Judd Trump reached the Final of the 2024 World Grand Prix by beating Cao Yupeng by 6-2 in the first semi-final yesterday evening. Here is the report by WST:
TRUMP BEATS CAO TO REACH FINAL
udd Trump reached his sixth final of the season – and remained on track for a fourth ranking title – as he beat Cao Yupeng 6-2 in the semi-finals of the Spreadex World Grand Prix in Leicester.
World number two Trump can look forward to a blockbuster final on Sunday, against Ronnie O’Sullivan or Ding Junhui, where he will be aiming for the 27th ranking title of his career. The 34-year-old has been prolific this season, reaching five other finals and collecting ranking titles at the English Open, Wuhan Open and Northern Ireland Open during a golden spell in October.
After a fast start tonight, Trump was made to work hard by China’s Cao, who is still waiting to win his first title. But Bristol’s Trump got the job done as he booked a 42nd career ranking final and remained on course to win this event for the fourth time.
Trump dominated the first three frames with breaks of 70, 106 and 61, his opponent failing to pot a ball. Cao also trailed 55-5 in frame four, but made an excellent clearance to force a respotted black, then converted a cracking long pot to a baulk corner to gain some momentum. After the interval, he controlled frame five to close to 3-2.
Frames six and seven were scrappy affairs and Trump got the better of them both for 5-2. In the eighth, he looked to be cruising past the winning post until he missed a tricky black on 60. World number 43 Cao had a chance to clear but also missed the black on 24 with two reds remaining, and that ended his hopes of a fight-back.
“I started really well and should have gone 4-0 up,” said 2019 World Champion Trump. “He nicked the frame to go 3-1 and that slowed the game down, it went tight and the balls were awkward. I tried to keep going for shots to keep the game flowing and in the end I managed to get over the line. I felt really relaxed and I felt I would score if I got chances, even when things got slow and didn’t go my way.
“It’s nice to be the first player through to the final, I’ll watch the other game and look forward to the challenge ahead. They are both amazing players. I would love to go up against Ronnie when he’s in great form. Ding beat me at the UK Championship so it would be good to get revenge over him.“
Cao got up to a terrible start but showed resilience in the way he tried to fight back. It was however too late and too much to do. He’s not the strongest player under pressure although he has improved significantly in that regard in recent years.
Other than that, the Saudi Arabia announcement hasn’t been that well received by the fans which pleased me to be honest. I do know that China isn’t the best either when it comes to human rights and some ethnic groups in particular are very badly treated but at least China has a real, authentic interest in the sport of snooker with millions playing it. It’s not sports-washing.
The concept of the golden ball has divided opinions, most of those who actually commented being negative about it. I don’t mind. It’s a glorified exhibition, nothing more, no matter how much money is put in it.
There was also reactions by a person I know to be from Graeme Dott’s close family. They said that once again this is for the top players and the lower ranked players are “screwed”. There is truth in it but if you want to sell a sport into new territories, you can’t start with 128 players and you have to go there with your most marketable assets. Also, I want to hope that if WST is making more money, some of it at least will trickle down to the WPBSA and the lower ranked players. All the current stars started at the bottom when they were young. WST, at the very least should understand that supporting the young players, starting at the bottom, is important for the future … 1 and that those who served the sport for most of their adult life also deserve to make a decent living out of their sport.
Tonight, Ronnie and Ding will face each other again. Hopefully it will be a good match and although I always want Ronnie to win, I wouldn’t be too disappointed if Ding prevails. Whoever wins tonight will have my support tomorrow 🙂
although… sometimes, too often actually, I wonder how much WST really cares for snooker’s future. ↩︎
Today, Ronnie played better and looked better physically and mentally. He beat Gary Wilson by 5-1 in a fast and entertaining match. To be fair to Gary, he didn’t have much run and the score could have been closer. But, anyway, this was a massive improvement from yesterday on all accounts, and, well I was quite happy and relieved to see Ronnie in a much better place mentally, physically and in the balls. He will meet Ding – again – in the semi-finals, tomorrow.
Ding beat Zhang Anda by 5-2. I can’t comment on Ding’s match as I haven’t watched it (yet).
Ronnie O’Sullivan continued his quest to win a fourth title of the season as he beat Gary Wilson 5-1 to reach the semi-finals of the Spreadex World Grand Prix, setting up a clash with Ding Junhui.
In a repeat of last month’s UK Championship final, which the Rocket won 10-7, O’Sullivan and Ding will go head to head in Leicester at 7pm on Saturday evening. The winner will meet Judd Trump or Cao Yupeng in Sunday’s final.
World number one O’Sullivan is in one of his best ever streaks, having won 12 consecutive matches, landing that UK title in York as well as last week’s Masters in London. He also claimed the silverware at the Shanghai Masters in September, so if he takes the top prize on Sunday it will be four trophies within as many months for the 48-year-old.
Scottish Open champion Wilson started strongly today as a 44 clearance – including a clever shot on the final pink to dislodge the black from a side cushion – gave him the opening frame. But the Wallsend cueman scored just two points in the next three frames as O’Sullivan rattled in breaks of 68, 129 and 78. Wilson led by 36 points on the last red in frame five, but failed to escape from a difficult snooker, and O’Sullivan later cleared the colours for 4-1. The seven-time Crucible king wrapped it up in the sixth with runs of 54 and 58.
