Northern Ireland Trophy A

Video of Ronnie's the seventh maximum from the match with Ali Carter

Drawsheet of the tournament

FORMAT OF PLAY

08 Aug 2007
www.worldsnooker.com

Below is the playing schedule for the Northern Ireland Trophy at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast from November 4 to 11.

Cross reference match numbers to those on the drawsheet above

Sunday November 4
10am
1 - Joe Perry x James Wattana - 5-1
3 - Ian McCulloch x Alan McManus - 5-1
3pm
6 - Joe Swail x Liu Song - 5-2
2 - Stuart Bingham x David Gray - 2-5
4 - Jamie Cope x Lee Walker - 5-2
7.30pm
9 - Mark Allen x Rod Lawler - 5-1
5 - Marco Fu x Adrian Gunnell - 3-5
10 - Dominic Dale x Mike Dunn - 5-1

Monday November 5
10am
12 - Mark King x John Parrott - 5-4
16 - Dave Harold x Fergal O'Brien - 1-5
2.30pm
7 - Matthew Stevens x Martin Gould - 4-5
8 - Anthony Hamilton x Michael Judge - 5-2
13 - Michael Holt x Tom Ford - 1-5
7.30pm
11 - Gerard Greene x Liang Wenbo - 5-2
14 - Nigel Bond x David Gilbert - 5-3
15 - Barry Hawkins x Jamie Burnett - 5-4

Tuesday November 6
10am
17 - Ding Junhui x Joe Perry - 5-2
18 - Stephen Maguire x David Gray - 5-0
2.30pm
22 - Steve Davis x Joe Swail - 5-3
19 - Stephen Lee x Ian McCulloch - 4-5
20 - Neil Robertson x Jamie Cope - 5-1
7.30pm
28 - Ken Doherty x Mark King - 5-0
25 - Graeme Dott x Mark Allen - 3-5
21 - Peter Ebdon x Adrian Gunnell - 5-2

Wednesday November 7
10am
24 - Shaun Murphy x Anthony Hamilton - 5-2
26 - Ryan Day x Dominic Dale - 5-1
2.30pm
32 - John Higgins x Fergal O'Brien - 4-5
27 - Mark Williams x Gerard Greene - 3-5
23 - Stephen Hendry x Martin Gould - 5-3
7.30pm
29 - Ronnie O'Sullivan x Tom Ford - 5-4 :-))
30 - Ali Carter x Nigel Bond - 5-3
31 - Mark Selby x Barry Hawkins - 4-5

Thursday November 8
10am
34 - Ian McCulloch x Neil Robertson - 0-5
35 - Peter Ebdon x Steve Davis - 5-0
2.30pm
39 - Ronnie O'Sullivan x Ali Carter - 5-2 (the seventh career 147 and new record - 5 centuries in match for 5 winning frames) :-))
36 - Stephen Hendry x Shaun Murphy - 2-5
33 - Ding Junhui x Stephen Maguire - 3-5
7.30pm
40 - Barry Hawkins x Fergal O'Brien - 3-5
37 - Mark Allen x Ryan Day - 5-3
38 - Gerard Greene x Ken Doherty - 5-1

Friday November 9
2.30pm
QF1 - Stephen Maguire x Neil Robertson - 5-2
QF2 - Peter Ebdon x Shaun Murphy - 3-5
7.30pm
QF3 - Mark Allen x Gerard Greene - 5-3
QF4 - Ronnie O'Sullivan x Fergal O'Brien - 2-5 :-((

Saturday November 10
2.30pm
SF1 - Stephen Maguire x Shaun Murphy - 6-5
7.30pm
SF2 - Mark Allen x Fergal O'Brien - 3-6

Sunday November 11
3pm
Final (7 frames) Stephen Maguire x Fergal O'Brien
7.30pm
Final (10 frames)

All matches up to and including the Quarter Finals will be best of 9 frames, Semi Finals will be best of 11 frames and the Final will be best of 17 frames (7/10).

Table numbers for all matches up to and including the quarter-finals will be determined the day before and published by the tournament director.

Eurosport - Thu, 08 Nov 17:11:00 2007

Eurosport commentators Mike Hallett and Joe Johnson wipe their eyes in amazement after watching Ronnie O'Sullivan score five centuries - including a 147 - in his 5-2 victory over Ali Carter.

Joe: Every once in a while, you are fortunate enough to watch history in the making; that is what has just happened this afternoon. It was unbelieveable. Incredible. There are plenty of other players who have the talent to score five centuries in succession, but to do so on television, in a ranking event is a different matter all together.

