Neil Robertson Vs Stuart Bingham:
The first opportunity of the match went to Stuart Bingham
after Neil Robertson missed a thin snooker escape off of the pack and left him
a free ball. It cost Neil the frame as a break of 72 gave Stuart a 1-0 lead.
Both players had chances early in frame two that they made little of, until
Stuart missed a red from range and left it for Robertson, but he missed the
blue straight after to let Bingham in, but again he couldn’t take full
advantage, only building a 36 point lead. The next opening that fell to
Robertson was a golden one to try and win the frame with no ball on the table
safe. A clearance of 70 confirmed that and made it 1-1. A short of pace safety
shot from Robertson in frame three left Bingham at the table amongst the reds.
Stuart worked the balls very well and made it a frame winning visit as a
century of 124 made it 2-1. Bingham had the first chance of frame four as well
after a very clever long cut, and he looked like he could make it another frame
winning visit until he lost position on 51. A failed long attempt shortly after
left Robertson a chance to dig his way back into the frame, and he’d made 32
before missing the penultimate red close to the bottom cushion. Bingham made a
total mess of the next safety exchange though and all of a sudden Neil had a
chance to pinch the frame from him and a clearance to the pink made it 2-2 at
the mid-session interval.
Stuart potted the first balls after the break, but only made
7 before missing the black with the rest and leaving Robertson what was a
reasonable opening. Neil looked in fine form and soon had all of the balls
there to win this frame and a contribution of 86 was enough to put the Australian
in front at 3-2. The first proper chance of the sixth frame went Stuart’s way,
but a missed red to the middle cut the break somewhat short. A careless in-off
from Ball run was not what the Doctor ordered leaving an easy red for Neil up
the table, with all of the reds nicely situated down the table for him to make
a decent break, but two very poor positional shots cost him and he had to play
safe far earlier than he should’ve been. It wasn’t long though before Robertson
was having another go after a superb red from range landed him on the brown
nicely to get back down the business end of the table, but a bad miss to the
middle ended the break prematurely once more, leaving Stuart in this time, but
he failed to get on the penultimate red and played safe with a 1 point
advantage. A clever snooker behind the black earned the Aussie another
opportunity to try and win the frame, but he missed the yellow leaving him 15
ahead with 27 on, in what was quickly becoming a key frame of this first
session. Brilliant pots on yellow and green were the key as Robertson cleared
to the pink to double his lead at 4-2. Stuart Bingham lost the safety battle at
the beginning of the seventh leaving a red over the corner for Robertson and
with the balls spread from the safety battle it seemed a good opportunity to
build 50 or 60 points. A break of 68 was enough to leave Stuart needing
snookers. Stuart got the snookers, meaning that he could win the frame by a
point if he cleared the six remaining colours. He potted the yellow, but missed
a tough green, though he did get the green safe. After missing an attempt at
the green from range though Stuart left the green in the jaws for Robertson to
win the frame that he should’ve won about 10 minutes before and make it 5-2,
guaranteeing a lead for the evening session. Neil had an early chance in frame
eight but had only made 19 when his split into the pack didn’t work out. The
next opening fell to Bingham and it looked like a decent one once he’d gotten
into the reds. A break of 78 for Stuart was a superb response to losing four
frames on the trot and keep him in the match as the session ended with Bingham
only 3-5 behind.
At the beginning of the second session, Neil Robertson had
the first good chance after knocking in a good middle distance red and it
already looked a nice scoring opportunity with plenty of free reds. I expected
him to make more than the 39 that he did before missing the black off its spot
and leaving the chance for Bingham, but he could only add 14 before having to
play safe. The next scoring opportunity went the way of Stuart after a horror
safety from Neil Robertson and things were looking good until he lost position
and couldn’t pot a colour to get near the final red. Neil potted a top drawer
last red with the pink before playing safe on the yellow, with Stuart leading
by one. Bingham’s safety was poor though as he left the yellow on and Neil
cleared to the blue before missing frame ball pink which meant Stuart could
still force a re-spot. After some safety on the pink it was Neil who (for
arguments sake) we’ll say attempted the full length double, which he made to go
6-3 ahead in the match now. The first scoring visit in frame ten went to the
Australian as well, but yet again he struggled to keep good control of the cue
ball early in the break and eventually on 28 it cost him position. The next
scoring chances went to Bingham, but he could only get to within 19 points of
Robbo before missing and leaving the Australian in, and he dished to move four
frames ahead at 7-3. A wayward long pot attempt from Bingham at the start of
the eleventh left Neil right in amongst the balls, and even though it was early
the balls were already spread nicely to make this into a frame winning break,
and a brilliant 81 proved that as Robertson went a frame away from the UK
Championship final at 8-3. Stuart knew he had an absolute mountain to climb now
in this match, but every climb starts with a small step and his first goal was
to win the twelfth frame and force a mid-session interval in this final
session. He had the first chance to do so, and by the time he’d made it to 21
he had the balls at his mercy after a brilliant shot to open the reds. A quick
fire 85 ensured that Bingham did take the match into an interval, though he was
still trailing 4-8.
