Ronnie won an entertaining match yesterday evening, beating Michael White by 6-3. They both went for their shots, but there was nothing reckless from either of them.
There were some very good safeties as well. I remember Michael years ago: he was a tremendous potter but he had no B game. He surprised me in a good way yesterday: he played some good tactical stuff.
Ronnie played an open game, but you could see that he really wanted to win.
Ronnie O’Sullivan began his quest for an eighth Cazoo UK Championship title with a 6-3 win over Michael White in a high quality contest in York.
The Rocket looked in danger of a shock first round exit when amateur White fought back from 3-1 down to 3-3, but O’Sullivan regained his footing and won the last three frames to set up a last-64 tie with Robbie Williams.
O’Sullivan is aiming to win a tournament for the first time since the 2020 Betfred World Championship
Breaks of 139, 131 and 72 gave O’Sullivan his early lead. White fought back impressively by taking frames five and six, and in the seventh he had a chance to clear from 59-1 down, but ran out of position on the final red. O’Sullivan got the better of a safety battle on the colours to go 4-3 ahead, and that proved the turning point as the world number three added the next two frames for victory.
“Michael is too good a player not to be on the tour,” insisted O’Sullivan, who celebrates his 46th birthday on the final day of this tournament. “He is a proper player, he has won two ranking events. He’ll get back on the tour, stay on it and do well. I know my snooker and I offered him some advice after the match. Whether he takes that or not is up to him, but it might be good for him to go away and look at that.
“He has got so much potential to win many more tournaments. When I stop playing I would love to help him, free of charge, because I really like the guy. He plays the game in the right way and plays to win. Some of the matches I was watching tonight, they play as if their life depends on it and you can’t play this game that way. We all want to win, but you have got to play the right shots. Most of the tour are just desperate to win so they play ugly snooker. He’s not like that, he plays to win trophies, and if you don’t do that then the game won’t forgive you.
“The crowd got their money’s worth tonight and they deserved it because they are a good crowd, they have supported this tournament very well. They didn’t have it here last year, because we were in Milton Keynes. It’s good for snooker that the crowds have come back. Big up to York, it’s one of my favourite places on Earth.”
The Rocket is surprised to see a man of White’s immense talent being classed as an amateur at 30 years old, and feels he probably has to work on the mental side of the game look for help in doing so, as O’Sullivan has with the likes of Dr Steve Peters.
‘He’s been on and off the tour, but should never be off the tour. He’s far too good,’ O’Sullivan told Eurosport. ‘He had a strong junior and amateur career and is a double ranking event winner.
‘You just never know why people fall off, but sometimes they’ve got their own problems.
‘Your game can deteriorate and go missing for spells, and maybe that’s what happened to Michael. But there is time for him to get back there competing with the top guys.
‘It’s a tough sport, you know. I call it snooker depression. Some people struggle with it and it’s important to get help. You have to work on your weaknesses. If one of them is the mental side of it, then you need to work on that side of things and work on yourself.’
White has been open about problems off the table in the past, speaking to Metro.co.uk earlier this year about giving up drinking after he felt alcohol was ruining his game and his life.
Speaking in May, White explained: ‘I’ve changed my whole lifestyle around basically, obviously from me going from top 16 to coming off the tour, there are reasons behind that.
‘I’ve stopped drinking completely. To be honest I had a bit of a problem with alcohol. It stemmed from a lot of things really, I put a snooker room in my house, which wasn’t a great idea. I wasn’t practicing for events, I was turning up, getting beat, going back and I was a bit depressed as well at the time. I was turning to drink.’
He is yet to regain his professional status, but White was then very confident of not just doing that, but returning to the top of the sport.
‘I strongly believe I can get back into the top 16,’ he said in May.
‘I feel like I’m stronger mentally after going through the things I’ve been through. I was quite young getting into the top 16 – 23, 24 – so I’m a lot more experienced now, not just snooker-wise but in the way I conduct myself. I know more things that work for me and against me, I’m more wised-up on that side.’
Michael hasn’t managed to requalify via the Q-School but finished high enough in the order of merit to get many opportunities to play this season. If he can play regularly the way he played yesterday he should be back on the main tour in a near future. Good luck to him.
Ronnie will now face Robbie Williams some time during the week-end.
Kyren Wilson enjoyed the York Barbican atmosphere and his own performance as he beat Soheil Vahedi 6-2 in the first round of the Cazoo UK Championship.
This tournament was played in Milton Keynes last year behind closed doors but now returns to its home in York, where it was first staged in 2001. Wilson made a 147 in the event last year and reached the quarter-finals – matching his best run – and hopes to go further this time.
Wilson is a winner of four ranking events
The Kettering cueman was far too strong for his Iranian opponent today, making breaks of 71, 56, 110 and 86 as he set up a last-64 match with Jak Jones.
“That was a tough first round draw, Soheil has beaten a few top players so I’m pleased to get the win,” said world number five Wilson. “It’s brilliant being back here, the set-up is fantastic.
“There was a pretty good crowd in there for my first game which was nice, and the table played beautifully. It’s so good to be back in York. You want to get the first few rounds out of the way as the tournament feels more classy when the numbers are cut down, so I’m delighted to get through.”
Wilson suffered a 6-0 defeat against Judd Trump in the semi-finals of the Cazoo Champion of Champions last Friday but quickly put that result out of his mind with a weekend trip to Yarmouth. “I actually went and played in an eight-ball pool team event,” he added. “That was a bit of fun and a chance to release the shackles, I had a few beers and enjoyed myself.”
Last year’s semi-finalist Lu Ning suffered a first round exit against promising rookie Wu Yize, who top scored with 115 in a 6-3 success.
Zhou Yuelong boosted his chances in the Race to the Cazoo Masters as he thrashed Chen Zifan 6-1 with a top break of 80.
Yorkshireman David Grace, another former semi-finalist, saw off Peter Devlin 6-2 with a top run of 104 while Anthony McGill white-washed Iulian Boiko 6-0.
Wu Yize was the object of some very negative comments on social media after wins earlier this season. People downplaying his achievements and saying that he’s unidimensional. He may be, he’s still very young – he only turned 18 last month – but the fact that nobody can deny is that, as a rookie, he has won 5 out of 6 of his first round matches so far.
