This year the second round – last 16 – at the Crucible seems to produce a lot of one-sided matches. Yesterday was no different and John Higgins beat Kyren Wilson with a session to spare.
John Higgins completed a 13-2 demolition of Kyren Wilson to reach the quarter-finals of the Cazoo World Championship for the 17th time in his career.
It’s 25 years since four-time Crucible king Higgins first became World Champion back in 1998. Until now his form this season hasn’t indicated that he is in a great position to claim his fifth crown, having only made the quarter-finals of one ranking event.
However, today’s victory with a session to spare underlines the 31-time ranking event winner’s title credentials and sends out a significant statement to the field. Higgins now awaits the winner between Mark Selby and Gary Wilson in the quarter-finals.
The Wishaw cueman last captured the sport’s biggest prize in 2011 and since then his quest for a fifth world title has involved a considerable amount of heartbreak. Higgins was runner-up in three consecutive years between 2017 and 2019. His results this season mean he has somewhat come under the radar this time around.
By contrast, world number seven Wilson arrived in Sheffield as one of the tour’s form players, having made the final of the recent Tour Championship. He carried that form over in the first round, firing in the 13th maximum break in Crucible history during his 10-5 victory over Ryan Day.
Wilson’s momentum was brought to an abrupt halt in this morning’s opening session, when Higgins put on a supreme showing to take a clean sweep of the frames and earn an 8-0 advantage.
When play got underway this evening Higgins relentlessly pushed on, stealing the first on the black. It was soon 10-0 when the Scot hammered home a brilliant break of 128.
Wilson eventually staved off the whitewash thanks to a break of 55 in the 11th, but Higgins restored his ten-frame lead by taking the 12th on the black.
The next two frames were traded, before Higgins embarked on a 147 attempt. His run ended on 80, but it was enough to see him over the line as an emphatic 13-2 victor.
“It was amazing. To beat Kyren 13-12, I would have bitten your hand off. To beat him 13-2 was an incredible result for me,” said 47-year-old Higgins.
“I’ve been feeling happy with my game for the last month. I was beginning to time the ball well. You know the nerves are going to kick in for your first round match. I played pretty well in it. I know Kyren was maybe having trouble with his cue. I hope he gets that fixed, but I can’t complain. I’m hitting the ball well.
“Every World Championship win is special, but it would probably be the hardest one. If you have to come through maybe Mark Selby if he wins, possibly Mark Allen and then maybe O’Sullivan or Anthony McGill. It would be amazing to have two Scottish guys in the final, but there is a long way to go.
“I’ve been coming here for so long and I always seem to play well here. I just have to try to play the same again. It is going to be really difficult, but I can’t do any more.”
Wilson said: “He was awesome. He literally gave me nothing at all. It was a very frustrating match. I felt everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Sometimes in this game you need a bit of luck on your side. In a long format it can be swings and roundabouts, but it never went for me. John capitalised on that and kept turning the screw.
“I felt amazing coming in here tonight and as soon as I hit a couple of balls I realised that a weight is loose in my cue. That is another setback, but I’m not going to use it as an excuse. I had fancied having a good go of it until that point though.”
Kyren explained that his cue got damaged when it fell on the ground while he was busy signing stuff and chatting with a group of fans after his previous match. That’s very unfortunate of course.
John Higgins is unhappy with the QFs schedule. I can understand why as he is the one who, unless he wins with a session to spare again, will need to play two consecutive sessions, afternoon and evening on Wednesday. That’s not nice. He expressed the opinion that there should be two matches playing all their sessions simultaneously on Tuesday morning, evening and Wednesday afternoon, whilst the other two would play on Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday morning and evening. That would indeed be better for the players BUT it also means that a risk exists to have two empty sessions on Wednesday afternoon and evening if all matches are one-sided.
You will tell that this is very unlikely but … this afternoon we have only the Robert Milkins v Si Jiahui going and Si is 11-5 up, meaning that he needs only two frames. This could be over in half an hour. In the evening, Anthony McGill is also 11-5 up on Jack Lisowski whilst Mark Selby is 10-6 up on Gary Wilson. This could possibly be over before any of the matches reach the MSI. It’s unlikely, but it’s nevertheless a possibility. It’s a problem for WST because they need to provide some kind of entertainment for the paying fans in such circumstances and that’s certainly why they schedule the QFs, the way they do in such a way that only the last session could possibly be “empty” or finish before the MSI.
As mentioned Si is currently only two frames away from the QFs. Si looked tired at the start of yesterday’s session – probably he didn’t sleep too well – but Milkins was very poor and despite not playing at his best Si increased his lead.
McGill also only needs two frames to beat Jack Lisowski but that match may well still have some life in it because Jack was 10-1 down and managed to win four of the last five frames in their second session. It’s a big ask though.
Mark Selby leads Gary Wilson by 10-6. It was 6-6 at the MSI of the second session, but Mark pulled away in the last mini-session. Gary will need a strong start. He’s capable of course.
Ronnie O’Sullivan equalled his most emphatic victory in a best-of-25 frame contest as he beat Hossein Vafaei 13-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the Cazoo World Championship for the 21st time.
The match was billed as a clash of rivals following a series of comments from both players in the build up, but it turned out to be an entirely one-sided contest, followed by a post-match embrace and mutual burying of hatchets.
Vafaei may regret raising the stakes before coming up against snooker’s greatest ever player, as the Iranian cracked under pressure while his opponent was imperious. O’Sullivan strolled serenely passed a series of landmarks during the contest: his 200th Crucible century, his 1,200th career century, and his next match will be his 100th at the Crucible. The scoreline matched his 13-2 defeat of Robert Milkins back in 2002.
The 47-year-old defending champion will have a welcome rest tomorrow morning, having finished the match a session early, and he can look ahead to an intriguing meeting with Luca Brecel on Tuesday and Wednesday. O’Sullivan is just three wins away from becoming the first player to win eight world titles.
Leading 6-2 overnight, O’Sullivan won the first frame today with breaks of 48 and 34. Vafaei should have pulled one back but missed frame-ball green on 59 in the next, and O’Sullivan cleared with 58 to pinch it by a point. A run of 68 stretched his advantage to 9-2.
In frame 12, Vafaei led 47-0 when he overcut a risky red to a top corner, and again his opponent punished him with an 82 clearance. His chances fading fast, Vafaei made another error early in the 13th as an attempted pink to a centre pocket hit the far jaw, and O’Sullivan’s 64 made it 11-2. Just 18 minutes later the match was over as world number one O’Sullivan finished with a brace of centuries, 107 and 116.
Asked about Vafaei’s pre-match comments, O’Sullivan recalled the 2002 World Championship when he stated that he was going to send Stephen Hendry “back to his sad little life” before their semi-final meeting, and ended up losing 17-13.
“I did the same years ago with Stephen and I totally regretted it,” said O’Sullivan today. “I was pumped up by someone else (Prince Naseem Hamed) to say it , it wasn’t what I would have said. Then afterwards I thought ‘why did I do that?’ Stephen didn’t speak to me for two years. He was my hero, why would I want to disrespect my hero? Two years later I apologised and he said it was forgotten, and then we were friends again.
“There are no hard feelings from me, I love Hossein, he is a great guy and a brilliant player. He has not had it easy with his visa issues, it was heart-breaking to see what he had to go through. But he keeps going. He will come back stronger from this. He is well capable of being a top 16 player and he is still young.
