Brazil's waiting for snooker

21:33:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

If you ask a historian about Brazil, he will probably tell you this country was a Portuguese colony until 1822. If you ask a housewife the same thing, she will share with you all the spicy details from last night Brazilian soap-opera. If you ask a teen-ager, she or he will tell you how incredibly awesome is to take part at the Rio Festival. If you ask a football lover, the response will probably sound something like: “Hey, they've won the World Cup five times!!!”.


But what if you ask a snooker fan to tell you something about Brazil? What will his answer be?


About a year ago, when Barry Hearn announced snooker is heading towards Brazil, I honestly confess that I didn't have the slightest idea about how important this cue sport is for the Brazilian people. However, at a closer look and after some research, I've managed to discover a wonderful world that is so much more than just an important producer and exporter of sugar-cane and the home-country of samba - this world is the perfect ambient that snooker needs in order to enter in South America.


Barry Hearn gives his OK for Brazil Masters
It has a great history with snooker, it even has its own way of playing snooker (of course that I'm talking about sinuca), it has players that made their breakthrough into the Main Tour (see Igor Figuerido) and, finally, it has that warm welcome that the fans give to their beloved sport.

From 15 and 18 of September the Brazil Masters will kick off in Florianópolis, the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina and will feature most of snooker's heavy names: Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, Graeme Dott, Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby, Ali Carter, Peter Ebdon, Martin Gould, Mark Davis, Stuart Bingham, Stephen Lee, Jamie Cope and Ricky Walden along with Brazil's top player - Igor Figueiredo.

Actually, Steve Davis is no stranger from competing in Brazil, as back in the 1980s, the six-time world champion played against one of Brazil's biggest sinuca ambassadors, the grand Rui Chapéu. And what's even more extraordinary is that he lost! Time to take revenge, but by playing classical snooker, huh Nugget?!




Stephen Hendry "smelled" this country's potential to become an important market for snooker also and so, in 1994 he played an exhibition match against today's Chairman of Brazil's Association of Professional Snooker, Marcilio Cavalcanti.


Marcilio was kind enough as to share exclusively for "Snooker, my love" this unique experience, as well as his thoughts about Brazil Masters.
"It was really great and since we both had a lot fun playing, we continued to fight on my professional Riley’s table, at my home. He said I could be a top player, if I went to the UK.


"Since then we've met many times. All I can say is that he was a machine with a bent maple cue."




Snooker has grown so much since 1994, so for Marcilio as well as for the rest of the snooker fans, the Brazil Masters sounds like a dream come true, a dream that should had happen many years ago.


"This event should have been hosted in Brazil a long time ago, exactly in 1995 one year after I played Hendry during an exhibition to promote the World Cup Team – Brazil 1995. Unfortunately due to local politics and money problems, the event was cancelled.", says Cavancanti.


However, this is history now and thanks to Barry Hearn's "snooker revolution", this lovely cue sport will leave the European continent once more, but this time for America.


Is here where all the snooker action will take place
Regardless of some comments which state this event will not be a success, according to Brazil Masters' official website, the tickets demand is constantly raising, many snooker lovers waiting the day when they will be able to see their idols in action.


"I have bet all my coins on this event.", says Marcilio "With the experience I have had from 1990 up to now, I can definitely say that this event will return next year.


"The venue is wonderful, the resort Costão do Santinho is one of world's 10th top resorts with an unbelievable structure (850 rooms and three meeting rooms), surrounded by tropical trees inside an island. The shellfish and Brazilian barbecue will be surely appreciated by all our guests."


With a great line-up of players, line-up that will be complete after the National Qualifiers (8-11 of September) will determine the last two wild cards to take part in the event, the Brazil Masters is ready to share with the entire world how snooker is played in Brazil.


So, when a snooker fan will be questioned about Brazil, the correct answer should be: "They have a great tournament there - the Brazil Masters".

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Selby conquers Paul Hunter Classic trophy

23:44:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Mark Selby, the 2011 Paul Hunter Classic champion
After some really fabulous four days in Furth, Germany, Mark Selby performed a 4-0 whitewash over Mark Davis, to put his name on this year's Paul Hunter Classic trophy. With breaks of 47, 73, 99, 37 and 66 "The Jester from Leicester" won his first season’s ranking event.


It feels like almost yesterday Mark Selby and Mark Williams were playing their German Masters final in Berlin. Back then, the Welshman beat Mark by 9-7. Visibly disappointed, Selby received only the runner-up title, but that's ancient history, because from today on he will be remembered as the best player who rocked around the snooker table and won Players Tour Championship Event 4. Germany doesn't seem like such an unapproachable lady after all, isn't she?


Selby started his journey with a perfect 4-0 against the youngster Sam Harvey, didn't let himself to be slowed down by Rory McLeod, who also got the same 4-0 treatment, and booked himself a place into the Last 16 round by defeating the determined Craig Steadman with a similar scoreline.
Andrew Higginson found himself being crashed by Mark Selby as well, while the "Bulldog" Stephen Lee got hammered 4-1 during the quarter-finals, but Selby's "piece of resistance" was yet to come.


Mark Davis, the 2011 Paul Hunter Classic runner-up
The semi-final match was a tough one, as Mark had to face one of his old time rivals - Ronnie O'Sullivan. And it must be mentioned that O'Sullivan's performance these last few days was just fantastic. So, without too many problems, "The Rocket" went 3-1 up, in need of only one more frame to put his name of the final line-up.
However, Selby had other plans and with a top break of 126 he made his way back into the game to force the decider, a decider that he won fair and square.


Next in line was Mark Davis, the OnQ Promotion lad that defeated every player that dared to stay in his way. A spectacular performance that included victims like: Jimmy White, Jamie Cope, Matthew Selt, Fergal O'Brien and Neil Robertson.
It is fair to say that Davis had a pretty good chance from the beginning of the match, during the second frame leading Selby by 70-0. Still, he decided to play a plant instead of a safety shot, missed and so, Selby returned to the table to hit a 73 break and made the scoreline go 2-0 in his favour.


The entire gang, along with Alan Hunter (Paul's father -left)
Unfortunately for the Pink Army soldier, his performance during the final was not as strong and consistent as it was throughout the rest of the tournament, but this doesn’t make his runner-up title less valuable. He has proved he still has that killer instinct and taking into account his latest performances from the PTCs and beyond, I’m sure that if he keeps his spirits up he'll win a competition in no time.


But returning to our fresh champion, I must add that Selby's no stranger from winning a PTC event, for last year he won the PTC Event 2. 

The Paul Hunter Classic trophy
However, this is a more special one: maybe because it is obtained in Germany, maybe because is his first ranking title this season, maybe because it has the name of the late Paul Hunter written on it. Whatever the reason, it was great to see him all emotional when he got the trophy and with that big smile on his face. Great job, Jester!


In the end, I just want to say that I love when snooker travels to Germany. The crowd out there is so full of positive energy and the fans are absolutely mesmerized with the sport. One of the most important aspects for a tournament's success is that the audience is packed and loves each moment of it. And in Germany, that's a taken.

Can't wait for the German Masters! ;-)

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Players Tour Championship Event Four 2011 - Day 2

02:01:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Jimmy Robertson is back!
Surprising and long, the second day of the 2011 Paul Hunter Classic did its job in sending eight players into the Last 16. Now the line-up is set, so tomorrow we shall start our tour de force in finding PTC 4 champion.


