Welshman White wins maiden ranking snooker title

Mumbai, March 14, 2015: Michael White of Wales, world ranked 22, was in tremendous form and gave a brilliant exhibition of potting with control and breaking building as he completely whitewashed England’s world rank 8, Ricky Walden 5-0, in the best-of-9-frame final of the 300,000 pounds Indian Open Snooker World Ranking Tournament, organized by the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI), and being played at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Kalina, on Saturday evening.

The 23-year-old Welshman from Neath, was quickly off the blocks and every time Walden made a mistake he was punished by White who captitalised on the openings by constructing some neat breaks of 81 in the first, 77 in the second, 45 and 41 in the third and 32 and 58 in the fourth, to take a commanding 4-0 lead before a short interval. The 25-minute break did not help Walden to regain his concentration and focus while White once again continued to hit the balls with a high degree of precision and came up with another run of 85, which was the highest of the match, win the frame and to emerge champion. On the other hand the 32-year-old Walden was completely out of touch and could muster only 27 points in the match which finished in less than 54 minutes.

This triumph was White’s maiden world ranking title and will he return home richer by 50,000 pounds, while Walden pocketed the runner-up prize of 25,000 pounds. The Welshman, who won his first pro title when he defeated China’s Xiao Guodong in the Snooker Shoot-out in Blackpool, England last week, has also recorded his first win against the Englishman in three meetings. White had lost to Walden in the quarter-finals of the World Championship in 2013 and in the Euro PTC 2 in October 2010.

Earlier in the semi-finals played in the morning, Walden had to bring out his best to overcome a 0-3 deficit and script a sensational 4-3 win against qualifier and giant-killer Thepachiaya Un-Nooh of Thailand, who was playing his first ever semi-final of a ranking tournament. The Thai, world ranked 61, had beaten world number 4 and defending champion Ding Junhui of China in the first round and world number 12 Mark Davis in the previous round, before falling to guiles of the England pro, who cleverly adopted a tactical defensive game. The left-handed Thai cueist returned home richer by 13,500 pounds.

In the first semi-final, White was in full flow against his countryman and idol Mark Williams, world rank 15, scoring a comfortable 4-2 victory. The former two-time world champion Williams another southpaw, won the first frame but was unable to stop the younger Welshman, who rattled in a table clearance break of 126 in the second and then signed off with a 87 in the sixth to wrap up the match.

Shri Vinod Tawde, Honourbale Minister for Sports & Youth Affairs, Government of Maharashtra, was the Chief Guest and presented the Trophies and cash awards to winners and Runner-up.

Results – Final: Michael White (Wales) bt Ricky Walden (England) (81(81)-0, 77(77)-20, 86(45, 41)-0, 90(32, 58)-1, 85(85)-6).

Semi-final: Michael White (Wales) bt Mark Williams (Wales) 4-2 (41-65, 126(126)-7, 66-23, 80(41)-40, 39-68(55), 109(87)-4).

Ricky Walden (England) bt Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Thailand) 4-3 (0-78(78), 53(53)-68(62), 0-72(68), 81-0, 73(42)-36, 78(78)-0, 91(41)-47(34).

Caption: Maharashtra Minister for Sports & Youth Affairs Shri Vinod Tawde (right) gives away the winners’ trophy and the cash award of 50,000 pounds to Michael White of Wales at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Kalina on March 14, 2015. 

Welsmen Williams, White to clash in semis

Mumbai: Mark Williams and Michael White, both from Wales scored fluent wins in the quarter-finals of the 300,00 pounds Indian Open Snooker World Ranking Tournament, organized by the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India and being played at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Kalina.

The senior pro, 39-year-old Williams, world ranked 15, was in total control throughout his 4-1 demolition of England’s 38-year-old Robert Milkin, who is ranked one place lower.

