Snooker

[Delboy99]

German Masters snooker: Judd Trump makes winning start as Stephen Hendry suffers early exit, Mark Williams wins.​

Defending champion Judd Trump hit breaks of 100, 63 and 85 in a 5-1 win over Tian Pengfei in the first round of the German Masters, but Stephen Hendry was dumped out of the event with Gao Yang running out a 5-2 winner against the seven-times world champion in Cannock. Stream top snooker action live and on demand on discovery+, the Eurosport app and eurosport.com​

World number one Judd Trump made a winning start in his quest for a third straight German Masters title with a 5-1 win over Tian Pengfei in the first round.
The defending champion – who defeated Jack Lisowski 9-2 in last season's final and Neil Robertson 9-6 in 2020 respectively – made breaks of 100, 63 and 85 to secure a meeting in the last 64 with Aaron Hill or Anthony Hamilton in Cannock on Thursday.
But seven-times world champion Stephen Hendry is out of the tournament after losing 5-2 to Gao Yang with his opponent winning the final three frames.
Hendry won the opening frame with a 51, but world number 78 Gao contributed 58 and 86 on his way to a comfortable victory after the mid-session interval.
Barry Hawkins watched Matthew Selt compile 125 and 66 to lead 2-0, but the 2013 world finalist made 104 and 51 on his way to leading 4-3 before a concluding 69 denied Selt the chance of a decider after the former Indian Open champion ran in 68 in the penultimate frame.
The last 32 qualify for the final stages, with the Tempodrom in Berlin staging the tournament between 26-30 January 2022, which you can stream live and on demand on discovery+, the Eurosport app and eurosport.com.
In-form two-times German Masters winner Mark Williams booked his place in Berlin in some style with a 5-1 win over Chang Bingyu that included breaks of 128, 91 and 103 with his opponent contributing 111 and 56 in defeat.
World number five Kyren Wilson was forced to the last frame against Li Hang before emerging triumphant in another high-scoring encounter.

 

[The Hare]

At last some top names lose as Hawkins and Bingham miss out on the winter trip to Berlin. Georgiou has been playing well these last 2 daysm good to see him and Michael White show a little form. Tomorrow sees the return of Mark Allen after last week's glory.

 

[Delboy99]

At last some top names lose as Hawkins and Bingham miss out on the winter trip to Berlin. Georgiou has been playing well these last 2 daysm good to see him and Michael White show a little form. Tomorrow sees the return of Mark Allen after last week's glory.

View attachment 107074

..... I see Mark Allen was saying on one of the forums that he may see none of his winnings at all when he won in Ireland. Looks like they could be all swallowed up in the pile of debt he still has outstanding, and his future in snooker was completely out of his hands in coming events. What a position to be in, really unbelievable.

 

[The Hare]

..... I see Mark Allen was saying on one of the forums that he may see none of his winnings at all when he won in Ireland. Looks like they could be all swallowed up in the pile of debt he still has outstanding, and his future in snooker was completely out of his hands in coming events. What a position to be in, really unbelievable.

Very sad, guess he was just too generous with people and obviously the divorces have not helped. Seems to have motivated his game though.

 

[Delboy99]

Very sad, guess he was just too generous with people and obviously the divorces have not helped. Seems to have motivated his game though.

…. Yeah, well the more tournaments he wins, the quicker the debt pile may come down. All wins must surely help his dire position.

 

[Delboy99]

German Masters snooker: Judd Trump survives scare to book Berlin spot, Barry Hawkins and Stuart Bingham lose.​

Judd Trump will continue his quest for a third straight German Masters title after battling past 2017 winner Anthony Hamilton 5-3 on Thursday. The world number one led 3-0 only for Hamilton to level up at 3-3 before Trump won the final two frames to progress from qualifying in Cannock.​

