Barry Hawkins Vs Dominic Dale
Barry Hawkins had the first real chance of this huge Last 8 tie of the World Championships and the 68 break that came from that was enough for him to make it 1-0. Dominic Dale’s first chance came in the second frame after Barry left a red on up the table, but he let the cue ball get away from him on 31 and was forced to play safe. A superb long red, whilst also cannoning the black into play, gave Hawkins a chance to reduce his frame arrears. A break of 63 put Hawkins 32 points in front with the black he missed being frame ball with only one red remaining. Barry later knocked the last red in from range though to seal the frame and make it 2-0. Dominic had the first chance again in the third but again broke down early on 33 this time before playing safe. As in the last frame, Barry had the next opening after another good long red, although this time he made 44 before missing and then leaving the chance for Dom to win the frame and he cleared to the blue to do just that and get on the scoreboard at 1-2. After a long period of safety in frame four, Barry was able to get in with Dom making the first mistake. He could’ve made a lot more from the opening than the 33 that he did but he was unable to get through the pack when going into it from another red and was forced to play safe. A well-controlled long red gave Hawkins the next proper opportunity and the additional 78 he made was more than enough for him to go into the first session’s break 3-1 in front.
A massive mistake by Dominic to open the balls and leave
Hawkins in at the start of frame five gave Barry a fantastic frame winning
chance even from an early stage. A break of 80 secured the frame and put
Hawkins into a 4-1 advantage in routine fashion. Dominic had a very good
opportunity at the start of frame six to try and get back into a session that
was running away from him rapidly, but he could only make 16 before losing
position. Hawkins had an equally good chance but a very poor shot on 25 left
him snookered on his intended red with plenty of room for error. The frame
started to turn very scrappy after this, with both players having plenty of
scoring visits but not being able to make much in any of them. Dom did get an
opportunity after knocking in the third to last red, and he potted all of those
last 3 reds with blacks to leave Hawkins 27 behind with just 27 left in the
frame, but a clever snooker from Dominic allowed him to pot the yellow and
close the gap to just a couple of frames at 2-4. Barry Hawkins had a horror
result from a long pot where he double kissed the red sending the cue ball
violently into the pack and Dom right in amongst them. Dominic made 47 before
playing a very poor positional shot for his next red, coming up short and
having to play safe. The safety wasn’t good enough either as Hawkins knocked in
a quality red from range landing on the brown to the middle. Hawkins made 44
reducing his deficit to 3 points but he left position on the last red on the
side cushion short, setting up a key safety battle on the final red. After a
long battle, it was Hawkins that saw the back of the last red, followed by the
yellow and yellow again to go 2 ahead with 25 left on, but the green was too
tough to take on so he played safe. A cracking cross double on the green gave
Dale back the advantage, but it was all to play for as the battles continued on
the brown. In the end it was the Welshman that made the next error leaving the
brown over the top corner with the angle for Hawkins to get back down for the
blue and he potted both to edge 4 in the lead with just pink and black
remaining. Dale again made the pivotal error of not quite getting the pink safe
which left it cuttable for Hawkins who did just that to go three in front once
more at 5-2. The final frame of the session already seemed key as it’s always a
tougher task to come back from a four frame end of session deficit than a two
frame one which Dale could get out with by winning this frame. After Dale left
a red over the corner and both players were lucky in covering it afterwards,
Dale’s luck ran out when he tried a plant which left Barry in with a good
opening to take a commanding lead in the frame and possibly the match. Barry
made the most of his opening, picking the balls off beautifully as a clearance
of 134 gave him a comfortable end of session 6-2 lead which would be tough for
Dominic to overturn completely in session two.
The best chance early in the second session fell to Dominic
Dale who managed to get in with the reds all nicely spread for him to make a
sizeable contribution. A run of 69 gave Dale the perfect start to the middle
portion of this match at 3-6. Frame ten didn’t start well for Dom though as he
missed a very tough long attempt but pushed another red over the corner for
Hawkins to have an easy starter. Hawkins was on 34 when he missed a red from
middle distance going in off while sending the missed red up the table, which
Dale was able to pot comfortably to give him an opening, but he didn’t make
anything more from it missing the blue straight away when going into the reds.
Another missed attempt from Dale (this time from range) gave Hawkins another
opportunity, but he misjudged a tight pot and hit the pink first instead of the
red, leaving Dominic right in again, but when he missed a simple black off of
the spot to bring Barry back sooner than he’d have thought, and he wasn’t about
to give Dale another bite of the cherry, doing enough to go 7-3 in front. A
huge error from Dale to attempt a massively risky long pot opening all of the
reds backfired as he didn’t make it and left Hawkins well in at the business
end. He made 47 before he needed to start playing balls nearer to cushions and
he missed one of the more simpler ones and stuck it up for Dom. He’d played the
balls well to get to 20 and opened up some more reds but a missed pink off of
the spot cost him. Barry built a lead up of 39 with just 43 remaining and both
reds safe on the bottom cushion before playing safe and putting the Welshman
under all kinds of pressure. After a Hawkins in-off, Dale potted the
penultimate red with the blue to reduce his deficit to 29 with 35 on and then
gained the initiative in the safety exchange by laying a good snooker on the
final red behind the black. Hawkins escaped well though and Dale followed up by
playing a poor shot to leave Hawkins a chance at the final red which he made
and Barry did more than enough to secure the frame and a commanding 8-3 lead.
Dale let Hawkins straight back in in frame twelve after hitting his snooker
escape with a little too much pace. He made the most of the small opportunity
that it was to start with, as an impressive break of 92 put Barry Hawkins
already just four frames from victory at 9-3.
