Ronnie was beaten in the last 32, by 4-2, by Alexander Ursenbacher.

Ronnie started impressively with a century. In the second frame he was in first, missed a red, whilst splitting the pack wide open – that red, played a speed literally flew out of the pocket – and Alexander made 70 from there. In every one of the remaining frames, Alexander was first in, usually from distance. Ronnie managed to steal frame three with 63, after his opponent missed having scored a 52. But in the next two, he only scored one point. In the last frame, Ronnie had a chance to steal but missed a slightly difficult last yellow. This is the type of ball you would expect him to get normally, but maybe not so easy when on the brink of defeat having been kept cold in his seat for the best part of two frames and a half. Back at the table, Alexander took an extremely difficult yellow on, with the rest – a shot that was all or nothing really – got it and cleared from there. It was an excellent performance from the young Swiss who deserved the win. Ronnie himself didn’t do that much wrong. His long potting was a bit of a weaker point today.

Alexander Ursenbacher reached the semi-finals at the English Open 2017, but since then had done very little. That time he had beaten Ken Doherty, Anthony Hamilton, Stuart Carrington, Shaun Murphy (by 4-1!) and Michael White en route. He seems to be the kind of player who plays either really well, or really badly. Strange.

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And here is the report on Worldsnooker (Excerpt)

Switzerland’s Alexander Ursenbacher scored the best win of his career so far as he beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-2 in the third round of the ManBetX Welsh Open.

So far this season, world number 71 Ursenbacher had not been beyond the last 64 of a ranking event, until this week as he is now into the last 16 in Cardiff to face China’s Zhao Xintong on Thursday evening.

Ursenbacher got to the semi-finals of the English Open last season but the 22-year-old subsequently struggled to replicate the same form – until today when he outplayed four-time Welsh Open champion O’Sullivan.

World number three O’Sullivan took the opening frame with a break of 118, his 994th career century, but he lost three of the next four frames as his Swiss opponent got on a roll with runs of 70, 52 and 57. In frame six, O’Sullivan had a chance to clear from 42-0 down to make it 3-3, but he missed the yellow off the last red on 35.

Ursenbacher was left with a tricky thin cut on the yellow to a baulk corner, playing the the rest, but executed it perfectly and cleared to the pink for victory.

“I didn’t expect to beat him, though I knew it was possible if I took my chances. I’m feeling good!” said Ursenbacher. “It’s my biggest win. If you play well then the wins come automatically. I’m full of confidence now but I won’t go any further if I don’t concentrate on each ball.”

Asked about the crucial pot on the yellow in the last frame, he added: “I wasn’t even sure if it went. I just knew if I hit it really thin with loads of side and didn’t hit the brown, it might go in. And I knew if I potted it I would win the match. Ronnie asked me at the end if the yellow went because he didn’t think it did, and I said ‘I don’t know!’ I just went for it.”

O’Sullivan said: “The better man won on the day. He potted some great balls and played with freedom and abandonment which is a fantastic way to approach any game. I’ve got nothing but praise for him, he’s great to watch. I had fun out there and gave it my best shot.”

and Ronnie tweeted this

The second round – last 64 – at the Welsh Open 2019 was played to completion yesterday  and saw the departure of Judd Trump, Mark Williams, Kyren Wilson and Shaun Murphy.

Here is the report on Worldsnooker:

Wednesday 13 Feb 2019 09:58PM

Masters champion Judd Trump and World Champion Mark Williams both suffered surprise defeats in the second round of the ManBetX Welsh Open in Cardiff.

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Trump has been arguably the player of the season so far having won the Northern Ireland Open, the Masters and last week’s World Grand Prix, but he was beaten 4-2 by Duane Jones, ranked 68 places below him at 72nd in the world.

Jones, a 25-year-old former barman from Mountain Ash, enjoyed the best week of his snooker career at the recent German Masters when he reached the semi-finals, knocking out the likes of Jack Lisowski and Ding Junhui. And he claimed another big scalp with a composed performance against Trump.

