The Snookerbacker Blog

How Stephen might look later today.

The King of the Crucible and 7 time winner of the coveted trophy Stephen Hendry will today chalk his cue for the last time and announce his retirement from the sport. Possibly.

His second round match against Mark Selby has seen Hendry struggling to find any form and whilst his top 16 place looked safe enough going into yesterday regardless of the result, should Stuart Bingham turn his 9-7 advantage over Ding Junhui into a victory Hendry would be out of the elite 16 and face the prospect of having to qualify for events for the first time since he was about 12 years old.

Probably speaking at a packed press conference later Hendry might possibly say ‘The way I performed today is not good enough, I didn’t compete and I didn’t enjoy it. Mark played fantastic but I should be able to match that and I have to face the fact that I can’t.’

He might continue ‘Since the rankings were changed I’ve not felt good about the game, OK, Barry Hearn has done some good things but the way the rankings work now is a joke, he said he didn’t want mediocrity rising to the top and yet he puts in place a ranking system that allows that to happen, I’m not saying that for my own benefit as I have had my time and the time is right for me to walk away, I am just voicing the concerns of a few of the players’.

When possibly asked why he has taken the decision now, he will probably say ‘I’ve been thinking about it now for the best part of two years and might have done it here last year had I lost to Zhang, but I managed to win that one and had I retired I wouldn’t have been able to make my 147 in Wales, but 147′s only win you one frame and not matches and for some reason I can’t produce the goods consistently anymore’.

He might then be asked why he thinks that is to which he could possibly respond ‘I don’t know, concentration probably, I’m not like Steve Davis and never will be, I don’t enjoy playing like this and can’t see an end to it so it’s time for me to quit and enjoy my life without the added pressure of snooker’.

When probably asked what his future plans are he might smirk and say ‘Join the other hasbeens in the commentary box’ to laughter from the press pack.

He will then probably leave after sharing a few jokes with the press and the players and officials will be interviewed about what this means to them.

His final opponent Mark Selby might say ‘I feel guilty, yes, nobody wants to see a great champion struggling like that and I think Stephen has made the right decision for him and his family and I hope he continues to be a big part of snooker’.

His victim in five finals Jimmy White will possibly say ‘Great, I might win something now’ whilst Mark Williams might say ‘It’s about time he quit, he’s been shit for a few years now’.

Far more polite tributes will probably be paid by the likes of Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor, Terry Griffiths and Ken Doherty whilst anyone that has ever hit a ball on TV will be ringing their agents to get their quotes in the papers.

But Hendry will probably be summed up most succinctly by Sir Clive of Everton who will possibly say words to the effect that ‘He changed the way the game was played forever, he brought a Herculian presence to the Gladiatorial arena of the Crucible and made his opponents fear him. He was ruthless at his peak and remains the very best I have ever seen at winning, which after all is what being a champion is all about. But as with all the great champions there comes the bitter pill that is the fall from grace, I am pleased that he has made this decision as nobody enjoys seeing him play like he did today’. He will then probably say something that only Clive would think of and might reference a sportsman of a bygone era that everyone will have to Google.

________________________________________________________

Today’s matches are listed below and it looks like it’s largely a snooker free afternoon in preparation for the climax of the quarter finals second round (!) tonight. I still marginally fancy Ding to win through and think winning three from the last four last night was enough to put doubt into Stuart Bingham’s mind. Ronnie and Smurf are locked in battle and this is difficult to call now, but I’d still just favour Ronnie given the focus he seems to have this year. A possible date with Higgins awaits so what a week we have ahead.

I will preview the first two quarter finals which get under way tomorrow later today.

1pm

20. Stephen Hendry 4-13 Mark Selby*
24. Rory McLeod 7-13 John Higgins*

7pm

19. Ding Junhui 13-12 Stuart Bingham*
23. Shaun Murphy 10-13 Ronnie O’Sullivan*

Hendry photo courtesy of Monique Limbos and touched up by Moi.

Judd's Dad.

Good Morning Everyone. I’m back home now after a fantastic few days in sunny Sheffield and normal service will resume on the blog.

The tournament has now really come to life and it looks like we are going to end up with a quarter final line up of extreme quality, setting us up for a fantastic second week. Since I last posted we have seen victories for Mark Williams, Judd Trump, Graeme Dott and Mark Allen as well as the first sessions of Ronnie against Smurf and Mark Selby against Hendry.

We’ll start with Trump who I thought was sensational against Gould. He is a completely different player from a month ago and is now a threat to anyone. I think we can expect to see him in the top 8 within the space of the next twelve months. He has arrived and I can exclusively report that his dad kept on getting mistaken for Cliff Thorburn whilst walking around the streets of Snooker City. So much so that when he wasn’t being photographed by nostalgic snooker buffs he could often be found deep amongst the tropical bushes inside the Winter Gardens hiding from Dennis Taylor.

I’m wondering whether this is a sacrifice worth making to watch your lad win the World Championship. Perhaps if he does that then Daddy Trump might want to consider ditching the moustache.

We then move on to the King of Laid Back References Williams who, despite a stomach bug managed to send Jamie Cope back to Stoke with minimal fuss. The main selection for the championship to me still looks strong and has had a nice break before starting his Quarter Final against Allen tomorrow night. MJW wasn’t a big presence around the crowded Crucible square, in fact I don’t think I ever saw him outside. The only times I did bump into him were when he’d been potting a few on the practice table in what resembled a pair of pyjamas. He’s just toooo laid back that lad.

Allen himself won another decider after a poor break off by birthday boy Barry Hawkins led to a near maximum conclusion but for an untimely kick. He proved once again that the battling qualities of which he is so proud are there for all to see. Recent reports of his depression have obviously been top of the agenda for all the commentators and journalists but around the place Mark looks relaxed and fairly cheerful, never more so than when he’s got his little girl Lauren in his arms.

Delighted to get a front row ticket

After the second session yesterday he could be seen around the crowds carrying her and a teddy bear. I cannot yet confirm if the teddy bear was his or hers and rumours that there are two front row seats for all sessions of his match against MJW reserved in the name of ‘Lauren and Rupert Bear’ are surely just a coincidence.

Myself and Mrs SB spent the last couple of days with the fine boys of Team Carter and I’m genuinely gutted that the Captain didn’t win yesterday. On Thursday night after the second session it was clear that Ali felt he had lost a few frames that he shouldn’t have, but he remained positive and his eyes lit up when Mrs SB told him that if he won she would reward him with a box of scones. But sadly even this incentive couldn’t carry him over the line in a fantastic duel with Dotty. Graeme, like Allen saves his best for here and his next match against Judd promises again to be a punch for punch affair between two players that don’t seem to know the meaning of the word ‘fear’.

In the matches starting out, Ronnie proved that he is slowly turning a corner in scrapping out a 6-2 lead over Smurf. Being in the Crucible yesterday was a strange experience. As we were concentrating on Ali’s table we assumed early on that Murphy was having the better of it given the lack of vocal support coming from Ronnie’s lot. But having briefly looked back at the session it seems that Shauny couldn’t quite get to grips with things. I think he may live to regret not getting more out of this session as it’s the scrappy frames when the Rocket isn’t firing on all cylinders that he will have to win to stand a chance and by and large he isn’t doing that yet.

Ronnie’s recent activity on Twitter @ronnieo147 is interesting and to me is possibly an initiative by his new mentor in a bid to give the ailing Rocket a new found lease of life on the baize. Having worked with people in this area I know that one of the tactics they use is to encourage their subjects to try new things and break routines. Rather than this meaning starting to attend and become fully involved in swingers parties, this usually takes the form of a ‘step change’. Ronnie is a chap that largely likes to keep himself to himself and perhaps the Twitter community is his first step to becoming a little less introverted and cocooned in the nutshell of fame. Either that or he is just doing it to freak Murphy out (@Magician147 on Twitter).

Ronnie: Wind Up Merchant.

It is definitely 100% Ronnie for anyone that still doubts it and as well as offering running advice, he has also informed us that he was going for a haircut which seemed to alert the attention of Mrs SB who wondered if he would be sporting a new barnet and also that he is addicted to ‘The Only Way is Essex’ and wants a part in the show.

One thing that I was asked to point out while I was in Sheffield is that he’s a bit bamboozled with how it works and doesn’t understand retweets and the like yet so if you ask him a question, I’d not hold your breath for an answer. I think it’s best to just let him tweet away for now, but it remains to be seen whether or not he will continue to do so after the championships.

Then we come to Selby and Hendry, which is going very much like I thought it would and I’d say more of the same is the order of the day today. Hendry is a shadow of the player of old and the thoughts of retirement are never far from the top of his mind. But he still has a chance of remaining in the top 16 even when he loses this match so he may just have one more season and perhaps try some adjustments to his game to live with the likes of the Jester who, like Williams and Higgins looks a big player in this.

Bettingwise, despite Allen blowing a 12-9 lead the rest of the recommended bets for this round are in fairly good shape. Things seem to be ticking along quite nicely and the outright book doesn’t look too bad either so fingers crossed for more of the same in week two. I love the long matches.

It’s very hard to summarise the whole Crucible experience in a couple of paragraphs. This week has been helped by very non-UK weather at the home of snooker, interrupted briefly yesterday with a huge almost tropical rainstorm, ironically when Ronnie was playing. If this is global warming, then our recycling box might not see a great deal of action for a while, as surely the future of our planet is a small sacrifice for a resurgence of the great game. If it gets too hot everyone will go indoors and what’s the best thing to do indoors? No, not that. It’s play and watch snooker of course. In the future, while footballers and cricketers have to don sponsored radiation suits to ply their trade, the baize boys will continue potting in their traditional attire until the world finally explodes. Is there any angle that Saint Bazza hasn’t got covered?

I thought maybe the best way of telling people that can’t get to the Crucible this year about it is to just answer your questions on the matter in the comments section where I can. While I can’t pretend to be a stalwart of the Sheffield experience and a superfan like the amazingly dedicated yet suprisingly normal Matt from Prosnookerblog, I have seen things from the perspective of a fan, a member of the press gang and an attentive husband.

So whether your question is about the Crucible set up, where to eat, where to stay, what it’s like behind the scenes, what Damien Hirst said to the lady on reception or how best to treat the other half should they wish to come with you. I will attempt to answer you as best I can.

I also blagged an absolute sackful of things from there and have programmes, t-shirts, media guides and those daft things that the crowd are given that say ‘Ton Up’ and ‘Great Shot’ to give away.

Bear in mind that I will have to foot the postage costs but whoever wants a souvenir of the Crucible just let me know and I’ll try my best to get something out to you. Predictably, I have more of the banners than anything else as it’s fair to say only the nutters and drunks attending were really into them so there were plenty going spare. To guarantee something being sent out you still have a week left to Pimp your Wallchart of course.

I would love to have stayed in Sheffield for longer and I hope that next year I might get access to the press area for the whole event. They are a great bunch of people in there and my particular thanks go to Hector Nunns (@senornunes on Twitter), who is a great chap and a fine journalist with the interests of snooker at heart. Special mention should also go to Rob Walker for being a complete fruitcake, but in a nice, not a ‘hanging around the stage door at the Crucible’ way.

Special thanks to World Snooker, in particular Ivan and also the people I met from the BBC, one of whom, Mr Neal Foulds (@fouldsy147 on Twitter) I hope I will get to meet many times again as we had a really interesting chat about snooker past and present into the early hours over possibly one too many shandies. I should also add that the sponsors Betfred are doing a fantastic job and that Andy, the main man in the odds department has said he is happy to cater for punters attending the event that want a decent bet at the booth, if you are intending to go along and have a punt and are looking for a price, email me and I’ll see if I can get him to give you a little odds on top.

But it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t raise one contentious point and I don’t want to let down my regulars by going all luvvie as after all, as well as promoting the game I also want to us to collectively break the bookies and shake up the sport where I feel it’s necessary.

I am a bit concerned about the balance within the press area. Whilst there is a great deal of snooker knowledge and expertise in there and essential workers that make things tick, I do feel that not offering similar access to daily bloggers might be something to look at. In my other life I work in a student market and I know that this is a place where the baize should seek to grow. But I can’t remember the last time I saw a student with a newspaper, other than a free one or where they are out of toilet roll.

Savvy youngsters these days get their news and entertainment instantly and on demand. I don’t think they would be buying a newspaper to read 100 words summarising the previous day’s action in Sheffield. They look at the World Snooker website, they look at Dave Hendon’s blog, they look at Matt’s blog and the sick, deluded and lost even look on here amongst other fine resources for snooker on the web too numerous to mention.

While I was there Rishi in the BBC studio (@bbc_rishi) messaged me on Twitter thanking me for the instant press conference tweets which I was tapping away at as the players spoke and pinging out for all the world to see in real time. They provided a basis for chatter on the television and I enjoyed doing them and would gladly have carried on for the rest of the tournament had I been given full access to do so.

Who's He?

But I remain extremely grateful and all I would ask is that the situation is looked at for next year. If the conclusion is that the balance is right for the future of the game and the global audience we want to attract going forward then so be it and I will just carry on blogging in my own merry way.

But in the words of one of the reporters in there given full two week access to the world’s biggest championship we have to offer: ‘Who’s Judd Trump?’

Well this is him.

I rest the case for the bloggers.

Here’s today’s matches if you want to chat about them. Sheffield will be like a mini-China today as Ding’s back and I wonder if Rory can do to Higgins what he did unto Walden, oh no hang on, it’s John who’s the slow coach.

I’ll be around all day for any questions you have about this week.

Mark Williams Quote of the Week:

‘I’ve had a stomach bug, arse like a Japanese flag’

10am

19. Ding Junhui 3-5 Stuart Bingham
24. Rory McLeod 2-5 John Higgins

2.30pm

20. Stephen Hendry 4-12 Mark Selby
23. Shaun Murphy 7-9 Ronnnie O’Sullivan

7pm

19. Ding Junhui  v Stuart Bingham
24. Rory McLeod v John Higgins

(Snooker Photos used courtesy of Power Snooker and Monique Limbos)

There is a possibility that I may not be able to post until Sunday due to Crucible commitments and travelling home with Mrs SB. So as a precaution I will put this thread up for discussion of Saturday’s play.

10am
17. Judd Trump v Martin Gould*
22. Mark Allen v Barry Hawkins

2.30pm
18. Graeme Dott  v Ali Carter*
23. Shaun Murphy v Ronnie O’Sullivan

7pm
20. Stephen Hendry v Mark Selby
22. Mark Allen v Barry Hawkins*

Discipline is the name of the game.

There are one or two reasons, at a push three that I am not playing at the Crucible today on the back of an illustrious career having held the coveted trophy in my hands on more than seven occasions.

The main thing I feel I was lacking was discipline. If only I had more of it. It’s a priceless commodity which by that very definition has no inherent value. But like all the best things in life namely, love, joy, the search for inner calm and happiness, loads of cash at the expense of people who are less intelligent than you are, it’s free – apart from the last one.

What I’m trying to get at here is that I am a little ‘tired’ this morning after once again being carried away with Crucible schoolboy excitement and staying up far too late for my own good, which has resulted in me getting up far too early for my own good and rambling on at the beginning of this post. But I don’t believe that this is my fault, the forces of evil and nature were stacked against me and I was destined to be swept away. But on reflection, perhaps believing that everything was not my fault is the second reason for me being a blogger rather than a ‘player’. The third being lack of any real inborn talent and the fourth being a dodgy cue action. I was always a very good loser though, I had to be, it happened so often, practice makes perfect as my old dad used to say.

Back to the snooker and yesterday felt a bit like a day off, hence the late night cutting edge revelry in the hotel bar. In the afternoon session Mark Williams continued his laid back assault on the crown that I still feel is destined for Wales, whilst Mark Selby finally put paid to Jimmy Robertson’s first Crucible outing.

Now I think Mark Selby is ace, I’ve always liked him, I don’t enjoy watching him as much as I used to when he was winning Masters titles but I assume that the new media savvy Jester and his management do have a plan to match the new film star looks with a world title or two. He is very polished in press conferences and gives little away and sometimes I think it pays to be a little more human. Mark King could sit there for 30 seconds and probably say more than the Jester could say in 30 minutes. But like I say, I really like him and he’s a fantastic snooker player, as he once again proved yesterday.

John Higgins was very convincing last night and the scoreline over Stephen Lee proves that he comes here meaning business. Lee did have his chances in the first session of that match though and that will give some hope to players that stand in the way of John and a fourth world title. But he again has ‘that look’ and is undoubtedly the man to beat.

Services no longer required.

Judd Trump continued his fantastic run of form and seems to have a new found inner confidence and leads Martin Gould 5-3. His facial gestures and hair flicks whilst waiting to be introduced being of particular note. Judd’s nickname was reluctantly changed by Rob as a result of outside influences and he has now graduated from ‘Haircut 100′ to ‘The Ace in the Pack’, a natural progression after a ranking event win. If he wins this they may have to find new card-based superlatives to describe young Juddly. Expect frenzied BBC executives to be clambouring into smoke filled rooms should he progress to the final, where surely the temptation to pay homage to the global classic that is ‘Top Trumps’ will be too hard to resist. Or perhaps they still haven’t thought of that and may need to pay a consultant to provide such rubber-stamped ammunition.