“I have been going for a long time. I love the lifestyle. I don’t play snooker for financial reasons, I play it because I enjoy it. It brings joy to the friends who come and support me, and the people watching at home get excited. So I just keep showing up. I’m looking forward to another match at the Crucible. Luca is phenomenal player with amazing talent and he is always getting better.”
Vafaei, the only Iranian to play at the Crucible, said: “He played fantastic, I lost to the greatest ever. No one can play snooker better than him. I got my lesson, in the future I’ll give the same lesson to other players. I have to learn from someone. There was no pressure, I was not nervous.”
Asked about smashing the pack open from the break-off in the second frame – matching a shot O’Sullivan played against him at the 2021 German Masters qualifiers – Vafaei added: “Everyone knows what happened in the past and I didn’t like that at all. Everyone has a tough life so we don’t need to give each other negative energy. So it was in my mind.
“I don’t regret what I said. It was nice for the people, everywhere you looked, snooker was top of the news. If you don’t have me in snooker, it’s a boring place! It’s good to have character, it makes people interested in the snooker.
“It’s completely off my chest now. Whatever he did to me, I have given it back, so I don’t have any reason to be bad with him now. He knew that as well, he said ‘let’s be friends.’ I hope he wins the tournament because he’s too good.
“This year I lost to the greatest, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t count. Next year I will be 100 per cent be here and stronger with the help of the people.”
Here are the scores and stats for that match:
Here are some more pictures… thanks to Tai Chengzhe … plus some shared on social media.
Plus some reactions
And here are the 14th frame, Ronnie 1200th century, and the 15th final frame, shared by Eurosport on their YouTube Channel
There is not much to add to all that. Ronnie was very focused. He will now face Luca Brecel and, although Ronnie played well, he may need to cut off the odd mistake here and there because Luca himself played at a very very high level to beat Mark Williams.
Interestingly, Ronnie was briefly in the ES studio with Jimmy White and Alan McManus at the start of the evening session and mentioned that Steve Peters forbids him to go running… hence he’s practising more. The latter though is probably not the reason for Steve Peters “running interdiction”. I think this is because Ronnie tends to overdo it, especially when he has time on his hands, and then comes into matches tired and unable to concentrate as hard as he needs to.
And Ronnie’s reward was …
A dinner with friends ….
Jak Jones beat Neil Robertson by 13-7
Jak Jones is a Crucible debutant but he played very solid snooker to beat Neil Robertson by 13-7 yesterday afternoon.
Jak Jones continued his dream Crucible debut with a 13-7 defeat of world number six Neil Robertson to make the last eight of the Cazoo World Championship in Sheffield.
World number 52 Jones is enjoying the best run of his career to date, having come through a perilous route to earn his place in the quarter-finals of snooker’s greatest event. The Welsh qualifier scored an impressive 10-8 Judgement Day defeat of 2013 Crucible runner-up Barry Hawkins to make the final stages. Jones then took full advantage of that victory by beating two-time World Championship finalist Ali Carter 10-6 in the opening round.
The guaranteed £50,000 prize for making the quarters far surpasses Jones’ previous biggest career payday of £13,500, for reaching the last 16 of the 2019 International Championship. He now faces player of the season so far Mark Allen for a place in the single table semi-finals. They kick off their last eight encounter on Tuesday morning at 10am.
Robertson’s recent woes in Sheffield continue and the quest to add to his solitary World Championship win in 2010 goes on. The Australian has proven himself as one of snooker’s greats since then, racking up a further 18 ranking titles to take his career total to 23. However, he has toiled at the Crucible and hasn’t made the semi-finals since 2014.
Jones led 10-6 going into the concluding session and looked set to extend his lead until he missed a red to a centre pocket on 53 in the opening frame today. Robertson took advantage with an 83 clearance, then had chances in frame 18, but crucially missed a mid-range yellow when he led 50-41, and Jones made an impressive colour clearance for 11-7.
In the 19th, Robertson led 33-15 when he missed an awkward red to a top corner. Jones countered with 47 and survived his opponent’s efforts to get the snooker he needed on the colours, to go 12-7 ahead. The Welshman then finished the contest in perfect style with a 138 total clearance, the highest break of the match.
“To beat Neil in the World Championship, in such a venue and in front of such a crowd is a big win,” said 29-year-old Jones. “I’m not the most outlandish or angry person in the world. None of my family are either. I just try to take everything as it comes and keep going.
“I’ve felt calm since the beginning. Before the tournament started, I didn’t have any idea how I was going to feel going out there. I was surprisingly calm and enjoyed it.
“I felt really good on the practice table ahead of yesterday’s evening session. It was nice to be able to take that out into the arena and perform well out there.
“Mark is the best player of the season and he is playing extremely well. Neil was playing extremely well too though and so was Ali Carter before the tournament. They are all very difficult matches, whoever I play. I will just try my best and see where it takes me.”
Robertson said: “It was a different test, the complete opposite style of play. He did all the simple things really well. I have played him before so I know how tough he is, and he has improved a lot as a player. His safety was incredible throughout the match. I put him in awkward positions and then I would come back to the table in a worse position.
“I couldn’t create the chances to make the frames open. I made it too easy for him – gave him too many easy openers. Today he was there for the taking, that’s what is disappointing. I made a good clearance to go 10-7, but then missed the yellow in the next frame. If I had gone 10-8 I probably wouldn’t have been favourite. He held himself together well and made a great break in the last frame. He will be a tough match for Mark Allen if he plays the way he did yesterday.”
Jak Jones is a solid match player. He’s not spectacular but he’s very effective in what he does. Neil Robertson’s record at the Crucible is rather awful for a player of his quality. Yes, he won it in 2010 but since he has reached the one table setup just once.
As mentioned above, Jimmy and Alan were in the studio at the start of the evening session and Neil’s poor Crucible record is one of the topic they discussed. Alan offered the opinion that what Neil is lacking is a proper, strong, hard match-play game. That’s an interesting point and reading Neil’s quotes above, I think that Alan nailed it. I underlined one sentence above because I believe that this is the key. Indeed Neil isn’t adaptable enough. He has only one game and when he fails to dictate the style of the match he’s in trouble. The Crucible is a long-distance type of competition and that favours the “match-players”, like Mark Selby or John Higgins. Ronnie prefers a more open game, but he can play tight when needed. Mark Allen has become very much adept of a tighter game. Mark Williams in totally versatile. Neil isn’t.
This World Championship is rapidly turning into one of the best, most eventful and most interesting in many years and that’s a blessing because snooker certainly needs to show that it has much more to offer than controversy and suspected match fixing.
Luca Brecel was the first man to book his place in the quarter-finals yesterday. He beat Mark Williams in an absolutely brilliant match. Here is the report by WST:
Brecel: My Best Feeling Ever
The outrageously talented Luca Brecel made a brace of marvellous breaks in the last two frames to beat Mark Williams 13-11 and reach the quarter-finals of the Cazoo World Championship.
“It’s the best feeling of my career,” said Brecel after an outstanding performance, highlighted by four centuries and eight more breaks over 50, while averaging just 18.8 seconds a shot across the contest. The Belgian had never won a match at the Crucible before this week, but is now showing his quality on the biggest stage. Three-time champion Williams looked favourite when he came from 11-8 down to 11-11 only for Brecel, playing a best-of-25 match for the first time in his career, to take the last two frames in style.
The 28-year-old, snooker’s best ever player from continental Europe, will meet either Ronnie O’Sullivan or Hossein Vafaei on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the winner to appear in the one-table situation for the semi-finals.
