Snooker

Tom Ford is the first man into the final with a 9-6 with over Jordan Brown.

He was 6-5 down then hit three centuries on the bounce and a comfortable final frame.

Zhang Anda has defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second semi final with a scoreline that mirrored yesterdays result 9-6.

So that means that either Zhang or Ford will win their first ranking title tomorrow and that they will now take Ding's place in the Champion of Champions and face Ronnie in the opening round of that event.

EDIT:
By reaching the final, Tom Ford has moved into the top 16 at the expense of Hossein Vafaei. I think I'm right in thinking as well that if Zhang wins it, he'll also move into the top 16 and take Ding's place in the process. And whichever one wins their maiden ranking title here will move up to 2nd on the one year list only behind Judd Trump.

That means thet could have a possible spot in the Masters, a Champion of Champions place, almost certainly the Grand Prix and Players Championship as well as probably the Tour Championship and maybe a guaranteed place at the Cruicble if they can keep their top 16 place. So plenty of benefits for both lads moving forward.

Zhang holds a slender 5-4 lead over Ford after the first session of the final helped by him scoring a maximum 147 in the third frame.

Congratulations to Zhang Anda who has won his maiden ranking title with the International Championship

He lead 5-4 after the first session, going into the mid-session interval of the evening session he'd extended that lead to 8-5 and eventually got the job done 10-6 and didn't look phased at all.

He's been fantastic all week and thoroughly deserves this victory. 10 centuries during the tournament including a maximum in the final. Just boss.

Now he gets to look forward to the Champion of Champions, which starts tomorrow, where he'll face Ronnie O'Sullivan on Wednesday.

Draw in full;

Monday 13th November
Mark Allen v Jimmy White
Mark Selby v Ali Carter

Tuesday 14th November
Luca Brecel v Barry Hawkins
Mark Williams v Robert Milkins

Wednesday 15th November
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Zhang Anda
John Higgins v Chris Wakelin

Thursday 16th November
Judd Trump v Baipat Siripaporn
Shaun Murphy v Gary Wilson

And after that it's the UK Championship, which Zhang will now be seeded for as he's in the top 16 following this win in the International Championship. That starts on the 25th November and will be shown on the beeb as well as Eurosport for people to enjoy - though given we're playing City that day then I think the snooker will be secondary for most of us.

Congratulations to Zhang Anda who has won his maiden ranking title with the International Championship

He lead 5-4 after the first session, going into the mid-session interval of the evening session he'd extended that lead to 8-5 and eventually got the job done 10-6 and didn't look phased at all.

He's been fantastic all week and thoroughly deserves this victory. 10 centuries during the tournament including a maximum in the final. Just boss.

Now he gets to look forward to the Champion of Champions, which starts tomorrow, where he'll face Ronnie O'Sullivan on Wednesday.

Draw in full;

Monday 13th November
Mark Allen v Jimmy White
Mark Selby v Ali Carter

Tuesday 14th November
Luca Brecel v Barry Hawkins
Mark Williams v Robert Milkins

Wednesday 15th November
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Zhang Anda
John Higgins v Chris Wakelin

Thursday 16th November
Judd Trump v Baipat Siripaporn
Shaun Murphy v Gary Wilson

And after that it's the UK Championship, which Zhang will now be seeded for as he's in the top 16 following this win in the International Championship. That starts on the 25th November and will be shown on the beeb as well as Eurosport for people to enjoy - though given we're playing City that day then I think the snooker will be secondary for most of us.

Is Zhang a world champion possibly? What are your thoughts??

Some great talent from China in recent years but many not fulfilling their potential

Is Zhang a world champion possibly? What are your thoughts??

Some great talent from China in recent years but many not fulfilling their potential

I don't think he's at that level mate but you can never say never, especially when you look at some players who have previously won the big one and even some who've just made it to finals. Just as an example Graeme Dott has made it to three World finals, winning one and he's not somebody you would consider World champion standard. It's not always the ones who you think will win it who do.

I'm also not sure if Zhang is just enjoying some good form right now or if he is now the real deal and here to stay. By the time Sheffield comes around, he could be back down the rankings having not done a great deal between now and then. But if he manages to keep up this level for the whole season then he could easily be going into the Crucible as one of the faves.

Aside from that, the Champion of Champions is under way and Mark Allen is in the first man into the last 8, with a 4-1 victory over Jimmy White. He'll face either Mark Selby or Ali Carter tonight, once their match is concluded the savvy. This is on ITV4 if people wanna watch.

Ken Doherty on commentary back to his usual self.

"Could screw back for baulk or even blue." Selby screw back for the pink.

Following frame

"I'd be playing for black here, Mark's looking like he's going for green or brown" Selby to the ref "Yellow ball"

Carter and Selby going all the way to a decider.

