2020 World Championship Thread

[CaledonianCraig]

First topic message reminder :

How about a thread to discuss the 2020 World Snooker Championships at The Crucible.

The delayed tournament starts today with a limited audience allowed in to watch the matches. The draw is as follows:-

Judd Trump (1) v Tom Ford
Yan Bingtao (16) v Elliot Slessor
Stephen Maguire (9) v Martin Gould
Kyren Wilson (8) - BYE
John Higgins (5) v Matthew Stevens
David Gilbert (12) v Kurt Maflin
Jack Lisowski (13) v Anthony McGill
Mark Allen (4) v Jamie Clarke
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Mark Williams (3) v Alan McManus
Stuart Bingham (14) v Ashley Carty
Ding Junhui (11) v Mark King
Ronnie O’Sullivan (6) v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Mark Selby (7) v Jordan Brown
Shaun Murphy (10) v Noppon Saengkham
Barry Hawkins (15) v Alexander Ursenbacher
Neil Robertson (2) v Liang Wenbo

Anthony Hamilton who suffers from asthma and qualified for the tournament has withdrawn due to COVID-19 and the fact there will be fans attending. This means Kyren Wilson gets a bye through to the Second Round.

This year there are five players making their Crucible debuts those being Elliot Slessor (England), Jordan Brown (Northern Ireland), Ashley Carty (England), Alexander Ursenbacher (Switzerland - the first Swiss player to play at the Crucible) and Jamie Clarke (Wales).

[CaledonianCraig]

Selby, after a cagey opening gambit in second frame, gets in and hits a lovely break of 73 and he leads 2-0.

[CaledonianCraig]

And Robbo just cannot settle. Has an early chance in the third frame but cannot take it and Selby in with a decent chance to make this 3-0.

[CaledonianCraig]

Selby breaks down on 63. Can Robertson counter?

[CaledonianCraig]

Robertson almost pulls off the steal but it is Selby who takes it to lead 3-0. Robertson will be worried the way these frames are panning out.

[CaledonianCraig]

Wilson steals a frame he looked set to lose. Trump had a great chance and blew it. Wilson leads 3-2.

[CaledonianCraig]

Robertson will be grateful for this. A chance right in amongst the balls. Surely, he won't pass up this chance?

[CaledonianCraig]

But he can only get 33 points before having to play safe. Robertson just not into his stride yet.

[CaledonianCraig]

Another tactical Robertson/Selby frame. It looks likely they will not get all their frames in in this session. Overt two hours play and still some way from completing four frames.

[CaledonianCraig]

Wilson taking control against Trump a 70+ break sees him go into a 4-2 lead

[CaledonianCraig]

Selby comes from behind and pinches another. He leads 4-0.

[CaledonianCraig]

Selby ended up with a 5-3 lead over Robertson so a good fightback by Robbo there. On the other table Wilson has a 5-3 lead over Trump.

In this afternoon's matches Mark Williams leads Ronnie O'Sullivan 3-2 and the Welshman at the table first again. On the other table the standards are lower McGill leads Maflin 3-0.

[CaledonianCraig]

Maflin just stumbles across the line to win the fourth frame. McGill takes a 3-1 lead into the mid-session interval.

[CaledonianCraig]

Williams weighs in with another sizeable break and leads 4-2.

[CaledonianCraig]

Ronnie in first but misses a pink on 41. Here comes the counter from Williams....

[CaledonianCraig]

A tighter seventh frame and Williams takes it and leads 5-2.

[CaledonianCraig]

And Williams lands another big break of 130 which helps Mark Williams win his fifth frame on the bounce and he leads The Rocket 6-2. Ronnie with lots to think about but what a performance by Mark Williams.

[CaledonianCraig]

McGill pinches another frame and leads Maflin 4-1.

[CaledonianCraig]

Very disappointing so far from Maflin. McGill not having to do much to build a potentially big lead up here. At the table and amongst the balls and 5-1 looks on the cards.

[Guest]

Bet eirebilly enjoyed that afternoon session there by Williams

[CaledonianCraig]

Two surprising scorelines this afternoon then. Williams leading O'Sullivan 6-2 and McGill leading Maflin 7-1. I never saw those coming.

[CaledonianCraig]

Bet eirebilly enjoyed that afternoon session there by Williams

Well I'd imagine any snooker fan would given that Williams played sublime snooker.

[CaledonianCraig]

A frame that either player could have won goes to Judd Trump and he trails Kyren Wilson 5-4. A cagey start to the opening frame on the other table.

[CaledonianCraig]

Selby wins a safety battle and looks good to seal the 9th frame and go 6-3 up.

[Guest]

Wilson should really of been 7-3 up now, if it wasn’t for that miss

[CaledonianCraig]

Kyren Wilson hits back with break of 65 and takes the 10th frame. He leads Trump 6-4.

[CaledonianCraig]

Trump back in the groove with a break of 70 and he pulls a frame back and trails 6-5.

[CaledonianCraig]

Good chance for Robertson after a long safety battle. Robbo at the table and building a break.

[CaledonianCraig]

Robbo breaks down on 42.

[CaledonianCraig]

A great long red from Selby and he is in on the counter.

[CaledonianCraig]

And Selby pulls off a great clearance to lead 7-3.

[Guest]

Unbelievable misses in this match

[CaledonianCraig]

Wow what a crazy frame. Many golden chances spurned by Wilson and Trump. Finally, it is won by Wilson and he leads 7-5 at their mid-session interval. That could be huge.

[CaledonianCraig]

Robertson steals a frame. Boy did he need that one. Selby leads 7-4.

[CaledonianCraig]

And Trump bounces back by taking the next frame and trails Wilson 7-6.

[CaledonianCraig]

Selby in again and looking odds-on to lead 8-4 going into their mid-session interval but misses and Robertson has a chance to pinch another frame.

[CaledonianCraig]

But its just not there consistently for Robbo. Selby mope up another frame and does indeed lead 8-4 at the mid-session interval.

[CaledonianCraig]

Wilson upping his tempo and scoring and Trump has to find an answer. Very quickly it has become 9-6.

[CaledonianCraig]

You feel Trump MUST win this frame. At 9-7 he is still in it but 10-6 down on this patchy form - no way back.

[CaledonianCraig]

Robertson hot favourite to win the 13th frame. He desperately needs it.

[CaledonianCraig]

Very edgey frame between Wilson and Trump you sense both players know how crucial this frame is.

[CaledonianCraig]

Respotted black in 13th frame for Robbo V Selby. Robertson must win this.

[CaledonianCraig]

Meanwhile, on the other table Kyren Wilson has one foot in the semis. He leads Judd Trump 10-6 overnight. On both player's form I cannot see Judd turning it around. Is the Crucible Cure about to strike again?

[CaledonianCraig]

Pure relief for Robertson. He takes the frame potting the respotted black and Selby leads 8-5.

[CaledonianCraig]

Robertson looking set to go 9-5 down. Like Trump in the other match - if he can keep this to 7-9 overnight he is still in this but 6-10 I cannot see him turning that around against a player of Mark Selby's quality.

[eirebilly]

Bet eirebilly enjoyed that afternoon session there by Williams

Well I'd imagine any snooker fan would given that Williams played sublime snooker.

Of course i did. Its not secret that i am a Williams fan, have been since he came on the scene.

[CaledonianCraig]

This morning's matches see Anthony McGill resume 7-1 ahead of Kurt Maflin and on the other table Mark Selby needs two more frames to beat Neil Robertson. He leads 11-5.

[Duty281]

Yeah, can't see Trump coming back, unless he suddenly flicks a switch and plays like he did in the final last year (unlikely to be fair). RoS needs to win the afternoon session to have any chance of overturning his deficit.

The two games this morning already look over. Wonder if McGill can wrap it up before the evening?

[CaledonianCraig]

Very good starts this morning from Selby and McGill. Both at the table and scoring big and look like taking the frame.

[CaledonianCraig]

Chance for Maflin to steal.

[CaledonianCraig]

Selby rolls on. A break of 91 and the frame is his. He leads 12-5 - the semis are a frame away.

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