Ronnie beat Jamie O’Neil by 4-1 to book his place in the last 64 of the 2020 Northern Ireland Open. He has never lost in the first round of a Home Nations event in 17 attempts, which is qite remarkable.

Here are the scores:

And here is the report by Eurosport:

MARCUS FOLEY

Ronnie O’Sullivan began his pursuit for a first Northern Ireland Open title with a convincing 4-1 victory over Jamie O’Neill in the first round.
The reigning world champion has lost the past two finals to Judd Trump in 2018 and 2019, but will be looking to go one better this week.

The second seed could face Trump again in the final, but his next task will be to see off either Elliot Slessor or Li Hang in the second round.

“I thought I played alright, I’m pleased to get that win. He’s a dangerous player,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport.”
“[The tables] are all playing hard for me at the moment so I’m probably not the best person to ask. Some days your touch is good, sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes you’re chasing the white around the table.”

On his activities away from the table, O’Sullivan added:
“I RAN EIGHT MILES THIS MORNING IN 57 MINUTES, SO GETTING FITTER. I’LL TRY AND DO AN EASY FIVE TOMORROW THEN GO FOR A 10-MILER WEDNESDAY. MY AIM THIS MONTH IS TO FOCUS ON MY RUNNING, IT’S A BIT HARD FOCUSING ON JUST SNOOKER SO YOU’VE GOT TO TRY AND FIND SOMETHING YOU LOVE DOING. FOR ME IT’S THE RUNNING, I’M KEEN TO GET MY TIMES DOWN”

Both players had chances in the opening frame but it was O’Sullivan who got over the line with a break of 60, and the second seed made it 2-0 after a prevailing in a safety exchange with the world No 82.
O’Neill got on the board in the third frame, and though he was unable to close it out when leading 66-6, he benefited from O’Sullivan rolling the white in after the green when looking to reduce the deficit.

A break of 57 saw O’Sullivan edge closer to victory, and he closed it out a frame later with a classy 125 century.

And this is WST report:

Rocket Too Strong For O’Neill

World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan booked his place in the second round of the Matchroom.Live Northern Ireland Open with a 4-1 defeat of Jamie O’Neill.

O’Sullivan has reached the previous two Northern Ireland Open finals. On each occasion he faced world number one Judd Trump and lost both times by a 9-7 scoreline.

Today’s match was a repeat of O’Sullivan and O’Neill’s first round clash at last season’s English Open, when the Rocket battled back from 3-2 down to win 4-3. Matters were far more straightforward for the six-time Crucible King this evening, who will face either Elliot Slessor or Li Hang next.

O’Sullivan averaged just 14.8 seconds per shot on his way to victory. He secured an early 2-0 advantage, before O’Neill got his solitary frame on the board thanks to a break of 66. However, O’Sullivan was undeterred and finished his opponent off with runs of 57 and 125.

O’Sullivan said: “For me, that is as good as any win. Any players outside of the world’s top 64 are harder than beating top players these days. They go out there, no pressure, come out swinging and invariably they get the rub of the green.

“You have to fight for everything out there as you are on a hiding to nothing. I can’t even win tonight, I just had to avoid getting cake sploshed in my face.”

Those are a few short videos shared on social media by Eurosport UK and WST:

Ronnie’s postmatch with the ES pundits

Last balls of the match:

Ronnie’s interview with WST:

And Ronnie’s extraordinary positional shot … in the frame he lost

My assesment:

Ronnie played well, but not outstandingly well. He definitely didn’t take any liberties which is nice to see. Whatever he said, he’s certainly trying 100% despite struggling with motivation because he finds the Milton Keynes environment uninspiring, and although the absence of crowd has helped him in Sheffield, he clearly misses the buzz they bring.

Running has been his passion for a long time, and it’s something he can do despite the Covid-19 circumstances. We all need something to help us through the current difficult times, and running does it for Ronnie I suppose.

Matt Huart has written this preview of  the 2020 Northern Ireland Open, starting this morning in Milton Keynes.

Matchroom.Live Northern Ireland Open 2020: Tournament Preview

The season’s fourth ranking event silverware will be claimed next weekend at the Matchroom.Live Northern Ireland Open with an all-star field set to contest the Alex Higgins Trophy.

