Predictions for the Snooker Year of 2014

Right, with a feast of snooker to look forward to in 2014, thanks to Barry Hearn, Jason Ferguson and everyone at World Snooker. These days there are a lot more things that you can look to predict, and it's fair to say I have had a good go at predict some of them, offering 12 predictions for snooker in 2014 ranging from the winner of the Triple Crown events, to how many centuries Neil Robertson will finish the current season with.

Here they are then:

1)      Winner of World Championship: Ding Junhui - I said he'd win it 2 years ago, but I think he's definetly ready to do it now.

2)      Winner of the Masters: Ronnie O’Sullivan - The big events are what really motivates Ronnie, and he likes a good challenge. It doesn't get any bigger or more challenging than beating the top 16 in the world to win a prestigious title.

3)      Winner of The UK Championships: Mark Allen - you feel he has to win a big major sometime, so why not in 2014

4)      Surprise ranking winner: It wouldn’t be a huge surprise, but I have to feel that Michael White will win a ranking event in 2014 of the guys outside the current top 16.

5)      To end a long drought for a ranking win: Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump, both have worked to hard and are too talented to not win a ranking event some time, with Judd's last coming in November 2012 and Shaun's in March 2011.

6)      To finish the year World No.1 : Neil Robertson, he's been too good in 2013 and if he continues to play well in 2014 you can't see anyone passing him.

7)      To win most ranking events in 2014: Neil Robertson, again if he continues to play how he has in 2013, then he'll be a shoe in for this one.

8)      Big ranking climber: David Morris certainly to continue his climb up the rankings having re-joined the tour in 2013, a very talented player and it would be a shame not to see him continue to go forward.

9)      How many centuries will Neil Robertson finish the 2013/2014 season with? 91 for me (and not because 91 is my favourite number).

10)   Winner of the Shoot-out lottery? Jack Lisowski, a tournament tailor made for him, and usually one that is won by someone outside of the Top 16.

11)   Where will the 2014 UK Championships be held? Got to think they’ll stay in York, no reason to move them really a great venue.

12)   Classic Match of 2014 winner? A best-of-19 Masters final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump would be a cracker if that happened. Otherwise there are a few scenarios for World Semi-finals or World Finals in 2014 that would produce absolute crackers.


So those are my efforts, if you disagree with any of them, then you'll have to head on to Twitter and tell me where I've gone wrong.

Happy New Year, good luck in everything you do in 2014, and enjoy what is sure to be a great year of snooker.

Classic Matches of 2013 countdown: 1st Place: Judd Trump Vs Shaun Murphy (World Championship)

It's the final day of my 12 days of Christmas, classic matches of 2013 countdown as we find out who takes the prize of the best snooker match of 2013. This time we take a trip back to Tuesday 30th April and Wednesday 1st May when Judd Trump took on Shaun Murphy in an absolutely epic battle in the Quarter-finals of the 2013 World Championships. This match just about had everything from top potting, and break-building, superb tactical play and an incredibly tense final session.

So, let's take a final look back on the 2013 year of snooker, and these 2 magnificent days at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield:

Judd Trump Vs Shaun Murphy

Shaun Murphy was in first in the opening frame of this World Championship Quarter-final, with a brilliant long red to stop the cue ball perfectly for the black, but he only made 16 from the opportunity, missing one of the easiest reds you will ever see missed. This gave Judd Trump an early chance, and once he had the reds open it turned into a golden opportunity but he missed an easy red himself after a horrible kick. The frame started to go scrappy after the next safety battle, but another cracking long pot gave Shaun the next chance but he could only make 9 from it before failing to get on the next colour. After potting the next 2 reds in separate breaks Murphy had a 5 point lead with 2 reds left. After a poor escape from a snooker from Judd, and some brilliant safety from both players, Murphy had the next chance but he missed an easy pink and left the last red on for Judd, and he was 9 points in front when he missed the green. Shaun potted the green, but missed a tough brown and left it on for Judd who potted the brown, blue and pink to win a lengthy opener and lead 1-0. Shaun knocked in another good red to give him the first chance of the second frame, but he could only make 21 before losing the cue ball having gone into the reds from another red. Judd had the next chance before missing another easy red, and with the reds open for Murphy it was a golden chance for him to level. That was exactly what he did with a better break of 68 making it 1-1. Another easy miss from Judd in the third frame showed that he was struggling, and Shaun Murphy had another good opportunity to score. He’d made 28 this time before falling out of position and playing safe.  A very poor safety from Judd, left Shaun another opening, with the balls nicely spread for him to move ahead. He did exactly that with another good break of 61 to go 2-1 up. Judd got in first in the fourth frame with a nice long red, but he went straight into the pack getting a brilliant split only to see a red go in. This gave Shaun another golden chance with all of the balls there for him to double his lead. He was really flowing nicely and a brilliant break of 82 put him into a 3-1 lead at the first mid-session interval.

Shaun Murphy had the first chance after the break with a long red to get in, but with reds not too nicely positioned there was work for him to do. Shaun had made it to 39 when he ran out of position slightly and went in-off on a difficult rest shot. A good long pot from Shaun got him back in but he missed a pink on the stretch. That left Judd in but he couldn’t take advantage, playing a bad shot to not get on a colour from the easy opening red. Judd had the next opening with an easy shot to the middle, and he made 34 before missing a double/treble on the green trailing by 2 points. Shaun missed a long green and left it on for Judd but also knocking the blue and pink safe. Judd potted the green and brown, before playing a poor safety on the blue, which Murphy then missed and left safe with Trump leading by 5 points. Judd then potted a good long blue, leaving him a tricky pink to the middle for the frame. He missed it and left it over the pocket for Murphy to try and steal the frame, and Murphy then had a tricky black along the rail to go three frames clear, and pot it he did to make it 4-1. A missed longish cut from Trump wouldn’t help his confidence, especially as he left Murphy amongst the reds with another scoring opportunity. A fantastic black along the rail from the jaws of the pocket from Murphy took his break onto 22 and made it into a golden opening for the 2005 World Champion to surge ahead. A cannon into the reds went wrong for Shaun shortly after though and he had to play safe on 28. Shaun had the next chance as well after a missed long red from Judd Trump once more, and with all the reds there this time it was a massive chance for Murphy to go 4 frames in front. A good 50 from Shaun put him 5-1 up, and meant that he would lead going into the second session, with 2 frames left to play in this one. Shaun had the first chance again in frame seven after Judd missed another long red by some distance. A terrible contact on what was already a tricky black ruined the break though on 33. Judd got in with a nice long red but he hit the brown going in and out of baulk from the pink and he missed another long red to leave Murphy in again. He could only make 9 though as he didn’t get a favourable split of the reds, but Judd was really struggling now and another miss gave Shaun yet another golden chance to win the frame, but he missed an easy pink to give Judd a decent chance of his own to try and claw back the frame from 43 points behind. Judd reduced the deficit to 25 before failing to nudge out a difficult red, but his safety was poor as he left the red he played safe on over the corner for Shaun. Unusually though Shaun turned down a pot on the blue to put the green safe and snooker Judd on the last red. Judd got out of the snooker and Murphy made a mess of and left the red over the middle. A good break of 33 stole the frame from Murphy’s grasp, in a frame that could have huge importance later, pulling the score back to 2-5. A really poor pot attempt from Judd left Murphy with an easy starter, and showed how much Trump was struggling in the session and how much Shaun needed to capitalise. He only made 3 though as he missed a fairly simple mid-range red which gave Judd an opening to try and finish the session on a really positive note. Trump only made 19 though missing a tough red to the green pocket. Shaun knocked in a cracking long red to give him the next chance after the safety battle. A good split of the remaining reds in the bunch made into a must take chance for Murphy to win the final frame of the first session. A break of 76 was enough for Shaun to do it and he led after the first session 6-2.

The second session started with Judd knocking in a good red into the middle, but he only made 6 before missing a tough black to the corner. A good long pot from Murphy gave him his chance of the middle session in this match, and once he played a nice cannon into the reds from the black that Trump left over the corner, making it a magnificent chance to keep the pressure on Judd. A break of 91 kept Judd under it and put Murphy 5 frames in front at 7-2. Judd had the first chance of the next frame with a good long pot to try and help him get going after a really poor first session. Judd could only make 7 before snookering himself on all the colours after going into reds from a red. Judd fluked a snooker though and Murphy left a red on trying to get out of it and with all the reds there, this was Trump’s chance to show everyone what he was made of. He did just that with a break of 93, his highest of the match so far to pull the score back to 3-7. Murphy knocked in a superb long red to give him the first chance of the eleventh frame, but he ran out of position having potted a tricky black on 16. Another “Shaun Murphy special” got him back in after a brilliant safety battle, but he could only make 6 after a careless positional shot. Murphy missed a cut into the middle after the next safety battle gave Trump a good chance to make a frame winning contribution. A careless cannon left Trump a thin cut on a red though and Trump went in-off from it and only made 14. This gave Shaun another golden chance to restore his 5 frame advantage in this match. He missed a tricky red for frame ball though, but Judd could only tie and he played a careless safety to leave Shaun the red he needed to secure the frame, and Murphy did enough from it to go 8-3 in front. Needing just 5 of the remaining 14 frames to go into the semi-finals. Judd Trump had the first chance in the last frame before the second mid-session interval, after Shaun Murphy was a whisker away from making a great pot to the green pocket, and he soon went into the reds from another red that was over the corner and the former UK Champion soon had an excellent chance to win the frame and get back into the match. After making a very tough cut back black, Trump’s break ended on 20 as he missed a simpler red. Murphy missed a mid-range red to punish Judd though, and the “Ace in the pack” was back at the table with all of the reds perfectly placed for him to take the frame. The break ended when Trump missed a trickier red with his opposite hand, but Murphy couldn’t capitalise potting the red but missing a blue to the corner, leaving Trump the red he needed for the frame and he did enough to get back into it at 4-8.

Judd had an early chance in frame thirteen after potting a good red to the yellow pocket following a missed long red from The Magician. Judd soon went into the reds and made it into a cracking chance to claw another frame back. He’d got to 44 before he played a poor positional shot and failed to get on his next red. Shaun was starting to miss some long reds though, and one of these cost him as it gave Trump another chance to win the frame. He only made 11 though as he missed a simple red to the middle. Judd then knocked in a brilliant long red to give him his third good chance of the frame, and he took it this time as an additional 36 made it 5-8. Judd was on the charge now, and he had the first opportunity of the next frame as well after a good long pot, and he potted a good red to the middle to keep the break going before splitting the reds brilliantly from the black and putting him in a great position to shave another frame off of Shaun Murphy’s lead. He soon found his form an played the rest of the break well to pull the score back to 6-8 with the first century of the quarter-final, a 118. Shaun Murphy knocked in a cracking long red to get going in frame fifteen and he soon looked more focused, but a poor split of the reds on 36 ended his early break. Judd had the next chance after Murphy missed a tough red, making a break of 29 before running out of position. After some failed attempts to get out of a snooker from Shaun, he eventually left Judd another chance with the frame there for the taking. Judd had a 28 point lead before he missed a tough cut on a red, leaving it over the hole only for Shaun Murphy to somehow miss it and leave Judd who did enough to leave Murphy needing 2 snookers which he couldn’t get so Trump closed the gap to a single frame at 7-8 with 1 frame left of the second session. Shaun had the first chance of the sixteenth frame after a Judd missed an attempt at a long pot, but he only made 8 before missing the pink trying to bring the black into play, giving Trump a chance to build a lead. Judd made 24 before running out of position as the final frame of the session showed its importance, with things getting tense. A tough missed red from Shaun under the circumstances, left Judd another chance to square the match which was what he did with a break of 30 completing Trump’s comeback making it 8-8.

