Stephen Maguire wins 2014 Lisbon Open

00:47:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Stephen Maguire proudly showing his trophy
Stephen Maguire beat Matthew Selt by 4-2 to win the Lisbon Open tournament, the last ranking snooker event of the year. However, the competition stands up also for the fact that is the first of its kind to be played on Portuguese soil.

For four long days Portugal’s capital, Lisbon, was on fire, as the snooker lads have come to conquer the land that gave the world many fearless explorers back in the day when we didn't know what lies across the ocean.

Considering this special occasion, Ben Woollaston registered a great 147 by playing Joe Steele, this becoming the 110th in snooker history.

But the biggest round of applause was received tonight, as Stephen Maguire and Matthew Selt entered the arena to cross their cues into the grand final battle.

Maguire and Selt
It all started with Selt's great 78 clearance which was bringing him a fair advantage of 1-0 and the scoreline could have easily gone 2-0, if he hadn't snookered himself on the last blue. 

This was the moment when Maguire seemed to have woken up from the dead, a great clearance of just 22 points levelling the match at one apiece. Must add that the frame was dramatically won on the black.

The next frame opened with Maguire's maximum attempt, which unfortunately materialised in just a break of 100, but it was surely enough to give him a boost of confidence as he was now leading by 2-1.

Selt fought back, a break of 69 making the scoreline go all square again, but Maguire put an end to whatever hope was left for the Englishman (who was actually playing for the first time ever into a ranking final) with runs of 50 and 86.

Stephen singing autographs for fans
A thrilled Maguire admitted that he was absolutely "delighted" to win this weekend and that his opponent was fairly the better player for the last two days, but luckily for him he "didn't show up in the final". 

The MC ended with asking Stephen if he is "on fire" to which the Scottish replied with an honest and big smile on his face: "Yeah, definitely on fire".


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A victory in sneakers: O'Sullivan wins 2014 UK Championship

00:46:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Ronnie O'Sullivan - the 2014 UK Championship winner
Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Judd Trump 10-9 after a tremendous battle of cues and nerves to win his 5th UK Championship crown. Although the first part of the match was pretty much a one-sided one, Ronnie leading by 5-3, the last session proved to be a genuine snooker drama, Trump taking Ronnie all the way to a decider.

As the lads re-entered the arena in the company of referee Terry Camilleri, the final of this year's Coral UK Championship began. There was no turning back for at the end of the day a new (or old) champion will arise.

Trump was the first in with a chance, a much-needed one considering that he was two frames behind, but unfortunately he broke down on a 48 break after missing a red, this clearing the way for Ronnie and a 53 break that was putting him at 6-3.

Judd Trump - the 2014 UK Championship runner-up
Almost in a xeroxed manner the next frame started in the same way: with Trump as favourite this time though losing position on 56, his opponent using runs of 36 and 31 to grab one more frame. However, a tiny 48 break in frame 11 was proving just was Judd needed to keep his hopes alive. It was 7-4.

But Ronnie was in the mood for the kill, a brilliant 133 clearance and breaks of 54 and 35 helping him to land one step away from the victory line, at 9-4. Surely this was going to be the end for young Judd.

Surely not, would be the right answer, as the Bristol-man won a scrappy affair with a top break of 40 followed by some very special snooker treats: breaks of 120, 127 and 86 to go 9-8 behind.

The lads congratulating each other
With almost 39 minutes since his last pot O'Sullivan started the 18th frame, but missed the black of its spot on 21, followed by losing position on a 38 break, thus Judd capitalising with a beautiful 67 clearance to force the decider.

It was starting to look like the 2010 UK Championship final between John Higgins and Mark Williams, the Scotsman being 9-5 down before performing a magnificent comeback and win the title with a 10-9 scoreline.

Still, this wasn't to be the case for Trump, as O'Sullivan took care of sealing his victory with a 51 break and a punch in the air.

