We are watching the last session of the World Snooker Championship final between John Higgins and Mark Selby. The score is now 14-13 with John Higgins in the lead, it’s the smallest difference between the two since the seventh game when the score was 4-3 so we might say the last 20 frames haven’t changed a thing. The last frame lasted for almost an hour with a good 20 minutes on the yellow and green balls in endless safety shots and snookers by both players, I thought they would play like that for the whole night but, thankfully, John made a mistake and later conceded the frame.

There are a maximum of 8 more frames to be played so if they will all have the same tempo we are looking at a night of snooker up until 8 in the morning. The latest a final has ever ended into the night was the Ebdon - Dott final last year that ended at 3 o’clock, so we could beat and set an unbreakable record. I wonder how the network would feel about canceling it’s morning program, obviously the snooker’s final last frame would be more important than any weather forecast they might be boring us at seven in the morning…

If Mark Selby manages to win this frame somehow, though John is currently at the table, the tied score should ring alarm bells in John’s mind, he controlled the match up until today and now Mark is setting the rithm and catching up fast. The show is grate and we are witnessing top quality snooker being played, but as the time goes by fatigue and tension should take their tall on the players, focusing so hard for long periods of time is very hard so it’s a matter of time until one of them “cracks”…

After another two frames the score is 17-13 and John is one frame away from being World Champion for the second time in his career. Mark Selby doesn’t look like he could turn the match around but surprises are at home in the old theater, as we have seen many times before. This could be the final frame…

John Higgins is World Champion for the second time.

The first semi-final has come to an end, John Higgins is going to fight for the title this year, for the third time in his career. John won the trophy only once and is going now for another attempt at the world title, but who’s he going to fight?

We are now watching the Shaun Murphy - Mark Selby semi-final and the score is 15-14 in what has been a very well balanced match up until now. They do show nerves of steel in this 29th frame as selby needed snookers to win and got the points but, even if they’re in the colors, the frame is far from ended. It’s pretty dramatic if you think about it. Both Higgins and Murphy won the title once, you might say they are entitled, Higgins will be nr.1 for next year three days from now, no matter what, anyway… But then again, if Selby is to go to the finals, and win… we’ll get to see next year if the Crucible curse will strike again.

The frame has ended and Shaun Murphy is now only one frame away from victory while Mark Selby has to win two frames to put the game into a tied situation and allow us to enjoy an exciting decisive frame.

The last 4 frames were dramatic, Shaun Murphy was in the lead 16-14 after an awful kick. Then Mark Selby made an incredible, extremely dramatic, come-back in the next two frames, many safety shots were played and the tension was incredible, at any point the match could have ended. But it didn’t, he held on and sent the match in it’s final frame and resurrected his fans hopes.

The last frame looked easy for Mark at first, after Shaun made a mistake and allowed Mark a long shot that he took and successfully potted the red. Mark got to the last ball he needed to mathematically win the match but wasn’t able to pot it, the game got really tense then, Shaun needed snookers to win but he knew he had a chance. In the end Mark won and is heading to the final and will play against John Higgins.

There isn’t a likely winner in the final this year, of course John has the edge, he is nr.1 after all… but he may not have forgotten the defeat suffered in the first round at Sheffield last year when he played…. [drama goes here] … Mark Selby and lost 10-4… This final may be a good opportunity for John to clear his name but may as well be a reiteration of that game, I can’t say. But we’ll see tomorrow and the day after, whose name will stand engraved on the trophy from now on.

If snooker is like chess but with balls and a cue, that’s what Shaun and Mark are playing. Mark did a good job catching up on Shaun and they are now in a tied situation but pretty far away from victory as they have only played about half of the frames of this match. In the first session we got to see many bold shots, and many mistakes… now the players are more focused on victory, this is not a match in the first tour, they are playing for a place in the finals and they have to give their best, they owe it to their fans.

And when I say “we”, I mean John Higgins, Stephen Maguire. Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby and their fans. Matches are Higgins vs. Maguire and Murphy vs. Selby.

Both matches are now past their first two sessions and we can see different trends in them. While the Murphy - Selby match is a little off balance in Shaun’s favor; the Higging - Maguire match shows us two equal opponents in a grudge match for victory and their place in the final.