After taking the first frame with a 40 clearance, Jones won the second and third on the colours. Trump came from 69-0 down to snatch the fourth and also took a scrappy fifth to make it 3-2, but Jones sealed victory in the next with a break of 68.

“I didn’t feel nervous, I knew my game was in good shape, I just tried telling myself that,” said Jones, who now meets Robbie Williams in the last 32. “So many times, I’ve played these players on TV and I have given up before I started. It was a good occasion today and I enjoyed it.”

Williams, who was the last Welsh winner of this title back in 1999, lost 4-2 to China’s Zhang Anda, whose top break was 71.

World number two Williams said: “I was rubbish. He was by far the better player. He cues and scores well so I’m surprised he’s not higher up the rankings.”

Four-time Welsh Open champion Ronnie O’Sullivan booked his third round place with a 4-2 win over Chinese teenager Yuan Sijun. After losing the first frame, O’Sullivan took four of the next five with top breaks of 120, 66, 90 and 99. He now meets Switzerland’s Alexander Ursenbacher.

“I don’t look into how I’m playing,” said O’Sullivan, who moved his career century tally to 993. “One day is rubbish and I’m a bit more miserable, then the next day is better and I get more of a spring in my step. I’d like to win a couple of more matches here and see how it goes because it feels as if it’s coming pretty easy to me mentally and physically. Whereas last week in Cheltenham I was so happy when I lost. I went to Sheffield for a few days, sat on my boat and did some practice.

“Yuan is a very good player which is great for the game if he can continue on the same trajectory. He has potential to be a World Champion. He’s going to be a huge star in China so it will be interesting to see how he handles that.”

Amateur James Cahill, who knocked Mark Selby out of the UK Championship,  claimed another fine win with a 4-2 defeat of Shaun Murphy. Cahill, whose top break was 115, said:  “I like the challenge of playing against the top players. I had a lot of luck, otherwise I wouldn’t have won that game, but it’s still nice to win.”

German Masters champion Kyren Wilson also suffered a surprise defeat as he went down 4-3 to tour rookie Joe O’Connor.

Best performance of the day came from Zhao Xintong, who beat Zhou Yuelong 4-0 with runs of 132, 103, 97 and 70. World number one Mark Selby made a 128 in a 4-0 win over Adam Duffy.

Ding Junhui came from 3-2 down to edge out Oliver Lines 4-3. China’s Ding, who won this event in 2012, took frame six on the black then won the decider with a run of 72.

Martin O’Donnell, currently 17th on the one-year ranking list, boosted his hopes of qualifying for next month’s Players Championship by beating Ricky Walden 4-1 with a top run of 113.

Jack Lisowski made breaks of 140 and 122 in a 4-3 win over Marco Fu while Scottish Open champion Mark Allen top scored with 100 in a 4-1 win over Mei Xiwen.

Germany’s Lukas Kleckers scored an impressive 4-3 win over Thepchaiya Un-Nooh while Jimmy Robertson came from 3-0 down to edge out Nigel Bond 4-3 with a top break of 104.

Remarkably, no quotes from Judd Trump who was obviously very disappointed. But he didn’t play well and once again this match showed that, IMO, he hasn’t yet the consistency required for the Crucible AND he looked vulnerable mentally once things started to go astray.

Here is the review of the Williams v Zhang match with Ronnie, Neal Foulds and Andy Goldstein in the ES studio.

You can read all about Ronnie’s match here

Today, the players have possibly two matches, with the last 32 and last 16 rounds played to completion. As lewis mentioned in his comment it’s an interesting field remaining with 9 of the top 16 still in it (8 of the one year list top 16) , and quite a number of young players.

Same score as in the last 128, but very different matches. Ronnie was well aware of his young opponent quality – Yuan has beaten both John Higgins and Mark Williams this season – and gave the match his full respect and attention.

Yuan didn’t play badly at all, his safety was excellent overall, it is all the most remarkable because he is still very young, only eighteen. But Ronnie was focused and on his game, except maybe a short dip in concentration in frame five. He played attacking snooker, without being reckless. This was an excellent match, played in great spirit too.

Oh, and Ronnie was a bit mischievous again.

