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[/SIZE]FOUR times UK Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan cruised into the second round of the UK open in Telford with a 9-3 victory over Matthew Stevens.
It wasn't the full gloss from Ronnie but Matt just about finished off his chances with some terrible mistakes when in decent position that Ronnie took full advantage of.
Yet it was Stevens who got the better start in the best of seventeen frames encounter as breaks of 58 and 51 saw him establish a 2-0 lead with Ronnie looking out of sorts. But Matthew couldn't sustain it as basic errors started to creep into his game and Ronnie managed to finally string a few pots together for a 35 break in frame 3, yet though he was still giving Matthew chances as he missed a mid range red to give Stevens a chance to counter attack. Stevens managed 20 before he missed a mid range red to the corner. It was just the let off Ronnie needed as he closed out the frame to trail 1-2.
But still Matthew was getting chances- and he wasn't making the mosr of them. A 48 break in frame four came to an end when he ran out of position. And from there he tried to force the issue - a reckless attempt at a plant from distance ended with him leaving Ronnie an easy starter to the corner pocket, from it Ronnie stroked in an 80 break to level at 2-2 at the mid session interval.
For all his talent Matthew has been one of the underachievers in snooker - only one ranking title to his name and that was the UK Championship in 2003, twice a finalist at the World Championships before slipping down the rankings and having to pre-qualify for the final stages of tournaments. And his confidence would hardly have been helped when going nicely on a break of 24 he missed an easy red to the centre pocket. With the table looking particularly inviting Ronnie dispatched a red to the "yellow" pocket for a break of 68. Stevens though with two reds left on the table still had a chance to tie, but that went swiftly out of the window when Stevens gambled on a difficult long red to the top corner pocket. He missed it by a mile and with a run of 18 O'Sulliavan went 3-2 in front.
But Matthew refused to give in and he fired in a long red from baulk and made the 178th century of his professionall career with a break of 101 before falling on the final green. 3-3 and it was game on - well that is what some thought. While Ronnie wasn't playing his "a" game Matthew's was soon disappearing before his very eyes. Nicely placed in among the balls on 14 he missed a sitter of a pink to the centre- the punishment was swift and clinical as O'Sullivan stepped in with an easy starter and proceeded to make 74 to lead 4-3. And the same depressing story continued for Matthew as again he was first in,yet again though he broke down with another missed pink to the centre. But this time it seemed to be catching as chances for Ronnie also went begging. Stevens couldn't take advantage and it was Ronnie who capitalised when Matthew missed a straightforward red to the centre to roll in a break of 79 to open up a two frame advantage.
The interval seemed to have served to allow Matthew to dwell on his missed opportunities and O'Sullivan rubbed it in on the resumption as he fired in a quickfire 75 break to lead 6-3. Stevens badly needed the tenth frame if he was going to stay in the hunt. With the frame in the balance at 21-31 it was Matthew who made the critical error as he left a red to the centre and Ronnie pounced and hammered in a break of 60 to move 7-3 in front. With Matthew's confidence in tatters he was gifted a glorious chance by Ronnie as he left the Welshman in prime position in among the balls. But Matthew could only make 14 before another missed red to the centre sent him back to his seat. But Ronnie couldn't take full advantage as both players were only able to score meagre points on their vsitis to the table. Indeed most of the points actually came from fouls - and that racked up to something approaching 48points as they came to the final five colours with the scores poised at 70-62 in favour of O'Sullivan. The Englishmman though looked to have kissed goodbye to the frame when an errant safety gave Matthew prime position on the green, Matthew sank it to the centre but needing the extension to his cue for the brown he seemed to overstretch and missed- leaving the brown to the corner. O'Sullivan is the last player who needs charity and mopped up the brown, blue and pink to stretch his lead to 8-3, one frame from victory.
And the end wasn't long in coming as Ronnie thundered in a long red to the top corner and followed up with the black, a further seven reds and seven blacks followed as the fans began to wonder was he going to sign off in style with a maximum. The answer was no as the Englishman missed a sitter of a red to the corner, and then had to sit and suffer as Matthew rolled in a break of 44 before missing an attempt at the double of the penultimate red to the centre. Second prize wasn't bad though - a snooker that Ronnie failed to escape from, seven points though was all that Stevens was able to garner from the second bite of the cherry as he committed the decisive error of leaving the final red over the pocket after trying to roll it in along the cushion. That was it as Ronnie cleared from red to black with a run of 30 to wrap up victory and book a second round match with Peter Ebdon.
