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What a fantastic day of snooker. As always the Welsh Open served up more drama to add the close finishes we have come acustomed with throughout the 17 years of this tournament. The quartet of semi finalists were all at different spectrums of their careers which would provide fascinating battles of youth verses experience.
The first semi final saw Ali Carter, World Championship runner up, and Anthony Hamilton, British Open and China Open finalist, produce a topsy-turvy match. Hamilton raced into a 3-0 lead without much trouble but Ali struck back to win the next five including a break of 141, the highest of the tournament so far. However Carter, who has lost all but one of his six previous semi finals, had to sit out a near 147 attempt by Hamilton. Having potted 14 reds and 14 blacks he was chinesed snookered on the final red. He managed to pot the red but ran out of position and had to take the green. He still had a chance to overtake Carter's 141 but missed a yellow on 116 which brought him back to 4-5. Carter knocked in a 53 after Hamilton fouled on the black but missed a tough red to the middle pocket on the brink of victory. After having two more attempts at the red he dually left it for Hamilton who took full advantage with a 64 to take the match into the final frame.
Carter, who lost 6-5 in the Northern Ireland Trophy and Grand Prix semi finals opened up with a 58 before missing a long red. However Hamilton could only manage 7 before an attempt at a split left him on nothing. After a couple of safety shots two long reds for Carter eventually took him over the winning line into only his second ranking final.
"I would have been gutted to go home having lost. You want to be a winner. I'll just keep punching and it will come," said Carter. "The game had everything, I was down and out at 3-0 but I dug deep and found a bit of form. He had a great chance for a maximum, then at 5-4 he cleared up from nowhere and it's 5-5."
Hamilton who came through a gruelling quarter final with Mark Selby blamed the middle part of the match for his defeat. "It would be folly for me to be disappointed. I lost energy midway through the match but felt great towards the end."
The other semi finalist saw three time ranking event winner and former champion Neil Robertson up against twice a Welsh Open semi finalist and nine time ranking event semi finalist, Joe Swail. The opening frame of the match had two incredible twists as Swail forged 71-0 ahead before missing a tricky frame ball red with the rest. Robertson managed to clear to the pink before missing a straightforward pink to the middle. Swail knocked in the long pink to pinch a frame he had looked like winning then losing. A 98 from Swail made it 2-0 before unforced errors from both players saw Swail nick the third frame. Swail had missed an easy green before Robertson missed another pink which was frame ball. Clearly not having settled Robertson lost the next to trail 4-0 at the interval.
As predicted Robertson came out firing and an 82 reduced the gap to 4-1 but Swail made it 5-1 with a 59. He was a frame away from finally reaching a ranking final after 18 years as a professional but he missed a red on 21 to leave Robertson amongst the balls as he cleared to make it 5-2. The miss was Swail's only glaring mistake as Robertson won a scrappy frame before a break of 93 made it 5-4. Swail was clearly going through the mill as Robertson had a couple of chances to level. However a break of 39 wasn't enough and Swail produced a great couple of pots to move to within the brink. The yellow was one of the shots of the Championships as he sent the cueball around the table to get position on the green along the top rail. The green was then potted even after a kick which left Swail a twitchy frame and match ball brown. He potted it to go 21 infront with 18 on the table. Robertson did manage to trap Swail in a snooker but the Ulsterman escaped from it and it was all over as he rolled in a long blue.
"You have no idea what this means to me," said Swail. "After 18 years as a pro I'm in a final and I can't believe it. I thought I'd missed the boat in the mid-90s after messing with my game, and all the parties and drinking. Now I've got a second chance. I'm 39 and I might never get another one so I've got to take it. It's what I set out to do."
"I've been through a lot this year but I've kept working hard on my game. I've got a monkey off my back now, people have been going on about how many semi-finals I've lost in for 15 years which has been annoying. I'm just so delighted.
"Even at 4-0 tonight I knew it wouldn't be easy. I didn't do a lot wrong from 5-1 to 5-4 and I believed that if I got a good chance I would take it. I made a good break in the end, the yellow was one of my best shots ever, if not the best under the circumstances. I decided to go for broke and I pulled it off."
Swail was in bullish mood as he summed up his chances in tomorrows final, "I've beaten Mark Allen, Stephen Maguire and Neil Robertson so I don't fear anyone. Ali will be hungry too but I felt comfortable tonight and I want to make the most of tomorrow."
Robertson said: "In the first four frames I felt jaded and lacked my usual manner around the table. The first frame was crucial - if I'd won that I might have gone on to win. The way I played for the first four frames was embarrassing, my mum could have beaten me. If it wasn't for the fight-back after the interval, it would have been the worst performance of my career by a mile. If I'd lost 6-0 or 6-1 I would have turned my phone off for a week, so at least I came out and showed why I was in the semi-finals.
"At 4-0 I tried to attack, to impose myself on the game and put him under pressure. I had chances to go 5-5 but in the end he made a good break under pressure so I take my hat off to him, even though I'm absolutely gutted."
Tomorrows final will see a new ranking tournament winner but with this Swail's probable last chance at 39 will mean more for him. Carter definatly does deserve a ranking success after his performances this season but will have plenty more chances in the future. Carter will clearly go into the final as favourite but with the history of final frame deciders in the final of this great tournament I would not be surprised to see another added to the list. If the match stays relatively close I think the final frames will be tense and exciting with a couple of missed pots down to the pressure of the situation. Carter, the perennial loser of winning positions, against Swail, the winner of losing postions, will hopefully prove to be a cracker. I can't wait!
