pukka pies uk championship

The Pukka Pies UK Championship snooker final, will not be the one that everybody expected, or hoped for, going into the semi finals. For all the world it looked as if there would be a Sunday showdown between Stephen Maguire and Ronnie O’Sullivan, but it is not to be. Maguire, ranked number two, fell in Friday’s first semi final to Chinaman Ding Junhui, who many never expected to be anywhere near the final. But Ding produced some of the best snooker of the tournament to beat the much fancied Maguire, setting himself up for the big final on Sunday.

The semi final that took all of the public’s imagination though, was the battle between Ronnie O’Sullivan, the World Number One, and John Higgins, the current World Champion. O’Sullivan, once again, has looked to be breezing through games, without ever hitting top form, and John Higgins punished him by racing out to a 8-2 lead. But then O’Sullivan dug deep and almost produced a famous comeback. Rocket Ronnie O’Sullivan though started to live up to his name, and rattled off six frames in a row, finding his groove. This put the wind up the Scot Higgins, who started to crumble, but he was the one who staged the biggest comeback when it was necessary. With the scores at 8 frames each, it was Higgins who steeled himself to take the victory.

So the final of the Pukka Pies UK Championship will be contested between Ding Junhui vs. John Higgins. Sessions start at 1pm and 7pm, but this time, unlike the rest of the tournament, it will be the best of 19 frames instead of 17. Higgins will start as favourite after beating Ding 7 times out of the last nine meetings between the two.

John Higgins to win: 4/9 at Paddy Power
Ding Junhui to win: 13/8 at Paddy Power

UK Championships Semi Final
Friday: Ding Junhui v Stephen Maguire
Saturday: Ronnie O’Sullivan v John Higgins

The Pukka Pies UK Championship enters into the semi final stage on Friday and Saturday. Friday sees Ding Junhui v Stephen Maguire taking to the table, and over two sessions will play to a conclusion. The two semi finals are separated over two days, allowing for a little rest for the players. Ding Junhui and Stephen Magquire came through the top half of the Championship draw, and concluded their matches earlier than the participants in the other semi final. So they are up in the first semi final on Friday.

It is the bottom half of the draw which has produced the most excitement, and as expected, the two favourites to reach the semi final, have. On Saturday, the Sheffield Arena will see Ronnie O’Sullivan vs. John Higgins for a place in Sunday’s final. Both of the combatants cruised with relative ease in their semi finals, with Higgins winning 9-2 over Liang Wenbo, and O’Sullivan beating Mark Selby 9-3. Rocket Ronnie O’Sullivan was not overly impressed with his performance, and for a man on top of his sport, he is his own worst critic, demanding perfection when he reaches the green baize. It is true though, that his quarter final match could have been a lot closer, but Mark Selby, a young pretender to O’Sullivan’s crowd, was guilty of unexpectedly missing some chances.

John Higgins, the current World Champion, did not have any problems, looking smooth and slick as he blitzed his way past Liang Wenbo. But still, even the Scot insisted that he will need to be better to get the better of Ronnie O’Sullivan on Saturday. In Friday’s other semi final, Stephen Maguire will start as favourite against China’s Ding Junhui, as he is looking in great form. Magquire saw off the challenge of qualifier Peter Lines in the quarter finals, 9 frames to 5, while his opponent, Ding Junhui staged something of a resilient comeback to snatch victory from Alistair Carter. There was doubts over how well Ding would perform, as he only jetted into the UK from his home nation on the eve of the tournament. But he has shown glimpses of producing the level of game which saw him first burst onto the scene.

Stephen Maguire to win: 10/11 at SportingBet
Ding Junhui to win: 10/11 at SkyBet

These genuinely have the potential of being two classic Pukka Pies UK Championship semi finals, with the spotlight for snooker fans, being firmly on the Ronnie O’Sullivan vs. John Higgins clash on Friday. Sessions for both days begin at 1pm and 7pm.

Pukka Pies UK Championship Outright
Ronnie O’Sullivan – 5/4 at ExtraBet
John Higgins – 7/2 at Totesport
Stephen Maguire – 9/2 at Bet365
Ding Junhui – 5/1 at Totesport

The bottom half of the draw for the Pukka Pies UK Championship of Snooker enters the quarter final stage on Thursday, with two of the strongest players looking to come together in the semi finals. World number one Ronnie O’Sullivan plays Mark Selby, while Liang Wenbo squares off against John Higgins. With defending champion Shaun Murphy now out of the running, losing heavily to Ding Junhui, O’Sullivan and Higgins are the two favourites to lift the title on Sunday. Ronnie O’Sullivan cruised past Peter Ebdon 8-3 in the second round, whilst John Higgins had a tougher time on his hands, seeing off Australian Neil Robertson in a final frame shoot-out.

The two quarter finals from the top half of the draw have already been settled, with Ali Carter blowing a 7-5 lead against Ding Junhui to lose 9-8, while a confident Stephen Maguire triumped over Peter Lines. England’s Peter Lines, (ranked 64th in the year) was one of the success stories of the tournament, having come through a couple of rounds of qualifying to get to the quarter final. On his quest, Lines had knocked out Marko Fu and Mark Williams, and if he could have dumped Scot Stephen Maguire out of the competition, that would have been his major scalp. But Stephen Maguire, who is ranked number two behind Ronnie O’Sullivan, is looking in fine shape, despite suffering some personal grief due to a family tragedy on the eve of the tournament. He represents a great bet to take the title, as he remains focused, and saw off the challenge of qualifier Lines 9-5. He will also avoid O’Sullivan until the final.

Ronnie O’Sullivan looked accomplished with glimpses of him stepping up to top gear in beating Peter Ebdon comprehensively, although and out of form Ebdon was the orchestrator of his own downfall a lot of the time. So the draw could be waiting for the big Ronnie O’Sullivan vs. John Higgins clash in the semi finals. But Mark Selby above others will be one of the young guns who can threaten Rocket Ronnie O’Sullivan’s end of year title hopes. Selby is one of the brave and fearless players who can challenge the World Number One. The match promises to hold some good attacking snooker and is the pick of the quarter finals.

Ronnie O’Sullivan to win: 1/2 at SkyBet
Mark Selby to win: 15/8 at Boylesports

Liang Wenbo to win: 15/8 at Stan James
John Higgins to win: 10/21 at Expekt

Pukka Pies UK Championship Winner
Ronnie O’Sullivan – 2/1 at SportingBet
Stephen Maguire – 4/1 at BetFred
Ding Junhui – 9/2 at Boylesports
John Higgins – 9/2 at Bet365
Mark Selby – 15/1 at ExtraBet
Liang Wenbo - 14/1 at Stan James

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