On the adjacent table, the 23-year-old White who is ranked 22 in the world recovered well after going down 2-1 to put it across Chris Wakelin of England, winning 4-2 to set up a semi-final with his compatriot, Williams who inspired him to play the sport.

Results

Round III: Mark Williams (Wales) bt Robert Milkins (England) 4-1 ((69(51)-28, 58-45, 77(76)-0, 90(36, 54)-0, 67-12).

 Michael White (Wales) bt Chris Wakelin (England) 4-2 (0-76, 59(55)-7, 0-82(63), 72(71)-22, 99(99)-0, 55-46).

Press release

Aditya Mehta bows out, Thailand’s Un-Nooh lone Asian survivor

Ricky Walden

Mumbai, March 13, 2015: While India’s Aditya Mehta bowed out in the second round, Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh kept the Asian challenge alive by advancing to the quarter-finals of the 300,000 pounds Indian Open Snooker World Ranking Tournament, organized by the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI), and being played at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Kalina.

The 29-year-old Mumbai cueist, Mehta, ranked 50th in the world was no match for England’s Ricky Walden going down rather tamely by a 4-2 margin in a second round match late Thursday night.

The 29-year-old Thai Un-Nooh, ranked 61 in the world, played without any pressure but with loads of confidence, as he came back after losing the losing the first frame to sideline 45th ranked Welshman Jamie Jones 4-1, finishing with a neatly compiled break of 123 and for the first time reaching the first quarter-final of a ranking event.

The 32-year-old Englishman, Walden ranked 8 in the world, showed awesome touch and quickly got down to business by comfortably taking the opening three frames before the Indian delayed his march to victory by winning the next two to narrow the lead. Walden, who had earlier compiled breaks of 63 and 42 in the first two frames, produced another decent effort of 43 in the sixth to complete a 70(63)-0, 78-27, 77-13, 18-73, 0-76, 81-1 victory.

The Mumbai pro was not too disappointed with the outcome and quite modestly admitted that he was beaten by a better player. “He (Walden) started better than me and played well in the first few frames. He potted some great balls, great balls and scored and I missed and he punished me every time,” said Mehta.

The Indian pointed out that his performance did not have any bearing on his loss. “There was nothing wrong with my game. I am number 50 in the world and he is ranked 8 so you could see that at the end of the day,” Mehta further stated.

 “I have to think about what I could have done differently. Obviously he’s one of the top players in the world I could not afford to let him off to a good start, “ lamented Mehta who will now shift his focus to the World Championship, starting in about two weeks in Sheffield, England.

Thepchaiya is now the only player from Asia remaining in the tournament after the two remaining Chinese players, Li Hang and Tian Pengfei lost their last 16 round matches, to Michael White and Walden respectively.

The young 23-year-old White, world ranked 22, enjoyed a good run of the balls piling up runs of 94, 109, 62 and 77 in dispatching off 64thranked Chinese Hang, who is a year older by a 4-2 margin, while Walden, who had killed the Indians interests in the tournament when he put an abrupt end Mehta’s run blanked Pengfei 4-0.

Wales 39-year-old Mark Williams, world ranked 15, showed tremendous fighting qualities as came from 3-2 down to beat world number 6, Judd Trump of England 4-3 in thrilling and exciting contest.

Mark Davis of England, world raanked 18, extended his winning streak against former four-time world champion and 12th ranked John Higgins, coasting to a 4-0 win for a a sixth consecutive victory over the 39-year-old Scotsman.

Results - Round II: Ricky Walden (England) bt Aditya Mehta 4-2 (70(63)-0, 78(42)-27, 77-13, 18-73, 0-76(46), 81(43)-1).

Round III: Mark Williams (Wales) bt Judd Trump ( England) 4-3 (92(68)-23, 20-112(104), 108(108)-4, 4-73(55), 1-67(67), 59-25, 70(63)-21).

Chris Wakelin (England) bt Nigel Bond (England) 4-1 (70(50)-52, 73-48, 96(96)-0, 24-69(69), 68(41)-56(55).