Carter wins the decider after both players had a couple of chances.

And that means tonight that he'll now play Mark Allen tonight for a place in the semi finals.

Mark Allen comfortably beat Ali Carter 6-2 to book his place in the last four.

Ronnie put a post on his Instagram that he’s withdrawing from the Champion of Champions due to mental health issues.

He’s played in all the events in Asia so far this season but none of the ones in the UK. Seems a bit odd like.

World champion Luca Brecel has continued a rather poor reign as champion as he bows out of the Champion of Champions with a 4-0 defeat to one of the players of the season, Barry Hawkins.

Also looks like Ding is gonna replace Ronnie after The Rocket's withdrawl from the event.

Seems like being a World champ is a curse in this event as Mark Williams becomes the third champ, after Selby & Brecel, to fall at the first hurdle.

Rob Milkins will now play Barry Hawkins for a place in the semi finals.

In a match that lacked any real quality, Barry Hawkins won 6-2 against Rob Milkins last night.

John Higgins has broken the former World champion hoodoo by whitewashing Chris Wakelin to progress to the quarter final tonight.

Higgins didn't play that well but just managed to score more points than Wakelin, who missed a couple of chances that he really shouldn't have.

In what has been the best match of the tournament so far, Ding has snuck past Zhang on the final black in the decider.

Ding went into a three nil lead with Zhang looking all out of sorts, he then clawed it back level with some great snooker and a wonderful clearence of 67 in frame 5 to win by a point. And then the decider, both had chances. Ding got a bit of luck when he missed the pink into the middle but held his nerve when he got his next chance.

Ding against Higgins now for the right to play Mark Allen in the semis.

John Higgins will play Mark Allen in the first semi final after the Scot comfortably beat Ding 6-1.

Higgo looked very good tonight and the scoreline doesn't flatter him at all.

Trump is comfortably into the quarter finals with a 4-0 win over women's champ Baipat Siripaporn. Unfortunstely Baipat didn't do herself justice in the game and Judd, who looked to get better as the game went on was able to take the chances she contiously left for him.

Up next is Shaun Murphy v Gary Wilson for the right to play Judd tonight, where we'll find out who the last of the semi finalists will be.

In other news, this broke today.

£147,000 BONUS OFFERED FOR TRIPLE CROWN MAXIMUMS

Any player making two maximum breaks during this season’s Triple Crown Series will be rewarded with a massive £147,000 bonus.

This new initiative applies to the 2023 MrQ UK Championship, the 2024 Masters and the 2024 Cazoo World Championship. A player who makes two maximums (either a 147 or 155) in either the qualifying rounds or the final stages of those three tournaments will earn the huge bonus.

WST Chairman Steve Dawson said: “There is nothing quite as exhilarating in snooker as a maximum break, those moments bring us to the edge of our seats. And we’re making that achievement all the more special this season during our Triple Crown events.

“We’d love to see at least one player make a 147 at the MrQ UK Championship which would give them two more tournaments to chase the bonus. Last season we saw maximums from Kyren Wilson and Mark Selby at the Crucible – imagine the thrill if there was an extra £147,000 on the line!

“The skill level in snooker now is higher than ever and we expect this new prize will give the players extra motivation to go for maximum breaks.”

The bonus would be awarded in addition to the high break prizes for the individual events.

Up to three players could win this bonus, for example if three different players each made two 147s then they would each win £147,000. Or if one player made six maximums then he would bank £441,000!

The counting events are:

MrQ UK Championship. November 18-23 (qualifying rounds) and November 25 to December 3
The Masters. January 7-14.
Cazoo World Championship.  April 8-17 (qualifying rounds) and April 20 to May 6.
https://wst.tv/147000-bonus-offered-for-triple-crown-maximums/

It'll be Murphy against Trump in tonights quarter final match after the Magician defeated Gary Wilson 4-1.

A 6-4 victory for Judd saw him make it to yet another semi final this season.

Him against Hawkins should be a good match considering they’re the two form players this season.

A 6-3 win for Judd saw him book himself into yet another final.

Mark Allen against John Higgins tonight.

A 6-2 win for Mark Allen over John Higgins has set todays final up. Really looking forward to it as well. And as I’m part of the left handers club, I’m made up to see two lefties in the final.

The first round of the UK Championships started yesterday as well and will finish today with the televised portion of the event starting with the last 32.

So after the first session of the Champion of Champions final, Mark Allen holds a commanding 7-2 lead over Judd Trump. Judd won the final frame of the session to give him some hope but he really has to win at least three of the four frames in the first mini-session of this evening to have any chance because if it's split at two a piece and Allen goes 9-4 up then he's only one away from victory and you imagine he'd win one of the final six.

