Last 16 at The Crucible

Yesterday saw both the conclusion of the first round at the 2014 World Snooker Championships and the beginning of the Last 16 at the Crucible with some fantastic games in prospect. The Last 32 saw 5 of the seeds exiting the tournament Stuart Bingham, Stephen Maguire, John Higgins, Mark Davis and one of the tournament favourites in Ding Junhui all taking an early bath this year, with 4 deciders taking place seeing Ding lose in a late night classic to Michael Wasley, Mark Selby beating Michael White, Ryan Day holding on to beat Stephen Maguire and Shaun Murphy seeing off Jamie Cope, all under the extreme pressure that the Crucible brings.


These are the Last 32 results in full for you:


Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-4 Robin Hull
Joe Perry 10-7 Jamie Burnett
Shaun Murphy 10-9 Jamie Cope
Marco Fu 10-7 Martin Gould
Barry Hawkins 10-4 David Gilbert
Ricky Walden 10-7 Kyren Wilson
Dominic Dale 10-5 Mark Davis
Michael Wasley 10-9 Ding Junhui
Mark Selby 10-9 Michael White
Ali Carter 10-8 Xiao Guodong
Alan McManus 10-7 John Higgins
Ken Doherty 10-5 Stuart Bingham
Judd Trump 10-8 Tom Ford
Ryan Day 10-9 Stephen Maguire
Mark Allen 10-4 Michael Holt
Neil Robertson 10-2 Robbie Williams


Just a quick word then on the Last 16 matches already underway:


Mark Selby 5-3 Ali Carter - The first session of this best of 25 match here saw high quality snooker brought out by both players, with Ali Carter making centuries to start and finish the session, and Mark Selby playing as well as he has done for a long time there. Selby did lead 5-1 there, but both players will be happy with their sessions work and it's certainly game on for the final 2 sessions being played today. I fancied Carter before the match, but if Selby continues playing the way he did today you have to fancy him to win.


Joe Perry 5-3 Ronnie O'Sullivan - A brilliant sessions work in this one by Joe Perry as he takes a session lead against Ronnie O'Sullivan who was quite under par for the best part of the session, particularly in the first 5 frames after which he found himself 4-1 behind. Perry did what he had to do though, scoring well and taking his chances, with a particularly good break of 99 in the last frame making sure he finished the session with a lead and deservedly so, especially with Ronnie coming back at him after a century in the sixth. If Ronnie improves and is back to his old self today and tomorrow he'd probably still be favourite for this match, but Joe has the confidence and belief in his game and there's no reason why he can't carry this one through from here.




Time now to Preview the 6 Last 16 matches yet to start: (Picks in bold)


Barry Hawkins Vs Ricky Walden (First session Friday 25th at 10am) - This one sees a repeat of last years semi-final where Hawkins was the victor after Walden collapsed in the last 2 sessions of that game. Since then the 2 have played at the Masters in a much shorter format, but Hawkins was the man to collapse there losing 6-5 from 5-2 ahead. In this event so far, Hawkins has played some brilliant snooker in round one, winning 10-4 against David Gilbert having been 2-4 down, and he certainly looked to be playing some of the same snooker that got him to last years final. Walden also played some good snooker in parts of his first round win against Wilson, though that one turned quite scrappy as Walden neared the winning line there. I think really that Barry is confident and a huge favourite here, and still would be if he's behind after 2 sessions because I could just see Ricky stuttering again if he neared the winning line. Should be an entertaining and fairly close game though.


Ken Doherty Vs Alan McManus (First session Friday 25th at 2.30pm) - The first thoughts that come into your mind when you see this match up is that it will be a really good battle, in which you don't think that either player is going to give the other one an inch. It's going to be a match that could well take some time to sort itself out, both because it's a potential 13-12er in the making and because it's sure to be a match filled with tactical prowess. McManus probably played the better of the 2 in the opening round, though the pair both had some help from their respective miss-firing opponents. Alan's tartan trousers seemed to bring him some luck against Higgins as he went into an early 6-1 lead, and he held on well at the end with Higgins coming back at him. Doherty though came from 5-3 down to beat Bingham 10-5 in the opening round in a win that meant so much to him and saw him get very emotional at the end. Ken's not had a great season but that win would've given him so much and I really fancy him to edge this one in the end.


