Guildford Spectrum
Parkway
Guildford
Surrey
GU1 1UP
www.worldsnooker.com
www.premierleaguesnooker.com
Thursday 1 September 2011
Photograph © Lawrence Lustig - used here by Pro9 with express permission.
Williams Takes Guildford Glory
Mark Williams got his 2011 PartyCasino.com Premier League campaign off to the perfect start by winning event two at the Guildford Spectrum on Thursday night.
The World No 1 beat Shaun Murphy 3-1 in the final to take a maximum six points and join fellow Welshman Matthew Stevens at the top of the table.
Rolling Stone guitarist Ronnie Wood, a close friend of Ronnie O'Sullivan and Jimmy White, turned up to watch the action, joined by glamorous Brazilian girlfriend Ana Araujo. But Wood couldn't get much satisfaction from the performances of O'Sullivan and White as the Londoners were beaten in the semi-finals.
"I'm really pleased to get off to a good start and to play well," said Williams. "It wasn't easy and there were a few close frames. I nicked a couple of frames that Shaun should have won. It's easy when you're making big breaks but you've got to take the close frames as well.
"I'm off to China for the Shanghai Masters tomorrow so it's nice to get a win under my belt and get some more confidence. Hopefully I can keep it going and have a good run."
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Murphy made a break of 65 in the first frame of the final but it wasn't enough as Williams won it with a cool 44 clearance. The second saw Murphy build a 51-0 lead and he went on to make it 1-1.
Frame three saw both players pass up chances, Williams eventually seizing the opportunity to clear from last red to pink and go 2-1 ahead. And when Murphy missed a mid-range red early in frame four, Williams stepped up to the plate with an excellent 101 clearance to seal victory.
Earlier, Williams opened with a 3-0 whitewash of crowd favourite White.
Williams flew out of the traps with a break of 105 to win the first frame. Frame two was riddled with errors from both players, but Williams eventually took it by clearing from yellow to pink to lead 2-0.
The two-times World Champion took control of the third frame with a break of 60, and though White battled gamely, a safety error let Williams back into complete the whitewash.
The second semi-final saw Murphy edge a 3-2 win over nine-times Premier League champion O'Sullivan.
A fragmented opening frame saw chances for both players, Murphy eventually passing up a clear opportunity to win it when he missed the penultimate red to a baulk corner, leading 48-31. O'Sullivan cleared the table to snatch a 1-0 lead.
The Rocket led 45-0 in the second but Murphy hit back to win it with runs of 36 and 26. Frame three was another scrappy one and came down to the colours, Murphy missing the green to a corner pocket and O'Sullivan taking advantage for a 2-1 lead.
Back came 2005 World Champion Murphy with a superb 115, the highest break of the night, for 2-2.
The first deciding frame of this year's Premier League was played under the rules of last season's Shoot-Out, with the frame to last a maximum of ten minutes. And O'Sullivan suffered the consequences of one of the different rules, as he fouled the pink when trying to roll up to the pack of reds early in the frame, gifting his opponent ' ball in hand.'
Murphy capitalised with a run of 85, assisted by a fluked black early on, to book his place in the final.
The next event is in Motherwell on September 22, with Murphy taking on Ding Junhui and John Higgins facing Neil Robertson.
PARTYPOKER.COM PREMIER LEAGUE SNOOKER | ||
THE GUILDFORD SPECTRUM | ||
SEMI-FINALS | ||
Mark Williams | 3 : 0 | Jimmy White |
105 (105)-1; 61-30; 82 (60)-5 | ||
Shaun Murphy | 3 : 2 | Ronnie O'Sullivan |
48-63; 71-45; 49-68; 115 (115)-6; 91 (85)-0 | ||
PARTYPOKER.COM PREMIER LEAGUE SNOOKER | ||
THE GUILDFORD SPECTRUM | ||
THE FINAL | ||
Mark Williams | 3 : 1 | Shaun Murphy |
67-65 (65); 14-66; 62-47; 118 (101)-6 | ||
PARTYPOKER.COM PREMIER LEAGUE SNOOKER | ||
COMING TO A VENUE NEAR YOU | ||
THE FIXTURES | ||
Week 1 - August 18, 2011 - Embassy Theatre, Skegness Semi-finals: John Higgins v Jimmy White, Neil Robertson v Matthew Stevens. Final: Higgins or White v Robertson or Stevens. | ||
Week 2 - September 1 - Guildford Spectrum Semi-finals: Jimmy White v Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan v Shaun Murphy. Final: White or Williams v O'Sullivan or Murphy. | ||
Week 3 - September 22 - Ravenscraig Sports Facility, Motherwell Semi-finals: John Higgins v Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui v Shaun Murphy. Final: Higgins or Robertson v Ding or Murphy. | ||
Week 4 - September 29 - The Dome, Doncaster Semi-finals: Ronnie O'Sullivan v Matthew Stevens, Ding Junhui v Ali Carter. Final: O'Sullivan or Stevens v Ding or Carter. | ||
Week 5 - October 6 - Hutton Moor Leisure Centre, Weston-Super-Mare Semi-finals: Mark Williams v Judd Trump, John Higgins v Matthew Stevens. Final: Williams or Trump v Higgins or Stevens. | ||
Week 6 - October 13 - Biddulph Leisure Centre, Stoke Semi-finals: Mark Williams v Ali Carter, Jimmy White v Ding Junhui. Final: Williams or Carter v White or Ding. | ||
Week 7 - October 20 - Riverside, Exeter Semi-finals: Ali Carter v Judd Trump, Shaun Murphy v Neil Robertson. Final: Carter or Trump v Murphy or Robertson. | ||
Week 8 - November 3 - Guildhall, Southampton Semi-finals: Ronnie O'Sullivan v Judd Trump, Neil Robertson v Ding Junhui. Final: O'Sullivan or Trump v Robertson or Ding. | ||
Week 9 - November 10 - Spiceball Leisure Centre, Banbury Semi-finals: John Higgins v Ali Carter, Mark Williams v Matthew Stevens. Final: Higgins or Carter v Williams or Stevens. | ||
Week 10 - November 17 - Grimsby Auditorium Semi-finals: Judd Trump v Shaun Murphy, Ronnie O'Sullivan v Jimmy White. Final: Trump or Murphy v O'Sullivan or White. | ||
Semi-finals Nov 26 Potters Leisure Resort, Hopton on Sea, Norfolk Semi-finals are the first to five. 2nd v 3rd and 1st v 4th | ||
Final - Nov 27 - Potters Leisure Resort, Hopton on Sea, Norfolk The final is the first to seven. Winner of semi-final 1 v winner of semi-final 2. |