Classic Matches of 2013 countdown: 12th Place: Stephen Maguire Vs Stuart Bingham (Welsh Open Final)

Right then, it's that time of year that we've all been waiting for. That's right my 12 days of Christmas countdown of the 12 best snooker matches of 2013. Before we get underway with the countdown I better lay out what we can expect over the next 12 days and that is the best 12 matches (in my opinion) from the beginning of the 2012 UK Championships to the end of the 2013 Champion of Champions cup.

The first match of the countdown takes us back to the 17th February this year when Stephen Maguire took on Stuart Bingham in the 2013 Welsh Open final, and with both players playing brilliantly during the week this was always going to be a tough match to call, but also a cracking contest.

 

So let's take a look back on what happened over this amazing Best-of-17 final:

Stephen Maguire Vs Stuart Bingham:

 

Early on in the final, Bingham potted a nice long red after a missed long red from Maguire, but after going into the pack and being snookered on all colours he gave away 28 points in fouls before going in off and leaving Maguire a chance at a long red which he missed. Maguire then potted a nice red to the middle pocket after a safety battle near the black spot end, and soon created a nice chance to win the frame.  A really good break of 71 from Stephen made sure that he got a really good start and make it 1-0. Bingham missed another long red early in the second, giving Maguire an early chance to build a decent advantage. He went on to make a good break of 62, before going into the reds from the blue and failing to get on one nicely. Maguire was soon back in again though, and a good red to the green pocket on 7 ensured that Bingham would need snookers if he came back and led by 76 with 67 on.  Eventually though, Maguire potted a nice long penultimate red to secure the frame and a 2-0 lead. After a longer safety battle in frame three, Bingham potted a nice red to the centre pocket before then missing a blue off of the spot, giving Maguire another chance. However Maguire could only make 14 before he ran out of position, but he did leave Bingham snookered on all reds. Bingham then potted a good long red, and put Maguire into an impossible snooker on the baulk cushion. Maguire had no choice but to smash the cue ball into the jaws of the green pocket, managing to come down and hit a red, but he was very unfortunate to leave a red on and give Bingham a great chance. A good break of 56 left Maguire needing a snooker, but when Bingham potted the last red it made sure that he’d get his first frame on the board and make it 1-2. In the last frame before the interval, Bingham potted a great early long red but could only make 12 from it. Maguire managed to get in with a nice double, and after a decent split of the reds he had a nice chance to build a good lead in the fourth frame. Some good recovery reds from Maguire kept the break going, and put him in a great position to win the frame in 1 visit. Maguire did exactly that, taking a 3-1 lead with a fabulously well-made break of 114.

After the break, Bingham was first in after being left a red to the middle, although he could only make 7 as he missed a difficult blue to the corner. However, Stephen then missed a straight mid-range red allowing Bingham back to the table straight away with a chance. Some good early shots to get the black open made it into a great frame winning opportunity, and a very good break of 79 made sure that he did take the frame and close the gap to a single frame at 2-3. A missed pot with the rest by Stuart in the sixth frame, gave Maguire a nice opportunity to gain an early advantage in the frame. A great positional shot from the black on 33, and nice recovery red on 40 then made it into a superb chance to go 2 frames ahead once more. An excellent 110 put Maguire 4-2 ahead, with just 2 frames left in the session. In the seventh frame, Bingham got in with a great red to the middle, and a brilliant recovery red on 16 kept the break going in fantastic fashion. Stuart was on 55 when he missed a tricky red to the middle, but leaving everything fairly safe. Another superb red to the middle got Bingham back in again, and just a few pots from reducing the deficit once more to only the one frame. An additional 78 making it 3-4, with 1 frame left of the session. Bingham knocked in a magnificent long red early in the eighth frame, and was extremely unlucky not to get on the black. Another good long red, landed Stuart on the black near the corner, but he failed to get on another red and was forced to play safe again. Stephen left Bingham another chance to make a decent contribution in the frame. Bingham had built up a nice 50 point lead when he had to play safe, but was soon back in again after Maguire missed a red with the rest following a kick, but he could only make 6 before missing the red, giving Maguire a chance to steal. A brilliant red on 5 gave him a glimmer of hope, and another good red on 18 got him right back into it, but it was impossible to get on the last red and he played a poor safety to allow Bingham to take the frame and make it 4-4 at the end of the first session.

The first frame of the evening session saw the brilliant standard continue, as Bingham made a nice 73 to extend his run to 3 frames in a row and lead 5-4. Bingham got in, in the next frame with a brilliant long red, before missing a red down the cushion on 15 and letting Maguire in. A nice split of the reds on 13 gave him a decent chance to win the frame and level the contest. However, he missed an easy black on 37 but was soon back in with a brilliant plant. From that plant he made a brilliant 71 to make it 5-5 and turn the final into a best of 7 frame match. Bingham was in first again in the next frame, and he managed to pick off the reds brilliantly making a magnificent 118 to regain the lead at 6-5. Bingham was in first again in the next frame, pulling out another top long red, landing him onto the brown. He managed to make 36 before he missed the blue going into the reds, but when Maguire missed a tight black which only just went, Bingham was back in almost immediately. When he missed a red on the stretch on 18, he had a 53 point lead, but Maguire failed to pot a relatively simple one and Bingham then had a great chance to make it 7-5 at the interval of the final session. That was exactly what he did, putting him just 2 frames from the Welsh Open title.