The day's premiere was the fact that four players managed to qualify for the Last 16 for the first time this season. Their names are: Michael White, Mark Joyce, Jimmy Robertson and Passakorn Suwannawat.

The Welshman White, although has got a bye because Liang Wenbo withdrew from the tournament, stormed in to defeat Shaun Murphy by 4-3 and hammered a very determined Martin Gould 4-1, while the 2011 Pink Tournament champion Mark Joyce started his day with a 4-2 in front of Lee Page, continued it with the same 4-2 over Tian Pengfei and ended it, late in the night, with a 4-3 against Mark King.


But maybe one of this day's biggest revelations has been Jimmy Robertson. The Englishman that succeeded to qualify for this year's World Championship didn't have such a great start this season, but with today's performance that's history. Robertson beat Nick Jennings 4-1, Robbie Williams 4-2 and ended in great style with another 4-2 against Andrew Pagett and a great series of 129, 56, 66 and 102. Now that's how it's done!


Jamie Jones beats PTC 3 champ
And since we are on the "Robertson-subject", there wasn’t really too much of a surprise to see Neil Robertson earn himself a spot in the next round by defeating Chris Norbury 4-0, David Hogan 4-2 and Peter Lines 4-1, while Jamie Jones managed to qualify for the third time into the Last 16, after obtaining victories like: 4-2 with Cao Yupeng, 4-3 with Jack Lisowski and a marvellous 4-1 against the PTC 3 champion, Ben Woollaston.


The big Thai Passakorn Suwannavat has also managed to book himself a place for the next day of playing after winning 4-1 over Gerard Greene and Mark Williams and 4-2 over Ken Doherty.


Now, changing the subject a bit, although from the beginning of the PTC's the "Welsh Potting Machine" didn't seem to pot like a machine ... at all!...it is still strange to see him not reaching the Last 16. And what's even worse, his performance follows a strange pattern: PTC 1 (lost his first match), PTC 2 (lost his second match), PTC 3 (lost his first match) and now, during PTC 4 .... guess what? Yeah, he lost his second match. I really hope he'll try to improve his winning status during the following events, because it is really a shame not to see him play until the last day of a competition.


Suwannawat, responsabile for Doherty's exit
Yu Delu, on the other hand, had an extraordinary day, the Chinese player taking care of each of his opponents. And so he beat Tom Ford 4-2, hit in breaks of 100 and 112 for a 4-1 against James Welsh and end his day with a glorious 4-2 against Steve Davis.


Maybe Ken Doherty didn't succeed to qualify for the Last 16 round this time, but Ireland is proudly represented by Fergal O'Brien who won by a close 4-3 in front of Joe Delaney, put Rod Lawler in his corner with a 4-1 and ended with a terrific 4-3 against Ding Junhui.


Below you can check Day 2 list of results:


09:30
9 Mark Joyce 4-2 Lee Page
10 Barry Pinches 0-4 Tian Pengfei
49 Steve Davis 4-0 Gary Wilson
50 Dave Harold 0-4 Jamie O'Neill
51 Graeme Dott w/o James Welsh
52 Tom Ford 2-4 Yu Delu
53 Andrew Pagett 4-2 Luca Brecel
54 Robert Milkins 4-1 Martin O'Donnell
55 Jimmy Robertson 4-1 Nick Jennings
56 Matthew Couch 0-4 Robbie Williams


11:00
11 Mark King 4-2 Kishan Hirani
12 Matthew Stevens 4-1 Paul Davison
13 Neil Robertson 4-0 Chris Norbury
14 Tony Drago w/o David Hogan
15 Peter Lines 4-3 David Gilbert
16 Ali Carter w/o Andrew Norman


11:30
25 Shaun Murphy w/o Lucky Vatnani
26 Liang Wenbo w/o Michael White
27 Martin Gould 4-1 Ben Harrison
28 Nigel Bond 2-4 Dechewat Poomjaeng


12:30
29 Rod Lawler 4-1 Mitchell Travis
30 Fergal O'Brien 4-3 Joe Delaney
31 Ding Junhui 4-1 Sean O'Sullivan
32 Marcus Campbell 4-2 Scott MacKenzie


13:00
1 Mark Williams 4-0 Sanderson Lam
2 Gerard Greene 1-4 Passakorn Suwannawat
3 Ken Doherty 4-0 Liam Monk
4 Liu Song 4-1 Chen Zhe


14:00
5 Mike Dunn 4-1 Kacper Filipiak
6 Liam Highfield w/o Ben Woollaston
7 Jamie Jones 4-2 Cao Yupeng
8 Jack Lisowski 4-1 Steve Judd


15:30
69 Mark Joyce 4-2 Tian Pengfei
70 Mark King 4-1 Matthew Stevens
71 Neil Robertson 4-2 David Hogan
72 Peter Lines 4-2 Andrew Norman
77 Shaun Murphy 3-4 Michael White
78 Martin Gould 4-1 Dechewat Poomjaeng
89 Steve Davis 4-3 Jamie O'Neill
90 James Welsh 1-4 Yu Delu
91 Andrew Pagett 4-2 Robert Milkins
92 Jimmy Robertson 4-2 Robbie Williams


17:00
65 Mark Williams 1-4 Passakorn Suwannawat
66 Ken Doherty 4-2 Liu Song
67 Mike Dunn 2-4 Ben Woollaston
68 Jamie Jones 4-3 Jack Lisowski
79 Rod Lawler 1-4 Fergal O'Brien
80 Ding Junhui 4-1 Marcus Campbell


19:30
97 Passakorn Suwannawat 4-2 Ken Doherty
98 Ben Woollaston 1-4 Jamie Jones
99 Neil Robertson 4-1 Peter Lines
100 Michael White 4-1 Martin Gould
103 Mark Joyce 4-3 Mark King
104 Fergal O'Brien 4-3 Ding Junhui
109 Steve Davis 2-4 Yu Delu
110 Andrew Pagett 2-4 Jimmy Robertson


Tomorrow's schedule:


10:00 (the Last 16)
113 Mark Davis 4-2 Matthew Selt
114 Mark Selby 4-0 Andrew Higginson
115 Joe Jogia 1-4 Stephen Lee
116 Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-2 Li Yan
117 Passakorn Suwannawat 4-2 Jamie Jones
118 Neil Robertson 4-2 Mark Joyce
119 Michael White 2-4 Fergal O'Brien
120 Yu Delu 4-2 Jimmy Robertson


13:00 (the quarter-finals)
121 Mark Selby 4-1 Stephen Lee
122 Yu Delu 3-4 Ronnie O'Sullivan
123 Mark Davis 4-0 Fergal O'Brien
124 Passakorn Suwannawat 1-4 Neil Robertson


16:00 (the semi-finals)
125 Mark Selby 4-3 Ronnie O'Sullivan
126 Mark Davis 4-2 Neil Robertson


20:00 (the final)
127 Mark Selby 4-0 Mark Davis
*all hours are Germany time


TV coverage:
13:15 - 15:00 British EuroSport
18:00 - 19:00 British EuroSport
19:00 - 21:30 British EuroSport

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Players Tour Championship Event Four 2011 - Day 1

01:44:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

I still got it, baby!
Fabulous day in Furth, at the 2011 Paul Hunter Classic (aka. PTC 4), as the one and only Ronnie O'Sullivan registered his 11th maximum break. A perfect run from the Rocket, who crashed Ali Kirim 4-0, defeated Scotland's Anthony McGill 4-1 and ended his first day with a 4-0 and a wonderful 147 in front of Adam Duffy.


