That was Monday, but Tuesday also saw plenty of cracking snooker with Ding Junhui crashing out at the first hurdle to Lee Walker who has only won a couple of matches all season so far in what was a great performance from Lee, but another poor one from Ding. Robert Milkins meanwhile also suffered a Last 128 exit at the hands of young Belgian Luca Brecel who whitewashed him 4-0 and is now into the Last 32. Stuart Bingham survived a couple of tight matches against Chuan Thor and Robin Hull to get into the third round, while John Higgins only dropped one frame in his two matches and he's joined in round three by two more Scot's in Stephen Maguire and Graeme Dott who both had two fairly comfortable games. It was also pretty comfortable for Mark Selby, even if he did have a bit more of a challenge in the Last 64 against Marcus Campbell. Finally on the day though, Barry Hawkins was beaten 4-2 in the Last 64 against Aditya Mehta and young amateur Oliver Brown saw off another home favourite Ryan Day 4-1 to join Ashley Carty as the amateurs in round three.
Last 128 Results:
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 Vinnie Calabrese
Rory McLeod 4-2 Andrew Pagett
Ken Doherty 4-3 Zhou Yuelong
Matthew Stevens 4-3 Oliver Lines
Ashley Carty 4-2 Michael Holt
Alfie Burden 4-1 Andrew Norman
Dechawat Poomjaeng 4-3 Allan Taylor
Marco Fu 4-2 Ian Glover
Shaun Murphy 4-3 Steven Hallworth
Jamie Jones 4-0 Chris Norbury
Barry Pinches 4-3 Jimmy White
Mark Williams 4-0 Lu Haotian
Michael Wasley 4-3 Dominic Dale
Li Hang 4-3 Jack Lisowski
Mark Joyce 4-2 Joel Walker
Judd Trump 4-2 James Wattana
Mark Allen 4-1 Alexander Ursenbacher
Cao Yupeng 4-2 Craig Steadman
Ben Woollaston 4-2 Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon
Mark Davis 4-3 Lu Chenwei
Xiao Guodong 4-1 Joe Swail
Matt Selt 4-1 Ian Burns
Mark King 4-0 Eden Sharav
Ali Carter 4-1 Fraser Patrick
Joe Perry 4-3 Lee Page
Yu DeLu W/O John Sutton
Gary Wilson 4-0 Zhang Anda
John Astley 4-1 David Gilbert
Anthony McGill 4-3 David Grace
Jamie Cope 4-3 Elliot Slessor
David Morris 4-0 Joe O'Connor
Neil Robertson 4-0 James Cahill
Lee Walker 4-1 Ding Junhui
Michael Georgiou 4-1 Peter Lines
Chris Wakelin 4-2 Andrew Higginson
Graeme Dott 4-1 Zak Surety
Liang Wenbo 4-0 Cao Xin Long
Gerard Greene 4-2 Daniel Wells
Alex Borg 4-3 Jamie Burnett
John Higgins 4-1 Michael Leslie
Stephen Maguire 4-0 Duane Jones
Liam Highfield 4-1 Kurt Maflin
Dave Harold 4-1 Robbie Williams
Sam Baird 4-3 Fergal O'Brien
Alan McManus 4-2 Jamie Rhys Clarke
Ahmed Saif 4-0 Anthony Hamilton
Aditya Mehta 4-0 Sydney Wilson
Barry Hawkins 4-3 Scott Donaldson
Stuart Bingham 4-3 Chuan Thor
Robin Hull 4-0 Kyren Wilson
Chris Melling 4-3 Nigel Bond
Michael White 4-1 Ross Muir
Martin Gould 4-0 Jak Jones
Rod Lawler 4-1 Hammad Miah
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4-2 Mitchell Mann
Ricky Walden 4-0 Lu Ning
Luca Brecel 4-0 Robert Milkins
Tian Pengfei 4-2 Tom Ford
Oliver Brown 4-3 Mike Dunn
Ryan Day 4-1 Noppon Saengkham
Peter Ebdon 4-0 Tony Drago
Jimmy Robertson 4-3 Igor Figueredo
Marcus Campbell 4-3 Stuart Carrington
Mark Selby 4-0 Alex Davies
Last 64 Results:
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-2 Rory McLeod
Matthew Stevens 4-3 Ken Doherty
Ashley Carty 4-0 Alfie Burden
Marco Fu 4-2 Dechawat Poomjaeng
Jamie Jones 4-3 Shaun Murphy
