Moment of the Month: August: Ford reaches final months after saving tour spot

Today's nomination on the Moment of the Year countdown comes from August and some events from the Riga Open right at the very beginning of the month...

At the end of the 2014/2015 snooker season Tom Ford was ranked in 59^th position. Had he have lost in the first round of World Championship qualifying he would more than likely have dropped off of the professional tour and been forced to drop back to £0 in the ranking list, more than likely taking a tour card from his position in the Asian Order of Merit list. As it was, he took two wins in World Championship qualifying and was able to propel himself high enough to avoid any of that and start the next season as normal.

Who would have thought though, that in his first European Tour event of the season he would make it all the way to the final of the event? Not many would be an accurate answer. However, when the Riga Open came around at the very beginning of August that was exactly what he managed to do.

It never really looked like he would either. Over the course of the six matches he was on the right side of to make the final, four of those went to deciders. The only convincing win he had was in the semi-finals.

Starting off against an amateur qualifier Jamie Rhys Clark, he was forced to win the last two frames and in the end he won the decider by only 5 points. Perhaps that was the kick that Tom Ford to find his best form because he was very nearly sent packing early on by a player he would expect to beat on most occasions.

From here on in the draw was much tougher for Tom and after his early showings I didn’t expect him to get too far. Against Joe Perry he managed to beat someone who had a break of 84 in the first frame, and then followed in with consecutive centuries of 104 and 108 to come from 3-1 to 3-3. Tom though in his four frames won compiled breaks of 56, 57, 58 and 63. The standard was terrific and very much as it had to be to get through. That would be another confidence boosting win, knowing that he has just beaten someone who has scored outstandingly.

One final match had to be played on Fords opening day if he was to make it through to the Last 16 on Sunday. The match was very close once again and from 2-2 he made breaks of 63, a 50 in losing frame six but then in the decider was his highest break of his three matches played on the day, a 127 to win it. Timing is one of the biggest parts of snooker, being able to time it so your best form comes out when you really need it is the sign of class and Ford managed exactly that there.

Coming back on the Sunday he played Rory McLeod in the Last 16. Most of the time against Rory you get a huge battle, and this match was no different as a drawn out affair ensued. It was a pretty scrappy affair and the only break of any note was a 73 in frame four to put himself 3-1 ahead. That was a key point as it was a tight match, and to clinch the match in frame six he took the frame on the black for a 4-2 win. Those tight games are the sort of games that Ford would have lost many of in the past. His temperament has always been questioned and perhaps it could be said that he doesn’t always have the patience to get embroiled in a fight.

The game against Matt Selt would have followed the one with Rory almost immediately so there was very little time to re-group. He was on the back foot straight away thanks to a 118 from Matt. A key juncture was that of frame three when Ford stole the frame on the black after a 56 break earlier in the frame from his opponent. When Ford nipped in front 3-2 after a contribution of 59, Matthew hit back with an 82 to force the decider. In that decider Selt made a break of 58 and was looking set to win, but he gave an opening to Ford and he took it with both hands with a 57 to win the match and get himself into the semi-finals.

In that semi-final with Ben Woollaston he was playing another player from Leicester which can sometimes make things hard if you get on well, and coming from the same area you would expect that they have seen a lot of each other in competition. The match ended up going Ford’s way 4-1, but that doesn’t tell the story of how many chances Ben appeared to have in the match, and that is shown from the fact that at 3-1 ahead Tom had only scored 3 more points in the entire match than Ben had. Sometimes this is the kind of luck that you need to get through, and the sort of luck that he wasn’t having in the last year or so to end up getting into a battle for tour survival at the end of the previous season.

The final didn’t turn out the way he would have wanted losing out 4-1 to Barry Hawkins, but Ford already achieved a lot more than he would have expected to at the start of the weekend. Making the final gave him £9,000 in prize money and guaranteed him a place in the Players Championship Finals later in the season which guarantees him more money to add to his ranking.

Any threats that were on Tom’s tour place this season were extinguished by the second event of the season and that will take a huge weight off of his shoulders and security for quite a while ahead. That is why it is such an important moment and one certainly worthy of August’s moment of the month nomination.

Be sure to return tomorrow to find out the nomination for September.

