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Bank of Communication Shanghai Masters
Shanghai Grand Stage
No. 1111 Caoxi Road (N)
Shanghai
China
www.worldsnooker.com

5-11 September 2011

Day 7 - New World No 1 Mark Selby - England
Photographs � Top147.com - used here by Pro9 with express permission.
Selby Wins Shanghai Classic

Mark Selby came from 9-7 down to beat Mark Williams 10-9 in an epic Bank of Communication Shanghai Masters final.

Williams, usually calm under pressure, squandered chances to win in the closing stages and uncharacteristically lost his cool in the deciding frame.

Leicester's Selby took advantage to win only his second ranking title, improving a record of just one win - the 2008 Welsh Open - from five previous ranking finals. The 28-year-old is in the best form of his life having won 12 consecutive matches, including victory in the Paul Hunter Classic two weeks ago, and is now ranked No 1 in the world for the first time.

Welshman Williams, who was bidding to win his 19th ranking title and seventh in Asia, looked set for victory when he came from 7-5 down to lead 9-7. But he was upset by a decision by referee Eirian Williams in frame 17, when Williams felt that Selby had hit the pink when escaping from a snooker, but after studying a video replay, it was decided that he had hit the red first.

Selby came back to win that frame then took the next after two-times World Champion Williams missed a dead easy green when just a few pots from victory.

In the deciding frame of a marathon contest which finished close to 1am, Selby led 32-0 then laid a snooker behind the brown, and a frustrated Williams swiped wildly at the reds, going in-off and gifting Selby the chance to add enough points to cross the winning line.

"It's a big relief to win my second ranking title because I'd lost a few finals," said Selby, who has also won the Masters twice and took the Wuxi Classic title close to Shanghai earlier this season. "Every time I got to a final I came up against someone playing well. Tonight I wasn't at my best but the luck went my way.

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"I played well in the first session and should have been 6-3 up. Tonight I struggled and made so many mistakes, but towards the end I got myself together again and Mark missed a few.

"It's a great feeling to be World No 1, all I wanted to do was to get to the top of the sport. But I have to keep up the hard work because others will want to get ahead of me."

As for the incident in frame 17, Selby said: "It was very difficult for the referee to see which ball I hit first. Mark felt I hit the pink and I wasn't sure. The referee studied it and felt it had hit the red first, and we accepted that."

Williams has now lost in the first two ranking finals of the season having suffered a 9-8 reverse from 8-5 ahead against Stuart Bingham at the Australian Goldfields Open. He said: "Overall Mark played a bit better than me so he deserved it."

In the first session Selby knocked in breaks of 74, 113, 78 and 95 to establish a 5-4 lead over Williams, who made 68, 132, 51 and 67.

Selby pulled away to 7-5 in the evening before Williams took four consecutive frames with a top run of 88. But 36-year-old Williams could not finish the job and had to settle for the �32,000 runner-up prize.

Selby is now heading across the globe for the Brazil Masters, which starts on Thursday.

Day 6 - World No 1 Mark Williams - Wales
Photographs � Top147.com - used here by Pro9 with express permission.
Williams To Face Selby In Shanghai Final

The world's top two ranked players, Mark Williams and Mark Selby, will meet in the final of the Bank of Communication Shanghai Masters on Sunday.

The pair had contrasting routes into the final, World No 1 Williams edging out Neil Robertson 6-5 while No 2 Selby thrashed Mark King 6-0.

Williams has already won six ranking titles in Asia, including three in China, while Selby won the invitational Wuxi Classic close to Shanghai earlier this season.

Welshman Williams led Robertson 4-2 after top breaks of 100 and 52, before the Australian stormed back to win the next three frames with runs of 74 and 50.

Frame ten came down to the colours, and after trapping his opponent in a snooker on the yellow, Williams made a calm clearance which included exquisite slow-rolled pots on brown and blue.

In a tense deciding frame, Williams had the first chance but missed an easy pink to a centre pocket on 25. Robertson should have countered but jawed a blue off its spot on 7. He later went for a long red which missed its target and Williams was able to add the points he needed.

"I'm over the moon to be in the final," said 36-year-old Williams. "The conditions were difficult but I stuck in there and managed to nick the last two frames. I hope it's a good final tomorrow. Mark Selby and I have both won tournaments in China. I've always enjoyed playing here and I will give it 100 per cent as I always do."

Robertson, who had never previously got beyond the last 16 of a ranking event in China, said: "The match was there to be won. It's disappointing to have had a chance in the last and missed that blue. Then Mark missed the green but covered the reds that were over a pocket. Some days it's just not meant to be, and today was one of those.

"It's been a fantastic week and I look forward to more events in China because I feel a lot more comfortable playing here now."

Selby was not at his best but was barely troubled by an out-of-sorts King. The Leicester player enjoyed top breaks of 60 and 71 in winning all six frames.

"It was a strange match. I didn't score that well but I played solid and didn't make many mistakes," said double Masters champion Selby, who will now aim to improve his strike rate of just one ranking title from five previous finals.

"Mark struggled and didn't capitalise on his chances, otherwise it could have been a different story."

King said: "I didn't sleep well last night so I was tired and I struggled. I had chances in most of the frames and if I could have just got one on the board it would have settled me down. Mark is a great player but he didn't have to play that well today and that's the disappointing thing."

Day 5 - World No 5 Neil Robertson - Australia
Photographs � Top147.com - used here by Pro9 with express permission.
Robertson To Meet Williams In Semis

Neil Robertson won the battle of the last two World Champions, beating John Higgins 5-2 at the Bank of Communication Shanghai Masters.

The Aussie will now meet World No 1 Mark Williams in Saturday�s semi-finals, while Mark Selby will face Mark King.

"I'm steadily improving as the tournament goes on, and that's generally what I've done when I've won tournaments before," said World No 5 Robertson, who has won ranking events in each of the last five calendar years (2006-2010). "I'm feeling good with a lot of momentum now.

"In my eyes, John is the greatest player I've ever seen, although I can't judge how good Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry were because they were at their peaks before my time. It's fantastic to beat him, even though he wasn't at his best today.�

Breaks of 78 and 59 put Robertson 2-0 up tonight before Higgins pulled one back with a 64 then dominated frame four for 2-2. But the Scot failed to score a point in the remainder of the match as Robertson ran out the last three frames with top runs of 74 and 69.

Williams stormed to a 5-0 win over fellow Welshman and World Cup team-mate Matthew Stevens, and has now conceded just one frame in his three matches. His top break in a commanding display was 129.

"It's not often you win matches 5-0, and I've won two this week so I must have had a lot of luck," said Williams, who is chasing a fourth ranking title in China and seventh in Asia. "I scored well today and I'm in the semis so I'm more than happy.�

There was controversy in one of the earlier quarter-finals as a furious Anthony Hamilton blamed a TV cameraman after losing 5-2 to Mark King.

"The cameraman was moving on every shot, all the way through the match," said the player who beat Ronnie O'Sullivan yesterday. "It was hard to concentrate and it did my head in. I'm still angry about it now.

"Whenever I was down on the shot he was in line with me and his arms were moving around. He had an attitude problem. I complained three times about it but it didn't make any difference. Then they changed one of the cameramen but it was the wrong one.

"Once your concentration is gone it's difficult to get it back. I know it was the same for both players but I let it get to me."

King, whose top break was 75 as he reached his first ranking semi since the 2005 Welsh Open, said: "It's just nice to still be involved in the tournament and not on the flight home tomorrow. It was scrappy today but as long as you win it doesn't matter.

Mark Selby made a century in the deciding frame to beat Shaun Murphy 5-4. Leicester�s Selby, renowned for his high strike rate in close matches, needed just one chance in the decider as he rolled in a 117 to complete an excellent comeback from 4-2 down in a thrilling match.

"Shaun played better than me for three quarters of the match and he probably should have won," said Selby. "The heat and humidity make it difficult to play good snooker, but I was really pleased with the break in the last frame."

Day 4 - World No 39 Anthony Hamilton - England
Photographs � Top147.com - used here by Pro9 with express permission.
Hamilton Shocks Rocket

Ronnie O'Sullivan suffered a surprise exit at the last 16 stage of the Bank of Communication Shanghai Masters, beaten 5-3 by World No 39 Anthony Hamilton.

The Rocket had won eight of his nine previous meetings with Hamilton, but produced a patchy display and saw his two-year drought without a ranking title continue.

"Anthony deserved to win, he was solid," said O'Sullivan. "I had chances but missed some silly balls. It was a 50/50 game but he played well towards the end when it mattered.

"I'll go home and start again. I'm enjoying playing. It would be nice to be back at the top but I don't expect it. I'll just enjoy whatever is left of my career. I've got nothing left to prove and I'm not young any more."

Hamilton, who comes from Nottingham but lives in London and is a former practice partner of O'Sullivan, goes through to the last eight to face Mark King.

O'Sullivan won three of the first five frames, compiling breaks of 92, 65 and 74, while Hamilton made 49 and 107 - his fifth century of the tournament. A fast-flowing match saw Hamilton make runs of 94 and 72 to lead 4-3. He had the first chance in frame eight but missed an easy red on 13, and was fortunate to leave O'Sullivan nothing simpler than a long range red to a baulk corner. The three-times World Champion failed to convert, and that proved his last shot as Hamilton added 63 for victory.

