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

RONNIE O'SULLIVAN

v

ALI CARTER

THE FINAL

(Best of 35 frames)

Sunday 4 May 15.00 & 20.00

Monday 5 May 14.30 & 20.00

 

Match Notes

Good afternoon and a warm welcome to The final... the excitement is mounting, the players will enter the arena in a few minutes

After a few good safety shots it's Carter who pots the opening red... but having made 24, he's mis-cued and left Ronnie a chance, from which he makes only 4 before missing a red to the centre... Ali finds a red and can carry on where he left off now... he's doubled his score now to 48 and this is a good chance to carry on to win the frame at this visit... he's been unlucky, a red's dropped in as he split the pack, Carter leads 56-9 but Ronnie has a red on and he responds with 38 and plays safe on the last red... in fact he's snookered Carter... he fails to escape, so it's going back.. great shot there and even better result, Ali cracked the white up into the jaws of the pocket and across the cushion to hit the red and it runs safe... Cater misses a long attempt at the last red and leaves it for Ronnie... and he clears up to take the opener... Into frame two and O'Sullivan fires in a long red and creates a chance, 31 so far... he's position, 39 scored... Carters leaves a red on and Ronnie pots it and now the balls are very open... and the frame is already safe for Ronnie... and he clears up with 88... Carters had a go at a long red to start frame three but he's way off the target and he's left a red for Ronnie to get scoring again... already on to 54, in perfect position... Ronnie still seems to be in the same imperious form he showed against Stephen Hendry... he snookered himself on 99, so no century... take a note of the time, Ronnie has missed a long red.. Carter gets a chance, a lot of work to do to turn this into a substantial scoring visit... it looks better now, onto 40, he will need to break the bunch open soon... the break reaches 63, one more red and colour needed by Ali... he's got it, the frame is safe now and he's won his first frame of the final... and there's the century for Carter, great effort as they go to their interval.

Duly refreshed, the players  return to play four more frames in this session...  Ronnie snookered Ali but nothing left on and some good safety from both players... Ronnie breaks free of the safety, the reds are very well spread... there's nothing to stop Ronnie making a frame-winning break here, although the black is tied up with some reds... 57 at the moment and he secures the frame... Carter pots a good long red to get frame six underway... he couldn't turn it into a frame-winner, he's made 24 and run safe... Carter's manufactured another chance as Ronnie misses a red... Carter moves his score onto 39 but he's missed the black from its spot and here's a gift for Ronnie... only 17 for Ronnie, the frame has gone a bit scrappy... Ronnie's right back into the frame, he's on the last three reds, the scores are level.... Ronnie goes 18 ahead but he's snookered himself on the yellow... he's missed it, hit the black, Ali has it replaced... Ronnie's done exactly the same again, so 14 points given away, he's still snookered and his lead has shrunk to 4 points... nearly the same result but he didn't hit the black, the scores are level and Ronnie is still trying to find a way to hit the yellow... missed it again and left a free ball now.. nothing easy to pot so back goes the white again... at last, and fairly safe... Ronnie pots yellow and green but not the brown, now he's a point in front... Carter gets the brown, the blue isn't easy... he's got it and the pink for the frame... Frame 7 of 8 this afternoon and Carter catches the brown with his safety and Ronnie despatches the opening red... Ronnie misses on 32, cueing down over the pack... nothing left for Ali, but he's played a good safety shot... Ronnie find a long red but he's not on a colour... Carter pulls out a cracking long red, the blue is waiting, but a lot of work to do with black and pink out of the game at the moment... and he can only make 18 at that visit.. Ronnie's got a red and moved to 56-18, at which point he misses a red and leaves everything safe... Ronnie sees a glimpse of a red and down it goes, but again no position... he's 39 up with 43 remaining.. and there's another frightening pot from Ronnie and that's the frame winner... Ronnie's made 8 but couldn't open more reds, so quite a long safety exchange at the moment... until Ronnie fluked a red... he's made 27 so far from that slice of luck... he's missed a long blue on 47, but leads by 55 with 4 reds left, which Carter immediately leaves on with a poor safety... and O'Sullivan wins the frame to lead 6-2 after the opening session.

