Ronnie O'Sullivan sped through his match against David Gilbert on day two at the European Masters in Bucharest, winning 4-1 in 55 minutes. Breaks of 87, 77, 68 and 50 saw O'Sullivan playing pretty close to his best, while Gilbert made a classy break of 74 in the only frame he was able to win on a day where there was very little else he could have done, despite a couple of half chances. O'Sullivan will now play again on Wednesday evening against another quality player in Mark Allen. Allen was also a winner on day two seeing off non-tour player Daniel Womersley with a 4-0 whitewash. Breaks of 51, 53 and a closing 112 saw the Northern Irishman through in what was an impressive display and in true Allen style he was racing around the table by the end of the match and looking confident.
Liang Wenbo started the day on table one with a victory of his own against a non-tour player in Zak Surety, though Surety was a tour player over the last couple of seasons before this. Liang looked good in a 4-1 win that included an 80 as well as runs of 50, 51 and 61 in a simple mornings work. Wenbo will now take on Mark Davis who overcame Shaun Murphy 4-1. Neither player was at his best in this one with plenty of shots missed and some lacklustre tactical play through the match. Davis came out on top in the two tight opening frames before Murphy got his name on the scoreboard taking the third frame. The highlight of the match was a 100 break from Davis in frame four before he took another fairly close frame to clinch victory and get into the Last 16.
Judd Trump came through a close match with Ben Woollaston in the afternoon. They went hit for hit in this one as Woollaston held 1-0 and 2-1 and 3-2 leads with breaks in the match of 55,66 and 59. Trump had a 105 in the second to level up the match at 1-1 and then to square it again at 2-2 he made 64. The sixth seemed decisive at the time as Woollaston certainly had his chances to win the match 4-2 but lacking a bit of killer instinct he let Trump back into it and after some good tactical play from Trump it was 3-3. The decider was all Trump with Woollaston not getting the chance that every player hopes for in a final frame shoot-out, a contribution of 89 sealing things for the left hander.
Mark Selby followed that match as he took on Dominic Dale. The first three frames were all close affairs as Selby took a 2-1 advantage, before a 72 break from Dale dominated the fourth, helped by a run of 72, to level the match at 2-2. Selby then made 66 to regain the lead, and while the sixth went down to the colours it is indeed the world champion that marches on into the Last 16 in Romania.
Prior to Mark Allen's match on table two Alfie Burden beat Yu De Lu 4-1 thanks to breaks of 87, 78 and 61 to make it into the Last 16, while in the evening Scott Donaldson came from 2-0 down to beat Belgium's Luca Brecel 4-3 as the German Masters runner-up from February continues his poor form at the start of this new season.
Last 16 Draw and Schedule
Wednesday 5th October:
11am UK time: John Higgins Vs Tom Ford
To follow: Ricky Walden Vs Alfie Burden
5pm UK time: Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Mark Allen
To Follow: Neil Robertson Vs Rhys Clark
Thursday 6th October:
11am UK time: Liang Wenbo Vs Mark Davis
To follow: Anthony McGill Vs Scott Donaldson
5pm UK time: Judd Trump Vs Andrew Higginson
To follow: Mark Selby Vs Barry Hawkins
All matches are still best-of-7 frames, local time is UK + 2 hours. The players that appeared most impressive in round one were certainly Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins, though I do not think that Allen will be a pushover for O'Sullivan. Ricky Walden also looked in good shape in round one, while Liang Wenbo certainly played better for his win than Last 16 opponent Mark Davis. The all Scottish clash with McGill and Donaldson is one where you would certainly favour McGill after his early season form. The most intriguing match could be Mark Selby and Barry Hawkins, Hawkins has not been at his best so far this year and Selby has been in fine form. However, the world champion has put a new tip on his cue after not being too impressed with the one he had on in his match with Dominic Dale (in fact it was Dale who performed the replacement after the match upon Selby's request) but with a day off to knock it in with some practice, it should not be an issue.
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