The defending champion is still in the tournament.

Ronnie beat Martin O’Donnell by 6-1 in the quarter finals round.

It looks like a comfortable win “on screen” but really it wasn’t. Ronnie started and finished with a century, but in between, the match was pretty scrappy and Ronnie did show signs of frustration at times when balls kept running awkwardly again and again. In the pre-Peters days, this is a match he could well have lost, but he promptly refocused, showed patience, kept playing the right shots, and it eventually paid off.

He will now face Tom Ford in the semi-finals. Tom did beat Joe Perry by 6-2, a result and a scoreline that, I reckon, very few expected.

Big Thanks to Tai Chengzhe for those images

Coverage

The ES preview

MissingClip

The ES mid-session analysis

MissingClip

The BBC one had Barry Hearn as a guest. The first part did show that Ronnie is far from being the only one amongst the top players not happy with the way things are. Barry Hearn, as usual, talked well. However his motto being “I want to create opportunities for the young players”, I’d like him to explain why there aren’t any actually coming through this system. Because other than Kyren Wilson, and to an extend Jak Lisowski, I don’t see any and they both are over 25. At that age, Ronnie, John Higgins, and Mark Willams all had won the Triple Crown, and players like Matthew Stevens and Paul Hunter were established, top players. They all came through the tiered system. Of course, there are promising young Chinese players, but they have a whole development system in China, and even so, none of them seems to be able to challenge Ding status any time soon.

They also touched the “slow play” issue. I don’t see why something new should be put into place. Section IV of the rules is there, just enforce it. And BTW, I wonder if Barry Hearn knows it exists because what he is proposing in the end, is already there.

The  ES review

MissingClip

Hearn’s interview with Eurosport (basically saying the same thing he did on BBC)

The action (full BBC coverage)

In the media

The (short) report on BBC website

UK Championship: Ronnie O’Sullivan beats Martin O’Donnell by 6-1

By Shamoon Hafez

BBC Sport at the York Barbican

Defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan stayed on course for a record seventh UK Championship title by beating Martin O’Donnell 6-1 to reach the semi-finals.

O’Sullivan is also two victories away from a record 19 tournament wins in BBC ‘Triple Crown’ events – the World and UK Championships, and Masters.

He started with a century as the first two frames were shared, then made breaks of 79 and 81, and a further ton.

….

O’Sullivan’s path to Sunday’s final opened up after the shock exits of world number five Judd Trump and China’s number one Ding Junhui.

Though he was irritated by moving photographers and spectators walking in and out of the arena – speaking to the referee on a number of occasions – he managed to maintain his composure against O’Donnell.

A 102 looked to have set the tone against the world number 52, who beat Ding in the previous round, and although he was pegged back to 1-1, O’Sullivan took five frames in a row to advance comfortably to his 11th UK semi-final.

“That was a tough game for me and he is a player you want to do well because he puts the work in and I’m sure he will be a top-16 player very soon,” O’Sullivan told BBC Two.

“I had never played Martin before and you never know what to expect in that situation. I didn’t know his scoring record, or his potting, so I just eased my way into it, but it was a good match because I had to be patient.”

…

And the report on Worldsnooker

Friday 7 Dec 2018 05:03PM

Ronnie O’Sullivan moved within two wins of a record seventh Betway UK Championship title and 19th Triple Crown victory by beating Martin O’Donnell 6-1 in the quarter-finals.

The Rocket will now meet Tom Ford (Saturday at 1pm) who reached his first Triple Crown semi-final by beating Joe Perry 6-2.

In winning the title last year in York, O’Sullivan equalled Steve Davis’ record of six UK victories and Stephen Hendry’s mark of 18 Triple Crowns, so he is within touching distance of pushing the boundaries of his remarkable career a step further.

O’Sullivan made a fast start today with a break of 102 in the opening frame before O’Donnell, who has never reached a ranking semi-final, fought back by winning the second on the colours. World number three O’Sullivan regained the lead with a run of 79 then got the better of a 35-minute fourth frame to lead 3-1 at the interval.

World number 59 O’Donnell had chances in frame five but couldn’t take them and his opponent cleared from the last red for 4-1. And O’Sullivan cruised through the last two frames with 81 and 106, the latter break taking his career century tally to 984.

“It was nip and tuck at the start, I felt fortunate to be 3-1 up at the interval,” admitted Chigwell’s O’Sullivan, who first won this title 25 years ago. “I just tried to be patient. It was one of my better matches in the tournament in terms of my all round performance. Martin kept it tight at the start and I sensed he believed he could win. I had to draw on all of my experience.