Meanwhile Ali Carter struggled through against Rory McLeod with a hard fought 9-7 victory over the Qatar based professional professional. McLeod, the world number 39 from who had come through qualifying to book a place at Telford soon gave Carter something to think about as he took the first frame with a break of 79 after Carter had missed a difficult black. Carter though hit back to take the second without firing in any breaks of note. But Ali certainly did not look anywhere near his best and it was exploited by McLeod as he took a tense third that was still in the balance as they came to the colours. And it was Ali who committed the crucial error as he left the green sitting over the top corner pocket. Rory does not need gifts and punished Ali by knocking in the green and then the brown befOre being forced to play safe off the blue. The conservatoive approach was to pay dividends as Carter then promptly left a straight blue to the corner after trying to snooker McLeod and seconds later Ali was staring at a scorebaord that showed McLeod 3-1 in front.
The next two frames were shared that left the scorebaord showing Rory leading 4-2, and with Ali struggling Rory needed to hammer home his advantage- as the old proverb goes it is better to eat your opponant for breakfast before they eat you for dinner- but maybe the pressure started to get to Rory as his mindset maybe started to get ahead of himself. With the final red close to the corner pocket in frame 7 McLeod potted it- a quick look at the scoreabord told him that he needed only the yellow. And here is where he made his big mistake. The yellow was not a gimme but still emminently pottable. McLeod though tried to roll it in, and as the yellow wobbled in the jaws and stayed in baulk with the cue ball in close attendance. Carter given a chance he didn't think he was going to get delicately cut the yellow in and mopped up with 27 to close to 3-4.
With the frame that got away clearly praying on Rory's mind he tried to pot his way out if his frustration. A strategy that usually backfires on a player. A wild slash at a red from Rory set Ali up with a simple red to the "yellow" pocket. Stroking it in Carter made 34 before missing a black off it's spot to let Rory in. He was to make 53 only to miss the final red, which he chose to play as a shot to nothing. It was to cost him dear as the red wobbled in the jaws and stayed there allowing Ali to step in and drop in the red and cleared up with 28 to level the match at 4-4.
Resuming Carter must have been full of optimism as he took the first two frames of the evening session with breaks of 57 and 38. But if he thought Rory was just going to fold he was in for a shock as McLeod fired in a 58 to cut the deficit to 5-6 and then level at 6-6 in a scrappy twelfth frame.
And McLeod, who had to win three qualifying matches to reach Telford was now threatening another upset as he fired in breaks of 49 and 41 to claim the thirteenth frame - while Ali could only blame himself for slipping 7-6 down after missing a sitter of a red that was sitting pretty over the "green" pocket. It was schoolboy errors that he was being punished for by a man who while born in Wellingbrough spends most of his time in Qatar coaching their National squad. To Ali's credit he managed to scrape together enough points to level at 7-7. In effect it was now the best of 3- and a battle of nerves.
Just when he needed it Ali's potting skills returned - as he fired in a long red and with total concentration completed a total clearance of 102 to move 8-7 in front , needing one more for victory. With that timely break behind him Ali at last looked a top five player as he capitalised on Rory's mistake of leaving a red sitting over a corner pocket to roll in a break of 29. He didn't have to wait long though for another chance as he forced an error from Rory who left a red close to the top corner pocket. Ali lined up the shot and cut it in for 10 to lead 46-13 with five reds remaining. Still though while his potting arm was working well you sensed he wasn't totally confident as he opted to keep it tight. A tactic that was to rebound on him as Rory grabbed the chance of a long red to the "yellow" pocket. The red crashed into the pocket and Rory pieced together a break of 43 and left Ali snookered on the yellow behind the brown. With just the colours remaining Rory turned down a chance of a pot on the yellow in favour of a snooker- only for the attempted snooker to end in a chance for Ali. He steadied himself and slammed in the yellow and cleared up to the pink to close out a 9-7 victory and set up a match with Peter Lines who caused the shock of the tournament on a outside table by thrashing the beaten finalist from last year Marco Fu 9-3.
Elsewhere the 2005 champion Ding Junhui was a comfortable winner over Mike Dunn, Dunn of course one of the three directors who was voted off the board of the WPBSA at that AGM in Sheffield last week. And in todays other matches Mark Selby leads Stephen Hendry 5-3, John Higgins has a 5-3 advantage over Neil Robertson. Stephen Maguire stands 6-2 against Stuart Bingham while Liang Wenbo has one foot already in the last eight as he holds a commanding 7-1 advantage over Mark King. Those matches to a finish tomorrow.
