World Snooker Championship 2012 Draw

World Snooker Championship Draw came out today. That is the draw for the first round... (Updated: World Snooker Championship 2012 Results/Live, Draw & Match/TV Schedule)

Photo from http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Last 32	Last 16	Quarter-Finals	Semi-Finals	Final
John Higgins v Liang Wenbo
Stuart Bingham v Stephen Hendry
Graeme Dott v Joe Perry
Stephen Maguire v Luca Brecel
Shaun Murphy v Jamie Jones
Stephen Lee v Andrew Higginson
Ali Carter v Mark Davis
Judd Trump v Dominic Dale
Mark Williams v Liu Chuang
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Peter Ebdon
Martin Gould v David Gilbert
Neil Robertson v Ken Doherty
Ding Junhui v Ryan Day
Mark Allen v Cao Yupeng
Matthew Stevens v Marco Fu
Mark Selby v Barry Hawkins

Very interesting draw.The defending champion John Higgins got a tricky draw who faces Liang Wenbo in the first round, good luck to Higgins in avoiding to fall in the 'Crucible Curse'. Stephen Hendry, who will appear as a qualifiers for the first time in years draws Stuart Bingham, not a bad draw for the seven-time World Champion.

Luca Brecel

Stephen Maguire will be matched against Belgian Luca Brecel, the youngest player ever to qualify for the Crucible. That will be an exciting match as both players play attacking snooker. Stephen Lee who had a good run in recent years will play Andrew Higginson. Judd Trump got Dominic Dale, so that will be a re-match of UK Championship first round last year.

No doubt the most interesting match among the first round matches must be The Rocket versus The Psycho. Their quarter-final match on 2005 World Championship which Ebdon won 13-11 from 6-10 down. Ebdon received criticism on playing 'slowly' - at one stage taking three minutes over a shot and five minutes for a break of 12. Ebdon, who won the last tournament China Open had whitewashed Alfie Burden to qualify for The Crucible but The Rocket would surely want a revenge.

The Rocket mentally broken down

Neil Robertson draws Ken Doherty and it will be a competition between two former World Champions. The World Number 1 Mark Selby who withdrew from China Open in the second round due to neck injury will play Barry Hawkins. The Chinese Hero who is tipped by Jimmy White to win this year's world title will play Ryan Day in the first round of World Championship. Along with Ding, three Chinese will appear at the Crucible this year.

First round matches are best of 19.

The Crucible Debutants:
Luca Brecel (youngest player ever to qualify for the Crucible)
Jamie Jones
Cao Yupeng

China Open 2012 - Peter Ebdon Sank Maguire in Marathon Final

China Open 2012: Peter Ebdon won his second China Open title after 2009, beating Stephen Maguire by 10-9 in the marathon final.

Peter Ebdon won China Open 2012

The 41-year-old led Maguire by 5-1 with two tons after the afternoon session, which nine frames should be played instead of six but the session ended after frame 6 due to slow progress of the match. 

Maguire started his fightback at the night session, trailing Ebdon by 4-6 at the mid interval. However, Ebdon went 8-5 up before The Scotsman won three frames in a row to level 8-8 for the first time in the final. Despite of losing three in a row, the 2002 World Champion got the match point 9-8 with 103 but it did not stop the footsteps of Maguire to force a decider. In the deciding frame, Ebdon won by 62-24 to capture his second China Open title.

This is Ebdon's first title in 36 months. He also ensured a place in this year's Premier League, he said: "I'm delighted to win. To be perfectly honest, I feel a little bit embarrassed because I didn't handle the pressure very well today, and I feel that Stephen played better than I did, and I feel that he deserved to win. I'm delighted to win, but disappointed with my performance and that I didn't handle things better tonight.

"I was feeling pretty tired at the end. I felt deflated because I knew I didn't handle myself very well out there. I'm not used to having leads like that. Obviously it's been a long time since I've been in a final, maybe it's to be expected. But I've been playing really well this week. My focus and concentration was good. My preparation has been really, really good. I just expected more coming into the final session this evening. But I'm absolutely delighted that I've won this fantastic tournament again. It's only my ninth professional ranking event win in 20 years as a professional.''

Stephen Maguire

Maguire, gracious in defeat, said: "If I'd lost 10-1 or 10-2, it would have meant I wasn't even part of the match. I just tried hard tonight to make a match of it, to make sure Peter won it, not gift him the title. Which eventually I did. I can take a lot of fighting qualities out of it.''

Mark Selby has pulled out of China Open with a neck injury

The World Number One Mark Selby has pulled out of China Open due to neck injury. 

Mark Selby

Selby is going to play the local hero Ding Junhui in last 16 today but announced his withdrawal due to neck injury. Ding Junhui is therefore received a bye to quarter-finals, he will play either Ali Carter or Lu Ning next. Ali Carter v Lu Ning will replace Selby v Ding watch to be televised.

Selby said: "I'm absolutely gutted to have to pull out and to let down the Chinese fans as I was really looking forward to playing Ding tonight. But I have been suffering with neck pain and I struggled through my first round match. I don't want to do any more damage, especially with the World Championship coming up, so I'm going back to the UK to get some treatment. I look forward to coming back to China soon as I love playing here."

Meanwhile, Ronnie O'Sullivan beaten Mark Williams by 5-1 to make quarter-finals, playing Stephen Maguire next who saw off Ricky Walden in decider. Judd Trump came from 2-3 behind to beat Stuart Bingham by 5-3 while Stephen Lee continued his good form, winning 5-3 over Graeme Dott.


China Open 2012 Results/Draw, Live Streaming & Match/TV Schedule