Pukka Pies UK Championship Snooker – Round Two - Rocket Ronnie OSullivan , Matthew Stevens 9-3, Ebdon simply cruised his way to a 9-4 victory over Judd Trump, some second round matches already underway, Stephen Hendry who beat legend Steve Davis , hotly contested match 9 frames to 6

Pukka Pies UK Championship Snooker – Round Two

December 7th, 2009 / Lee A Jackson

Rocket Ronnie O’Sullivan looked in relatively sharp form after beating one time UK Championship winner Matthew Stevens 9-3 in their first round match at the Pukka Pies UK Championship. The victory sets up a meeting with the popular figure of Peter Ebdon in the second round. Ebdon simply cruised his way to a 9-4 victory over Judd Trump, and should be a tougher test for tournament favourite O’Sullivan. Not always fluent during the encounter, O’Sullivan was still streaks ahead of Stevens, although the latter can be feeling a little hard done by with the run of some of the balls throughout the match.

There are a some second round matches already underway, one notable one involving Stephen Hendry who beat legend Steve Davis in the first round. The coming together of two great former champions was the mouth-watering clash of the first round of the Pukka Pies UK Championship, and it produced a feast of great snooker. Scot Hendry, who has always had the upper hand over Davis, won in a tight and hotly contested match, 9 frames to 6. The match was a somewhat scrappy affair, with missed chances and unforced errors from both players, which suggests again that their former glories are well and truly behind them. From the fragmented match, Stephen Hendry was desperately unhappy with his game, despite hitting three centuries in the match.

Also in the second round, Liang Wenbo leads Mark King 7-1, and John Higgins leads Neil Robertson 5-3. Defending Pukka Pies UK Championship title holder Shaun Murphy is awaiting the winner of jet-lagged Ding Junhui who is trailing Mike Dunn 3-5. Ronnie O’Sullivan though will want the chance to enact some revenge on Shaun Murphy, who beat him in the final of the Premier League recently. The UK Championships is the important end of calendar year tournament, where one and half times the normal World Ranking points are up for grabs. World Number One O’Sullivan remains favourite, and the rest of the chasing pack will be out to shoot him down in the Pukka Pies UK Championships.

Pukka Pies UK Champions Outright Winner
Ronnie O’Sullivan – 5/2 at Totesport
John Higgins – 11/2 at Bet365
Shaun Murphy – 6/1 at Stan James
Mark Selby – 6/1 at Totesport

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