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Ssb - seeds fails to scatter
It was another day of terrific entertainment at the Barbican in York as the williamhill.com UK Championship once again provided value for money.
Mark Selby did for Ryan Day in no time at all, winning an edgy first frame and then motoring as Day struggled.
Ronnie O’Sullivan played some sublime stuff in dispatching legend Steve Davis 6-1, potting a yellow in one frame with the cue ball in the jaws of a baulk corner pocket which had to be seen to be believed.
The first, and so far only, top 16 casualty was Stuart Bingham, beaten 6-4 by Marco Fu. The key frame here was the sixth in which Fu was called for a foul when leading by 61 with 59 on, meaning Bingham could win.
The Aussie Open champ set about clearing up but lost prime position from green to brown, missed the brown and a grateful Fu made it 3-3.
Buoyed by confidence, he went for his shots and his eventual victory was not a huge upset given his record.
Ali Carter v Robert Milkins wasn’t great fare but victory clearly meant a lot to Carter. At night, Martin Gould came through against Peter Lines and Shaun Murphy survived a bit of a mid match scare against an obviously promising Li Yan.
The first round concludes today. Centre stage in the afternoon session are Judd Trump and Dominic Dale, who will be hoping to continue the recent form he showed in reaching the final of PTC10.
Mark Allen would be expected to come through against Adrian Gunnell, as would Mark Williams against Joe Jogia.
However, Stephen Lee’s match with Ricky Walden could well be much closer. Walden looks to have come back into form and, like Fu beating Bingham, it would not be a big shock if he triumphed.
Crowd support has been terrific, although some people have commented on the Barbican’s squeaky stairs.
Off table noise is always a bone of contention in snooker because it is quiet most of the time.
There was once a match at the Crucible where an elderly couple were sat in the front row, the wife eating a bag of sweets.
It led the late, great referee, John Street, to turn to the husband and remark: ‘Sir, could you please keep that bag quiet.’
Thankfully no offence was taken.
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Mark Selby did for Ryan Day in no time at all, winning an edgy first frame and then motoring as Day struggled.
Ronnie O’Sullivan played some sublime stuff in dispatching legend Steve Davis 6-1, potting a yellow in one frame with the cue ball in the jaws of a baulk corner pocket which had to be seen to be believed.
The first, and so far only, top 16 casualty was Stuart Bingham, beaten 6-4 by Marco Fu. The key frame here was the sixth in which Fu was called for a foul when leading by 61 with 59 on, meaning Bingham could win.
The Aussie Open champ set about clearing up but lost prime position from green to brown, missed the brown and a grateful Fu made it 3-3.
Buoyed by confidence, he went for his shots and his eventual victory was not a huge upset given his record.
Ali Carter v Robert Milkins wasn’t great fare but victory clearly meant a lot to Carter. At night, Martin Gould came through against Peter Lines and Shaun Murphy survived a bit of a mid match scare against an obviously promising Li Yan.
The first round concludes today. Centre stage in the afternoon session are Judd Trump and Dominic Dale, who will be hoping to continue the recent form he showed in reaching the final of PTC10.
Mark Allen would be expected to come through against Adrian Gunnell, as would Mark Williams against Joe Jogia.
However, Stephen Lee’s match with Ricky Walden could well be much closer. Walden looks to have come back into form and, like Fu beating Bingham, it would not be a big shock if he triumphed.
Crowd support has been terrific, although some people have commented on the Barbican’s squeaky stairs.
Off table noise is always a bone of contention in snooker because it is quiet most of the time.
There was once a match at the Crucible where an elderly couple were sat in the front row, the wife eating a bag of sweets.
It led the late, great referee, John Street, to turn to the husband and remark: ‘Sir, could you please keep that bag quiet.’
Thankfully no offence was taken.
More...
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