Welcome to Eurosport’s live coverage of the 2022 Scottish Open, which begins on Tuesday with another impressive lineup of stars strolling up to the tables. Judd Trump, Mark Selby, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Shaun Murphy, and Neil Robertson are among the snooker stars competing in second-round matches at the Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh.
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HIMANSHU JAIN IS DEFEATED 4-1 BY NEIL ROBERTSON!
He played some good and some not-so-good music. But when Himanchu goes in-off, he’s done – and is replaced by Joe Perry. Joe’s form is delicious!
JAIN 3-1 ROBERTSON (72537)
Himanshu gets down to the pink without touching a snooker, and on that, he only needs one snooker to tie. With his first attempt, he comes close, but not close enough.
JAIN 3-1 ROBERTSON (72-37)
Himanchu returns to the table, needing three snookers – good luck, old mate – and pots the yellow.
JAIN 3-1 ROBERTSON (65-35)
Neil misses a cut-back red to left corner down the side, and Himanchu takes his place… until he misses a blue to left corner that had to go. Neil, on the other hand, plays a safety, sending the third of the three remaining reds to baulk. Himanchu, on the other hand, pots it, and while playing in behind the black, he tries to be so delicate that he can’t get the white to move the centimetre it needs to hit. So he has to play snooker out of his own pocket… and he can’t. He only leaves one, and this is it absolutely, positively, positively.
JAIN 3-1 ROBERTSON (37-33)
Himanchu has missed a red along the top cushion, which, given the angle of the table, could be curtains. Neil begins his work.
ROBERTSON 3-1 JAIN (22-33) Neil then misses a long red that both players will have thought was a match-ball, giving Himanchu another chance.
JAIN 3-1 ROBERTSON (22-17)
What?! Neil, unable to find a suitable safety, rams into the yellow-pocket jaws from across the table, sending the white up the table, with no idea what will happen. It doesn’t go well, but once again, Himancho can only profit by one.
JAIN 3-1 ROBERTSON (22-16)
Neil eases one right into the heart of the left corner, but instead of landing among the reds, he winds up islanded among the blacks. However, Himanshu misses one and Neil slams into the right corner… only to miss another in search of the same bag. Himanshu then gets in… and out; he’s done it a lot, so when Neil sinks a mid-distancer, he’ll be worried. Neil, on the other hand, runs out of position and is saved.
CHECK OUT THE TABLES
- Selby, Mark 4-0 Astley, John
- O’Sullivan, Sean 0-4 McGill, Anthony
- Clarke, Jamie 4-2 Miah Hammad
- Doherty, Ken 2-4 Wilson, Gary
- ROBERTSON 3-1 JAIN
Neil misses a red down the side-rail, but his score of 74 is good for three in a row.
Neil plays the kind of gentle cannon that says, “I’m feeling myself,” developing and potting a red when there were others. He’s leaving, just as we predicted.
Neil overcuts a really thin one, then Himanshu cuts a nice delicate starter to right-middle. He then gets unlucky not to land on something when playing the blue and misses the next red; Neil whacks one to the corner, and you’d think it’s 3-1.
ROBERTSON 2-1 JAIN (1-10) (1-10)
Neil approaches the right corner with a long red. As Philip Studd points out, he wouldn’t have taken that on if he wasn’t feeling good, and after a good safety in behind the yellow, he pots the red – he wouldn’t mind that over the pocket – and gets even closer to that yellow. Himanshu is stuck here… and pulls off a fantastic escape. Neil then tries one to the left corner and is surprised to see it stay out; Neal believes it was never in. So Himanshu lets in a smart starter, and he needs to do something here. However, a run-through sends him into the cluster, forcing him to return to baulk.
CHECK OUT THE TABLES
Selby, Mark 4-0 Astley, John
O’Sullivan, Sean 0-4 McGill, Anthony
Clarke, Jamie Hammad 4-2 Miah
Doherty, Ken 2-3 Wilson, Gary
JAIN 2-1 ROBERTSON
Neil is irritated by a cannon on 95 because he can’t get on the yellow when he was ton-hunting. He tries a long double, misses, and Himanshu will have to do something spectacular to win from here.
