Williams ends Joyce’s adventure, Robertson goes home
In the much awaited quarterfinals of the 12BET.com UK Snooker Championship here at Telford, a lot has happened, as Mark Williams denied to give the World No. 60 Mark Joyce, a chance to continue his voyage of victory, and shattered
his dreams to win the first professional title of his career. World No. 1 Robertson on the other hand, faces a well-fought defeat at the hands of Irish cue-man, Shaun Murphy. The outcome of the quarter final match-3 was somewhat anticipated, since it was an
encounter between snooker’s all time greats, World No. 6 Mark Williams and Mark Joyce, although Joyce put up a great fight, and showed his steely character.
Joyce claimed seven frames out of 16, and lost the match 7-9. Although, Joyce lost three out of the first four frames, he was able to compile a marvelous 143 break in the next frame, which is the highest break of his career, so
far. But this magnificent break could not get Joyce through to the semifinals.
Mark Williams has put on a sheer display of strong nerves, control and experience. Even though, the Walsall’s 27-year-old Joyce had great support from the fans, but the local favourite Williams, did not seem to care about it. Williams
appeared to be in the driving seat.
Joyce told reporters: “I have had a great week, no complaints. I have been able to win six matches in the tour against well-known players, hopefully my career will take a flight from here”
Mark Williams is having a great tournament so far. He is through to the semi-finals, where he plays Shaun Murphy, who is in great form. Mark and Shaun will come face to face on the 11th of December, in the second semifinal
match at Telford.
Neil Robertson who has shown some great form throughout the tournament, and was hot favourite for the title of the second highest ranked championship, was sent back to Australia by the Irish cueist Shaun Murphy. Robertson played
some astounding matches in the tournament, winning his first match 9-1 and 9-5 in the second. Losing to the experienced Murphy 9-7, Robertson looked tired and somewhat mentally absent.
After the match, Murphy acknowledged Robertson and admitted, that he indeed is a classic player, Murphy said that he was a little lucky, as Robertson was just throwing his arms on the shots sometimes, giving him a great chance
to take on the match. Some frames were really intense, and the pressure was immense to absorb.
For example: The sixth frame surely entered a pressure situation, where both players tried to play really safe along the cushions. It was a good 15 to 20 minutes tussle between the two.
In the end it was a high quality fighting match, both the players took turns getting ahead of each other. It was the 16th frame which decided the fate of the game.
Both matches of the quarterfinals played here at Telford, dragged on to the 16th frame, and they were sensationally good fighting matches.
In the fourth quarterfinal match between Shaun and Robertson, Shaun was taking all the time he could, to go for a shot. Shaun’s average time to take a look at angles before the shot was 45 seconds, and his maximum was one minute
and thirty eight. On the other hand, Neil Robertson potted the 12th full frame within 6 minutes. Being young and aggressive, Robertson plays fast.
World No.1 Robertson later on admitted that he arrived at the venue a few minutes before the match started. He added that he just played two practice shots, as he was confused about the timings of the match. Considering this incident,
a 9-7 defeat is not bad, said Robertson.
In the first semifinal match today at the TelfordInternational Centre, Mark Allen takes on John Higgins. Mark Williams and Shaun Murphy will battle for the final on the 11th of December.
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