Snooker

Will be doing a daily review of each days play.
An early update however as defending champion Mark Selby has hit a spot of bother early on.
He trails Joe Perry 0-4 in his best of 19 first round encounter. Debutant Lyu Haotian leads Marco Fu 3-1.

^ Perry leads 7-2 after first session against Mark Selby

And now Ronnie O'Sullivan is in big early trouble. 4-0 down to Maguire.

Day One: SELBY CRASHES OUT AND O'SULLIVAN IN TROUBLE

First day of the 2018 Crucible marathon and what a day.
Defending back to back World Champion Mark Selby has been dispatched by a controlled and clinical performance by Joe Perry.
Perry set off into a 4-0 lead that laid the foundations for a famous victory.
Selby knocked in breaks of 74 and 92 to reduce his arrears to 2-4 but Perry responded superbly with runs of 89 and 109 helping him reach 8-2 in front.
The Jester from Leicester battled back to 8-4 but Perry responded again with two classy frame winning breaks to seal glory.

Young Chinese debutant Lyu Haotian established a 6-3 overnight lead against an out of sorts Marco Fu. Lyu made a hugely impressive trio of century breaks allied to a run of 87 in leaving himself 4 frames away from round two.

Ronnie O'Sullivan has a fight on his hands to stay in the championship.
He lost the first four frames to Stephen Maguire as the Scot rolled in breaks of 101, 95 and 54. O'Sullivan threatened a recovery in winning the next 3 frames helped by 2 centuries but Maguire crucially took the last two frames of the day to leave the 5 time champion in peril overnight.

Kyren Wilson leads former runner up Matthew Stevens after the opening session of their first round match. Stevens opened up with a 60 break but Wilson responded to win 3 frames in a row with smaller contributions.
Stevens hit back with a run of 77 but Wilson then won frame 6 to go 4-2 up and dominated thereafter with contributions of 94, 65 and 126 to lead 7-2 overnight.

2006 champion Graeme Dott holds a 6-3 lead after the opening session of his match with two time runner up Ali Carter.
The Scot started with a sublime 106.
Carter levelled only for Dott to reel off 3 frames in a row to lead 4-1.
Carter produced an excellent clearance of 52 to narrow the gap to 2-4.
Dott responded to pull clear again though to go 6-2 in front. Carter gave himself hope by winning the last frame of the day but trails by 3 overnight.

Well done to Joe Perry

Ronnie wins 10-7 what a comeback from 4-0 down after the first 4 frames he was giving a masterclass this morning

Day Two: O'SULLIVAN AND CARTER TO FACE OFF AFTER COMEBACK WINS

Ronnie O'Sullivan produced an excellent fightback to see off Stephen Maguire 10-7 and keep his hopes of a 6th World crown alive.
The Rocket won the first 3 frames of the morning to establish parity at 6-6 aided by a break of 86 in frame 11 and a steal on the pink in the next. Maguire took frame 13 to lead 7-6 but O"Sullivan levelled again with a run of 53 before winning a tight frame 15 to hit the front.
From there the 5 time former champion saw out the last two frames comfortably to book his place in round two.

Masters champion Mark Allen carved out a 6-3 lead in the opening session of his match against Crucible debutant Liam Highfield.
The Northern Irishman hit the ground running with an 88 for 1-0.
Highfield countered with an excellent run of 99 before Allen regained the advantage with a 56 and won the next to lead 3-1 at the mid session interval.
Highfield rolled in an 80 break for 3-2 only for Allen to win the next three frames to go 6-2 in front helped by breaks of 52 and 89.
Crucial final frame for Highfield then and he duly won it to give himself hope at 3-6 down overnight.

Ali Carter sealed a brilliant comeback triumph over Graeme Dott to book a 2nd round tie with Ronnie O'Sullivan from 3-6 down.
Carter won the first three frames of the afternoon inclusive of a break of 108 to reach 6-6. Next two frames shared for 7-7. Dott rolled in a 75 for 8-7, Carter replied with a 69 to level again before clinching the next for a 9-8 lead.
Carter in again in frame 18, chance to seal victory. Reached 63 and 1 ball shy of leaving Dott at snookers required stage but no red available so safety shot played. Superb long red from Dott, last chance saloon. What had the Scot got left?
First chance gone, pink missed to left corner. Costly error, Carter with a crucial snooker, Dott misses and it's over. The Captain wins 10-8.

Shaun Murphy leads Welsh qualifier Jamie Jones 5-4 after the opening exchanges of their first round encounter. Jones, who qualified by beating Liang Wenbo 10-0 in qualifying started well with a run of 56 for 1-0. The Magician replied with a 75 and a magnificent 137 for 2-1 before extending his advantage to 4-1 by virtue of winning 2 tight frames. Jones won a close 6th frame only for Murphy to restore a 3 frame advantage. Jones was not to be put off though and crucially claimed the last two frames of the afternoon to reduce the arrears to one frame at 4-5 overnight.

Kyren Wilson converted a 7-2 overnight lead to a routine 10-3 win over Welshman Matthew Stevens. Wilson started the evening with a 121 break to go 8-2 clear before Stevens replied with a 68 break. Stevens had a chance to reduce his arrears further but sportingly declared a foul on himself when in the balls. It was to cost him the frame and Wilson sealed victory in the next frame for a place in round two.

Lyu Haotian saw off seed Marco Fu 10-5 to provide China with their first representative in the last sixteen of this years event. Trailing 3-6 the start of the session Fu had to start well but soon found himself 8-3 down as Haotian tightened his grip on the match.
Fu knocked in a fine 120 break in pulling back to 8-5 but it was to no avail as Lyu powered in a 79 to go 9-5 and clinically won frame 15 as well to cap an impressive debut performance at the home of snooker.

Disappointed for Dotty, especially after his 1st half lead.

Good to see Kyren get the right result, though, and time will tell with Lyu.

Mark Allen beat Liam Highfield comfortably 10-5, but things turned on the 11th frame, which could well have seen Liam close to 6-5 and continue his comeback. But Allen instead moved on from 7-4 to 9-4, and that was much the end of it.

Nice BBC commentary choice of Dennis Taylor and Ken Doherty for that match. I mean, OK most commentators are English and nobody cares when there are English players, but this still stuck out like a sore thumb to me.

Another seed gone.
Shaun Murphy beaten 10-9 by Jamie Jones. The third former World Champ to exit the tournament already.