Good evening, welcome back, eight more frames to be played tonight... the players will be introduced in a few minutes... and off we go, good safety by both players so far... In addition to this World final, the World Ladies Championship is also underway in Cambridge and you can keep up with all those scores and results on GCS, there is a link on our main page... Congratulations to 12 year old Hannah Jones from Derby who won the World Ladies Junior title this afternoon... O'Sullivan slots home the first red... he's now in perfect position, onto 40 now, all black so far and this is a rather nice set of reds... onto 64... he's played for the blue, the priority is winning the frame... which he's now done... he's got a big bounce off the cushion so that ends the break... but he's now 7-2 ahead... It's Carter's turn to drive home the opening red... that came to an end at 12,, he's missed the yellow, playing with power... so the chance goes to Ronnie now... he makes 18 but has no shot on... Carter rolls in a great red to give himself a good scoring chance.... he's broken down but leads 44-18... there are three reds left... Carter gets a red but misses the blue... Ronnie takes a red and lays a snooker, so the frame now hinges on the last red... Ronnie gets Ali in trouble with a snooker, which he fails to hit... still they battle to get a chance on the last red and the safety has pushed yellow and brown to the baulk cushion, and the green, but that's not far from its pocket... Carter escapes another snooker but the red is on and Ronnie pots it... he's missed the green dead weight... he's left Carter a shot at the yellow... he's got yellow to brown which should clinch the frame, the blue didn't drop but Ronnie needs one snooker... Carter flukes the pink and wins the frame... Into frame eleven and a loose safety shot by Ronnie leaves an opening red for Ali... but he's missed his next red... Ronnie's moved on to 35, now it's about splitting the pack... perfect... frame safe, an 86 break in the blink of an eye... O'Sullivan is going up through the gears now, a great red to start frame twelve, several more in potting positions... well he was going full throttle until he got to 23 and missed a yellow and he's left a chance for Ali... it's gone wrong, he's made 17 and gone in off... Ronnie lines up a straight red from hand and misses it... Carter gets a good red and has compiled 50 now and the frame is his... so he's shared the mini session 2-2 and will feel a bit better as they go off for the interval...

Play resumes, four more frames to be played tonight... the first chance falls to Ronnie, from which he makes 22, but he's missed a red and got away with it... he's got another opening... but he's furious there as a kick robs him of position, he's banged his fist down on the table... so forced to play safe, leading 45-0... Carter's spotted a red to centre after Ronnie missed a red... onto 28, 4 reds left, three in a little cluster... he's got rid of the reds, he needs up to the blue for the frame and that's a gutsy 80 clearance... Into frame fourteen, the first chance is Ronnie's with a drop in red to centre... not the easiest opportunity, he's made 37 but he's out of position... he gets another chance, now he's got the last five reds open... and he clears with 86 to lead 9-5... Ronnie's making strides towards 10-5, onto 44, one more loose red before he'll have to split the pack... he's lost position there, on 57 but not on the black.. has to play the snooker in behind the black... Ali left a red to middle sticking out but Ronnie's missed it, the reds are scattered and Ali has the chance... Carter replies with 31 before missing an easy yellow... so Ronnie leads b7 26 on the last red, which he misses... Carter gets the red but missed a tough black... Ronnie tickles the yellow and that is enough for the frame... onto the last frame of the night and Ronnie gets an early chance... and he's cruising through this break, onto 52 now... now on 73 and that's the last frame safe, so he leads 11-5 overnight... and he rounds off a good day's work with a century

A very Good afternoon and welcome to the Crucible for the final day of the 888.com World Championships... Ronnie leads Ali 11-5 and in a few minutes the players will be introduced to a pack, expectant Crucible audience... here we go, Ronnie breaks off, a bad shot there, he's hit the blue and here's an immediate chance for Ali Carter, just what he needs... black and pink are tied up, so a lot of hard work at the moment to come round for blue... the break ends at 40, but an amazing shot on the black, Ali's forced it at pace and it's hit the knuckle, leapt about 10 inches into air and then bounced and dropped in the pocket... but it didn't gain Ali position so just a safety shot... Ronnie finds a red now from Carter's missed red attempt... this is a very open table and no reason why he shouldn't clear up... but he doesn't, missed a red on 24... Carter can't capitalise, another missed red and an easy starter for Ronnie... and he clears up for a 12-5 lead... Ronnie launches a red  in to start frame 18... already onto 38,  but loses position on 45... Carter sits helpless in his chair, looking rather forlorn and lost at the moment... Ali's safety leaves a red on and Ronnie piles more onto his score... Carter strokes in a great red from Ronnie's break off in frame nineteen and he's moved onto 32... a long red goes astray, but a good 46... a let off, O'Sullivan misses a red and it's sitting over the pocket for Carter... and now he needs one red and colour to clinch the frame... he's lost position.. the lead is 63 points, there's 67 left on and Ronnie fires in a brilliant long red and lands perfect on the black... the green looks to be the only problem tucked onto the side cushion.. Ronnie tries to clip it out and then missed the brown off the penultimate red, which Carter has fired in... it's Carter's frame barring snookers... Both players have missed an attempted red, but Carter's miss leave a great opening for Ronnie... danger signs here, onto 55, more reds waiting... the break ends 71, but the frame is safe and at the interval Ronnie has 14-6 lead...