Classic Matches of 2015 Countdown: 6th Place: Shaun Murphy Vs Mark Selby (Masters)

Today on my classic matches of 2015 countdown we take a trip back to January's Masters tournament as I reveal my 6th place between Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby in the first round...

This always had the makings of being a classic as a repeat of the Masters semi-final from the year before, the match was put on as the very first of the Masters in 2015 with World Champion Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy.

Mark had the first chance of the match and was looking to stamp his authority on his good friend early doors. A poor positional shot on 20 left him stranded and forced into a safety shot. When Shaun accidentally planted the black in from a safety, which left Mark a free ball and another chance to get the opener on the board. He went into the reds early and soon the frame was there for the taking. From there the break was faultless and a break of 100 made it 1-0 to the World Champion.

The second frame was quite a scrappy affair, with Murphy’s 29 putting him 11 in front with three reds remaining. He soon extended that advantage to 29 with 35 remaining and when he potted the last red that proved enough to take a less than memorable but important frame all the same to level the match at 1-1. In frame three, Selby’s two early chances didn’t amount to more than 24, when Shaun was left a chance. He made 20 before having to play safe. A second chance came along after poor safety play from Selby. Murphy added another 28 before having to run up the table for safety and laying a good snooker. A mis-judged snooker escape from Murphy sometime after left Mark a sitter. He closed the gap before a miss on the final red left Shaun in, but he failed to get on the green playing safe with a 10 point advantage. After an earlier foul and free ball, pots on the green and brown sealed another scrappy frame for Murphy to lead 2-1. A trademark Murphy long pot gave him a great opportunity in the fourth. Before too Shaun was into the pack and with the reds at his mercy, he moved 3-1 ahead thanks to a contribution of 92.

After winning the lengthy safety battle following the mid-session interval, Murphy had another great chance with the reds spread across the table. A break of 55 proved enough to put himself 4-1 in front and a very commanding position against the World Champion. In frame six an unexpected miss with the rest for Murphy left Mark in with his first chance for a couple of frames. He accumulated 47 and looked like stopping the rot until a missed black off of the spot, leaving Murphy in to counter. A brilliant shot around three cushions to the final red gave him the chance to clear, before another amazing positional shot from black to yellow. It wasn’t all over though as failed to land blue ball position and had to play safe nine points ahead. A missed long cut from Selby left the blue in the jaws of the pocket for Murphy to seal the frame and go one away at 5-1.

A missed red from distance at the beginnings of frame seven gave the “Master of Brinkmanship” Mark Selby a chance to start himself on the comeback trail. He couldn’t make the most of it though, missing a tough red to the middle which was all he had to go at after a decent split of the reds. After winning the safety exchanges, Murphy had his first chance to take a step towards the winning line. A testing black on 9 was not too close to falling in, handing control back to Selby in this frame. Mark added 30 but missed a very simple red just needing the red and a high value colour to seal the frame. Shaun couldn’t punish him though and Mark was able to finish it off to get a frame back at 2-5. A butchered long attempt from Murphy left Selby the first good chance in frame eight after earlier misses from both players. With all the reds out in the open there was plenty for the world champion to go at and he was soon in full flight. A magnificent trick shot on the black finished off a well made 120 clearance to seal the frame, but there was plenty to do at 5-3 behind for the Jester.

The first true opportunity of frame eight fell to the Magician and after a fortunate shot to just squeeze a red past the black in the beginnings of the break, but right when he was looking good for a match winning break he missed a simple black. With the chance handed to him, Selby needed to capitalise now if he had hopes of completing a comeback on this occasion. When the break came down to the final six colours he wobbled the yellow in, but the rest was completed without such nervy moments and a run of 54 gave him another frame back to close in at 4-5. The question now was whether or not there would be a deciding frame, and Mark set about trying to force one at the first opportunity in frame ten thumping in a top class long red to get in. He picked off the loose reds before a fantastic split put him on to 42 and left enough reds in the open to clinch the frame and take us to eleventh. In the end he fell just short of the century but a fabulous 92 was more than enough to take us all the way at 5-5.

