Day Four in Chengdu and what a mixed bag it produced with some dominant performances and a couple of real thrillers.
With that in mind there is really only one place to start and that is with the match between the world no.1 Neil Robertson and former world champion Peter Ebdon. Robertson has been playing some really superb snooker of late,knocking in centuries for fun and when he opened up a 3-1 lead here with his 39th century of the season he looked to be in control. Ebdon though has never been one for rolling over and he came back with a fabulous 134 of his own to make it 2-3 and he soon made it 3-3 with a fine 87 in the next.
The momentum was now well and truly with the veteran as Robertson seemed to be feeling it.Another couple of 50 plus breaks saw Ebdon move within one of victory at 5-3 and indeed in the next a run 56 looked like becoming a match winner only for him to overcut a tricky red allowing Robertson the chance to counter. That is exactly what he did,digging deep to close to 5-4.Into the next and it was Robertson who struck first here with 68 before a counter from Ebdon just fell short when he missed the final pink.A few safties followed before Robertson potted a superb long pink to level at 5-5.
Into the decider then and in a thriller,both players had their chances,but it was the veteran Ebdon who came through to win 6-5.Ebdon is a player who has always divided opinion among the snooker public but today was certainly an example of everything that has been good about the former world champion and if I'm honest,I have always found it fascinating watching him construct a break.
He will need to once again be at his best in the quarter final though as he faces the man in form and home favourite Ding Junhui,who came through his match with Matthew Stevens in a canter winning 6-1. To be fair to the Welshman the scoreline doesn't tell the whole story of this one as,after a scrappy start the score could easily have been 2-2 at the interval.From here though Ding visibly upped a gear and was at his brilliant break building best running away with the last three frames he needed to secure the 6-1 win.The hat trick dream still very much alive.
Elsewhere the Zhao Xintong's amazing week came to an end when he ran in to an in form Marco Fu losing.6-2 but on all evidence here he is still a name to watch for.Fu now meets Mark Selby who also enjoyed a 6-1 win over Stuart Bingham.As I said yesterday Selby's progress this week has gone under the radar slightly but he one of those players who,the further he gets into a tournament the harder he is to beat.This one could really be cracker.
Meanwhile Liang .Wenbo followed up his fine victory over Ronnie with a runaway 6-1 defeat of Mark Davis. Its not that many years ago that Liang was expected to become the next prolific Chinese winner after Ding, but he seemed to lose his way and fell down the pecking order a bit.Ths season however he has shown a bit of a revival and winning last weeks Asian Tour event seems to have helped reignite his confidence.He will face now face Graem Dott in the last 8 after the Scot held off a late fightback from Kurt Maflin to go through 6-5
Talking of players who at one stage seemed destined to challenge for titles only to hit a slump in form, Ryan Day showed a welcome return to something near his best in beating Fergal O'Brien 6-3. He will face Joe Perry who also scored two centuries in beating Mark Allen 6-4
Down to the last 8 we are then with Ding perhaps a strong favourite for the title,but there will be plenty of twists and turns before the trophy is lifted on Sunday.
Last 8 draw
Ryan Day v Joe Perry
Marco Fu v Mark Selby
Peter Ebdon v Ding Junhui
Graeme Dott v Liang Wenbo
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Tuesday, 29 October 2013
International Championship Day Three
One of the things we are constantly lead to believe is that all these tournaments with short frame formats are a lottery and that to really see the top players at their best we need longer frame formats.If that is indeed the case then what we have seen this week is further proof that the gap between those at the top and the rest is narrower then ever.
On a day of big stories the biggest of all of course was the defeat of the World Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan who went down 6-4 to Liang Wenbo.This had looked unlikely when Ronnie raced in to a 3-0 and he still looked a heavy favourite a 4-1,but a combination of perhaps Ronnie losing a little focus and Wenbo's growing confidence turned things around and he won five frames in a row to record the win.This was the first time he has beaten Ronnie and just how much it meant to him was obvious by the way he celebrated potting the match ball.His opponent in the last 16 will be Mark Davis who beat Stuart Carrington 6-3.
