best-of-19 matches too drained to go deep in the final stages. Peter Ebdon’s view was that it would be “virtually impossible” for any player coming through the qualifiers to go on to the latter stages at Sheffield’s Theatre of Dreams.

The following year, Ding Junhui disproved that theory when, having dropped out of the top 16, he blitzed through the qualifiers and went all the way to the final before losing 18-14 to Mark Selby. In the semi-finals, Ding had beaten another unseeded player: 45-year-old Alan McManus who reached the last four at the Crucible for the first time since 1993.

To balance the argument, in 2015 only three of the top 16 seeds lost in the first round, and only one of the qualifiers (Anthony McGill) made the quarter-finals. Similarly in 2017, four of the qualifiers made it to round two, and only one of those (Stephen Maguire) went on to the last eight.

But on the first day of this year’s Championship, it was plain to see that those making the short journey from the English Institute of Sport, where the final qualifying round finished on Wednesday, to the Crucible were sharp, confident and eager to keep their winning streaks going.

Joe Perry made a century and seven more breaks over 50 in a 10-4 win over defending champion Mark Selby. Maguire surged 6-3 ahead of Ronnie O’Sullivan, while Lyu Haotian and Graeme Dott built 6-3 leads over Marco Fu and Ali Carter respectively. Of the seeded players, only Kyren Wilson bucked the trend, going 7-2 up on Matthew Stevens.

After one of his best career wins, Perry said: “I don’t think fatigue is such a big thing in snooker. The fact that you’ve won three matches means you’re always high on confidence, and that overrides a little bit of fatigue. Maybe if you progress deep into the competition it might play a part. That’s a problem I’d love to have. It’s very tough to get through those three matches, but once you get here you have a better chance.”

Selby concurred: “If the qualifiers finished two weeks before the main event it would be different. But with only a two day gap, they are bringing that sharpness with them.”

The record for the most seeds losing in the first round is eight, set in 1980 and equalled in 1992 and 2012. As snooker’s strength in depth continues to grow, that record will surely be broken – possibly in the coming days.

As we enter day 3, the prospect of beating the record eight seeds losing looks less likely.

Indeed,in the morning, Ronnie fought back to beat Stephen Maguire by 10-7 

In the afternoon, Ali Carter did the same against Graeme Dott, coming out a 10-8 winner after an extremely hard-fought quality match.

Here is the report on Worldsnooker

Sunday 22 Apr 2018 06:55PM

Ali Carter recovered a 6-2 deficit to beat Graeme Dott 10-8 and reach the last 16 of the Betfred World Championship.

Carter showed trademark grit and determination as he won eight of the last ten frames, punching the air in celebration at the end of one of his best Crucible fight backs.

His reward is a showpiece clash with Ronnie O’Sullivan in the second round on Friday and Saturday; a repeat of the 2008 and 2012 finals, both won by O’Sullivan. World number 15 Carter has had a disappointing season by his standards, reaching just one ranking event semi-final, but he has the chance to finish on a high at his favourite venue.

Chelmsford’s Carter began today’s session 6-3 behind and took the first two frames with runs of 62 and 108, then got the better of a scrappy frame to make it 6-6. The next two were shared then 2006 World Champion Dott made a 75 to lead 8-7.

Back came Carter with runs of 69 and 56 to lead 9-8, and he looked to be cruising over the winning line in frame 18 until he ran out of position on 63. Dott had a chance to clear but missed a short range red on 22, and when the Scot failed to escape from a snooker his chance was gone.

“Yesterday Graeme thought the job was done, but it wasn’t done,” said 38-year-old Carter. “You can never think you’ve got a match in the bag and that will be a lesson for him. I just wanted to win. I want to be here. I saw what Stephen Maguire said today about feeling left behind a bit. I felt a bit the same and I knew I needed to do something about it.

“I have been through a lot in my life. I have been very ill and overcome it and I wouldn’t have got over that if I didn’t have that personality and fight in me. I used that today.

“It’s great to be involved in a match with Ronnie. I’m very much looking forward to it. He’s red hot favourite but I’m going to turn up and have a little go and see what happens.