Iulian Boiko, who is in his secind year, but still only 16, was far too young when awarded a tour card, and still is too young, especially considering that he has to live as an expat in the UK, away from his family. I just hope the experience will not leave him irretrievably damaged, something that happened to others before him. I have said it before and will say it again: WST should reinstatiate an minimal age limit for turning professional. It used to exist, and it was 16 at the start of the season. I would even increase it to 18, because 16 may be OK if you have your family around you, but not if you have to live on your own as an expat, need to learn a different language, adapt to a diffrent culture AND play professionally.
Shaun Murphy suffered a first round exit at the Cazoo UK Championship for the third time in four years as he lost 6-5 to Chinese amateur Si Jiahui.
World number six Murphy lost to Chen Feilong in the opening round in York in 2018 and to Eden Sharav in 2019, and now must endure another early exit from a tournament he won in 2008.
Si finished fifth on the 2021 Q School ranking list and earns a place in the event as a top-up amateur
Murphy, who reached the final of the Betfred World Championship in May, was suffering from neck and shoulder pain and only intensive physiotherapy allowed him to compete, but would still have expected to beat a 19-year-old opponent who has never been beyond the last 16 of a ranking event. Si is into the last 64 this time to face Dominic Dale.
Si took the first three frames with a top break of 65 and might have added the fourth but for a miss on the final brown. Murphy made it 3-1 but then saw his opponent compile a run of 76 in frame five, and Si took the sixth as well to lead 5-1.
In frame seven, Si got the two snookers he needed on the last red, and had a chance to clear for victory but missed the final blue to a centre pocket. He also let slip chances in the eighth frame and Murphy took advantage with a break of 60 to close to 5-3. Runs of 87 and 85 from the Englishman got him back to 5-5.
In the decider, Murphy trailed 44-53 when he converted an excellent long pot on the penultimate red, to leave the remaining balls at his mercy. But he then missed the blue to a top corner, and Si cleared the table for victory.
“It was a shame to come all the way back to 5-5 and then miss the blue,” said Murphy. “Last week I was in agony on every shot. I have worked with my physio John Cox every day. I wasn’t able to hit any balls until today. Over the weekend I had episcleritis (inflammation within the eye) and I could barely see at one point. That cleared up thanks to the help of Specsavers in York.
“I don’t know a snooker player who doesn’t have problems with their neck and shoulders. This is something I have suffered from for many years and it has flared up very badly for me. Every shot was painful today. I don’t want to take a break from playing. I have to be ready to play at the Scottish Open and to try to get into the World Grand Prix.”
John Higgins, the most consistent player of the season so far having reached the final of the last three tournaments, eased to a 6-1 win over Michael Georgiou. Breaks of 60, 112, 55 and 134 helped Higgins set up a second round match with Sunny Akani or Steven Hallworth.
“Michael didn’t really turn up today, he missed chances,” admitted Wishaw’s Higgins, who travelled straight to York on Monday from Bolton, where he was runner-up at the Cazoo Champion of Champions. “Yesterday I was just dozing on the sofa and watching Netflix. I woke up today and felt a bit better.
“In the final against Judd on Sunday I got blitzed. In the other two finals this season I had my chances, but I lost and that’s the way it is. I’m trying to forget about that and I’ve come here to have another good tournament. Against the very top boys, maybe I get found out a little bit. I need to try to find a way to beat one of them.”
York’s Ashley Hugill won a match at his home venue for the first time, beating Mark Davis 6-4 with a top break of 79. “I am delighted, it’s a huge relief,” said Hugill. “I was just so determined not to lose, especially in front of my family.”
Stephen Maguire, who lifted the trophy in York in 2004, beat Sanderson Lam 6-3 with top breaks of 100 and 105.
Shaun has put on a lot of weight again during the lockdown and this isn’t helping probably. I’m not “body shaming” him here. A lot of people have struggled in various ways since the covid-19 outbreak, and it’s ongoing. We do not know what Shaun has been going through. Shaun is usually gracious in defeat but yesterday was different.
Shaun Murphy blasts snooker policy on amateur players after shock UK Championship defeat: ‘It’s not right’
George Flood
Shaun Murphy was stunned by amateur Si Jiahui at the UK Championship in York on Tuesday
Shaun Murphy was stunned by amateur Si Jiahui at the UK Championship in York on Tuesday
Shaun Murphy has blasted snooker authorities for allowing amateur players to compete in professional tournaments.
The 2005 world champion suffered a huge upset against Si Jiahui of China in the first round of the UK Championship on Tuesday evening, losing a thrilling clash 6-5 at the York Barbican.
Afterwards, Murphy – beaten by Mark Selby in the World Championship final at The Crucible earlier this year – ranted that Si should never have been in the competition in the first place.
“I feel extremely hard done by that I have lost to someone who shouldn’t even be in the building,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“I don’t know why we as a sport allow amateurs to compete in professional tournaments. This is our livelihood. This is our living. We are self-employed individuals and not contracted sportsmen. We don’t play for a team.
“The other 127 runners and riders in the tournament, it is their livelihood too. It is wrong, in my opinion, to walk into somebody who is not playing with the same pressures and concerns I am.
“He played like a man who does not have a care in the world, because he does not have a care in the world. It is not fair, it is not right.
“I am not picking on him as a young man, he deserved his victory. Amateurs should not be allowed in professional tournaments, the end.
“This is our livelihood. This is how I put food on the table. This is how I earn money. Since turning professional at 15, I have earned the right to call myself a professional snooker player. He hasn’t done that. He shouldn’t be on the table.“
Other than the fact that there are only 122 professionals this year… which obviously is an issue … what do we do with this.
Recently Mark Williams also took a stand against top-ups, and I agree with them both, in principle, but as long at WST “sells” the Q-School to amateurs with the promise for them to get opportunities to play in main tour events provided they did well enough in the Q-School and that there are spots to fill. they need to keep their promises. Obviously this season there will always be at least 6 spots in all “128 persons” events.
Si Jiahui can play. Last week-end he was runner-up to David Lilley in the Q-Tour event one. It’s not true that amateurs have no pressure. Entering those events cost them entry fees, and as far as the Chinese players are concerned, CBSA will have an eye on their performances I’m sure.
