Gibraltar Open Snooker 2021 LIVE - Stephen Hendry returns on Tuesday, Judd Trump defends title
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Updated 01/03/2021 at 20:25 GMT
Gibraltar Open Snooker 2021 LIVE - Judd Trump is back to defend the Gibraltar Open title he won 12 months ago, and is favourite, but Ronnie O'Sullivan is in the field and Stephen Hendry is back from retirement. The tournament kicks into gear at 09:00 on Monday with 2021 Masters winner Yan Bingtao on first and Ding Junhui, Shaun Murphy and Trump to follow.
Judd Trump
Image credit: Eurosport
That's us done for today
Join us again tomorrow at 1.45pm GMT
Around the tables
Oliver Brown 1-2 Fan Zhengyi
Michael White 0-2 Sohail Vahedi
Zak Surety 1-1 Tom Ford
Judd Trump beats Robbie Williams 4-1!
He looked set for a ton but missed a fairly simple red; no matter. The defending champion and world number 1 is through and a step closer to winning the series; he plays Pinhey or Songsermsawad next.
Trump 3-1 Williams (53-0)
After Robbie rolls into the pack, Judd finds a pot into the middle and the end might be close. There's work to do - the pack is semi-split so that cracking it won't necessarily knock balls about, but there's not that much available. Still, balls are disappearing fast and this looks a lot like a matchwinning run.
Around the tables
Oliver Brown 1-2 Fan Zhengyi
Michael White 0-1 Sohail Vahedi
Zak Surety 1-0 Tom Ford
Trump 3-1 Williams
Robbie foul-misses twice, and that's enough to end the frame.
Trump 2-1 Williams (52-13)
Aaarrrgghh! A poor positional shot that leaves him low on the blue has Robbie chasing, and eventually, forces to take the white in and out of baulk, he goes in-off. Judd can't take advantage, but when Robbie returns to the table he misses a plant that's not quite in line; Judd sinks a red to leave him needing a snooker, then tucks in behind the yellow.
Trump 2-1 Williams (54-7)
What?! Trump hits a red harder than he would ordinarily, looking to open the pack, and again he jawses it but this time when it rockets along the cushion it stays out of the opposite pocket. He's left Robbie everything, and this is a very good chance for 2-2.
Trump 2-1 Williams (30-0)
Robbie takes on a red and misses; Judd does not. But with the white on the side cushion it'll take a decent pot to disappear the pink ... and it looks like he's overcut it ... but it wriggles in. Then, on 19, he jawses a red in the top right ... only for it to shoot along the cushion and into the top left. Playing Judd is hard enough, but playing Judd when he's getting the run of things is more or less impossible.
Around the tables
Oliver Brown 1-1 Fan Zhengyi
Michael White 0-1 Sohail Vahedi
Zak Surety 0-0 Tom Ford
Trump 2-1 Williams
A run of 83 and that's another quick frame, Robbie yanking himself back into the match.
Trump 2-0 Williams (1-56)
Ronnie's taking these well, doing to Judd what Judd did to him in frame one: one mistake, and later.
Trump 2-0 Williams (1-34)
Judd glides home a long red just like that ... then leaves an easy blue an inch short! I did not see that coming and before it somehow unhappens, Robbie rolls home a simple starter while Uncle Joe suggests Trump hasn't quite got the speed of the table yet - he made various uncharacteristic errors in the last frame. Well, this is a decent opportunity for Robbie to punish him.
Around the tables
Andy Hicks 1-4 Allan Taylor (finished)
Joe Perry 4-2 Mark Davis (finished)
Oliver Brown 0-1 Fan Zhengyi
Michael White 0-0 Sohail Vahedi
Zak Surety v Tom Ford
Trump 2-0 Williams
That was a scrappy one, and if you're losing those to Judd you're in unbelievable trouble because there'll always be some where he straight out-talents you.
Trump 1-0 Williams (31-32)
Oh dear. Robbie isn't getting the run of the balls here, and when he cuts a red to top right that looks certain to drop but doesn't, he's looking down the barrel of 0-2 having done almost all the hard work to resolve this table.
