Month: April 2024

WST Announcement – More Tournament with Tiered Structure Next Season

Monique Professional snooker, Tour News , ,

WST has published this announcement yesterday:

TIERED FORMAT FOR HOME NATIONS AND GERMAN MASTERS IN 2024/25

Next season’s Home Nations events, as well as the German Masters, will have a tiered format, which means that all of the world’s top 32 will start in the last-64 round at the final venue.

The round structure for the 2024 English Open, Northern Ireland Open and Scottish Open as well as the 2025 German Masters and Welsh Open will be:

Qualifying rounds
Round one
Players seeded 65-96 v players seeded 97-128

Round two
Those 32 winners v players seeded 33-64

Final venue
Last 64
32 qualifiers v players seeded 1-32

This change gives the lower ranked players the opportunity to earn prize money through the earlier rounds and beyond, while ensuring that television audiences and ticket-holders can see the leading players at the final venue. To support this change, we will be increasing prize money for all of these events to over £500,000.

WST Chairman Steve Dawson said: “The 2024/25 season will undoubtedly be the biggest season in the history of the sport. We have announced events with prize money in excess of £16 million and there will be further announcements regarding prize money and new events that will take us close to our target of £20 million; a target we had set for the 2026/27 season and that we expect to hit well in advance of time. This could see not only two or three players hitting over £1 million prize money from a single season that we will witness this year, but four, five or six players joining that group.”

(The “green highlighting” above is my doing.)

This is excellent news , in my view at least. That will come to no surprise to regular readers of this blog. This new approach will mean that at most 32 players will come out of those events penniless, instead of 64 currently. It will also mean that the lowest ranked players will play their first match against opponents ranked outside the top 64. They will be guaranteed a more winnable first match. This is particularly important for the young players and the rookies. Adapting to the professional tour isn’t easy and being hammered all the time is not helping in any way. It destroys both confidence and self-esteem. Being guaranteed matches of progressive difficulty should help.

I have had disagreements about this subject with some of the older (former) pros who came through the old tiered system. Yes, there was too much protection because the players entering at level “n”, should they lose, were guaranteed the same points the “n-1” level winners. I expect that, in this system, even IF the players entering at a “higher” level get some money if they lose their first match, it won’t count towards their ranking, just as it is the case now for the seeds losing their opening match at the Crucible.

Barry Pinches – who I respect and like – was particularly vocal against the tiered system, arguing that it meant that the lower ranked players had to win more matches to win a tournament than the higher seeds. This is true, but I’m not sure it’s a bad thing… in particular for the younger ones. They need to “grow” as professionals and for that they need to play as much as they can. The current system often left them for weeks with nothing at all to play in, brooding over yet another first round defeat against an opponent far too strong and experienced for them.

The next good move would be to have those qualifiers played at, or next to, the main event venue, the week before the main event. That would guarantee that the in-form players are in the “main” draw, as opposed to having there the players who were “in-form” two months earlier in the season. The wildcards, in any, should enter those events at the bottom, play in those qualifiers in front of their friends and family with a reasonable hope to be able to show what they can do.

On Day 5, Ronnie books his place in the 2024 Tour Championship Final

Monique Snooker

Ronnie booked his place in the 2024 Tour Championship Final yesterday, beating Gary Wilson by 10-7 in an excellent match. The second half in particular was high standard.

Ronnie was happy after the match. He enjoyed the challenge, he likes the venue and seeed to be more at ease with his game. That’s a nice change from the rather morose mood that has so often prevailed this season despite all the successes.

Here is the report by WST:

O’SULLIVAN INTO 64TH RANKING FINAL

Ronnie O’Sullivan thrilled fans at a packed Manchester Central with a marvellous finish to beat Gary Wilson 10-7, reaching the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship and remaining on course for a sixth title of the season.

O’Sullivan has played in 11 knockout events this season and if he is successful in Sunday’s final against Mark Allen or Mark Williams he will have won six of those – an incredible strike rate. The world number one has already set a record for the most prize money earned in a single campaign and will take that figure past £1.3 million if he lands the £150,000 top prize.

He is through to a 64th career ranking final and is looking for a 42nd ranking title. Only once before in his career, back in 2000/01, has O’Sullivan won six titles in a season. 

