Well, that was a massive shock yesterday, but I have recovered from it. But enough about my experience with electricity.
This is a short preview, because the 2nd round of matches starts on the 20th April, with Stuart Bingham vs. Kyren Wilson and Shaun Murphy vs. Ronnie O’Sullivan starting in the afternoon and evening respectively. I have work in the morning, and I do not wish to be caught out writing the preview during work, no matter how much of a ninja writer I could be. 🙂
Of course, we have to mention Rory McLeod’s win over Judd Trump. I worded it this way because Rory had to play well to defeat Judd with an injured shoulder or not and it is such a shame that everyone’s anger was towards Judd’s “shock loss” rather than Rory’s “fantastic win.” Stephen Maguire did mention that no-one should take Trump’s first round match for granted because the Highlander is such a solid player, despite his ranking – he hasn’t won a minor-ranking title for nothing! I do hope Trump has the resilience from this defeat and we can only read so much from him avoiding his press conference.
In other news, Ronnie O’Sullivan takes on his nemesis Shaun Murphy, who have disagreed with each other over Ronnie’s quarrel with World Snooker that was well documented. Shaun Murphy must’ve wiped is brow several times after his fluke pipped him over the line to beat Yan Bingtao 10-8. Ding Junhui was hammering in break after break against prodigy Zhou Yuelong. Carter was shot down by Graeme Dott 10-7. Maguire redeemed himself by gaining his revenge against Anthony McGill (and honestly, Maguire has been the most impressive of what I’ve seen him – his safety was sublime!) Liang resisted from jumping into the air to defeat three-consecutive ton man Stuart Carrington (that’s a nickname that will never catch on).
I visited the Crucible once and really enjoyed it! Mark Selby will expect a harder battle against qualifier Xiao Guodong than against a jaded Fergal O’Brien. Also, Dennis Taylor likes jokes. Lovely. Higgins and Allen have overcame their banana skins to face each other in a tasty tie and Bingham and Wilson battled through their hard-fought matches to face each other. We are still waiting for Tom Ford to smile. Fu battled back from 7-1 down against the Belgian Bullet Luca Brecel to win the only decider to date and because of Ryan Day’s exit to Xiao, there hasn’t been a Welshman in the Last 16 since 1969 (that was the year when Swindon Town won the Football League Cup against Arsenal 3-1 after extra time in Wembley, with the great Don Rogers scoring the last two goals. That’s how old that is!
Mark Selby vs. Xiao Guodong (13-8)
Neil Robertson/Noppon Saengkham (8-1) vs. Marco Fu (13-11)
Shaun Murphy vs. Ronnie O’Sullivan (8-13)
Ding Junhui vs. Liang Wenbo (13-8)
Stuart Bingham vs. Kyren Wilson (11-13)
Mark Allen vs. John Higgins (7-13)
Barry Hawkins/Tom Ford (7-2) vs. Graeme Dott (13-5)
Stephen Maguire vs. Rory McLeod (13-7)
There are so many tasty ties here and that is the beauty of the Crucible! Even after a number of surprises, there is always plenty to look forward to! Let’s do it!
