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Dominant Trump edges closer to quarter-finals with six-frame lead over Ford

April 26, 2024

Judd Trump extended his lead over Tom Ford in the World Snooker Championship second round, carving out a six-frame advantage going into tomorrow morning’s session.

The 2019 world champion began Friday with a 6-2 lead over Ford. The pair had shared the first four frames in yesterday’s opening session, before Trump upped the ante and cruised into a four-frame lead.

By the end of their latest session, Trump had extended his lead to 11-5 and will need to win just two more frames tomorrow to progress to the quarter-finals.

Trump, the world No. 2, had been some way shy of his best in Thursday’s session, but quickly picked up another frame at the outset on Friday to take a 7-2 lead.

He did so by bagging his 77th century break of the season, a 107 as he picked up where he left off. He set it up with a fabulous long red to open the table, before firing in a yellow.

Ford was forced to sit and suffer while Trump, in typical fashion, produced long pots and exhibition shots once the frame was sealed, much to the delight of the Crucible crowd.

‘Have you ever seen shots like these?’ – Trump dazzles at World Championship

In the next, Trump erred on a long red, giving Ford an opportune table and allowing him to take a much-needed frame, his first since before yesterday’s interval. He made 73 before a tough black stuck in the jaws, but got the frame over the line.

That didn’t stop Trump flowing with confidence though. He made a sharp 67 break and Ford left him the chance to pot the final red, with Trump hammering it home from distance to lead 8-3.

The next was slightly more back and forth. Ford split the pack early but was unlucky not to capitalise. Trump took back control before missing a long red to hand Ford an opportunity, which he was unable to take, opening up a six-frame lead before the interval.

Trump’s hopes of wrapping up the victory with a session to spare were quashed when Ford won the 13th frame. The world No. 14 made a fast start to the 14th frame, but lost his grip on the session again by missing a black off the spot.

This allowed Trump to swoop in and restore his six-frame lead, before extending this to seven frames as he thrilled the crowd at the Crucible with two pinks and a long red.

Trailing 11-4, Ford produced an 83 break to make the scoreline marginally more respectable heading into the final session tomorrow.

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Trump opens up lead over Ford as Higgins battles past Jones

April 25, 2024

Judd Trump worked a 6-2 lead over Tom Ford after the first session of their second-round clash at the World Championship, while John Higgins battled past Jamie Jones in the first round.

World No. 2 Trump was a long way short of his sizzling best, but seized on errors from his opponent to get his nose in front going into Friday’s second session.

There were no big breaks, 69 was the most Trump could muster, but he did enough to put himself in a good position in the race to 13.

The first frame saw both players pass up chances and it turned into a scrappy battle.

For over 30 minutes it was attritional stuff, but Ford produced some brilliance – aided by a fluked brown – as he picked off a couple of superb pots to take the opener.

Ford flukes brown, makes superb clearance against Trump

Trump settled into the match with two solid contributions in the second frame to get on the board.

Ford failed to pot a simple blue in the second frame to hand Trump the chance to get on the board, and missed a red he would normally make with his eyes closed in the third.

Trump made an impressive 67, but missed the penultimate red and had to extricate himself from a couple of snookers before closing out the third to get his nose in front.

There were a couple of alarming misses from Ford in the fourth, but Trump failed to capitalise despite knocking in a superb red – and Ford countered to draw level at the first interval.

Trump knocks in superb long red against Ford

Ford made 56 in the fifth, but missed another simple red to hand Trump a chance to counter.

The sixth followed the pattern of the previous frame, with Ford missing when in the balls and Trump pouncing to open up a two-frame lead.

Trump did not look totally at ease around the table, but he found some excellent pots in the seventh which he took with a break of 69.

Ford’s evening was summed up in the final frame of the session when he snookered himself on the remaining reds when potting the green – sarcastically giving a thumbs-up to the crowd.

A short while later, he missed a simple red and Trump stepped in to take the frame and open up a four-frame lead.

Higgins holds off Jones to set up Allen clash

John Higgins moved into the second round with a 10-6 win over Jamie Jones.

Four-time Crucible champion Higgins was under pressure when trailing 3-1 mid-way through the first session, but ran through four frames on the spin to secure a lead heading into Thursday night.

Higgins wraps up win over Jones at World Snooker Championship

The Scot took the opening two frames of the evening and won the frames either side of the interval to move into a 9-5 lead.

There were no huge breaks from Higgins, and there were signs of nerves as he struggled to close out the win but he took a scrappy 16th frame to set up a clash with Mark Allen.

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Maguire battles to victory over Carter in first round at the Crucible

April 21, 2024

Stephen Maguire marked his return to the Crucible for the first time since 2022 with a battling 10-7 win over Ali Carter.

The Scot has an enviable World Championship record, with a host of quarter-final and semi-final appearances.

After battling through qualifying, he arrived match-sharp and that stood him in good stead as he battled back from 5-4 down after the first session to take down this season’s Masters runner-up.

Carter made a positive start to the final session with a break of 63 in the opening frame of the night but missed frame-ball red.

A Maguire counter faltered when he failed to gain position on the penultimate red, seemingly paving the way for Carter to extend his lead.

Carter had two other bites at frame ball, one easy, but both failed to drop. His potting troubles gave encouragement to Maguire, and the Scot produced an astounding clearance on the colours – yellow and green were exceptional pots – as he drew level at 5-5.

‘Unbelievable, brilliant’ – Maguire pulls off stunning clearance of colours against Carter

There were some alarming misses from Carter in the 10th and that continued in the 11th. But, after opening up a lead, he was able to edge over the line to restore a one-frame lead.

Maguire looked strong in mopping up the colours in the 10th and he attacked his break in the 12th with a similarly forward-thinking mindset. The two-time Crucible semi-finalist took the attacking option when potting his opening colour – a brown to left middle – and he made 69 to get back on level terms.

Carter steadied what appeared to be a listing ship with a hard-working break of 48, which came after Maguire pulled off a miracle escape from a snooker.

‘What a shot’ – Maguire makes amazing escape from a snooker against Carter

The number was nothing to shout about, but it was made with authority and proved enough for him to get back in front at 7-6 heading into the final interval.

The arm-wrestle continued in the 14th as Carter got in but lacked any sort of cue-ball control and broke down.

Maguire, who benefited from a huge fluke at the start of the frame, inherited a favourable table and he made the most of it with a break of 55 to draw level.

Maguire benefits from huge fluke against Carter

The 15th frame saw Maguire get his nose in front for the first time since the fifth frame, and he did it in impressive fashion with a run of 80 – his highest break of the session.

Carter’s potting was not sharp on Sunday evening and he presented a chance to Maguire in the 16th after wriggling a long red.

Maguire did not close out the frame at the first time of asking, but returned to the table to make 45 to get within one frame of victory.

Carter’s match was summed up in the 17th as he missed two pots – one tough and the other easy. Maguire made 35 off the first chance and 21 off the second.

The match was not mathematically beyond Carter, but he looked a spent force and a further miss saw Maguire edge to the stage where his opponent required snookers.

Carter played on, but Maguire held his nerve to secure his place in round two where he will face either Shaun Murphy or Lyu Haotian.

Ford eases past Walden to set up Trump showdown

Tom Ford set up a clash with Judd Trump by wrapping up a 10-6 win over Ricky Walden.

Ford was comfortably the better player over the two sessions and was never threatened.

Returning with a 6-3 lead, Ford won the opener with a break of 80.

Walden took the next two but Ford won the frames either side of the interval and cruised to the winning line of a match played in good spirit, with Walden tapping his opponent’s cue by way of a concession in the 16th frame.

Walden concedes match by flicking Ford’s cue at World Championship

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‘It’s a great practice match’ – Carter reveals inspiration ahead of O’Sullivan clash

April 3, 2024

Ali Carter has revealed he will go into his rematch with old rival Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Tour Championship quarter-finals in Manchester on Wednesday with one eye on the World Championship (20 April-May 6) later this month.

The two-time Crucible finalist booked a quarter-final against O’Sullivan with a tense 10-8 win over Barry Hawkins, who hit back from 7-1 behind before Carter scrambled over the line by dominating the 18th frame.

“I’m delighted to get over the line because it got a little bit sticky,” said Carter ahead of the best-of-19 frame encounter with O’Sullivan at the elite 12-man event. “Everyone is saying at 7-1 the match is won, but it’s not won until you reach 10.

“Coming through that match, there is a feather in my cap really because I was under extreme pressure.

“I’m playing well, but sometimes the game doesn’t let you play well. You’ve just got to keep battling away.”

Relive O’Sullivan and Carter’s shoulder barge spat at 2018 World Snooker Championship

It will be the first time Carter and O’Sullivan have met since their bad-natured Masters final at Alexandra Palace in January that saw the Rocket claim a record eighth Masters title with a 10-7 final victory over his Essex rival by winning seven of the final eight frames.

