BetVictor Northern Ireland Open Day Five Afternoon
Mark Allen boosted his hopes of winning the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open for a third time as he reached the quarter-finals with a 4-1 win over Aaron Hill – a player he believes is destined for the very top.
Local favourite Allen got the better of Cork’s up-and-coming Hill and will now meet either Shaun Murphy or another home hero Jordan Brown in the last eight at the Waterfront Hall at 7pm on Friday. World number eight Allen will be making his 70th appearance in the quarter-finals of a ranking event and the 39-year-old dreams of lifting the Alex Higgins Trophy again having won it in 2021 and 2022.
He came into the current season well outside the top 16 in the Race to the Crucible and facing the possibility of having to qualify for the World Championship, but having won the BetVictor English Open last month and with another run this week, the left-hander has regained his status as one of snooker’s toughest competitors.
A break of 137 gave Allen the opening frame before 23-year-old Hill levelled with a run of 65. World number 57 Hill had chances to take frame three but couldn’t convert and Allen eventually got the better of a safety battle on the last red and cleared for 2-1. That proved crucial as 12-time ranking event winner Allen took the last two frames with runs of 53 and 69.
“I know more than most how dangerous Aaron can be,” said Allen. “He could have gone 2-1 up, I pinched that frame and that turned the match. He let his head drop a bit and I played some good stuff after that. I think Aaron can go to the very top. He’s got a great head on young shoulders and he works hard. The biggest compliment I can pay him is that he will go away from the match today fuming because he would have fully expected to beat me even though I’m one of the top players. He is so confident in his own ability, he backs himself and plays the big shots.
“For a while most of the best young players were Chinese and that’s all credit to them. Now we have some very good British, Irish and European players and hopefully there are more to come, so the future is bright.
“At the start of the season I hadn’t looked at the rankings. I was out having food with Stephen Maguire one day and he told me I was outside the top 16 in the Crucible race, I just wasn’t aware until then, I didn’t realise I was that far down. But I always back my ability. I try my best in every match and try to win tournaments, and that takes care of the rankings.
“Tomorrow night is going to be huge whatever happens. Shaun Murphy is the form player in the game at the moment and hard to stop. If Jordan gets through it will be two hometown lads and best friends.“
That won’t be the only blockbuster clash on Friday as at 12pm world number one Judd Trump will meet four-time World Champion John Higgins. Trump beat Gary Wilson 4-1 today with top breaks of 132, 95 and 83 to reach his first ranking quarter-final of the season and 104th of his career.
Higgins, who won his first ranking title exactly 31 years ago today, saw off Si Jiahui 4-1 with top runs of 54, 64, 64 and 58 and is into the last eight of a ranking event for the 153rd time.
“I played pretty solid, you need a good all-round game against Si because he’s such a dangerous player,” said Higgins, who has lost his last 12 ranking event meetings with Trump. “I had a few bits of luck during the game which helps in a best of seven. Judd is one of the hardest players in the world to beat, he’s got very few weaknesses. I’ll have to play my best to have a chance.“
Tom Ford continued to make progress despite a shoulder injury as he beat Yuan Sijun 4-2 with top breaks of 65, 53, 52 and 66. He now meets Zhou Yuelong at 7pm on Friday.
The Waterfront Hall will be packed to the rafters on Friday night in Belfast as Jordan Brown beat Shaun Murphy 4-2 to set us a massive quarter-final against fellow local hero Mark Allen.
The two Antrim cuemen will go head to head at 7pm on Friday evening with an electric atmosphere guaranteed. Brown has struggled on the table over the past two seasons and remains in danger of relegation from the tour, but his confidence has come flooding back this week with wins over World Champion Zhao Xintong, Ashley Hugill and now in-form Murphy who had won 15 of his previous 16 matches.
World number 55 Brown had won just three matches in eight other ranking events so far this season, but has now notched four victories in this event alone. Allen, who beat Aaron Hill 4-1 earlier today, won their only previous meeting by a 6-4 scoreline at the 2022 UK Championship.
Brown took the first three frames tonight with top breaks of 70 and 61 before Murphy hit back with 135 and 55 for 3-2. Frame six came down to the colours and, under intense pressure, Brown executed fine pots on green, brown, blue and pink to reach the fourth ranking event quarter-final of his career, pumping his fist as the last ball went in.
“I am over the moon, I was really up for it tonight with the crowd behind me,” said 2021 Welsh Open champion Brown. “I was so solid to 3-0, then I made a couple of mistakes and Shaun played well so at 3-2 I was under it. I stayed patient and disciplined and waited for a chance.
“I was nervous throughout, you need some nerves in this game. That’s why I am working with Fergal O’Brien this season, he has helped me massively to get through those tough moments. I’ve had some difficult times but I felt if could get one good win then I could go on a run, as I have done in past.”
Kyren Wilson continued the defence of his title with a 4-2 victory over He Guoqiang. World number two Wilson will now meet Jack Lisowski on Friday afternoon and victory would give him a first ranking event semi-final of the season.
“I was solid when I needed to be and scored heavily,” said Wilson, who fired breaks of 63, 75, 77 and 53. “I felt like I wasn’t going to miss which is a nice feeling to have, though I lacked a bit of concentration at times. This is a fantastic venue, it’s enjoyable to compete here.”
Lisowski beat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4-2 in an exciting contest where the six frames took just 60 minutes. From 2-1 down, Lisowski won three in a row with top breaks of 94 and 76 to reach his first ranking event quarter-final since the BetVictor Welsh Open in February.
Once again, the reports are extensive enough and I don’t have much to add.
But this morning I stumbled upon this article, published earlier this month. The title is the usual clickbait stuff and is misleading. However here is the interesting part:
… But the greatest player to ever grace a snooker table has no plans to call time on his career just yet, he revealed this week.
Speaking ahead of his return to the game at the Xi’an Grand Prix on Tuesday, O’Sullivan told The Express: ‘I’ve always said there’s nothing left for me to achieve in snooker, but that’s (an eighth win at the Crucible) all that’s left for me to achieve.
‘I’m going to aim for another two or three world titles, knowing I won’t get three, I probably won’t get two but I might get one.
‘I’m going to aim high and I always think if you aim well above what you want to achieve and if you don’t reach it, you reach somewhere you think you’re happy with.
‘There’s no point saying I’d like to make the quarters of the worlds because that’s probably all I’d do. But if I say I want to win another two or three then I might win one. It’s about pushing my mind beyond the end line to make it possible.’
At his last attempt to conquer the Crucible back in March, O’Sullivan was knocked out in the semi-finals by eventual winner Zhao Xintong.
Speaking about his performance in the tournament, the Brit added: ‘I was close even though I wasn’t playing great. I didn’t have a good cue, I had problems with my tip, it was all over the place. I’m not making excuses.
‘Now I can just play snooker for the next two or three years, there’s only one thing left that anyone talks about which is winning another world title.’
Ronnie seems to be pretty happy in Dubai and in his private life. I can totally relate to what he says about how the climate in England weights you down, physically, mentally and emotionally. I opted to live in Greece for the same reasons. I got stuck here in Santorini during the lockdown, alone with my cats, in a small condo that had very little comfort. Despite this, I felt happier than in Brussels, where in winter, the days are very short, even in daytime the light is poor, and it rains nearly every day. You can go for weeks without seeing the sun. It is very debilitating.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 