Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor begin semi-finals day
The day started with a re-match of one of the greatest sporting occasions. Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor entered The Crucible arena 25 years after that epic final which went all the way to a black-ball finish.
The 61-year-old Taylor came out wearing very large glasses, while Davis entered with a giant ginger wig, in an exaggeration of their appearances back on that night.
Both players entertained the crowd and missed a lot of shots. They tried to repeat the outcome of 1985, with the players showing what they did on the black. Taylor attempted to miss the black like he did on the night, but kept on potting it, while Davis joked around saying he had someone else’s cue and Jimmy White’s right hand. When Taylor got down to that shot that won him the world title, not surprisingly, he missed.
Neil Robertson 6-2 Ali Carter
In the first semi-final, Robertson took a commanding lead over 2008 Crucible runner-up Carter. Robertson took the opening frame of the session. In the second frame, the Thunder from Down Under attempted a red and missed, but Carter was unable to punish the Australian, and he made a frame-winning clearance of 124 to double his lead. A long safety battle was the story in the third frame. Carter potted a good red into the bottom left with the first chance making a break of 42. Robertson needed a snooker and got one on the green. Carter had the chance on the brown but missed, and Robertson opened up a 3-0 lead.
Another long safety exchange saw Robertson crack first, when he wildly missed a red and left Carter a chance. He failed to take the chance after running out of position, and Robertson made a break of 91 to lead 4-0. The 28-year-old made it 5-0 with a break of 76.
Robertson’s poor safety allowed Carter in his first real chance of the match, and he made a break of 40 before missing a red to the right middle pocket. Robertson hit a counter break of 45 but ran out of position. After another safety exchange, Robertson had two attempts on a red, but Carter cleared the colours to put his first frame on the board.
A break of 52 from Robertson was enough to take a 6-1 lead after Carter squandered several chances to potentially take the frame. In the final frame of the session, the Captain was in first with a break of 38. Robertson was unable to come back and Carter took a brave long distance red to the top left pocket to make the score 6-2 with a break of 69.
They come back tomorrow at 10am for the second session.
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