Day 7 At The World Cup

A mouthwatering clash of countries occurred in the first of the semi-finals with China A taking on Scotland. Despite a 123 clearance by Bingtao, China’s play was very flat and Scotland looked alive and dangerous. It wasn’t long before China were trailing 3-1 and the pressure was on Scotland to get the job finished. On the brink, Ding attempted a fight back in the dying stages of the frame but to no avail with Ding missing the pink and letting Maguire clinch frame and match, 4-1.

In the second semi-final, England took on China B. China B took the early advantage and seized the first frame, making the referee, Leo Scullion work for his money as ball after ball was potted. After numerous pot attempts in the next, Wenbo finally got a chance but broke down on a middle red after it it went adrift with 62 points on the board. Lisowski then presented a counter attack but it was the experienced Wenbo that finished off the frame, 2-0.However a strong fightback from England took the next two frames and levelled it up at 2-2. China B however capitalised on a mistake by Lisowski and with a break of 69, led 3-2, one frame away from the finishing line. A re- rack followed after Leo Scullion intervened and so in theory those few minutes of play never existed. Kyren Wilson then mounted a sterling comeback and took the match to a decider. However it wasn’t to be England’s day with China B determined to make up for their accompanying China A’s earlier loss to Scotland and took the last frame to win 4-3. So an exciting final was in prospect with China A pitched against Scotland.

With a repeat final of four years ago, Scotland were eager to reek revenge for their previous defeat. Scotland were not having any of it and not phased by their Chinese pairing, it wasn’t long before China had built up a 1-0 lead. This lead built to a 4-0 whitewash of China B and Scotland became the brave once again in World Cup snooker. Congratulations to John Higgins and Stephen Maguire.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Which way, left or right?

Place your bets

The Beckham of the Baize