Judd Trump will make the trip to Berlin to chase a third straight German Masters title but only after holding off a spirited Anthony Hamilton 5-3 in the last 64 in Cannock.
The world number one – who defeated Jack Lisowski 9-2 in last season's final and Neil Robertson 9-6 in 2020 respectively – defeated Tian Pengfei 5-1 in the first round on Wednesday and looked on course for a similar comfortable outcome as breaks of 57, 72 and 74 saw him ease 3-0 clear in the race to five.
But 2017 German Masters winner Hamilton showed his class to level up at 3-3 with knocks of 74 and 130 bookending a tight fifth frame that the 'Sheriff of Pottingham' edged to close to one behind.
Trump had suffered a similar story in the Northern Ireland Open last eight last week as champion Mark Allen hit back from 3-0 behind to claim a 5-3 win, but he steeled himself superbly with further runs of 58 and 100 sealing his progress to the German capital early next year.
The last 32 qualify for the final stages, with the Tempodrom in Berlin staging the tournament between 26-30 January 2022, which you can stream live and on demand on discovery+, the Eurosport app and eurosport.com.
But there was bad news for last season's German Masters semi-finalist Barry Hawkins, who surprisingly lost 5-3 to former Shoot Out winner Michael Georgiou in the second round, and 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham, who went down 5-1 to Luca Brecel in the first round.
Hawkins rallied from 3-1 down to level at 3-3 with a 119 break helping his mood, but amateur Georgiou, who is off the main tour at the moment, edged the seventh frame before a closing break of 52 sealed his progress.
Bingham and Brecel split the first two frames before the Belgian number one claimed the next four frames to reach the final stages.
UK champion Neil Robertson opened his campaign courtesy of a 5-2 victory over Fraser Patrick.
A 64 break from the Australian saw him move 3-1 clear before the Scotsman compiled 65 to close to 3-2 behind.
Robertson sensed the danger in finishing with runs of 58 and 134 to complete his progress.

Latest German Masters qualifying results​

First round (round of 128)

• Ben Woollaston 2-5 Zhang Anda
• Graeme Dott 4-5 Si Jiahui
• 
  
• Jamie Wilson 1-5 Wu Yize
• Stuart Bingham 1-5 Luca Brecel
• Neil Robertson 5-2 Fraser Patrick
• Simon Lichtenberg 5-1 Sanderson Lam
• Ricky Walden 5-2 Jackson Page
• Jordan Brown 4-5 Michael White

Second round (round of 64)

• Judd Trump 5-3 Anthony Hamilton
• Michael Georgiou 5-3 Barry Hawkins
• Craig Steadman 5-2 Zhang Jiankang
• Gao Yang 5-4 Xiao Guodong

 

[The Hare]

First and Second round action today. Mark Allen continues his great form. John Higgins and Shaun Murphy start out.



Sunday 1st round - probably no time for 2nd Round games from today First Round winners. Ding plays First game of season.

 

[Delboy99]

Neil Robertson blitzes Michael White with two century breaks in qualifying for German Masters, Jack Lisowski wins.​

The Australian was in sizzling form at the Chase Leisure Centre in Cannock. A bewildered Michael White had no answers to the form of the world number four who made a half century in the first frame, an 88 in the second and followed up with two more centuries to advance to the Tempodrom in Berlin for the final stages.​

Neil Robertson knocked in two centuries as he blitzed Michael White in German Masters qualifying.
A ticket to the final stages at the Tempodrom in Berlin was up for grabs, but there was never any doubt about who would secure it.
Robertson made a steady start, with a break of 52 enough to secure the opening frame.
From there, the world number four went through the gears against a shell-shocked White.
A knock of 88 was enough to take the second frame, with the Australian denied a century when he left the final red in the jaws of the left corner.
He did not have to wait long for another shot at a ton, and he made no mistake with a break of 103. A clearance of 135 followed in the fourth frame, to highlight Robertson’s dominance.
The interval handed White a chance to regroup. He got the better of a safety battle in the fifth and it helped him put a frame on the board.
It proved to be a minor blip, as Robertson stepped in with a break of 73 to complete the 5-1 win.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made the third maximum break of his career, but it was in a losing cause against Fan Zhengyi who claimed a 5-3 win over the Thai.
A break of 110 was the highlight of Jack Lisowski’s 5-3 win over Andrew Pagett. The victory set up a meeting with Liam Highfield in the final round of qualifying.