After the break, ball-run Bingham made a nice plant, but then missed a tricky brown to the middle, leaving the Scotsman in with an early chance. However, he missed a tough red along the bottom cushion on 11, and Stuart was back in once more, but he missed a chance to open the reds from the blue, and was forced to play safe. Maguire then knocked in an amazing long red to screw back for the yellow and go into the reds. Maguire had put together a good break before he missed a simple red, leaving Bingham another chance. Although, Bingham couldn’t get on the yellow nicely and Stephen came back to the table with a 1 point advantage. Bingham potted the yellow but missed the green and left the green on for Maguire after the Scot played a good snooker behind the black. Bingham potted the brown, but then decided to play safe on the blue turning down a tough pot. Bingham then fluked the blue after a long safety battle but missed the pink, which Maguire knocked in, in great style landing perfectly on the black to win the frame by a point and close the gap to 6-7. The fourteenth frame started off with a nice pressure red from Bingham, to give him an early opportunity to make a nice contribution. Bingham missed a tricky red on 31 though, and was definitely beginning to look like he was under a lot of pressure. Bingham knocked in a fantastic long red to start himself off again, and then played another good red to the middle on 8, but he missed a simple blue on 9 to allow Maguire back to the table with the reds open and only 40 points to make up. Maguire then missed a black on 25 after a kick on the previous red left him out of position, but Stuart missed a long red and then Maguire played a brilliant double to get right back in amongst the balls with a fantastic chance to square the match. A break of 42 made sure that that was exactly what he did, turning the match into a best of 3 now at 7-7. With the momentum now in this final, Stephen Maguire was first in in the fifteenth frame, with a nice red to the middle to get going. After a brilliant split of the reds from a red on 28, and after a decent pink to follow, he now had a good chance to go on and regain the advantage in this great encounter. A lovely break of 77 made sure that he took the lead for the first time in the evening session, going 1 away from victory at 8-7. The sixteenth frame got off to a very scrappy start and resulted in a re-rack. A missed long red shortly afterwards from Bingham gave Maguire his first opportunity to take the title. However, an explosive kick on 20 ended the break prematurely, and Bingham was able to pot a long red in off the blue. However, he could only make 6 before letting Maguire back in who made a decent contribution of 39 to take a nice lead in the frame. Stephen Maguire then played a ridiculous hit and hope from a snooker that wasn’t too hard to get out of. That put Stuart Bingham right in amongst them with a good chance to clear and force the decider. A brilliant pressure pot on the final red along the black cushion, made the rest of the clearance look easy, as a magical clearance of 58 made sure that this game got the final frame shoot-out that it deserved.

Stuart Bingham potted the first ball of the deciding frame, knocking in a good long pot, but failing to get on a colour, playing a good snooker instead. Bingham then potted another decent red, but screwed in off in the middle to give Maguire a half chance at a long red, but the Scotsman failed to take it. The drama continued as Bingham missed a tough plant, and Maguire then got the first real chance after potting a tricky little red of his own. Maguire took all of the balls very well, and after potting a nice red to ensure that Bingham wouldn’t come back to the table for snookers, Stephen punched the table a few times, showing what it meant for him to win this title and end his long wait for a ranking event win, with a 9-8 win over Stuart Bingham. That wonderful 82 in the decider was worthy of winning any ranking event, and adding to the reasons why this match was such a classic final in the history of the event, and in the snooker year of 2013.

 

What a match that was, it had just about everything from top breaks to killer tension, and that only made 12th place on my Christmas classics countdown, so you know there's going to be plenty more quality contests to look back on between now and New Year's Day.

Neil Robertson is UK King

Neil Robertson completed his triple crown at the weekend by beating Mark Selby 10-7 in the 2013 UK Championship final, to go with the Aussies 2012 Masters victory and 2010 World Championship triumph. For me, Robertson really deserved this victory, especially how he played in the evening session of the final, but also through his consistent performances throughout the event.

For me the tournament as a whole was a general success, with the UK Championships taking on the new flat 128 structure, with some brilliant surprises as amateur Mitchell Travis beat Marco Fu 6-5 in the Last 128 stages and the 90th seed David Morris making the Last 16 of the event. However, the best players still climbed to the top as 14 of the top 16 seeds made into the Last 16, and the defending champion and world No.2 contested the final with the World No.1. The York Barbican also showed when it got down to the latter stages why the UK Championships shouldn't be moved from there in the near future, as it was always going to be difficult for any venue to have 8 tables on the go at one time, but with matches like Bingham/Robertson in the semi-finals and the final between Selby and Robertson, the Barbican showed it could host top class snooker to the fans and create a brilliant atmosphere.

