Ebdon on course for final
Peter Ebdon is marching relentlessly towards his third 888.com World Championship final after another faultless exhibition stretched his lead to 13-7 against Marco Fu at the Crucible Theatre.
Ebdon, the 2002 champion, won the opening four frames of the evening session and there was little Fu could do to halt the tide of high breaks from the Dubai-based player.
It was in stark contrast to the turgid opening eight frames on Thursday which spanned four hours and caused one irate spectator to shout out “it’s like watching paint dry”.
But Ebdon was transformed on day two. In the second session he rattled in two centuries and five 50-plus breaks to open up a 9-7 advantage.
And he continued in the same vein when the players returned to the table and could wrap up the match with a session to spare if he wins the last four frames.
The tone was set in the opening frame of the evening when Ebdon knocked in a superb 122 total clearance.
Fu led 47-28 in the next but after escaping from a snooker he was powerless to stop Ebdon rattling in a superb long red to open a frame-winning clearance of 48 to the black.
Ebdon was cueing superbly and it was a surprise to see him break down on 45 in frame 19 when forcing the blue into the middle pocket but it did not prove costly.
He completed a pre-interval whitewash with a 93 to leave Fu with a mountain to climb in his bid to become the first Asian to reach the world final.
Ebdon would dearly love to wrap up proceedings on Friday evening and give himself time to fully recharge for a final meeting on Sunday with either Ronnie O’Sullivan or Graeme Dott.
That match is poised on a knife edge at 8-8 with the main talking point coming in frame 14.
O’Sullivan went back to his chair when leading 22-21 and it looked as if he picked away at the tip until it came away from the cue.
Dott cleared up to win the frame with a superb 66 break but O’Sullivan immediately left the arena to carry out repairs.
Snooker legend and now BBC pundit Steve Davis slammed the tactics employed by the Rocket, who had looked unease all through the session,
The six-times world champion said: “It looked like Ronnie was picking at the tip to get it off.
“It is unfair on Graeme Dott who has just started to hit some rhythm. In other sports can you deliberately halt progress?”
A 15 minute delay followed as O’Sullivan had a new tip installed with the help of fellow professional Jimmy Michie from Pontefract.
Dott went to the practice room before play resumed and O’Sullivan looked a different player as he knocked in a 124 break in the next frame to move 8-7 ahead, but Dott levelled matters in the final frame.