 

The final session started off with Shaun Murphy going in-off attempting a long pot, which left Judd Trump with the first real chance of what was now effectively a best-of-9 match. He made 30 before opening the reds well, but he didn’t get on one and had to play safe. Judd took control of the frame with some good tactical play, and it soon gave him another good opportunity to lead for the first time since winning the opener. He had to play safe soon after but had valuable 50 point lead with 5 reds left and the yellow, brown, blue and black all fairly safe. Shaun potted the next red but couldn’t get on a colour, but he did open the brown up with his safety. Judd had the next chance with a beautifully timed long red and an additional 26 put him 9-8 ahead. Another great long red got Trump in first in the eighteenth frame but he missed the black when opening the reds straight after, and a great long red to the green pocket gave Shaun a chance to punish Judd’s error. Punish Judd is exactly what he did squaring the match with a magnificent break of 128, his first century of the match. Judd made a good red to the middle pocket after a safety error from Shaun, gave Trump a good scoring opportunity early in the nineteenth. Once he took the break to 43 with a good separation of the reds you expected him to win the frame, but a bad miss on 59 handed a golden chance for Shaun Murphy to steal with all of the balls there for the 2005 champion. A brilliant break of 70 from Murphy stole the frame from under Judd’s nose to go 10-9 ahead. Judd had the first chance of the twentieth frame, after Murphy left a red on down the rail escaping from a snooker, and with the reds nicely spread already it was a chance that Trump had to take after how he lost the previous frame. A good break of 78 helped him take advantage and square the match at 10-10 at the last mid-session interval.

A good long pot got Shaun Murphy in first after the break, a fantastic split of the reds from a red took him to 17 and gave him a great frame winning chance. A kick on 62 ruined his position and left him a tougher red to the middle which he missed to leave Trump in with a chance to steal the frame. A good long red took him to 21, but he missed the black off of the spot to abruptly end the break. Shaun missed a red along the rail though, which would have effectively won him the frame. Trump potted the next red but missed a thin cut on the black, leaving Murphy with a 40 point lead with 43 on the table. A careless shot trying to get out of a snooker from Shaun gave away 7 points, and left the cue ball in behind the black, with Judd putting him back into play from there. Shaun’s escape left the penultimate red on for Judd but he couldn’t get on the safe last red with Shaun leading by 25 with 35 on.  Judd potted the last red as well, and then potted the brown to get nicely on the yellow on the top cushion but he couldn’t bring the green out and had to play safe. Shaun stuck the green over the middle from a snooker and Judd made a 25 clearance to go 11-10 in front. A good long pot gave Murphy the first chance but he missed a thin cut on the brown going into the reds and left Judd with a good early chance to win the frame. He got to 39 when he missed an easy black off of the spot, which gave Murphy another chance but with the black and pink safe it wasn’t yet a clear opening. He missed a mid-range red on 6 though squandered any kind of opportunity he had, but Trump then missed a red to the middle and went in-off. Shaun soon had another chance, but it wasn’t clear cut. He managed to close the gap to 10 points with 3 reds left, with the frame starting to go scrappy. Shaun soon had another chance though potting the last 2 reds with blacks to go into a 10 point lead of his own with 1 red remaining. Judd potted the last red with the blue, before potting yellow, green, brown and blue to go 10 points ahead but failing to get the pink from the side cushion. Judd then had a horrible miss-cue but it didn’t cost him any more than the 6 foul points. Shaun played a loose safety leaving the pink near the pocket but Judd missed it and left a very thin cut on it for Shaun which he just about made to make it a black ball frame. Both players then missed long shots on the black but Judd eventually stuck it up and Shaun potted it to make it 11-11, and Murphy left the arena giving a fist pump to the crowd. Shaun missed a long red early in frame twenty-three, and that left Trump in with what soon became a great opening as he split the reds immediately from the blue. He was quickly in around the black, and he kept his composure with an excellent run of 90 to take a 12-11 lead and go within 1 frame of the semi-finals.