Alex0paul
Images by www.FocusStacked.co.uk
The first semi final saw Ali Carter, World Championship runner up, and Anthony Hamilton, British Open and China Open finalist, produce a topsy-turvy match. Hamilton raced into a 3-0 lead without much trouble but Ali struck back to win the next five including a break of 141, the highest of the tournament so far. However Carter, who has lost all but one of his six previous semi finals, had to sit out a near 147 attempt by Hamilton. Having potted 14 reds and 14 blacks he was chinesed snookered on the final red. He managed to pot the red but ran out of position and had to take the green. He still had a chance to overtake Carter's 141 but missed a yellow on 116 which brought him back to 4-5. Carter knocked in a 53 after Hamilton fouled on the black but missed a tough red to the middle pocket on the brink of victory. After having two more attempts at the red he dually left it for Hamilton who took full advantage with a 64 to take the match into the final frame.
Carter, who lost 6-5 in the Northern Ireland Trophy and Grand Prix semi finals opened up with a 58 before missing a long red. However Hamilton could only manage 7 before an attempt at a split left him on nothing. After a couple of safety shots two long reds for Carter eventually took him over the winning line into only his second ranking final.
"I would have been gutted to go home having lost. You want to be a winner. I'll just keep punching and it will come," said Carter. "The game had everything, I was down and out at 3-0 but I dug deep and found a bit of form. He had a great chance for a maximum, then at 5-4 he cleared up from nowhere and it's 5-5."
Hamilton who came through a gruelling quarter final with Mark Selby blamed the middle part of the match for his defeat. "It would be folly for me to be disappointed. I lost energy midway through the match but felt great towards the end."
The other semi finalist saw three time ranking event winner and former champion Neil Robertson up against twice a Welsh Open semi finalist and nine time ranking event semi finalist, Joe Swail. The opening frame of the match had two incredible twists as Swail forged 71-0 ahead before missing a tricky frame ball red with the rest. Robertson managed to clear to the pink before missing a straightforward pink to the middle. Swail knocked in the long pink to pinch a frame he had looked like winning then losing. A 98 from Swail made it 2-0 before unforced errors from both players saw Swail nick the third frame. Swail had missed an easy green before Robertson missed another pink which was frame ball. Clearly not having settled Robertson lost the next to trail 4-0 at the interval.
As predicted Robertson came out firing and an 82 reduced the gap to 4-1 but Swail made it 5-1 with a 59. He was a frame away from finally reaching a ranking final after 18 years as a professional but he missed a red on 21 to leave Robertson amongst the balls as he cleared to make it 5-2. The miss was Swail's only glaring mistake as Robertson won a scrappy frame before a break of 93 made it 5-4. Swail was clearly going through the mill as Robertson had a couple of chances to level. However a break of 39 wasn't enough and Swail produced a great couple of pots to move to within the brink. The yellow was one of the shots of the Championships as he sent the cueball around the table to get position on the green along the top rail. The green was then potted even after a kick which left Swail a twitchy frame and match ball brown. He potted it to go 21 infront with 18 on the table. Robertson did manage to trap Swail in a snooker but the Ulsterman escaped from it and it was all over as he rolled in a long blue.
"You have no idea what this means to me," said Swail. "After 18 years as a pro I'm in a final and I can't believe it. I thought I'd missed the boat in the mid-90s after messing with my game, and all the parties and drinking. Now I've got a second chance. I'm 39 and I might never get another one so I've got to take it. It's what I set out to do."
"I've been through a lot this year but I've kept working hard on my game. I've got a monkey off my back now, people have been going on about how many semi-finals I've lost in for 15 years which has been annoying. I'm just so delighted.
"Even at 4-0 tonight I knew it wouldn't be easy. I didn't do a lot wrong from 5-1 to 5-4 and I believed that if I got a good chance I would take it. I made a good break in the end, the yellow was one of my best shots ever, if not the best under the circumstances. I decided to go for broke and I pulled it off."
Swail was in bullish mood as he summed up his chances in tomorrows final, "I've beaten Mark Allen, Stephen Maguire and Neil Robertson so I don't fear anyone. Ali will be hungry too but I felt comfortable tonight and I want to make the most of tomorrow."
Robertson said: "In the first four frames I felt jaded and lacked my usual manner around the table. The first frame was crucial - if I'd won that I might have gone on to win. The way I played for the first four frames was embarrassing, my mum could have beaten me. If it wasn't for the fight-back after the interval, it would have been the worst performance of my career by a mile. If I'd lost 6-0 or 6-1 I would have turned my phone off for a week, so at least I came out and showed why I was in the semi-finals.
"At 4-0 I tried to attack, to impose myself on the game and put him under pressure. I had chances to go 5-5 but in the end he made a good break under pressure so I take my hat off to him, even though I'm absolutely gutted."
Tomorrows final will see a new ranking tournament winner but with this Swail's probable last chance at 39 will mean more for him. Carter definatly does deserve a ranking success after his performances this season but will have plenty more chances in the future. Carter will clearly go into the final as favourite but with the history of final frame deciders in the final of this great tournament I would not be surprised to see another added to the list. If the match stays relatively close I think the final frames will be tense and exciting with a couple of missed pots down to the pressure of the situation. Carter, the perennial loser of winning positions, against Swail, the winner of losing postions, will hopefully prove to be a cracker. I can't wait!
Alex0paul
Images by www.FocusStacked.co.uk