This World Championship contest saw its first scoring chance
when Matt Selt’s poor snooker and Barry Hawkins superb long pot got the latter
in. He broke down on 20 after sticking in the bunch of reds, having attacked
them from the black. When Matt’s chance came he made a nice 39, but left
Hawkins in after missing a risky plant to the middle. Hawkins cleared four of
the remaining five reds and a fantastic positional shot in and out of baulk
from the black gave him a great chance at the last red on the side cushion. When he knocked that in he had an easy colour
clearance to lead 1-0 with a run of 51. Matt got off to the best start again in
frame two as he made a nice 30 but a cannon into reds from the blue didn’t work
out and he was forced to play safe. When his next chance came an additional 32
was enough to level the match up at 1-1. The third got off to a scrappy start
but when Hawkins made an easy long pot and followed up with a much tougher
yellow, he had the first clear cut chance. He made 34 before failing to land on
a red from his split when the pink was re-spotted. The hawk soon had another
opening to kill the frame off as Selt left him in amongst the reds with
everything available and he did more than enough to lead 2-1. Having already
built up an early 23 point advantage in frame four, Selt earned an opportunity
after a beautifully weighted long pot. He could only add 22 before missing a
tricky cut on the blue. Hawkins made 37 thereafter to get back in the frame
with three points in the scores on the final red. Selt potted the final red
with green but missed the yellow by a mile to lead now by seven points. Barry
potted yellow but missed the green to the far corner. Selt then knocked that
green in from range and came back up the table perfectly for the brown,
clearing to level at 2-2 going into the mid-session break.
A poor safety gave Hawkins the first chance, and he looked
like he could win it in one visit, until a very clumsy positional shot on 47
forced him into playing safe. Selt was unlucky to pot a long red and then knock
the pink in, fouling and leaving an easy chance for Hawkins to seal the frame
and lead 3-2. Barry had the first scoring visit again in the sixth as Selt was
wayward with his long pot attempt. As the safety battle had spread reds all
around Hawkins didn’t need to play any cannons, just keeping tight cue ball
control and the 91 he ended up making was the highest of the match to lead 4-2.
Selt had his first real opportunity since the interval in frame seven, having
just fallen two behind for the first time in the match so far. 12 was all he
accumulated before missing a pink that he tried to hammer into the pocket. This
left his opponent in with a similar situation to the last frame with little to
do in terms of cannons, with all of the reds nicely situated. A break of 64 did
enough for Hawkins to guarantee an end of session lead at 5-2, with two frames
of the first session remaining.
A beautiful long pot from Hawkins, rolled in for the black
gave him the best early opening of frame eight. The break ended rather
prematurely on 24 when he failed to get on his next red with a few reds
covering each other. Selt was handed a chance shortly after as Barry fouled and
left a free ball. After building a 23 point lead he missed an easy blue and
followed the cue ball into the middle pocket. From the ball in hand, Hawkins
picked out a good long red, giving him a chance to go four clear in the match.
A clearance of 70 made Matt pay for his error and trail now at 6-2. To have any
realistic chances, Selt needed to win the final frame of the session and he did
have the first chance making 28 before missing a black of reasonable difficulty
when attempting to split the pack of reds. Selt increased his lead to 44, but a
long pot from Hawkins earned him the chance to close that gap up. A break of 65
to the blue ended up being enough after Selt couldn’t earn a snooker on the
blue and Hawkins took a 7-2 end of session lead.
The second session got underway the next morning with
Hawkins belting in a long red and then making a good green to obtain ideal
position down the table. He certainly used the jaws on a few pots and
eventually broke down on 34 after a badly judged cannon. He got back to the
table and added another 20 before missing a simple enough rest shot. When
Hawkins did not execute a snooker escape as planned, he left Matt Selt a chance
with 47 points in it and the remaining five reds all in the open. He didn’t
make it easy at times but a 57 to the pink did enough to get a frame back at
3-7. With the reds spread from the bottom end of the bunch early in frame
eleven, Selt was able to play a clever plant to the middle and earn the first
scoring effort. He built a nice 50 lead from there and a shocking safety
allowed him back in very quickly, but he failed to finish the frame off but
still led by 50 the next time he came to the table after trading breaks of 7
with the Hawk. A very fine cut for Selt ended the safety on the final five reds
and got him back to 4-7, and you thought if he could get one of the next two at
least we would have a real game on going into the mid-session interval.
Matt was straight back in in frame number 12. This time he
built a 39 point lead before having to play safe after a poor split of the reds
once again. A sloppy safety gave Hawkins his best chance since going 54-0 up at
7-2, but now the pressure was on at 40-0 down at 4-7 with Matt on the comeback
trail. A fantastic 79 from Hawkins got him back on track and looking like
putting Selt away at 8-4. After a scrappy start to the frame, the best chance
of the early scoring visits from both players came to Hawkins. A break of 88
put Hawkins one away at 9-4 going into the break. Surely there was no way back
for Matt at this stage?
Following a scrappy start from the interval, Matt Selt had
the most clear cut scoring visit and a 61 with reds everywhere required
constant pin point position and he got a frame back at 5-9. An in-off from
Hawkins allowed Selt a chance at a long red. He knocked it in and made 51 from
it before a poor positional shot cost him a frame winning chance. He was still
in a commanding position at 55-0. Hawkins got 26 points back. A fluke from Matt
left him 29 points ahead with 35 remaining. When his chance at the last red
came he took it to pull another back at 9-6. Hawkins had a great chance in
frame sixteen and he had the balls all there for the taking, but when he went
in-off carelessly he must have been beginning to wonder if this was going the
same way as the Nigel Bond match when he lost from 5-0 up with six frames to
play. A superb 102 clearance put Matt Selt back in the game at 7-9 now. A well-
played snooker gave Matt Selt yet another chance in the seventeenth as he
continued to pile the pressure on Hawkins. He had to work hard at the start of
the break but by this point he was starting to really grow in confidence. He
was playing with a good pace and rhythm with a 109 clearance making it
consecutive century breaks for 8-9 and all of a sudden there was only one in
it. It was Matt Selt who got the first chance looking to force a decider, with
a decent pot from range to kick off the break. This really was a superb spell
of snooker from Matt as he came from the impossible position at 9-4 you would
have thought, but he hung on and found his best form out of nowhere in this
second session. A missed double on the last red on 94 cost him the century but
the main part of the job was done and that was to force the deciding frame from
9-4 down.
Barry Hawkins at this stage must have been having flashbacks
to the UK Championship against Bond just 4 and a half months earlier, because I
guarantee you that everyone that saw the Bond comeback was thinking it too. 30
minutes after his last pot, Barry Hawkins knocked the first red in to start the
scoring in the final frame. He was quickly into the reds from the second black,
and the split went nicely opening plenty of balls up and leaving him a shot to
continue the break. He was disappointed to run out of position on just 32 with
the balls not too badly placed, but a nicely picked out range red had him back
in amongst them within a couple of shots. The Hawk showed great fight and
character of his own, the additional 43 he made doing enough to get him over
the line and somehow finish off the match 10-9 despite the heroics of Matt Selt
from 9-4 to 9-9. It was a fantastic display from both in the end, but the
damage was done in the first session where Selt could have been a lot closer
and than 7-2.
If that was only 9th place on the countdown then you know we have some great matches coming up. Why not come back tomorrow after your Christmas lunch to find out who has sealed 8th place.
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