A horrible safety at the start of the decider, gave the first scoring visit to Mark but when his cannon on red and black didn’t work out as intended the break ended on just 11. The table started to look scrappy as colours were knocked safe. With 6 reds left Murphy held an 11 point lead when a great chance came after Selby missed an easy enough black with a few of the reds open. When the penultimate red wobbled in down the cushion for Murphy, and was followed by a black it left Selby 51 behind with 35 remaining and he couldn’t get the snookers so Shaun Murphy came out the 6-5 winner, in a fantastic contest. Murphy took advantage of Selby’s mistakes early on and played some great snooker to go 5-1 ahead, but Selby as always hung on in there tough to play good snooker in winning the next four to take the match to a decider, but Shaun really did show a great amount of bottle to clinch the match and get into the Masters quarter-finals.

You certainly don't want to miss out on the top 5, so re-join me here on the blog to find out who takes 5th place on bank holiday Monday.

Player of the Month: August: Ali Carter

As the Player of the Year countdown continues, today is my nomination for August after a very special moment for one man during the summer...

August in the snooker world is very much a part of the early stages in the new season. The main action was at the European Tour events, with particular focus on the incredibly special Paul Hunter Classic in Furth. One man stood out for his performances there and the context of it all and that of course was Ali Carter.

When he came to the Paul Hunter Classic he had just lost his qualifying match for the Shanghai Masters to low ranked David Grace. Of course for Ali, the start of the season was when his seeding came out of the “frozen” status that he had been granted for the 2014/2015 after his diagnosis with lung cancer and the treatment that he had to receiver during the early parts of that season. This put him down to 29 in the world at the start of the season so he needed things to start going his way if he was to climb back to where he belongs.

When he turned up in Furth he set his stall out early and was pretty flawless on the opening day beating amateur qualifier Elliot Slessor 4-0, Aditya Mehta 4-1 with breaks of 105, 67 and 87 after losing the opening frame and he closed out the day with a 4-0 win against Chinese Li Hang which included runs of 69, 74 and 56 and saw Li only score 24 points in the match.

That is the sort of stylish performance you need on the opening day of a European Tour event, so Ali certainly set an example there with some good scoring and three easy victories to save his energy for the tougher tests that would lie ahead on Sunday.

Starting off in the Last 16 he played Jimmy Robertson and it was a tricky match with Jimmy in the middle but the damage was done early, runs of 86 and 112 helping him into an early 3-0 lead before eventually winning 4-2.

That set up a quarter-final with Mark Williams. Mark was going along nicely despite recent surgery on his shoulder and had made the Last 16 of the Riga Open so it was going to be another tough fixture. Williams was also off to a great start leading 2-0 as Carter possibly struggled to settle down, with this being his first TV match of the weekend. Mark had chances in each of the next four frames, but as Ali found his feet he lost all of them to 50+ breaks from his opponent. The highlights were a run of 81 in the third frame and a 71 break in the fifth as he went on to win 4-2 for the second time today.

As he reached the last four, Michael Holt awaited as his opponent and Michael had been going along nicely having just started working with Terry Griffiths. The match was very much a tight one, and after stealing the second frame after a break of 57 from Holty, it looked like Carter could take control. That wasn’t the case though as the Hitman dominated the next two frames to level up at 2-2. The next two frames were very close and the match itself was drawn out as it continued after Shaun Murphy had come from 3-0 down to beat Mark King 4-3 in the televised semi-final which had started at the same time as this one. Ali went on to win two very close frames and win the match 4-2, despite the fact that he had scored 17 less points that Michael in the overall match.

In the final it was his good friend Shaun Murphy that stood between him and the title, just as it had been when Carter won the invitational Hong Kong General Cup final in October 2014 in his first event since having treatment for the lung cancer. On this occasion it was just as close. Carter started with 62, but Murphy hit back with a 72 to level the match at 1-1. Carter took the next two to lead 3-1 in the match. Murphy won the next with an 83 and took the sixth on the black to force a deciding frame. In the decider the first chance went to Murphy but he missed a pink to the middle and the rest was history as Carter waded in with a 95 to win and take the Paul Hunter Classic title.

When you consider that the event is named in the memory of Paul Hunter who died of cancer, I and most of the snooker world will agree in this belief that there is no more fitting winner for the title than the man that has twice had cancer and come through, and for a year on from receiving cancer treatment, to win a title carrying ranking importance is a simply enormous effort. Therefore, there is absolutely no doubting that August’s player of the month should be Ali Carter.