“Gary didn’t get any run of the ball today, all the little nudges and kisses went my way,” O’Sullivan told ITV. “I haven’t played well since I won the world title in 2022, it is worrying because since I had my arm injury I have not cued well. Technically I must be one of the worst players on the tour, but it’s not just down to technical ability, otherwise Neil Robertson would win every tournament.
“There are other parts of the game I am blessed with that I don’t even recognise I am good at. I think I’m a good all-round player, my bad game is still a high standard – it must be because I have won tournaments without being at my best. That’s probably my greatest asset. I play the right shot at the right time, get aggressive when I need to, and defensive when I have to.“
Ding secured his progress with a 5-2 success against Zhang Anda. World number 11 Ding didn’t appear in a single ranking semi-final in 2020 or 2021, but has now reached five in the last 22 months having enjoyed an upturn in form over that period. The 36-year-old from China is showing signs of the game that has won him 14 ranking titles, most recently the 2019 UK Championship.
After losing the opening frame today, he took four in a row with top breaks of 102, 51 and 73. Zhang, who beat Ding in the quarter-finals on his way to winning the International Championship in November, pulled one back with a 101, before his opponent sealed victory in frame seven with a break of 74.
Ding said: “I watched Zhang’s game with Mark Allen and I didn’t think he was playing as well as he was two months ago. I tried to control the game today, played good safety and scored points when I got chances. I was happy for Zhang to win a title and to bring life into his snooker career.
“When I was young I wanted to win every tournament once! So it would be a dream to win this one, and the others I have never won. I will need to play well against Ronnie and to concentrate. He has a lot of experience. I have to be strong.”
Ronnie with breaks of 68, 129, 78 and 58 to set up a semi-final with Ding Junhui or Zhang Anda on Saturday night. Ding is 4-1 up on Zhang in the remaining quarter-final.
Ding with breaks of 102, 51 and 73 to leave himself one frame short of another meeting with O’Sullivan, who defeated him in the UK final and the Masters first round in recent weeks.
O’SULLIVAN 4-1 WILSON (122-6)
So Gary won the first frame, but will probably prefer to forget about the next five out there. O’Sullivan just too good really. Not only for Wilson, but the rest of the circuit. A closing knock of 58 from Ronnie and he continues along his merry way.
O’SULLIVAN 4-1 WILSON (75-6)
A 54 break from Ronnie before he runs out of position. Short of the pink on the roll up. But hits it the second time. Leaves a tough cut on red for Ronnie, but he drops it in with ease. Still not over the line though as O’Sullivan can’t split the remaining reds. Wilson then sees a white hit a red before racing down the green pocket. Just about sums it up for him today. O’Sullivan heading for a 91st ranking event semi-final.
O’SULLIVAN 4-1 WILSON (46-0)
This has been brilliant from O’Sullivan today. No matter what he is saying off the table, his body language is really good. Wilson looking forlorn as he misses a long red by miles, and gives it the thumbs up when the double kiss arrived off red. Could be a big break for Ronnie to finish.
O’SULLIVAN 3-1 WILSON (57-55)
Well, that is some steal for Ronnie. As cool as you like. Looked in the bag for Gary, but he is punished for a poor shot after moving 52 clear with 51 left up. O’Sullivan got the snooker, and the rest is history.
O’SULLIVAN 3-1 WILSON (39-55)
Ronnie needing a snooker in this frame, so continues the fight after slotting two reds and black. Incredibly, Wilson misses the red as white somehow goes around it in baulk. Didn’t seem possible. And O’Sullivan plays another nasty snooker. Escapes, but leaves the yellow. 25 points in it, 27 points left up. And in goes the yellow for Ronnie. Needs the remaining colours.
O’SULLIVAN 3-1 WILSON (3-40)
Wilson going along nicely in this frame. Two fine recovery pots on red and yellow. Really should see out the frame from this position. Nothing overly tricky to negotiate.
O’SULLIVAN 3-1 WILSON (3-16)
Safety blunder by O’Sullivan trying to arrow the white back to the baulk end. Opportunity then for Wilson to get hand on table and piece together a few points.
O’SULLIVAN 3-1 WILSON (3-3)
Another fluke for Ronnie, but can’t land on a red from a fine pot on a yellow along the baulk cushion. No damage done yet in this frame.
O’SULLIVAN 3-1 WILSON (0-2)
Boys back on the baize then. O’Sullivan two frames short of the semi-final in this contest. Wilson leaves a cut on a red to right middle off the break-off shot, but was thin and red doesn’t drop. Gary drops in the red, but just safety to follow.
O’SULLIVAN 2-1 WILSON (86-1)
A break of 78 from O’Sullivan, and he moves 3-1 clear. Two more needed to reach the last four. Two good so far.
O’SULLIVAN 2-1 WILSON (70-1)
Well, this is another exceptional display by O’Sullivan, who is really warming to the occasion in freezing January. Every chance of back-to-back centuries coming up.
O’SULLIVAN 2-1 WILSON (47-1)
Wilson probably can’t believe the bad running he has had so far, but must put that out of his mind here. With O’Sullivan right in the mood to pile on the points. Every chance of moving 3-1 ahead in next to no time. Winner of this match faces Ding Junhui or Zhang Anda in the last four. That match level at 1-1.
O’SULLIVAN 2-1 WILSON (26-1)
So unlucky for Gary as he pots a tricky cut on a pink to the left centre, but sees a red drop down a top bag at the same time. And he has left Ronnie right bang in the heart of the action. Which is probably not advisable.
