Player of the Month: November: Mark Allen

Just two nominees are left to be revealed on my player of the year contest, so here is the first of those from November...

November’s snooker focussed around the Champion of Champions and the start of the UK Championships in York as well as the Bulgarian Open and over these events there was one man I’ve picked out for his return to form and for his Bulgarian Open win and Champion of Champions runner-up performance that is Mark Allen.

Things started slowly for him in Bulgaria despite winning his early round games. Ross Muir was seen off 4-0 and then he overcame the world champion Stuart Bingham in what was quite a scrappy match and both players had plenty of chances at key times, but Allen eventually won that one 4-3. Breaks of 96 and 102 helped him finish off his opening day in style to beat Nigel Bond 4-1 and make it into Sunday for the Last 16.

His opponent in round four was Michael Holt, and despite breaks of 55 and 56 from Holt he didn’t manage to win a single frame, while Mark’s highest break was 70 in what from the scores looked like one of the least one sided 4-0’s you were likely to see over the course of the three days in Bulgaria. Things started to then heat up in the quarter-finals where his opposition was Mike Dunn. Dunn was looking for consecutive semi-finals on the European Tour and after a break of 82 put him 3-1 ahead. Allen needed to respond and the comeback started with a 126 break to make it 2-3 before forcing the deciding frame in which a break of 81 stopped Dunn from even having a chance and put him into the semi-finals a 4-3 winner.

He was on the TV for his semi-final against Mark Williams and even though we weren’t treated to a close contest it certainly was a joy to watch. Allen finished the match with a pot success rate of 97% as he had runs of 74, 62, 79 and 80 in the four frames played to win the match in double quick time without dropping a single frame. That performance was one of sheer quality and most likely set up after he seemed to spark into life in the latter stages of his match with Dunn and took this forward into the rest of the tournament.

There was still one more match to go, against another Welshman Ryan Day in the final. Breaks of 65 and 76 saw Allen dominate the early stages as Day hadn’t really had a chance and fell 2-0 adrift. A run of 56 in the next looked like being enough to seal the frame, but after getting two snookers Day had left the frame once again in the balance. That was until Mark potted the pink to regain the driving seat in the match, one away from the title at 3-0. Ryan did have a chance in the fourth but Mark was able to win the safety battle late on in the frame which was the chance he needed to win frame and match 4-0.

That performance was particularly good given the fact that he had not yet qualified for the Champion of Champions in Coventry and with it starting the week after Bulgaria he left it very late to earn his place in the big money event.

He played on the Friday afternoon in the first round against Barry Hawkins and pretty much carried on from where he had left off in Bulgaria. A 105 break got him off to the perfect start, but then he didn’t score a point in the next two frames as he went 2-1 behind with Hawkins making a wonderful 131 along the way. The key was when Allen levelled the match at 2-2 after winning a tight frame and the next two followed for a 4-2 victory, to set up a quarter-final that evening with Stephen Maguire.

Allen stormed into a 3-0 lead in the best-of-11 match after breaks of 73 and 77, and again he won another key frame by stealing the fourth on the black to head into the interval 4-0 ahead and cruising along. Breaks of 107 and 50 gave Maguire the next two to stay in it at 4-2 but when Mark took the match it looked like game over, and a 104 break to finish in style soon made sure that it was over.

On Saturday, he came back for the semi-finals against Kyren Wilson who he had previously lost to in the Shanghai Masters semi-finals 6-1. On this occasion Allen was able to take out some real revenge with a 6-3 victory which included breaks of 88, 80 and 61 to put him into the final on Sunday against Neil Robertson.

Unfortunately for Allen and his fans, there was nothing he could do in the final as Robertson played like a train storming into an 8-3 lead in the evening before eventually winning 10-5.

That didn’t take away from how well Mark had played in the last couple of weeks, as it meant that from the tournaments he had earned over £68,000 in prize money and timed his return to form perfectly with the UK Championships to follow soon after. Playing well at the right times is another measure of class and that was what Allen showed to make him my player of the month for November.

Be sure to return tomorrow on New Years Eve, to find out the final nominee on the list.

Player of the Month: October: David Gilbert

The Player of the Year contest is nearing the moment of the winner being announced, so here is October's nomination.

As we rolled into October we were treated with a feast of snooker (which helped take my mind off of the fact it’s my least favourite month). After the conclusion of qualifying for the International Championships we had the Ruhr Open on the European Tour and the Haining Open on the Asian Tour, in the lead up to the International Championships in Daqing. For me one man was particularly impressive and that was David Gilbert.

We all know that David is an incredibly talented player but he hasn’t always displayed this on a consistent basis. He has previously reached the Last 16 of the World Championships in 2012 and been a semi-finalist on the European Tour but he simply hasn’t played as well on tour as he did through October.

It all started at the Ruhr Open. He was very lucky in round one to beat Thai Noppon Saengkham 4-3, before then thrashing James Cahill 4-0 in round two making two centuries in that game as Cahill only scored 20 points in the whole match. After Mitchell Mann won the opening frame of their Last 32 match, the class from Gilbert continued as Mann only went on to score another 19 points, while Dave waded in with runs 68, 77 and 58. Coming back the next day for the Last 16 he faced a particularly tough test against Peter Ebdon. The match was very long and drawn out with not much to speak of in terms of breaks. In the end Gilbert was the 4-2 winner setting up a quarter-final with Barry Hawkins that was set to start straight afterwards. Breaks of 78, 133 and 60 were the keys though as he showed no signs of fading against a top player after a short turnaround and he ran out a 4-2 winner to put himself in the semi-finals.