Just four more nominees to be announced before we find out who my Player of 2015 is. September will be the next announcement tomorrow.

Moment of the Month: July: Gould so close to maiden win

After yesterdays double bill we are back to normality today as I announce my nomination for July on the Moment of the Year contest.

July was all about the Australian Open on the snooker circuit and the moment that I think caught most people was how close Martin Gould came to winning his first ever ranking event title. Martin Gould is one of those players who has been knocking on the door for some time. In the top 16 for a portion of his career around 2012 and a losing finalist in the very first Players Championship Grand Finals, a full ranking event won by Shaun Murphy, he has certainly come back to form lately.

In March he lost out in the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix from 5-1 up against the eventual champion Judd Trump and straight after this he went to the Players Championship grand finals and on this occasion he made the quarter-finals. So when the new season came along he would have been confident of achieving some great things.

In his Australian Open first round game he took on the 2013 champion Marco Fu, and came through 5-4 after seeing his 3-0 lead pegged back to 3-3 in the middle of the match, and after what happened in the World Grand Prix it would have taken a lot of strength for him to hold it together in that match rather than just throwing another lead away. To beat a big seed was a nice first step in his season, and next up was Michael Holt who hadn’t dropped a frame in beating Gerard Greene in round one. Martin played particularly well in this match, especially with Michael sticking within a frame of him for most of the match despite a century and two other breaks of 91 and 93 in the match from Gould. There was little Holt could do in the end as Martin advanced.

In the quarter-finals he took on another massively improving player, as Matt Selt was his opponent. I had been singing the praises of Selt a lot along with many other people in the snooker world over the last few months and this was certainly an opportunity for him to prove us all right. Martin had other ideas, despite losing the opening frame of the match. The next two were tight but once they both went to the Pinner Potter the match took a huge turn in his favour and this was consolidated with heavy scoring. Runs of 58, 72 and 122 finished off five consecutive frames for a 5-1 win.

When he took Stephen Maguire in the semi-finals, the Scotsman would certainly have been the favourite for the match. He had just reached the final of the World Cup with John Higgins who by the time this match had started was already in the final of this event too and many would have expected Stephen to join him. Martin though certainly had other ideas. His performance was magnificent with breaks of 54, 82 and 87 to start off the match and lead 3-0. From there Maguire had little too offer in response and when a century was chalked up in the seventh by Gould he had completed a 6-1 victory and got into his second major final.

It was important, having lost from 5-1 up against Trump in March, that he completed victory against Stephen hastily and with some class, which is exactly what he did, but the final itself against Higgins looked like a totally different prospect with the form John was in, and it would be important for Martin to get a foothold in the match early on to avoid a heavy defeat.

He got much more than a foothold when a 4-2 lead was his during the first session, but once he lost both of the last two frames in session one to only be level at 4-4, and then lose the first two of session two to go 6-4 behind it was always an uphill task. Martin fought back though and forced the decider, and despite the eventual defeat he came a lot closer to beating Higgins in a major ranking final than many other people had done in previous years.

Martin Gould could certainly take a lot of pride and confidence from that run in Australia, and has since made the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters and UK Championship showing that his efforts back in July were certainly worth it, and by no means a one-off event as he seems to be getting back towards his best.

To come through as many tough tests as he came through in Australia and making a major final, just four months after the way in which he lost the Grand Prix semi-final to miss out on a massive TV final (which would have been against Ronnie O’Sullivan with £100,000 for the winner) is testament to Martin’s character and worthy of taking July’s snookering moment of the month.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and are enjoying a quiet Boxing Day. Tomorrow i'll be back with my August nomination.

Player of the Month: July: John Higgins

After yesterdays double bill we are back to normal today as I reveal my July nomination on the Player of the Year contest here...

The snooker month of July featured was almost non-existent with just a few days of snooker at the back end of the Australian Open and the very beginning of the Riga Open. One man was dominant though in Benidgo throughout the event and that was John Higgins.

After winning his first ranking title since September 2012 at February’s Welsh Open he didn’t have to wait long for his next two titles as he followed it up in July with Australian Open victory and again in the Autumn to win the International Championships in Daqing.

