Browsing YouTube earlier on today I came across two recently uploaded videos that I found to be particularly interesting. Recorded in China last year, they feature Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan talking about a variety of subjects including each other, their past and what they hope to achieve in the future. Click below for the videos and a summary of what is discussed:
Tag: Ronnie O’Sullivan
Roewe Shanghai Masters 2008: Meet the wildcards!
With the second ranking event of the season just days away, now is a good time to have a look at the seven wildcards who will be in action on the first two days. Thanks again to Sina Snooker who have provided me with the following photographs to use:
Royal London Watches Grand Prix 2008: Last 32 Draw News
With the final qualifying matches decided, the random draw for the last 32 has just been made by Stephen Maguire in Glasgow. The highlights are a mouthwatering tie between world number 2 Stephen Maguire and the talented Jamie Cope as well as a re-run of the Crucible quarter-final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Liang Wenbo. Click below to see the full draw:
PartyPoker.com Premier League Snooker 2008: Night Three Preview
Premier League Snooker – Night Three from Derby, SkySports1, 7:30pm
Steve Davis v Joe Perry
Stephen Hendry v Mark Selby
Night three of the Premier League marks the first appearances of the last remaining two players yet to have got their campaigns up and running, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry. Click below to read about the challenge they both face:
PartyPoker.com Premier League Snooker: Night Two Review
Match One: Higgins steals unlikely point
In what was a scrappy first match of the evening, Scotland’s John Higgins managed to snatch a point from his match against Ding Junhui despite having been 3-0 down at one stage.
Indeed the match was a disjointed affair from the very start, both players missing several chances to take the frame before Ding eventually wrapped it up on the final blue. The second frame was a similar affair with Higgins being the first in with a break of 47 before being unfortunate to end up in a tough position having gone into the reds. One missed brown and later Ding was in to steal it for 2-0, though both frames could have gone either way.
The run of missed opportunities from Higgins was to continue into frame three where despite having several chances to win the frame, he failed to take them and allowed Ding to secure the frame with a break of 76. This guaranteed him his first point of the campaign and left him needing just one for the win.
Fightback
Higgins however had other ideas as although having played nothing like he can up until this point, he was not in the mood to give up and soon showed why he is a double world champion.
The fightback begun in the fourth frame where Ding looked in good position before seemingly being distracted by the bleeps in the arena as the shot clock counted down and missing a routine yellow. This time it was Higgins’ time to steal a frame with a break of 57 to make it 3-1.
Then came what was arguably the most important point of the match with Ding well ahead in frame five before taking on a risky blue, against the advice of Sky commentator Neal Foulds who advocated putting a colour safe. Indeed this was to come back to haunt Ding as Higgins got back to the table and managed to steal the frame
With the pressure now right on Ding in the decider, Higgins gave him little chance and for the first time tonight played like he can, making an excellent break of 78 to snatch a point that didn’t look likely at 0-3.
On balance this was a fair result as neither player really showed their best form, though given how the match unfolded Higgins will obviously be much the happier of the two. Having played in both of the first two weeks that will be the last we will see of John in this competition before the end of October when he faces old rival Stephen Hendry in Sheffield.
It doesn’t get any easier for Ding however as next up for him is tournament favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan on October 9th in Great Malvern. Having led his first two matches 2-0 and 3-0 he will be very disappointed to have only take one point so far and needs to get his season up and running sooner rather than later.
Quotes from SkySports:
John Higgins:
“I had good chances in the first three frames and didn’t do anything. Then I was fearing the worst,” Higgins told Sky Sports.
“At 3-0 then I thought Ding would get a bit of confidence and run away with it. Luckily for me I won the last three.
“I’d have loved to have won the match, but I’ve played Ronnie and I’ve played Ding, two of the best players that play this sort of format, so I’m delighted with two points.”
Match Two: Perry edges over the line for dream start
For the second week in a row the Premier League witnessed a stunning debut performance, this time from Championship League winner Joe Perry who managed to defeat the four times defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-2 in the second match of the night.
