Category: Snooker

SHEFFIELD: Former world champion and the current fourth-ranked cueist Ronnie O’Sullivan has outclassed his Scottish counterpart Stephen Maguire 13-5 to book his spot in the semi-finals of the ongoing World Snooker Championship.

The six-times champion Ronnie, who faced Scotland’s Maguire in the quarterfinals, defeated the latter by 13-5 in the Best of 25.

Maguire ranked 24th, started the proceedings with a first frame victory but could not continue as Ronnie responded quickly and won the next six frames to attain an early and decent lead of 6-1.

The Scottish cueist, on the other, did not hold back and bounced back by winning three consecutive frames to cut the margin to 6-4 but only for Ronnie to restore and even extend his lead to 11-4 by winning five frames in a row.

In the 16th frame of the match, Maguire showed last signs of resistance, claiming his fifth and last frame victory of the match as Ronnie then soon won the next two frames to secure a comfortable victory over Maguire 13-4.

With his victory over Maguire, Ronnie has set the world record for most semi-final appearances in World Snooker Championship (13). He also has the chance of levelling Stephen Hendry’s record of seven world titles if he can lift the trophy on Monday.

✅ Record quarter-finalist (20)
✅ Record semi-finalist (13)

Making history one win at a time.@ronnieo147 | @Betfred | #ilovesnooker pic.twitter.com/hbOaJ17ujs

— WST (@WeAreWST) April 27, 2022

 

The English cueist will now face either John Higgins or Jack Lisowski in the semi-final of the championship.

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SHEFFIELD: The English cueist Jack Lisowski pulled off an exceptional comeback to stun the better-ranked and the tournament’s favourite Neil Robertson 13-12 to proceed into the quarter-finals of the ongoing World Snooker Championship, here on Tuesday.

In the second-round fixture, Lisowski, ranked 10th blunted second-ranked Robertson by the scores of 13-12 as the former secured the final frame after Robertson’s maximum break in the Best of 25 and booked a quarter-final berth in the ongoing tournament.

The two cueists remained involved in a see-saw battle, right from the start with Robertson pulling ahead and Lisowski levels and vice-versa. Both the players won four of the first eight frames.

Lisowski then managed to pull ahead as he managed to win three out of the next four frames and earned a decent lead of 7-5.

Robertson, however, responded quickly as he managed to clinch the next frame by scoring a century and cutting the margin to 7-6 only for Lisowski to repeat the same feat and restore his lead to two frames’ advantage.

The two potters then again ran into a see-saw battle in the next four frames, with both winning two each.

With Lisowski moving just three away from the victory, Robertson managed to make an exceptional comeback as he won three consecutive frames including a maximum break in the 19th and took the lead 11-10.

Lisowski, on the other hand, held his nerve calm and denied Robertson’s astonishing comeback and one-frame lead by claiming the 22nd frame. The Australian cueist responded quickly and restored his lead 12-11 with a victory in the next frame.

With the tournament’s favourite Robertson, just one shy of the victory, Lisowski showed determination and played sensibly to win the last two frames to claim the victory by 13-12.

Robertson scored four centuries, while Lisowski three. The former scored the best break of match 147, which came in the 19th frame.

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SHEFFIELD: English Snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan secured a crushing second-round victory as the fourth-ranked cueist thumped the 13th-ranked Mark Allen to book his spot in the quarter-finals of the ongoing World Snooker Championship.

In the second-round fixture, Ronnie thrashed Allen by the scores of 13-4 in the Best of 25 to book a quarterfinal berth in the ongoing tournament.

The first two frames of the match, promised a thriller as Ronnie pulled ahead by winning the first frame and Allen responded with a century in the second to cut the former’s early lead.

Ronnie then showed his class and secured five consecutive frames to attain an early and massive lead over Allen 6-1.

Allen then again looked to bounce back as the Irish cueist claimed the next two frames to cut the margin to 6-3 only for Ronnie to restore and even extend his lead to 10-3 by winning the next four frames.

Allen’s last ray of hope glimmered in the 14th frame as he scored a brilliant century to secure his fourth frame of the game, while Ronnie winning back to back three frames denied any chance of the former’s comeback and the English veteran secured a comprehensive 13-4 victory.

Both the cueists scored two centuries each in the second-round match. Ronnie scored the best break of match 131, which came in the third frame.

In another second-round fixture, Stephen Maguire defeated Zhao Xingtong by 13-9 to make it to the last eight of the tournament.

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SHEFFIELD: The 15th-ranked cueist China’s Yan Bingtao knocked out the defending champion of the World Snooker Championship Mark Selby after a match featuring the longest frame in Crucible history.

In the second-round fixture, Bingtao ranked 15th, blunted the top-ranked Selby by the scores of 13-10 in the Best of 25 to book a quarter-final berth in the ongoing tournament.

The two cueists remained involved in a see-saw battle, right from the start with Selby pulling ahead and Bingtao levels and vice versa. Both the cueists won four of the first eight frames.

Bingtao then took a decent lead 7-4 as he won the next three frames, including a century in the ninth.

Selby, however, responded quickly as he managed to claim three out of the next four frames to cut the margin to 8-7 only for Bingtao to secure victories in the next three frames to extend his lead to 11-7.

With his opponent just two shy away from the victory, Selby looked to retaliate as he copied Bingato; winning three consecutive frames and moving just one short of the Chinese cueist 11-10.

The two cueists then involved a nerve-wracking 22nd frame – the longest in the history of Crucible, lasting 85 minutes and 22 seconds, beating the previous longest by five minutes and 51 seconds.

Bingtao managed to hold his nerve calm to claim the marathon frame by 63-49 before bettering it by scoring a century in the 23rd frame to thump the defending champion Selby 13-10 in the second round.

Bingtao scored three, while Selby scored four centuries in an exciting see-saw battle. Selby scored the best break of match 132, which came in the 12th frame.

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SHEFFIELD: Welsh Snooker player Mark Williams secured a crushing second-round victory as the eighth-ranked cueist thumped the 72nd-ranked Jackson Page to book his spot in the quarter-finals of the ongoing World Snooker Championship.

In the second-round fixture, Williams thrashed Page with a session to spare by the scores of 13-3 in the Best of 25 to become the first one to book a quarterfinal berth in the ongoing tournament.

Williams was off to a flying start as the Welsh cueist secured seven consecutive opening frames to secure an early and massive lead over Page.

The eighth-ranked Williams scored five centuries in the opening seven frames of the match; displaying complete domination over his young opponent.

Page then managed to get to the scoreboard after securing a hard-fought victory in the eighth frame by 73-60.

Williams, fuelled with momentum, won three more frames to extend his lead to 10-1. The 47-years-old Welsh player scored two more centuries in this period.

Page, on the other hand, again tended to fight back as he showed his capabilities by winning a neat 12th frame to cut the margin to 10-2 only for Williams to score two more centuries and move just one short of the victory.

With Williams just one shy from securing the victory, Page showed the sign of retaliation as he claimed his third frame of the match but missed his only century of the match; scoring 99.

Page, however, could not keep his momentum with himself and Williams claimed his 13th frame to secure a second-round triumph to book his place in the quarter-finals.

Williams scored nine centuries in his second match of the World Championship, with the best break of 127, which came in the 14th frame.

SHEFFIELD: Australian cueist and the tournament’s favourite Neil Robertson has defeated the debutant Ashley Hugill by 10-5 to proceed to the second round of the ongoing World Snooker Championship 2022, here on Tuesday.

The world number two Robertson, who faced the Englishman Hugill in his first match of the campaign, defeated the latter by 10-5 in the Best of 19.

The in-form Robertson started his world championship campaign with a century as the second-ranked cueist piled 127 points in the opening frame.

The debutant then bounced back swiftly and took an early lead by claiming the next three frames.

Robertson, however, hit back in devastating fashion as a run of eight frames in a row put him just one short of a comfortable victory.

Hugill then looked to pull things back into his favour by winning the next two frames and cutting the margin to 9-5.

In the 15th frame of the match, the tournament’s favourite Robertson then sealed the victory as the second-ranked scored another century to increase his total match tally to five. His best break of 132 in this match came in the ninth frame.

The 2015 champion Stuart Bingham, on the other hand, also made it to the second round after securing a convincing victory over China’s Lyu Haotian.

ROUND 1 RESULTS

Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-5 David Gilbert
Mark Selby 10-7 Jamie Jones
Jackson Page 10-7 Barry Hawkins
Zhao Xintong 10-2 Jamie Clarke
Stephen Maguire 10-8 Shaun Murphy
Mark Williams 10-3 Michael White
Anthony McGill 10-7 Liam Highfield
Mark Allen 10-6 Scott Donaldson
Neil Robertson 10-5 Ashley Hugill
Stuart Bingham 10-5 Lyu Haotian
Yan Bingtao 10-6 Chris Wakelin

SHEFFIELD: The English cueist Barry Hawkins suffered a first-round exit from the ongoing World Snooker Championship after suffering a shock loss by his Welsh counterpart Jackson Page.

The 90th ranked Page pulled off an upset victory over the ninth-ranked Hawkins by the scores of 10-7 in the Best of 19.

Page was off to a flying start in his first match of the World Championship campaign by winning the first three frames including a century in the first to pull 3-0 ahead of Hawkins.

Hawkins then looked to bounce back but the two remained involved in a see-saw battle in the next four frames as both managed to claim two each.

Page’s momentum carried him to a century in the eighth frame, extending his lead to 6-2, only for Hawkins to win three straight frames and cut the margin to 6-5, including a thrilling ninth frame.

In the next four frames, the two engaged in another see-saw struggle, each winning two frames, with Hawkins scoring a century in the 13th frame.

Page then held his nerve calm and scored back to back centuries in the next two frames with his best break of 135 in the 17th frame to secure a stunning victory over the better-ranked Hawkins by 10-7.

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SHEFFIELD: Welsh Snooker player Mark Williams secured a convincing first-round victory as the eighth-ranked cueist thumped the unseeded Michael White to book his spot in the last 16 of the ongoing World Snooker Championship.

The world number eight Williams, who faced his countryman White in his first match of the campaign, defeated the latter by 10-3 in the Best of 19.

Williams dominated White right from the start as the veteran secured seven opening frames including three centuries with the best break of 138 in the fifth frame.

White then looked to bounce back by winning the next two frames to reduce the lead to 7-2. Williams, on the other hand, responded with a century in the 10th frame as he finished at 104. He then scored 99 in the 11th frame to restore his lead to 9-2.

With Williams just one shy from securing the victory, White showed the sign of fightback as he claimed his third frame of the match with his first century of the championship.

White, however, could not keep his momentum with himself and Williams claimed his 10th frame to secure a first-round triumph with his fifth century in the match.

In another first-round fixture, the 13th ranked Anthony McGill secured a comprehensive 10-7 victory over the 43rd-ranked Liam Highfield.

In a see-saw battle between the two cueists, the Scottish McGill held his nerve calm to claim a comprehensive victory by 10-7 in the end.

McGill could not score any century in his first match of the World Championship, with the best break of 71, which came in the 5th frame.

ROUND 1 RESULTS

Mark Williams 10-3 Michael White
Anthony McGill 10-7 Liam Highfield
Mark Allen 10-6 Scott Donaldson

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SHEFFIELD: The top-ranked cueists Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby beat David Gilbert and Jamie Jones respectively in the first round to further proceed in the ongoing World Snooker Championship 2022.

The world number one Ronnie, who faced Gilbert in his first match of the campaign, defeated the latter by 10-5 in the Best of 19.

The 19th ranked Gilbert was off to a flying start as the English cueist secured the first three frames by the scores of 129, 94, and 65.

Ronnie, on the other hand, responded swiftly and scored a century in the fourth frame to reduce the lead to 3-1. He then claimed the next two frames by 73-35 and 96-23 to level the scores at 3-3.

Fuelled with momentum, the top-ranked cueist claimed three more frames including a century in the seventh frame to take the lead 6-3.

Gilbert then looked to bounce back and shone in the next two frames to reduce the lead to 6-5 only for Ronnie to claim the next four frames and the victory. The top-ranked scored two more centuries in the 12th and 14th frames to increase the total match tally to four.

The second-ranked Selby, on the other hand, defeated the 37th-ranked Jones by 10-7 in the Best of 19.

In a see-saw battle between the two cueists, the veteran Selby held his nerve calm to claim a comprehensive victory by 10-7 in the end.

Selby scored three centuries in his first match of the World Championship, with the best break of 137, which came in the 15th frame.

ROUND 1 RESULTS

Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-5 David Gilbert
Mark Selby 10-7 Jamie Jones
Jackson Page 10-7 Barry Hawkins
Zhao Xintong 10-2 Jamie Clarke
Stephen Maguire 10-8 Shaun Murphy

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BUCKINGHAMSHIRE: The American pool player Shane Van Boening has beaten Albin Ouschan to win the recently concluded World Pool Championship, here on Sunday.

The 38-years-old pool player managed to seal the first world championship and became only the first American to lift the title after his countryman Earl Strickland in 2002.

Van Boening displayed a dominant performance; wrapping up the final with 13-6
to claim his maiden world title. The American cueist left his Australian counterpart Ouschan with very few opportunities.

Ouschan, who was attempting to emulate Earl Strickland and become only the second player in history to defend his title and win it three times, fell short as Van Boening proved unstoppable.

The victory puts Van Boening in a strong position to retain his spot in the Team USA Mosconi Cup, this November 30-3 December in Las Vegas.

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