29.3.13

JUMPING JACK'S MURPHY CLASH

Jack Lisowski’s recovery from 4-2 down to beat Mark Davis 5-4 yesterday has sent him through to his first major quarter-final and sets up an exciting contest today against Shaun Murphy.

Lisowski, a lightning fast potter, passed a test here. This was not a showpiece match on a TV table but a battle round the back against an experienced pro.

In Murphy, he is playing someone who proved eight years ago that a young, still raw, talent can go all the way to winning a big title – in Murphy’s case the biggest of them all.

Snooker, like any sport, must renew itself with new faces and Lisowski, like his pal Judd Trump before him, fits the part perfectly. He has already shown enough this week to suggest he can be a real threat to the elite in future seasons.

I keep reading that Mark Selby will be world no.1 going to the Crucible. He won’t be if he loses today and Neil Robertson wins the title, two entirely possible scenarios.

Selby faces a resurgent Mark Williams, who played arguably his best snooker of the season in recovering from 4-2 down to beat Ali Carter 5-4 yesterday.

As players get older, consistency goes but great players - and Williams firmly belongs in that category - should never be written off.

It’s true that Mark has written himself off a few times in interviews but don’t think he believes he can’t still compete. He has always been a laidback bloke with highly competitive instincts.

The last time he played Selby in China it ended in controversy over the red/pink incident in the 2011 Shanghai Masters final in which Williams, for once, lost his head completely.

Selby wasn’t as impressive against Ricky Walden as he had been against Mark King but battled through as he so often does when his form isn’t particularly eye-catching.

Neil Robertson attacked relentlessly against Mark Allen and played superbly, although two key flukes aided him on the way to winning 5-1.

Marcus Campbell made a good clearance to edge the predictably closely fought all Scottish tie with Graeme Dott.

Robertson has never lost to Campbell but needs to play his natural game and not be sucked into a cagey, drawn out battle, which will more likely favour the Dumbarton man, otherwise he could find it turning into a long Good Friday.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Producer needs to give a bit more thought before switching to floor cameras. A large proportion of the time, the operator has no idea what the player intends doing.

Anonymous said...

How have the crowds been - bigger than the World Open I hope?

Ray said...

On a different tack .... Mike Hallett said that an ex-player had tweeted him that if snooker went back to super crystalate balls a lot of the kicks would be eradicated. Surely this would be worth a try?

Also, why is World Snooker giving the knockers another stick to beat snooker with by not resolving the Stephen Lee matter? The time they are taking is totally unacceptable and is bringing the game into disrepute.

Dave perhaps you could ask World Snooker what possible reason there could be and let us all know on this blog?

kildare cueman said...

Dave, is it absolutely necessary to keep updating the scores from the other table.
I had the Williams/Selby match recording and was watching the other match when you blurted out, "Selby has won 5-1" without any warning.
Why not save the updates for end of frame, or at least say "score on the other table" so we can pause or turn down the volume.

Anonymous said...

Miss rule is too penal.
There are occasions when players are simply just trying their best to hit the object ball when snookered without tactically trying to leave it safe if they miss.
The option of requesting your opponent plays again from the resultant position shoud be sufficient.
No foul should be worth 30 + points.

jamie brannon said...

The crowds look better to me.

Our semi-final line-up consists of three players: Murphy, Robertson and Selby, who have been as consistent at the reaching the latter stages of tournaments in recent seasons.

I'm enjoying Neal Foulds commentary this week. I like the way he goes on tangent when the action allows him too, which means he can then raise snooker-related discussion topics.

Anonymous said...

looks like a few hundred

the eurosport boys arent in china so can only see what we see.

Anonymous said...

is mike hallet riding an exercise bike while doing the commentary?

JAMIE O'REILLY said...

Hi David. Another great day's play, today, in my view.

Robertson played well, to beat Campbell, 5-2.

Maguire did well, to beat Bingham, 5-1.

Selby played great, to beat Williams, 5-1. By doing so, Selby, is now back at provisional world number one.

Murphy did well, to make a 137 break, and later on, get a great 5-4 win, from 4-2 down, against Jack Lisowski.

I can not wait for more, tomorrow.