Classic Matches of 2013 countdown: 5th Place: Ding Junhui Vs Marco Fu (International Championship)

It's time for day 8 then on my 12 days of Christmas classic matches of 2013 countdown, and today we're taking a trip back to Sunday 3rd November as Ding Junhui took on Marco Fu in the International Championship final in Chengdu. This was an absolutely brilliant match with plenty of big breaks and brilliant scoring to match the spells of quality safety play and tense frames as well.

So then, let's remind ourselves of what happened in the International final:

Ding Junhui Vs Marco Fu

The best-of-19 final started with Ding Junhui potting a decent long red, before missing a tough cut back on the black. A missed long red from Ding left Fu in, but he could only make 18 before missing a red to the yellow pocket which then travelled over the green pocket to leave an easy starter for the Chinaman. He’d made 32 before he missed a mid-range red that wasn’t easy, nor was it overly difficult though. A decent mid-range red from Fu got him back in with a nice opportunity to take the opening frame. He’d built up a 15 point advantage though before getting the wrong angle on the black to split the last 2 reds, but he played an average safety and Ding was able to knock in a good long red before missing a tough black to the middle. Ding knocked in a brilliant long cut on the final red, to give him a fairly good chance to win the first frame. He missed the brown though, trying to nudge the blue from the cushion, leaving him 9 behind with 22 on. Fu doubled the brown in after about 10 minutes of safety on the last 4 colours, but then he missed the blue completely making his lead 8 with 18 on. Ding potted the blue but missed a really tough pink along the rail and left it in the jaws for Marco to clinch a marathon opening frame. Marco was in first again in the second frame with a decent early chance to at least build a good lead. The break had got to 46 when Fu had to split the reds from the blue, and he did so perfectly to give him a golden opportunity to double his lead. That was exactly what he did with a wonderful break of 128 giving us the first century of the final, and making it 2-0 to Fu. Marco Fu made a horrible error at the start of the third frame, hitting the black instead of catching the reds, and leaving Ding right in amongst them for his first great chance of the match. Ding had an unlucky split on 18 and took on a tough red to the green pocket, but Fu missed a long red of his own, leaving it in the jaws for Ding to get back in and make a heavy contribution. A heavy contribution he made indeed pulling the score back to 1-2 with a fabulous run of 108. Marco had the first proper chance of the fourth frame, but could only make 21 before missing a long blue to the corner, and leaving reds on for Ding Junhui, but the Chinaman could only make 8 before having to head up the table for safety. Fu knocked in a good long red to give him a golden opening to win the frame and take a 2 frame lead going into the interval of the first session, and he did just that with a good break of 37 doing enough for the man from Hong Kong to make it 3-1.

Ding had the first real chance after the interval after a missed pot from Marco. Ding picked off the reds nicely before splitting the remaining reds as a break of 92 reduced the gap to 2-3. Ding was first in, in the sixth frame after a poor safety shot from Fu, having been left in a tricky position by Ding. With all the reds already open, Ding picked them off nicely, and he was soon past the winning post in the frame levelling the scores at 3-3 thanks to his second century, a magical 138. After Marco potted a red early in the seventh and failed to get on the black over the corner Marco tried to hit it off of the top cushion, but somehow failed to pot it. This left Ding in with another good scoring chance, and continuing the mean form he’d shown all week in Chengdu, he made it count again, making it consecutive centuries with a break of 127 to complete the turn around and lead 4-3. Ding Junhui continued this fine burst of form since the break, getting in first again in the eighth frame after a poor safety from Marco. A good early split of the reds, almost had the writing on the wall straight away for Fu in this frame, as Ding had another golden scoring opportunity. He was quickly passed the winning post for the frame, and the break kept on going as he knocked in his third consecutive century, a 126 this time as he made it 5-3 and ensured he would be leading at the start of the second session. Fu needed to hit back in frame nine, and he was first in after Ding Junhui missed a long pot to leave Fu down in the business end of the table. Having opened the reds though, Marco then missed a mid-range red on 36. After a fairly long safety battle, Fu was back in again with a nice long cut, and a further 39 left Ding Junhui needing snookers which he didn’t get meaning it was 5-4 to Ding Junhui over Fu after the first session.

The second session started off with Ding Junhui getting in first after an attempted long red from Fu. A good recovery red to the middle early on kept his break going, and a good split from the blue which was off of its spot gave him a good chance to win the frame, especially after another good recovery red after the split. A further good recovery after going into the reds a second time to the middle left the remaining reds there for the taking. The Chinaman soon sealed the frame and went on to make his fifth century of the match as a 108 kept up the relentless standard that Ding was producing, as he went two in front at 6-4. Marco Fu had the first real chance of frame eleven after a scrappy start to the frame, and Ding Junhui not getting out of a snooker how he would have liked to give him the chance. However he had a shocker on 18, when he chipped over the intended red with the rest after a miscue, which left Ding Junhui in a chance of his own, but he missed a blue to the corner on 1 to hand the advantage back to Marco. He broke down on 7 though with a 20 point lead and 5 reds left on the table. A loose safety from Fu gave Ding the chance at a long red, but by missing it he left a golden opportunity for Fu to clinch the frame. The man from Hong Kong did enough to leave Ding needing 2 snookers on the final red. Ding got the first of those snookers, and with the balls nicely placed for snookers this marathon frame wasn’t over yet. When Ding handed a foul back though that was pretty much frame over as Ding was then snookered again, and the Chinaman conceded as Fu closed the gap to a single frame again at 6-5. Fu was in first again in the twelfth frame with a good long red, landing him nicely on the black, with a nice early opening to score. Once he’d got to 24 with 3 reds and blacks, the reds were nicely split and he had a golden chance to win the frame, but also to make a maximum break. A great recovery red with the rest put him on to 73 and past the post in the frame, and he was soon onto 80 with 10 reds and 10 blacks and a maximum break firmly in his sights. Once he’d got to 105 he needed to play the cannon on the last red to free it from the pink, and he played it perfectly… only to miss the 14^th black. However it was a wonderful 105 that levelled the final up at 6-6. Marco Fu had the first real chance of the thirteenth frame as well with the reds nicely spread. He took the golden opportunity he was presented with, with a brilliant break of 71 to lead 7-6 at the last mid-session interval.