Judd had the first chance of the twenty-fourth frame but he couldn’t take advantage over-screwing his position leaving him another long red on 3, which he missed and left for Shaun Murphy. Murphy needed to take advantage of this if he was going to force a decider, and a good recovery red to the middle kept the break going, and once he’d opened the reds it was a golden opportunity for him to take advantage. Force a decider was exactly what he did with a break of 88 from Shaun Murphy to respond brilliantly. The decider started with Shaun Murphy knocking in a great long red but he couldn’t get nicely on a colour and had to play safe. Shaun Murphy made the first mistake in  the safety battle, giving Trump the first proper chance of the decider, but he could only make 12 before having to play safe. He played a poor safety though, leaving a red near the corner which Shaun knocked in, but couldn’t get nicely on a colour playing safe again. Murphy potted the next 3 reds but couldn’t get on colours nicely from any as the decider went scrappy. Both players were playing some terrific safety shots, as both players were putting everything they had into it, in such a tense decider. Shaun made the next mistake after a cracking snooker from Judd, which gave Trump the next chance, but with the reds mostly near cushions it wasn’t a great chance and needed lots of work. He made 21 to give him a 40 point lead which was huge with the remaining 5 reds all near cushions. Shaun then knocked in another cracking long pot and he potted the pink with it but was unable to get on another closing the gap to 37, knocking the brown in from his safety shot. Shaun potted the next red in style as well making 16 to close to 21 points behind Judd with 2 reds left on the table. Another unlucky escape from Shaun left the penultimate red to the middle for Judd which he potted with the pink to go 24 ahead with 35 on. Judd potted the last red and snookered Shaun on the yellow to lead by 25 with 27 left. After getting Shaun got out of the third snooker on the yellow, he left it for Judd who played it well to leave Murphy needing a snooker to win, but Shaun tried to pot the green and left it for Judd too, who then potted the brown to seal the 13-12 win and go through to the semi-finals. Judd gave a fist pump to the crowd in celebration, and Murphy as always was a gentleman congratulating Trump and applauding the crowd for their support. It was one of those matches where no-one deserved to lose and was certainly the best match of the 2013 World Championship by a mile.

 

This is what Shaun Murphy had to say about this unbelievable contest:

I always knew that this was going to be a tough game against Judd. His general standard of scoring and potting being right up there with the best in the world recently, I knew nothing but my best would be good enough.

I started the match well finishing the first session 6-2 ahead. The score line was slightly flattering, and i'm sure Judd would admit that he hadn't played that well at all. Going into the second session of eight frames I really just tried to carry on in the same vein as I’d started but for some reason, and i'm still not sure what it was, things just weren't the same. I remember that session turning after the interval when on a break of 60 odd and needing only three more pots for the frame I had a kick on the black which ruined my position for the next red. I went for it off the side cushion, missed and Judd took the frame. From there I lost all the initiative in the game and finished that session 8-8.

Into the third and final session in a race to 13, we both gave it everything. There were big breaks, great safety play and some good sportsmanship too and in the end it came down to a 12-12 thriller. We had the Crucible theatre to ourselves which seemed only right after what had been a great game. The final frame took nearly an hour to separate us and after some great safety play and some good long potting Judd managed to gain a winning lead and when he potted the last red with me needing several snookers, I could do nothing more that wish him the best of luck in his Semi Final against Ronnie.

I was gutted to lose that game as I was really starting to fancy my chances of lifting a 2nd World Title and it seemed so close at the time. But that is the game we play and love, there always is a winner and loser and unfortunately for me that day it was my turn to lose.

 

What a fantastic match, that on a personal level, had me on the edge of my seat more than any other match in the last few years, and I couldn't take my eyes away from the action for a second during an incredibly tense final session. The match was filled with big breaks, extraordinary potting, superb safety play, incredible a tension, a first session that was dominated by Shaun Murphy, a second session that was dominated by a brilliant Judd Trump comeback to set up an unbelievably close third and final session of the match, and it was only right that the last couple of frames were played in front of the whole crucible as this match could've have easily been a World Championship final and it really was a shame that someone had to lose, and it was a shame after that, that Judd couldn't go on further that the semi-finals.

 

Well, it was incredibly enjoyable for me to look back on these 12 superb matches over the last couple of weeks, and now I'm looking forward to the classic snooker that 2014 is sure to bring us.

Classic Matches of 2013 countdown: 2nd Place: Shaun Murphy Vs Ali Carter (2012 UK Championship)

It's the penultimate day of my 12 days of Christmas, classic matches of 2013 countdown and today we find out our runner-up in the countdown. So today we take a trip back to the 2012 UK Championship (as it was the first tournament in the qualification criteria) and to Friday 7th December when Shaun Murphy took on Ali Carter in the semi-finals of the 2012 UK Championship. This was an absolutely brilliant match with both players at the very top of their games, the match had some great scoring, good safety and most of all an amazing comeback.

So, it's time to cast our minds back to an unbelievable day at the York Barbican:

Shaun Murphy Vs Ali Carter

Shaun Murphy had the first chance of the semi-final after a missed long pot from Carter left Murphy a red to the yellow pocket, which he played well. A good recovery red took the break to 18 after trying to split the reds. However, he broke down on 34 after missing the blue when opening the reds, which left Ali a chance, but the mistake didn’t cost Shaun as Carter missed a red to the yellow pocket. This gave Murphy another chance, but he missed a red along near the cushion on 8. A poor shot out of a snooker from Shaun, left Carter in with a good chance to cancel out Shaun’s lead at the very least. He missed a red with the rest on 26, and left another red over the corner for Murphy, but he went in-off on the yellow with his lead now 8. A nice long pot from Carter got him back in with a frame winning opportunity and some good shots on the last red and then the following brown to get on the yellow made it a golden opportunity, and a good break of 27 left Murphy needing a snooker to tie on the pink, but he couldn’t get it and Carter took the 1-0 lead. A cracking long red got Murphy going in the second frame, and a good screw off of the pack from another red made it a golden early chance to level the match straight away, but he ran out of position on 16 and missed a long red to keep the break going. Carter then played a good red to get in himself, and a fantastic split of the reds early on in his break gave him an even better opening to double his lead. He converted that opening as a break of 77 put Ali Carter 2-0 ahead. A poor early safety left Murphy a good chance in the third, with the reds nicely spread fairly early in the break it was already a fantastic chance to get his first frame on the board. The break ended on 42 though when Murphy ran out of position and had to play safe. A poor safety shortly after from Shaun, left Carter with a magnificent chance to steal a frame that Murphy looked to have control of. A good split on the last 2 reds, made it an even better chance as Carter already had a 10 point lead. He had to play safe on the last red though after knocking it safe, and Carter had a 17 point lead. A superb pot on the last red from Murphy though, gave him the chance to steal after Carter had full control of the frame, and made a nice 27 to get his first frame on the board at 1-2. Another brilliant long red from Murphy gave him the first chance in the fourth frame, and once he took the break to 28 with a good split of the reds from the black it was an excellent opportunity to square the match. That was exactly what he did with an excellent break of 86 to make it 2-2.

