Mark Joyce has beaten Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last 32 of the China Open, to send one of the favourites home for the biggest shock of day three. Once again though, defending champion Judd Trump and World Champion Mark Selby made it through with comfort.
Despite two centuries from O'Sullivan, Joyce scored heavily making a break of 137 to win the seventh frame and give him a 4-3 advantage before he eventually won the match in a tense decider.
Mark Selby made another century break on the way to a simple 5-1 win over Martin O'Donnell, putting the World Champion into the last 16. Judd Trump went one better as he overcame Eden Sharav 5-0, despite not repeating his heavy scoring from the first two days.
Home favourite Ding Junhui was also a 5-0 winner, beating fellow Chinese player Zhou Yuelong with two century breaks as he also continued his dominant start to the week. Shaun Murphy added another century to his three from the last 64 on the way to a 5-1 win against Gary Wilson, while John Higgins beat Mark Davis 5-2 and Mark Williams was also a 5-2 winner against Michael Holt.
There was an exit though for Ali Carter who lost out 5-3 Michael White in a closely fought encounter. As for qualifying for the World Championships, Martin Gould will now be heading to Ponds Forge for a potential three matches of qualifying after he fell 5-3 against Tian Pengfei. So will Ricky Walden, who needed to make the final this week to get back into the top 16, after he surrendered a 4-1 advantage to lose 5-4 against Andrew Higginson.
Last 32 Results:
Judd Trump 5-0 Eden Sharav
Tian Pengfei 5-3 Martin Gould
Rory McLeod 5-3 Mike Dunn
Hossein Vafei Ayouri 5-4 Ben Woollaston
Shaun Murphy 5-1 Gary Wilson
Michael White 5-3 Ali Carter
Mark Williams 5-2 Michael Holt
John Higgins 5-2 Mark Davis
Stuart Bingham 5-2 Noppon Saengkham
Kyren Wilson 5-2 Sanderson Lam
Mark Joyce 5-4 Ronnie O'Sullivan
Ding Junhui 5-0 Zhou Yuelong
Daniel Wells 5-2 Matthew Stevens
Stephen Maguire 5-3 Li Hang
Andrew Higginson 5-4 Ricky Walden
Mark Selby 5-1 Martin O'Donnell
Last 16 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Judd Trump Vs Tian Pengfei
Rory McLeod Vs Hossein Vafei Ayouri
Shaun Murphy Vs Michael White
John Higgins Vs Mark Williams
Stuart Bingham Vs Kyren Wilson
Ding Junhui Vs Mark Joyce
Stephen Maguire Vs Daniel Wells
Mark Selby Vs Andrew Higginson
Judd Trump is still flying having only dropped one frame across three matches this week and I expect him to breeze through against Tian Pengfei tomorrow as well. Hossein Vafei Ayouri has had two impressive victories over Joe Perry and Ben Woollaston and seems to be in great form. His opponent Rory McLeod played well to beat Liang Wenbo in round one and is no easy opponent so that should still be a close encounter.
Shaun Murphy and Michael White could be similarly close with both players scoring very well. They each made three centuries in the last 64, while White has already seen off Ali Carter this week so he must be in good form. John Higgins has looked very strong in his two matches so far, and I think he will overcome Mark Williams who looks like having to go to World Championship qualifying after his slip down the rankings.
In the bottom half, Stuart Bingham has not had too many problems yet, while Kyren Wilson saw off a tricky Sanderson Lam in the last 32 - with Lam seeming to get in first in most of the frames I saw on live scores. That could be another close encounter. Ding Junhui has been scoring very heavily and how close this match becomes may come down to whether Joyce can come back up after the O'Sullivan win.
Stephen Maguire proved the point I continue to make about his form in China, as he made two centuries against Li Hang and he will be very tough for Daniel Wells to beat in the last 16. Wells beat Stevens 5-2 in a match where the highest break from either player was a 51 from Stevens (the only 50+ contribution of the game). Mark Selby has also been in great shape this week and he is certainly the favourite in this final quarter. He know plays escape artist Andrew Higginson who came from 4-1 behind against Ricky Walden, as well as being quite a few points behind in frame seven and 47 points adrift in the deciding frame.
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