“He knows how good I am because we practise with each other. He has a lot of respect for me as a person. He likes my style of play, the way I hit the ball and the way I go out and play snooker. I am a good match for him.”

Dott said: “I was rubbish all the way through the game to be honest. The only time I started to feel normal was at 6-6, when I changed a couple of things and I started being able to hit the white.

“I would rather lose here playing really badly than losing in the qualifiers. But I’m bitterly disappointed with the way I played. Lots of people will criticise me, but nobody will criticise me harder than myself. I only had one break over 50 and I managed to lose 10-8 which is testament to my match play and determination and all the other rubbish that everybody talks about.”

On the other table, 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy finished 5-4 ahead of Jamie Jones. From 1-0 down, Murphy took four frames in a row with top breaks of 75 and 137. Jones – who beat Murphy on his Crucible debut in 2012 – stopped the rot in frame six with a 27 clearance which included an excellent pot on the final black.

Murphy then made it 5-2 but it was Welshman Jones who finished the session strongly, firing runs of 94 and 114 to trail by just one overnight. They resume on Monday at 2.30pm.

When I wrote my predictions, I tipped Dott, in part because I had seen how well he played last week, in part because he had the upper hand on Ali in previous matches at the Crucible, and in part because I had witnessed Ali getting frustrated to the point of playing silly shots in this very arena. But there was absolutely nothing of that yesterday: Ali fought with the heart of a lion and all credits to him for the way he ruined my predictions.

In the evening, Kyren Wilson coasted through, beating an ailing Matthew Stevens by 10-3, whilst young Lyu HaoTian was a 10-5 winner over Marco Fu. It’s great to see such a young player do well, and this one in particular, because, when Lyu first came on the tour, at 15, he wasn’t ready, and it looked like he had lost control of his life, being all lost in an alien country, barely more than a child. But he’s come back, looking very mature for his years. As for Marco, he deserves every credit for giving it a good go, despite his eye issues. He denied that his eyes issue were a problem, but then he’s never been one to make excuses,even when the problem is very real. In an interview before the tournament he admitted still seeing “floaters”I wish him the best, I really hope he can recover fully and come back, because it would be very sad if his career was to end this way.

Here is the reports on Worldsnooker

Wilson v Stevens

Sunday 22 Apr 2018 09:23PM

Kyren Wilson produced a blistering display to dispatch 2003 UK Champion Matthew Stevens 10-3 in their first round match at the Betfred World Championship.

Stevens (world finalist in 2000 and 2005) hadn’t appeared at the Theatre of Dreams since 2015 and admitted after qualifying that there were times he’d wondered if he would ever make the final stages of the World Championship again.

In contrast, 26-year-old Wilson reached his maiden Triple Crown final at the Masters in January, where he lost out to Mark Allen and it seems that the peak of the Warrior’s Crucible career could well be ahead of him.

Wilson has also appeared in two ranking finals so far this season, but losses to Ding Junhui at the Yushan World Open and Ronnie O’Sullivan at the English Open have seen him fall short of silverware. He will be hoping to contest at the latter stages this week after runs to the World Championship quarter-finals in 2016 and 2017.

The 2015 Shanghai Masters champion came into this evening’s session with a healthy 7-2 advantage and he compounded that lead immediately with a fine century run of 121. Stevens did pull a frame back, but a further two on the bounce for Wilson including a break of 54 saw him comfortably over the line.

Wilson said: “It’s a very satisfying win. Matthew is a classy opponent, he’s been there and done it before, so a 10-3 scoreline is flattering. I feel like I did most of the damage in the first session. I’m pleased to get the victory, and I’m going to go home and come back refreshed for the second round.

“It was a very tough draw in the first round to get Matthew Stevens. It wasn’t long ago that he was a seed here and I could have been drawing him. I would like to say what a classy guy he is to call his fouls on himself, not once but twice. There was one in the 12th frame where he could have got back to 8-4 and then he would have been back in the game.

“I do need to improve in certain aspects, but it was quite a pleasing performance. I felt like I played well, I didn’t miss anything too simple which is nice. If you’re not missing the easy balls you’re going to be there or thereabouts. It’s just about getting my preparation right now for the second round and coming back refreshed.”

