Matthew Stevens ousts Shaun Murphy at Crondon Park Golf Club: 2011 Snooker Championship League
Welshman Matthew Stevens grabbed the Snooker Championship League 2011 title after beating Players Tour Championship (PTC) 2011 Grand final winner Shaun Murphy, 3-1 in the final on Thursday, March
24, 2011 at Crondon Park Golf Club in Essex, England. With this victory he booked his spot in this year’s Snooker Premier League.
The 2003 UK Championship winner Stevens led the group after league matches on day one and two. He faced compatriot Mark Williams in the semi-final. In his semi-final clash he outplayed Williams 3-1
to storm into the final against Murphy.
Stevens was 0-36 down to Williams in the first frame before he sparked his cue and pocketed an impressive 61 break to pick a 1-0 lead. He extended the lead to 2-0 as he took the next frame hitting
beautiful break of 69.
The Welsh Potting Machine sprang back and grabbed his first frame after he gave in a 70-points break to move within one frame and reduce the lead to 2-1.
The 36-years-old Williams stunned Stevens as he banged a stunning break of 48 and gained an early 0-48 lead in the frame. Stevens was completely shaken by the 2010 China Open champion but he got his
nerves under control and made a strong comeback.
Stevens potted an exceptional half century break of 56 and took the frame 56-48 as well as grabbed the final match spot against Shaun Murphy of England.
The 33-years-old Welshman clicked an early 1-0 lead after he cued a stunning half century break of 51 in the first frame of the final match to snatch the frame 67-18. The Englishman, Murphy came back
quickly in the very next frame and firing a beautiful knock of 81, grabbed the second frame 0-107 to balance the game at 1-1.
The Welsh Dragon, Stevens, did not let go easily as he stunned the 28-year-old Murphy, also known as the Magician, once again. The Welshman grabbed back to back frames and clinched the final match
of Snooker Championship League 2011 by 3-1.
Talking to the reports after his victory, Stevens said, “I’m delighted to be back in the Premier League. I’ve been watching it for ages with the shot clock and hopefully it will suit my style of game
but it’s just nice to be back competing with the top guys. It was nine or ten years ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it, playing week in week out all over the country.”
He added, “I didn’t do that great before but the shot clock brings more excitement and I’m really excited about it. Being in the Premier League seemed a long way away a few years ago but it’s all
down to a lot of hard work. My game isn’t quite where it was ten or 11 years ago but I’m sure I’ll be winning ranking tournaments soon.”
Stevens stormed into the Snooker Premier League for the first time since 2002, where he could not make it to the playoff stage. Keeping in view Stevens' current performance over the last month, it
can be assumed that the Welshman is going to surprise the premier league participants with his sparking cue.
The final-stage results of winners group are listed below.
FINAL
Shaun Murphy 1-3 Matthew Stevens
18-67 (51), 107 (81)-0, 40-54, 23-61
SEMI-FINALS
Mark Williams 1-3 Matthew Stevens
36 (36)-61 (61), 0-69 (69), 70 (70)-0, 48 (48)-64 (56)
Shaun Murphy 3-2 Ali Carter
101 (40)-38, 12-69 (30), 90 (90)-0, 1-92 (64), 76 (60)-43 (43)
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