One very happy Rocket!
In the interview taken by Hazel Irvine, Ronnie confessed he was "gone to be honest" at 9-4 and lost his focus while seeing Trump potting one ball after another. The Rocket added that he hopes not to have these sort of matches in the near future and joked about not wanting to face Trump too soon.

So, here it is: after starting the tournament with a strained ankle that caused him to consider pulling out of the event after the first match and after wearing those horrendous sneakers for the entire time, Ronnie O'Sullivan proved that no matter what, as long as you put in the work, the talent and the belief you can win in style.

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2014 UK Championship (final) - O'Sullivan leads Trump after first session

19:05:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments


Ronnie takes control of the match
Raucous atmosphere here at the Barbican Centre from York as Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump started their final battle for the UK crown, after the first session the Rocket leading The Ace in the Pack by 5-3.

The cues battle had a pretty nervy start, but O'Sullivan made the most of it and took the opener, closely followed by Trump's response into hitting a 50 break to draw level at one apiece.

But as the game developed Judd's form was beginning to show bad signs, O'Sullivan taking advantage of whatever chance was given to him to hit in breaks of 82, 41 and 27 for a 3-1 lead at the interval.

Gutted, Judd tweeted: "Absolute poop so far need to play 10x better to have a chance."

Trump's behind, but he's a dangerous opponent none the less
So, when the match re-started and Ronnie missed a black of its spot early in the frame, it was Trump's chance to capitalise. Unfortunately he didn't take full advantage and Ronnie cleared with a brilliant 81.

Frame six seemed to be going Judd's way until the Bristol-player hit just a bit too hard a red, who refused to go down to the right centre pocket, this granting his opponent the opportunity to go 5-1 ahead.

The last two frames of the session were scrappy affairs and a real battle of tactical play, in the end though Trump managing to clinch them in order to trail 5-3.

The match will resume tonight from 7pm (UK time). Don't miss it, it's guaranteed to blow your mind!


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2014 UK Championship - Trump too strong for Maguire

01:10:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Judd Trump beat Scotland's Stephen Maguire by 6-4 to get himself a nice and cosy place in Sunday grand final of this year's Coral UK Championship.

It has been one hell of a journey for both Trump and Maguire so I guess it was only normal to see these two in a genuinely nerve-breaking semi-final which had all the needed ingredients.

The ice-breaker came from Judd's part, the Bristol-player hitting a break of 57 and a 63 to go 2-0, before Maguire was given a real chance to disturb the balls. Unfortunately for him he missed a long red on 45 Trump making the most of this and going 3-0 up with runs of 24 and 31.

Yet again Maguire put himself out there and made a 54 during frame four, but lost position Trump performing one of his special shots and gathering no less than 79 points to leave his opponent even further behind at 4-0.

Stephen had a lot to think about during the mini-break, so when he returned into the arena, he initiated his comeback sustained by a 50 break, followed by a firm attempt to continue it in the next frame.

Sadly, he was unlucky and missed a red on 39 leaving it right between the jaws of the pocket, Trump getting down for a perfect 100 clearance that was putting him one step away from the final, 5-1.

All odds against him, Maguire didn't give in, a break of 67 helping him pull back another frame, to which he added two tactical ones to go 5-4 behind.

Frame 10 was incredibly tense, the biggest break made being Trump's 29 followed by Maguire's 22. It all got down to fighting on the last red and the remaining colours, until Stephen committed a foul and the scoreline went 49-45 in favour of his opponent.

Placing the cue ball in the balk area Judd potted the green, brown and blue to seal a much-desired and deserved victory for a place in Sunday's final, where he's meeting an old rival of the green baize, Ronnie O'Sullivan.

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2014 UK Championship - Rocket lands in final

19:04:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Rocket Ronnie is in the final
Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Stuart Bingham by 6-5 after being led 4-1, in order to book a very comfortable seat in tomorrow's final.

It was bumpy ride for the five-time world champion to prevail the semi-final against Bingham and the lads took their time into teasing the audience consuming all the 11 frames in a superb battle of cues, but in the end the Rocket landed safely in the grand final.

