JOHN HIGGINS IS INNOCENT !

Like a perfect dance… Ronzo century break, Mark century break, Ronzo incredible miss, Mark incredible miss, Ronzo perfect snooker, Mark perfect snooker… And, to go on… Coming out of a snooker with another snooker – on both sides, impossible shots – both sides, playing with their left hand – both sides, shots with the rail to the opposite rail pocket – both sides and last but not least… “So you think you can beat ME kid?” types of shots – both sides…

A perfect dance… So synchronised that you don’t even notice when they miss shots and think that they’re all part of a perfect choreographic scheme. Like a dear teacher of mine would say… “Many hear, few understand”.

What Mark Selby did tonight… What a spectacular player he is… I’m not his fan, but I couldn’t help but see the truth. I’ve seen Stephen Hendry in his good days, all over again. I’ve seen the light, I’ve seen a wonderful spectacle, I’ve stayed in front of the laptop and tv speechless, for hours and hours.

Now usually when I watch snooker I do it with one eye on the tv/laptop and the other on whatever thing I feel like doing at that time… Today I was absolutely stunned.

For those of you who’ve missed this one of a kind Crucible worthy final, I’ll quickly tell what happened.

Selby started the match in great form, punishing O’Sullivan for the first miss and winning the first frame. Then a mad O’Sullivan rushed over to 4-1 with two superb century breaks on his way. Just when we thought the final will be another show off, Selby woke up from wherever he was sleeping at and went to 3-5, encountering a beautiful century break on the way. At that point we’ve met another Selby. A beautiful, mature, patient Selby. A master of his art.
From then on the score was always close… 4-5, 4-6, 5-6, 5-7, 6-7, 6-8… Then at 8-6, the brave, wonderful Selby seemed to have lost his way and O’Sullivan drove like mad to 9-6, but boy was he in for a stunner… With just one game for Ronnie to win the finals, Selby woke up again, but not to his previous shape…  Seeming tired, but unwilling to give up, he fought for every single point and ball, with gorgeous snookers being exchanged between the two masters of the game. Snooker from snooker, snooker against snooker, hard snookers all around, till he eventually reached O’Sullivan (with some slips on the way, but an angel on his shoulder) and took the score to 9-9.

And then, at 9-9 he delivered a solid game, again fighting for every single ball. Not in a rush, not troubled, maybe only drained out, Selby played it all “a la carte”, leaving O’Sullivan bedazzled and eventually admitting his defeat.

The thing I loved best about this match is that I didn’t imagine someone would come along to beat O’Sullivan in what was one of his best forms. Sure, lots of people can beat Ronzo when he’s out of shape and Higgins can try and beat him when he’s in shape…  Ronzo could even say he wasn’t in his best form, because he didn’t deliver perfection and two centuries were not even close to his perfect match… Fine… But that doesn’t condemn Selby’s majestic play in any way.  He stood up to Goliath. He proved there is a player out there who will fight his butt off to make it, who will play perfection too. Maybe not over and over and over again… But if I’m in to see some perfection (like the one splattered all over the place by the beautiful Ronson) by someone else too, then I’m in.

Also, on another note, Selby loves cut shots. The blinder the angle, the better. I kept on thinking WHY would he play position like that, but I was wrong. They’re his shots. He mastered them. And, by whole, both players had absolutely SUPERB control on the cue ball throughout the match with extremely few misses in that area.

In the end (as in right after the last ball had been potted) it seemed to me like neither of them found the right words to say  (although it’s understandable after this amazing thriller)

Tell you what boys… This wasn’t A match… It was THE MATCH. If I were to choose only one snooker match to see in a lifetime, then this is the match I’d choose. It had it all. And in such a gorgeous way…

Hell, Selby played soooooooo good, that I’m starting to believe I am his fan… Maybe I am, after all…
I bow to the Jester. And so has THE KING (no, not Mark King, but Ronnie), even if he did so in the very last frame (and surely not taking any of his merits away). WELL DONE, CHAMP ! What a match… Thank you  for allowing me to see such gorgeous performances in my life time, you guys.

p.s. In spite of saying so many words about tonight… There really are no words… This match was one that I’ll remember forever in my heart. It was too much for words.

(Image from here)

This tournament’s been the hardest one I’ve ever seen so I do believe it’s a tremendous win for the scot. It’s doubled his value as a player in my eyes, and that value was pretty magnificent already. I am really happy for him and his gorgeous family. It was about time for John to get his third trophy.

And I do have to add that I’ve been highly pleased with Stephen Hendry’s 147 as well as with the quality of his game at this tournament. Good job, Mr. Hendry! Many more returns!

And, of course, congratulate Shaun Murphy for getting to the finals. I think it consolidates his reputation as the great player that he is.

Last, but not least, I think Mark Allen’s done an amazing job and I do hope it’s either him, Mark Selby or Ali Carter to win the trophy next time. They’ve been working real hard and I consider the following season to be their time to shine. Good luck, lads!

And tonight, after a longggggggggggggggg, longggggggggggggggggggg battle, Mark King managed to win! So… Well, well done, gorge! And good luck!

I do believe he holds on to his place in top 16 this way.

And tomorrow Joe Swail is facing Marco Fu. A tough match, but not an impossible win.

Good luck, Joe! We want you in top 16!

He made it to the finals. Joe made it. I am so happy for him. He totally deserves to win.

After making a great tournament, winning against Mark Allen, Martin Gould (who beat Stephen Hendry) and Stephen Maguire, Joe managed to beat Neil Robertson tonight and make it to his first ranking tournament final.

I won’t discuss the other matches right now, but the one against Neil.

A brilliant Joe went up 4-0, leaving a struggling Neil way behind. And then the score went to 5-1.  Neil eventually woke up in the punching line and remembered what he can do. Joe seemed wee lost, and the score went to 5-4. And then Joe proved his strength by hangin’ in there after mathematically winning the match. Neil tried on for the only snooker he needed and even had one, but Joe managed to walk out of it and pot a victory securing blue with a soft shot.

What’s there to say? There are really no words to express just how happy I am for him.

I’d say best of luck in the finals tomorrow, against Ali Carter, but I don’t believe luck’s what makes the difference. Luck is a wee part of the game.

So BEST OF… EVERYTHING for tomorrow! Best shape, best shots, best EVERYTHING! May he win the Welsh title. May he, may he!!!

This is a long run, as I don’t really know if anyone will vote, but hey…

It never ceases to amaze me how Magsimus always pulls games with all his force. In his worst days his matches always last longer, as he gives it all out there.

Higgins said  the table he played on had fast clothing and associated it with a skating rink, much to his pleasure…

However Maguire didn’t seem to find the same kind of pleasure in that tonight… He kept on slipping and trying, whilst Robertson seemed  able to make pirouettes – yet kept on falling.

And then Magsimus managed to end the whole shabang with a quadruple jump which sent Robertson down to meet the ice. Game over. Maguire – Robertson 9-8.

Now I’m sorry for all the analogies, but that’s just the way I saw it.

Only thing I’m sorry of is that I only got to watch the whole thing from 7-7.

Well done, Magsimus! Have a good speed on yer future matches!

He will now face Higgins, in the quarter finals, for an all Scottish adventure.

I pretty much enjoyed the match and didn’t find Higgie to be at the peak of his form (although he played quite well at times), as for Joe… He seemed quite in the match and concentrated…  With some mistakes which eventually prove to be fatal. From my point of view, they were made when he missed going 2 games ahead (to 5-3), when he missed going to 7-6 (which would’ve went to 8-6 maybe as he won the following game), and when he failed to run out to take the match to 8-8. Final result: Higgins – Swail 9-7

Overall it was a very interesting match. I’m pretty sad Joe didn’t win, as he did play a great game, but I can’t blame Higgie for the win, as he did what had to be done in key moments.

On another note… I’m glad Mark King beat Judd Trump, as I do like the Mark and think he can be great. Heard Judd made some comments on Mark swearing and the referee not taking action. I don’t know what that was all about, as when I’ve seen Mark live, and with no cameras, the single comment he made at the table was when he potted the cue ball, then took it out of the pocket, kissed it and said “I love you”. Which I do believe to be a pretty pacifying action. LOL

Anyhow… Good job, Mark!

He now went to 4-4 with Stephen Lee, in a match that will resume this afternoon, so I do believe he’s in great shape. I hope he succeeds. Go, Mark!

I’m sooooooooo happy about this. Payback time, young Liang!

Now Joe will meet John Higgins.

Well done, Joe! Good luck on your future matches!