Walden and Fu exit in Last 32

Ricky Walden, Marco Fu and Stuart Bingham were the casualties of the top 16 players in today's Last 32 in Beijing. Stuart Bingham playing in the morning session out in China had a tough opponent in Michael White, who took the win there having been 4-3 behind. That keeps alive White's automatic Crucible qualification hopes, just as Robert Milkins did by beating Zak Surety from 4-1 behind. Meanwhile, Mark Selby's neck pains have eased slightly after his whitewash over Elliot Slessor whilst David Gilbert came from 2-0 down to win 5-2. Stephen Maguire kept his Crucible hopes in his own hands by beating Ryan Day and Barry Hawkins recorded a nice victory against Dominic Dale.

In the second session of the day Kurt Maflin was the victor against Mike Dunn, while Dechawat Poomjaeng whitewashed Jack Lisowski and Mark Williams did the same against Michael Leslie. Shaun Murphy meanwhile saved his best until last to overcome Anthony McGill from 4-3 adrift, while Robin Hull did the same against Mark King.

Finally, the evening session saw birthday boy Ding Junhui called out to renditions of Happy Birthday ahead of his comfortable win over Mark Davis, while Judd Trump was also a comfortable winner against Peter Ebdon and John Higgins beat Graeme Dott in the all-Scottish clash. However, Ricky Walden suffered a surprise exit to Gary Wilson, while a comeback from 4-2 to 4-4 from Marco Fu wasn't enough to put Jamie Jones off as he secured another fine victory.

Last 32 Results:

Ding Junhui 5-1 Mark Davis
Mark Williams 5-0 Michael Leslie
John Higgins 5-2 Graeme Dott
Judd Trump 5-1 Peter Ebdon
Barry Hawkins 5-2 Dominic Dale
Stephen Maguire 5-4 Ryan Day
Gary Wilson 5-2 Ricky Walden
Dechawat Poomjaeng 5-0 Jack Lisowski
Robin Hull 5-4 Mark King
Kurt Maflin 5-3 Mike Dunn
Jamie Jones 5-4 Marco Fu
Shaun Murphy 5-4 Anthony McGill
Michael White 5-4 Stuart Bingham
Robert Milkins 5-4 Zak Surety
David Gilbert 5-2 Zhou Yuelong
Mark Selby 5-0 Elliot Slessor

So, another busy day is finished and from here on in things are a lot less hectic as we get down to just two sessions of play across four tables for some more fascinating action in the Last 16.

Last 16 Preview: (Picks in Bold)

Ding Junhui Vs Mark Williams - This really is the stand our game of the draw with the home favourite Ding Junhui taking on the tours form horse at the moment in Mark Williams. Ding seems to be playing a lot better in the first couple of games this week but he hasn't really been pushed this week so far by Marcus Campbell or Mark Davis but it will be a very different story against Williams. After reaching several last 16's, quarter-finals and semi-finals in the last couple of months which is something Ding has failed to do, with this being his first Last 16 appearance since Shanghai last September. Mark is so full of confidence that he'll believe he can beat Ding and he knows exactly how dangerous Ding is despite the run he's been on coming into this.

Judd Trump Vs John Higgins - This should be another good game as they always are between Trump and Higgins. Higgins has been slightly more inconsistent in his performances in the last couple of years but he always seems to push Trump hard and run the games close whenever they meet. Judd meanwhile is in really good form this week having made three centuries across his two games so far this week against Higginson and Ebdon and even though Higginson pushed him in round one he responded really well and is in great form at the moment to deal with anything that anyone can throw at the 2011 champion in Beijing.

Barry Hawkins Vs Stephen Maguire - These two guys have been threatening to meet in tournaments now in a while but because of Hawkins poor form they haven't as yet until now. Barry seems to be playing a lot better this week and scoring very nicely so he will be a little more confident of turning his fortunes around after a very poor run of form. Stephen Maguire meanwhile is under a lot more pressure as he tries to secure his top 16 seeding for the Crucible and that will make him more determined to get the result here but he's in for a very tough match again.

Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Gary Wilson - This match is another one with two players with a great opportunity. Gary Wilson reached his first ranking event quarter-final just last month at the Welsh open and will be looking for more of the same here having already beaten Liang Wenbo and scored heavily today to thrash Ricky Walden today. Meanwhile, Dechawat Poomjaeng has played well also this week to come from 3-1 down to beat Neil Robertson before whitewashing Jack Lisowski in round two. I think Wilson is playing slightly better of the two though and I think he will edge this match which is a very close one to call.

Kurt Maflin Vs Robin Hull - This all Nordic clash between Norway's Maflin and Finland's Hull should be a good one, and it is a very important one for Robin Hull. Robin of course has benefited this week from a bye into the Last 32 after Ronnie O'Sullivan's withdrawal but he still had to win his wildcard match against Yan Bingtao to get there and then beat Mark King today. In the process Hull has made a couple of centuries and played well to win both games and keep his hopes of tour survival alive. At the start of the week Hull was just over £12,000 adrift of 64th place Tom Ford, while now he is just over £7,000 behind, but another victory here against Maflin would certainly open things up for him more. Kurt meanwhile has already beaten Ali Carter and Mike Dunn this week, coming from 4-2 down against Carter and making two centuries against Dunn. This match is a tough one to call, but in the events he's entered this year Hull has been much more consistent than Maflin, but when Maflin plays well he's very tough to beat just as Robin is.

Shaun Murphy Vs Jamie Jones - The only way to start previewing this match is by pointing out that Jamie Jones is turning into a bit of a nemesis on the table for Shaun Murphy having beaten him again recently at the Welsh Open after several wins against him previously as well and he always proves a tough player for Murphy to beat. Jones will be confident having already overcome Stevens and Fu this week and knowing that he can beat Murphy and that he's playing well, there's no reason why he can't produce the result tomorrow. Shaun meanwhile played very well in his match today against Anthony McGill making 50+ contributions in every frame that he won in his 5-4 victory including a century to force the decider and a very cool 72 in that decider. Shaun continues to strike the ball well and will be confident that he win when he's put under pressure and given a good game as he was today, and he knows that he'll get a good game against Jones tomorrow.

Robert Milkins Vs Michael White - This match just stands out for me in this round as one of such huge importance when it comes to the seedings for the Crucible. Whoever the winner is from this game will have their hopes kept alive of qualifying automatically for the World Championships while the loser will definetly have to go through three qualifying rounds. Michael White has been able to put himself in this position by going on a roll to win his first ranking title at the Indian Open and having already come through two deciders this week, one very impressively from 4-3 down to Stuart Bingham, he will fancy his chances and be confident of going on a lot further this week. Robert Milkins meanwhile seems to be struggling just a little bit more having to come back from 4-1 down against much easier opposition on paper at least, than Michael White's and having lost 4-0 to Chris Wakelin at the Players Championship after a busy month or so, he may be starting to feel the effects of such a busy schedule.

Mark Selby Vs David Gilbert - Mark Selby may be struggling with a little bit of neck pain but he is still going strong in this tournament and he says that from the Last 64 to the Last 32 the pain has eased and he is playing very well when he is getting in and amongst the balls, which is always a good sign of how Mark's game is looking. Meanwhile, David Gilbert has had two very fine wins already this week to beat Players Champion Joe Perry and score very well from 2-0 down in his match against Zhou Yuelong to take all of the next five. David as I say is a very dangerous player and a great scorer on his day, and he's beaten Selby before so he can certainly cause the world champion some trouble.


We may be down to 16 players now but it is still no easier to pick a winner of this weeks China Open because to me it just looks so open as a whole and i'll be intrigued to watch how all of this unfolds again tomorrow and come back later on in the day to preview the action for the quarter-finals.