Scottish Open champion Neil Robertson was defeated 5-3 by Tom Ford in the final round of German Masters qualifying as his recent good form was brought to an end.
The match was pretty even as the pair were locked at 2-2 and then 3-3 before Ford won the final two frames with breaks of 58 in both of them to book his place in Berlin ahead of the Australian.
Judd Trump meanwhile survived a huge scare in a high quality match with Yuan Sijun. Trump opened up with a break of 114 but would only find himself locked at 2-2 as the mid-session interval came. Yuan then cleared with a run of 87 to move 3-2 in front and would go a frame away from victory at 4-2 with a century of his own.
Trump hit straight back with his second century, with a 102 before he went on to force a deciding frame. Then in the decider, Trump made his third century of the contest to complete the comeback and make sure he'll be in the last 32 of the German Masters.
Barry Hawkins won the final three frames of his 5-2 victory against Liam Highfield featuring breaks of 73 and 96, while Shaun Murphy won four in a row to win 5-2 from 2-1 behind against Scottish Open runner-up Cao Yupeng. Mark Selby meanwhile won all of the last five frames from 2-0 behind, with two century breaks and further runs of 92 and 73.
Defending champion Anthony Hamilton won the final two frames to see off Mitchell Mann 5-4 and book his place in Berlin, while 2016 winner Martin Gould also came through in a deciding frame against Ken Doherty.
There were easy enough victories for the likes of Ding Junhui against Nigel Bond, Mark Allen over Rod Lawler and Ryan Day against John Astley while Joe Perry was a whitewash winner against Thor Chuan Leong and Ricky Walden saw off Ashley Hugill 5-2.
Liang Wenbo won a black ball third frame in coming from 2-0 behind to defeat Andrew Higginson 5-3, while Mark Williams also came through a tight match 5-3 against Matthew Stevens.
Niu Zhuang came back from 4-1 down to beat Rory McLeod, despite McLeod starting the match with back to back centuries, while Thepchaiya Un-Nooh won 5-4 against Mark King despite being docked the first frame for arriving late for the match.
Full last 64 results:
Anthony Hamilton 5-4 Mitchell Mann
Jimmy Robertson 5-4 Peter Lines
Gary Wilson 5-3 David Grace
Martin Gould 5-4 Ken Doherty
Mark Williams 5-4 Matthew Stevens
Fergal O'Brien 5-2 Robin Hull
Matthew Selt 5-4 Aditya Mehta
Mark Allen 5-2 Rod Lawler
Ding Junhui 5-1 Nigel Bond
Michael Georgiou 5-1 Ian Burns
Jack Lisowski 5-3 Stuart Carrington
Ricky Walden 5-2 Ashley Hugill
Joe Perry 5-0 Thor Chuan Leong
Yu De Lu 5-2 Jimmy White
Ben Woollaston 5-2 Chris Totten
Judd Trump 5-4 Yuan Sijun
Niu Zhuang 5-4 Rory McLeod
Mark Davis 5-0 Josh Boileau
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-4 Mark King
Ryan Day 5-1 John Astley
David Gilbert 5-2 Mike Dunn
Mark Joyce 5-0 Wang Yuchen
Alan McManus 5-0 Jackson Page
Shaun Murphy 5-2 Cao Yupeng
Barry Hawkins 5-2 Liam Highfield
Graeme Dott 5-4 Peter Ebdon
Hammad Miah 5-3 Zhao Xintong
Mei Xiwen 5-1 Robbie Williams
Liang Wenbo 5-3 Andrew Higginson
Tom Ford 5-3 Neil Robertson
Xiao Guodong 5-1 Hamza Akbar
Mark Selby 5-2 Jamie Jones
That has set the 32 man line-up that will appear in Berlin for the final stages of the German Masters now which will begin on January 31. This is how the draw will look for the last 32 when they arrive at the Tempodrome:
Last 32 draw:
Anthony Hamilton Vs Jimmy Robertson
Martin Gould Vs Gary Wilson
Mark Williams Vs Fergal O'Brien
Mark Allen Vs Matthew Selt
Ding Junhui Vs Michael Georgiou
Ricky Walden Vs Jack Lisowski
Joe Perry Vs Yu De Lu
Judd Trump Vs Ben Woollaston
Mark Davis Vs Niu Zhuang
Ryan Day Vs Thepchiaya Un-Nooh
David Gilbert Vs Mark Joyce
Shaun Murphy Vs Alan McManus
Barry Hawkins Vs Graeme Dott
Mei Xiwen Vs Hammad Miah
Liang Wenbo Vs Tom Ford
Mark Selby Vs Xiao Guodong
That is all for Snooker in 2017, but it is not long until the next action begins at the Championship League on January 2, ahead of the Masters at Alexandra Palace which starts on January 14.