Of Course the man in form coming into this event,is home favourite Ding Junhui who this week is looking to complete that rarest of hat tricks,winning three ranking events on the bounce.Having survived a right tussle with fellow Chinese Cao Yupeng yesterday which he edged 6-5 Ding had to again here pull out all the stops to get past James Wattana,eventually sealing the win 6-3 in what was a highly entertaining match.He will now face Matthew Stevens who comfortably beat a badly out of sorts John Higgins 6-2.
The other story of recent weeks has been the astonishing break building form of Neil Robertson who racked up a further three centuries,including a high break equaling 143, in his 6 -1 win over Un-Nooh.That took his century total for the season to a remarkable 38 and if he keeps this up he will surely smash the current record which stands at 61.Robertson will face Peter Ebdon in the next round after the veteran edged past Mark Joyce 6-5.
With all this going on is easy to look past perhaps the most extraordinary performance this week which has been that of wildcard Zhao Xintong. Firstly the Chinese beat the recently crowned world senior champion Steve Davis 6-1 in the wildcard round,he followed that up with a 6-2 win over Craig Steadman and then today he beat last years Crucible runner up Barry Hawkins again by a scoreline of 6-1.Next up for him will be Australian Open winner Marco Fu who today beat Xiao Goudong 6-4.
In other matches Alan McManus couldn't repeat the performance which saw him eliminate the defending champion Judd Trump yesterday as he went down 6-4 to Ryan Day.Day will now face Fergal O'Brien after the Irishman came through,a match which was very much played at its own pace,beating Rod Lawler 6-4.
Mark Allen is also through after a hard fought victory over Dave Harold,the score 6-4 and he will face Joe Perry who beat David Gilbert 6-3.With all that has been going on former World no.1 Mark Selby has slipped in under the radar this week,but he is still very much alive in this tournament after beating Peter Lines today 6-4 and he will now face Stuart Bingham who beat Martin Gould also 6-4
Finally rounding of a bad day for the golden generation Mark Williams went down 6-2 to Kurt Maflin who will now face Graeme Dott after the Scot beat Kyren Wilson 6-1.
Tomorrow see's the last 16 matches taking place which are bound to produce more stories in what already been a great week.
Last 16 draw
Ryan Day v Fergal O'Brien
Mark Allen v Joe Perry
Zhao Xintong v Marco Fu
Stuart Bingham v Mark Selby
Neil Robertson v Peter Ebdon
Matthew Stevens v Ding Junhui
Grame Dott v Kurt Maflin
Mark Davis v Liang Wenbo
Monday, 21 October 2013
The Nugget wins World Seniors title
Steve Davis last night added the 2013 World Seniors title to his long list of snooker triumphs when he came from a frame down to edge past the defending champion Nigel Bond in the final.
This was a case of third time lucky for Steve in this event having lost out in previous finals to Jimmy White and Darren Morgan and it was obvious for all to see how much it meant to him to finally win it.
The other thing that was clear was how his game seemed to step up a notch the further he went through the tournament.This was particularly evident in the final where having gone behind he produced breaks of 66 & 68 to win the match.The fact he had a 95% pot success rate.albeit in a short format,proves once again as they say,that form is temporary but class is permanent.
Class of course is a word that could always be applied to Steve,not just for his displays on the table but also for the way he has always conducted himself off it.The sport of snooker could not ever wish for a finer ambassador.
The tournament itself proved to be a bit of a mixed bag with these legends producing some flashes of great snooker,but also at times some stuff that was hard to watch.This is something we just have to accept with these type of events as these are players who are largely lacking in match practice,but for all that it was still obvious on the table that these guys haven't lost that competitive instincts that made them great champions in the past.
