Tuesday 14 November 2017

Mark Selby survives Shanghai scare against Chris Wakelin

World number one Mark Selby survived a scare in the last 64 of the Shanghai Masters, seeing off a fightback from Chris Wakelin. 

In all, Wakelin made seven half-century breaks in the four frames he won, losing both the second and third frames despite 50+ breaks in both and that saw him fall 3-0 behind. Breaks of 58 in the frames either side of the interval saw Wakelin peg Selby back to 2-3. Selby stretched his lead to 4-2 but Wakelin came back again with a run of 54 in the seventh and runs of 54 and 51 in frame eight to force the decider. The world champion kept up his incredible deciding frame record though and his booked his place in the last 32. 

Mark Allen came out on top again as he faced Yan Bingtao in a repeat of their International Championship semi-final. It was another comprehensive win with the Northern Irishman coming out on top 5-1 with a high break of 102. 

John Higgins was a comfortable winner 5-1 against Ian Preece with runs of 61, 69, 76 and 87 and Judd Trump whitewashed Alfie Burden with a top break of 119. There were also whitewash wins for Marco Fu and Luca Brecel against Hossein Vafei and Matthew Stevens respectively. This was particularly impressive as Brecel only landed a few hours before his match, and then realised he picked up someone else's suitcase and had to hunt for some clothes to borrow for his match. 

Ali Carter came through a tough test against Stuart Carrington winning a tight eighth frame for a 5-3 victory. Liang Wenbo looked in good touch for his 5-2 win against John Astley which has important implications in the race to the Masters. Ryan Day's surprise 5-4 defeat to Yu De Lu also keeps things interesting and helps Neil Robertson who did not qualify for this week. 

Michael White secured his first career win against bogey player Mark Davis, though he had to do so in a deciding frame. White also holds the highest break of the event so far making a 140 break in frame seven. 

Joe Perry secured a nice win 5-1 over Matthew Selt that featured two century breaks of 111 and 137. Perry will be the opponent for Ronnie O'Sullivan, should O'Sullivan come through on Wednesday morning. 

Mark Williams came through comfortably 5-1 over Wang Yuchen while Barry Hawkins won five straight frames to beat Daniel Wells 5-2. 


Last 64 Results: 

Mei Xiwen 5-4 Adam Duffy
Jimmy Robertson 5-4 Tom Ford
Kurt Maflin 5-4 Lee Walker
Ryan Day 5-4 Yu De Lu
Fergal O'Brien 5-4 Mitchell Mann
Mark Allen 5-1 Yan Bingtao 
Cao Yupeng 5-0 Michael Holt
Jack Lisowski 5-1 Chris Totten
Robbie Williams 5-4 Yuan Sijun
Graeme Dott 5-3 Xiao Guodong
Luca Brecel 5-0 Matthew Stevens
Jamie Jones 5-2 Mark King
Ali Carter 5-3 Stuart Carrington 
Stephen Maguire 5-4 Rory McLeod 
Ben Woollaston 5-3 Michael Georgiou
Judd Trump 5-0 Alfie Burden
John Higgins 5-1 Ian Preece
Zhou Yuelong 5-4 Sanderson Lam 
David Gilbert 5-0 Mark Joyce
Liang Wenbo 5-2 John Astley
Akani Songsermsawad W/O Stuart Bingham
Martin Gould 5-0 Li Yuan 
Robert Milkins 5-4 Lu Haotian 
Marco Fu 5-0 Hossein Vafei
Barry Hawkins 5-2 Daniel Wells
Michael White 5-4 Mark Davis 
Joe Perry 5-1 Matthew Selt
Mark Williams 5-1 Wang Yuchen 
Gerard Greene 5-3 Soheil Vahedi 
Alan McManus 5-4 Dominic Dale
Mark Selby 5-4 Chris Wakelin


Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold) 

Jimmy Robertson Vs Mei Xiwen
Kurt Maflin Vs Yu De Lu
Mark Allen Vs Fergal O'Brien
Jack Lisowski Vs Cao Yupeng
Graeme Dott Vs Robbie Williams
Luca Brecel Vs Jamie Jones
Ali Carter Vs Stephen Maguire 
Judd Trump Vs Ben Woollaston
John Higgins Vs Zhou Yuelong
Liang Wenbo Vs David Gilbert
Martin Gould Vs Akani Songsermsawad
Marco Fu Vs Robert Milkins
Barry Hawkins Vs Michael White
Ronnie O'Sullivan or Gary Wilson Vs Joe Perry (O'Sullivan's last 64 match was moved to Wednesday morning due to his involvement in the Champion of Champions final) 
Mark Williams Vs Gerard Greene
Mark Selby Vs Alan McManus 


There are some very intriguing ties in the last 32 here. Jack Lisowski and Cao Yupeng have been two of the most in-form players from lower down the rankings this season. Both had comfortable victories in round one as Lisowski made two tons and three other 80+ breaks in a 5-1 win over Chris Totten, while Cao Yupeng whitewashed Michael Holt. Lisowski for me has a fantastic chance of going very far into a tournament this season and making a big breakthrough if he carries on as he has been. 

Robbie Williams held Yuan Sijun off well after Yuan came back from 4-2 to 4-4 but Williams looks to be in good form after his run to the quarter-finals of the International Championship. Graeme Dott is his last 32 opponent and despite not being in great form this season, the Scotsman saw off Xiao Guodong and played well in the last two frames there so this should be a close game. 

Luca Brecel looked unfazed by his short turnaround, playing in someone else's clothes and playing with a new cue after his was lost on his last Chinese trip. Jamie Jones had a nice win over Mark King in round one but will need to play at his best to overcome the Belgian. 

Ali Carter will meet Stephen Maguire in the last 32 for the second event running. Carter was a comfortable 6-1 winner in Daqing and has a very good record overall against Maguire. The Scotsman had to fight back from 3-0 down to beat Rory McLeod in a deciding frame and has not been in the greatest form since making the Riga Masters final in June. 

Michael White has been in very nice form this season and that shows as he was finally able to overcome Mark Davis despite a poor head to head record. His game looks great at the moment and he has a great chance against Barry Hawkins who has not gotten further than the last 32 in any ranking event this season.

Zhou Yuelong has had a good season and will fancy his chances against John Higgins who said he "felt like a zombie" in round one and has had a heavy schedule in recent weeks. Higgins has played well in his first two matches in Shanghai to come through easily though and will be confident of keeping that going. 

Liang Wenbo and David Gilbert should be another good contest. Liang looked to be playing well in his match with John Astley while Gilbert whitewashed Mark Joyce in round one, despite only making one break over 50. Gilbert has had a couple of quiet tournaments in recent weeks and Liang may be able to take advantage again here as he hopes to distance himself in the Masters qualification battle. 

Finally, I just want to mention Jimmy Robertson against Mei Xiwen. Mei had a walkover in his heldover last 128 match with Ding Junhui and then overcame Adam Duffy 5-4, while Robertson came from 3-0 down to beat Tom Ford and looked to be scoring well there, as he did in his matches at the International Championship and I think the Englishman has a good chance of getting on a run this week. 

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