Unlike his 10th maximum century, the one that put him on the same position as Stephen Hendry who also has 10, O'Sullivan didn’t need to be persuaded by the referee to pot the last black and hit the 147 in great style. The thrilled audience from Germany, as well as all the snooker fans from each corner of this world, have something nice to dream about tonight. Here's a link to Ronnie's 147.


Li Yan puts Higgins in trouble
But besides O'Sullivan performance there were other remarkable performance, like Li Yan's one. The Chinese player had a great day by defeating Michael Holt after a tight 4-3 cue battle, whitewashed his country-man, the powerful Xiao Guodong 4-0, only to finish his day with a magnificent 4-3 in front of the current world champion John Higgins. Although he was lead 2-0, Li succeeded to comeback and even put his nose in front 3-2, but the Scotsman's 72 break guaranteed a decider. However, it wasn't long before Yan would win it to book himself a snooker meeting with Ronnie O'Sullivan on Sunday, in the Last 16 round.


Mark Davis is back! Not that he ever left. After losing 4-0 and miss to qualify for the Last 16 during the PTC 3, the OnQ Promotion's boy cashed one victory after another, defeating both Jimmy White and Jamie Cope by 4-2. I say both, because his first opponent, the Belgian Bjorn Haneveer pulled out of the event, so the Englishman received a bye to the second round.


Mark's Selby performance was a constant one, Sam Harvey, Rory McLeod and Craig Steadman all experiencing the same 4-0 treatment, while Stephen Lee proved he is indeed ready to win himself some titles by winning 4-0 over Ian Burns and Ricky Walden and 4-1 over Jamie Walker.


Mark Davis in the Last 16
"The world champions' crasher" (as I like to call him), Matthew Selt has also qualified for the next round after beating David Grace 4-3, Adrian Gunnell 4-0 and Dominic Dale 4-2, Andrew Higginson hammered Adam Wicheard 4-1, defeated Liu Chuang 4-2 and finished covered in glory after sending home Judd Trump 4-3, while Joe Jogia made his way through the balls winning 4-2 over Daniel Wells and Mark Allen and 4-3 over India's Aditya Mehta.


But not everyone has been fortunate to qualify and many of those who rocked around the snooker table during the previous PTC, have lost their first match. This is the case of the brilliant Alan McManus, who saw himself defeated 4-2 by Jamie Walker, but also Barry Hawkins, who lost 4-1 to Craig Steadman.


Below you can check Day 1 list of results:


9:30
33 Mark Selby 4-0 Sam Harvey
34 Rory McLeod 4-2 Phil O'Kane
35 Barry Hawkins 4-0 Brian Cox
36 Ian McCulloch 3-4 Craig Steadman
37 Peter Ebdon 3-4 James Wattana
38 Judd Trump 4-0 Ashley Wright
39 Liu Chuang w/o Joe Meara scr
40 Andrew Higginson 4-1 Adam Wicheard
41 Mark Allen 4-0 Christian Biniarsch
42 Joe Jogia 4-2 Daniel Wells


11:00
43 Ryan Day 1-4 Aditya Mehta
44 Stuart Bingham w/o Simon Beford
45 Stephen Lee 4-0 Ian Burns
46 Alan McManus 2-4 Jamie Walker
47 Ricky Walden 4-2 Stuart Carrington
48 Alfie Burden 3-4 Stephen Craigie


11:30
17 Jimmy White 4-0 Kurt Maflin
18 Mark Davis w/o Bjorn Haneveer
19 Marco Fu 3-4 Sam Baird
20 Jamie Cope 4-2 Phil Barnes


12:30
21 Adrian Gunnell 4-0 Hans Blanckaert
22 Matthew Selt 4-3 David Grace
23 Joe Perry 4-0 Stefan Joachim
24 Dominic Dale 4-1 David Morris


13:00
57 Anthony Hamilton 2-4 Adam Duffy
58 Joe Swail 4-3 Zhang Anda
59 Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-0 Ali Kirim
60 Anthony McGill 4-2 Kyren Wilson


14:00
61 Xiao Guodong 4-1 Bash Maqsood
62 Michael Holt 3-4 Li Yan
63 Stephen Hendry w/o Robin Hull
64 John Higgins 4-1 Sam Craigie


15:30
73 Jimmy White 2-4 Mark Davis
74 Sam Baird 2-4 Jamie Cope
81 Mark Selby 4-0 Rory McLeod
82 Barry Hawkins 1-4 Craig Steadman
83 James Wattana 1-4 Judd Trump
84 Liu Chuang 2-4 Andrew Higginson
85 Mark Allen 2-4 Joe Jogia
86 Adithya Mehta 4-0 Simon Bedord
87 Stephen Lee 4-1 Jamie Walker
88 Ricky Walden 4-2 Stephen Craigie


17:00
75 Adrian Gunnell 0-4 Matthew Selt
76 Joe Perry 3-4 Dominic Dale
93 Adam Duffy 4-0 Joe Swail
94 Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 Anthony McGill
95 Xiao Guodong 0-4 Li Yan
96 Stephen Hendry 0-4 John Higgins


19:30
101 Mark Davis 4-2 Jamie Cope
102 Matthew Selt 4-2 Dominic Dale
105 Mark Selby 4-0 Craig Steadman
106 Judd Trump 3-4 Andrew Higginson
107 Joe Jogia 4-3 Adithya Mehta
108 Stephen Lee 4-0 Ricky Walden
111 Adam Duffy 0-4 Ronnie O'Sullivan
112 Li Yan 4-3 John Higgins


At the same time the second part of the qualifiers happened. Here are the results:
 

19:30

85 Stefan Gerst 1-4 Sanderson Lam
86 Liam Monk 4-1 Michael Wasley
 

21:00

87 Chen Zhe 4-0 Norbert Hofhenz
88 Steve Judd 4-0 Gerrit Bij de Leij
89 Lee Page 4-1 Andreas Ploner
90 Chris Henry 0-4 Kishan Hirani
91 Chris Norbury 4-0 Ruediger Fehrmann
95 Allan Taylor 2-4 Ben Harrison
96 Michael Betzinger 0-4 Mitchell Travis
98 Sean O'Sullivan 4-0 Markus Stocker
108 Gary Wilson 4-0 Jorg Petersen
109 Jamie O'Neill 4-2 Ian Glover


And here's today match schedule:


09:30
9 Mark Joyce v. Lee Page
10 Barry Pinches v. Tian Pengfei
49 Steve Davis v. Gary Wilson
50 Dave Harold v. Jamie O'Neill
51 Graeme Dott v. James Welsh
52 Tom Ford v. Yu Delu
53 Andrew Pagett v. Luca Brecel
54 Robert Milkins v. Martin O'Donnell
55 Jimmy Robertson v. Nick Jennings
56 Matthew Couch v. Robbie Williams


11:00
11 Mark King v. Kishan Hirani
12 Matthew Stevens v. Paul Davison
13 Neil Robertson v. Chris Norbury
14 Tony Drago w/o David Hogan
15 Peter Lines v. David Gilbert
16 Ali Carter v. Andrew Norman


11:30
25 Shaun Murphy w/o Lucky Vatnani
26 Liang Wenbo w/o Michael White
27 Martin Gould v. Ben Harrison
28 Nigel Bond v. Dechewat Poomjaeng


12:30
29 Rod Lawler v. Michell Travis
30 Fergal O'Brien v. Joe Delaney
31 Ding Junhui v. Sean O'Sullivan
32 Marcus Campbell v. Scott MacKenzie