Finally though lets again salute our champion. The one thing that struck me last night looking on Twitter was the outpouring of joy at seeing Steve,after all these years again holding aloft a trophy.As Dave Hendon said this morning in his excellent blog Steve is no longer merely respected by the snooker public he is now also loved. Surely its only a matter of time until we hear Arise Sir Steve.
This was a case of third time lucky for Steve in this event having lost out in previous finals to Jimmy White and Darren Morgan and it was obvious for all to see how much it meant to him to finally win it.
The other thing that was clear was how his game seemed to step up a notch the further he went through the tournament.This was particularly evident in the final where having gone behind he produced breaks of 66 & 68 to win the match.The fact he had a 95% pot success rate.albeit in a short format,proves once again as they say,that form is temporary but class is permanent.
Class of course is a word that could always be applied to Steve,not just for his displays on the table but also for the way he has always conducted himself off it.The sport of snooker could not ever wish for a finer ambassador.
The tournament itself proved to be a bit of a mixed bag with these legends producing some flashes of great snooker,but also at times some stuff that was hard to watch.This is something we just have to accept with these type of events as these are players who are largely lacking in match practice,but for all that it was still obvious on the table that these guys haven't lost that competitive instincts that made them great champions in the past.
Finally though lets again salute our champion. The one thing that struck me last night looking on Twitter was the outpouring of joy at seeing Steve,after all these years again holding aloft a trophy.As Dave Hendon said this morning in his excellent blog Steve is no longer merely respected by the snooker public he is now also loved. Surely its only a matter of time until we hear Arise Sir Steve.
Friday, 18 October 2013
Indian Open.A look back at an extraordinary week.
Ding Juhhui today became the first player in 10 years to win back to back ranking titles,when he proved too strong for the Aditya Mehta,beating the local favourite 5-0 to add the inaugural Indian Open title to last months Shanghai Masters,but for once the winner is only part of the story after a week that we could very well be looking back on in years to come as a pivotal moment in the games global expansion.
More of that later,but firstly lets talk about our champion. Last month Ding finally got the victory China he had been craving and the question was would he kick on and really make his mark this season?Well since then he has been runner up in the Ruhr Open to Mark Allen and again played some fabulous snooker this week beating,among others,the other form player Neil Robertson on his way to the final here.
In the final itself he was at his ruthless break building self as he quickly snuffed out any hopes of a home victory. The fact that is in indeed 10 years since someone did win back to back ranking titles shows just how well the Chinese is playing at the moment.He has always been an exceptional talent,having already won both Masters and UK titles,but you get the feeling now that he is just moving up to another level and can really challenge for the big one next May.
As I've said though Ding is only part of the story and in many ways how appropriately that he is,as it was his run to the title in the China Open that turned a then general interest into a national obsession with the sport.For Ding Junhui then,read Aditya Mehta no,as he enjoyed the week of his life to become the first Indian player to reach a ranking final.
To say this was a dream run is in no way overstating it,as along the way he beat former World Champions Peter Ebdon and Mark Williams,former UK champion Stephen Maguire and fellow Indian professional Padkaj Advani (who also had enjoyed something of a week himself reaching QF beating Mark Allen).
The final proved to be a step to far,but this is a week Mehta will never forget and he has proven.maybe as much to himself as anything else,that he can mix it with the big boys.Hopefully now both he and Advani can use the experience they've gained this week to really establish themselves as contenders for tournaments in the future.The sport in India certainly couldn't have two finer ambassadors.
As for the tournament itself,it can only be described as a marvelous success.Maybe I missed it but I don't remember any players complaining about the playing conditions,which is a rarity these days and it seemed to be played in front of practically full houses all week.I dare say we will be seeing the tour return to India in the near future.
Anyway onward we go with the Senior World Championship this weekend,Asian Tour event 3 next week followed by The international Championship in Chengdu starting next weekend where Judd Trump will be the defending champion and Ding will be looking for his third ranking title on the spin.