Trump 1-0 Williams (30-31)
Robbie can't take advantage but when Judd plays a poor safety, clipping a red en route back to baulk, he leaves Robbie a chance. Robbie can't take it but gets the next one too; there's a lot of work to do to turn it into a framewinner.
Trump 1-0 Williams (30-1)
A reprieve for Robbie! Judd strokes a red along the black cushion that does everything but go down, so Robbie plays a decent attacking safety, developing the black and yanking the white up to the baulk cushion. With the reds spread, Judd now has a difficult shot and ends up foul/miss/freeballing.
Trump 1-0 Williams (12-1)
A fine pot gives Robbie first go at the table but he can't manage anything more and Judd is already ensconced to punish. The pink is tied up and the black won't be available for a while, but there are enough loose reds to take with blues for the time being.
Around the tables
Andy Hicks 1-2 Allan Taylor
Joe Perry 3-2 Mark Davis
Oliver Brown 0-0 Fan Zhengyi
Michael White v Sohail Vahedi
Zak Surety v Tom Ford
Trump 1-0 Williams
He misses the next red but that's an assertion of superiority if ever I've seen one. Williams took one shot and that was that, frame done in under seven minutes.
Trump 0-0 Williams (72-0)
Trump hasn't been his usual perfect self recently but this is terrific stuff. He's so brave in his shot selection and so natural in his execution.
Trump 0-0 Williams (28-0)
Oh dear. A poor break-off from Robbie hands Judd the table and he immediately gets to work removing balls. There's a fair chance he's already a frame down.
The players are with us.
Off we go.
Robbie Williams is 79 in the world
And absolutely no mug. He got to the quarters of the English Open recently, and has beaten some good players - including Trump, trailing the head-to-head 2-1.
Results since we last spoke
Robert Milkins 4-3 Gary Wilson
Ricky Walden 4-3 Mark Joyce
Rory McLeod 1-4 Hossein Vafaei
Andy Hicks 0-2 Allan Taylor
Joe Perry 3-2 Mark Davis
Shaun Murphy 4-2 Ashley Hugill
Hello again
Eyes down for some evening ludicrous genius! can Trump defend his title and secure the Home Nations Series?
Right, that's us done for the afternoon
Join me again at 6.45pm GMT for Judd Trump v Robbie Williams.
Around the tables
Robert Milkins 3-3 Gary Wilson
Mitchell Mann 4-0 Lukas Kleckers
Ricky Walden 2-2 Mark Joyce
Si Jiahui beats Ding Junhui 4-2!
That's a brilliant win for Si, who's had a difficult season, and a huge shock. He meets Ricky Walden or Mark Joyce next.
Ding 2-3 Si (37-68)
Ding plays a tremendous shot, sticking Si behind the pink, and though it's not difficult for him to play off one cushion to hit a red, he leaves it. Ding, though, can only add a black, plays safe ... and leaves one! It's a brute of a pot, cut fro near the top end into the yellow pocket ... but Si clips it home! That is a gorgeous piece of work under pressure! He sets about clearing up, and this is over!
Ding 2-3 Si (25-61)
Here we go! Si sends the white hard and almost the full length of the table, cutting home a red! He needs a colour and one more ... he needs one more because the pink is gliding into the centre! Match-ball is tricky, and though he gets as close as it's possible to, he can't get rid of it, clipping the jaw. Two reds remain and Si needs one, both now up in baulk.
Ding 2-3 Si (25-54)
Ding opens the cluster and leaves a long one for Si; this is the match right here! But he jawses it and Ding sees away a good long one of his own, only to finish on nothing! As a consolation, he develops the brown.
Ding 2-3 Si (24-54)
Si has a shy at a long one and misses, cannoning another into pottable position. Ding sees it away and works himself down the table; that cluster on the top cushion is intact, and one red remains on the side; with nothing available, Ding sends it to chill with the others, and we could be here a while.