While the bookkeepers have made their mind and are considering Shaun Murphy the likely winner of the match and they are giving him good chances to regaining the title he lost last year. Shaun Murphy won the World Snooker title in 2005 when he played against Matthew Stevens then he lost it in Graeme Dott’s favor, because of the curse, they say…

At first I considered this one a normal, well balanced, match between two former world champions. It started out that way so I didn’t have any reason to think otherwise. The first 8 frames ended at the score of 4 to 4, with a highest break of 123 achieved in the 7th frame of the match by Shaun Murphy. Matthew Stevens won 7 out of the 8 following frames and the score escaladed to 11-5, at this point the odds for Shaun Murphy to win the match got to 1:160 at some bookkeepers in the UK. That means for every pound on Shaun one would have won 160 pounds if Shaun won the match.

Just as Matthew Stevens won 7 out of 8 frames in the second session, Shaun Murphy achieved the same incredible feat in the third session and won back the frames lost, he put the match in its decisive frame in one of the most dramatic come-backs in snooker’s history. Matthew Stevens only got to win a frame when the score was 7-11, after that Shaun played on with no pressure on his shoulders. Matthew was one frame away from victory, only Shaun still believed in his chances and he fought back, he won 5 frames straight and the score was tied at 12.

The last frame… I will let you judge for yourselves.

Shaun Murphy, by winning this match in an extraordinary way, not only denied Matthew Stevens his place in the semifinals but also his place among the top 16 players in world rankings next year.

Ronnie broke the balance in this match and allowed John to take a good 4 frames ahead. Ronnie’s game doesn’t work so well today and the score is now 5-8, we hope for a comeback in this session, before John can get too close to vitory.

The match is in its final frames as Matthew is only one frame away from victory and Shaun is 5 frames back. Any mistake on Shaun’s behalf would certainly lead Matthew to victory.

Shaun Murphy doesn’t lay down his weapons, he’s now 2 frames back from Stevens and he has good chances of catching up, it would be nice to see a decisive frame in this match.

Shaun Murphy makes an incredible come-back from 8-12 to 11-12 and if he wins this next frame we will have a beautiful decisive frame in this match.

I must say the long pot success rate in this match is catastrophic, 51% for Shaum and only 60% for Matthew. That makes any good safety shot count because it is more likely to result in a mistake of the adversary and maybe a good shot at the next red.

Shaun Murphy proves everybody wrong as he makes an unbelivable comeback and sends the game in its deciseve frame. After Matthew Stevens lost a lead of 5 frames while he was only one frame away from victory we will be watching the last frame and there is no certainty regarding the winner of this match, not anymore.

Shaun Murphy wins the frame and the match in one of the most dramatic come-backs of snooker’s history and denies Matthew Stevens not only the match and a place in the semifinals but also his place in top 16 for the next season.

In another balanced match Allister Carter faces Mark Selby. The score is now 3-4 in Selby’s favor, the last freme being won with an 121 points break. We have seen Allister play though and it will certainly be difficult for Selby to secure the win.

It’s the 40th encounter of the two, Ronnie won 24 of the previous ones while John Higgins won only 15 of them. The matches between the two are always exciting as they are both excellent masters of the cue.

Both of them benefited the applause upon entering the arena as the public loves both of them dearly.

Higgins almost had the 100+ break in the first frame, it’s a spectacular start of the game, the ref also had dificulties positioning the pink between the reds but managed very well. The second frame begun and looks like he’s got his game dialed in as his long shots go in smoothly.

It’s a pretty balanced match, the score is tied at three. Ronnie’s long shots are not working properly but the safety shots helped him a lot during the match.

After eight frames the score is 4-4 in a perfectly balanced match.

In a difficult match against Mark Selby, Ebdon has a 147 in mind as the reds are in good position and he’s only played the black so far. Peter Ebdon doesn’t feel the pressure anymore as Mark is one frame away from victory while he would have to win another five in a row just to have a shot.

After potting 13 reds and 12 blacks he, sadly, misses the black and the break is over. Peter Ebdon does have to win a lot of frames in order to have a shot in this match, maybe this high break helped him, it would certainly have helped him more if it was a maximum…

Mark Selby is very close to victory, Peter Ebdon needed three snookers to win and got one of them out of luck. Peter needs another three snookers but isn’t in any luck as he didn’t manage to obtain a good snooker position. They are playing the last red in what is a really tense frame I must say.

The match ended between the two, as expected, but it was a nice one and Peter Ebdon played all his chances.