World Snooker Championship 2021

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1st Round Draw:

Ronnie O’Sullivan (1) vs Mark Joyce
Ricky Walden vs Anthony McGill (16)
Ding Junhui (9) vs Stuart Bingham
Jamie Jones vs Stephen Maguire (8)

John Higgins (5) vs Tian Pengfei
Sam Craigie vs Mark Williams (12)
Mark Allen (13) vs Lyu Haotian
Kurt Maflin vs Mark Selby (4)

Neil Robertson (3) vs Liang Wenbo
Ali Carter vs Jack Lisowski (14)
Barry Hawkins (11) vs Matthew Selt
Gary Wilson vs Kyren Wilson (6)

Shaun Murphy (7) vs Mark Davis
Martin Gould vs Yan Bingtao (10)
David Gilbert (15) vs Chris Wakelin
Liam Highfield vs Judd Trump (2)

The third session of the Wilson/Murphy semi this morning. Kyren Wilson resumes 10-6 ahead and it is a session that Murphy has to win to stay afloat I feel. A minimum he must go into tonight's final session trailing 13-11 - anything worse than that and Wilson has it in the bag.

Can only hope Bingham does the job today and sends Selby home

Yep, everything crossed for Bingham, but he only has a narrow lead of 13-11, and I think Selby's 'nous' and experience will carry the day.

Wilson 12-11 Murphy

The Magician on the charge

Astonishing comeback from Murphy. He's won eight of the last ten frames and has discovered some scintillating form. Big shame for Murphy that the session's over.

Might have to push the start of the final back to Monday at this rate.

fear for bingham now. the bore takes two frames to level 13-13.

Hits back with a century to go 14-13 up, Bingham is unlikely to be affected by Selby.

14-14

Bingham needs the first frame after the mid-session, otherwise I think Selby will prevail

Bingham's rhythm and timing has been missing for the most part this afternoon, so that century came as a surprise. Selby will be delighted with how that two-hour mini-session went. He's back level and the type of snooker being played is entirely at the tempo he enjoys. Only one winner from here.

15-14 to Selby

Unfortunately, it’s all over now. I don’t see either Murphy or Wilson stopping him.

Might skip the final, just no appeal there.

16-14 after a classy clearance. Ronnie came back from here, but Bingham's no Ronnie.

Agree that I can't see either Wilson/Murphy beating Selby over a best of 35.

I feel like a broken record but Selby has ground Bingham down, he's not beaten him and it's not good to watch. He was second best yesterday so slowed down to such an extent the referee had to talk to him. Eddie Hearn needs to look into remedying that.

Through the first three rounds he played top quality snooker that was a pleasure to watch. The going got tough and he did his usual, whether it's deliberate or something mental makes little difference.

Top quality break from Bingham, who coincidentally does not look like a happy bunny.

16-15, as Bingham pinches one. Will need to come back after the conclusion of Murphy-Wilson. Could be a very late finish.

Bingham just delaying the inevitable

16-15

Murphy playing some godly snooker at the moment. When he plays this well it makes a mockery of only winning the triple crown events once each.

Murphy has really turned this other semi final around. A string of big breaks and classy visits and all of a sudden he's 14-12 up. This is the best I've seen from Murphy in a long time...Maybe ever. Wilson is inscrutable as ever but he must be wondering what's hit him here.

15-12 now, and a bad miss there from Wilson to let Murphy in. But Murphy magnificent again when he got his chance as he knocked in the century. He's in the zone and all over this one right now.

Wilson will do very, very well to get back into this.

Can’t see anything other than a Murphy v Selby final now

That was outrageous from Murphy. 10-4 down, then he goes on to win 13 of the next 15 frames. Outstanding stuff.

Just hope he can keep that form going into the final against (presumably) Selby.

Ken and Jack treating us to a masterclass in stating the blinding obvious.

C'mon Bingham. This is your chance. Please beat this bore!

Can't believe the luck Selby got with that yellow

and now the brown. Ridiculous luck

God, I can't stand Selby

The miss rule not being properly implemented there.

All over now. Shame for Bingham. In Murphy we trust.

Wonderful stuff from Murphy last night. From trailing 12-9 he went into a gear which made him almost unplayable. Wilson missed a couple of disappointing ones but overall didn't do all that much wrong. It's not like he threw it away. He just couldn't contain Murphy or find a way to slow him down.

Murphy really did look a million dollars, not just in the string on big breaks he knocked in but also in terms of his confidence, his shot selection and his focus. We've talked during this tournament about how he often does that hard work and then throws in a careless one to let an opponent back into the frame of present them with an easy chance. None of that last night, or in the second half of that match overall, really. Completely ruthless once he got in amongst them.

I said after his second round win that he was starting to look like that classy, swashbuckling player who makes the game look so easy when he's flowing again, and he's really carried that form on here. I just hope he can keep it going in the final - he's got to kill frames off in one visit and put Selby under pressure early. Can't allow himself to get 40-odd, 50-odd in front and leave a chance for a counter clearance or get into protracted safety battles with a couple of reds on the table, because he'll come off a distinct second best if there are too many of those frames.

It's tough to make a case for Murphy, but I really hope he does it. As well as maintaining the form in the latter half of the Wilson game, he's going to have to show iron discipline and mental strength, because if he ever gets on top in this final, Selby will slow everything down to a crawl. Taking two minutes over the easiest shots, playing on when five snookers are required, dragging frames over the 45-minute mark etc. That wore Bingham down into tedious submission, and it could do the same to Murphy.

I think Selby's greater safety game and long potting success will be the telling factors. If Murphy is to win, he'll need to rattle off frames in bunches like he did against Trump and Wilson, because going tit-for-tat against Selby is only going to end up one way.

Come on, Murphy, do it for the world title. And for the very sake of snooker.