Ronnie will be in action tonight against Michael White. Michael is a two times ranking event winner but has clearly lost his way in recent year. On paper it’s not the easiest of draws, but ir might suit Ronnie because Michael will play an open game.
‘I WASN’T IN MOOD TO PLAY’ – RONNIE O’SULLIVAN ON 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF INFAMOUS WALKOUT AT UK CHAMPIONSHIP
Ronnie O’Sullivan has reflected on his infamous UK Championship quarter-final with Stephen Hendry in 2006 that saw the Essex icon quit after only five frames of the best-of-17 frame contest. The seven-times UK winner admits his mind was elsewhere during that match as he trailed 4-1, but believes sports psychiatrist Steve Peters has been key in extending his elite career 15 years later.
BY
DESMOND KANE
Ronnie O’Sullivan has no regrets over his decision to walk out of his infamous UK Championship quarter-final with old foe Stephen Hendry in 2006, but is surprised he is still competing at the elite level 15 years later.
O’Sullivan has lifted the UK title a record seven times since becoming the youngest winner of a ranking event at the age of 17 years and 358 days with a glorious 10-6 win over Hendry in 1993.
But Rocket Ronnie’s most discussed moment at the UK Championship arguably came when he decided to quit his best-of-17 frame encounter with the Scotsman during the first session at the Barbican Centre in York.
O’Sullivan was trailing 4-1 when he missed a tough red leading 24-0 in the sixth frame before shaking hands with a stunned Hendry and equally bewildered Dutch referee Jan Verhaas.
O’Sullivan confesses he was in a fragile mental state at the time, but has improved his outlook due to work with celebrated sports psychiatrist Steve Peters over the past decade.
When asked if he thought he would have reached his 30th season as a professional upon reflection, O’Sullivan said: “Probably not, you know, probably not.
“But then again, I was going through a bit of a hard time at the time which I’m not sure I spoke about in either of my books. I don’t know. But yeah, I just wasn’t in the mood to play snooker so I walked out and that was that.
I’VE ALWAYS HAD THIS INBUILT DESIRE TO CHALLENGE MYSELF. AND, YOU KNOW, GET UP OFF THE FLOOR, IF YOU LIKE. PICK MYSELF UP, DUST MYSELF DOWN AND COME BACK.
“But I’m not sure the last time I done it, I really wanted to do it. “It is only because of Steve and the work I’ve done with him that kind of kept me curious. So it was like a new way of looking at it.
“You know, you have snooker coaches, and you go through a lot of them and you think: ‘oh, that’s that done, there’s nothing else to learn there’.
BUT WITH STEVE IT BROUGHT A FRESH DIFFERENT ANGLE TO IT. WE DON’T ACTUALLY TALK ABOUT SNOOKER. WE JUST TALK ABOUT THE MINDSET AND HOW DO WE DEAL WITH A CERTAIN SITUATION.
“And that’s been really interesting and good for me to go down that road.”
O’Sullivan begins his latest UK campaign, his 29th after opting out of the tournament in 2015, against attacking Welshman Michael White on Wednesday evening.
He would dearly love to clasp an eighth UK trophy on 5 December, the day of his 46th birthday, but feels there is more to life than winning snooker tournaments.
“Success for me is just to enjoy your work and enjoy the people you surround yourself with,” he told Eurosport.
“I think for the last 15 years, I’ve been guilty of doing a lot of stuff for a lot of other people and feeling like I had to. The guilt of not doing it..you maybe kind of beat yourself up.
“But I’ve had a bit of a wake-up call recently.
“Recently I just thought: ‘you know what, I’m going to live life for myself for a change, you know, and just not worry about this, that and the next thing.
“So yeah, I feel quite free at the moment and I’m enjoying the freedom and the options that I have now.
“Whereas before, I would never really embrace them because I still had a good life. I still enjoyed what I’d do, but I always made sure that it was okay with somebody else if I’d done X, Y and Z.
WHEREAS NOW, IF I WOKE UP TOMORROW AND WENT, YOU KNOW WHAT, I’M JUST GOING TO TRAVEL THE UK AND EUROPE FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS..I WOULD DO IT WITHOUT EVEN CONSULTING ANYONE.
“I’m more than happy for you to come and visit me and join me if you missed me enough. If not, I’ll catch you later. Have a nice time, this is what I want to do now.
“I feel like I’m at that stage in my life where I’m fit and healthy and I just want to experience as many great things as I can.
“Obviously, I’d still make sure come back and do my punditry work for Eurosport because I love doing that.
“There’s other stuff that I do away from snooker that I would make sure I do too, but it wouldn’t stop me from leading the life I want to live.“
The UK Championship starts today. It’s one of the three “BBC tournaments” but the BBC isn’t interested in the first round. The reason why there will be no play on FRiday is not a “rest day” for the players, it’s because the BBC needs that day to install and test their equipment.
Eurosport covers the first round.
Apparently four tables are streamed, probably the ones in the main arena.
High stakes at the UK Championship for lower-ranked players with careers in the balance
Phil Haigh Tuesday 23 Nov 2021
There is plenty more than the trophy on the line at the UK Championship in York (Picture: Getty Images)
The first few days of the UK Championship seem something of a low-key affair with the BBC cameras yet to be switched on, but their importance cannot be underestimated for many players, with snooker careers heavily impacted by the early skirmishes at the Barbican.
All 128 players come in at round one at the UK and most attention will be on the big names, largely strolling into the next stage as they take on amateurs and those near the very foot of the rankings.
How the top players perform will take the headlines and any shocks will attract the most attention, but it will be defeats that fly under the radar that could have the most profound consequences.
Defending champion Neil Robertson was asked by the BBC who would likely be contending for the title this year, but he also pointed out: ‘The UK Championship is massive, especially for the lower players and their rankings.’ He is spot on.
With first round losers leaving York with nothing and £6,500 on offer for making round two – much more than most other ranking events open to all 128 players – that sum could well be the difference between a player being professional or amateur come the end of the season.
Last year’s edition of the UK Championship was a great example of this as every single player that won their first round match in Milton Keynes is still on the main tour.