The Rocket was pushed hard by Wilson in an entertaining contest which was in the balance at 7-7, but Wilson didn’t pot a ball in the last three frames as O’Sullivan – as he so often does – climbed to a higher plane with a devastating burst of potting. The 48-year-old has revelled in the atmosphere this week at the tournament’s new home and said: “This is an amazing venue – backstage is great, the arena and crowds are great.”

Wilson, winner of two ranking titles this season, came from 40-0 down to take the opening frame of the concluding session to lead 5-4, then O’Sullivan levelled with an excellent break of 42 towards the end of frame ten, helped by a fluke on the last red. In the 11th, Wilson led 41-9 when he played a loose safety, and his opponent punished him with a 54 clearance. 

Again in the 12th, Wilson looked in control, but missed a tough red to a baulk corner at 54-16 and O’Sullivan’s 57 put him 7-5 ahead. After the interval, world number 13 Wilson fought back with 84 and 96 for 7-7. But there was little he could do from that point as O’Sullivan won the last three frames in 33 minutes with top breaks of 97 and 129. 

“The way I played in the last three frames, I’d like to play like that for 60% or 70% of matches. But I have to just take it when it comes, keep trying to compete and enjoy it,” said O’Sullivan, whose only previous title in this event came in 2019.

“I really rate Gary. We have become good friends. He’s an honest bloke – the way he is in interviews, he’s the same in real life. He’s a great lad and it’s great to see him winning tournaments. He loves the game so much and gets frustrated by it sometimes, a bit like me. He thinks ‘why can’t I play well more often?’ But he’s learning now that you can’t always play well, you need the patience to give yourself a chance.”

O’Sullivan admits he has become obsessed with the fine details of technique in recent years, but has been working with psychiatrist Steve Peters to try to free his mind of the search for perfection.

“You never stop tinkering, but I got so deep into that world that I didn’t know how to get out of it,” he said. “I felt like I was getting the yips, I was stabbing at the ball. I was getting scared to go out and play, especially in the big events. There’s a lot of pressure out there and you get tight and feel like you can’t get the cue through. By working with Steve I have learned to cope with not playing great snooker all the time. Hopefully by doing that, the good snooker will come more. If I can clear my mind and not be so hard on myself, maybe I’ll allow myself to play more instinctively.”

INCREDIBLE CLOSING CENTURY

Here are the scores and stats for that match:

Screenshot

And two more videos shared by WST on YouTube

And the post-match interview:

Interesting Quotes by Ronnie ahead of the Crucible – 5 April 2024

Monique Snooker

Ronnie has often shown frustration with his game this season, despite all his successes and has opened up about his state of mind and his new approach to the game.

Ronnie O’Sullivan takes steps to stop torment: ‘It’s like an illness, an obsession’

Phil Haigh

Ronnie O’Sullivan is not happy with his game despite recent success (Picture: Getty Images)

Ronnie O’Sullivan is working with Dr Steve Peters again ahead of the World Championship, saying he has to change his way of thinking which has become obsessive and ‘like an illness’.

The Rocket has had an extremely successful season on the table, winning five tournaments including the UK Championship and Masters, but he does not feel good about his game.

The 48-year-old is always searching for perfection in how he is cueing but has rarely felt content over the last couple of years and reckons this season has been one of his worst when it comes to technique.

‘This year I’ve got the wins but technically I’ve been terrible, probably my worst year technically,’ he told ITV4. ‘I’ve had to grind out the wins and that’s never going to give me much satisfaction.’

He added: ‘There has been the odd match. Probably been four or five. In Tianjin [International Championship] I played well, from start to finish, in that tournament. Wuhan [Open] I played alright. Played a few good matches in the UK. That is about it. Most of it has not been great.’

Due to this sense of frustration and dissatisfaction, O’Sullivan has turned again to renowned psychiatrist Steve Peters, who he has worked with on and off since 2011.

‘I had to call Steve Peters up the other day,’ said O’Sullivan after beating Ali Carter 10-2 in the Tour Championship quarter-finals. ‘I said, “look, I am really struggling, it’s doing my head in, trying to figure it out”.

‘It has been the story of my life really. So, it’s nothing new. But I decided I would go back to work with Steve Peters, try to change my thinking and hopefully once I have changed my thinking, I will try and be a bit less of a perfectionist. Hopefully then my game will fall into place because I am an instinctive player and thinking is not good for me.’

While the Rocket feels he has been poor technically, he thinks it is something he can fix mentally, by convincing himself to stop searching for technical perfection.