Afterwards Stevens reflected on a disappointing defeat and admitted that picking up a virus ahead of yesterday’s first session had a big impact on his performance.

“I hate going into matches having not slept and feeling ill. I don’t like making excuses, but yesterday afternoon I didn’t want to play. I felt like death warmed up, it was horrible and gutting, but that’s life and worse things happen,” said the 40-year-old. “I felt a million times better today and even at 7-2 I fancied my chances. Kyren would have had to miss a few balls, he is a good player and it didn’t happen so that’s the end of it.”

Fu v Lyu

Sunday 22 Apr 2018 09:34PM

Lyu Haotian, one of a growing army of talented young Chinese players on the World Snooker Tour, enjoyed a superb 10-5 victory over Marco Fu in his first appearance at the final stages of the Betfred World Championship.

It was a tough return to action for Fu, who has missed the last three months after undergoing laser eye surgery for retinal degeneration. The three-time ranking event winner was clearly rusty, but that’s to take nothing away from his 20-year-old opponent who showcased his break-building skills.

Sheffield-based Lyu has had his best season as a pro so far, notably reaching the semi-finals of the Northern Ireland Open. He now faces Barry Hawkins or Stuart Carrington in the last 16 at the Crucible and will be confident of another deep run.

Breaks of 122, 127 and 87 helped Lyu build a 6-3 lead in the first session on Saturday. Fu, a former Crucible semi-finalist, failed to score a point in the first two frames tonight as Lyu extended his advantage to 8-3.  A run of 49 gave Fu frame 12 and he then found some rhythm with a 120 in the next to close to 8-5 at the interval.

But there was to be no fight back as Lyu compiled breaks of 79 and 61 to win the last two frames.

“I’m very happy to win, it was a really enjoyable match,” said Lyu in his press conference, via an interpreter. “I’m happy to have been able to perform well. I was expecting to be nervous on my debut, but it turned out to be very enjoyable. I know Marco was not feeling well about his eyes so maybe that affected his performance and contributed to the result.

“I just hope to continue to give this kind of performance in the next round. I never think about winning the tournament, I just want to play well, especially at this venue.

“Living in Sheffield is very convenient, it gives me a certain kind of advantage because it’s very easy to get to my practice tables, so I can go there whenever I want.”

Fu said: “Overall, between the two sessions, Lyu was by far the stronger player so 10-5 is a fair score. Lyu was superb. I’ve played at the Crucible as a 20-year-old myself and I know how difficult it is, but for him it was just like practice. He rose to the occasion, and I think he played even better here at the Crucible than he did in the qualifiers.

“My eyes are good, it didn’t really affect my game. I just lost to a better player, simple as that. I’ve got a few months off now so I’ll probably take a rest and have a few checkups. I will be back next season. This tournament came a bit too soon for me because I really lack match practice. I would have loved to have had one more tournament before coming here but the timing just wasn’t right.”

And, finally, two matches started yesterday, due to finish today: Mark Allen leads Liam Highfield by 6-3, and I would be very surprised if he didnt finish the job this morning, and Shaun Murphy leads Jamie Jones by 5-4. That one is far from over. Jamie Jones had a great run here in 2012, he’s up for this and he looked very sharp in the qualifiers. Shaun has been suffering from neck and shoulders injuries and it’s hard to tell whether he’s fully fit or not.

Oh… and

Ronnie beat Stephen Maguire by 10-7, recovering from a terrible first session where he trailed 4-0 at the first MSI. I must admit that I wasn’t confident, but now I’m extremely pleased to have watched it to the end. Ronnie showed both his commitment and his fighting qualities there!

Ronnie was extremely embarrassed by his poor display yesterday, as he explained during his press conference.

Here is the report on Worldsnooker (excerpt)

Sunday 22 Apr 2018 02:14PM

Ronnie O’Sullivan overhauled Stephen Maguire’s three-frame overnight lead to come through a 10-7 winner in their opening round clash at the Betfred World Championship.

