Seeds stumble in round one

The top names have stumbled in the first round of this years World Championships after defending champion Stuart Bingham, UK Champion Neil Robertson and last year's runner-up Shaun Murphy all fell at the first hurdle.

 

Bingham lost on the opening day in a thriller against fellow Essex player Ali Carter. The match went all the way to a decider after Carter had led at 8-5 and in the end it was the Captain that got over the line.

 

Shaun Murphy then fell in a very high quality match with Anthony McGill. In the 18 frames played between them 16 breaks of 50 or above were compiled with both players making two century breaks. In the end the damage was done as McGill won four in a row from 6-4 down to lead 8-6 and the last four frames were shared as the Scot ran through a 10-8 winner.

 

Neil Robertson was also outplayed in another contest that saw both players make two centuries each, against Michael Holt. Holt took an early 3-0 lead only to be pulled back to 3-3. From there though he won another three on the spin to lead 6-3 after their opening session. Coming back that evening the Hitman strolled into a 9-4 advantage and after the Australian got a couple of frames back Holt held himself together well to come through a 10-6 winner.

 

The other seeds to fall so far saw Stephen Maguire lose the all Scottish match with Alan McManus. Maguire took an early 3-1 lead in the match but then lost the next five to trail 6-3 after the opening session. McManus won the first on Sunday too edging 7-3 up but Maguire soon pegged him back to just one ahead. In the end though McManus pulled clear again and went on to win 10-7.

10-7 was also the scoreline when Michael White fell to Sam Baird who is now the lowest ranked player left in the competition.

 

There were wins though for Ricky Walden after he came from behind to beat Robbie Williams 10-8. He now plays John Higgins who had four centuries in thrashing Ryan Day 10-3.

Mark Allen was also a 10-3 winner against Debutant Mitchell Mann, while Mark Williams came through easier than expected against Graeme Dott. Marco Fu was mightily impressive in demolishing Peter Ebdon.

 

2014 champion Mark Selby has made it through as well despite a scare from Robert Milkins. Milkins was 7-2 behind after the opening session but won the first four on Tuesday morning to get back into it at 7-6. Selby though did what he had to and grinded out the remaining frames to win 10-6.

 

 

Judd Trump fought back from 7-3 down against Liang Wenbo to deny an all Chinese Last 16 clash at the Crucible after Ding Junhui came from 8-6 down winning the last four frames of his match with Martin Gould 10-8.

 

The final first round match went the distance in a thriller between Kyren Wilson and Joe Perry. Both players were superb on the night but it was Wilson that just held his nerve to get himself over the line in the final frame.

 

Last 32 Results:

Ali Carter 10-9 Stuart Bingham
Alan McManus 10-7 Stephen Maguire
Ricky Walden 10-8 Robbie Williams
John Higgins 10-3 Ryan Day
Judd Trump 10-8 Liang Wenbo
Ding Junhui 10-8 Martin Gould
Mark Williams 10-4 Graeme Dott
Michael Holt 10-6 Neil Robertson
Anthony McGill 10-8 Shaun Murphy
Marco Fu 10-2 Peter Ebdon
Barry Hawkins 10-5 Zhang Anda
Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-7 David Gilbert
Mark Allen 10-3 Mitchell Mann
Kyren Wilson 10-9 Joe Perry
Sam Baird 10-7 Michael White
Mark Selby 10-6 Robert Milkins

 

Last 16 Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Ali Carter Vs Alan McManus
John Higgins Vs Ricky Walden
Ding Junhui Vs Judd Trump
Mark Williams Vs Michael Holt
Marco Fu Vs Anthony McGill
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Barry Hawkins
Mark Allen Vs Kyren Wilson
Mark Selby Vs Sam Baird

 

 

Well plenty of the favourites have bitten the dust so far and you have to wonder whether or not that will continue over the best-of 25 frames second round matches. We are already guaranteed one Qualifier in the quarter-finals with Carter and McManus playing each other and the way that the qualifiers played in round one could suggest that there's more success to come.

 

I was particularly impressed with Mark Allen and Marco Fu in round one as well as Michael Holt who is playing his best snooker in my opinion. John Higgins is one to watch in the top half after his performance against Ryan Day, though Ricky Walden has been in fine form reaching the Players Championship Final and the China Open final where he beat Higgins along the way.

 

It will be interesting to see how Ding continues as he looked really good mentally in his win over Martin Gould, and as that has been his missing link in previous years maybe now that the top half has opened up he could possibly have a run. Anthony McGill was impressive against Shaun Murphy and many will fancy him against Fu in what is sure to be a match that goes close. As I say though Fu played well against Ebdon in round one so he is not to be underestimated. Ronnie O'Sullivan may have had a little tantrum after his win against David Gilbert but Barry Hawkins will seriously have to up his performance from the Zhang Anda game if he is to have any say in the outcome there. Mark Selby looked a bit rusty in his first round win against Milkins after the time he took off but he should beat Sam Baird and then by the time the quarter-finals roll around he would be sharp and a serious contender once again for these championships.