Welsh Open Player Watch 2007-08

Selby comeback stuns O'Sullivan

Mark Selby completed a memorable comeback to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in the Welsh Open final on Sunday.
The Leicester man battled back from 8-5 down to beat O'Sullivan 9-8 at the Newport Centre and claim his first world ranking title.

The 24-year-old, who won the Wembley Masters last month, admitted he had surprised himself by his recent form.

"Who'd have thought this?" he said. "Eighteen months ago I was still in the qualifiers at Prestatyn."

O'Sullivan began the contest as favourite to clinch his 20th ranking victory, a milestone only previously achieved by Stephen Hendry (36) and Steve Davis (28).

And while he was gracious in defeat, he also took a swipe at Selby's style of play.

He said: "I play an attacking game and try to grab it by the scruff of the neck. I got away with it early on but Mark was very tactical.

"I don't know if Mark's talented; he plays a very negative game. He doesn't take a ball on unless he's going to leave it safe.

"It makes him tough to play because you know you're in for long frames and long bouts of safety.

"It's hard to get a rhythm against someone like that, but I can't grumble because I had my chances."

Selby, beaten in three of his four previous meetings with O'Sullivan, confessed that his tactics had been key to the victory.

He said: "Overall I think scoring-wise Ronnie was obviously the better player. I wasn't scoring but my safety play kept me in it.

"I didn't play as good as I did in the Masters final, but I had to go to plan B and thankfully I came through."

When Selby fell 8-5 behind he was convinced he had no chance of winning.

He added: "I thought Ronnie was going to run away with it, but I nicked a good frame to go 6-5. Then it was 8-5.

"Against Ronnie if you give him a one-frame lead he will go and steamroller it, so to give him four frames I thought there was no chance."

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Final frame: Selby wins Welsh Open



Feature: Mark Selby's unusual Sport Relief mile


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O'Sullivan to face Selby in final

Ronnie O'Sullivan will face Mark Selby in the final of the Welsh Open on Sunday after overpowering in-form Shaun Murphy 6-3.

Chasing his third title of the season, O'Sullivan was in superb form and in the final frame racked up a 143 break - the highest of the tournament so far.

"I knew I had to raise my game because I heard how well Shaun had been playing here," said O'Sullivan.

"I suppose that did me a favour in that I was more focused."

Murphy, who won the Malta Cup six days ago, made an encouraging start, stealing the first frame with a 70 clearance after O'Sullivan missed a straightforward pink.

The following three frames were each a story of breaks, 76 and 113 from O'Sullivan, 76 from Murphy as they quickly arrived at the mid-session interval at 2-2.

O'Sullivan's hot streak continued in the fifth frame as a 101 break enabled him to lead for the first time at 3-2 before Murphy replied by winning a relatively scrappy sixth.

But from that point on O'Sullivan took control, leaving Murphy to mull over a fourth semi-final defeat of the 2007/08 campaign, after also losing at the same stage of the Grand Prix, Northern Ireland Trophy and UK Championship.

"I feel the only real difference was that Ronnie got the better chances," said Murphy.

"What should be noted is the amount of respect that Ronnie paid me on the table.

"Every time he was playing safe he concentrated on putting the cue ball in the precise position that would make it as tough as possible for me."

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O'Sullivan grit secures semi spot

Ronnie O'Sullivan made hard work of beating Ali Carter 5-4 to reach the Welsh Open semi-finals in Newport.
O'Sullivan came back from 2-0 down to win the deciding frame and now faces Shaun Murphy, who thrashed Joe Perry 5-0 - the first whitewash of the event.

Earlier, Stephen Hendry beat Stephen Lee 5-2 to take his place in Saturday's semi-finals.

The in-form Mark Selby will play Hendry in the last-four after he beat John Higgins 5-2 in his quarter-final match.

O'Sullivan, the world number five, insists that the competition among the world's elite is becoming more fierce.

"The standard of snooker now is so high, I think that there's a change of guard," he said.

"I didn't really think there was, but you've got the likes of [Selby] coming through and [Shaun] Murphy.

"There are so many good players coming through. I still think the old ones are capable of winning, but I don't think we're going to get away with playing sloppy matches.

"These fellas are ready to put you away if you don't play on the top of your game."

Selby, who won the Masters title in January, fired in breaks of 71, 67 and a match-clinching 101 to seal his progress.

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Carter stuns champion Robertson

Defending champion Neil Robertson saw his chances of retaining his Welsh Open title disappear with a 5-3 defeat to Ali Carter in the last 16 in Newport.
The Australian trailed 4-0 at one stage but battled back to 4-3 before missing a straightforward yellow in frame eight and Carter pounced with a break of 89.

He will next face Ronnie O'Sullivan, who beat 50-year-old veteran and fellow former world champion Steve Davis 5-3.

Former winner Stephen Hendry recovered from 4-3 down to squeeze past Ryan Day.

Robertson, who had been aiming to become only the third player, after O'Sullivan and Davis, to retain the title, was left to reflect on his lapse of concentration.

"I got ahead of myself and out of the present. That's the biggest mistake you can make in sport. It's a lesson to be learned," he said.

"When I got down over the yellow my concentration wasn't where it should've been. I was thinking about what I was going to say to the press afterwards. It was stupid."

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Higgins given tough test by Roe

World champion John Higgins produced a fine comeback to avoid a shock defeat at the Welsh Open.
At one stage qualifier David Roe led Higgins 3-1, before the world number one secured a 5-3 victory.

"You're thinking at 3-1 down if you lose the next frame you're on the way back home, so it was a good match to win," said Higgins.

"You can sometimes look back at those matches as a turning point in your season, but I didn't play at all well."

Higgins produced breaks of of 125, 45 and 86 to take a 4-3 lead, but the eighth frame of the match dragged on for nearly 50 minutes before the world champion won that frame on the final black.

The world champions will now play either Chinese ace Ding Junhui or Scottish compatriot Marcus Campbell in the next phase.

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O'Sullivan downs youngster Trump

Ronnie O'Sullivan saw off the challenge of 18-year-old Judd Trump, one of the most highly-rated youngsters around, to reach the last 16 of the Welsh Open.
The two-time world champion won 5-3 against Trump, who who has won English junior titles in several age groups.

World number six Peter Ebdon crashed out after he was hammered 5-1 by Joe Perry and Ken Doherty came from 2-0 down to see off Alan McManus 5-3.

Mark Williams survived a nervy battle with Marco Fu to come through 5-4.

Williams has slumped to 33rd in the provisional world rankings and has admitted he is contemplating retirement should he be forced to qualify for events next season.

But he said: "It's a massive result for me. I knew how important it was for the rankings beforehand. Now hopefully I'll go on a run here and get travelling back in the right direction.

"I'm really pleased to beat someone like Marco. He won the Grand Prix in October so to get past him is a real boost."

O'Sullivan, meanwhile, said that although he was impressed by what he saw in Trump, he was keen to keep the youngster's feet on the ground.

"Ultimately it's all about how many tournaments you win at the end of your career," said O'Sullivan.

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O'Sullivan form helped by running

Ronnie O'Sullivan has revealed a new-found love for running has helped him reclaim the world number one spot.

The 32-year old is in action in the Welsh Open this week, facing Judd Trump in the second round on Wednesday.

"I have tried many, many things to combat my demons and running is the one thing that does it for me," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"I am running about 50 miles every week. If I had to choose between them, snooker would go."

O'Sullivan claimed his fourth UK Championship victory in December, but was edged out in the first round of the Masters in January by Stephen Maguire.

He continued: "In the last few months I have found a consistency with my snooker I haven't had for 14 or 15 years. I am really enjoying playing at the moment."

The Rocket insists he is now "a lot happier now, more content and I do not worry so much" and is better-placed to take the losses with the wins.

He said: "Snooker has been my life and I have places such big expectations on myself that I used to get very down and depressed.

"Unless I am world number one or world champion, that is a kind of failure for me.

"But I realise there is much more to life - and although I have enjoyed playing snooker and it has been good to me, exercise is more important to me than snooker.

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Cope win strengthens top 16 bid

Jamie Cope maintained his top 16 charge by beating Jimmy Michie in the Welsh Open first round.
World No 18 Cope, runner-up in last season's Grand Prix and China Open, edged past outsider Michie 5-4.

"I'm very relieved to get through," said Cope, who faces reigning Welsh Open champion Neil Robertson in round two at the Newport Centre.

Cope had led 3-1 and 4-3 but Michie compiled breaks of 67 and 85 to force a decider that Cope eventually clinched.

The promising 22-year-old seemed set for an early exit when Michie got a chance to win the deciding frame.

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