With 2014’s two World Championship losing semi-finalists
battling for a place in the 2015 semi-finals it was all set to be a classic
contest on paper. The opening frame was scrappy but it went the way of Hawkins
after he fluked the final red and was able to clear the colours to lead 1-0. Neil
was soon into his groove in the next to take advantage of Barry’s error with a
superb century of 115 to level up at 1-1. An early break of 43 in the third
gave Robertson a commanding position in the frame after a good pot from range
gave him the chance. Another trademark long shot gave him the chance to kill it
off, which he managed with a further contribution of 70 to move ahead 2-1. The
next frame was scrappy again and Robertson needed three chances, but Hawkins
offered little and Neil was able to get over the line with more quality potting
to lead 3-1 at the mid-session interval.
Barry was looking to improve after the interval and a
brilliant range pot gave him the first scoring visit. 47 was accumulated before
he opened the reds from a red but failed to hold onto position. Another long
pot allowed him to finish the job, and the additional 44 sealed it to get a
frame back at 2-3. Hawkins was into his own groove in frame six after a pot to
the middle giving him an opportunity that he grabbed with both hands, never
really looking in trouble in a break of 98 to square the match at 3-3. In frame
seven Hawkins picked out a very clever plant to get yet another chance and with
the reds well placed again he made the most of it. On this occasion a clearance
of 96 made it three frames in a row now to lead 4-3, and guarantee that he
couldn’t lose the session having looked in a precarious position, 3-1 behind at
the interval earlier on. He was soon in a commanding position in the final
frame of the session, making an early 48 from a confident long pot, but when
his pack opener failed to yield a red from which he could continue the break he
had to play safe. Poor safeties from Neil gifted him the opening to seal the
frame and he was able to add enough to win a dramatic session of snooker 5-3
after taking the last four frames.
At the start of session two Robertson had the first chance
amongst the balls but missed an easy pink with the rest to hand Barry a golden
opportunity. There was nothing flashy from Hawkins with the balls spread and on
a plate for him, and there was little problem in the 108 clearance that
extended his lead on day two of this match to 6-3 and making it five frames in
a row overall. A well-executed red had Hawkins in yet again in frame ten. Again
the reds were fairly open, and even though the black was tied up he was able to
work off of the pink. A very weak positional shot on 28 cost him as he just
failed to land on the pink and was forced to run away for safety. Robertson
made a nice plant but when he missed the green, and he was able to do enough to
leave Neil needing snookers which he didn’t manage and Barry made it six frames
in a row to lead 7-3. After being dominated for six frames, the Australian
needed to respond and very soon which was why the long pot at the start of
frame eleven was very timely. He only made 18 though as he lost position after
going into the pack from a loose red. When Barry’s chance came he missed a
simple red to hand over a lovely opportunity back to Neil. A dead set plant on
29 allowed him to well and truly finish off the frame, fully punishing Hawkins
with a run of 65 closing the gap to three at 4-7. Neil was in first in frame
twelve with an opening 50 before a silly miss with the rest to gift Hawkins a
way back into the frame. Hawkins made 42, to close to within 8 before missing
the pink and leaving the last red on for the Aussie who cleared as far as he
had to, and go into the break just 5-7 behind.
Neil opened up with a run of 33 in frame thirteen but after
his pack opener didn’t turn out as planned he ultimately lost position. When
Barry’s chance came he succeeded when going into the pack on 19, and he made it
to 42 before having to play safe, failing to obtain position on the final two
reds in the middle of the table. A poor snooker escape cost Hawkins though as
Robertson expertly brought out the final safe red and cleared to make it three
frames in a row at 6-7. When a Hawkins error left Robertson in amongst the
balls, with most reds open he played some sweet positional shots and kept
complete control of the table in a 130 clearance that levelled the match up
after four frames in a row from Neil to make it 7-7 with two frames left of the
session. Frame fifteen was very scrappy which summed up the tension at this
important stage of the match. When Hawkins chance came he managed to open up
many of the safe reds and the break he made was classy to put himself 20 in front
with 51 left before rattling a testing red. Robertson potted the next red but
missed the yellow from distance but Hawkins missed his colour to remain 20
points in front with 35 remaining. As the frame ticked past the 50 minute mark,
Robertson missed his chance on the final red and left it for Hawkins but he
could only pot a colour and lay a snooker and ultimately he did enough to win
the frame and go 8-7 ahead and they were taken off at this stage as they
wouldn’t be able to fit the final frame in, before the afternoon matches got
underway.