Ding Junhui had the first chance after the interval, knocking in a decent long red from a ball-in-hand situation. Ding made a nice little 65 to lead by 73 with 75 on, after missing a tough red along the bottom cushion. Fu soon let Ding back in again after a poor safety shot, and Ding potted the red he needed to clinch the frame, adding 22 to level the scores once more at 7-7. Ding had the first chance of frame fifteen, splitting the reds from the brown, but with the break only on 5 after that split Ding was really unlucky not to be on an easy red, and he missed an incredibly tough red to the middle, gifting a frame winning opportunity to Marco Fu. He could only make 20 though, as he couldn’t get on one having played a cannon to the reds. It was Ding that made the next mistake though, missing a risky long red, and Fu potted a decent red to the middle to give him a chance to edge in front again. He took that chance as well, making a break of 81 to seal the frame and move 8-7 ahead needing two more frames to be crowned International Champion. Ding gave himself a good early chance in the sixteenth frame after making an unbelievable cut into the bottom right corner. The chance soon turned into a golden opportunity with a nice split on the reds from the blue and then a great red to the middle to keep the break going. The break broke down on 30 though after Ding failed to get nicely on a red having come in and out of baulk from the blue, and then played a rash rest shot, which he didn’t get close to. Ding was gifted another chance though, and he needed to make this one count with all the reds he needed there for the taking. A further break of 30 was enough for the Chinaman to level the game again at 8-8. A vicious miss cue from Marco early in the seventeenth frame gave Ding a free ball and an early chance.  He could only a make 8 though as the man going for 3 successive full ranking event titles ran out of position after a good recovery red with safety in mind. Ding was soon back in again after a missed mid-range red from Fu. He missed a black on 4 though when he left himself in a situation with very hampered cueing. Marco got his chance shortly afterwards knocking in a superb long red, but with the state of the table, it was hardly a clear cut opportunity. Once the black was on its spot though, it turned into a much better chance to take the frame. However, with a 21 point lead on a break of 37 he ran out of position after a bad kick on the black. Ding put a red over the corner early in the safety battle though, which gave Fu another chance, but he couldn’t get on a colour from it and had to play safe. Ding knocked in a terrific long red, and he got on the brown, but couldn’t get as close to the next red as he liked after catching the blue on the side cushion. He still potted the red though, but still had loads of work to do if he was going to win the frame at this visit. The Chinaman reduced his deficit to 3 points when he had to play safe with 2 reds left on the table. Fu was next in with a great pot down the side cushion, and he potted the last 2 reds with blacks before missing the yellow giving Marco a 19 point lead with the colours left. Ding then knocked in a great cut on the yellow to get brilliantly on the green, only to miss it, before the Australian Open champion potted the green and brown to leave Ding needing 2 snookers on the blue. Ding got the first snooker, but Fu eventually doubled in the blue to go 9-8 ahead and a single frame from winning the title.

Marco Fu had an early chance in frame eighteen with a well cut red to the right corner. When he screwed in off when potting the pink on 4 he squandered a good early opportunity to win the match. Ding then potted a nice mid-range red to give him a nice opening to try and force a decider. A brilliant break of 58 under pressure from Ding was almost as good any of his 5 centuries in the match, as Ding Junhui forced the final frame decider in the International Championship Final. Ding Junhui was in first in the deciding frame with a good pot, following a poor shot from Marco Fu landing into the reds from a snooker. He potted a good mid-range black, but couldn’t get on the next red and the break ended on 8. Ding got the next chance as well though after another poor safety from Fu left a red over the corner. The reds were soon lining up for Ding, as it soon turned into a brilliant opening for Ding Junhui to take frame and match. He couldn’t finish with a century but a brilliant break of 91 sealed the International Championship title and 3 ranking events in a row, with a magnificent and closely fought 10-9 victory, in an absolutely classic match where Ding had 5 centuries and 2 90 odd breaks and Fu had 2 centuries of his own.

 

What a truly superb match that was, with loads of big breaks and plenty of tension in match that was close throughout and it was truly fitting that such a classic match marked Ding Junhui winning 3 full ranking events in a row, and of making my top 5 on the classic matches countdown. Who'll just miss out on the top 3 on the list? Be sure to come back tomorrow and find out.

Classic Matches of 2013 countdown: 6th Place: Mark Selby Vs Neil Robertson (2012 UK Championship)

It's day 7 then of my 12 days of Christmas classic matches of 2013 countdown, and today it's time to take a trip back to Thursday 6th December 2012 when Mark Selby played Neil Robertson in the Quarter-finals of the 2012 UK Championship at the Barbican centre in York. Before I go any further I will just remind you that the qualification period for the classic matches of 2013 was from the start of the 2012 UK Championship - the end of the 2013 Champion of Champions event, simply because there were a couple of matches including this one that I couldn't leave out including this one. This was quite a weird match really, as it didn't excite the fans throughout with brilliant breaks, and it did get quite scrappy at times, but there were periods of quite superb safety play and a magnificent comeback.

So, let's take a trip down memory lane to a cold December evening at the York Barbican:

Mark Selby Vs Neil Robertson

The match started with a terrific long red from Mark Selby, but he came too far or the black, and was forced to play the snooker behind it. Neil Robertson knocked in a fairly straight forward long red to give him the first real chance to score, shortly afterwards. Robertson played a decent split of the reds which took the break to 26, but was incredibly unlucky not to be on one, forcing him to play safe. Selby knocked in a good long red after a scrappy safety battle, but missed a black cueing from the side cushion, leaving the Aussie with an opportunity to take the frame. Robertson took his chance, making a nice break of 65 to take the opening frame. A missed long red from Selby early in the second frame left Neil in after he got the double kiss on the red. Neil was forced to play safe again on 21 though, after a poor split from the blue. Robertson was next in with a well cued long red, before missing an easy red to the middle with a 29 point lead. This left Selby amongst the balls with a good chance to level the scores. A good recovery black on 25 kept his break going after trying to develop it. He overran position from the next red though, meaning he was unable to get on the black this time and had to play safe on 33. An easy long red soon got Robertson back in again though, with another decent opening to take the frame. Robertson missed an awkward last red though and had a 25 point,  but he left Mark a chance to clear. After potting the green he had perfect position on the brown with the remaining colours on their spots. However, he came up short on the blue and took it to the corner instead, but he just missed, but Robertson missed a thin blue near the bottom rail, giving the advantage back to Mark with the blue over the corner. Selby potted the blue but couldn’t get on the pink, which brought the frame into an all-important safety battle. It was The Jester who lost the battle, leaving the pink on which was all Robertson needed to take a 2-0 lead, which was exactly what Neil did. The third frame started off slightly better for Mark, knocking in a brilliant long red to get onto the black, and give him a nice chance to score. Selby could only make 25 though as he went into reds from a red and failed to get on a colour. Robertson soon had his chance after a poor safety from Mark Selby who had looked below par in that department in the early stages, despite usually being so reliable. He missed a tricky red on 26 though, and had a 2 point advantage, leaving everything safe from his miss. Selby had his next proper chance after a missed black following a long red from Neil, and a great blue to the green pocket made it into a nice chance to get his first frame on the board. Selby only made 13 though as he couldn’t get on the next colour after a pot along the bottom rail, leaving Selby 10 ahead with 2 reds left. Selby was able to pot the last red after leaving the long red on, and a very good pot on the last red along the cushion left him with a golden chance to take the frame. However, only needing the yellow and green for the frame, he under hit the yellow for the green and had to play safe with a 21 point lead. 2 misses on the green though, cut Selby’s lead to 13 in the frame, leading to a very important safety battle in the context of the match. Selby then gave away 20 points in fouls after being snookered on the green, despite it being an easy 1 cushion escape. Neil Robertson had the next chance after Selby made a poor escape from another snooker, as he potted green, brown and blue and pink to take a lengthy third frame and lead 3-0. A missed long red from Mark at the start of the fourth frame was left for Neil, giving the former World and Masters champion a great opportunity to make a frame winning contribution. With the reds already open, Robertson picked them off well making a magnificent 105 break to take a 4-0 lead at the mid-session interval.