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And the preview of the evening matches, with Ronnie in the studio discussing his afternoon win.

Plus some great images thanks to Tai Chengzhe !

Here is the report on Worldsnooker: (excerpt)

Four-time Welsh Open champion Ronnie O’Sullivan booked his third round place with a 4-2 win over Chinese teenager Yuan Sijun. After losing the first frame, O’Sullivan took four of the next five with top breaks of 120, 66, 90 and 99. He now meets Switzerland’s Alexander Ursenbacher.

“ I don’t look into how I’m playing,” said O’Sullivan, who moved his career century tally to 993. “One day is rubbish and I’m a bit more miserable, then the next day is better and I get more of a spring in my step. I’d like to win a couple of more matches here and see how it goes because it feels as if it’s coming pretty easy to me mentally and physically. Whereas last week in Cheltenham I was so happy when I lost. I went to Sheffield for a few days, sat on my boat and did some practice.

“Yuan is a very good player which is great for the game if he can continue on the same trajectory. He has potential to be a World Champion. He’s going to be a huge star in China so it will be interesting to see how he handles that.”

Day 2 in Cardiff brought a lot of discussions, and a 147 but no real surprise result.

Here is the report on Worldsnooker:

Tuesday 12 Feb 2019 10:24PM

Ronnie O’Sullivan said “all-out attack is sometimes the best form of defence” after a 4-2 win over Sanderson Lam in the first round of the ManBetX Welsh Open.

O’Sullivan delighted the Cardiff crowd with flashes of his brilliant best as he set up an intriguing last-64 clash with Chinese prodigy Yuan Sijun on Wednesday afternoon.

World number 105 Lam, ranked 102 places lower than his illustrious opponent, threatened an upset when he led 2-1, only for O’Sullivan to reel off three frames in a row with top breaks of 95 and 116. The second of those was his 992nd career century, and in fact the first would have given him one more ton had he given referee Brendan Moore time to replace the pink before potting the last red. The break would have moved to 101 but for the foul.

“I enjoyed it, it was a nice game to play in,” said O’Sullivan, who has lifted the Welsh Open trophy four times, most recently in 2016. “He’ll be disappointed because he had chances. Attacking is my style of play and it has got me this far over many years. You have to stick to what you know best. It might look reckless but I still fancy getting most of those shots.

“I’m certainly not looking any further than the next round. My next match is tough, against a young Chinese player who has been beating everyone, so it will be a good result if I can win that one.”

World number one Mark Selby was in superb form in a 4-2 win over Anthony McGill, knocking in breaks of 139, 75, 61 and 80.

“Overall I played well and won frames in one visit,” said Selby, who won this title back in 2008. “I played Anthony in the Championship League a few weeks ago. He said he had been struggling and he was changing his technique and lacking a bit of confidence. I said to him just to try to enjoy it and to go back his old ways because he’s a great player. Today he looked dangerous again. He’s a good lad and hopefully he kicks on.

“It is one of my goals to hold on to my world number one spot. Mark Williams, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump are getting close so it’s up to me to try to perform better and get to the later stages of more tournaments. I’m playing really well in patches then putting in the odd poor performance and I can’t put my finger on why that is.”

Welshman Duane Jones, who got to his first ranking semi-final at the German Masters earlier this month, edged out Xiao Guodong 4-3 to set up a match with Judd Trump.

“This one means a lot because it’s the first time I’ve had all the family with me, and guys from the club I practise at came down,” said Jones. “That’s the most nervous I have ever felt playing a snooker match. When I play Judd I’m going to relax a little bit more and embrace it.”

Ding Junhui, who has to win the tournament to qualify for next month’s Players Championship (read more on that race here), started well with a 4-0 defeat of Chris Totten.

German Masters champion Kyren Wilson conceded just 36 points as he beat Andy Lee 4-0 with runs of 63, 88, 67 and 60.

“It’s a nice start to the week, if you can save energy hopefully it will put you in good stead for later on,” said Wilson, who has won three titles this season.

“When you’re playing well and you’re enjoying everything, it’s like a drug – that’s the best way to explain it. Snooker is an addictive game and you just want to keep on playing.”