In contrast, 14 professional players who lost their first matches last year no longer hold pro status, while nine more who were beaten in the first round also dropped off the tour but have since bounced straight back through Q School.
There is one anomaly in that Jimmy White won his first round match and still dropped off tour, only to be handed an invitational tour card, so one win in York is no guarantee, but it is hugely significant.
Clearly some of those players who were dumped out first round last year were never going to retain their tour status, I’m afraid I’m looking at you Amine Amiri and Alex Borg, but for many others one win at the Barbican would have made all the difference.
The likes of Ian Burns and Luo Honghao went into the UK Championship last year in the top 64, lost first round and ended up dropping off.
Gerard Greene did just enough to retain his tour status at the end of last season finishing eighth on the one-year list with £23,000, a large part in thanks to his win over Daniel Wells at the UK.
Gerard Greene’s first round win over Daniel Wells last year proved to be massive, with Greene narrowly surviving on tour and Wells dropping off (Picture: Getty Images)
Nine players who dropped off tour were within £6,500 of Greene on that list and lost first round at the UK, so would have been saved by a solitary win.
Obviously there is more to it than this, players have the whole season to rack up the prize money required to stay on tour and the World Championship offers much more cash than the UK, but clearly the coming days will have huge consequences if last year is anything to go by.
Between the UK Championship and the World Championship qualifiers in April, there are precious few opportunities remaining for some players to pick up much prize money at all.
For any that have already failed to qualify for the Scottish Open, German Masters and European Masters, the only scheduled ranking events they are likely to play until Sheffield are the Shoot Out, Welsh Open, Turkish Masters and Gibraltar Open.
There are also fewer chances to book your place on tour for next season than there were for the current campaign, with the return of qualifiers from around the globe.
Windows of opportunity remain, but with prize money at events like the Shoot Out and Gibraltar so small, they are only just open and will be unceremoniously shut pretty soon.
Speaking to one player outside the top 64, he is already resigned to dropping off tour at the end of the season unless he can muster up a run to the last 16 in York.
He may not need as many as three wins at the UK, but a first round defeat and he would need something of a miracle – specifically a great run in World Championship qualifying – to survive, and we are still months away from that event.
With the importance of this opening round at the Barbican looming large, sympathy has to go out to world number 82 Lee Walker who has been forced to withdraw due to a positive Covid test.
His personal window of opportunity for tour survival has just been significantly swung inwards and only the gentlest of breezes now blows through it.
There will be glory and vast riches won at the business end of the UK Championship, but far from the ticker tape of the trophy presentation, there will be despondence and despair in the unglamorous setting of ‘Arena Two’ where players will be battling for their snooker lives.
Keep an eye out for them. They’ll appreciate it.
All credits to Phil for this article, it’s rarely that the lower ranked players’ fate gets the press’ attention and the OK by the editors.
As mentioned above, it’s a real blow for Lee Walker to have to miss this tournament.
Someone else who will also miss it, is Olivier Marteel. Olivier was on his way to York, when his father was taken ill and went in ICU. Unfortunately, he passed away. Olivier still drove to York, thanked everyone for their support, and returned to Belgium.
Our thoughts are with Olivier and his family in these difficult moments.
Relaxed Ronnie O’Sullivan Bidding For Record-Extending Eighth UK Championship Win
Ronnie O’Sullivan insists snooker’s ‘toxic’ side almost drove him out of the game. But the Rocket is now a content and relaxed man going into this week’s UK Championship bidding to extend his own record by lifting the trophy for an eighth time.
Six-time world champion O’Sullivan, who will turn 46 on the day of the final in York, remains one of sport’s ultimate mavericks. A 30-year career has taken him from child prodigy through some incredible career highs – but also flashpoints and clashes with authority.
That came to a head four years ago when incidents at the Masters and then the Betfred World Championships led to lawyers getting involved. Current world No3 O’Sullivan brought the lawyers in about the threat of disciplinary action for criticising a referee and swearing at a photographer at Alexandra Palace. And after accusing the governing body and then World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn of “bullying and intimidation” O’Sullivan himself was briefly threatened with legal action.
O’Sullivan has a tough opening match on Wednesday against two-time ranking-event winner Michael White – now technically an amateur after falling off the tour.
He said: “I am feeling very relaxed, enjoying life and what I am doing and looking forward to everything – I do feel like I am on holiday at tournaments these days.
“And I try to remove myself from that toxicity that I feel is sometimes around snooker, you get a lot of people bitching and moaning – and I was one of them for a while.
“I did it for about two years before making a conscious decision I can’t live my life like this, and it was the best thing I ever did. As long as there is a tournament and a table, I’m okay.
“There are a lot of things I would change about the game and I have talked about them in the past, but I don’t any more.
“I had one phone conversation a few years ago with a key figure in the game, they asked me my views, would I be prepared to do this or that.
“Certain things happened and I thought it was so toxic and so not right, so bad that I had no choice but to become more detached.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
“And it was only with a few close friends that gave me a lot of support with the right people to make sure I wasn’t being taken advantage of and to fight my corner, or I was out of there.
“I was able to remove myself and guide myself in another direction. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Out of everything I do, snooker would be the first thing I would give up if one had to go. I wouldn’t give up anything else to play snooker.
“The fact is it’s my personal choice, and I still love actually playing. I love the buzz, I love competing, I only play because I really enjoy it.
“If I got a phone call tomorrow telling me ‘You’ve brought the game into disrepute and we don’t want you’, I’d say ‘Thank you very much!’
“I wouldn’t resist and say ‘That’s okay, give me a call when you feel I’m allowed to come back’, if not no worries, I won’t sit around waiting. It’s an empowering position.”
O’Sullivan can sometimes play down his array of achievements, but he admits that one burning ambition is to set a mark for wins in snooker’s ‘Big Three’ that can never be beaten.
The UK Championship, the Masters and the Betfred World Championship form the game’s majors of ‘Triple Crown’ – and O’Sullivan already has 20 of them, more than anyone else.
He added: “The final is on my birthday this year – so who knows if I can celebrate that in style. Obviously one of my goals is to leave some records that will be very tough to beat. 20 majors is already a good benchmark.
“And if I could get to 22 that would be even harder to match or beat. Look at Roger Federer, I bet he never thought his tally would be equalled but Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have got there.
