White beats Hawkins in 6 reds snooker
July 15, 2009
There are many snooker fans out there who really hate six red snooker. Jimmy White however will be happy after claiming £18,000 for beating Barry Hawkins 8-6 to win the Sangsom Grand Prix.
But why does the six game snooker appeal to the players? It does ensure shorter frames as the reds are split quickly, and you can still play a good safety game. The game is also new, and every player likes a new challenge. Cricket already has its quick version game its call Twenty/20, and it is well liked across the world. But does the new six red game end the reign of traditional snooker. Put quite simply no!
Six red snooker will keep growing, especially for less skillful players, as they have a good chance of winning a game of six red snooker. Maybe its a good thing, snooker hasn’t changed since the 19th century and its well overdue a mix up.
The old 15 red game however is well established and is not going anywhere, so if you are worrying about the end of traditional snooker I think you can relax.
Ebdon Wins The China Open
April 5, 2009
Peter Ebdon has won the 2009 China Open. Ebdon will be very happy at this victory as there was some concerns he could drop out of the worlds top 16 players.
His concerns will now be eased as this victory puts Ebdon back up to 12th. Ebdon beat Higgins 10-8 in the final, which was surprising considering he had only won two matches in his last six ranking event matches.
Ebdon put the victory down to some seriously hard practice work, and is confident that if he can keep playing like he is that he has a good chance at the Crucible.
O’Sullivan only made it to the quarter finals of the tournament but still holds a massive 7000 point lead over Maguire to be rankes the worlds number one player. The only way Maguire can push O’Sullivan off top spot is by Ronnie losing in the first round of the World Championships and Maguire winning it, something that is very unlikely.
There was some very good matches in the China Open, which is very good news for all you snooker fans waiting for the World Championships. Who’s your money on???
Roberston makes it into top 16
November 18, 2008
Austrailia’s best snooker player Neil Roberston has jumped back into the worlds top 16 players after winning the Bahrain Snooker Tournament. Robertson moves the position 14 in the world after beating Matthew Stevens 9-7 in the final to claim his third world ranking event.
Robertson won his last two ranking events back in last season but had suffered from a dip in form since the last campaign. Infact Robertson’s bad start to this season pushed him down to position 21.
Robertson does have one good statistic through, he has never been beated in a major final! Robertson addmitted that a defeat would have devastated him having played great snooker throughout the campaign.
His opponent Matthew Stevens seems to have the opposite luck in finals, with Saturdays final defeat his 6th defeat in 7 finals. Stevens however did move up 11 places in the World rankings following his performances to get into the final, moving from 33rd to 22nd position
Ryan Day out of Bahrain Tournament
November 14, 2008
One of the Bahrain Tournament favourites Ryan Day has been knocked out of the championship against fellow welshman Matthew Stevens.
In what was a fantastic match Stevens managed to rally back from some serious bad luck to win the match 5-4. Stevens had looked odds on for a 5-3 victory when he was ahead with just three pots needed for a win, he then put Day in very difficult snooker
Day did not escape from the snooker but managed to clip the object ball and place it near a pocket, whilst simultanuesuly leaving the cue ball safe.
Stevens however held his nerve on the final frame and seal the result with a 70 break. Stevens is good friends with Day and they had a bit of banter after the game about how luck Day was!
Stevens is very happy with his victory against Day who is a top player and one of the highest seeds in the tournament. Stevens will now go on to face another Welsh player in the shape of Dominic Dale. Dale has made it to this stage of the tournament after his previous opponent Steve Davis had to pull out because of an Ilness.
I look forward to another exciting match against fellow the two Welshman, and hope that Stevens keeps improving, and becomes the force he once was in the game
Carter not bothered about exit in Bahrain Tournament
November 12, 2008
Ali Carter one of the favourites for the Bahrain Tournament has been kocked out by Michael Judge a qualifier. Ali admitted after the match that he was not bothered about the exit from the new snooker tournament.
Carter lost the match 5-3 and is due to fly back to the UK straight away. Ali ranked number 7 in the world joins a long list of former world champions that have already been knocked out of the event including Shaun Murphy and Graeme Dott.
Carter stated that he was more interested in the UK Championships and the Masters and was not really focusing on this event. He did not travel to Bahrain to lose however, and will still be disappointed by the defeat.
The Bahrain tournament favourite Stephen Maguire is still in the running after beating outside Mark Davis 5-3 in a hard fought match.
In other news one of the tournament favourites Ryan Day was beaten by Matthew Stevens in an exciting match filled with errors from both players
Hendry books slot in last 16
November 11, 2008
Snooker legend Stephen Hendry was performing like his old self in the Bahrain Snooker Championship last night, putting on a magnificent display. The 39 year old legend, who has won an amazing 36 ranking titles showed some glimpses of his talent and class last night. His long ball play and break building were back to his best.
Hendry made two century breaks and demonstrated great accuracy to beat Ricky Walden 5-3, all performed infront of the largest crowd of the week. Hendry dominated the match after coming back from a great 120 clearance from Walden.
Walden managed to keep up with Hendry in the early exchanges, but the old master was playing well and the match look destined to be won by Hendry. Hendry was the first to admit that his performances in recent months have not been to his usual high standards, but is feeling like the confidence is coming back to his game.
Most of the other matches at this staged of the tournament paled in comparison, and Hendry is looking forward to his next match. His opponent best watch out looking at this match.
O’Sullivan to miss Bahrain event
November 4, 2008
Snooker World champion O’Sullivan has had to pull out of the Bahrain Snooker Championships due to health reasons. This news will upset O’Sullivan fans in Bahrain who no doubt were anxious to see their snooker hero play, they will however be wishing Ronnie a speedy recovery.
Ronnie has been due to play against snooker legend Steve Davis in the opening round, in what would have been an interesting old vs new talent match. Due to Ronnie’s illness Davis has been given a bye into the second round.
Although Davis would be happy to be in the second round, he would have much prefered the atmosphere of a first round game against O’Sullivan, and would probably be on his way out of the tournament!
The reasons for O’Sullivans illness seems to be fatigue due to his recent heavy playing schedule. The illness is thought to be nothing serious and Ronnie will be expected to make a quick full recovery. Doctors have been advised by doctors to fully rest and he is sticking to this advice
Higgins happy to see World Series snooker final played in Moscow
October 28, 2008
John higgins has publicly approved playing the Snooker World Series final in the Kremlin in Russia. Higgins has been pushing the game accross the whole of europe and is very happy the final will be played in Moscow, a landmark that could push the game onto countless more fans.
Higgins stated that “Not only will this help market the game the venue is awsome, it is the best venue he has ever played in”
The Snooker World Series was brought in to effect to take the game to different countries accross europe, and this is now what it has achieved. During the World Series fans around Europe have had their chance to see their stars in action accross Europe, including matches in big cities such as Berlin and Warsaw.
The World Series has certainly been getting lots of coverage through Europsort and have had literally thousands of tickets enquiries from new fans all over europe. To avoid disappointing fans the World Series will be extended beyond the original finish date so that they can play in another venue in Moscow.
Back to the action, and Ding Junhui was the star of the Warsaw sem-finals of the series beating off old favourite Steve Davis comfortbaly 5-1. Doherty also managed to beat some good players including Mark Selby to make it to the final.
The final was a tight affair between to two, and they looked to be going to 5-5, but then up stepped Junhui to make a great 64 clearance to win the match 6-4
Stuart Pettman gives O’Sullivan a scare
October 2, 2008
Stuart Pettman has given Ronnie O’Sullivan a scare in the Shanghai masters. The world number 62 did end up losing the bout 5-2 to O’Sullivan but it could easily have gone to the Preston man.
Pettman was level at 2-2 in the match and made a strong start in the fifth frame. He opened up the scoring with 31 and it seemed Ronnie might have a bit of a match on his hands. But Ronnie managed to steady the boat and grabbed a place in the last 16 of the tournament with three high breaks.
Ronnie’s victory leaves him in serious contention to win his third ranking event in a week! O’Sullivan admitted after the game that he had been suffering from nerves, but wanted to perform well infront of the Chinese public who have been good to O’Sullivan throughout the tournament
O’Sullivan was unhappy that he has not reached the peak of his form in the tournament yet, but has been practicing hard enough for his matches and believes his form should shine in latter matches, not good news for his opponents
O’Sullivan in hot water over unacceptable comments
July 22, 2008
Ronnie O’Sullivan has landed himself in trouble with World Snooker by making sexually suggestive comments at a recent media conference.
The World Champion made the comments at the China Open which has led him to being docked the 700 ranking points he earned playing Marco Fu, however O’Sullivan still remains world number one. The comments have also cost Ronnie £2,750.
O’Sullivan’s spokesman said “Ronnie has accepted his punishment.”
“He realises he made a mistake, but he never intended to offend anyone.”
“He wants to forget what happened and move forward.”
“He has apologised to World Snooker, the promoter of the China Open, his fans and also to his sponsors.
“He is keen to get on with his career and continue demonstrating why he is regarded as the best player in the world.”