13:00
1 Mark Williams v. Sanderson Lam
2 Gerard Greene v. Passakorn Suwannawat
3 Ken Doherty v. Liam Monk
4 Liu Song v. Chen Zhe


14:00
5 Mike Dunn v. Kacper Filipiak
6 Liam Highfield w/o Ben Woollaston
7 Jamie Jones v. Cao Yupeng
8 Jack Lisowski v. Steve Judd


15:30
69 Winner of match 9 v. Winner of match 10
70 Winner of match 11 v. Winner of match 12
71 Winner of match 13 v. Winner of match 14
72 Winner of match 15 v. Winner of match 16
77 Winner of match 25 v. Winner of match 26
78 Winner of match 27 v. Winner of match 28
89 Winner of match 49 v. Winner of match 50
90 Winner of match 51 v. Winner of match 52
91 Winner of match 53 v. Winner of match 54
92 Winner of match 55 v. Winner of match 56


17:00
65 Winner of match 1 v. Winner of match 2
66 Winner of match 3 v. Winner of match 4
67 Winner of match 5 v. Winner of match 6
68 Winner of match 7 v. Winner of match 8
79 Winner of match 29 v. Winner of match 30
80 Winner of match 31 v. Winner of match 32


19:30
97 Winner of match 65 v. Winner of match 66
98 Winner of match 67 v. Winner of match 68
99 Winner of match 69 v. Winner of match 70
100 Winner of match 71 v. Winner of match 72
103 Winner of match 77 v. Winner of match 78
104 Winner of match 79 v. Winner of match 80
109 Winner of match 89 v. Winner of match 90
110 Winner of match 91 v. Winner of match 92
*all hours are UK time


TV coverage:
19:45 - 22:00 British EuroSport

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Players Tour Championship Event Four 2011 - the qualifiers (day 1)

03:17:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

The players have been some really busy bees
It was a very busy first day for the snooker players in Fürth, Germany and things are going to get tougher and tougher because the second day of qualifiers also means the first day of the main event. So more matches, more tension and pressure and more snooker.


I can't say there have been many notable surprises during the first day of the qualifiers, mainly because names like Allan Taylor, Ban Harrison, Robbie Williams, Craig Steadman, Kyren Wilson shined on the winners list yet again.
The funny thing is that Allen Taylor whitewashed Dirk Hochheim 4-0 and hammered Oezyurt Aksoy 4-1 to book his decisive-round-three-match with Ben Harrison, who had just crashed both of his opponents, Laurin Winters and Felix Pleschek. This is going to be one hell of a cue battle, I tell ya!


Robbie Williams has sung his way through the balls by beating Stephane Ochoiski 4-1 and the local start Patrick Einsle 4-0, Kyren Wilson won 4-0 over Diana Schuler and got a bye to the next round due to Sydney Wilson withdrawal, Craig Steadman deteated Rita Jakisch 4-0 and ended on a kind-of-expected 4-3 with Jak Jones, while Nick Jennings had a fabulous day winning 4-0 over Bernd Friedrich and Stevo Vucicevic.


A glorious day for China, as Chen Zhe whitewashed both of his opponents, Norbert Eckstein and Zafir Dilji, while his country-man Zhang Anda performed the same scoreline in front of Michael Peyr and Michael Wild.


Some very nice surprises to see Ian Glover doing so well, the potter from England winning both of his snooker confrontations, 4-2 with Alex Taumbman and 4-0 with Martin Roesler, but also Stephen Craigie, who managed to defeat Rudiger Nickel 4-0 and the one and only Marc J. Davis 4-1.


Below you can find the complete list of results.


Matches played at the venue


10:00
2 Chen Zhe 4-0 Norbert Eckstein
6 Stephen Ellis 3-4 Chris McBreen
8 Reanne Evans 1-4 Phil Barnes
10 Allan Taylor 4-0 Dirk Hochheim
11 Ben Harrison 4-0 Laurin Winters
13 Thomas Cesal 1-4 Sanjin Kusan
14 Douglas Hogan 4-2 James Cahill
17 Alex Taubman 2-4 Ian Glover
18 Ronny Buchholz 1-4 Zen Beechey
19 David Gray w/o Mirko Gross


11:30
20 Diana Schuler 0-4 Kyren Wilson
23 Liam Monk 4-0 Ralf Guenzel
24 Michael Wasley 4-0 Paul Schopf
28 Naresh Samarawickrama 0-4 Steve Judd
29 Ricky Norris 2-4 Lee Page
33 Chris Norbury 4-0 Baghi Ebrahim
43 Michael Betzinger w/o Robert Valiant
44 Mitchell Travis 4-0 Mario Wehrmann
46 Mitchell Mann 2-4 Joe Delaney
47 Sean O'Sullivan 4-1 Oliver Brown


13:00
32 Kishan Hirani 4-1 Chris McBreen
35 Tomasz Skalski 3-4 Phil Barnes
40 Stefan Joachim w/o Andrew Milliard
41 Oezyurt Aksoy 1-4 Allan Taylor
42 Felix Pleschek 0-4 Ben Harrison
50 Sam Harvey 4-0 Jan Leichs
55 Craig Steadman 4-0 Rita Jakisch
56 Jak Jones w/o Hans-Jurgen Bins
58 Ashley Wright 4-0 Douglas Hogan
61 Michael Judge w/o Ian Burns


14:30
25 Zafir Dilji 0-4 Chen Zhe
45 Gareth Allen 4-1 Julian Gaertner
49 Alexander Ursenbache 4-2 Sanjin Kusan
63 Brent Kolbeck w/o Declan Bristow
64 Rogier Van Der Camp 0-4 Jamie Walker
66 Stephen Craigie 4-0 Rudiger Nickel
67 Gary Wilson 4-1 Thomas Wacker
68 Lee Farebrother w/o Jorg Petersen
69 Jonathan Fulcher 0-4 Jamie O'Neill
70 Martin Roesler 0-4 Ian Glover


16:00
65 Marc Davis 4-0 Thomas Valentin
72 James Welsh 4-1 Zen Beechey
74 Frank Schroeder 1-4 Martin O'Donnell
75 Nick Jennings 4-0 Bernd Friedrich
76 Nick Pearce w/o Stevo Vucicevic
77 Stephane Ochoiski 1-4 Robbie Williams
78 Patrick Einsle 4-0 Mirko Gross
79 Robert Drahn 0-4 Michael Wild
80 Michael Peyr 0-4 Zhang Anda
83 Florian Moederscheim 2-4 Kyren Wilson


17:30
22 Sanderson Lam 4-2 Shane Castle
36 Tony Knowles w/o Lasse Munstermann
38 Gerhard Engelschalk w/o Charlie Walters
51 Andy Lee w/o Andreas Pesch
52 Phil O'Kane 4-0 Stefan Merkel
53 Brian Cox 4-0 Harold Kloss
59 Christof Biniarsch w/o Steve Ventham
60 Patrick Rosmann w/o Ryab Causton
62 Leo Fernandez w/o Robert Sax
84 Saqib Nasir w/o Sydney Wilson


19:30
92 Phil Barnes 4-3 Lasse Munstermann
93 Hans Blanckaert 4-1 Gerhard Engelschalk
94 Julian Treiber 0-4 Gerhard Engelschalk
97 Gareth Allen 2-4 Joe Delaney
99 Alexander Ursenbache 0-4 Sam Harvey
100 Andreas Pesch 0-4 Phil O'Kane
101 Brian Cox 4-0 Oliver Kremp
102 Craig Steadman 4-3 Jak Jones
103 Maurice Le Duc 1-4 Ashley Wright
104 Christof Biniarsch 4-1 Patrock Rosmann