More of that later,but firstly lets talk about our champion. Last month Ding finally got the victory China he had been craving and the question was would he kick on and really make his mark this season?Well since then he has been runner up in the Ruhr Open to Mark Allen and again played some fabulous snooker this week beating,among others,the other form player Neil Robertson on his way to the final here.
In the final itself he was at his ruthless break building self as he quickly snuffed out any hopes of a home victory. The fact that is in indeed 10 years since someone did win back to back ranking titles shows just how well the Chinese is playing at the moment.He has always been an exceptional talent,having already won both Masters and UK titles,but you get the feeling now that he is just moving up to another level and can really challenge for the big one next May.
As I've said though Ding is only part of the story and in many ways how appropriately that he is,as it was his run to the title in the China Open that turned a then general interest into a national obsession with the sport.For Ding Junhui then,read Aditya Mehta no,as he enjoyed the week of his life to become the first Indian player to reach a ranking final.
To say this was a dream run is in no way overstating it,as along the way he beat former World Champions Peter Ebdon and Mark Williams,former UK champion Stephen Maguire and fellow Indian professional Padkaj Advani (who also had enjoyed something of a week himself reaching QF beating Mark Allen).
The final proved to be a step to far,but this is a week Mehta will never forget and he has proven.maybe as much to himself as anything else,that he can mix it with the big boys.Hopefully now both he and Advani can use the experience they've gained this week to really establish themselves as contenders for tournaments in the future.The sport in India certainly couldn't have two finer ambassadors.
As for the tournament itself,it can only be described as a marvelous success.Maybe I missed it but I don't remember any players complaining about the playing conditions,which is a rarity these days and it seemed to be played in front of practically full houses all week.I dare say we will be seeing the tour return to India in the near future.
Anyway onward we go with the Senior World Championship this weekend,Asian Tour event 3 next week followed by The international Championship in Chengdu starting next weekend where Judd Trump will be the defending champion and Ding will be looking for his third ranking title on the spin.
Monday, 23 September 2013
Shanghai Masters and Other News.
A week that saw snooker hit the headlines for stories we'd all rather not see,managed to finish on a real high yesterday in Shanghai as Ding Junhui came out on top of an all Chinese final,beating Xaio Guodong 10-6 to claim the 2013 Shanghai Masters title.
This was a long overdue success on home soil for Ding,who first announced himself on the world stage,when at the tender age of 17 he beat Stephen Hendry to win the 2005 China Open title.Thiat victory sparked a huge surge in interest in the sport in China and propelled Ding to national hero status.
If anyone had predicted then that it would take over 8 years for Ding to again claim another ranking title in his homeland they would have been laughed at,but the added pressure of an expectant nation seemed to wear heavily on his shoulders and since then,with very few exceptions,he has generally struggled when in front of his home crowd.
That was until this week where he played the best snooker of anyone in the tournament to lift the thoroughly deserved title.Maybe now with that monkey now removed from his back he can start producing the kind of snooker on a consistent at home that we are used to seeing over here.
Of course the other thing that victory in 2005 did was lead to wild predictions of a Chinese lead domination of the game taking place in the coming seasons.This we know as of yet has failed to materialize,despite a number of pretenders to Dings crown of Chinese no.1 emerging only to subsequently fall by the wayside.I do however feel that in Xiao Guodong we have someone who,if not a challenger for Dings no.1 spot,is certainly capable of becoming the undisputed Chinese no.2.
Xiao showed great temperament here all week and didn't seem at all phased by playing in his first ranking final yesterday.Hopefully the experience he earned this week will serve him well over the rest of the season and he can become the player he undoubtedly has the ability to become
Away from the action on the table last week however one story dominated.
This sadly was the news that Stephen Lee had been found guilty on seven counts of match fixing and can expect a hefty penalty when his punishment is handed down on the 24th September.
