Category: Snooker

Spain blunt Singapore 11-6 to lift their maiden Pool World Cup trophy

Posted on by A Sports

BRENTWOOD: Spain have won the 2022 World Cup of Pool, winning the competition for the first time as the pair of David Alcaide and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz defeated team Singapore in the final 11-6.

In the final of the mega event between Spain and Singapore, the Spaniard pair of Alcaide and Sanchez sealed a comprehensive 11-6 triumph over the latter team, comprised of Aloysius Yapp and Toh Lian Han in the Best of 21.

The Spaniards had a rather shaky start as they made a few errors, which luckily did not cost them much as they managed to carry on and pulled ahead to take an early 2-0 lead.

Ruiz broke dry in the third frame which provided Singapore with an opportunity to claim their opening rack but Yapp, who left no angle for Lian Han allowed the Spaniards to keep the break in their hands at 3-0 and soon 4-0.

Team Singapore, on the other hand, finally found fortune in the fifth rack as Alcaide fouled when jumping to make the three. Lian Han and Yapp then pounced on the opportunity and cut the initial deficit to three before reducing it to two after the sixth.

Han’s safety error was poor in the seventh as Ruiz and Alcaide capitalized on the former’s mistake to restore their lead to three before reaching the halfway stage at 6-2.

In the next rack, Yapp attempted an ambitious two-nine combo but failed. The US Open runner-up, however, then made an expert jump to pot it before clearing up the table with Lian Han to be 6-3 back.

In the 10th rack, Lian Han broke dry and allowed the Spaniards to keep the break in their hands as they move to seven. The next rack returned the opposite turn of fortune for the side as Alcaide failed to pot on his break and Singapore cut the deficit to 7-4.

The Singaporean duo then marked an inspirational comeback in the next two racks to move within one to Spain’s lead 7-6.

Yapp’s error in the next frame, however, as the three kissed the cue ball into the top left pocket, allowed the Spaniards to run away with the frame.

The duo of Alcaide and Sanchez then made Singapore regret the error and soon reached the hill by claiming three consecutive racks. Ruiz then broke in the 17th rack to leave a beautiful 2-9 combo to seal a special victory for Spain.

 

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Pool World Cup: Netherlands knock out the defending champion Germany

Posted on by A Sports

BRENTWOOD: The Netherlands have eased through to knock out the defending champion Germany in the second-round encounter and excelled into the quarters of the ongoing World Cup of Pool.

In the second-round match between Netherlands and Germany, the Dutch pair of Marc Bijsterbosch and Niels Feijen sealed a comprehensive 7-4 triumph in the Best of 13.

German’s pair of UK Open and the World Pool Masters winner Joshua Filler and former world champion Thorsten Hohmann – the favourites of the tournament – started their world cup campaign on a high with a win over New Zealand. The pair, however, failed to become the first nation to defend the title as they lost to the Netherlands in the second round.

The defending champions started the match on a high as they took an early 3-1 lead after displaying solid command while playing the first four racks.

The dutch pair then wasted no time and quickly bounced back in the next two racks to level the scores at 3-3.

Team Netherlands, fuelled with momentum further carried their dominance and moved within two racks from the triumph.

Hohmann’s special in the ninth rack, however, kept the game alive for the defending champions as he trumped the snooker with a jump shot and potted the one home. The German pair then excelled through and went on to claim their fourth rack to cut Netherland’s lead to 5-4.

The defending champions, who appeared to have gained momentum from the last rack, potted seven balls home before Hohmann missed on the eight and ended up leaving the open table for Bijsterbosch and Feijen.

The Dutch pair then continued their dominance in the 11th rack and sealed a comprehensive 7-4 victory over the defending champions.

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Pool World Cup: Switzerland edge past Japan in a hill-hill thriller

Posted on by A Sports

BRENTWOOD: The Swiss pair of Dimitri Jungo and Ronald Regli held their nerves calm to claim the hill-hill thriller against the team Japan of Naoyuki Oi and Masato Yoshioka 7-6 to advance into the second round of the ongoing World Cup of Pool.

In a modern-day classic, the Swiss pair displayed character and claimed a narrow 7-6 victory over Japan.

The Swiss duo of Jungo and Regli found themselves in trouble earlier in the game as the Japanese pair pulled ahead with a 2-0 lead, in no time.

The Japanese pair then made costly mistakes in the third rack and allowed the opposition to take advantage and got their first point.

Team Switzerland then completely dominated the next two frames and took the lead 3-2 for the first time in the thrilling contest.

The two sides then got involved in a see-saw battle and could not be separated even after 12 frames as they were levelled at hill-hill 6-6.

