There were easy wins in the Last 32 of the Welsh Open for Ronnie O'Sullivan against Xiao Guodong, Judd Trump 4-1 against Anthony McGill, Mark Selby whitewashing Dominic Dale, Stephen Maguire handing out the same treatment to Andrew Pagett, and John Higgins doing the same to Mark King.
Meanwhile, there were also quite a few deciders with Shaun Murphy losing from 3-1 up to Liang Wenbo, a defeat that disappointed him more as he had chances in every frame to win it, while Barry Hawkins cam back from 1-3 down against Jack Lisowski and Neil Robertson lost 4-3 to home favourite Mark Williams who stole 3 frames in the match with superb clearances.
There were also good Last 32 wins for Marco Fu, Stuart Bingham, Ricky Walden, Joe Perry and Ali Carter.
Last 32 results:
Mark Selby 4-0 Dominic Dale
Liang Wenbo 4-3 Shaun Murphy
Joel Walker 4-1 James Wattana
Scott Donaldson 4-3 Andrew Higginson
Mark Williams 4-3 Neil Robertson
Joe Perry 4-3 Matthew Stevens
Ali Carter 4-2 Mark Allen
Ricky Walden 4-2 Anthony Hamilton
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 Xiao Guodong
Judd Trump 4-1 Anthony McGill
Stuart Bingham 4-2 Michael Holt
Marco Fu 4-2 Graeme Dott
Stephen Maguire 4-0 Andrew Pagett
John Higgins 4-0 Mark King
Barry Hawkins 4-3 Jack Lisowski
Ding Junhui 4-3 Ben Woollaston
Time to look ahead to todays last 16 then: (picks in bold)
Mark Selby Vs Ali Carter - This match will be another really good match, with both players playing very well in their Last 32 encounters. Carter really has been due a run in a big event after having a tough season on and off the table, and I'd love to see him go far this week. However, Mark Selby seems to be near top form, and when Selby's top form actually comes out it's very hard to stop. The problem is that Selby doesn't produce it enough.
Stuart Bingham Vs Joe Perry - Neither of these two have really been playing as well as they would've liked this week, but are both top quality players and with an even head to head this match could go either way. Stuart has been struggling a bit since Christmas but seems to be nearing his best again now at the right time, and with Joe tailing off a bit in recent weeks, I have to favour Bingham for the job here.
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Ricky Walden - After a promising start this week, Ricky Walden has had to scrap out his last two games against Hamilton and Selt, something he won't be able to do in this one. He won't need any reminding of what O'Sullivan can do after sitting in his seat for a Masters quarter-final where he barely had a chance. Ronnie though, hasn't quite been at his blistering best this week but seems to be slowly playing himself back into the groove after a month off with little practice, and if he can go up another gear as needed for this match he should win quite comfortably.
Stephen Maguire Vs Joel Walker - Joel Walker has had 3 really good wins this week, and has started to show everyone what he can do after a year on the tour without really showing us too much, but Ronnie O'Sullivan himself said what a talent Walker could be, before he even joined the tour (which is hardly a small endorsement). As for Maguire though, he was different class in his Last 32 win last night against Pagett, playing top class snooker, despite a swollen disk in his lower back. If he can produce that again today he will brush Walker aside just as he did to Andrew Pagett.
Judd Trump Vs John Higgins - This is going to be a very very close match with John Higgins looking like he could get back to something near his best with 3 good wins this week, without dropping a frame as yet. However, playing Judd Trump will be a different test entirely to the ones he's had so far, and it will show us how confident he is, in the way he approaches this match. Trump hasn't quite been firing on all cylinders this week and that could make him vulnerable to John today, if Higgins is confident and fancies the job. The game could well come down to the tactical play, which will need to be top notch from Higgins with some of the long ones Trump has been knocking in again lately. Got 4-3 written all over this one.
Ding Junhui Vs Scott Donaldson - Ding Junhui wasn't quite at his best yesterday against Ben Woollaston, nearly throwing away a 3-1 lead, which is exactly the deficit Donaldson cam back from yesterday morning against Higginson. Scott has been playing well this week, but will he be any match for Ding who is starting to fulfil his potential? You have to say the answer to that is a giant no.
Marco Fu Vs Mark Williams - Marco has been playing well this week and has slightly gone under the radar up until this point, without even playing on TV as yet, but he did have to grind a little bit against Graeme Dott, and I'm not sure he will get away without taking his chances, if Mark Williams can punish him as he did Neil Robertson yesterday afternoon. Mark played some good snooker yesterday and could easily have lost if he hadn't have held his nerve in ice-cool Williams fashion to make 3 superb clearances, and with the home crowd on his side and his family (including Williams Junior) and friends around supporting him, I think he will take a massive boost from that and his great win yesterday, into this match.
Barry Hawkins Vs Liang Wenbo - The final Last 16 encounter sees the battle of the comeback kings, who both came back from 3-1 down to win yesterday against Lisowski and Murphy respectively. Hawkins probably played slightly the better of the two, making a 134 under pressure to force the decider and another break of 50 to win it. As for Wenbo, he really should've lost to Shaun Murphy who had chances in all of the remaining 3 frames to win, but kept handing chances on a plate to Liang instead. It will be a very tight tussle, but Hawkins does seem to be the man in slightly better form, whereas Wenbo hasn't played as well but may take a boost having been handed a massive lifeline.
Whatever happens today there are 4 great matches on the TV with Selby/Carter, O'Sullivan/Walden, Trump/Higgins and Williams/Fu gracing our screens this evening, but it really is very disappointing that these games are still only best-of-7's as there could've been some great matches here over the longer format.
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