O’SULLIVAN 2-1 WILSON (0-0)
Ronnie with the break-off shot for the fourth frame of a possible nine. One more frame before the mid-session interval.
O’SULLIVAN 1-1 WILSON (129-0)
A classy break from O’Sullivan with a supreme knock of 129, and he moves 2-1 ahead in the race to five.
O’SULLIVAN 1-1 WILSON (103-0)
And in goes the century. 103. His third ton of the week. A quite magical piece of shot-making. Really is. The crowd loving every second of it.
O’SULLIVAN 1-1 WILSON (68-0)
This a joyful piece of break-building. At one with the table as he chases a 12th straight match win.
O’SULLIVAN 1-1 WILSON (52-0)
O’Sullivan looking right at the peak of his powers here as he opens up the reds via the black. What another great shot that is. Looking very, very good at close range. Average shot time is 15 seconds.
O’SULLIVAN 1-1 WILSON (19-0)
Great long red by Ronnie at the outset of the third frame, and he holds for the black. No thought about hedging his bets. Heavy contact on red, but in goes a terrific recovery pot on the yellow. What a brilliant pot.
O’SULLIVAN 0-1 WILSON (98-1)
A rapid break of 68 from Ronnie, and this match is level at 1-1. Battle is joined at the World Grand Prix.
O’SULLIVAN 0-1 WILSON (82-1)
Break heads over 50. Nice stuff this from Rocket Ronnie. Really is. No matter what he might think.
O’SULLIVAN 0-1 WILSON (68-1)
Well, would you believe that. A huge fluke for Ronnie on a red trying to play safe, and he has landed right in among the reds. Glorious chance to level up this match at 1-1. Wilson with a rueful smile in his chair. “Just need to park it and move on,” says 1994 Masters champion Alan McManus.
O’SULLIVAN 0-1 WILSON (30-0)
Excellent long red by O’Sullivan to get himself moving early in the second frame. Brilliant shot by Ronnie to crack open the pack of reds off the blue before he tucks home a neat black to keep break going. But he then misses a cut on red from the yellow as break ends on 30. And he isn’t happy with that effort as he heads back to his seat.
O’SULLIVAN 0-0 WILSON (57-67)
A real scrappy frame, but a brilliant 44 closing break by Gary is good enough to get the job done. A quite stunning shot from Wilson to spring the black from the side cushion near the baulk line after slotting pink off the spot. Black rolls up over the green bag, and that is easy pot to see out the frame. He leads 1-0.
O’SULLIVAN 0-0 WILSON (57-36)
Some of the safety has been top drawer from both men. Another superb safety by Ronnie brings about the error from Wilson, and this is chance to win the first frame for the Masters winner. But he can’t slot a tough red along top cushion. And on we go with Wilson trying to claw back this deficit.
O’SULLIVAN 0-0 WILSON (50-23)
O’Sullivan not making the most of that chance, and a fine safety shot by Wilson prompts the error from Ronnie. But he can’t cash in as a red fails to drop with awkward cueing. What is O’Sullivan going to make here? Plenty of points to go at. But he then misses a red using the rest. Reprieve for Wilson. Four reds left up.
O’SULLIVAN 0-0 WILSON (26-9)
Interesting safety joust between the players. Nobody pushing the boat out before Ronnie comes up with a stunning shot to rest behind the green on baulk cushion Gary responds with the containing safety. Decent shot too. But O’Sullivan breaks the deadlock with a brilliant pot on red to right middle. And in goes the mid-range pink to follow.
O’SULLIVAN 0-0 WILSON (13-9)
Ronnie with a couple of attempts to escape from a snooker nominating green before getting there the third time. O’Sullivan just failing to land on black from a longish red. Wilson then nails his own long red before rolling up behind the brown.
O’SULLIVAN 0-0 WILSON (6-0)
Wilson breaks off the first frame of a possible nine. First man to five frames will take their place in the last four. O’Sullivan slots a long red from distance straight off the bat. What a way to set your stall out.
Wallsend’s Wilson compiled breaks of 121, 75 and 68 as he got the better of Ford. It’s an important result for Wilson in terms of his position on the one-year ranking list as he currently lies tenth, and if he’s still in the top 12 after March’s World Open then he’ll qualify for the Tour Championship for the first time.
“I am happier technically now than I was this time last year,” said Wilson. “If I can get my cue action right then something clicks for me. If I can keep winning and playing as many matches as I can then that builds confidence. Last season I just missed out on the Tour Championship and I was gutted, but I’m not looking at rankings now because that just creates extra pressure. I don’t mind playing Ronnie next because I always just play the table rather than worrying about my opponent.”
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UK Championship runner-up Ding Junhui eased to a 4-1 win over Noppon Saengkham with a top break of 101. He now faces a Chinese derby against Zhang Anda, a repeat of their International Championship quarter-final which Zhang won 6-3.
Today, Zhang kept his best-ever season going with a 4-2 defeat of Mark Allen. A break of 95 helped give Zhang a 3-0 lead, and he wrapped up the match in frame six after Allen had pulled two back. The result leaves Allen with work to do over the next two events to guarantee a place at February’s Players Championship.
The remaining quarter-finals, Ronnie v Gary Wilson and Ding Junhui v Zhang Anda, will be played this afternoon. Given Ronnie exhaustion and poor mental state, I’m not sure what to wish for.