By that time there was only Gilbert, Mike Dunn, Rory McLeod and Tian Pengfei left in the tournament and I probably would have made Gilbert the favourite against Tian and to probably go on and win the tournament. However, it wasn’t to be after he lost out in a narrow match 4-3 on the pink having at one stage needed snookers on the pink and being 3-1 down in the match earlier on. You felt at the time that maybe that was David’s chance to win an event and perhaps it had passed him by. As much talent as he may have he doesn’t show it anywhere near consistently enough for anybody to believe that he could do this with any regularity. 

Gilbert did not enter the Asian Tour event the week before the International Championships and when he turned up at the venue in Daqing he had a very difficult match in the Last 64 with Xiao Guodong. Despite a century break from Guodong, Gilbert made breaks of 96 and 121 on the way to a narrow 6-5 win, holding on having been 5-3 up earlier on. Next up he had a tough battle with talented youngster Oliver Lines. David made another century early on in the contest but still found himself 4-3 down in a real tough affair before winning all of the last three frames and turning it around to win 6-4.

In the Last 16 his opponent was Ryan Day who had just seen off Ding Junhui in another titanic tussle. After going 2-1 behind Dave made a 68 and 69 to go 3-2 ahead and then from 3-3 he made a 50 and 58 to go one away from victory at 5-3. A 93 from Day would certainly have put the pressure on at 5-4, but he was able to close it out in the next frame for a 6-4 win and his first ever appearance in the quarter-finals of a full ranking event.

Next up was a former International runner-up Marco Fu in the quarter-finals and I fully expected Marco to win. He went 3-1 down early on and despite a 74 to go 2-3 Fu made an 89 to lead 4-2. From there Gilbert got his game together winning an important eighth frame on the colours to level the contest at 4-4 and consolidating that with a 130 break to lead 5-4. Fu forced the decider with a 78, and did all of the early running in the decider but when Gilberts chance came he made a superb clearance of the last couple of reds and all the colours in true style to steal the match on the final black and put himself into the semi-finals.

In a best-of-17 major semi-final over two sessions his opponent was Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and as well as the Thai was playing both players would have fancied their chances of getting into their first major ranking event finals. It was nervy early as both players had chances to settle down and with the score at 3-3 it looked like running close. The final frame of the first session looked key as Gilbert made an 83 to win it and the session at 5-3. The first of the second session was also key as he took a tight frame to move 6-3 ahead and quickly went on to lead 8-3. While Un-Nooh did peg it back to 5-8 Gilbert was able to get over the line and win the match 9-5 setting up a first ever ranking event final, and his opponent was John Higgins.

He stayed with him in the final until after going 5-5, he lost all of the remaining frames to see Higgins lift the trophy a 10-5 winner but it was still an amazing week for David as he picked up £65,000 added to his £4,500 for making the semi-finals at the Ruhr Open. To put that into perspective that is more money than Gilbert has earned in all of the other events he has played in the last season and a half combined and means that having started the season in 35^th position he is now up to 19^th in the rankings after the Gibraltar Open.

A clear winner for October's Player of the Month then, see who November's is tomorrow.

Moment of the Month: October: McLeod gets first professional win

October was a busy month for snooker so here comes my October nomination in the Moment of the year contest...

The first thing I want to say about this is that the Ruhr Open as a whole is one of the weirdest events we’ve had on the snooker circuit for some time. Rory McLeod coming out on top is by far the highlight though and a clear moment of the month for October.

The funny thing about this whole thing is how Rory’s highest break in the entire tournament was 67 in the first round against Craig Steadman. His opponent in the final Tian Pengfei, had two breaks that were higher than that in the final alone, to win the only two frames he was able to achieve.  In the modern era of snooker that is unprecedented.

His wins in the event came against Craig Steadman, Jamie Jones, Mark King, Ben Woollaston, Mark Davis, Mike Dunn and Tian Pengfei. Only two of those players were ranked lower than him coming into the event, which out of 7 isn’t a bad haul at all. Just a week or so before this event he had lost his International Championship qualifier to Daniel Wells 6-1 and then failed to win any of his next four matches. (Vs Baird in Bulgaria, Vs Neil Robertson in the Champion of Champions, Vs Cope in the UK Championships and Vs Surety in Gibraltar).

At the age of 44 and having first turned professional 24 years beforehand the match against Tian in the final, was his first final in an event that carried any kind of ranking importance.

On the first day it was a true battle, he was victorious against Craig Steadman 4-2 before two deciders against Jamie Jones and Mark King. Rory is a fantastic battler though and this would not have fazed him one back. He had the Saturday off before coming back on the Sunday for the Last 16. Out of the 16 players remaining, only 5 of them were in the top 16 and with Mark Williams playing Mark Selby and Mark Allen playing Barry Hawkins two of those were guaranteed to go.