Brecel first played at the Crucible in 2012 at the age of just 17 – the youngest player to compete at the venue – but lost in the opening round on his first five appearances in Sheffield. With three ranking titles now under his belt, including this season’s Championship League, he is quickly learning what it takes to win matches on the biggest stage.
Trailing 9-7 going into the last session, Williams looked set to take the opening frame tonight until he missed the black off its spot at 58-0, and Brecel punished him with a 71 clearance. Williams pulled one back with a run of 67 before Brecel’s classy 117 put him 11-8 in front.
In frame 20, Williams led 56-36 when he converted an excellent long pot on the penultimate red, and he added the points he needed to close the gap. The Welshman’s tactical nous was evident again in the 21st as he laid a tough snooker when he trailed 18-28, creating an opening for a break of 54 to draw within a frame at 11-10.
Brecel had a scoring chance in frame 22 but made just 23 before running out of position, then made a safety error which let Williams in for a run of 53 to level for the first time since 6-6. Brecel’s thumping long red initiated a run of 84 to regain the lead, and in frame 24 he knocked in another fabulous red to a baulk corner to set up a match-winning 67.
“It is fantastic for my career to beat someone like Mark over 25 frames because he is such a legend, it’s so difficult to do,” said Brecel. “I had to play well and stay focussed for the whole game. At 11-11 he was playing better and I was struggling. So I didn’t expect to make two great breaks to win the game.
“I have not been practising – and look at how I played! Do we need that much practice? I don’t know. Snooker is more of a mental game, we are all great players. I felt good coming here, mentally. My life is good, I have a new girlfriend. I am relaxed, and that helps me play well, even without practice.
“It’s probably the best feeling in my whole career. In the past I have played a good session and then I play a bad one, but this year all my sessions have been good. I’m happy to play consistently.
“In the next round I’m just going to play the same, play quick, play freely. If I don’t play quick it’s going to get even longer and I’m just going to get exhausted, so I need to play like this to make it easy for myself.
“The ranking points are so big here, that’s what makes the difference I think for players in terms of pressure. It’s such big money but it keeps you safe in the top 16 if you win.”
Williams said: “It was a high quality match all the way through, he played some unbelievable stuff. I put the pressure on him at 11-11 and I was feeling strong. But he made two breaks the last two frames, it’s as good as I’ve seen. He was popping balls from everywhere and thoroughly deserved the win. I just hope he can continue that form – if he plays O’Sullivan – and do himself justice because he’ll be hard to stop.”
Mark Williams appeared to be in some discomfort during yesterday session – back or shoulder pain – but said nothing after the match.
Luca Brecel is a brilliant player when he’s focussed, Ben Mertens and Julien Leclercq have both impressed as rookies this season and yet WST has not made any real effort to further push the game in mainland Europe, and in Belgium in particular. Both WWS and WDBS had events in Belgium in recent times and it’s easy to understand why: it’s not that far away from the UK, the Eurostar is a fast way to get there, it’s very centrally situated in Western Europe, with France, Germany and the Netherlands being neighbours, and it’s easily reachable by plane, train or car.
Ronnie leads Hossein Vafaei by 6-2 after their first session
Ronnie O’Sullivan surged into a 6-2 lead against Hossein Vafaei in the first session of their Cazoo World Championship last-16 clash, while on the other table Mark Allen moved to the verge of victory as he established a 12-4 advantage over Stuart Bingham.
Vafaei intensified his rivalry with O’Sullivan with passionate words after his first round win over Ding Junhui, and the strength of his feeling was obvious today when he smashed the pack of reds in the second frame – exactly what O’Sullivan had done during a previous meeting in the 2021 German Masters qualifiers. However the Iranian did little talking on the table as defending champion O’Sullivan opened up a four-frame cushion.
They return for eight more frames on Saturday from 2.30pm, and if O’Sullivan wins seven of those then he will be through to the quarter-finals at the Crucible for the 21st time. Otherwise the contest will conclude from 10am on Sunday.
World number one O’Sullivan took the opening frame with a break of 78, then capitalised on Vafaei’s unorthodox break-off in the second to make another 78 for 2-0. Vafaei, the only player from Iran to compete at the Crucible, made a 64 in the third and eventually won it with an excellent long pot on the final pink.
O’Sullivan dominated the next three with runs of 69, 51 and 102 – the last of those was a landmark break as he became the first player to score 200 centuries at the Crucible. Frame seven came down to a safety battle on the colours, and O’Sullivan laid a snooker on the yellow, then took advantage of the chance that followed for 6-1.
In the last frame of the session, Chigwell’s O’Sullivan led 44-0 when he missed the pink to a top corner, and Vafaei capitalised with a run of 58 to reduce the deficit.
When Hossein broke off for the first time, in frame 2, he smashed the reds open. This is exactly what I expected him to do, and Ronnie calmly took advantage.
Hossein’s demeanour at the table has Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry wondering how his mind works as reported here by skysports
Speaking to the BBC, six-time world champion Davis said of Vafaei’s red-splitting break: “It’s not good to see.
“I don’t think it is necessarily disrespectful to Ronnie, but it is maybe considered disrespectful to the game of snooker and the people who come along to watch, and want to see a great game.
‘You’re basically giving your opponent an easy chance‘
“That is stupidity or you just don’t care about being a world champion. You’re basically giving your opponent an easy chance.
“For me it’s a nasty taste in my mouth for the match, and it was a mouth-watering taste to start with.
“It’s not nice, it’s not good. It’s not a personal game, snooker, your problem is the table and the balls, not your opponent.”
After Vafaei won frame three, Davis added: “He is not cut from the same lump of wood as me. How can you smash the balls up in a World Championship? I don’t understand how you can then play great in the next frame.
“What type of brain can do that? I don’t know where he’s coming from, but to win that frame after embarrassing yourself – how on earth can you concentrate after that?”
…
I’m afraid that the answer is quite simple: either Hossein has a very big ego and/or he’s deeply insecure. If he genuinely didn’t understand that Ronnie smashing the pack in those German Masters qualifiers, being 4-0 down, had nothing to do with him, his family and his people, but was just a show of sheer frustration, then it’s a clear sign that he tends to believe that everything other people do is about him.
The match, of course is far from over.
Mark Allen is just one frame away from booking his spot in the QFs: he leads Stuart Bingham by 12-4. Allen has been the player of the season but had not done that well in the second half of it. I didn’t expect that match to be so one-sided.
The big surprise though was once again created by Jak Jones who is currently leading Neil Robertson by 10-6.
The last three of the first round matches were played to a finish yesterday and two of them produced a quite unexpected result.
With Joe Perry leading by 7-2 after the first session, very few, if any, would have given Robert Milkins a chance but yesterday morning, he came out fighting … and won! Here is the report by WST:
Milkins Completes Epic Fight-Back
Robert Milkins pulled off one of the great first round Crucible come-backs as he recovered a 7-2 deficit to beat Joe Perry 10-9 at the Cazoo World Championship.
In a match which started on Monday evening and finished 66 hours later, Milkins recorded the biggest successful first round fight-back since 2017 when Marco Fu battled from 7-1 behind to beat Luca Brecel 10-9. Perry looked by far the stronger player in Tuesday’s session as he built a commanding lead, but his touch deserted him today as he missed a string of chances, allowing Milkins to turn the tide.