Things started a little better for Selby after the break, as he knocked in a fabulous long red to get going, and he really needed to make this count if he was going to have any chance of winning the match. However, Selby never really looked comfortable and could only make 25 before running out of position. He was soon back in with a nice long cut to the left corner, getting him on the brown. Mark couldn’t keep the cue ball under control though and the break ended on 5. A poor safety shortly after from Neil though left Selby right in amongst the reds, with all of the balls there for Mark to get his first frame on the board. A break of 58 helped him gain some rhythm and closed the gap to 3 at 1-4. A cracking long red got Neil Robertson on the black early in the sixth frame, with a great early opportunity to score, but a really careless positional shot meant that the break came to a really premature end on 24. A crunching long red got Robertson back in with a golden opportunity to win the frame, but a bad miss on the black handed that chance over to Mark Selby. Selby could only make 32 though, and was still showing signs of a lack in confidence. A missed pot from Neil left Selby another chance though, and a great pot on the last red along the cushion, but having put everything into the pot, he was very unfortunate not to have landed on a colour, so he had to play safe with a 5 point advantage. Neil potted the yellow but snookered himself on the green over the pocket, but he escaped from it and left the green safe, to send the frame into an all-important battle on the remaining colours. After a lengthy battle on the green, Robertson knocked in a decent long green from a ball-in-hand situation. Robertson then potted the brown and brought the pink off of the cushion and leaving himself a tricky, but still gettable shot on the blue. Robertson missed the blue, and left it on for Mark who potted that and the pink to grind out another frame and make it 2-4. An attempt to try and move a red away from the pocket, that Selby was snookered on, went slightly wrong early in the seventh frame as it left Neil with an easy chance to get in and build an early lead. The break broke down on 28 though as Robertson had a kick, leaving him a tricky black which he took on and missed, giving Selby another chance as The Jester looked to continue his comeback. The misses continued to come out though as Selby missed a red to the middle on 16 that was by no means easy. The frame quickly turned into a scrappy affair after that, which sort of showed the tone of the match to this point, with a lot of frames relying on long periods of safety to sort them out. Robertson potted the next red but a miss on the brown handed the half chance over to Selby, but with the reds all over the place it was always going to be a tough clearance. Mark missed another red with the cue ball on the cushion though, leaving him 2 points in front with 2 reds left. When Robertson missed a long straight red to the green pocket and left it over the pocket though, Selby had another golden chance to close the gap to just a single frame. Once he’d potted the last red, all the colours were there to confirm that it would be 3-4. At this point Neil Robertson fans knew that their man was in trouble, with Mark Selby producing another classic comeback to this point, but Neil had had plenty of chances and not been able to take them so far. Early on in the eighth frame Neil had another early chance, potting a nice red to the middle and getting on the black, and he would have known the importance of making this one count. He couldn’t make it count again though, as missed a red with the spider after going into the reds, gifting a golden opportunity with the reds open for Selby to make a big contribution and level the match. A magnificent century of 106 made sure that it would be 4-4, with the match now becoming  a best of 3 for a place in the 2012 UK Championship semi-finals.

Mark Selby took his time in developing an early 47 point lead in frame nine, after having a few early chances in the frame, showing also that the momentum was firmly with him and not Neil who had not taken his opportunities since the interval. Robertson had his chance soon after though after a missed long thin cut from Selby, and a good black with the cue ball close to the cushion improved his chances of cutting his 47 point deficit. Robertson got to 32 when he was unlucky having tried to bring a red from the cushion from the black. Robertson potted the penultimate red with the black, before playing a good snooker on the final red. Selby left the red on after getting out of the snooker and Robertson potted the red and the black to go 1 point ahead with the 6 colours remaining. Neil missed a tough cut on the yellow, and left it on for Mark Selby, but The Jester from Leicester failed to get nicely on the green and played the snooker behind the blue. A poor safety from Neil on the green, left an easy pot for Mark, but he couldn’t pot the brown which was next to the pink, playing the snooker instead. Robertson missed it but wasn’t replaced as Selby played a better snooker. He missed that one as well, as Selby potted the easy brown he was left with, and then the blue to put him 22 ahead with 13 on. Robertson played on for snookers, but Selby potted the pink with his next shot to complete the turnaround and now lead 5-4, only needing 1 more frame for a place in the semi-finals. Neil Robertson missed a reasonably straightforward red along the bottom rail early in the tenth frame which gifted Mark Selby an early opening to take out the frame he needed to win. He soon had the reds open and then all of the reds were there for him to do just that. Once Selby had potted frame ball red, to leave Neil needing snookers, Selby pulled out the fist pump and showed what this comeback meant to him, and the grit and determination of the character he is. The black soon followed which pretty much confirmed that that would be it, and Mark punched the table in pure delight. A nice double kept the break going, as Selby finished the match off with a top notch break of 101 sealing the match and a remarkable 6-4 victory for The Jester from Leicester, and if we didn’t already know how much this meant he gave another fist pump to the crowd and one more to the camera as he left the arena, having ground out a brilliant win, and completing a quite amazing comeback, and one that really hurt Neil Robertson who had chances in almost every frame after the break, but couldn’t make any of them count.

 

What a superb comeback that really was from the "master of brinkmanship" Mark Selby, as many players would've given up at that point, especially when they were playing as poorly as Mark did in the first half, but he is one of a select few guys who will never give up, and you can see how pumped up for it was with his celebrations at the end of the match. Such a comeback was it that it was deserving of classic status. Did you enjoy that? Then you'll be in for a treat as we enter the top 5 tomorrow, but who has earned the right to take 5th place? Well you'll just have to come back tomorrow and find out.

Classic Matches of 2013 countdown: 7th Place: Mark Selby Vs Ronnie O'Sullivan (Antwerp Open)

We've now reached the halfway point of my 12 days of Christmas, classic matches of 2013 countdown as day 6 of the countdown takes us back to Sunday 17th November 2013 when Mark Selby took on Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final of the Antwerp Open at the Lotto Arena in Belgium. This was a really brilliant match, with plenty of high scoring periods from both men, and a great comeback as well as a bit of tension in the early stages and again right at the end. This once again showed the value of the PTC events, as a brilliant match was created, yet the match only lasted a couple of hours.