 

The Swiss pair then held their nerves calm in the final rack and excelled Switzerland in the Round 2 of the World Cup, where they will face Hungary for the quarter-final spot.

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South Africa crush Thailand in the opening round of Pool World Cup

Posted on by A Sports

BRENTWOOD: The South African pair of Jason Theron and Kyle Akaloo outclassed the team Thailand of Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Noppon Saengkham 7-3 to advance into the second round of the ongoing World Cup of Pool.

In the first-round match, the South African pair displayed domination and claimed a thumping 7-3 victory over the Wildcard entrant.

The snooker duo of Un-Nooh and Saengkhan found themselves in trouble earlier in the game as the South African pulled ahead with a 2-0 lead.

The match followed the same pattern in the next two frames as the Proteas continued their domination to move within three frames to the victory.

Team Thailand, however, finally found their luck in the fifth frame as they registered their first rack on the board. The snooker duo got themselves going in the next three frames as they registered two of them to cut the South African lead to 6-3.

The South African pair, however, remained unaffected by team Thailand’s resistance as they sealed their seventh rack to clinch the victory in an hour and four minutes.

 

Following their resounding victory over Thailand, team South Africa excelled into Round 2 where they will lock horns with the Great Britain B.

ROUND 1 RESULTS

Germany 7-1 New Zealand
Netherlands 7-1 Morocco
Chinese Taipei 7-2 Argentina
Greece 7-4 Cyprus
Great Britain B 7-0 Great Britain A
Albania 7-2 Italy
Spain 7-1 Australia
Finland 7-1 Austria
Estonia 7-6 Serbia
Kuwait 7-5 Vietnam
Singapore 7-3 Qatar
Hungary 7-4 Czech Republic
Poland 7-4 Hong Kong, China
United States of America 7-1 Canada

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Mohammad Asif earns professional card at Asia-Oceania Q School

Posted on by A Sports

BANGKOK: Pakistan’s veteran cueist Mohammad Asif has earned a professional card from the World Snooker Tour (WST) following his comprehensive victory over his countrymate Asjad Iqbal in the semi-final of the Q School 1 Asia & Oceania, here on Sunday.

The two-time IBSF World Amateur Champion – Asif locked horns with his fellow cueist Asjad in the semi-final in a bid to earn the professional card from the WST. The snooker player displayed his brilliance in the all-important final defeating the latter by 4-2 in a Best of 7.

In the semi-final, Asif quickly pulled ahead as he claimed the first frame by the scores of 72-28. Asjad, on the other hand, did not hold back as he claimed the next to cut the lead.

The match again followed the same pattern till the fourth frame as Asif pulled ahead and Asjad levelled at 2-2.

The former IBSF champion then roared back to claim the next two frames and clinched the victory, which earned him a professional card for two years.

 

Following this achievement, Asif will now be able to compete in the World Snooker Tour for 2022/2023 and 2023/2024. He has also become just the first Pakistani player to earn a professional card.

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‘I didn’t come to equal Hendry’s record but to play Snooker’ O’Sullivan

Posted on by A Sports

SHEFFIELD: The seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan claimed that he did not come to Crucible to equal Stephen Hendry’s record but to play the snooker.

The newly crowned world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, who equalled Hendry’s record of seven world championships following his 18-13 victory against Judd Trump in the final of the World Snooker Championship 2022, claimed he did not think about equalling Hendry’s record.

“I didn’t really feel like the favourite to win. I doubted myself a little bit, so to finally get a result like I did is special,” O’Sullivan said.

“Honestly, it [the record] has never been something on my mind. I didn’t come here to equal Stephen Hendry’s record, I came here to play snooker and to be honest I found it very, very tough,” he added.

 

O’Sullivan also shared the story behind his emotional moment with Trump after securing his seventh world title, saying the latter said some words which made me realize what this meant to him.

“I’ve grown up with Judd, we’ve shared a lot of time on the practice tables so to hear the words he said to me afterwards, I didn’t realise what that meant to him. It was nice to hear I was part of his development and it was a special moment – he choked me up,” he shared.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Englishman O’Sullivan, with his triumph in the recently concluded World Snooker Championship 2022, has finally managed to level with his childhood hero Hendry, who won his seventh world title in 1999.

The 46-years-old also produced more century breaks than any other in World Championships history.

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Trump seals a thriller to set World Snooker Championship final with Ronnie

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SHEFFIELD: The 2019 world champion Judd Trump secured a thrilling 17-16 victory over the three-time champion Mark Williams and stormed into the final of the ongoing World Snooker Championship, here on Saturday.