Meanwhile all the first round matches are complete in the UK Championship except Martin O'Donnell and Jack Borwick which got taken off so the round 2 matches could start on time. O'Donnell currently leads 5-4.

UK Championship Round 1 (Last 144)

Daniel Wells 6-2 Mostafa Dorgham
Jenson Kendrick 6-4 Oliver Briffett-Payne
Adam Duffy 3-6 Mink Nutcharut
Stuart Carrington 6-2 Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Mohamed Ibrahim 6-3 Victor Sarkis
Marco Fu 6-5 Michael Holt
Anton Kazakov 1-6 Ryan Davies
Xing Zihao 6-2 Jimmy White
Ross Muir 6-1 Andrew Pagett
Stan Moody 6-3 Filips Kalnins
Peng Yisong 6-0 Umut Dikme
Alfie Burden 1-6 Oliver Sykes
Ma Hailong 6-4 Sydney Wilson
Fergal O'Brien 2-6 Robbie McGuigan
Jiang Jun 6-0 Rebecca Kenna
Allan Taylor 6-5 Liam Davies
Rod Lawler 6-2 Liam Graham
Ryan Thomerson 6-5 Reanne Evans
Andy Lee 6-2 Joel Connolly
Liam Pullen 1-6 Iulian Boiko
Long Zehuang 6-5 Haydon Pinhey
Oliver Brown 1-6 Dean Young
Andrew Higginson 4-6 Alexander Ursenbacher
Muhammad Asif 1-6 Duane Jones
Sean O'Sullivan 6-5 Baipat Siripaporn
Louis Heathcote 6-0 Ahmed Aly Elsayed
Hammad Miah 6-3 Bulscu Revesz
Ian Burns 6-0 Amaan Iqbal
Ishpreet Singh Chadha 3-6 Goa Yang
Andres Petrov 3-6 Craig Steadman
Rory Thor 6-0 Riley Powell
Martin O'Donnell 5-4 Jack Borwick

Round 2 (last 112)

Ashley Carty v Daniel Wells (winner plays Ding Junhui in round 3)
Robbie Williams v Jenson Kendrick (winner plays Matthew Stevens in round 3)
Michael White v Mink Nutcharut (winner plays Si Jiahui in round 3)
Martin Gould v Stuart Carrington (winner plays Fan Zhengyi in round 3)
Andy Hicks v Mohamed Ibrahim (winner plays Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in round 3)
Ben Mertens v Marco Fu (winner plays Ricky Walden in round 3)
David Grace v Ryan Davies (winner plays Wu Yize in round 3)
James Cahill v Xing Zihao (winner plays Noppon Saengkham in round 3)
He Guoqiang v Ross Muir (winner plays Anthony McGill in round 3)
Dominic Dale v Stan Moody (winner plays Anthony Hamilton in round 3)
Julien Leclercq v Peng Yisong (winner plays Dave Gilbert in round 3)
Jamie Clarke v Oliver Sykes (winner plays Jordan Brown in round 3)
Xu Si v Ma Hailong (winner plays Lyu Haotian in round 3)
Dylan Emery v Robbie McGuigan (winner plays Matt Selt in round 3)
Jackson Page v Jiang Jun (winner plays Jamie Jones in round 3)
Zak Surety v Allan Taylor (winner plays Gary Wilson in round 3)
Lukas Kleckers v Rod Lawler (winner plays Ryan Day in round 3)
Ben Woollaston v Ryan Thomerson (winner plays Cao Yupeng in round 3)
Sanderson Lam v Andy Lee (winner plays Joe Perry in round 3)
Mark Joyce v Iulian Boiko (winner plays Xiao Guodong in round 3)
Oliver Lines v Long Zehuang (winner plays Joe O'Connor in round 3)
Ashley Hugill v Dean Young (winner plays Stephen Maguire in round 3)
Tian Pengfei v Alexander Ursenbacher (winner plays Yuan Sijun in round 3)
Ken Doherty v Duane Jones (winner plays Chris Wakelin in round 3)
David Lilley v Sean O'Sullivan (winner plays Stuart Bingham in round 3)
Elliot Slessor v Louis Heathcote (winner plays Graeme Dott in round 3)
John Astley v Hammad Miah (winner plays Zhou Yuelong in round 3)
Liam Highfield v Ian Burns (winner plays Jak Jones in round 3)
Mark Davis v Gao Yang (winner plays Pang Junxu in round 3)
Aaron Hill v Craig Steadman (winner plays Jimmy Robertson in round 3)
Scott Donaldson v Rory Thor (winner plays Sam Craigie in round 3)
Liu Hongyu v O'Donnell/Borwick (winner plays Hossein Vafaei in round 3)