Mike: We are just checking it out, but we reckon he is the first player to ever score five centuries in a best-of-nine match. It really was an incredible effort. I think Stephen Hendry could have done something similar in his heydey seven or eight years ago, and possibly John Higgins of the players on tour today, but make no mistake - that was breathtaking.

Joe: In that final frame he knew he was making history, and yet he was still playing as though he was under no pressure whatsoever. That's what I find so amazing.

Mike: If he wasn'f favourite for the tournament before, then he will be now. Ronnie was so disappointed to lose in the final of the Grand Prix to Marco Fu recently, and will be desperate to put things right by winning here. Of course, he will have a very tough match next though; every match is difficult at this stage of a tournament.

Joe: Yes, and every match is different. In fact, the way he has performed there should make his next opponent try even harder than before. But I think Ronnie is the sort of man to relish the pressure that he has just put himself under; he is the sort of man who likes the attention that such special form will bring.

Mike: Knowing Ronnie, in the next match he will want six or seven centuries - not just five! He is not the sort of person who will dwell on that match; he will quickly put it behind him and move on to the next "day at the office".

Joe: If anything, I think he will be even more focused for his next match. Had he only scored four centuries, he might not have been as up for the quarter-final. But the fact that he has just made history will have him really focused for the rest of the tournament...

O'SULLIVAN IN SEVENTH 147 HEAVEN

08 Nov 2007
www.worldsnooker.com

Ronnie O'Sullivan made the seventh maximum break of his career at the Northern Ireland Trophy today - and set an amazing new record in the process.

The maximum came in the fifth frame of his 5-2 defeat of Ali Carter at the Waterfront Hall and is worth a £20,000 bonus plus £2,000 for the top break if it’s not equalled this week.

But perhaps more remarkably, O’Sullivan made five centuries - the first time that has ever been achieved in a ranking event best-of-nine match.

He warmed up with 108, 122 and 107 intaking a 3-1 lead before the magical maximum came. Carter pulled one frame back then O’Sullivan closed with a 129 total clearance to book a quarter-final place against Fergal O’Brien or Barry Hawkins.

For the 147, O’Sullivan potted 15 reds with blacks and looked perfect on the colours, even playing the yellow left-handed, until he played a loose positional shot on the green to leave the cue ball on the side cushion.

But he thumped in the brown and added blue, pink and black to complete his first maximum since the 2003 World Championship. With seven to his name, he is now just one behind Stephen Hendry’s record of eight.

It’s the 59th 147 in professional snooker history, the 36th in a ranking event and the third of the season after those from Jamie Burnett and Tom Ford.

"I was going for the maximum early in the break," said two-times World Champion O’Sullivan. "Once I got down to the last red there was a lot of pressure because you don’t want to get so far and then miss.

"I got a bounce off the cushion on the green and ran about two feet further than I wanted to. The brown was very tough but I hit it sweet. After that I kept position pretty well. It’s nice to make a maximum because I’ve not had one for ages."

However, O’Sullivan refused to accept adulation for his achievements. "I’m playing rubbish," he added. "I just got lucky today and Ali made it easy for me by missing a few balls. I can’t face practising because I’m playing so badly."

FORD BREAK-DOWN ALLOWS ROCKET TO FLY

07 Nov 2007
www.worldsnooker.com

Tom Ford passed up a gilt-edged opportunity to knock Ronnie O'Sullivan out of the Northern Ireland Trophy, missing the last blue in the deciding frame.

O’Sullivan scraped a 5-4 victory at the Waterfront Hall to set up a last 16 meeting with Ali Carter.

The Rocket opened with a break of 84 but Leicester’s Ford his back to win the next three frames with runs of 82 and 70.

A 68 from O’Sullivan made it 3-2 but world No 50 Ford won the next with a 95 and looked in control, especially when a frustrated O’Sullivan thrashed wildly at a black in the next after running out of position.

But the two-times World Champion regained his composure to make a 70 then took frame eight with 42 and 48 for 4-4.

O’Sullivan made 59 in the decider before missing a striaght-forward red, giving Ford an outside chance to clear. He made a composed 40 but played a loose positional shot on the last brown and missed the blue to a centre pocket. O’Sullivan knocked it in and added the pink for victory.

"I couldn’t get into the match in the first four frames but I felt refreshed after the interval," said O’Sullivan, who was in talkative mood in his press conference in contrast to his near-silent approach at the Royal London Watches Grand Prix. "I got frustrated (when he played the wild shot on the black) but I knew Tom was feeling the pressure a bit.