In a thrilling semi-final of the championship, the charismatic Trump outpowered the experienced Williams by the scores of 17-16 in the Best of 33.

The see-saw battle between the two cueists went right down to the wire, as Trump won the decider frame to complete a close victory over Williams.

The two potters remained involved in a tug of war throughout the match with Trump pulling ahead and Williams level or vice-versa.

In the last two frames, Williams was just one shy away from the victory but Trump secured the last two hard-fought frames to book his spot in the final.

Trump scored five centuries, including eight fifty-plus breaks. Williams, however, scored the best break (137) of the match in the 18th frame.

The 32-years-old English cueist Trump will be up against his countryman Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final of the championship.

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Ronnie thumps Higgins to secure World Snooker Championship final berth

Posted on by A Sports

SHEFFIELD: The six-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan defeated the four-time champion, John Higgins, in the semi-final of the ongoing World Snooker Championship, here on Saturday.

In an epic semi-final between the two players from the Class of 92′, the English cueist Ronnie emerged victorious as he sealed a comprehensive 17-11 victory over Higgins in the Best of 33.

The eventful second semi-final rolled into action with Higgins taking off flamboyantly with a three frames advantage. Ronnie, on the other hand, was quick to respond as he soon levelled the scores at 3-3 after the first six frames including a century in the sixth.

Higgins took the lead in the seventh frame, but Ronnie came back to tie the game and then went on to lead 5-4 after sinking back-to-back centuries.

The see-saw battle between the two veterans continued as they were both tied up 6-6 after 12 frames. The English potter then pulled ahead 10-6 by claiming four consecutive frames and pushed Higgins on the backfoot.

For the next six games, the two cueists engaged in another tug of war, each winning three frames to bring the score to 13-9. Ronnie converted his century in the 19th frame into a hat-trick as he captured a couple of more frames to go within two frames of clinching the match.

With Ronnie just two frames shy of winning, Higgins attempted to retaliate as he claimed the 25th frame but only for the Rocket to claim the next one and go within one frame. The next two frames followed the same procedure and Ronnie beat Higgins 17-11 to advance to his eighth Crucible final.

The 46-years-old is now just one win away from levelling the record of Stephen Hendy for winning the most World Championship – seven.

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Trump blunts Bingham to reach World Snooker Championship semis

Posted on by A Sports

SHEFFIELD: The 2019 champion and the current second-ranked cueist Judd Trump outclassed his countryman Stuart Bingham 13-8 in the quarter-finals of the ongoing World Snooker Championship to make it to the last four of the championship.

The exciting see-saw battle between the two countrymen started on a high as Bingham and Trump scored centuries in the first and the second frames of the match respectively.

Trump, on the other hand, secured a close but an early advantage, as he led Bingham by 4-2 after the first six frames.

Bingham then shone in the seventh frame with another century and cut the margin to 4-3 only for Trump to respond quickly to restore the lead with two frames advantage after eight frames 5-3.

In the next session, Bingham levelled and then took the lead as he won five consecutive frames to go 8-5 over Trump.

Bingham’s triumph in five consecutive frames did not halt Trump much as he turned the game on its head by winning eight back to back frames in response to claim a comprehensive victory 13-8.

The 2019 champion Trump will be up against the three-time champion Mark Williams in one of the semi-finals of the tournament. Williams booked his semi-final spot after beating Yan Bingtao 13-11. Whereas, two former champions Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins will lock horns for the final spot.

 

Bingham scored three centuries, while Trump scored one. The former also scored the best break of match 106, which came in the seventh frame.

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Higgins beat Lisowski in a thriller to set semi-final clash with Ronnie

Posted on by A Sports

SHEFFIELD:  The Scottish Snooker player John Higgins secured a hard-fought victory as the fifth-ranked cueist edged past the 10th-ranked Jack Lisowski to book his semi-final clash with his English counterpart Ronnie O’Sullivan in the ongoing World Snooker Championship.

The four-time world champion Higgins experienced another tough competition in the championship as he had to fight hard to claim the quarter-final victory by defeating Lisowski 13-12 in the Best of 25.

With the scores levelled at 12-12, Higgins held his nerves calm and brought his experience into play as the veteran secured the deciding frame by the scores of 72-18.

The two cueists remained involved in a see-saw battle with Lisowski pulling ahead and Higgins levels and vice-versa.

In the last two frames, Lisowski was just one shy away from the victory but Higgins scored a brilliant century in the 24th frame before following up with an important 72 to book his spot in the semi-finals.

Higgins scored three centuries, including ten fifty-plus breaks and the best of them (123) came in the ninth frame.

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