Afternoon all, Reggie here.
The snooker gets its turn later. First, a job that's going to be decided on the other side of the world before most of us have had our tea. The Pan American Heyball Open reaches finals day in Peru, and four of the last eight in the men's draw are British.
AREQUIPA — FOUR BRITS IN THE LAST EIGHT
Friday night's last 16 at Coliseo Arequipa went very kindly for the travelling party. Jordan Shepherd, Lee Stephens, Craig Brown and Stephen Ellis all came through, which leaves Shepherd and Stephens on a collision course this afternoon. One English name is guaranteed in the semi-finals.
Friday's last-16 results, as listed on CueScore:
- Jordan Shepherd 6–5 Blake Burnard
- Lee Stephens 6–4 Cristopher Tevez Ocampo
- Craig Brown 4–3 Edgard Vallenas
- José Alberto Delgado 7–0 Luis Candia Suarez
- Jesus Crovetto Mayuri 5–3 Maximiliano Ossandon
- Stephen Ellis 7–2 Jur Kous
- Alex O'Donoghue 6–5 Radoslaw Babica
- Arfan Dad 7–2 Alejandro Velasquez
Babica going out 6–5 to O'Donoghue is the one that'll sting. The Pole had battled back through the losers' side to get there, and Jur Kous's long run came to an end against Ellis.
Today's quarter-finals (race to 7, 10:00 local, 15:00 UK):
- Jordan Shepherd v Lee Stephens
- Craig Brown v José Alberto Delgado
- Jesus Crovetto Mayuri v Stephen Ellis
- Alex O'Donoghue v Arfan Dad
The semi-finals are listed for 18:00 UK and the final for 21:00 UK, so we'll have a champion tonight. Per the WPA, each champion takes home USD 10,000 from a combined USD 116,000 fund. That fund is split evenly between the men's and women's events. Play is on 16 JOY 9ft heyball tables, and it's streaming live on WPALive.
Delgado deserves a word. He was the only man in the last 16 to win without dropping a rack, so Brown will need to be sharp.
NANJING — HIGGINS 5–4 WILSON AFTER THE FIRST SESSION
The morning roundup left it at 3–2 to Wilson. By the interval John Higgins had nicked it back. The afternoon went, per the World Snooker Tour report:
- The first two frames shared, then a 141 from Higgins for 2–1
- Wilson's 69 for 2–2 at the mid-session break
- Breaks of 94 and 62 as Wilson went in front at 4–3
- Higgins closing with 71 and 75 to lead 5–4 at the end of the session
They resume at 19:30 local time, which is 11:30 UK, so the evening session is under way as this goes up. Best of 19, first to 10, and £175,000 to the winner.
There's a lot of history on the line. At 51 years and 173 days, Higgins would become the oldest ranking event winner in the sport, passing his Class of '92 mate Mark Williams. He'd also become the first player to win a ranking title in his teens, 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. Wilson is after back-to-back titles following his 9–2 hammering of Jak Jones in the Northern Ireland Open final. That would make him only the 16th player to manage it on the tour.
Live in the UK on TNT Sports and HBO Max. Elsewhere it's on WST Play.
UK CHAMPIONSHIP — PEGGY LI TO TAKE THE UK CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
The best non-playing news of the week came out of the WST this morning. Peggy Li has been given next month's UK Championship final. She'll be the first Asian referee to take charge of a Triple Crown final.
She got into refereeing almost by accident. Li started out as a player while studying in Australia, but found she'd need Australian citizenship rather than residency to play national events. "China is my home and I wouldn't change my passport for a sport," she told the WST. Refereeing was her way of still travelling with her teammates. She thanked the assessors, Jan Verhaas among them, for getting her ready, and was refreshingly matter-of-fact about the job: "We aren't the stars, we are there to assist the players."
Thoroughly deserved.
ALSO ON TODAY
- Cherokee — The Ultimate Pool USA 8-Ball Teams semi-finals are at 15:00 and 19:00 UK. The $112,000 final follows at 20:00 ET, which is 01:00 UK overnight. The National Open, Women's Open and Junior Open all roll on through Sunday. Brackets are on DigitalPool.
- Bolton — Day one of the IPA Amateur Series Grand Final at Royal Sports Lounge. Scores are on CueScore.
- San Francisco — On the grassroots side, the SFPA's Fall 9-Ball Final at The Hall brings together 16 qualifiers. It's double elimination with a plaque and $200 for the winner, per the SFPA.
Back this evening with the Nanjing result, the Arequipa champion and whatever Cherokee's semis throw up. — Reggie
Feature image: “Arequipa, Plaza de Armas, 2023 (06)” by Draceane, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