"I was hoping to get a chance and in the end I fell over the line and I’m pleased to win. It’s in my blood not to come second and it’s easy to motivate myself to do well in every tournament.

"The final in Aberdeen (when he lost to Marco Fu) is history now. I’m good at putting things behind me and bouncing back. I like to be written off sometimes because I have faith in my ability. I don’t think about the fact that I haven’t won a ranking event for a while because I’ve won other tournaments and I’ll always do well in one or two a season."

O’Sullivan, who has just come back from a promotional tour of Guangzhou in China, added: "I haven’t had any time to practise since Aberdeen, I spent a bit of time with my family then went to China. But I don’t need to practise as much as some other players. I’ve had a demanding schedule but I’m fit and able to recover.

"I had a great time in China, I love it and they look after me. I’m thinking of buying a house there as I’ll be going there more often. The future of snooker is good there. The players they’ve got coming through are very strong and that doesn’t surprise me because they’re providing champions in other sports and they always win a lot of medals in the Olympics.

"Ding is one of the best in the world and the others are watching him and trying to follow him. To play Ding in the final again (he lost 9-6 to Ding in last year’s final) would be great."

Tiptree’s Carter scored a 5-3 win over Nigel Bond. The first four frames were shared, Carter making a 136 in the third. He pulled away to win three of the last four, highlighted by two runs of 50.

Drawsheet of NIT Qualifying - 23-25 October 2007

FORMAT OF PLAY

23 Aug 2007
www.worldsnooker.com
Below is the match schedule for the Northern Ireland trophy qualifiers.
Cross reference match numbers to those on the drawsheet – link is above.

Tuesday, October 23
10am
1 – Lee Spick x Liu Chuang - 5-4
2 – Shailesh Jogia x Michael White - 2-5
3 – Alex Davies x Jimmy Robertson - 1-5
4 – Lee Walker x Ashley Wright - 5-2
5 – Jamie O’Neil x Supoj Saenla - 5-3
6 – Liu Song x Gareth Coppack - 5-0
7 – Matthew Selt x Martin Gould - 2-5
8 – James McBain x Patrick Wallace - 2-5
4pm
9 – Kurt Maflin x Steve Mifsud - 5-2
10 – Mark Joyce x Kevin Van Hove - 5-0
11 – Liang Wenbo x Fraser Patrick - 5-3
12 – Tony Drago x Issara Kachaiwong - 4-5
13 – Munraj Pal x Ben Woollaston - 2-5
14 – Leo Fernandez x Xiao Guodong - 1-5
15 – David Morris x Alfred Burden - 5-3
16 – Tian Pengfei x Rodney Goggins - 4-5

Wednesday, October 24
10am
17 – Paul Davies x Lee Spick - 3-5
18 – Robin Hull x Michael White - 5-1
19 – Judd Trump x Jimmy Robertson - 5-1
20 – Scott MacKenzie x Lee Walker - 2-5
21 – Marcus Campbell x Jamie O’Neil - 0-5
22 – Jimmy Michie x Liu Song - 4-5
23 – David Roe x Martin Gould - 1-5
24 – Stuart Pettman x Patrick Wallace - 2-5
4pm
25 – Rod Lawler x Kurt Maflin - 5-3
26 – Mike Dunn x Mark Joyce - 5-4
27 – Joe Delaney x Liang Wenbo - 1-5
28 – Drew Henry x Issara Kachaiwong - 5-4
29 – Tom Ford x Ben Woollaston - 5-2
30 – Jimmy White x Xiao Guodong - 0-5
31 – Ian Preece x David Morris - 4-5
32 – Barry Pinches x Rodney Goggins - 5-4

Thursday, October 25
10am
33 – James Wattana x Lee Spick - 5-2
34 – David Gray x Robin Hull - 5-2
35 – Alan McManus x Judd Trump - 5-0
36 – Robert Milkins x Lee Walker - 4-5
37 – Adrian Gunnell x Jamie O’Neil - 5-0
38 – Ricky Walden x Liu Song - 2-5
39 – Mark Davis x Martin Gould - 4-5
40 – Michael Judge x Patrick Wallace - 5-3
4pm
41 – Andrew Higginson x Rod Lawler - 4-5
42 – Andy Hicks x Mike Dunn - 2-5
43 – Rory McLeod x Liang Wenbo - 4-5
44 – John Parrott x Drew Henry - 5-2
45 – Andrew Norman x Tom Ford - 1-5
46 – David Gilbert x Xiao Guodong - 5-2
47 – Jamie Burnett x David Morris - 5-1
48 – Fergal O’Brien x Barry Pinches - 5-4