A Mixed Bag
If you were watching Crucible play yesterday, one would be forgiven for mistaking the day for St George’s Day. Former champions had to literally slay their opponents to remain in the race for the title. Shaun Murphy was first up in morning’s play and only needed one frame to inflict a 10-0 drubbing on Luo. Murphy didn’t need long to warm up and managed to work his magic in the first frame, leaving Luo thinking he was another Eddie Charlton, painful to watch but a good learning curve for the young, Chinese rookie.
The much anticipated match between James Cahill and Ronnie O’Sullivan, didn’t fail to disappoint. Cahill, a nephew of Stephen Hendry and now an amateur on the tour after previously falling off it, took to the game like a duck to water. Ronnie, probably thought he had this session in the bag but James wasn’t having any of it. Ronnie looked dejected and rattled, only playing well in patches and if it hadn’t been for a few errors on Cahill’s part, Ronnie would have been further behind. A satisfied Cahil takes the match into today’s play with a 5-4 lead.
On the other table, John Higgins was trying to shake off his bogey man, Mark Davis and for a while Davis succeeded to rattle his cage but in the end Higgins, mounted a late surge that was in the end, too much for the 46 year, Sussex man to cope with. So Higgins pulls off a win and progresses further into the championship with a 10-7 win.
Evening play saw a withdrawn Selby, having to fight for his life. A style of play that he does relish, it looked at times that Mark was on his way out of this year’s World Championship. However, unlike the earlier surge by his Chinese opponent, Zhao frittered away his 5-1 lead and allowed Selby to smell blood. With the game level, Selby chipped away at Zhao’s mistakes. The Chinese player could only pot long balls in this dismal session and fell apart when amongst them. Hence Selby finally pounced and ground out a 10-7 victory.
The other match in play ended 6-3 after the first session with an in form David Gilbert keeping Joe Perry at bay. Perry has had a mixed season and to qualify to reach this stage whilst Gilbert has a nervous time waiting to find out if his 16th spot was safe prior to the World Championship. All in in a good day’s play and no shock, horror stories on the cards so far but that was only day 3!
The much anticipated match between James Cahill and Ronnie O’Sullivan, didn’t fail to disappoint. Cahill, a nephew of Stephen Hendry and now an amateur on the tour after previously falling off it, took to the game like a duck to water. Ronnie, probably thought he had this session in the bag but James wasn’t having any of it. Ronnie looked dejected and rattled, only playing well in patches and if it hadn’t been for a few errors on Cahill’s part, Ronnie would have been further behind. A satisfied Cahil takes the match into today’s play with a 5-4 lead.
On the other table, John Higgins was trying to shake off his bogey man, Mark Davis and for a while Davis succeeded to rattle his cage but in the end Higgins, mounted a late surge that was in the end, too much for the 46 year, Sussex man to cope with. So Higgins pulls off a win and progresses further into the championship with a 10-7 win.
Evening play saw a withdrawn Selby, having to fight for his life. A style of play that he does relish, it looked at times that Mark was on his way out of this year’s World Championship. However, unlike the earlier surge by his Chinese opponent, Zhao frittered away his 5-1 lead and allowed Selby to smell blood. With the game level, Selby chipped away at Zhao’s mistakes. The Chinese player could only pot long balls in this dismal session and fell apart when amongst them. Hence Selby finally pounced and ground out a 10-7 victory.
The other match in play ended 6-3 after the first session with an in form David Gilbert keeping Joe Perry at bay. Perry has had a mixed season and to qualify to reach this stage whilst Gilbert has a nervous time waiting to find out if his 16th spot was safe prior to the World Championship. All in in a good day’s play and no shock, horror stories on the cards so far but that was only day 3!
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