UK Championship Day 10
This year’s UK Championship has been full of shocks with top seeds being spat out and familiar faces of the past doing very well. Today in the afternoon’s play the the destroyer of Neil Robertson, Yan Bingtao was up against John Higgins. The first frame seemed to go on forever with an attempt double by Higgins bring rejected by the jaws of the pocket. This left Bingtao with a gild edged chance to win the win and cleared the table with a 25 break to make it 1-0. Higgins then replied in the second frame with a 78 break to make it one a piece. A good chance by Higgins in the next was put to bed with a catastrophic miss intimacy a red. Higgins was clearly visibly angry but Yan was unable to win the frame in one visit. John suffered with water in his eyes in his last match against Stuart Bingham but this seemed to have passed in this match and there were sign that his skills of break building were starting to return. Bingtao attempted a double on the pink to clinch the frame but missed but a second attempt on the pink was rewarded with a 2-1 lead. In the last frame before the interval, Bingtao managed to steer himself clear to the winning territory of the frame with a 27 break at the end of the frame and to take a 3-1 lead.
After the interval, the inconsistency of John Higgins continued and Yan was gifted chances in frame five. Yan had only managed to get a high break of 38 up to this point but put this to one side to capture the first frame after the interval to increase his lead to 4-1, worrying times for John Higgins! The aggressive nature of Higgins quickly became his undoing in the next frame, perhaps the purpose was to bring back his form. This frame was key for Higgins to win or it could cost him the match. John may have heard me because Yan lost focus in this frame and Higgins was able to overcome his demons to prevent Bingtao from getting a 5-1 advantage to make it 4-2 instead. This could be an advantage to Yan though as it was a chance for Bingtao to refocus. Bingtao then came back to make it 5-2. Higgins however fought back with a 123 break to cut his deficit to 3-5. Liang finally won frame and match after put Higgins in a snooker that left Bingtao in open play. The nineteen year progresses to the semi-finals but he will have to play better in his next match as he frankly caught Higgins on an off day. Another top player falls on his sword!
In the other match Ding Junhui was playing Liang Wenbo. Ding was aiming to continue his good form in this tournament and on the day he proved what it said on the tin. Ding quickly ran up a 3-1 advantage at the interval. His 79 break in frame two was the only fifty plus break in the match so far. After the interval, he continued to build his lead, making it 4-1 thanks to a 101 break. He then went on to take the next two frames required, finishing the match off with a break of 76 and a 6-2 score line, ending Wenbo’s gutsy run in this year’s UK Championship.
In the evening session Nigel Bond was up against Mark Allen. If you were thinking there was going to be no twists in this match, you couldn’t be more wrong. I don’t know where Nigel is getting his form from but he seems to having a Winter renaissance in York. Allen sat in amazement as Bond produced his “A” game and before he could refill his water glass he was already 3-1 up at the mid session interval. After the interval, the frame went to a re-rack and Allen burst into action, taking the frame with a 89 break to close the gap to 3-2. Not phased by Allen’s previous break, Bond look like he was going to build a sizeable break but he let Mark back in, tying him up with a snooker behind the black. A snooker that led the score to even up at 3-3. This was continued with Bond leaving a loose red, leading to a 4-3 lead, the first time Mark had led in the match since frame one.
However Nigel wasn’t ready to give up quite yet after losing the last three frames on the bounce, taking the frame with a 87 break and drawing level, 4-4. A poor break off shot by Bond led to the now tournament favourite, Allen string together a 69 break to take the lead again, 5-4. Bond then fought back to take the match to a deciding frame, what a story! However a loose safety shot let Mark Allen back into the next frame and so the Nigel Bond fairytale ended but what a match this was! Allen survives by the skin of his teeth. In the other match, Stephen Maguire overcame Matthew Stevens, 6-4.
After the interval, the inconsistency of John Higgins continued and Yan was gifted chances in frame five. Yan had only managed to get a high break of 38 up to this point but put this to one side to capture the first frame after the interval to increase his lead to 4-1, worrying times for John Higgins! The aggressive nature of Higgins quickly became his undoing in the next frame, perhaps the purpose was to bring back his form. This frame was key for Higgins to win or it could cost him the match. John may have heard me because Yan lost focus in this frame and Higgins was able to overcome his demons to prevent Bingtao from getting a 5-1 advantage to make it 4-2 instead. This could be an advantage to Yan though as it was a chance for Bingtao to refocus. Bingtao then came back to make it 5-2. Higgins however fought back with a 123 break to cut his deficit to 3-5. Liang finally won frame and match after put Higgins in a snooker that left Bingtao in open play. The nineteen year progresses to the semi-finals but he will have to play better in his next match as he frankly caught Higgins on an off day. Another top player falls on his sword!
In the other match Ding Junhui was playing Liang Wenbo. Ding was aiming to continue his good form in this tournament and on the day he proved what it said on the tin. Ding quickly ran up a 3-1 advantage at the interval. His 79 break in frame two was the only fifty plus break in the match so far. After the interval, he continued to build his lead, making it 4-1 thanks to a 101 break. He then went on to take the next two frames required, finishing the match off with a break of 76 and a 6-2 score line, ending Wenbo’s gutsy run in this year’s UK Championship.
In the evening session Nigel Bond was up against Mark Allen. If you were thinking there was going to be no twists in this match, you couldn’t be more wrong. I don’t know where Nigel is getting his form from but he seems to having a Winter renaissance in York. Allen sat in amazement as Bond produced his “A” game and before he could refill his water glass he was already 3-1 up at the mid session interval. After the interval, the frame went to a re-rack and Allen burst into action, taking the frame with a 89 break to close the gap to 3-2. Not phased by Allen’s previous break, Bond look like he was going to build a sizeable break but he let Mark back in, tying him up with a snooker behind the black. A snooker that led the score to even up at 3-3. This was continued with Bond leaving a loose red, leading to a 4-3 lead, the first time Mark had led in the match since frame one.
However Nigel wasn’t ready to give up quite yet after losing the last three frames on the bounce, taking the frame with a 87 break and drawing level, 4-4. A poor break off shot by Bond led to the now tournament favourite, Allen string together a 69 break to take the lead again, 5-4. Bond then fought back to take the match to a deciding frame, what a story! However a loose safety shot let Mark Allen back into the next frame and so the Nigel Bond fairytale ended but what a match this was! Allen survives by the skin of his teeth. In the other match, Stephen Maguire overcame Matthew Stevens, 6-4.
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