21:00
105 Ian Burns 4-0 Robert Sax
106 Declan Bristow 1-4 Jamie Walker
107 Marc Davis 1-4 Stephen Craigie
110 Christian Ozim 1-4 James Welsh
111 Xander Van Rossum 0-4 Martin O'Donnell
112 Nick Jennings 4-0 Stevo Vucicevic
113 Robbie Williams 4-0 Patrick Einsle
114 Michael Wild 0-4 Zhang Anda
115 Jorg Vortkort v. Alin Kirim
116 Kyren Wilson w/o Sydney Wilson


Matches played at the Club


10:00
1 Hendrik Henschke 2-4 Roland Hanisch
3 Norbert Hofheinz 4-2 Stephanus Klitzke
4 Hendrik Glax 0-4 Soner Sari
5 Chris Henry 4-0 Andreas Hartung
7 Baghi Ebrahim 4-1 Pavel Leyk
9 Shahram Changezi w/o Julian Treiber
12 Julian Gaertner 4-0 Bernd Strnad
15 Thomas Valentin 4-0 Oliver Metzger


12:00
16 Wilhem Braunwald 1-4 Jorg Petersen
21 Stefan Gerst 4-3 Roland Hanisch
26 Christian Pesch 0-4 Norbert Hofheinz
27 Gerrit Bij De Leij 4-2 Soner Sari
30 Ron Florax 1-4 Andreas Ploner
71 Christian Ozim 4-0 Ralph Enax
81 Nicole Breitenstein 0-4 Jorg Vortkort
82 Lothar Kempgens 0-4 Ali Kirim


14:00
31 Ole Steiner 0-4 Chris Henry
34 Jorg Schneidewindt w/o Ruediger Fehrmann
37 Klaus Wuscher 1-4 Hans Blanckaert
39 Ronnie Beniesch 2-4 Julian Treiber
48 Markus Pfistermueller 1-4 Markus Stocker
54 Anja Vucicevic 3-4 Oliver Kremp
57 Maurice Le Duc 4-0 Anne-Katrin Hirsch
73 Angelo Losi 1-4 Xander Van Rossum


The second day of the qualifiers is also the first day of the main event, which means that while the amateurs will perform their last matches to qualify for the PTC 4, the professional players will enter the arena.

09:30
33 Mark Selby v. Sam Harvey
34 Rory McLeod v. Phil O'Kane
35 Barry Hawkins v. Brian Cox
36 Ian McCulloch v. Craig Steadman
37 Peter Ebdon v. James Wattana
38 Judd Trump v. Ashley Wright
39 Liu Chuang w/o Joe Meara
40 Andrew Higginson v. Adam Wicheard
41 Mark Allen v. Christian Biniarsch
42 Joe Jogia v. Daniel Wells


11:00
43 Ryan Day v. Aditya Mehta
44 Stuart Bingham w/o Simon Beford
45 Stephen Lee v. Ian Burns
46 Alan McManus v. Jamie Walker
47 Ricky Walden v. Stuart Carrington
48 Alfie Burden v. Stephen Craigie


11:30
17 Jimmy White v. Kurt Maflin
18 Mark Davis w/o Bjorn Haneveer
19 Marco Fu v. Sam Baird
20 Jamie Cope v. Phil Barnes


12:30
21 Adrian Gunnell v. Hans Blanckaert
22 Matthew Selt v. David Grace
23 Joe Perry v. Stefan Joachim
24 Dominic Dale v. David Morris


13:00
57 Anthony Hamilton v. Adam Duffy
58 Joe Swail v. Zhang Anda
59 Ronnie O'Sullivan v. Ali Kirim
60 Anthony McGill v. Kyren Wilson


14:00
61 Xiao Guodong v. Bash Maqsood
62 Michael Holt v. Li Yan
63 Stephen Hendry w/o Robin Hull
64 John Higgins v. Sam Craigie


15:30
73 Winner of match 17 v. Winner of match 18
74 Winner of match 19 v. Winner of match 20
81 Winner of match 33 v. Winner of match 34
82 Winner of match 35 v. Winner of match 36
83 Winner of match 37 v. Winner of match 38
84 Winner of match 39 v. Winner of match 40
85 Winner of match 41 v. Winner of match 42
86 Winner of match 43 v. Winner of match 44
87 Winner of match 45 v. Winner of match 46
88 Winner of match 47 v. Winner of match 48


17:00
75 Winner of match 21 v. Winner of match 22
76 Winner of match 23 v. Winner of match 24
93 Winner of match 57 v. Winner of match 58
94 Winner of match 59 v. Winner of match 60
95 Winner of match 61 v. Winner of match 62
96 Winner of match 63 v. Winner of match 64


19:30
101 Winner of match 73 v. Winner of match 74
102 Winner of match 75 v. Winner of match 76
105 Winner of match 81 v. Winner of match 82
106 Winner of match 83 v. Winner of match 84
107 Winner of match 85 v. Winner of match 86
108 Winner of match 87 v. Winner of match 88
111 Winner of match 93 v. Winner of match 94
112 Winner of match 95 v. Winner of match 96


Qualifiers


19:30
Stefan Gerst v. Sanderson Lam
Liam Monk v. Michael Wasley


21:00
Chen Zhe v. Norbert Hofheinz
Gerrit Bij de Leij v. Steve Judd
Lee Page v. Andreas Plones
Chris Henry v. Kishan Hirani
Chris Norbury v. Rudiger Fehrmann
Allan Taylor v. ben Harrison
Michael Betzinger v. Michell Travis
Sean O'Sullivan v. Markus Stocker
Gary Wilson v. Jorg Peterson
Jamie O'Neil v. Ian Glover

Also, from today on we shall have EuroSport in charge of snooker!!! Below you can check the programme:


12:30 - 15:00 British EuroSport
21:00 - 22:00 British EuroSport
*all hours are UK time

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World Snooker lends a helping hand

16:27:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

It is said that "a friend in need is a friend indeed" and nowadays so many people need that friend that could be there and lend them a helping hand.


World Snooker has been involved in charity actions over the years and since a new season means a new beginning, it seems like the perfect time to choose a charity that will receive financial support during the 2011/2012 snooker season. And so, Haven House, in Woodford Green, Essex has become their official charity partner.


In the following months all the money that World Snooker will receive from fining the players will go straight to this lovely charity that takes care of children and young people between the ages of 0-19, who have life-limiting conditions and who are unlikely to reach adulthood.


Barry Hearn, Chairman of World Snooker said: "Any well-run business has rules to be followed, and in ours those rules are in the players' Professional Tour contract.


"World Snooker does not wish to financially benefit from any fines imposed on players who are in breach of contract. So we have decided to donate those fines in their entirety to Haven House Children's Hospice.


Barry Hearn at the Haven House
"I don't want to see any player break our rules, but if they do so I will be delighted to see Haven House benefit, as this season we are aiming to raise a minimum of £120,000 for them, which is ten per cent of their running costs."


Mike Palfreman, Chief Executive at Haven House, said: "This is an extremely significant relationship for the hospice. Both partners are dedicated to raising as much money as possible for the life-limited children and their families that Haven House cares for.


"This will make a significant impact to the work that we do and we look forward to working closely with World Snooker over the coming months."


