Jamie Cope ends Martin Gould’s hopes after winning Round 1 clash at 2012 World Open
World Number 23, England’s Jamie Cope survived a brutal defeat at the hands of compatriot Martin Gould and managed to win his first-round match of 2012 World Open by the close score line of 5-4.
The first session of Round 1 clash at the Haikou Stadium arena in Hainan Island finished with 2-2 level. Cope grabbed early lead at 2-1 but before he could add more to end the session, Gould fought back and pulled level at 2-2. Gould was aiming to hit the
second round spot and was playing accordingly. He snatched the game lead after winning the fifth frame and pushed his opponent one frame down at 2-3.
The 30-year-old Gould extended his lead to 2-4 after he stormed into the sixth frame win. Cope was struggling at this point and to get back into the game he needed a miracle. The miracle happened in the seventh frame when Gould missed on red and the Longton
potter dug in three consecutive frame wins to eventually claim the first-round victory by 5-4.
After booking his spot in the second round, Cope spoke to the world Snooker, “I went 2-0 up and the next two or three frames, I should have won as I had a chance in all of them and then I found myself 3-2 down. I just had to stick in there are try and win
when I was 4-2 down which I did. Martin has improved a lot and is up to No.10 on the World Rankings now, so I would say that was a good win.”
The Stoke-on-Trent cueman has now set up a more crucial second round match against the reigning World Snooker Champion, Scotland’s John Higgins. The champ ousted Hong Kong’s Marco Fu in his first round game by the score line of 5-3.
Cope has played Higgins quite a few times in his career. However, in all those clashes, Higgins has always beaten him easily. As far as the head-to-head stats are concerned, it seems that Cope has no chances against Higgins but still there is hope for him
because this tournament has witnessed several major upsets until now and this contest might be another one of them.
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