Mark Williams 4-2 Barry Pinches
Michael Wasley 4-2 Li Hang
Judd Trump 4-0 Mark Joyce
Mark Allen 4-3 Cao Yupeng
Ben Woollaston 4-1 Mark Davis
Matt Selt 4-1 Xiao Guodong
Ali Carter 4-0 Mark King
Joe Perry 4-0 Yu DeLu
Gary Wilson 4-3 John Astley
Jamie Cope 4-2 Anthony McGill
Neil Robertson 4-0 David Morris
Michael Georgiou 4-2 Lee Walker
Graeme Dott 4-1 Chris Wakelin
Liang Wenbo 4-0 Gerard Greene
John Higgins 4-0 Alex Borg
Stephen Maguire 4-2 Liam Highfield
Sam Baird 4-0 Dave Harold
Alan McManus 4-0 Ahmed Saif
Aditya Mehta 4-2 Barry Hawkins
Stuart Bingham 4-2 Robin Hull
Michael White 4-0 Chris Melling
Martin Gould 4-1 Rod Lawler
Ricky Walden 4-1 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Luca Brecel 4-1 Tian Pengfei
Oliver Brown 4-1 Ryan Day
Peter Ebdon 4-1 Jimmy Robertson
Mark Selby 4-2 Marcus Campbell
Last 32 Preview: (Picks in Bold)
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Matthew Stevens - Both of these guys had strange days on Monday and I think the winner in this match will be the man that will come out tomorrow fresh and really up for the challenge. Ronnie had complaints yesterday about the venue and multi-table set-up, but more alarmingly commented that he hadn't taken his first round match "too serious" against Calabrese and he looked very dis-interested in round two, watching much of the Shaun Murphy/Jamie Jones match on the table next door when Rory McLeod was at the table. However, he did dig in and play better towards the end of the match and it wouldn't surprise me if, despite his complaints, he still went on to win the tournament. Matthew meanwhile expended a lot of mental energy yesterday in winning his two games in deciders, one after being 3-1 down to Oliver Lines and another having already been 3-0 up on Ken Doherty, so it will be interesting to see how that and a possible TV match effects him tomorrow. Stevens has had a pretty poor season so far and has been far too inconsistent for me to that he'll win this match.Marco Fu Vs Ashley Carty - Marco Fu had to dig deep a couple of times yesterday and can expect an equally tough game tomorrow against Ashley Carty who has already beaten a couple of very good pros already this week despite his status as an amateur. Even though Marco isn't in great form at the moment though, you have to say that he's going to be a massive favourite to beat Ashley here just because of that extra experience he has over Carty and the fact that this equals Carty's ranking event best. However, the way Fu has been playing, when he's not quite on his game he can lose to anyone so that will give Carty some confidence and is the only reason we can't rule out an upset.
Mark Williams Vs Jamie Jones - This all Welsh clash should be another good encounter with Jamie Jones high on confidence after his win against Shaun Murphy, while Mark Williams is in much better form as a whole this season and will be determined to get into the top 16 on the seedings to qualify for the Crucible automatically. Over the best of seven frames anything can happen here and it is sure to be a very tough match for Mark who will go in as the favourite. However, Mark will be determined for a number of reasons and is playing slightly better than Jamie right now over a consistent period, while Jamie only really has the odd good day every now and again.
