2008 888.com World Championship

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Ladder - QUALIFYING RESULTS  - CRUCIBLE RESULTS  - INFORMATION - MATCH NOTES - PLAYER CUEFACTS

GALLERIES: No. 1 Preliminary Rounds - No. 2 Qualifying Rounds

NEIL ROBERTSON

v

NIGEL BOND

Round One - Match 13

(Best of 19 frames)

Saturday 19 April 10.00

Sunday 20 April 10.00

 

Match Notes

Good morning and a very warm welcome to a very chilly Sheffield...

Nigel Bond gets the first pot of this year's Championship as the match gets underway... There's a full house this morning, a great atmosphere and an air of expectation from both players and fans... Bond can only make 10 and here's the first chance for the Melbourne potting machine...

He can't create an opening so now a safety exchange develops... Robertson has the upper hand, he's forced a miss from Bond and the ball's going back tight behind the yellow for another attempt and winning that little exchange gives Robertson a good chance to win the frame at this visit... and he does with 59...

Robertson is flying in the second, already up to 43... and now on 70 and the frame is safe... A tactical exchange to start the third frame, this will give Nigel a chance to get a bit of table time, he's done nothing wrong so far, but has barely had a pot to attempt... Now he has, can he make an impact... not much of one as he makes only 26...

Back comes Robertson, already on to 51, he misses a long pink, splits the last three red and gets away with it... so the lead is  58-26 with 51 still on the table... a brilliant snooker by Bond, he's nailed the white behind the pink, right in the jaws of the yellow pocket - get out of that! There's the first miss... and the second, he hasn't got past the blue spot yet,

white straight into the centre pocket at that attempt... third time lucky... and he's got it safe... Bond hasn't had much luck so far and despite a good safety shot the brown near the pocket makes the pocket bigger and Robertson can't miss that red... he just needs red and colour for 3-0, but he's not on the colour unless he takes a very tricky cut back black, so 26 ahead on the yellow... Bond gets a snooker on the yellow, and Robertson gets away with his escape... a good safety by Bond forces the error from Robertson.. but Bond leaves the blue for Robertson and it's 3-0 barring two snookers on the pink... which he doesn't get...

Another tactical battle has developed in frame four, and the reds are very well spread... Neil Robertson has played shot of the championship with a remarkable bend out of a snooker, he went in off but it's brought a huge cheer from the crowd... The tactical battle continues, in fact it's a stalemate so they're having a re-rack...

Bond has created a decent chance here and made 33 so far... but a poor shot there and the break ends at 39... Bond holds a 62-16 lead now but still 4 reds left...

Robertson misses a long red and leaves it on for Bond, who should now win his first frame... he looks certain now as Robertson needs snookers... they go off for their interval now and Bond will feel a lot better having won that frame... They return from the interval and Robertson gets the first chance... only 14 for the Aussie and an opening left for Bond...

Bond makes 48 from that visit... Robertson has found a red but it's not an easy clearance from here... the last red disappears and Robertson looks set to stretch his lead... and he's going further ahead as his break in frame six reaches 73... a handy fluke keeps the break going, a very good break as the black is out of play... As the other match has finished for the morning, the partition is raised and these players have the arena and a packed audience to themselves now... Bond is entertaining them at the moment on a break of 46... despite trailing, Robertson knows this match won't be over until the handshake comes. Bond is the ultimate come-back king, still remembered for his remarkable recovery against Cliff Thorburn, when he trailed 9-2 and somehow came back and won 10-9... and a more recent Crucible triumph was his re-spotted black win over Stephen Hendry in 2006... this is another superb break, again the black is out of play and Bond has reached 72 and the frame is safe now... and Bond reaches the century and it's richly deserved... and superb 125 total clearance and the only time the black was potted was to complete the clearance... Neil makes 15 but that blue drifted away from the pocket and he's left Bond on a red...

but that's not a clear opening and they'll jostle now for the next chance... Robertson has carved an opening and a death or glory red has opened up the frame for him... a careless miss by Robertson on 38, he leads 54-13 with two reds left so Bond can still pinch this one... this is very hard work for Bond with no margin of error.. he can't get on the yellow so just a safety and he's 26 behind... Robertson flukes his escape from the snooker, missed it on the way up and Eirian Williams had already called foul, but he caught it as the white came back up the table and he's not left an easy pot... a good pot by Robertson should put the frame beyond doubt now... Robertson is making progress in the last frame of the session, but he's lost position and missed a red with the rest, he holds a 31-12 lead... Neil's stretched that to 64-19 and Bond needs snookers, it should be 7-2 now... and it is...

Good morning, welcome back to the Crucible for the concluding frames of this match... On the other table Ryan Day and Michael Judge start out on their first session

Neil is wasting no time at all, already on a break of 16... The Aussie runs out of position with 33 on the board, he's left a hard plant or an even harder safety for Nigel... Bond can launch a counter here, already onto 28... and this is a great response, a break of 67 but he's missed the last red with the rest and he leads by 34 but there's still 35 on... Robertson has a bit of a lash at the red and he's left it on, so Bond claims the first frame of the day, can he continue his fight back... Robertson has pushed a red over the pocket, so here's a great chance for Bond in frame eleven... well it was until he bungled his position... Bond finds a plant but has gone in off... Robertson leads 51-7 after that run of 38 but there are still four reds on so the frame is wide open... not any more as Robertson gets back in and clears up to regain his five frame lead... Robertson is motoring now, onto 42 in this frame with the balls open... he breaks down on 56... a prolonged safety exchange has sent all the balls into bad positions, that favours Robertson who still holds a 56 point lead.. he's missed the reds there and Nigel holds the safety advantage at the moment... and that good safety gives him a chance, he's clawed back 20 points and there's one red left... and he's potted a great red down the rail with the rest, he's on the pink, now 23 points behind and on the yellow, but the brown is tight on the baulk rail... Nigel plays an excellent safety on the brown... the other colours are open so it's all about the brown... and Nigel has won the frame, that was a brilliant effort... Robertson has already shrugged off that disappointment and is amongst the balls again in the 13th frame... Neil breaks down on 57, will he be punished again like the last frame? This time the reds are well out in the open, not this time Bond has left a red on for Robertson... and that red secures the frame for Robertson, just one more needed for victory... the players have gone for their interval now

The players return and Robertson gets the first red in the frame he needs for victory... and he's made no mistake at all here, finishing in style in one visit...

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FRAME SCORES

1. 74(59)-10

2. 95(70)-0

3. 72(52)-50

4. 16-79(38)

5. 84(70)-48

6. 84(80)-0

7. 0-125(125)

8. 64(38)-32

9. 65-23

FRAME SCORES

10. 33(33)-73(67)

11. 114(38,63)-7

12. 57(56)-61(34)

13. 69(57)-8

14. 84(84)-0

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FRAME SCORES

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QUOTES

WINNER

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QUOTES