 

[Delboy99]

Mark Allen was bailed out by his rather sporting opponent Alfie Burden during his German Masters opening round win on Friday.


The Antrim potter was back in action for the first time since winning the Northern Ireland Open last weekend and did so in style, completing two centuries on his way to a 5-1 victory.
However, it didn’t come without a bit of drama when Allen, up to ninth in the world after last week’s win, forgot to bring his cue back to the table following the interval.
"Note to every snooker player out there,” he wrote on social media, “when going back out after the interval in a match always remember your cue.
"Thanks to Alfie for being such a sport and letting me use his cue first shot then go get it. I know many who’d have taken the frame! What a tube.”

 

[The Hare]

Mark Allen was bailed out by his rather sporting opponent Alfie Burden during his German Masters opening round win on Friday.


The Antrim potter was back in action for the first time since winning the Northern Ireland Open last weekend and did so in style, completing two centuries on his way to a 5-1 victory.
However, it didn’t come without a bit of drama when Allen, up to ninth in the world after last week’s win, forgot to bring his cue back to the table following the interval.
"Note to every snooker player out there,” he wrote on social media, “when going back out after the interval in a match always remember your cue.
"Thanks to Alfie for being such a sport and letting me use his cue first shot then go get it. I know many who’d have taken the frame! What a tube.”

I will never forget Shaun Murphy claiming the frame from Maguire in the UK many years ago. His story:

Shaun Murphy has told his side of the infamous chalk incident in a match with Stephen Maguire in 2004, saying that the long-held belief that he asked for the Scot to be docked a frame is simply not true.

It is one of those stories that has lingered in snooker folklore and dates all the way back to the 2004 Grand Prix at the Preston Guild Hall in October of that year.

Maguire went to begin his first round match against Murphy and realised he didn’t have his chalk, so after asking the referee if he could go and retrieve it, Stephen popped backstage.

Murphy would then have a conversation with referee Johan Oomen, which was shown on camera, and when Maguire returned to the table he was docked a frame for not being able to start the match on time.

The story has long been told that Murphy asked the referee to enforce the strict ruling on Maguire, but the Magician explains that this was never the case.

The Englishman did indeed speak to the referee, but insists he made no attempt to get a frame docked from Maguire and feels harshly treated as the story has been told this way for so many years.

The pair play in the Welsh Open quarter-final on Friday and asked if the incident is behind them, Murphy told Metro.co.uk: ‘Goodness, certainly as far as I’m concerned.

‘The whole chalk thing of millions of years ago was a long, long time ago. That’s something else that people don’t know the truth about, people think I had him docked a frame for not having his chalk in the arena. It’s not actually what happened. I’ve never told my side of the story but people have put two and two together and come up with six.

‘I don’t really want to dig it all up to be honest, but I was very young, as he was. He goes to break off in the first frame of the match, realises he doesn’t have any chalk and goes off to get his chalk.

‘The mistake I made was to ask the referee to come over for a chat and ask him where he’d gone. The last I knew I was doing my ice bucket and water, looked up and saw Stephen walking out the arena, so I asked him what happened. People have seen that and they’ve also seen two minutes later he emerged and it was 1-0 to me and they’ve assumed that I’ve asked the referee to dock him.

‘The truth of the matter is that as he’s walked backstage, the tournament director, Mike Ganley, has seen him backstage, realises he’s caused the match to be delayed and docks him. The referee, Stephen Maguire and the tournament director never had any communication, it was Mike Ganley who docked him.

‘Me and the referee were sat in the arena and Mike followed Stephen back in, but the cameras don’t see that, they see me and the referee conversing and they see him 1-0 down. For the last 20 years people have thought I got Stephen Maguire docked a frame. It’s not actually true.’

 

[The Hare]

Games today as the Rocket returns. A few shocks at the weekend as Higgins and Lisowski crash out. End of the First Round today and Second round ends tomorrow.