Competing as a top 16 seed at the Crucible for the first time in his 28-year career, Welsh Open champion Milkins goes through to the last 16 to face Shaun Murphy or Si Jiahui. The 47-year-old from Gloucester has appeared in the second round three times before and has never reached the quarter-finals.
Milkins took the first two frames this morning with a top break of 61 to reduce the gap to 7-4, then the next two were shared to leave the interval scoreline at 8-5. Runs of 51, 53 and 55 helped Milkins battle back to 8-8.
A scrappy 17th frame came down to the colours and Perry had a chance but missed a tricky brown to a baulk corner, and fell behind for the first time in the match. Two-time ranking event winner Perry bounced back with a run of 63 for 9-9.
World number 14 Milkins had first clear chance in the decider and made 63. After a brief safety exchange, he knocked in a long red and added the points he needed.
“From 7-2 down you are pretty much dead and buried,” said Milkins. “You just come out and try and make the score respectable. I won the first two frames but then lost the next for 8-4 which was a set back. I dug in and managed to close the gap. If I had ended up losing 10-9 after being 9-8 up, I would have been more gutted than losing 10-2.
“I tried to be more positive, playing the percentage shots but being a bit more aggressive and speeding up a bit to get myself going. I am not totally happy with the tip on my cue, it will take more time to bed in. I have some time to practise now and be ready for round two.”
Perry, who beat Mark Davis 10-9 in the final qualifying round but was on the wrong end of the same scoreline today, said: “It was a shambles today for me. I never got going, I started bad and gradually got worse. I was playing safety shots and catching everything thick. I was bemused by what was happening. It was the same Rob Milkins I played on Tuesday night and I dominated the session. I didn’t lose today because of anything special Rob did. He played better than he did the other night, but he was allowed to play by my mistakes.”
The unusual schedule of this session was of course the result of the “Just Stop Oils” disruption. There were calls by Mark Allen and Stuart Bingham for WST/WPBSA to give Olivier Marteel proper recognition for his clarity of thoughts and bravery under the circumstances. Olivier is now back to Belgium as his work at the Crucible is finished for this year.
Mark Selby scored a tremendous century break in the last frame to quash a Matthew Selt fight-back, winning 10-8 in the first round of the Cazoo World Championship.
Four-time Crucible king Selby looked at risk of a shock exit when qualifier Selt came from 8-4 down to within a frame at 9-8. But – as he has so many times at this venue – Selby found something extra when it mattered most. His match-winning break of 112 in the 18th frame started with a series of excellent pots to keep the break going, and once in prime position, the world number two remained composed as he cruised to the finish line.
Leicester’s Selby, who lifted the trophy in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021, goes through to the last 16 to face Gary Wilson, a player who beat him at the same stage in 2019. The best-of-25 frame tie gets underway on Saturday evening.
Selby took the first frame today to go 7-3 ahead before Selt pulled one back with a break of 74, then a run of 56 restored Selby’s four frame cushion. Frame 13 came down to the last red and Selt converted a cocked-hat double to a centre pocket, then cleared to close to 8-5.
The 14th was resolved with a tactical exchange on the pink, and a weak safety from Selby handed his opponent the chance to pot pink and black to continue his fight back. Selby recovered with breaks of 57 and 73 to go 9-6 up, but Selt dominated frame 16, then in the 17th he laid a clever snooker on the yellow and took the chance that followed to close to 9-8. However, his efforts were in vain as Selby seized his opportunity in the 18th.
“It was one of the best breaks I have made, under the circumstances,” said 39-year-old Selby. “Matt was asking me questions, he played well in both sessions. It was tense out there and he put me under pressure. I was happy with how I stood up to it. Matt is a good player, he should do better. He has been here a few times and I knew he wasn’t going to buckle. He has a good match game and he’s capable of beating anyone.
“The biggest thing for me is that mentally I am in a better place to be out there competing. Last year, mentally I was fragile, but now I’m in a better place and that is showing on the table.
“Gary Wilson has won a ranking event this season and seems to play well here. He’s a very high scorer. There are some huge second round games here and that’s what’s great about the World Championship.”
Selt, who has now played four matches at the Crucible without reaching the second round, said: “It was a great game, quite a high standard throughout the whole match. I made a few mistakes, and I don’t want to sound disrespectful but I thought Mark had a great run of the ball – he made quite a few mistakes and got away with them.
“I put him under a bit of pressure tonight and then he produced an unbelievably good break which sums him up as a person and a player. Just an absolutely class break, he deserves the win. Him and Ronnie are always the favourites here.”
Apparently Matt Selt was warned for swearing during the match… IF this article in the press today is to be believed. Swearing during a match would certainly not be out of character for Matt but the referee … definitely wasn’t Desi, it was Tatiana Woollaston. Again, this is typical of a certain press, specially during the World Championship … they never report on snooker all season, but come Crucible time they try to stir controversy, and paint the sport in a bad light, whilst not being bothered to get the most basic facts right.
The most dramatic match of the day, and the best one, came in the evening and saw Si Jiahui beat Shaun Murphy … again. This time however, Shaun had no complains.
Si Jiahui, the lowest ranked player in the tournament at 80th in the world, scored a major Crucible upset by beating fourth seed Shaun Murphy 10-9 in the first round of the Cazoo World Championship.
At the end of a dramatic day in Sheffield, with two matches going to a deciding frame, China’s 20-year-old Si got the better of an exciting conclusion to knock out one of the pre-tournament favourites. Murphy was the best player on the planet on current form having won the Players Championship and Tour Championship within the past two months, but was narrowly outgunned in a fabulous match, despite making three centuries.
Si, based in Sheffield, had to win three qualifying matches just to make it to the Crucible and is now through to the last 16 of a ranking event for only the fourth time in his career. The highly rated youngster won the World Snooker Federation Open, the most prestigious event in amateur snooker, last year to regain a place on the pro circuit and enjoyed a run to the quarter-finals of the European Masters earlier this season.
The result may feel particularly sweet for Si, as he beat Murphy 6-5 when they first met at the 2021 UK Championship while competing as an amateur, after which Murphy claimed that amateurs should not be allowed to take part in professional tournaments. This time, 2005 Crucible king Murphy was completely magnanimous in defeat as he heaped praise on his opponent and offered the view that Si will become the first World Champion from China.
Si’s next step towards that dream will be a best-of-25 contest with Robert Milkins which will start on Saturday.
Si led 5-4 going into tonight’s concluding session and soon extended that advantage with a break of 120. Murphy had first chance in frame 11 but missed the pink to a centre pocket on 30 and his opponent capitalised with 93. Murphy hit back with 102 and 66 to close to 7-6 at the interval.
A run of 86 gave Si frame 14 and he dominated the next for 9-6. At 48-0 down in frame 16, Si missed a tricky red to centre, allowing Murphy to pull one back. The next came down to the last two reds, and a safety error from Si handed Murphy the chance to close to 9-8. A run of 120 set up the decider.
A superb long red from Si initiated a run of 56, before Murphy clawed his way back with 28, and the match came down to the final red. Si laid a tough snooker, and Murphy missed the red three times, and the third attempt proved his last shot as Si cleared for victory.
“I didn’t really play to win, I just wanted to learn from him,” said Si. “I would not be too dissatisfied with myself even if I’d lost tonight because I did perform well and I was so happy out there. Shaun has had a brilliant season so I never thought I could have done this.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the match. The whole arena applauded every time I got a long pot, and they did the same for my good safeties. That’s the best part I’ve enjoyed so far and I was able to play without any pressure. If I can really perform I can compete with any player. I’m playing with a great mindset because I’m not bothered about winning or losing. There will be no regrets if I can carry on with my own game.”
