Press conference's of Ali carter and Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronnie O'Sullivan is 2012 World champion

(photo by steven Kent at Maximum snooker) There has possibly never been a more exciting World Snooker championship. Ali Carter fought hard against Ronnie O'Sullivan, but he was just simply out played. Ronnie rarely put a foot wrong through out the championships and he dominated every match he played. Ali has put his return to form, down to a healthy diet, and carrot juice! Apparently he could play even if the lights were switched off. No one could doubt that, surely now Ali will stay in the game and be a strong threat in up and coming matches! "Gutted I lost, but lost to the greatest player of all time, so no disgrace there. Thanks to all my positive followers." Ali said on twitter following his loss. The down side is that reports have it, Ali has to face a drug test- thankfully they will only find carrot juice. Once Again All talk has been full of Ronnie since the event started 17 days ago, talk of possible retirement. He could hardly put an end to his career after Stephen Hendry got in first. Or was it the fact Stephen had called a day, that encouraged Ronnie to carry on, now he could see a chance to beat Stephen's record of 7 World Championship wins? It has been said before and will without doubt, be said again about Ronnie. Half the time he doesn't even know what he really wants. This years event appeared to show Ronnie in a better place. Here is what Ronnie had to say for himself More videos and pictures will follow tomorrow

Ali Carter and Ronnie O'Sullivan into the final

Ali Carter put up a fantastic 4 sessions of snooker against Stephen Maguire. He barley did a thing wrong, he looked as though he enjoyed every second, being out there in the Crucible. He finished last nights session 14-10 up, Ali was punishing himself as he knew he could lose, the match from his position. Thankfully Carter returned this afternoon and even after Maguire pulled two frames back Carter won 17-12. Here is Ali Carter's press conference. Here is Stephen Maguire's Press conference Tonight saw the finishing up of the O'Sullivan V Stevens match, Matthew opened up the nights session with a century break and there was hope he could pull a few frames back. O'Sullivan was on form however and finished the session early at 17-10. Here is Ronnie's press conference And here is Matthew Steven's Press conference the final starts tomorrow and it a rerun on the 2008 final, here at Fast and Furious Snooker we wish both players all the best. But extra good luck to Ali Carter, from me!

Last Night Press Conference.

Ali Carter talking about his win Jamie Jones Talking about the match

Day 12

Today has been the day of semi finalists to be. Matthew Stevens was the first through, after his win over Ryan Day 13-5- Ryan's poor performance had been due to a migraine which started before yesterday's match and unsettled him.  Never the less Matthew fully deserves his place in the semi finals.
  You can view Ryan and Matthews press conferences here.

 Matthew will now meet Ronnie O'Sullivan, who saw off the Aussie hunk Neil Robertson 13-10. It was a nail biting match to watch, in this afternoon's session Robertson lost his lead; after seeming to not be able to pot a ball. Every shot he went for he failed to pot. Was it pressure of the moment? Who knows? Ronnie however was untouchable and made a great impact on the game.  Tonight's session saw Neil pull back the deficit, but it wasn't enough.
  Neil Robertson commented on twitter about his performance. 'Oh well. Didn't quite get going this afternoon which cost me the match in the end but fair play to Ronnie as he played some great stuff'

        
Stephen Maguire is awaiting the winner of the Carter V Jones match. Jamie was almost giving up as Carter lead him 12-8 put he pulled it back to 12-9 and his chances came back to being possible. It has been seen before and Jamie has never stopped fight back. Carter's four frame lead has taken a beating in the last through frames 12-11. Jamie looked a few times as through he was giving up but when Carter should have closed the match up, he made mistakes and gave Jamie an in to the game.  Ali Carter managed to come back, avoiding the final frame decider.  No one can deny that Jamie Jones has played out of his skin, the experience will do him no harm at all. The audience where so impressed they gave Jamie a standing ovation as his left the theatre of dreams. Carter breathed a sigh of relief. 13-11. Press conference of both players will be added as soon as they are available.
  The semi finals start tomorrow at 1pm

Day 11 Stephen Hendry retires from snooker

Well no one saw that coming, at Stephen Maguire saw Stephen Hendry off 13-2 with a session to go in the quarter finals, the press conference arrived and Stephen Hendry announced his retirement shocking the media contingent. On a personal note, its sad I remember Hendry through out my child hood as he played snooker and he will be sadly missed on the scene. Here is the moment Stephen announced he was giving up.

Fellow snooker players have left comments on twitter as Stephen Hendry quickly began to trend. 'Can't believe Stephen Hendry is going to retire, the guy is a genius, thank you for all you've done for snooker' Tweeted Mike Dunn 'Most successful snooker player of all time, Stephen Hendry retires. Can't believe it.' Added Shaun Murphy Here is Stephen Maguire's reaction to the news

In other quarter final news:

Matthew Stevens is leading Ryan Day 11-5, Ryan looked as though he wasn't there, his snooker wasn't as good as he had previously shown. He still has a chance to make a difference but Matthew has to be a favourite for tomorrow.

Ronnie O'Sullivan V Neil Robertson was left with Robertson 5-3 in the lead, the match will conclude back to back tomorrow evening.  Also to conclude tomorrow is Ali Carter V Jamie Jones. Carter 5-3 in the lead, he could either run away with this or have to slog it out to the finishing line!