He is still working with coaches on the technical side, but feels Peters is the one who can get him back where he wants to be.

‘I just try and coach myself most of the time but at the moment I’ve got about three coaches on the go,’ he said. ‘I’ve been round the block a lot so I kind of know if something’s going to work or not going to work. 

‘I’ll still be working and stuff like that, but the bottom line is I just have to go out there and just..work with Steve Peters now and do the work that gets my head in the right frame of mind. Maybe handle not playing my best and still apply myself.

O’Sullivan will head to Sheffield as favourite to win the world title (Picture: Getty Images)

‘A lot of the time I feel like I just want to run out the venue, to be honest with you, I feel frustrated. It’s horrible. It probably doesn’t make sense because obviously I’ve won quite a lot of tournaments this year, but winning and playing well are two totally different things. 

‘Mentally I’ve applied myself, in the meantime I’ve been tinkering so much it’s got beyond a joke, to be honest with you, it’s got beyond a joke.’

The seven-time world champion is preparing to take on the Crucible challenge once again this month, the biggest test in the sport over 17 days in Sheffield.

He sees returning to work with Peters as crucial for his chances of winning an eighth world title this year, something that he is putting all his efforts into.

‘Absolutely. Part of working with Steve is being prepared to do that,’ he said of going all out for the World Championship title. ‘Having a winning mentality, the right mentality. 

‘I’d much rather be playing well and just the instinctive love of the game will take over but it’s not happening and I just feel like I was dementing myself. 

‘I got to the point where I was getting stage fright, even just in exhibitions I was scared to go out there and play because I just thought I’m not going to be able to pot one ball. 

‘It was embarrassing and that’s not a good place to be as a sportsman, when you’re that low on confidence of whether you can perform or not. It’s not a good place to be. 

‘So I decided that’s as bad as it can ever get, all I know is to go to Steve Peters and go, “I need to get on top of this.” It’s like an illness. Like a nervous twitch. It’s something in your mind like an obsession and I’ve got to break that obsession. 

‘I don’t think it’ll happen overnight, it’ll take time and I’ve only been doing it four or five days properly but hopefully it will give me a bit more longevity, a bit more peace of mind, a bit more acceptance and a bit more like…ok, don’t expect to play brilliant every match.’

The world number one is not panicking, feeling that it is partly his own fault for not keeping up with the practices he learned from Peters in the past.

He needs to routinely work on keeping his busy mind under control, something he doesn’t think other top players have to deal with as much.

‘It’s not a bad thing I’m doing, it’s just that I’m a bit lazy,’ he said. ‘I worked really hard for the first two years with Steve because it was new and I had to do it. 

‘I’ve still used a lot of what Steve showed me when I thought I needed to do it, but I haven’t made it part of my overall package. Sometimes I just want to play, hit balls and feel good. I’m an instinctive sort of player, so to go non-instinctive, logical and be really like that about things is difficult for me to do, but I know it’s the right thing to do.

‘I just go on autopilot and do my own thing. He said it’s a bit like going to the gym. If you stop going to the gym you lose your muscle mass. He said, “The stuff you do with me, I can only show you but you have to do the work.” It’s quite repetitive but once you do it, it sort of tightens your mind up a bit. 

‘For me I need it. I think a lot of players, like John Higgins, Neil Robertson, maybe Judd, they don’t overcomplicate things, they’re probably not as complex as me. They’re just a bit more straightforward. I think someone like me needs to quieten my mind down and just try and play and not be too hard on myself.’

Whatever happens today at the table, this is great news to me. Ronnie is taking the right steps to feel mentally and emotionally strong and at peace ahead of the Crucible. Turning to Steve Peters is the best thing he ever did, both for his own private life and well being AND for his career. He will always be a perfectionist, and he will always be an anxious person because that’s his nature, but finding ways to accept it and be at peace with himself that’s the most important “task” he has to complete for now and for the future.

2024 Tour Championship – Day 4

Monique Professional snooker tournament

The quarter-finals concluded yesterday in Manchester and delivered some unexpected results to say the least. Not only did Mark Williams beat Judd Trump, he beat him heavily. This result, with Ronnie’s win the previous day, means that Ronnie will go to the Crucible ranked number one no matter what happens today, at the week-end. Ronnie has now be holding the number one sport for over two years. At 48, that’s some feat, especially as he tends to pick and choose more than most.

