2015 Shanghai Masters - Day 4

As we are marching on towards the latest stages of the 2015 Shanghai Masters more and more matches end up on a dramatic decider, this being the case for Judd Trump who beat Matthew Selt on the final black, but also Ding Junhui who beat Welshman Ryan Day by recording the same 5-4 scoreline.

Experiencing a pretty slow start, Ding Junhui and Ryan Day kept their cues battle on a "bits and pieces" mode up until the second half of the match.

Although Ding was the one to take the opener with a pretty solid 52 break, the match soon turned into a veritable scrapper despite the Chinese's 50 break from frame three and Day's 54 from frame four.

Stuck at two apiece, the lads returned from their mid-session interval break to play a very awkward fifth frame won by Ding after an outrageous fluke of the green.

Day found some consistency during the following frame, a break of 83 restoring the balance of the match, but Ding responded with a 75 to go 4-3 in front. 

As expected, the Welshman did his best and with a break of 69 was forcing the decider, decider that Ding won fair and square with a great 76 break. 

He now meets Kyren Wilson who obtained a very important victory of 5-1 against Michael Holt by firing in breaks of 123, 52 and 64.

Judd Trump and Matthew Selt got together for a brilliant test of stamina, the lads ending on the final frame and on the final black.

Although Trump led 3-1, Selt keep his head straight and crawled back into the match by using break sof 93 and 71.

The final frame found Selt in the favourite seat, as he had a 48-14 advantage, but Trump managed to cleared the table and win the frame and match on the black to meet Mark Williams (who beat Jamie Cope 5-3) in the quarter-finals.

Martin Gould continued his tremendous run and took revenge on losing the 2015 Australian Golfields Open final 9-8 against John Higgins, the Scotsman being knelled down by a 5-3 scoreline.

Breaks of 71 and 92 were helping Gould take a great 3-1 lead at the interval, but his opponent fought back and levelled the match at three apiece.

Still, Gould's superior form and state of mind proved to do the trick when he regained control of the match with a 77 break and added one more frame for victory.

"The Pinner Potter" is now set to take on current world champion but also defending Shanghai Masters champion Stuart Bingham who recorded a tremendous 5-1 victory against Mike Dunn earlier in the day.

Mark Allen also booked his place in the quarter-finals, the pride of Northern Ireland hammering David Grace 5-1, while Shaun Murphy felt down as Dark Mavis' (or officially known Mark Davis) victim on a 5-3 defeat.

Tomorrow the cue battles continue as are marching towards the quarter-finals!!! Unfortunately I won't be able to cover the event from this point on, due to some unexpected events (not to worry, nothing serious) so I'll see you at the final.

7.30am
Stuart Bingham v. Martin Gould
Judd Trump v. Mark Williams

12.30pm
Ding Junhui v. Kyren Wilson
Mark Davis v. Mark Allen

* all hours are UK time

Happy birthday Ken Doherty!

We are extremely happy to celebrate "The Darling of Dublin" Ken Doherty today!

The Irishman in one of the nicest snooker players on tour and, may I add, has an unmistakable laughter but when it comes to serious businesses he is a ferocious player on the old green baize.


P.S. As a special bonus for the readers of this blog, I would like to add that fact that Ken's autobiography is one of the best I have ever read, so if you haven't read it by now, please do. It's very inspirational and honest.

2015 Shanghai Masters - Day 3

The third day of the Shanghai Masters thrill brought with it a bit of drama as Shaun Murphy had to perform a tremendous comeback from being 4-1 down to go on and win 5-4 against Peter Ebdon, while Jamie Cope beat former world champion Neil Robertson by the same scoreline, despite Aussie crawling back from being led 3-0.

Shaun Murphy and Peter Ebdon got together for one hell of a match, Ebdon looking favourite to win from the very beginning. Still, it's not a victory until the fat lady sings ... or the last ball is potted (something like that).

Ebdon opened the scoreline with a great break of 60, followed by a tremendous total clearance of 134 and a more modest 37 to go 3-0 up, while Murphy seemed all over the place.

The forth frame seemed to be going Ebdon's way too (thanks to a break of 55), but Murphy came back and was only needing the black ball to win his first frame. But he missed it!