Saturday 23 December 2017
Thursday 21 December 2017
Luca Brecel knocked out of German Masters
2016 German Masters runner-up Luca Brecel has crashed out in round one of the qualifiers for the 2018 event, falling to Hammad Miah 5-1.
Brecel has been suffering with a shoulder injury coming into the match and pulled out of the Scottish Open because of it, and it may have played a part again here.
Brecel has been suffering with a shoulder injury coming into the match and pulled out of the Scottish Open because of it, and it may have played a part again here.
Elsewhere, Kyren Wilson a semi-finalist in 2016 was also knocked in the last 128 as Jack Lisowski produced another impressive result. Lisowski had breaks of 50, 51, 54, 59, 62 and 70 in defeating Wilson 5-1 to make it through to the last 64 stage, which will be played on Friday in Barnsley. Ali Carter also lost out in the last 128, losing all of the last three frames of a 5-3 loss to Wang Yuchen.
Michael White and Stephen Maguire were both defeated on the first morning. White fell to Finland's Robin Hull who made the last 16 in Berlin last year, and Hull had two centuries of 121 and 125 in a good contest that also featured a 129 break from the Welshman though he would ultimately lose out 5-3. Maguire meanwhile lost out 5-1 to Gary Wilson, who beat Maguire for the second time in a month after a 4-0 win over the Scot in Belfast.
Ding Junhui kept his hopes alive, but only just as he came through a deciding frame battle against Gerard Greene. Ding had to fight back from 3-2 and 4-3 down before eventually coming through.
Young Chinese players Yan Bingtao and Zhou Yuelong were not so lucky though as they both fell to lower ranked opposition in Matthew Selt and Michael Georgiou respectively.
Defending champion Anthony Hamilton did come through though, battling hard to eventually come through 5-3 against Chen Zhe. Chen had led 3-2 but Hamilton came back nicely to win the final three frames and closed out the contest with a match high break of 80.
The likes of Mark Williams, Ryan Day, Ricky Walden, Neil Robertson and Joe Perry all came through fairly untroubled in their matches to make sure they would be coming back on Friday for round two.