“I’m playing for the fans because they have supported me so well over the years. I love to win and pick trophies up but that shouldn’t come at the expense of playing for the crowd.”

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s semi-final, O’Sullivan added: “Tom Ford is a fantastic player, attacking and fearless with nothing to lose.”

And please read Lewis’s excellent comment below. He’s absolutely right. And with a ban from adds about betting just being decided things don’t look great for the future.

Also, suggestions that Ronnie could be banned for his comments about “breakaway” are ludicrous in my opinion. I don’t think this could be justified in front of a court of justice. He’s not been cheating, he’s not been insulting, he has just been talking of the possibility of him getting away from the main tour, and playing on another – for now purely hypothetical – platform with no ambition to create an actual rival tour. Yes, the biggest box office player suggesting that he might go away because he’s unhappy might be damaging. But then, hey! You can’t force him to be happy.

On a more optimistic note, Ronnie is now 12th in the race to the Grand Prix. So he will qualify for it. And he isn’t badly placed for the Players Championship either.

Yesterday in York decided on the quarter finals line-up and it didn’t yield what most expected. Indeed in the afternoon, bot Judd Trump and Ding Junhui crashed out. Actually I’m not surprised at Dings defeat, he never looked in any sort of form in the earlier rounds. As for Judd Trump, I expected Joe Perry to give him a serious challenge but still expected Judd’s potting power to get him through. Not so. Once again Judd has been found out when forced to play a game that isn’t his natural “pot them all” approach, and it’s strange because he has a very good safety when he applies himself to it.

Here is the report on Worldsnooker:

Thursday 6 Dec 2018 05:53PM

Martin O’Donnell scored the best win of his career as he beat two-time champion Ding Junhui 6-4 at the Betway UK Championship, while another former winner, Judd Trump, was also knocked out, losing 6-4 to Joe Perry.

World number 59 O’Donnell had never won a match in this tournament in five previous attempts, but has got through four rounds this time in York to ensure his biggest career pay-day of £22,500. And he has earned the chance to take on defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals on Friday at 1pm.

London’s 32-year-old O’Donnell has enjoyed a significant improvement this season as he had never previously gone beyond the last 16 of a ranking event, but has now made three quarter-finals, having reached the same stage of the China Championship and International Championship. With the help of former world number 16 Ian McCulloch, his coach for the past three years, O’Donnell has found consistency in his performances and a knack of dealing with pressure on the big stage.

From 3-2 down against Ding, O’Donnell took three frames in a row with top breaks of 44, 49 and 90. China’s Ding, who won this event in 2005 and 2009, pulled one back and had a scoring chance in frame ten but ran out of position on 21 and played safe. O’Donnell knocked in an excellent long red to initiate a match-winning run of 41.

“I’m not here just to get to quarter-finals so I haven’t achieved anything yet,” said O’Donnell, who has beaten four Chinese players in this event. “I’ll relax tonight and get ready for tomorrow. Ronnie is the greatest player ever and it will be a privilege to play him. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and take the game to him. I practise six or seven hours a day believing that when I get my chance I’ll be able to take it.

“A lot of players seem to struggle to play their own game against Ronnie. I’ll find out tomorrow what it’s like to play him. He’s got that aura around him. But I’ll just focus on my own game and see what chances I get. That will be the challenge for me, not to look over at him in his seat or worry about what he’s doing. I’ve got to stay calm, be patient, be aggressive and see what happens. He could beat me 6-0 and it has still been a good tournament for me.

“I have sat in many venues watching Ronnie and cheering him on myself. I’d imagine the crowd will be one-sided tomorrow. But crowds like a battle so hopefully I can stand up and produce that.”

World number 21 Perry enjoyed a superb win over Trump to reach the UK quarter-finals for the sixth time. Fifth seed Trump had arrived in York in top form having won the Northern Ireland Open last month, but his winning streak comes to an end and the 2011 UK Championship remains his only Triple Crown title.

Cambridgeshire’s 44-year-old Perry, who reached the final of the European Masters in October, will now face Tom Ford on Friday afternoon.

Trump made breaks of 81 and 97 in taking a 3-1 lead then Perry hit back strongly after the interval, making a run of 100 in frame five then a vital yellow-to-pink clearance in the sixth for 3-3. Trump regained the lead with a break of 100 but Perry took a scrappy eighth frame and cleared from the last red in the ninth to go ahead for the first time. And The Gentleman finished the contest in style with a 136 total clearance in the tenth.

