Sunday 20 November 2011

2011 Power Snooker: Semi Finals

The first semi-final saw World Number One Mark Selby take on Martin Gould. Gould broke off and his consistency continued to get onto a red and followed to pot the Power Ball. He missed the blue to give 45 seconds of the Power Play to Selby. Selby took full advantage and wrapped up the remaining reds before playing safe on the green. The safety exchange left Selby to foul before hitting the green on the second attempt. But Selby fouled again after finding himself behind the black before again hitting it on the second attempt with the scores level at 46 apiece. Gould then fouled after potting the cue ball but nothing was made from it as the defending continued. Selby fouled for a third time in the frame and Gould was awarded a free ball, he potted the black before reverting to safety. Selby finally potted the green to level the score and was then able to up to the pink. Gould was able to pot the pink and black to make it 72-62 to Gould with 15:48 remaining. Selby broke in the second frame and was able to find a pot but then fouled whilst making a shot. Gould came to the table with the balls nicely spread and went onto pot the Power Ball and cleared up to the green. Selby had thirty seconds of the Power Play left and potted the green within the Power Zone but then missed the brown. Gould finished off the colours to stretch his lead to 176-76 with 10:04 left to play. But Gould had the break, which has been his best asset, and was amongst the balls again. Gould took full advantage of the Power Play and forced Selby into making another foul. Gould then cleared the colours to make it 253-84 with 3:22 minutes left of Selby's tournament. Selby spent the remaining time getting himself back into it and managed to pot the Power Ball for the final two minutes. Selby made a fantastic clearance of 162 to make the final score 253-246 to Martin Gould.

On paper, the second semi-final was the more anticipated between Neil Robertson and Ronnie O'Sullivan. The 'Thunder From Down Under' got us started and had plenty of options from the break. But Robertson failed to make anything from it and Ronnie wasn't in the mood to decline the gift. But O'Sullivan missed the Power Ball to give Robertson a reprieve. Robertson left the Power Ball till last and then missed it. After a few jousts, O'Sullivan finally managed to pot the Power Ball and cleared the colours to lead 84-41 after the first frame with 23:38 remaining. Ronnie had the break in the second frame and made an average spread. O'Sullivan bided his time to pot the Power Ball but he made it at the right time to clear up, accumulating 122 points up to the pink. Robertson was able to pot the pink after a couple of exchanges but couldn't sink the black. Even with over seventeen minutes left on the clock Ronnie was playing defensive but still potted the black to lead 213-47 with 17:24 left. Robertson broke in the third frame and potted the Power Ball with his first shot but he completely misjudged a shot on the red to allow O'Sullivan straight back in. The Rocket blasted himself over 200 points clear but got a little too ahead of himself and potted the cue ball with 288 points to his name. Robertson did clear the colours making the score 288-99 with 12:22 remaining. Ronnie then found a pot off his break shot and again waited for the right moment to pot the Power Ball. O'Sullivan snookered himself on the final red but managed to escape unharmed, although Robertson managed to pot it before missing the colour. Nothing would go the Aussie's way, potting the cue ball off the green after already potting the yellow. O'Sullivan cleared from brown to make it 407-105 with 6:32 minutes of Robertson's tournament remaining. With damage limitation the only thing possible for Robertson, he was able to pot off his break. He initiated the Power Play but missed the black with a minute left of the double points. Another clearance was imminent as O'Sullivan pulled out the exhibition shots but missed the final black. With the result all over Robertson tried an exhibition shot of his own but fouled and O'Sullivan made it 493-155 with 1:26 left of Robertson's torture. To make things worse, O'Sullivan potted the Power Ball with the first shot but missed the brown. Robertson, now sporting a cork hat, couldn't make anything more out of it and the final score was 519-157.

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