In the Last 16 Rory beat Ben Woollaston 4-1 while Williams beat Selby, Hawkins beat Allen and Shaun Murphy was sent packing by the much lower ranked Tian Pengfei 4-1. That left only two top 16 players for the quarter-finals and they were both beaten as Mark Williams lost to Mike Dunn and David Gilbert saw off Barry Hawkins. Mark Davis is still well up there in the rankings though and was quite the challenge for Rory McLeod. Despite breaks of 69 and 81 from Davis and not a single break of above 50 from Rory he still ran out the 4-2 winner and was into the semi-finals.

Now, with the semi-finalists of Mike Dunn, Rory McLeod, David Gilbert and Tian Pengfei it was a massive opportunity for one of these guys and McLeod was the man that grabbed his. Dunn was seen off by McLeod 4-1, while Pengfei managed to eventually beat David Gilbert 4-3 on the pink.

It was the first final of any ranking importance for both players and you would expect it to be a tense affair. Pengfei only scored 25 points in the first couple of frames and was 2-0 behind early, but he hit back in frame three with a run of 74, while a break of 58 from Rory was the cornerstone in him moving a frame away from the match at 3-1. A 106 kept the Chinese player in it but a run of 55 from Rory sealed a famous win and a magical moment.

The moment is improved by the fact it got Rory into the Champion of Champions, and has almost guaranteed his tour safety for the next two years, as that is a battle he could have easily been involved in. A place in the Players Championship finals guarantees him further money, while he has a chance of World Grand Prix qualification if he can put something together between the time of writing at the Christmas period and Gdynia after that run of loses he has suffered since (though German Masters qualification helps steady the ship). When you add all of that to the maiden McLeod title itself and how hard he has worked to achieve that it is a clear winner of the moment of the month nomination for October.

There are not many more nominations to go, so come back tomorrow to find out the penultimate one, coming from November.

Classic Matches of 2015 Countdown: 4th Place: Stuart Bingham Vs Judd Trump (World Championships)

Now we are on the home straight I have a very special piece for you in 4th place with Judd Trump and Stuart Bingham from the semi-finals of the World Championships.

I’ve been lucky enough to speak to Stuart and get some comments from him reminiscing on this amazing match so look out for those as I get to the key points in the timeline of this match…

“I went to watch the walk-ons in the afternoon in the Murphy Vs Hawkins match to try and settle my nerves and get a feel for the atmosphere”.

I could certainly have thought of worse ideas before the beginning of this huge semi-final clash as anything that can settle you down before a match like this is a huge bonus. All Stuart could do at the start of the opening frame was watch and smirk as Judd fluked a red to get in after a wayward long attempt. After a plant left him on no colour on 4 he played a tough snooker with plenty of reds out in the open. Bingham’s escape left one on but Judd’s miss handed that opportunity over to Stuart. An easy red missed on 22 was perhaps a sign of the early nerves in this massive occasion for both players. Judd made a nice 49 from the chance that was left but was unable to remove the reds from the side cushion to kill the frame off in one visit. After a long safety battle, a risky safety from Stuart didn’t pay off leaving the chance for Judd to clear and take the opening frame. A missed early blue in frame two handed another good chance to Judd with reds spread and ready to be picked off. He made 64 from the chance and looked like easing over the line until a careless miss on frame ball left a chance for Stuart to steal the frame. A fantastic pot on the penultimate red put him in a great position to continue the clearance. The 65 made to steal the frame and make it 1-1 was huge in the context of the match as Bingham was able to settle and feel a part of the semi-final on his first appearance in the Crucible’s one-table set-up.

“I could’ve been 2-0 down there but that clearance in the second frame helped me to settle down after that”.

Judd hit back early in frame three with a magnificent long red, followed by a long blue to keep the break going and get the first opening. On 19 he chanced his arm at a very risky red opening up the others, and when it rattled it left plenty for Stuart. Ballrun had a huge slice of luck when a missed green came back and cannoned the cue ball behind the brown. The frame started to turn scrappy as both players were only able to manage small contributions before losing ideal position and missing. It came down to the final red with only three points between the scores. Judd fluked the last red and added the black to lead by five before the battles continued on the yellow this time. Stuart potted yellow but had to play safe on the green so the frame was a long way from being over still. Some good safety was played until Bingham caught the green too thick and left it on for Trump. He had to take the pink from mid-range but when that dropped it was enough for Judd to take a scrappy frame and lead 2-1.

A nice long red allowed Stuart the first chance in frame four and he fell nicely on the pink, but with the black on the side cushion it was by no means a golden opportunity. The break still wasn’t easy when he got the black back on its spot as he had to play some good shots on the blue in and out of baulk around the angles, and a very tricky pink took him to virtually the winning line in the frame. A magnificently well worked 89 was the end result, ensuring he went into the mid-session interval all square at 2-2.

After the break Bingham had the first chance to score but miss-judged whether a red potted and when he missed, an easy starter was left for Judd, only for Judd to do the same shortly afterwards and hand the chance straight back. 49 followed from Stuart but a miss down the cushion with the rest stopped him sealing the frame at that visit. When Judd’s chance came he cleared the remaining reds bar one, which he nudged out from the pink which he missed to the middle. That allowed Stuart back to clear the remaining balls he needed to lead for the first time at 3-2. In frame six Trump was in first, making a contribution of 56 before failing to open the reds from the blue. Stuart had his chance after a missed red from distance by Trump. He cleared the remaining reds well splitting the black and final red from the bottom cushion using the penultimate red. From there he was able to clear in style with a run of 74 to lead 4-2 with two frames left of the session. Trump needed to hit back to avoid a first session deficit, and again in frame seven he had the opening scoring visit. It wasn’t an easy table to score heavily from and the cue ball was having to do some mileage with mainly blue and baulk colours being in use. Once the black and pink were in play it became a good chance to win the frame in one visit, and that was soon achieved as he closed the gap to 4-3. At an early stage in the match you still felt the final frame would be key, particularly for Bingham in his first Crucible semi-final. A devilish snooker from Bingham earned him the opening chance with reds spread far and wide and high value colours in play. What followed was a very cool and calm 76 to win the first session 5-3 coming back the next day.

