It was a bad day for the seeds at the International Championship as the likes of Neil Robertson, Barry Hawkins, Shaun Murphy, Judd Trump, Mark Davis and Joe Perry were all knocked out on a day that has opened up the draw massively. Marco Fu and Ricky Walden did managed to scrape through in deciders while Mark Allen came back from 3-0 down to beat Martin Gould 6-4, while things were more comfortable for Stuart Bingham and Ronnie O'Sullivan on a day where 6 of the 16 matches went the full 11 frames.
Last 32 Results:
Michael White 6-4 Mitchell Mann
Ian Burns 6-3 Craig Steadman
Stuart Bingham 6-3 Ryan Day
Mark Allen 6-4 Martin Gould
Mark Williams 6-2 Barry Hawkins
Sam Baird 6-5 Mark Davis
Li Hang 6-1 Zhao Xintong
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-1 Anthony McGill
Joe Swail 6-5 Neil Robertson
Ricky Walden 6-5 Zhou Yuelong
Peter Ebdon 6-1 Joe Perry
Jamie Burnett 6-5 Judd Trump
Robert Milkins 6-1 Shaun Murphy
Xiao Guodong 6-5 Noppon Saengkham
Marco Fu 6-5 David Gilbert
Rod Lawler 6-1 Fergal O'Brien
I thought the draw was open after the Last 64, but todays results have really opened it up and left the tournament anyone's for the taking if someone steps up and finds top form for the rest of the week.
Here's how things look for the Last 16 then, with my thoughts on how the matches could go as always.
Last 16 Draw: (Picks in bold)
Michael White Vs Ian Burns - Both of these two players seem to be in really good form this week with them both having two very good wins and scoring well. Today Ian overcame Craig Steadman with plenty of breaks over 50 to throw into the mix and he'll be full of confidence coming into this game. Michael White meanwhile is on a very good run and looking for a win here to make it consecutive quarter-finals in Asian ranking events with that run to the Bulgarian Open semi-finals wedged nicely in between. When you get to the latter stages of tournaments and you're involved in tight matches which this one may well be, it's all about who has the extra gear and that extra bit of quality to get over the line and I'm certain that based on both talent and current form Michael White is that man, and I expect him to make it into Thursday's quarter-finals with a win here.
Mark Allen Vs Stuart Bingham - In a repeat of the Shanghai Masters final we have two men that are still very much in the good form that got them to that occasion just over a month ago. Mark Allen had to fight harder today than he did in the first round, coming back from 3-0 down to get over the line with a 6-4 victory against a player in Martin Gould who really didn't have to do much wrong, and that's the sign of a man in really good form. Stuart meanwhile is still in the form that saw him thump Allen that day 10-3 and win the Haining Open Asian Tour event last week. Today he beat another in form man Ryan Day quite comfortably 6-3 and he's full of confidence after all of the wins and big performances he's had in China in the last couple of months. We've the form Stuart's in, especially in China at the moment and the confidence he'll have that he can go really far this week I have to make Stuart the slight favourite here.
Mark Williams Vs Sam Baird - I've been impressed with how Mark Williams has played so far this week in only losing 3 frames in 2 matches against Oli Brown and Barry Hawkins, playing with a very good rhythm when making breaks and looking determined to do well this week, and with the scoring he's shown so far there is no doubt he's a massive favourite to make the quarter-finals and a dark horse to go well beyond that. Sam Baird had a very impressive win in the early session today against Mark Davis winning that one 6-5 in a match Mark really should've killed off. Williams will not have the same problem killing the match off when he gets in position as he displayed against Hawkins and his determination is not just there for show. If Mark continues in that vain, I can only see one outcome of this match.
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Li Hang - After a slow start against Ben Woollaston it seems that Ronnie O'Sullivan has clicked into gear nicely and scoring at his exceptional best, and with players going out and Ronnie close to his best he is the new firm tournament favourite. His 6-1 win today against Anthony McGill was superb with 3 centuries in there and he certainly punished McGill if he didn't take the slim chances that he left for the Scot. Li Hang has started the week well with a very good display in beating John Higgins 6-1, before beating Zhao Xintong 6-1 today, although without the same size of breaks. The key for Hang tomorrow will be winning frames in one visit and trying to heap as much pressure on Ronnie as he can do. Without any disrespect to Li, with Ronnie playing how he did today, anything close to a repeat of that will be sending the Chinaman packing.