The event I of course want to focus on here is the Australian Open in Bendigo where it wasn’t a case of John cruising to victory as he really had to battle at times in his latter stages matches against Joe Perry, Jamie Jones and Martin Gould.

After beating Michael Georgiou 5-2 in round one and Fergal O’Brien 5-1 in round two his toughest test of the tournament to that point came in the quarter-finals when he took on Perry. Despite a magnificent 136 in frame two from Joe, it was still 3-1 to John Higgins at the mid-session interval as he chipped in with runs of 54, 57 and 50. Perry kept with Higgins after the break with breaks of 69 and a 137 to top his earlier century levelled the match up and put the pressure back on John. The seventh frame looked to be the key as Higgins took it by just two points on the black to move 4-3 in front after both guys had had chances in the frame and a 50 in the last made sure he finished off the match without giving his opponent another glimmer of hope, winning 5-3.

On paper, you think that a major semi-final between John Higgins and young Jamie Jones, who was appearing in his first ranking event semi, would be a straightforward win for the Scotsman but this did not prove the case. Jamie came out of the blocks firing early on and storming into a 4-0 mid-session interval lead with breaks of 78, 51 and 96 to leave John shell shocked. After getting his first frame on the board Higgins was able to settle in to the match, showing Jamie that he wasn’t going to win the easy way as that frame was followed by breaks of 134 and 89 to close to within a single frame at 3-4. The key frame again seemed to be frame eight when both players had chances but Higgins came out the narrow winner to level the match up with four frames in a row of his own at 4-4. Once more, having seen the weakness in his opponent and a sniff at winning the match now, he took full control. Jones didn’t score another point in the match as John finished off with a 133 and 92 to win all of the last six frames after the interval and beat Jamie Jones 6-4 to get into the final.

In a best-of-17 frames final against Martin Gould, who has never won a ranking event, you would again expect Higgins to be favourite for the title, but it was far from an easy ride for Higgins. After an early 90 and a tight second frame in his pocket Higgins went into an early 2-0 advantage but from there Gould found his game. Breaks of 101, 86 and 89 in the next four frames saw him go from two frames adrift to two in front at 4-2 with only two to play in the session. John had to fight hard and a 112 in the seventh preceded his domination in the eighth to make sure he got out of the session level at 4-4 which of course would have been a huge moment for both players.

At the start of the second session, the Scot dominated the opening two frames and made it four in a row in the overall match to lead 6-4, but Gould hit back with his second century (a 138) to not let things run away. When a 65 put Higgins 7-5 up at the interval though, you thought that may be a big moment as he’d taken five of the last six frames. Gould stuck with him again to square it at 7-7, but Higgins edged ahead at 8-7 before Martin took a tight sixteenth frame to force a decider. The Scot showed what he is made of again with an 89 break in the decider to win the title which is a simply brilliant way to win any tournament.

The most impressive thing for me is the bottle that Higgins continues to show, even in what you have to say is now the latter stages of his career with not too many years left before you feel Higgins game would start to falter and he would eventually retire. One thing that it would be easy to lose is the self-belief required to make the big breaks and get over the line in big contests that run close but as the Scot showed here he still has that in abundance and that is the key reason why he is my player of the month for July.

 

Be sure to return tomorrow and find out the nomination for August.

Classic Matches of 2015 Countdown: 7th Place: James Cahill Vs Ding Junhui (2014 UK Championships)

Christmas is over and now Boxing Day is upon us, but the Christmas countdown is only now halfway through as I publish 7th place which goes all the way back to last years UK Championship (see Bond Vs Hawkins classic match for the explanation behind it).

To get to this stage of the UK Championships James Cahill had already beaten established names like Mark King and Andrew Higginson, but Ding Junhui in the Last 32 would be a whole new challenge. It was Ding with the best chance in the opener, playing multiple clever cannons into the pack of reds. It was a classic Ding Junhui break and he looked in top form early on as a break of 134 put him 1-0 in front in some style. Cahill’s first good chance of the match arrived after he knocked in a very composed red from range. He went into the pack early on and got a very nice split, to make it a frame winning opportunity and he even looked competent playing a couple of shots with his opposite hand. He looked very calm and up to the challenge by matching Ding’s break in the first frame with a 100 to level it up at 1-1.