“Records are there to be broken but if I can add one, two or three majors to that list then I think 23 majors would be a tough one to beat for anyone. But maybe a few things might have to go my way for that to happen.”
They have gone O’Sullivan’s way in this Triple Crown tournament in the past, and it is one that has seen some incredible highs and at least one memorable low. It was O’Sullivan’s first ranking title success at the tender age of 17 as he beat then dominant force Stephen Hendry in the final.
And it was against Hendry when trailing 4-1 in a quarter-final in 2006 that O’Sullivan turned tail in disgust after another poor shot, shook hands, and walked out of the arena and the building, for which he was later fined £20,000 and docked 900 ranking points.
But more recently it saw a joyous celebration with the fans in 2020 after beating Mark Allen in the final to set a new record for snooker’s ‘majors’ of 19 wins.
England’s David Lilley has claimed the inaugural WPBSA Q Tour title following a 5-1 final defeat of China’s Si Jiahui at the Castle Snooker & Sports Bar in Brighton.
The WPBSA Q Tour is an official pathway to the World Snooker Tour with two professional places to be won across the season from four tournaments. The events are open to all players, with 48 players automatically qualified for the last 64 stage through their position on the 2021 Q School Order of Merit.
Reigning World Seniors Snooker champion Lilley was one of eight players competing on the final day having seen the field reduced from 107 since the start of the tournament and was impressed throughout, compiling 14 breaks of 50, including three centuries during his six matches played.
Having already dispatched English trio Hamim Hussain, Daniel Womersley and John Astley, his closest match came at the quarter-finals stage where he won the final two frames to edge out Welshman Daniel Wells 4-3, before dominating Alex Millington to reach the title match.
There he would face fellow former professional Si, who himself had seen off Lee Shanker, Soheil Vahedi and Alfie Lee to reach the final day, before toppling Keishin Kamihashi and Simon Bedford to earn the right to face Lilley.
The 19-year-old would have no answer in the decisive match, however, as he quickly fell 4-0 behind – potting just five balls prior to the mid-session interval – leaving Lilley just one frame from the title. Although Si would claim the first frame upon their resumption with a cool clearance of 84, Lilley would not be denied and took out the decider with a break of 76 to become the first Q Tour champion of the season.
The victory puts Lilley in pole position for the first World Snooker Tour card available from the new Q Tour series, with the top ranked player following this season’s four scheduled events set to qualify. A further 16 players will contest a play-off tournament for the second card.
The WPBSA would like to thank all of the players, officials and in particular the Castle Snooker Club and its staff, who helped to ensure the success of the first Q Tour event – which saw an impressive 28 century breaks compiled across three days.
After two busy days of action at the Castle Snooker Club in Brighton, only eight players remain in contention for the first WPBSA Q Tour event title which will be decided on Sunday.
Over 100 players from 19 different countries set out for the £2,000 first prize, but more importantly, vital ranking points in their quest to secure one of two professional World Snooker Tour cards on offer at the end of the four-event campaign.
In the top half of the draw, 15-year-old Liam Davies has been one of the stars of the show so far on the south coast.
A prolific winner of junior titles in his homeland, the Welshman has already won five matches to get this far, including victories over former ranking event winners Michael White (3-0) and Michael Georgiou (3-1) in the last 64 and 16 respectively. Davies faces Alex Millington in the quarter-finals after the Englishman ousted Ben Fortey in the last 16 with the aid of a 136 break – the second highest of the competition so far.
From two players with no professional experience, to two who were on the top tier of the sport only last season in David Lilley and Daniel Wells.
Off the back of his Cazoo Champion of Champions appearance earlier in the week, world seniors champion Lilley has dropped only three frames in three matches so far. Wells – who came into this unseeded after a disappointing Q School campaign – has yet to be taken to a deciding frame in five outings. The former Scottish Open semi-finalist exhibited his class in his last match against fellow ex-professional Ross Muir by making breaks of 123 and 124 in consecutive frames to close the match out.
In the bottom half of the draw, two more former professionals will meet in the form of Simon Bedford and Harvey Chandler.
Bedford denied Leo Fernandez 3-1 – two players who have both qualified for the Crucible Theatre before – to book his Finals Day berth, whilst 2018 European Amateur Champion Chandler came back from two frames down to eliminate Michael Collumb 3-2.
The final match on the drawsheet is an all-Asian affair between two youngsters – China’s Si Jiahui and Japan’s Keishin Kamihashi.
19-year-old Si is trying to bounce back after his relegation from the pro ranks last term and has made a good start here, finishing off his work on Saturday with a 3-1 success over fellow teenager Alfie Lee.
Former Japanese national champion Kamihashi has been showing how dangerous he can be. In the last 64 the 20-year-old dispatched recent European under-21 champion Dylan Emery, and in the last 16 he needed to win the final three frames – which he did with runs of 133, 100 and 51 – to defeat Brandon Sargeant 3-2.
Report by Michael Day.
Americas’ Snooker news
Victor Sarkis from Brazil won the Pan American Championship and will be offered a two years tour card. starting next season. Congratulations to Victor!
Brazilian Sarkis Wins Pan American Snooker Championship
Victor Sarkis will have the opportunity to play on the World Snooker Tour’s professional circuit full-time after he defeated Renat Denkha 5-3 in the final to win the 2021 Pan American Snooker Championship.
Organised by the Pan American Billiards and Snooker Association, the most significant snooker championship across the North and South American continents returned having been cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Held at the Corner Bank venue in Toronto, Canada, cueists from Brazil, the United States of America and the host nation took part.
Sarkis – a 30-year-old from Florianópolis in Santa Catarina, Brazil – qualified for the knockout phase of the tournament after winning three of his four round robin games and topping Group A.
During the knockouts, Sarkis eliminated Canadians Jonathan Wallace 4-1 and Vito Puopolo 4-0 in the last 16 and eight respectively, before ousting United States national snooker champion Ahmed Aly Elsayed 4-3 in the semi-finals. A few days earlier at this venue, Aly won the Pan American Seniors Snooker Championship which qualifies him for the World Seniors Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre next May.