Here are the reports by WST on yesterday’s matches

Afternoon session (Gary Wilson’s win)

GRITTY WILSON EARNS SHOT AT ROCKET

Gary Wilson’s habit of winning matches when he is not at his best proved crucial again as he came from 8-7 down to beat Zhang Anda 10-8 in the quarter-finals of the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship.

Wilson is enjoying the best season of his career, having won ranking titles at the BetVictor Scottish Open and BetVictor Welsh Open. The Wallsend cueman is competing in this event for the first time, and having knocked out Mark Selby and now Zhang – both by a 10-8 scoreline – he is now guaranteed £40,000 as well as a top ten ranking going into the Cazoo World Championship. 

On Friday at Manchester Central he takes on world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan, a player he beat en route to winning the 2022 Scottish Open crown.

Wilson, age 38, has been uncomfortable with his technique over the years, and still contends that he is playing poorly. Yet he has found ways of winning when not at his best, and is reaping the rewards.

“I showed grit and determination and tried my best, those are the only positives I can take,” said Wilson. “Even in the tournaments I won this season, there were spells where my game was in the bin. I guess that helps me because I always make sure I show that grit. If you keep trying then you might get through a few matches, and then somehow miraculously you find something in your game. If you let your guard down and play at 99% instead of 100% and make a mistake on one shot, that can cost you a match. This is a game of very small margins. But I know I have to improve because those kind of performances are not good enough.“

Looking ahead to the clash with O’Sullivan, he added: “I’m not someone who crumbles because of who I am playing. For me, it’s all about how I am feeling and playing. If my action is gone then my confidence is on the floor and I can’t find any way of hitting it. If that happens then it doesn’t matter who I’m playing. I am trying to iron that out, it’s not really working. But I am in the semis so let’s see what happens.”

After sharing the first two frames of the concluding session, Wilson took the next two with a top break of 74 to lead 7-5, before China’s Zhang recovered to 7-7. In frame 15, Wilson led 61-9 but a missed red proved costly as Zhang made an excellent 55 clearance which included a double on the last red to a centre pocket.

Wilson hit back with breaks 94 and 85 to edge 9-8 ahead. Zhang had first chance in frame 18 but missed a red to a top corner at 34-0, and Wilson replied with 50 before running out of position. The Englishman then got the better of a safety battle on the last red, converting a thin cut to a top corner. He missed match-ball black, but Zhang played a weak safety on the yellow and that proved his last shot.

Evening session

WILLIAMS TO FACE ALLEN IN SEMIS

Mark Williams beat Judd Trump in a multi-session match for the first time in his career with a 10-4 victory in the quarter-finals of the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship in Manchester.

Trump has rivalled Ronnie O’Sullivan as player of the season so far, winning five ranking titles, but he was well below his best today and outplayed by a veteran 49-year-old opponent. It’s arguably Williams’ best result since he lifted the Cazoo British Open title in September and his first win over Trump in a knockout match since the 2018 German Masters.

The Welshman is through to the 65th ranking event semi-final of his career and on Saturday he’ll be up against Mark Allen, who came from 8-7 down to score a 10-8 victory over Ding Junhui. 

Defeat for Trump ends his hopes of becoming world number one this week, which means that O’Sullivan will top the rankings going into the Cazoo World Championship. 

Williams, chasing a 26th career ranking title, said: “It’s about time I beat Judd because I have lost a few close matches against him. To beat the player of the season so far 10-4, I can’t ask for any more than that, even though he didn’t play well. My game is as good as it could be given where I am in my career. It’s not going to get better now, I’ll just try to keep it going for as long as I can. This is a nice stepping stone ahead of the Crucible.“

Leading 5-3 after the first session, three-time World Champion Williams took the first two frames on the colours tonight to extend his cushion to 7-3. In frame 11, he led 48-30 when he missed a simple red to a centre pocket, and Trump cleared to snatch the frame. But that did not prove a turning point as Bristol’s Trump failed to take the chances which came his way.

Williams took advantage to stretch his lead to 9-4. In the 14th he missed the blue when he led 42-0, but Trump’s hopes ended when he too missed the blue on 11, allowing Williams to wrap up the tie.

Allen is enjoying an outstanding season having won the Champion of Champions, BetVictor Shoot Out and Johnstone’s Paint Players Championship. The Northern Irishman has become perhaps the toughest match-player on the tour, and again showed his tenacity in the closing stages of a tight battle with Ding. World number three Allen is into his 38th ranking event semi-final and is chasing a 12th title.