I'm sure most of you by now will have read the findings so I'm not going to rehash them here except to say that with the evidence as it is presented,it is hard to see how any other conclusion could have been reached.It is here where the WPBSA must be commended.Over the past year the board have come in for plenty of criticism for the length of time the investigation was taking,but I have always firmly believed that time should never be a factor if something is been done properly. That certainly seems to be the case here.They must also be praised for the immediate release of the full findings to the public.This is the sort of transparency we've see all to little of in the past.
Of course,as is often the case in this modern social media world the story quickly moved on when Ronnie tweeted what amounted to nothing more then idle speculation about other unnamed players who may have been involved in match fixing at some stage or other. These vague utterances of nothingness were picked up immediately by media outlets and suddenly snooker it seemed had an epidemic of match crooked players.
Ronnie did retract his statement the next day,which is fair enough but by now he should realise that such is his stature in the game that if he says anything it will be jumped on and treated as gospel by a media desperate for any slice of scandal.That said if he does genuinely have any evidence of match fixing he should inform the authorities.
Speaking for myself I wouldn't suggest for one minute that the above case is the only time match fixing has occurred in the sport in recent times,but on the reverse side of that I don't believe,like that guy in the bookies who believes every race is fixed,that its as widespread as some believe. I expect the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Onwards we go then and with the long bright evenings of summer now a fading memory the snooker season really can get going. I can't wait.
This was a long overdue success on home soil for Ding,who first announced himself on the world stage,when at the tender age of 17 he beat Stephen Hendry to win the 2005 China Open title.Thiat victory sparked a huge surge in interest in the sport in China and propelled Ding to national hero status.
If anyone had predicted then that it would take over 8 years for Ding to again claim another ranking title in his homeland they would have been laughed at,but the added pressure of an expectant nation seemed to wear heavily on his shoulders and since then,with very few exceptions,he has generally struggled when in front of his home crowd.
That was until this week where he played the best snooker of anyone in the tournament to lift the thoroughly deserved title.Maybe now with that monkey now removed from his back he can start producing the kind of snooker on a consistent at home that we are used to seeing over here.
Of course the other thing that victory in 2005 did was lead to wild predictions of a Chinese lead domination of the game taking place in the coming seasons.This we know as of yet has failed to materialize,despite a number of pretenders to Dings crown of Chinese no.1 emerging only to subsequently fall by the wayside.I do however feel that in Xiao Guodong we have someone who,if not a challenger for Dings no.1 spot,is certainly capable of becoming the undisputed Chinese no.2.
Xiao showed great temperament here all week and didn't seem at all phased by playing in his first ranking final yesterday.Hopefully the experience he earned this week will serve him well over the rest of the season and he can become the player he undoubtedly has the ability to become
Away from the action on the table last week however one story dominated.
This sadly was the news that Stephen Lee had been found guilty on seven counts of match fixing and can expect a hefty penalty when his punishment is handed down on the 24th September.
I'm sure most of you by now will have read the findings so I'm not going to rehash them here except to say that with the evidence as it is presented,it is hard to see how any other conclusion could have been reached.It is here where the WPBSA must be commended.Over the past year the board have come in for plenty of criticism for the length of time the investigation was taking,but I have always firmly believed that time should never be a factor if something is been done properly. That certainly seems to be the case here.They must also be praised for the immediate release of the full findings to the public.This is the sort of transparency we've see all to little of in the past.
Of course,as is often the case in this modern social media world the story quickly moved on when Ronnie tweeted what amounted to nothing more then idle speculation about other unnamed players who may have been involved in match fixing at some stage or other. These vague utterances of nothingness were picked up immediately by media outlets and suddenly snooker it seemed had an epidemic of match crooked players.
Ronnie did retract his statement the next day,which is fair enough but by now he should realise that such is his stature in the game that if he says anything it will be jumped on and treated as gospel by a media desperate for any slice of scandal.That said if he does genuinely have any evidence of match fixing he should inform the authorities.
Speaking for myself I wouldn't suggest for one minute that the above case is the only time match fixing has occurred in the sport in recent times,but on the reverse side of that I don't believe,like that guy in the bookies who believes every race is fixed,that its as widespread as some believe. I expect the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Onwards we go then and with the long bright evenings of summer now a fading memory the snooker season really can get going. I can't wait.