“Judd blasted me off the table before the interval, which is what you expect when you play him,” said Perry, who won his only ranking title at the 2015 Players Championship. “I got back into it and rode my luck.

“I don’t think I’m going to get better at snooker at my age, but I can still learn, and over the last five years my temperament has got so much better. I can deal with stuff out there now, whether I win or lose. I’m not going to lose any matches any more through bad temperament. You just have to stick in there whatever happens.

“Tom Ford is a very talented player who hasn’t fulfilled his potential, he’s a great scorer and very natural. I always enjoy playing him.”

Trump said: “We both had loads of chances and missed quite a few balls. There was a big turning point at 4-4 when he doubled the last red. But before that I had chances to go 4-2 and didn’t take them. Joe got a bit of run at the wrong moments for me.

“I haven’t felt great in this tournament, I have just been scraping through and you can’t rely on that. I should have got through the match today with my experience but I missed too many balls. Sometimes I try too hard instead of being relaxed.”

The evening matches went the way most expected probably. Stuart Bingham has been scoring heavily this week, and that, combined with a touch of luck here and there, was too much for Akani. Kyren confirmed that he’s a man in form. Barry stayed with him before the MSI but, after that, it was very one-sided.

Here is the report on Worldsnooker:

Thursday 6 Dec 2018 11:17PM

Kyren Wilson emphatically reached his first Betway UK Championship quarter-final after a 6-2 defeat of world number six Barry Hawkins.

In fact, prior to this week, Wilson had never been beyond the last 32 here in York. However, the 26-year-old has enjoyed the best calendar year of his career so far in 2018.

The Warrior was runner-up to Mark Allen at the Masters, appeared in the World Championship semi-finals and has picked up silverware at the Paul Hunter Classic and Six Red World Championship. He will be hoping to cap off a golden 12 months with a maiden Triple Crown title this week.

Hawkins established the early advantage this evening after making a contribution of 87 to take the opener. However, that was the only time he would be lead for the remainder of the tie, as his opponent turned on the style.

Breaks of 69 and 49 helped Wilson into a 2-1 lead, before a century run of 102 from Hawkins saw him restore parity at the mid-session.

When they returned Wilson stormed to victory with a clean sweep of frames. Breaks of 95, 78, 81 and 61 allowed him to him win four on the bounce and secure the impressive 6-2 win. He will now face 2015 World Champion Stuart Bingham in the last eight.

“It was nip and tuck up until the interval and It looked like it was going to be really close. Once play got back underway I just thought I needed to stay positive,” said Wilson. “If I got into a bit of a tactical safety battle he might have outplayed me. He gave me a chance in the fifth frame and I felt like from there I really had to punish him. After that I had the momentum.

“It will be a clash of the top 16 against Stuart in the quarter-finals. Nowadays that isn’t always the case at this point in an event, as the standard is so strong and people you wouldn’t expect to get this far are creeping into the latter stages.

“Stuart is a very good player and I always enjoy matches with him. He attacks, goes for his shots and scores quite quickly. It is always an enjoyable match and I will look forward to it.”

Bingham defeated Thailand’s Sunny Akani 6-2 to set up his quarter-final showdown with Wilson.

His victory ensures he will compete in the UK Championship last eight for the sixth time. Thailand’s Akani bows out at the last 16 stage for the second consecutive year, after he lost out 6-5 in a memorable clash with Ronnie O’Sullivan 12 months ago.

Bingham top scored in this afternoon’s clash with a run of 117. His last eight meeting with Wilson will take place tomorrow evening at 7pm.

So this is what we have today:

Afternoon: Ronnie v Martin O’Donnel and Joe Perry v Tom Ford

Evening: Stuart Bingham v Kyren Wilson and Mark Allen v Stephen Maguire

There is a clear favourite in each of the afternoon matches, although neither Ronnie or Joe should underestimated their opponent. The evening id definitely “heavyweight” and both matches will probably be very close.

 

It was a day of deciders at the Barbican… The birthday boy, Ronnie had a swift win – 6-1 – over Jack Lisowski, but all three other matches finished on a 6-5 score line.

Everything about the Ronnie v Lisowski match is here.

Stephen Maguire was 4-0 down at the MSI and looked on hiw ay to Glasgow. But the MSI turned things on their head and the second part of the match offered the fans a thrilling come back that included three centuries and a 97 from the Scot. Indeed Stephen won five on the trot before Mark briefly rallied. But that was that, a 67 by Maguire in the decider sealed the fate of the match.

