Ding Junhui - 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy
Ding Junhui claimed the third ranking event title of his career as he beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-6 in the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy.
His previous two ranking title victories were the 2005 China Open when he beat Stephen Hendry 9-5 and last December when he beat an on-form Steve Davis 10-6 to become the only overseas player to have won the UK Championship.
'Ronnie is much more difficult to beat than Steve Davis but the same as Hendry. I felt a lot of pressure,' said Ding after his win over O'Sullivan.
Ronnie led at the interval by 3-1 and he looked on course to claim another ranking title, but Ding had given an indication in the second frame when he looked sure to make a 147 maximum, that perhaps it was not going to go all Ronnie's way.
After the interval, Ronnie seemed to go to pieces. He was unable to pot a ball over the next four frames and Ding ended the second session with a 5-3 lead, having completed his first century of the tournament with a 103 in the 7th frame.
In the second session O'Sullivan came alive again and brought the score back level at 6-6. He made the highest break, a 140 in the eleventh frame, to land the £2,000 highest break prize.
In the first frame after the interval Ronnie again failed to pot a ball and Ding took the advantage and claimed the next two frames to win the match and the tournament with an 83 break.'There's no comparison between Ding and the rest when it comes to the up and comers. He's talented, he's got the gift, he's got the right temperament and he's a winner.' commented O'Sullivan.
| Date | 1000 | 1500 | 1930 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday 4 November | 1, 3 | 6, 2, 4 | 9, 5, 10 |
| 1430 | |||
| Monday 5 November | 12, 16 | 7, 8, 13 | 11, 14, 15 |
| Tuesday 6 November | 17, 18 | 22, 19, 20 | 28, 25, 21 |
| Wednesday 7 November | 24, 26 | 32, 27, 23 | 29, 30, 31 |
| Thursday 8 November | 34, 35 | 39, 36, 33 | 40, 37, 38 |
| Friday 9 November | QF1, QF2 | QF3, QF4 | Saturday 10 November | SF1 | SF2 |
| 1500 | 1930 | Sunday 11 November | FINAL | FINAL |
All matches up to and including the Quarter FInals are the best of 9 frames. The Semi Finals are the best of 11 frames and the Final is the best of 17 frames (7/10).
Table numbers for all matches up to and including the Quarter-Finals will be determined the day before and published by the Tournament Director. |
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TICKETS: Overseas tickets can be purchased also by calling: 0044 870 154 4040 |
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TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Northern Ireland Trophy was innaugurated in 2005 as an invitational event comprising of 20 players. Last season in August 2006 the tournament was given ranking event status. Both events were held at The Waterfront Hall, Belfast.
The 2005 invitational event was won by Matthew Stevens who beat Stephen Hendry 9-7 in the final. Two wildcards were included in this event, Mark Allen the Belfast player who made a name for himself by beating Steve Davis 4-0 in the first round and then beating John Higgins 4-1 in the second round before being stopped by Stephen Hendry 5-1 in the quarter-final. The other wildcard was Ding Junhui the Chinese star, who earlier in the year had surprised everyone and caused a sensation at home in China, when he beat Stephen Hendry 9-5 in the China Open to win his first ranking event. But in this event it was Hendry that took revenge for China when he beat Ding 4-2 in the last 16. Ding had earlier beaten Allister Carter 4-0 in the opening round and had looked favourite to progress further.
2005 Matthew Stevens
Matthew Stevens claimed the scalps of Ken Doherty, Stephen Maguire and Neil Robertson on the way to victory with century breaks of 105 and 100.
Australian Neil Robertson was another surpise player in the 2005 event. Ranked at 28 that season he was rapidly climbing into the area of the top players. He took out Ian McCulloch 4-0 in the opening round and then sent home Jimmy White beating him 4-2. But his best victory was to knock the newly crowned world champion Shaun Murphy out of the tournament in a close battle that Robertson won 5-4 on the deciding frame to go into the next round against the eventual winner Matthew Stevens.
The innaugural event was warmly appreciated by all involved. The venue itself was superb and the response from the local fans in Belfast was great. When news was received at the start of this season that the event would continue and further more that it was to be upgraded to a ranking event, the news was enthusiastically received.
The 2006 event involved 48 players who made the journey to Belfast and The Waterfront Hall. The event was now covered by TG4 for Irish television. Although unfortunately the event was still being held in August, which by many is considered far too early for the start of the snooker season, with other sports like cricket, tennis and golf dominating the headlines.
This time the event produced a memorable final as Chinese snooker star Ding Junhui met Ronnie O'Sullivan. Ding had already claimed his second ranking event victory at the end of the previous season when he defeated an on-form Steve Davis 10-6 to win the 2005 UK Championship. Now it was Ding's turn to open the season as he defeated Ronnie 9-6 in what was a strange final. Ronnie had eclipsed Ding in the afternoon session and looked favourite to lift the title, but in the second session it was Ding that outclassed Ronnie, even at one stage looking on course for a 147 maximum.
On course to the final, Ronnie had recorded a 6-0 whitewash against Dominic Dale in the semi-final which earned him a place in the record books. Ronnie shattered the record for the quickest best of eleven frame victory in professional snooker history, taking just 53 minutes. The previous quickest had been between Stephen Hendy and Dave Harold which took 71 minutes in the 1993 International Open at Plymouth.
Defending champion Matthew Stevens had not been at his best form for the start of the season as he went out 5-2 to Ronnie in the last 16.
Current world champion Graeme Dott beat Jamie Burnett and Mark Selby on his way to the quarter-final's, but here he lost 5-2 to Dominic Dale.
Ding's victory propelled him into 5th place in the provisional rankings from his official position of 27th.
| 2007 - Stephen Maguire bt F.O'Brien 9-5 | 2006 - Ding Junhui bt R.O'Sullivan 9-6 |
| 2005 - Matthew Stevens bt S.Hendry 9-7 |