Personally I think this is very admirable, for this charity (as well as many others) need all the help they can get. They rely mainly on donations and from personal experience I say that each pound makes a difference. Not to mention voluntary work and other things related with that.


And although, as Barry said, I would hate to see players fined, I know that this is very likely to happen, so what better way to get a use of those money than donating them to those in need?!


You can help too, if you want! Just visit Haven House official website or enter here.

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Players Tour Championship Event Four 2011 - Snooker goes to Germany

18:18:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

It is time to start packing because tomorrow morning snooker will be travelling to Germany and so shall we. The Players Tour Championship 4, or as we all like to call it, the Paul Hunter Classic, will be held in the beautiful city of Fürth for the following four days.


Last year, Judd Trump was the one who conquered the title and as far as I'm concerned that was his big breakthrough. At least, into the eyes of the entire world, because into the eyes of those who've seen him playing, that victory was not really a surprise; it was just a matter of time. But can he do it once more? Can this brilliant lad from Bristol, the one that stormed in to take the 2011 China Open title and fought like a lion to be the runner-up at this year's World Championship, defend his title from those who are hungry for lifting it too?


Will Judd manage to defend his title?
There's no doubt that he will give his best, but this year the competition is tougher than before, and tougher than any other PTC event for that matter. A record number of players, 244 to be more precise, have put their names on the list and each and every one of them will try to get as further as possible in the tournament.


The Paul Hunter Classic opens the door to continental Europe, for this is actually the first European PTC. And you know what that means don't you? That we will have the honour and privilege to see the players perform on TV. EuroSport will broadcast the main event (so that means no qualifiers) from Friday to Sunday, so be ready for some LIVE snooker, brought directly into your homes.

Long story short, I wish all the players best of luck and let's begin by taking a glace at the first day of qualifiers’ list of matches.


Matches played at the venue


From 10:00
2. Chen Zhe v. Norbert Eckstein
6. Stephen Ellis v. Chris McBreen
8. Reanne Evans v. Phil Bames
10. Allan Taylor v. Dirk Hochheim
11. Ben Harrison v. Laurin Winters
13. Thomas Cesal v. Sanjin Kusan
14. Douglas Hogan v. James Cahill
17. Alex Taubman v. Ian Glover
18. Ronny Buchholz v. Zen Beechey
19. David Gray v. Mirko Gross


From 11:30
20. Diana Schuler v. Kyren Wilson
23. Liam Monk v. Ralf Guenzel
24. Michael Wasley v. Paul Schopf
28. Naresh Samarawickrama v. Steve Judd
29. Ricky Norris v. Lee Page
33. Chris Norbury v. winner or match 7
43. Michael Betzinger v. Robert Valiant
44. Michell Travis v. Mario Wehrmann
46. Michell Mann v. Joe Delaney
47. Sean O'Sullivan v. Oliver Brown


From 13:00
32. Kishan Hirani v. winner of match 6
35. Tomasz Skalski v. winner of match 8
40. Stefan Joachim v. Andrew Miliard
41. Oezyurt Aksoy v. winner of match 10
42. Felix Pleschek v. winner of match 11
50. Sam Harvey v. Jan Leichs
55. Craig Steadman v. Rita Jakisch
56. Jak Jones v. Hans-Jurgen Bins
61. Michael Judge v. Ian Burns


From 14:30
25. Zafir Dilji v. winner of match 2
45. Gareth Allen v. winner of match 12
49. Alexander Ursenbarche v. winner or match 13
63. Brent Kolbeck v. Declan Bristow
64. Rogier Van Der Kamp v. Jamie Walker
66. Stephen Craigie v. Rudiger Nickel
67. Gary Wilson v. Thomas Wacker
68. Lee Farebrother v. winner of match 16
69. Johnatan Fulcher v. Jamie O'Neill
70. Martin Roesler v. winner of match 17


From 16:00
65 Marc Davis v. Winner of match 15
72 James Welsh v. Winner of match 18
74 Frank Schroeder v. Martin O'Donnell
75 Nick Jennings v. Bernd Friedrich
76 Nick Pearce v. Stevo Vucicevic
77 Stephane Ochoiski v. Robbie Williams
78 Patrick Einsle v. Winner of match 19
79 Robert Drahn v. Michael Wild
80 Michael Peyr v. Zhang Anda
83 Florian Moederscheim v. Winner of match 20


From 17:30
22 Sanderson Lam v. Shane Castle
36 Tony Knowles v. Lasse Munstermann
38 Gerhard Engelschalk v. Charlie Walters
51 Andy Lee v. Andreas Pesch
52 Phil O'Kane v. Stefan Merkel
53 Brian Cox v. Harold Kloss
59 Christof Biniarsch v. Steve Ventham
60 Patrick Rosmann v. Ryab Causton
62 Leo Fernandez v. Robert Sax
84 Saqib Nasir v. Sydney Wilson


From 19:30
92 Winner of match 35 v. Winner of match 36
93 Winner of match 37 v. Winner of match 38
94 Winner of match 39 v. Winner of match 40
97 Winner of match 45 v. Winner of match 46
99 Winner of match 49 v. Winner of match 50
100 Winner of match 51 v. Winner of match 52
101 Winner of match 53 v. Winner of match 54
102 Winner of match 55 v. Winner of match 56
103 Winner of match 57 v. Winner of match 58
104 Winner of match 59 v. Winner of match 60


From 21:00
105 Winner of match 61 v. Winner of match 62
106 Winner of match 63 v. Winner of match 64
107 Winner of match 65 v. Winner of match 66
110 Winner of match 71 v. Winner of match 72
111 Winner of match 73 v. Winner of match 74
112 Winner of match 75 v. Winner of match 76
113 Winner of match 77 v. Winner of match 78
114 Winner of match 79 v. Winner of match 80
115 Winner of match 81 v. Winner of match 82
116 Winner of match 83 v. Winner of match 84


Matches played at the CLUB


From 10:00
1 Hendrik Henschke v. Roland Hanisch
3 Norbert Hofheinz v. Stephanus Klitzke
4 Hendrik Glax v. Soner Sari
5 Chris Henry v. Andreas Hartung
7 Baghi Ebrahim v. Pavel Leyk
9 Shahram Changezi v. Julian Treiber
12 Julian Gaertner v. Bernd Strnad
15 Thomas Valentin v. Oliver Metzger


From 12:00
16 Wilhem Braunwald v. Jorg Petersen
21 Stefan Gerst v. Winner of match 1
26 Christian Pesch v. Winner of match 3
27 Gerrit Bij De Leij v. Winner of match 4
30 Ron Florax v. Andreas Ploner
71 Christian Ozim v. Ralph Enax
81 Nicole Breitenstein v. Jorg Vortkort
82 Lothar Kempgens v. Ali Kirim


From 14:00
31 Ole Steiner v. Winner of match 5
34 Jorg Schneidewindt v. Ruediger Fehrmann
37 Klaus Wuscher v. Hans Blanckaert
39 Ronnie Beniesch v. Winner of match 9
48 Markus Pfistermueller v. Markus Stocker
54 Anja Vucicevic v. Oliver Kremp
57 Maurice Le Duc v. Anne-Katrin Hirsch
73 Angelo Losi v. Xander Van Rossum
*all hours are UK time

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Snooker in September 2011

20:05:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

I know that September is yet to come, but I thought it would be nice to see what this autumnal month is preparing for us, the snooker loopies. Well, first of all, just as the month will start , on September 1st, to be more precise, we shall have our second week of Premier League matches, but that's it for the UK, because very quickly, we will fly all the way to China, for the Shanghai Masters. And since we are so keen for touring around the world, on September 15th we put our samba consumes on to go and dance in Brazil, for the inaugural edition of the 2011 Brazil Masters.

