A day of two very different semi-finals in Germany has seen Joe Perry and Stephen Maguire emerge victorious and book their places in tonight’s PTC12 final which starts at 7pm GMT, live on Eurosport…
- Click here for the latest draw and results
- Click here to view the latest projected seedings
- Click here to view the latest Order of Merit
First through to this evening’s final was 2008 World Championship semi-finalist Joe Perry who saw off an out of sorts Martin Gould by a 4-0 scoreline.
The key frame of the match without doubt proved to be the first as having made the early running and left his opponent requiring three snookers, it looked for all the world that it would be Martin who would take a 1-0 lead. The frame was to be turned on its head however as Martin not only gave four points away by seeing the cue ball go in-off, but in doing so he also left a free ball for Joe from which he was able to pot the brown, followed by an extra black, before clearing the colours to steal the frame.
Looking to put that frame behind him it was again Martin who had the first chance in frame two but he couldn’t make it count and as Joe cleared to the pink with 49, Gould found himself 2-0 down when in another day he could easily have been two ahead himself.
From there the match began to get away from him as an impressive Perry moved three clear with a break of 62 in the third, before wrapping up victory in the next.
Victory was not so comfortable for Stephen Maguire however as he fell 2-0 behind early in his match as opponent Stephen Hendry opened with frame-winning breaks of 98 and 105. With Maguire missing with regularity, particularly to the right-centre, Hendry looked to have a real chance of moving into final but as the match progressed he began to make more mistakes and allowed Maguire to get into some sort of rhythm, drawing level at 2-2, while the next two were shared, Maguire forcing a decider with a break of 74.
The final frame proved to be a tense affair, Maguire having four clear scoring opportunities but without being able to deliver the decisive blow. When Hendry finally did get an opportunity however, a missed green was to ultimately prove his undoing and as Maguire successfully potted the penultimate red, the handshake was offered.
So we are down to two as Maguire and Perry meet in a repeat of their 2008 World Championship quarter-final, the match that for me will probably define Stephen’s career as Joe won it 13-12 to upset the then tournament favourite. will it be revenge for Maguire tonight or will Joe come through again?