China’s Ding took the opening frame tonight with a break of 71 to lead 6-3, then 38-year-old Allen stormed back with four frames in a row, including a 142 total clearance which is the new front-runner for the £10,000 high break prize. Ding hit back with 82 and 67 to lead 8-7.

Frame 16 was crucial as Ding got the snooker he needed on the last red and looked set to clear for 9-7 until he missed a straight-forward final pink. It came down to a respotted black, and a safety error from Ding left the black over a baulk corner for Allen to convert for 8-8. Momentum behind him, Allen took the last two frames with runs of 56 and 127.

“There were one or two errors but generally I got stronger as the match went on and that’s a big positive to take into the next round,” said Allen. “The 16th frame was huge because at 8-8 I felt relaxed and my game was in the right shape. It was hard to see from my seat what angle he had on the pink, but he seemed to throw a quick one in, which can happen to anyone under pressure. 

“It doesn’t matter to me whether it’s 4-4 at 1pm or 9-9 at midnight. I feel like I am ready for anything. Last year I lost to Mark Selby in the semis at the Crucible, 17-15 in a late finish, and I genuinely felt as if I could have played all night. I had so much left in the tank. Getting a bit of gym work in before Sheffield will help me get ready. The longer the matches go on, the more I come into my own. I came here to work on a few things technically, and tonight even at 8-8 I stuck with what I have been working on. Now I am in the semis I want to go on and win it. 

“The scoreline for Mark Williams tonight was a bit of a surprise but he is one of the all-time greats. I will need to pay well and I always look forward to playing him.”

The way he’s playing at the moment, and the frame of mind he is in now makes Allen a very serious contender for the World Championship title this season. As for Ding, I have by now given up any hope for him to ever become a World Snooker Champion.

As for Judd Trump, he’s got a lot of success in the “best of 7” type events over the last 10 years, but has been less prolific in the longer formats and in the BBC majors in particular. Why? I’m not sure but that’s what the stats seem to show. I doubt that fatigue is a factor, given that he’s younger than most his rivals at the top. Some suggested that it’s because he treats every tournament the same way, whilst other players are maybe not giving the smaller events the same attention they give to the more prestigious ones. That’s possibly a factor but I doubt that it’s the main one because, surely, Trump must be been keen to add more “big titles” to his CV.

2024 Tour Championship – Ronnie beats Ali Carter on Day 3

Monique Snooker

Day 3 in Manchester saw the start of the quarter-finals stage, with only one match played to a finish:

Ronnie beat Ali Carter by 10-2 and this is the report by WST:

O’SULLIVAN’S IMMENSE SEASON BUILDS MOMENTUM

Ronnie O’Sullivan is just two wins away from taking six titles in a single season for only the second time in his career, having crushed Ali Carter 10-2 in the quarter-finals of the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship in Manchester.

O’Sullivan has now won 19 of his 20 career meetings with Carter, and today’s battle was a one-sided affair as the Rocket dominated from the start. He goes through to face Gary Wilson or Zhang Anda in the semi-finals on Friday at 1pm and 7pm. 

Carter had hoped to gain revenge for defeat in January’s Masters final, but his only highlight was a break of 141, the highest of the tournament so far, when he was already 7-0 down.

So far in 2023/24, O’Sullivan has won five tournaments, including the UK Championship and the Masters, and at the age of 48 he could be on his way to his best ever season. The only previous campaign in which he won six titles was back in 2000/01. He has also now been world number one for two years, his longest ever spell at the top of the rankings. 

Breaks of 77, 87, 54, 51, 81 and 92 helped O’Sullivan take the first seven frames. Carter rallied to 7-2, but a missed red on 38 in frame ten ended his hopes of a fight-back, as runs of 62, 54 and 67 helped O’Sullivan win the last three frames.

Despite his trophy haul this season, O’Sullivan insists that he is not satisfied with his performances or technique. “I am having to accept how I play, and go with what I have got,” he told ITV. “That is life, you can’t be perfect all the time. Trying to be perfect is not ideal. I have to get my head around that because I have driven myself mad for the last two years.”