Ding had the first chance in frame three, but it went begging when he took on a wild shot on a thin black and left a great chance for the player affectionately known as “cheeks” by Shaun Murphy. Only 8 was accumulated before he missed high on a tough cut to the middle. The frame started to turn scrappy as balls ran safe on cushions and making a substantial break would not be easy. When the balls were opened up more James had a nice chance to put himself in a great position but an unexpected miss on the penultimate red left him just 11 ahead. Cahill potted the red from range shortly after but had no option but to play a snooker behind the pink and hope that led to a chance on the final red. After several failed escapes from Ding, Cahill had a 28 point lead with 35 remaining but when the chance fell to the Chinese but he failed to land nicely on yellow and played a snooker behind the brown instead. Needing just yellow and green for the frame, Cahill crunched in the yellow from long distance coming around the table to finish perfect on the green and win a mammoth frame for a 2-1 advantage. The best scoring juncture of frame four came to Cahill after Ding missed a red to the middle with awkward bridging, and left him in with reds open but again he could not take advantage. It was not long before his next opening but with misses from both players the frame started turning scrappy just as the last. When Ding missed a red down the cushion with the other two reds open and the black over the corner a massive moment fell to Cahill. James kept hold of position well and cleared to take an important 3-1 mid-session lead having won the last two long and tactical frames.

The safety battle after the interval sent plenty of reds into the baulk end, but when James knocked a tight red into the middle he had a chance to clear some of these and put the frame back into normality. He did not pot a colour from it though and went in-off in the process to hand the opportunity over but again he was unable to make much of a contribution. The safety that followed soon sent every ball into the baulk half of the table. Both players chipped away but the table was tough to pot more than a couple of reds in one visit. Cahill got a chance on the final two reds though and was able to clear to the green to leave Ding needing snookers and ultimately move 4-1 ahead. In frame six, Ding had the first scoring chance and made 34 before attempting a very tough red down the cushion. Ding was given another opportunity and built up a 56 point lead before missing frame ball pink and giving Cahill a chance on the final four reds. He potted three of the reds with high value colours but didn’t land nicely on the last, but still played a calm double to the middle and landed on the pink and he cleared the colours nicely to go 5-1 ahead and one away from a massive victory.

Ding had a great chance in frame seven but butchered one on 32 with the rest and left a great chance for Cahill. He made 46 and built up a 14 point lead before attempting a double on one of the three remaining reds on cushions. Ding sank two of the remaining three reds with colours to lead by one before playing a snooker on the final red. After gaining 7 foul points and potting the last red, Cahill led by 7 points on the colours after failing to land on one from the final red. James made the yellow from range but landed between positions on the green and missing a cut with the rest. A long battle on the green followed until Cahill butchered a safety on it and Ding cleared the colours to stop the rot of five frames lost in a row and get one back at 2-5. Ding was soon back at the table in the eighth following a missed red from distance for ‘cheeks’. Yet again he lost position early on and only posted 27 to his score. Ding earned his next opening after some very attacking shots early on in his break. A well-made 60 from there pulled another quick frame back at 3-5. Frame nine saw Ding earn the first scoring juncture again and he was looking good before missing a black off of its spot on 31. That handed the opportunity over to Cahill and if he played his cards right he could win the frame at this visit. He lost ideal position on the black on 35 though and that caused his subsequent miss and handed the frame winning opening back over to Ding Junhui. He had no trouble with a 55 clearance and looked to be growing a lot stronger by pulling to within a frame of James Cahill at 4-5.

The safety battle at the start of frame ten sent the majority of the reds into the baulk half of the table, and the first chance eventually fell to Cahill after he knocked a pressure red into the middle. He made a nice 57 from that start and left Ding needing snookers trailing by 68 with 59 remaining, after missing a relatively easy red with the rest. Ding potted three reds with colours and laid a snooker on the last red behind the black, putting Cahill in real trouble. James missed the red and left a free ball behind the yellow, meaning with 43 now on if he played the yellow as the free ball with the black and then the final red with the black he could win the frame. Ding then played some cracking positional shots to get from the yellow to the black, the black to the final red, and the final red in baulk back to the black to give him the chance to force a decider. However, Cahill did get back to the table after Ding had to play safe on the green. After a long battle on the green and missed long attempts from both, a poor Cahill safety left the green on for Ding. It wasn’t all plain sailing from there for Ding but he still cleared after cutting in a thin black to level up at 5-5.