Following the mid-session interval, Hawkins had the first
opening again and looked like winning the frame from it comfortably until
missing a routine black off of the spot on 58 and leaving everything on for
Dominic. Dom made a nice 49 until coming up short on brown ball position and missing
a very thin cut on it. After a long bout of safety, Hawkins had a good chance
on the brown but he missed it and left it in the jaws for Dale who cleared to
get a frame back at 4-9. A superb long red gave Dominic another opportunity in
frame fourteen, on 26 he had a low angle on a red to go into the full pack, but
he got into the cue ball too much and was a way away from good black ball
position so had to play safe. An attacking safety soon after from Dale didn’t
pay off as he left a red onto the middle for Barry and not a tough ball on the
table for a player of his quality. Duly a clearance of 89 put Hawkins further
in front at 10-4. The first good opening in frame fifteen fell to Dom after he
was left an easy long pot by his opponent. From there a nice break of 61 was
enough for the Spaceman to claw a frame back and trail 5-10. The final frame of
the session was key once again, with Dale already being well behind a comeback
from 11-5 down would be very tough indeed. He started well though in frame sixteen
with a cracking long opener. Dale had made 53 before he had an absolutely
enormous kick on the black which just sent the ball straight on and could end
up costing him a vital frame. After a large period of safety play, Dom went for
a risky long pot which backfired as he left the red over the middle and with
the balls open it was a good chance for Hawkins to canter and possibly strike a
killer blow in this match. Barry cleared to the pink making a cool, calm 67 to
go just a couple of frames away from victory at the end of the second session
leading Dominic Dale 11-5.
Dominic Dale needed to start like a train in the third and
final session to have any chance of getting back into this match, and he had
the perfect early chance to do so in frame seventeen. A break of 75 meant that
he’d got the first of what Dom hoped to be many frames back, trailing at 6-11.
After a safety exchange that saw reds dotted about all over the table, Dale was
the man that was able to play a red to the middle and get the first chance to
take advantage of an inviting table. A break of 65 came to an end when Dale
missed frame ball red and left a chance for Barry to steal. However, a missed
black off of the spot cost Hawkins the frame and Dale was able to make it 7-11.
Frame nineteen started off pretty scrappy. A safety mistake from Hawkins left
Dale the first opportunity of any note, though the table didn’t look like an
easy one to score heavily from. A break of 64 was great given the table
situation and enough for Dale to make it 3 frames on the bounce and close to
within three frames at 8-11. It was another scrappy start in frame twenty, but
Dale again got the first decent opening, and he made 36 before missing an easy
enough black from the spot. It didn’t cost him though and Dominic was back in
almost immediately and this time he made the most of it, to win all four frames
before the mid-session break and get right back in this match now only trailing
by two at 11-9 to Hawkins.
Missed chances from Dale first then Hawkins after the break
left Dominic right in with a brilliant early chance to close the gap in the
match to just a single frame. A break of 61 had again got Dominic to within a
red of leaving Barry needing snookers but when he missed one up into to the top
corner, he could easily have lost the frame, but instead Hawkins left Dale with
an easy opportunity to seal the frame and make it 5 in a row at 10-11. A good
long pot from Hawkins at the beginning of frame twenty-two would have gone some
way to help settling him down a bit after a horrible session so far from his
perspective and he would’ve wanted to make a handy contribution at this visit.
The break looked like ending on 28 when he didn’t get on a colour so he played
safe on the yellow, getting the cue ball safe but also fluking the yellow,
though it only brought the two extra points. Dale had the next decent opening
though and one that he could certainly square up the match at this visit with.
He managed 36 before running out of position and laying a snooker behind the brown
with the Welshman leading by 7 points with 3 reds on the table. Barry played
the escape badly and left Dale another chance to get close to winning the
frame. Dale was unable to nudge the last red away from the side cushion but had
built up a handy 21 point advantage with 35 left on with a massively important
battle to come on the final red. It was Barry again that made the error and it
again it was the vital one as Dale cleared to the brown, levelling the match up
for the first time since the match began at 11-11.
With the scores level the pressure was as much back on Dale
as it was heaped onto Hawkins and it was Dale’s safety error that gave the
first chance away in the twenty third frame. Barry made 24 before a poor
contact caused him to miss his next red and leave it for the Spaceman. Dale
potted the red using the rest on top of the spider but because of the awkward
nature of the shot, he wasn’t able to get near to perfect black ball position
and he handed the opening straight back to Barry missing that black. It wasn’t
long before Hawkins lost position and it was end of break again for him leading
by 29 early doors. Once more the 2013 World Championship runner-up’s safety
wasn’t up to scratch and he left Dale a much better opportunity this time, and
he built up a 25 point lead before having to play safe on the final red. As had
been the case throughout this final session, Hawkins made the costly mistake
and Dale potted the final red with the green, clearing down to the green to win
the frame and make it seven on the bounce to lead for the first time at 12-11.
Barry now knew that he had it all to do, and he was helped out by a missed long
red from Dale at the start of the next frame to leave him an early prospect of
forcing a decider if he could build a decent lead. A very well played 66 from
Barry took this thrilling quarter-final, and a brilliant final session
particularly, the full distance into the twenty fifth and deciding frame. A
confident long red from Barry gave him a very good chance in the decider. When
Hawkins potted match ball pink, you could see how much it meant to him to pull
through having needed to win the remaining two frames, having lost 7 on the
bounce as he fist pumped the air and punched the table several times in
celebration, as a superb break of 65 saw Barry home to a brilliant 13-12
victory and an amazing match with Dominic Dale who certainly played his part in
the final session.
What a superb fight back that was from Dominic Dale in the final session, but in turn a brilliant turnaround at the end from Hawkins to win the match. Who can topple that on Boxing Day for 7th place? All will be revealed tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment