Under Starter’s Orders

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So the battle for the Crucible title began in earnest yesterday and play didn’t fail to disappoint. After a shaky start, Mark Williams kicked into gear and saw off the Pinner Potter, Martin Gould over two sessions. Gould played well in spats with a slight fight back towards the end of the match and finally succumbed to last year’s champion, losing 10-6. As the match concluded, so the drama continued and Williams blasted World Snooker in his post match interview for poor treatment over the last twelve months as World Champion, being left off the cover of the new snooker console game and the various vinyls at the. Crucible. Topping this off, his son wasn’t even allowed to give him a high five in his dressing room as World Snooker only issues two back stage passes to players.

Aside from the Welsh saga, the other man in form was Neil Robertson. Taking on the former Shootout Champion, Michael Georgiou, Robertson Player as if he was practicing in his local club with balls not touching the sides of the pockets. With a potential whitewash in the offing, Michael must hope that he will not only the second victim to such an embarrassment in Crucible history, second to John Parrott ‘s drubbing of Eddie Charlton. Played to a conclusion today, this could be, potentially be a cry short session of snooker.

Elsewhere, close matches are in progress between Brecel and Wilson, currently with a 5-4 score line, Ding is leading McGill, 6-3 and McGuire is in a tight match with Ting Pengfei, now trailing 5-4 after losing a two frame cushion. Play in these matches continues this morning and any player could have a morning dream or nightmare after play. Morning play doesn’t suit most snooker players and will probably be the ones that hit the hotel pillow the earliest that triumph today.

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