Murphy said: “I really enjoyed it, it was exciting. I just came out on the wrong end. I have had many great nights at the Crucible and I will have more, but tonight was Si Jiahui’s night. He was fabulous from start to finish. I think he will be the first Chinese World Champion – maybe not this time, but I believe he will be the first. I see things in him that some of the other players don’t have. He’s got a bit of swagger, he’s very talented, plays right and left handed, gets on with it and always tries to attack. I threw everything at him, I tried my absolute best and I still lost.
“This has been possibly my best season, I won’t let this result ruin it. I will enjoy being here for the rest of this tournament in my BBC role and I’m already looking forward to playing here again next season. ”
This was a very enjoyable match to watch and Si’s carefree approach was refreshing. I’m happy for the young man, but also for Victoria Shi who has gone through terrible times since several of her Academy top players were suspended for being involved in the match fixing affair currently under investigation. She has tried her best to run it as normally as possible for the sake of her other players and that can’t have been easy. The hearing is about to start next Monday and that could overshadow the championship which would be a terrible shame.
There were suggestions on social media that the controversy and spat between Ronnie and Hossein Vafaei are taken out of proportion – some even said it’s “staged” – in an attempt to take the attention away from the hearing. Whilst I don’t really believe that, the fact is that their match is due to finish on Sunday, on the eve of the start of the hearing. There are usually no matches played to a finish on the mid-championship Sunday, so that’s very unusual. Having to report on a highly controversial match, involving the defending champion might indeed create a diversion and keep the press busy with something other than speculating about the hearing outcome.
Three more matches concluded yesterday: Kyren Wilson beat Ryan Day, (10-5) scoring a 147 in the process, Anthony McGill got the better of Judd Trump (10-6) and Jack Lisowski beat Noppon Saengkham (10-7).
Kyren Wilson’s 147, probably the highlight of the day, was shared by Eurosport on their YouTube Channel:
This was Kyren’s 4th maximum, his first at the Crucible, the 188th in professional snooker and the 13th at the Crucible.
Maximum man Kyren Wilson became only the third player to make five centuries in a first round match at the Crucible at he beat Ryan Day 10-5 at the Cazoo World Championship.
On what he will remember as one of the best days of his career, Wilson joined the elite Crucible 147 club, which has just eight other members, by making a maximum in the fifth frame. And the Kettering cueman joined Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Allen as the only players to register five tons in an opening round tie.
Wilson is in a purple patch of break-building form, having made six centuries in match of the same length at the recent Tour Championship, where he reached the final before losing to Shaun Murphy. His biggest goal in snooker is to win the world title and no one has played better over the first few days in Sheffield this time.
The world number seven now faces a potentially titanic second round clash with four-time champion John Higgins. That starts on Sunday and concludes on Monday afternoon.
Day trailed 6-3 going into tonight’s concluding session, and took the first frame with a break of 52 to pull one back. But there was little he could do as Wilson surged 9-4 ahead with runs of 120, 108 and 94.
In frame 15, Wilson had a chance to clear from 58-1 down, but missed the last red to a top corner, allowing Day to pull one back. But European Masters champion Wilson soon sealed the result with a 102 in frame 15.
“The 147 was absolutely unbelievable,” said five-time ranking event winner Wilson. “I usually try not to get carried away and keep things under wraps. But this morning I was beaming, it’s so nice to be a part of snooker history, that’s something money can’t buy. It’s one of the greatest achievements of my short career and something I will look back on when I’m an old man. To join that short list of players who have made a 147 at the Crucible is amazing.
“My wife Sophie told me our two kids were allowed to watch it at school and then they both came running out and gave her a big hug. It’s awesome for them because they are really getting into snooker.
“I have been very consistent for the last few months and I have managed to hold on to that form and to bring it here. I always really enjoy playing John Higgins, he is a proper snooker player and competing with him tests every part of your game.”
Welshman Day said: “Kyren played great. I don’t think I made all that many mistakes, but he punished any that I made. My season had good parts – winning British Open was great, it got me to a lot of big events and back up the rankings – but there were lots of not so good bits as well.”
Wilson said walking off after the first session: “I’m absolutely buzzing, I am so happy with that.
“You know, I have said for a long time now that I have children I would love to leave a legacy, I’d love to leave something for them to watch back when they have kids. That is going to be one of those moments.
Absolute honour to make a maxi at the prestigious Crucible Theatre. Stuff dreams are made of! Thank you everyone for your messages!
“It’s definitely a bucket-list thing to try to do, make a 147 at the Crucible. There is no pressure like it to be honest. I am absolutely buzzing.
“I under-hit the black with two reds left. So, I left myself on a red where I had to leave a high black. I had to play it with loads of right-hand side to get across for the last red.
“That was a tough shot, let alone to get the positioning right. I was short on the last red as well. I had to throw in some left-hand side.
“I hit a good yellow, a good green, a good brown, just overcooked the blue and before I went down to it, I noticed everybody piled into the corner, all the press, with their cameras ready. I got a little bit distracted.
“I played a good pink with loads of right-hand side as well. I turned into Alan ‘angles’ McManus.
“I have had some maximums before in exhibitions. The amount of people that have come to me afterwards and said they have been snookers fans all their lives and that was an amazing thing to see live. So for the fans at the Crucible to see that live, I am sure it will live long in their memories.
“Without a doubt, that is one of the best things I have ever done in my career. I got down for the pink and I couldn’t feel my right arm. The black was perfect. Happy days.”
…
“Both my kids got to watch the 147 at school. My older son Finlay was in PE and they stopped it. And my younger son Bailey had his teacher Miss Palmer streaming it.
“If a protester had jumped on the table during the 147 I’d have judo chopped them with my cue and gone all Jackie Chan.”
Wilson went on to complete a 10-5 win over Day last night – and set up a last-16 clash with four-time world champion John Higgins.
The Warrior equalled a record held by Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Allen of making five centuries in a Crucible first-round match with runs of 133, his magical 147, 120, 108 and a closing 102.
Bizarrely Wilson is the only one of the three joint record-holders who went on to win the match.
Well, well, well … protesters you have been warned! 😂😂😂
Anthony McGill beat Judd Trump by 10-6, and, after yesterday’s display this didn’t surprise me at all.
Here is the final frame, shared by Eurosport on their YouTube channel:
The Crucible always inspires McGill, who, in the past, has admitted that he sometimes struggles to find 100% motivation for smaller events, often played in uninspiring environments. He’s a big occasions player and, on the big scenes, he performs at his best and is very dangerous.
“It’s an amazing scalp for me, I have so much respect for Judd,” said 32-year-old McGill. “He has got everything – he can tough it when he needs to and he’s got all the shots. I was never going to go out and beat him 10-3, I was expecting him to come back at me so I didn’t panic when he got back to 6-5. I managed to hold it together.
“It’s a privilege to be here. Everyone still left in the draw is world class and can win it. Jack has got the game to entertain but he has also improved the weaknesses in his game. He has been in the top 16 for a good few years and it feels like he is never going to drop out, he is one of the top players and I’ll need to play well.”
Trump, who was runner-up to O’Sullivan last year, said: “I missed too many easy balls. I had more than enough chances, even from 6-3 down. Today I still felt that if I played half decent I’d have a good chance. It didn’t turn out that way. You can’t expect to play like that in the World Championship, it’s just down to myself really.
