10) Dominic Dale wins the Snooker Shoot-out
There's never been any doubt about Dominic Dale's popularity. His charisma and personality have always grabbed the attention of snooker fans. However, he has never really had the talent to consistently challenge for major honours, having a particularly barren run over the last five years. Dale's best chance of getting to the latter stages of events lay in PTCs or of course, the shoot-out. There was a special feel about Dale in this tournament from the start, the Blackpool crowd got right behind him, as the world saw his new blonde hair for the first time. The 10 minute match format was working a dream for him, knocking out Barry Hawkins and Mark Allen - two real coups. The Welshman came up against Stuart Bingham in the final, a man who was having a seriously impressive season. Dale was off to a flier in the final, a break of 61, which included a pressure blue, set him on the way. Bingham pulled some points back but The Spaceman would not be denied. He was crowned shoot-out champion! The crowd were ecstatic to see him take home the trophy. Dale's snooker over the few days was impressive, his celebratory rendition of 'My Way' on the other hand, wasn't.
9) O'Sullivan downs Ding in Coventry
Back in November, everyone in the snooker fraternity was dying to see Ronnie O'Sullivan take on Ding Junhui. The greatest player ever, against a man who looked unbeatable. They finally came or blows in the quarter finals of the Champion of Champions; not a bad match-up for an inaugural tournament to host. The anticipation was tangible and the match was not to disappoint. Ding showed the form that had brought him the previous three ranking titles to take a 3-0 lead and stun O'Sullivan. The fourth frame would be crucial in the eventual outcome of the match, Ding looked poised to take a 4-0 lead to the mid-session interval, but some clever tactical play from the Rocket narrowed the gap to two frames. A visible celebration from the Rocket showed how much that frame meant. Following the interval he took the next to make it 2-3, but Ding stole the sixth to go 2-4 to the good. Ronnie pulled one back with a jaw dropping break of 98, but the Chinese dragon looked certain for the win when he went 3-5 ahead and just one away from victory. Suddenly, O'Sullivan clicked into genius mode and took two to level at 5-5. The decider was an epic. O'Sullivan was first in with 63 but broke down, and Ding responded with 50, before dramatically missing the blue. The players took it in turns to wobble the blue, before O'Sullivan finally potted the last three balls to take a sensational 6-5 comeback victory, punching the air in delight at nicking one of the best matches of the season.
8) Mike Dunn reaches the China semis
An underdog is always popular in snooker, and Mike Dunn's amazing journey to the semi finals of the China Open was one of the nicest stories of the whole season, as well as some top quality snooker. It looked like Dunn's career was almost done, so much so that the China Open appeared to be Dunn's last event. After such a poor season it seemed certain that he would drop out of the top 64 and off the main tour, making him an amateur. However, in Beijing, something clicked for Dunn. He edged through a final frame decider to qualify, before beating Stuart Carrington in the first round. The 42 year old then put former World finalists Jimmy White and Nigel Bond to the sword to reach the quarter finals, already a remarkable achievement, though the best was to come. He came up against World number one Mark Selby in the quarter finals, and was not fazed. Dunn produced one of the shocks of the season, dumping the much favoured Selby out of the tournament, winning 5-3. Though his run would end in the semi finals against eventual winner Ding Junhui, Dunn's performance in the event was the furthest he had ever got in a ranking event, and single handedly kept his place on the tour.
7) Robertson seals emotional UK crown
The Thunder from Down Under almost always reaches the late stages of tournaments, and the UK Championship was another case of this. He battled his way through to the final, where he took on the reigning UK Champion, Mark Selby. There was a lot at stake for this final, not just the title, but the World number one ranking spot, as well as Robertson knowing that we're he to win the UK, he would complete the collection of snooker's three biggest prizes. The Australian struggled to settle though and was 3-1 behind after the mid-session interval in the afternoon, which soon became 5-1. At this point the final looked like a procession, but Robertson picked himself up and expertly took the last two frames to make it 5-3, and give himself a chance. Selby took the ninth though, before the comeback was really set in motion. He took five frames in a row to take the lead at 8-6, a run which included two wonderful century breaks. Selby closed to 8-7 before the most pivotal moment of the final came, Robertson stealing a frame on the black in dramatic fashion to move one frame away from the title. He sealed the win with a break of 57. The Aussie was emotional in his victory, thanking his Mum for her support. The atmosphere was tangible as he added the UK Championship to his repertoire. Little did he know that he'd make yet more snooker history later in the season.
6) Selby makes a maximum in York
Losing a final is always hard, particularly in Mark Selby's case at the UK Championship last year. He lead 5-1 and 6-3 but was still beaten by Neil Robertson. However, Selby will have been able to take some solace from what he did in the semi final of the tournament. His moment of history came as he was 4-2 ahead of Ricky Walden in the semi finals. Selby's bold and attacking play was rewarded, brilliantly splitting the pack after just two reds. But it was on the colours where Selby would really come into his own. The yellow and green were dispatched with ease but he overcooked his shot and left himself low on the brown, which, to make matters even more difficult, was right next to the blue. What followed was a moment of genius, as Selby hammered the brown in, sending the cue ball all around the table until he landed nicely on the blue. Then came the pink. He had focused so much on the blue that the pink had become an afterthought and this told in his position - he faced a half ball cut, with the cue ball miles away from the object ball. Twice he tried with the normal cue before he had to add the extension. Nevertheless, he calmly slotted away the pink, joking with the audience in the process. However, such was the difficulty in the shot on the pink, he landed disastrously on the black. He was tight to the top cushion, with his only option to roll it into the left centre pocket. And that's what he did. The crowd screamed with delight as Selby fisted the air to make the 100th maximum in the history of snooker - and not many of those 100 have seen the black rolled into the middle.
Stay tuned for the second part of this article in the coming days.
Daniel Daykin
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