Ding 2-3 Si (8-54)
Ding lays a snooker and Si misses with his escape, allowing Ding a go at a complex table. He can add just eight before playing back up to baulk; 75 points remain on the table.
Ding 2-3 Si (0-54)
A reprieve for Ding! Si misses a red with the rest, taken on with safety in mind, and we begin a critical safety exchange. There are seven reds left, four close to the black cushion and three close to the side cushion.
Ding 2-3 Si (0-47)
Right, here we go again. A rash shot from Ding sticks Si in, and this is a proper chance! After a nervy passage, he's back to looking good now, and is close to building a matchwinning lead!
Ding 2-3 Si (0-14)
OK, we're talking. Ding leaves Si a red over the centre that even I'd drain, making his way down the table. The black, though, is on the top cushion and the pink only goes to the middle, so when he doesn't come back up high enough, he has to play safe off the green.
Around the tables
Robert Milkins 2-2 Gary Wilson
Mitchell Mann 2-0 Lukas Kleckers
Ricky Walden 1-1 Mark Joyce
Ding 2-3 Si
Ding sinks a red and that's him right back in the game.
Ding 1-3 Si (51-14)
They chase around for a bit.
Ding 1-3 Si (51-14)
After a back and forth of safety shots Ding picks out a plant into the bottom left and lands on the yellow. As Fouldsy has just pointed out in co-comms, the only other meeting between these two was in the first round of the 2020 English Open, where Si led 3-0 and eventually lost it 4-3 in a decider. That'll be on both their minds here, as Ding adds 37 to leave Si needing a snooker with one red remaining.
Ding 1-3 Si (30-14)
Si's back in now though, planting one red near the blue spot onto a red over the bottom right, and potting both. The blue follows, but with the break coming together and the whiff of victory in the air, he misses his next blue off the bottom knuckle of the left middle when focusing too hard on a canon into two reds. That should be expensive, but isn't; Ding only adds 10 before missing a cut back on a red into the bottom right. This is getting a little nervy.
Ding 1-3 Si (20-6)
An attacking safety from Ding in the fifth forces Si into a thrash at a long red to the bottom right. He misses it, and leaves Ding an easy starter just above the black spot. The black itself is near the bottom cushion but the pink is quickly relocated to the black spot, and Ding has a load on here. Just as he looks to be gathering momentum though, he misses a shocker of a short red to the bottom right. It's a chance for Si, but he can only make six from it before running out of position and playing back to baulk.
Ding 1-3 Si
A break of 68 from Ding with only the colours left sorts the frame. Finally, he's in the match.
Ding 0-3 Si (51-27)
Ding polishes off a very swift half century, and with the remaining reds set fair just beneath the pink this one looks done. A 3-0 lead and being one frame from victory is where you want to be, but in a best of seven it's an advantage that can evaporate quickly.
Ding 0-3 Si (15-27)
A poor shot choice here from Si; after wobbling in a long red he deposits the brown into the left middle, trying to screw straight back and in and out of baulk as he does so. It's near impossible to generate the power needed to get back down the table for his next red, and indeed he fails to do so. His safety shot is poor too, and Ding's in with a red into the left middle.
Ding 0-3 Si (0-22)
It's a bad start to the fourth for Ding, as he leaves a red hanging over the bottom left. Si drops it in with heavy drag, leaving a thin snick on the black that looks difficult but is made to look anything but. Just as it looks like Ding should start making alternative plans for the week though, Si overruns when potting a red to bottom left and he's not on the black. A reprieve for Ding, who needs to get at it double quick.
Around the tables
Robert Milkins 0-2 Gary Wilson
Mitchell Mann 1-0 Lukas Kleckers
Ricky Walden 0-0 Mark Joyce
Ding 0-3 Si
A run of 99 puts Ding in a world of pain. He needs four straight to stay in the competition.
Ding 0-2 Si (0-78)
Si sinks a black that's frame-ball, then sends a red into the middle to be sure. His game is nice and uncomplicated - he cues straight and true, and if he sees a pot he attacks it.