Robert Milkins (England) bt Graeme Dott (Scotland) 4-2 (24-81(69), 67(60)-6, 63-24, 73(68)-6, 5-76(47), 79-7).

Michael White (Wales) bt Li Hang (China) 4-2 (94(94)-0, 8-102(50), 118(109)-8, 36-89(41), 89(62)-23, 77(77)-0).

Mark Davis (England) bt John Higgins (Scotland) 4-0 (77(72)-4, 87(87)-1, 62-32, 66(66)-1).

Ricky Walden (England) bt Tian Pengfei (China) 4-0 (64(46)-17, 65(45)-12, 53-40, 75(75)-20).

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Thailand) bt Jamie Jones (Wales) 4-1 (17-63, 73(55)-10, 69-58, 79(51)-1, 123(123)-4).

Joe Perry (England) bt Kyren Wilson (England) 4-3 (81(66)-40, 16-63, 42-71, 63(55)-61, 78(38,40)-0, 25-55. 79(55)-0).

Press release

Lilly lets China’s Haotian off the hook, fails to qualify for main draw

Mumbai, March 10, 2015: India’s Dharmendra Lilly had his chances, but let them slip out of his hands and also the opportunity to qualify for the main draw of the 300,000 pounds prize money 2nd Indian Open Snooker World Ranking Tournament, organised by the Billiards & Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) and being played at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Kalina. The Punjab cueist squandered a good 3-1 lead before going down to China’s 74th ranked Lyu Haotian 3-4 in a long draw wild card qualifying match on Tuesday evening.

The 40–year-old Punjabi showed promise and kept his hopes alive of progressing to the main tournament when he raced to a 2-0 lead and then extend it to 3-1 before the 17-year-old Chinese with some steady efforts, a 79 break in the third, 49 in the fifth and 56 in the sixth clawed his way back to draw level at 3-all and take the match to the deciding seventh frame.

In the decider, Lily once again was sitting pretty when he started with a run of 33. But after sinking his fifth red he missed a regulation black pot and the Chinese replied with a 33 break of his own. Haotian also missed the black in the same top pocket. After that both adopted to safety play before the Chinese marginally went ahead at and 58-49. With only the last two colours remaining, Haotian who only required to pot one of the two balls missed a difficult pink in the top pocket which provided Lily with the perfect situation to win the frame.

However, for the second time Lily made a hash, missing a straight pink as he tried to get into position for the black, which was against the top cushion and let his opponent off the hook. Haotian this time made certain that he would not let go of the chance and coolly rolled the pink to complete a deserving win.

Lily later admitted that the black miss in the decider proved to be his downfall. “I was doing well but the black miss was the turning point otherwise I could have gone on to make a break of 60 plus which would have sealed the frame for me,” said Lily, who appreciated the performance of  his young rival. “He (Haotian) played very well and whenever he got the chance he made some good breaks which helped him to win.”

Earlier, three other Indians Neeraj Kumar, Brijesh Damani and Sumit Talwar were unable to shake off the opening day’s nerves and lost out on the opportunity to make it to the main draw.

The 35-year-old Kumar was unable to offer any sort of resistance to Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, ranked 61stin the world and went down without a whimper, 4-0 in the best-of-7 frames wild card pre-tournament qualifying match on Tuesday morning. The 29-year-old Thai cueist had breaks of 64 in the second and followed it up with an unfinished century effort of 101 in the third before signing off with a run of 69 in the fourth to wrap the issue at 92-9, 101-15, 101-23, 77-8 in a little under 45 minutes. The Thai player now runs in to top seed and defending champion Ding Junhui, ranked 4th in the world in the first round of the main draw.

