So on to day two of the PTC Grand Finals. Tonight’s post won’t be as long as last nights one because I didn’t get to go to as many games, silly everyday commitments getting in the way.
In the morning session, the upset of the tournament took place when Jamie Jones managed to claw back a 3-1 deficit to beat the reigning world champion John Higgins. I did watch the match on TV though, and you could see from Jones’ face how much it meant to him, definitely the biggest win of his career, he’ll go on to play Andrew Higginson in the next round.
Ding Junhui managed to put away Ben Wollaston with the help of two centuries, 4-2. Though he managed 2 centuries, the rest of the game wasn’t Ding at his best and he’ll hope to improve in the next round where he’ll play Mark Selby
Stephen Lee then continued his good form to beat Micheal Holt 4-1.
The first match I saw was Robertson vs. Lisowski. The match started in quite exciting fashion, with both players putting in a few very decent safety shots. Robertson went ahead in the first frame but Lisowski managed to come back and draw to force a respotted black.
It looked like the black would go down after a few shots but Robertson missed a relatively straightforward shot to keep the game going. Robertson eventually took the frame and looked relieved to go 1 – 0 up. A fluke by Lisowski in the next frame wasn’t enough and Robertson held his nerve despite some poor play to go 2 – 0 up. The 3rd frame showed signs of what Robertson is capable of, when he took a few tricky reds to close up the frame, still, there were poor shots from each player and the match wasn’t looking like a classic.
Lisowski showed his frustration by breaking up a bunch of reds in the 4th frame, but tt ended up being to his advantage, as he was able to capitalise on the positioning of the balls to win the frame. 3 – 1, could we be in for another upset like earlier on in the Higgins game?
No. No we weren’t. Robertson sealed the deal in the next frame. In the post match press conference, he summed it up nicely, he said he didn’t play well, but a win is a win, you can hear his press conference in full here – http://soundcloud.com/moniquelimbos/ptcgfneilrobertsonr2
Next up was Perry vs. Dott. An interesting prospect and a tough one to call. The quality of snooker started off somewhat better in this one, with Perry taking the first frame. Dott replied instantly with a nicely taken red, and although he stumbled across the line, he made the score 1-1.
Next frame was Perrys with a well taken 84, which could easily have been much more than that, making the game 2 – 1. The 4th frame was a drawn out affair, ending up with both players exchanging safety shots on the green. It was finally decided when incredibly Perry, while escaping a snooker, not only potted the brown but the white as well, allowing Dott to clean up and level the match 2 – 2. By this stage the game had already gone on over an hour and it was looking like a long night ahead in the Bailey Allen Hall.
The next frame went back and forth, with a 67 from Perry enough to take the frame and go 3-2 up. The crowd getting slightly thinner as this game wore on.
The final frame should have finished earlier, when Perry had just to pot a single red to put the frame beyond doubt, but he missed it, something which seems to be happening a lot in this competition. Dott still needed a snooker to win the frame and he couldn’t get it, Perry taking a red to finish the game 4-2.
He’ll face good friend and pratice partner Neil Robertson in the Quarter Final. In the post match press conference he mentioned his disappointment that it has to be his friend Neil, but that’s the way it is. The while conference can be heard here – http://soundcloud.com/s-an-otuathaigh/joe-perry-post-match-press
That’s all for today, looking forward to some good games tomorrow, O’Sullivan is playing, as are Trump and Selby. Should be a cracking day.