On 22 we will return home to experience some fast and furious snooker with Premier League's third week of cue action and on 21st of the same month, Sheffield will receive the players once again, this time, for the Players Tour Championship Event 5.
As the September will come to an end, one more share of fast snooker will be brought to us, this time in Doncaster, while between September 29 and October 2nd, we shall travel to Poland's Warsaw for the Players Tour Championship Event 6.

Pretty exciting, huh? ;-)
Below, you have more details.


1. Premier League (week 2)


When?: September 1st
Where?: Guildford Spectrum, Guildford, UK
Defending champion: Ronnie O'Sullivan
Who's playing?: For the semi-finals: (Jimmy White v. Mark Williams and Ronnie O'Sullivan v. Shaun Murphy); For the final: (White or Williams v. O'Sullivan or Murphy)
Prize Money: winner (£60,000), runner-up (£30,000), losing semi-finalists (£20,000), 5th place (£17,500), 6th place (£15,000), 7th place (£12,500), 8th place (£10,000) 9th place (£8,000) and for the 10th place (£6,000). There is also a prize of £1,000 for the highest break made during the League series, another £1,000 for the highest break realised during the Play-offs and a £25,000 for the maximum break. (should two or more players achieve that, the prize money will be shared between them).
Ranking points: -


2. Shanghai Masters


When?: 5-11 September
Where?: Shanghai, China
Defending champion: Ali Carter
Who's playing?: click here for the draw.
Prize money: winner (£65,000), runner-up (£32,000), semi-finals (£15,000), quarter-finals (£10,000), Last 16 (£7,000), Last 32 (£4,000), Last 48 (£2,300) and for the Last 64 (£1,500). There is also a money prize of £2,000 for the highest TV break and a prize money of £200 for the highest non-TV break.
Ranking points: winner (7000), runner-up (5600), semi-finals (4480), quarter-finals (3500), Last 16 (2660), Last 32 (1960 and 980*), Last 48 (1610 and 805*), Last 64 (1260 and 630*), Last 80 (910 and 455*) and for the Last 96 (560 and 280*).
* seeded loser


3. Brazil Masters


When?: 15-18 September
Where?: Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Defending champion: -
Who's playing?: click here for the draw.
Prize money: update needed.
Ranking points: -


4. Premier League (week 3)


When?: September 22nd
Where?: Ravenscraig Sports Facility, Motherwell, UK
Defending champion: Ronnie O'Sullivan
Who's playing?: For the semi-finals: (John Higgins v. Neil Robertson and Ding Junhui v. Shaun Murphy); For the final: (Higgins or Robertson v. Ding or Murphy)
Prize Money: winner (£60,000), runner-up (£30,000), losing semi-finalists (£20,000), 5th place (£17,500), 6th place (£15,000), 7th place (£12,500), 8th place (£10,000) 9th place (£8,000) and for the 10th place (£6,000). There is also a prize of £1,000 for the highest break made during the League series, another £1,000 for the highest break realised during the Play-offs and a £25,000 for the maximum break. (should two or more players achieve that, the prize money will be shared between them).
Ranking points: -


5. Players Tour Championship Event 5 (PTC 5)


When?: 21-25 September
Where?: World Snooker Academy, Sheffield, UK
Who's playing?: click here for the qualifying draw and here for the main event's draw.
Prize Money: winner (£10,000), runner-up (£5,000), losing semi-finalists (£2,500), losing quarter-finalists (£1,500), last 16 (£1,000), last 32 (£600) and the last 64 (£200).
Ranking points: winner (2,000), runner-up (1,600), losing semi-finalists (1,280), losing quarter-finalists (1,000), last 16 (760), last 32 (560) and the last 64 (360).


6. Premier League (week 4)


When?: September 29th
Where?: The Dome, Doncaster, UK
Defending champion: Ronnie O'Sullivan
Who's playing?: For the semi-finals: (Ronnie O'Sullivan v. Matthew Stevens and Ding Junhui v. Ali Carter); For the final: (O'Sullivan or Stevens v. Ding or Carter)
Prize Money: winner (£60,000), runner-up (£30,000), losing semi-finalists (£20,000), 5th place (£17,500), 6th place (£15,000), 7th place (£12,500), 8th place (£10,000) 9th place (£8,000) and for the 10th place (£6,000). There is also a prize of £1,000 for the highest break made during the League series, another £1,000 for the highest break realised during the Play-offs and a £25,000 for the maximum break. (should two or more players achieve that, the prize money will be shared between them).
Ranking points: -


7. Players Tour Championship Event 6 (PTC 6)


When?: September 29th - October 2nd
Where?: Warsaw, Poland
Who's playing?: click here for the qualifying draw and here for the main event's draw.
Prize Money: winner (£10,000), runner-up (£5,000), losing semi-finalists (£2,500), losing quarter-finalists (£1,500), last 16 (£1,000), last 32 (£600) and the last 64 (£200).
Ranking points: winner (2,000), runner-up (1,600), losing semi-finalists (1,280), losing quarter-finalists (1,000), last 16 (760), last 32 (560) and the last 64 (360).

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Players Tour Championship Event Three 2011 - Ben Woollaston's triumph

00:07:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Ben Woollaston, the 2011 PTC 3 champion
Ben Woollaston captured his first ranking title after winning 4-2 over the 2006 world champion, Graeme Dott. It's been an incredible journey for Ben, who defeated names like Rod Lawler, Kurt Maflin, Andrew Higginson, Ken Doherty, Alan McManus and Anthony McGill, to book himself a place into the Players Tour Championship Event Three final and win it.


Leicester' man and I am not talking about the Jester Mark Selby, started his day with a perfect 4-0 over Ireland's Doherty, continued with a tight 4-3 against a very powerful and determined to win Alan McManus, whitewashed the sensational Anthony McGill 4-0 and ended with 4-2 in front of Graeme Dott. So, that makes three Scottish players that were defeated by Ben. Impressive stuff and more since we are talking about some really fine players.


The final started with Dott potting a beautiful long red but losing position, this creating the perfect opportunity for Woollaston to get in and take the opener with a 70 break. However, Dott replayed with a series of 19, 24 and 30 to equal the situation at 1-1.

Graeme Dott, the 2011 PTC 3  runner-up
The third frame was going to be won also by the Scottish player, but that resulted to be his last victory, as the following three frames were cashed by Woollaston with runs of 42, 33, 43 and 50.
He sure took revenge from losing 4-3 to Graeme during last year's EPTC 4 from Gloucester, while playing in the Last 16. ;-)


But all things aside, we can't overlook Dott's performance during this tournament. He had a terrific run beating James Welsh, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Jamie Jones and Barry Hawkins. Now that's something for a player that had an awful last season, but seems to be back in business.
Players like Alan McManus, Barry Hawkins and Anthony McGill has registered remarkable results also, especially if we talk about the first two, because it feels like ages have passed since we saw both McManus and Hawkins playing at their best. As for McGill, he has improved his performance from PTC 2, when he almost reached the Last 16 round (lost his last match 4-0 to Neil Robertson), so I'm sure we'll see him doing better and better in next competitions.