Ali had the first chance after the mid-session break after a good pot to the middle gave him the chance, but he could only make 17 before running out of position. He soon had another chance though after Shaun Murphy played a poor safety shot to leave Carter an easy long red. He made a nice break of 40 to leave him 65 ahead with 75 on before deciding to play safe when he had a couple of tough reds on. Ali then knocked in a nice long red after a foul from Murphy which left Shaun needing snookers. Shaun couldn’t get the snookers though and Carter went 3-2 in front. A good early red gave Shaun Murphy the first chance of the sixth frame, and he then opened the black up, but Shaun didn’t play the best possible split which meant that the break ended on 22. Ali Carter than had a pretty unbelievable fluke after he missed a red into the middle, which gave him a great chance to go 2 frames clear again. He took advantage of his good fortune though as he went 4-2 up with a 101 clearance, ensuring that he wouldn’t be trailing going into the evening session. Murphy needed to respond and he started off with a superb long red once again to get in again, and a well cut red recovered things to take him onto 7. He went on to make 34 before having to play safe, and he then potted another extraordinary long red only mounted to 1 as he didn’t land on a colour and had to play a snooker. Murphy’s next chance came from Ali’s attempted escape which left Shaun in again with a golden chance to close the gap to a single frame. A break of 49 ensured it as Murphy signalled his attack and made it 3-4. The last frame as incredibly tense and scrappy with both players having chances but with the colours not ideally placed, their early breaks weren’t amounting to much. Ali Carter then had the ultimate fluke already with a 15 point lead, to fluke a red and then get perfectly on the black in baulk. Carter made 34 from it before missing an attempted double, which would have been frame ball with a lead of 49 with only 51 on. Murphy then missed a red which bounced off of the table, leaving him needing snookers, but he didn’t get a chance to play for them as The Captain potted the penultimate red with the black to seal his 5-3 end of session lead.

Shaun Murphy started the final session off with another terrific long red to get on the black. Murphy looked good early on but didn’t have the best split of the reds, and a poor positional shot soon after left Shaun a tough red which he missed and left in the jaws for Ali to have a golden chance of his own to go three frames in front. Some good recovery blacks into the corner and then the middle pocket soon had Carter back in good position, following some loose shot, but a counter attacking break of 79 was enough for Ali to extend his lead once more to 6-3. Murphy had the first chance of the tenth frame after potting a red over the pocket before missing a long blue, which gave Carter another good opportunity to score. Once he’d got the black back on its spot it was a great frame winning chance for Ali. In the end, Carter couldn’t get in good position to open the reds and had to play safe on 51 with a 50 point lead. Shaun Murphy gave himself a good chance after a nice long pot got him in, and with the reds and the colours all well placed a break of 59 from Shaun pulled the score back to 4-6.  Ali Carter knocked in a top draw red to get in first in the eleventh frame and once he had the reds open from the next shot it was already a golden opening for him to restore his 3 frame lead. That was exactly what he did, bouncing back with a brilliant break of 80 to go 7-4 ahead now.  Shaun Murphy missed a really tough long pot early in frame twelve under some pressure to pot it, because having not done so he left The Captain an early chance to fly away with the frame. A kick ruined his position though and he was forced to play safe on 16. After Shaun made a long pot and went straight in-off to leave Carter with the balls at his mercy to move 4 frames ahead. Carter made a nice break of 40 before he missed a tough cut on a red leading by 60 with 75 on. Murphy was in big trouble with a safety shot though, and left Carter an easy red to get on the black, which left Murphy needing a snooker. Shaun couldn’t get them though and Ali Carter went off to the mid-session break with an 8-4 advantage, 1 frame from going into the UK Championship final.

The Magician really needed to weave his magic to get out of this one with a victory, and he started to get his magic wand out producing a good long red to get in in the thirteenth frame, and he converted the chance that he got with a top draw break of 76 with some brilliant pressure shots included making it 5-8. After Carter put a red over the corner early in the next, Shaun had another good opportunity to make a big contribution and make Ali Carter sweat in his seat. Murphy made 49 before missing a tricky red. Carter then got in with a good red to get on the black which was on the brown spot, giving him his first chance of any kind to try and win the match, but he missed a red when he was close to the cushion to give Murphy another chance to keep the comeback dreams alive. However, he then went in-off from the black to open the frame up again, with Shaun 35 ahead with 6 reds left. An absolute bullet of a long red got Shaun back in again, but he only made 6 before missing a tough red, which gave Carter another chance to try and close the gap in the frame at least, but Carter soon ran out of position. A missed long red from Carter, left a long red for Shaun which he nailed once again, and a well cut red along the cushion left Carter in a position where he could only tie the frame and another good long cut this time gave Shaun the frame this time and reduced the gap to 2 at 6-8. Another brilliant long pot got Shaun in again at the start of the fifteenth, and a brilliant shot to screw through the reds from a red made it into a golden scoring opportunity very early on in the break. Score is exactly what he did as another superb 105 closed the gap to just a single frame now at 7-8. A poor safety from Carter in the next frame left Murphy an easy starter, and a good early split of the reds again made it into a fantastic opening at a very early stage of the break and once Murphy had got to 36 all of the reds were nicely spread for The Magician to force  a decider. A fantastic recovery red to the middle took the break onto 63 and the following black took him over the winning line in the frame, and in the end a break of 78 was enough for Shaun Murphy to force a decider and make it 8-8.