Here's what happened on the evening in question at the Lotto Arena:

Mark Selby Vs Ronnie O'Sullivan

The match started off in style, after Ronnie potted a great long red to the yellow pocket, after Selby missed a tough long pot of his own. Ronnie was soon in full flow and at his best, a great split of the reds on 52 leaving the frame at his mercy, and a break of 74 confirmed that he would take the opener in no time at all. The second frame started off with a top quality long red from Mark Selby, to give him his first opening of the match. A brilliant split of the reds from the blue on 13 turned the opening into a golden opportunity for The Jester to hit back immediately. However, a really poor missed blue off of the spot on 39, left O’Sullivan in with a chance, although it looked like a very tough clearance when the 5 times World Champion came to the table. But Ronnie then missed a fairly straightforward red of his own along the bottom cushion, letting Mark off and leaving him in an easy position to level the scores. With a lead of 34 with 1 red left on the table, Selby missed a fairly easy red on the bottom cushion himself, when he only needed the red for the frame. O’Sullivan then potted the final red, and the black before snookering himself on the yellow, sending them into a battle on the colours. Selby potted the yellow but then missed frame ball green, before O’Sullivan potted green and brown but failed to get on the blue. After a long safety battle on the blue, Mark Selby eventually knocked in a decent long pot to level the scores at 1-1. Ronnie O’Sullivan was first in, in the third frame after Selby missed a red to the middle which Ronnie brought up the table from the break off shot. O’Sullivan then missed a mid-range red on 24 and left that red on for Selby who had his opportunity. A good mid-range red of his own on 20 kept the break going but he was unable to get the right angle to bust the reds open, and had to play safe on 28. O’Sullivan knocked in a great long pot though, and then created himself a brilliant chance, which he took with a run of 54 making it 2-1 to the World Champion. After a high quality safety battle, with both players playing showing off their great tactical knowledge, but when Selby missed a tricky long pot, O’Sullivan was able to get in and had a really good scoring opportunity in the early stages of the frame. However he could only make 22 before missing a mid-range red by quite a distance. A poor shot from Ronnie trying to escape from a snooker, let Selby in again with a decent opening to try and cancel out Ronnie’s frame and match lead. A nice contribution of 56 put Selby 25 ahead with 3 reds left on the table, and in a fairly commanding position. There was another great safety battle on the final 3 reds, before Ronnie made a nice long pot but couldn’t get on a colour.  O’Sullivan then potted another decent long red, and played a great shot on the black to get on the final red on the cushion which he potted with ease, and he cleared up to and including the pink to move into a 3-1 lead, and only 1 frame away from taking the Antwerp Open title.

A careless attempt at a long red from O’Sullivan, with the Rocket catching the blue first, left Mark Selby right in with a good chance to make a valuable contribution early on in the fifth frame. A brilliant recovery red to the green pocket on 36 after an unlucky split, made it an excellent chance but he missed a simpler red to the left middle on 52, but Ronnie let him off straight away with a missed red of his own. A brilliant long red from Selby later on, showed Selby’s bottle but he couldn’t get on a colour and failed to cover a long red near the corner with the safety shot, only for Ronnie to miss the long red and hand Selby the easy chance he needed to clinch the frame, with an additional 61 closing the gap to one frame at 2-3. A brilliant safety shot from Mark Selby produced a him a good scoring opening, with the reds spread, as Ronnie left one on trying to land on a red from the snooker. Mark picked the reds off brilliantly, and showed his true fighting qualities, by forcing a decider with a wonderful 133 total clearance.

A bit of poor luck from Mark Selby after a missed long red, left O’Sullivan a chance, but he failed to get on a colour from the red, and had to play safe prematurely. A poor safety a short while afterwards from Mark gave the Rocket his first proper chance of the decider, and a decent split of the reds on 14 put Ronnie in a great position to take the frame and the match in 1 visit, but an uncharacteristic missed black from the spot on 28, gave the 3 times Masters champion his first chance in the decider. Once again, Selby picked the reds of really well, and with all the balls there for the taking Mark made no mistake, completing a brilliant comeback victory with a magnificent break of 77 clinching the 2013 Antwerp Open and winning this classic contest.

 

What a match it was as well, with a brilliant comeback from Mark Selby, deserving of winning him yet another PTC title, and all credit has to go to Ronnie O'Sullivan as well as it takes 2 men to make a classic contest, and he played really well in the opening stages or warm-up time as Mark Selby probably prefers to call it. Another great tussle on Boxing Day then, as the countdown continues into the top 6 tomorrow. But do you think they'll be six of the best of 2013 snooker? Well you'll have to wait and see what I've got for you then!

Classic Matches of 2013 countdown: 8th Place: Shaun Murphy Vs John Higgins (The Masters)

The 5th day of my 12 days of Christmas, classic matches of 2013 countdown takes us back to Thursday 17th January when Shaun Murphy took on John Higgins in the 2013 Masters Quarter-finals at the brilliant Alexandra Palace in London. This match was an incredibly tense one that saw a brilliant comeback, and may not have been of the highest quality if you looked at the stats, but it certainly bought plenty of entertainment to everyone watching on TV and at the fabulous arena.

So let's have a look back at this incredibly cold evening in January:

Shaun Murphy Vs John Higgins

The match started well for Shaun Murphy after John Higgins played a poor shot trying to run into the pack and letting Murphy in. After a brilliant split off of the pack on 25, Murphy carved himself out a great chance to win the opening frame. However, Shaun broke down on 33 after failing to get position on a red. Both players then missed shots at a red, as the safety play continued. Then John Higgins played a poor shot trying to get passed the brown to a red, but clipping the brown instead.  Then a further 85 from Murphy gave him the frame and a 1-0 lead. After a tough safety went wrong for Murphy in the second, Higgins got in with a nice long red and after John potted a tricky red on 28, he managed to build a nice frame winning opportunity. Although, he missed a tricky cut on the yellow on 53 and gave Shaun a chance. When Murphy had a horrible kick on 21 though, causing him to miss the blue, then a poor safety from Shaun a couple of shots after gave Higgins the chance he needed to level, and he added 49 to make sure that he did so and make it 1-1. Poor missed reds from both players in the third, first from Murphy and then Higgins gave Murphy the first good chance to make a big contribution. Murphy had a bit of poor luck going into the pack, but held a nice 33 point lead, before he managed to get in again, but a bad positional shot meant sure that he only made 3. Shaun had a 41 point lead, but that soon started to go when Higgins potted a brilliant long red and got himself in. He closed the gap to 14 before missing a tough red on the bottom cushion, which Murphy then potted but failed to get on a colour playing safe with a 15 point lead and just the colours left. Murphy then potted the yellow, and later the green, before playing a poor safety on the brown which Higgins then potted, and cleared the remaining colours to lead 2-1. The Magician then missed a long red early in the fourth which let Higgins in with a good chance, but he could only make 28 before missing a black by the red, Murphy then made 29 before he went in off on the blue, sending the frame into a tactical battle once more.  Murphy lost the tactical battle after going in off, and Higgins had the chance to make it 3-1. However, Higgins missed the yellow but he had a 23 point lead going down to the colours, and he later potted a good long yellow and cleared up to and including the pink to make it 3-1 at the interval.

