China's Liu Song clinched his second PIOS victory of the season
with a 6-3 win over Paul Davison in the final of Event Six at
Pontin's.
Twenty-two year old Liu Song swept into a 4-1 lead in the best
of eleven frames final, after Davison had taken the opener with a
46 clearance.
Liu Song produced two forty plus breaks in the second, 39 in the
third and a 45 clearance in the fourth. Another break of 45 gave
him the upper hand in the fifth and he added brown to pink to
secure the frame.
Davison, cleared up to take the sixth but fell three behind
again when Liu Song opened with 47 and potted blue and pink for
5-2. The next went to Davison and he opened up with 34 in the
ninth, but let Liu Song back to the table.
A run of thirty-nine from the Chinese star set up a tense
conclusion which was resolved when Liu Song added a further
twenty-three points to put the frame and match beyond doubt.
"I just ran out of steam", said an exhausted Davison, who had
played five matches to reach the final and won the deciding frame
in all of them.
Davison has moved up to second on the PIOS ranking list and is
almost certain to return to the Main Tour next season.
Liu Song, meanwhile, vaults up into third place in the promotion
race, ahead of Chris Melling, who missed the event and barring
mathematical uncertainties looks set to return to the Main Tour to
join his countryman Ding Junhui.
"I am very happy to win the event and next season to be on the
Main Tour again", said Song.
But he wasn't quite so happy that the Chinese Assocation had
overlooked him when selecting the wildcards for the China Open.
"They have given the places to the young players", said the veteran
twenty-two year old.
Liu Song now turns his attention to the IBSF World Grand Prix
which commences on Wednesday morning in Pontin's. "I would love to
win that also, but if I cannot, then I hope my team mate Tian
Pengfei will be the winner."
Liu Song was surprised and delighted to find he had a
considerable fan club watching his matches as players arrived for
the IBSF event from Chinese Taipei, Thailand and India.
"It was a nice surprise to see friends from China and other
Asian countries and have their support. And it is always nice to
have a good audience for an important match."
(Source: World Snooker February 21, 2006)