Ding 0-2 Si (0-54)
A poor shot that fails to release more reds from the pack leaves Si chasing; he plays a good, thin pot to partially redeem things, then takes a blue and another tough red that necessarily opens everything. It's beginning to look a lot like 3-0.
Ding 0-2 Si (0-27)
Yeah, this is excellent from Si, rolling an opener into the middle; he's such a fluent player and always looking to score, so when he's on you'll not be getting many chances against him. He quickly tickles a few reds loose from the pack, develops the black after a couple of blues, and this is great stuff.
Around the tables
Robert Milkins 0-1 Gary Wilson
Mitchell Mann 0-0 Lukas Kleckers
Ricky Walden 0-0 Mark Joyce
Ding 0-2 Si
Another half-century, this time of 63, puts Si two in front. He's flowing nicely - Ding has missed two simple blacks, but never looked like missing when meting out punishment.
Ding 0-1 Si (37-62)
This is terrific stuff from Si, who cracks home the green off its spot - that's frame-ball.
Ding 0-1 Si (37-31)
Well! Another bad miss from Ding, catching the black too thin, and this is another great chance for Si! He looks pretty confident out there, and will be starting to think he can win. 'He's got a bit of gift about him," says Neal.
Ding 0-1 Si (9-24)
There's a delay before frame two as Si is sent to procure his bow-tie; he's back with one, what a relief! He then cracks home a decent long opener and gets to work ... until he misses a black on the stretch, undercutting one that needed a thin contact. There's only one loose red though, so Ding nudges into the pack off his first black and that's worked out pretty well.
Around the tables
David Lilley 4-2 Duane Jones (finished)
Robert Milkins 0-1 Gary Wilson
Mitchell Mann 0-0 Lukas Kleckers
Ricky Walden 0-0 Mark Joyce
Ding 0-1 Si
A run of 58 confirms the lead for Si, who's playing nicely; Ding will be rueing that peculiar missed black.
Ding 0-0 Si (18-49)
Eesh! Ding overcuts a regulation black and it doesn't stay over the pocket, leaving a route to it for Si. He should make the frame safe from here.
Ding 0-0 Si (18-49)
But there are still plenty of points left on the table when he runs out of position; he opts to take on a tricky one to keep the break going, the only red he might leave the one he's attempting. He misses it by a fair way, hitting the black cushion when looking for the top right, and a fine pot from Ding, played along that rail, allows him to lay a snooker behind the blue. It forces Si to leave one, which he takes, and a fine plant shortly afterwards gives him a pretty handy chance to clear up.
Ding 0-0 Si (0-47)
Si is 89 in the world, not bad for 18; at that age, I was 89 in the world for [redcated]. The pair have played once before, at last year's English Open - Ding won 4-3 and in commentary, Neal Fouls confirms that he's a good player. He gets in first too, quickly opening the pack then doing so again and looking good.
Here come the players!
The big news
Is the defeat for Masters champ Yan Bingtao. Not easy, this game.
Already today
9am
- Zhou Yuelong 4-0 Xu Si
- Yuan Sijun 1-4 Alexander Ursenbacher
- Yan Bingtao 1-4 Jamie Clarke
- Martin O’Donnell 2-4 Xiao Guodong
11.30am
- Brian Ochoiski 1-4 Liang Wenbo
- David Lilley 3-2 Duane Jones
- David Gilbert 4-1 Paul Davison
- Jimmy Robertson 4-2 James Cahill
For your delectation, we have:
- Robert Milkins v Gary Wilson
- Mitchell Mann v Lukas Kleckers
- Ricky Walden v Mark Joyce
- Ding Junhui v Si Jiahui
We'll be focusing on the fourth of those matches, with updates on the rest.
Afternoon all
And welcome to the Gibraltar Open!
SCENE SETTER
Stephen Hendry returns to snooker. The seven-time world champion faces friend Matthew Selt on Tuesday, but before that Judd Trump gets the defence of his title underway on Monday evening with a match against Robbie Williams.