In the final session Neil Robertson was quickly into his
stride and with his first chance he was in a dominant mood starting with a
magical 141 total clearance to level the scores at 8-8. After a bout of safety at
the start of frame seventeen, Robertson missed a red to the middle leaving
Hawkins in with loads of reds in the open to pick off. He made 20 before
missing one of the easiest reds he will miss and leaving the golden opportunity
for Robertson. He was left a tough red to the middle to get in and put it on
the far jaw to give Barry a huge let off. He kept in control from there and
countered Robertson’s 141 in the previous frame with a break of 108 here to go
ahead again at 9-8. When Robertson was left a free ball early in the next he
looked solid for 23 until missing an easy red and handing the opportunity
across to the Hawk. He took his chance with a second century in succession to
move two frames clear leading 10-8. A trademark long pot from the Australian
had him in first again in frame nineteen and after watching consecutive
centuries from Barry he needed to respond. Once into the reds on 36 the chance
was there for a frame to be killed off in one visit again. The frame was soon
in the bag, and an easy miss on 90 was the only thing that stopped it from
being four centuries in four frames from both players, and the mini session was
squared 2-2 to make it 10-9 to Barry Hawkins at the mid-session interval.
Both players had chances after the break, but the key one came
after a sensational plant from range from the Australian and he made 65 from
there to level the game up once more at 10-10, making it a best-of-5 frames
match effectively for a place in the semi-finals. The sensational snooker
continued in frame twenty-one after Robertson rolled in a terrific long red and
followed with his second 140+ break of the evening, a total clearance of 142
this time to go ahead for the first time since 3-2 at 11-10. Neil had a nice
chance early in the twenty-second frame but it was cut short when he seemed to
have a heavy contact on a tough red to the middle, cutting him short on 29 and
leaving Barry Hawkins an opportunity he simply had to make the most out of. He
certainly did exactly that with brilliant pots on the last couple of reds on
the way to a superb 109 clearance as the unbelievable standard in this final
session continued. After a scrappy opening to frame twenty-three Hawkins had
the first chance after rolling in a spectacular long red to get in. With the
reds in the open now though and the black on its spot he just needed to keep
control and pick the loose reds off to take a vital frame. He did just that
with a contribution of 76 to put him back in front at 12-11 and one away from
the semi-finals. After a careless escape from Hawkins in the twenty-fourth
Robertson was able to pot a red with the spider and build up a 52 point lead to
put Barry under some early pressure. That lead was extended to 60 but still
with 91 on the table if the Englishman’s chance came along. A good pot and
positional shot to run through the pack of reds gave Hawkins that chance, but
he lost position on only 28 with a deficit of 32 still standing and three reds
left on the table. A bad safety from Hawkins left Neil the chance he needed to
clear the remaining reds and force a deciding frame at 12-12.
Neil Robertson fluked a red from his safety shot early on in
the final frame, but when he missed a brown to the middle from that red it left
Barry the first real chance. 25 points were accumulated before missing a tough
brown of his own, and after Robertson potted a red the next time Hawkins played
a shot he was snookered. On the second miss, a free ball was left for the
Australian but again he lost position still 7 adrift of Hawkins after his pack
opener yielded nothing. In the end the big chance fell the way of Hawkins after
a decent mid-range pot got him in and opened the reds. Another clever shot on
the pink opened it up even more and left him a golden chance to clinch frame
and match. When the winning ball went down he let out a huge burst of emotion
with fist pumps up to friends in the crowd and a break of 61 proved enough to
win a pure classic against Neil Robertson 13-12, a match in which the standard
of play itself speaks for how fantastic a match it was.
No comments:
Post a Comment