• Tournament Draw and Schedule
• How to Watch

As the snooker season enters its ‘winter swing’ – a term coined in recent years by Scotland’s Alan McManus – the standard of play on the World Snooker Tour shows no signs of dropping with Mark Selby, Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson and most recently Champion of Champions winner Mark Allen having all impressed en route to success so far in 2020/21.

Of course it is Trump who has captured this title during both 2018 and 2019, each time having defeated Ronnie O’Sullivan 9-7 in the final and the world number one has already enjoyed Home Nations success this season at the English Open last month.

Before him, Mark Williams memorably ended a six-year ranking title drought with his defeat of Yan Bingtao in 2017, while perhaps one of the most unforgettable successes of the past decade saw Mark King claim his maiden ranking title a year earlier.

Once again, the tournament will be held at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes as a consequence of the ongoing coronavirus restrictions, but there will nonetheless be a top prize of £70,000 to be won by the last player standing next Sunday.

The seeding structure of the event remains unchanged with the top 32 players seeded apart until the third round, with the remaining players seeded randomly into the draw. Early rounds will be played over the best of seven frames (no interval), increasing for the quarter-finals (9), semi-finals (11) and final (17).

As with previous tournaments, the overwhelming majority of professional players will be involved, with all but five (Mei Xiwen, Marco Fu, Bai Langning,Stephen Hendry and Steve Mifsud) of the 128 WST professionals in the main draw. As with other Home Nations Series competitions, there will also be two regional qualifiers taking part with Northern Ireland’s Declan Lavery and Patrick Wallace joining the fray.

#RaceToTheMasters

As in previous seasons, the Northern Ireland Open carries added significance as the penultimate tournament in the battle to qualify for the January’s Masters tournament.

• View the latest Race to the Masters

We recently analysed the state of play prior to the conclusion of the Championship League last month and the position remains broadly unchanged with Gary Wilson holding a narrow advantage to closest chaser Jack Lisowskifor the final spot.

Intriguingly, both Wilson and Lisowski are on course to meet in the third round next week in a match that could have a huge influence on who will claim a spot in snooker’s biggest invitational competition.

Speaking of the draw…

The Top Quarter

Heading up the draw is of course the defending champion as Judd Trump embarks on what could be a historic week in Milton Keynes. Not since Stephen Hendry claimed the UK Championship in 1994, 1995 and 1996 has a player won a ranking title on three successive occasions, but that is what Trump can emulate if he were to complete a hat-trick of Northern Ireland Open titles next week.

Standing in his path will first be the experienced Gerard Greene, with potentially Mitchell Mann and Luca Brecel to follow in the early rounds if the tournament were to unfold according to seeding. The winner of the aforementioned clash between Wilson and Lisowski could also come into play.

The highest seed in his quarter however is Mark Allen, who notwithstanding his Saturday defeat at the German Masters qualifiers, will come into the tournament with confidence following his Champion of Champions victory last week – which of course included a 6-1 success against Trump at the semi-final stage.

Allen’s path however appears far from straightforward with Anthony Hamiltonfirst up, with Robert Milkins, Scott Donaldson and Tour Championship winner Stephen Maguire among those potentially in his way.

The Second Quarter

The second section of the draw is led by Mark Selby and Kyren Wilson, who having both tasted ranking event success already this season will be looking to maintain their respective strong form of late.

Notwithstanding a surprise opening-round defeat to the high-scoring Fergal O’Brien in the German Masters qualifiers on Friday, Selby has shown strong form in recent months and will begin his title bid with a match against Andrew Higginson, with potentially Chinese trio Chang Bingyu, Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao to follow before the quarter-finals.

For Wilson – who notably ended the ten-final winning streak of Judd Trump with his victory in their Championship League title decider – David Lilley awaits in the opening round before possible match-ups against Chris Wakelin, Michael Holt and David Gilbert before any meeting with Selby.

Other notable names in the section include the likes of Anthony McGill and Barry Hawkins, who are among those still in with a chance of Masters qualification, as well as 2016 champion Mark King.

The Third Quarter

Neil Robertson finds himself installed as the top seed in the tournament’s third section with sixth ranked Shaun Murphy on paper his biggest threat to a semi-final berth.

Runner-up at both the English Open and Champion of Champions in recent weeks, Robertson will be looking to go one better this week and begins with a clash against reigning Northern Ireland champion Declan Lavery. Intriguingly, he could then face Ben Woollaston in the last 64, with the Leicester potter having beaten Robertson 5-4 only last Thursday at the German Masters qualifiers.

Whoever comes through that one could then face Liang Wenbo, before a potential clash with 2017 champion Mark Williams in the last 16.

For Shaun Murphy, who last week celebrated his sixth professional maximum break against Chen Zifan, comes a tough opener against Ryan Day who himself has also compiled a 147 break earlier this season.

Lyu Haotian or James Cahill would await in the second round, with Kurt Maflin and Stuart Bingham further ahead in the draw before any potential clash with Robertson.

Once again there are a number of players present in this quarter who will also have half an eye on Masters qualification, including Graeme Dott and Ali Carter, while the already mentioned Mark Williams will be looking to consolidate his current top 16 status heading into the all-important UK Championship.

The Bottom Quarter

As is customary, the defending world champion is seeded as number two in the draw, meaning that this is where we find Ronnie O’Sullivan with the two-time runner-up looking to kickstart his season in Milton Keynes.

First up he will take on Jamie O’Neill, ahead of a potential meeting with either Li Hang or Elliot Slessor, the latter having defeated O’Sullivan 4-1 at the last 32 stage of this competition back in 2017.

Awaiting the winner in the last 32 could be another player who has enjoyed recent success against O’Sullivan in the form of Matthew Stevens, ahead of a possible clash with Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, who of course did not threaten the reigning world champion this summer during their World Championship meeting.

If O’Sullivan can come through his section then we could see yet another career-meeting with John Higgins at the quarter-final stage with the Scot set to open his campaign against Welshman Daniel Wells.

Faraikh Ajaib, Matt Selt and Ding Junhui – the latter having defeated Higgins at last week’s Champion of Champions – could be among those who would stand between Higgins and another potential meeting with O’Sullivan next week if the tournament were to unfold according to seeding.

Tian Pengfei tested positive with Covid-19 last week and  was immediately withdrawn from this tournament. Riley Parsons has also withdrawn; the resaon for this isn’t known (to me) at the time of writing. As a result Anthony McGill – again – and Noppon Saengkham get a bye to the last 64.

I’m not so sure about Matt’s views on Mark Allen’s chances. By his standards, he has a poor record in this event, with the pressure of playing on home soil seemingly affecting him: 2016 – QF, 2017 – last 64, 2018 – last 128, 2019 – last 16. But, of course, this time it will be in Milton Keynes, not Belfast, and without a crowd. That should help him, provided that he doesn’t put pressure on himself  purely because it’s still his “home” tournament.

Regarding Ronnie, I’m not sure what to expect. He doesn’t like Milton Keynes, but even if he loses he will probably have to stay there working for Eurosport. He played OK in the English Open, and played well in the Champion of Champions. His first round opponent though, Jamie O’Neill seems to be playing well too and it’s only best of 7. Should Ronnie win today, he could face Elliott Slessor next; Elliott is a bit (a lot) of a bogey opponent for Ronnie.

Now here are my selection of “interesting” first round matches:

• Mark Williams v Jamie Jones – Welsh clash between a 3x World Champion who might not be that motivated and an opponent eager to redeem himself after a ban.
• Martin Gould v Jamie Clarke. Both capable of fireworks on their day.
• Aaron Hill v Jackson Page.
• Matthew Selt v Joe O’Connor.
• Zhao Xintong v Si Jiahui
• Lukas Kleckers v Chang Bingyu
• Liang Wenbo v Steven Hallworth. Both playing well recently.
• Pang Junxu v Jak Jones. This may be a long one.
• Yuan Sijun v Luo Honghao. Provided that Luo doesn’t turn into a bag of nerves from ball one on.
• Zhao Jianbo v Brian Ochoiski. A very winnable match for both of them.
• Iulian Boiko v Michael White. A huge talent, but far too young to be a pro versus a relegated – still young – player who, IMO, paid a high price for being hyped too young, and didn’t cope well with too high expectations.

The last day of the 2021 German Masters qualifiers saw more top players exit the tournament before the television stage. The biggest “casualty” was the recently crowned Champion of Champions, Mark Allen. This means that only seven of the top 16, and only Judd Trump from the top 5, will make the trip to the Tempodrom … if, indeed, it is the Tempodrom and not Milton Keynes again. None of the German, or German speaking , players made it either, which is a shame. With two round of qualifiers it’s almost impossible to hold first round matches over to the main venue. It is a bit of a logistic nightmare.

Here is the report by WST:

Sharp Pang Upsets Allen

World number 109 Pang Junxu scored a shock 5-2 win over Mark Allen in the final qualifying round of the BetVictor German Masters.

All results

Pang reached the last 16 of the BetVictor European Masters earlier this season

Allen played superb snooker to win the Champion of Champions just six days ago, but couldn’t replicate that form and was outplayed by China’s 20-year-old Pang, who is playing his debut season on the pro tour. He goes through to the last 32 for the final stages which run from January 27 to 31.

Breaks of 81 and 101 gave Allen a 2-1 lead, but Pang then took four frames in a row with top breaks of 121 and 72.

John Higgins made top breaks of 69 and 70 in a 5-0 win over Ashley Hugill while Masters champion Stuart Bingham top scored with 92 in a 5-2 win over Ricky Walden.

Jack Lisowski fired runs of 56, 89, 97, 78 and 64 as he beat Brandon Sargeant 5-2. Joe O’Connor scored an impressive 5-4 win over Anthony McGill, from 3-1 and 4-3 down. O’Connor compiled runs of 102, 52, 72, 83 and 73.

Robbie Williams trailed Martin O’Donnell 4-2 and by 52 points in frame seven, but took that one with a 74 clearance and added the next two frames for a 5-4 success.

Zhou Yuelong eased to a 5-0 win over Peter Devlin while Luca Brecel top scored with 90 in a 5-2 defeat of Andrew Higginson.

Germany’s Simon Lichtenberg missed out on the final stages of his home event as he lost 5-2 to Fergal O’Brien

Pang again showed a lot of maturity for a 20 years old rookie. He was calm, composed and efficient. Mark Allen looked a bit despondent, especially after the MSI. In the 5th frame, he conceded with his opponent still at the table in a break. In the next, Pang broke down leading by 72, with still five reds on the table and the black on its spot; Mark Allen stayed in his chair. In the last, Mark’s body language, whilst sat in his chair, was that of  someone who can’t wait to get out of there. That said, he did not leave the arena before he had the opportunity to congratulate his young opponent. Bad day in office, I suppose… it happens to everyone of us.

I only saw three frames of the Higgins v Hugill match, the first and the last two. Higgins did find some fluency in the last one I watched, the one after the MSI. But the other two were a bit bizarre, particularly the fourth frame of the match. Both frames were close, involving a lot of excellent safeties, from both players. But whenever one of them got an opportunity they struggled to string three pots together.

Joe O’Connor is steadily evolving into a very solid, dependable player. I wouldn’t be surprised if he started challenging for titles in the next couple of seasons.

The 2021 German Masters last 64 round started yesterday. There was only one “shock” of sorts as Kyren Wilson, who had lead by 3-0, was beaten 5-4 by Jak Jones.

Here are the reports by WST.

Morning and afternoon sessions

Murphy Eases To Final Stages

Shaun Murphy coasted to a 5-1 defeat of Ian Burns in the final round of BetVictor German Masters qualifying in Milton Keynes.

The Magician has already enjoyed success this week, having notched up the sixth 147 break of his career in his first round match. Murphy whitewashed China’s Chen Zifan on that occasion, meaning it has been a straightforward week for the 2005 World Champion, dropping just a single frame.

Murphy fired in breaks of 117, 68, 55 and 113 on his way to this afternoon’s emphatic win. He will now go on to the final stages which will be held from 27th to 31st January.

Tour Champion Stephen Maguire battled back from 3-1 down to edge out Scottish compatriot Alan McManus 5-4 in a thrilling contest.

Breaks of 55 and 61 had helped 1994 Masters champion McManus to seize his early 3-1 lead. However, Maguire composed runs of 108, 82 and 55 in consecutive frames to move one from victory at 4-3. McManus forced the decider, but it was Maguire who took it to progress.

Chinese number one Ding Junhui blitzed his way to the final stages with a 5-0 whitewash defeat of Ashley Carty. The UK Champion made contributions of 51 and 65 on his way to the win.

Dominic Dale whitewashed fellow Welshman Jamie Jones 5-0, while Graeme Dott defeated Leo Fernandez by a 5-1 scoreline.