 

[Outlander]

Games today as the Rocket returns. A few shocks at the weekend as Higgins and Lisowski crash out. End of the First Round today and Second round ends tomorrow.

View attachment 107226

Lisowski already beaten at odds 1.36, 1.22 and 1.11 from 6 matches this season
I know he had a spell last year during COVID where he got to a couple of finals but in general before and since that spell a liability from a betting point of view, overrated , overhyped underachiever. I don’t think he will ever reach the levels predicted for him. Although I did say similar things about Trump years ago and he proved me wrong, I still don’t think Trump will win many if any more World Championships but he is a more reliable player than I ever thought he would be. In general though both these players seemed to peak in the Milton Keynes bubble and elsewhere disappoint more often than expected.

 

[The Hare]

Lisowski already beaten at odds 1.36, 1.22 and 1.11 from 6 matches this season
I know he had a spell last year during COVID where he got to a couple of finals but in general before and since that spell a liability from a betting point of view, overrated , overhyped underachiever. I don’t think he will ever reach the levels predicted for him. Although I did say similar things about Trump years ago and he proved me wrong, I still don’t think Trump will win many if any more World Championships but he is a more reliable player than I ever thought he would be. In general though both these players seemed to peak in the Milton Keynes bubble and elsewhere disappoint more often than expected.

Yes Lisowski struggles with all the hype. That guy Andy Goldstein used to build him up as the greatest player ever, but sadly they all forget the temperament is the main thing. Too be fair to him though he has sorted his approach a little bit and can now play the game tactically better. Now been a runner up 6 times! Similar to Goldstein's other hero, Jimmy White. O'Sullivan with a similar game is so superior at the ball control to either but sadly very varied in temperament or he would have won everything!

In his 6 finals, he has lost 3 to Trump at MK and previously 1 to Selby and 2 to Robertson so I am sure one day, perhaps later this season it will all click in to place and that he will finally get the monkey off his back.

Trump was on a high going into MK and maintained most of season until the fatigue got the better of him. Or perhaps his mistake is he changed his life. Bought a house back in Bristol and presumably spends more time there. He wasn't too bad in Northern Ireland and maybe the slower start to his season will help him as well.

 

[Delboy99]

German Masters snooker: Shaun Murphy secures Berlin spot, Mark Selby opens with win.​

Shaun Murphy resisted a spirited effort from Cao Yupeng to complete a 5-4 win in the last 64 of the German Masters while world champion Mark Selby hit a break of 134 in a 5-2 victory over Ross Muir in the first round of qualifying in Cannock. The last 32 qualify for the final stages of the German Masters, with the Tempodrom in Berlin staging the tournament between 26-30 January 2022.​

Shaun Murphy edged out former Scottish Open finalist Cao Yupeng 5-4 to qualify for the German Masters in Berlin while world champion Mark Selby opened his campaign with a 5-2 win over Ross Muir on Sunday.
Cao hit a break of 88 in the second frame before 2005 world champion Murphy ran in knocks of 56, 118 and 102 on his way to a 3-2 lead only for the world number 85 to produce a sparkling 128 to level at 3-3.
Murphy moved 4-3 clear with a fine 75, but Cao forced the deciding frame and had two obvious chances before three-times German Masters semi-finalist Murphy managed to claim it by clearing from the final red to secure his spot in the last 32 at Berlin's Tempodrom in January.
Selby did not have to sweat over his progress to the last 64 as he split the first four frames with Scotsman Muir before winning the final three to secure a meeting with Ashley Carty in the last 64 on Monday. Carty overcame Sean Maddocks 5-2 in his opener.
Jak Jones made breaks of 108 and 103 but lost 5-4 to Noppon Saengkham in the last 64 as the Thai player followed up his 5-2 win over John Higgins on Saturday with closing breaks of 105 and 65 seeing him book his flight to Germany in January.
Six-times world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan begins his campaign against Hossein Vafaei on Monday night.
The last 32 qualify for the final stages of the German Masters, with the Tempodrom in Berlin staging the tournament between 26-30 January 2022, which you can stream live and on demand on discovery+, the Eurosport app and eurosport.com.