JAIN 1-1 ROBERTSON (74-6)
Neil is now Neil, with a fine blue to the green pocket to prove it. He has to play another role, as a rescuer, and he’s working hard at it. But he’s working hard, and the score will be 2-1. Will it be a ton for the second time in a row?
JAIN 1-1 ROBERTSON (29-6)
Neil misses his first go from distance after the promise of the previous frame, but Himanshu gets in and nails a great blue. But he can’t get on a red, and Neil flukes one, so we’ll see if the ton in the last frame has settled him.
CHECK OUT THE TABLES
Selby, Mark 4-0 Astley, John
0-4 for Sean O’Sullivan McGill, Anthony
Clarke, Jamie 4-2 Hammad Miah
Doherty, Ken 2-2 Wilson, Gary
JAIN 1-1 ROBERTSON
Neil punishes Himanshu’s error with what I believe was a 107 – apologies for sneezing when it was called at the end – and the next frame will tell us what’s likely to happen next. If Neil wins, he’ll most likely walk away; if Himanshu wins, this could be a battle.
JAIN 0-1 ROBERTSON (63-26)
Neil has worked himself into shape during this break, and if this trend continues, we won’t be here for long. Confidence, on the other hand, can be a fragile thing, and the feeling is not yet secure.
JAIN 0-1 ROBERTSON (31-26)
Himanshu misses a red to the right corner and is slotted to get up, which stings him, and Neil, being the champion that he is, will have taken note. His split isn’t great, but he’s on one to the middle, sends it down, and then rockets a blue to the yellow pocket. He suddenly looks like himself.
JAIN 0-1 ROBERTSON (8-17)
How many other players can be described as a Neil red? – not many – but then Neil misses red, and Himanshu gets another shot! He stated before the game that there is a lot of interest in him in his home country of India, and that things are getting interesting for him and them.
CHECK OUT THE TABLES
Selby, Mark 4-0 Astley, John
0-4 for Sean O’Sullivan McGill, Anthony
Clarke, Jamie 4-2 Hammad Miah
Doherty, Ken 1-1 Wilson, Gary
JAIN 0-1 ROBERTSON
Himanshu breezes through pink and black, and he’s in first place after 36 minutes!
ROBERTSON 0-0 JAIN (56-53) Neil takes the pink from the black spot to the left corner, flicks the near jaw, and leaves! That will cost him the frame!
ROBERTSON 0-0 JAIN (56-53) Neil, on the other hand, gets high on it, zips down, and tucks it away. He sees a cut to the green off the blue but plays a poor safe; Himanshu takes it on but misses by a long shot, and the chase begins.
JAIN 0-0 ROBERTSON (47-53)
Himanshu hits a terrible shot, giving Neil a chance, but the brown is on the baulk cushion and he hasn’t yet grooved.
JAIN 0-0 ROBERTSON (35-53)
Himanshu misses with the rest, and Neil is mid-distance to the right corner. But it is Neil who breaks the silence – albeit briefly. He plays safe with two reds left, but when Himanshu offers him a long, straight one, he can’t take it.
JAIN 0-0 ROBERTSON (29-53)
Himanshu enters again and gradually but steadily builds a lead. He plays a nice cannon on the black, releasing another red, then a nice pink with the rest… but you can only chase for so long, and red is overcut to the right-middle. The frame is still alive and well.
JAIN 0-0 ROBERTSON (29-15)
Himanshu abandons one, and Neil sees it off. He’s taking his time here, which usually means he’s not feeling it, and after debating whether to take a red sent long to the yellow pocket, he takes it on and misses. Himanshu has a chance to do some damage here with a few reds loose, but he misses to left-middle… and Neil misses to right! Neither player has started yet.
JAIN 0-0 ROBERTSON (0-8)
Himanshu has just joined the tour. Jimmy has recently played him, which is useful, and explains that he is an ex-billiard player with excellent safety. He’s not a massive scorer, though, an old skool 50 and safe player – “he’ll put Neil in lots of trouble”. He gets in first, but he doesn’t make much of it.
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