Veteran Jimmy White, the oldest player in the field at 56, came from 2-1 down to beat Andrew Higginson 4-2. Stuart Bingham top scored with 90 in a 4-0 defeat of World Grand Prix finalist Ali Carter.

China’s Zhao Xintong top scored with 106 in a 4-1 win over Jackson Page, though promising Welsh amateur Page did make a 104 in the opening frame. Barry Hawkins beat Sunny Akani 4-0 with a top run of 91.

Mark Selby was in the studio discussing his match and form:

And Neil Robertson had a 147 in the late evening… 

Tuesday 12 Feb 2019 11:07PM

Neil Robertson fired in the fourth maximum break of his career on day two of the ManBetX Welsh Open at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.

The stunning 147 break came in the fourth frame of his last 128 clash with Northern Ireland’s Jordan Brown. The Australian followed that up with a break of 140 to secure a superb 4-1 victory.

The 2010 World Champion is now in line to pocket a potential £15,000 payout from the rolling 147 pot and an extra £2,000 for the high break prize. It is the 148th official maximum break on record.

Here it is …

And the review of that match with Neil

And all about Ronnie’s match is here

Ronnie beat Sanderson Lam by 4-2 to book his place in the last 64 in Cardiff.

It was a rather strange match. I wonder if it was Ronnie playing out there, or if his Chimp had run loose, nicked his cue, locked him up, and come to play on his behalf.

Ronnie’s long potting was poor, but in the balls, he looked very sharp. The worrying part, however, is that he was going for crazy things, with total disregard for what could happen if he missed. And he played really quick too, his average shot time was 12.8 sec! Shaun Murphy though had another reading of the match: for him Ronnie was playing with total freedom, like in an exhibition, confident that he still would be able to win. Well, I’m not so sure.  Anyway, he did win, but if he plays that way against Yuan Sijun, I expect a very different outcome.

There was a strange incident in frame 4: Ronnie had just potted the pink to score 101; however, he then immediately played the next red, without waiting for Brendan Moore to re-spot the pink and announce the score. Therefore Ronnie’s break officially ended on 95, and Sanderson Lam got the 6 penalty points. Ronnie later teased Brendan about it.

This is the report on Worldsnooker:

Tuesday 12 Feb 2019 10:24PM

Ronnie O’Sullivan said “all-out attack is sometimes the best form of defence” after a 4-2 win over Sanderson Lam in the first round of the ManBetX Welsh Open.

O’Sullivan delighted the Cardiff crowd with flashes of his brilliant best as he set up an intriguing last-64 clash with Chinese prodigy Yuan Sijun on Wednesday afternoon.

World number 105 Lam, ranked 102 places lower than his illustrious opponent, threatened an upset when he led 2-1, only for O’Sullivan to reel off three frames in a row with top breaks of 95 and 116. The second of those was his 992nd career century, and in fact the first would have given him one more ton had he given referee Brendan Moore time to replace the pink before potting the last red. The break would have moved to 101 but for the foul.

“I enjoyed it, it was a nice game to play in,” said O’Sullivan, who has lifted the Welsh Open trophy four times, most recently in 2016. “He’ll be disappointed because he had chances. Attacking is my style of play and it has got me this far over many years. You have to stick to what you know best. It might look reckless but I still fancy getting most of those shots.

“I’m certainly not looking any further than the next round. My next match is tough, against a young Chinese player who has been beating everyone, so it will be a good result if I can win that one.”

….

Here are some nice images by Tai Chengzhe. Thank you Tai!

Coverage:

Match (BBC Wales coverage):

Ronnie was also in the studio at the start of the evening.

In the preview of the Selby v McGill match, both he and Jimmy White reflect on their wins, as well as on the century that never was.

This is the last of the Home Nations Series, and, except for the last 16 who are seeded, it’s an open draw. It always throws a few surprises in round one, and yesterday was no exception with Ryan Day, Stephen Maguire, Mark King,, Matthew Stevens and David Gilbert bowing out.

