Dramatic encounter

Following Neil Robertson's snooker win in Bahrain the UK Championships in Telford, England were the next main event with usual pre-tournament favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan heading the bill. However, this event provided more drama both on and off the table than any other for quite some time.

The first drama came on Monday when world number two Stephen Maguire was playing fellow scot Jamie Burnett but some bookmakers in England had stopped taking bets on a 9-3 outcome before the match had got underway. Incredible interest was then generated in what would otherwise have been a normal first round encounter and when the match did indeed finish with the predicted score line and an investigation by the governing body is now underway.

Most of the attention centred on frame 13 where Burnett had a reasonably straight forward black to go 8-4 down but overcut by such a margin that it missed by several inches. Burnett later described the pressure he was under with that pot but the sheer fact that the score line was the predicted one will leave this match with suspicion hanging over it.

Snooker has been shrouded in this controversy before and no doubt will again but until the WPBSA take these matters seriously then they will never rid the sport of the rumours.

Back on the table the next highlight was O'Sullivan's loss to Joe Perry and again it looked as though the Rocket had lost his desire and form for this match, conceding one frame very early and missing balls he would usually pot in his sleep. No doubt we will see a different version later in the year at the World Championships but his elimination always takes something of the spectacle away from an event.

However, Ding Junhui soon provided the perfect tonic with an exceptionally well constructed 147 against John Higgins in his second round match. This was his second maximum but first in a ranking event. What once seemed like a rare occurrence it is now odd when there is not a 147 achieved in a tournament and it cannot be long before a player does it twice at one event. The disappointing element for Ding was that it did not help him win his match as he went down to a very heavy defeat to Higgins 9-4.

Ultimately it was Marco Fu from Hong Kong and Shaun Murphy from England who battled their way to the final and they managed to play out a thrilling final that was gripping to the end if still short on quality.

Murphy's form coming into this event had been woeful having failed to win a ranking match and Fu, whilst consistent, had yet to appear in such a big final. The nerves showed and the closer the match got to its conclusion the more they impacted on the performances but this scrappiness was compensated for in tension.

A 5-3 lead for the Englishman at the interval appeared a fair reflection but Fu hit back in the evening session to take the match to level scores at 6-6 at the mid-session break. At this stage it was anyone's game and the man who held his nerve most would probably win. First it looked like it would be Murphy but then Fu took control and in a fitting conclusion it went to a deciding frame.

Unfortunately, the match was decided on a fluke when Murphy missed a straightforward pink into the corner pocket but missed by so far it rebounded off two cushions into the right centre. Fu barely flickered on the outside but his stomach must have been churning on the inside. Of course Fu may not have cleared up and won the frame had the pink not gone in but at least it would have been a fairer way to lose such an encounter.

This was a big moment for the Englishman as he has failed to move on from his World Championship win and has now become only the 10th player to win both the big titles, UK and World.

It was an unusual event for different reasons but somehow this strange game with 17 balls on a table 12ft by 6ft has again managed to enthral an audience beyond expectations. This time though there will be repercussions off the table also and but we will have to wait until the new year to find out about this result - let's hope the conclusion of the WPBSA will not be as dramatic as this final.