After the break, Higgins had the first chance after potting a great long red, and a few brilliant recovery shots gave him a good opportunity to lead 4-1. It was a break of 69 that left Murphy needing snookers with 5 reds left, before a brilliant pot on the last red gave Higgins the frame and the 4-1 lead. Murphy needed a big improvement if he was to win from here. An excellent long pot started things off for Murphy in frame six, and gave him a nice early chance. Murphy potted a nice black to recover things on 27 and a plant on 34 put him right back in great position, looking like making it 2-4. The break continued and 70 was enough to put him back to 2 frames behind John Higgins. When Higgins missed a plant early on in frame seven he gifted an early chance to Murphy, to close the gap to within 1 frame. But, Murphy chipped the black off of the table on 40, giving Higgins a chance to get back into the frame, but John soon missed the penultimate red, before Shaun potted it, only to go in off in the middle pocket. Higgins soon potted the last red and had a great chance to make it 5-2. John played a poor shot on the green though, and was whiskers away from a double on the brown but just couldn’t get it. This let Murphy back in, and he potted the brown, blue and pink to make it 3-4 and only trail John by 1 frame. Shaun got in first in frame eight as well, and he made it count as a well-made break of 77 squared the match at 4-4. An excellent long red from Shaun Murphy gave an early chance in frame nine, and a brilliant black to the middle on 17 showed the all-out attack mode that Murphy had now gone into. However, he missed a blue to the yellow pocket on 25 and let Higgins in, and after he got a great split of the reds from the pink, he had an excellent opportunity to take full advantage and move a frame from victory at 5-4. Higgins couldn’t do it in one visit, but after fluking a snooker he got a second chance to get the red he needed to go 5-4 in front. A missed long red from John cost him early in the tenth frame, letting Murphy in, but he could only make 8 from it. Another terrific long red from Shaun landed him on the black, he had a terrific chance to force a decider. However, he ran out of position once more letting Higgins back in again, but he could only make 5 before having to play safe himself. John Higgins then potted a great red to the middle and gave himself a chance to win the match, but he missed a simple red trying to bring a red from the cushion and all the balls were there for Shaun to force a decider, and after the scoreboard temporarily froze, Murphy potted up to and including the pink to make it 5-5.

After Shaun missed a relatively tough red early in the decider, John potted a fairly tough one himself and gave himself the first good chance. John Higgins played a great split from the blue on 45, but a poor positional shot from the next red left John a tougher blue from the side cushion which he missed to give Murphy his chance, Murphy left himself a tough blue almost immediately to the green pocket, which he potted leaving the Scot looking up to the heavens and Murphy with a golden opportunity to win, and he made a brilliant 67 to win the match 6-5 pointing to a particular member of the crowd, and giving them the thumbs up in celebration of a very memorable win.

 

This was what Shaun Murphy had to say about the match, when I asked him about it a few weeks ago:

This was always going to be a tough game. Any match against John is always a tough game and he and I have had quite a few good games in recent years. This game at last year’s Masters was no different. We had a really good battle, finishing with a final frame decider. I think John got in first, and had a good lead until I was able to mount a comeback and made a nice break in the end to nick the frame and the match. One of my best mates, James, was sat in the crowd and as I won I spotted him going crazy so I had to give him a wave.

 

What a brilliant match it was as well, with plenty of tension, and going to a very exciting decider that had me on the edge of my seat, and what another brilliant comeback that was as well from Shaun Murphy who went on to lose to Neil Robertson in the semi-finals. Another brilliant present on Christmas day, and Boxing day will see another titanic tussle, but who will take 7th on my Christmas countdown? You'll have to come back tomorrow and find out.

Classic Matches of 2013 countdown: 9th Place: Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Barry Hawkins (World Championship)

The 4th day of my 12 days of Christmas, classic matches of 2013 countdown takes us back to Sunday 5th and Monday 6th May 2013 when Ronnie O'Sullivan took on Barry Hawkins in the 2013 World Championship Final at the magical Crucible theatre in Sheffield. Ronnie had never really ever been tested that much in any of his previous World Finals, but that was all about to change in this classic final over the best-of-35 frames.

Let's have a look back on those 2 brilliant days in May then:

A poor early safety from Barry Hawkins gave Ronnie O’Sullivan the first chance of the World Championship final. An early kick ruined things for Ronnie though causing him to miss the black, causing the break to end on just 13. A missed long one from Ronnie, let Hawkins in with his first opportunity of the final. A missed black to the middle on 4 though showed his nerves at this early stages, and his need to settle quickly. This left Ronnie right in amongst them with a decent opening to take the first frame. A quick fire 74 confirmed that he would do just that and lead Hawkins 1-0. An easy long red got Hawkins in first in the second frame but he’d only got to 6 before showing his nerves once again with a rash shot with the rest. This allowed O’Sullivan to get in again straight away, and a brilliant quick fire 92 gave Ronnie a 2-0 lead in no time at all, with a brilliant cross-double sealing the frame. A decent long pot got Hawkins in first again in the third frame, and it was important that this time he made it count. He managed to stay on top of his nerves this time (just about) and compiled a brilliant 88 to get on the board at 1-2. Another missed long red from Ronnie early in frame four, let Hawkins in again. A good split of the reds from a red on 23 put Barry in a great position to level the scores ahead of the interval. Some good recovery blues to the corner kept the break going, and another well -made break of 81 ensured the scores would be level going into the first interval, and just reminded Ronnie that he did have a match on his hands here. After the longest safety battle of the match so far, Hawkins again potted first in frame five with a decent long red, but failing to get in and out of baulk from the blue brought the break to a premature end, although an odd shot left Ronnie right in amongst them, but his break also ended prematurely after a poor shot on the black with the spider left him out of position. An easy long red got Hawkins back in again though, and he’d knocked up a 43 point lead before he missed a red to the middle. He was back in shortly after with a good thin cut to the corner, as an additional 50 gave him the frame and put him 3-2 in front.  It was a missed long pot, and some poor luck from Barry Hawkins that left Ronnie in early in frame six, and Ronnie had the reds open immediately from the first blue, giving him a great chance to square the scores. Ronnie picked off the reds very well and he soon past the winning post in the frame with a good pink to the middle and an equally good long red confirming the frame as a contribution of 76 made it 3-3. A really poor safety from Barry Hawkins at the beginning of the seventh frame left Ronnie O’Sullivan bang in the balls once again. A great split of the reds on 52 from the black basically confirmed that Ronnie would lead 4-3 going into the final frame of the session, once again constructing his break brilliantly and pilling on the first century of the final, a 113 to move ahead once again. Even at this early stage, the final frame of the session was crucial with both players knowing that 4-4 or 5-3 to Ronnie would have a big difference on their mind sets, going into the evening session. A poor safety from Barry and a decent pot from Ronnie, meant that the man seeking his 5^th World Title was in first again in the eighth frame, and in pure Ronnie style he made it consecutive centuries with another brilliant 100 this time to move 5-3 ahead of Barry Hawkins at the end of the first session of 4 in the 2013 World Championship final.

