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World Snooker Championships

Liverpool footballer Steven Gerrard travelled from Anfield to take in the match between Scotland's John Higgins and Leicester youngster Ian Selby.

It was Gerrard's first taste of the magic of the Crucible and the England midfielder declared himself highly impressed by what he saw.

However, Gerrard admitted his highest break was a meagre 28.

So for the time being at least, Gerrard will stick to playing for the Reds rather than potting colours.
 
K DOHERTY (Irl) 11-11 A McMANUS (Sco)

9-62 22-87 (57) 56-6 0-126 (104) 0-131 (103) 51-47 96-26 (59) 37-64 86-14 99-0 37-87 (87) 18-107 (107) 45-61 101-0 (101) 98-28 72-45 (67) 73-17 (73) 80-51 (53) 15-59 0-91 (63) 63-37 1-91 (59)

J HIGGINS (Sco) 4-4 S MURPHY (Eng)

72-7 (66) 89-16 (85) 63-40 (51) 55-56 82-0 (62) 0-129 (129) 20-80 0-79

End of session - play resumes Sun 1900
 
Higgins 4-4 Murphy Stevens 5-3 White
 
whats happening to jimmy?

(Second round, best of 25 frames)
M STEVENS (Wal) 12-4 J WHITE (Eng)

61-62 83-1 45-70 83-17 (55) 80-8 (50) 64-20 49-63 76-50 (66) 58-30 83-0 (59) 68-1 97-0 (90) 66-1 (65) 18-71 110-13 (106) 121-3 (121)

J HIGGINS (Sco) 7-9 S MURPHY (Eng)

72-7 (66) 89-16 (85) 63-40 (51) 55-56 82-0 (62) 0-129 (129) 20-80 0-79 43-70 56-61 65-0 (52) 0-97 74-12 1-97 (97) 6-72 (72) 88-17 (68)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Earlier action:

P EBDON (Eng) 2-6 S LEE (Eng)

43-76 63-0 7-111 (61) 0-78 (52) 50-52 6-70 (52) 76-69 (respotted black) 19-76

Play resumes 1000 BST on Monday

M WILLIAMS (Wal) 5-3 I McCULLOCH (Eng)

71-78 (59 Williams, respotted black) 143-0 (133) 42-60 (60) 79-0 102-30 (102) 115-16 (60) 0-90 (90) 70-68 (62 Williams)

Play resumes 1000 BST on Monday.
 
Murphy 12-3 Davis Hendry 8-8 Stevens
 
It will be Hendry vs Murphy
Ronnie vs McCulloch

Ronnie vs Hendry in the finals and hopefully hendry will win
 
o'sullivan leading 6-2 againtebdon at interval and he is still playing not half to his potential!
 
lolll

Wednesday's quarter-final updates. Matches are best of 25 frames.
R O'SULLIVAN 8-5 P EBDON

79-1 (71) 137-0 (137) 63-68 101-0 (101) 98-0 (79) 86-8 48-71 110-14 (71) 60-34 69-17 (54) 47-61 51-63 16-97 (59)




S HENDRY 11-11 M STEVENS

31-70 (64) 8-74 4-63 (55) 84-7 0-114 (94) 47-70 71-40 (56) 77-18 (54) 138-0 (138) 86-54 (86,54) 114-20 (114) 68-21 (59) 5-78 0-75 (70) 81-32 (54) 68-21 0-93 85-30 73-17 106-20 (56) 54-65 31-71 (66)

To follow (all times BST):

1430 session:

S MURPHY (Eng) 12-4 S DAVIS (Eng)


72-5 47-43 62-73 73-51 (58,41) 82-1 (82) 50-28 107-4 (72) 70-66 (58,51) 0-111 (110) 67-5 74-30 (73) 92-30 31-86 121-4 (121) 60-54 18-64

A McMANUS 5-3 I McCULLOCH

31-101 (73) 0-125 (124) 0-119 (74) 64-24 67-13 (55) 72-29 (71) 66-42 66-59

1900 session:
O'SULLIVAN-EBDON and McMANUS-McCULLOCH
 
R O'SULLIVAN 10-6 P EBDON

79-1 (71) 137-0 (137) 63-68 101-0 (101) 98-0 (79) 86-8 48-71 110-14 (71) 60-34 (60) 69-17 (54) 47-61 51-63 16-97 (59) 76-26 0-62 (55) 62-56 (O'Sullivan 54)




A McMANUS (Sco) 5-9 I McCULLOCH (Eng)

31-101 (73) 0-125 (124) 0-119 (74) 64-24 67-13 (55) 72-29 (71) 66-42 66-59 43-67 0-98 (52) 0-76 (76) 41-50 0-64 9-61




Quarter final results:

S HENDRY 11-13 M STEVENS

31-70 (64) 8-74 4-63 (55) 84-7 0-114 (94) 47-70 71-40 (56) 77-18 (54) 138-0 (138) 86-54 (86,54) 114-20 (114) 68-21 (59) 5-78 0-75 (70) 81-32 (54) 21-68 0-93 85-30 73-17 106-20 (56) 54-65 31-71 (66) 49-77 0-93 (67)

S MURPHY (Eng) 13-4 S DAVIS (Eng)


72-5 47-43 62-73 73-51 (58,41) 82-1 (82) 50-28 107-4 (72) 70-66 (58,51) 0-111 (110) 67-5 74-30 (73) 92-30 31-86 121-4 (121) 60-54 18-64 86-30
 
*** Ronnie was winning 10-2 and now its 10-9.Ronnies concentration has gone
 
he was winning 8-2, i have been watching it...and ronny is proper self destructing. At this rate, anyone in the world can beat him..he is cracking jokes, head in his hands, proper doesnt care... he missed one shot with like 30 odd on the table and ebdon around 28 ahead..he gave up...mid-session interval couldnt come fast enough!
 
Its good tactics by Ebdon.Maybe other should take 45 seconds a shot like ebdon does when facing Ronnie lol
 
Watching Ebdon is like watching paint dry, but 10 times worse.
 
how tragic would it be if ebdon knocked out ronnie.
contrasting players the boring one goes out.
will make the championship very boring!

although mcollough is a good break builder and also local boy murphy looks good.

anyone but lightbulb head ebdon!!
 
ebdon 12 - ronny 11 - ronny wins his first frame this evening

scrappy frame - he is playing proper crap though.. hardly making a break more than 20.
 
Ebdon was like Chelsea, getting all the luck.

I couldn't believe how lucky he was.

Ronnie played very poorly today.
 
I'm really pissed off that Ronnie is out of the tournament.

I think I've broken my knuckles after punching the wall after he lost.
 
ebdons tactics where a joke... shockly poor stuff!

not in spirit of the game!
 
C'mon Haroon! YOu must have heard of the greatest snooker final (and the most watched final ever) ...Steve Davies v Dennis Taylor in 1985?
 
It was a legendary final...in the days I watched the damn thing!

There have been University Theses written on this final!!!
 
i cant believe ronnie is out. i agree with rh that ebdon should be banned - it makes the game boring. good tactics - worked in distracting ronnie
 
final's between matthew stevens and shaun murphy.


Shaun Murphy and Matthew Stevens will both be hoping to make their own bit of history when they come face to face in the World Championship final on Sunday.

Murphy, 22, is aiming to become only the second qualifier after Terry Griffiths in 1979 to lift the trophy.

While Stevens, 27, in his second final, is aiming to make up for losing to fellow Welshman Mark Williams in 2000.

Whoever wins, by Monday there were be a new name on the trophy and a new member in snooker's most exclusive club.

Murphy does not believe that being a qualifier makes the prospect of being in the final any more daunting.

"It doesn't matter whether you're a qualifier or a seed - it's the biggest tournament of our game and you've got to go out there and play," he said.

"At The Open, whether you're Tiger Woods or a qualifier, you're still nervous on the first tee.

"Since I started people said I had the potential to get this far - it's just taken a couple more years than I'd have liked."

Stevens said he looked forward to playing Murphy and to having a chance to bury his "nearly-man" tag.

He also revealed Paul Hunter had been on the phone to offer congratulations straight after his semi-final win.

"It's going to be a very good final - we both like playing our shots and we're quick around the table," he said.

"Since I lost the world final five years ago I've won three semi-finals and my first ranking tournament, so I'm a lot stronger. I'm over that now."
 
Matthew Stevens will take a 5-3 lead over qualifier Shaun Murphy into the second session of the World Snooker Championship final in Sheffield.
Murphy, ranked 48 in the world, won the first frame of the match, but his Welsh opponent made breaks of 54 and 60 to take the next two.

A scrappy fourth was won by Murphy before Stevens claimed the next two error-strewn frames to go 4-2 ahead.

Murphy made it 4-3 with a 56, before Stevens nicked the eighth on the black.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
M STEVENS (Wal) 5-3 S MURPHY (Eng)
30-67 98-0 (54) 103-20 (60) 55-68 65-29 65-22 34-76 (56) 56-46
 
6-3 to Stevens right now. Looks set to make it 7-3. He's looking good.
 
Born in Wales...makes Welsh!

I happen to have a Pak dad; Kenyan mum.

So much choice!
 
Whenever I see the world snooker championship I always say to myself: poor jimmy.
Anyway, I went to the crucible in 1997/98 and was lucky to witness Jimmy thrashing Stephen Hendry in the first round match. Was 10-1 or something I cant remmeber but do remember the excitment and the atmposphere.
 
i want stevens to win

Matthew Stevens will be hoping that history does not repeat itself as he bids to capture his first World Championship title on Monday.
The Welshman leads Shaun Murphy 10-6 and needs to clinch eight more frames to win when play resumes at 1430 BST.

But Stevens also led Mark Williams 10-6 in his previous final appearance in 2000 and went on to lose 18-16.

Victory for qualifier Murphy would make the 22-year-old the second-youngest winner in World Championship history.

The 27-year-old Stevens has endured his fair share of Crucible heartache, losing the 2000 final and three semi-finals between 2001 and 2004.

And his motivation to finally claim snooker's biggest prize will come not just from previous disappointments but also from his good friend and fellow professional Paul Hunter, who is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.

"Part of me wants to win it for Paul. It will be in the back of my mind," said Stevens.

"He'll be one of the first to get a mention if I win it."

Much of the first day of the final was an attritional affair with both players struggling to produce the form displayed earlier in the tournament.

The opening session had only three half-century breaks, the highest being a 60 in frame three which helped Stevens open a 5-3 advantage.

Only in the final part of the second session were there signs of the duo settling down and displaying any fluency.

Murphy, who had knocked out three former world champions in John Higgins, Steve Davis and Peter Ebdon, could have ended the evening only 9-7 in arrears.

He found himself 56-30 ahead in the day's final frame but then conceded 20 points when snookered on the final yellow to bring Stevens right back into contention.

Murphy had another chance but failed to convert the brown - and in stepped Stevens for a clearance to stretch the gap to four frames.

Prize money of £250,000 awaits the winner with £125,000 going to the runner-up.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

M STEVENS (Wal) 10-6 S MURPHY (Eng)

30-67 98-0 (54) 103-20 (60) 55-68 65-29 65-22 34-76 (56) 56-46 58-53 (52 Murphy) 70-38 0-125 (125) 6-79 (66) 105-24 (80) 86-5 (86) 9-103 (84) 65-58
 
Come on Stevens. I have always wanted him to win it after Jimmy White. The welsh chap is a good player and quite a humble down to earth person. He could have won it before.
 
M STEVENS (Wal) 11-11 S MURPHY (Eng)

30-67 98-0 (54) 103-20 (60) 55-68 65-29 65-22 34-76 (56) 56-46 58-53 (52 Murphy) 70-38 0-125 (125) 6-79 (66) 105-24 (80) 86-5 (86) 9-103 (84) 68-56 (41) 22-78 (51) 11-84 (56) 64-5 60-80 (60 Stevens, 80 Murphy) 0-137 (137) 57-64
 
Whilst I am no snooker fan...I like to watch the last couple of frames if it goes down to the wire.

16-16!!! Who is looking the calmest GA?
 
Murphy all the way!

The guy has played very very well. Stevens did well the 2 frames before this BUT overall he hasnt had the best of evenings!
Initially i wasnt fussed who wins BUT i like the way Murphy has been playing, he has took on plenty of risky shots
 
I have this feeling Mathew Stevens may become the new Jimmy White by gettint to world finals and losing.
 
Fessal said:
I have this feeling Mathew Stevens may become the new Jimmy White by gettint to world finals and losing.
Click to expand...

Same here, i hope he can win it!

Still im sure the £125,000 will comfort him tonight
 
Well played both players but Murphy deserved it after some outstanding performances
 
i agree. murphy played really well - deserved it
 
China's Yu Delu has been banned from snooker for 10 years and nine months after a major match-fixing inquiry.

His compatriot Cao Yupeng also pleaded guilty to fixing, and was banned for six years although three and a half years of his sentence are suspended.

Suspicious betting patterns in numerous matches were investigated over two years in one of the sport's biggest corruption scandals.


Yu has been described as a "scourge to the game of snooker".

As reported first by the BBC, the pair are the first Chinese players to be banned for cheating.

Yu, who manipulated the outcome of five matches over a two-and-a-half-year period, will serve the longest suspension since English player Stephen Lee was given a 12-year ban in 2013.

In one match, the stakes placed on the result totalled £65,000, which would have generated a profit of £86,000.

The 31-year-old reached the semi-finals of the 2016 Scottish Open and was ranked 43 in the world when he was charged.

Twenty-eight-year-old Cao, who fixed three matches, was runner-up in the Scottish event last year and world number 38 when initially suspended in May.

Both players were investigated by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) before an independent tribunal ruled on their cases.

The tribunal, chaired by David Casement QC, found that Yu "engaged in deliberate and premeditated corruption to secure substantial financial gain for his friends/associates and himself."

Yu also admitted lying to the investigator, failing to cooperate with the inquiry and betting on snooker when prohibited from doing so.

"It is very sad when talented players are attracted to the opportunity to make money from fixing matches," said WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson.

Cao Yupeng
Cao Yupeng "expressed his sorrow" over match-fixing and said he had financial difficulties
The fixed matches

Yu Delu admitted fixing in five matches:

Indian Open qualifiers: WON 4-3 v Martin McCrudden - 12 February 2015
Paul Hunter Classic: LOST 4-1 v Dominic Dale in Germany - 29 August 2015
Welsh Open: WON 4-3 v Ian Glover - 15 January 2016
European Masters qualifiers: LOST 4-1 v Michael Georgiou - 4 August 2017
Shanghai Masters: LOST 5-3 v Kurt Maflin - 15 November 2017
He also failed to report approaches to fix matches, did not cooperate with the investigation and breached rules by betting on snooker.

The scandals involved betting on markets in the Far East.

Yu won two of the five fixed matches, but had arranged for the correct score to be 4-3 to either player.

There is no suggestion any of the opponents were aware of the match-fixing plan.

Cao Yupeng admitted fixing in three matches:

Welsh Open: LOST 4-1 v Ali Carter - 15 January 2016
Indian Open qualifiers: LOST 4-0 v Stuart Bingham - 30 June 2016
UK Championship: LOST 6-1 v Stephen Maguire - 24 November 2016
He also failed to provide material that was requested during the investigation.

Cao said that he received £5,000 for each of the matches he fixed.

Analysis

Jamie Broughton, 5 live snooker reporter

These are the worst cases of corruption in snooker since Stephen Lee was found guilty of match fixing charges in 2013, and banned for 12 years.

The lengthy investigation into these two players shows the sport's world governing body, the WPBSA, has the capability and desire to investigate such cases all over the world, and not just in Europe.

The lengthy bans send out a clear message to any player tempted to get involved in match fixing that it's not worth the risk of getting caught.
 
Is Maguire gonna comeback from four nil down and one shot away from winning 6 4 to eventually take it 6 -5. I like an both, Williams too.
 
Snooker star Willie Thorne has died in hospital in Spain after being placed in an induced coma, according to a statement on his GoFundMe page.

The 66-year-old, who announced he had leukaemia in March, was taken to hospital last week with a low blood pressure.

A GoFundMe page set up to help pay for his treatment had raised more than £19,000.

In a statement, Thorne's carer Julie O'Neill confirmed in a message on the site "with a very heavy and broken heart" that he died in the early hours this morning.

"Willie went into septic shock and was not responding to any treatment so the decision was made by the hospital to turn off the machines," she said.

"I was with him all the way to his end and reading out messages to him from people."

She said the sportsman died peacefully, "listening to his children saying they love him".

Ms O'Neill thanked supporters who had donated for his care, saying the money would now help pay for his funeral.

Thorne, born in Leicester, reached two World Championship quarter-finals and won his only ranking title, the Mercantile Credit Classic, in 1982.

He starred as part of snooker's Matchroom Mob and went on to become a BBC commentator and appear in the 2007 series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Barry Hearn, the chairman of World Snooker, said: "I had the pleasure of managing the Great WT as part of the Matchroom team in the 1980s.

"He was a larger than life personality and he was a major part of the rebirth of snooker at that time.

"It's so sad to hear he has passed away and our thoughts are with his family."

Former England footballer Gary Lineker said he was "deeply, deeply saddened" by the news of his friend's death.

He described Thorne as "one of life's great characters", adding on Twitter: "A marvellous snooker player and a lovely man, who's potted his final black much too soon.

"RIP Willie."

Lineker's former club Leicester City also tweeted about Thorne, who was one of the club's supporters.

"The thoughts of everyone at Leicester City are with snooker legend and Foxes fan Willie Thorne and his family," the club posted.

https://news.sky.com/story/willie-t...eing-placed-in-induced-coma-in-spain-12008484
 
Chinese players Liang Wenbo and Li Hang have been handed lifetime bans for their involvement in snooker's biggest match-fixing scandal.

Eight other players, all from China, have received bans ranging from 20 months to five years and four months from the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA).

The allegations include manipulating games, approaching players to cheat, betting on snooker and fixing matches.

Yan Bingtao, the 2021 Masters champion, has been banned until December 2027, while former UK Championship winner Zhao Xintong must serve a suspension that ends on September 2024.

All 10 players have until 20 June to appeal against the decisions.

WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson said: "This has been a very complex case. It has been heart-breaking to see some young talented players fall foul of the WPBSA Conduct Regulations through pressure exerted by two senior players.

"This behaviour has been recognised as wholly unacceptable by the imposition of two lifetime bans from participating in recognised snooker in any way.

"I am pleased that the commission found that they did not see from the present case any evidence of a wider culture of wrongdoing in snooker.

"The WPBSA will continue its strong stance against those who try to manipulate sport and today's outcome sends out a clear message that match fixing will not be tolerated in snooker."
 
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