When the pair returned on Friday afternoon, the first frame was scrappy with scoring not proving easy, but it was Judd who was dominant. With 5 reds left he had built up a lead of 32. A wayward shot from Trump left Stuart an easy starter as he looked to counter. With the final three reds around the black spot negotiated, the remainder was easy as a run of 52 to the pink put him further in front at 6-3. In frame ten a decent distance pot followed by a split on the reds from the blue that he nailed, Judd has a great scoring chance. A quick fire 113 finished off with some ‘naughty snooker’ soon had Trump back at just two behind, 4-6. Stuart had a massive chance in frame eleven and he was looking good to win the frame until an unexpected miss on 46 left Judd right in to possibly steal the frame. Very nice pots on green and brown pretty much completed the clearance to get another huge frame back and only trail 5-6. Judd missed a black off of the spot early in frame twelve which handed a nice early opportunity over to the 2014 Shanghai Masters champion. From that chance he built a 58 point lead with 59 remaining. After a poor safety though Bingham got the second chance to kill the frame off and take a 7-5 advantage into the break.

After a long safety battle at the start of the thirteenth, Bingham had the first opportunity and with plenty of reds open and the black stopping short of going into the middle pocket, it looked like a nice opening. A big bounce on 54 left him out of position on the pink, which he missed to leave Judd in. A miss with the rest let Bingham off the hook, but when he returned the favour needed to capitalise. An excellent positional shot from the pink gave him half a chance at the final red along the bottom cushion, but playing it with pace Trump rattled it, while Ballrun knocked it in in style and ended up winning a key frame to lead 8-5. Once again Stuart knocked in a nice red in frame fourteen and avoided knocking the black in the corner to end in nice position. He broke down on 35 after his pack opener yielded nothing to continue the break with. A huge safety error from Stuart, catching the red too thin and careering into the pack of reds opened the frame right up for Trump. He built a lead of 10 but with two reds remaining it was still anyone’s frame. The left hander also had the next chance and managed to bring the final red off of the side cushion in some style, yet from that red he wasn’t able to come around the table far enough to finish on a baulk colour and he was forced to play safe 17 ahead with 27 remaining. A miraculous long cut on the yellow left him perfect on the green shortly after to potted the balls needed to finish off the frame and pull another frame back at 6-8.

The best chance in frame fifteen fell to Stuart after a missed green to the middle from Judd. With the reds all open and pink in play it soon became routine stuff for Bingham and he guaranteed a lead after the two sessions by going 9-6 ahead with one frame to play courtesy of an 85 break. It was important for Trump that to stop Stuart running away with things, he managed to get the last frame to stay within two. When a golden chance came his way in frame sixteen, and already with a lead of 22 he just had to take advantage. The quick fire contribution of 64 made more than certain of the frame, meaning that he would sleep on Friday night only 9-7 adrift of Bingham.

A wonderful red into the baulk corner gave Stuart the first scoring opportunity of the third session on Saturday morning. When he went into the pack from the black on just 7, he was unlucky to knock a red straight in the middle and leave all of the reds for Judd. He was quickly in full flow and had the frame sealed with the minimum of fuss for 8-9. Trump had the first opening again in frame eighteen looking to equalise with Bingham. Again there was a minimum of fuss or worry to Judd’s game as a 91 break levelled the match up again at 9-9.

After Judd had made 22 earlier in the frame, a nice chance fell to Bingham after cutting a red into the middle. A break of 67 left Judd needing to get a snooker on the final two reds, and when that was not obtained Stuart went back in front 10-9. After an earlier 24 broke down due to loss of position, Judd gifted Stuart a chance to build on this lead and finish the frame off. An additional 62 was more than enough to do that job and retain his two frame lead going into the mid-session break 11-9 ahead.

The first frame back from the interval started to get a little scrappy after Bingham’s break of 26 ended and a battle of safety ensued. Judd could only make 16 from the chances he had, while an additional 35 from Bingham when his second chance came put him three clear now at 12-9. In frame twenty-two a fantastic chance came Stuart’s way once again, and once he went into the pack off of the yellow the reds were at his mercy. A break of 59 left Judd needing snookers and meant that Bingham had now won four frames in a row to lead 13-9 with just two frames left of the third session on Saturday morning.

“Everything he threw at me I could handle because I knew I was scoring well and I kept believing in what I was doing… I remember him throwing his arm at a few… I think he thought he was done”.