Shaun Murphy’s 113 was a maximum attempt; he missed the black after the 15th red.

I was impressed by Stephen Maguire. He has so far endured a rather disastrous season. He trailed by 3-1 at the MSI. He stayed composed, patient and actually competed with Alan in the safety department.

Ding didn’t play that well really, he mainly capitalised on his opponent numerous mistakes.

Kaçper Filippiak 5-1 demolition of Luo Honghao surprised me. I know that Luo is struggling this season, but so is Kaçper as well.

Mark Davis had an excellent win over Xiao Guodong. This was probably a much better match than the ones shown on the ES stream.  They scored eight breaks over 50 between them. Xiao lead 4-2 only for “Dark Mavis” to win three on the trot to take the match.

Evening session

Rapid Trump Whitewashes Lines

Defending champion Judd Trump took just 54 minutes to beat Peter Lines 5-0 and qualify for the final stages of the BetVictor German Masters.

Trump beat Neil Robertson 9-6 in the final in Berlin last season

World number one Trump knocked in breaks of 103, 107, 71 and 69 in a quickfire victory to reach the last 32. The main event will run from January 27 to 31 next year.

Jak Jones continued his fine recent form with a surprise 5-4 defeat of world number five Kyren Wilson. Welshman Jones reached the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time in his career at last month’s Matchroom.Live English Open and is now two wins away from matching that run.

From 3-0 down, world number 91 Jones took four frames in a row with top runs of 87 and 63. Wilson made it 4-4 with a 59 clearance, but Jones took control of the decider with a break of 60 before winning it on the colours.

Barry Hawkins top scored with 101 in a 5-2 defeat of Jimmy White while China’s Liang Wenbo made a 102 in a 5-0 whitewash of Aaron Hill. Amateur Michael White came from 4-3 down to edge out Elliot Slessor 5-4, taking the last two frames on the colours.

Judd Trump was massively aided by his opponent as Peter Lines was missing about everything he attempted by a very long way. Don’t get me wrong, Judd played well, but he wasn’t challenged at all.

Kyren Wilson lost his rhythm completely in his match against Jak Jones. That match was the last to finish. Jak had an AST of 31.5 sec. It’s not a tactic, he’s always played that way, even when I first saw him play at the SWSA when he was 14 or 15. It’s his natural pace and he certainly can score heavily when in the balls. Kyren looked good in the first part of the match, then, after the MSI, he started missing balls he would normally never miss and Jak duly took advantage.  My feeling was that Kyren’s concentration was gone.

I’m happy for Michael White beating Elliot Slessor,  for more reasons than one. For Michael, who isn’t yet 30 and has so much talent, to be relegated is a crying shame and I hope he gets whatever help and support he might need to get back where he belongs, on the main tour.

The third and last day of the 2021 German Masters Qualifiers produced two very unexpected results as Mark Selby and Neil Robertson were both beaten, by Fergal O’Brien and Ben Woollaston respectively.

This is the report by WST, currently not covering the evening session.

O’Brien Stuns Selby

Ireland’s Fergal O’Brien produced a fine performance to beat Mark Selby 5-3 at BetVictor German Masters qualifying in Milton Keynes.

World number 124 O’Brien only remained on the tour this year by virtue of his performance on the one-year list last season and came into today’s game having not secured a match win this term. However, the 1999 British Open champion put on an assured display to see off Selby.

It’s a disappointing defeat for world number four Selby, who has enjoyed a strong start to the season after claiming the BetVictor European Masters title in September.

O’Brien fired in breaks of 56, 83, 62, 67, 85 and 57 on his way to this afternoon’s win. He now faces Germany’s Simon Lichtenberg for a place in the final stages.

Last week’s Champion of Champions winner Mark Allen continued his strong form with a 5-1 defeat of China’s Gao Yang.

The Northern Irishman composed runs of 126, 95 and 70 to brush aside his opponent this afternoon. Allen will play Pang Junxu up next.

Nigel Bond secured a shock 5-2 defeat of four-time ranking event winner Ali Carter. Former Crucible finalist Bond, 54, rolled back the years to book an encounter with Louis Heathcote in the final qualifying round.

Mark Joyce beat Thai number one Thepchaiya Un Nooh 5-4, while Peter Devlin came through a 5-3 victor against Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko.

