World Snooker Championship 2011 - Day 10 - Four big names are through to QF

25.4.2011 Day 10

Only a few Round 2 matches are left today...

Afternoon session

Match 20 - Mark Selby v Stephen Hendry

Hendry fans relieve

Last session of the match, Selby leads Hendry 12-4. Selby uses only 11 minutes to beat Hendry 13-4. Selby faces Ding Junhui/Stuart Bingham in QF. Before the match, many people was talking about if Hendry would retired after he lost. ( For futher details please refer to my article: End of the career for Stephen Hendry? ) And the answer is NO. Hendry admitted he longer enjoys playing snooke after the match but he would decide his future in the summer. Hendry has not yet made up his mind about retirement at the moment, fans of Hendry can relieve for a while.

Result: Mark Selby 13-4 Stephen Hendry

Match 24 - John Higgins v Rory McLeod

They played two long and slow sessions, Higgins holds a 10-5 lead over McLeod. After the session begins, Higgins takes the first two with 51, 72 before McLeod pulls two back. McLeod drags Higgins to play after mid session, he is 7-12 down on Higgins. Higgins struggules in the 20th frame but he wins on the final black. John Higgins beat Rory McLeod 13-7 in nearly 8.5 hours. He faces Ronnie O'Sullivan/Shaun Murphy in QF. Another exciting match it will be.

Result: John Higgins 13-7 Rory McLeod

Evening Session

Match 19 - Ding Junhui v Stuart Bingham

Tremendous Comeback from Ding

Bingham takes two frames advantage over Ding, leading 9-7 before last session starts.Ding takes the opening frame, he is only one frame behind Bingham, 8-9. Bingham leads 11-8 with 101, Stuart looks very good at the moment. Ding goes 9-11 before mid session, not too bad for the Chinese Hero. The Ballrun extends his lead to 12-9 with 134, his second century in the session. Ding Junhui keep himself stays in the competition, nicks another one with 92. There is some drama in the 24th frame, Bingham is unlucky to have whiteball off twice. Ding forces a decider from 9-12 down. In the decider, we see some brilliant snooker and snooker escapes, Ding eventually wins it 13-12. Congrats for Ding reaching the QF of WC in his career for the first time - a breakthrough!

Result: Ding Junhui 13-12 Stuart Bingham

Match 23 - Shaun Murphy v Ronnie O'Sullivan

Rocket enter the QF

O'Sullivan did not do well yesterday but still leads Murphy 9-7 before last session kicks off. Ronnie takes the scrappy opening frame of the session, 10-7 up on Murphy. Ronnie knocks 128, the first century in the match to hold a four frames advantage. Murphy pulls one back, a very important frame to trail 8-11. The Rocket is fired and 119 put him 12-8 ahead of Murphy before mid session. Murphy survives and wins two frames before Ronnie ends the match with a break of 71. The Rocket meets John Higgins in QF! A Cracking match!

Result: Ronnie O'Sullivan 13-10 Shaun Murphy

QF Line-up: Too strong to pick up a winner

Upper half: Judd Trump v Graeme Dott, Ding Junhui v Mark Selby
Lower half: Mark Williams v Mark Allen, Ronnie O'Sullivan v John Higgins

My QF Preview: World Snooker Championship 2011 - Qaurter-Final Preview

Match Schedule for Day 11, Tuesday April 26

10am

QF1 -  Judd Trump v Graeme Dott   (First Session)

QF3 -  Mark Williams v Mark Allen    (First Session)

2.30pm

QF2 -  Mark Selby v Ding Junhui            (First Session)

QF4 - Ronnie O'Sullivan v John Higgins (First Session)

7pm

QF1 -  Judd Trump v Graeme Dott   (Second Session)

QF3 -  Mark Williams v Mark Allen    (Second Session)

Round 2 Reusult are updated in Drawsheet...

End of the career for Stephen Hendry?

The seven-time World Champion, Stephen Hendry may announce retirement today after finishing his match against Mark Selby.

The King of Crucible won a decider against Joe Perry in the first round, and now 4-12 down on Mark Selby after second session. Selby only needs one more frame to defeat Hendry today. Recntly Hendry made a comment on his performance, he said he was not satisified with his performance, and he was going to make an important decision at the end of this season. Does the decision mean his retirement?

Last  ranking tournament victory for Hendry was 2006 Malta Cup, since then he has not won any tournament. His ranking also slipped drastically, he also faces a risk of dropping out of top 16 for the first time if he loses the match against Selby or Bingham wins the match against Ding today. If Hendry really drop out of top 16, he needs to play qualifying rounds to qualify for a tournament. Will the man who has won everything willing to do so?

Hendry knocked his 10th maximum break in Welsh Open this year, levelled the record of Ronnie O'Sullivan who made his 10th 147 in 2010 World Open. It proves that Hendry can archieve records but fans doubt if he is capable to win a title now. He struggules to find his form in the matches, that's why he makes early exits in the tournaments.