Anyway, lets have a look at how the 2013 UK Championship final panned out:

Neil Robertson 10-7 Mark Selby - The final started off in brilliant fashion as Mark Selby knocked in a brilliant 130, to give the crowd a flavour of what to expect in the match. Robertson then reminded everyone of how well he was playing, and that this would be a really closely fought contest as a break of 63 made it 1-1. Selby began taking control of the match after that point thought taking the next 2 frames before the interval, and the next 2 after the interval to lead 5-1, as the World No.1 failed to get into a rhythm and settle into the match. Breaks of 49 and 57 helped the defending champion take advantage of his opponents poor showing to this point. At this stage the final 2 frames of the session became massive for Neil who really needed to win them both to stay in the final. That was just what the World No.1 did in true champions fashion with breaks of 54 and 123 making it 5-3 after the first session, with a possible 11 more frames to come in the evening.

The next session started well for Mark Selby as he managed to carve out a couple of chances on his way to a 6-3 advantage. However this 3 frame lead didn't last long as Robertson managed to find a couple of extra gears, making breaks of 56, 122 and 132 to level the match for the first time since the second frame at 6-6, going into the final mid-session break. After the interval, Robertson continued to dominate, snatching a very important 13th frame to lead for the first time, before he doubled that lead at 8-6 with a break of 47 helping him on his way. Mark Selby kept on fighting though as a break of 74 kept him within 1 frame of Neil Robertson at 8-7. The sixteenth frame was a massive one in the context of the match, and one that really broke Mark Selby. With Selby looking to steal the frame on the black, he had a more difficult black then he would like to clinch the frame and level, but he missed it to everyone's amazement, leaving it for Robertson to take the frame and go 9-7 ahead. Neil took out the match and the title in style though, with a break of 57 in the seventeenth frame giving the Aussie the 10-7 victory, that meant the world to him and all of his family and friends that were there supporting him.


So overall, I don't believe that the new format has taken any of the gloss away from what was still a fantastic tournament once you get down to the latter stages of the event. However, I still think that there is room for improvement for this format, and that to be on a level playing field, the BBC shouldn't be holding matches over from the Last 128 stages.

I still think that everyone involved in the tournament did a great job, and can't wait for the next televised snooker, which happens to be The Masters in January. Can't wait, and I hope that you guys can't either.

UK Championship Full Preview

It's that time of the year again folks! Yes that's right time for the first Triple Crown event of the season, and the first BBC event since the World Championships in April... The UK Championships, from the Barbican Centre in York. Even though the format for most of the event has been shortened in recent years, the format is still a longer format (and the same as last years event) and the event is still one that I certainly look forward to on the calendar every year. One thing that has changed this year, is the conversion of this event to the Flat 128 structure, although not in the same way as all of the other events. This is mainly because, the structure sees that the top seed, plays the bottom seed, and that it works through from there. For example: Seed 1 Vs Seed 128, would then play the winner of Seed 64 Vs Seed 65 in the Last 64 and so on. What that should mean (though nothing is ever certain) is that all of the top 16 players should make it through to the latter stages, and that the top seeds have draws that make it more favourable for them to go very deep in the tournament, rather than it being a random draw of the Top 64 seeds against the bottom 64 seeds for the first round.

That has basically all been done for the benefit of the BBC who don't want to see the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Judd Trump etc. knocked out before the tournament really gets going and the viewers get a good chance to see them. Another thing it should also see is a lot of classic matches at the back end of the event. I hope the BBC really step up their coverage of the event, although that already looks unlikely as rumour has it that the morning matches aren't being covered by anyone, once we get into the TV stages. The BBC's coverage, has started to go down hill a fair bit lately, and with the job that ITV4 have done recently on the Champion of Champions event, they could soon have some competition for the Triple Crown events which they cover at present.

Anyway, here's what we can expect in the next 13 days then, with the usual terrible predictions:

Quarter 1

Last 128 Draw:

Mark Selby Vs Shane Castle
Tian Pengfei Vs Pankaj Advani
Ken Doherty Vs John Astley
Ben Woollaston Vs Stuart Carrington
Graeme Dott Vs Fraser Patrick
Nigel Bond Vs Craig Steadman
Ali Carter Vs Ratchayothin Yotharuck
Jimmy Robertson Vs Li Yan
Jamie Jones Vs Gary Wilson
Dominic Dale Vs Vinnie Calabrese
Cao Yupeng Vs Zhang Anda
Barry Hawkins Vs Alexander Ursenbache
Anthony Hamilton Vs Sean O'Sullivan
Tom Ford Vs Noppon Saengkham
Gerard Greene Vs Paul Davison
Shaun Murphy Vs Lee Spick