Fergal had not beaten Mark since 2006 … In his postmatch, Fergal said that he has been in Northern Ireland in recent weeks, practicing with Mark Allen and Jordan Brown and that it has helped him massively. He looks as sharp as he has been for a long time.

Here is Fergal’s interview with WST:

Nigel Bond should seriously consider the musical theme of “Die another day” as his walk on music… he’s hard to watch most of the time, but I can’t help but admire him.

In the evening Ben Wollaston beat Neil Robertson by 5-4, in a high quality match that featured 8 breaks over 50. It seems that, slowly, Ben is getting back to the type of form that brought him to the 2015 Welsh Open final, and that’s good news.

Noppon Saengkham, who recently started working with Sightright, also showed signs of a return to form. He beat Oliver Lines by 5-2, scoring breaks of 62, 61, 70 and 54 in the process.

Simon Lichtenberg, who beat Amine Amiri by 5-1, is the only German / German speaking player left in the draw. Lukas Kleckers was whitewashed by Zhou Yuelong and Alexander Ursenbacker lost by 5-2 to Pang Junxu. Pang is not the most spectacular player, but he looks solid.

One last thing …

This tweet by Willo may explain a number of bizarre results in the past days and, also possibly in the coming weeks. Apparently there are not enough practice tables available to players in Milton Keynes and, as a result, players have only limited time for practice and only on the day they actually play. Of course, other than the space needed to install enough tables, there is also the constraint that they need to be sanitised, as well as all the “attached” equipment (balls, rests, spider etc…), after each practice session. As tournaments follow each other, week in week out, in Milton Keynes, and with travel restrictions in place, players who live far away from the venue are likely to stay in the area with very few opportunities to practice at all.

Today will see the conclusion of the last 128 round of this season German Masters. We have some interesting clashes between young players on the morning menu:

• Pang Junxu v Alex Ursenbacher
• Zhou Yuelong v Lukas Kleckers
• Peter Devlin v Iulian Boiko

Before we enjoy that let’s have a look at what happened over the last two days.

Tuesday – WST report:

Ding Through In Milton Keynes

Ding Junhui produced a battling display to beat Martin Gould 5-3 in a high quality clash at BetVictor German Masters qualifying in Milton Keynes.

Today’s match was a meeting between two former winners of the event. Ding lifted the trophy in 2014 when he defeated Judd Trump in the final, while Gould secured his only ranking title to date with a memorable defeat of Luca Brecel in 2016.

China’s number one Ding, who will begin the defence of his UK Championship crown later this month, took the opener with a break of 52. However, Gould hit back with consecutive runs of 125 and 98 to move 2-1 ahead.

Ding restored parity with a contribution of 73, before a break of 110 saw him edge back ahead. Gould drew level at 3-3, but from there Ding charged to the line. Breaks of 77 and 80 saw him move one win away from the final stages. Ding will face Ashley Carty in the last qualifying round on Friday.

Defending champion and world number one Judd Trump progressed with a 5-2 win over 2017 German Masters winner Anthony Hamilton.  The Ace in the Pack top scored with a break of 100 and faces Peter Lines in the next round.

Amateur Paul Davison stunned former German Masters winner Mark Williams to progress with a 5-4 win.

Davison, 47, has spent 20 seasons as a professional throughout his career, but has never been beyond the last 16 of a ranking event. However, he only trailed three-time World Champion Williams once in today’s contest. Davison’s next opponent will be Ryan Day.

Chinese 17-year-old Lei Peifan came from behind and beat former Crucible semi-finalist Gary Wilson 5-4. Lei had trailed 3-1, but composed breaks of 88, 112, 62 and 58 to win four of the next five frames and seal his progression. He’ll play Duane Jones in the final round, who defeated Allan Taylor 5-4.

Shaun Murphy fired in the sixth 147 break of his career in beating Chen Zifan 5-0. The magic break came in the second frame of the match and puts him in line for the £5,000 high break prize. Murphy faces Ian Burns up next.

Alan McManus set up an all-Scottish clash in the final qualifying round after beating Barry Pinches 5-2. He’ll now face Stephen Maguire, who received a bye after Rod Lawler was forced to withdraw.

