David Gilbert hungry for more success
February 28, 2009
Dave Gilbert is hungry for more success after reaching the last 16 of the Welsh Open last week. The Tamworth player enjoyed the experience and is hungry for more
Gilbert even managed to beat Mark Williams two time world champion on his route to the last 16, until losing to Mark Selby the defending champion!
Gilbert’s best snooker performance to date has given his confidence that extra boost ahead of the massive World Championships in Sheffield this summer. Gilbert was happy he got the chance to prove he can play in front of an audience and the cameras
Gilbert was even confident against Selby and had some good chances to win the match, and the 5-1 scoreline did not do his performance any justice. Hopefully Gilbert will be able to learn from these matches and look to beat Selby and the other top players soon and fulfil his dream of becoming snooker world champion
Profile on rising star Michael White
February 28, 2009
Junior snooker star Michael White has already become the 2006 amateur world champion and the youngest ever player to compile a century break at the tender age of 9
Michael actually made it into the Guinness Book of records at nine years old by completing a breack of 105. Since that amazing feat he has won Welsh titles and become European Champion
Michael’s strengths is his natural ability, ever since he picked up a cue he has been a natural and able to amount large breaks from an early age. He is also fearless on the table going for shots many other players would not, this has allow Michael to compete from a very young age.
Michaels only weakness is his experience, he has been unable to attend many tournaments due to his young age. This however will improve as his career and experience progresses. If he continues at this rate he should be a contender for world champion one day!
Jimmy White returns to Crucible with a win!
February 28, 2009
Crowd favourite Jimmy White has returned to the crucible and won 10-8 over opponent Vincent Mulddon. Jimmy was trailing the 2nd stage of the World Championships qualifiers at Sheffield but managed to pull the match back.
46 year old White trailed the match 5-2 at one point, then managed to put together back to back magnificent century breaks to claw back in the opening session.
In fact Whites 134 total clearance won a record, it was the highest break to the World Championship for 11 years. White fought back stronger in the 2nd session to beat his opponent who was not even born when White last made it to the final!
White still however has lots of work to do and needs to win 3 more matches to make it into the last 32. His next match is against Andy Hicks on Sunday, and as usual White will have the whole crowd behind him!
Carter hopes Welsh Open will kick start his career
February 26, 2009
Ali Carter is hoping that his first ranking event tournament win at the Welsh Open with kick start his career and help bring further success.
Carter who outside of snooker is also a licensed pilot claimed his first ranking victory in Wales with a 9-4 win over Joe Swail. Carter was overjoyed after winning the event especially after the disappointment of losing to O’Sullivan in last years 2008 World Championships.
Carter is hopeful that his first victory will be one of many and looks forward to progressing kick starting his career.
Swail was disappointed after his defeat which will be all the more agonizing after waiting 18 years to make a ranking final! It still however means a lot to Swail to make the final, and he will be trying his best in the next few seasons to get himself in contention of winning a ranking event again
Ali Carter Wins The Welsh Open
February 26, 2009
Ali Carter has won the Welsh Open beating Joe Swail 9-5 in a match of two halves.
Carter fought back from a 5-2 deficit winning an incredible seven frames on the trot to win his first ranking event. Carter struggles with his game during the first few frames, finding it very difficult to pick up his normal fluency.
There was however no stopping Carter once he was 5-2 behind as he begain the onslaught. Carter seemed to be growing in confidence with each shot and had some great breaks including 91 and 67 before winning the match
The win means a lot to Carter as this was his first ranking event victory. Swail was dissappointed with the defeat, and although it appeared like a collapse there was nothing he could do.
O’Sullivan – Unpredictable genius that is holding snooker together
February 26, 2009
O’Sullivans ability with a snooker cue in his hand is unquestioned by all professional players, he is even able to play well with his left hand!. Even on a really bad day O’Sullivan would beat most players.
O’Sullivan is now widely thought to be the best player that has ever graced the game. On top of this O’Sullivan has bags of charisma and personality to go with it all.
