Category: Snooker

So we’ve got 2019 world champion Judd Trump holding a 6-2 lead against Tom Ford before they resume in the next 10 minutes, while old foes Shaun Murphy and Stephen Maguire get their last-16 match up and running. This golden quartet will be hoping for better fortunes than poor old Robert Milkins this morning, who staged a grand collapse against David Gilbert to fall 12-4 behind. His cue has taken a real hammering.

• David Gilbert 12-4 Robert Milkins
• Jak Jones 6-2 Si Jiahui

• Judd Trump 6-2 Tom Ford
• Stephen Maguire 0-0 Shaun Murphy

• David Gilbert 12-4 Robert Milkins
• Jak Jones 6-2 Si Jiahui

It could be worse, though. Just ask The Milkman…

Wow. Just wow. It’s a fourth (no, not a typo – FOURTH) time Jak Jones has won on the black, and Si Jiahui had frame ball in all of them. The Silent Assassin has only outscored his opponent 451-436 over the course of the match so far but will re-emerge this evening with a 6-2 lead, with Si looking bereft as he lost by single figures for the third time today.

It’s a fascinating passage with both players exploiting the black-brown huddle. However, eventually Si Jiahui eventually misses the yellow while snookered and Jones pounces, potting the yellow while crucially also screwing back far enough to knock in the green next up…

You take it. No, you! The black has been devilishy set on the baulk line with the brown set right behind it and that was clearly on Jak Jones’ mind as he spends so much time attempting to set up that pot, he fails to nudge the yellow home and we’re into a safety battle with the frame – and match – in the balance.

Si found himself out of position for much of the early portion of that break but eventually sorts himself out, a left-handed pot adds another red to his tally then he completes the job with an assured cannon to split the reds out.

All that hard work looks like it’s been undone when he pushes a red safe, and the 21-year-old does miss out on the frame, but now how we expected. He thins a superb middle red but then hammers the green frame ball into the top corner jaws to hand Jones a lifeline!

It’s the battle of the mid-long reds right now, but eventually Si Jiahui runs out of magic. He’s back at the table much quicker than expected though with Jones also missing, and angrily discarding his rest.

It’s a major let-off for Si Jiahui, Jones leaves himself with nothing on and is forced to thin the red cluster and end his break at 14.

FIVE bounces and in! Jones made the most of the corner jaws to open up his break in frame eight with a scintillating long red, the Welshman has the chance to really take the ascendancy ahead of this evening in this one.

It’s the third black-ball steal of the morning for Jak Jones! He’s rode his luck at times but also taken his opportunities (take note, Rob Milkins) – three of his frames have been won by less than 15 points with Si Jiahui leading 5-2 in 50+ breaks.

Boy is The Farmer hitting his stride. He’s helped by a distinct lack of pressure from Milkins, though in truth the real change has been Gilbert ending those straightforward misses that haunted him earlier this morning and kept the Milkman in it.

There’s no real ‘wow’ moments from Gilbert but there doesn’t need to be, he simply feasts on the pink (TEN pots!) after an enticing red split. The only moment of slight bother is a danger of getting stuck at the top of the table with the frame already in the bag but he simply screws back down to clear the table for his second successive century!

Over on the other table, Jak Jones has re-established his two-frame lead, and was oh-so-close to reaching three figures after a jammy yellow ricochet almost went in on the opposite corner to intended.

Milkins rubbed his neck and shoulders as Gilbert completed that whitewash, they’ve been causing him increasing problems this morning but his big problem is the scoreboard right now.

It’s the last frame of this session after Gilbert has put in breaks of 67, 84 and 136 in the last three, it’s a cagey start though.

“At the moment, Gilbert is the only one of these two playing snooker” isn’t an exaggeration from the Eurosport commentary team. The Farmer splits a red cluster to earn the crowd’s applause once again with the frame already wrapped up, and goes on to get the first century of the day for an even louder ovation!

Four blues, three pinks, and eight blacks (and of course the 15 reds) before clearing out the colours, Gilbert is on his way to the next round. The only question is, how long can Milkins delay the inevitable?

Will Milkins look back on this as the emotional turning point? He’s just fouled at the start the 15th frame, potting the cue ball, which would support that hypothesis.

Despite his commanding lead, Gilbert still looks uncomfortable on the power shots. He attempts to cannon apart the red cluster but doesn’t get too much purchase – thankfully the cue comes back off the top cushion and past the baulk line so he has his choice of colours, opting for green to continue his break.

The Farmer’s finally hitting his stride it seems, after that 67 break last time he’s followed it up with an even better half-century here. He barely looked in any danger of bogging down too – eventually screwing back down the table (while also potting blue, which has sometimes caused problems today) and charges on well past break ball, before a red on the corner jaws eventually ends the best of the match.

Frame over. Game over? Milkins rocketed another red out of the top corner and Gilbert finally puts it to bed, while a 72-28 win on the other table means Jak Jones has re-established his lead over Si Jiahui, 3-2.

That’s an absolute stinker! Milkins requring perfection to recover the frame, he hammers a really poor red into the same jaws that Gilbert just hit, but from about a third of the distance as his opponent! Pressure’s on at the Crucible as Gilbert plays it safe for now, still one snooker needed.

It’s Gilbert’s first half-century, and what a time to do it. The Farmer mostly ploughed the middle of the table, alternating blue-pink after that fantastic opening red to start things off, eventually he jaws a delicate top red, Milkins requires a snooker to keep this frame going.

And we’re off!! It was a cagey start but we’re finally up and running as Gilbert thins a middle red and follows up blue-pink to get the scoreboard ticking.

We are so back.

Rob Milkins is in one hell of a whole here. The good news is that Gilbert’s mistakes are keeping The Milkman in it, the bad news is Milkins is looking even more shredded than his opponent right now, the only good news is he now has 15 minutes to recover.

Milkins is alive, but only just. After four pinks, Gilbert slams the attempted fifth into the corner jaws as he lost his cue action there. Milkins can’t capitalise though and this should be a routine cleanup for The Farmer though, while Si Jiahui’s 84-break sees him enter the interval level with Jak Jones.

Milkins still seems rattled and after a long stalemate, Gilbert finally cuts a red to get back into this frame and opens up a thin red with his next blue pot, earning a smattering of applause.

On the other table, Si Jiahui has finally got on the board!

This has been one hell of a bitty game (and frame) so far hasn’t it?

Milkins gets the pink back on its spot and screws back into a yellow, but then bites off more than he can chew attempting a huge cannon to open up the frame, misses and throws his cue on the floor in disgust!!

It’s yet another Gilbert foul – this time potting the cue – but once again Milkins can’t really capitalise, stunning the white on the red and though he misses the next black, it remains blocking the bottom left.

It’s a cruel game sometimes. Gilbert launches yet another long red to continue his form in that department, but his middle blue cannon inadvertantly pots a red to put us all square early in this crucial frame.

Milkins gave it is his all despite the big margin, but he’s eventually forced to concede defeat and now trails by three frames with just one more to go until the interval in this best-of-25 match.

Milkins handed Gilbert a tricky safety but he responds with the second laser-guided long red of the frame to just extend his advantage a little further before resorting to a safety. Whoever pots the final red will be strong favourite to win this frame.

A textbook long red is the cornerstone and finally there’s a bit of luck in this one as Gilbert’s cannon breaks up the cluster that Milkins threw so much at. It garners three pinks for The Farmer but he can’t close things out as he somewhat snookers himself on the obvious red.

At least Gilbert can’t add insult to injury by taking advantage of all of Milkins’ hard work… Until he misses a gut wrenching red and Gilbert can finally start break-building in earnest.

Milkins is desperately unlucky to be unrewarded from a superb powerful split, but recovers to put his rest potting record at 12 out of 13 now. He follows that up with another cluster cannon but once again it opens up precious little and finally that tells, as he jaws a middle red.

After a slight debate over where the pink is reset to, Milkins is up and running. Can he pull it back to 6-5?

The Milkman hasn’t always delivered today (or yesterday, or in round one) but he’s still here and he’s still fighting! He produces a positional masterclass to ensure it’s 1-1 today, which is probably a fair reflection of the imperfect play.