"There was a lot of pressure, the crowd love Ronnie so much here that it's like an exhibition, so it's hard to focus," said Hamilton, who was runner-up in the China Open in Shanghai in 2002. "He struggled and I played great, and that had to happen for me to win.

"I'm a slow player but I find it easy playing Ronnie because you can feed off his speed and rhythm. I've gone beyond my expectations now so I can enjoy the rest of the tournament."

Comeback king Shaun Murphy recovered a 4-2 deficit to beat Mark Allen 5-4. Murphy, who won his first match from 4-1 down against Dominic Dale, won the opening frame tonight with a 102 before Allen took four of the next five with 53, 58 and 100.

A tremendous 143 total clearance, the highest break of the tournament so far, saw Murphy initiate his fight back, and a 77 got him to 4-4. The Sale-based potter then dominated the decider, winning it 68-3.

"It doesn't matter if you win 5-0 in 30 minutes, or 5-4 in three days, you've just got to get to five frames," said 2005 World Champion Murphy, who now plays Mark Selby. "So far I've produced my best when my back has been against the wall, although I would prefer to win matches easily."

World Champion John Higgins faced a tough draw against Australian Goldfields Open Champion Stuart Bingham, but after struggling in the early stages he pulled away to win 5-2 with a top break of 69.

"I think in the first few weeks of the season a lot of the top players were rusty, myself included. But now we're starting to find some form so it's no surprise that the bigger names are getting through here," said Higgins.
Mark Selby saw off Jamie Cope 5-0 with top breaks of 64, 110 and 70. "Jamie could have won either of the first two frames, but from 2-0 up I played really well," said Selby, who has now won nine consecutive ranking matches having triumphed at PTC4 two weeks ago.

Mark Williams was also untroubled as he beat Rob Milkins 5-1 with 54, 57, 130 and 82. The Welshman could lose his World No 1 position to Selby at the end of this event but said: "My ambition last season was to get back to No 1, but I'm not that worried about staying there now. My ambition now is to win more tournaments before I start slipping down the rankings again, and I especially want to win another World title."

BANK OF COMMUNICATION SHANGHAI MASTERS
THE GRAND STAGE - SHANGHAI
THE LAST 32
Mark King	5 : 4	Ali Carter
Fergal O'Brien	5 : 3	Peter Ebdon
Ronnie O'Sullivan	5 : 1	James Wattana
Anthony Hamilton	5 : 4	Stephen Maguire
Shaun Murphy	5 : 4	Dominic Dale
Mark Allen	5 : 2	Ryan Day
Jamie Cope	5 : 3	Jack Lisowski
Mark Selby	5 : 3	Nigel Bond
Mark Williams	5 : 0	Andrew Higginson
Robert Milkins	5 : 1	Stephen Hendry
Matthew Stevens	5 : 2	Stephen Lee
Martin Gould	5 : 3	Ding Junhui
Neil Robertson	5 : 1	Liang Wenbo
Michael Holt	5 : 2	Graeme Dott
Stuart Bingham	5 : 1	Judd Trump
John Higgins	5 : 2	Mark Davis

BANK OF COMMUNICATION SHANGHAI MASTERS
THE GRAND STAGE - SHANGHAI
THE LAST 16
Mark King	5 : 3	Fergal O'Brien
Anthony Hamilton	5 : 3	Ronnie O'Sullivan
Shaun Murphy	5 : 4	Mark Allen
Mark Selby	5 : 0	Jamie Cope
Mark Williams	5 : 1	Robert Milkins
Matthew Stevens	5 : 1	Martin Gould
Neil Robertson	5 : 2	Michael Holt
John Higgins	5 : 2	Stuart Bingham

BANK OF COMMUNICATION SHANGHAI MASTERS
THE GRAND STAGE - SHANGHAI
THE QUARTER FINALS
Mark King	5 : 2	Anthony Hamilton
Mark Selby	5 : 4	Shaun Murphy
Mark Williams	5 : 0	Matthew Stevens
Neil Robertson	5 : 2	John Higgins

BANK OF COMMUNICATION SHANGHAI MASTERS
THE GRAND STAGE - SHANGHAI
THE SEMI FINALS
Mark Selby	6 : 0	Mark King
Mark Williams	6 : 5	Neil Robertson

BANK OF COMMUNICATION SHANGHAI MASTERS
THE GRAND STAGE - SHANGHAI
THE FINAL
Mark Selby	10 : 9	Mark Williams

Day 3 - World No 16 Stephen Hendry - Scotland

Day 2 - World No 10 Ronnie O'Sullivan - England

Day 1 - World No 65 James Wattana - Thailand

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