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Snooker

At the beginning of this month, snooker legend Stephen Hendry came out of retirement after eight years and accepted an invitational tour card to compete on the World Snooker Tour for at least the next two seasons. Previously, the seven-time world champion, who is nicknamed "King of Crucible" and "Emperor of Snooker," spoke to Sports Scene's Wang Dong.

The 51-year-old retired in 2012, having slipped out of the World Championship at the quarter-final stage, and also making a 147 break in the event that year. Hendry felt that he might have played longer, but he left public because he wasn't playing well enough to win. "For me, the whole pleasure of playing snooker is to win, when I didn't have the success, I didn't enjoy that much," Hendry said in the interview.

Even though the Scot has been away from playing on the main circuit, he has remained around the game as his passion remains in the sport. He's working as a commentator and ambassador for snooker around the world, especially in China. He emphasized that China is one of his favorite places and a big part of his career. He also gave thanks to all his Chinese fans for their support, saying he was flattered by the nickname "Emperor of Snooker." ;)
 
Welshman Ryan Day began the 2020-21 season with a maximum 147 break on the opening day.

The effort helped the 40-year-old beat England's Rod Lawler 3-1 in group two at the Championship League in Milton Keynes.
It was the second maximum of Day's career, the first coming in 2014 at the Haining Open.

Day's fellow Welshmen Mark Williams, Matthew Stevens and Jamie Jones have also achieved the feat.

He and Williams are the only Welshmen to have twice scored 147 while Day will face Stevens later on Sunday at Stadium MK. ;)
 
Sunday 13 Sep 2020 01:28PM

Ryan Day made the second maximum break of his career on the opening day of the BetVictor Championship League in Milton Keynes.

Such a perfect Day…
Day’s perfect break came in the last frame of his opening match against Rod Lawler at the first ranking event of the 2020/21 season. Having earlier compiled runs of 76 and 51 in taking a 2-1 lead, Day rounded off a 3-1 victory in the best possible fashion.
The 40-year-old Welshman made his first 147 at the 2014 Haining Open. Today’s maximum is the 158th in snooker history.
World number 37 Day will also face Matthew Stevens and Paul Davison today as he aims to top the group and make it through to the second phase in October. ;)
 
Barry Hawkins and Robert Milkins will join Judd Trump and Ryan Day in Group A of Stage Two of BetVictor Championship League Snooker after winning their respective groups at Stadium MK on Monday.
Hawkins’ progression was confirmed after his first two matches in Group Four thanks to wins over Ben Hancorn (3-0) and Jackson Page (3-1). He faced Sam Craigie last but lost 3-1, which meant the Newcastle potter finished undefeated in second on five points having drawn with both Hancorn and Page.
Hancorn was making his professional debut but finished bottom of the group despite notching up two draws, while Page took third by virtue of having a better frame difference.
Hawkins said: “You never know what to expect with the short format but I got off to a good start and won my first two games and can look forward to coming back for the next stage.
“It’s pleasing to top the group. It’s the first tournament of the season, so nice to get off to a good start. It would have been nice to win all the matches in the group but Sam Craigie played fantastic snooker in the last match so I have no complaints.
“It is an unbelievable job that has been done to get the calendar in place. So many people are losing their jobs so we are lucky to have some playing opportunities and a full calendar up until Christmas.” ;)
 
The fifth and sixth group winners booked their spots in the next phase of the competition.




Dominic Dale and Zhou Yuelong made it through to the second phase of the Championship League on Tuesday at the Marshall Arena.


After beating Louis Heathcote 3-0 and drawing 2-2 with Stephen Maguire, Dale knew that a victory over Leo Fernandez in his last round-robin fixture would see him qualify in top spot.

The latter had a 100% record following his opening two ties so needed only a point to progress, but a close battle ended with Dale taking the final frame for a 3-1 victory.


In Group 6, it was an even tighter affair as three out of the four contenders were separated by just a single point.


After the final round of matches both finished all-square, it was Zhou Yuelong who managed to survive on frame difference.