“I just seemed to be falling out of position too often and finishing a little bit awkward. I always felt under pressure. Anthony scored when he got in, but I still felt that most frames I had my chances. There were a lot of careless shots and easy misses.
“I feel a lack of match sharpness. A lack of tournament play has probably cost me over the last two or three months since the World Grand Prix. A lot of the time I’m just practising on my own, so when I’m out there I’m not feeling that comfortable. Maybe next season I need to play against a few more top players in practice and just get that sharpness back.”
And this was the Eurosport pundits, Alan McManus and Jimmy White, thoughts on Judd’s first round exit, as reported by Eurosport:
alking in the Eurosport studio, McManus and Jimmy White dissected Trump’s display and his preparation.
“Should he be going on holiday 10 days before playing at the Crucible?” McManus said. “In my opinion, no. He’s a grown man, he’s a world champion, he’s won everything there is to win.
“I thought that was a mistake quite frankly, I just don’t think that’s the way to go. He clearly does, that’s fine.
“When he’s sitting in his chair in between frames, he looks a bit lost out there at times.”
McManus also gave his view that Trump has an issue with his cueing that needs to be rectified, after saying Trump is “not the same player” he was when he won the World Championship 2019.
“It pains me to say it, but Trump, in the last two-and-a-half years, has won one ranking event. That’s a fact. In the previous two years or so, he won umpteen ranking events.
“I hate to say it, but there is a flaw in his technique, I don’t know how much he’s taken that on board.
“It might be the case that it’s getting progressively worse. I hope it’s not the case, but he’s not the wrecking ball he was four years ago when he played the match of history in dismantling John Higgins in the final here.”
Looking back over some of Trump’s errors in his match with McGill, White added: “Average club players don’t miss those shots. So he is struggling with his confidence and his technique.“
BBC repeatedly showed Judd Trump slumped in his chair, looking dejected, lost and utterly miserable. I’m not a Judd fan at all, I profoundly disliked the arrogance he showed in the past, although he has grown up past that in recent years, but I didn’t like to see him like that at all. In fact I hated seeing him like that, just as I hated seeing Ronnie being tortured by Ebdon in 2005. Of course, McGill wasn’t using any Ebdon’s dirty tactics, he was just doing his job properly, he was playing well and winning his match. But still … seeing another human being in pain will NEVER be “compelling view” for me and I can’t understand how anyone can enjoy watching this, unless they have a serious sadistic streak.
Finally, Jack Lisowski defeated Noppon Saengkham by 10-7. I didn’t watch much at all of that match, but here is WST report:
‘Panicking’ Lisowski Holds Nerve To Beat Saengkham
Jack Lisowski admitted he almost “collapsed” at the end of his Cazoo World Championship battle with Noppon Saengkham, but recovered in time to win 10-7 and reach the last 16 at the Crucible for the third consecutive year
There were nervous moments for Lisowski as Saengkham came from 9-4 down to 9-7 and had a chance to close the gap further. World number 13 Lisowski has not always shown a killer instinct at the business end of matches but this time he was able to edge over the line to book a second round meeting with Judd Trump or Anthony McGill.
Gloucestershire’s Lisowski reached the quarter-finals for the first time a year ago, notably knocking out Neil Robertson before a narrow 13-12 defeat against John Higgins. Coming through another tough test today will boost his confidence as he looks towards his next assignment which starts on Saturday.
“I was panicking a bit at the end because he looked like he really fancied it,” said the six-time ranking event finalist. “He was relaxed, and when your opponent is like that it’s tough. I wasn’t think about the scoreline all match, but then when I got to nine I though it would be over quickly. Then at 9-7 he looked good and I felt I was all over the place. I felt as if I was collapsing but I was also aware that it probably wasn’t as bad as that. That helped me, knowing I have won matches like that before and I could get out alive. It was a tough draw but it was an open attacking game which suited me.”
Lisowski led 6-3 overnight having made breaks of 102, 50, 78 and 58 in the first session. The opening frame today came down to a safety exchange on the colours, and Saengkham got the snooker he needed on the green, but then missed the free-ball blue into a top corner. A grateful Lisowski rolled in the green to go 7-3 ahead.
Frame 11 was another tense affair and was resolved on a respotted black. Lisowski played a series of loose safety shots, and after missing two opportunities at the black, Saengkham potted it at the third attempt to pull one back. A run of 65 from Lisowski put him 8-4 up, and he dominated the next to go five ahead with six to play.
After the interval came Saengkham’s fight back as he took three in a row with breaks of 62, 47 and 130. And the Thai ace had a chance to win frame 17 but ran out of position with two reds left when he led 51-33. It came down to the blue and Lisowski showed tactical maturity as he got the better of a safety tussle before potting the blue which proved enough for victory.
“I would prefer to play Anthony McGill next,” added Lisowski, who has reached the semi-finals of the Cazoo UK Championship and German Masters this season. “It’s hard to concentrate against (close friend) Judd. But Judd and I have had some cracking games. On paper, Judd is more dangerous, but then McGill comes alive here every year, he is a Crucible specialist. It will be tough either way. I have a few days at home now to be ready.”
Jack got his wish fulfilled then… good luck Jack, go and win that second round match as well!
Finally … a word about a match that’s still underway. Si Jiahui was “allowed in the building” to play Shaun Murphy 😉 and is currently leading by 5-4 in their match. Si lost the first two frames and was clearly struggling with the conditions and the environment. He was 3-1 down at the MSI. There were quite a few writing him off at that stage and clearly rejoicing at the prospect of him getting beaten heavily. Someone even suggested that he regretted not betting on a 10-0 outcome when the lad was 2-0 down. It’s mean and I can’t shake off the feeling that that person would never have written such a thing if Si was British.
After the madness of day 3, yesterday saw a return to normal and the focus returned to the action on the table. Only two matches finished yesterday: John Higgins and Gary Wilson booked their place in the last 16.
John Higgins had an easy passage and scored heavily: he had eight breaks over 50, including two centuries. David Grace, who is a genuine and lovely person was able to see the positives despite the trashing. He didn’t say a thing about that but I wonder how he coped with the very tight setup. David is extremely tall, much taller than Neil Robertson who regularly complains about the lack of space around the tables. Anyway…
John Higgins enjoyed his most one-sided Cazoo World Championship first round victory in seven years as he beat David Grace 10-3 to reach the last 16 at the Crucible.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Higgins’ first world title in 1998, and he went on to lift the trophy again in 2007, 2009 and 2011, as well as appearing in four other finals. The Scot is recognised as one of the all-time great Crucible competitors, and while he has had a poor season by his standards, he has the capacity to become a different animal in Sheffield.
This was perhaps his best display of the season as he fired two centuries and six more breaks over 50, offering Grace no chance of an upset. Higgins goes through to the second round for the 25th time and will face either Kyren Wilson or Ryan Day on Sunday and Monday.
The Wishaw cueman, who turns 48 next month, is yet to reach the semi-finals of a ranking event this season, but believes a recent amendment to his technique could revive his fortunes.
“A few weeks ago I found something which I am happy with,” said the tenth seed. “Until you’re out in that cauldron and you are bang under it against one of the top boys, that’s when you find out what you’ve got in the tank. I’m delighted I’m through and I can look forward to the next game.”
