Night seven of the Premier League featured Joe Perry and Ding Junhui in the first match with multiple world champions Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis in the second. Click below to find out what happened…
Match One: Ding gets campaign up and running
Ding Junhui finally got his first win of the Premier League season under his belt tonight with a good 4-2 win over the last man with a 100% record in the competition, Joe Perry.
The tone was pretty much set in the opening frame when Ding capitalised on a miss from Perry to make what looked to be a frame-winning break. Surprisingly however, Ding lost position on his intended final red and missed on 70, giving Joe a great chance to steal it with a big break of his own. Unfortunately for Joe having done all of the hard work though, he missed a simple final brown and the break ended at 50, presenting a very relieved Ding with 1-0 lead.
The second frame was similar as a poor shot from Joe gave Ding a chance at a tough red to the right-centre that he duly took, though he was only to make 25 from this first opportunity as he lost position on the black when attempting to split the reds. Despite Perry putting Ding in a tough snooker, Ding got out of it at the second attempt and was soon on his way again, making it 2-0 with a 41 break.
At this point Perry needed to win every frame to keep up his 100% record but it was not to be as he could not capitalise on a few errors from Ding, who eventually made it 3-0 having needed three or four chances. This secured a much needed point for the Chinese star with a great chance of two, though he did throw a 3-0 lead against John Higgins earlier in the season to draw 3-3 remember.
Briefly it looked like it might be a similar story tonight as Joe got off the mark in frame four with a break of 85 to win the frame in one visit following a a missed blue to left-centre from Ding. It was only briefly though as Ding secured the win and two points with breaks of 31 and 38 to move 4-1 ahead. He might not have had a chance in the final frame as Perry made a nice break of 90 to wrap up the match, but Ding will be very happy with the win and moves into all-important the top four spots in the league.
Next up for Ding is a match with one of tonight’s other players, six-times champion Steve Davis in Haywards Heath while Perry plays John Higgins on November 20th in Carlisle.
Match Two: Two wins in a row for Hendry leaves Davis pointless
A second win in as many weeks for Scotland’s Stephen Hendry moves him back into the top four again and continues his improved run of form recently while Steve Davis is now all but out of the competition.
The opening frame of the match was a scrappy affair, both having chances, Davis in particular missing a good opportunity as he missed a black off the spot when attempting to split the bunch of reds. In the end though it was Hendry who got in and made an nice clearance to the final pink ball which while he missed it, did not prove costly as Davis’ next shot left it hanging over the middle pocket.
Frame two at least was to be much much quicker, as a good safety from Hendry forced a mistake from Davis which allowed him to make a nice break of 78. Frame three was much different though as having missed a tricky black, Hendry gave Davis a fantastic chance to win his first frame in his last 16 Premier League attempts, the balls spread perfectly. Although Davis failed to take his chance, he eventually got another and made it 2-1, finally making a match of it.
The fourth frame was probably the most interesting of the night however as Davis looked for a while like making it 2-2 and really putting the pressure on Stephen who desperately needed the win tonight. After a long tactical exchange however it was Hendry who came out on top before making a terrific clearance including a stunning pot on the final yellow down the side-cushion.
With a point already secured, Hendry wasted little time in frame five as a break of 72 from a poor Davis safety looked to have secured the win. Steve did come back to the table but could only get back one of the two snookers he needed before Stephen potted the final red and won the frame for 4-1.
This soon became 5-1 as although Davis had his chances in the final frame, Hendry cleared with a break of 86 and finished off the evening. Stephen did not play as well as he did last week against John Higgins, but it’s another win for him and it can only do his confidence good. He now heads for Bahrain before returning to Premier League action against Ronnie O’Sullivan in Carlisle. Davis meanwhile is rooted to the bottom of the league with four defeats from four and barring some kind of miracle won’t be involved with the finals weekend. He is next in action next week as he plays Ding Junhui at Haywards Heath.