Later in the day, the 32-year-old Damani showed promise at the start against England’s Sam Baird by comfortably grabbing the first frame. But, thereafter his game went to pieces and the 26-year-old Baird cashed in on the chances to win the next four on the trot to close out the match at 4-1 (4-71, 57-26, 67-27, 129-1, 68-31). Baird, who had two decent breaks of 69 and 50 in the fourth frames, has now qualified for the main tournament and will take on 35th ranked Rod Lawler of England in the first round.

The 32-year-old Talwar, like his countryman Kumar also failed to put up a fight and was comprehensively beaten 4-0 by 25-year-old Adam Duffy of England.

In the most exciting and absorbing match of the day, 26th ranked Ben Woollaston of England held his nerves in the crucial deciding frame to nose out China’s 51st ranked Yu Delu by a tight 4-3 margin. After the two shared the opening six frames the Chinese seized the initiative in the seventh with a well constructed break of 66 to be placed in a comfortable position. Woollaston won at 54-66, 24-90(59), 80-13, 65(41)-54, 0-89(72), 101(100)-16, 74-67(66).

Meanwhile, two upsets were witnessed in the first round of the tournament proper. First, 45th ranked Jamie Jones of Wales, came up with an impressive showing to turn the tables on 20th ranked Liang Wenbo posting a come from behind 4-2 victory.

Jones lost a tight first frame and was outplayed in the second as the Chinese compiled a neat run of 85 to take a 2-0 lead. The Welshman showed great resilience and first with small but useful breaks and later a neat run of 73 in the sixth helped him win the subsequent four frames to clinch a 50-54, 1-85, 74-47, 65-54, 74-31 and 81-0 triumph and a passage to a second round meeting with 43rd ranked Englishman Gerard Greenie who also got past a higher ranked opponent in 32nd ranked Welshman Mathew Stevens. In a match of fluctuating fortunes Greenie came through at 4-2 (8-88, 71-42, 90(69)-0, 62-23, 37-61, 70(48)-14).

The results:

Wild card qualifier: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Thailand) bt Neeraj Kumar (India) 4-0 (92-9, 101(64)-15, 101(101)-23, 77-8).

Sam Baird (England) bt Brijesh Damani (India) 4-1 (4-71, 57-26, 67-27, 129-1, 68-31).

Adam Duffy (England) bt Sumit Talwar (India) 4-0 (51-15, 63-53, 71-32, 71-45).

Lyu Haotian (China) bt Dharmendra Lily (India) 4-3 (23-75, 21-66, 81(79)-23, 22-47, 74(49)-11, 70(56)-23, 64-49).

Main draw (round-I): Jamie Jones (Wales) bt Liang Wenbo (China) 4-2 (50(49)-54(41), 1-85(85), 74-47, 65-54, 74-31, 81-0).

Gerad Greenie (England) bt Mathew Stevens (Wales) 4-2 (8-88, 71-42, 90(69)-0, 62-23, 37-61, 70(48)-14).

Ben Woollaston (England) bt Yu Delu (China) 4-3 (54-66, 24-90(59), 80-13, 65(41)-54, 0-89(72), 101(100)-16, 74-67(66).

Press release

Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao inaugurates Indian Open Snooker

Mumbai, March 9, 2015:  Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao inaugurated the 2nd edition of the Indian Open Snooker World Ranking Tournament at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Kalina on Monday. Also present on the occasion was S.S. Mundra, Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India.

Governor Rao in his address lauded the efforts of the BSFI (Billiards & Snooker Federation of India) for conducting a world ranking tournament in India. “I congratulate the BSFI for holding the Indian Open and I wish them all the best for the success of the tournament,” he said.

The Governor requested BSFI to promote cue sports at the grassroots and at the university level.

The Governor also released a souvenir before declaring the tournament open.

Jason Ferguson, Chairman, WPBSA said that it’s great that cue sport, which oIndia is receiving such great support from people like Capt. Mohan. India is truly now a global hub for cue sports.

riginated in

BSFI President Capt Mohan while thanking the sponsors and the world leading players announced that two professional leagues would soon be launched in India. He also said that the BSFI is making efforts to take the sports to schools, colleges and universities to promote the sport at the grassroots level.

Caption: Governor of Maharashtra Ch Vidyasagar Rao (centre) is given tips by Indian National champion and multiple world champion Pankaj Advani (left) during the inauguration of the Indian Open Snooker World Ranking Tournament at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Kalina. Looking on is BSFI president Capt. P.V.K. Mohan.

Top stars set to fire on green baize

Mumbai, March 9, 2015: With a galaxy of the world’s best players all geared up for action, a snooker extravaganza is set to unfold as the 2nd Indian Open Snooker World Ranking Tournament, organised by the Billiards & Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) cues off at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Kalina on Tuesday, March 10.

The 64-player draw includes defending champion Ding Junhui of China,  the top ranked player at number 4 in the world and the likes of Englishmen Judd Trump and Ricky Walden, world ranked 6th and 8th respectively and Hong Kong’s 10th ranked Marco Fu. The top three ranked players Mark Selby of England, Neil Robertson of Australia and another English legend Ronnie O’Sullivan have decided to give this event a miss.

Junhui, who comes into the tournament having suffered first round defeats in the Welsh Open and German Masters last month and with his last title win being the Asian Tour Event One in China last June will definitely have to lift up his game if he harbours any hopes of retaining his crown, which he won last year in New Delhi.

The 27-year-old Chinese awaits the winner of the Wild Card round match between India's Neeraj Kumar and Thailand’s 61st ranked Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, in the opening round on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, last year’s runner-up Aditya Mehta is the only Indian to have directly qualified for the main draw. The 29-year-old Mehta, who is ranked 50th in the world had defeated Hammad Miah of England in the Indian Open qualifying round in Barnsley Metrodome, England in February, and will take on Englishman Mark King, ranked 33rd, in the first round on Wednesday. The Indian will go into the match with the confidence of his good showing in the Welsh Open where he reached the third round before losing to Scot Alan McManus and will look to put up a repeat performance.

Six Indians, including Pankaj Advani, a multiple world champion in both snooker and billiards, will participate in the pre-tournament wild card qualifying round. Besides Advani, Neeraj Kumar, Brijesh Damani, Dharmendra Lilly, Sumit Talwar and Faisal Khan, all having won wild cards during the Indian qualifying legs, will pit their skill against six other players from England, Scotland, China and Thailand. The winners will earn berths in the 64-player main draw.

The 29-year-old Advani meets Scot Rhys Clark on Monday evening and if he manages to progress to the tournament proper will be up against 22-year-old Englishman Chris Wakelin in the first round.

The other leading players who will showcase their skills would be former World champions John Higgins, Mark Williams, Peter Ebdon and Ken Doherty.

The opening day will feature 18 matches starting from 10 am. While DD Sport will telecast throughout the day, interspersed with their regular programs, the evening session will be telecast live on NDTV.

Format: The tournament will be played on a knockout basis and all matches up to and including semi-finals will be of best-of-7 frames (no intervals) and the final will be played over best-of-9 frames.

Prize money break-up:

Winner: 50,000 pounds.

Runner-up: 25,000 pounds.

Losing semi-finalists (x2): 13,500 pounds each.

Losing quarter-finalists (x4): 9,000 pounds each.

Round 3 losers (x8): 6,000 pounds each.

Round 2 losers (x16): 3,000 pounds each.

Round 1 losers (x32): 2,000 pounds each.

Press release

World’s best cueists for Indian Open Snooker

Mumbai, March 7, 2015: The world’s leading exponents of snooker will assemble in the commercial capital of India, Mumbai, to participate in the second edition of the 300,000 pounds prize money Indian Open Snooker World Ranking Tournament – 2015, which will be organised by the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Kalina from March 10 to 14, 2015.