In the evening Judd Trump beat Mark Selby by 5-1 and Cao Yupeng came from behind to beat Mark Williams by 5-4.
Judd Trump looked close to the form which won him a hat-trick of ranking titles in October as he trounced Mark Selby 5-1 to reach the semi-finals of the Spreadex World Grand Prix.
Playing on home turf in Leicester, Selby suffered a resounding defeat as Trump stormed through to a meeting on Friday evening with Cao Yupeng, who came from 4-2 down to beat Mark Williams 5-4.
After the match, Bristol’s Trump reacted to the announcement of the first ever WST event in Saudi Arabia, describing it as “amazing for snooker.”
Trump has lost just three frames in three matches so far this week and is two wins away from a fourth trophy of the season, having landed the English Open, Wuhan Open and Northern Ireland Open. The 34-year-old is through to his 59th ranking event semi-final.
A break of 59 helped Trump win the opening frame, then Selby had a chance to level, but missed the final yellow to a baulk corner in frame two and his opponent took advantage. Trump also dominated the third then made a 119 for 4-0. After the interval, Selby at least avoided the whitewash thanks to a run of 100, but Trump soon wrapped up the contest with a 68 in frame six.
“Mark struggled bit, but any time you beat him you have to be happy,” said Trump, who is the only player to win this event three times. “I have had a good record against him recently and I feel comfortable against him. I tried to attack so that the game didn’t get bogged down.
“My results this week have been good although I still don’t feel I have played that well. When I have missed, my opponents haven’t punished me. I’m really happy to be in another semi-final and the tournament really starts now for me. I had a great first half of the season, it would be really hard to keep that going for the whole season, so to win the event this week would be important.“
Asked about the new Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker, to take place in March, the world number two added: “It’s amazing for snooker to be going to different places. We got back to China this season and felt appreciated. We are expanding and going to new territories. It’s amazing that Saudi Arabia want to get involved.”
China’s Cao is through to the fifth ranking event semi-final of his career, and second of the season having finished runner-up to Mark Allen at the Shoot Out last month. The 33-year-old scored one of his best ever wins against Williams tonight to keep alive his hopes of a first title.
Three-time Crucible king Williams eased into a 3-0 lead with top breaks of 92 and 60, and later led 4-2 before world number 43 Cao hit back with 74 and 55 for 4-4. In the decider, Williams was among the balls and leading 33-5 when he suffered a cruel slice of misfortune, going into the pack of reds only to stick to the apex ball, leaving him without a pot. He later botched a safety, gifting Cao the opportunity to make an excellent 74 clearance.
“I felt quite calm when behind and during the last frame, like I didn’t really mind losing the match,” said Cao. “I did show some resilience today. I wasn’t playing well at the beginning, especially in the first three frames. I had easy opportunities in all three but didn’t manage to make a break. I just did my best to make sure of the potting later on in the match.”
Mark Selby was truly terrible yesterday. It happens to all of them occasionally. Cao impressed me. In the past I have seen him crumble under pressure but there was none of that yesterday. Willo’s game disintegrated as the match went on. Matk has been open about his eyesight issues and I couldn’t help but wonder if ocular fatigue was a factor yesterday evening.
Alalshikh Announces Agreement with World Snooker to Host First-Ever Invitational Event
Saudi Arabia, January 18, 2024
Riyadh Season has added another exciting event to its roster of activity this year after HE Advisor Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA), confirmed the staging of the inaugural Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker.
In a first for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the invitational event is due to take place between 4-6 March at Boulevard Arena in Boulevard City, Riyadh, and will feature some of the world’s top snooker players including the record seven-time World Snooker Championship winner Ronnie O’Sullivan, 2019 World Champion Judd Trump and current holder Luca Brecel.
Each game will be played under World Snooker rules and regulations but with the introduction of an innovative new concept, a 23rd ball known as the Riyadh Season ball. This gold ball will be worth 20 points and can only be potted once all other balls have been successfully cleared from the table if a player is on a maximum break to make it 167.
The agreement for this tournament was signed between Eng. Faisal Bafarat, CEO of GEA, and Steve Dawson, Chairman of World Snooker Tour, in the presence of HE Advisor Turki Alalshikh, as well as sports promoters Eddie Hearn and Barry Hearn.
HE Advisor Turki Alalshikh said: “We are thrilled to be hosting our first-ever professional snooker tournament in the Kingdom. Snooker is watched and played by millions around the world and we look forward to welcoming some of the greatest players and snooker fans to our country and showing them what Saudi Arabia and Riyadh Season has to offer.”
Steve Dawson said: “It is a great privilege for the World Snooker Tour to work in partnership with HE Advisor Turki Alalshikh to stage an event in Saudi Arabia for the first time.
“This is a huge breakthrough for snooker into a new territory, and we see this as the beginning of a new adventure for our sport in the region.
“We are looking forward to being a part of Riyadh Season on this fantastic new event featuring the world’s best players. We will be honored to bring our sport to the amazing city of Riyadh, and for the local fans this will be their first chance to see some of snooker’s all-time greats.”
Confirmation on all ten participants and schedule will be announced in the coming weeks.