Thursday, 22 August 2013
The Nugget & I, A Fans Story
"How many times have I been here before" That was the thought that went through my head last Thursday as the clock ticked past midnight and Steve Davis completed his stirring comeback from 3-1 down to beat Jamie Jones 4-3 in the ET3 event in Doncaster.He would go on to the last 16 on Saturday where he was narrowly defeated 4-3 by Marco Fu,but that is not what I'm here to write about,rather this is an account of how in an ever changing world "The Nugget" has remained the one constant in my life for the last 35 yrs.
Moving on the next thing to cross off the list was to see him play As i've said before i was lucky enough to live within a few miles of Goffs,the home of the Irish Masters,so to my delight that chance came in 1987 when,with my father,we made the first of what was to become an annual pilgrimage to semi finals Saturday.His opponent on this occasion was Terry Griffiths and after Steve had recorded a 6-2 win I remember queuing for his autograph and only his,as after Steve signed my book I took it and walked away just as Terry was getting ready to scribe his name on it.
The 80's drew to an end with Steve claiming a 6th World title with his most comprehensive win to date,an 18-3 victory over John Parrott.Surely,I thought,as the new decade began that this dominance of the game was set to continue!
Of course we now know it didn't .A combination of the arrival in the big time of Stephen Hendry (God how the 12 year old me hated him) and an alignment problem meant the man who had been almost unbeatable was now just another one of the pack. Titles were still won,but they were becoming fewer and further between.It should be noted that a despite this,a run of consistent form in 1994 had him just one victory away from regaining his World no.1 ranking but his world championship semi final defeat to Hendry meant that this would never again be the case.
The 90's rolled on and I would be lying to say it was always easy to watch,as it seemed at times that Steve's biggest opponent was not the man sitting in the opposite chair,but instead the ghost of his former self.That said though,as is often the case,this only made the victories,when they did come,all the sweeter.
The most sparkling of these at this time was his epic B&H Masters triumph over Ronnie O'Sullivan in 1997 at the old Wembley Conference Centre. This had looked most unlikely as Ronnie,playing snooker from the Gods raced into an 8-4 lead.Steve was not for lying down and he fought back to win 10-8.By this stage I had long given up watching the match from my armchair and was now kneeling in front of the tv willing every pot in.I think i still have the final stages on video somewhere.
Into a new century we moved and Steve seemed to change his outlook towards the game.Gone now the shackles of trying to compete with the past,but in their place an acceptance that everything must pass and a desire to keep trying to be competitive against a new generation of players.
This new approach has on occasion produced some stunning results,like his fabulous run to the final of the UK Championship in 2005 and his memorable second round victory over defending world champion John Higgins at the 2010 World Championship.(I'm not too proud to admit that this one also brought a tear to my eye) I for one couldn't think of better way to sign off if indeed this is to be his last hurrah at the Crucible
As for me my one remaining wish was to get a chance to play a frame against the great man and.thankfully that opportunity came in an exhibition,when I outbid all my rivals in a auction(I wont say how much I paid) to get that chance.The frame itself is something I will never forget as I struggled to control my shaking hands to play my opening shot.Steve to his credit gave me a generous handicap and plenty of chances which,as I managed to start potting a few,was enough to see me win the frame.The result was only secondary though to the thrill of playing the great man and to be honest I would have been equally happy to have sat there watching Steve knock in a century against me.
Thats it then and here we stand on the 22nd August 2013 the day of Steve's 56th birthday and he is still holding back the tide with the occasional displays of brilliance.
As for myself I have finally accepted that I'm not going to make it on the baize and have instead turned my hand instead to writing about the sport I love.Obviously to that end I have to try and be as impartial as possible when composing articles but I hope having read this you will forgive me,if every so often,that goes out the window when The Nugget is playing.