Sarkis’ opponent in the title match was American Denkha, who was runner-up in this competition the last time it was held in 2019 in Houston, Texas. Undefeated Denkha had dropped only four frames in six matches in reaching the last four but needed to come back from 3-1 down in the semi-finals in order to overhaul Derrick Claus (Canada) 4-3.
In the final, Sarkis took the opening frame and then the third and fourth to go into the mid-session interval 3-1 ahead. He then extended his lead again in the best-of-nine tie on resumption with frame five and stood on the edge of glory as he made a break of 51 in the sixth.
Denkha, though, refused to give in. From the jaws of defeat, he crafted a match-saving effort of 70 to claim the frame, before later reducing his arrears to just one at 4-3.
However, Sarkis was not to be denied the title as he regrouped in frame eight to record a 5-3 victory and follow in the footsteps of fellow Brazilian Igor Figueiredo who he succeeds as champion.
Sarkis now has the chance to join Figueiredo on the professional circuit as he becomes PABSA’s nomination for a WST tour card for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 campaigns.
2021 UK Championship News
Lee Walker was forced to withdraw from the 2021 UK Championship because of covid. Here is WST announcement:
Lee Walker has been withdrawn from the Cazoo UK Championship after testing positive for Covid-19. The positive test occurred away from the venue and Walker will now undergo a period of isolation.
The Welshman was due to face Jimmy Robertson in the first round in York on Thursday November 25th. He has been replaced in the draw by the next available player from the Q School rankings, Bai Langning.
The tournament at the York Barbican starts on Tuesday.
This is a massive blow for Lee who is provisionally ranked 82 at the end of the season, facing relegation. The UK Championship is very lucrative: winning the first round match earns the players 6500 ranking points and Lee could certainly do with that …
World number 62 Chris Wakelin will be swapping his snooker cue for dancing shoes next month, when he takes part in a Strictly Christmas charity fundraiser in aid of Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice.
Wakelin has no prior experience in ballroom dancing, but will take the plunge on December 17th and 18th, when the event takes place in Coventry.
The participating couples, made up of one more experienced ‘professional’ and a new ‘contestant’, will perform both a cha-cha-cha and a quickstep in a bid to qualify for the final night. Their scores from judges will be combined with an allocated number of points based on how much money they have raised for Zoe’s Place away from the dance floor.
So far Wakelin has raised over £2,000 by taking part in a range of other fundraising activities. You can donate by clicking here.
The Nuneaton cueman admits that the prospect of him dancing in front of a crowd was, at one point, a very distant one. However, after seeing his brother compete in the same event, he was drawn in to doing something for a very worthwhile cause.
Wakelin explained: “My first knowledge of Zoe’s Place came when going to watch my brother in Strictly Christmas four years ago. I went along expecting to see a dancing show, but in fact what I saw was an enormous group of people all with an interest in raising money for babies, children and their families, who sadly aren’t going to see their fifth birthday. It was months of hard work and a team of 70 odd people trying to support this charity, which at the time I’d never heard of. I had a visit to the hospice not long after that and saw what amazing work they do.
“I got asked if I would like to take part in this year’s show. It was one of those things where I said I would consider it, but really in the back of my mind I was thinking that I’d never danced before or been a performer of that sort. One drunken night I got home and thought I’d fill in the form to see what happened. Of course I got accepted and asked along for the induction. I’ve never looked back to be honest.
“I thought that the quickstep would be more my cup of tea. It is all about good posture and having a good frame. You need to have an upright frame being a runner and you obviously try to keep your upper body nice and stiff in snooker as well. The cha-cha-cha is all about being nice and free, loose, having your body moving and your hips swinging. I’ve never danced in my life, that’s not really me. However, I’ve actually enjoyed the cha-cha-cha a lot more. It is more of a challenge for me and I’m not the kind of person to back away from something which I perceive as being difficult. I’ve really thrown myself into it. The whole process is an overwhelming experience. Learning a new skill and having an amazing time, as well as doing something really worthwhile for charity.”
Away from the ballroom Wakelin has been working tirelessly to raise further funds for Zoe’s Place. Having taken up running over the summer, he focussed part of those efforts on road races and has now done a 10k race and a half marathon. Wakelin also completed a 24 hour snookerthon, which itself raised over £1,000.
“That was the first time I’ve ever run a half marathon distance. I trained for the Nuneaton 10K and that was my main focus for fundraising. I had no intention of running a half marathon until spring next year. I saw five days before the event, that the Coventry Half Marathon was taking entries. I went for it having only ever run 11k in my life prior to that. It was double what I’d ever done before,” said 29-year-old Wakelin.
“The snooker was a great, but very tiring, experience. Like any sportsperson will tell you, there are purple and cold patches. I started off with a couple of centuries and all of a sudden it dried up for a few hours. I set myself a personal target of making one century every hour. I managed to make the 24th one with about an hour to go. I was really chuffed to beat that personal goal of mine.
“It ran from 12pm until 12pm the next day and by seven in the morning I was gassed out. Those last few hours were tough. I was really tired and couldn’t see properly. I’d been awake for nearly a whole day and had five or six hours to go. I played my best mate, Ian White who owns the club, in the last hour. I had a bottle of beer while we played as a little celebration for what I’d been through. I had a little tear in my eye at the end, it was an amazing thing to do and a brilliant day. To raise over £1,000 was brilliant. There wasn’t any time for rest though. As soon as we finished that I jumped in the shower and went to dance practice a couple of hours later. ”
On the table Wakelin is preparing for a Cazoo UK Championship clash with Jamie Clarke next week in York. The victor will face either David Lilley or 2019 World Champion Judd Trump in the second round.
Wakelin heads to York off the back of two very contrasting performances on the TV table so far this season, both against seven-time World Champion Stephen Hendry. He succumbed to a 3-2 defeat against 52-year-old Hendry in the British Open, after what turned out to be a below par performance from both players. However, he rectified that in the recent English Open, defeating Hendry 4-0 in style, courtesy of breaks of 141, 135 and 85.
“It was a complete disaster for both myself and Stephen at the British Open and there is no getting away from or hiding that. This time around I felt like I did myself justice. You want to showcase what you can do and I thought I made a far better account of myself the second time around. I felt good, prepared well and put in a good performance.