Judd Trump Vs Ryan Day (First session Saturday 26th at 2.30pm) - This has the look of another tight match up here, with both players coming through what were tight opening encounters. Judd was well below par in his win against Tom Ford, but it was one of those matches that the winner was always going to be pleased just to get through, with each one dragging the other down, and it's a case now of Trump just moving on to the next game, feeling positive and giving it 100% once more. As for Ryan Day, he played some very good snooker against Stephen Maguire and will be full of confidence coming into this one, both with his own game, but also having seen how Judd played in the Last 32. One thing you can guarantee in this match is that it will be very open, and that both players will go for their shots and be positive. I think here though that Judd will call upon some of the good form he brought into this and just be glad to have made it through after a titanic tussle with Ford, and that could well pay off for him.


Dominic Dale Vs Michael Wasley (First session Saturday 26th at 7pm) - Both of these two have beaten seeded opposition in the opening round. Wasley on his Crucible debut against player of the season Ding Junhui, and Dominic Dale winning his first Crucible tie for 14 years against Mark Davis. Despite this, there'll be even more pressure on these 2 lads in this match now, because the pair will sense an opportunity is there to make the quarter-finals. Wasley played sublimely in the opening round, but the question now is, with the eyes of the world on him, can he re-produce? Meanwhile, Dominic played as well as he had to against Mark Davis and has stayed in Sheffield since the qualifiers to practice on the match tables and his form has been good in the latter parts of the season. Dom has been able to go under the radar a bit (not too much with his taste in shoes though) and I think that'll give him a slight advantage here in yet another tight game.


Marco Fu Vs Shaun Murphy (First session Sunday 27th at 10am) - If Shaun Murphy's track record is anything to go by, this match will probably go to a deciding frame as it is another close encounter that this 2nd round draw has set us up. Shaun Murphy managed to scrape through in the first round 10-9 against Jamie Cope, and Murphy cued well under pressure but wasn't quite at his very best otherwise in a very tense match. He has had 6 full days off since then so he could go away, relax, practice and come back fresh for the big slog that will be needed if he is to go far in this event. Fu though played some of the best snooker of the first round, making a very tricky match against Martin Gould look pretty easy to be honest. If he keeps that form up he'll be a slight favourite, but the problem with Marco sometimes has been the consistency with his performances, and as good as his season has been, that has been evident at times throughout it. These 2 always play great matches, such as their Masters encounter where Shaun came from 1-4 down to win 6-4 as Fu collapsed. It will surely be close as well, and having already come through a tight and pressured first round game, but also having plenty of time to recover, I just give Shaun Murphy that slight edge in this one.


Neil Robertson Vs Mark Allen (First session Sunday 27th at 10am) - Finally, we have a match that always brings out some brilliant snooker, and will definetly do so again. These 2 have played in the Masters 3 years running, with Neil winning the last 2 of those in deciding frames showing how closely matches these 2 are. Both men also had quite easy and convincing first round victories, even though there was quite a difference in their performances. Robertson was probably the best player of the opening round, with not only the biggest first round win, but also 4 centuries to put him only 3 away from the ton of tons. It was really the complete performance, with Neil showing very good form, looking and then sounding very confident after the match as well. He certainly thinks he can win this this year. Mark will post a formidable challenge to any such thoughts of this from Neil though, even though he didn't play as well as he could've done in a 10-4 first round win against Michael Holt. Allen's best always seems to come out in these games against the top players though, and I think this match will certainly spur him on to a better performance. However, this will be a high pressured and very close match but you can't ignore Neil's first round performance, so the slight edge goes to him.




One thing we do know about these second round games is that we will have some crackers to look forward to and a lot more close finishes as this brilliantly dramatic tournament speeds along. From what we've seen so far, everything is there for me to stand by my comment that this will be the best World Championships for a large number of years. I hope you're all enjoying it as much as I am, and please keep an eye out for another update before the Quarter-Finals.