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DING Junhui battled back from the brink of defeat against Ali Carter to edge a thrilling quarter final 9-8
But Ali will be kicking himself after getting a dream start to go 1-0 up as Ding left an easy red at the Tiptree professional's mercy and Carter rammed in a break of 124, which was also the 100th century of his professional career. Soon it was 2-0- albeit with an outrageous slice of good fortune. With the scores on 20-21 Ali found himself in a tactical battle and with no obvious safety shot available elected to try and pot his way out of trouble. Striking the cue ball he hit the two remaining reds on the side cushion from behind and then saw one of them deflect off the green into the centre pocket. This helped him to a 33 break that only ended when he was forced to play safe. Ding, starved of table time still hadn't found his range and caught his safety too thinly, leaving the cue ball to hit the jaw of the centre pocket and rebound into mid table - and worse still ha manged to push the red over a corner pocket. O.K it is Christmas but Ali doesn't need presents in the form of 10 decisive points and with it a 2--0 lead.
Ali continued where he left off in frame three - but he couldn't put the frame away in one vsisit. A great opportunity ended on 48 but Ali was not to be kept waiting long for a 3-0 lead as Ding caught his safety too thickly and left a straight red to the corner that Carter dispatched and rattled in a run of 13 that sealed the frame.
Trailing 3-0 Ding badly needed an easy chance to get his cue arm going and find what had been missing from his game , namely rhythm. Gifted a mid range red by Carter Ding was in no mood to go 4-0 down and with concentration stroked in a break of 79 to trail 3-1 at the mid session interval. The match from his point of view had only just begun and he returned the more positive and confident player as he drilled in a long red from tight under the baulk cushion and made 81 to put himself right back in the match.
All of a sudden Ali started to look nervous, mind you both players were missing a high percentage of pots to the centre, Ding experiencing it with an easy missed pink off it's spot. In all it had been 34 minutes since Ali Carter had potted a ball. He soon ended that sorry sequence with a run of 23 which broke down when he too was to experience the curse of the pink to the centre pocket. Ding's potting might have improved but his safety certainly hadn't as he caught the knuckle of the centre leaving Ali a red to the corner. Still though he couldn't convert and a 23 break was a poor return for a promising position. He was to regret it as Ding then hammered in a break of 46 to level at 3-3
Carter couldn't believe what had happened - and it was clearly praying on his mind in frame seven as the frame became a comedy of errors - it seemed as if both players were doing their best to gift the frame to their opponant. And it seemed as if Ali was going to be the beneficiary as Ding failed to escape a snooker and even worse gave away a free ball. Taking the brown as his free ball but then missed a sitter of a red and with the scores tightly poised as they came to the colours Ali made the decisive mistake. A simple yellow he would normally pot with his eyes shut was left hanging over the jaws of the top pocket - and this time Ding made no mistake as he cleared up to the blue to snatch the frame and with it a 4-3 lead.
To Ali's credit he managed to put it out of his mind to fire in a vital 69 to level at 4-4 at the interval. The match perfectly poised had all the ingredients of going the distance on the resumption. Ding though would have wanted a better start than in the opening three frames of the match where he simply didn't compete. He didn't get it as Ali struck to settle his nerves with a 69. Back though came Ding with a 96 to level at 5-5. But Carter then struck a vein of form that put his opponant under severe pressure as he rattled in a break of 55 to lead 6-5 and then went 7-5 in front at the mid session interval.
If you thought Ding was beaten what a mistake you had made. The Chinese star came roaring back with breaks of 53 and 59 to level at 7-7. Which way would it swing now. We soon had an answer as Carter hammered in the 101st century of his professional career with a 108 to lead 8-7,only for Ding to send the match into a final frame shoot out with the help of a 43.
The final frame was as conclusive as the others had been in the balance. A copybook break off from Ali found the baulk cushion, but a red had come loose from the pack. Ding lined up the red. It flew into the top corner pocket and from there he never looked back as he rattled in a 76 break in a crashing climax to a match of fluctuating fortunes - and set up a semi final with Stephen Maguire.