Ebdon came to the table, tried to pot it, failed and so Murphy was able to break the ice and win his first frame of the day.

After the break Ebdon took revenge and won the fifth frame on the black (ironically!) to go 4-1 ahead, but that proved insufficient as Murphy stormed in with breaks of 74, 67 and 81 to win.

Still, not every comeback ends with a victory, Neil Robertson's one being a living proof of that. The Australian took on Jamie Cope who in no time found himself in the leading chair at 3-0.

In spite of the 2010 world champion's efforts not only to comeback into the match, but also to turn tables, at 4-3 Cope kept it cool and closed the match with runs of 39 and 56.

Kyren Wilson obtained an indisputable victory of 5-1 in front of Joe Perry, while Mark Davis did the same by confronting Michael White with breaks of 73, 61 and 126.

Mark Allen has also assured his position into the Last 16 after beating Belgium's best Luca Brecel 5-3, while Mark Williams hammered Tom Ford 5-1 thanks to breaks of 128, 108 and 59.

As many of you already know, Mark Selby had to pull out of this event after finding out the sad news of his father-in-law death, this leaving David Grace with a bye to the Last 16 round.

Tomorrow, the matches continue:

7.30am

Stuart Bingham v. Mike Dudd
Mark Williams v. Jamie Cope
Michael Holt v. Kyren Wilson
Shaun Murphy v. Mark Davis

12.30pm

John Higgins v. Martin Gould
Judd Trump v. Matthew Selt
Ding Junhui  v. Ryan Day
Mark Allen v. David Grace 

*all hours are UK time 

Selby pulls out of Shanghai Masters

Mark Selby has withdrawn from this year's Shanghai Masters after the sad news of his father-in-law's death.

"The Jester" was due to play David Grace today, the player getting a bye to the Last 16 round as a result of Selby's withdrawal.

SML blog would like to offer sincere condolences to the entire family.

Yesterday, World Snooker announced that Ricky Walden withdrew from the tournament also, after his wife gave birth to the couple's first child.

2015 Shanghai Masters - Day 2

The cue battles continue here in Shanghai where current world champion, Stuart Bingham started the quest to defend the Shanghai Masters title with his right foot, beating Fang Xiongman 5-2, while Judd Trump stormed into a blitz attack which left Robert Milking with no power to react (5-0).

Things couldn't have been tougher for Stuart Bingham, who not only starts each tournament as the current world champion, but starts this particular one - the Shanghai Masters - as defending champion nonetheless.

Still, today seemed like the master of the green baize was in full control as he beat a pretty tough opponent - wildcard Fang Xiongman by 5-2. The Chinese player sent Jamie Jones home, the day before.

Also in perfect form is Judd Trump, the Bristolian performing the third whitewash of the tournament by defeating Robert Milkins 5-0.

"The Milkman" had a pretty good chance to write his name on the scoreboard in the first frame, but he missed an easy black on 33, this giving Trump the chance to come to the table and hit a 53 break in order to conquer the opener.

To this, the "Ace in the Pack" added great breaks of 74, 122 and 62 and ended with runs of 25 and 23 to close the deal and secure himself a place in the Last 16.

Ding Junhui, a player that is practically deified here in China (and all for good reason) got on a very good start too, his opponent Alan McManus being defeated by 5-1.

The first part of the match was a bit of a scrappy snooker affair in which none of the players really stood up, but during frame four, Ding started his offensive carefully sustained by breaks of 66, 104 and 74 enough to wins him the match.

Michael Holt proved he's a very dangerous opponent (if that needed clarifying) as he beat world number 15 Stephen Maguire 5-1 (breaks of 101, 91 and 68 included in the package), while Mike Dunn saw off Marco Fu 5-3.

Today also marked the end of the wildcard round, Jamie Cope obtaining a 5-2 victory in front of Lin Shuai, as did Tom Ford against Han Bin, while Kyren Wilson hammered Wang Yuchen 5-1.

Ricky Walden, the 2008 Shanghai Masters champion withdrew from the tournament as his wife had just given birth to their first child (yay for the happy couple!), this giving Matthew Selt a bye to the Last 16.