Tour rookie Zhao Jianbo missed out by a single frame, while the more experienced Ricky Walden finished in third place ahead of Gerard Greene.


Dale and Zhou have to wait several weeks before rejoining the action in this event, with the winners of several more first-stage groups yet to be determined. ;)
 
The seventh and eighth players to reach phase two of the competition were confirmed on Wednesday.




Shaun Murphy won all three of his round-robin fixtures to win Group 8 of the Championship League in Milton Keynes.
The “Magician” wasn’t at his free-scoring best but had enough to see off the challenge of tour rookie Peter Devlin in his first match.
Murphy matched the 3-0 scoreline in his next bout against world seniors champion Jimmy White, shifting through the gears with breaks of 111, 70, and 76.
With Martin O’Donnell also winning his first two matches in the group, a head-to-head between the English pair ensued for the right to continue in the tournament.
However, boosted by a superior frame difference, Murphy only required two frames to advance, and he recovered from an early 1-0 deficit to secure a 3-1 victory.
Murphy was limping as a result of a recurring foot issue, but he didn’t let that hinder his on-table performance. ;)
 
David Gilbert won the final frame of his group decider against Lu Ning to advance to Stage Two of BetVictor Championship League Snooker at Stadium MK on Thursday.


The world number 11 had earlier beaten Aaron Hill 3-1 and drawn 2-2 with Xu Si. China’s Lu matched those results, which meant their end-of-day clash was a straight shootout to top the group. Gilbert had the highest break of the pair, meaning he would advance in the event of a draw, unless his 98 was beaten by Lu.


The Chinese star fell 1-0 behind but responded with a 70 break to level before taking the lead in the third. He then had a golden opportunity to advance, but a missed blue left the door open for Gilbert, who closed with a 77 to progress.


“I’m very lucky to get through, I didn’t play very well,” admitted Gilbert. “We had so long off and then I put a lot of effort into the World Championship so to go out first round, I was devastated.


“I had a bit of time off and it took me a while to get back into it but I’ve practised hard the last couple of weeks and have been looking forward to getting my cue out. My attitude was terrible today so I really need to have a word with myself.” ;)
 
Twelve players have now made it beyond the first phase of the competition in Milton Keynes.




Stuart Bingham won all nine of his frames to safely book his place in the last 32 of the Championship League on Friday.
The Englishman featured in Group 12 alongside countryman James Cahill as well as Chinese duo Yuan Sijun and Pang Junxu.
But the world number 13 was barely tested as he whitewashed each opponent with 3-0 scorelines to top the standings on nine points.
Bingham triumphed in the 2015 Championship League when it was previously held as an invitational event on the calendar.
The current Masters champion joins the likes of Judd Trump, Barry Hawkins, Shaun Murphy, and David Gilbert in the next round, which will take place at the end of October.
Elsewhere, Xiao Guodong emerged from a much tighter Group 18 as the winner with seven points ahead of Hossein Vafaei.
The latter held the upper hand going into the final bout of fixtures, and with six points to Xiao’s four the Iranian only needed a draw from their encounter.
But Xiao triumphed by taking all three frames with the aid of a 79 break to advance beyond the opening hurdle.
There are 32 first-round groups, with the first 16 this week and the remaining ones taking place in a second eight-day stretch at the end of September and into October.
The 32 group winners will contest another round-robin phase, and the process will continue until the final two group winners face off against each other for the trophy.
For the first time in the tournament’s history, the Championship League has been upgraded and now boasts ranking event status.
On Saturday, 2019 runner-up Jack Lisowski and March’s beaten finalist Graeme Dott are among those who will be entering the fray. ;)
 
Dennis Taylor was ready to quit snooker the year before he became world champion because of the death of his mum.
He tells a new BBC Northern Ireland documentary he had a “terrific childhood” and a particularly special bond with his mother Annie.
“My older brother passed away and it sort of broke her heart, then I arrived, so it was a great comfort to her,” he says
Dennis walked out of a tournament in Newcastle in 1984 after taking a phonecall saying that his mum had died back home in Coalisland, Co Tyrone.
“I got the devastating news about my mum, who was only 62. I can’t even remember who rang me,” he recalls.