Me … I’m NOT thrilled. I know there might be a lot of money to be taken there, and snooker certainly can do with more resources. But … BUT … This is a country that has a terrible record when it comes to human rights, to women’s rights, a country were people can be executed – are executed – for the crime of just disagreeing with the totalitarian regime in place. I know that there are many sports events going there, the money on offer is huge, the athletes are well looked after … but this is sports-washing of the highest order going on in that country. I do know that the players will go. Most of them will not have a clue about what sports-washing is, probably most don’t even know the word never-mind the reality behind it. Most of them genuinely won’t know what is going on in the country behind the wealthy facade. I have been around enough snooker players to know that, for most, their universe is quite “limited”: their family, their mates, their sport and their career, that’s it. But surely the people at the top must know ???
Ronnie beat Zhou Yuelong by 4-3 this afternoon to book his place in the quarter-finals at the 2024 World Grand Prix. He will lay Gary Wilson tomorrow over best of 9 frames.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, who hasn’t lost since November, kept his tremendous winning run going with a thrilling 4-3 success against Zhou Yuelong to reach the quarter-finals of the Spreadex World Grand Prix.
O’Sullivan’s last defeat came against Zhang Anda in the semi-finals of the International Championship more than two months ago – since then he has won 11 consecutive matches, a streak which has given him the UK Championship and Masters titles. Now in the hunt for a 41st ranking crown, he delighted the crowd in Leicester today in a superb match which included two centuries and seven more breaks over 50.
The Rocket is through to his 141st ranking event quarter-final and his next opponent, on Friday at 1pm, will be another player in form: Scottish Open champion Gary Wilson who saw off Tom Ford 4-2.
A marvellous 67 clearance gave O’Sullivan the opening frame today, then a 107 put him 2-0 ahead. China’s Zhou responded in kind as a 76 clearance gave him frame three, then a run of 102 made it 2-2. The fifth came down to the last red and Zhou failed to escape from a tricky snooker, handing his opponent the chance to go 3-2 ahead. Breaks of 65 and 56 got Zhou back to 3-3, but he missed a tricky red to a centre pocket early in the decider, and O’Sullivan was typically clinical in a match-winning 90.
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And the images shared by WST in the above piece
Actually there were a lot of mistakes in this match. Ronnie wasn’t the best player in this match, but he played a good decider. He was full of praise for Zhou but quite downbeat about his performance .
O’Sullivan told ITV4: “I’ve got to really consider whether I can carry on feeling how I’m feeling out there – I just don’t get any enjoyment from the way I’m hitting the ball.
“I feel like it’s just hard work, I haven’t a clue where the balls are going, and a lot of it’s just guess-work.
“The worst thing is you’re winning bloody tournaments as well. If I was getting pumped every round playing like that it would be an easy decision to make.”
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“It’s been happening like this for 25 or 30 years, so it’s nothing new,” O’Sullivan added.
“It’s the only thing I’ve known and it’s hard not to do this because it’s my job, it’s all I know, so I’ve struggled through it.
“But I can’t accept bad cueing, I’d rather cue well and lose than cue awful and win tournaments. I get no satisfaction out of it, I really don’t.”
Ronnie doesn’t appear to be in a good place at the moment and probably really needs a break. He looks tired and a bit depressed. This is very obvious in the interview he gave to Rob Walker. Thank you to Ben and Kalacs who shared the link in comments.
Interestingly, Hendry had given his opinion on the “bad blood” between Ronnie and Ali Carter and the outbursts in the media room afterwards and also mentioned how much snooker at the highest level can take out of the players mentally. (source Phil Haigh writing for metro.co.uk)
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Stephen Hendry has put Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ali Carter’s recent spat down to the pair being ‘mentally exhausted’ after their Masters campaigns, but predicts their next meeting will be ‘spicy’.
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Hendry gave his reaction to the headline-grabbing beef, noting that both men will have been mentally drained after a high profile week at one of the sport’s biggest events.
‘It is between the two of them and obviously there is bad blood there, there’s no doubt about it, and it’s gone back quite a long way. Obviously they’ve known each other a long time,’ Hendry said on the Snooker Club podcast.
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Hopefully Ronnie will be able to have a good night rest and feel better tomorrow.
Mark Allen made a tremendous start to the defence of his Spreadex World Grand Prix title as he made three centuries in a 4-2 victory over Jack Lisowski.
Allen beat Judd Trump 10-9 in the final of this event a year ago, and comes into 2024 full of confidence having won the Champion of Champions and the Shoot Out late in 2023. He looked very sharp from the start today as breaks 103 and 110 put him 2-0 ahead. Lisowski recovered to 2-2 with 93 and 75, but a high quality contest went the way of Allen thanks to further runs of 108 and 78.
“Jack is one of the most talented players on the tour so it was a tough draw,” said the Northern Irishman. “It was a very good standard today. But at 2-2 it was in the balance, in these short races the margins are very fine. I have generally done well in the past when I have been defending titles so hopefully I can go far this week.”
Allen’s opponent in the last 16 is Zhang Anda, who won his first ranking title in November at the International Championship. Zhang saw off Dominic Dale 4-2 with top breaks of 75, 81 and 74. World number three Allen added: “Zhang has been the surprise package of this season, no one saw that coming. He has been on the tour for a long time but now suddenly looks like a world beater.“
Ding Junhui edged out Ricky Walden 4-3 thanks to a break of 72 in the decider, while Noppon Saengkham beat Xiao Guodong 4-1 with a top run of 81.
Mark Selby stepped up his bid for a first title in ten months as he beat Ali Carter 4-3 in the second round of the Spreadex World Grand Prix to set up a quarter-final clash with Judd Trump.
Playing in front of his home fans at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, Selby hopes to draw inspiration from the fact that his last silverware – the WST Classic in March 2023 – came at the same venue. The four-time World Champion scraped over the line in his opening match against Yuan Sijun on Monday, but tonight’s performance was more convincing as he finished strongly to beat Masters runner-up Carter.
A break of 62 gave Selby the opening frame, then Carter came from 50-0 down to snatch the second with a 66 clearance. World number five Selby fell 2-1 behind before firing runs of 105 and 62 to lead 3-2. Carter levelled with a 103 and had first scoring chance in the decider, but made just 7 then missed a tricky red to a top corner, playing with the rest. Selby punished him with a break of 77 to reach his 94th ranking event quarter-final.
“It was a good match from start to finish,” said 40-year-old Selby. “I was relieved to see him miss the red in the decider and I managed to hold myself together and make a good break. Ali is on form at the moment and full of confidence so it’s a good win for me. I always want to do well, playing in my home city. It would mean a lot to win this title, having it in Leicester makes it extra special.”
Trump needed just 58 minutes to see off Lyu Hoatian 4-0 with top breaks of 55, 51 and 72. World number two Trump is the only player to win this event three times and hopes he is building towards the form he showed in October when he reeled off three consecutive titles.
“I would like to have scored heavier. I am getting to 50 and not winning the frame, and sometimes you get punished for that,” he said. “I am trying to up my tempo, sometimes I feel I have bogged myself down a bit. If I can play at 17 or 18 seconds a shot, like I do in practice, that helps me play better. I feel better in myself this week. I have a good affinity with this tournament, which is always in the back of my mind and that helps with confidence. There are so many big events coming up. Everyone is super sharp and this is one of the better tournaments on the calendar.”
Asked if he was surprised to see a trio of big names – Neil Robertson, Luca Brecel and Kyren Wilson – miss out on this event, Trump replied: “The standard is picking up and you can’t afford to take your foot off the gas. If you miss events at the start of the season then it’s hard to catch up. It’s a fair event because everyone has the same chance to qualify. It’s good to see a few different names in the field and it keeps everyone sharp because you don’t want to miss out.“
China’s Cao Yupeng knocked out Barry Hawkins in the opening round, and took another scalp by white-washing Shaun Murphy 4-0. Cao, who was runner-up at the Shoot Out last month, scored breaks of 50, 70, 55 and 62 as he reached his seventh ranking event quarter-final.
His next opponent will be Mark Williams, who scored a 4-1 win over Hossein Vafaei with top breaks of 108, 77 and 75. Vafaei walked out of the arena without shaking hands at the end of the match, but Williams insisted this was down to a misunderstanding.
He said: “I pulled Hossein up about it afterwards and he said it was because I slapped my leg at the end. But I only did that because I shouldn’t have gone for the pink in the last frame (when he led by 52 points with two reds left), I should have played safe. I thought he would have come back to the table and played for snookers so I was fuming with myself. Then he just stormed off.”
From what transpired in the press Hossein “misunderstood” Mark’s gesture. Mark acted in frustration and Hossein “read” it as a celebration and thought it was disrespectful. We already know how sensitive Hossein can be when it comes to “respect” and maybe cultural differences played a part here. Anyway… very much a storm in a cup of tea in my view.
Mark Allen has doubts on whether or not the WPBSA Players board can wield enough power to influence significant change in snooker.
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But while questions remain over the lack of power that players possess, Allen thinks that the WPBSA Players board will provide only a limited effect.
“I don’t know how much I should say on this,” Mark Allen told Stephen Hendry on the latest episode of the Cue Tips Youtube channel.
“But I genuinely believe that, no matter who is on that board, things aren’t going to change. I just don’t think they have enough power on the Players board.”
“I know Matt (Selt) has got on, and I voted for him. I think he’s our only hope, even though there are other ones on it.
“I think he’s very opinionated, but he’s quite articulate. He speaks well, so I think if he can’t get any change done from the inside, I don’t think we’ve got any chance.
“But I think it might take something a bit more drastic than that.
“With regards to Macau and that, it would be great if we got to a scenario where the players can play in whatever they want.
“I had a good meeting with the WST board and that at the UK Champs, and they did open my eyes to some of their reasoning behind those decisions.
“I’m not saying I agree with them, but I do understand it.
“What I try and say is, there were some players who were offered the chance to go to Macau and get maybe £100,000 for turning up.
“And there’s a tournament in Belfast, which is obviously my favourite tournament of the year, and there’s £80,000 to the winner.
“So, like, you do the math. Why would you go to Belfast if you’re getting offered (that)? So World Snooker have to, in my opinion, make these events more appealing.
“If there’s £150,000 for the winner in Belfast, people probably don’t even come and play in Macau.
“So I think there’s a bit of wiggle room that World Snooker can do better as well.”
Shaun Murphy also expresses his views and David reports on that too.
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“I think what’s happened in recent months with the Macau Five and those rival tour situations, there’s quite a lot going on behind the scenes,” Murphy said on the OneFourSeven Snooker Podcast.
“Some of which I can talk about, and some of which I can’t, with promoters pretending to be players’ representatives out in China.”
“There’s a lot of lies being told. There’s a lot of underhanded tactics being used by a lot of people.
“I think the players have woken up to their own commercial power, and they’ve realised that they can have a say in this game.
