Hawkins defeats O'Sullivan in Crucible second round

Ronnie O'Sullivan is out of the 2016 World Snooker Championships after losing a thrilling deciding frame to Barry Hawkins.

 

Hawkins had led 5-3 after the opening session and 9-7 after the second session before then leading 12-9 in the final session prior to the Rocket's comeback with three on the spin.

 

Kyren Wilson, Ding Junhui and Alan McManus are the three qualifiers in the quarter-finals. McManus overturned a 9-7 deficit winning the first four of the session against Ali Carter and sharing the rest to come through 13-11.

 

Wilson had what he described as the strangest match of his career against Mark Allen. Wilson led 7-0 and was dominating the Northern Irishman until 5 in a row clawed him back. Two unfortunate frames at the end of the second session left him 11-5 behind. Allen made a game of it by taking the first four of the final session to trail only 11-9. Wilson held on to win the next two and win 13-9.

Ding Junhui was not quite on top form but it was enough to see him beat Judd Trump. A year ago Trump had thrashed Ding in a best-of-25 quarter-final but a year on and a round earlier it was the Chinese who took his revenge holding off a Trump fight back from 12-7 to 12-10 to fall over the line 13-10.

 

Mark Selby will now be one of the hot favourites despite having to cling on against Sam Baird. Selby lost four in a row from 11-7 to 11-11 before winning the last two to win 13-11 in classic 'Master of brinkmanship fashion'.

 

John Higgins is another of the hot favourites after his 13-8 victory over China Open and Players Championship finalist Ricky Walden. Walden missed chances in the final session to put a lot more heat on the Scot in what you felt could easily have been closer if Walden was on top form.

 

 

He will now take on Mark Williams who overcame his good friend Michael Holt to end a good season for the Hitman. Holt had beaten Neil Robertson in round one and was off to a good start when he took an early 4-1 lead. It did not last as Williams ended the opening session level at 4-4 and then took a 6-4 lead before winning another four in a row from 6-6 to lead 10-6 at the end of session two. Holt missed a golden chance to go into the final mid-session break only 11-9 behind but at 12-8 it was game over as it proved in the frame after the break.

 

The first man through was Marco Fu who beat rising star Anthony McGill quite comfortably in the end. Neither player was at his best after good wins that they both had in round one, and the man from Hong Kong will certainly need to raise his game to beat Hawkins.

 

Last 16 Results:

 

Alan McManus 13-11 Ali Carter

John Higgins 13-8 Ricky Walden

Ding Junhui 13-10 Judd Trump

Mark Williams 13-8 Michael Holt

Marco Fu 13-8 Anthony McGill

Barry Hawkins 13-12 Ronnie O'Sullivan

Kyren Wilson 13-9 Mark Allen

Mark Selby 13-11 Sam Baird

 

Quarter-Final Draw:

John Higgins Vs Alan McManus - Prediction: 13-7 to Higgins

Mark Williams Vs Ding Junhui - Prediction: 13-9 to Ding Junhui

Barry Hawkins Vs Marco Fu - Prediction: Hawkins to win but not easily 13-9 or 13-10.

Mark Selby Vs Kyren Wilson - Prediction: Wilson to keep shining with a 13-12 win.

 

Those are my thoughts then on the next four matches we have to look forward to over the best-of-25 frames. The form that Higgins has shown makes me think that he will beat McManus easily enough, particularly as Carter's poor temperament cost him dearly and Higgins has one of the best temperaments in the game.

 

Ding and Williams should be close, but after Ding's two tight victories so far I think that he is battle hardened and Williams has had two slightly more comfortable games so far despite not playing for me at his complete best. There may be another gear in the Welshman for this contest.

 

Fu's best chance against Hawkins could be in the opening session to take an early lead if Barry shows any signs of a hangover after his win against O'Sullivan. The second session of this match could prove the key as this is the match where the second and third sessions are played almost consecutively in the 2.30pm and 7pm time slots on Wednesday.

 

Finally, Selby has had to grind his way through so far and Wilson has almost ended up doing a similar thing. Kyren very much reminds me of Selby in terms of his great temperament and battling qualities and his long potting so far has been superb in this tournament and that was the key to his commanding early lead against Mark Allen. As for Selby, he felt he was not match sharp early on in Sheffield after missing the tournaments in Manchester and Beijing coming into the World's. Having played himself in now he could be very dangerous but this match has the feel of a very close finish on Wednesday morning.

 

 

There you have it then. That is the line-up for the last 8 fully analysed and scrutinised by myself, though I have hardly been in top form in this tournament so far so let's hope that can change. Much more Crucible drama is coming your way so sit back and enjoy the final week of this years World Championships.