There was an incident in the deciding frame of the Mark Williams  v Paul Davison match. Williams had snookered Davison behind the yellow. Davison was leading by 57-44 with one red left on the table. Davison, escaping from the snooker, hit the red , and snookered Williams in the process. Mark immediately reacted, claiming that his opponent had hit the yellow whilst playing the escape. The referree, Desislava Bozhilova, who was standing near the top of the table, didn’t see it, and didn’t call a foul. Paul Davison didn’t own to it either.

You can watch the incident here

It’s hard to tell. Enlarging the image makes it quite blurry but it seems indeed that Willo was right. If so, he had every reason to be fuming on social media later because he should have been awarded a free ball and would very likely have won the match from there.

Mark Williams is not the kind to dwell on such things for long. Having got it out of his system, he promptly turned his attention to the prospect of playing golf, claiming that he wasn’t playing well enough anyway.

Paul Davison however was branded a “a cheat” on social media, and Desislava “incompetetent”. Desi was standing at the other side of the table, her attention on the red that Paul needed to hit. If the yellow did move, it was very little and in her direction, therefore not easy to spot from where she was. On the side tables I don’t think referees have any access to the footage to possibly check. Did Paul “surely” feel the contact? Well, I’m not so “sure” because, if there was a contact, it was a “brush” more than a “hit”,  his attention was on hitting the red … and this was a deciding frame, with all the pressure that comes with the situation.

Tuesday – Shaun Murphy makes a maximum

Magician Conjures 147

Tuesday 10 Nov 2020 08:12PM

Shaun Murphy made the sixth maximum break of his career during his opening match at the BetVictor German Masters qualifiers in Milton Keynes.

Murphy’s perfect break came in the second frame of his match against Chen Zifan. He joins Ding Junhui and Stuart Bingham on six career 147s, and only three players have made more: Ronnie O’Sullivan (15), John Higgins (11) and Stephen Hendry (11).

World number six Murphy is in line for the tournament high break prize of £5,000, having made his first 147 since 2016.

It’s the third maximum break of the season, following 147s from Ryan Day and John Higgins, and 160th in snooker history.

You can watch it here:

There are some great shots in there.

Wednesday – Tian Pengfei tests positive to Covid-19

Tian Pengfei Tests Positive For Covid-19

Tian Pengfei has tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival at snooker’s BetVictor German Masters qualifiers in Milton Keynes and has been withdrawn from the event.

Tian was due to play Ashley Hugill on Wednesday evening, so Hugill receives a bye to the second round of the world ranking event.

All other players and officials tested at the event so far have had negative results.

Tian will now undergo a period of self isolation and will receive the support of WST. He will also be withdrawn from next week’s Northern Ireland Open at the same venue. He was due to play Noppon Saengkham in the first round of that event so Saengkham receives a bye to round two.

Since WST events restarted in June, strict Covid-19 regulations have been and continue to be followed, under UK Government guidance.

Wednesday – WST report

Wednesday 11 Nov 2020 05:46PM

World number five Kyren Wilson swept to a 5-0 win over Zak Surety at BetVictor German Masters qualifying in Milton Keynes.

Wilson won the German Masters in 2019, beating David Gilbert 9-7 in the final to claim the third of his four career ranking titles.

The Warrior wasted little time in seeing off Surety today. He opened the match with consecutive breaks of 126 and 124, before securing the remaining three frames to win in just one and a quarter hours.

Chinese 20-year-old Yuan Sijun recorded a surprise 5-2 defeat of world number 12 David Gilbert. He will now face Jimmy Robertson, who beat Malta’s Alex Borg 5-1, for a place in the final stages.

Liang Wenbo secured a 5-2 defeat of 1997 World Champion Ken Doherty. The Firecracker made breaks of 88 and 51 on his way to victory and will play Irish teenager Aaron Hill up next.

Sam Craigie recorded an impressive 5-4 defeat of Yan Bingtao, while Anthony McGill emerged a 5-3 victor against Zhao Jianbo.

Other results worth noting are:

Robbie Williams beat Florian Nüßle by 5-4 in a hard fought match that went to the last black. It’s a shame for the young Austrian Champion. He’s only 18 but he is already a very good hard match player.

Jak Jones beat Si Jiahui, by 5-3, in a match that finished about an hour later than any other match in that session. Jak’s AST is nearly 32 seconds and it was even longer at some points earlier in the match. Just as well that he won the last frame in one visit with a 97…