Tense quarter finals approaching in 12BET.com UK snooker championship
World’s second highest ranked tournament of international snooker has reached the quarter finals round. So far, the tournament has seen some electrifying moments, brought forward by the elegant play of the contestants.
In the second round of the tournament, there have been some intense battles on the green table and also some unexpected drop-outs. The defending champion Ding Junhui was ousted from the tournament when he lost the best-of -seventeen frames match to the Irish cue-man Mark Allen, 9-8. Although it wasn’t a below average performance by Ding, the two players fought hard to drag the match into the last frame. With this victory, Allen has reached his first UK championship Quarter-finals.
In the 18th match of the last-16 round of the tournament, world number-23 Stuart Bingham knocked world number-15 Marco Fu out of the tournament and made his way to the Quarter-finals. Score for the match was 9-2, a very convincing victory for Bingham indeed.
Another nail biting encounter took place between the two fellow Scottish cue-men, John Higgins and Graeme Dott, where Higgins managed to stand the ground and play some marvelous snooker after his return to the international competitions. The match had glimpses of marvel as both the cue-men took turns taking lead. Higgins eventually came out on top and made his way to the Quarter-finals of the tournament, where he is going to face Stephen Maguire.
World number-5, Stephen Maguire defeated Mark Selby with the final score at 9-7. Maguire faces John Higgins in the Quarter-finals which is expected to be one of the biggest matches of the tournament. Interestingly, both the players are friends and practice partners as well.
Meanwhile, Mark Joyce made his way to the first last-8-round of his career, by beating Judd Trump 9-7. World number-60 Joyce is having the best run of his career so far. The 27-year-old Joyce said, “It is a pleasure to face the big guns, and so far I am successful in controlling my emotions, dealing with the pressure and potting the balls”.
World number-6 Mark Williams has held his ground and reached the last-8 round of the tournament, by defeating world number-13 Stephen Hendry 9-6. In the Quarter-final, Mark will meet Mark Joyce. The match is expected to be a one sided affair considering it's a clash between the world number-6 and number-60. Until Mark Joyce comes up with a strategy and strong nerves to keep his journey intact, Williams should have little to worry about.
The man-on-fire Neil Robertson is having a magnificent tournament, as he has been able to produce some mind-blowing performances throughout the tournament.
The stunning Australian cue-man, who is world number-1, reached the last-8 round of the tournament by claiming a breath-taking victory against Andrew Higginson. The match statistics were 9-5. Robertson will face world number-4 Shaun Murphy, Champion two year’s ago at Telford.
Shaun Murphy has emerged as a fine player, after winning both the world and UK champion title in 2008. Also, he is the tenth player in the history of snooker to achieve that. After beating Ryan Day 9-8 in a best-of-seventeen frames match in the last-16 round of the tournament, Shaun booked his spot in the Quarter-finals, where he will have to battle Neil Robertson.
Quarter-Final Fixtures
Match-1: Mark Allen vs Stuart Bingham
Match-2: Stephen Maguire vs John Higgins
Match-3: Mark Joyce vs Mark Williams
Match-4: Shaun Murphy vs Neil Robertson
The Quarter-finals of the tournament will take place between Wednesday 8-December and Thurday 9-December 2010.
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