The match was an intriguing one from the start, first O’Sullivan getting in before Perry was presented with a chance to score heavily. Initially he looked to have got on top of his nerves from the off, cuing well until he missed a simple pink to the left centre. From this point it looked for all the world that O’Sullivan would clear up to take the frame but remarkably he missed a straightforward final pink that allowed Perry to move 1-0 ahead.
This miss appeared to unsettle O’Sullivan who when given a chance early in the second, again made an uncharacteristic error and although Perry needed two chances, breaks of 50 and 55 doubled his advantage.
Frame three was the one where SkySports presenter Andy Goldstein has predicted that O’Sullivan would make a 147 but it turned out to be Perry who would be the one to shine. A very well taken break of 103 not only earned him a £1,000 bonus but had guaranteed his first ever point in the Premier League
Tense finale
Much like Higgins previously though, O’Sullivan was not going to give in easily. In frame four and he capitalised on a mistake from Perry who was looking good until that point before again taking advantage in the next frame with a break of 58 to bring the score back to 3-2.
The deciding frame was to be full of drama however as Perry struggled to close out the match. He was given several frame-winning opportunities but as he has done in the past, he just couldn’t seem to pot the final ball that he needed. But then just as the match appeared to be heading a draw, with just five balls remaining and the white tight against the bottom cushion, Perry managed to pot a simply stunning long green which prompted the immediate concession from O’Sullivan.
His first career victory against Ronnie, that is a great result for Perry, especially given that it was his first match in the competition. Hopefully he will be able to take great confidence from it and perform to the same standard in the upcoming weeks, starting with his next match against Steve Davis next week in Derby.
O’Sullivan meanwhile won’t be unduly concerned, indeed he lost his first two matches last season. That said however, he will be hoping to get his first win of the season under his belt when he meets Ding Junhui on October 9th.
Quotes from Matchroom Sport:
Joe Perry:
“I’m really pleased with that and I didn’t know what to expect from the match,” said Perry.
“Once I won the first frame I started to relax until at the end and I got a bit twitchy. It’s hard to beat Ronnie and this is the first time I’ve ever beaten him in anything but it was hard to get over the line.
“I was a bit nervous in the first frame and got a bit lucky but then went on from there.”
September 18 – The Anvil, Basingstoke
£3,000 – John Higgins 3-3 Ding Junhui – £3,000
43-64, 47(47)-68(39), 46-82(76), 59(57)-15, 68(50c)-58(50), 78(78)-4
£2,000 – Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-4 Joe Perry – £5,000
44-59(40), 6-105(50,55), 0-103(103), 63(38)-47, 90(58)-0, 28-64
For a list of centuries, money earned and the league table, please click here.
To read my tournament preview, please click here.
To read my week one review, please click here.
PartyPoker.com Premier League Snooker 2008: Night Two Preview
Premier League Snooker – Night Two from Basingstoke, SkySports2, 7:30pm
John Higgins v Ding Junhui
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Joe Perry
Following on from last week’s terrific start to the new Premier League season, the circus now moves on the The Anvil in Basingstoke for the second set of matches.
Match One: John Higgins v Ding Junhui
Playing their second match of the tournament so far, both Higgins and Ding will be looking for their first win of the season in order to really get themselves in contention for a play off place.
Having failed to secure a single point in the last four frames of his 4-2 defeat to Mark Selby in Grimsby last week, Ding in particular will be keen to put that behind him and earn his first points of the campaign. In addition with his home tournament at the Shanghai Masters coming up next week, he will want to go into that full of confidence so a win tonight is perhaps even more important than usual.
Higgins meanwhile will be in good spirits following a very creditable 3-3 draw with the four times defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan last week and a semi-final in the Northern Ireland Trophy. Looking comfortable with the shot clock from the very start this season, he will be confident of strengthening his position in the top four and a win against Ding would do him no harm at all.
The match should be a close one as both players when at their best are right among the best in the sport sport today. On current form though you would have to make Higgins favourite to add to his points tally, but you never know with Ding who notched up 13 centuries in this competition last season…
Match Two: Ronnie O’Sullivan v Joe Perry
Having started his Premier League season with that draw with Higgins last week, O’Sullivan will be hot favourite to record his first win against debutant Joe Perry. Indeed this would be his second win of the season over Perry following his 5-3 win in their recent meeting in the last 16 of the Northern Ireland Trophy earlier this month. As if things didn’t look tricky enough for Joe, he will be making his debut in the Premier League and so the conditions (which so far have suited O’Sullivan perfectly), may take some time to get used to.
