Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, John Higgins and Alfie Burden are the first four players into this weeks European Masters quarter-finals after the first day of Last 16 action was completed in Bucharest.
The tournament remains best-of-7 frames for the Last 16 but is now down to a one table set-up, and the first match on this afternoon saw John Higgins against Tom Ford. Leicester's Ford played well in this one with breaks of 61, 72 and 79 seeing him lead 2-1 and then 3-2 and one away from the last eight. Higgins forced the decider with a gritty 71. Chances came and went in the decider as Ford failed in his attempts to get over the line and it is the Scotsman who marches on.
Following that was the exit of Ricky Walden as he was also beaten in a decider, with Alfie Burden getting taking an impressive victory. Walden started in promising fashion with a run of 73 to move 1-0 in front, but after that he lost his rhythm and Burden was much the better player and worthy of the three frames in a row that took him 3-1 ahead. Walden hung on in the fifth before a swift 69 break forced the second final frame shoot-out of the day. This was where Burden saved his best for last with a decisive 64 to send his fellow Englishman packing.
The first match of the evening session between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Allen always looked like being a cracking contest and it certainly did not disappoint. Allen certainly kept up with O'Sullivan's pace of play in amongst the balls as both players were rapid when scoring, and were both around the 15 seconds a shot mark for much of the play. The Northern Irishman made all of the running in the early stages with a sparkling 121 to take a 1-0 lead, and he looked like doubling his advantage when on 65 in frame two. A poor positional shot and a very risky plant attempt ended up costing him as O'Sullivan cleared with 64 to level things up. The Pistol also made the early running in frame three with a 55 that was looking like becoming a frame winner again until he missed a crucial black and once again O'Sullivan was up to the task with a 60 clearance to pinch a 2-1 lead. However, Allen hit back by winning another black ball fourth frame, with Rocket Ronnie going in-off on his brown ball safety. From a level game at 2-2, O'Sullivan stepped up a gear with breaks of 77 after a missed long ball from Allen and then an 80 in the sixth to clinch a 4-2 victory and remain a worthy favourite for the title this week.
Last up in Romania was Neil Robertson against Rhys Clark. Clark is a little bit of a stranger to the TV tables despite this being his second year on tour and being one of the rookies of the year in his first. On the night he struggled to match the Australian's scoring. Robertson took the opener with a run of 82, before Clark hit back with 73. The crucial moment came in frame three as, after an early 61 from Robertson the Scottish youngster had a chance to clear but his miss on the final pink allowed his opponent a major let off and a simple frame ball to move ahead 2-1. That lead was then extended to 3-1 with a trademark Robertson ton, and despite a cluster of misses early in frame five an eventual contribution of 67 took the Riga Masters champion into yet another quarter-final, though Clark should have plenty more chances in his career once he gets used to this big stage.
Here's a quick reminder of the schedule of play for the second half of the Last 16 coming up on Thursday:
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
Another good line-up in prospect then and that will then set the stage for the best-of-7 frame quarter-finals that are to come on Friday.
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