Higgins led 7-2 overnight, having made breaks of 51, 98, 66, 67 and 90 in the first session. He started today with a run of 114, then in frame 11 potted six reds with blacks before missing a difficult plant on a red. Grace took advantage with an 83 clearance to make it 8-3, but Higgins compiled a run of 97 in the 12th to go six ahead. And he finished in style with a 124; that was his 166th century at the Crucible, a tally trumped only by Ronnie O’Sullivan’s 199.
“David never settled and I was able to build a big lead yesterday,” Higgins added. “You need to make breaks here because it’s going to get harder as you get through the rounds, you need to have bursts where you do some damage, to counter what the other guy is going to do to you. As you get older, it’s good to win matches quickly and easily, that will help you later in the tournament.
“I’m proud to still be coming here, 25 years after I first won it, and I feel as if I’m playing better stuff than ever.”
Yorkshireman Grace said: “I didn’t settle at any stage. Credit to John because he was never going to let me into the game, he is one of the all time greats and he comes alive here. He was hitting the white so nicely and putting it wherever he wanted to. I was determined to enjoy being at the Crucible, even though I got pumped!
“If I had lost my first qualifying match I would have been off the tour, so to get to the Crucible and get into the top 64, I feel as if it has been my best season in terms of consistency.”
The match between Gary Wilson and Elliott Slessor threatened to be equally one-sided when Gary end the first session 7-2 up. However, Elliott Slessor showed how determined he is and mounted a serious comeback. Eventually it was in vain though as Gary won the match by 10-8.
Gary Wilson admitted his North East derby with Elliot Slessor got “too close for comfort” when he almost let slip a 7-1 lead, but eventually came through 10-8 to reach the second round of the Cazoo World Championship.
This has been a momentous season for Wilson as he won his first ranking title at the Scottish Open and is now playing as one of the top 16 seeds at the Crucible for the first time. But the campaign almost finished on a low note as Slessor threatened a remarkable comeback. Eventually, Wilson rounded off the tie with a century in the 18th frame and goes through to face Mark Selby or Matthew Selt in the last 16.
If he meets Selby, then 37-year-old Wilson will have no fear as he beat the four-time Crucible king on his way to the semi-finals in 2019, also knocking out Luca Brecel and Ali Carter before losing to Judd Trump.
Slessor trailed 7-1 before taking the last frame of this morning’s session, and got the start he needed tonight as breaks of 70 and 90 reduced his deficit to 7-4. In frame 12, Wilson led 50-31 when he trapped his opponent in a difficult snooker on the last red, and Slessor gave away 16 penalty points before leaving the red available for Wilson to make it 8-4.
World number 60 Slessor continued to battled and pulled one back with a run of 82, but his hopes faded when he lost an epic hour-long 14th frame. It came down to a long safety battle on the colours, and Slessor potted the brown but then missed the blue to a centre pocket. Wilson then laid a snooker on the blue and, from the chance that followed, potted it for 9-5.
In the 15th, Wallsend’s Wilson was just four pots from victory when he missed the black off the last red, leading 47-38. Slessor cleared to keep his hopes alive then rattled in runs of 76 and 69 to close to 9-8. But Wilson stayed calm and took his chance with a superb break of 109.
“I squandered the chance to win 10-5 which was a shock, and after that I could see my lead dwindling and it was too close for comfort,” admitted 15th seed Wilson. “I was sitting in my chair watching Elliot and there wasn’t much I could do. He had the momentum. So when I got the chance in the last frame I was determined to keep it simple and not mess it up.
“I have known Elliot for a long time and he’s a very good all-round player. He knows he just has to tighten up on his temperament and he has got Peter Ebdon in his corner to try to achieve that.”
Slessor said: “I was garbage in the first session. The crowd was amazing but I’m devastated that I didn’t give them much to cheer about. Tonight I went for a few more and made a game of it, but I lost every single scrappy frame.”
I can’t actually comment much on those matches as I mainly watched the other matches that aren’t over yet.
As it stands Anthony McGill is leading Judd trump by 6-3. Anthony played really well and he’s been making changes to his approach of the game as well. He now plays faster, more fluently and I really enjoyed watching him yesterday. In the past I often found him tedious and painful to watch.
The Perry v Milkins first session was painful to watch. Milkins was so completely out of sorts that even Perry, who has a job to do of course, looked uneasy with it. It was interesting also to hear Perry’s account of the Just Stop Oils incident, how they felt on the moment and how WST involved them in finding the best solution going forward.
To say that yesterday at the Crucible was eventful is the mother of all understatements!
Three matches concluded yesterday.
Hossein Vafaei beat Ding Junhui by 10-6. Ding had won the first session by 5-4, but Hossein totally dominated the second session, scoring very heavily. He scored breaks of 87, 117, 122, 68, 57 and 89 in a marvellous display of attacking snooker. Ding, as so often in recent years, appeared to lack fighting spirit once he got behind. His body language wasn’t great.
Hossein’s fireworks on the table were followed by an fiery post-match interview…
Hossein Vafaei, the flag-bearer for Iranian snooker, won a match at the Crucible for the first time with a 10-6 victory over Ding Junhui in the opening round of the Cazoo World Championship.
Vafaei will face Ronnie O’Sullivan in the second round, over three days on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and added spice to the fixture by stoking up rivalry between the pair. “Ronnie O’Sullivan is such a legend, such a good player when he’s on the table,” said Vafaei. “He’s just such a nice person…when he’s asleep.”
World number 23 Vafaei, by far the best ever player from Iran, became the first player from his country to compete at the Crucible last year, losing to Judd Trump. The 28-year-old has now gone one step further thanks to a tremendous display against three-time UK Champion Ding, making two centuries and six more breaks over 50.
Vafaei trailed 5-4 overnight but reeled off the first four frames today in just 43 minutes with runs of 117, 122, 68 and 57 to go 8-5 up. China’s Ding, the 16th seed, pulled one back with a break of 77, but Vafaei bounced back with an 89 for 9-6. Ding had two scoring chances in frame 16 but could muster only ten points, and Vafaei’s run of 45 ended the tie.
His performance was good enough to inspire a standing ovation from the Crucible crowd. However, it was Vafaei’s comments about O’Sullivan which are sure to generate headlines. He referred to a match at last season’s German Masters qualifiers when he scored a 5-0 victory over O’Sullivan, who smashed the pack of reds from the break-off in the last frame.
“Ronnie was my hero,” said the 2022 Shoot Out champion. “I could never see myself beating him. When I beat him 5-0 I was a little bit sad, but on another side happy because I showed I can play. He will remember that, 100 per cent. Play like a man. Don’t play mind games or smash the balls and disrespect me, when 70 million or 80 million people are watching me in Iran. Now he’s my opponent. This is life. I have to stand up in front of him if I want to be World Champion.
“If we want this sport to improve, we need to respect each other, and teach others to respect us. When we don’t respect each other, even the people don’t respect us. We have to teach the children to respect their father and family, and everything will be good.
“I believe that everything happens for a reason, you can’t run away. If you do something bad to the people and break someone else’s heart, then God will give you an opportunity to get revenge.
“He has already proved everything, he has done everything in this sport. Hopefully I will play the way I played today. If he beats me 13-0 I will still love being involved in the match. Get your popcorn everyone!”
As for today’s match, Vafaei added: “It was such a great game, I enjoyed it a lot. I’m a big fan of Ding because he has opened up a massive market for snooker so every one of us should respect what he has done for our sport., I told him before the match that I am his fan, but this is a game and someone has to lose. Hopefully I can show this type of performance more.
