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Re: Scottish Professional Championship Returns

Postby vodkadiet

Campbell 3-5 McBain
McGill 5-1 Mcdonald


Quarter finals:

Higgins vs Burnett
Hendry vs McManus
Dott vs McBain
Maguire vs McGill

Monday and Tuesday quarters

Wednesday semis

Thursday final

:ahh:

Re: Scottish Professional Championship Returns

Postby SnookerFan

vodkadiet wrote:Campbell 3-5 McBain
McGill 5-1 Mcdonald


Quarter finals:

Higgins vs Burnett
Hendry vs McManus
Dott vs McBain
Maguire vs McGill

Monday and Tuesday quarters

Wednesday semis

Thursday final

:ahh:


Mate, I'd watch that if it was on telly. :grrr:

Re: Scottish Professional Championship Returns

Postby PLtheRef

Hendry 5-2 McManus

Match summary by Chris Irving

Stephen Hendry 5-2 Alan McManus

Seven-time World Champion Stephen Hendry came through a scrappy encounter with Alan McManus to progress to the semi-finals of the Scottish Snooker Championships in Clydebank. Hendry has history with this tournament, winning it on a couple of occasions in his early years and he will be looking to go all the way again this time round.

It was a scrappy encounter overall as both players sturggles to get any fluency in their play, the majority of frames plagued with missed chances by both players to build a break. Due to his position in the rankings, McManus was forced to play a preliminary round last week and the match practice clearly benefited the veteran pro who dug deep to take the first frame after some impressive safety play from both players.
However, it didn’t take long for the champion to show his class, pulling off an impressive century break of 113 to take the lead after battling back to 1-1 with a low but effective break of 33 to stop McManus in his tracks. Stephen went into the break 3-1 up in what was yet another scrappy frame but McManus clearly wasn’t going to exit this tournament on a mere whimper. He showed plenty of grit and determination to give himself a lifeline after the break, pulling back a frame and yet again playing some effective safety play.

However, they say champions grind out results and Hendry did just that in the sixth frame, doing just enough to edge the frame and he was now only one frame away from the semis. Now oozing with confidence after coming through a tough couple of frames riddled with errors, Hendry produced a bit of quality to seal the win, racking up an impressive break of 95.


He was obviously a delighted figure afterwards saying, “It’s was nice to eventually get the win. When you play Alan you know it’s always going to be tough and with him you know you are in a game straight from the off so it’s nice to get through.”

When asked about the prospect of meeting John Higgins in the semi-final he said, “Well that would be great and if it happened I’m sure there would be a great atmosphere in here.

McManus was clearly disappointed with himself after the match but gave credit where it’s due. He admitted, “Stephen was a bit more solid in amongst the balls and that was the difference. There were a couple of frames that I should have won that would maybe have turned things around but I missed the chance to go in at the break level and I was punished for that.”

He also spoke of his delight at playing someone of the quality of Hendry. He said, “It’s always nice to play Stephen and the crowd were great so it was a good day despite the result.

Re: Scottish Professional Championship Returns

Postby vodkadiet

Through to face Stephen Hendry in the first semi-final of this week’s Scottish Professional Championship is John Higgins who warmed up for the Crucible with an impressive 5-1 victory against Jamie Burnett this evening…


Match summary by Chris Irving

John Higgins warmed up for the World Championships next week in style with a comfortable 5-1 win over Jamie Burnett at the Lucky Break Snooker Club in Clydebank.

The world number one flew out of the traps and went on the attack from the off, playing some lovely offensive snooker. He took the first frame with an impressive score of 94 as Burnett watched the majority of the frame from his seat but the Lanarkshire man responded well in the second to pull level after battling in what was a tight frame.

However, Burnett made a few too many mistakes throughout this match and in the third frame and Higgins punished him with some clinical finishing at the right times to restore his lead. He went into the break in control of proceedings with another great offensive display that was simply a joy to watch for all in attendance. Burnett could only watch on as his opponent took control of the table in style, notching up a 79 without reply. After the break, Higgins picked up where he had left off and took control once again with the highest break of the match, an impressive 87 that earned him a century score and he was only one away from a convincing win.

Higgins finished things off with a 48 break after a mistake from Burnett. Burnett was naturally dissapointed afterwards, saying:

“I’m glad it wasn’t five nothing!! I never really settled in the match and my long potting was especially poor. You need to play well against quality players and if you don’t you get punished.”

He blamed himself mostly for the heavy defeat expressing regret at failing to capitalise on the few mistakes made by Higgins.

He added, “I never capitalised on John’s mistakes and you need to take those chances and I never, especially in the early frames. I feel if I had took my chances I could have easily been three frames ahead but as I said my long potting let me down.”