Asked about his mustard-coloured shirt, O’Sullivan added: “We have a lot of badges for different tournaments, I have used up every black shirt and this was the only one I had left in the wardrobe.“

O’SULLIVAN DOMINATES

Here are the scores … every frame except the second one featured a 50+ break … very poor indeed 🙄

The 2024 Tour Championship – Day 2 … and a lot of side news …

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

Day 2 in Manchester brought it fair share of drama … here are the reports by WST:

Afternoon session

SELBY QUIT THREAT AFTER WILSON DEFEAT

Four-time Crucible king Mark Selby revealed that he could quit snooker at the end of this season, after a “pathetic” performance in a 10-8 reverse against Gary Wilson in the first round of the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship.

…

Wilson, who has already won two ranking titles during the best season of his career, goes through to face Zhang Anda in the quarter-finals in Manchester on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon.

But world number five Selby was left dejected by his own game and insisted that the Cazoo World Championship, which starts on April 20th, could be his last event. “From start to finish I was pathetic, I didn’t deserve to win,” said the Leicester cueman. “I tried and battled but it was terrible. If I carry on playing like that, that will be it for me, for sure.

“I felt flat, it’s a big tournament and if you can’t get yourself up for events like this there’s something wrong. I have always said that if I get to the point where I am not enjoying it, it doesn’t matter whether you are number one in the world or number 128, I won’t carry on playing. I am still putting the work in, but if you practise for performances like that it seems pointless. If I put in the same performance in Sheffield, that will be me done.“

Wilson, playing in this event for the first time, took a 5-3 lead in the first session on Monday with top breaks of 95, 98, 78, 101. The first six frames today were shared to leave the Wallsend potter 8-6 in front. In frame 15 he had clear chances to extend his lead, but twice missed the brown to a centre pocket on the brink of 9-6. Selby converted an excellent brown-to-black clearance to close to 8-7.

The 16th also came down to the colours, and this time Wilson cleared from yellow to black to go two up with three to play. Selby pulled one back with a run of 90 and had a chance for 9-9, but missed a red to a centre pocket on 30 in frame 18. That proved his last shot as Wilson finished in style with a 105.

Wilson said: “It wasn’t a great game, we both missed easy chances. It’s still tough to beat someone as good as Mark, though there are not many positives to take from it other than the result. I kept making it difficult for myself and handing him chances to get back into the game. But thankfully I made a good break in the last frame to get over the line. 

“I need to find something before tomorrow. You never know in this game, sometimes you feel as if you don’t know where you career is going, it feels that bad. But the positives are that I have had a great season, I’m in the top 16 and I hope I’m just having a blip I will come through. I will stay chirpy and just crack on.”

Meanwhile, Ali Carter raced into a 7-1 lead over Barry Hawkins in match which finishes on Tuesday night. Hawkins took the opening frame with a break of 84, but scored just 26 points in the next six frames as Carter rattled in breaks of 80, 51, 83, 135 and 94.

The last frame of the session came down to a safety battle on the final pink, and Carter converted a thin cut to a centre pocket to extend his lead. The winner will face Ronnie O’Sullivan over two sessions on Wednesday.

Mark Selby’s battle with depression has been well documented. His childhood was traumatic, his mother abandoned him, he lost his father as a teenager and, recently, he had to support his wife Vikki in her battle against cancer. All that is bound to take its toll on him, it would on anyone no matter how though they are and Mark is though. I hope he gets the support he needs. His health has to be the priority, everything else is secondary. I’m glad that mental health issues are better understood nowadays. Not so long ago this kind of post-match would have attracted comments like “what he is about, he’s got plenty of money … he should get a ‘real job’ , go stack boxes in the supermarket … he doesn’t know what hardship is”. 1

Evening session

WILLIAMS BEATS FORD WITH PHENOMENAL CLEARANCE

Mark Williams made one of the all-time great deciding frame clearances to beat Tom Ford 10-9 in a thrilling finish at the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship.

…

Ford looked set for victory at 9-9 until he missed a red to a top corner leading 54-0. Four of the last seven reds, as well as the blue, were tight to cushions, but veteran Williams pulled off a series of tremendous pots in an extraordinary 66 clearance. He goes through to the quarter-finals in Manchester to face Judd Trump on Thursday.

“I don’t know how I did it but that was one of the best clearances I’ve ever made,” said three-time World Champion Williams. “The shot from blue to pink was very difficult but there was no way I was playing safe on any ball. It’s definitely one of my best.

“Tom was by far the better player, he made four centuries and didn’t win, he must have thought he had me. But I’m used to be being up against it. It shows where my game is at if I can play poorly but still win.”