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“I think the players have gone, ‘do you know what? I think we can have a good robust debate, a professional debate around these topics. I’m going to get involved, cast my vote, and see what happens.’ – it’s great, great news.
“(But) you very quickly have to understand who is responsible for what. The Players Board is as it sounds. It’s for the players, by the players.”
“We are not commercial agents. We are not necessarily that commercially minded, and we’re looking at it from the point of view of players trying to improve players’ issues.
“We want to improve things like, how long it takes players to get paid from Chinese events. Currently, it’s between eight to ten weeks, which we think is ridiculous.
“They are the types of issues that we’re going to be looking at.
“We’re currently into a massive debate over the future of the game in terms of bringing back a full tiered system across all events versus the flat 128 draws.
“It’s just not as straightforward as you might think. There’s lots of issues in and around that.
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“You run into that brick wall of course, where you realise that a player’s aspirations and a player’s dreams don’t always line up with the commercialisation of a sport.
“WST are a profit-making business. They’re not there to service the whims and wishes of the players. They are there to make money through the promotion of snooker.
“So those things don’t always align. I guess our job as board members is to keep the players as happy as possible.”
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The “underline” has been added by me. What Mark Allen says is very much in line with what I wrote some weeks ago. Players are self-employed, they will have no retirement money when they stop playing other than what they made by themselves, and they should mot have to face restrictions when it comes to what events they play in.
Shaun Murphy, unsurprisingly, is more “moderate”. There is one bit in his quotes that really caught my eye: the one about going back to a tiered system. I’m all for it and I have said it before. The flat draw is far too brutal and doesn’t help young players development. I’m not however in favour of having the early rounds played in cubicles weeks before the event and watched only by a man and his dog. It has to be right before the “main” event, televised or streamed, with spectators and at or close to the event proper venue. I know that some players – most notably Barry Pinches – are in favour of keeping the flat draw, claiming it’s fairer. It’s no fairer than having all kids in a school taking the exact same exams, no matter their age and actual level. Have to face matches of progressive difficulty is much fairer and helpful to development.
Mark Williams admits he is “guessing” shots and balls are “blurred” because of deteriorating eyesight, but he can look ahead to the last 16 of the Spreadex World Grand Prix thanks to a thrilling 4-3 win over Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
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Welshman Williams turns 49 in two months and inevitably time is catching up with the three-time Crucible king, who is planning to give contact lenses a try. But he’s still ranked among the world’s top eight and has landed silverware already this season, at the British Open in September. And today’s exciting win over Un-Nooh, with seven frames played in just 81 minutes, sets up a second round tie with Hossein Vafaei.
A break of 134 put Williams 2-1 ahead, then Thailand’s Un-Nooh levelled with a run of 53. In frame five, Un-Nooh was on track for a 147 until he went in-off when potting the black off the 13th red on 97. From 3-2 down, Williams conceded just one point in the last two frames, making vital breaks of 52 and 50.
“I can’t see much!” insisted veteran Williams. “When I am standing up it’s ok, then when I get down to the table most of the balls are blurred, especially the long ones. It’s a total guess. But I am guessing alright. I miss some of them by miles but I am also getting some of them. That’s the reason I haven’t looked further into what could be done. I will try contact lenses in a couple of weeks and see how that goes.
“We both played well tonight, there weren’t many balls missed. He had a couple of half chances in the last frame and didn’t take them. My game is as good as it could be given my age at this stage of my career. I have won a tournament already this season and I’m more than happy with that.“
Having lifted the Masters trophy just two days ago, Ronnie O’Sullivan was back in action in front of a packed crowd and scored a 4-2 success against Pang Junxu. Breaks of 111, 70 and 95 helped O’Sullivan set up a match with Zhou Yuelong, who beat Stephen Maguire 4-1.
Shaun Murphy set a strong target for the £10,000 high break prize with a 145 total clearance in the opening frame of his match with John Higgins. Murphy went on to win 4-0 in just 41 minutes with further breaks of 77 and 70.
“I have been playing well for a while now,” said Murphy, who would hold all three Players Series titles if he lands the trophy this week. “I was thinking about my game over Christmas and I felt I had gone a bit slow and lethargic, second guessing myself. My instinct to play shots with freedom is as good as anyone’s so I decided to play the first shot I see, play more flamboyant snooker and I am delighted with how that went today.
“In a way this event is more important than the Masters because there are ranking points, and that was the motivation for me to get up off the canvas after losing in the semi-finals last week. I have got three cracks left to make sure I am in the Players Championship, I want to be there to defend that title.”
Ali Carter bounced back from the disappointment of losing the Masters final to O’Sullivan as he edged out Wu Yize 4-3. China’s Wu was just two pots from victory when he missed a tricky brown in the deciding frame, handing Carter the chance to pot brown, blue and pink for victory.
“Last week is in the past now and I have to focus on this week,” said Carter, who faces Mark Selby next. “I am proud of that win today because Wu played really well and he’ll be sick not to win the last frame – he had done all the hard work.“
Scottish Open champion Gary Wilson top scored with 78 in a 4-2 win over David Gilbert ,while Cao Yupeng trailed Barry Hawkins three times but eventually won 4-3.
Here are the scores of the Ronnie v Pang match … both went for it!
and the stats thanks to Kalacs
Some images, shared by WST and on Weibo
The end of the match shared by WST on YouTube:
Now some Ronnie updates …
Thanks to Mark for the videos in his last comment. Ronnie has confirmed that he will skip the 2024 German Masters and the 2024 Welsh Open, but he will try to qualify for Wuhan and will play in the ITV events. That’s good news.