The first frame of the first evening session started off with Hawkins knocking in a good mid-range red, and then an equally good black to get right in and give himself a good chance to close the gap. Barry failed to get in and out of baulk from the blue though and his break ended on 27. Barry got back in again, after Ronnie missed a simple red, but he missed an easy pink on 22, but Ronnie couldn’t capitalise again with a missed red near the bottom cushion and Hawkins made an additional 24 to seal the frame and close to 4-5. Barry was in first again in the tenth frame with a cracking long pot, and he was in around the black. However, Barry fouled a red with his cue on 24, but it took a good pot from Ronnie for him to get in with his great opening to score. Ronnie got a poor split of the reds though and his break ended on 12. Barry left a red over the corner from his safety though, and O’Sullivan was back in again, this time with an excellent opportunity to take this frame, especially after the great pink he potted into the yellow pocket on 1, and an eventual break of 49 left The Hawk needing snookers. He got one but failed to get the second, and Ronnie potted the green to confirm that he would lead 6-4. The eleventh frame started off by Ronnie trying to force the yellow in after a long red, and instead missing it and leaving Hawkins in. He opened the bunch nicely on simultaneous shots from the blue and then a red to take the break to 32, but he failed to get on a red from the next blue and had to play safe. Another terrific long red from Barry got him going again, and an additional 23 showed Hawkins fight as he closed to a single frame again at 5-6. A great red to the middle gave Ronnie a great opening early in frame twelve, and he’d potted 6 reds with 6 blacks before running out of position. The Rocket was able to add 21 to the score after making a plant, and then Ronnie was gifted another chance to pot the red he needed and move into a 2 frame lead again at 7-5. A cracking long pot from Hawkins gifted him the first chance of the thirteenth frame but he missed a hard red to the yellow pocket, meaning he could only make 8. He was quickly back in the balls though, after a fantastic red along the bottom rail, and a nice split of the reds made it into a golden opportunity. He took the opportunity and made sure he was sticking with Ronnie, a break of 83 closing to one frame again at 6-7. Some cracking safety from Barry at the start of frame fourteen forced the mistake from Ronnie, and gift him a good early chance. That early chance soon turned into an excellent opportunity to level the scores and that was exactly what he did with a run of 133 to make it 7-7. In the fifteenth,  Barry missed a similar long red to the one he knocked in in the previous frame, and left a red on for Ronnie, which he potted to give himself an early opening to go back in front. A good split of the reds from the black on 39, quickly put him in great shape to make a frame winning contribution, and that was exactly what he did, knocking another great 103 to lead 8-7. A nice mid-range red got Ronnie back in and scoring again in the sixteenth frame but the break ended after a poor positional shot, with The Rocket only making 11. However, a missed straight long pot from Barry soon after left O’Sullivan with a great opening once again, and he soon raced into a 9-7 lead with consecutive centuries, this time making a brilliant 106. Hawkins came up short attempting to land up to a red on the bottom cushion, leaving Ronnie a red to the middle which he took to give himself the first chance in the seventeenth and final frame of the session. Although, Ronnie missed a blue to the corner on 8 and left The Hawk in with a chance to swoop and win the session 5-4, but he missed an easy red very early on in the break, as the tension was beginning to tell. The frame quickly became quite a tactical one, highlighting it’s importance and the difference between 10-7 and 9-8. Hawkins won the lengthy safety battle, pulling out a good long pot,  and he made a nice 42 to take a 17 point lead in the frame, but he left Ronnie in, and he was able to close the gap to 4 before playing a great snooker on the last red, which Hawkins missed to leave Ronnie a free ball. O’Sullivan potted 2 pinks and then got on the final red, but couldn’t get on the pink. However, he then played a stunning snooker behind the pink, which Barry hit, but left on as a long pot, which Ronnie knocked in to lead by 10 points with 25 left. O’Sullivan then played the best safety shot of the entire event on the green, but Hawkins not only got out of it, but fluked the green straight in. Ronnie potted the brown but couldn’t get on the blue, and lead by 11 with 18 on the table. Barry potted the blue and pink to make it a black ball frame with the scores level and a poor safety shot from Hawkins left O’Sullivan a chance to cut the black in, and he did just that to move into a 10-7 advantage at the end of the first day of this brilliant final.

The second day of the final started off with both players getting a wonderful reception to the arena, before O’Sullivan had the first scoring chance of the session, after a missed long pot from Barry gave The Rocket an easy opener. However, a bad positional ended the break on 14. Ronnie was soon back in with a thundering long red, and some good rest shots kept the break going, but he missed a blue to the corner on 22 and Hawkins was able to get in for his first chance of the session. His break ended on 30 when he failed to get the correct cannon on the 4 reds on the bottom cushion. Hawkins was soon back in again after a missed long red from Ronnie, and he needed to make this once count. Hawkins cleared up to and including the brown to confirm that he would close the gap to two again at 10-8. Ronnie was in first in the next frame after Hawkins left him a tempting red along the cushion, and he made a nice 54 before not getting the correct split on the reds. Hawkins then called a foul on himself, and with the poor safety he played in the shot in question, left Ronnie in with a golden chance to make it 11-8. A break of 76 confirmed that he would re-take that three frame advantage. The twentieth frame started off in very scrappy style with neither player able to get in, and the reds making their way up to the baulk end with every safety shot. A fluked red from Ronnie put him in all sorts of trouble, because of the safety he’d played and he was forced into taking on a tough pink, which he missed to leave Barry in amongst them. Hawkins made a nice break of 46 before he missed frame ball red, and left Ronnie a chance to counter. A brilliant clearance of 55 made Hawkins pay for his miss, as Ronnie pulled out all the shots on the last red and the green amongst others for him to now go four clear at 12-8. Barry was first in in the twenty-first frame as O’Sullivan missed a red to the yellow pocket and left the same red on for Barry. He went into the reds on 25, but couldn’t get on anything nice and had to play an excellent recovery red to keep the chance going, and turn this into a frame winning opportunity. An excellent break of 90 made sure that Barry Hawkins responded brilliantly to Ronnie’s clearance in the previous frame, making it 12-9 at the third mid-session interval. Ronnie was at it again after the break though, getting straight back in with a good long red, and when he played a great 2 cushion split of the reds from the blue Ronnie had the frame in the palm of his hands. He didn’t let it go, and went on to make another century (a 133), his fifth of the final to go 13-9 ahead and 5 frames from winning the World Title. Hawkins needed to hit back again, and he gave himself an early chance to do so in the twenty-third frame, with a good long red to get in. His break ended on 40 after he missed a testing red to the middle after opening the reds. Hawkins got back in again, but he missed a tough black shortly after, leaving Ronnie another chance to steal a frame that Hawkins should’ve won. A great clearance of 67 really damaged Barry’s hopes as O’Sullivan now moved 14-9 ahead. A poor safety from O’Sullivan though gave The Hawk an early opening in frame twenty-four, but a horrible kick on 40 caused Barry to miss the pink and give Ronnie yet another opportunity to go on the counter-attack, but he missed on 38. Hawkins was able to get back in after the safety battle, and a clearance of 47 kept him in the match at 14-10 with one frame left of the afternoon session on day two. Hawkins was first in in that final frame of the third session, but he failed to make any more than 7. A brilliant double from Ronnie gifted him an opening to score. A clever cannon on the reds from the black took the break to 19, and put him in a great position to make a lot lot more. He did make more, and his sixth century of the match, a 124 this time, put Ronnie O’Sullivan 3 frames from the title at the end of the penultimate session as he led 15-10.