So what chance has Perry got? He has definitely improved a lot as a player recently, winning the Championship League and reaching his first World semi-final this May. Although not particularly a household name, if he plays to his very best then he is certainly capable of giving O’Sullivan a game and taking a point or two.
Despite this, you cannot help but fancy O’Sullivan to win the match, given his current confidence levels and his liking of the event. Mark Selby showed last week though that a debutant can win straight away against top opposition and if Perry were to follow in his footsteps then it would really be an eye-opener.
Where next for Ding Junhui?
Image supplied by Janie Watkins
With the Shanghai Masters coming up soon, now appears to be the perfect opportunity to consider the career of China’s best ever player Ding Junhui and to consider possible reasons for his recent struggles in ranking events.
Rise to stardom
Having started playing snooker at the age of nine, by the time he was fifteen he was already skilled enough to win the Asian Under 21 championship, Asian Championship and IBSF World under 21 Championship in 2002.
His rapid progress continued on the main tour where having turned professional in 2003, he recorded an impressive win over Joe Perry on his debut at the Wembley Masters in 2004. A year later he remarkably managed to capture his first ranking event title on home soil in China, a victory that significantly raised his profile, and that of snooker full stop in his homeland.
Soon after he managed to show that this was no fluke by winning the UK Championship and Northern Ireland Trophy – all before he reached the age of 20 which was a remarkable achievement, matched only by Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins.
At this point in time I was beginning to think that he could really be in a position to push on and possibly be one of the favourites for the Word Championship that season, maybe even challenging for a place at the very top of the rankings. He appeared to be nerveless, have all the shots required and although he did not always perform in the qualifying matches at Prestatyn, he appeared to have the temperament to handle himself on the big occasions.
Masters 2007
Returning to London for the Wembley Masters, Ding started the tournament in fine form, making his first career 147 in his opening match against Anthony Hamilton before going on to reach the final where he would face local favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan. Despite making a strong start to the match, Ding soon found himself overwhelmed by a combination of O’Sullivan’s incredible play and the boisterous, hostile home crowd. This continued to a point where Ding appeared to have all but given up and in fact tried to concede the match with O’Sullivan still one frame from victory. He continued after the mid-session interval however and his concession was attributed to him thinking that the final was a best of 17 match.
Image supplied by Janie Watkins
This was not the first time that Ding had appeared vulnerable to a partisan crowd however as just three months before during a Premier League match with Jimmy White, he appeared to again struggle to cope with the atmosphere, losing the match 5-1.
Since these defeats Ding just hasn’t looked like quite the same player to me, something borne out by the fact that he has not reached the semi-finals of a ranking event in the last 18 months. Although he remains a member of the top 16, Ding’s temperament has also increasingly looked questionable at times and his opponents have been able to take advantage of this.
What are the possible reasons for this? At 21 he is of course still very young and it cannot be easy to come up against a partisan crowd at Wembley like he did, particularly being in a foreign country halfway across the world from his homeland.
A season and a half has passed since that defeat however and it makes me wonder whether there is a deeper problem at the moment. Could it be that Ding is struggling with the pressure of leading China’s hopes at the very top of the game? The growth and interest in the sport over there is huge at the moment and particularly given his earlier successes, perhaps the levels of expectation placed upon him are causing him problems. Only Ding can answer this but if there is some truth to that theory then hopefully the emergence of Liang Wenbo this year will help to take some of the attention away from him.
The future
At just 21 years old he should still have the best years of his career ahead of him and you don’t simply lose the talent that fired him to those three titles a couple of years ago. Something needs to change however as having made a slow start to this season by losing his opening matches on the ranking circuit and the Premier League, Ding’s confidence will not be high at the moment. A good run in front of his home crowd in the upcoming Shanghai Masters might just give him the lift that he needs, though he will have to play well from the start to defeat the in-form Dave Harold. We shall see.
