Uncategorized – Pro Snooker Blog

Today marked the start of the second ranking event of the season as the qualifiers got underway in Prestatyn once again.

Good day for PIOS Graduates

Of the eight players to qualify for the main tour via the PIOS last season, six have managed to progress into round two. The first was Leeds based cueman Kuldesh Johal who took his second victory of the season with a 5-3 win over the 2008 EBSA European Champion David Grace. His reward is a meeting with former World semi-finalist Andy Hicks for a place in round three tomorrow morning.

One of the most emphatic victories of the day however went to last season’s PIOS runner-up Peter Lines who managed to whitewash Welshman Andrew Pagett 5-0. The score is perhaps slightly harsh on Pagett, many of the frames being tight affairs with both players scoring in every frame, but Lines was ultimately well worth the win. He will now face Rod Lawler in the next round for the right to face Dave Gilbert later in the week.

The other winners from the PIOS group were the 2007 Paul Hunter Scholarship winner Daniel Wells, Paul S Davison and Matthew Couch who recorded a very impressive 5-1 win against Liu Chuang, the player who gave Ronnie O’Sullivan a fright in the first round of this year’s World Championship.

Bad day for veterans

Less impressive today were the results of Stefan Mazrocis and Patrick Wallace who both slumped to 5-1 defeats against their younger opponents. Mazrocis, the Dutchman famous for defeating Peter Ebdon in the first round of the 1997 World Championship, was soundly beaten by Newcastle’s’s Stephen Craigie despite making a strong start with a break of 73. Craigie, described by Snooker Scene assistant editor Dave Hendon as someone who “could prove a handful” hit back by taking the next five frames and secured the first of what will surely be many victories on the main tour.

Wallace, like Mazrocis a former World quarter-finalist also suffered his second defeat from two matches this season, losing to China’s Jin Long. Long, back on the tour for a fourth time, opened the match in some style with a break of 116 and never really looked back, making three further breaks over 50. His reward is a clash with Irishman Joe Delaney in round 2.

Best of the rest

The second whitewash of the day was handed out by Matt Selt who responded to the recent controversy surrounding him in the best possible way. His 5-0 victory over the struggling Michael Georgiou is his second win of the season and included a high break of 112 in what was a dominant performance.

The highest break of the day however went to England’s Lee Spick who notched up 130 in a 5-1 win over Declan Hughes.

Today’s results in full:

Round One

James McBain 5-2 Aditya Mehta 063(60)-15, 75(43)-45(45), 26-83(53), 121(121)-1, 74(61)-62(62), 43-78(59), 60-54

Peter Lines 5-0 Andrew Pagett 56-24, 88(68)-6, 77(69)-32, 64-43, 67-16

Daniel Wells 5-3 Wayne Cooper 67(67)-16, 7-113(42,58), 63-24, 43-67(42), 86-37, 80(76)-0, 47-60, 71(51)-17

Lee Spick 5-1 Declan Hughes 75(62)-48, 130(130)-7, 63-20, 62-42, 31-73(38), 104(36,36)-10

Rodney Goggins 2-5 Andy Lee 67(50)-39, 46-62, 68-55(46), 53-58(35), 22-84(40), 16-48, 7-69(49)

Jamie Jones 2-5 Li Hang 13-76(68), 45-67, 1-75(75), 29-64, 75(72)-13, 65(39)-19, 38-53

Scott MacKenzie 2-5 Robert Stephen 14-97(35,36), 70-7, 102(96)-14, 54(41)-73, 23-62, 55-60, 34-59(43)

Kuldesh Johal 5-3 David Grace 43-58, 100(31)-29, 15-62(36), 85(65)-22, 71(58)-8, 71(30)-29, 40-63, 62(49)-8

Patrick Wallace 1-5 Jin Long 0-116(116), 18-81(66), 20-76(69), 66-9, 52-75(63), 41(35)-60(47)

Stephen Craigie 5-1 Stefan Mazrocis 17-77(36), 73(73)-0, 63-31, 66(42)-48, 53(43)-17, 68-40

Lewis Roberts 1-5 Atthasit Mahitthi 73(39)-76(38), 81(66)-14, 37-72(54), 41-67(33), 16-73(73), 6-73(50)

Supoj Saenla 2-5 Vinnie Muldoon 28-67, 31-66, 61(38)-48(48), 43-58, 11-86(73), 69-0, 16-42