The match ended in a war of words between with the pair, with Carter accusing O’Sullivan of “snotting all over the floor” and O’Sullivan responding by saying the world No. 8 was “not a nice person”.

Carter has only managed one win against O’Sullivan in 20 matches over the past 23 years – an infamous 13-9 victory in the last 16 of the 2018 World Championship in Sheffield when they brushed shoulders at the table.

“I relish the challenge now because he’s the best player to pick up a cue,” said Carter on ITV. “I’ve played him in a final this year. To play him in another quarter-final, I’m in the right place.

“It’s a great practice match for the World Championships. Coming here, I wanted to get as many best-of-19 frame matches in the bank. And what is a better match than against the greatest player of all time.

“I’m under no pressure. Only the pressure I put on myself to perform. I know I’ve put the work in. My preparation has been good. So we’ll see what happens.”

The match starts out at 1pm with eight frames to be played in the first session before they play to a finish from 7pm this evening.

The winner will meet Zhang Anda or Gary Wilson in Friday’s semi-finals.

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‘A great dish’ – Vintage Williams produces one of the all-time great clearances

April 3, 2024

Mark Williams took snooker’s version of Route 66 in completing one of the greatest clearances of all time to secure a quarter-final with Judd Trump at the Tour Championship in Manchester.

It seemed unlikely his error would cost Ford the match, with four of the remaining seven reds tied up on cushions – until the three-time world champion produced a miraculous 66 clearance that had to be seen to be believed, with the white ball resembling a pinball in the ground it had to cover.

“I don’t know how I did it, but that was one of the best clearances I’ve ever made,” Williams told reporters.

“I took my eye off the red. It wasn’t a twitch or anything. But that must be one of the best clearances I’ve ever seen,” commented world No. 14 Ford, who produced four centuries in defeat.

“Five minutes and 46 seconds of absolute snooker genius,” was how World Snooker Tour described the break on their social media output.

In the context of the match, perhaps as good as any break produced in the modern history of the sport with an array of glorious positional shots and wonderful pots crowned by an audacious pot at pace on the final blue along a baulk cushion that saw him land perfectly on the match-clinching pink.

“I would have to see it back again,” said Williams, who also told ITV he was struggling with jet lag after returning from China ahead of the coveted 12-man event.

“I can’t remember much about it. If there was anything on, I had to go for it. It’s got to be up there. I know there was three or four reds on the cushion, blue was on the cushion.

“Anyway, was a great dish.”

Williams next faces Judd Trump on Thursday for a semi-final place.

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‘Not good enough’ – Higgins raises fears about future after ‘unforgivable’ defeat

April 2, 2024

Four-time world champion Higgins began strongly in Manchester on Monday, but blew a 4-1 lead in losing nine of the last 12 frames to crash out of the elite 12-man event amid a strong sense of regret.

Despite producing fine breaks of 85, 75, 55, 66, 82, 62 and 86, the 31-time ranking event winner lost three frames on black balls and also watched Allen roll in a pivotal break of 93 leading 8-7 in the 16th frame after Higgins touched a green with his sleeve when lining up a long red from the D.

The Scotsman turned professional in 1992 and has lifted the world title in 1998, 2007, 2009 and 2011, but admits his 30th trip to the Crucible for the World Championship later this month (April 20-May 6) could be his “final go” at winning the sport’s biggest event for a fifth time.

Speaking after his defeat to Allen, a clearly deflated Higgins said: “I should have been in front today, lost a bad frame when I definitely should have made it 5-2 I think.

“Then it is 4-4, but I think Mark played better tonight. Again, I missed two or three unforgivable balls at this level that you cannot afford to miss.

“My long game was non-existent as well. At this level, it’s not good enough. It’s not good enough against the best players.

“I just need to dust myself down a couple of weeks before the worlds, try to get some good practice in and go there and give it a final go maybe.”

Higgins last won a major ranking title with a 10-3 victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final of the 2021 Players Championship.

The celebrated ‘Class of ’92’ icon is likely to be seeded 13th at the Crucible unless Tom Ford or Barry Hawkins can reach the final of the Tour Championship on Sunday.

Allen progresses to a quarter-final meeting with Ding Junhui on Wednesday after compiling three centuries against Higgins, but had words of encouragement for the Wishaw player.

“I think he’s actually being a bit too hard on himself,” said Allen on ITV. “He’s not playing bad snooker. Like I said, it is fine, fine margins.

“Three black balls and a real uncharacteristic foul by John. It’s almost like he has to win one of these close games.

“I don’t feel like we have to talk John up. He’s a four-time world champ.”