O’Sullivan is enjoying a career-best season in terms of ranking title victories. He has equalled the record jointly held by Stephen Hendry, Ding Junhui and Mark Selby of five ranking crowns in a single campaign.

Victory at the Crucible this year would not only see the Rocket break that record, but he would also historically eclipse Stephen Hendry’s 18 Triple Crown titles and draw level with Steve Davis and Ray Reardon on six World Championship wins.

Five-time Crucible king O’Sullivan and former UK Champion Maguire have now met on 22 occasions. O’Sullivan has dominated the vast majority of those meetings with today’s victory being his 18^thcompared to the Scot’s four wins.

Maguire outplayed O’Sullivan in the opening session yesterday; he was 4-0 up and ended 6-3 ahead. However, 33-time ranking event winner O’Sullivan landed several key blows in the early exchanges this morning to turn the tide.

With the score at 6-4, Maguire had looked set to restore his three frame advantage but he broke down on 49, missing a straightforward red. O’Sullivan punished him with a sublime clearance of 86 to pull within one frame.

World number 18 Maguire then had a chance to steal the next frame on the colours, but left the final pink in the jaws of the top right pocket and allowed world number two O’Sullivan to draw level at 6-6.

Maguire did regain the lead in the 13th frame but from there O’Sullivan charged to the finish, taking four in a row with top runs of 53 and 77 to win 10-7.

“The first session was so embarrassing, I felt like giving the fans their money back,” said O’Sullivan, who now meets Ali Carter or Graeme Dott in the last 16. “I wanted to battle through, and make the scoreline a bit respectable. When I got three frames on the board I went home thinking, I’ve had a result really. It gave me a little bit of belief today.”

 At the age of 42, O’Sullivan is playing perhaps the best snooker of his career, and he insists that is partly due to an improved diet.

“The biggest thing for me this year is how I’ve tackled how I eat,” he added. “I’m amazed by how good I feel and how healthy I am, it’s unbelievable. I’ve always been fit, but through injuries I couldn’t run as much and I ballooned up to nearly 15 stone. I’m down to 13 stone now, so I’ve lost two stone and I haven’t exercised any more than usual.

“I’ve changed what I eat, I’m never hungry, and I’ve got massive amounts of energy. I’d never thought I’d like celery, but I’m eating so much of it now. I suppose compared to the average person in Britain, I’ll always look well because we aren’t the healthiest society. If you go to other continents, they eat proper food, whereas over here it’s all pre-packed meals and that’s why we have a problem with obesity.

“I’m ready for the next 40 years. They have a saying in China, you get two lives: 0 to 40 and then 40 to 80. I’m ready for the 40-80.”

Maguire said: “I only had the lead because Ronnie was so bad yesterday. I was under no illusions that I was playing well enough to be 6-3 up, so I wasn’t surprised when he came out today because I knew he would improve and he did, while I stayed the same. There were two frames that I could have nicked to make it 8-5 but that doesn’t mean I would have won the match from then.

“Ronnie never gives up against me. I’ve seen him in matches throw in the towel, I wish he would do that with me! He has giving me some hidings in the past which were good to watch but that match was there for the taking if I had stepped it up.

“I am accepting it now that I’ll be outside the top 16 and qualifying for this one. The odds are that I’ll be floating around the top 32 for the next few years. I just have to accept that these boys are a step better than me. It’s hard to accept but it is accepted.

“These players have improved where as I have probably just stayed the same. It shows because I’ve not won a tournament in years and even then, I’ve only won a few.”

And big thanks to Tai Chengzhe for these images of the match

MissingClip 2018 WSC: preview of the Ronnie O’Sullivan – Stephen Maguire match (Session1, BBC)

2018 WSC: Ronnie O’Sullivan – Stephen Maguire 1st session

MissingClip 2018 WSC: MSI of the Ronnie O’Sullivan – Stephen Maguire match (Session1, BBC)

2018 WSC: Ronnie O’Sullivan – Stephen Maguire 2nd session (with BBC preview and review)

MissingClip 2018 WSC: MSI of the Ronnie O’Sullivan – Stephen Maguire match (Session2, BBC)