Paul S Davison 5-1 Chris McBreen 64(41)-51(43), 34-60(43), 78(36,34)-41, 60(60)-1, 82(61)-0, 66-18

Matt Selt 5-0 Michael Georgiou 58-19, 129(112)-0, 71(47)-29, 63-5%(55), 68(38)-60(38)

Matt Couch 5-1 Liu Chuang 81(430-47(34), 83(37,46)-8, 53-27, 16-72(38), 50-36, 58-28

Simon Bedford – BYE

Rankings Watch – Post Northern Ireland Trophy

In the first instalment of what will become a regular feature on this blog following each ranking event, it is time to analyse where last week’s results leave the latest provisional rankings.

The top three

It might still be very early in the season but following Ronnie O’Sullivan’s 21^st ranking event victory, this time culminating in a comfortable 9-3 win over Dave Harold, it is apparent that he already appears to be in an extremely strong position when it comes to retaining his number one ranking for the 2009/2010 season. With a lead of 6,225 points over second place Stephen Maguire and 10,300 points over Shaun Murphy in third, barring the wheels totally coming off this season then it is hard to imagine him being caught.

Speaking of Maguire, his quarter-final place consolidates his second place and gives him a comfortable lead over Shaun Murphy who falls further behind the top two following his early exit to Mark Williams. Following a 4-0 win over Mark Selby in the Final of the Paul Hunter Classic yesterday however, he will surely be confident of going on a better run over the next few events.

Fight for fourth

A bit further back is where the real interest is though, with just 1,800 points separating Mark Selby, Ali Carter, Ryan Day and Joe Perry. Given the strong form of all four players towards the end of last season it will be intriguing to see how this battle unfolds over the course of 2008/9. Carter appears to have kept the momentum from his first World final going into the new season so perhaps he will be the one to watch. Marco Fu is not far behind either and certainly capable of going on a good run.

The old and the new

A bit further back are a mix of legends and some of the most talented young players on the tour. John Higgins, Stephen Hendry, Mark Allen, Mark Williams, and Ding Junhui take us down to 13^th with Dave Harold on the back of his Northern Ireland final at his highest position in years in 14^th. On recent form I am tipping Mark Allen to be the one to watch from this group as it is surely only a matter of time before a player with his potential takes the next step and is a regular face in the latter end of the ranking events. Would not be surprised to see him win an event this season…

Who else?

Who else is worth flagging up then? 2002 World Champion Peter Ebdon sits perilously in 15^th now and he will be keen to go on a good run sooner or later. Despite never being to bring out his best form in the best of nine matches, his 5-0 defeat to Liang Wenbo last week was a very disappointing result to say the least. Without really going deep in a tournament since his brilliant victory in the 2006 UK Championship, it will be interesting to see whether he can recapture that old form that made him so difficult to beat when at his best.

Current World number 10 Neil Robertson will be hoping to bounce back from a hugely disappointing 2007/8 season and get back to the form that won him two ranking titles previously, but the early signs were not good in Northern Ireland. A disappointing defeat to the dangerous Ian McCulloch leaves him 23^rd in the provisional rankings, his lowest position in a number of years. Hopefully he will pick up his form soon enough because an on-form Robertson would be great for snooker.

Of the other players to recently fall out of the top 16, Stephen Lee’s run to the last 16 this week puts him up to 27^th while Ken Doherty, Matthew Stevens and Steve Davis remain on the fringes of the top 32 following the tournament. It is imperative for these guys to win their opening qualifying matches as much as possible this year as the difference between winning and losing in most events is 875 points, not an insignificant amount with the field as close as it is. In order to get back into the top 16 though they will probably need a run deep into an event, but with a favourable draw all are more than capable of doing that. Graeme Dott further back in 44^th place provisionally needs more than one however, following his nightmare season last time around.

Finally, Jimmy White’s highly impressive run to the TV stages in Northern Ireland moves him up six places to 59^th, crucially inside the top 64 bracket that would secure him a place on the main tour for another season. Still very early days but if he can have similar runs in another couple of tournaments, he’ll have every chance of remaining there. With the Shanghai qualifiers starting tomorrow we will soon see…

Number 1 points: 34,700

Number 16 points: 15,475

Number 32 points: 10,969

Number 48 points: 8,563

Number 64 points: 6,176