BSFI President, Capt. P.V.K. Mohan, made this announcement at a Press Conference held at the Grand Hyatt on Saturday. Also present on the occasion was Tournament Director, Mike Ganley from England, S. Balasubramaniam, Secretary General, BSFI and Devendra Joshi, a former Asian billiards champion, world billiards runner-up and Arjuna Awardee.

Speaking on the occasion, Capt.Mohan said: “We are indeed very happy and thrilled to be here in Mumbai for the second edition of the Indian Open Snooker World Ranking Tournament. The first event held in New Delhi in October 2013 was a stupendous success and we hope that this event will be even better. We chose Mumbai as the host city, because this sport is very popular in the city of Mumbai and in the state of Maharashtra.”

Capt Mohan also mentioned that the event will be hosted by different cities across the country. “The BSFI feels that this tournament has to move around the country. The Indian Open is an annual affair and it will be hosted by different cities in India. Next year we will take the event to Chennai and later to other parts of the country,” stated Capt. Mohan, who is also the President of the International Billiards and Snooker Federation.

The BSFI was also happy that many of last year’s sponsors are once again backing the tournament. “With the kind of support we had received last year from the sponsors and the kind of performance that the federation has been able to dish out we have got several repeat sponsors which I feel is is a testimony of our commitment to the game. Once we show this kind of commitment I feel that this sport can only grow from here,” said the President.

The top 64 players in the world have qualified for this tournament having participated in the qualifiers in Barnsley Metrodome, Barnsley, England last month. Last year’s winner Ding Junhui of China, who is currently the world number one will be here to defend his title. Last year’s runner-up Aditya Mehta of India, has also qualified for the main draw. The 27-year-old Chinese defeated England’s Barry Pinches 4-1 and the 29-year-old Mumbai cueist Mehta, the only Indian who has a Tour Card, blanked Hammad Miah also of England 4-0 to secure their places in the tournament proper.

India’s most celebrated cueist, Pankaj Advani, a multiple world champion in both snooker and billiards, along with five other Indians will participate in the pre-tournament wild card qualifying round. Besides Advani, Neeraj Kumar, Brijesh Damani, Dharmendra Lilly, Sumit Talwar and Faisal Khan, all having won wild cards during the Indian qualifying legs, will pit their skill against six other players from England, Scotland, China and Thailand. The winners will earn berths in the 64-player main draw.

Some of the big guns who will work their magic on the green baize during the tournament, include John Higgins of Scotland, Mark Williams from Wales, Ken Doherty from Ireland and Englishmen Judd Trump and Peter Ebdon, to name a few.

This year the field has a strong Asian challenge with 11 players from the continent, including Ding and Aditya, having qualified for the main draw.

Englishman Mike Ganley has been appointed as the Tournament Director and he will be assisted by 14 official referees, 10 of which are from India.

The initial round matches will be played simultaneously on four tables.

The Indian Open Snooker will be officially inaugurated by the Honourable Governor of Maharashtra, Ch Vidyasagar Rao on Monday, March 9. Guest of Honour, Shri S.S. Mundra, Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India, will also grace the occasion during the opening ceremony.

Format: The tournament will be played on a knockout basis and all matches up to and including semi-finals will be of best-of-7 frames (no intervals) and the final will be played over best-of-9 frames.

From Tuesday, March 10 to Saturday March 14, matches will be played on a roll on roll with the exception of the TV table which will not start before the time indicated on the format.  Table numbers will be determined the day before and published by the TD.  The TD reserves the right to reschedule any match.

Prize money break-up:

Winner: 50,000 pounds.

Runner-up: 25,000 pounds.

Losing semi-finalists (x2): 13,500 pounds each.

Losing quarter-finalists (x4): 9,000 pounds each.

Photo caption: Tournament Director Mike Ganley, BSFI President Capt. P V K Mohan and celebrated player Devendra Joshi at the media briefing to announce the 300,000 pounds prize money Indian Open World Ranking Snooker Tournament 2015

Press release