He also expressed his delight at the return of this tournament, saying,

“You want tough matches to prepare you for tournaments and this was perfect preparation for me tonight. It’s great to be playing against the top players so close to the world championships and this will stand me in good stead for next week.”

Higgins was delighted after the match, saying,

“I’m really happy with the win. I knew it was going to be tough but to win 5-1 is great, I’m over the moon. I missed a couple of silly shots but I managed to push on a make some good breaks so that was good.”

He also expressed his excitement at the prospect of facing Hendry next.

He beamed, “Anytime you play Stephen Hendry it is a great occasion so it will be another special match..”

John also claimed that playing this tournament beats practicing at home.

He continued, “This is a very useful exercise for me and it’s better than practicing so it’s good to get a few games in before the World Championship and having never won the Scottish Championships before I would love to win this time around.

Higgins now faces Stephen Hendry in a mouth-watering semi-final between two of the world’s top players and with a packed house expected it will be a great occasion and one both players will relish.

Re: Scottish Professional Championship Returns

Postby snooky147

Graeme beats James McBain 5-3 to progress into the semis, where he will meet the winner of tonight's clash between Stephen Maguire and Anthony McGill.

Re: Scottish Professional Championship Returns

Postby Wildey

snooky147 wrote:Graeme beats James McBain 5-3 to progress into the semis, where he will meet the winner of tonight's clash between Stephen Maguire and Anthony McGill.

thanks for that..

coverage on the net pretty poor of this tournaments but so far its alright for the seeds.

Re: Scottish Professional Championship Returns

Postby vodkadiet

Third man through to the semi-finals of the 2011 Scottish Professional Championship is 2006 world champion Graeme Dott with recorded a 5-2 victory against James McBain…


Match Summary Chris Irving

Graeme Dott produced a battling performance to see off a plucky James McBain in the Scottish Professional Championships in Clydebank. The former world champion had to dig deep and produced some great snooker in flashes against his stubborn opponent.

With both players at opposite ends of the world rankings, this looked a like a foregone conclusion before the match but sport isn’t played on paper and McBain proved that by snatching the first frame albeit with a relatively low score of 55. However, you can’t keep quality players like Dott down for long and the safety play without doubt took the 2010 world finalist to the second frame. He played two marvellous shots, hanging the blue over the pocket when McBain needed a snooker to stay in the frame. The shot was simply too good and Dott took the frame to pull level.

McBain was left to rue a missed opportunity in the third and Dott’s long-potting was the difference and he produced an oustanding long shot to take the lead before pushing on in the fourth to go into the break 3-1 up. However, McBain dug deep and found something to pull off a break of 61, followed by a 28 to take the frame by 95-0. Neither player really pressed home their advantage but Dott done just enough to take a two-frame lead with a lovely pot to sustain a 46 break that eventually won him the frame.

As already mentioned, Dott’s long potting was simply outstanding and it won him the match in the seventh frame as he made the most of the one opportunity given to him, making a break of 51 to take the match but the scoreline was harsh on McBain who kept with his superior opponent all afternoon and battled away.

Dott was a happy man afterwards, saying,

“Any win is a good win. James is a good player so it was always going to be hard for me but the last long pot was good to keep my break going but I can do better than that.”

Graeme also stressed the importance of cutting out the silly mistakes. He groaned,

“I feel good but I’m making ridiculous mistakes that must be eradicated. I’m playing well in patches but I need to try and cut out the rubbish and I’ll need to play better than that tomorrow to reach the final.”

James was pleased with his overall performance but admitted he had chances to stay in the game towards the end. He said

“I thought it was close and I missed a few good chances to stay in it. Graeme deserved the win in the end but the scoreline didn’t really reflect what was a close match and he only really pulled away in one of the frames and apart from that it was quite tense.”

He expressed a sense of regret at the lack of heavy scoring in his play, saying,

“I had a few chances but didn’t score heavily enough and against someone of Graeme’s quality it’s not good enough and he will always punish you. However, it was a good way for me to end the season but he looks as if he can go all the way.”

Graeme will now face the winner of the quarter-final between local pro Anthony McGill and Stephen Maguire in what will be a thrilling encounter in front of a packed local

Re: Scottish Professional Championship Returns

Postby Wildey

Anthony McGill beat Stephen Maguire 5-3

Wednesday Semi Finals

2.15pm

John Higgins v Stephen Hendry

7.30pm

Graeme Dott v Anthony McGill

Re: Scottish Professional Championship Returns

Postby PLtheRef

Wild wrote:Anthony McGill beat Stephen Maguire 5-3

Wednesday Semi Finals

2.15pm

John Higgins (1) v Stephen Hendry (4)

