LIVE coverage of the opening day of the World Championship semi-finals at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre.

JUDD TRUMP 3-5 STUART BINGHAM – END OF SESSION
SHAUN MURPHY 6-2 BARRY HAWKINS – END OF SESSION

 

Thanks to all you tonight for joining the Live feed. I’ll be back once again tomorrow from 10am as the World Championship semi-finals continue. I’ve been Nigel Slater. Good night. 

Trump has rarely been tested yet in this year’s World Championship – well now he has been, will be fascinating second session tomorrow.

Still very much early days but Bingham has shown he is not scared of Trump and will look to take the chances which come his way.

Well well well – not the scoreline many were expecting. Despite a shaky start it was a very impressive display from Bingham who grew into the match very well.

9.51pm – And Bingham takes the chance perfectly, a break of 76 earns him an overnight lead of 5-3.

9.45pm – Trump leaves a red on, Bingham pots it and now can score big with reds open.

9.41pm – Great long pot from Bingham sets up snooker behind the brown, with reds open on the other side of the table – Trump must be careful here (0-1)

9.32pm – And Trump stops the rot, this time making the most of a frame winning opportunity with a break of 75. Just what he needed.

9.27pm – Again good start from Trump to the frame, break of 35 and counting – will be eager to make the most of this chance.

9.19pm – FRAME BINGHAM – a clearance of 74 puts Bingham 4-2 ahead, thee frames in a row now.

9.17pm – Trump’s lead almost gone as Bingham moves onto break of 49 with just the colours remaining.

9.14pm – Trump misses long red, and leaves it over the centre for Bingham. (56-0)

9.12pm – Good break from Trump but loses position on 56, forced to play safe (56-0)

9.10pm – Trump looking to quickly get back on track after going behind. He’s on a break of 29 and counting…..

9.05pm – And that missed pink costs Trump the frame. Bingham leads for the first time 3-2.

9.04pm – Trump misses pink to the middle and leaves final red over the middle pocket – chance for Bingham to take the lead in this match (39-57)

9.01pm – Not a great safety from Bingham, Trump cuts red into middle (17-57)

8.58pm – Bingham misses red with rest on break of 49 (16-57) – lucky not to leave anything easy available for Trump.

8.52pm – Trump makes mess of position on what is an open table with reds scattered around, misses a red as a consequence – Bingham back in (16-8)

Impressive snooker from Bingham – showing Judd that he is in a game.

8.32pm – A break of 89 sees Bingham level the scores again to make it 2-2

8.26pm – Bingham first in and doing well – break of 44 and counting…..

STATEMENT FROM WORLD SNOOKER OVER CHALKGATE INCIDENT IN O’SULLIVAN/BINGHAM MATCH

The WPBSA has investigated an incident in the fifth frame of the Betfred World Championship match between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stuart Bingham.

After consideration of the video evidence and the referee’s report, WPBSA have concluded that O’Sullivan should have been fouled 7 points for a breach of Section 3, rule 10, D (ii), which refers to the striker using ‘any object to measure gaps or distance.’

The foul is condoned by the fact that play continued.

WPBSA has spoken to the referee, Terry Camilleri, about the decision and there will be no further action on the matter. Terry remains one of our top referees and will continue to officiate at the very top level.

8.17pm – Bingham makes a mess of safety on green, leaving it pottable for Trump – and he clears to take the frame.

8.13pm – Trump fouls by potting the green when playing safe on yellow, Bingham pots yellow but can’t get on the green (46-47)

8.08pm – Trump flukes in final red, pots black but can’t land on yellow to pot it – plays for the snooker (46-41) This frame going to be decided on the colours

8.04pm – Scrappy frame this one, Bingham misses red to the middle (22-41)

8.01pm – Few misses in this frame – Trump missed a red to the green pocket, now Bingham misses red to bottom corner, Trump returns but misses long red (22-33)

7.58pm – Fluke of a red from Bingham gets him back in with a scoring chance (19-16) Only a brief chance though – misses red while leading 27-19.

7.56pm – Bingham misses green and is fortunate the cueball has landed below the brown to make it safe (19-15)

7.53pm – A run of outrageous potting from Trump come to an end on 19 with a missed red – Bingham returns to the table.

7.48pm – BRILLIANT! Bingham steals the second frame with a clearance of 65 after Trump missed frame ball red. That will give him plenty of confidence, 1-1.

7.46pm – Bingham back in and going well so far – break of 38 and counting, just the colours remaining (64 – 39)

7.42pm – Trump misses frame ball red on 64, this frame not over yet (64-1)

7.40pm – Break of 53 and counting for Trump……

7.37pm – Bingham misses simple blue to the middle pocket, chance for Judd to begin scoring in this second frame.

