Kyren Wilson was on the wrong side of a thrilling match against Martin Gould that went the full distance and featured a maximum break at the International Championship. Wilson had led the match 4-0 at the interval with runs of 53 and 58 in the process and stealing the third frame.
From there, Gould found his A game and rattled off five straight frames, featuring high breaks of 104, 91 and 128. Then came the most emphatic of responses to that run from Wilson, as he compiled the 147 break in frame ten to force the deciding frame. It was Gould though that was in first in frame eleven, what followed was a break of 70 that put him on the brink of victory and when Wilson could not complete the clearance, the former German Masters champion's spot in the last 16 was assured.
World and defending champion Mark Selby struggled past Tom Ford 6-4 after surrendering a 4-1 lead earlier in the match. Selby won the opener after Ford missed the black and then lost a re-spotted black. Ford had chances thereafter but when Selby made a 72 (his highest break in the match) in frame five he was 4-1 ahead. Ford took the next with a run of 60 and made a 66 in frame seven to make it 3-4. The eighth frame looked like a possible turning point when Selby's early 65 was not enough to get him over the line and Ford cleared with 60 to level the match at 4-4. Selby held strong though, and despite Ford having several chances in frame ten, he took the final two frames for a 6-4 win.
There was a big comeback in the last 32 for Neil Robertson as he came from 5-2 adrift to edge out Matthew Selt. Selt stormed into an early 3-0 lead with a 66 in the opener and a contribution of 60 in frame three. Robertson's first frame on the board came courtesy of a 101 break before the mid-session interval. Selt regained his three frame lead at 4-1, and then made a 71 in the seventh to move one away from victory at 5-2. In the next three frames though, he would only score a single point as Neil Robertson built brilliant breaks of 129 and 117 on the way to forcing a decider. Despite the three centuries, his most important break came in the closing stages of the final frame as he cleared the colours to beat Selt on the black and leave his opponent shell shocked.
Despite his tip splitting prior to the match, Mark Williams won the battle of the Welshmen 6-2 against Ryan Day with high breaks of 57, 60, 68, 80 and 121 in the contest, and he has now set up a last 16 date with Selby. There was also a comfortable victory for Shaun Murphy against Zhang Yong featuring a high break of 123 from the Magician. He will now face Ali Carter who was very impressive in a 6-1 thrashing of Stephen Maguire that featured stunning breaks of 106, 128 and 136.
Judd Trump managed another two centuries, to go with three made in the last 64, as he came through 6-3 in a speedy match with Jimmy Robertson. Liang Wenbo fought back from 4-3 adrift to beat fellow Chinese star Li Hang 6-4, while Mark Allen came from 5-3 down to overcome Mark King with a run of 92 in the deciding frame.
Jack Lisowski's brilliant form continued as he made another two centuries and a further two breaks above 80 in a 6-4 win over Xiao Guodong. The left-hander will now face Ronnie O'Sullivan's conqueror Yan Bingtao who held on to beat Ricky Walden 6-4. Walden had come from 5-1 down to Peter Ebdon in the last 64 and threatened to do the same when he took three in a row against Yan to go from 5-1 to 5-4 here.
Mark Joyce kept his giant-killing boots on as he backed up a 6-2 win over Anthony McGill with victory against Luca Brecel by the same score, making contributions of 55, 60, 61, 69 and 78. He'll face John Higgins in attempts for another upset, after the Scot came through 6-2 against Dominic Dale.
Last 32 Results:
Mark Selby 6-4 Tom Ford
Mark Williams 6-2 Ryan Day
Robbie Williams 6-3 Joe Perry
Neil Robertson 6-5 Matthew Selt
Shaun Murphy 6-1 Zhang Yong
Ali Carter 6-1 Stephen Maguire
Martin Gould 6-5 Kyren Wilson
Robert Milkins 6-4 Oliver Lines
Judd Trump 6-3 Jimmy Robertson
Liang Wenbo 6-4 Li Hang
Mark Allen 6-5 Mark King
Martin O'Donnell 6-5 Akani Songsermsawad
Jack Lisowski 6-4 Xiao Guodong
Yan Bingtao 6-4 Ricky Walden
Mark Joyce 6-2 Luca Brecel
John Higgins 6-2 Dominic Dale
Last 16 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Mark Selby Vs Mark Williams
Neil Robertson Vs Robbie Williams
Shaun Murphy Vs Ali Carter
Martin Gould Vs Robert Milkins
Judd Trump Vs Liang Wenbo
Mark Allen Vs Martin O'Donnell
Yan Bingtao Vs Jack Lisowski
John Higgins Vs Mark Joyce
Again there are some cracking matches ahead in the last 16, especially with Mark Selby Vs Mark Williams. Williams has been off to a good start this season and looked good again with a comfortable win over Ryan Day. Selby meanwhile has had to dig deep to win his opening two matches and faces an even tougher test here against the Welshman.
Neil Robertson has played Robbie Williams on two occasions, both in the 2013/2014 season and his aggregate score from those two matches was 16-3. That is not to say that Williams will not fair better this time, though Robertson did have three centuries in his comeback win against Matthew Selt in the last 32 and needs to perform for the sake of his Masters place.
Shaun Murphy and Ali Carter is always a close affair, with their last five major meetings seeing the players only separated by a frame or two. Murphy's win over Carter in the China Championship semi-finals ended a run of three consecutive defeats to Carter in ranking events, and he will have his work cut out again here given the form the Captain showed with three centuries in thrashing Stephen Maguire.
Martin Gould has not been at his best so far this season, but certainly came close to it in his remarkable comeback win over Kyren Wilson. Milkins will need to be at his scoring best in this one, but failed to register a break of above 50 in his 6-4 win over Oliver Lines where he was 3-0 up before Lines pegged him back.
The head to head between Judd Trump and Liang Wenbo is an interesting one in major ranking event meetings. Liang saw off Trump to win his maiden ranking in the English Open final of 2016. Along with that the Chinese number two will feel he could have won their 2016 World Championship clash when Liang was 7-3 up before losing 10-8. Earlier that season though, Liang overcame a 4-1 deficit to beat Trump 6-4 in the last 32 of the UK Championships. Trump has been scoring very well this week and will prove tough to beat, but Liang has shown before that he is capable of it.
Mark Allen and Martin O'Donnell both came from 5-3 behind in the last 32 to set up this tie, though O'Donnell may have taken significantly more out of himself to do so, having been taken off after eight frames and having to wait until the first table was available in the evening to finish. Allen has promised much with his form in September and October so far, and this may be the week when the 2014 International runner-up can deliver.
The battle of the young guns between Yan Bingtao and Jack Lisowski is a very exciting one. Lisowski has been in top form beating Barry Hawkins and an in-form Xiao Guodong so far this week, in addition to victories over Mark Williams and Judd Trump in Barnsley and it finally seems as though the heavy scoring left-hander is ready to step up a level. Yan meanwhile thrashed O'Sullivan 6-1 in the last 64 and has delivered in the big matches ever since coming on tour at the start of last season, both have potential to become multiple ranking event winners and either one could come from the pack to do so this week in Daqing.
Finally, Mark Joyce will have a tough act against John Higgins to follow up his 6-2 victories against Luca Brecel and Anthony McGill in the previous two rounds, but if Joyce can get an early foothold in the game he could at least push the 2015 International champion close here. Higgins though has won all of their three previous meetings and will be confident that he can claim another one here.
An exciting day of last 16 action awaits then and the selected TV matches, can be viewed on Eurosport TV and Eurosport Player with all matches taking place over the best-of-11 frames once more.
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