“She’d got terrible back pains through the night... it was a massive heart attack.


“You’re in a total daze. You just couldn’t believe (what had happened).


“That’s where everything sort of changed in my life, you’d have to say. It was just a devastating time.


“I didn’t want to play in anything after that. I didn’t want to be involved in snooker again. I’d no interest in it, that’s for sure.”


A week before her death, his mum had told him of her wish for him to win a first title — and after some persuasion from his wife and father, Dennis decided to resume his career.

It was a decision that paid off handsomely, with Dennis going on to become world champion — helped by the player having conversation with his mother in his head.


“My family talked me into playing in the Grand Prix, so I decided I’d go and play for my mum,” the 71-year-old explains.


“I was there chatting away to my mum while I was playing, so that sort of saw me through that tournament.


“It was incredible — that’s the best snooker I’ve ever played.


“After the news I got about my mum, to this day I haven’t worried about anything. It sort of helps you to cope with everything.”


Dennis followed up that success with one of snooker’s most famous finals: the 1985 showdown with Steve Davis that went all the way to the final frame and ended in a back ball fight.


The gripping encounter is still the most watched post-midnight show in TV history, with 18.5 million people staying up to see if the underdog Tyrone man could complete an incredible comeback.


Dennis did not let the viewers down, holding his nerve to sink the winning pot before famously raising his cue aloft and wagging his finger for the television cameras in celebration.


“All the years of trying to become a world champion, all the emotion... everything came out,” he says.


“That was one for my mum as well. She was still there helping me.


“I had my mum there to chat to. That helped to keep me relaxed throughout that final game.


“Finally I had done it. To lift the world championship trophy, there’s no better feeling in the world.” ;)
 
Mark Selby drew 2-2 with Lyu Haotian in the Championship League on Sunday night but was able to take a 3-1 win against Brandon Sargeant in an earlier match up.
Selby also defeated Ireland’s Fergal O’Brien by the same scoreline. While, Sergeant and O’Brien played out a 2-2 draw, and Haotian beat O’Brien himself 3-0, and drew 2-2 with Sargeant.

European Masters LIVE - Trump faces 14-year-old BoikoEuropean Masters LIVE - Trump faces 14-year-old Boiko
European Masters
European Masters LIVE - Trump faces 14-year-old Boiko
AN HOUR AGO


Sean Maddocks meanwhile defeated Mike Holt 3-0 and drew 2-2 with Daniel Womersley.
Womersley defeated Holt 3-1, though suffered a 3-0 reverse against Jamie O’Neill in the day’s first game. O’Neill lost 3-0 to Holt.
In the day’s final match in Group 15, O’Neill beat Maddocks 3-1.




Results
Group 15
  • Daniel Womersley beat Michael Holt 3-1
  • Sean Maddocks drew 2-2 with David Womersley
  • Michael Holt beat Jamie O’Neill 3-0
  • Sean Maddocks beat Michael Holt 3-0
  • Jamie O’Neill beat David Womersley 3-0
  • Jamie O'Neil beat Sean Maddocks 3-1
Group 16
  • Mark Selby drew 2-2 with Lu Haotian
  • Brandon Sargeant drew 2-2 with Fergal O’Brien
  • Mark Selby beat Brandon Sargeant 3-1
  • Lu Haotian beat Fergal O’Brien 3-1
  • Lu Haotian drew 2-2 with Brandon Sargeant
  • Mark Selby beat Fergal O’Brien 3-1 ;)
Robertson survives scare to win, Williams sinks three tons in whitewashRobertson survives scare to win, Williams sinks three tons in whitewash
European Masters
 