Stuart’s attempt at a red into the middle early in frame twenty-three somehow didn’t drop, and was left waiting for Judd to gift him a nice opening. He made 44 before missing a difficult red near the black cushion, and when Ballrun was able to make a red along the same cushion the chance was his. It became a golden chance when he obtained a favourable split on the reds from another red and followed with a blue to the corner to continue the break. The sticking point came on 56, leading by 12 with 35, as he was unable to get in a position to pot the final red. Judd potted the final red but failing to get nice position on a colour he played a very nasty looking snooker behind the black. Bingham’s escape on that occasion was superb, but from two later snookers he went on to give away 36 points in fouls leaving Judd 25 points ahead with 27 on. Bingham earned four of these back from a snooker of his own, from which Trump also left the yellow on. He potted yellow, green and brown but couldn’t land on the blue and was forced to play safe with a 12 point deficit. After another foul and a mid-range pot on the blue, Stuart rattled and left the pink on to hand Trump the frame on a plate and very importantly, stop the rot to trail only 13-10 with one frame in the session remaining.

After a very long safety battle in the twenty-fourth, the scoring chance fell to Trump after a very high risk plant attempt at range from Stuart. A break of 65 was enough to ensure that we would still come out of this session 4-4 and only trail 13-11 going into the fourth and final session on Saturday evening.

An opening 40 from Bingham in the evening was halted when he wobbled the pink in the jaws, and Trump’s middle distance pot gave him an opportunity to counter. Judd closed the gap by 27 before missing an even easier pink to the middle, but as Stuart was unable to land on either of the final two reds safety ensued with Bingham 16 ahead with 43 remaining. A well placed long red put him 22 ahead with 35 remaining but again the cannon on the final red didn’t help him to kill the frame off. A foul and a free ball allowed Stuart to extend that lead to 34, before he finally potted the final red to extend his lead again, this time to 14-11. A neat cut saw Trump in first in frame twenty-six, from which a frame winning break quickly grew when Judd’s split of the reds was also perfectly executed. The result was a run of 88 to get that frame back in this nip and tuck contest at 12-14. After a scrappy start to the twenty-seventh Judd made a nice contribution of 50 to leave him leading by 58 with 67 on before a kick on virtually frame ball cost him. Judd then cut a very thin red into the middle only to go straight in-off leaving him 54 in front with 59 on. A missed long pot from Stuart did hand Judd a chance to finish the frame off and close to within one at 13-14. A lovely chance fell Bingham’s way in the next as he made a brilliant long plant to give him a chance in the balls. He looked fluent again amongst the reds and a century break of 106 certainly proved that as he went into the final mid-session break leading Trump 15-13.

“At this point the nerves started to hit me. I tried to keep it together but I could feel my arm tighten arm under the nerves”.

The number one chance post-interval went Judd’s way after he calmly rolled a red into the middle pocket to get in. He was into the bunch early from the blue, and the split he earned was favourable for his chances of killing the frame in one turn. A quick fire 76 made sure Stuart wasn’t getting too far ahead of himself only leading now by an odd frame at 14-15. Trump missed a gettable long pot in frame thirty, and the red went up the other table to leave his opponent an easy starter. Once again Bingham looked composed as he was nearing the winning line, and he was always in control of the cue ball as a magnificent break of 102 put him a frame away from his first ever World final at 16-14. He had the first chance in frame thirty-one but when he went into the pack from the blue, the impact was perfect, but he landed on absolutely nothing cutting the contribution at just 14.

“I remember getting the chance at 16-14, going into the pack from the blue, landing on nothing and just thinking ‘what if this doesn’t happen, what if this isn’t my night’”.

He then went for a very risky red which it turned out he couldn’t see enough of, and the shot left the table wide open for Judd. Trump responded in the way you would expect a player like him to respond, hammering a century of his own with a 108 break closing the gap to 15-16. A trademark Trump red from range, screwing back for the yellow offered up an opportunity to force a decider. On 9 he decided to plough through the reds from another red, finishing on the black and getting a superb spread. Bingham was soon fearing the worst, as Judd killed the frame off with consecutive centuries, a 129 on this occasion to force a deciding frame at 16 all.

“He made two centuries to force the decider like the class player he is”.

In the deciding frame, a long pot from Bingham gave him the first points scoring opportunity of the frame, but the position of the balls wasn’t ideal for heavy scoring. He missed a thin blue having only built a 16 point lead giving Judd his first outing amongst the reds in this frame but a kick ruined any chance of a break with only a red and blue potted.

“I was keeping it tight, just trying not to make a silly mistake. When Judd had his chance I remember him coming up like he had a kick”

This allowed Bingham a second opportunity, from which he added a further 27 to move into a 37 point lead and take a controlling position on the frame with 75 still remaining. An absolutely fantastically worked out plant down the bottom cushion, leaving nothing if he missed, gave Stuart the chance he needed to seal the match off with the healthy lead on his side already. He was able to clear to the final two reds which was plenty to seal the match, with that plant effectively the match winner for an amazing 17-16 victory.

“It was a 1 in 50 plant. I went for it as a sort of shot to nothing knowing I would be covering the red with another red”.

It was close almost all through the match and both players showed their class when it really mattered. To miss out by one frame for Judd was heart-breaking while you could see Stuart’s delight as he fist pumped to the crowd whilst, after graciously applauding Judd as he left the arena. A gentlemanly end from a brilliant guy after a true Crucible classic.

“Emotions were running high afterwards as everyone could see in the videos of me afterwards getting a bit emotional”.

I would just like to thank Stuart once again for kindly offering comments on this game, and I hope you are all ready to come back tomorrow and find out who will take the bronze medal in the Classic Matches of 2015 contest.

Moment of the Month: September: Wilson wins in Shanghai as qualifier

As the moment of the year countdown moves steadily along, today I look back on September and one moment in particular that stood out...

As September is quite thin on the ground when it comes to main tour events, and the Shanghai Masters is really the only main event, despite already giving him my Player of the Month nomination, I think that for winning the Shanghai Masters as a qualifier Kyren Wilson certainly deserves the Moment of the month nomination on top of that.

Having detailed how he got there with all of the wins during the main stages of the event, here in the moment of the month piece I want to talk more about what it means for him and the game of snooker, as this wider context is more of what big moments are about.

Coming into the Shanghai Masters Kyren was the 53^rd seed which meant he actually had to play three qualifying matches, as this event was still taking place on the old tiered system as opposed to the new flat 128 draws. Those matches were played in August a month before the main stages actually took place, and were played at the Barnsley Metrodome, which isn’t exactly a lot compared to the venue and surroundings of Shanghai so it is a tough thing to come through.

When it came to the tournament itself it wasn’t even plain sailing getting out there for Kyren. On September 11^th he tweeted: “Flying to Shanghai tonight and my visa’s only just turned up #phew #twitching”. Just imagine for a second if Wilsons visa had not have turned up and he was forced to pull out of the event. A life changing moment for him would never have happened, and who knows how long it may have taken him to win a ranking event if it had not have been achieved then.

He’d already survived one major scare before getting on the plane to make the journey. Even when the main event did come around he still had a wildcard round match to deal with. That’s never a nice position. Having paid all of the costs for flights and hotels being beaten in a wildcard round game would be the ultimate insult. You’re under pressure from ball one because you would expect to win but the wildcard player has nothing to lose and will be very much used to conditions having grown up playing all of their snooker in them.

Once that was negotiated for Wilson he could feel like he was a real part of the tournament, but he certainly wouldn’t have been a favourite against Joe Perry in the Last 32. Looking back on all of the players Kyren had to play, Joe Perry, Michael Holt, Ding Junhui, Mark Allen and Judd Trump. His opponents were very much heavy favourites to win, except against Hitman Holt in the Last 16 when the bookies were a little more cautious.

The other thing that struck me is that the whole thing was by no means a fluke. A 5-1 win against Perry, a 5-1 win against Holt, a 6-1 win in the semi-finals against Mark Allen. He dominated those games from the start and was able to finish them off in style. He also showed some great battling qualities in the wins against Ding Junhui and Judd Trump in deciding frames. He wasn’t fazed by Ding pulling back to 3-3 from 3-1 down and he wasn’t fazed when Judd came back to 8-7 from 8-4 or 9-9 from 9-7. He still had the nerve and bottle to get over the line. The bottle is the sign of a champion as that is the one thing that quite simply, not everyone has.

The mark of a real magic moment is when is a moment that people can come back to, not just in the coming months but for years to come. That is certainly what we have here with Wilson. The win got him into the Champion of Champions where he went on to make the semi-finals. He now has the chance to use the security of that win in the rankings to really build and make it into the top 16 in the next year, and I believe that I will be writing about Wilson in features like this for many a year to come. That is why Kyren Wilson winning the Shanghai Masters as a qualifier, away from home for his first ranking title, is my moment of the month for September.

I hope you've had a wonderful bank holiday Monday and will return tomorrow to see October's nomination.

Player of the Month: September: Kyren Wilson

Now well and truly into the back half of the countdown we take a look back at September and one player in particular who stepped out of the pack...

The main event in the month of September for the snooker world is the Shanghai Masters and with one man’s performances clearly standing out on that front there is only one contender for September’s Player of the Month nomination, that man being Kyren Wilson.

To come through on the tiered system and beat five top class players at the main venue to win the title is a simply outstanding performance and the mark of a hugely talented player, particularly for his age. He has been tipped by many for great things but I’m not sure that we thought he would become a ranking event winner at such an early stage in his career.

Coming to the venue in Shanghai he had already come through three qualifying matches against Vinnie Calabrese, Mark King and Anthony McGill to reach the Last 32.

He was also one of the eight unlucky qualifiers who would have to come through a wildcard match against a young Chinese player to actually get through to the Last 32, having already done the hard work in pretty much everyone’s opinions bar World Snooker and the sponsors.

His wildcard match was on TV against Wang Yuchen which was a nice warm up for the week, and as it turned out that is exactly what it was. A simple 5-1 victory was the result for Wilson thanks to breaks of 65 and 70, already showing some decent form. His draw in the Last 32 was Joe Perry the eighth seed. After losing two of the opening three to trail 2-1, he won all of the next four to end up winning the match 5-2 and set up a Last 16 tie with Michael Holt.

Michael was in good form after reaching the Paul Hunter Classic semi-finals and beating Stephen Maguire comfortably to start off his week so I expected he would beat Kyren. The way it turned out was not even close to that. Starting off with a 123 Kyren took a commanding 3-0 lead before Michael got a frame on the board and after a 64 in the fifth he soon had the match finished in the sixth to win the match 5-1.

The quarter-final was a different test altogether. To play Ding Junhui is tough enough at the best of times but playing him on Chinese soil after he’s got a couple of wins under his belt, with the crowd behind him is one of the more challenging things to do, and quite daunting. He took to it like a duck to water, just as he had all week opening up with a run of 89 and surging into a 3-1 mid-session interval lead. When Ding levelled up at 3-3 with breaks of 62 and 87 you thought he might run away with it from there, but Wilson had other ideas when he held his nerve again to make it 4-3 with an 84. The decider was forced but again Kyren showed a huge amount of bottle to get over the line on the colours and make his first ever semi-final.

Again it looked like another tough match against the runner-up from the previous year in Mark Allen. After winning the opener from snookers required, he took the next three as well, aided by contributions of 73 and 65 to lead 4-0 at the mid-session interval. A run of 60 made It 5-0 and it was all set up to be a very easy game once again as he crossed the line for a 6-1 win to put himself in his first ever ranking event final.

It didn’t get any easier as he took on the Juddernaut Judd Trump in the final, but in inspired fashion I tipped Kyren to win 10-9 in my preview of that final. It was nip and tuck early but after taking the final two frames of the opening session Kyren had quite a commanding lead after the first 9 at 6-3. When they came back that lead was extended to 8-4 with a run of 68. Trump won the next three to get within one at 8-7, but again Kyren held his nerve to win the next and move 9-7 ahead, breaks of 89 and 60 from Trump forced a deciding frame but yet against Kyren held his nerve, showed fantastic bottle and was able to clinch his first ever ranking event title in a deciding frame with a break of 75.

What a performance it was over the course of the week to topple top player after top player and finish each one in style when it really mattered, the mark of a true champion and certainly the mark of a man who deserves my player of the month nomination for September.

Tomorrow we enter the hectic winter months with Octobers nomination so be sure to return for that.

Classic Matches of 2015 Countdown: 5th Place: Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Judd Trump (2014 UK Championships)

Once again on the Classic Matches of 2015 countdown today we go back to the 2014 UK Championship (as explained in the Bond Vs Hawkins 10th place piece). So enjoy a true classic between the master and apprentice...

Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump had been going along fantastically throughout the UK Championship in December 2014, and in this final Ronnie was in first with a fantastic long red early on. Having made 14 he went into the pack from the blue, but missed the blue to leave Judd his first opening of the match. With pink and black pushed safe early in the break it wasn’t easy to win the frame in one visit but he managed to build a 30 point lead with a run of 44 with the final three reds on the bottom cushion. A fantastic long straight red after the safety battle from O’Sullivan gave him a chance to clear, before he missed the final red down the cushion. A good snooker, followed by a wild escape from Trump gave Ronnie a second chance and he dished to take the opening frame.

In the second frame, Trump was in first and was soon into his scoring stride. However, a tricky pink was missed on the fair jaw on 37 which left O’Sullivan right in. The attempted pack opener on 32 left him on nothing though and he was forced to play safe. A fantastic long pot again from Trump gave him the chance with the remaining reds open to square the match up and with a few exhibition shots to finish he took the frame for 1-1. The long potting from both was fantastic and on display again from O’Sullivan in frame three as he made another and was soon in great break building form and made a sublime 82 to lead 2-1. A very fine long cut from Trump sent the opening break building opportunity his way. A bad miss possibly caused by a kick left the opening for Ronnie, but the misses continued when he missed a red on the stretch. After some safety and slightly more scrappy play, yet another long pot gave Ronnie. A nice 41 was enough to put him 3-1 in front at the mid-session interval.

Ronnie kept his 100% long pot success after the break. A miss to the middle didn’t end up costing him as Judd’s chance amounted to little and another long red got Ronnie in and a plant helped him seal the frame and he finished up with an 81 clearance to move even further ahead at 4-1. A very lacklustre safety from Judd allowed the Rocket in yet again. However, Trump was let off when Ronnie missed a tricky red from middle distance on 33. When his best chance came a little while afterwards. A mistake on a red to the middle leading by just 8 with 43 remaining opened the door once again for Ronnie. A superb shot to knock the last red off of the cushion and perfectly over the middle. This allowed the clearance that put him in a very commanding position, leading 5-1 in the first session with two frames remaining and now guaranteed an end of session advantage.

Judd needed to respond and pick up his form, and a long pot early in frame six allowed him to do so until an early miss handed the chance over to O’Sullivan. Awkward bridging caused him to return the favour but the frame became littered by mistakes when Judd missed an easy black straight after. With the black over a corner pocket, a long bout of safety ensued. This ended after a storming long shot from the 2011 York champion. A break of 46 meant he left Ronnie needing snookers but there was nothing he could eventually do in stopping Trump from getting a frame back at 2-5. The final frame looked like an important one and one that Judd certainly needed to win. An early 39 gave him a great starting point. A careless in-off from Trump left Ronnie a chance at a long pot, giving him the opportunity to close the gap up in the frame but a careless miss on the penultimate red soon ended that chance, leaving him 33 behind with 43 possibly available. Trump gave away many foul points from a snooker on the final red which meant that when Ronnie potted down to the green he was only trailing Trump by six points. Trump’s chance came and some good pots on green, brown and particularly frame ball blue to close the gap and only trail 5-3 at the end of the first session.