Mark Williams was made to work hard, only edging debutant Kishan Hirani in a decider. Both Michael White and Yan Bingtao suffered defeats and continue to struggle badly this season. Lukas Kleckers whitewashed Peter Ebdon which is a bit surprising too. Peter said at the start of this season that it could be his last as he’s struggling with physical issues that hinder his game. Even so, Lukas has struggled badly aswell and Peter is always hard to beat so this score was unexpected to me.

Following his win on Sunday night, Judd was given the choice to play today, instead of yesterday but declined. Cheltenham and Cardiff are not that distant from each other, and they are both close to Bristol, Judd’s home town as well.

Here is the report on Worldsnooker:

Monday 11 Feb 2019 11:16PM

Big guns were firing on day one of the ManBetX Welsh Open in Cardiff, with Mark Williams, Judd Trump and John Higgins among the first round winners.

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Less than 24 hours after winning the World Grand Prix in Cheltenham, Trump was back on the baize in the Welsh capital and kept his tremendous run of form going as he beat Harvey Chandler 4-0 with top breaks of 85 and 84.

“It was nice to get through so I can have a bit of time off before my next game,” said Trump, who has also won the Northern Ireland Open and the Masters this season. “I have come here to try to win the event so I want to prepare properly.

“There aren’t many players who win back to back events so I have to be realistic. It is draining mentally to be playing week in, week out, so I’m just going to try to enjoy this event and relax. It’s a good time to be playing snooker because there is a tournament every week. There are players who have won five ranking events in a season and that’s a goal I want to achieve within the next few years.

“My mentality at the moment is that I don’t want to drop a frame, so I’m trying my best to win every frame I play. I always enjoy coming to Cardiff because the fans here love their snooker and I always get fantastic support.”

Home favourite Williams was pushed all the way by fellow Welshman Kishan Hirani before coming through 4-3. Tour rookie Hirani made a 126 to lead 2-1 before World Champion Williams knocked in 66 and 80 to go 3-2 up. Hirani took frame six only for Williams to get the better of a scrappy decider.

“It was a tough game, he made a couple of good breaks and his safety had me in trouble,” said Williams, who was the last Welsh winner of this event back in 1999. “People were saying it was a foregone conclusion and I was going to win 4-0 or 4-1, but I know that’s a lot of rubbish. I knew it was going to be a difficult game and I could have lost.

“It would be good for the tournament if any Welshman had a run, it’s unbelievable how none of us have done any good in recent years. It could be because the home pressure gets to us.”

After a poor run of form in recent weeks, defending champion Higgins got a much-needed win on the board, beating Graeme Dott 4-0 with top breaks of 86, 65 and 51.

“Coming back to Cardiff I was trying to think of some good memories that I’ve had here, I’ve won it a few times,” said Higgins, who took the title for a record fifth time last year. “To win any game for me right now is good, my confidence isn’t at the highest. Graeme struggled a lot with the chances he had today, which was great for me.”

Higgins lies 16^th on the one year ranking list and is not yet guaranteed a spot in next month’s Players Championship – read more about that here. “I’m right on the bubble,” he added. “I felt if I’d have lost that match then I would have had no chance to qualify for it.”

Shaun Murphy top scored with 102 in a 4-1 win over Adam Stefanow while Jak Jones came from 2-1 down to win a Welsh derby against Matthew Stevens 4-2.

Jack Lisowski recovered a 3-1 deficit to beat Niu Zhuang 4-3, firing runs of 87, 68 and 75 to take the last three frames in just 23 minutes. China’s Zhou Yuelong edged out Stephen Maguire 4-3.

Germany’s Lukas Kleckers top scored with 52 in a 4-0 defeat of Peter Ebdon while Switzerland’s Alexander Ursenbacher enjoyed an impressive 4-2 win over Yan Bingtao.

Veteran Ken Doherty scored a 4-1 victory over Sean O’Sullivan while Scottish Open champion Mark Allen finished with an 82 in a 4-2 win over Mark Joyce.

The first round action concludes on Tuesday.

Ronnie was in the studio for most of the day…

And here is the BBC Wales tournament preview as well

Ronnie  plays this afternoon against Sanderson Lam and it would really be a big surprise if he was beaten. Should he win however, he would meet Yan Sijun in the next round and THAT isn’t a gimme!