Ricky Walden Vs Joe Swail - These two fellas both came through deciding frames against two players at either end of the rankings. Starting with Ricky, he had to battle hard again in order to see off Zhou Yuelong and he certainly didn't have things easy and that could play a big part tomorrow as he played in the later session. Joe meanwhile will be riding on the crest of a wave having won 2 matches at the venue, including a win today against Neil Robertson (who at the time was the highest remaining seed) from 3-0 and 5-3 down. Swail is one of the hardest battlers on tour and he will make life incredibly tough for every single player in the draw if he can execute his skills, something he has been doing this week so far. I was impressed with how well he was striking the ball today and his long potting particularly was of a top standard. Coupled with the new care-free attitude he says he's playing with Joe Swail is a tough man for any player to face.
Peter Ebdon Vs Jamie Burnett - Peter Ebdon was my tip to be a big dark horse in this event, and with Neil Robertson and Judd Trump, his main threats in this quarter, on their way home Peter is my new favourite for this quarter. He's in incredibly good form as he showed again with another 6-1 victory against Joe Perry this time around and recent record in China is one that always makes him dangerous out there as he will be this week. If he's looking at the draw the same way I am, I'm pretty certain he'll be spotting a big opportunity to progress and that will make him determined to take that opportunity, and when Peter's determined that's when he's at his best and most dangerous. Jamie Burnett however may have beaten Judd Trump today, but that match was a big slog late into the evening in Chengdu while Peter Ebdon used up very little energy in the a comfortable match in the afternoon session which gives him a big advantage there too. Jamie didn't look at all comfortable at times today and it seemed like every pot was becoming a big battle at the end of the match, and it was becoming painful to watch at times, while Peter Ebdon is a slow player but also a very fluent one within his own cue action, especially when he's in the brilliant form he is at the moment. Can only see one outcome in this match as well.
Robert Milkins Vs Xiao Guodong - Robert Milkins produced a fine display of snooker today in beating Shaun Murphy 6-1, with some good breaks in taking a 3-0 lead, and some good steals in the fifth and sixth frames after Shaun kept throwing him lifelines in frames it seems. Robert will be the first to admit that he's not had the best 2014 on tour, but this win will be a big confidence boost going into the rest of this tournament starting in tomorrow's last 16 but also for the rest of the season. Xiao Guodong though is a very dangerous player to play against and although he hasn't had the most fluent start to the week here his scoring has still been good and the tough matches he's had will sharpen him up nicely for the business end of the tournament and I think he'll be able to match Robert in the scoring department. This game could simply depend on who gets in first in frames and who gets the most chances. It could depend a lot on Robert who is a very attacking player, when that comes off he'll win a lot more than he loses, but if it doesn't he's going to leave Xiao a lot more chances than he can afford to.
Marco Fu Vs Rod Lawler - Finally, we have Marco Fu who seems to be playing himself in to some form having made 4 centuries in 2 matches so far, despite both of those matches against Liam Highfield and David Gilbert running close. Marco takes on Rod Lawler who seems to be having one of his weeks where everything comes together and he puts together some very impressive results, as he has done against in form Oli Lines and consistent Fergal O'Brien. Noticeably from the frame scores Rod has been scoring really well which is a very good indicator of how far he can push Fu tomorrow, because Lawler can't rely on being able to grind results out against the best players, but it doesn't look like he's had to thus far. However, if Fu has found his form he's a tough man to beat and I don't think that Rod will be able to get over the line in this one, though I do expect it to be very close.
As I say the draw has well and truly opened up for an underdog to come through if one can really step up to the plate and I think we could have a winner come from outside of the top 16. With all of the shocks and surprise results we've seen this week so far it's going to be a very entertaining Last 16 in store tomorrow and I don't think things will go as I've predicted by any means.
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