LATEST GERMAN MASTERS QUALIFYING RESULTS​

First round (round of 128)

• Mark Davis 5-4 Ding Junhui
• Sam Craigie 5-2 Gerard Greene
  • Matthew Stevens 5-4 Martin Gould
  • Ken Doherty 5-4 Chris Wakelin
  • Jamie Jones 4-5 Barry Pinches
  • Michael Holt 3-5 John J Astley
  • Sean Maddocks 2-5 Ashley Carty
  • Mark Selby 5-2 Ross Muir
• Second round (round of 64)
  • David Lilley 3-5 Kurt Maflin
  • Cao Yupeng 4-5 Shaun Murphy
  • Noppon Saengkham 5-4 Jak Jones
  • Ryan Day 5-3 Jamie Clarke
    

 

[The Hare]

Just the 4 2nd Round games today to complete the Qualifying - Finals in Berlin in January.

Ronnie whitewashed 5-0 yesterday by an impressive Hussein, he needs the money and points to keep on the Tour but will surely start the rise back up the rankings soon.

 

[The Hare]

Tomorrow the First Round Qualifying of the European Open starts in Cannock. All except the Top 4 seeds - Trump, Robertson, Selby, O'Sullivan play. Those 4 held over until the Final ROunds. Ratings below.

 

[Delboy99]

Tomorrow the First Round Qualifying of the European Open starts in Cannock. All except the Top 4 seeds - Trump, Robertson, Selby, O'Sullivan play. Those 4 held over until the Final ROunds. Ratings below.

View attachment 107282

..... looks like a pretty big field when you see it spread out like this. The Gilbert v Robertson match looks to be a tight affair according to your ratings. How come Ken Doherty only has a ranking of 1.98, surely he has to be better than that. Surprised to see gary Wilson trailing Graeme Dott in the ratings too. I though he had done enough lately to be way ahead. Sometimes though I find that ratings do not always portray a true reflection on the match. Nice to see Jimmy White having another go too!

 

[Outlander]

Tomorrow the First Round Qualifying of the European Open starts in Cannock. All except the Top 4 seeds - Trump, Robertson, Selby, O'Sullivan play. Those 4 held over until the Final ROunds. Ratings below.

View attachment 107282

Note Joe Perry this season 1 win at odds of 1.22
4 defeats at odds of 1.28, 1.29, 1.44, 1.14
seems out of love with the game done a bit of moaning and not one to trust atm

 

[Delboy99]

Note Joe Perry this season 1 win at odds of 1.22
4 defeats at odds of 1.28, 1.29, 1.44, 1.14
seems out of love with the game done a bit of moaning and not one to trust atm

..... very true he seems at odds with the world at the moment. Done his fair share of moaning and trying to put the snooker world to right lately. Cannot be good for his snooker concentration and while his attitude and attention is focused on events off the table. he surely cannot be producing his best snooker we all know he is more than capable of doing this under normal circumstances.

 

[Delboy99]

Mark Williams forced to withdraw from European Masters and English Open after testing positive for Covid-19.​

The European Masters and English Open have lost one of ithe star players as former world champion Mark Williams was forced to withdraw after a positive Covid-19 diagnosis. He will be replaced by 21-year-old Mark Lloyd in both competitions. Sam Craigie has also exited the European Masters at the qualifying stage due to injury.​

Mark Williams has withdrawn from the European Masters and English Open after testing positive for Covid-19.
The former world number one and three-time world champion was set to face Yuan Sijun at the European Masters and Paul Deaville at the English Open.
He will be replaced by Mark Lloyd in both competitions, with the 21-year-old the first available player in the Q School Order of Merit.
Williams last won the European Masters in 1998, but has never progressed past the fourth round of the English Open.
He already has a ranking title to his name this season, winning the British Open in August.
World number 55 Sam Craigie has withdrawn from European Masters qualifying due to injury.
James Cahill was on standby to replace the Englishman but returned a positive lateral flow test, so Craigie´s opponent Soheil Vahedi will now receive a bye to the final stages of qualifying.