A great long pot from Carter this time gave him the first chance in the decider, and a good split of the pack from the blue took him to 21 and put him in a decent position to try and win the match in a single visit. However, he missed a fairly simple red with the rest on 32 and all of a sudden Shaun had his chance in the decider, and a fantastic red to the yellow pocket recovered position and took the break to 17, and another good cut to the left corner took it on to 25. However, a bad shot on 39 ended the break prematurely as Murphy couldn’t get on a colour so he was forced to play safe with a 7 point lead. A top safety from Shaun Murphy had Ali Carter in all sorts of trouble soon after and Carter tried and missed a long pot trying to pot his way out of it. This left a fairly tricky red to the middle for Shaun but he had no problems and was in again with a brilliant chance to seal the match. Shaun cleared up to and including the blue to complete the comeback winning the match 9-8 and going through to the UK Championship final. What a superb display of snooker from both players, and a brilliant comeback from Shaun Murphy.

This is what Shaun Murphy had to say to me when looking back on this incredible contest a few weeks ago:

This match was always going to be slightly more difficult than a usual semi as Ali and i are good mates off the table and that always changes things and not least because we were playing for a place in the final of the second biggest tournament in our game.

I remember playing ok to start with but never really got into the game if that makes sense. Sometimes in snooker it can feel like you're there purely so your opponent has someone to play against and that’s how it felt to me. Ali played really good stuff and after the first session and a bit found himself 8-4 up in a race to 9. Obviously at that point i had nowhere really to go but forward and decided in my chair whilst the referee was re racking the balls that i was going to try to attack my way out of trouble. I hadn't really considered losing either at that point which sounds a bit odd but i knew i had been playing well and my belief was high.

So i just kept playing the right shots as i saw them and luckily for me, they all went in. For the next 5 frames everything i looked at went right. It was just one of those run of frames that doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, special things tend to happen. I still look back at the video of that game and it inspires me to never give up even when things look bleak, it’s never over till it’s over.

 

What a comeback that was though from Shaun Murphy, and an unbelievable display of snooker in those last 5 frames, probably some of the best snooker that Shaun has ever produced. All credit has to got to Ali Carter though who played superbly himself to take the 8-4 lead and barely had a chance after that to clinch the match. It's just a shame that after that Murphy didn't go on to win the event. So then who's won the title of the best classic match of 2013? Be sure to come back tomorrow, on New Year's day to find out.

Classic Matches of 2013 countdown: 3rd Place: Neil Robertson Vs Mark Allen (Masters)

Today we enter the top 3 of my 12 days of Christmas, classic matches of 2013 countdown as we near the end of 12 days of snookering treats. We take another trip back to the 2013 Masters today by looking back on the Masters Quarter-final between Neil Robertson and Mark Allen on Thursday 17th January 2013. This match was an absolute corker with pretty much every frame having a big break in it, and was certainly a match that you could've watched over a best-of-19 final at the end of the week, so good did the pair play.

So this was what happened on a very cold afternoon at the Ally Pally:

Neil Robertson Vs Mark Allen

Mark Allen was first in, in this Masters quarter-final with a decent pot to the middle to get going, and he had to make some good early recovery shots to keep going but eventually missed an easier red on the stretch on 20. Robertson potted a decent red down the cushion to give him his first chance of the match, and he levelled the score in the frame with a fantastic split of the pack from the blue making it a good chance to take the opening frame. He made a good break of 66, putting him 46 ahead with 51 on but he missed a mid-range red after a poor positional shot. Allen made a good long pot, but missed the pink leaving in a position of needing snookers so Mark conceded the frame to Neil Robertson a 1-0 lead. Mark was in first in the second with a good cut back to the left corner, and with a few reds already in the open it was a decent opening for the Northern Irishman to score. He made a good break of 38 before being very unlucky with his split of the reds for the green. A careless safety from Neil left Allen in with a fantastic opening to clinch the frame, with a good lead already under his belt. A further 49 levelled the match up at 1-1. A careless in-off from Robertson left Allen a chance at a long pot, which he played to perfection, getting on the black nicely from it. He broke down on 9 though after a he missed a black which was made tough by the speed he played it at. The Aussie then spotted a plant which he played beautifully to get onto the black. A good rest shot took his break to 9 before he went on to 16 by going into the reds from the black, and opening them well. However, the cue ball ran away from him leaving him a long pot to continue, but he played it well and was soon back into good position, with a golden chance to now take the 2-1 lead. A quite brilliant 73 with some of the shots that Robertson played to keep it going, gave him the advantage again at 2-1. Mark knocked in a great long red to get going again in the fourth frame, and he was soon into the reds, with a decent split to give him a golden chance so early on in the break to level the scores once more. He made the rest look easy, as he waded in with a cracking century break of 138, which turned out to be the highest break of The Masters.