Cheers and applause greets the players' return after the intermission... Carter has the first scoring chance... the break reaches 36 now, still plenty of reds available... onto 64 now, he needs another red still.. and he's got it, clinching this frame ensures we will have a session of play tonight... Ronnie misses his opening red attempt in frame 22 but he's not left it on... no mistake this time by Ronnie, he rifles in another long red to get started... he's made 39 and got an awful kick, now he's got a hard shot to even hit the black... he just about manages it and gets the white safe... Carter creates the next scoring chance... he's missed on 18, the black eludes him... but he'd left the next red harder than it should have been and Ronnie's missed it... Ronnie now leads 47-19 with three reds left... Carter's pulled out a brilliant pot to give himself a chance to pull back into the frame... he can't get on the last red, so lays the snooker.. which Ronnie misses... Carter gets the red and he's only 5 points behind as they vie for a shot at the brown... O'Sullivan snookered Ali and the escape leaves the clearance on for Ronnie to stretch his lead to 15-7... Two more frames to be played this afternoon and Carter cracks in a long red to start frame 23, and there's a good blue to get back to the reds... he can't retain position so runs for the baulk cushion, he made 18 at that visit... An unaccountable missed pink by Ronnie, leaves Carter right in amongst the reds... and as the break reaches 51, he's secured the frame... Ronnie pots a marvellous red to start frame 24, but misses the black, he's gone a little off the boil this afternoon... Carter leave Ronnie another chance... he scores 23 and misses a red along the top rail... and, in turn, Carter misses a red on 24... Ronnie's making no mistake this time, there goes the red he needed to seal the frame... barring snookers... and Ronnie's knocked the black in so Ali is now only 36 behind with 35 on and only one snooker needed still... which he doesn't get, so Ronnie leads 16-8 at the end of the session.

Good evening and welcome back for the final session of this year's 888.com World Championship... a packed Crucible is waiting now for the introductions to be made and for play to recommence... a slight delay as we have a streaker... who managed to get under the table... but order is restored now and play can start... Carter fires in a cracking red and lays a snooker... not a problem for Ronnie to get safe... this time Ronnie gets Carter in all sorts of trouble with a snooker and Carter's hit and hope escape leaves a choice of reds for Ronnie... onto 48 in no time at all... he misses a red on 69, Carter needs one snooker on the last five reds... Carter compiles 31 and attempts to lay a snooker on the last red, he's 37 behind with 35 on... Ronnie snookers Ali, who fails to escape and concedes... Ronnie fires in a red and is already on 26... this could be the victory march now... he's run out of position with 34 on the board... Carter finds a plant and he's got a nice opportunity here... he's missed on 16 and Ronnie should clear up now... and he has so Ronnie lifts his third world title and cements his place again as World No. 1 and 888.com World Champion.

We hope you've enjoyed our coverage... Stay with GCS for a lot of exciting upcoming international Events, starting this weekend with the great Pontin's Spring Festival.

FRAME SCORES

1. 81(38)-56(32)

2. 127(39,88)-0

3. 99(99)-0

4. 0-104(104)

5. 86(74)-4

6. 62-76

7. 65-18

8. 73(47)-0

9. 78(78)-0

10. .36-60

11. 86(86)-4

12. 28-93(76)

FRAME SCORES

13. 45-80(80)

14. 123(86)-0

15. 77(57)-32

16. 110(106)-5

17. 66(52)-48(40)

18. 74(45)-0

19. 25-64(46)

20. 85(71)-0

21. 0-84(84)

22. 58(39)-42

23. 4-89(71)

24. 68(44)-39

FRAME SCORES

25. 75(69)-32

26. 61-16

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35

QUOTES

WINNER

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QUOTES