Suzy Jardine
It wasn't the full gloss from Ronnie but Matt just about finished off his chances with some terrible mistakes when in decent position that Ronnie took full advantage of.
Yet it was Stevens who got the better start in the best of seventeen frames encounter as breaks of 58 and 51 saw him establish a 2-0 lead with Ronnie looking out of sorts. But Matthew couldn't sustain it as basic errors started to creep into his game and Ronnie managed to finally string a few pots together for a 35 break in frame 3, yet though he was still giving Matthew chances as he missed a mid range red to give Stevens a chance to counter attack. Stevens managed 20 before he missed a mid range red to the corner. It was just the let off Ronnie needed as he closed out the frame to trail 1-2.
But still Matthew was getting chances- and he wasn't making the mosr of them. A 48 break in frame four came to an end when he ran out of position. And from there he tried to force the issue - a reckless attempt at a plant from distance ended with him leaving Ronnie an easy starter to the corner pocket, from it Ronnie stroked in an 80 break to level at 2-2 at the mid session interval.
For all his talent Matthew has been one of the underachievers in snooker - only one ranking title to his name and that was the UK Championship in 2003, twice a finalist at the World Championships before slipping down the rankings and having to pre-qualify for the final stages of tournaments. And his confidence would hardly have been helped when going nicely on a break of 24 he missed an easy red to the centre pocket. With the table looking particularly inviting Ronnie dispatched a red to the "yellow" pocket for a break of 68. Stevens though with two reds left on the table still had a chance to tie, but that went swiftly out of the window when Stevens gambled on a difficult long red to the top corner pocket. He missed it by a mile and with a run of 18 O'Sulliavan went 3-2 in front.
But Matthew refused to give in and he fired in a long red from baulk and made the 178th century of his professionall career with a break of 101 before falling on the final green. 3-3 and it was game on - well that is what some thought. While Ronnie wasn't playing his "a" game Matthew's was soon disappearing before his very eyes. Nicely placed in among the balls on 14 he missed a sitter of a pink to the centre- the punishment was swift and clinical as O'Sullivan stepped in with an easy starter and proceeded to make 74 to lead 4-3. And the same depressing story continued for Matthew as again he was first in,yet again though he broke down with another missed pink to the centre. But this time it seemed to be catching as chances for Ronnie also went begging. Stevens couldn't take advantage and it was Ronnie who capitalised when Matthew missed a straightforward red to the centre to roll in a break of 79 to open up a two frame advantage.
The interval seemed to have served to allow Matthew to dwell on his missed opportunities and O'Sullivan rubbed it in on the resumption as he fired in a quickfire 75 break to lead 6-3. Stevens badly needed the tenth frame if he was going to stay in the hunt. With the frame in the balance at 21-31 it was Matthew who made the critical error as he left a red to the centre and Ronnie pounced and hammered in a break of 60 to move 7-3 in front. With Matthew's confidence in tatters he was gifted a glorious chance by Ronnie as he left the Welshman in prime position in among the balls. But Matthew could only make 14 before another missed red to the centre sent him back to his seat. But Ronnie couldn't take full advantage as both players were only able to score meagre points on their vsitis to the table. Indeed most of the points actually came from fouls - and that racked up to something approaching 48points as they came to the final five colours with the scores poised at 70-62 in favour of O'Sullivan. The Englishmman though looked to have kissed goodbye to the frame when an errant safety gave Matthew prime position on the green, Matthew sank it to the centre but needing the extension to his cue for the brown he seemed to overstretch and missed- leaving the brown to the corner. O'Sullivan is the last player who needs charity and mopped up the brown, blue and pink to stretch his lead to 8-3, one frame from victory.
And the end wasn't long in coming as Ronnie thundered in a long red to the top corner and followed up with the black, a further seven reds and seven blacks followed as the fans began to wonder was he going to sign off in style with a maximum. The answer was no as the Englishman missed a sitter of a red to the corner, and then had to sit and suffer as Matthew rolled in a break of 44 before missing an attempt at the double of the penultimate red to the centre. Second prize wasn't bad though - a snooker that Ronnie failed to escape from, seven points though was all that Stevens was able to garner from the second bite of the cherry as he committed the decisive error of leaving the final red over the pocket after trying to roll it in along the cushion. That was it as Ronnie cleared from red to black with a run of 30 to wrap up victory and book a second round match with Peter Ebdon.