The final session started well for Barry Hawkins, needing to play brilliantly he started off with an excellent long pot. Things only got better for Hawkins as he picked the reds off nicely and put a brilliant break together as a 127 total clearance helped him close to 11-15. A poor escape at the start of frame twenty-seven didn’t help The Hawk, as it left The Rocket in with an early scoring chance. However, Ronnie missed a simple red on the stretch on 18, and Barry potted a nice red to get in and then split the pack well from the pink well to give him a great opening. Barry played some brilliant shots in the break and took everything phenomenally a run of 66 leaving O’Sullivan needing 2 snookers with 2 reds left. O’Sullivan then went in off, and Hawkins potted the penultimate red with the blue which was more than enough to make it 12-15. Hawkins was in first in the next as well after a bad error from the defending champion, and if the Australian Open champ could make this count then he would have every chance of winning the match. Hawkins missed a red along the bottom rail though, and left it for Ronnie to get in and punish Barry’s error. O’Sullivan picked off the free reds nicely and then on 47 he opened the reds nicely from the pink, leaving the frame at his mercy. A brilliant break of 77 practically gave him the frame, despite Hawkins coming back for 3 snookers, but he missed the black from the penultimate red and conceded to give O’Sullivan a 16-12 lead, leaving him needing only 2 more to take the ultimate title. A missed long red from O’Sullivan early in the twenty-ninth frame left Hawkins in, but a kick after a poor positional shot meant he only made 8 and gave the chance back to Ronnie. He opened the pack well on 30, and looked ever more likely to go one frame from victory. It was a wonderful break of 88 that did it for O’Sullivan as he went into the final mid-session break leading 17-12. A great red to the yellow pocket going things going for O’Sullivan after the interval, and the writing looked like it was on the wall for Barry Hawkins very early on. Once Ronnie had potted frame ball he gave it a fist pump to show what winning back-to-back World Titles meant to him, especially after taking a year off. A break of 88 sealed the deal, and the 18-12 victory, and Ronnie gave another fist pump to his family after congratulating Hawkins on his brave effort, and once Ronnie Junior joined him in the main arena things were complete for him, and they were richly deserved. I said it at the time, and I’ll say it again now that loads of credit has to go to Barry Hawkins for being the man that has pushed O’Sullivan the most in a World Final, and he played brilliantly throughout the whole event, and made this into the classic match that it was.

 

It wasn't an unbelievably close contest, but what it did provide was something different from the boring runaway O'Sullivan wins, with some brilliant break-building shown off by both players this time. We all knew how good Ronnie was, but Hawkins proved throughout the event that he is a top top player. So, did you enjoy my Christmas Eve offering, and can't wait to find out who will hit 8th on the classic countdown? Well you'll have to wait until Christmas Day itself to find out.

Classic Matches of 2013 countdown: 10th Place: Ding Junhui Vs Neil Robertson (2013 PTC Grand Finals)

It's time for the 3rd day of my 12 days of Christmas, classic matches of 2013 countdown and today we are taken back to Sunday 17th March 2013 for our 10th place match which was Ding Junhui against Neil Robertson in the final of the PTC Grand Finals in Galway. Even though the match was only a best-of-7 frames contest it produced an absolutely epic clash between 2 players that have been giants of the game in 2013.

So let's have a look back at this magical evening in Ireland:

Ding Junhui Vs Neil Robertson

Ding Junhui was in first in the final with a nice long pot to give himself the first scoring chance of the match. He’d made 41 when he ran out of position after potting a tricky black, and was forced to play safe. Neil got in with a nice long red of his own after a small safety battle, and after a good blue to the corner he was in with a great chance to take the opening frame. Once he developed the last red from the cushion it became an excellent chance, which Robertson took with a break of 88 to lead 1-0. Robertson was in first again in the second frame, with a good red to the middle to get going. Robertson was already on 51 when he played the split to the pack from the black, but he couldn’t get on one and was forced to play safe with his 58 point lead. A brilliant long red soon had him back in with a second opportunity to kill off the frame. That was exactly what he did with an additional 22 stopping Ding from coming back to the table, and giving the Australian a 2-0 advantage. Neil Robertson was first in again in the third frame, after potting a good red to the middle, but could only make 12 after failing to get on a red after splitting the pack from the blue, which was really unlucky. Robertson missed a long red in dramatic fashion shortly afterwards, as the red wobbled and came off of the table. Another missed long red from Neil shortly afterwards cost him, as Ding was left right in amongst the reds. A good split of the reds on 41 from the blue left Ding with all the balls open to get his first frame on the board. However, the mistake came shortly afterwards as Ding missed a red with the rest on 51, leaving Robertson with a great opportunity to counter. That was exactly what Robertson did as a break of 60 was enough to put him 3-0 in front and only one frame from taking the PTC Grand Finals title.

Ding really needed to improve and fight back if he was going to win this title now, and an early Robertson miss of a red to the green pocket left Ding in with a chance, a good red to the green pocket early on kept the break going and he picked the reds off nicely at the beginning of the break until he left himself a tricky red to the middle on 52, which he just missed. When Robertson missed another red to the green pocket in similar fashion though, Ding was back in again and already with a healthy advantage in the frame. A nice plant on 15 just stopped Robertson coming back to the table, and a further 70 made sure that Ding got his first frame on the board and stayed in the match at 1-3. But was this the start of a brilliant comeback? Well, Ding was first in again in the fifth frame with a brilliant long pot to get on the blue as well, giving him a brilliant opening to score, and score was exactly what he did, making a magical 130 total clearance to close to within a frame of Neil who hadn’t had a chance since going 3-0 up, at 2-3. A poor safety from Neil early in the sixth frame, gave Ding another early scoring occasion. Although, it didn’t amount to much as Ding was forced to play safe on 9 after failing to split the black away from the reds near it’s spot. After a long safety battle after this, Ding made the first mistake to give Neil his first opportunity to try and win the match. He’d got to 44 before he played a poor positional shot to get on the next red and had to play safe with a 30 point lead. A missed pot attempt from Robertson, left the Chinaman in with a chance to close the gap in the frame, or even possibly win it. Some good pots on the final reds put him 6 points ahead going down to the colours, but when he massively overdone his position on the yellow, ending up snookered on it behind the green, bringing on a vital battle on the colours. After an exchange of fluked snookers from both men, it was Robertson that was unable to get the yellow safe from one of Ding’s fluked snookers, with Ding potting the yellow, green, brown, blue and pink to confirm that we would be heading into a deciding frame at 3-3.