BEST DECIDING FRAME CLEARANCE EVER?

Leading 5-3 after the first session, 49-year-old Williams extended his advantage to 8-4 with top breaks of 112 and 88. Ford stormed back to 8-7 with runs of 138 (the highest break of the event so far) and 133. He had chances in frame 16 but Williams recovered to take it on a respotted black. Ford then made 90 and 63 for 9-9, and seemed in control of the decider until his missed red, which proved crucial. 

British Open champion in September, world number eight Williams is through to his fifth ranking quarter-final of the season. 

There was more drama on the other table as Ali Carter survived a Barry Hawkins fight-back to win 10-8. That sets up an intriguing quarter-final with Ronnie O’Sullivan on Wednesday – their first meeting since the bad-tempered Masters final in January.

Carter led 7-1 after the first session and still looked in charge at 8-3 and 9-5. Hawkins got the better of frame 15 then came from 48-0 down to steal the 16th for 9-7. In the next, Carter led 62-4 with three reds left, but Hawkins got the two snookers he needed on the last red, and eventually won it on a respotted back to close within one frame. But world number nine Carter dominated frame 18 to reach his sixth ranking quarter-final of the season.

“At 7-1 sometimes you feel you have it all to lose,” said the Captain. “Barry came back at me really well and it got a bit sticky in the end. But that makes it a better win – if I had won 10-1 it would have felt like a bit of a non-event. I have gone through the wringer and I can’t wait to get back to the hotel for a glass of wine.

“I am just trying my best, I am enjoying it and looking forward to the challenge tomorrow. It will be an open free-flowing match. I’m not going to put myself under any pressure, I’ll just play and see what happens.“

Mark Williams obviously still can play a bit! However, recently, after trying heyball, he hinted that he migth play more of that and less snooker:

Mark Williams enjoying pool more than snooker as he eyes up more 8-Ball events

Phil Haigh

Mark Williams intends to play a lot more Chinese 8-Ball pool in the months to come, saying he is enjoying the game more than snooker at the moment.

The 49-year-old is still riding high in the snooker world and is in action this week at the Tour Championship, showing how well he is doing as only the top 12 on the one-year ranking list qualify for the event.

However, he has admitted that he doesn’t expect to do well as he has been in China playing in the Joy Cup World Heyball Masters Grand Finals, a huge Chinese 8-Ball event which had a top prize of $700,000 (£557,900).

The Welsh Potting Machine was beaten by one of the greats of the game, Zheng Yubo, in the last 32 in Qinhuangdao but he wants to get back on the pool table as soon as he can, and would love to play Zheng again across both disciplines.

‘I enjoyed every minute of it,’ he said after his last match in China. ‘It’s nice to play the best player in the world, the best Chinese pool player ever. 

‘I knew I wasn’t going to beat him, I didn’t have much chance of winning really because it’s the first time I’ve seen a really top player play like that, I think he missed one ball in the whole match. 

‘But I loved it and if someone can show me how to break off then I can definitely get a lot close to him. I’d love to play more Chinese pool. It would be nice some time this year maybe if me and Yubo can get a challenge match. He plays me at snooker and I play him at Chinese 8 ball again and I’ll practice a bit more. I’ve seen him play snooker, he makes 147s, so I know how good he is. I think that would be a good challenge match. 

‘I probably enjoy playing Chinese 8 ball rather than snooker, to be honest. I just want to play more, I’d like to play more tournaments this year to see if I can get any better.’

…

‘I’m definitely not retiring, but a lot more pool is on the horizon for me,’ he told ITV.

Other snooker players were involved in the event in Qinhuangdao, with the likes of Elliot Slessor and Jimmy Robertson picking up some wins.

Speaking earlier in the season, Williams said he expects more snooker professionals to get involved as and when they can.

‘I think if it doesn’t clash with tournaments I think a lot more (snooker players) will play in it,’ Williams told SportsBoom. ‘I’m going the other way and if a couple of the tournaments do clash with snooker events then I’ll pick the Chinese pool over the snooker tournaments.

‘I enjoy it. It’s the number one game in China. The following that it’s got is massive. The prize money is big, but I don’t think a snooker player has a chance against the top Chinese boys, unless you really practice hard at it.’

And John Higgins is also considering the end of his career after a poor display on Monday, as reported by various media, notably by Eurosport. He hinted that this World Championship could be his “final go“.

  1. At least it did when Ronnie was at the start of his career, with both parents in jail, struggling with taking care of his young sister and battling depression and addictions … this is the kind of comments he got. ↩︎

The 2024 Tour Championship – Day 1

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

The Tour Championship was never my favourite event, and, this season, that’s truer than ever. I don’t like the move to increase the field to 12 players. Going by reactions on social media, I’m not the only one with that opinion but it is what it is …

Only one match was played to a conclusion yesterday as Mark Allen beat John Higgins by 10-7 .

Here is the report by WST:

ALLEN BATTLES PAST HIGGINS IN MANCHESTER

Mark Allen admitted he was “very proud” of a mature performance as he recovered from a slow start to beat John Higgins 10-7 in the first round of the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship, staying on track for a fourth title of the season. 

Allen trailed 4-1 in the early stages but crucially recovered to 4-4 by the end of the first session. It was neck-and-neck tonight up until 6-6, but world number three Allen proved the stronger player at the business end as he pulled away to take three of the last four frames. He goes through to take on Ding Junhui in the quarter-finals on Wednesday night and Thursday night.

Scotland’s Higgins scored 5-2 wins against Allen at both the BetVictor German Masters and BetVictor Welsh Open earlier this year, but this time he could not capitalise on a strong start and he is still waiting for a first ranking title in three years.

Allen took the opening frame of the evening session with a break of 71 before Higgins levelled at 5-5 with a run of 82. Frame 11 came down to a safety battle on the final black, Allen clipping it into a baulk corner to regain the advantage. Back came Higgins with 62 to draw level, only for Allen to respond with a 102 for 7-6. 

In frame 14, Higgins missed the black with two reds left, leading 46-17, and Allen eventually got the better of a safety exchange on the final pink, potting pink and black to go two ahead for the first time. Higgins halved the gap with a break of 86, then Allen’s 93 made it 9-7. In frame 17, Higgins had first chance but made just 20 before missing a straight-forward blue to centre. The Scot later made a safety error and Allen finished in style with a match-winning 100.

“I always look forward to playing John,” said 38-year-old Allen, who currently tops the provisional end of season rankings. “It’s always tough match snooker, good scoring and high quality safety. I’m very proud to have matched him in the safety department and scored better as the match went on.

“A few years ago, from 4-1 down I might have lost the first session 6-2. The things I have been working on with (psychologist) Paul Gaffney have really helped because it has focussed my mind on just playing the next shot and the next frame as well as I can. It was fine margins tonight, I think John played as well as me but I won the close frames. 

“My decision-making is more measured. Some people might call it negative, but I am playing the positive shot based on how I am feeling in that moment. Sometimes it’s better to be patient and wait for a better chance.”

Higgins said: “Mark played very well tonight. I should have been in front this afternoon, I lost a bad frame when I should have made it 5-2. I missed two or three unforgiveable balls tonight. My long game was non-existent, and at this level it’s not good enough against the best players. I’ll just need to dust myself down and prepare for the World Championship. I’ve got a couple of weeks to hopefully get some good practice in.” 

On the other table, Mark Williams earned a 5-3 lead over Tom Ford in a high quality session. Three-time Crucible king Williams took a 3-0 lead with top breaks of 72 and 59, before Ford pulled one back with a 114. After the interval, Williams made it 4-1 with a run of 76, then Ford took two in a row with 73 and 136. In the last of the session, Ford made 40 then Williams cleared with 86 to stay ahead. They resume on Tuesday at 7pm. 

Allen has got lots of negative comments about the changes he’s brought to his approach to the game but the simple fact is that it works. In the last 18 months he has won 6 events . Ok, one of those is the Shoot-out, but still … it can’t be denied that the results have been coming thick and fast and that vindicates the changes he’s made.

One of the reasons I don’t appreciate the Tour Championship that much is because it’s an ITV event and Eurosport isn’t showing this one. The only option for me, living in Greece, is Matchroom Live. It’s not free and in the past the quality of their service has often been awful, but yesterday it worked well all day, I’ll give them that. Still, it means that if, for some reason, I can’t watch a match when it’s “live”, then I can’t watch it at all. In this event, all matches feature top “in form” players and are interesting. It would be nice to be able to watch them all… You will tell me that a few years back we never were able to watch everything, or watch “past” matches unless we recorded them, and that’s true but now is… now and the technology is there to allow it.