Judd Trump Vs Michael Wasley - Judd Trump really is playing some superb snooker this season and has, to this point in the season, already made 60 century breaks and could still go on to make many more if his good form continues. Judd has been in ruthless form as well, not losing to too many people ranked a long way below him, like Michael Wasley, and that is one area where he has improved from just last season. Michael though is a very tough opponent and can beat anyone on his day, especially over the long format, but he's going to need to produce from the off in this match which will put him under a lot more pressure.
Mark Allen Vs Ben Woollaston - Mark Allen has been having a decent season, while Ben Woollaston does enjoy these short formats and best-of-7 matches as his record in PTC events shows, while he also made it through to the semi-finals in the Championship League winner group, so that's a sign that Ben is playing pretty well at the moment. However, when Ben comes up against the top players on the big stage he doesn't seem to play quite as well as maybe he should be on a consistent basis at least and that is why I fancy Allen to win this match, because he is playing some good snooker at the moment and I think that will prove a little too much in what is sure to be a close game tomorrow.
Ali Carter Vs Matt Selt - This match looks like being one of the tightest Last 32 ties in the whole draw, and certainly one of the hardest to call. Ali Carter seems to have really gotten nicely back into the game now after that everything that he's been through and he was very convincing yesterday in his two victories only losing the one frame. Matt Selt however, as I keep saying, is one of the most improved players on tour and he keeps proving it by winning a lot of the tight ones on paper now, and he showed that again in the Last 64 here as he beat Xiao Guodong and quite comfortably as well. Over the short format like these best-of-7 frame matches, Matt is really showing what he's made of and his good performances in PTC's against top players and his good runs in the ET's this season, just points towards another one here, and I think he has a very good chance.
Joe Perry Vs Gary Wilson - This match could be a tight one if Gary Wilson is well and truly on his game tomorrow, but despite his two wins in Cardiff so far this week, his form over the course of this season hasn't been anywhere near as good as last season and he really needs to up his game if he is to push Joe here. Perry meanwhile, is in really good form at the moment, as he has been now for the last season or so consistently and that level of consistency in his game now, is the reason why I don't see him losing matches like this and if he plays well he should win this and pretty comfortably too.
Neil Robertson Vs Jamie Cope - Snooker over the last couple of seasons or so has become a real struggle for Jamie Cope who has suffered a lot with his confidence levels and the fact that he is in a little bit of a fight for his tour space will put him under even more pressure. However, a good comeback against Slessor in round one followed by a very nice win against Anthony McGill have gotten him this far and he will be very pleased with his work this week and it puts him in a much brighter position on the end of season money list, and his expectations won't be too high against Robertson. Neil though has been very clinical so far this week, not even losing a frame yet and he started off his campaign with 3 successive century breaks so he is in fine form again and these are the type of matches that he eats up for breakfast at the very top level of his game, as he showed yesterday without conceding a frame.
Graeme Dott Vs Michael Georgiou - It's a big few weeks for Graeme Dott as he looks to try and force his way into the top 16 for the World Championships, and he'll be determined to do that and avoid having to go through three qualifying matches to reach the Crucible. He played well in the first two rounds only dropping a couple of frames against lower ranked opposition and that's what he's faced with again here, and despite two good victories again for Michael Georgiou, Graeme Dott will be determined not to make a mistake here either.
John Higgins Vs Liang Wenbo - John Higgins and Liang Wenbo have only dropped a frame between them in their Last 128 and Last 64 matches coming into this one, with Wenbo winning both of his games 4-0, winning inside 55 minutes in the Last 64, while Higgins finished off with a century in his 4-0 Last 64 win. This is going to be a much tighter match you feel, and of late John Higgins has not been fairing all that well in these types of matches against similarly ranked opposition. I mentioned in my full tournament preview that Higgins is losing a little of his day to day and match to match consistency, so when someone plays well against him, he doesn't always have the consistency to stay with them and keep hitting back. Liang Wenbo meanwhile is in very good form at the moment. He played very well in Germany to make the German Masters semi-finals and was unlucky to lose out to Shaun Murphy, and he's been very ruthless in winning his first two matches 4-0, and when he's playing well over the short format like this he can cause anyone a problem, as he did in beating Shaun Murphy at this stage last year from 3-1 down, and I fancy him for victory here again.
