I have a visitor on my island … a (former) snooker player. She is German but lives in Scotland … and, no, we haven’t watched the snooker, so don’t expect too many comments from me in this piece. Just trying to catch up with the snooker and there’s been a lot of last week and over the week-end.
The 900 week 5 in pictures and words
Week 6 at the 900 starts tonight … so here is what happened in week 5
It all started last Monday.
The team was ready
The arena was packed with spectators, and players were having a late practice …
On day 1
Billy Castle abandonned the commentary box and emerged the winner from a competitive group.
On day 2
The incredible Less Dodd, 69 years old, beating a strong opposition
On day 3
Andy Lavin beat Rodney Goggins in the final to book his place in the winners week.
Congratulations Andy Lavin!
This was probably the most “diverse group” of this season so far.
Here are some pictures shared on social media by Jason Francis during the event:
German Glory! Dikme Wins Q Tour Event on Home Soil
Germany’s Umut Dikme recorded the most significant victory of his career to date when he defeated Hamim Hussain 5-1 in the final to win the 2023/24 Q Tour UK/Europe Event Three on home soil at the TSG Heilbronn.
Prior to this weekend’s event in southwest Germany, Dikme had never been past the last 16 of a Q Tour event, but the 23-year-old seemed to find inspiration from being close to home as he produced a string of fantastic results to become the latest new champion on snooker’s second tier.
As one of the event’s seeded players due to his results at last year’s Q School, Dikme began his challenge in the last 64. On Saturday he dispatched Rodion Judins (Latvia) 3-1, Ian Martin (England) 3-0 and then ousted 17-year-old Artemijs Žižins (Latvia) 3-2 in the last 16.
Finals Day was unchartered territory for the Ludwigsburg-based cueist – his previous best was a last 16 finish at last month’s Event Two in Stockholm – but he acclimatised, registering runs of 60, 51 and 65 in a 4-2 quarter-final win against Hong Kong’s Yu Kiu Chang before denying the experienced Peter Lines 4-2 in the last four along with efforts of 75 and 72.
Another player enjoying their time in the city of Heilbronn was Hussain who reached his maiden Q Tour event final, bettering his three previous quarter-final appearances (in regular events).
The 22-year-old Englishman – who compiled a maximum 147 break on last season’s English Amateur Tour – had to navigate Friday’s preliminary rounds before last 32 and 16 wins over Tyler Rees (Wales) and Alex Millington (England) respectively. Rees had defeated fellow Welshman and Event One victor Liam Davies the round before.
Hussain overcame his last eight block as he stopped Event Two champion Michael Holt from becoming the first player in Q Tour history to claim back-to-back event titles with a 4-3 success. He then ended the challenge of former European amateur champion Harvey Chandler 4-0 in the semi-finals.
However, Dikme was not to be denied a big triumph for himself and German snooker. He crafted breaks of 59 and 53 on his way to going into the mid-session interval 4-0 up, and although Hussain avoided the whitewash after the break, Dikme finished in style and completed his fairytale trip with an effort of 105 in frame six.
Event Four on this season’s Q Tour UK/Europe circuit takes place at the Landywood Snooker Club between November 10-12.
Neil Robertson has captured titles in every calendar year going back to 2006, and must win one of the next three tournaments to keep that sequence going. He made an ideal start to the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open with a 4-1 defeat of Wu Yize.
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Since winning the 2006 Grand Prix, Robertson has lifted at least one trophy for 17 years in a row, the longest ongoing streak of any player. But given that the world number six has decided not to enter tournaments in December this year, in order to take a Christmas break in his native Australia, he will have to win either this week’s tournament in Belfast, the International Championship in China or the UK Championship in York to keep the run going.
So far, this season has been a struggle for the 41-year-old; he is yet to reach the last 32 of a ranking event. But top breaks of 69 and 70 helped him to beat China’s Wu and set up a last-64 clash with local favourite Jordan Brown.
“I love records, keeping them going or achieving them,” said Robertson. “I am very proud of this one so the motivation is ultra high. I have only got a few attempts left to try to win a title but everything is good, I have been practising really hard and hitting the ball so well. If I can win this week I’d also become the first player to win all four Home Nations events so that’s another one to spur me on.”
Asked about his decision to skip tournaments in order to spend Christmas Down Under, he added: “I decided to bite the bullet, it’s more important for me to get back home for the first time in four years. There are things I miss, like close friends and family who are getting older. My nephews don’t really know me, apart from through Facetime and videos. It will be fun, (son) Alexander will be on a surf board and on the beach. And I’ll be back for the Masters, feeling refreshed.