7.30pm

Graeme Dott (3) v Anthony McGill


Interesting to see what that does for Maguire, not the ideal build up for Sheffield - I dont particularly tip him to go much beyond round 2, but this sort of result will fire up Hawkins

Re: Scottish Professional Championship Returns

Postby vodkadiet

While the three previous quarter-finals this week went the way of the form book, Anthony McGill caused a surprise today by inflicting a 5-3 defeat upon former world number two Stephen Maguire to book a semi-final clash with Graeme Dott…


Match Summary by Chris Irving

Stephen Maguire 3-5 Anthony McGill

The local boy came good to produce the shock of the Scottish Professional Champinships so far. Anthony McGill, nicknamed the tartan nugget after the legendary Steve Davis, produced a display he would be proud of, dumping one of the top players in the world out to progress to the last four.

McGill had the backing of the local crowd and he looked relaxed from the off, playing some confident and assured snooker to take an early lead.

The other players this week will have to go some to top this one as it had everything, terrible misses, some scintillating snooker and some terrible luck to boot for both players. The young star went agonisingly close to taking a two frame lead but luck deserted him after a decent break of 38, he looked in a good position to go on and close it out but a cruel kick on a red allowed Maguire a chance to pull level. He did just that with a dramatic black ball re-spot.

That black ball pot seemed to give Maguirre the confidence to kick on and he did, notching up a two frame lead to go in at the break in a comfortable position, 3-1 ahead.

However, write this young man off at your peril. He produced a marvellous display in finishing and looked assuraed and confident in the balls, keeping Maguire firmly rooted to his chair, notching up and impressive score of 71 to 0 to pull a frame back.

The sixth frame was naturally a cagey affair with both players struggling to get any fluency in their play but McGill dug deep to pull level just when it looked like his luck had deserted him as it had done all evening. At 3-3 it was anybody’s match and you could cut the atmosphere inside the hall with a knife as nobody knew what was going to happen next.

Maguire took control of the seventh frame early on, smashing home a break of 40 but his long potting cost him all night as he let McGill in and you got the feeling that any chance the young man got at this stage he was going to grab with both hands and he did. He produced some marvellous shooting in amongst the balls with pace and rhythm as he racked up a score of 75 to take the lead for the first time since frame one.

They say every match has a turning point and it came in what was to be the last frame. Maguire looked to have forced a last frame decider as he notched up a break of 61 and was looking confident and clinical in the balls. But then something happened that changed the whole complexion of the match and swung it back in his opponent’s favour. Once again, he attempted a long pot on a red and just like before, it got stuck in the jaws as the crowd gasped collectively.

The atmosphere was now even more tense as everyone sensed that young Anthony was going to seize this opportunity.
He held his nerve and finished the job off to produce one of the biggest results of his short professional career and he will need to produce another similar performance to get the better of the impressive Graeme Dott.

It goes without saying, the youngster was delighted after the match. He beamed:

“I’m delighted, I found myself three one down but the interval came at the right time and allowed me to settle down and I played well after the break. I managed to play well at the right times in the match and there was no use giving up if I you’re going to get beat you might as well get beat trying.”

He paid tribute to the magnificent crowd that were behind him all the way. He said:

“This is my home club so they were all behind me and the support was great. The atmopshere helped me and to play well and a crowd with a good atmopshere gives me great confidence.”

Maguire was naturally disappointed afterwards but accepted that the best man won in the end. He said:

“He should have won 5-3 quite easily but he missed a red and gave me a half-chance and I blew it. At 3-1 I should have kicked on and I thought play well and you’re safe but I wish there wasn’t an interval because it seemed to help him!”

He admitted McGill has a bright future ahead of him. He continued “I’ve always said he has class and he has a bright future ahead of him but I will forget about this and turn my thoughts to the big one next week.”

Re: Scottish Professional Championship Returns

Postby SnookerFan

This really should be on Eurosport. The Hendry vs Higgins match is something I'd definitely watch. And though Dott vs Maguire would've sounded more tasty then Dott vs McGill, it's good to see one of the earlier matches didn't the way of the seeds. Nice, in what could've been a completely predictable round of matches.

A rare best of nine tournament, that has sounded a bit tasty. Would've made a good appetiser for the main event starting Saturday.

Re: Scottish Professional Championship Returns

Postby Bourne

Yes GJ don't you know, Hendry could lose every match this season but he'd still be 10000000000000000001% sure to win his R1 match in the Crucible against anyone :hatoff:

Re: Scottish Professional Championship Returns

Postby GJ

Bourne wrote:Yes GJ don't you know, Hendry could lose every match this season but he'd still be 10000000000000000001% sure to win his R1 match in the Crucible against anyone :hatoff:



:hatoff:

i picked him but am having 2nd thoughts but its a bit late as my predicts are in

:-(