Super Stevens scuppers Shaun
Matthew Stevens produced the clearance of his life to win a thrilling final frame against Shaun Murphy at the 2010 totesport.com Welsh Open
Shaun Murphy, winner of the World final in 2005 against Stevens, looked all over the winner when he opened the crunch deciding frame with a break of 51. But he broken down and Stevens contemplated his options before potting a hard plant.
He went on to compile the hardest 75 breaks of his career to take victory on the final black.
Stevens had started the match brightly, running in 48 and 70 to open a 2-0 lead before Murphy came straight back to win the next two. A run of 66 bringing Murphy level at half time.
Murphy took the lead for the first time with a fluent 85 break and regained the lead at 4-3 with a further break of 76, while Stevens popped in 40 and 62 to send the match into its final frame.
"I am delighted to get through and with the clearance especially," said Stevens.
"It was a strange game to start with, the first four frames I should have been three up but I missed a few. I'm possibly the worst front runner ever in the world!
"Sometimes I need a kick up the backside to get the adrenalin going. After that I'm pleased to have got through.
"In the circumstances, yes it was one of my best clearances, I potted a tough plant and was pleased with the rest of the break. I know I'm playing well in practice but I need to do that at the venue."
On the adjoining table a similar drama was unfolding. Another West Walian, Dominic Dale was clawing his way back from 4-1 down to Stephen Maguire.
Maguire had opened a 3-0 lead on the back of Dale's errors. The Welshman nicked a low-scoring fourth with 43.
An 81 break by Maguire and an excellent 94 by Dale moved the score along to 4-2 and when Maguire opened a 58-0 lead in the next it look just about all over.
Then came the Dale fight back. He battled through to take the seventh with a 29 clearance and constructed 69 to level the scores.
The decider lasted for thirty-four tension packed minutes. The balls went awkward and although Dale opened a small lead, for both player it was a case of chipping reds off cushions, taking what they could get and running for cover.
In the end Dale missed a tough brown into the pocket and an extremely relieved Maguire stepped in with a brown to black clearance to win the match by a single point.
And Maguire was mighty relieved to have scraped through saying "I thought I was going to get beat, it didn't look as though he'd miss in the last frame. He left me a horrible shot on the brown and I butchered it, so I was really happy to win.
"I thought at 4-1 that I was cruising and everything was going my way. I didn't really do anything wrong to go 4-4, but I'm relieved to get over the line."
