Shocks galore in Beijing

The first round of the 2016 China Open has seen an astonishing amount of surprise results as the likes of Ding Junhui, Neil Robertson, Joe Perry, Martin Gould, Michael White and Liang Wenbo all lost their opening matches in Beijing.

 

Martin Gould's Last 64 loss to young wildcard Yuan Sijun 5-0 was by far the biggest surprise after Yuan overcame Andrew Higginson in the wildcard round.

 

Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo had had their Last 128 matches held over but neither were successful in getting through. Liangs loss means he is unable to get into the top 16 and will now have to play three matches to qualify for the World Championships. Peter Lines was the man who came through that one to give his tour survival hopes a boost but he did lose in the last 64 to Rod Lawler. Ding meanwhile is now uncertain of his own place at the Crucible after losing to Lee Walker 5-1. He sits 16th in the provisional seedings and if Kyren Wilson or Stephen Maguire make the semi-finals he would be sent to Ponds Forge.

 

Maguire saw off a fightback from Gary Wilson to win 5-3, while Kyren Wilson came from 2-0 down to beat Tom Ford 5-3. Maguire will now play Jack Lisowski who beat Michael White 5-1.

 

Neil Robertson made two centuries in his defeat to Noppon Saengkham, while Joe Perry was beaten 5-0 by Alfie Burden. Burden now plays Rhys Clark who overcame Mark Davis 5-4.

 

There is a 2.30am UK time session on Wednesday to clear up the last two first round games with Shaun Murphy playing David Grace and Barry Hawkins playing Tian Pengfei who has already had to come through a wildcard match. Hawkins and Murphy were both in the Players Championship semi-finals on Saturday and therefore have arrived later in Beijing.

 

Last 64 Results:

 

Darryl Hill 5-3 James Wattana
Dominic Dale 5-1 Jamie Jones
Stephen Maguire 5-3 Gary Wilson
Jack Lisowski 5-1 Michael White
Alfie Burden 5-0 Joe Perry
Rhys Clark 5-4 Mark Davis
Mike Dunn 5-4 Alan McManus
Rory McLeod 5-0 Mitchell Mann
Judd Trump W/O Stuart Carrington
Jimmy Robertson 5-3 Anthony McGill
Robert Milkins 5-4 Ross Muir
Marco Fu 5-2 Yu De Lu
Martin O'Donnell 5-2 Joe Swail
Matt Selt 5-4 Chris Wakelin
Mark King 5-2 Ali Carter
Noppon Saengkham 5-3 Neil Robertson
Ben Woollaston W/O Adam Duffy
Graeme Dott 5-1 Matthew Stevens
Yuan Sijun 5-0 Martin Gould
David Gilbert 5-1 Gerard Greene
Lee Walker 5-3 Li Hang
Mark Joyce 5-2 Luca Brecel
John Higgins 5-2 Zhou Yuelong
Michael Holt 5-2 Nigel Bond
Ryan Day 5-4 Dechawat Poomjaeng
Ricky Walden W/O Robin Hull
Kyren Wilson 5-3 Tom Ford
Rod Lawler 5-1 Peter Lines
Ian Burns 5-0 Peter Ebdon
Stuart Bingham 5-3 Sam Baird

 

Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Dominic Dale Vs Darryl Hill
Stephen Maguire Vs Jack Lisowski
Alfie Burden Vs Rhys Clark
Mike Dunn Vs Rory McLeod
Judd Trump Vs Jimmy Robertson
Marco Fu Vs Robert Milkins
Matt Selt Vs Martin O'Donnell
Mark King Vs Shaun Murphy or David Grace
Ben Woollaston Vs Noppon Saengkham
Graeme Dott Vs Yuan Sijun
David Gilbert Vs Lee Walker
John Higgins Vs Mark Joyce
Michael Holt Vs Barry Hawkins or Tian Pengfei
Ricky Walden Vs Ryan Day
Kyren Wilson Vs Rod Lawler
Stuart Bingham Vs Ian Burns

 

Looking at the draw there I was impressed with the scoring of Marco Fu against Yu De Lu making three centuries, while Dominic Dale appears to be cueing nicely and is a threat this week in that top quarter. Trump, Walden and Woollaston are all yet to play this week after walkovers, while Jimmy Robertson seemed in good form against Anthony McGill. There's a big opportunity for the likes of Burden and Clark plying each other and both played well in round one so that is quite a close call as is Lee Walker and David Gilbert with Walker playing well for his victories against Ding and Li Hang. Yuan Sijun is an unknown quantity but after such an emphatic result against Gould I cannot just write him off completely against Graeme Dott even though this match is on a Televised table this time which could prove the difference. Stuart Bingham and Ian Burns could be a great match if both score how they did in their opening round wins. Watch out for Matt Selt this week too. Scraping through a long first round match could spark him on to run very deep this week, and he could still get into the top 16 should he go on and win the tournament like many others provisionally in the 20's left in this tournament.

 

An interesting line-up then for the second round at the venue and perhaps a door has been opened for someone just outside of the top 16 to win the event and get themselves inside and seeded for the World Championships.