I thought Graeme Dott did well last night to pull back the last three frames. Many other players would have let their heads drop after the onslaught from Judd Trump but, after a little frustration, Dott stuck to his task.
OK, so he's 11-5 down and unlikely to win but at least he fought hard and has given himself an outside chance - nothing more - of turning it round.
Trump, though, continues to impress and is clearly enjoying the whole experience. He possibly believes a shot-clock has been introduced for the Crucible judging by his pace of play.
Snooker won't always be this much fun so I hope he carries on having the time of his life for as long as he can.
Mark Williams once again demonstrated how good he is at forcing himself into frames and how adept he is at winning scrappy frames as he opened an 11-5 lead over Mark Allen.
The Northern Irishman seemed to be in first in most of the frames but wasn't making enough and Williams was knocking in all sorts to force his way back into them.
Williams finished off with two centuries for good measure. Allen has won two deciders so far but is surely too far back to win another.
The remaining two quarter-finals are much closer. Ding Junhui leads Mark Selby 5-3 while John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan are poised at 4-4.
A couple of close finishes tonight would make great TV viewing, though wouldn't do much for the nerves of those involved.
10 comments:
Willie Thorne (after Higgins wins a frame) - "Higgins has stopped the mini-rot"
Two questions. How can anyone not want to punch this man in the face repeatedly?
And why does the BBC continue to allow him to commentate on anything higher than a league match in Basingstoke?
And there was me thinking Ken Doherty was the worst commentator ever.
Also, did anyone see that couple 'watching' table two yesterday, presumably mother and son, who slept through most of the first two sessions? Hilarious, absolutely hilarious. Didn't see them at the third session, although they were in the foyer afterwards, but would laugh my head off if they had slept through that as well!
Another question wheres the cueball goin WHERES THE CUEBALL GOING..... If i were playing i would pick the cueball up and throw it at the commentary box an shout ON YOUR F#####G BONCE JV!!!!!
Neal Foulds and Terry Griffiths get top marks from me for commentary, Willie Thorne is the worst by far. Looking forward to hearing Hendry on the BBC tomorrow.
"That was a better shot than it looked"
Taken from the book Overused Expression. Most people would probably be surprised at how hard it can be to commentate but I agree about the standard sometimes being too low. They need some honest feedback.
Couldn't believe that s*** this afternoon. Looked like a turf war between the Russian mafia and the Sicilian mafia.
Hi David. Yet again, another great day's play today.
Williams .v. Allen - Resuming 11-5 up Williams did not waste much time, with two great clearances, towards the end of the frames. Cuming from behind in the frames, as he has so often done, to win the frames, and the match 13-5. Williams in the semi-final.
Dott .v. Trump - Trump, resuming 11-5 ahead, made a superb clearance, following an unlucky in-off from Dott, to lead 12-5 and won the next to win the match. The 21-year-old wins 13-5, to book a semi-final place. Great stuff from the young man.
Higgins .v. O'Sullivan - session 2- Resuming at 4 all, O'Sullivan capitalised on a mixture of both, bad errors and bad run of the ball for Higgins, for O'Sullivan to win the first 3 frames of the session to lead 7-4. Higgins educed this to 7-5. After O'sullivan led 8-5, He had chances to gain a lead going into the final session. He Did not though. Higgins showed grit that we are so used to seeing from him. He won the final 3 frames of the session, to level at 8 all.
Session 3 - Higgins was the dominant force. He won the 17th frame, to gain a 4-frame-winning streak, to turn a 8-5 defacit, into a 9-8 lead. O'sullivan responded well. A great break of 116 from O'sullivan, 9 all.He missed crucial reds in each of the next two frames. Higgins duly punished him in both intances, to lead 11-9.
Higgins then went three up with four to play, at 12-9, by winning frame 21. O'Sullivan played well , after a Higgins error on the pink, to win frame 22, to make it 12-10. A fluke by Higgins, when it mattered in the 23rd frame, led to a 74 break. Higgins wins 13-10. Higgins is the third man through to the semi-final. A great macth.
Higgins .v. Williams in the semi-final. A cracker in store, I can not wait.
Selby .v. Ding - Session 2 - Ding 5-3 ahead, made a good start. A121 break , in great style, gave him a 6-3 advantage. Selby responded from 50 points behind, to win frame 10. 6-4. They shared the next four frames, 8-6 to Ding. In one of these frames, ,selby lost after trying, ultimately unsuccessfully, from 77 points behind. Ding won the final to frames of the 4- hour seeion of play to lad 10-6, going into session three.
Sessionm 3- Selby needed a good start, and boy, He got it. Solid play and great break-building being the foundation, for Selby to win the first four frames of the evening, 10-all. Game on.
Selby made vital errors, at the closing stages of each of the next two frames. Ding punishd him both tims to go 2 up with 3 to play , and gain a 12-10 lead.
Frame 23, and after Ding snookered Selby, He gave himself a chance. From this chance Ding made a 42 break. Selby then responded with 17, got another chance. With his next chance, He laid a snooker on Ding, from which, He gained no advantage. Ding played a great safety shot, so, again did, Selby. A mistake came from Ding. Selby made a great clearance, from the final red, to the final blue, but missed the Frame-ball pink. From there, Ding closed out the match, by potting a superb pink and a good black, to win the match 13-10, and gain his place in the semi final. A great match.
The Semi-Finals are:
John Higgins .v. Mark Williams
Ding Junhui .v. Judd Trump.
Great snooker gone. Great snooker still to come.
Well done to all players in today's sessions.
Jamie thats some report!
Dont know about others but I couldn't bring myself to attempt to read it.
Too much. People read sporting life or world snooker for in depth reports.
This is a blog. Keep it simple man!
How about a new nickname for Selby nice and easy, he is a real bottle job!!
jamie i read it all and thought it was spot on. good blogging
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