Stephen Maguire Vs Sam Baird - Stephen Maguire was my tournament tip this week and he's been in very good form of late with good runs in all of the recent tournaments, but he's got a big test here against Sam Baird. Sam may not have the experience of Maguire but he is a very dangerous player, especially over the short formats, but while he does beat a lot of the players around him, it's not very often that he goes on and beats the very top players, but there's nothing stopping him from doing that here. Maguire is a very strong player though and when he's playing well like he is, he can blow his opponents away, and you'd think that he'd have a match for anything that is thrown at him here.
Aditya Mehta Vs Alan McManus - Alan McManus has had a very solid year or two to get back into the top 32 and he'll be a very tough opponent for Aditya Mehta here, and even if he seemed to struggle a tad against amateur Jamie Rhys Clarke before whitewashing Ahmed Saif who is usually an easy win for most players, Alan is another tough match player and has a great chance here if he gets out of the blocks the stronger of the two. Aditya Mehta on his day is another very solid player, and he showed that to beat an out of form Hawkins yesterday and he has a very good chance against Alan McManus as his European Tour record suggests. Alan though is a great match player and these are the games he'll expect to do well in.
Ricky Walden Vs Martin Gould - Martin Gould is another player that has played solid snooker and not wasted too much energy in his matches so far winning 4-0 and 4-1, and the victory against Rod Lawler was very impressive as he made light work of what could've been a tough match against a hard match player. Gould's not produced as regularly as he would've liked in the last year or so, but he is another tough player to take on in these short format matches with no interval if your opponent starts like a train. Ricky Walden has been playing very impressively this season and was one of my tips to do well this week, coming into the event fresh after almost a month away from snooker and so far he has won two potentially tough games very comfortably, and if he finds his rhythm early on in this match, he could well do the same again.
Stuart Bingham Vs Michael White - Stuart Bingham didn't play well in his match against Chuan Thor by his admission but things got better for him in his match against Robin Hull, and over the best-of-7 frames Stuart is usually fairly strong as he has showed with his Asian Tour successes, but like with his full ranking event successes, he hasn't always done as well in the UK and Europe. Michael White is also playing some good stuff at the moment though, and he will have the crowd support behind him and I felt coming into this event that Michael would do well, and unlike Bingham, he wasted no time and energy in winning his two games so far and over the best-of-7 frames White's been strong this season and I fully expect him to run this very close and he's got a great chance of continuing his run here.
Oli Brown Vs Luca Brecel - Luca Brecel has been very impressive so far this week, only losing one frame over the course of two very tough matches against Robert Milkins and Tian Pengfei and playing some very good snooker in those matches, including making his new highest break in tournament play of 140 against Pengfei to finish the match. The one issue the young Belgian has had is with consistency and despite his potential he hasn't managed to go one runs like the one so far this week on as regular a basis as he would like to. Oliver Brown though is a brilliant young amateur player who will play a very open game with Luca and that may give both plenty of chances, and after Brown's win against Day you feel this will be very close. Luca seems to have found some form though and when he's on form you have to make him the favourite for matches like this.
Mark Selby Vs Peter Ebdon - Mark Selby played very well in his first couple of games, continuing on from his very impressive form of the German Masters where he took the title, and I fully expect that he'll go far again this week and take some serious stopping. Peter Ebdon is playing pretty well at the moment but when Mark Selby is on top form he's World Champion for a reason and he can handle anything that anyone really outside of the top 16 or even the top 8 can throw at him, so I think that he should come through this match fairly nicely.
After a busy couple of days with plenty of matches and players jostling for position, the tournament starts to get going a bit now with all of the Last 32 matches being played over the course of Wednesday over best-of-7 frames, with the 8 Last 16 games all being played on Thursday before the weekend. I'll be back early on Thursday morning to look ahead to those Last 16 matches.
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