STEPHEN LEE RELISHING IRISH TRIP

In-form Stephen Lee has described Irish snooker fans as "second to none" as he looked forward to the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals in Galway next week.

The last three ranking events have seen Lee playing his best snooker in recent years, having reached the semi-finals of the German Masters, quarter-finals of the Welsh Open and final of last week's Haikou World Open.

And now he hopes to continue his form at the PTC Grand Finals at the Bailey Allen Hall in Galway, where he meets Martin Gould on Wednesday in his opening match.

"I'm really looking forward to it because the fans in Ireland are second to none and they know what the game is all about," said the World No 11 from Trowbridge. "I remember playing in the old Irish Masters which was like nothing else.
"It's a great line-up of players in Galway next week and the best-of-four frame format gives really fast flowing action.
"I'm playing with a lot of confidence at the moment and I've taken pressure off myself by making sure of my top 16 place. I was disappointed to lose 10-1 in the final to Mark Allen in China, I didn't sleep well before the match and I just couldn't get to grips with him.



"But when I look back to a couple of years ago when I was falling down the rankings, struggling with my game and felt like I had the world on my shoulders, I feel so much better now and I'm really enjoying the game."
World Champion John Higgins, crowd favourites Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump, World No 1 Mark Selby and Irishman Fergal O'Brien are among the 24 players chasing the £70,000 first prize in Galway. - http://www.sportinglife.com/

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Lee - Irish Fans Are The Best

In-form Stephen Lee described the Irish snooker fans as "second to none" as he looked forward to the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals. 

The last three ranking events have seen Lee playing his best snooker in recent years, having reached the semi-finals of the German Masters, quarter-finals of the Welsh Open and final of last week's Haikou World Open. And now he hopes to continue his form at the PTC Grand Finals at the Bailey Allen Hall in Galway in the event which runs from March 14 to 18.

"I'm really looking forward to it because the fans in Ireland are second to none and they know what the game is all about," said the World No 11 from Trowbridge. "I remember playing in the old Irish Masters which was like nothing else. "It's a great line-up of players in Galway next week and the best-of-four frame format gives really fast flowing action.

"I'm playing with a lot of confidence at the moment and I've taken pressure off myself by making sure of my top 16 place. I was disappointed to lose 10-1 in the final to Mark Allen in China, I didn't sleep well before the match and I just couldn't get to grips with him.

"But when I look back to a couple of years ago when I was falling down the rankings, struggling with my game and felt like I had the world on my shoulders, I feel so much better now and I'm really enjoying the game." World Champion John Higgins, crowd favourites Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump, World No 1 Mark Selby and Irishman Fergal O'Brien are among the 24 players chasing the £70,000 first prize in Galway. Lee plays his opening match against Martin Gould on Wednesday. - http://www.worldsnooker.com

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Taylor-Made For PHF Kids

Former World Champion Dennis Taylor thrilled young fans at Paul Hunter Foundation road shows in Preston and Lancaster.

 

Commissioned as part of Lancashire County Council's Young Peoples Services targeted youth support programme, both events featured an appearance from 1985 Crucible king Taylor, who chatted to budding young players and gave them some tips on the table.

There were snooker matches with televisions, ipods and games on offer as prizes, and everyone received a cue and case thanks to current World Champion John Higgins. The Preston event was attended by County Councillor Mark Perks.

On behalf of the Foundation, Chris Lovell said: "It was a remarkable day with 45 kids coming to Preston and 90 to Lancaster, of which 25 were girls. It was a really special day for snooker and for the memory of Paul. We now focus our attention on Paul Hunter Day, which is on the middle Sunday (April 29) of the Betfred.com World Championship in CueZone in the Winter Gardens near the Crucible. I would like to thank all the team for their hard work and all the people at YPS and the venues for the support." - http://www.worldsnooker.com/

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Davis follows Dad Steve

Davis junior gets snooker career under way

Steve Davis' son Greg is hoping to follow in his father's footsteps.

The 20-year-old is to compete in Q School in Sheffield, just a few miles from the Crucible, where Steve won the World Championship trophy six times during the 1980s.

Greg has inherited the snooker gift - his top break in a match is 114 - and now hopes to put that to good use.

"I recently left university and I was speaking to my dad about my future, and we agreed I should give snooker a real go," said Greg. "I've treated it like a hobby in the past but now I will take it more seriously."

Q School is an opportunity to qualify for the professional circuit, with the 12 players who come through to be given a two-year tour card.

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Allen makes his Mark in China

First ranking title for easy winner

 

Mark Allen claimed his first ever ranking title by hammering Stephen Lee 10-1 to claim the Star Xing Pai Haikou World Open. 

Runner-up at last year's UK Championship, Allen has finally gone one better and picks up a first prize of £75,000 to boot. The 26 year-old from Antrim carried a huge 8-1 lead into the evening session and two frames were all that were required for Allen to seal a magnificent victory. He took a scrappy tenth frame before a marvellous clearance of 104 saw him cruise past the finishing post in quick time, wrapping up the the most one-sided ranking event final since Stephen Maguire beat David Gray 10-1 at the 2004 UK Championship.
The damage had already been done in the afternoon as Allen weighed in with breaks of 104, 50, 127, 53, 55 and 123 to put the match well under his control. Lee had no real answer, as he looked out of sorts in sharp contrast to some of his blistering performances throughout the week. - http://www1.skysports.com/
 

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Allen to meet Lee in final

Selby loses 6-5 to Northern Irishman from 5-2 ahead

Mark Allen edged out Mark Selby 6-5 to set up a final showdown with Stephen Lee, a 6-2 winner over Robert Milkins, at the Star Xing Pai Haikou World Open. Northern Ireland's Allen mounted an outstanding comeback to defeat Selby 6-5 and stay on course for the first ranking tournament victory of his career.

Trailing 5-2 in the best-of-11 match, Allen, the 26-year-old from Antrim, fired home four racks back to back to clinch a thrilling victory in front of an appreciative crowd at Haikou Stadium.  "It's very, very good to get through as any win against Mark Selby is a good win but to come from 5-2 behind is even better and the way I played in the last four frames would be worthy of winning any match," said Allen.

World number one Selby had looked in command, leading 3-1 and then 5-2, compiling a couple of centuries in the process. A break of 80, though, kept the Ulsterman in the match and he followed that up with a 79 and a 71 to level it up at 5-5. Allen then clinched victory with a fast flowing break of 112 which was the highlight of a top quality match. - http://www1.skysports.com/

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Higgins powers to victory

Apologetic Mark Allen gains revenge over Judd Trump

John Higgins needed just one hour and 13 minutes to move into the quarter-finals of the Star Xing Pai Haikou World Open as he hammered Stoke's Jamie Cope 5-0.

Higgins finished the match off with a break of 133, the third highest of the event so far, and also had runs of 50, 73 and 83 en route to victory.

Reigning world champion Higgins, who has slumped to No 6 in the world rankings, is looking to find some form in the two ranking events in China before the season's climax at the Crucible.

"That's probably the best I've played this season," said Higgins. "The first frame was very important. Jamie could have won it and then it would have been a different match. But I won it and that got my confidence up and played well after that. "There are lots of very good players left; Mark Allen beat Judd Trump today, Mark Selby, the world No 1, Shaun Murphy ... so many great players so I'll have to play my best to have any chance." - http://www1.skysports.com

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