Mark Allen was first in after the mid-session break with a very thin cut to the middle, which got him nicely on the blue, from which he split the reds up to craft an early scoring opportunity. A great green, and then an even better red to follow kept the break going and with the reds now all there for the taking he had a golden chance to go ahead for the first time. A break of 72 established a 3-2 advantage for Allen and kept this amazing standard going. Neil Robertson knocked in a cracking long red to give himself an early chance but he could only make 3 as he missed a fairly easy red, which he left for The Pistol to get in and firing again. Allen made 20 before he had to play safe after an unlucky split of the reds. Neil then knocked in a good long red to get in, and with the reds well split, he had a golden chance that he really had to take to win the frame and square the match. This crazy standard continued as Robertson popped up with a century of his own this time, equalising at 3-3 with a run of 111. Neil had the first chance of the seventh frame as Allen missed a long pot leaving Robertson down at the scoring end of the table. Mark was in next with a fluked red from his safety shot getting him going and a brilliant long red kept him early on, but he missed the black on 2o, bring the break to a premature end. Robertson was in next with the reds nicely spread, but he played a poor positional shot on 24, bringing the break to another early end, but he did play a brilliant snooker behind the brown. Allen missed it and left the red along the cushion for Robertson and with the reds well placed he had to take it after the chances he’d already had. He broke down on 9 this time, but was gifted the red he needed for the frame by Allen who missed a tricky shot to the middle himself, but Robertson missed another blue to leave Allen needing one snooker to be able to tie the frame. He potted the red by mistake though and couldn’t double the black in, so he conceded to give Neil a 4-3 lead. Mark was in first in the next frame with a good cut back red, and then a brilliant blue to the top left corner to keep the break going, and get in a good position to get a nice early lead. Once Allen had split the reds open and reached 41 though it was looking like a good frame winning chance for the Northern Irishman to level the game yet again. Allen made a good break of 68, but missed a red to the green pocket with Neil Robertson only needing 1 snooker, but he played an absolute howler on the last red and conceded for Allen to level the game at 4-4, now a best-of-3 for a place in the semi-finals.

Neil Robertson had the first proper chance of the ninth frame with a good shot on an easy long red to get perfectly on the black. He picked off the loose reds before going into the bunch well, and then he played a good plant to get back into prime position, with a golden opportunity to move ahead once again. He took the chance superbly making a brilliant a 101 to go 5-4 up and a single frame from victory. Neil was first in again in the tenth frame with a good long red, but he missed a tough pink to the middle and left Allen in with the reds already reasonably nicely spread to try and force the decider. A nice cannon into the pack took him to 40 with the reds all nicely situated for Mark. He missed an easy pot to the middle on 60 though and Neil Robertson now had a fantastic chance to win the match. Neil closed to within 21 points of Allen, but couldn’t nudge the last red out and had to play safe. After a couple of missed attempts to get out of a snooker, Neil then left the last red on for Mark which he potted with the blue to leave Robbo needing two snookers on the colours. Allen potted the yellow, but Robertson kept going fluking the green in before he left the brown on for Mark to finally make it 5-5.

Neil Robertson was in massive trouble early on in the decider as he found himself snookered behind the yellow with a red over the corner pocket if he got the escape wrong. However, Neil played a brilliant escape to pot that red over the corner and get onto the black in one of the best shots you may ever see. This all gave the Aussie a great early opening to try and win the match and with the reds well spread after potting the first black, it was probably the best chance he could have asked for at this stage of the match. A good recovery red put him onto 30 and once he was back in great position 2 pots later the writing looked like it was already on the wall for Mark Allen. A fantastic break from 105 that won it for Neil in the end, and for Allen to lose like that was unbelievable really and truly undeserving of such a brilliant performance that Mark had put in there as well, and with the standard the 2 players had put on in this match, it really was worthy of making my classic matches of 2013 shortlist. 

 

What an unbelievable contest that was between 2 guys that could've easily gone on and won the tournament, and it really was a shame that there had to be a loser, despite how much of a massive cliché that is. That match kept up an excellent standard throughout, and you can be sure that the last 2 matches in the countdown will do exactly the same. The big question now is: Who has just not done enough, and taken the runners-up position? Come back tomorrow to find out.

Classic Matches of 2013 countdown: 4th Place: Neil Robertson Vs Ding Junhui (Masters)

Time for day 9 of my 12 days of Christmas, classic matches of 2013 countdown and as we near the business end of the countdown the matches just keep on getting on better. Today we take a trip back to Sunday 13th January 2013 when the defending Masters champion Neil Robertson kicked off his title defence against Ding Junhui in the Last 16 of The Masters. This match had it all from big breaks, tension and a brilliant comeback matched with a celebration that was just as good!

So let's take a look back to the opening afternoon at the Ally Pally in London:

Neil Robertson Vs Ding Junhui

Neil Robertson knocked in a brilliant long red to start off the 2013 Betfair Masters, which gave him first chance of this best-of-11 frames match. He made 20 before missing a tricky plant, but Ding went in off after potting the red which Robertson left. Robertson was soon back in again though with an easy long red, and a good split of the reds left the frame at his mercy and a break of 76 made it 1-0 to the Australian. Robertson had the first chance of the second frame knocking in a good red before missing a trickier black on 17. Ding had the next chance after a decent long pot of his own, but missed  a red to the green pocket on 34 after opening the reds. Neil got the next proper opening after a badly misjudged snooker escape from Ding. He levelled the scores before having to play safe with 3 reds remaining. Robertson potted the next red but couldn’t get on a colour, but he doubled the penultimate red landing nicely on the green to get on the final red. He then cleared up to and including the pink to lead 2-0 and he gave it an early double fist pump to show how much he was up for the fight today. Neil had the first chance in frame as well after Ding left a red on escaping from a snooker, but Neil could only make 6. Ding knocked in an excellent long red of his own after a poor safety from Robertson, and the Chinaman now had an excellent chance with the reds already nicely spread. A brilliant and also very timely run of 103 from Ding pulled the score back to 1-2. Ding had the first chance of the fourth frame, after Robertson left a red over the corner. A good break of 53 gave the Chinaman a nice lead in the frame, but Neil knocked in a nice long pot straight away, giving him a nice opportunity to close the gap in the frame. He made 10 before having to play safe with 3 reds left, before Robbo then knocked in another good long one but couldn’t pot the yellow meaning he could only tie the frame. Ding then potted the penultimate red and the pink to leave Robertson needing 4 snookers. He couldn’t get the snookers though as Ding levelled the game at 2-2 at the mid-session interval.

A really, really careless safety at the start of frame five from Ding gave Robertson a brilliant early opening to regain the lead. The break ended on 46 though after a cannon on the reds went slightly wrong and didn’t leave Neil on a colour. A good long pot from Neil left him another chance and he was able to do enough to win the frame with an additional 24 to put the Aussie 3-2 in front. Ding Junhui knocked in an amazing long red early in the sixth frame, but he missed an easy black straight after though to squander the position. A bad safety left Ding a chance at a plant, which he made in standard Ding style to give him a decent opening to win the frame. A good split of the reds from the black taking the break to 31 turned it into a golden chance that the former Masters champion had to take if he had any chance of winning. A wonderful century of 127 levelled the match up once more at 3-3 with Ding starting to look much better. A poor safety again early in frame seven from Robertson gave Ding the first proper chance of the frame, as we came into a period of 2 or 3 key frames in the contest. However, he missed an easy red on 6 and left the Aussie in with an opportunity. Although, Neil could only make 4 before returning the chance back to the Chinaman. Ding split the reds well from the pink Neil missed over the pocket and a great plant to the middle kept the break going and made it a brilliant opening to win the frame, but he couldn’t missing another fairly easy red. An unconvincing safety shot soon after gave Neil another opening, but he couldn’t make many either after having an unlucky spread of the reds near the pink. It quickly turned into a scrappy frame as the reds started to go safe, and the pink and black both ended up on the side cushion. Neil knocked in a terrific long red, but he missed the green and didn’t leave anything for Ding Junhui. Another good long red from Ding gave him the next opportunity after a lacklustre safety from Neil and a fantastically well worked break to clear the remaining reds up to and including the pink to take a key frame and move 4-3 ahead. Neil Robertson’s safety game was starting to tail off at this important stage of the match, and it was giving more opportunities to Ding, who got the first proper chance of frame eight as well. He made 25 before missing a blue to the top left corner, this left Neil in but he missed a long black to the same pocket which certainly looked to drift away from the pocket. This let Ding back in with a good chance to go 2 clear, and a good recovery red early on put him back in position, and another good red with the rest two shots later kept things going once more. A great split of the reds from the next black made it into a golden frame winning opportunity and one that the 2011 Masters champion couldn’t afford to miss. Another good long Pink left him just a few pots away from reaching the winning line in the frame, and that was exactly what he did with another good break of 54 making it 3 frames in a row from Ding putting him 5-3 ahead and one frame from a place in the quarter-finals.

Neil Robertson had the first chance of the ninth frame after a missed long red from Ding left him in amongst the reds. A perfect split of the reds from the blue took the break onto 25, and leaving the defending champion with a golden chance to take the frame. A good recovery red a few shots later repaired things after a big bounce left him in a tricky spot, but once he was back in great position that was frame over, as he made his first century of the match, a flat 100 pulling the score back to 4-5. A brilliant red from Robertson to the middle gave him the first chance of the tenth, but a bad positional shot nearly cost Neil, but he recovered by taking the more difficult red, but that meant he had a trickier black which he missed ending the break on 9. This left Ding a match winning chance, and a good early smash into the reds made that into a brilliant match winning opportunity. His break was onto 50 when he ran out of position after a really unlucky split of the 5 reds in the bunch by the pink, so Ding had to play safe with a 41 point lead, so close from winning the match. Robertson got the next chance of the frame, and with the reds nicely spread it was one that the Australian certainly had to take to keep his hopes alive. A pressure break of 62 made sure he did just that, completing the comeback and taking this brilliant contest into a deciding frame. 

Neil Robertson had the first chance of the decider, making a good cut to the centre pocket, and getting on the yellow. He picked the early loose reds off well in building a good lead, that lead went to 43 when Robbo split the reds from the black, and a cracking recovery red to the yellow pocket turned it into a frame and match winning opportunity. He split the reds up again to reach 59 and this time he made sure that everything was there for him to secure victory. Once Robertson potted the match winning red he pulled out another double fist pump and shouted “You Beauty” and giving another double fist pump to the crowd at the very end of the match as a break of 90 made sure that his title defence continued for another round at least, and his celebrations showed how much it meant to him and that he wasn’t just going to give away his title. What a comeback from Neil Robertson, in what was yet another brilliant contest, and the first of many as it turned out during Masters week at the Alexandria Palace.

 

What a match that was with 2 brilliant players who've already featured against each other in the countdown, but that's just a warm up as things really get serious tomorrow when we enter the top 3 with an absolutely stunning match. But who will take 3rd on the countdown? Be sure to pop in tomorrow and find out.

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.