All you want in a decider is a chance and the first one in this UK Championship decider fell to Ding. On 32 he missed a pretty easy red just after going into the pack from the black, sending a huge opportunity over to young Cahill. A good long pot to take him to 9 kept the break going after a poor positional shot, on 55 a very well-played pressure double put him 24 points in front with 43 remaining before having to play safe. A fantastic long pot from Cahill gave him a chance to finish it and he did just that by potting the final two reds with colours to give young James Cahill a fantastic victory 6-5 over Ding Junhui to put him into the Last 16 of the UK Championships.

What a match that was and there's still half of the matches to come, so be back tomorrow for another classic match.

Classic Matches of 2015 Countdown: 8th Place: Anthony McGill Vs Stephen Maguire (World Championships)

Merry Christmas everyone. Today's classic match in 8th place is the World Championship first round game between Stephen Maguire and Anthony McGill from the 18th and 19th of April....

I remember this match particularly well, having been at the Crucible for the first session of the match and the standard was very high from both guys. The first frame was not quite up at that same standard as the rest as both players settled into the match. Anthony needed a few chances but dominated the frame to take a 1-0 advantage, finishing with a 92. In the second frame Maguire’s first good chance came as Anthony left him in after a wild slash at a long pot. Stephen made a nice 62 but had to play safe after losing black ball position. A nice long pot earned him his second chance and enough was done to level the match up at 1-1. In the next Anthony McGill was in first with the best chance and was able to get the job done without the need of the four safe reds on the bottom cushion. A 53 putting him 2-1 ahead. Frame four got off to a scrappy start as both players had half chances but could not make anything substantial. The best chance went to McGill and even though the balls weren’t easily placed, the 31 he made did enough damage to take a 3-1 lead into the mid-session interval.

Following the break, frame five started with an elongated bout of safety play. Eventually the first chance fell to the younger Scotsman of the two as he looked to strengthen his advantage in the match. He only made 22 before allowing Stephen a chance after a missed pot. Maguire made 34 before losing position but a poor safety left Anthony a shot at a pot from range which he made to get back in. He cleared the remaining reds well and negotiated the colours, clearing with a nice 53 to go 4-1 in front. Stephen Maguire really needed to respond as the higher seed in this contest. After getting the reds open Stephen had to play a good green and then a clever plant to keep the break going, but after that it was plain sailing to the frame winning line and a break of 73 got him there, pulling it back to 2-4. Anthony was straight back into his stride though after sitting the sixth frame out, rolling a long red in with style to finish perfectly on the black. He got to 25 before falling unfortunate, knocking a red in after potting the black but he didn’t leave anything for Stephen. With the reds spread, the next opening fell to Maguire, but a missed pink off of the spot on 15 to leave the opportunity for Anthony. Six reds and blacks was more than enough for him to seal the frame and guarantee an end of session lead, going 5-2 in front with two frames left to play. Ideally Maguire would want both of the final two frames, but one at the very minimum. An early break of 16 was ended by another bad miss which left Anthony with a nice scoring opportunity. An missed easy black on 21 handed the chance straight back over to Maguire though without taking any real advantage. Stephen did make the most of it, a wonderful 86 pulling a frame back at 3-5, and making the last frame of the session very important for both players.

The first scoring visit fell to Maguire after a fluke got him in. He built a nice lead from that fluke as a run of 46 was halted when he couldn’t get through the reds from a pink to the middle as was forced into a safety. McGill’s opening to counter came a while after when he produced a nice range pot. Although, it didn’t last long when a poor attempt a red with the rest gave Stephen a chance to kill the frame off. He added two reds with blacks to put himself 37 in front with just 35 on and laying a good snooker on McGill it would be tough for him to get one of his own. From that snooker though he caught a fine edge of the red and fluked a snooker back behind the black after the cue ball went around the table. Stephen missed the red meaning with 33 in it and 35 on, McGill could now clear to win again. Leaving a free ball was also disastrous as it meant that McGill could easily get on the red after potting two colours. The clearance from there was easy with not a ball safe, but after a poor positional shot from pink to black he had to play safe on the black and gave Stephen another lifeline. Stephen’s first and last safety on the black though was butchered, leaving the black near the pocket for McGill to knock in easily from middle distance and steal a massive frame and take a 6-3 end of session lead. 

