Mark Selby has been often described as the 'Master of Brinkmanship,' coming from behind in matches to pick up famous victories. He recently did it against Ronnie O'Sullivan for a famous world title win, and also during the Riga Open final, beating Northern Ireland's Mark Allen 4-3.
In the early stages, it was anything but easy for Selby who went 3-0 down to Allen. In a best of 7 final, chances were looking slim for the 'Jester from Leicester' with Allen just one frame from victory. But who would you bet against Selby not making an astounding comeback? I certainly wouldn't...
Frame four and then it began...the 'Master of Brinkmanship' at work. This was the most clinical frame of the match; make or break time for Selby. He sealed frame four, and the next and the next until Leicester's Jester pushed Allen right to a decider.
In the deciding frame, it was Allen who had the early the early chance before almost securing victory, he blew his chance and threw the gauntlet over to Selby. Coming from behind is something that Mark Selby is often used to doing and winning, hence why he is called the 'Master Of Brinkmanship.' He had to once again so it in a tournament final and if he was to secure victory, he would go back to world number one.
After getting down to the baulk colours, all Selby had to do was pot the yellow to secure victory, but he missed, just building up the tension. Allen could not capitalise on the world champions mistake and the fate of both men was sealed in just one final shot as Selby sent the yellow home to claim his first tournament victory as a world champion.
Not many people expected Selby or Allen to make it to the final of the Riga Open, despite their high rankings. Top Spin Blog editor Daniel Daykin had Mark Allen down as a player to watch throughout the tournament and he was certainly correct. It's just a shame for Daniel that Mark lost right at the most important part of the Riga Open.
With victory, Selby has returned to the world number one spot after losing it to Australia's Neil Robertson earlier in the season.
With a such a different and short match format compared to most snooker tournaments, it was hardly surprising to see some big names drop out rather early on. Such players as Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy and John Higgins were just some of the "bigger" players to drop out early doors.
Sean O'Sullivan was the stand out young player of the event making it to the quarter-finals before being beaten by eventual runner-up, Mark Allen. O'Sullivan beat the likes of Mark Davis, and Jamie Burnett along the way. Two highly regarded players couldn't hold back the youngster, as he soared on to an impressive last eight performance.
Marco Fu was a player who stayed very quiet throughout the Riga Open, despite getting to the quarter-finals before being overcome by Barry Hawkins in a final frame decider. Fu however did make a break of 142 against Joe Swail in round three during the fifth frame. The world number six then tying up a fixture with Robert Milkins in the fourth round after a final frame decider with Hawkins.
Other players like Ding Junhui and Ronnie O'Sullivan never flew out to Latvia, although their ranking positions in the world tables have not been effected.
The attention now for the snooker world will be to the Shanghai Master qualifiers and the Paul Hunter Classic coming up in the next two weeks. But in Riga, it was Mark Selby who was the victor claiming his first title as a world champion, regained his world number one spot and also confirmed his place at next years PTC Grand Final.
The Riga Open was full of thrills, spills and many surprises. For a first ever tournament held in Riga, it certainly was full of entertainment.
Congratulations to Mark and let's hope the action continues to get better throughout this season!
Sean
@SeanC_F1
No comments:
Post a Comment