When Trump was in first at the start of the evening session, but a missed cut after six reds and blacks allowed O’Sullivan to answer his opponents incomplete start. He only managed a single point though before missing an attempted black to the middle by a large margin. Judd looked a little nervy and his next shot left another opening for the Rocket. A careless missed blue going into the pack of four reds squandered the opportunity, but a long pot shortly after handed him another. The reds were split and colours on their spots other than the black which Ronnie didn’t require to move further in front and take a crucial frame at 6-3. Judd was in first again in the tenth, hoping he could win a frame in one visit for the first time in the match. By the time he lost position on a colour on 56 the job was still incomplete with 6 reds left on the table. Ronnie’s long potting was still holding together fantastically, but a missed range red from Trump allowed O’Sullivan a chance to steal this frame too. He failed to get on the last red and was still 20 behind but when Judd quickly left the red over a pocket he was presented the second go that he needed to take the frame from a way behind again. A great screw shot on the blue brought the pink off of the cushion but he still had to go around the table for black ball position but played it perfectly to clear and make it 7-3. Judd continued to attack and with the first scoring visit of frame eleven falling to him he had to take advantage. Once again he built a decent lead but it wasn’t good enough when he missed a tricky red on 49. A further couple of reds and a green put him 54 points ahead but with 59 remaining there was still hope for Ronnie if he could earn a counter attacking chance. It wasn’t to be though and Judd eventually edged his way over the winning line but it was hardly convincing and O’Sullivan was still 7-4 ahead with one to go before the mid-session break. A nice long red from Ronnie led to a continuation of his dominance when he won the twelfth in one visit with a magnificent 133 total clearance steering him further clear at 8-4.

When Ronnie earned the first scoring opening after the interval and was working hard with the black out of play but he was going along nicely until he went for a very risky plant which didn’t fall and left a red over the middle for Judd to counter O’Sullivan’s 54. He managed 30 in return but had to play safe after failing to split the last two reds away from the black and into a potable area. Judd earned the next chance after fluking the red he narrowly missed a long attempt on. He missed the blue however and left a tough pot to the middle for Ronnie on the final red, but he rolled it in and was able to do enough to put himself one away from the title now at 9-4.

If Trump was going to forge a comeback from here he would need to do something special and win most frames in one visit. That still wasn’t happening in frame fourteen when a missed brown halted him with only a 43 point lead amassed. Ronnie’s 5 in response was basically non-existent in the importance of the frame as a miss to the right middle let Judd off of the hook. From this point on, the frame became pretty lacklustre. Both players had chances but were not clinical enough. After potting the penultimate red Trump was leading by 17 but with a possible 35 points still left on the table and when the next chance came he was able to finally kill the frame off and halt Ronnie’s celebrations but still a way behind at 5-9. In the fifteenth, Ronnie totally miss judged his simple roll into the pack off of one cushion, leaving Judd an early visit in which to at least get a decent start in the frame. Once into the pack, and with a nice split on the reds the foundations had been laid for a much more sizeable contribution this time. That contribution came in the shape of a 120 break to further extend the match and put a few early doubts in O’Sullivan’s mind at 6-9.

Those doubts would have started growing when Judd got in first again in the sixteenth with plenty to go at once more. A kick on 61 left him a tough black but once that went in and he landed perfectly on the next red the frame was sealed, as the Juddernaut went on to make consecutive centuries for good measure with a 127 making it 9-7 little over 20 minutes after it had been 9-5 to Ronnie. When a missed red stayed by the baulk pocket at the start of frame seventeen Judd was back in once again and in dangerous territory for O’Sullivan. Before long it was another frame over as a quick fire 86 drew Trump to within a single frame of his idol now at 8-9. The first miss in live play for a few frames from Judd came as he missed a long red in frame eighteen and the red came around the table to leave an easy chance for the Rocket. It was a decent chance to build a commanding lead and one he would have hoped to turn into a winning one within a few minutes. His contribution only amounted to 21 when he missed an easy black off of the spot. Luckily he didn’t leave a red on and was able to roll a superb red in shortly after to switch back into the scoring zone. It was soon worked into a fantastic chance to seal the match and take the title, but a very poor positional shot forced him to play safe just a couple of balls from the winning line leading the frame by 59 with 75 remaining. A sorry safety shot from O’Sullivan just afterwards left Judd with a mid-range pot to start a counter attack. Once that was knocked in the only stumbling block could have been the red on the side cushion, but it was the perfect side for a left hander and he made it look simple, along with the rest of the 67 to clear and make it five frames on the trot out of nowhere in terms of how the match had been played out early on, but now both players had to get themselves together for a deciding frame.

At the start of the nineteenth, Ronnie earned the first scoring opportunity as he was just able to wobble in a red from long distance. On 15 he hammered in a thin cut on a red around the table but landing on the side cushion he couldn’t take on a colour and had to play safe. Judd’s chance came when he dropped a long red in, followed by a high pressure pink to the middle. He too lost position early though, and had to play safe on 14 with only six points in the frame. A fantastic snooker behind the green from Ronnie left Judd struggling for an escape shot, and when he left the cue ball in the middle of the reds, it did leave one on and that left O’Sullivan a golden chance. When frame ball went in he allowed himself a couple of fist pumps as an emotional release and the job was done. Ronnie O’Sullivan had sealed the match beating Judd Trump 10-9, and it was nice to see Judd warmly congratulate Ronnie with a hug at the end of the match. For Judd to come back out of nowhere but still see Ronnie hold it together at the end was superb snooker from both players and more than worthy of the classic match tag that it has been given.

Be sure to return tomorrow when we enter the top 4 on the countdown.