“I don’t want to be boring! I love the fans, they pay to come and watch us. Nothing scares me and I enjoy playing in front of them. Sometimes I say something to make them laugh. I know that’s not our job, but it suits some people. If you want to be a champion, you must have the people’s heart.”
Ding said: “The first two frames, he took control. I tried to get it back but he was very good today. He could go far and win more matches.
“Overall this season has been very good. The past two seasons I was not there. Sometimes I have good season, then I disappear for a few seasons and come back again so I will try to be more consistent.”
There were also quotes, not reported above, about Ronnie’s illness just being “excuses”. Frankly that makes no sense at all given that Ronnie had won the match, not even mentioning that he looked absolutely exhausted during the post-match interview.
Now about the incident that apparently upset Hossein so much… Ronnie smashed the pack open at the German Masters qualifiers when he was already 4-0 down. That’s obviously not a great attitude to have BUT was it directed at his opponent? Was it deliberate disrespect? I don’t think so. I’m 100% certain that it had nothing to do with Hossein at all and everything to do with Ronnie hating those qualifiers, hating the venue, feeling unable to get the motivation to apply himself, and as he already was on the cusp of defeat, wanting to get out of there asap. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not making excuses for Ronnie here, but I’m 100% convinced that, if Hossein believes it was directed at him, he’s completely misreading the situation and Ronnie’s behaviour under the circumstances.
“Don’t rattle my cage” – Ronnie O’Sullivan hits out at potential next Crucible opponent
Ronnie O’Sullivan eased into the second round of this year’s Snooker World Championship, where he may face Hossein Vafaei, who called for The Rocket to retire last year
Image credits: Eurosport
Ronnie O’Sullivan has reignited his feud with Hossein Vafaei as the Iranian faces Ding Junhui for the chance to take on ‘ The Rocket ‘ the Crucible.
O’Sullivan defeated Pang Junxu 10-7 in his opening match of this year’s World Championships in Sheffield. Vafaei will be The Rocket’s opponent in the second round if he defeats World No 16 Ding, with their game beginning on Sunday.
Ding is the favourite, though O’Sullivan appears to be relishing the chance to take on the Prince of Persia more. The duo clashed during last year’s World Championships when Vafaei called for O’Sullivan to retire for being ‘disrespectful.
Though he rowed back on those comments, it appears The Rocket has not forgotten Vafaei’s blast. After easing his way past Pang, O’Sullivan, the reigning world champion, hit out at Vafaei and warned him not to spark another feud.
O’Sullivan told Eurosport: “Hossein Vafaei, the man who said…what did he say about me, I can’t remember?” Pundit Alan McManus gave him an answer of: “I think he said you should retire.”
The Rocket then responded: “Has he been saying much this year?. I think he’s learned to be quiet. Don’t rattle my cage! I’m just having fun. I love it when they call me out, I love it when they give me stick.
“I love it, it turns me on, I get off on it. I need it to fire me up so I’m hoping someone says something, so I can have a reason to perform. But they’re not going to say it now, they probably realise it’s not a good tactic.”
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Mark Williams beat Jimmy Robertson by 10-5. Jimmy Robertson was leading by 5-4 at the start of the session but didn’t win a frame yesterday. Here is Mark Williams assessment of his performance and the state of his game as reported by Worldsnooker:
“I played really solid today and put the pressure on Jimmy,” said Williams. “He missed a few that he wasn’t missing yesterday. My form has been good this season. I nearly won the Masters. I am still here and still doing it, I am moulding into a solid player all round. My potting is not as good as it used to be but my all-round game now is probably better than it was years ago.
“Sometimes there are long pots which I would have gone for in the past and got them nine times out of ten. These days my eyes are not as good so I turn them down. It will be a tough game against Luca but I’m not worried about anyone else, I’ll just try my best. And if I win the tournament again, this time all my clothes are staying on!”
Mark Allen beat Fan Zhengui by 10-5. That match was interrupted by an unprecedented incident and, credits to both players for refocusing after that and playing a good match. Fan certainly didn’t disgrace himself on his Crucible debut. Here is Mark’s assessment of the match as reported by WST:
“The frame before the interval was really big. If it went 7-6, I think Fan would have been in the ascendancy. His long potting was really good and he was playing some clever safety. To see that pink go over the pocket was huge,” said nine-time ranking event winner Allen.
“I felt like mentally I was ready for anything out there. The work that I’ve done with Paul Gaffney (sport psychologist) over the last 12 months has stood me in good stead. I’ve even practised differently in the build uip. I’ve actually taken my foot off the gas in the last week. Normally, I try to do seven or eight hours a day. I feel like I’ve conserved a lot of energy.
“The bottom line is I haven’t played well enough here. I feel that I’ve always prepared really well. I’ve tried the same thing year on year. It hasn’t worked and I was expecting different results. I’ve tried something different this time and I’ve even done a bit of commentary. Some people have criticised me for that, but I feel I need to try something different to break the monotony of not going well here.”
Now about the incident …
Just stop Oil … stops the play at the Crucible – video shared on twitter.
A Just Stop Oil protester jumped on the table, causing chaos at the Crucible (Picture: PA)
A protester jumped on the table during a match at the World Snooker Championship on Monday evening, blasting orange powder over the baize.
The first round match between Rob Milkins and Joe Perry on Table One was interrupted as a protester wearing a ‘Just Stop Oil’ t-shirt leapt on the table.
He opened a small bag which sent orange powder all over the table before he was hauled off.
Another protester attempted to jump on the other table, where Mark Allen and Fan Zhengyi were playing, but they were stopped beforehand and removed.
Play was stopped on both tables as a clear-up operation began, with venue staff, World Snooker Tour employees and even MC and commentator Rob Walker joining in to hoover up the powder.
A statement from South Yorkshire Police read: ‘Two people were detained after protesters gained entry to The Crucible earlier this evening (Monday 17 April).
‘A 30-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. Both are in police custody.’
Stephen Hendry, the seven-time world champion, said: ‘I have never seen that before at a snooker event. It’s a first.
‘It is scary. Wow! You just hope the cloth can be recovered from that. It caught us all by surprise and then this happens.
‘For me, straightaway as a snooker player I am thinking: “Is the table recoverable?” We don’t know what that is on the table.’
The protester ended the Perry v Milkins match for the night (Picture: PA)
The protest occurred at around 7.15pm and just before 8pm Allen and Fan returned to Table Two, but Table One is to be recovered overnight.
Milkins and Perry will play their first session tomorrow night at 7pm, when they were due to play their first. The second session time is set to be played at 9.30am on Thursday.
Remarkably, Allen was on a break of 24 before the interruption and returned to complete a brilliant century, scoring an immense 126.
I’m a bit surprised. and aggrieved, that Olivier Marteel’s prompt reaction isn’t mentioned. Indeed he immediately wrestled the woman who was trying to climb on “his” table and, aided by WST security got her out of the arena. Without his swift intervention it’s unlikely that play would have resumed at all yesterday evening. Of course, Olivier is a nurse, working at emergency services, he’s used to pressure situations asking for immediate action. As it is, Allen and Fan were able to continue their match, the “Crucible curtain” was opened and the fans were eventually able to enjoy some great snooker
Here are some more images shared on social media
The table was hoovered and protected by a slipcover before play resumed. And yes, Rob Walker is a man of many talents…
John Higgins completed a 13-2 demolition of Kyren Wilson to reach the quarter-finals of the Cazoo World Championship for the 17th time in his career.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 