Mark Allen Vs Mark Williams:
This best-of-17 semi-final started out with Mark Allen knocking in a good long ball, and with plenty of reds open it looked like a good opportunity to build a handy lead in the frame. It was the perfect start for Allen in the end as a break of 92 made it 1-0 to him. Mark Williams first scoring visit came in frame two, but he could only manage 14 before missing a tricky red and leaving Allen in, who only made 4 before giving his counterpart a half chance. Williams added 20 before missing again leaving another opening for Allen, who needed to get into the pack straight away, but he couldn’t land on one and played safe. A poor safety left Mark Allen another opportunity and a clearance of 71 got the job done this time for him to lead 2-0. A confidently played long red from Williams gave him his first good chance in the third. The reds were nicely open, and Mark Williams picked them off well as a fine century of 120 made it 1-2. Williams had the first opportunity once again in frame four and he was looking in top form as he got into the pack early on, getting a beautiful split of the reds. The brilliant scoring continued as the Welshman sealed the frame in one visit thanks to consecutive centuries as a superb 135 levelled the scores at the mid-session break at 2-2.
Following the break, Allen came out of the traps the fastest
with a confident red from range giving him a good early chance and after
getting nicely into the reds, the opening for another heavy scoring visit was
there, but he ran slightly out of position before missing a trickier red than
he wanted on 52. Williams was back in then, but his cannon to the three reds
and pink in the middle of the table didn’t come off as he ran out of position
on 16. The newly in shape Mark Williams won the safety battle and was given the
next good opening from which he manufactured who added 26 before missing a
cross double. Allen fluked the penultimate red and Williams nearly did the same
on the final red, but when it stayed in the jaws Allen was able to do enough to
edge 3-2 in front. Mark Allen was again first in in frame six taking control of
the frame with a break of 54 before running out of position and playing a shot
to nothing red into the middle. The next chance in the frame fell to Williams
though after a good safety battle, and he made a break of 70 to leave Allen
requiring a snooker to win on the pink. Allen got the snooker and all of a
sudden a very important battle on the pink began and after both players had
attempts at it, Williams played a very good long cut back to level the match at
3-3. A nightmare snooker escape from Williams, left his opponent a golden
opening to make a frame winning break with all of the reds spread around the
business end of the table. Allen picked the reds off beautifully and
constructed a very nice break again of 105 put him 4-3 in front with one frame
left of the session. Williams had the opening scoring visit of frame eight, but
he would’ve been very disappointed to miss the blue he did on just 29. Mark
Allen had some good fortune to put a red near the corner and cover the natural
path to it, so Williams tried to play it cushion first but it wobbled in the
jaws and stayed there to hand an opening to the Pistol. Allen made 14 before a
huge kick on the pink left a chance for Williams, but he couldn’t take it and
handed it straight back. From there Allen made 55 to win the frame and take a
5-3 lead into the final session later that evening.
Mark Allen was the first off in the second session with a
good long pot to get in, and he made some good recovery pots on the way to a
perfect start and a run of 77 making it 6-3. Allen was in first in frame ten
too after a couple of missed opportunities to get going from Williams. He’d
made it to 32 before missing a tough red from middle distance after someone in
the crowd put him off. A miss-timed safety shot later on from the Northern
Irishman left his fellow Mark a chance to overtake him and build a frame lead
of his own. Williams seized his chance and a break of 84 got him back in the
match at 4-6. Frame eleven looked to be going very scrappy with the safety
battle sending a number of reds to the side cushion, which meant that when
Allen’s chance came he had a lot of hard work ahead of him. Clever cannons and
good recovery pots put him in a commanding position and the superb standard of
break building continued as a 67 put Allen three in front again at 7-4. Looking
for only a couple more frames for a place in the final, Mark Allen made a good
long ball to have the first crack at frame twelve but he was left hampered and
stretching on a red which he missed on 18, to leave Mark Williams a chance.
Williams made a break of 49 before taking on a risky plant, splitting all of
the reds and when he missed it, Allen was primed to counter. It all came down
to the final red for Allen who missed it in the jaws and stuck it for Williams
who was already ahead by 3 points, and a clearance to the pink was enough for
him to get back in it again at 5-7. Following the mid-session interval, Williams knew he needed to strike first and a brilliant long red gave him the chance to do so. He managed a perfect spread of the bunch early on from the blue, but a couple of poor positional shots cost him and he had to play safe having only made 40. A long pot from Williams gave him the chance to lay a good snooker with the reds spread and he got 20 points in fouls from Allen. The chance to clinch the frame was soon Williams though after another good long red allowed him in and he did enough to close the gap to just one at 6-7. Frame fourteen saw an early chance for Mark Allen after a missed long red from Williams and he made 40 from that opening before missing a tough red up into the baulk corner. Williams long potting had been good in the main however, and it gave him a golden chance soon after with all the reds invitingly spread from an attacking safety played by the Pistol. Once again, Williams played the break to perfection levelling the match with his third century of it, a 102 making it 7-7 as this best- of -17 became a best of 3.
When Allen missed a long pot and the red went up the table,
the last thing he wanted was to go in-off as well, leaving an early opportunity
for MJW to build a decent lead and a 25 got the ball rolling before his cannon
to the bunch failed. A mistake from Allen gave him another look in, and a
further 46 left Mark Allen needing a snooker trailing by 71 with 67 left. When
he escaped and hit the black instead of the final red it left a chance for
Allen to steal, though the blue was awkwardly positioned and the pink away from
its spot. To get from blue to pink he’d have to go around the table but the cue
balls path was disrupted by the black which ended up on the side cushion and
left the pink at range. Allen stroked the pink in beautifully and doubled the
black which was followed by a big fist pump, as the Northern Irishman stole a
frame that I’ll never know how Williams lost, going one up with two to play at
8-7. It was always going to prove tough for Williams to come back from such a
big blow, but he gave himself the chance in frame sixteen by rolling in a
sublime red from range. Some magnificent recovery shots kept the break going
under huge pressure throughout the break, yet he kept responding to make what
must go down as one of the best pressure breaks of the whole tournament in
Chengdu, to force a final frame decider in a contribution of 86. The first
opportunity in that seventeenth and final frame fell to the cue of Mark
Williams, but he missed a tough red on 8, leaving Allen in only for him to miss
a pink in the middle on 1. MJW added another 7 before splitting the pack from
the pink and failing to land on one, leaving safety as his only option. A very
tight pot into the middle bag from Allen gave him the best opening of the
decider so far. He put 33 more on to his score before a positional error left
him on a tough pink which he missed to leave a huge chance for Mark Williams.
It was always going to be about the final red which the Welshman had to roll
along the bottom cushion and it just wobbled in the jaws which was so
unfortunate and it let Allen in for the clearance which was no problem in the
end for Mark Allen to make it into the final of one of the best matches I’ve
ever had the pleasure of watching with some amazing break building and
absolutely loads of tension at the end, which had me on the edge of my seat and
heartbroken at the end for Mark Williams who was so unlucky to lose 9-8.
That's it for my classic matches countdown for another year and what a fantastic year it's been in 2014 for great matches, and as it is New Years Day I'd like to wish all of my blogs readers a brilliant new year and all the very best to everybody for 2015 and thank you all for reading my blog within the last year.
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