Happy Birthday Steve and heres to the next 35 yrs .
Thinking about it maybe is was always going to be thus,as September 1978 was not only the month Steve turned professional but also the month of my birth.This happy coincidence has meant my life has run in parallel with the career of the great man and boy what a career it has been.
Obviously at this remove it would be impossible to remember the exact moment I started to watch snooker and follow Steve,but I do have vivid memories of the "85" World final and was sufficiently interested in it to remember been possibly the only Irishman crying for Steve (I was only 7) when Taylor potted that black to lift the title.
My other memory from this time was a trip to Dublin on the eve of my First Holy Communion and walking half the city with my ever so patient parents,as we searched in vain for a blazer with a black waistcoat so I could look like the main man on my big day.To my disgust the nearest we could find was a maroon one which I refused to wear as it was too "Alex Higgins"!
Moving on the next thing to cross off the list was to see him play As i've said before i was lucky enough to live within a few miles of Goffs,the home of the Irish Masters,so to my delight that chance came in 1987 when,with my father,we made the first of what was to become an annual pilgrimage to semi finals Saturday.His opponent on this occasion was Terry Griffiths and after Steve had recorded a 6-2 win I remember queuing for his autograph and only his,as after Steve signed my book I took it and walked away just as Terry was getting ready to scribe his name on it.
The 80's drew to an end with Steve claiming a 6th World title with his most comprehensive win to date,an 18-3 victory over John Parrott.Surely,I thought,as the new decade began that this dominance of the game was set to continue!
Of course we now know it didn't .A combination of the arrival in the big time of Stephen Hendry (God how the 12 year old me hated him) and an alignment problem meant the man who had been almost unbeatable was now just another one of the pack. Titles were still won,but they were becoming fewer and further between.It should be noted that a despite this,a run of consistent form in 1994 had him just one victory away from regaining his World no.1 ranking but his world championship semi final defeat to Hendry meant that this would never again be the case.
The 90's rolled on and I would be lying to say it was always easy to watch,as it seemed at times that Steve's biggest opponent was not the man sitting in the opposite chair,but instead the ghost of his former self.That said though,as is often the case,this only made the victories,when they did come,all the sweeter.
The most sparkling of these at this time was his epic B&H Masters triumph over Ronnie O'Sullivan in 1997 at the old Wembley Conference Centre. This had looked most unlikely as Ronnie,playing snooker from the Gods raced into an 8-4 lead.Steve was not for lying down and he fought back to win 10-8.By this stage I had long given up watching the match from my armchair and was now kneeling in front of the tv willing every pot in.I think i still have the final stages on video somewhere.
Into a new century we moved and Steve seemed to change his outlook towards the game.Gone now the shackles of trying to compete with the past,but in their place an acceptance that everything must pass and a desire to keep trying to be competitive against a new generation of players.
This new approach has on occasion produced some stunning results,like his fabulous run to the final of the UK Championship in 2005 and his memorable second round victory over defending world champion John Higgins at the 2010 World Championship.(I'm not too proud to admit that this one also brought a tear to my eye) I for one couldn't think of better way to sign off if indeed this is to be his last hurrah at the Crucible
As for me my one remaining wish was to get a chance to play a frame against the great man and.thankfully that opportunity came in an exhibition,when I outbid all my rivals in a auction(I wont say how much I paid) to get that chance.The frame itself is something I will never forget as I struggled to control my shaking hands to play my opening shot.Steve to his credit gave me a generous handicap and plenty of chances which,as I managed to start potting a few,was enough to see me win the frame.The result was only secondary though to the thrill of playing the great man and to be honest I would have been equally happy to have sat there watching Steve knock in a century against me.
Thats it then and here we stand on the 22nd August 2013 the day of Steve's 56th birthday and he is still holding back the tide with the occasional displays of brilliance.