This could well be the match right here. Gilbert pots the final red but cannons the brown up to a horrible position on the baulk cushion and opts for the safety. He’s so close to snookering Milkins but just misses, and he then works up behind the green from his first pot to set up the open goal…

How to Transform a Table in One Shot by Robert Milkins! He fires the pink home and breaks open the red cluster too, before a sumptuous cushion-first red keeps The Milkman on his round. He can’t finish it off though, playing onto an awkward red then forced to take a tentative safety up the table.

Gilbert takes one, two, THREE looks at the middle pink but ultimately is forced to pot the safer blue, setting up a relatively simple mid-range diagonal red… That he misses! It’s yet another mistake, will this one cost The Farmer a frame?

Milkins refuses a red, opting for a terrible safety shot that allows Gilbert to take first blood instead. The Farmer wasn’t exactly inch-perfect either but has got away with it and he’s up and running.

Two blue misses decided that frame but from staring down the barrel of 5-4, Gilbert’s rescued his three-frame lead.

It looked like this was set to re-establish Gilbert’s dominance on the match, instead it’s right in the balance! Milkins gets straight to work, with a much more confident cannon splitting the central cluster and he thins a wondrously light red off the corner jaws to keep the break going. But after clearing up the baize colours, he can’t finish it off with a screw down to the blue just misplaced, and Gilbert can snatch the frame after all…

Gilbert nails three red-blacks but his cannon to break up the red cluster doesn’t carry too much force and his screw up the table lands too close to the side cushion. He cuts three successive mid-range reds to seemingly regroup, but misses an absolute sitter blue into the middle jaws to allow Milkins to respond. that’s a true howler.

A straight red give Gilbert an easy start this morning.

First up, Jak Jones is introduced to the crowd in this fantastic venue. He walks out to the Stereophonics’ Dakota, Si Jiahui is welcomed by Imagine Dragons and Demons. Got to be first blood to the Silent Assassin, surely? Both are outshone by Milkins though, obviously.

Jimmy White’s been giving his early analysis on this one, saying what we all know: that rescue mission in the eighth frame from Milkins was crucial:

The Milkman failed to deliver for much of yesterday’s session while The Farmer just kept on ploughing to open up a 5-2 lead, but Milkins gave himself a lifeline by clinching the eighth frame in this best-of-25 clash.

Round two continues from the Steel City today, who’ll have the edge to survive in the Crucible? David Gilbert v Robert Milkins is nicely poised from yesterday, while Jak Jones and Si Jiahui also get underway in 15 minutes time. Then after lunch we’ll see Judd Trump, Tom Ford, Stephen Maguire and Shaun Murphy in action!

• David Gilbert 5-3 Robert Milkins
• Jak Jones v Si Jiahui

• Judd Trump 6-2 Tom Ford
• Stephen Maguire v Shaun Murphy

• David Gilbert v Robert Milkins
• Jak Jones v Si Jiahui

• Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-1 Jackson Page

• John Higgins 10-6 Jamie Jones

Thursday, April 25

• David Gilbert 5-3 Robert Milkins

• Judd Trump 6-2 Tom Ford

Alan McManus feels Judd Trump has issues to figure out going into his clash with Tom Ford at the World Championship.

Trump has won five tournaments in the 2023/24 season, but his form has dipped in recent weeks.

Eurosport expert McManus feels Trump needs to up his game if he is to beat Ford or potential quarter-final opponents Jak Jones or Si Jiahui.

“If I was looking for a problem for Judd Trump right now, it’s the sections he is in,” McManus said in the Eurosport studio. “We know he is playing Tom Ford, he also has Jak Jones or Si Jiahui. I don’t think he’s playing as well as the other three.

“The one good thing he has is his ceiling is higher.

“He is a better player than the other three, but he did not play that well against Hossein.”

McManus feels Trump’s fighting qualities will keep him in the hunt even if he is not on top form.

“As a competitor, he is as good as it gets,” McManus said. “But his actual A game is nowhere near what it used to be.

“He has got a lot to figure out.”