Also, please check the comment by Aeltae. If you think that Ronnie was in the wrong about the venue, think again. This is the actual experience shared by a fan during the final. It’s not good, isn’t it? I have sent Aeltae’s comment “texto” to Matt Huart, who answered immediately and is forwarding it to the appropriate channels. I know that Matt is WPBSA, not WST, but I also know Matt personally, he’s a true fan of the game, we get along well and I 100% trust him to act on this… I don’t have the same trust in some others.
Mark Selby admits he was fortunate to survive a first round battle with Yuan Sijun at the Spreadex World Grand Prix, but the local favourite came through 4-3 to reach the last 16.
This event at the Morningside Arena in Leicester brings together the top 32 players from this season’s ranking list, in the first tournament of the 2024 Players Series….
Selby, looking for his first title since the WST Classic at the same venue ten months ago, built a 3-1 lead with top breaks of 85 and 68 but missed chances in the next two frames as China’s Yuan fought back to 3-3. The decider lasted 41 minutes and came down to the colours, Yuan eventually missing a difficult long green, handing Selby the opportunity to pot green, brown and blue for victory.
“I fell over the line,” said Selby, who now meets Wu Yize or Masters finalist Ali Carter. “I played ok to go 3-1 ahead but then blew a good chance to win 4-2. I didn’t deserve to win in the end, I was lucky. Yuan is a good player and when you don’t kill the match off, the game will come back and bite you. He was potting long balls and little nudges were going wrong for me, but that was my own fault for not finishing the match earlier.”
Judd Trump also had a tough opening draw but came from 2-0 down to beat Jamie Jones 4-2. Bristol’s Trump is looking for his fourth ranking title of the season, having won three in a row in October.
World number 40 Jones made a strong start as a break of 103 gave him the opening frame, then the Welshman got the better of a scrappy second. But Jones scored just 11 points in the remainder of the match as Trump took four frames in a row with top runs of 80, 81, 45 and 77.
“Jamie started well although I didn’t do much wrong in the first two frames,” said world number two Trump. “I got into my rhythm from 2-0. I have a lot of experience in these best-of-seven matches and I know I don’t have to panic even at 2-0 down because once I get the momentum I can win three or four frames quickly.”
Last week, Trump suffered the disappointment of a 6-5 defeat against Carter in the quarter-finals of the Masters, when he was defending the title. “It wasn’t too hard to take because I had won a lot of close matches in the Masters and you can’t keep getting out of jail,” admitted the 34-year-old. “I gave it everything and I wasn’t quite good enough, you can’t be too hard on yourself.
“I’m not one for setting targets and I have won three events already this season so any more would be a bonus. My only goal is to get my form back to where it was in October because I have gone off the boil a bit since then.”
Trump now meets China’s Lyu Haotian, who survived a Chris Wakelin fight-back to come through 4-3. Wuhan Open semi-finalist Lyu took a 3-0 lead with top breaks of 69 and 53, before Wakelin battled back to 3-3. A run of 68 gave Lyu the decider.
Hossein Vafaei scored a 4-3 win over Matthew Selt with a top break of 134.
The truth is that both players were struggling at the start of the Trump v Jones match, but Jamie eventually got the better of Judd in both occasions. In the third frame, Judd had the opportunity to find some fluency, got going and dominated from there.
I didn’t watch any of the later matches. I’m not a night owl and those matches eventually finished at past 2 am in my time zone. I can’t handle that. I’m unlikely to watch Ronnie’s match tonight for the same reason.
Speaking of Ronnie, there were a lot of speculations on social media yesterday after he said the the will take a two months break after this week. Fans were discussing what he will miss and what he will play in. Actually, nobody knows for sure, not even Ronnie probably. I doubt that he actually looked at the calendar before sayaing what he said.
Here is what I think will happen and it’s no more than my own “guess work”, so don’t read anything more in it.
The next thing for Ronnie is the 2024 World Open qualifiers. He won’t like the idea to have to qualify and I would be surprised if he plays. The only motivation he would have would come from his sponsors really insisting and/or if there is enough financial incentive. It’s a shame. Ronnie loves playing in China and the Chinese fans love him. The rules are what they are, and the Chinese top players deserve to play in front of their own, but Ronnie is the World number one, and the biggest “box office” player in the game, probably second only to Ding in China. Commercially, not holding his match over is a nonsense. I’ll say it once again: in my opinion there should be no qualifiers for any flat draw event.
I think that Ronnie will definitely give the German Masters a miss, I would be really surprised if he went to Berlin.
Next up for Ronnie would possibly be the 2024 Welsh Open. That’s nearly a month from now, and this year it is staged in Llandudno, one of the rare venues Ronnie really likes. He has “running mates” there as well. Also, it’s one of the Eurosport tournaments. IMO, there is a strong possibility that he plays in this one, albeit maybe without real ambitions regarding the title.
Then comes the 2024 Players Championship. Ronnie this week said that the reason he plays in the World Grand Prix is because it’s only 32 players. Well then … the Players Championship is only 16 players, and it guarantees ranking points even for first round losers. I would be surprised if he misses that one.
And finally … thanks to Kalacs who found this one ❤️
Ronnie O'Sullivan 