Moving on to today and I would not bet against MJW finishing his match off this morning against the Shotgun, who appears to be misfiring at a rate of knots this week and is clearly not a ‘player’ in this. Blog favourite the Captain starts his first session against Dotty and 4-4 may be the bet for this first session in what I believe will be another Crucible Classic, they play their second set of eight frames tonight and if that is over in two sessions I will give up punditry forever. In the other match starting out Mark Allen faces Barry Hawkins, my thoughts on all the second round matches can be found by scrolling down the homepage.

The betting has gone quite well so far. A couple of losers that would have made the first round a bona fide classic start to a World Championship assault on the bookies had they won. One bet which may have slipped the radar of readers was the special bet at Betfred on frame spreads in the first round, the 3 points at 11/8  recommended here being landed last night courtesy of Mr Lee, which makes up for him not winning the required 7 frames against Higgins.

But today is a gigantic day for snooker off the table, as Mrs SB graces the hallowed turf and comes to meet me here to instill a bit of that lost discipline back into my life, I can get a little giddy on my own so I think the time is right to roll out the proverbial green baize carpet for the first lady of snooker. I’m hoping that sunshine will follow her here and that her presence can inspire the Captain on to greater things tonight. I feel her attendance can only help in the quest for the blog to have a World Champion counted as part of the its ranks next season.

An honourable mention now to a new found friend of the blog Neal Foulds, with whom I chewed the fat last night in a mix of snooker chatter which was worthy of an anorak award of the highest order. We discussed players past and present and he gave a remarkable insight into the importance of technique in these matters, if he wasn’t so busy with other things he would make a great coach as he is such an amiable person I can imagine he’d even make a better player of me in my advancing years. That elusive first world title may yet be a possibility.

Crucible Snippits:

More of an anecdote today. A Scottish correspondent for the BBC who seems a very chilled out chap reaped havoc across the press room yesterday. He is planning on putting together a piece for the BBC and had a song in his head that he wanted to accompany this feast of visual potting. He described the song thus:

‘A fast tempo dance track; dark, moody and menacing which was in the charts about 6 months ago. A dramatic song with Beethoven-esque double bass and female vocals. There is a part of the song where the music stops and the violins come in and it goes something like ‘da da da dum”.

The greatest brains in the media business set about finding the song based on this description with some very educated answers coming from the younger dance-track savvy people in the room. This was the answer, it’s fair to say the description was slightly misleading, but look out for the piece.

Interview Quotes of the Day: John Higgins

A slightly over ambitious and possibly ill-informed once a year reporter finished a good natured press conference with two questions:

Ill Informed Reporter: So John, are you surprised to be here this year after your ban?
John: (glares) NO.

Ill Informed Reporter: Are you surprised at the reception, were you expecting this to be more hostile?
John: (glares and shakes his head) NO.

End of Conference.

Good Luck today.

10am

18. Graeme Dott 6-3 Ali Carter
21. Mark Williams 12-4 Jamie Cope

2.30pm
17. Judd Trump 11-5 Martin Gould
22. Mark Allen  v  Barry Hawkins

7pm
18. Graeme Dott 6-3 Ali Carter
21. Mark Williams 12-4 Jamie Cope*

The Jester has been styled for stardom.

We now know one further second round tie and the final one will be determined tonight when the winner of Stephen Lee and John Higgins will be pitched against the speedmaster Rory McLeod.

Mark Selby v Stephen Hendry

Head to Heads: 8-5

A repeat of their meeting at this exact point last year pitches the King of the Crucible against the increasingly polished Jester. It was 13-5 last year and I’d say they are both coming into this in similar form to how they were last season. If you take out three virtually meaningless round robin matches you could argue that Hendry has not beaten the Jester in a meaningful event since the 2004 Welsh Open. With that in mind and though it’s always folly to completely write off the 7 times champion I would say the Jester is fairly certain to have a pretty routine path into the quarter finals for the expected clash with Ding. I also must draw your eyes to yet another piece of value being offered over at Paddy Power. I think we could put them out of business in this round ladies and gents…

Prediction: Selby

Recommended Bet: 4 points on Selby (-3.5 frames) at 4/5 with Paddy Power

John Higgins v Rory McLeod

Head to Heads: 0-0

I strongly fancy Rory for this. No only joking. The match outcome is as close to a certainty as you will ever get in the second round at the Crucible, but didn’t everyone think John was a certainty at this stage last year against the Nugget? Well he won’t slip up again, the new improved Higgins is a totally different player from the one that was about to board the plane to Kiev this time last year. Rory can work his wicked ways on players with less experience but when it comes to the big boys he isn’t in with a chance. Higgins has far too much experience to let Rory’s spoiling tactics take over this one. Most firms pitch the handicap at Higgins -6.5 frames, but to me that’s just a cowards way out. I mean come on, we’re men aren’t we (apart from lovely lady followers)?

Prediction: Higgins

Recommended Bet: 3 points Higgins -7.5 frames (6/5 at Skybet)

The Captain is aiming to shoot down Dotty.

Following the afternoon and evening sessions yesterday we now know two more match ups, both of which get under way tomorrow. Let’s see if there are any bets worth having shall we.

Graeme Dott v Ali Carter

Head to Heads 1-3

Ever since I saw the draw I have been dreading previewing this match as I think this is about as hard to call as they get. Graeme’s experience here and his sheer love for the Crucible always gives him that extra edge and makes him a difficult opponent for anyone. Ali is flying back to the Crucible today after his comfortable win on Sunday and will not be wanting to re-pack the designer suitcases just yet and has undoubtedly got his eyes on another big run in this. The head to heads date back a decade to a British Open match in 2001, which Graeme won and this is the last time that he beat Ali. The one consistent in their matches is that they are always close which to me makes the bet below very near a maximum pointer, I am convinced this one will go very very close.

Prediction: Carter

Recommended Bet: 4 points win: Over 22.5 frames at Evens with Betfred

Mark Allen v Barry Hawkins

Head to Head 1-0

Barry Hawkins comes to this as possibly the shock of the first round and takes on comeback king Mark Allen who will be looking to continue his run in this highly winnable match. While both didn’t produce their best snooker in their respective matches they will approach this with a little less pressure on them. Out of the two you would expect Allen to kick on at a more accelerated rate than Barry, who until the last frame against Maguire looked a very edgy proposition, but credit where it is due, Bazza got his head down and won the decider in one visit having gone into the final frame as most people’s outsider. I think he will have to improve immeasurably to live with the more experienced and Crucible grappler Allen here and I think this one might be one way traffic, I’d be very surprised if Barry got close. Get the price below while you can is my advice, it might not last.

Prediction: Allen

Recommended Bet: 5 points win Allen (-2.5 frames) 10/11 at Paddy Power

To open an account at Betfred click the banner below and follow the instructions to claim your free £50 matched bet.

Good Luck if you are having a bet.

Welcome to Roryland

Day Six at the Crucible and the Betfred World Championship seems to have gone into full throttle with a Crucible thriller last night to match the best of them. 29 years on from an iconic final another Belfast boy could be found in tears and cuddling a little girl called Lauren after winning, this time Mark Allen assuming the position of the great Alex Higgins after coming back to beat Matthew Stevens 10-9 to progress to the second round.

But as with all the best dramas before we got there we had to endure some pain. Now readers, let me take you on a guided tour to a new holiday destination: ‘Roryland – Where nothing is quite as it seems and time stands still.’

In this mystical land, you can stand still for a minute before taking every shot, no matter how hard or how easy that shot may seem, you can then get down to the shot, cue it, be ready to strike the ball and then get up again three or four times before playing the same shot as you were always intending to play.

The beauty of this approach is that as well as your opponent wanting to kill both themselves and you after half an hour you can then win and breeze into the press area and say with a straight face that your opponent dragged you down with their slow play. That ladies and gentlemen, is Roryland.

Ricky Walden looked as exhausted as any person I have ever seen this side of a mortuary when describing his defeat to Mr McLeod as being like ‘a visit to the dentist’ and I genuinely felt sorry for him. It’s easy for people like me to sit on the sidelines and say to the normally lightening fast Rickster to play his own game and not get bogged down, but Rory seems to have a knack of making players forget every piece of good advice they have ever been given and falling under his spell.

The press conference with the winner was as about as believable as Pat Mooney’s defence lawyer and almost the second Rory had left the press office, widespread laughter ensued. Quotes such as ‘I just like to get on with it’ and ‘Ricky controlled the pace of the game’ amongst testimonies to match the very best of perjurers.

On the other table Martin Gould came back from a 6-3 deficit to beat Marco Fu. Martin seems to be everywhere, wherever you look he is either getting his photograph taken with someone or just generally hanging out soaking up the Crucible atmosphere. I’m sorry to see Marco go home I have to say, he is as polite as polite can be and a true gentleman of the sport but somehow yesterday he just couldn’t find his game.

In the afternoon session, John Higgins hit three centuries and leads Stephen Lee, who has silly hair, 6-3 going into the final session today while on the other table in the morning we saw Graeme Dott finish off Mark King. I like King, he is very good value in the press conferences and doesn’t shy away from any questions. Dotty to me seemed very relaxed and much like he looked last year, he just seems to thrive off the Crucible and he now faces The Captain in what I find an almost impossible match to call.

Then came the evening session and having spent most of my day writing bits and bobs for the blog and meeting a few people I felt the day was passing me by somewhat. But I needn’t have worried as the best was yet to come.

The session started with two darts players entering the press area. One I knew to be Adrian Lewis as I recognised him from when I have occasionally flicked over to watch at Christmas, but the other man behind him was possibly the fattest man, proportionately, that I have ever seen in my whole life. He was about 5 foot 2 inches high and about as wide and could probably have balanced a dinner tray on his huge bulging torso area rendering useless the need for a table while eating his presumably calorie busting dinner. I still don’t know who he is but I do know that they were only here to watch Mark Selby, who lost the first frame before winning the next eight to comfortably lead Crucible debutant Jimmy Robertson going into his final session, which I don’t expect to last very long.

The drama of the day however was undoubtedly provided by Allen and Stevens. With Mark  at one point looking like he was about to nod off, he managed somehow to pick himself up and knock in a century and start what was to be one of the classic Crucible comebacks.

No place for kids.

I have to say that the people I felt most sorry for were the gentle unassuming elderly couple that had sat in the front row all night and innocently nipped out to get a choc ice each with which to enjoy the final frame, only to find that when trying to get back to their seats they had to be violently ejected from the Crucible for ‘unspecified reasons’ so that Reanne and little Lauren could sit in the front row, neatly in eyeline with the blue spot.

I mean, it’s perfectly logical that a 4 year old will be perfectly still and quiet when watching her dad walking around a table with a lot of coloured balls and a stick at nearly midnight and that this will in no way distract his opponent. I just hope the whole experience won’t mean that next time cute little Lauren visits a Wacky Warehouse with one of those bouncy castles full of balls she isn’t the only child in the room sitting perfectly still and shouting ‘Quiet please ladies and gentlemen’ and telling people to turn off their mobile phones and adjust their earpieces. These things can stay with you, believe me.

Once the action had finished I made my way back to the hotel via a stop off to meet Matt from Pro Snooker Blog where we exchanged news and views and general bloggers tales, each trying to outdo each other with ‘what’s the latest you have stayed up to blog’ stories. He won on that, but I took the honours in the ‘what’s the earliest you have got up to blog’ debate. Fascinating stuff from two modern day anoraks of the game.

I then had every intention of having an early night, but on arrival back at the hotel who should be sitting there having a drink but Mr and Mrs Stevens and their small party of friends. I made my way over and said hello and was immediately bought a drink by the lovely Mrs Matt while I sat and discussed the match and other things with her husband, who though very disappointed was still able to have a good laugh about things and it’s fair to say I think we hit it off very well. I have even extended an invitation to snooker’s second couple (behind Mrs SB and myself obviously) to come over to Scouseland for a guided tour, which I hope they will take up one day.

On another matter there were three observations on my good self yesterday by separate individuals giving rise to both a feeling of inner fluffiness and a cause for concern. These are listed below in today’s Crucible snippits from behind the scenes. I don’t know whether to be offended or flattered by two of them but I will take both on the chin and live to fight another day. I’ve given enough out after all and it’s all about give and take in this game.

Today we see Higgins and Selby play to a finish in their respective matches whilst the second round gets under way with MJW taking on Jamie Cope and Gould taking on Judd Trump.

A case of mistaken identity.

Crucible Quotes of the Day:

Q: So Mark how would you describe your season?
Mark King: Shit
‘Something Printable?’
King: Nah, Still Shit

Rory McLeod: ‘I just like to get on with it, if the referees are warning against slow play they need to tackle players like Ricky’

Ricky Walden: ‘It was like going to a dentist appointment. Rory is a nice guy but the way he plays the game is horrible, if snooker was like that all the time the game would be dead’

Rob Walker and female Chinese Journalist who he’s been chatting to all week as only he can, I’m not sure she knows how to take him yet:
RW: ‘So are you coming dancing with us later?’
CJ: ‘You will probably take me to lap dancing or something’
RW: ‘Lap Dancing? In these days of equal rights I consider that degrading to women, know what I mean cupcake?’

Mrs Matt to me: ‘Oh I think you should win an award, I think you are brilliant’ (OK, she’d had a few)

Mr Matt also to me: ‘I thought you were Damien Hirst’ (Unfortunately he hadn’t had a few)

Anonymous lady in bar again to me: ‘I’d always assumed that snookerbacker was a woman’

Nice.

Todays Matches

1pm

8. Mark Selby 10-1 Jimmy Robertson*
21. Mark Williams 7-1 Jamie Cope

7pm

17. Judd Trump v Martin Gould
16. John Higgins  6-3  Stephen Lee*

Oops I almost forgot – photo of Rory is courtesy of Monique Limbos, the nicest photographer in sport.

Focused? We'll know for certain soon.

We’re now getting to the stage where the previews will be getting into gear again and we’ll start with the first four matches that we know are definitely happening.

Below I’ve set to work on half of the second round matches and the others will follow when we know the line ups and the bookies have their prices up.

Mark Williams v Jamie Cope (starts Thursday 1pm)

Head to Heads: 4-3

Two of the times that Jamie has beaten MJW have been within the confines of the safe walls of the Baronial Halls of Crondon Park, which leads me to believe that they can be discounted. The other time he has beaten him was during MJW’s really low period in 2007, when he was a very different animal to the one that will be lining up for this match. Mark has won the last three meetings, last time this was a 4-0 defeat of the Shotgun from Stoke in the Welsh Open. On the first round performances as well as the head to heads you have to strongly fancy Williams. It’s not a difficult one to preview this, anyone backing Cope should possibly book themselves in for a check up.

Prediction: Williams

Recommended Bet: 3 points win Williams (-3.5 frames) at 4/6 with Extrabet

Shaun Murphy v Ronnie O’Sullivan (starts Saturday)

Head to Heads: 1-5 with one draw

I’m not a great fan of the Premier League as a lot of regulars on here will know and lots of the head to heads here rely on you taking those matches at face value. But I would argue that this is a million miles away from it and that those matches should be totally discounted from your judgement. Of the times the two have met under ‘normal conditions’ Ronnie has won them both 6-3 and 6-5 but this was back in the day when he was still winning tournaments. So how do we weigh up this one with for me the head to heads being largely irrelevant and both of them coming through their first round matches in impressive style albeit against players that didn’t bring their games with them. Well, the only angle I have is needle. I’m not sure that Ronnie is that fond of Shaun in a kind of ‘indifferent’ way and it can’t have escaped his notice that Shaun isn’t too shy when it comes to giving his opinion on the Rocket. But Ronnie doesn’t ever talk back, he doesn’t have to of course, I get the feeling he might be waiting for a chance to meet on the big stage to do that on the table, I also get the feeling that he will.

Prediction: O’Sullivan

Recommended Bet: 2.5 points win O’Sullivan (-2.5 frames) at 11/10 with Blue Square.

Smiles better than previous years?

Ding Junhui v Stuart Bingham

Head to Heads: 3-2

Again, I’m not sure that the head to heads are that relevant, though for ‘Houdini’ Stuart it may give him some heart that this isn’t a totally lost cause against a lot of people’s favourite for the title. Ding is attempting to do what he has not done before and book a place in the last eight and this is surely the best chance in his career to date to do so, having lost at this stage in the past to Ronnie, Hendry twice and Shaun Murphy last year. Bingham has reached this stage for the second time and has never gone further so whatever happens this match will produce a first time quarter-finalist. Ding looked fantastic in the first round as he did last year against Pettman, but like that one, it was just a glorified practice session for him. The difference this year to his previous four attempts is that this time he faces a player that he knows he should beat and I think he will, quite comfortably.

Prediction: Ding

Recommended Bet: 2 points win Ding (-4.5 frames) at 10/11 Paddy Power

Judd Trump v Martin Gould (starts Thursday)

Head to Heads: 1-1

These two have come a long way since they first met. In a lowly qualifier in the 2008 Welsh Open which Judd won 5-1. Since then they have met in the PTC Grand Finals where Gouldy got his revenge with a 4-2 win over the soon-to-be China Open champion. It’s fair to say that the wind is in Judd’s sails, it also looks as if it is in his hair as he prepares to take on the man formerly known, still known or never known as ‘The Goat’ depending on who’s version you believe of that particular story. Now this will be a long drawn out affair for the purists, no only joking, it will be the equivalent of two people trying to ‘outsuicide’ each other. Expect balls cracked in half, kamikaze attempted pots and quickfire breaks from start to finish. The danger for Judd and the hope for Gould is that Judd forgets the discipline that he has brought to his game that has made him a winner and go for one too many. I think this one might be closer than a lot might believe it will be, but I think Judd will snatch it on the bottle stakes if nothing else, but at time of writing there isn’t much value about. I’d be tempted to back Gould +3.5 if the price is right.

Prediction: Trump

Enhanced Snookerbacker Treble  from Betfred:

The sponsors are offering 6/1 on the treble of the three recommended bets above. So I’ll recommend a further 1 point on that.

You might have to wait until after tonight’s matches for this to get onto the website.

If you don’t have an account with them just click the banner below and follow the instructions to take advantage of their £50 free matched bet offer.

The Best of Luck if you are having a bet.

( Image used courtesy of World Snooker. Keep up with all the latest developments at the Crucible as well as player match interviews at the official website here)

Be warned, Shaun can go on a bit.

It’s finally here! The website we have all been waiting for. The internet is set for meltdown as Shaun Murphy aka Smurf takes to the informationsuperhighway with his very own website.

Below as well as bigging up the latest player to go all technical, he talks about his forthcoming match with Ronnie.

This is the official press release.

Shaun Murphy is all set for an appetising second-round clash with Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Betfred.com World Championship title trail this Saturday, April 23.

Both players were in top form as they eased through their opening encounters at the Crucible. Murphy, the 2005 world champion, won the first nine frames of his match with Marcus Campbell before triumphing 10-1. O’Sullivan, a three-time winner of snooker’s most prestigious tournament, had little trouble overcoming Dominic Dale 10-2.

And Cheshire-based Murphy is relishing the prospect of his first-ever clash in Sheffield with the Rocket.

He said: “Next up is Ronnie and I am really looking forward to the opportunity of playing him at the World Championship. We’ve played each other before, but never at the Crucible and I’m sure it’s going to be special.

“I’ve often heard golfers say how the atmosphere is totally different when they are paired with Tiger Woods, as opposed to other players. And it’s a bit like that in snooker when you go head-to-head with Ronnie.

“He beat me just before Christmas in the Premier League final and I beat him to win the same event a year earlier. We always seem to have good matches.”

“I’ve been preparing by practising the aspects of my game that I know will have to be spot-on; long potting, break-building as well as a little bit of safety.

“But I feel my game is in good order, overall. I was very pleased to play so well against Marcus although I do feel the score-line flattered me a bit.”

For more of Shaun’s thoughts, please check out www.shaunmurphy.net. Shaun has re-launched the site and he has been heavily involved in the editorial content. The site is integrated with @magician147 on Twitter, so Shaun’s fans and snooker followers in general can interact with him fully through social media – and gain an added insight into events such as the World Championship.

Shaun added: “I want the site to be something that people return to again and again, so that’s why I’m planning to contribute frequently in the blog-style news section. I’m hoping that there will be some good conversations in the blog and, when time permits, I’ll look to respond to what others will hopefully be submitting.

“The site, as a whole, is a long-term project and social media is something I’m interested in. So, we’ll be looking to develop it as we go along and as we learn more about its capabilities.”

I seem to have a rival…….

'Who are you here for then?'

Well I have arrived at the Crucible and I have to say it was quite a first day. A cracking atmosphere was matched by the sun cracking the flags in Snooker City. Sheffield has improved a lot in a very short space of time and all around the Crucible has a real buzz of excitement. If you can get here at all I highly recommend it. You get a real feeling of a ‘snooker village’ with players and officials alike wandering around, some more than others, happy to oblige the hungry mob of fans wanting a photo and an autograph and in some cases a peck on the cheek.

As for my day, I started out on an early train journey sitting opposite an old couple that spent the entire time having the most boring conversations imaginable. Nothing escaped their crashingly boring insight, from washing lines, through butter and margarine to naming all the stations the train was stopping at all the way from Liverpool to Norwich, where thankfully as it’s the furthest point from where I live short of throwing them in the English Channel, they were getting off. At one point I thought they were going to the snooker, but thankfully I had misheard the surname of one of their friends while nodding off to a particular highpoint of the conversation about paper cups.

Anyway, once I had recovered from this incessant tirade of drivel, which I should of course be used to having written this tripe for 15 months,  I jumped in a taxi, the driver of which insisted on telling me that Ronnie was the only snooker player worth watching. I didn’t have the energy to state the case for any of the others having remembered that I was about to be greeted by a large screen in the middle of the outdoor square with Rory McLeod playing on it. So I left him to it and politely wished him good day, diverting his gaze away from the screen.

I then entered the Crucible and was directed to a side entrance to get my special pass. It turns out that this is where the real diehard fans hang out for this is the players entrance and a rich turf for autographs. I had my pen ready and hung around for a bit there, not long, only about an hour, but had no takers, it’s like nobody recognised me in my man-sized mustard jumpsuit and I was then asked ‘who’s autograph do you want? I luv Ronnie me’ by a man that looked a bit like a Cyclops so I decided to wander in. Ironically for the one-eyed freak outside, the first person I nearly quite literally bumped into was Ronnie (I thought the Cyclops might be following me so I was not looking where I was going). He was accompanied by Damien Hirst who had ‘forgotten’ his special pass. A likely story I reckon, he’s probably put a dot on it, signed it and sold for a zillion quid. He still hasn’t pimped the wallchart either, the tight bugger. Peter Ebdon then wandered over to book a practice table and I, knowing my place amongst greats and Damien, waited patiently for my pass.

Talking of wallcharts. I have already amassed a dazzling array of prizes from programmes to T-Shirts to media guides to give away at the end of the tournament, I’ll update a list of the prizes I have scrounged so far on a post at the weekend. But all you need to know is that between sessions you should be following the guidance at the top of this page. Now get cracking, even entering might be enough to secure a prize at the rate I’m blagging them.

Having made my way into the press office I had a little chat with Sir Clive of Everton and Mark King, who was having a little trouble with someone hassling him on Twitter for no apparent reason. I advised him to block this crazed nutter and we agreed that it was probably some teenage lad in his bedroom with a picture of Kingy and a packet of Kleenex at the ready in case he replied. He left thanking me and wondering how exactly he blocked people. I’m not sure whether he ended up doing it or not, but he didn’t seem too bothered by it all as he’s a very laid back and happy-go-lucky kinda guy is our Mark.

As for the snooker, I caught snippits of the morning and Rory and Ricky produced the expected yawnfest. I fear that the normally aggressive and quickfire Rickster is letting his opponent dictate the pace of the match and that if he doesn’t start speeding things up he could be in for a very rocky ride today. As of course, could the viewing public, if there are any left at the end which if it goes all the way might not be until tonight as I can’t see these two playing a possible 11 further frames in one sitting. In the other match the politest man in snooker Marco Fu holds the advantage over Martin Gould 6-3. Gouldy spends most of the time hovering around here and there like a bespectacled social butterfly, it’s not clear why but he seems content enough and enjoys all the attention he gets.

In the afternoon, Dotty once again reignited his Crucible flame and put all his talk of poor form to the back of his mind in establishing what I’d suggest is an unassailable lead against King. It’s clear that our Graeme is as determined as ever at his favourite venue and a un-callable tie against Ali awaits.

But the highlight was of course Ronnie, is he playing well enough to win it? Well, I’d say that is an impossible question to answer on this display, there is a chance that he will improve round by round as with all of them, we’ll see. But Dom it has to be said offered no form of resistance to him and much much harder battles are ahead with better players who will punish his errors. In the press conference he stopped short of saying it was ‘easy’, but you could tell that is what he meant. He would probably have won 20-2 if they would have let him play on for fun. The good news for his fans is that he seemed relaxed and as content as he’s been in a while, for now at least. He is best priced 11/2 with the sponsors Betfred to win it. I’ll stick my neck out and say that I still don’t think he will.

Dom: Up for Anything.

After the match Dom was his usual jovial self and could even be seen playing Street Snooker outside the Crucible (really really badly I hasten to add) and being interviewed by anyone that would care to listen to him for hours on end. He can’t half yap that bloke and must have done at least 10 seperate interviews after the match, at one point I swear I saw him interviewing himself in front of the mirror. I still can’t forgive him for those shoes though.

The evening session saw Stuart Bingham down the dogged Ebdon after once again falling behind. The tag of ‘Houdini’ is being used about him here so perhaps at last he might shake the ‘Ballrun’ tag and come up with another nom de plume. But this was a great win for him despite a bit of bad luck in the kick department for poor old Ebbo late on. Matthew Stevens takes a narrow lead into the second session today against Mark Allen and that to me has the feeling of a final frame Crucible Classic. Matt should now have shaken off the final frame demons that have dogged his career after his adventures in qualifying and still looks in good shape, but that one could go either way. I spotted him and Mrs Matt just as he was about to enter the players area to do a BBC interview and I can report to all regulars that as suspected Mrs Matt is firmly in the category of a ‘right little cracker’.

Today sees the commencement of the final raft of first round matches as well as the conclusion of the ones that started yesterday. There is a potentially high quality encounter between John Higgins and Stephen Lee kicking off in the afternoon and you can read all my first round match opinions here. Tomorrow we will start the previews of the second round matches as they happen, which is where the tournament really kicks off as we start sorting the men from the boys.

Incidentally for anyone not following me on Twitter you can do so by clicking here and checking ‘follow’. I will be tweeting observations as and when something happens around the place that I think you might be interested in.

Some Unique Daily Snippits:

Interviewee of the Day: Dominic ‘Hi, I’m Dominic care for a chat?’ Dale

Misfire of the Day: Dale again I’m afraid, his ‘Street Snooker’ attempts will not have the Premiership scouts alerted.

Turncoat of the Day: Me. Despite having a small bet running on Martin Gould to beat Marco Fu. Fu is just such a nice guy and him and his girlfriend Shirley make such a cute couple. I’d actually like Marco to win.

Gripe of the Day: Rob Walker after being told that he has to change Judd’s nickname. It’s about as un-jolly as I’ve ever seen him, he was only 99.87% pure happiness and mirth.

Statto of the Day: John Evans. I sat near him for a spell and he takes copious notes on breaks and table visits on all matches involving the Welsh boys. I’m not sure why but he’s very meticulous.

Self-indulgent Moment of the Day: Me again (by definition) as I took the famous walk through the Crucible curtains to be greeted to a round of spectacular applause and intro to ‘Irish Blood, English Heart’ by Morrissey, both albeit in my head, then take my place for Ronnie’s match in CJ’s seat. ‘There’s someone sitting there mate’ ‘Yeah? And?’ Eggheads, Schmeggheads…

Presence of the Day: Ronnie. Love him or loathe him, you have to admit, the guy has ‘something’ that the others don’t have.

Stylish Breezy Appearance of the Day: Mark Selby. Pencil thin, tanned, floral fragrant undertones, designer jeans and black skinny T-Shirt. The Jester looked every inch the styled up baize boy as he sauntered in and out of the press room leaving the Chinese girls in the room breathless with excitement. ‘Strike a Pose’.

And finally………Quote of the Day: Peter Ebdon on seeing Ken Doherty ‘Morning Kenneth, what’s the frequency?’

10am
2. Marco Fu 8-10 Martin Gould*
15. Ricky Walden 6-10 Rory McLeod*

2.30pm
3. Graeme Dott 10-7 Mark King*
16. John Higgins 6-3 Stephen Lee

7pm
8. Mark Selby 8-1 Jimmy Robertson
11. Mark Allen 10-9 Matthew Stevens*