From the very start of the match, Stuart looked as sharp as ever, breaks of 66 and 49 throwing him at 2-0 up, while O'Sullivan barely managed to win a frame with a top break of 44 after numerous misses.

Bingham lost focus
Another beautiful set of breaks (73 and 137) were putting Stuart at 4-1 up, but the Englishman seemed a bit too excited about his run of the ball and started making huge mistakes in the following frames.

A relatively easy red, during frame six, and a long red, in frame seven, sufficed to let Ronnie in and get a bit of time table, after being grounded to stay in his seat for the first half of the match.

Runs of 62 and 68 marked his comeback into the match, a comeback that didn't stop not even after Stuart won the 9th frame to go one away from victory, at 5-4.

Happy bunny


O'Sullivan made a beautiful 117 clearance to force the decider which was won with another great exhibition of snooker under the form of a 94 break.

Just after the match the Rocket confessed that for the first part of the snooker show he didn't settle and was looking at Bingham potting one ball after another, thinking in how many tournaments he's played in and about the fact that he has such a great run of the ball, while him isn't at his best.

However, everything changed after the interval and Ronnie decided to make a run for it. The result couldn't have turned out better for him.

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2014 UK Championship - O'Sullivan and Trump progress into semis

02:03:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Rocket in semis
It all started on November 25th and believe it or not we are down to just four players who will cross their cues into Saturday semi-finals, here at the Barbican Centre from York: Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stuart Bingham, Judd Trump and Stephen Maguire.

The birthday-boy (aka. Ronnie) faced Scotland's Anthony McGill in his quest for a place in the semis, which proved to be quite a test for the Rocket, as he himself admitted after the match.

Ants was breaking the ice with runs of 31, 43 and 55 to fly at 2-0 up against the man who has conquered no less than five world championship titles, but as the interval was coming Ronnie managed to draw level with breaks of 38, 39 and 98.

McGill made his opponent work for the win
15 minutes later, the players re-entered into the arena to resume their play, O'Sullivan making a beautiful clearance of 125 points to go in the lead for the first time, 3-2, but McGill pushed him into a very tense 6th frame until the scoreline was yet again a perfect draw.

Anthony had a great chance to capture another frame, but broke down on 41, this allowing Ronnie to hit a 57 before missing the black. In the end though, the Scotsman didn't manage to take full advantage and missed a yellow, thus Ronnie getting back in the driving seat, at 4-3.

Another huge chance slipped through his fingers when he left a green hanging between the jaws of the pocket in frame eight, but a great 103 break made during frame 9th seemed to erase all that.

Still, O'Sullivan was one away from victory, a break of 97 helping him book a seat in the semis.

Dott's going home

The Rocket congratulated his opponent and stated that McGill is a wonderful person and a player with a great career ahead of him, even reminding him a bit of Steve Davis. I reckon he wasn't just referring at his hair colour.

A more dramatic match was taking place "next door" between Graeme Dott and Stuart Bingham, a match that had some strange resemblance with the snooker encounter between Dott and Robertson earlier in the tournament. Sadly for Dott though, the result was different.

Bingham's comeback secures him a place in the semis
The Scotsman proved to be in quite a great form and practically flew at 4-1 by using breaks like 68, 68 and 92, but it all turned against him in frame six when he had a massive kick on 34 and Stuart won his second frame of the match.

From that point on it was just a matter of time before Bingham completed his comeback with breaks of 108, 65 and 64, to which he added a brilliant 103 during the last frame to sign his victory by 6-5.
A gutted Dott declared that “The snooker Gods didn’t want me to win”, in the press conference after the suffered defeat.

Trump is amongst the fav to win the title
The evening session saw Mark Davis taking on Judd Trump in a match that ended on a 6-1 scoreline, in favour of the Bristol-man.