This concludes out five days in Sheffield, but don’t you worry for Players Tour Championship Event 4 is just around the corner. On 25th of August we'll be in Germany at Fürth where the cue battles will begin all over again. ;-)
See yaaaa!


Last day list of results:


10am (Last 16)
113 Ben Woollaston 4-0 Ken Doherty
114 Alan McManus 4-1 Joe Jogia
115 Anthony McGill 4-1 Michael Holt
116 Stephen Lee 4-1 Stephen Maguire
117 Marcus Campbell 4-2 Mark Selby
118 Barry Hawkins 4-1 Xiao Guodong
119 Jamie Jones 4-3 Matthew Selt
120 Graeme Dott 4-2 John Higgins


Not before 1pm (the quarter-finals)
121 Ben Woollaston 4-3 Alan McManus
122 Anthony McGill 4-2 Stephen Lee
123 Marcus Campbell 0-4 Barry Hawkins
124 Jamie Jones 0-4 Graeme Dott


Not before 4pm (the semi-finasl)
125 Ben Woollaston 4-0 Anthony McGill
126 Barry Hawkins 1-4 Graeme Dott


Not before 7pm (the final)
127 Graeme Dott 2-4 Ben Woollaston

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Players Tour Championship Event Three 2011 - Day 2

14:44:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Brilliant run for Barry Hawkins
Another late night in Sheffield-city, another series of thrilling matches - that's how the last group that needed to send eight players through to the Last 16 spent its day.


It's been a really great surprise to see Barry Hawkins doing so well during this competition, standing his ground and putting so much energy in each match he's played. With results like 4-0 against the mighty Aditya Mehta, 4-2 against another powerful player, Craig Steadman and a final battle given between him and his OnQPromotions team member, Tony Drago ended on the same 4-2, were enough to send him all the way to the Last 16. Brilliant run for the Kent lad.


Another exceptional performance was registered by the 22 year-old Chinese player, Xiao Guodong whose 4-2 over Neil Jones and Dave Harold and that perfect 4-0 that knelt Judd Trump served him well for a place into the next round.
Not a bad run for Jamie Jones, the Englishman succeeding to beat Yu Delu 4-3, Jimmy Robertson 4-1 and Andy Hicks by the same scoreline, but also for "The World Champions crasher", Matthew Selt who whitewashed Cao Yupeng 4-0, defeated Alfie Burden 4-2, only to see him end his day with a brilliant 4-0 over the powerful Mark Davis.


Legend Stephen Hendry lost the last match
The Jester from Leicester obtained a well-deserved spot in the Last 16 after winning all his three snooker confrontations, 4-0 against Belgium's Luca Brecel, 4-1 against the Welshman Ryan Day and 4-2 against Gary Wilson, while Scotland's boys: Marcus Campbell, Graeme Dott and John Higgins secured a place into the Last 16 as well.

A 4-2 against David Hogan, a 4-0 against Sam Craigie and another 4-2 with David Morris surely did the trick for Campbell, while Higgins' 4-3 against Michell Mann and 4-1 over Joe Perry but also Jimmy White were enough for going further into the competition. As for Dotty, hammering James Welsh and the one and only Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 and ending on a perfect 4-0 with Stephen Hendry were all that he needed to finish his day covered in glory.


Here are Day 2 list of results:


9am
33 Mark Selby 4-0 Luca Brecel
34 Ryan Day w/o Robin Hull
35 Peter Ebdon 1-4 Gary Wilson
36 Nigel Bond 4-2 Marc Davis
37 Tom Ford 3-4 Sam Craigie
38 Marcus Campbell 4-2 David Hogan
39 Mark Joyce 1-4 David Morris
40 Jamie Burnett 4-3 Adam Wicheard


Not before 11am
41 Tony Drago 4-2 Michael Wasley
42 Martin Gould 4-0 Dechawat Poomjaeng
43 Fergal O'Brien 1-4 Craig Steadman
44 Barry Hawkins 4-0 Aditya Mehta
45 Judd Trump 4-0 Sam Harvey
46 Adrian Gunnell 2-4 Sharam Changezi
47 Xiao Guodong 4-2 Neal Jones
48 Dave Harold 4-0 Stephen Ellis


Not before 1pm
49 Matthew Selt 4-0 Cao Yupeng
50 Alfie Burden 4-0 David Birley
51 Liang Wenbo 4-0 James Hill
52 Mark Davis 4-1 Stuart Carrington
53 Jimmy Robertson 4-0 Lee Page
54 Jamie Jones 4-3 Yu Delu
55 Andy Hicks 4-0 Douglas Hogan
58 Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 David Gilbert


Not before 3pm
56 Ian Mcculloch 4-0 Joe Meara
57 Graeme Dott 4-1 James Welsh
59 Liu Song 0-4 Andrew Norman
60 Stephen Hendry 4-0 Liam Highfield
61 Jimmy White 4-0 Simon Bedford
62 Mike Dunn 4-1 Kishan Hirani
63 Joe Perry 4-3 James McGouran
64 John Higgins 4-3 Mitchell Mann


Not before 5pm
81 Mark Selby 4-1 Ryan Day
82 Gary Wilson 4-1 Nigel Bond
83 Marcus Campbell 4-0 Sam Craigie
84 David Morris 4-3 Jamie Burnett
85 Tony Drago 4-3 Martin Gould
86 Barry Hawkins 4-2 Craig Steadman
87 Judd Trump 4-1 Shahram Changezi
88 Xiao Guodong 4-2 Dave Harold


Not before 7pm
89 Matthew Selt 4-2 Alfie Burden
90 Mark Davis 4-2 Liang Wenbo
91 Jamie Jones 4-1 Jimmy Robertson
92 Andy Hicks 4-3 Ian McCulloch
93 Graeme Dott 4-1 Ronnie O'Sullivan
94 Stephen Hendry 4-2 Andrew Norman
95 Jimmy White 4-1 Mike Dunn
96 John Higgins 4-1 Joe Perry


Not before 9pm
105 Mark Selby 4-2 Gary Wilson
106 Marcus Campbell 4-2 David Morris
107 Barry Hawkins 4-2 Tony Drago
108 Xiao Guodong 4-0 Judd Trump
109 Matthew Selt 4-0 Mark Davis
110 Jamie Jones 4-1 Andy Hicks
111 Graeme Dott 4-0 Stephen Hendry
112 John Higgins 4-1 Jimmy White


As you are reading these lines, the last day of the PTC 3 is under way, so below you can check the match schedule as well as the latest results. Best of luck to all the lads and don’t forget to take a glance at them on sportlemon.tv when the sessions start. ;-)


10am (Last 16)
113 Ben Woollaston 4-0 Ken Doherty
114 Alan McManus 4-1 Joe Jogia
115 Michael Holt 1-4 Anthony McGill
116 Stephen Maguire 1-4 Stephen Lee
117 Mark Selby 2-4 Marcus Campbell
118 Barry Hawkins 4-1 Xiao Guodong
119 Graeme Dott 4-2 John Higgins
120 Matthew Selt 3-4 Jamie Jones


Not before 1pm (the quarter-finals)
121 Ben Woollaston v. Alan McManus
122 Anthony McGill v. Stephen Lee
123 Barry Hawkins v. Marcus Campbell
124 Graeme Dott v. Jamie Jones


Not before 4pm (the semi-finals)
125 Winner Of Match 121 v. Winner Of Match 122
126 Winner Of Match 123 v. Winner Of Match 124


Not before 7pm (the final)
127 Winner Of Match 125 v. Winner Of Match 126

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