The top quarter is one that is certainly filled with talent, with plenty of big match experience including the defending champion Mark Selby, last year's runner-up Shaun Murphy, former world champion Graeme Dott, and former world championship runners-up Ali Carter and Barry Hawkins. When it comes to these big triple crown events, I only really look at the big players to come through, and with the draw the way it is, it is very difficult to see the likes of Tom Ford, Dominic Dale or Ben Woollaston upsetting the odds despite their capabilities. For me, Mark Selby is probably in the best form of the players in this section at the moment, winning the Antwerp Open and making the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions. From the rest, I still think that we haven't seen the best of Shaun Murphy this season, and with a pretty favourable draw for him to play himself into a bit of from, and if he can recreate some of the form he showed last year he will go far again in this event. You can never rule Ali Carter and Graeme Dott out either (who could meet in the Last 32) and with them coming back into some form this could be a very entertaining quarter indeed. For me though, Selby has definetly showed signs of not being at his best in the semi-final of the Champion of Champions and Murphy may not be a bad bet at 22/1 for the tournament, though I don't really see it happening.

Quarter Winner: Mark Selby in the best form out of the guys in this section

Quarter 2

Last 128 Draw:

Judd Trump Vs Gareth Green
Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Xiao Guodong Vs Andrew Pagett
Mark Joyce Vs Jamie O'Neill
Mark Allen Vs Jak Jones
Dave Harold Vs Chen Zhe
Michael Holt Vs Lee Page
Alan McManus Vs Joel Walker
Rory McLeod Vs Martin O'Donnell
Mark Williams Vs Allan Taylor
Peter Lines Vs Sam Baird
Ricky Walden Vs Cao Xin Long
Fergal O'Brien Vs Alex Davies
Mark King Vs Ross Muir
James Wattana Vs Ian Burns
Ding Junhui Vs Anthony Parsons

This quarter sees the likes of former UK champions Ding Junhui, Judd Trump and Mark Williams, while Mark Allen has also been in a UK final before, and Ricky Walden has previously been in World and UK semi-finals. I don't really see anyone else in the quarter that could possibly get past the names that are involved. Ding Junhui probably has the best form and the most favourable draw out of everyone in this section, while Allen is in good form, but faces a possible Last 16 match with Judd Trump who has also been playing decent stuff coming into this, but will be under a lot of pressure desperately needing a run, having won the event 2 years ago. Meanwhile, with Ding on a run of 3 ranking event wins in a row, and Mark Allen winning European Tours 5 and 6, Trump will certainly have to step it up if he is going to win this section. So, I think it will be a quarter-final showdown between Allen and Ding, and the way the 2 are playing either one could win, but I feel that Ding would just edge what would be a very tense match. Mark Williams and Ricky Walden could never be ruled out of runs if they got going, but Williams draw is quite tough now he is out of the top 16, and Walden is in quite poor form really.

Quarter Winner: Ding Junhui

Quarter 3

Last 128 Draw:

Neil Robertson Vs Dylan Mitchell
Aditya Mehta Vs Robbie Williams
Andrew Higginson Vs Hammad Miah
David Gilbert Vs Li Hang
Mark Davis Vs Robin Hull
Matt Selt V Scott Donaldson
Joe Perry Vs James Cahill
Alfie Burden Vs Daniel Wells
Jamie Burnett Vs Simon Bedford
Ryan Day Vs Chris Wakelin
Rod Lawler Vs Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon
John Higgins Vs Alex Borg
Jack Lisowski Vs Michael Leslie
Liang Wenbo Vs Elliot Slessor
Mike Dunn Vs Luca Brecel
Stephen Maguire Vs Sanderson Lam

Again this another quarter filled with plenty of quality players including former World champions Neil Robertson and John Higgins, former UK champion Stephen Maguire, World Championship semi-finalist Joe Perry and last years UK semi-finalist Mark Davis. Robertson is clearly the in-form man out of the guys in this quarter, making centuries for fun and leading the current world rankings by a mile of the rest. Maguire's form is not bad, making a decent impression in the Champion of Champions, while Higgins looked good despite his early exit. Perry has also been playing very well and is capable of run that could win this quarter, as he showed when he made the semi's of the recent International Championships. Mark Davis is struggling though, and I can't see him matching his run of last year at the York Barbican. I think it could well be a Maguire/Robertson quarter-final, and that would be one i'd certainly fancy Robbo, and having never won the UK Championship's before he will desperate to end that this year. The likes of Higgins and Perry could never be ruled out though and I wouldn't be surprised if they won this quarter either.

A note does have to go to 1 very important match in this section as far as tour survival goes and that is Mike Dunn against Luca Brecel. Both players in this one need the win to boost their prize money ranking and that could be a very nervy match. However, I think that Dunn should just steal it and go one step closer to staying on the tour for next year.