Murphy needs two sessions like yesterday evening and to not be worried about speaking to the referee about slow play. It's something more players should speak out against, the better player did not win yesterday.

Though he's not a favourite of mine, I've always maintained that the criticism Selby gets from fans is usually over the top, unfair and often stems from the simple fact that he's had the nerve to beat O'Sullivan in quite a few big matches and finals. People don't like the fact that he's not reverential towards the more popular players and backs himself in every way possible. I also think it's interesting that he gets lambasted for being an overly defensive player when he takes on shots and produces big breaks that the 'characters' of snooker's golden eighties era would never dream of even trying, never mind pull them off.

But in this tournament, for the first time, I have to kind of agree with some of the criticism being thrown at him, and I can't deny that he hasn't presented a particularly great picture of himself. Has come across as a little bit childish during the Bingham match - it's as if he takes it personally when his opponent gets a bit of luck and his mardy little gesticulations sitting his chair have left a bit of a sour taste behind. Also agree that yesterday in particular he did push the boundaries a little in terms of deliberately slowing things down a couple of times.

That said, some of his tactical and safely play in that last frame against Bingham was fantastic and I think that might be the difference in the final here. He is an incredible player regardless of how easy on the eye he is or isn't. Would love Murphy to pull this off but I think he's going to need Selby to throw in a really bad session somewhere along the line.

So today to the Final - Shaun Murphy takes on Mark Selby. A tough one to call and the end result will depend on several things. If Murphy can get in first in enough frames and avoid spells of safety then he has a chance especially if he can get on a roll. Selby will want a return to the form he showed in the first three rounds - if he can do that he wins.

The Magician to be ground down 18-11. Please prove me wrong though, Shaun.

Bore 0-2 Murphy

Murphy winning both exchanges is a good sign

That was a big first frame to win, as it came from a scrappy scenario and after a safety battle. Murphy scored some good psychological points there.

Repeats the trick for 2-0. Selby looking the edgier of the two so far, surprisingly.

Selby 1-2 Murphy

Murphy really blew the chance of a 3-0 lead there.

You feel that could be a game changer that frame.

Yep, that's the kind of thing Murphy just can't afford here, losing a frame from 65 in front like that. Selby, hasn't quite got going here and that was a glorious chance for 3-0 missed by Murphy.

5-3 Murphy after a nervy session. Might sound strange to say, but I don't think Murphy fully capitalised in that session, he should be 6-2 ahead. Still, a good platform to build from.

Nine frames in tonight's session. Feel Murphy needs to win the session (would give him a minimum 10-7 lead going into Monday) if he's going to go on and take the title.

Murphy's lead vanishes with the score 6-6. He was in first in all four of the frames so far this evening, but Selby still managed to take three of them, including a great clearance in the 12th.

Selby looking in excellent touch, which is ominous for Murphy.

Selby 10-7 Murphy. Selby takes the lead, and now on his way you feel. Murphy looks finished

Agree with Hendry. Slightly disappointing final so far, in terms of standard. There’s only so much safety play/exchanges you can take.

10-7. Murphy's going to need one hell of a shovel.

It's over. Selby has sucked the life out of Murphy, and this final.

Painful viewing.

Murphy didn't make the most of his chances on the first day. He should have been 6-2 up after the first session, but it was only 5-3; then he should have won three of the first four frames in the second session, but only won one. Selby then dominated the last stretch of day one, with clever safety play and good long potting, winning the final five frames 4-1.

Murphy's prospects look fairly remote from here. As a minimum he needs to win the eight-frame session this afternoon, but even that will prove an arduous task.

Was it the Davis v Taylor 85’ match, the last time a final at the Crucible had no century break?

Yes, just looked it up, and I believe that's correct. There was only one century in the supremely dull final of 2006, and just the one in 2010.

Duty281 wrote:Murphy didn't make the most of his chances on the first day. He should have been 6-2 up after the first session, but it was only 5-3; then he should have won three of the first four frames in the second session, but only won one. Selby then dominated the last stretch of day one, with clever safety play and good long potting, winning the final five frames 4-1.

Murphy's prospects look fairly remote from here. As a minimum he needs to win the eight-frame session this afternoon, but even that will prove an arduous task.

Can't disagree with that analysis.

Murphy should've been well on top after the first session, his feted break building and scoring prowess let him down yesterday. Got in first in nearly every frame and kept breaking down when on a break of 30+.

Some of his shot choices yesterday seemed muddled when in the balls and looking comfortable, his positional play was also poor, he really should've converted far more of the chances he had when he got in first with a good long red. He was unlucky when going into the reds on a couple of occasions but generally his failure to make frame winning breaks was just down to poor positional play.

Selby looks like he will turn the screw from here and bore his way to a 4th title. It really is painful to watch and he doesn't do himself any favours by mincing around the table for 2-3 mins at a time on simple shots that should take no more than 30 seconds, despite the pressure of the occasion.

Bingham does not strike me as a sore loser and he suggested there may be more of a whiff of gamesmanship to selby's slow play and i'm inclined to agree with him.

I hope murphy can stage a comeback today but it looks a forlorn task unless he can stop dancing to selby's tune and impose his own style of play on the match and his opponent.

Selby as well as sucking the life out of Murphy could be sucking the life out of the viewing figures and the sport itself. If O'Sullivan retires and there is a resurgence from Selby and a series of Selby clones entering and taking over the sport then maybe there might need to be rule changes to help speed up the game - something they did in tennis.

Murphy wins the opening frame with a 77 break. Murphy looking much more aggressive today

Selby 10-8 Murphy

Big blow for Shaun. Misses the black, and Selby has a tap in

Selby 11-8 Murphy

That 19th frame. Likely a crushing blow to Murphy.