UK Championship 2011: Trump Through, Allen Hits Out At Hearn

Day three from York and while today I am unfortunately not at the venue, the action goes on and today has seen victories for Judd Trump and Mark Allen today, though the talking point so far has to have been the post-match press conference with Mark who spoke out against the ongoing Barry Hearn revolution…

With a second round clash against Ronnie O’Sullivan awaiting the winner, Judd Trump emerged victorious against Welshman Dominic Dale, though not without a scare as he trailed 4-2 after six frames.

Struggling with the table and with an increasing sense of apparent frustration, the turning point however came in frame seven as two flukes on a red and the pink paved the way for a crucial break of 83. From there further breaks of 53, 54 and 62 were enough to see the world finalist through to what on paper should be the tie of the round against Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Meanwhile, Mark Allen has also moved into the last 16 with victory against Adrian Gunnell, but rather than his play on the table, it was his post-match quotes in which he slated Barry Hearn and the changes that he is making to the game that will grab the headlines.

Selected highlights as quoted at Sporting Life include:

“The players don’t really matter, so **** the players.”

“When Barry came in, one of the first things he said was that the World Championships, UK and Masters wouldn’t be touched. Only 18 months later, the UK format has changed.”

“I don’t think he’s pleasing too many players, but anyone who voted for him has only got themselves to blame. I wasn’t one of them.”

“I’ve got no doubt he’ll tweak the World Championship. Barry’s just there to make money for himself, it doesn’t really matter about the players. The whole tradition of the game is going to pot.”

“It’s not all about bringing people in to watch and have a good time, shouting and having a drink.”

“He (Hearn) needs to get away from the darts factor. It’s getting close to that. I think in the long run he’ll probably do good for snooker, but not for my generation. It’s time to let someone else have a go.”

As is evident from your many comments on Twitter this evening, opinion is divided as to whether Mark is right or wrong, indeed there are fans taking it to both extremes which shows that if nothing else Mark has at least got people talking about the game.

Regardless of my personal view (I don’t agree with everything he says, but I don’t disagree with everything either), it is always good to see someone give an honest opinion and Mark always gives good value in that department. He as one of the leading players of the younger generation has as much right to voice an opinion as anyone and the fact that it is a controversial one should not take away from that.

Evening Session

19:11 – Meanwhile the evening session sees the final two last 32 matches played to a conclusion as Mark Williams takes on Leicester’s Joe Jogia, while Stephen Lee meets Ricky Walden in a tie that is dividing opinion both at the venue and on the internet. The only consensus seems to be that it will go all the way to a decider. Predictions?

19:27 – Mark Williams takes a fairly routine opener against Joe Jogia with a couple of chances. Joe did have an opportunity only to run out of position having split the reds. The most notable aspect of the match so far has probably been the number of kicks, as I understand was the case during Judd’s win earlier.

Over on table two meanwhile, Ricky Walden has taken the opener against Stephen Lee…

21:22 – It has been a tough evening so far for Joe Jogia, trailing Mark Williams 1-3 with a top break of just 20 and his pot success down at 80%. There was however a moment for his (many) fans in the arena to cheer there as he forced a re-spotted black in frame five before taking it as Mark saw the cue ball head in-off into the yellow pocket.

Mark though has since restored his two frame cushion to lead 4-2.

Over on the other table it has been a story of great clearances so far from Stephen Lee as he ensured that he would head into the interval level at 2-2 with two quality dishes from behind. He could have been 4-0 down but with century break number 162 he has kept himself in contention at 3-3 and it will be interesting to see if he can push on from here…

21:54 – A big frame there in the Walden/Lee match you feel as Ricky breaks clear at 5-3 with an excellent break of 98. He has threatened to pull away on a couple of occasions only for misses at crucial times and solid clearances from Lee to keep the match close. Will this lead now be decisive though?

Meanwhile an interesting situation brewing on the other table as Joe Jogia smashes into the reds in frame eight and finds himself with a real chance to level at 4-4. Buoyed by strong support, he perhaps is beginning to fancy the job here…

22:16 – The lead would indeed prove decisive for Ricky as he wrapped up an impressive 6-3 victory in the next frame to book his place in the last 16. An excellent win for the former Shanghai Masters champion, it moves him up to 20th place in the latest projected seedings and interestingly, you have to go down as far as 39th placed Jack Lisowski to find someone with fewer points to come off than him between now and May.

Mark Williams meanwhile has taken a nervy ninth frame against Joe Jogia to move back into the lead at 5-4 in that match. Will he be able to get over the line now?

22:35 – He does, despite running out of position for frame ball, Mark does enough for a 6-4 win and is now through to the last 16 and a clash with Ricky Walden. Mark might not have been at his best, but a year ago it was a similar story as he came within a pot of lifting the title so he remains impossible to overlook when picking a winner…