[Suitcase Berao]

An outrageous fluke gives Stevens the first frame of the morning session.

[Mark F]

Wasn't Cater the guy who was doubtful with injury before the tournament?

[Suitcase Berao]

Originally Posted by Mark F

Wasn't Cater the guy who was doubtful with injury before the tournament?

I think that was Mark Selby.

[Terrence Chant]

Originally Posted by Mark F

Wasn't Cater the guy who was doubtful with injury before the tournament?

Yes it was Selby with a neck injury. Ali's had an ongoing battle with Crohn's disease for several years and threatened to quit at the end of the season about six months ago.

[Suitcase Berao]

Stevens takes the second of the morning, and Ronnie is at the table in the third for his first real chance of the session.

[Terrence Chant]

Perfect start to the day for Matthew, two frames in the bag without ROS potting a meaningful ball..........should avoid a session defeat now at the very least

[Terrence Chant]

12-8 at the mid-sesh.......3 of the 4 frames won to nil, usually indicative of a decent standard.

[FBI]

No snooker coverage now for Freeview users - a women's hockey match instead. Absolutely incredible.

[MarkBeales]

Freeview have taken snooker off to show women's hockey! I mean, seriously?! It's the semi final for God's sake!

[Elanor]

Originally Posted by Terrence Chant

Yeah it'd be a real tragedy for the game wouldn't it..... a story of how a guy overcame loss of form and a life threatening illness to become world champion. Too many unconstructive, pointless posts on here last night

Originally Posted by NWScots

Completely agree with your whole post TC. Why do these type of posts appear at this stage in the season yet we trundle along quite nicely for the rest of the year? Can't be bothered with them so stayed off last night until the session was over.

Yeah, it would be pretty impressive if Ali managed to win after all the trouble he's had. Don't get me wrong, by no stretch of the imagination is he my favourite player but I certainly admire his tenacity in battling to get back to this stage.

Originally Posted by zawtowers

I agree entirely. Having seen Ali Carter in the quarter final against Jamie Jones, he certainly isn't miserable at all. When Jones almost went in off and nestled in the corner, Ali smiled to the crowd, knowing he was having his work cut out.

He's also a nice guy off the table as well and is actually more than happy to chat to people outside the Crucible, sign autographs etc.

He's playing a tactical semi final and the tactics he's using are working to a degree. His century last night also showed (as if it needed to be) that he can pot balls as well. Oh, and lest we forget he's one of a few people to get a 147 at the Crucible.

And after that 147, he had a laugh with the media: the day before Ronnie had got his 147 and said: "I'll be getting a Bentley convertible now - I've been dying to get one!" but Ali's147 meant the prize money was half each, and so he said "I'm going to buy a Ford Focus convertible, I've been dying to get one!" with a big smile on his face.

I have a feeling it'll be still a tight finish, but Ali to win 17-15 methinks!

Totally agree with all that! Like others, Ali isn't my favourite player ever, but he's by far my favourite of the four that are left in. He is a nice bloke, and he can play really really well, up there with the best of them. And overcoming his Crohn's is a big deal (I had a friend with Crohn's many years ago, and it's a horrid illness, it's not like a touch of IBS or something, as some people seem to think).

I remember the Ford Focus joke really clearly too.

I had a long sleep this morning - have only just woken up. I'm glad Matthew is catching up!

[EPY]

This is great stuff from Matthew, he needs to finish this session 13-11 though.

Come on!

[NWScots]

Originally Posted by Elanor

Totally agree with all that! Like others, Ali isn't my favourite player ever, but he's by far my favourite of the four that are left in. He is a nice bloke, and he can play really really well, up there with the best of them. And overcoming his Crohn's is a big deal (I had a friend with Crohn's many years ago, and it's a horrid illness, it's not like a touch of IBS or something, as some people seem to think).

I remember the Ford Focus joke really clearly too.

I had a long sleep this morning - have only just woken up. I'm glad Matthew is catching up!

Elanor I'm shocked! Surely Ronnie is your favourite

I'm hoping for a Maguire v Ronnie final but that looks to be highly unlikely now unless Stephen goes into "bully" more and wins the first four this afternoon. I most definitely want Ronnie to win the whole thing though. I really really really hope he doesn't decide he's going to retire after this weekend. He seems so relaxed and settled I wouldn't put it past him to announce he's quitting!

[Arcana]

Big miss on the pink there.

[skimminstones]

why arent the bbc using both red channel buttons? Could show the hockey and the snooker then.

[Existentialist]

If O'Sullivan reaches the final he will become joint fifth most successful player in the modern era (1969 - ) along with John Spencer (3 wins, plus 1 final). If he wins the final he will become the fifth most successful player in the modern era outright (4 wins) behind John Higgins in fourth (4 wins, 1 runner up).

[Beautiful_Harv]

Originally Posted by NWScots

Elanor I'm shocked! Surely Ronnie is your favourite

I'm hoping for a Maguire v Ronnie final but that looks to be highly unlikely now unless Stephen goes into "bully" more and wins the first four this afternoon. I most definitely want Ronnie to win the whole thing though. I really really really hope he doesn't decide he's going to retire after this weekend. He seems so relaxed and settled I wouldn't put it past him to announce he's quitting!

I have totally been having this feeling too, but i hope we are both wrong

[Arcana]

BBC HD gone now.

[Elanor]

Originally Posted by NWScots

Elanor I'm shocked! Surely Ronnie is your favourite

I'm hoping for a Maguire v Ronnie final but that looks to be highly unlikely now unless Stephen goes into "bully" more and wins the first four this afternoon. I most definitely want Ronnie to win the whole thing though. I really really really hope he doesn't decide he's going to retire after this weekend. He seems so relaxed and settled I wouldn't put it past him to announce he's quitting!

Why would you be shocked? I'm confused!

Neil Robertson is my favourite current player. I don't dislike Ronnie, and I'm pretty certain he'll win this year, and I'm fine with that. But out of the four remaining, I prefer Ali Carter or Matthew Stevens by far.

[Sick Bullet]

Nice one BBC the HD channel stopped streaming BBC1 is doing stats and chat and there is no internet stream.

Looks like Ronnie was going in 15-9 i do hope so.

Well BBC1 is showing a re run.

[NWScots]

Originally Posted by Beautiful_Harv

I have totally been having this feeling too, but i hope we are both wrong

Yeah, I've been wondering about it all week but I'm hoping that he won't do it.

[NWScots]

Originally Posted by Elanor

Why would you be shocked? I'm confused!

Neil Robertson is my favourite current player. I don't dislike Ronnie, and I'm pretty certain he'll win this year, and I'm fine with that.

Oopsie, just ignore me - I had Ronnie and Robbo mixed up in my head No idea why, it's not like they're similar!

[Elanor]

Originally Posted by NWScots

Oopsie, just ignore me - I had Ronnie and Robbo mixed up in my head No idea why, it's not like they're similar!

Haha! Phew.

[Elanor]

Awww, it's like the old Matthew Stevens is back! I had forgotten over the years how much I LIKED him. He was always one of my favourites back in the day, and then he kind of got all sad (not to mention a bit rubbish) and disappeared from the radar. It's nice to see him smiling and joking again, even if he is destined to never win the World Championship.

[floopy123]

I find watching Matthew Stevens play a bit frustrating. For every good/great pot he makes, he misses an easy one. It's not surprising he dropped out of the top 16 even though he was an amazing player and almost won the title on two occasions. Not the player he used to be, sadly.

[Arcana]

Great session.

Matthew needed to win it I fear.