“Every player on tour knows they can do that on the practice table but to go out and do that on TV is a big confidence boost going forward. I had a lot of players, friends and family and snooker fans congratulating me and sending me messages about how well I played. Plenty of people cut you down and remind you of how badly you played when it doesn’t go well. It was nice to have people praising how I played.
“It is a tough first round tie against Jamie Clarke in York. We are both going up the rankings and in the right direction with our careers. Jamie is a lovely lad. I speak to him every tournament and have a little catch up. I’ve no doubt it will be a good game. I’d like to get through to the weekend. It is a lovely city to spend time in. There is normally a bit of snow around and the Christmas market is on. It is a beautiful city at the best of times but it really is fantastic at that time of year. I would more than likely play Judd Trump if I got through. I actually said that I couldn’t beat him in the Eurosport studio recently. Hopefully I can silence myself and do a bit of damage!”
Judd Trump produced a superb display to beat John Higgins 10-4 in the final of the Cazoo Champion of Champions in Bolton, winning the event for the first time in his career.
Trump beat David Lilley and Ryan Day on Monday to move through the group stage, before dispatching Kyren Wilson 6-0 on Friday evening to set up a final clash with Higgins in front of a sell-out crowd.
The Ace in the Pack lifted the Cazoo Champion of Champions trophy for the first time in three trips to the final, along with earning a cheque for £150,000.
The afternoon session began at pace, as Higgins pressed into a 3-0 lead. Trump responded emphatically though, taking five frames on the spin to head into the evening session 5-4 up.
Trump only lost five frames all week and started the evening brilliantly with a break of 74 to stretch his lead to 6-4. He then added the 11th frame, before a dramatic 12th. Higgins was in a commanding position, but his break stopped at 47. Trump edged a brief safety battle and a contribution of 51 allowed him to move two away from the title.
World number two Trump has faced disappointment twice in the 2014 and 2019 finals, but history wasn’t going to repeat itself with a run of 68 in the penultimate frame putting him on the brink and leaving Higgins without a point for a third frame on the night. He went on to complete the victory and secure the title with a break of 59.
Trump said: “It’s an amazing feeling to get this one under my belt. The crowd here has been amazing for a new venue. There’s been the support has been superb for every player. We both felt that the noise and it was amazing. It was so exciting to play in a final. John has been amazing all season. I think he was in control early on but missed one or two he wouldn’t normally miss. Any win against John is incredible. He was always someone I admired when I was growing up.
“There have been times when I was first coming through where I’ve been 4-0 up, 7-2 up, and every time he comes back and beats me. There was a bad one in Shanghai which I will never forget, but it’s put me in the position that I am today. I still learn and I am still willing to learn from him. I have the utmost respect for John.”
Higgins, who has been runner-up in all of the last three events, said: “That’s obviously an achievement but you want to win events. It’s not a great feeling, I can hold my hands up and say I’ve lost to three unbelievable champions.
“I thought Judd was awesome. If I am being hyper critical. When I went 3-1 up, I had a couple of chances that you’ve got to capitalise on against somebody as good as Judd, but I went walkabout for three or four frames. Judd just grew and grew in strength and then he just blitzed me tonight. Far too good.”
It was a strange match to be honest. John started strongly, but after losing the last frame before the first MSI, he seemed to have lost his concentration in the process as well. Judd stepped in and took five on the bounce. When John managed to win the last frame of the afternoon session, I thought “Ok we have a match on our hands”. When they resumed however, it was completely one-sided. There were 9 breaks over 50, 7 by Judd and 2 by John, but the highest break was a mere 74.
One of the commentators reflected that this was an indication of the unusual and rather “slow” conditions, not the best for break-building. All week, an unusual number of “pack splits” were “unproductive” with the pack staying rather compact and/or the white getting stuck.
‘So excited to play in a final, it felt like I’d been on a drought, everyone kept saying I hadn’t won a tournament for a while.
‘To get this one under my belt early in the season and hopefully I can take some momentum from here. Everyone seems to say I only win little events so I wonder if this classes as a big one.’
This, in my opinion, only shows that, despite all his successes, Judd is still insecure and desperate for recognition.
Judd Trump whitewashed Kyren Wilson 6-0 to reach the final of the Cazoo Champion of Champions and has won 16 consecutive frames at the tournament in Bolton.
Trump will face John Higgins or Yan Bingtao for the title on Sunday and victory would give the world number two his first silverware since he won the BetVictor Gibraltar Open in March.
The Bristol cueman won four straight frames in his opening match against David Lilley on Monday, then saw off Ryan Day 6-0 before repeating that scoreline tonight against Wilson. Breaks of 88, 82 and 88 helped him to an emphatic victory.
Trump is through to his third Champion of Champions final and is looking to lift the trophy for the first time having lost to Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2014 and Neil Robertson in 2019.
“To do what I have done here has come a little bit by surprise,” said 32-year-old Trump. “I haven’t played my absolute best, but it’s been nice to get through comfortably. It’s been decent but not perfect. The other players have struggled a little bit. My safety has been good, and I’ve scored heavy. To beat someone like Kyren 6-0, you must be doing something right.
“The first frame was quite nervy. It was important for me to get that one. The longer I could keep Kyren at bay and get further away, it got more difficult for him. He never really got settled into the game. It’s important to keep your foot on the gas from the early stage. There’s a bit of time between now and the final. A little bit of practice. This is such a big event. You cannot take any liberties.
“John Higgins has been amazing and probably the player of this season so far. Yan Bingtao is improving all the time. I think it will be a close game between them.
“This is a massive event and one of the biggest on the calendar. I’ve come close a couple of times but not managed to get it over the line. These are all the best players in the world. Hopefully, I can go out there and be the face of the competition next year.
“I love it when the crowd gets involved. I think it’s important they play their part. It gets you up. It brings the nerves out before the games. The atmosphere was incredible, and I am sure it will be for the rest of the week.”
Judd Trump didn’t take liberties indeed, and his safety game was excellent from start to finish. It was however a disappointing performance by Kyren: he never really got into the match.
John Higgins won a marathon five-hour battle against Yan Bingtao by a 6-5 scoreline to reach the final of the Cazoo Champion of Champions in Bolton.