After the break, Stuart Bingham had another really good
chance to accumulate some points and after a couple of early cannons into the
reds, everything was well positioned for another heavy contribution. A break of
56 should’ve been a lot more, but one bad positional shot cost him and he had
to sit on his 52 point lead. Bingham had a chance to get back in and kill the
frame off, but he missed a simple enough red for someone of his quality and
left the door open for Neil. A run of 42 put Robertson 19 points behind with 27
remaining as he left Bingham snookered, getting himself right back into this
frame. The Australian made a nice long pot on the yellow shortly after, then
laying another snooker on the green, but Bingham fluked the green coming out of
this snooker, clearing to the pink to keep himself in the match at 5-8. A
superb long red got Bingham straight back to the business end of the table
again in frame fourteen. On 41 he went into the pack and got a brilliant
spread, landing nicely on with a chance to close the gap up a little bit more.
A solid 86 put Stuart only a couple of frames adrift now at 6-8, heaping the
pressure on the Australian. Ball run was growing in confidence now and a tricky
pot along the cushion gave him another opening in the fifteenth and he’d built
up 49 before missing a very thin black. After a small safety battle, Robertson
played a confident long red to give himself a chance to get back into the frame
or possibly even win it here. He made 46 to trail by just 3 points when he missed
the penultimate red into the top corner, leaving the other red on to the middle
for Bingham. Stuart cleared to the pink in making it four frames on the trot to
trail the Australian by just a single frame now at 7-8, with one more needed to
force a deciding frame. A quality red into the top corner in the opening
exchanges of frame sixteen gave Stuart an early opportunity to build a lead
that could help push this match towards the desired seventeenth and final
frame. An exceptional cannon into the reds on 11 kept the break going, but on
19 a tough red into the green pocket proved his downfall. Bingham soon earned
himself another chance though, as Robertson left a choice of reds on coming out
of a snooker. From this chance Stuart did force the decider with a superb 107
to make it 8-8 with five frames in a row. But could Stuart make it six in a
row?
The first meaningful chance of the decider went to Neil
Robertson after he knocked in a beautiful long pot given the circumstances and
everything that had happened in the last five frames. Neil was 57 points ahead
with just 59 remaining after wobbling the black in (which got a shout from
Dennis Taylor from the commentary box, who was told very quickly to be quiet by
the Australian.) That may well have put him off a little as he missed frame
ball red with the rest, before then touching the brown with his arm, so Bingham
came back to the table 53 adrift with 4 reds left. After a few missed attempts Stuart potted the next
red with the pink and a clever double continued the break but he didn’t land
easily on a colour, despite needing to pot one or he’d need a snooker with two
reds left on the table. Stuart pulled out a superb black into the middle though
to avoid that scenario, playing safe 38 behind with 43 on. After some decent
safety from both players, Stuart potted the penultimate red with the pink to
trail by 31 on the final red, as another important battle commenced. Stuart
just missed out on getting a snooker behind the yellow, but in doing so he left
the pot on for Robertson who knocked it in, followed by the pink and yellow to
leave Stuart needing 4 snookers, which he couldn’t get as Neil Robertson was
able to hold off the Stuart Bingham comeback and go through to the UK
Championship final, with a famous 9-8 victory.
Oh so close, but yet so far for Stuart Bingham just being unable to complete what was a famous comeback against Neil Robertson, but it was Neil that won it and he went on to win the UK title against Selby to complete his triple crown. What brilliance have I got in store tomorrow? Be here at the same time to find out.
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