Just as the match started Davis was in amongst the balls making some pretty nice breaks, a 48 in the first frame (stopped by a missed black) and a 50 in the second (lost position), to which Trump responded with a 72 and 59 to go 2-0 up.

Although Davis managed to win the third one, it was a one-way street for the 2011 UK champion, as he fired in breaks of 59 and 65 to go 5-1 up.

One last chance it was handed to Davis, as Trump missed a red on 64, but sadly enough he incredibly missed the last black and left it on for Trump to seal victory.

A bit angry at times, but Maguire advances into semis
The last of the four musketeers, Stephen Maguire met with Marco Fu in a match that kept us awake late in the night.

Stephen proved to be the better player as he immediately went 4-1 up (breaks of 32, 95, 36, 66 and 120 included in the offer), but Fu didn't give up.

He won his 2nd frame of the match with a nicely built 67 break, followed by runs of 49 and 35 to trail 4-3, while Maguire won a very tense snooker affair which was putting him with one foot in the semis.

Fu prolonged the suspense as he grabbed a scrappy 9th frame, but in the end Maguire clinched the much-desired last frame with just a top break of 20, for a final 6-4 scoreline.

Semis order of play:

Stuart Bingham v. Ronnie O'Sullivan
Judd Trump v. Stephen Maguire


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2014 UK Championship - O'Sullivan establishes new record with 147

13:52:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Terrific Rocket makes 147
Tremendous cue action yesterday in Barbican Centre from York, as Ronnie O'Sullivan not only qualified easily into the quarter finals of the Coral UK Championship by beating Matthew Selt 6-0, but also wrote another important page in the snooker history book.

The five-time world champion scored an amazing 147 to seal his victory, this setting a new record, even harder to achieve. O'Sullivan's 147 is the 13th of his career as a professional snooker player and the 109th one in history of snooker.

As a bonus, today is his birthday (have a good one Rocket!) so what a better present to get for yourself than a perfect 147 for which Maguire and Morris stopped his match, Selt was in total awe, the crowd was going mad with excitement and the entire snooker planet was up on its feet?

Ronnie opened the match with a break of 76, Matthew missing two great chances to go 2-1 up (he missed a tricky red with the rest on frame two and a pink in frame three), thus leaving the road open for O'Sullivan's rain of breaks.

Maguire advances to the QFs
A 43 clearance, followed by a 61 one were putting Ronnie 3-0 up, while a 53 and an 88 (this was actually Ronnie's first attempt for a maximum) were getting him one step closer to the victory, which as you already know happened 147 points after that.

After the match, the Rocket admitted that he was "shaking like a leaf" during the 147 and joked about the prize money: "Unless the prize is over 40K you ain't getting a maxi outta me!"

The evening ended with Stephen Maguire's victory over David Morris, a victory of 6-3.

Murphy's out
The ice-breaker came from Maguire's part, but Morris drew level at one apiece as soon as the second frame was over, only to be led by 3-1 as the mid-session interval was starting (Maguire hit a 45 and cleared the table with an amazing 108).

David's fans were still hopping for the best, as when their superstar returned into the arena and hit a great 90 break to pull back a frame, but Maguire was going to release his special ball of fire (43, 41, 74 and 41) in order to keep his opponent in the chair and win the match.

Earlier in the day, Shaun Murphy and Marco Fu crossed their cues into a very nervy and tense match, which saw all its frames being played.

Trump's in for the kill
Murphy lost no time into going one away from victory with a marvellous set of breaks (53, 75, 137, 75 and 82) for a 5-3 scoreline, but Fu was going to come back at him.

A terrific battle of nerves which lasted almost an hour, was seeing Fu win his forth frame on the black, the comeback being complete with a 67 break during the next frame.

Shaun had the first chance into making this history, but sadly enough he lost position on 54. Fu missed on 33 and the safety battle began, a safety battle that Murphy lost by snookering himself.

Judd Trump is also through to the quarter-finals after defeating veteran Rod Lawler 6-3, sealing his victory with a beautiful 112.


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