Stephen Lee vs. Robert Milkins semi-final preview: 2012 World Open
Penultimate stage of the 2012 World Open snooker tournament is set to be commenced at the Haikou Stadium arena in the Hainan Island, where Stephen Lee and Robert Milkins will play against each other in the all-England semi-final clash.
Both potters have shown great deal of determination so far in the tournament by playing impressively at the baize and making major upsets. They have grabbed convincing wins from the first round to reach the semi-final stage in Hainan. They entered the 2012
World Open line-up from lower ranks and proved the talent and class with some scintillating snooker display.
The 37-year-old Lee was up against Wale’s Dominic Dale who came from the qualifiers. The Englishman faced no trouble against him and defeated him by an easy score line of 5-0 to surge into the second round.
The second round competition seemed a tough one for him because he was going to face one of the ideal candidates for the title, the former World Snooker Champion, Australia’s Neil Robertson. However, despite a lot of pressure on him, Lee showed no signs
of anxiety and played confidently against the Aussie. He tumbled down a bit during the clash but sprang up to win over him by 5-2.
His quarter-final clash was even tougher form him because he was facing the former World Snooker Champion, veteran Graeme Dott. But he played with all his might and was able to beat him in an easy game by 5-1 scores to set up semi-final match with Robert
Milkins.
Milkins, on the other hand, started his campaign with the first-round match against the Scotsman, Stephen Maguire. The match was a bit tough for the Englishman at the beginning but he settled down after the first session and came strong to win it 5-3.
He next faced China’s Jin Long in Round 2. Long was the one who gave a major blow to the experienced Ding Junhui in the first round. However, he dropped down against Milkins by 5-2 easily to push him into the quarters.
Milkins’ next opponent was one of the toughest opponents in the world snooker, the reigning World Snooker Champion, Scotland’s John Higgins. Higgins was also being considered to be one of the top contenders to lift the title. Milkins eradicated that impression
by beating him 5-3 in the quarters and made his way into the semis against Lee.
Lee has been a consistent performer in the current season despite the fact that he was not able to win any major or minor ranking event. His match-winning ratio is 70.2 percent while frame winning rate is 61.4 percent.
Meanwhile, Milkins performance has not been up to the mark. He lost in the qualifiers of many major events and did not get a chance to play in the televised stages. His current match winning rate is 53.8 percent and frame winning percentage is 52.9.
As per head-to-head odds, the pair is at 1-1 level because both potters have played against each other in two matches where they grabbed one victory each. According to the current performance rate, Lee has more chances to win he semi-final clash than those
of Milkins.
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