Stevens takes early lead over Swail

By Geet Sethi

SHEFFIELD, APRIL 28. While snooker contemplates the management's idea of shifting the venue of the Embassy World Championship from the Crucible Theatre and the players and officials alike express divergent views about the possibility of this drastic step being undertaken, few disagree with the possibility of Mathew Stevens reaching the final of the Pounds 1.46 million Embassy World snooker championship. The 22-year-old Welshman provided substantial evidence of his form and gave indications of his intentions by establishing a 10-6 lead over Ireland's Joe Swail.

Ironically, the attention and focus of all concerned with the 22 ball game has dramatically shifted from the proceedings at the table to issues and questions being raised off it. And this, despite the fact that on Thursday Higgins and Mark Williams produced the highest quality snooker of the event so far in the opening session of their semifinal contest and Stevens successfully erased the high break of 141 with a run of 143 in his first session against Joe Swail.

Peter Middleton and the management of the game at Bristol are eager to take the game to different venues much like golf and the Open Championship when their contract with the Crucible Theatre expires in 2001. Yet, most players have resisted the move. Stephen Hendry said ``The world championship should always be held at the Crucible. When you are a kid watching the game on TV, that's where you want to end up.''

Still, the debate continues. The emotion, drama and heat of competition thrown up in the inner recesses of this intimate venue, which seats 900 spectators are an inherent part of every snooker player's dream. For some, the Crucible provides bitter memories. For some sweet nostalgia. For others, who have still not played here, it instils hope, desire and expectations. But most players agree that the world championship should be retained here.

The emotions and inclination of the players past and present notwithstanding, the final decision will be taken sometime in October this year by a new board and it's chief executive who is determined to arrest the rapidly eroding bottom line of the company.

But for the moment, Swail, who tearfully remembered his mother - she died of cancer two years ago - after converting a disheartening 12-8 deficit into a sweet 13-12 victory over John Parrott is just enjoying the atmosphere in the historic venue, and the huge wave of emotional support back home in Belfast, where documentaries are being aired on local television channels.

There is much to savour from his semifinal appearance. He has assured himself of a top 16 berth in next years rankings, achieved by displacing the stubborn Steve Davis. He has also guaranteed himself at least œ70,000 which according to him ``will pay off the mortgage of the house'' and more importantly he has managed to instil self-belief in himself, with victories over Paul Hunter, John Parrott and Dominic Dale.

On Thursday however, it all looked like falling apart. The dream run was now resembling a forgettable nightmare with Stevens advancing to a 3-1 lead with breaks of 114 & 143. The 143 displaced the 141 registered jointly by Joe Swail and John Higgins as the highest break of the tournament so far and put Stevens in line for the œ20,000 bonus. However, Swail dug deep to level at 4-4 with runs of 47, 102 & 51.

Stevens so far has dominated his opponents with a quality of play which can at worst be described as sublime. Like a marathon runner who leads with a huge margin and who doesn't care to know how far behind the second runner is, he has progressed untroubled into the semifinal. First he disposed of Malta's Tony Drago 10-3, then outclassed Scotland's Alan McManus 13-4 and on Wednesday, he dashed the hopes of millions of Jimmy White supporters by carving a 13-7 win.

On the resumption on Friday morning the Welshman lost the opening frame after leading 41-0, but this proved to be only half a second lost by the front runner in the marathon. Stevens made amends for his momentary lapse in concentration by winning six successive frames with breaks of 78, 110, 80, 65 and 94.

There is little anyone could have done against such an avalanche. Swail saved face by winning the last frame of the session to reduce his arrears to 10-6. The turning point came in the 14th frame. Stevens made 65 - an attempted 147, which terminated when he went out of position after potting the ninth red. Swail ranked 28, compiled 53 but positioned himself poorly for the pink. In forcing the cue ball off five cushions to position for the black, Swail missed the pink and left it over the centre pocket. The match is to be played over 33 frames and even though Stevens enjoys an overwhelming advantage, Swail could still come back.

Mark Williams and John Higgins exhibited great form in their opening session on Friday night compiling eight breaks over 50 between them. Locked at 4-4 they resume on Friday afternoon.

Scores: Semifinal: (Best of 33 frames): Mathew Stevens lead Joe Swail 10-6 at the end of the second session; Mark Williams and John Higgins 4-4 at the end of the first session.

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