7.30pm – Wonderful clearance from Trump demonstrating his enormous cue power, to take the first frame.

7.26pm – Safety error from Bingham sees red left over the pocket – chance for Trump to seal first frame.

7.19pm – Break of 49 from Trump puts him 53-22 ahead, three reds remain.

Worrying signs there for Bingham missing a simple red, he’ll want to get his first frame as soon as possible to settle him down. Misses against Trump could prove costly.

7.15pm – Despite a couple of flukes from Trump, it is now Bingham at the table accumulating points, but misses a red on 22 (4-22)

Players are out, sit back and enjoy – Bingham to break off, his dream now comes alive.

STEPHEN HENDRY ON TRUMP VS BINGHAM SEMI-FINAL

“Before the tournament I fancied Judd Trump to go all the way, so I fancy him to prevail against Bingham because he has been very good. Beating someone like Ding Junhui 13-4 is an impressive result.”

A fabulous win over five-times world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan reduced him to tears, now he has to get over that and look towards beating Trump to reach his first World Championship final.

And for Bingham, tonight sees him play his biggest match of the Crucible. For so long all he has ever wanted was to be part of the one-table Crucible set-up – well now, for the first time, is his chance.

Trump goes into tonight clash yet to be tested after comfortable wins over Stuart Carrington, Marco Fu and Ding Junhui. How will he fare against Bingham tonight?

Hello and good evening to you. Welcome back to The Old Green Baize for the second part of today’s live feed as the second World Championship semi-final between Jud Trump and Stuart Bingham is just minutes away from starting.

Join me Nigel Slater at 6.45pm for the second part of this live feed as the second semi-final commences between Judd Trump and Stuart Bingham. Another fascinating match expected. Enjoy some food and see you tonight!

Well there you go, a great start for Shaun Murphy as the semi-final stages get underway. Full report to come soon on his good start.

4.17pm – And a break of 79 gives Murphy a commanding 6-2 lead at the close of the first session

4.16pm – Murphy’s break continues with all the reds off the table – now into the lead with just the colours remaining (50-53)

4.12pm – Another fabulous long red from Murphy gives him a chance to get back into the frame scoring wise (50-2)

4.08pm – Great long red from Murphy but misses the brown. Brown then canons into what would have been a loose and available red (50-1)

4.05pm – Head down in disbelief for Hawkins as he loses position with a break of 50 coming to an end (50-0)

4.02pm – Hawkins first in in frame eight, a break of 24 and counting……..

3.53pm – Brilliant from Murphy as another century, this time a 138, puts him 5-2 ahead – one more frame to go in the session.

3.48pm – Break of 47 and counting for Murphy…….

3.45pm – Stunning long red from Murphy after poor break off from Hawkins. Hawkins ‘asking for trouble’ says John Virgo.

3.42pm – Hawkins knocks in a good red to the middle to definitely clinch the frame. Job done, its 4-2.

3.41pm – Funny moment as referee Jan Verhaas re-ties Hawkins’ bow tie. Good break of 69 leaves Murphy needing snookers (69-8)

3.39pm – Break moves on to 61, just a few more pots needed…..

3.37pm – Good chance developing for Hawkins, break moves onto 38 and counting (38-8)……..

3.31pm – Another magnificent long pot from Murphy with the red laid on the side cushion (0-1) But then misses tough red to middle (0-8)

3.26pm – Perfect response from Murphy after the disappointment of the final black in the previous frame. A break of 105 gives him a 4-1 lead.

3.23pm – Break moves on to 44 and counting………

3.20pm – Players are back and Murphy knocks in long red to start things off (0-1)

It’s time for a break, see you in 15 minutes for the second part of the opening session!

2.57pm – DRAMA – Murphy pots the final black only to see the white go in the middle as well – Frame Hawkins!

2.56pm – Hawkins loses position from pink to final black (53-51), takes on cut and misses it. Its a black ball frame.

2.53pm – Murphy leaves penultimate red on to the middle, another chance for Hawkins (23-51)

2.50pm – Murphy doesn’t take full advantage as he loses position by playing the canon which Hawkins missed earlier (23-51)

2.47pm – More bad luck for Hawkins as he fouls on the yellow (23-35)

2.46pm Hawkins misses canon on reds from the blue and loses position, end of break (23-31)

2.44pm – Murphy unlucky to foul by knocking a red in after potting the blue (13-31) Maybe the luck Hawkins needed??

2.39pm – Murphy getting a lot of run of the ball, risky shots landing safe to the frustration of Hawkins (8-11)

2.30pm – Loses position on 8 though and plays safe (8-0)

2.28pm – Nice opening red and pink from Hawkins – could really do with winning this frame (7-0)

2.20pm – A safety from Hawkins goes wrong and double kisses with the red, sticking it up for Murphy to pot, 3-0 lead it is.

2.12pm – Murphy unlucky to lose position after great pot (24-64) Hawkins misses red

2.09pm – Hawkins misses on 24, chance for Murphy to extend lead (24-41)

2.05pm – Murphy cut on the red misses top corner pocket, chance for Hawkins (0-41)

2.04pm – Hawkins’ safety not safe enough, another long red from Murphy to extend his lead to 39-0 (0-39)

2.00pm – Murphy forced to play safe after losing position on next red (0-38)

1.57pm – Another fine long red Murphy presents him with the first chance in frame 3 (0-1)

1.52pm – Murphy clears the table with a run of 40 to go 2-0. That Hawkins miss proves costly.

1.48pm – Hawkins misses red to the middle on 63 (63-29) Murphy back in it

1.45pm – Good chance here for Hawkins to level here, leading 41-29 with a break of 41 and counting…..

1.31pm – Brilliant start from Murphy as a break of 92 gives him first frame.

1.29pm – Break of 49 and counting for Murphy (35-50)

1.26pm – Black back on its spot following long red for Murphy – scoring chance for the former world champion (35-9)

1.25pm – Safety battle in progress with Hawkins leading 35-1, not helped by black on the edge of the corner pocket.

1.18pm – Murphy registers first pot but can’t do any more but play safe on colour (31-1)

1.16pm – Break of 31 from Hawkins before playing safe on the green (31-0)

1.14pm – Hawkins first in after good long red

A more modern dance track (don’t know what it is) greets Barry Hawkins’ arrival. We are off.

‘BURN BABY BURN’ – Shaun Murphy enters the Crucible arena

1pm – PLAY set to get underway in the next few minutes. The business end of this year’s World Championship is just moments away.

STEPHEN HENDRY ON HAWKINS VS MURPHY

“That’s three semi-finals in a row for Hawkins and he’s capable of competing with the best players. Two semi-finals and a final in three years is brilliant because the Crucible is the biggest test in snooker, so for Barry to be consistent there says a lot about his game.

“The other last four tie between Barry Hawkins and Shaun Murphy is a tougher match to call. I’ve got a sneaky suspicion that Barry will reach his second final in three years and it would not be that much of a surprise.

FULL STORY ON HERE – https://beta.beanbagsports.com/blog/2015/04/30/ronnie-rockets-out-the-world-championship/

HEAD TO HEAD – Hawkins vs Murphy

• Ten previous meetings dating back from 2001 – Murphy winning on 8 occasions, Hawkins 2 (Source Cuetracker.net)
• Last meeting in ranking event – 2013 UK Championship L16 – Barry Hawkins 6-5 Shaun Murphy
• Both had 17 seasons on the main tour

Shaun Murphy. Picture by Monique Limbos

SHAUN MURPHY ON REACHING THE SEMI-FINALS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX YEARS

“It’s a massive deal for me to get to the semis, that’s what everyone who comes to this tournament wants to do, they want to play in that one table set-up.

“It has been hard for the last few years, having to go home at this stage and watch everyone else battle on for the tournament. This time I’m in it, I’m still punching and I can’t wait.”

Here are the unforgettable final moments – in this seven minute YouTube clip

BBC currently showing possibly one of snooker’s most famous moments -the deciding frame shootout in the 1985 World Championship final between Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor.

Neil Robertson. Picture by Monique Limbos

NEIL ROBERTSON AFTER LOSING TO BARRY HAWKINS 13-12 LAST NIGHT

“This is the first time in the whole tournament I had the white on a string. I was making breaks and it was easy, that’s what happens when you practice a lot.

“I’ve got to put in the work, I truly believe I have underachieved in my career and I’ve got to put the work in to reach my potential, if I reach my potential then who knows what I’m capable of.”

And then tonight Ace in the Pack Judd Trump will continue his bid to win his first World Championship title when he takes on Stuart Bingham who pulled off the greatest win of his career last night to beat five-times winner Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Barry Hawkins last night made it through to the semi-finals after a pulsating final frame deciding victory over Australian Neil Robertson. This afternoon sees Hawkins face Shaun Murphy who is looking tio win his second world title – his first coming ten years ago. All the action starts from 1pm.

A week on Saturday we started with 32 players but now only four remain to compete for snooker’s biggest prize – the World Championship.

The tournament is set to stage one of its most famous scenes with the one table set-up coming to the fore on snooker’s biggest stage.

WELCOME to The Old Green Baize’s live coverage of the opening day of the World Championship semi-finals at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre.