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The second blog for The Yorker from the University of York Riding Club
For only £5 (hooray for student nights!), I got to watch the two evening matches, featuring Shaun Murphy against Li Yan and Martin Gould against Peter Lines. With no partition between the tables as there usually is at these tournaments, it was great to be able to see both games simultaneously and witness twice as much snooker!
With the Championships returning to the York Barbican after four years at the Telford International Centre while the Barbican was closed, I was pleased to have the chance to watch the competition in my own back yard, so to speak.
I always watch the competitions on television but to witness it live was a completely different experience – from the entertaining announcer to the dramatic walk-on music, the whole atmosphere was electric from start to finish (apart from the occasional mobile phone disturbances and static from headset commentaries!).
Not being able to choose which games we watched, due to attending the student night, and being only the second day of the competition, I was expecting to see some of the less interesting matches the competition might have to offer, but was pleased to get to see former world champion Shaun Murphy in action.
From his shot selection, placement and tactics, he looked in most frames like the perfect player. Only occasionally did he falter, letting in his 19-year-old opponent Li Yan and showing that even the most talented players make mistakes – some comfort for time next I mess up in college pool!
The match was a great one overall, with Li coming from behind to take a surprise 2-1 lead before Murphy used his talent and experience to push himself ahead, eventually winning 6-3.
On the second table, Martin Gould defeated Peter Lines 6-2 and although the standard of snooker wasn’t as high as Murphy’s and Li’s, it was a still a tense game, with some frames so close that they lasted almost 45 minutes. Gould was the deserved winner, with a fine break of 127, and he pushed Murphy in their second round meeting, narrowly losing 6-4.
Even though the games didn’t finish until around 10.30pm, the players and the audience were full of enthusiasm, and I know I was certainly buzzing for a few hours afterwards from the amazing experience.
One player I would have liked to have seen live is Judd Trump. Full of exciting shots, determination and aggressive play, he makes snooker so exciting to watch. He knocked out Stephen Maguire and Ronnie O’Sullivan on his path to the final, where he beat Mark Allen 10-8 to win his first major title. I will definitely be going back to watch him in the future.
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