Mark Williams and Mark Selby have set up a potentially thrilling final at the China Open final with plenty riding on it when they take to the table tomorrow.
Williams came through the first semi-final in very comfortable fashion, beating Hossein Vafei 6-1 and playing close to some of his best snooker. The Welshman took the first couple of frames to stamp his authority early and put the Iranian under pressure in his first ranking semi-final. When Hossein's chance came to score in the next, he made 56 but it was not enough to get a frame on the scoreboard. The chance came to Williams and with a clearance of 62, he dealt a huge blow to the hopes of his 22-year-old opponent.
In the frame before the mid-session interval the three times China Open champion really turned on the style with a magnificent break of 103, cruising at this stage into a 4-0 lead. A break of 52 in the fifth pushed that lead to 5-0 and put him one away from a place in the final. Hossein did get on the scoreboard, and in some style too as he notched up a very fluent 98 break to show us all some of the brilliant snooker that got him into the last four this week. However, any hopes of a mammoth comeback were soon extinguished as Williams compiled a 69 break to kill the match off. The win now means that Williams is only one win away from regaining his place in the top 16 as an automatic qualifier for the World Championships, a win which would send his fellow Welshman Ryan Day to Ponds Forge for a potential three match qualifying stint. If he were to take the title, it would be his first full ranking event win since the 2011 German Masters, over six years ago.
Mark Selby was the man he beat in that German Masters final 6 years ago, and he will be his opponent on this occasion after winning a quality contest against Kyren Wilson. A break of 61 helped Selby to the opener, and after a fairly even start, he managed to take a narrow frame before the interval and take a 3-1 lead into that break. Although, Wilson was able to re-group making a break of 64 in the fifth and a magnificent 130 in the sixth to level the match up at 3-3. Then it was Selby who had to gather himself together after being shut out since the intermission, when his chance came in the seventh he put together a good break of 80 to move in front once more. Wilson was able to hit back once more with a 68 helping towards the eighth frame to level the match at 4-4 and ensure a tense finish. Selby needed a couple of chances to take the ninth, but once he did he was a frame away from the winning line, and making sure that he was never behind in the match. Like all great champions do, Selby was able to finish the match straight away and in doing so, he made his highest break of the match with a 93 to kill the match of in one visit and secure a 6-4 win.
The Final (Best-of-19 frames)
Mark Selby Vs Mark Williams (First session - 7am UK time, Second session - 12.30pm UK time)
For Mark Selby tomorrow would mean another title and a further extension of his lead at the top of the world rankings. It would also be a big confidence boost for his defence of the world title which is now just around the corner. It would also mean he would be the player trying to be the first ever to win the World Championships having won the China Open, with the tournament in Beijing being the last before all eyes turn to the Crucible.
As for Mark Williams he is hoping to be at the Crucible, without having to go through three rounds of World Championship qualifying at Ponds Forge. Only a win tomorrow would do the job of relegating his fellow countryman Ryan Day to the qualifiers instead. As I have mentioned though it would also be Williams first full ranking title for over six years and that in itself would make it a brilliant win.
Selby scored very heavily at the start of the week, and after a scrappy game against Andrew Higginson which he could easily have lost, he was back in fine form against Kyren Wilson who proved a very tough opponent once again. Selby will be the favourite to win, but Williams will surely be inspired by the extra carrot that is waiting for him.
It seemed as though he was sensing his opportunity in the semi-finals against Hossein as he really stepped up his scoring and was at his fluent best at points in the match. He played pretty well against Shaun Murphy earlier in the week, and his comeback against John Higgins was an excellent performance. I think this match is going to go right down to the wire just to add even more to the tension and it will be interesting to see if Williams is able to put Crucible qualification out of his mind and just play. Having come this far though, he will be desperate to finish the job and beating Selby to do so would be an even bigger statement.
No comments:
Post a Comment