As for myself I have finally accepted that I'm not going to make it on the baize and have instead turned my hand instead to writing about the sport I love.Obviously to that end I have to try and be as impartial as possible when composing articles but I hope having read this you will forgive me,if every so often,that goes out the window when The Nugget is playing.
Happy Birthday Steve and heres to the next 35 yrs .
Sunday, 18 August 2013
ET 3 Bluebell Wood Open
Ricky Walden held off a determined fightback from Marco Fu to win the deciding frame and claim the Bluebell Wood Open at the Doncaster Dome last night.
In a final that was hard fought and scrappy at times it was Walden who took a lengthy opening frame to lead 1-0.Fu leveled with a century in the next but it was Walden who pulled away again to lead 3-1.Fu to his credit battled back to win the next two to level at 3-3 and force the decider.
This turned into one of those long nervy deciders where both players had their chances before a fluked red allowed Walden in and he duly made the most of knocking in a smooth 65 to claim the title.
This was a fine win for Walden who must still have an odd sleepless night about how he let that World semi final against Hawkins slip from the his grasp.A crushing defeat like that has the potential to be a career defining moment for a player,but the surest way to dull the memory is to win matches against good players and that is what he did here,not just beating Fu in the final,but also with earlier wins over Ali Carter,Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy.
For Fu he will be slightly disappointed not to have claimed his second title of the season but he can be happy with how he fought here to get back into it and also with how he held off the fightback of Ding in the semi final when having lead 3-0 he saw Ding level at 3-3.Al this bodes well for him for the season ahead.
Of the games other big names the worlds top three ranked players all failed to negotiate the first round here with Neil Robertson & Judd Trump both losing deciding frames to Liang Wenbo & Ding Junhui and Mark Selby letting a 2-0 lead turn in to a 4-2 defeat to Vinnie Calabrese.
In a final that was hard fought and scrappy at times it was Walden who took a lengthy opening frame to lead 1-0.Fu leveled with a century in the next but it was Walden who pulled away again to lead 3-1.Fu to his credit battled back to win the next two to level at 3-3 and force the decider.
This turned into one of those long nervy deciders where both players had their chances before a fluked red allowed Walden in and he duly made the most of knocking in a smooth 65 to claim the title.
This was a fine win for Walden who must still have an odd sleepless night about how he let that World semi final against Hawkins slip from the his grasp.A crushing defeat like that has the potential to be a career defining moment for a player,but the surest way to dull the memory is to win matches against good players and that is what he did here,not just beating Fu in the final,but also with earlier wins over Ali Carter,Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy.
For Fu he will be slightly disappointed not to have claimed his second title of the season but he can be happy with how he fought here to get back into it and also with how he held off the fightback of Ding in the semi final when having lead 3-0 he saw Ding level at 3-3.Al this bodes well for him for the season ahead.
Of the games other big names the worlds top three ranked players all failed to negotiate the first round here with Neil Robertson & Judd Trump both losing deciding frames to Liang Wenbo & Ding Junhui and Mark Selby letting a 2-0 lead turn in to a 4-2 defeat to Vinnie Calabrese.
John Higgins also failed to reach the final day letting a 2-0 lead slip against Rod Lawler losing in the end 4-2.
Also a special word must be spared for Steve Davis,who may be only a few days away from his 56th birthday,but once again showed that the fire burns as bright as ever in reaching the last 16,,indeed his form here,not least in his fightback from 3-1 down against Jamie Jones, was as good as anything he has produced in recent years.He will have no doubt been annoyed with himself that he couldn't make the most of his chances when he lead eventual runner up Marco Fu 3-2 before eventually losing a tight decider.
So ends the tours stay in Doncaster with the venue coming in for some criticism for the uncomfortably warm playing conditions.Hopefully this is something that can be looked at in future as from a facilities point of view it seems to have been vast improvment on other PTC venues,
Anyway onwards we go and it's off to Germany next weekend for ET4 The Paul Hunter Classic ..
Anyway onwards we go and it's off to Germany next weekend for ET4 The Paul Hunter Classic ..
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