Snooker

Day 6 of the championship saw the conclusion of round one and the start of round two.
Stuart Carrington put up some stern resistance against Judd Trump and played very well in what was ultimately an effort in vain. Trump got over the line winning 10-6.
Shaun Murphy finished off his match against Robin Hull in quick time with a 10-3 victory. He finished the match with a 111 break that could so easily have been a 146.
Earlier in the break he was on for a 147 but lost position on the black.

Mark Selby and Anthony McGill are locked at 4-4 after a highly competitive first session where both men cued solidly.

John Higgins and Ding Junhui played out a very strange evening session full of mistakes and bizarre shot choices.
Higgins won 5 out the first 6 frames with the one frame Ding won being via a century break.
Both players spurned opportunities all over the place and in the end Ding recovered well to trail by just two frames at 3-5 down at the end of the session.

Mark Selby is out beaten 13-9 by Anthony McGill.
Further details in my review of day 7 later.

Day seven of this years championship has seen the exit of defending champion Mark Selby. Anthony McGill of Scotland produced a performance of calmness, maturity and class to see off the Jester from Leicester 13-9. After winning the morning session 6-2 to create a 10-6 lead going into the evening session McGill showed nerves of steel to complete a famous victory.
The exit of Selby means that the record of a first time winner never having defended their title is sustained.

Ding Junhui overturned a 3-5 deficit with an excellent session of breakbuilding. The Chinese superstar won the session 6-2 to take an overall 9-7 lead over four time champion John Higgins.

Mark 'The Pistol' Allen holds a 5-3 lead after a good quality session against Barry Hawkins where there were 6 breaks over 50 in the eight frames played.

In the final match of the day Stuart Bingham holds a convincing 11-5 advantage over Graeme Dott after winning the first session 6-2 and the second session 5-3.
Bingham was increasingly clinical all day and Dott now has to win 8 out of 9 frames to force an unlikely comeback win.

Maybe Selby was distracted by McGill's resemblance to a young Van Morrison?

I noticed Ronnie bigging up McGill before the match, a subtle bit of gamesmanship.

Day 8 of the Sheffield snooker marathon.
Ding Junhui sealed an impressive 13-9 victory over 'Wizard of Wishaw' John Higgins. Some powerful breakbuilding in the middle session set up the advantage and the man from China stayed composed to reach the Quarter Finals.
Stuart Bingham wasted little time in seeing off Graeme Dott 13-5.
The Scot left himself with far too much to do and Bingham was in no mood to see the finish delayed as he won both frames of the final session to give him a place in the last eight.
The 'thunder from down under' Neil Robertson sounded another ominous warning to the rest of the field as he dominated Ali Carter in their opening session.
The Aussie was in ruthless form to compile a 6-2 lead and looks very strong.
A highly irritable Ronnie O'Sullivan recovered from losing the first two frames against Matthew Stevens to win five in a row to lead 5-2. The Welshman won the last frame of the session though to restrict the deficit to two frames.

However the plaudits of the day go to Barry Hawkins who produced a stirring fightback from numerous deficits throughout his match with Mark Allen to claim a quite brilliant victory 13-11.
He trailed for most of the match but at 8-11 down 'The Hawk' stormed back to reach the Quarter Finals.
A superb match.

A lot of people on social media are talking about Shaun Murphy's red suit. Not a fan myself

The suit's got more personality than its wearer.

Day Nine of this years World Championship saw the progression of some very one sided affairs.
Ronnie O'Sullivan took full advantage of an out of sorts Matthew Stevens to romp away to a 12-4 lead.
At times the 'Rocket' produced some dazzling play but the Welshman had his opportunities which he failed to capitalise on.
O'Sullivan just one frame away from the Quarter Finals.
Neil Robertson once again was in imperious form as demoralised Ali Carter was left powerless to halt the Aussie charge to the last eight.
Robertson knocked in another series of frame winning breaks to build an all but unassailable advantage of 11-5 heading into their final session tomorrow night.
Shaun Murphy has powered his way into a huge 8 frame lead after two sessions of his match against Joe Perry.
After building a 7-1 advantage in the morning Murphy never looked back and left himself needing just one frame for victory at 12-4.
In the last quarter final to finish play today Hong Kong's Marco Fu has a mountain to climb against Judd Trump.
After securing a 5-3 lead in session one the Bristolian played an ultra attacking brand of snooker in the evening session and requires just 3 frames for victory at 10-6 up.

Quarter Final matches - best of 25 frames:

Anthony McGill v Shaun Murphy
Barry Hawkins v Neil Robertson
Ding Junhui v Judd Trump
Stuart Bingham v Ronnie O'Sullivan

Day Ten.
This afternoon Shaun Murphy completed a 13-5 victory over Joe Perry and Judd Trump has seen off Marco Fu 13-8.

This evening saw Ronnie O'Sullivan complete a 13-5 win over Matthew Stevens and Neil Robertson finish off his 2nd round 13-5 victory over Ali Carter with a magnificent 145 total clearance.

The Quarter Final draw is as posted above by Mellow.