Here is the report on Worldsnooker: (excerpt)

Wednesday 5 Dec 2018 05:03PM

Stephen Maguire made a brilliant clearance in the deciding frame to beat Mark Williams 6-5 in the last 16 of the Betway UK Championship.

Ronnie O’Sullivan also booked his place in Friday’s quarter-finals in York by hammering Jack Lisowski 6-1.

World Champion Williams let a 4-0 lead slip as his hopes of winning snooker’s two biggest ranking titles in the same year disappeared. Glasgow’s Maguire, who had told his father to “get the car ready” when he trailed 4-0 at the interval, produced one of the best fightbacks of his career as he set up a quarter-final with Mark Allen or Neil Robertson.

Maguire has struggled to find his best form in recent years, but has shown a significant improvement this season and is now guaranteed a place at the Masters for the first time since 2016 (for the Race to the Masters click here).

Welshman Williams made a top break of 81 in taking the first four frames, but Maguire was a different animal after the interval as he piled in runs of 122, 120, 109 and 97 to go 5-4 ahead. He had several chances to seal victory in frame ten, notably missing the final yellow when leading by 20 points. Handed a lifeline, Williams cleared for 5-5.

And two-time UK Champion Williams had first opportunity in the decider, making 33 before running out of  position and playing safe. Maguire spotted a plant among the pack of reds and executed it perfectly to set up his chance. The last red was tight against a side cushion but he doubled it to a centre pocket and went on to make 63 to clinch the result.

“I’ve never made a comeback like that,” said 37-year-old Maguire. “For the first four frames I couldn’t have been any worse. I told my dad to get the car ready at the interval. It was 2.20pm so I thought we could be finished by 3pm and back in Glasgow by 7pm. I decided to pull the cue right back and hope for the best. To get back to 4-3 I kept him off the table. I have been in his position and no one likes their opponent coming back at him.

“I twitched the yellow at 5-4 when I thought the game was done. When I had the double on the red in the last frame I just went for it because I had decided at 4-0 I was going to go for everything. I am free-rolling now because I should have been out. I am going to keep playing the same way in my next match.

“It’s a big scalp for me because I haven’t been challenging the top boys so to beat the World Champion when he has been playing well – it doesn’t get better than that.”

The evening session provided two more matches going the full distance, and late into the night as well.

The Mark Allen v Neil Robertson clash came across as a bit strange in my eyes in that, from the start Mark Allen looked the better player, but it didn’t really show in the score. Neil Robertson kept plugging away, and, quite extraordinarily found himself 5-4 up, with a mere 79% pot success. Mark Allen then stepped up a gear or two and finished with two centuries.

The players were also distracted by … a technical incident. Microsoft Windows interfering.

2018 UK Champs: Neil Robertson – Mark Allen match (Windows Updates are available to install)

I didn’t see anything from the other match, but it came as no surprise to me that it was extremely slow going despite the fact that both players actually made some very decent breaks; indeed Lu Ning is naturally a very slow player and, him not being used to the big stage surely wasn’t going to help the matter.

Here is the report on Worldsnooker:

Thursday 6 Dec 2018 12:42AM

Mark Allen booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Betway UK Championship after emerging a 6-5 victor in a thrilling clash with Australia’s Neil Robertson.

Victory for the Pistol sees him reach the quarter-finals of the UK Championship for the first time since 2013. While 2010 World Champion Robertson continues a poor run of results against Allen, having now lost their last four meetings.

The Thunder from Down Under was first to get a frame on the board this evening. However, 2011 UK Championship runner-up Allen responded with breaks of 77 and 62 on his way to taking three frames on the bounce to lead 3-1 at the mid-session.

Robertson then clawed his way back into the tie by clinching a glut of tight frames. After claiming a 27-minute fifth, the two-time UK Champion won the following two on the final black, by a single point, to lead 4-3.

Allen restored parity, before 14-time ranking event winner Robertson extraordinarily won another frame by a single point to move one from victory at 5-4. However, it wasn’t to be for the Australian, as Allen summoned his best snooker at the crucial moment.

The Northern Irishman surged over the finishing line from behind in typically steely fashion, firing in back-to-back century runs of 102 and 114 to clinch an impressive victory.

The Pistol now faces Stephen Maguire in the quarter-finals after the Scot came from 4-0 down to beat Mark Williams. However, Allen admitted to feeling the pressure this evening after celebrating prematurely when potting a long pink prior to match ball in the decider.