Wednesday matches schedule:

7.30am
Mark Williams v. Tom Ford
Neil Robertson v. Jamie Cope
Mark Allen v. Luca Brecel

12.30pm
Joe Perry v. Kyren Wilson
Shaun Murphy v. Peter Ebdon
Michael White v. Mark Davis
Mark Selby v. David Grace

*all hours are UK time
 

2015 Shanghai Masters - Day 1

The grandiose Shanghai Masters has kicked off today with the much-disputed wild card round, only one Chinese player being able to overcome the snooker-fury of their visitors, Fang Xiongman defeating Jamie Jones by an impressive 5-1 scoreline.

The two Australian Open finalists John Higgins and Martin Gould - have both obtained clear victories in front of Liang Wenbo and Barry Hawkins, respectively (both signed 5-1), while Robert Milkins and Mike Dunn performed the first two whitewashes of the tournament against China's Chen Zifan and Niu Zhuang.

The first biggest shock of this tournament hit on early hours (especially if you don't live in Shanghai), as wild card Fang Xiongman beat Englishman Jamie Jones by 5-1 and hit a beautiful 115 break in the process.

According to World Snooker, the Chinese player was very emotional about his win and recalled the fact that, unlike most of the snooker players, he first picked up a cue when he was 17 (the age when Ding Junhui was winning ranking events already).

Xiongman admitted he "there is still so much about the technical and mental sides of the game to learn" which will definitely count when he'll take on the current world champion, Stuart Bingham in Round One.

Recently landing on home soil from Bangkok, Thailand Liang Wenbo had to take on the four-time world champion, John Higgins who, although not at his best, capitalized his chances more easily to end the match on a 5-1 scoreline.

The opener started with Higgins' 147 attempt, which was brutally interrupted when he broke down on 65, his Chinese opponent trying his best to catch up. A bit of an early drama became the main course on the menu for the next minutes, but in the end Higgins closed and took the first frame.

The following three frames were also going to bare John's name, although his biggest break was a 56 during frame four, the mid-session interval coming on a 4-0 scoreline.

After the mini-break Wenbo used runs of 23, 22 and another 22 to pull back a frame, but it was a bit too late to start coming back so the next frame, Higgins closed the deal to advance in the next round where he'll meet ... Martin Gould (his opponent from Australian Open's final).

Gould (who probably got the best birthday present ever today), beat Barry Hawkins by the same 5-1 scoreline in order to qualify for the next round.

"The Pinner Potter" started with a brilliant 109 break and built his assault by taking one frame at the time. Interestingly enough, just as in John's case, his opponent managed to pull back a frame just before Martin wrapped it up and call it a day.

After the match Gould said he is thrilled to have made a good start in Shanghai and explained that Barry was nothing near his best and missed a lot of balls that he didn't expect to do, this finally working into Martin's advantage.

In the end though, Martin added: "It would be nice to see Barry play at his best at some point this season, but not against me, though", with a smile on his face.

The first day proved to be a prolific one also for Robert Milkins who knelled down Chen Zifan by 5-0, the same scoreline being performed by Mike Dunn against Niu Zhuang, while Ryan Day obtained a hard-fought 5-3 victory against Scotland's Graeme Dott.

Alan McManus showed Yao Pengcheng he means serious business with two top breaks of 100 and 122 for a 5-2 victory, the same scoreline being recorded by Peter Ebdon in front of the young Yuan Sijun.

Tomorrow the players will continue to cross their cues, as it follows:

7.30am

Tom Ford v. Han Bin
Jamie Cope v. Lin Shuai
Kyren Wilson v. Wang Yuchen
Stuart Bingham v. Fang Xiongman

12.30pm

Marco Fu v. Mike Dunn
Judd Trump v. Robert Milkins
Ding Junhui v. Alan McManus
Stephen Maguire v. Michael Holt

*all hours are UK time

Un-Nooh wins 2015 Six Red World Championship

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh beat China's Liang Wenbo 8-2 to lift the mighty silvery trophy of the 2015 SangSom Six Red World Championship and also record his first significant victory since becoming a professional snooker player.

The 6 Red World Championship title has been conquered by Mark Davis no less then three times, but Thailand's Un-Nooh proved the trophy deserves to stay in the country that hosted the event and that also was the inventor of the 6-red snooker.

The final started on a very balanced note with China's Wenbo quickly scoring a perfect 61 break in order to take the opener, to which his opponent answered with a 44 to draw level.