Selby will feel guilty if Hendry announce retirement today, but he is very likely to win the match. For the man who has won everything, including seven world titles and 36 ranking titles, holds the most maximum breaks record along with O'Sullivan, it will be  definitely a loss to the game if he retires.

Best wishes to Stephen today, it maybe his last appearance in the Crucible. Enjoy the match Stephen, you are still one of the best snooker players in the history. We all love you Stephen!

World Snooker Championship 2011 - Day 9 - Selby sets a new record in the Crucible

24.4.2011 Day 9
Happy Easter! We have a nice Sunday ;-)

Morning Session

Match 19 - Ding Junhui v Stuart Bingham

Bingham steals the first frame from Ding. Ding makes some good snooker but Bingham escape very well. Bingham leads 3-1 before the interval. Ding pulls another back after mid interval, but Ballrun still leads 3-2. Bingham extends his lead to two frames difference again before Ding wins his last frame in the session. Stuart Bingham leads Ding Junhui 5-3 after the first session. Performance of Ding today is not brilliant, he needs some hard work in the next session.

Match 24 - John Higgins v Rory McLeod

The Wizard of Wishaw needs some magic to speed up the match

McLeod has a brilliant start for winning the first two frames but he loses all five afterwards. The session is shorten due to the slow action of their match. Higgins is not stunning today, but he plays much better after the mid session. I wish Higgins can do better tonight. John Higgins leads McLeod 5-2 after the first session.

Afternoon session

Match 20 - Mark Selby v Stephen Hendry

Last Crucible appearance for Hendry?

Selby leads Hendry 7-1 after the first session, he hits several big breaks. Selby starts off the session with 100, extends his lead to 8-1.Hendry pulls one back before Selby knocks a 127. Awesome Selby leads Hendry 10-2 with 87 before mid session. Hendry wins his third frame in the match with 75. Selby hits his sixth century in the 
match 117 to lead 11-4.
 
In the last frame of the session, Selby takes this big frame when four snooker is required. It is an incredible frame for Selby. He now only needs one more frame for victory tomorrow. Selby also created a new record in the Crucible for knocking six centuires in a single match. Class act and outstanding performance from Selby today! ;-)

Match 23 - Shaun Murphy v Ronnie O'Sullivan

Murphy is ready for his fight back

Both players do not play very well yesterday but Ronnie still leads 6-2. Murphy wins the first frame of the session, trials 3-6. When Ronnie requires two snookers to win back the frame, Ronnie do comes back and it is very impressive. Usually Ronnie will concede the frame if it needs one/two snooker. Murphy wins two in a row, reduce the gap to 4-6.

Ronnie found himself lucky to win the frame by a wrong judegement on safty, he gets back a 7-4 lead over Murphy. Murphy trials 5-7 behind Ronnie before mid-session. Ronnie extends his lead to 9-5 with 95, 59. Murphy wins the last two to be 7-9 behind after the second session. Ronnie struggules today, especially with his long pots... He is lucky to secure a lead over Murphy after this session. Tight session we will have tomorrow!

Evening Session

Match 19 - Ding Junhui v Stuart Bingham

 

Can Ding reach QF this year?

Ding does not satisfy with his performance in the morning,  of course he wants a fightback in this session. Ding wins the opening frame before Bingham takes three in a row. Bingham is 8-4 up on Ding with 56 and 87 before mid session. After mid session, Ding starts to fight back to take three frames with 93, 75, 91 while Bingham only gets one. Stuart Bingham still keeps two frames advanatge over Ding Junhui after second session, leading 9-7.

Can Ding break his best result in the Crucible, reaching QF this year? We'll see tomorrow :-)

Match 24 - John Higgins v Rory McLeod

John Higgins leads McLeod 5-2 before it starts, they only played seven frames in the last session. McLeod  has a good start, taking the first two frames in the session which lasts 40 and 41 minutes respectively. Higgins only leads McLeod 6-5 before mid session. Their match really takes (grinds) so long, somebody on Twitter gives Rory some interesting nicknames: 'Rory McCrawl', 'Snory McLeod' Haha ;-) Towards the end, Higgins wins all four frames after mid session, 10-5 goes to John Higgins. They may play 10 frames in the last session tomorrow, I wish they will not grind for a day, fans will ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.... ;-)

Match Arrangements for Day 10, Monday April 25

All the matches will be finished by the end of today :-) Remember we have no morning session today, fans need not to wake up so early today!

No morning session :-)

1pm

Match 20 - Stephen Hendry v Mark Selby   (Last Session, Selby leads 12-4)

Match 24 - Rory McLeod v John Higgins      (Last Session, Higgins leads 10-5)

7pm

Match 19 - Ding Junhui v Stuart Bingham          (Last Session, Bingham leads 9-7)

Match 23 - Shaun Murphy v Ronnie O'Sullivan  (Last Session, O'Sullivan leads 9-7)

Scores are continously updated in Drawsheet...