“It was a bit silly of me to celebrate when I did. I wondered what I had done,” said Allen. “It was the most pressure I have probably ever felt potting the final four balls, but luckily enough I did it.

“I felt like I was playing the better snooker this evening. Yes there were errors, but I thought I was the better player. You aren’t going to beat a class act like Neil too often from 5-4 down. He didn’t score a point in the last two frames so it was a good way to close out the match.”

Tom Ford booked his first ever Triple Crown quarter-final appearance with a late night 6-5 win over China’s Lu Ning.

There was never more than a frame between the pair in an epic clash which lasted four hours and 45 minutes. Ford top scored with a century run of 108. The Leicester potter will now face either Judd Trump or Joe Perry in the last eight.

Ford said: “I could see from the first frame that he was playing really slowly and normally when that happens my head goes and I find it really difficult to stay concentrated. So the thing I am most pleased about with this win, is that I hung in there and managed to get over the line.

“I honestly don’t think I have played particularly well so far in this tournament. I’ve had a few 6-5 wins and Alan McManus didn’t turn up in that match. The draw opened up a bit for me, but I know I will have to play better in the quarter-final.”

Speaking about “Slow play”, some journalist working for the BBC had reported that Jak Jones had been blaming Leo Scullion, the referee, for putting him off his game by asking the players to play “more attacking”.  That would have been out of order because, under section IV of the rules, the referee is entitled to intervene if they thing that a player is taking a unecessary long time over the selection or execution of the shots, but has no right to make any sort of call about the style of play itself. Yesterday, it transpired that Leo had spoken to the players about the time they were taking over their shot selection, which was perfectly within his rights. And Jak Jones himself came on twitter fuming because his quotes had been taken out of context, making it look a completely different story than what it was: he never blamed anyone for his defeat and honestly said – during his interview – that Akani deserved the win as he was the better player.

This happens quite often, media building a sensationalist story out of nothing or not much, by taking quotes out of context, or by reporting only part of what was said. And, it happens even more with the “high profile” players. Witnessing this was the reason why I started recording and publishing the entire postmatch interviews. It didn’t go down well, neither with some journalists, nor with WS, and it eventually got me in trouble.

Yesterday we saw the conclusion of the last 32 round.

It produced this last 16 line-up,  with 10 of the last 16 still there plus Jack Lisowski who is likely to get into the top 16 after this tournament. Judd Trump is probably the one with the easiest path to the semi-finals although Joe Perry is more than capable to cause him problems. Ronnie faces Jack Lisowski today and they are unlikely to get warned for slow play. Jack is certainly dangerous and I don’t think he will offer Ronnie any gift for his birthday, not during the match anyway!

Here are the reports on Worldsnooker:

Afternoon session

Tuesday 4 Dec 2018 05:17PM

Jack Lisowski scored a 6-3 win over Marco Fu at the Betway UK Championship to set up a last-16 clash with Ronnie O’Sullivan – and possibly seal a debut at the Masters.

Lisowski will face defending champion O’Sullivan on Wednesday at 1pm in York for a place in the quarter-finals. Tickets are still available – for details click here.

Gloucestershire’s Lisowski is enjoying the most consistent season of his career having won 32 matches in nine ranking events. As a result he could climb into the top 16 for the first time and earn a  place at the Masters in January. He could still be edged out of the elite by other players, notably Joe Perry if he reaches the final, but with every win Lisowski’s place in the Race to the Masters  looks more secure.

Breaks of 69 and 109 helped Lisowski take a 3-0 lead today. Fu took three of the next four with a top run of 119 to close to 4-3, but Lisowski got the better of two scrappy frames to seal victory.

“It could be a cracking match against Ronnie, I think we are the second and third-fastest players on tour,” said 27-year-old Lisowski. “I hope I can keep up with him and score. The way I play, if I go for my shots and have a really good day then 99 per cent of the time I will win because I can be hard to play against. But Ronnie is the same and a real handful as we all know.

“My recent consistency is still all new to me and maybe I can start to believe I will beat these top players. It will be a really good test to see where my game is at. Ronnie can blitz people and beat them 6-0 – but I have a chance if things go my way and he has an off day.

“I am trying to win every tournament I enter now, until it happens I won’t really believe it is possible. But I am very happy to be in the last 16 here, and have done a lot to help my Masters chances.”

Judd Trump earned a match against Joe Perry by beating Mark King 6-2 with a top break of 100. World number five Trump is going for back-to-back titles having captured the recent Northern Ireland Open and has now won ten consecutive matches.

