O'Brien stuns Rocket man
SNOOKER: Self-confessed chocoholic Fergal O'Brien celebrated claiming the biggest scalp in snooker in Belfast last night -- not with a pint or two but with his current favourite Wispa Bar.
But cheers, not whispers, resounded inside the Waterfront Hall, Belfast after the world no 37 from Dublin beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-2 in the quarter-finals of the Northern Ireland Trophy.
It is the first time that O'Brien has appeared in the last four of a world-ranking tournament since he captured the British Open title in April 1999. O'Brien could not disguise his feelings after such a lengthy spell out of the limelight.
"This is just a dead good result. Beating John (Higgins, in the previous round) was obviously tremendous but to get one over on Ronnie the way he was playing tops even that. Ronnie can steamroller anyone but every time he made a mistake I punished him," said O'Brien.
O'Brien stole the first frame with a green to black clearance and moved 2-0 ahead by erasing a 51-0 deficit in the second with a late run of 74 launched by a fluked red.
O'Sullivan fought back to 2-2 but the momentum swung when, presented with an opening in the fifth frame, he missed a short red playing left-handed and O'Brien gratefully pounced with a 70 break.
From a long red, O'Brien made a decisive run of 73 in the sixth frame and even though the balls were awkwardly spread in the seventh the 35 year-old slammed the door shut with a 48 break.
In this afternoon's first semi-final, Shaun Murphy, will tackle Scotland's Stephen Maguire. Murphy beat Peter Ebdon 5-3 while Maguire eased past Neil Robertson, of Australia, 5-2.
Kuerten leaves field floundering
EQUESTRIAN: Jessica Kuerten left the rest floundering in her wake as she galloped to victory in yesterday's feature event at the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping fixture in Verona, Italy, WRITES LOUISE PARKES
Riding Castle Forbes Libertina, the German-based Irish rider threw down the gauntlet with a super-fast clear round in 58.94 seconds when sixth into the ring and the remainder of the 44 starters just couldn't catch her.
Kuerten and her 11-year-old mare took a courageous short-cut after the oxer at fence nine that only one other rider, Patrick McEntee with Ever Mury Marais Z, attempted. However, it didn't pay off for the Belgian who hit two elements of the following combination.
Earlier Conor Swail and the eight-year-old Gold Digger, finished second in world-class company and both Irish riders will compete in Sunday's Rolex FEI World Cup qualifier.