The world number on Trump said this week it would be a “surprise” to him if Hendry “won any games at all”.
Elsewhere, Ronnie O’Sullivan, who lost the Players Championship final to John Higgins on Sunday, begins his quest for a 38th ranking title on Wednesday, when he faces old foe Ali Carter.
The action kicks off on Monday at 09:00 as Yan Bingtao takes on world number 92 Jamie Clarke, with Ding Junghui, Shaun Murphy and Trump also in action.
Draw and Results
Round one
Monday, March 1
9am
- Zhou Yuelong 4-0 Xu Si
- Yuan Sijun 1-4 Alexander Ursenbacher
- Yan Bingtao 1-4 Jamie Clarke
- Martin O’Donnell 2-4 Xiao Guodong
11.30am
- Brian Ochoiski 1-4 Liang Wenbo
- David Lilley 4-2 Duane Jones
- David Gilbert 4-1 Paul Davison
- Jimmy Robertson 4-2 James Cahill
2pm
- Robert Milkins 4-3 Gary Wilson
- Mitchell Mann 4-0 Lukas Kleckers
- Ricky Walden 4-3 Mark Joyce
- Ding Junhui 2-4 Si Jiahui
4.30pm
- Rory McLeod v Hossein Vafaei
- Andy Hicks v Allan Taylor
- Joe Perry v Mark Davis
- Shaun Murphy v Ashley Hugill
7pm
- Judd Trump v Robbie Williams
- Oliver Brown v Fan Zhengyi
- Michael White v Sohail Vahedi
- Zak Surety v Tom Ford
Tuesday March 2
9am
- Steven Hallworth v Jamie Jones
- Chen Zifan v Daniel Womersley
- Ian Burns v Leon Fernandez
- Jack Lisowski v Farakh Ajaib
11.30am
- Mark Williams v Li Hang
- Jimmy White v Joe O’Connor
- Chang Bingyu v Eden Sharav
- Nigel Bond v Chris Wakelin
2pm
- Kyren Wilson v Kuldesh Johal
- Andrew Higginson v Lu Haotian
- Stuart Carrington v Gao Yang
- Zhao Xintong v Ashley Carty
4.30pm
- Ken Doherty v Matthew Stevens
- Mark Selby v Sam Craigie
- Peter Devlin v Daniel Wells
- Elliot Slessor v Jackson Page
7pm
- Matthew Selt v Stephen Hendry
- Barry Hawkins v Luo Honghao
- Martin Gould v David Grace
- Zhao Jianbo v Noppon Saengkham
Wednesday March 3
9am
- Stuart Bingham v Gerard Greene
- Dominic Dale v Tian Pengfei
- Barry Pinches v Anthony Hamilton
- Liam Highfield v Fraser Patrick
11.30am
- Scott Donaldson v Peter Lines
- Kacper Filipiak v Alan McManus
- Jake Jones v Ryan Day
- Rod Lawler v Jordan Brown
2pm
- John Higgins v Jamie Wilson
- Lee Walker v Jamie O’Neil
- Pang Junxu v Igor Figueredo
- Anthony McHill v Louis Heathcote
4.30pm
- Amine Amiri v Akani Songsermsawad
- Neil Robertson v Lei Peifan
- Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v Sean Maddocks
- Billy Joe Castle v Ben Woollaston
7pm
- Graeme Dott v Ben Hancorn
- Oliver Lines v Riley Parsons
- Simon Lichtenberg v Lu Ning
- Ronnie O’Sullivan v Ali Carter
Thursday March 4
9am
- Iulian Boiko v Fergal O’Brien
- Mark Allen v Jamie Curtis-Barrett
- Brandon Sargeant v Aaron Hill
- Mark King v Luca Brecel
How to watch the event
The 2021 Gibraltar Open is live on Eurosport.
You can watch it on eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app. You can download the Eurosport app for iOS and Android now.
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