Tweet
DEFENDING champion Shaun Murphy crashed out of the tournament to former champion Ding Junhui 9-3 in a one sided match.
Murphy who a week ago won the Premier League was suffering with a cold but this should not de-tract from Ding's performance who now seems to have added a mature, more thoughtful tactical side to his prodigious potting ability. Not that he needed to use that in the opening frame as he hammered in break of 83 and followed it up with a 51 to take a 2-0 lead.
Murphy needed the third frame badly but he certainly didn't help his cause when well placed among the balls broke down on 43. To make matters worse Ding was gifted an easy starter and he certainly made the most of it - rattling in a break of 60 to lead 3-0. Soon it was 4-0 as a 66 saw Ding leave the arena with a commanding advantage. Ding's half time refreshment would no doubt have been very nicely tasting. For Shaun the tea might well have tasted like strichnyne.
Returning from the interval Murphy knew he had to raise his game if he was to stop it becoming one way traffic. And he certainly started better - rattling in a 119 break to at last get his name on the scoreboard. But Ding soon re-established a four frame lead as without the help of any sizeable breaks managed to string together enough points to stretch his lead to 5-2.
So Shaun was now in the same position as Peter Ebdon, win the final frame of the session and you give yourself a chance later on. It was tightly poised to the final stages as they came to the final three colours with Ding 50-40 in front. Ding thought he had wrested the advantage when he snookered Shaun on the blue- But from somewhere Shaun produced an audacious escape to fluke the blue and leave himself on the pink along the side cushion. Murphy cued the pink only to see it wobble in the jaws of the pocket and rebound into the table. It was to cost him dear as minutes later Ding sunk pink to the corner to take the frame and a 6-2 lead into the night session.
Shaun badly needed a good start and he got it wih the help of a 67 break and a run of 21 that immediately cut his deficit to 6-3. But this only goaded Ding into devastating form. He hammered in a clearance on 113 to open up a four frame gap again and when he added the eleventh to lead 8-3 there was a chance to finish the match off before the mid session interval. And Ding wasn't in any mood to extend any charity to Shaun who was clearly struggling. He drilled in a long red and with the cue ball on a string, and watched by his loyal army of supporters rolled in a break of 118 to send the reigning champion home with his tail between his legs and put himself into the quarter finals to face Ali Carter who disposed of Stephen Lee on an outside table 9-5.
Suzy Jardine
Murphy who a week ago won the Premier League was suffering with a cold but this should not de-tract from Ding's performance who now seems to have added a mature, more thoughtful tactical side to his prodigious potting ability. Not that he needed to use that in the opening frame as he hammered in break of 83 and followed it up with a 51 to take a 2-0 lead.
Murphy needed the third frame badly but he certainly didn't help his cause when well placed among the balls broke down on 43. To make matters worse Ding was gifted an easy starter and he certainly made the most of it - rattling in a break of 60 to lead 3-0. Soon it was 4-0 as a 66 saw Ding leave the arena with a commanding advantage. Ding's half time refreshment would no doubt have been very nicely tasting. For Shaun the tea might well have tasted like strichnyne.
Returning from the interval Murphy knew he had to raise his game if he was to stop it becoming one way traffic. And he certainly started better - rattling in a 119 break to at last get his name on the scoreboard. But Ding soon re-established a four frame lead as without the help of any sizeable breaks managed to string together enough points to stretch his lead to 5-2.
So Shaun was now in the same position as Peter Ebdon, win the final frame of the session and you give yourself a chance later on. It was tightly poised to the final stages as they came to the final three colours with Ding 50-40 in front. Ding thought he had wrested the advantage when he snookered Shaun on the blue- But from somewhere Shaun produced an audacious escape to fluke the blue and leave himself on the pink along the side cushion. Murphy cued the pink only to see it wobble in the jaws of the pocket and rebound into the table. It was to cost him dear as minutes later Ding sunk pink to the corner to take the frame and a 6-2 lead into the night session.
Shaun badly needed a good start and he got it wih the help of a 67 break and a run of 21 that immediately cut his deficit to 6-3. But this only goaded Ding into devastating form. He hammered in a clearance on 113 to open up a four frame gap again and when he added the eleventh to lead 8-3 there was a chance to finish the match off before the mid session interval. And Ding wasn't in any mood to extend any charity to Shaun who was clearly struggling. He drilled in a long red and with the cue ball on a string, and watched by his loyal army of supporters rolled in a break of 118 to send the reigning champion home with his tail between his legs and put himself into the quarter finals to face Ali Carter who disposed of Stephen Lee on an outside table 9-5.
Suzy Jardine
Comment