“You keep putting yourself in position, that is what you have to do,” said Bristol’s Trump, whose only Triple Crown title came at this event in 2011. “It is never nice losing big matches but you hope you learn enough to do better next time. I certainly hope I have learned from some of the semi-finals and final losses I have had over the years in the biggest tournaments. Maybe I have just mis-timed my best form for some of the smaller events.”

Neil Robertson edged out Graeme Dott 6-5 in an exciting contest. Two-time UK Champion Robertson came from 2-0 down to lead 5-4 with a top break of 86. Dott forced a decider but Australia’s Robertson took it with a run of 71. He now meets Mark Allen or Hossein Vafaei.

“It was a fantastic match, a great standard from both of us,” said Robertson, who has won all seven of the deciding frames he has played this season. “I played a killer safety shot early in the last frame which put him in a lot of trouble and that set up the chance. If I play Mark Allen in the next round I hope he gives me some table time because the International Championship final (which Allen won 10-5) was the best anyone has ever played against me.”

Stuart Bingham also showed superb form as he beat David Gilbert 6-2. The match started with four consecutive centuries; one for Gilbert and the other three for Bingham, including a 145 which is the new front-runner for the £5,000 high break prize. English Open champion Bingham clinched the result in frame eight with a run of 67 to set up a match with Sunny Akani or Jak Jones.

Evening session

Tuesday 4 Dec 2018 11:35PM

Mark Allen has already won the two biggest titles of his career in 2018, but remains hungry for more silverware having beaten Hossein Vafaei 6-2 to reach the last 16 of the Betway UK Championship.

Allen won his first Triple Crown title at the Masters in January, then last month he beat Neil Robertson in the final of the International Championship in China. From those two events alone he has banked £375,000. The Northern Irishman now meets Robertson again in York on Wednesday evening with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.

Breaks of 87, 83 and 56 put Allen 3-0 up then Iran’s Vafaei took the next two frames with a top run of 94. Allen finished the match strongly as breaks of 87 and 60 helped give him the last three frames.

“The big turning point was the sixth frame when I missed a red to the middle but got my first fluke of the season – it must be Christmas!” joked Allen. “Overall I played well and didn’t make many mistakes.

“I know the problems Hossein has had with visas, he would be much higher in the rankings but for that. He’s good enough to be a top 32 or even a top 16 player.

“Neil Robertson will be out for revenge. I’m here to compete on the big stage against the best players, and Neil is one of those. He’s a class act, he has won everything. I will need to go out and play like I did against him in Daqing. We both go for our shots and play the game the right way and that’s what the crowd want to see. We should feel obliged as players to entertain.”

Two-time UK Champion Ding Junhui beat Xiao Gudong 6-4 in an all-Chinese clash. Breaks of 99, 74 and 84 put Ding 3-0 ahead before Xiao made a 126 in frame four. That was the 112th century of the tournament, setting a new record for the UK Championship with five days still to go.

Xiao also won frame five then made a 100 to level at 3-3. The next two frames were shared then Ding made a crucial 31 clearance to edge 5-4 ahead before sealing the result in frame ten with runs of 34 and 50. He now meets Martin O’Donnell.

“I started well and then I struggled for a while,” said Ding, who won this event in 2005 and 2009. “Once I got to 5-4 I had to go for it. I feel I am playing better with each match.”

Barry Hawkins top scored with 78 in a 6-4 defeat of Gary Wilson. “I was 2-0 down tonight when I should have been 2-0 up, but I didn’t let it bother me,” said world number six Hawkins, who now meets Kyren Wilson. “After that I played well. The game against Kyren will be very tough. He’s got a great all round game and a lot of self-belief – I wish I’d had the same when I was his age.”

Thailand’s Sunny Akani reached the last 16 of this event for the second consecutive year by beating Jak Jones 6-2. The first three frames took 112 minutes, with Jones winning two of them. Akani then stepped up the pace and won the next five with top breaks of 50, 50, 108, 73 and 65. He now meets Stuart Bingham.

Apparently Leo Scullion had a  firm word with Akani and Jones, asking them to play “a more attacking game” – sic Jones. It’s more likely that Leo decided to bring the section IV of the rules in action and asked them to quicken up their pace, which Akani did and it certainly wasn’t detrimental to his game. Apparently Jak Jones wasn’t happy. But, sorry, it’s in the rules and, for me, more referees should enforce it like Leo did. Most players play better anyway when they play at a good pace, not overthinking the shots.