The best chance in the first frame of the final session fell to Stephen Maguire who really needed to make it pay. He manoeuvred the reds well to take them in a sequence that didn’t require cannons to be played and soon he had the frame won with a run of 60 making it 4-6. Anthony responded in the eleventh with a thundering long red to get in. A clever early cannon freed the red nearest the black freeing that into both corner pockets and making it into a very good chance. The key shot came on 59 when he went into the reds from a red and opened enough up to make it a frame winning break. He fell just short of the century but a 97 did more than enough to reinstate his three frames lead at 7-4. Anthony had the first decent opening in the next with plenty of reds open and the pink available. He only added 22 though before covering the potting angle on the pink and losing position. Stephen soon had his chance but there were plenty of safe balls. He worked them well until he missed a simple black on 38, 15 ahead with 43 on. He then laid a good snooker gaining 8 penalty points and another chance as on the third attempt, Anthony stuck a red up. He potted the red with blue to lead by 29 with 35 remaining and played safe on the final red with no potting option. A poor safety gifted Anthony the final red and a chance to clear, with the pink in the top half of the table he had to leave the black from middle distance, but still knocked it in to take an 8-4 lead.

Maguire really needed the last frame before the interval and he had the first chance to put it on the board. When he carelessly covered the pink though the break ended rather prematurely, as he led by just 32. McGill got in and reduced his deficit by 24 but missed a tricky red along the cushion and left it for Stephen. He only made 8 from that chance but soon had another and edged himself 26 ahead with 35 remaining. McGill had a chance to clear but it was not easy and having to leave a tough blue from range cost him, as he missed it and left it for a very grateful Maguire to take a key frame and now trail 5-8 at the mid-session interval.

 

A wayward hack at a red with the rest from Maguire early on after the break left McGill a chance as the shot from Stephen also opened all of the reds. He only made 17 before missing a simple black off of the spot and handing the golden opportunity over to Stephen. Like a game of hot potato, it was thrown back to McGill immediately as the seeded player missed an easy yellow. This time he took the chance with 49 putting him one away from a win in his first Crucible appearance at 9-5.

In frame fifteen Stephen had a nice chance and built up a 51 point lead pretty comfortably before missing another simple pink. He soon earned another chance, and on that occasion did enough to stay in the match but still well adrift at 6-9. When a good chance came Maguire’s way again it wasn’t easy to begin with in frame sixteen but he was starting to cue more confidently now with an 81 to reduce his arrears again at 7-9. The first scoring visit came to Stephen once again in the next as a bad in-off left him an easy red to go at. He made 48 from it before a cannon on a red didn’t work out and he had to play safe. After plenty of safety, Stephen was left another opening to kill the frame off and he did more than plenty for that, putting McGill under plenty of pressure now just leading 9-8. The question now was, could Stephen force a deciding frame? He built up a 53 point lead from a couple of contributions in the eighteenth. Anthony potted a nice long red with a view to reducing his arrears in the frame, though he was soon halted by missing the green on the stretch having only knocked 15 off of Maguire’s lead and the miss left Stephen a chance to make sure of the nineteenth and deciding frame. The additional points from Maguire made sure of the frame, and a level game at 9-9. One frame to decide the contest.

Anthony McGill had the first chance in the decider after a poor safety from Stephen left a thin cut on for his opponent. Having picked off the loose reds he went into the bunch from the black to take the break to 31 and that opened up the rest of the frame up and made it a great chance to get over the line. It still took a lot of guts and nerve from Anthony after seeing his once big lead totally disappear, but he blossomed under the pressure remaining cool and calm. Making a 122 to finish was different class to give him his first Crucible win 10-9 against Stephen Maguire who himself put up a valiant fight.

You can expect another tale of another valiant fight tomorrow when I reveal 7th place on the countdown for Boxing Day.