Suzy Jardine
But Ali will be kicking himself after getting a dream start to go 1-0 up as Ding left an easy red at the Tiptree professional's mercy and Carter rammed in a break of 124, which was also the 100th century of his professional career. Soon it was 2-0- albeit with an outrageous slice of good fortune. With the scores on 20-21 Ali found himself in a tactical battle and with no obvious safety shot available elected to try and pot his way out of trouble. Striking the cue ball he hit the two remaining reds on the side cushion from behind and then saw one of them deflect off the green into the centre pocket. This helped him to a 33 break that only ended when he was forced to play safe. Ding, starved of table time still hadn't found his range and caught his safety too thinly, leaving the cue ball to hit the jaw of the centre pocket and rebound into mid table - and worse still ha manged to push the red over a corner pocket. O.K it is Christmas but Ali doesn't need presents in the form of 10 decisive points and with it a 2--0 lead.
Ali continued where he left off in frame three - but he couldn't put the frame away in one vsisit. A great opportunity ended on 48 but Ali was not to be kept waiting long for a 3-0 lead as Ding caught his safety too thickly and left a straight red to the corner that Carter dispatched and rattled in a run of 13 that sealed the frame.
Trailing 3-0 Ding badly needed an easy chance to get his cue arm going and find what had been missing from his game , namely rhythm. Gifted a mid range red by Carter Ding was in no mood to go 4-0 down and with concentration stroked in a break of 79 to trail 3-1 at the mid session interval. The match from his point of view had only just begun and he returned the more positive and confident player as he drilled in a long red from tight under the baulk cushion and made 81 to put himself right back in the match.
All of a sudden Ali started to look nervous, mind you both players were missing a high percentage of pots to the centre, Ding experiencing it with an easy missed pink off it's spot. In all it had been 34 minutes since Ali Carter had potted a ball. He soon ended that sorry sequence with a run of 23 which broke down when he too was to experience the curse of the pink to the centre pocket. Ding's potting might have improved but his safety certainly hadn't as he caught the knuckle of the centre leaving Ali a red to the corner. Still though he couldn't convert and a 23 break was a poor return for a promising position. He was to regret it as Ding then hammered in a break of 46 to level at 3-3
Carter couldn't believe what had happened - and it was clearly praying on his mind in frame seven as the frame became a comedy of errors - it seemed as if both players were doing their best to gift the frame to their opponant. And it seemed as if Ali was going to be the beneficiary as Ding failed to escape a snooker and even worse gave away a free ball. Taking the brown as his free ball but then missed a sitter of a red and with the scores tightly poised as they came to the colours Ali made the decisive mistake. A simple yellow he would normally pot with his eyes shut was left hanging over the jaws of the top pocket - and this time Ding made no mistake as he cleared up to the blue to snatch the frame and with it a 4-3 lead.
To Ali's credit he managed to put it out of his mind to fire in a vital 69 to level at 4-4 at the interval. The match perfectly poised had all the ingredients of going the distance on the resumption. Ding though would have wanted a better start than in the opening three frames of the match where he simply didn't compete. He didn't get it as Ali struck to settle his nerves with a 69. Back though came Ding with a 96 to level at 5-5. But Carter then struck a vein of form that put his opponant under severe pressure as he rattled in a break of 55 to lead 6-5 and then went 7-5 in front at the mid session interval.
If you thought Ding was beaten what a mistake you had made. The Chinese star came roaring back with breaks of 53 and 59 to level at 7-7. Which way would it swing now. We soon had an answer as Carter hammered in the 101st century of his professional career with a 108 to lead 8-7,only for Ding to send the match into a final frame shoot out with the help of a 43.
The final frame was as conclusive as the others had been in the balance. A copybook break off from Ali found the baulk cushion, but a red had come loose from the pack. Ding lined up the red. It flew into the top corner pocket and from there he never looked back as he rattled in a 76 break in a crashing climax to a match of fluctuating fortunes - and set up a semi final with Stephen Maguire.
Suzy Jardine
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