World Snooker Championship - action from Day 9

Images from some of the matches going on today, Monday 27th April 2015, from the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible theatre in Sheffield.

 Shaun Murphy using the rest in his match with Joe Perry

 Joe Perry playing down the table in his match with Shaun Murphy

 Referee Olivier Marteel shares a joke with the crowd before officiating the match between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Matthews Stevens

 Ronnie O'Sullivan breaks off in frame 17 of his match with Matthew Stevens

 Matthew Stevens plays out from under the cushion

 Ronnie O'Sullivan and Matthew Stevens chat between frames

Ronnie O'Sullivan wrapping up a 13-5 win to move into the quarter finals

Mark Selby - gracious in defeat

Understandably quiet after his 13-9 second round loss to qualifier Anthony McGill, Mark Selby came into the Media room and gave a frank but short interview on the defence of his World Snooker title.

He was on his way out when I asked him for a signature to the photo of him that I took on his entry to the Crucible less than a week before:

All credit to him for taking a few seconds to sign it with good grace.

Ronnie O'Sullivan - top bloke

Buzzing after his 10-3 first round win against Craig Steadman, Ronnie came into the Media room and gave a full and frank interview on where he is in life: running, how he would like to have been a boxer,  his new coffee company and much more.

All thanks to him for then spending a few seconds to sign a photo for me:

The photo is one I took at last year's event - with Ronnie opting to leave the larger spider under the table and use the standard rest but elevated above the blue.  The kind of shot we all think we can make down the local snooker hall, but the one that only players like Ronnie can really achieve.


Top bloke!

Anthony McGill beats Mark Selby in the World Snooker Championship

The 'Curse of the Crucible' (whereby a first-time champion is unable to defend their crown the following year) has struck again as defending champion Mark Selby suffered defeat to qualifier Anthony McGill in the second round of the World Championship at Sheffield's Crucible theatre. 

McGill, 24 from Glasgow, led 10-6  going into the third session of their best-of-25 match, meaning he needed just three frames to reach the quarter-finals.  Having won the first, Selby took the second but an 87 break put McGill 12-7 ahead.

In the 22nd frame, Selby threatened a fightback but McGill secured a composed 13-9 win - evidenced by the way he hung back at the end of the frame to allow Mark Selby to leave the arena before he took the plaudits himself as he walked off alone.

Some photos from the evening session:

Snooker: John Higgins loses to Ding Junhui

John Higgins, four-time World Champion, made an earlier exit than many people imagined as he lost 13-9 to China's Ding Junhui.

Higgins had led early in the match, but it was Ding, the world number three, who started yesterdays session 9-7 up and then proceeded to take three of the first four frames.  Higgins tried to come back, but Ding continued playing good snooker to win through to the next round.

Some photos from the 22nd frame:

 John Higgins breaks off

 John Higgins takes on a long red

 John Higgins checks the scores

 Ding Junhui checks the angles

 Ding Junhui takes on a long red

Ding Junhui salutes the crowd

Running a bit behind schedule.....snooker action from Thursday 23rd April at the Crucible

Some photos from day 6 of the 2015 Betfred Snooker World Championships

Steve Davis and Ken Doherty  relive the old days while doing an intro to the afternoon session

 Mark Selby and Anthony McGill chat at the start of their first session

 Anthony McGill makes the first break at the start of the first session of the second round match with Mark Selby

 Anthony McGill uses the long rest while Mark Selby looks on in their second round match

  Anthony McGill attempts a long pot during his second round match with Mark Selby

Mark Selby, World #1 and defending World Snooker Champion, considers the table

Anthony McGill takes on the pink during his second round match with Mark Selby

Ronnie O'Sullivan - back on song at the Crucible

Ronnie O'Sullivan came back to the Crucible with a bang - leading Craig Steadman 7-2 after the first session in their first round best-of-19 match.

Ding Junhui on the comeback trail at the 2015 World Snooker Championship

Ding Junhui trailed Mark Davies 0-4 at the mid-session break in this afternoon's first round match.

 Ding Junhui breaks off

Mark Davies checks the scores

 Mark Davies reflects on a missed pot

 After Neil Robertson had completed his 10-2 demolition of Jamie Jones, the intervening screen went up and Ding was able to use his experience to bring the game back to 3-4 with breaks of 66, 109 and 76.

Nine frames should have been played in this best-of-19  first round match but they will have to conclude tomorrow morning.
 

Mark Selby walks out to defend his title on day 1 of World Snooker Championship

Day 1 of the 2015 World Snooker Championships at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.  Betfred are back as main sponsors (huzzah!).

Mark Selby walks out of the players tunnel to the acclaim of the crowd at the start of the first game in this years Championships which he won with a break of 89.

More photos of this years event can be seen at: http://www.peverilphoto.com/section665568_549149.html

And now for something completely different....

In a change to the advertised sports programmes, here are pictures of trams crossing the bridge outside Ponds Forge in Sheffield.

Put on some relaxing music and enjoy.