Scottish Open Update
Another day in Glasgow as players took part in day two of the Scottish Open. Snooker is full of twists and turns and this Scottish city was would be no exception to the news headlines. Ding Junhui, fresh from his victory in York, is clearly in form and hungry for another title before he has to open his Christmas present. His match against the talented Welshman, Michael White was sadly one sided with Michael unable to produce the form that served him so well in his great run in the UK Championship. On the day Michael was blown away by the Chinese dragon and could only pinch one frame off of Ding. Breaks of 60, 104, 83 and 118 helped Junhui produce a solid performance and kept him in contention for this December title. The best of seven format can be cruel but Ding walked away from this 4-1 victory with a broad grin. He will now have to wait to see who he has to play in the draw, either Xi Wen or Gary Thomson. A striking performance again from Ding!
Moving on, Ronnie O’Sullivan was up against a player who has form against the Essex man. Dominic Dale who flys the flag for Wales but is not actually Welsh, work that one out and you could solve a Countdown conundrum. Dominic started off this match so well and was fractions away from a glorious win but like any match, there can be a turning point and on this occasion it was when Dale was when Dominic had victory in his sights. The irony was that this occurred when the frame was gifted to Dale by a bizarre attempt by Ronnie to win the frame on the black. He tried to be flash and was trying to create a Jimmy White style banana shot but in reality led to the black leaving the table and the frame being awarded to Dale due to a foul shot. For some bizarre reason, this shot brought life back into Ronnie’s game and he rattled over the necessary frames to win 4-3. After the match, he was asked on Eurosport why he took that shot and he replied “everyone loves bananas”. Responding to his critics, he said you can either buy your t shirt from Prada or a Dunlop one from T.K Max. There is never a dull moment with Ronnie and always expect the unexpected.
Stuart Bingham was a victim of Matthew Stevens as he continued his good form with a 4-2 win over Stuart. With a break of 112 in the third frame, Stevens produced a polished performance and even produced a cheeky moment in the match when instead of sanding his snooker cue tip with sandpaper, he produced a twenty pound note and carried out the same task. Talk about having money to burn. On a serious note though, Stuart received some nasty messages on social media as a result of his defeat and this frankly disgusting behaviour. I will always support a friend and this behaviour is abhorrent. Win or lose, all players deserve the upmost respect.
Judd Trump was unsure if he would play in Glasgow after his bruising defeat by a Nigel Bond in the UK Championship. However he turned up and his first match was a walk in the park. The inexperienced, Moroccan player, Amine Amiri. Amiri, playing his third match on the tour, has already been beaten twice by Barry Hawkins and similarly this time, he found it hard to adjust to the bigger stage. I actually felt sorry for him because although I am a great fan of the 128 draw, I don’t think that a low ranking player should be always drawn against someone from the top sixteen. Players need to learn the game but the hardest way is not always the best way and tweaks definitely need to occur. Amiri can’t even afford to play in the next set of qualifiers, so it may be a while before you see this newcomer after this 4-0 whitewash. Trump got two centuries in the match which now takes his tally to fifty so far this season.
Stephen Maguire continued his excellent surge of form against Jimmy White. Despite he foot injury, Maguire made light work of White and sadly Jimmy couldn’t produce some of the magic that he still is able to on the Seniors tour and on the exhibition circuit. White was only to build up a fifty plus break in the whole match and errors led to this frame being lost and errors throughout, leading to Stephen becoming stronger in the match. Maguire didn’t play exceptionally well but it was a match that he did enough in and on paper it was a 4-0 whitewash. He finished the match in a flourish and will now play Marco Fu. There was also a win for James Cahill who beat Sunny Akani, 4-2. He will now play Ronnie O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan will be seeking revenge for being knocked out of the World Championship by James. Shaun Murphy was the last man through on the day with a 4-1 victory over Daniel Wells and breaks of 75, 84, 75 and 75.
Moving on, Ronnie O’Sullivan was up against a player who has form against the Essex man. Dominic Dale who flys the flag for Wales but is not actually Welsh, work that one out and you could solve a Countdown conundrum. Dominic started off this match so well and was fractions away from a glorious win but like any match, there can be a turning point and on this occasion it was when Dale was when Dominic had victory in his sights. The irony was that this occurred when the frame was gifted to Dale by a bizarre attempt by Ronnie to win the frame on the black. He tried to be flash and was trying to create a Jimmy White style banana shot but in reality led to the black leaving the table and the frame being awarded to Dale due to a foul shot. For some bizarre reason, this shot brought life back into Ronnie’s game and he rattled over the necessary frames to win 4-3. After the match, he was asked on Eurosport why he took that shot and he replied “everyone loves bananas”. Responding to his critics, he said you can either buy your t shirt from Prada or a Dunlop one from T.K Max. There is never a dull moment with Ronnie and always expect the unexpected.
Stuart Bingham was a victim of Matthew Stevens as he continued his good form with a 4-2 win over Stuart. With a break of 112 in the third frame, Stevens produced a polished performance and even produced a cheeky moment in the match when instead of sanding his snooker cue tip with sandpaper, he produced a twenty pound note and carried out the same task. Talk about having money to burn. On a serious note though, Stuart received some nasty messages on social media as a result of his defeat and this frankly disgusting behaviour. I will always support a friend and this behaviour is abhorrent. Win or lose, all players deserve the upmost respect.
Judd Trump was unsure if he would play in Glasgow after his bruising defeat by a Nigel Bond in the UK Championship. However he turned up and his first match was a walk in the park. The inexperienced, Moroccan player, Amine Amiri. Amiri, playing his third match on the tour, has already been beaten twice by Barry Hawkins and similarly this time, he found it hard to adjust to the bigger stage. I actually felt sorry for him because although I am a great fan of the 128 draw, I don’t think that a low ranking player should be always drawn against someone from the top sixteen. Players need to learn the game but the hardest way is not always the best way and tweaks definitely need to occur. Amiri can’t even afford to play in the next set of qualifiers, so it may be a while before you see this newcomer after this 4-0 whitewash. Trump got two centuries in the match which now takes his tally to fifty so far this season.
Stephen Maguire continued his excellent surge of form against Jimmy White. Despite he foot injury, Maguire made light work of White and sadly Jimmy couldn’t produce some of the magic that he still is able to on the Seniors tour and on the exhibition circuit. White was only to build up a fifty plus break in the whole match and errors led to this frame being lost and errors throughout, leading to Stephen becoming stronger in the match. Maguire didn’t play exceptionally well but it was a match that he did enough in and on paper it was a 4-0 whitewash. He finished the match in a flourish and will now play Marco Fu. There was also a win for James Cahill who beat Sunny Akani, 4-2. He will now play Ronnie O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan will be seeking revenge for being knocked out of the World Championship by James. Shaun Murphy was the last man through on the day with a 4-1 victory over Daniel Wells and breaks of 75, 84, 75 and 75.
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