Quarter Winner: Got to be Neil Robertson looking at how well he's been playing.

Quarter 4

Last 128 Draw:

Marco Fu Vs Mitchell Travis
Kurt Maflin Vs Liam Highfield
Peter Ebdon Vs Andrew Norman
Jamie Cope Vs David Morris
Stuart Bingham Vs Ahmed Saif
Jimmy White Vs Michael Wasley
Martin Gould Vs Chris Norbury
Anthony McGill Vs Kyren Wilson
Yu De Lu Vs David Grace
Matthew Stevens Vs Ryan Clark
Liu Chuang Vs Tony Drago
Robert Milkins Vs Patrick Einslie
Michael White Vs Joe Swail
Marcus Campbell Vs Lu Haotian
Adam Duffy Vs Barry Pinches
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Rhys Clark

The final quarter of the draw sees the likes of World Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, former UK runner-up Marco Fu, former UK champion Matthew Stevens, Champion of Champions runner-up Stuart Bingham, Robert Milkins and Martin Gould. This should be a really competitive quarter with the likes of O'Sullivan, Fu and Bingham all in good form at the moment, while Gould also showed signs of coming into some form at the Champion of Champions and Milkins and Stevens are both very quality players despite some inconsistent form over the past few months. It will be very hard to stop Ronnie the way he's playing, especially when he says that there is even more to come from him. Fu and Bingham will probably be his biggest competition, though Bingham's record in UK ranking events isn't fantastic, and I think that Fu would come through to meet Ronnie in the quarter-final. However, if O'Sullivan plays as well as he did in Coventry, and is really up for the fight again (which will be the key) he should breeze through the quarter, and would probably go on and win the event, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Another thing to note from this quarter is an absolutely vital match when it comes to tour survival, between Adam Duffy and Barry Pinches. The draw being the way it is, one of these was bound to happen, and both players really do need a couple of wins to boost their prize money ranking, currently hovering in the danger zone. Looking at the form guide you'd have to say that Barry would pinch it, though form won't count for much in such an important match, with plenty of nerves.

Quarter Winner: I'd be mad not to pick Ronnie O'Sullivan


Whatever happens it should be an absolutely cracking event given the way the draw is set out, although there is always one unpredictable result that will stir things up somewhere along the line. Still, I'm really looking forward to what should be a great event, and I'll be back to have another look at the tournament ahead of the start of the TV stages on Saturday.

The match schedule, with all of the start times for the next few days can be found on the world snooker live scores website, if you want to know what's coming up before the start of the TV coverage on Saturday.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is the Champion of Champions

Ronnie O'Sullivan won the Champion of Champions event in Coventry last night after he beat Stuart Bingham 10-8 in the final at the Ricoh Arena, which has been a very good host for the event I should add.

Here's what happened in the final:

Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-8 Stuart Bingham - It was Stuart Bingham that started brightest in the final, and he played well throughout, making a break of 109 to kick the match off in style. Ronnie hit back immediately though with a break of 66 helping him square the contest. The Rocket soon went ahead, a break of 55 helping him on the way to a 2-1 lead. Bingham needed to stick with O'Sullivan and to start with he did so very well, taking a scrappier fourth frame to level the match again at 2-2 going into the mid-session interval of the first session. It was Stuart that came out from the break the stronger of the 2 players, as a run of 72 put him ahead again, and that lead was soon doubled when he knocked in a 52 to go 4-2 up. All of a sudden it was Ronnie who wasn't playing his best snooker in the opening session and needed to stick with Bingham. O'Sullivan just about managed to do so, a break of 76 making it 4-3. However, Bingham was soon 2 frames in front again with a nice century break of 109 to make it 5-3, and guarantee that Bingham would be in front at the start of the final session. Although, Ronnie ended the session brightly and insured that he would only be 1 behind with a break of 130 to make it 5-4. Stuart probably could've been slightly annoyed that he wasn't further ahead after the opening session, with Ronnie nowhere near his best, and Bingham actually playing very well himself.

The second session started much better for O'Sullivan as he squared the match with a break of 93 at 5-5. All of a sudden a clearance of 32 from Ronnie put him 6-5 in front, and Bingham had still done very little wrong. However, Ball-run kept himself in the game, equalising with a break of 48, before he took a pretty scrappy frame before the interval of the final session to lead the match 7-6. O'Sullivan was never down in the match for long though, and levelled this tight contest once again with a break of 62. The pendulum swung Ronnie's way again in the fifteenth frame, as a break of 96 made it 8-7 to O'Sullivan. Just when you thought that Ronnie was going to start running away with the contest, the last Premier League champion had a run of 66 to square the match once again at 8-8. Then it became a test of nerve for both players, and it looked like Bingham was just beginning to feel the pressure a little bit more. It showed in the seventeenth frame as both players had chances to score, but it turned out that an early 46 from the Rocket was the telling contribution of the frame, putting him 1 frame away from the title at 9-8. As you would expect from a natural front runner, there was no shying away from O'Sullivan as breaks of 33 and 49 helped him take the frame that he needed to seal the match, and take the £100,000 winners cheque.