“As an overseas player it’s always hard to decide when to go home, especially when Australia is so far away. After I had a great season in 2021/22 I should have gone back for a few weeks at that point. It’s probably something I need to schedule better in the future.”
BetVictor English Open and Wuhan Open champion Judd Trump is looking to win three consecutive ranking titles, a feat previously achieved by only four players, and he started strongly with a 4-1 defeat of Jenson Kendrick.
World number 108 Kendrick admitted last week that Trump was his idol and it was a dream for him just to compete with the 25-time ranking event winner, and the Stoke cueman had a moment to savour with a 90 clearance to take the opening frame. But Trump then took control, winning four in a row with a top run of 96.
“I felt a bit rusty because I had not played for six days,” said Trump. “This arena is one of the best three or four on the circuit and the atmosphere heats up as you go through the week, so I want to be around for that.”
Robbie McGuigan, an up-and-coming 19-year-old from nearby Antrim, took advantage of his wild card invitation to this event at the Waterfront Hall by beating Muhammad Asif 4-1 with top breaks of 56, 91 and 58.
“It felt amazing, I could see everyone I knew in the crowd so to play well in front of them was fantastic,” said McGuigan. “I think the crowd got to my opponent a bit and I had to take advantage of that. It was great to be able to fist pump in front of them at the end.
“I have made some changes to my mental approach, I am reading books which help me to stay calm off the table, and I have spoken to a few players about it. I am more relaxed now on the table, if I am playing badly or losing I try to enjoy the challenge.”
Jack Lisowski top scored with 112 in a 4-1 defeat of Rebecca Kenna while Cazoo British Open champion Mark Williams made a 140 total clearance as he beat Tian Pengfei by the same scoreline. Sam Craigie made a 67 in the decider to edge out Kyren Wilson 4-3.
Shaun Murphy brought two cues into his match with Ryan Thomerson at the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open and the experiment proved a success, at least in the result, as he won 4-2 to reach the last 64 in Belfast.
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Murphy has spoken for several months about his intention to use multiple cues, which he feels will give him an advantage in varying conditions, and he put the theory into practice tonight. The former World Champion brought three cues to the tournament, with tip sizes of 9.2mm, 9.3mm and 9.5mm, each of which creates a different amount of ‘deflection’ when playing with side on the cue ball. He left the 9.3mm version in his dressing room, took the other two into the match arena and used only the 9.2mm version in the heat of battle.
The world number seven, who won two ranking events at the tail end of last season, only found fluency in the third frame against Thomerson with a break of 91. But he ground out the result to set up a tie with Marco Fu on Monday at 7pm.
“I first spoke to John Parris about making new cues for me 18 months ago, and it has taken a while to put the plan into action, but tonight was the first real test,” said Murphy. “I have always felt that there are times when we struggle to adapt to the conditions, for example in Shanghai where it is more humid. And there are shots you miss because the equipment doesn’t perform as you expected it to. I didn’t want to get to the end of my career having not given this a try.
“Just by coincidence, there were two players in the arena tonight (Anthony McGill and Ahmed Aly Elsayed) using cues made of graphite, which shows that other players are also experimenting. It might be that in five or ten years, it is standard for players to use multiple cues, or versions made from carbon.”
Mark Allen made a strong start to his quest to win this title for a third year in a row as he beat Ben Mertens 4-0. Like Murphy, the Pistol was far from his best, but the local favourite’s fans went home happy as he won with a top break of 55. “It was a mixture of good and poor stuff,” Allen told Eurosport. “My safety was solid, I was patient and made Ben work for chances. It ended up being a comfortable win. I did what I needed to do, just getting past potential banana skin because Ben is a talented boy and has had some really good results.
“I’m getting better at playing in my home town but I still feel nervous, I just wanted to get the first win under my belt and get into the tournament. My preparation was different today because I was in the arena watching Robbie McGuigan’s match this afternoon rather than relaxing in my hotel. It was great to see Robbie getting a win on the board.
“This venue is class, if you put it somewhere else I would still say it’s one of the best we play in, not just because it’s in Belfast. The fans always come and support it.”
Gary Wilson made breaks of 69, 118, 94 and 50 as he edged out Louis Heathcote 4-3. Jimmy White came from 3-1 down against Anthony McGill to 3-3, only for McGill to make an 81 in the decider to win 4-3 just after midnight.
Of course no mention in the above reports of the biggest upset on the day … on the Day even at Ryan was beaten by Chinese rookie Ma Hailong. Kyren Wilson also lost, by 4-3, to Sam Craigie. It’s a bit unexpected but not really an “upset”.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 