Gary Wilson and Daniel Wells have tested positive for Covid-19 and have been removed from the European Masters as a result, while Elliot Slessor, David Lilley and Michael White have also withdrawn as they were in contact with Wilson and Lilley on Monday. All five were due to play their first round games in Milton Keynes on Tuesday, but now must enter a period of self-isolation instead. Their opponents will all receive byes to the second round with Lilley due to play Dave Gilbert, Wells meeting Ronnie O’Sullivan, Wilson taking on Duane Jones, Slessor playing James Cahill and White facing Mark Selby. Slessor and Lilley were understandably frustrated that they are out of the tournament despite testing negative, but because they came into contact with Wilson on Monday. ;)
 
Daniel Wells and Gary Wilson have withdrawn from the BetVictor European Masters after testing positive for coronavirus.

The players were tested upon arrival at the behind-closed-doors event in Milton Keynes, with Elliot Slessor and David Lilley also having to pull out after coming into contact with Wilson, the World Snooker Tour said yesterday.

Contact

Michael White came into contact with Wells and has also pulled out.

All other players and officials were also tested and, as a result of the quintet's withdrawal, five players will receive byes to the next round.

World champion Ronnie O'Sullivan heads that list, with Mark Selby, David Gilbert, James Cahill and Duane Jones now also without a first-round opponent.

WST said in a statement the five affected players will "now undergo a period of self isolation and will receive the support of WST". ;)
 
Peter Devlin said it was "amazing" to beat three-time world champion Mark Williams at the European Masters just a month after turning professional.

The 24-year-old, who earned a Tour Card in August, beat Zak Surety to set up a second-round tie with Williams.
And although Williams fought back from 4-1 down to 4-4 in Milton Keynes, a 102 break saw Devlin clinch a 5-4 win.

"What a time to make a century, in a deciding frame against someone like that. It's unbelievable," he said.

"At 4-1, I knew I could have been pegged back. Players like that can win frames without you doing much wrong, so I was expecting a comeback.

"At 4-4, there was still a bit of adrenaline going but I managed to calm it down again."

Devlin, who is also a rapper with his own YouTube channel,

came through a qualifying school event in Sheffield to earn a place on the World Snooker Tour.

"The way my life has changed in the last two months, I was so proud to get through Q School," added Devlin, from east London.

"Straightaway I'm playing on television, with my mum shouting at me for missing balls, and it was great to play someone like Mark so early on.

"I always said I wanted to be chucked in at the deep end when I turned pro because I like cameras, I like getting involved with the tour.

"I don't want to be on the back stage. I want to enjoy it, to make my parents proud, and playing someone like that was amazing." ;)
 
Ronnie O’Sullivan was put back in his box following his comments on young players, according to the father of Cork prodigy Aaron Hill.

Aaron Hill, 18, handed Ronnie O’Sullivan a shock defeat at the European Masters in Milton Keynes on Thursday and the Cork youngster admitted that the six-time world champion’s recent remarks about the new generation of snooker players played on his mind during the upset.


Hill, who is from the north side of Cork city, proclaimed O’Sullivan his childhood hero in the wake of his 5-4 victory but was determined to prove ‘The Rocket’ wrong after he recently suggested that he only saw promise in two up-and-coming players on the circuit. ;)
 
Ronnie O’Sullivan was put back in his box following his comments on young players, according to the father of Cork prodigy Aaron Hill.

Aaron Hill, 18, handed Ronnie O’Sullivan a shock defeat at the European Masters in Milton Keynes on Thursday and the Cork youngster admitted that the six-time world champion’s recent remarks about the new generation of snooker players played on his mind during the upset.


Hill, who is from the north side of Cork city, proclaimed O’Sullivan his childhood hero in the wake of his 5-4 victory but was determined to prove ‘The Rocket’ wrong after he recently suggested that he only saw promise in two up-and-coming players on the circuit. ;)
You have to smile .
 