Overall, it was an absolutely brilliant tournament that had a lot of classic matches throughout, and I hope to see this event on the calendar for many years to come. As for the coverage, ITV4 did a magnificent job once again, covering the event very well with great commentary and analysis from Clive Everton, Alan McManus and Neal Foulds. In fact I would like to see the ITV take on a lot more tournaments that are not currently covered on terrestrial TV, and if the BBC don't step up their own coverage, I would be quite happy to see some of their tournaments move to ITV4. With the UK Championship's on BBC from Saturday (with the tournament itself starting tomorrow) it will be a good comparison between their coverage, and the coverage ITV4 have given this week.

As for me, hopefully I will be able to preview the UK Championship in full ready for the start again, and i will be writing a second/updated preview ahead of the TV stages starting on Saturday.

Bingham and O'Sullivan to contest Champion of Champions final

Stuart Bingham and Ronnie O'Sullivan will play for the title of Champion of Champions after Stuart Bingham overcame Mark Selby and Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Neil Robertson in the semi-finals in Coventry. The standard in the latter of those 2 matches was top class again, and provided some more great entertainment for a packed crowd at the Ricoh Arena. That actually brought Neil Robertson and Ronnie O'Sullivan onto a good point in the ITV studio, that there should be more of these types of events in the UK, and that they only get a real buzz from playing the best players in the big venues, rather than the PTC's.

Anyway, here's a round-up of the semi-final action:

Stuart Bingham 6-4 Mark Selby - Stuart Bingham beat Mark Selby in what turned into a fairly scrappy match, to book his place in the final. Stuart played really well, and scored nicely for the most part of the match, and thoroughly deserved his win. Bingham started brightly with a break of 74 to take the opening frame, before breaks of 35 and 36 by Selby levelled the match at 1-1. The next frame was a fairly scrappy, and Stuart needed 3 chances to take it and move 2-1 in front. However, "Ball run" was soon in full flow again making a break of 73 to lead the match 3-1 going into the mid-session interval. After the break, Stuart resumed from where he left off with a break of 40 helping him on the way to a 4-1 advantage. Selby needed to fight back, and he did so in his true fighting fashion. A break of 48 helped him get the score back to 4-2, before he truly grinded out the seventh frame to make it 4-3. Then in frame 8 Selby started to get into full flow making a break of 73 to equalise at 4-4. Bingham didn't buckle under the pressure though, needing a couple of chances to seal the ninth frame, but when he eventually did, it was looking good for a Bingham win at 5-4. This time there was to be no fight back from Selby, as Bingham won the frame he needed with a break of 56 to give him a 6-4 victory and a spot in the best-of-19 final.

Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-5 Neil Robertson - This match was another classic, between 2 guys that already been involved in classic best-of-11's already this week. The standard was great, and the match was gripping from start to finish. The match started off well for the Australian, who made breaks of 43 and 48 to go 1-0 ahead, and looked like doubling his lead on 50 in the next. However, he couldn't finish the job off, and Ronnie completed a brilliant steal of 56, with a certain shot of the week contender to split the last red from the black., levelling the match at 1-1. That got Ronnie into his stride and he was swiftly 2-1 in front with a break of 52. Robbo needed to win the last frame before the interval, and with the help of a break of 39 he did so to make it 2-2 at the break. That gave the momentum back to Robertson, who took advantage in the fifth. An early 59 proving enough to win the frame and move 3-2 ahead. Neither player could get away though at this stage, and Ronnie was soon level once more at 3-3 thanks to a break of 54. A run of 70 in the next put the Rocket ahead once more, before he doubled his lead with the first century of the match (a 103) in the eight frame. Robertson didn't give up though, making a very gutsy 80, to get back into it at 5-4. The match really deserved the decider, and the crowd were lucky enough that Robertson could give them a tense finish, a break of 125 sending us into a 1 frame shoot-out for a place in the final. There wasn't a lot that the Aussie could do about what followed, as Ronnie was able to get in after a Robertson foul, and he never looked back knocking in a 119 break to win the frame and the match, and go into the Champion of Champions final.

Final Preview:

Stuart Bingham Vs Ronnie O'Sullivan - Both players have played very well all week in getting to this final, but I would have to say that O'Sullivan has played the better snooker in the event as a whole. Having played his group on Friday, Ronnie also has a lot of momentum behind, with 3 good wins in 2 days coming into this. Bingham has only really been tested once on the way to the weeks finale, and that was by Selby yesterday. Even though Bingham responded well, he still hasn't come against someone that will score very heavily and really punish his mistakes in full. Another thing worth noting about this match, is that Bingham's record against Ronnie is pretty dire, and we only need to go back to April when they last played over a longer format, O'Sullivan beating Stuart 13-4 in the World quarter-finals. One thing that is noticeable this week with Ronnie is that he wants to win, and he is up for the fight, and when he's like that he's almost unstoppable.

