Snooker: Magnificent Murphy in Dream Comeback!
Well, ...this happens to me pretty much every year, yet again it looks like I've missed the match of the tournament through having to work for a living.
But somehow I don't think I'm as devastated as Matthew Stevens! When I went to bed last night, Stevens was 11-5 up and looking comfortable to go into the semi finals.
What a fight back Murphy has produced, winning the match 13 frames to 12 and winning 6 on the trot! By the looks of things he was 12-7 down.
This means that Stevens will be out of the top 16 next year and must qualify for all of the ranking events. He will also be out of the Masters unless he gets a wild card, ...and with all the new talent we've seen at the Crucible and Jimmy White out of the top 16, it will be less obvious that ever who will get one this time round.
Who knows how this will affect Stevens in the future, it's a pretty scarring defeat and I think this one will hurt for a long long time.
Murphy goes through to play Selby or Carter in the semis. Feel free to comment if you saw the match. Here's the BBC report.
At the time of writing, Higgins has put himself in a great position against Ronnie O'Sullivan and is leading 11 frames to 5. We can't exactly say the match is over though after what we've seen happen in the Stevens Murphy match. Maguire has beaten Hamilton by 13 frames to 7, and the Carter Selby match stands at 5 frames each.
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2 comments:
Yes, amazing comeback by Murphy (and collapse by Stevens). Like you, I thought the match was over bar the shouting, but then noticed the score and popped over to eurosport.de to catch the last two frames. Stevens looked jaded and was suffering more from the pressure while Murphy just calmly put away the final frame to no reply!
Where does Stevens go from here? He's had an awful season, and I really thought his performance in Sheffield was turning it round, only for him to blow it! I really fear for him being able to reverse the slide. 5 years ago I had him and Hunter as the best prospects in the game. We've sadly lost Hunter, and Stevens seems to have forgotten how to play...
As I write Carter and Selby are 6-all, and Ali pipped Maguire's high break with a 144! That looks like being a very close match.
Maguire himself scored very heavily to finish off Hamilton, including a 137. Is he now the dark horse for the title?
I can't see Ronnie doing a Murphy comeback. Higgins is too canny and mentally strong for that, and he's playing his best snooker for ages.
Anyway, I've got the same dilemma tonight as last night: trying to watch the snooker, the Champions League, and put the bairns to bed, while the wife's trying to watch her soaps....
Yes unbelievable stuff. I believe Hunter's loss hit Stevens hard as well, and heard that they were the best of friends on the circuit.
There's no kick starter like dropping out of the top 16 though!
144 by Carter, can't believe I've missed that as well, ...what a day!
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