With Stephen Hendry, Mark Selby, Barry Hawkins and Judd Trump in action this afternoon it has been an interesting afternoon of snooker in Telford, click below for the latest…
Stephen Hendry 5-3 Stephen Lee
Five times UK Champion Stephen Hendry will take a 5-3 lead into tomorrow’s final session after a scrappy affair with Stephen Lee this afternoon.
It was an odd match as neither player really got going, and the tone was set in a long 35 minute opening frame which Stephen Hendry just about managed to take. Despite this though he was not playing at all well, missing several easy balls and allowing Lee to take the next two with breaks of 109 and particularly well-taken break of 72 to lead 2-1.
Hendry though managed to keep his composure and although not playing well, took the last before the mid-session interval, a frame that actually signalled the start of a four-frame winning streak. He never looked to be back to his very best but three breaks of 43 and one of 66 saw him move 5-2 up, the seventh frame in particular being very important as he looked like he might throw it away with two careless in-offs. Luckily for him though, Lee duly returned the favour with an in-off of his own, though he fought back to take the last frame of the day to keep himself in touch for tomorrow.
Hopefully both will pick up tomorrow and improve on pot success statistics of 84% and 82%, both not good enough to win the tournament in my opinion…
Marco Fu 3-5 Barry Hawkins
In one of the matches where I fancied that there might be an upset, Barry Hawkins justified my faith by opening up a 5-3 lead over his higher ranked opponent Marco Fu.
Barry in fact made the best possible start by taking the first two frames, but Marco is too good a player to panic and hit back to make it 2-2 at the mid-session interval. Though he took the next as well to lead 3-2, Barry suddenly upped it a gear and with breaks of 67, 41, 70 and 97, secured a 5-3 lead going into tomorrow.
Mark King 5-3 Judd Trump
World number 15 Mark King showed signs of emerging from his poor start to the season by moving 5-3 ahead of Bristol youngster Judd Trump after today’s session.
Against the expectations of many observers given the rise of Judd Trump this season, Mark made a terrific start to lead 3-1 at the mid-session interval, highlighted by a break of 99. Judd though found himself in a similar position against Michael Judge in his qualifying match last week and again hit back today to level it at 3-3. This time though, Mark King then hit back again and took the final two frames to set things up very nicely going into tomorrow…
Mark Selby 3-5 Mark Williams
The battle of the Marks was won today by Mark Williams who finished the session with a 5-3 lead, though early on in the match this did not look likely at all.
Indeed it was the Jester from Leicester who made a terrific start with a break of 105, before taking the next on a respotted black as he moved 3-1 ahead at the mid-session interval. From this point on though things were to turn right around as his Welsh opponent suddenly found his form and reeled off each of the four frames after the interval to lead 5-3 overnight. According to GSC Selby might be struggling with a cold and was using an inhaler today so hopefully that will improve for tomorrow…
Stephen Hendry 5-3 Stephen Lee 64-36, 18-113(109), 2-74(72), 86(43,43)-4, 55(43)-17, 74(66)-5, 67(46)-37, 43-83(83)
Mark Selby 0-0 Mark Williams 113(105)-13, 75-68(respot black), 18-78(53), 68(55)-0, 0-95(95), 50-60
Marco Fu 3-5 Barry Hawkins 16-70, 0-55, 68-25, 68-26, 60-47, 28-68(67), 0-111(41,70), 0-97(97)
Mark King 5-3 Judd Trump 88(38)-0, 99(99)-0, 15-60, 61-9, 32-70(47), 7-110(87), 65-24, 60-22