Once more Wenbo put his nose in front, this time with a bit of help from a 40 break and as before, his Thai comrade-in-arms restored the equality of the match by using a top 72 break.

Next frame proved to be some sort of turning point, as the pattern was broken, Wenbo giving 8 points in penalty and a free ball, this allowing Un-Nooh to turn tables and take the leading chair.

From this point on, it was just a matter of time before Thailand's gem started his offensive and took advantage of each mistake that Liang made. 

A missed red along the cushion was proving costly for Wenbo,during frame six, as his opponent went 4-2 up, scoreline that was soon to be transformed into 6-2 thanks to breaks of 43 and 55.

Clearly in a lot of trouble, Wenbo made a final attempt to mark his comeback into the match during frame nine, but his focus was gone. In all fairness though, in games of 6-reds any mistake or miss might just lose you the frame and match.

Un-Nooh finished the match with breaks of 21 and 22 to which he added a huge roar and threw both his fists into the air. The crowd acknowledged the moment with a powerful round of applause and some weird vuvuzela sounds.

In the interviewed that followed Wenbo was gracious in defeat and assured his opponent that "they will still be friends", while the winner expressed his delight for seeing "his dream come true" and joked saying that he probably won't see any of the prize money (around £45,000) because his wife will take care of that.

Leaving Thailand's Bangkok behind, we are looking forward to some real ranking tournament that's just around the corner. Brace yourselves, for the Shanghai Masters starts this Monday!

Michaela Tabb settles matters with World Snooker

Former World Snooker female referee, Michaela Tabb has reached an agreement with World Snooker's representatives after presenting her case in front of Bristol Employment Tribunal.

Tabby vanished from refereeing professional snooker matches ever since the end of the 2014 Australian Goldfields Open tournament which left the fans with a huge hole in their hearts.

But what seemed like a "silence curtain" was actually a real struggle for the 47-year old Michaela who took part to appraisals and grievance meetings up until December 2014, according to heraldscotland.com.

Snooker fans already know that this was followed by the sad news of her departure from World Snooker, which was announced in March 2015 and which was followed by a court case that started only last week in Bristol, on the grounds of  "sex discrimination, unfair dismissal and breach of contract". More on this here.

According to the same heraldscotland.com, Tabb told the tribunal that the problem started when she wasn't paid a £1,000 bonus, which her male colleagues duly received, but Steven Dawson, World Snooker chief executive officer, said she did not get the bonus because she had not attended the 2014 awards dinner - and not because of her sex.

Today, World Snooker released a short statement which reads: 

"Michaela McInnes (Tabb) and World Snooker Limited have come to a confidential accommodation regarding the claims brought by Mrs McInnes in the Employment Tribunal."

No further comments were made from both Tabby's representatives or World Snooker's.

You can read more on this subject on heraldscotland.com but also on theguardian.com

Michaela Tabb brings World Snooker to court

It's been some time since the terrible news of Michaela Tabb parting with World Snooker reached our homes and ever since snooker and sport fans all over the world have been expressing their regrets of seeing the best female snooker referee leave the circuit. 

Today, the internet has been flooded with the news of Tabby taking World Snooker to tribunal on the allegations of "sex discrimination, unfair dismissal and breach of contract".

These claims have been brought forward to Bristol Employment Tribunal where it is expected to hear statements from various snooker players throughout the process which will conclude in a week’s time.

A World Snooker spokesman has told Associated Press tha:t "We refute the allegations from Michaela and beyond that it would be inappropriate to comment while the case is ongoing."

Rumours of some frictions between Tabb and snooker's governing body have been reported at the time of 2014 Australian Golfields Open tournament which she left before its final day, due to unpaid bonus. That was the last time we saw Tabby referee a professional snooker match on the Main Tour.

Come March 2015, it was announced that Michaela Tabb has left World Snooker tour (after 14 years), but snooker fans have been glad to see her putting on the white gloves for the special Snooker Legends tour.

An inspiration for all female snooker referees out there and an important ambassador of snooker, Michaela was the first woman to referee two World Championship finals and write a special page in snooker’s history book by doing so. 

More on Michaela Tabb's leaving World Snooker circuit here.