I'd have sent him a get well card, and when he asked why .. tell him "I thought you was going in for a surgery to have an arm and a leg removed"
 
I'd have sent him a get well card, and when he asked why .. tell him "I thought you was going in for a surgery to have an arm and a leg removed"
..... very well said there young man, looks like he opened his mouth once too often! ;)
 
Cork snooker ace Aaron Hill bows out at the last 16 stage of the European Masters

Derek Kiely



SADLY, Cork snooker ace Aaron Hill’s dream of progressing in the quarter-finals of the Bet Victor European Masters came to an end when he lost out 5-1 to Yan Bingtao.

Following his victories over Andy Hicks, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Matthew Stevens Aaron Hill’s opponent this evening was the world number 15 at Marshall Hall, Milton Keyes.

Hill had practice session matches against Bingtao at Victoria’s Snooker Academy around the time of the world championship qualifiers where the talented Cork man had come out on top in those games.



That was practice and this was the real deal, but the 18-year-old from Cathedral Road is now firmly placed in the minds of world snooker fans everywhere.

Yan Bingtao took the opening frame coming from behind with a 76 break and Hill would have go to the well yet again considering Bingtoa had defeated Duane Jones 5-1 earlier today the Cork man couldn’t let the 20-year-old Chinese star get away from him.

Frame two was another tight, scrappy affair that went deep into the colours, but Bingtao had the lead on the brown ball leaving Hill needing a snooker and the remaining four balls, but Bingtao potted the brown to extend his lead to 2-0.

Troubling moments for the Cork snooker ace going into the third frame and a gap to bridge.

Hill is nicknamed the Breeze for a reason, as the Crucible man calmly went about his business picking off the important points to win the third frame. He need to take the momentum into the last few frames of the match, but it wasn’t to be as Bingtao potted the balls to lead 3-1 at the break.

In yet another tight frame the Chinese star went to within one frame of victory after trailing by 47 points fought his way back to win the frame leaving Hill with a mountain to climb.

It was a little too much to ask as Hill lost the sixth frame but picked up some very important ranking points in this his second professional tournament.

There is a very long season ahead for Hill and he has started it in magnificent style and with his obvious potential and natural talent, not many of the WST professionals will want to face the Cork man in future tournaments.

The tournament may be over for Hill, but one feels this is the start of a very promising career for the man from the Cork Crucible. ;)
 
World number 53 Martin Gould stunned Judd Trump to win 6-3 and book his place in the BetVictor European Masters final in Milton Keynes.


Gould now faces Mark Selby in tomorrow’s title match, over the best of 17 frames, with a top prize of £80,000 on the line.


The Pinner potter faced potential relegation from the circuit just over a month ago, but qualified for the World Championship to salvage his professional status. During his run at the Crucible he openly discussed his battles with depression and admitted he had considered hanging up his cue.


Gould’s only ranking event win to date came four years ago at the 2016 German Masters, where he beat Luca Brecel to claim the title. He also beat Trump that week en route silverware in Berlin. Tomorrow will be Gould’s first appearance in a ranking final since then.


World number one Trump took the opener this evening and had looked to be in a strong position to double his advantage when he led 56-0 in the second. However, a fine clearance of 65 saw Gould get his first frame on the board. They shared the following two frames to head into the mid-session level at 2-2.


When they returned Gould edged ahead for the first time, but was immediately pinned back by Trump, who fired in a break of 89 to restore parity at 3-3. Gould claimed the following two frames to move one from victory and blitzed over the line in style, with a fine run of 102.


“Considering that six or eight weeks ago I was on the verge of retiring and now I’m in the final of the European Masters, you couldn’t make it up really,” said 39-year-old Gould. “They always say that after a long journey you actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve started to see that light. Since the Crucible I’ve played two days. Most of the time you found me on the golf course, my happy place. I’m just enjoying myself and I think that is showing with how I’m playing.


“To win a ranking event is what you play snooker for. Whether it be the World Championship or something else, you want to win tournaments. That is what you turn up for. 128 players turn up, 127 go home and there is one winner. I want to be that one winner.


“You are never going to get an easy game in the final. I’m just going to go out there with the same attitude as I had tonight. I’ll enjoy it and see what happens. I’ll just let myself go with the flow.” ;)
 
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