Predicted Winner: Ronnie O'Sullivan


Whatever the final outcome, it has been a really great, entertaining week of snooker and probably the best of the season so far. Barry Hearn take note.

O'Sullivan fights back to win final group

Ronnie O'Sullivan fought back from the brink in his group final with Ding Junhui, after he thrashed Mark Davis earlier on and Ding Junhui beat Barry Hawkins. It was the second night running that the group final was a classic, and a packed house at the Ricoh Arena was treated to another great standard, but also a very tense match.

So, great stuff again in Coventry. Let's have a look back at the action:

Ding Junhui 4-2 Barry Hawkins - Ding played fairly well in beating Barry Hawkins who wasn't at his best in the match. Ding took the opening frame with the help of a break of 63. The second frame was nothing to write home about, a very scrappy affair which eventually went the way of Hawkins to level the match. It didn't affect Ding though as he took the next frame with a break of 67 to edge in front again at 2-1. Hawkins looked better in the next frame, squaring the match again with a well made 76. Ding stepped up a gear in the fifth frame with a break of 104 to put himself 3-2 in front, and 1 away from the evening's group final. When Hawkins broke down on 40 in the sixth frame, Ding managed to get in and make a break of 61 to win the frame he needed and take out a decent 4-2 victory.

Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-0 Mark Davis - Ronnie O'Sullivan whitewashed a poor Mark Davis in the second group semi-final. O'Sullivan played some decent stuff, and certainly got better as the match went through, while Davis couldn't get into the match at all. After a fairly scrappy start in the first, Ronnie was able to get in and make a break of 69 to go 1-0 up. The Rocket needed a couple of chances in the second frame, but any mistake he made went unpunished as he was able to get in and make a break of 54 to double his advantage. Then O'Sullivan began to turn on his scoring style, moving 1 frame from victory with a nice break of 101. It didn't take Ronnie long to seal the match, after Davis left the door open again for O'Sullivan to score, and he knocked in a break of 130 to book his place in the group final against Ding Junhui.

Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-5 Ding Junhui - Ronnie O'Sullivan fought back from 3-0 and 5-3 down in style to beat Ding Junhui in this highly anticipated group final and book his place in the semi-finals against Neil Robertson. The match didn't get off to a brilliant start with Ding eventually taking the opener with a break of 53, but he did look solid in doing so. That advantage was soon doubled, with the Chinaman knocking in a break of 66 which practically sealed the frame. The next frame took a couple of chances for Ding to get over the winning line, but he did so and put himself into a commanding 3-0 lead. Ronnie needed to win the last frame before the interval, and a 53 set him along the way to doing so and reducing his deficit to 3-1. Ronnie was a lot better after the break, with breaks of 63 and 50 pulling the score back to 3-2 and putting a lot of pressure on China's No.1. He responded by going 4-2 ahead in the next frame taking a couple of good chances to do so. The pressure was back on the Rocket, but he didn't shy away, thriving on it making a brilliant 98 that deserved to be a century, and making the score 4-3. Ding showed a bit more of his mental strength in the next though, staying strong under increased pressure from Ronnie, making a break of 91 to go 5-3 and 1 frame from the semi-finals. Breaks of 47 and 36 from the World Champion reduced the gap to 1 frame, before a break of 55 forced the decider. The decider was a tense affair that swung left and right, Ding getting in first but only making 50. Ronnie got in next and countered with a break of 63, before he missed match ball blue after potting a trickier brown. After a few safety shots on the blue, both players missed chances to pot it, before Ding missed a second time and gave Ronnie a simple enough blue to clinch the match and a dramatic 6-5, sending him onto the semi-finals.

Semi-Final Preview:

Mark Selby Vs Stuart Bingham - The first semi-final sees the winners of the first 2 groups on Tuesday and Wednesday, Mark Selby and Stuart Bingham. A few things are leaning me towards Selby for this one, after he played very well on Tuesday and won the Antwerp Open last weekend, and sort of has a home advantage, living only 20 minutes from the venue. Bingham though, played very well himself on Wednesday, but didn't really have a challenge in either of his matches, so this will be his first test of the week. However, Stuart has also said that he likes the way the table is playing this week, and it could be tailor-maid for a Bingham victory on Sunday. However, I just think that Selby is playing better at the moment, and even though it should be a very close match, I think that Mark will be able to do enough to win it.

Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Neil Robertson - This has the makings of a classic match written all over it with two of the games big hitters and great break builders of the modern game facing off for a place in the final. Both players played very well in their respective groups on Thursday and Friday, and have been fighting hard as well as scoring well, with both players producing good comebacks at some point during the group stages. Neil does have a bit of recent wood on Ronnie, beating him in the ET6 event, but that counts for nothing in a best-of-11 on the big stage under immense pressure. However, I did tip Ronnie and Neil to win their groups at the start of the tournament, before then predicting that the Aussie would go on and win the event on Sunday evening. Therefore, from what I've seen so far I see no reason to change that prediction, and think that, while it will be another very close contest, that Robertson will just knick it and go through to the final.


Whatever happens, it should be an absolutely classic weekend of snooker to go with the great week of entertainment that we have already seen this week. I'm really looking forward to watching how things unfold over the weekend and who takes the £100,000 winners cheque on Sunday night.

Robertson wins group 4 of Champion of Champions

Neil Robertson won group 4 in Coventry after coming from 3-1 down to beat Martin Gould, and then winning a thrilling match against Ali Carter who overcame Mark Allen earlier in the group semi-finals. Overall it was an absolutely great standard from all of the players on show on the third day at the Ricoh Arena, and it was easily the best group so far.

So let's have a look back on the action:

Neil Robertson 4-3 Martin Gould - Neil Robertson produced a great comeback to beat Martin Gould from 3-1 down in the group semi-finals in Coventry. The match got off to a fairly scrappy start with Martin Gould needing a few chances to kill off the opener. Robertson need a couple of chances himself to square the score in the next, but a break of 44 helped him do just that. Gould started to take control of the match, a break of 48 helping him towards the next frame and a 2-1 lead, before a brilliant run of 102 put him 3-1 up and 1 frame from victory. Robertson didn't give up though and managed to find that extra gear to come back at Gould. A break of 77 pulled the score back to 3-2, before a wonderful 129 from Neil levelled the match and took it into a deciding frame. In the end the deciding frame was dominated by Robertson with a break of 112 giving Neil the match, and completing the magnificent come back. It was unlucky for Gould but there wasn't a whole lot he could have done to prevent that fight back, it was just magnificent stuff from the World No.1.

Ali Carter 4-3 Mark Allen - Ali Carter had to come back from 2-0 and 3-2 down to beat Mark Allen 4-3 in the other group semi-final, in another brilliant match that kept a good standard up throughout. Mark took an early lead with a break of 58 helping him to the opening frame, before a break of 54 put Allen 2-0 ahead. The Captain fought back though, with very nice breaks of 77 and 68 squaring the scores at 2-2 in what was shaping up to be a very close battle. Both players had chances in the fifth frame, and it could have been key to the overall outcome, and it was Allen that took at the second time of asking to lead 3-2. Allen had his chance to take out the match in the next, but played a poor shot and let Carter in, who made a break of 54 which was enough for him to force the decider. It was Ali that dominated the decider, with Allen not really having a proper chance to clinch the match, and it was eventually a break of 41 that was practically enough for him to seal the match and book his place in the group final against Neil Robertson.

Neil Robertson 6-5 Ali Carter - The group final was played at a great standard throughout the match, and if you will excuse all of the clichés, it really was a shame to see one of them lose in what was easily the match of the tournament so far. It was Carter that set the standard early on with a magnificent break of 112 giving him the opener. It wasn't long before Robertson was level with a brilliantly constructed break of 119 making it 1-1. The next frame was dominated by Carter until he fluked the blue in going for a thin red when Robertson already needed snookers. However, Carter eventually managed to take the frame and make it 2-1. Ali needed 2 or 3 chances to take the next frame, but once he did The Captain had a 3-1 lead at the mid-session lead. In true champions style, Robertson fought back once more making it 3-2 with yet another century (a 105 this time) before he levelled the match at 3-3, after missing the 15th black on 113, going for a maximum. Carter didn't buckle though making it 3 consecutive centuries with his own break of 127 regaining the advantage at 4-3. Both players had chances in the eighth frame before Robertson produced another brilliant clearance of 52 to square the scores at 4-4, making it a best of 3 for a place in the semi-finals. The next frame was fairly tense, with a break of 59 not proving enough to take the frame, as Robertson's break of 30 was enough for him to go 5-4 ahead and a frame from victory. One thing that this match deserved was a deciding frame to settle a great contests, and 2 evenly matches players. In the end the match got what it warranted, as Carter plucked out a brilliant break of 72 to make it 5-5. The decider, as you would expect, was a very tense affair, that swung like a pendulum with both players having chances (which is all you want in a decider I've heard). However, the last swing of the pendulum was towards the World No.1 as he managed to win a classic contest 6-5 and go into Saturday's semi-finals.


A great standard then on day 3 of the Champion of Champions, and one that would be difficult to match in the rest of the tournament. Although, with the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan, Ding Junhui, Barry Hawkins and Mark Davis in action on the final day of the "group stages" from Group 1, it could easily be matched, or even bettered if Ding and O'Sullivan are at the very best. I'm really looking forward to another day of quality snooker then in Coventry, with ITV4 continuing to do themselves proud.