Meanwhile Ali Carter struggled through against Rory McLeod with a hard fought 9-7 victory over the Qatar based professional professional. McLeod, the world number 39 from who had come through qualifying to book a place at Telford soon gave Carter something to think about as he took the first frame with a break of 79 after Carter had missed a difficult black. Carter though hit back to take the second without firing in any breaks of note. But Ali certainly did not look anywhere near his best and it was exploited by McLeod as he took a tense third that was still in the balance as they came to the colours. And it was Ali who committed the crucial error as he left the green sitting over the top corner pocket. Rory does not need gifts and punished Ali by knocking in the green and then the brown befOre being forced to play safe off the blue. The conservatoive approach was to pay dividends as Carter then promptly left a straight blue to the corner after trying to snooker McLeod and seconds later Ali was staring at a scorebaord that showed McLeod 3-1 in front.
The next two frames were shared that left the scorebaord showing Rory leading 4-2, and with Ali struggling Rory needed to hammer home his advantage- as the old proverb goes it is better to eat your opponant for breakfast before they eat you for dinner- but maybe the pressure started to get to Rory as his mindset maybe started to get ahead of himself. With the final red close to the corner pocket in frame 7 McLeod potted it- a quick look at the scoreabord told him that he needed only the yellow. And here is where he made his big mistake. The yellow was not a gimme but still emminently pottable. McLeod though tried to roll it in, and as the yellow wobbled in the jaws and stayed in baulk with the cue ball in close attendance. Carter given a chance he didn't think he was going to get delicately cut the yellow in and mopped up with 27 to close to 3-4.
With the frame that got away clearly praying on Rory's mind he tried to pot his way out if his frustration. A strategy that usually backfires on a player. A wild slash at a red from Rory set Ali up with a simple red to the "yellow" pocket. Stroking it in Carter made 34 before missing a black off it's spot to let Rory in. He was to make 53 only to miss the final red, which he chose to play as a shot to nothing. It was to cost him dear as the red wobbled in the jaws and stayed there allowing Ali to step in and drop in the red and cleared up with 28 to level the match at 4-4.
Resuming Carter must have been full of optimism as he took the first two frames of the evening session with breaks of 57 and 38. But if he thought Rory was just going to fold he was in for a shock as McLeod fired in a 58 to cut the deficit to 5-6 and then level at 6-6 in a scrappy twelfth frame.
And McLeod, who had to win three qualifying matches to reach Telford was now threatening another upset as he fired in breaks of 49 and 41 to claim the thirteenth frame - while Ali could only blame himself for slipping 7-6 down after missing a sitter of a red that was sitting pretty over the "green" pocket. It was schoolboy errors that he was being punished for by a man who while born in Wellingbrough spends most of his time in Qatar coaching their National squad. To Ali's credit he managed to scrape together enough points to level at 7-7. In effect it was now the best of 3- and a battle of nerves.
Just when he needed it Ali's potting skills returned - as he fired in a long red and with total concentration completed a total clearance of 102 to move 8-7 in front , needing one more for victory. With that timely break behind him Ali at last looked a top five player as he capitalised on Rory's mistake of leaving a red sitting over a corner pocket to roll in a break of 29. He didn't have to wait long though for another chance as he forced an error from Rory who left a red close to the top corner pocket. Ali lined up the shot and cut it in for 10 to lead 46-13 with five reds remaining. Still though while his potting arm was working well you sensed he wasn't totally confident as he opted to keep it tight. A tactic that was to rebound on him as Rory grabbed the chance of a long red to the "yellow" pocket. The red crashed into the pocket and Rory pieced together a break of 43 and left Ali snookered on the yellow behind the brown. With just the colours remaining Rory turned down a chance of a pot on the yellow in favour of a snooker- only for the attempted snooker to end in a chance for Ali. He steadied himself and slammed in the yellow and cleared up to the pink to close out a 9-7 victory and set up a match with Peter Lines who caused the shock of the tournament on a outside table by thrashing the beaten finalist from last year Marco Fu 9-3.
Elsewhere the 2005 champion Ding Junhui was a comfortable winner over Mike Dunn, Dunn of course one of the three directors who was voted off the board of the WPBSA at that AGM in Sheffield last week. And in todays other matches Mark Selby leads Stephen Hendry 5-3, John Higgins has a 5-3 advantage over Neil Robertson. Stephen Maguire stands 6-2 against Stuart Bingham while Liang Wenbo has one foot already in the last eight as he holds a commanding 7-1 advantage over Mark King. Those matches to a finish tomorrow.
Suzy Jardine
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