As for the breakaway saga, Shaun Murphy who leads the Players Commission, invited Ronnie to come by and discuss his ideas. (excerpt)

“As the biggest draw in the game, what he says counts and it matters to the public, the players and World Snooker. Ronnie could be such a power for good in snooker if he wanted to be,” said Murphy, who leads the Players Commission.

“I know he’s been invited to get involved with the Players Commission, he’s welcome to come to any meeting the WPBSA has and I know the powers that be at World Snooker are keen to speak to him as well.

“We value his input and we’d love for him to get round a table and come at us with some really good ideas. It’d be good to get them down on a bit of paper and discuss them professionally.”

Whilst Shaun is right in that players should go through the existing channels if there are issues, I would be surprised if Ronnie acted upon the invitation. The truth is that, until now, there has been no evidence whatsoever that Barry Hearn is ready to listen to this commission – or anyone for that matters – unless the proposals are in line with what he wants. Ronnie has no faith whatsoever that taking that route would be fruitful, and he’s probably right unfortunately.

As for today …

Happy Birthday Ronnie ! (*)

I hope it comes with a win today!

(*) Ronnie hates birthdays, and birthday wishes, but does bring cakes every ear to the media room. There was some uneasyness amongst the journos earler this year when the Patisserie Valérie was in danger to be closed, but it found a new lease of life. Phew!

 

This was published today by Worldsnooker, no doubt in answer to Ronnie’s criticisms

Tuesday 4 Dec 2018 10:25AM

Players throughout the World Snooker Tour are earning more prize money than ever before as the sport continues to grow worldwide.

During the 2017/18 season a record £13.7 million was paid out. Those at the top are earning vast sums, with four players earning over £500,000 for the first time: Mark Williams (£898,776), Ronnie O’Sullivan (£888,000), John Higgins (£612,372) and Mark Selby (£565,085).

Overall the top 16 earned £7.30m, a 29% increase on the previous season. Those ranked 17-32 earned £2.27m (42% increase), those ranked 33-64 earned £2.27m (46% increase) and those ranked outside of the top 64 earned £1.46m (45% increase).

These figures reflect that fact that snooker’s commercial success has benefited all players, and that prize money increases have been spread out across the tour. In addition, entry fees for players to enter tournaments were abolished in 2017, reducing expenses significantly for all players.

Craig Steadman is currently in 64th place on the 2018-19 season one-year list, having earned £16,500 so far from eight of the season’s 20 ranking events.

“I think a lot of players would agree with me if I say there has never been a better time to be a player,” said Steadman. “As far as I’m concerned the more tournaments the better.

“Last week I lost 6-5 in the first round of the UK Championship and I don’t want to be sitting at home licking my wounds, I’d rather be looking forward to the next tournament, which is in Scotland next week. Ten years ago there were only six tournaments and if you lost a qualifier you’d have nothing for two months.

“The other advantage of having so many events is that it improves you as a player, which is what we all want. When I started playing snooker as a kid I wanted to play every day and I still do.

“Some players might want to be paid a fortune just for turning up, but that’s not reality. It’s tough when you lose, but there are plenty of opportunities to win matches and earn prize money.”

No Craig, it’s not about players just wanting to be paid a fortune for turning up …

Actually you are just making Ronnie’s case more obvious.

Here is Craig’s results so far this season as reported on cuetracker

Except at the Riga Masters, where he reached the last 16, He’s never got further than the last 32. So he was probably out of every tournament he played at the latest mid-week, leaving him with plenty of time to practice and prepare for the next. And he’s qualified for the main event in China only once, and immediately lost, which means that he only had to travel across time zones once and had plenty of time to recover from jet lag before the next event. Yes it suits him, no doubt, although £165000 since June, before taxes and expenses is hardly a fortune. But what he got, he got it because the top players attract sponsors, broadcasters and audience. Yes, the top players are the ones bringing the money AND they are the ones who suffer most from the hectic schedule because they reach the latter stages of most tournaments they enter.

And apparently they should shut up as well.

This is what happened yesterday, on day 7 in York and the first of the last 32 round.

Here are the reports on Worldsnooker:

Afternoon session

Monday 3 Dec 2018 05:09PM

Defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan needed just 84 minutes to beat Zhou Yuelong 6-0 and book his place in the last 16 of the Betway UK Championship.

O’Sullivan is chasing snooker history this week; if he wins the tournament he will set new records of seven UK titles and 19 Triple Crown events, surpassing the records he currently shares with Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry respectively.