Neil missed a long red early in the seventh and final frame, and Ding potted a nice red to the yellow pocket to get going, and give him the first proper opening. A brilliant split of the reds on 14 from the blue gave him a brilliant chance to win the match at that visit. That was exactly what Ding did as he manoeuvred through the reds brilliantly and only an in-off from the black on 98 stopped him finishing the match with a century, but Ding didn’t mind as he had a fist pump of his own and banged his chest to show what this win meant to him. It was truly a brilliant performance from Ding Junhui, to come back from 3-0 down to win 4-3 and one that is worthy of “classic” status.

What a match that was, and you know the rest of the countdown is going to be good when this only just made 10th place, with some brilliant break-building and a terrific comeback from Ding Junhui, producing a good advert for the short format. Did you enjoy that? Then be sure to return tomorrow on the very eve of Christmas to find out who enters the countdown in ninth place.

Classic Matches of 2013 countdown: 11th Place: Ding Junhui Vs Shaun Murphy (2013 Shanghai Masters L16)

The second day of my 12 days of Christmas, classic matches of 2013 countdown takes us back to Thursday 19th September 2013 when Ding Junhui took on Shaun Murphy in the Last 16 of the Shanghai Masters and produced an absolutely brilliant match, that had pretty much everything with great scoring and tension by the bag full.

So let's have a look back on what happened on this thrilling Shanghai evening:

Ding Junhui Vs Shaun Murphy

Ding Junhui potted the first red of the match after a missed long red from Murphy, and carved out a nice chance in the opening frame, but he failed to split the pack and could only make 42. Shaun then knocked in a great long red, giving him a nice chance to take the opener. That was exactly what he did as a lovely break of 86 gave Murphy a 1-0 lead. Ding fluked a red early in the second, but could only make 5 before missing the green and letting Murphy back in. Shaun had made 30 before he missed the black from its spot looking to break the reds open, and letting Ding in, the opposite of what happened in the first frame, and after a plant on 20 from Ding, the remaining 3 reds were all there for the taking, as the Chinaman made it 1-1 with a 74 clearance. After Ding left a red on failing to escape from a snooker early in the third, Shaun had another chance and got the reds open straight away. A great recovery red on 16 got him back in position, but when he ran out of position on 19, and played an average safety shot, Ding potted a fairly simple long red to get his chance to score. He had to pot a couple of good balls along the way, but otherwise he made the break look simple as a nice 67 left Murphy needing a couple of snookers which he couldn’t get, making it 2-1 to Ding Junhui. After a scrappy start to the fourth frame, a simple missed red from Ding gave Murphy an excellent chance to level the match going into the interval. A break of 62 punished Ding’s error and made it 2-2. A very classy break of 84 gave Ding Junhui the frame after the interval to make it 3-2. It was a bad miss from Ding that gave Murphy the chance to level once more, and Shaun took all of the balls very well, and built a brilliant break of 102 made it 3-3.

It wouldn’t be unfair to say that the seventh frame was a very scrappy one indeed, certainly to start with, with lots of reds going safe and neither player able to really get in. Shaun managed to make a good plant, but was snookered in all of the colours by the reds, and on the second attempt at the escape, he left a free ball and gave Ding Junhui a good chance to go back in front. A good recovery red to the middle, but he soon went in off on the pink to squander the opportunity. However, Shaun then failed to make a plant on some reds near the corner and soon opened the reds, but Ding missed another pink, letting The Magician back in with a chance to close the gap in the frame at least. Although, he only made 4 before he ran out of position once more. Ding then potted the next 2 reds (playing a snooker in between) but he missed the green that would have only let Murphy tie. But, as things went in this frame, Shaun missed the red and the Chinaman potted it, but failed to get on the yellow, as Murphy came back for 3 snookers. Murphy got one snooker and then potted the yellow, green and brown to leave him needing one more snooker on the blue, but he failed to get it and Ding potted the blue to finally make it 4-3. Murphy potted a simple long red early in frame eight, and then went into them from a red on 3, but couldn’t get on a colour, and was forced to play a snooker. Shaun Murphy later potted a brilliant long red to get perfectly on the black, and had a great chance to take the match all the way, and a great recovery shot on a red near the black cushion soon put him bang in amongst them, and Shaun took the rest really well to insure that the match went the full nine frames with a break of 84.

Ding was first in, in the decider with a nice long red to get perfectly on the black, and gift him a scoring chance. The home favourite managed to make 40 before he got a poor split on the reds and missed a tough double. 2 more reds and blacks later for Ding and he had a valuable 60 point lead with 7 reds left, but 4 of those on the side cushion. Ding potted the next red after Shaun missed a long one and made his lead 61 with 75 on, but with the black also relatively safe. Murphy then potted red and pink to reduce the gap to 54, but failed to get into the safe reds and had to play safe. A few pots later from Shaun, and he’d closed the gap to 39 but with only 43 on. Ding then missed a pot on the only red he needed, and went in off, but Shaun failed to get the snooker behind the yellow from the ball in hand situation, and Ding was able to go one better with his next shot, and play a superb snooker.  Murphy’s first attempt brought about some laughter from himself and the crowd as he failed miserably at his attempts on a masse shot, and a comment from Shaun that “at least nobody was watching”.  His second attempt went to the other extreme and he was whiskers away from getting out of the impossible snooker, bringing Shaun to his knees, but also meaning he could now only tie the frame. Ding soon had him snookered again, and Murphy missed again to leave him 47 behind with 43 on the table. Ding then potted the penultimate red with the pink to leave Murphy needing 5 snookers and put the game beyond any doubt, and when Ding potted the final red that was game over, ending this thrilling contest with a 5-4 win for home favourite Ding Junhui, who went on to win the event and claim another win on home soil, which was only fair having come through such a high quality encounter.

This is what Shaun Murphy had to say to me when he looked back on the match a couple of weeks ago:

My match against Ding in this year’s Shanghai masters was a really good game. It was always going to be I guess. I'd been away from home for three weeks at that point having played in the World 6 reds Championships in Thailand, an exhibition event in Hong Kong and I knew my game was in good shape. Again the match went the distance and ended with a pretty scrappy frame. The match pretty much swung on a snooker that Ding laid on me with two reds left, and still to this day I haven't managed to escape from it. I set the shot up a few times on my table where I practise at Urmston Cons Club and I'm still trying.

On the day itself, I tried to Massè around the yellow all the way down the table and land on a red near the side cushion. Unfortunately but quite funnily I miss cued and the cue ball literally travelled about 6 inches! It was hilarious at the time and still raises a smile thinking about it now. It was of course replaced and I had another go, this time playing a more conventional shot using 5 or 6 cushions, missing the red by a fraction. This left me needing snookers and from then on the writing was on the wall. It's never nice to lose, but at least that shot gave a few people a laugh at the time, including me.

 

I'd like to thank Shaun for doing that little piece for me there, on what was a truly brilliant contest between two brilliant players, that will in fact meet again in the first round of January's Masters, and we could well be talking about that match this time next year. So, who will take 10th place on my Christmas countdown? Be sure to come back tomorrow and find out.