Worldsnooker has yesterday published important information about the coming events.

This post is about the race to the Players Championship 2019 and the Coral Cup

Monday 11 Feb 2019 01:02PM

The first event in the Coral Series finished on Sunday night with Judd Trump beating Ali Carter in the final of the Coral World Grand Prix in Cheltenham.

Who will make it to the Guild Hall?

And now there are just two qualifying events until the field is set for the Coral Players Championship at the Guild Hall in Preston, which runs from March 4 to 10. The first is this week’s ManBetX Welsh Open in Cardiff, then the last counting event is next week’s BetVictor Shoot Out in Watford.

Note that the Indian Open does not count towards Coral Players Championship qualification, though it does count towards the Coral Tour Championship.

Only the leading 16 players on the one-year ranking list will qualify for Preston. As it stands John Higgins is in 16th place with £101,000, though if he wins his opening match in Cardiff today he’ll boost his total to the tune of £2,500. In 17th place is Martin O’Donnell with £81,500, so Higgins has some daylight between himself and the chasing pack. However Higgins has not entered the Shoot Out, so if he suffers an early exit in Wales he could be in danger of not making Preston.

There is a £70,000 top prize up for grabs this week in Cardiff, so all players down to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in 51st with £31,225 could have a chance of leaping into the top 16.

As it stands there are three players – Ali Carter, Joe Perry and Jimmy Robertson – who are inside the top 16 of the one-year list and outside the top 16 of the official two-year list.

Ding Junhui is 24th on the one-year list and £33,500 behind Higgins so he needs to win the Welsh Open to make it to Preston, as he has not entered the Shoot Out. Former World Champion Shaun Murphy is a further £9,000 behind, though he has two bites of the cherry as he is in the field for Watford.

What’s next after Preston?

The third and last event in the Coral Series is the Coral Tour Championship in Llandudno from March 19 to 24, with only the top eight on the list to earn a spot in North Wales, with the cut off point coming after the Gibraltar Open. David Gilbert currently lies eighth with £169,500 and a handy buffer of £36,500 over Stuart Bingham in ninth. As it stands there are two players – Gilbert and Neil Robertson – inside the top eight of the one-year list and outside the top eight of the two-year list.

Trump Towers

Trump’s victory in Cheltenham, his second ranking title of the season, saw him jump to second place on the one-year list with £274,500, behind leader Mark Allen who has £360,500. Carter earned £40,00 as runner-up and the Captain flies up to 11th with £112,500 and now looks likely to be among the line up at the Guild Hall. Xiao Guodong got to the semi-finals to earn £20,000 and he’s up to 18th with £76,600, hoping for another good run either in Cardiff or Watford to jump into the top 16.

In the official rankings, Trump moves above Higgins into fourth place while Carter is up to 18th and Xiao climbs to 21st. There are still seven counting events to go in the Race to the Crucible, with Carter and Xiao gaining ground on 16th-placed Ryan Day.

Coral Cup

The player earning the most money across the three Coral Series events will win the inaugural Coral Cup. Trump leads the way with £100,000 and he is now the only player who can win the potential £125,000 bonus available for landing all three trophies. If he goes on to win the Coral Players Championship and Coral Tour Championship he will have his total prize money round up from £375,000 to £500,000.

So Lewis was indeed right, the Indian Open will not count towards the Players Championship, which makes sense given the schedule.

And the China Open Qualifiers draw is also available

Monday 11 Feb 2019 11:36PM

Many of snooker’s leading players will be at Chase Leisure Centre In Cannock next week for the China Open qualifiers.

Click here for the draw

Click here for the format

Running from February 18 to 20, it will be the first professional snooker event staged at the Staffordshire venue.

All players competing in Cannock need to win one match to make it through to the final stages in Beijing in April.

The China Open is the most lucrative event on the World Snooker Tour other than the World Championship, with a top prize of £225,000 and total prize money of £1 million.

Mark Selby won it last year, beating Barry Hawkins in the final.

No Ronnie which is no surprise.