Premier League Snooker – Night Five from The Plymouth Pavillions, SkySports1, 7:30pm
Stephen Hendry v Joe Perry
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Steve Davis
Night five of the Premier League pairs the legend that is Stephen Hendry with second placed Joe Perry, whilst world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan comes up against Steve Davis. Click below for my preview:
Match One: Stephen Hendry v Joe Perry
Coming into the evening having lost his first match 5-1 against Mark Selby, Stephen Hendry is well aware of the need to get back on the winning trail as he told thisisplymouth.co.uk this week:
“It is important for me to get the win over Joe because you cannot afford to let any of the players get away from you,”
“Tonight’s match is going to be tough, as they all are in the competition.
“With the calibre of players taking part, there is no easy matches.
“But because I lost my first match, there is no room for error as far as I am concerned.
“You need to win at least four of the six group six matches to reach the semi-finals and having lost once already, I need to win tomorrow night.”
“I have enjoyed reasonable success in Plymouth and there is usually always a good crowd.”
Stephen’s is not exactly in the best of shape at the moment though as he has lost three of his four ranking event matches so far this season, as well as that match against Selby in Derby. Still, this is another match and another opportunity to give himself a much needed confidence boost ahead of the upcoming tournament in Bahrain.
Joe Perry will be no pushover however as despite it being his debut season, he has started the season with two wins from two and already looks comfortable out there. Despite losing out in Glasgow to Judd Trump last week, Joe’s form has been pretty strong so far and I expect him to pose quite a threat to Hendry this week.
Would not be surprised by a draw here.
Match Two: Ronnie O’Sullivan v Steve Davis
The second match of the evening gives us the biggest contrast of styles that we are likely to see all season in the Premier League. The world number one and lightning quick Ronnie O’Sullivan faces the veteran Steve Davis who will be doing his best to keep the game tactical with his now routine two cushion break-off shot.
O’Sullivan by his own admission has not been playing particularly well so far this season, but with a 6-0 victory against Ding Junhui last time out in this competition he showed that he is more than capable of hammering anyone on his day. The Premier League in particular really suits him with the shot clock and the fact that it is a series of one-off events every other week, so Davis will have to be on his best to stop him.
Can Steve cause an upset? You have to say that it looks unlikely. The only chance that he really has is to try and frustrate O’Sullivan by making the frames messy because he certainly isn’t going to outscore him. Even then though it is a tall order as the world champion’s safety play is much improved these days, as is his patience for such situations.
Still, you never know, it wouldn’t be the first time that Steve has surprised me recently, hopefully the match will be competitive and the nugget will do himself justice. Can’t help but think that O’Sullivan should win though.