Higgins and Trump have contested two Crucible finals
Higgins got over the winning line with a superb break in the deciding frame at 12.15am to earn a meeting with Judd Trump in Sunday’s final, with first to ten frames to take home the trophy and £150,000 top prize. Higgins will be aiming to win the title for the second time and first since 2016.
It’s a third final within the space of five weeks for the Scot and he’ll hope to make it third time lucky, having lost 9-8 to Mark Allen at the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open and by the same scoreline against Neil Robertson at the BetVictor English Open.
China’s Yan led 3-1 at the interval with top breaks of 54 and 74 then Wishaw’s Higgins hit back to take three frames in a row with top runs of 89 and 70. Yan’s break of 70 made it 4-4 then the next two were shared to leave the score at 5-5.
Early in the decider, Higgins thumped in a long red, and that set up a match-winning break of 89. He was out of position on 68 but played a clever double on the sixth-last red to a centre pocket which made victory inevitable.
The final starts at 1pm.
The second semi-final was completely different: it was a hell of a battle. Yan showed outstanding tactical skills, a rarety at such a young age. John Higgins is a master tactician but his young opponent matched him in that department yesterday evening. I truly enjoyed it. It was a very long match and both players certainly spent a lot of mental energy out there.
John Higgins is in his third final in a row. Agonisingly he lost the previous two in a deciding frame. He will hope to win this one and will give it his all. But … he’s had to battle hard until the early hours today whilst Judd Trump had a short and comparatively easy semi-final, a spare day to rest and practice, and is 14 years younger than him. It will be very difficult.
Also, during one of his stunts, the MC tried to get the audience going whilst the big screen was showing a kind of dance and loud music was on. I don’t know about other people, but that’s big NO NO for me. Snooker doesn’t need to be turned into a circus, particularly at a prestigious event and forced fun is rarely funny anyway.
John Higgins reached the semi-finals of the 2021 Cazoo Champion of Champions by beating Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-1 at the University of Bolton Stadium.
O’Sullivan opened the final day of group fixtures with a 4-2 defeat of Stuart Bingham. The six-time World Champion composed breaks of 58, 95, 57, and 50 on his way to the win.
Higgins staged a typically steely fightback to edge out Ding Junhui. The 31-time ranking event winner found himself 3-1 down and a ball away from defeat, but he was let off the hook and came back to emerge a 4-3 victor.
Higgins was quick out the blocks in the group final, firing in a break of 86 in his first visit of the match, before a run of 92 in the second frame put him 2-0 ahead. O’Sullivan hit back in the third frame with the first century of the match, a contribution of 101, to move one behind Higgins, who was runner-up at the recent English and Northern Ireland Opens.
The last frame before the interval proved to be pivotal. O’Sullivan appeared to be in pole position, but Higgins hit back to take it on the black and head into the mid-session 3-1 ahead.
Scotland’s four-time World Champion Higgins had momentum on his side and continued his dominance after the interval with his first century of the tournament, a break of 127, to move three frames in front. He followed that up with a break of 94 to hammer home his dominance and get within a frame from victory at 5-1.
Higgins swiftly dealt the final blow in the following frame with a break of 63 to seal his place in the semi-finals, where he will face Masters champion Yan Bingtao.
“It was my night really. The fourth frame was massive. We’d done three one-visit frames, but then I managed to nick it to go 3-1 that was a big frame. I came in after the interval, I didn’t really miss much and I didn’t really give him a lot of chances. Although he missed a couple that’d he’d never normally miss. I am delighted with the way I hit the ball,” said Higgins.
“Yan is a brilliant young talent, brilliant young player and brilliant young champion. Already he’s already won some big events. I feel a little bit confident in my game and hopefully I will give him a good game on Saturday night. I think I am hitting it well. I was maybe a little too critical after my last final. Deep down you do wonder if you can get it over the line at the weekend. I would love to give myself another chance this weekend.”
Higgins has won the Cazoo Champion of Champions before in 2016 and has eyes on a second title: “It would feel amazing to win it. The calibre of players that we have here is the best of the best. If you can win an event like this, it’s a big feather in your cap.”
There were some brilliant shots by Ronnie, as well as uncharacteristic errors, during the first match on the day. Like most players earlier this week, both Ronnie and Stuart seemed to struggle with the table conditions.
Generally the table looked to be playing rather slowly, and the top corner pockets were unforgiving: any ball played at pace had to be perfectly centered or it was rejected.
John Higgins and Ding also struggled with the conditions during the second match, particularly Higgins. Ding really should have won that match. However, he missed the match ball, and, after that he appeared to lose interest and that was reflected in his shot selection. There was no fight. It’s pretty worrying TBH. Ding is still young, but there is no fire in him at the moment, no apparent desire. He has a lot of points to defend next week at the UK Chsampionship. An early exit in York could see him drop from 10th to 25th in the rankings.
Regarding the group final, it’s all in the report above.
These are the stats of the Group Final:
The telling stat is the last: the table time. It’s very difficult to find fluency or to stay concentrated when kept in the chair for very long spells.
Ronnie of course wasn’t happy with his own performance, but mainly praised his opponent, in typical gracious fashion.
John Higgins admitted that, having struggled in the afternonn, he had to change his cue action to cope with the conditions. All credit to him, he did find a way and fully deserved the win.
O’Sullivan is aiming to win a tournament for the first time since the 2020 Betfred World Championship
Wakelin and dance partner Amanda Hammond.
Away from the ballroom Wakelin has been working tirelessly to raise further funds for Zoe’s Place. Having
Wakelin heads to York off the back of two very contrasting performances on the TV table so far this season, both against seven-time World Champion Stephen Hendry. He succumbed to a 3-2 defeat against 52-year-old Hendry in the British Open, after what turned out to be a below par performance from both players. However, he rectified that in the recent English Open, defeating Hendry 4-0 in style, courtesy of breaks of 141, 135 and 85.
Credit: Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Trump said: “It’s an amazing feeling to get this one under my belt. The crowd here has been amazing for a new venue. There’s been the support has been superb for every player. We both felt that the noise and it was amazing. It was so exciting to play in a final. John has been amazing all season. I think he was in control early on but missed one or two he wouldn’t normally miss. Any win against John is incredible. He was always someone I admired when I was growing up.
Credit: Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport