German Masters 2012 ( Day 4) - Maguire whitewashes Murphy

Stephen Maguire beat Shaun Murphy 6-0 to book himself a nice and cosy place in this year's German Masters’ final, where Ronnie O'Sullivan is waiting.

No one can deny Maguire the "on-fire" nickname. Not after tonight's performance. He practically washed the floor with an amazed Shaun Murphy that was unable to get his turn at the table, and when he finally got the chance, he missed to make the most out of it.

The Scotsman opened with a nice and steady break of 77 and continued with two runs of 52 and a 48 to go 3-0 up. During the next frame Murphy managed to get his feet wet and hit a 65 break, but unfortunately he also missed to pot the last red.

Maguire needed a snooker to make a difference and he got it. But that's not all. He also got a free ball. So after potting all the remaining colours, the scoreline was 66-67 in favour of  last year Welsh Open runner-up. Maguire was entering into the mid-session interval leading his opponent 4-0.

Not much left to do for the Smurf ...

After the mini-break Maguire continued cruising towards victory with a 62, while Murphy seemed helpless. Still, during the next frame he tried his best to pull back at least one frame and avoid being whitewashed, but sadly for him, it just didn’t happen.

A great break of 97 was sealing a 6-0 victory for Stephen Maguire who's meeting Ronnie O'Sullivan in tomorrow's grand final.

The first session of the final will start at 1pm, while the last one at 7.30pm, the rule being "best of  17".

Championship League 2012 - Groups five and six

We haven't even woken up from our German dream and here we are again in Essex for the third part of the Championship League saga. 

The green baize's gladiators are on duty for the next four days trying their best to get a nice and cosy spot in Winners' Group and from there, who knows? Maybe even get a free ticket to this year's Premier League of snooker.

Until now, four players have secured a spot in the next round: Judd Trump, Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson and Mark Davis. But we have three more openings that need to be filled, so who's going to be?

Maybe poor Mark Selby who qualified in all four Groups' play-offs? Reaching no less than three finals? It would be about bloody times, don't you think? 

Anyway, the competition is tough, it's a genuine test of endurance even though they are playing under the "best of 5" rule and with such a high standard is no wonder we see the situation taking a completely new twist.

German Masters 2012 - Maguire leading O'Sullivan after first session

A very determined and fluent-in-potting Stephen Maguire has taken a 5-3 lead over the three-time world champion, Ronnie O'Sullivan at the end of German Masters' first session final.

The part Scottish, part English snooker dispute started with O'Sullivan hitting a great 111 to break the ice and take the opening frame. Still, as the mid-session interval was kicking off, the Essex man realised he spent most of his time sitting in his chair.

Maguire can be made responsible for that, breaks like 130 (the highest of the tournament), 106 and 128 bringing him three frames on a row and dooming his opponent to just stay there and watch.

After the 15-minute break the Scotsman extended his lead at 4-1 after O'Sullivan missed a red on 58, Maguire using runs of 38 and 12 to get one more frame on board.







Still, the Englishman managed to pull back a frame, a pretty scrappy one, with a top break of 43. The scoreline was now 4-2 in favour of Maguire.

During the 7^th frame Scotland's Maguire stopped his break at 55 due to a horrible kick, O'Sullivan coming to the table. Sadly he took on a long red, missed it and left it on for his opponent. Tension started to rise when Maguire missed a red to the right centre (aka. frame ball) leaving O'Sullivan with a chance to cause an upset. 

But it didn't happen as 20 points later the Englishman missed a long red, Maguire returning to close the deal and take the frame under his belt.
However, O'Sullivan took revenge the next frame when a break of 75 that was reducing the gap at just two points, 5-3.

The last session starts as 7.30pm (UK time) and the first to get nine frames in his pocket is being declared the new winner of the German Masters tournament. So ... who's going to be?

German Masters 2012 - O'Sullivan conquers Germany

Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Stephen Maguire 9-7 to win this year's edition of German Masters. 

After ending the first session being lead 5-3 and starting the second one with Maguire extending his dominancy at 6-3, O'Sullivan made a remarkable comeback into the game not just to draw level, but also to be in command of the match's faith.

The scoreline was 5-3 in favour of the Scotsman, when the second session began. And in just a few moments it was turning into 6-3 after Maguire hit in runs of 46 and 69. He was definitely on fire.

But then it happened: the famous comeback. O'Sullivan used a break of 96 to win his first frame of the evening, a 54 for the second one and went on stealing the third after Maguire missed a red on a 52, thus the Englishman using runs of 41 and 20 to draw level at 6-6. 

After the mini-break the lads retuned into the arena the three-time world champion continuing to cruise though the balls and hitting a 67 to put his nose in front for the first time since he took the opener.







As the 14^th frame started. Maguire took on a long red, but missed to pot it, O'Sullivan coming to the table for a series of 43 and 38 that was putting him just one step away from victory at 8-6.

However, Maguire didn't give up and when his opponent missed a black off its spot, he was there to clear the table with a great 82 break. He was still in this game.

The 16^th frame was re-racked and after a genuine battle of safety shots the first in was O'Sullivan. But he lost position on 46. Maguire came to the table, but couldn't make too much of this occasion, just a break of 19 points being hit. 

It was a scrappy affair and after several shots from both parts, Maguire was in need of a snooker. A terrible mistake from Ronnie's part to pot the cue ball and the Scotsman's problem disappeared. Still, he had to pot the remaining balls




A quite harsh approach on the last blue and Maguire was missing the ball that could have forced the decider. O'Sullivan returned to the table potting it along with the pink. His fist pumped as the audience was on its feet: he was winning after a thrilling battle of cues.

So after five days of intense snooker, after three years since he won his last major ranking event (the 2009 Shanghai Masters), after announcing he has been diagnosed with glandular fever, after going through a rough patch that involved pulling out of snooker events and going through therapy, Ronnie O'Sullivan wins the 2012 German Masters.

Championship League 2012 - Hawkins wins Group Five

Barry Hawkins beat Mark King 3-2 to become the winner of Championship League's Group Five. 

The fresh Shoot-Out champion has now a secured place in Winners' Group, next to Judd Trump, Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson and Mark Davis.

It was the evening of January 29^thwhen Barry Hawkins was lifting the Shoot-Out trophy in Blackpool. Tonight, the man from Kent struck again and earned himself a place into snooker's Championship League Winners' Group after beating Mark King in a match that saw all its frames being consumed.

Hawkins qualified for the play-offs on second-place with a total amount of 4 points, after two days of intensive snooker played here at Crondon Park from Essex, the Englishman beating Jamie Cope 3-0, Mark King 3-1 and both Peter Ebdon and Mark Selby by 3-2.

In the semi-final he faced Ebbo once more, breaks of 34, 38 and 46 winning him the match with a 3-2 scoreline and sending him straight into the final.

Here, Mark King was waiting patiently, the lads engaging in just a few moments in a genuine battle of cues. The first one who broke the ice was King who used a break of 71, but Hawkins was sure to draw level during the next frame with a 41.




Once more King put his nose in front, and one more time Hawkins equalised the situation, this time at 2-2. Another decider was coming our way.

The last frame saw King unable to pot one single ball, while Hawkins cleared with a beautiful 107 for a 3-2 victory and a place in Winners' Group.

Mark King along with Mark Allen, Peter Ebdon and Jamie Cope are getting a place in Group Six, all four of them having one more chance to try and win the two-day mini-snooker-event and earn a place in Winners' Group by doing so.

Not so lucky are Ricky Walden and Mark Selby who didn't earned enough points to stay in the competition. Selby played since the beginning of this year's Championship League, always qualified for the play-offs and reached the final no less than three times. However, this time things didn't go his way. 

Still, the Leicester man doesn't need to worry that much because even after the second cut-off point, he is still going to remain in the Top 16, thus getting a place in the 2012 Premier League. Also, he's already won a major ranking event (the 2011 Shanghai Masters) which will definitely count for the selection.

Getting ready for Welsh Open - the qualifiers are underway

With the German Masters ending just three days ago and with the Championship League matches still underway one would think that this is the schedule for this week. 

Wrong! As from today the Welsh Open Qualifiers are starting and for the next four days we are going to assist at genuine battles of cues, at the end of which only 16 will prevail.

Next to the Top 16 players the ones that are going to qualify are having just one single day off to pack their bags from Sheffield and fly to Wales's Newport where the main event is beginning held from February 13th. How crazy is that?