Despite all his money and ability O’Sullivan has always suffered depression and his mind set always seems to grab the headlines. He has often threatened to quit the game throughout his career. Last year in China he had another outburst of the game that was well publicised, and this year he had another famours ‘x-factor’ rant at the game.
O’Sullivan recently lost to Marco Fu in the Welsh Open after easily beating Steve Davis. Most of Ronnie’s fans understand the unpredictability of his game and were not surprised that after playing so well against Davis he played poorly against Fu.
But without O’Suilivan where would the game of snooker be now? Snooker throughout its history has relied on great characters and had its boom in the 90s with Davis, Hendry and White. If O’Sullivan quits the game like he has threatened to do on numerous occassions, who will take up his mantle? The answer at the moment is unfortunately ‘nobody’.
Wheelchair Snooker
February 24, 2009
Snooker is a very popular game, and can still be played if you are disabled and need to use a wheelchair. In fact many people have become extremely good at playing snooker whilst in a wheelchair, and are able to not only play the game but score highly too.
The game of snooker does not require much physical exertion, and can therefore be played be people with all kinds of disabilities. This has been recognized by the governing snooker body who have created many tournaments that wheelchair bound people can join. Wheelchair snooker players are now able to travel across the UK and the world playing other wheelchair players.
These tournaments are by no means easy with many wheelchair bound players still able to make sizeable breaks. With the advancements of Wheelchairs in the last few years many players are buying state of the art wheelchairs to help them maneuver around the table with ease, so they can feel as comfortable as possible playing the game.
I think that it is a fantastic idea to allow disabled wheelchair players to play the game they love and know, and allow them to compete in tournaments they would if they were able bodied enough to. Some wheelchair snooker players could probably even give the professional players a good run for their money
Swail starts stronger in Welsh Open final
February 22, 2009
It’s Carter VS Swail in the Welsh Open final and Swail has managed to sneak himself into a two frame advantage.
In Swail’s first ranking final he managed to recover from a 2-1 deficit, to lead 5-3 going into the afternoon session. Both players have appeared nervous so far in the final making mistake after mistake.
Swail made a great break of 60 to level the match 2-2, but the mistakes soon arrived and Swail was ruing another easy missed pot. Luckily enough for Swail the bad miss did not prove costly and he still won the frame.
The 7th frame of the match was very scrappy, and this time it was Carters turn to miss some easy shots to fall 5-2 behind. Carter however did managed to compose himself with a good break of 56 to reduce the gap to 5-3.
I expect to see an afternoon of nerves and misses in the final part of this match, and it is still anyone’s for the taking
O’Sullivan beaten by Fu in the Welsh Open
February 21, 2009
Welsh Open favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan has been knocked out of the tournament by Marco Fu. O’Sullivan had lead the match 3-1 but managed to lose the match 5-3 to Fu.
O’Sullivan looked to be in control of the match although he was never at his best. Credit to Fu though who won 4 frames on the bounce to win the match to make his way into the quarter finals.
Fu will now face either John Higgins or Robertson in the quarter finals. The last frame of the match was pure masterclass from Fu, he managed to compile a faultless 115 break to finish the match off in style.
Selby served legal papers during live match!
February 21, 2009
Mark Selby has been handed a Writ from for £14,000 just minutes before he was due to start the quarter final of the Welsh Open!
The shocking moment was caught live on BBC Wales and Eurosport. Selby was confronted by George Bamby a former manager for Selby claiming that the snooker ace owes him £14,000. Selby was formally introduced to the crowd before the start of his match when George tapped him on the shoulder and passed him the legal document!
George stated after he handed the document to Selby, that confronting the player on live TV was his last resort. It had been claimed that Selby ignored a series of letters, and George was advised to confront Selby at work by his lawyers, so this is what he did.
Following the incident Selby lost the match against Hamilton, as all he could think about was the letter.
Please find some footage of this bizarre incident below