He meets Jack Lisowski or Marco Fu in the fourth round in York, on either Wednesday or Thursday (tickets for both of those days available – for details click here).

Breaks of 66, 60, 68, 89 and 69 helped world number three O’Sullivan to an emphatic win over China’s Zhou.

“I felt for my opponent because it’s hard out there when things are not going for you,” said O’Sullivan, who turns 43 on Wednesday. “Zhou wants to make a statement and show the snooker world what he is capable of, because I know he is capable of wonderful things. I made a few mistakes but he didn’t punish me, I dodged a bullet.

“It is a learning curve for him, but at some point you have to stop learning and start giving out a few lessons yourself. I think he’s going to win tournaments because he’s a superb player. I have to train myself to block out my opponent and focus on what I have to do, and if I can do that I can make it difficult for whoever I play.”

Kyren Wilson reached the last 16 of this tournament for the first time with a 6-2 win over Yan Bingtao. Runs of 89, 74, 115, 68 and 74 helped Wilson set up a meeting with Barry Hawkins or Gary Wilson.

“It was a nice free flowing game today,” said world number 11 Wilson. “The tables were re-clothed last night and that has made scoring a lot easier. I’m in new territory now in this tournament. If I can reproduce the same kind of form I will be a handful for anyone.”

World number 13 Luca Brecel suffered a surprise 6-4 defeat against a player ranked 99 places below him, Lu Ning. China’s Lu reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time at the recent Northern Ireland Open and has now repeated the feat. He top scored with 56 today as he set up a match with Tom Ford. Leicester’s Ford beat Alan McManus 6-3 with a top break of 66.

Evening session

Monday 3 Dec 2018 11:49PM

Mark Williams’ bid to win snooker’s two biggest ranking titles in the same year gathered pace as he beat Noppon Saengkham 6-3 at the Betway UK Championship.

World Champion Williams is into the fourth round in York and will take on Stephen Maguire on Wednesday or Thursday.

After winning the Yushan World Open in August, Welshman Williams suffered a dip in form, failing to reach the quarter-finals of the next four ranking events. But he looks to be in good shape this week as he targets his first UK title since 2002.

Thailand’s Saengkham made a break of 119 in the opening frame tonight before Williams won four in a row with runs of 54, 72 and 112. Saengkham fought back to 4-3 but Williams won the eighth frame then cleared from the last red in the ninth to seal victory.

“I played well, my form is getting better and I’m feeling more comfortable,” said world number two Williams. “I’m still missing some easy balls here and there but apart from that my game is improving.

“I watched a bit of Stephen Maguire’s match on the next table. There was a lot of huffing and puffing, banging the cues and punching the tables, I was having a chuckle to myself. I’m assuming it will be the same when we play. Stephen is playing a lot better than he has done for a few years. But I’m not bothered who I play.”

Maguire saw off Ali Carter 6-3 with top breaks of 62, 77, 73 and 77. Glasgow’s Maguire, who won this title back in 2004, has shown consistent form this season, notably reaching the semi-finals of the Riga Masters and English Open. Tonight’s result also boosts his position in the Race to the Masters.

Martin O’Donnell had never previously won a match in this tournament but is now through to the fourth round thanks to a 6-4 win over Tian Pengfei. London’s O’Donnell is having his best season so far, having reached two ranking quarter-finals, and he will make it three if he beats Ding Junhui or Xiao Guodong.

He took a 4-0 lead tonight with top breaks of 77 and 79, and despite being hauled back to 4-3, he took two of the last three frames with runs of 88 and 59.

“I didn’t panic when he came back to 4-3 because I know I’m in good form so I stayed patient,” said London’s O’Donnell. “My record here is absolutely dreadful so it’s lovely to feel part of the tournament this time. I have been playing well for a long time and this season I have been consistent and getting little breaks here and there.

“I would love a crack at Ding next, to take on the top players in the big tournaments is what I practise for. Hopefully if that happened it would be on the TV table.”

Joe Perry was in fine form in a 6-2 win over Joe O’Connor, compiling runs of 100, 127 and 109. He now faces Judd Trump or Mark King.

 

You can read more about Ronnie’s last 32 win, as well as more on the “breakaway” saga here.

As for the other matches, I can’t really add anything. Life came in the way of snooker yesterday evening…  However, Luca Brecel losing to Lu Ning, whose highest break was only 56, is both a bit baffling and a bit worrying. It’s been a while now that Luca is struggling badly and there are very few signs of improvement.