PartyPoker.com Premier League Snooker: Night One Review
Match One: Sublime Selby earns comeback win
And to think I doubted him, Mark Selby put in arguably the most impressive debut performance that the league has seen whilst in this format to beat Ding Junhui 4-2 and go top of the Premier League.
He didn’t get off to the best of starts however, in what was a scrappy opening for both players. Selby eventually took control of the frame before breaking down on the last red. Following a brief safety exchange, Ding capitalised on a poor safety to take the frame with a break of 30 and lead 1-0.
Selby again got in first at the start of frame two but landed on nothing when he attempted to split the reds. A few shots later and what at the time looked like a key moment took place. Ding managed to put Selby in a very tough snooker behind the green and it appeared to be an ideal time for Selby to use his first ‘time-out’ of the match. He chose not to however and his attempted escape fell way short of the intended red, allowing Ding to come in and take full advantage with a break of 100.
At this point I was wondering whether Selby was indeed struggling to adapt to the shot clock and whether Ding would move on to win comfortably, after all he looked to be cueing well. What followed from Selby however was an absolutely stunning response which erased any doubts about his ability to cope with the 25 second limit.
He quickly drew level with breaks of 86 and 80 before a run of 73 following a missed red from Ding and then a well deserved century in the final frame of the match secured him the points. In truth he could have made a century in each of those four frames but for some poor positional play once the frame was won, though I doubt he will be too worried about that with £5,000 and two points earned tonight.
Selby said:
“I had a few chances to make a century but I’m not complaining – I’m chuffed to bits winning 4-2 on my debut,” said Selby.
“I only played one bad safety in first frame, then he took the second and then I performed. I always try and enjoy it and put on a good performance.
“With the shot clock, I played a little bit quicker than last season so I’ll need to get a bit of exercise in.
“I’ve got to take it one game at a time and Stephen’s record speaks for itself but I’m certainly looking forward to it.”
Ding will be disappointed to have come away from the night with no points but it is early days and he will be hoping to get his campaign back on track when he meets John Higgins next week in Basingstoke. Selby meanwhile now has a week off before he plays seven times world champion Stephen Hendry in Derby.
Match Two: Points shared as Higgins denies the Rocket
In what was a high quality match from the start, the spoils were shared as defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan and Scotland’s John Higgins drew 3-3.
In what was a highly enjoyable start to the match, O’Sullivan thought that he had taken the frame when following a break of 62 he left Higgins needing a snooker. Higgins however had other ideas as he got that snooker and cleared up to force a respot. Eventually it was O’Sullivan who blinked first and left an unmissable shot for Higgins to knock in and take the frame.
Following a break of 83 in the next to put Higgins 2-0 up, it was O’Sullivan’s turn to hit back with breaks of 72 and 85 to level the match. He then went into the lead when Higgins’ break ended at 38 when he missed a tricky long blue that he was forced into taking following a kick on his previous shot.
Lesser players might have given in at this point but Higgins is far too classy for that. He potted a superb long red at the start of the sixth frame and although faced with a number of tricky shots early on in the break, held firm and sealed a point with a run of 74.
Both seemed fairly happy with the result in their post match interview:
“That was a point gained for me as I was 3 -2 behind,” said Higgins. “You’ve got to raise your game against Ronnie as he never misses. You only get in off a bad safety and whenever you leave him a chance it’s game over.
“I’ve not played in the Premier League for a few years, and last year I realized I missed it. It’s a great tournament and everyone’s a great player so you just do your best,” he added.
O’Sullivan said: “It’s a point and at the end of the day I’m not disappointed so we both got out of jail.
As previously mentioned, Higgins now faces Ding Junhui in the next event while O’Sullivan will be up against league debutant Joe Perry.
September 11 – Grimsby Auditorium
£5,000 Mark Selby 4-2 Ding Junhui £3,000
51(43)-64(30), 15-105(100), 86(86)-0, 80(80)-0, 73(73)-0, 104(104)-0
£3,000 Ronnie O’Sullivan 3-3 John Higgins £3,000
63(62)-70(respot black), 1-91(83), 98(72)-0, 85(85)-0, 67(46)-46(38), 0-74(74)
For a list of centuries, money earned and the league table, please click here.