Selected last 128 results:
Anthony Hamilton 5-3 Chen Zhe
Mitchell Mann 5-0 Zhang Yong
Gary Wilson 5-1 Stephen Maguire
David Grace 5-4 Xu Si
Fergal O'Brien 5-1 Akani Songsermsawad
Robin Hull 5-3 Michael White
Matthew Stevens 5-0 Basem Eltahhan
Mark Williams 5-1 Oliver Lines
Aditya Mehta 5-1 Ben Jones
Matthew Selt 5-3 Yan Bingtao
Ding Junhui 5-4 Gerard Greene
Nigel Bond 5-3 Christopher Keogan
Michael Georgiou 5-2 Zhou Yuelong
Ian Burns 5-1 Elliot Slessor
Jack Lisowski 5-1 Kyren Wilson
Stuart Carrington 5-4 Lee Walker
Ricky Walden 5-1 Boonyarit Kaettikun
Ashley Hugill 5-3 Leo Fernandez
Thor Chuan Leong 5-3 Daniel Wells
Joe Perry 5-1 Joe Swail
Chris Totten 5-2 Matthew Bolton
Ben Woollaston 5-4 Alex Borg
Yuan Sijun 5-4 Fang Xiongman
Judd Trump 5-3 Adam Duffy
Rory McLeod W/O Ronnie O'Sullivan
Niu Zhuang 5-1 Ian Preece
Ryan Day 5-0 Kurt Dunham
John Astley 5-4 Craig Steadman
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-3 Martin O'Donnell
Mark King 5-1 Noppon Saengkham
Mike Dunn 5-2 Eden Sharav
David Gilbert 5-3 Tian Pengfei
Wang Yuchen 5-3 Ali Carter
Mark Joyce 5-2 Lu Haotian
Jackson Page 5-2 Sean O'Sullivan
Alan McManus 5-4 Dominic Dale
Graeme Dott 5-2 Soheil Vahedi
Peter Ebdon 5-4 Jak Jones
Hammad Miah 5-1 Luca Brecel
Zhao Xintong 5-2 Sam Craigie
Mei Xiwen 5-1 Michael Holt
Robbie Williams 5-1 Billy Castle
Tom Ford 5-2 Lukas Kleckers
Neil Robertson 5-2 Chris Wakelin
Andrew Higginson 5-4 Li Hang
Liang Wenbo 5-1 Duane Jones
Hamza Akbar 5-1 Allan Taylor
Xiao Guodong 5-1 Sanderson Lam
Friday's last 64 matches: (Picks in bold)
Anthony Hamilton Vs Mitchell Mann
Gary Wilson Vs David Grace
Fergal O'Brien Vs Robin Hull
Mark Williams Vs Matthew Stevens
Matthew Selt Vs Aditya Mehta
Ding Junhui Vs Nigel Bond
Michael Georgiou Vs Ian Burns
Jack Lisowski Vs Stuart Carrington
Ricky Walden Vs Ashley Hugill
Joe Perry Vs Thor Chuan Leong
Ben Woollaston Vs Chris Totten
Judd Trump Vs Yuan Sijun
Rory McLeod Vs Niu Zhuang
Ryan Day Vs John Astley
Mark King Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
David Gilbert Vs Mike Dunn
Mark Joyce Vs Wang Yuchen
Mark Joyce Vs Wang Yuchen
Alan McManus Vs Jackson Page
Graeme Dott Vs Peter Ebdon
Zhao Xintong Vs Hammad Miah
Robbie Williams Vs Mei Xiwen
Neil Robertson Vs Tom Ford
Liang Wenbo Vs Andrew Higginson
Xiao Guodong Vs Hamza Akbar
Defending champion Anthony Hamilton still has to come through another match if he is to get back to the venue where his long-term dream came true last season. He came through 5-3 against Chen Zhe and had to come from 3-2 behind to do so, and if he still does not quite look back to his best after the back trouble he has had this season. Mitchell Mann won easily against Zhang Yong in round one and has had some good wins in recent tournaments so it would not be a surprise to see him come through here.
Fergal O'Brien ended his poor run of recent results by beating Akani Songsermsawad in round one, while Robin Hull played very well in parts of his win against Michael White. This is certainly a difficult match to call, with Hull probably having an edge when it comes to scoring and O'Brien the advantage tactically. After reaching the last 16 last year and getting a lot of support from the German crowd, Finland's finest will be determined to return to the Tempodrome, and I would fancy him to do so if he keeps up his good scoring from the first round.
Jack Lisowski and Stuart Carrington is a good looking match between two players who can score very heavily. Lisowski has been in fantastic form this season, and overcame Kyren Wilson to get this far. Carrington though has been a little hit and miss this season and I think if Lisowski gets on top early he will again prove very difficult to peg back.
Judd Trump faces Yuan Sijun in the last 64 here, after both came through tight opening round games. Trump had three quick one-visit frames to go 3-1 ahead against Duffy but did not have things all his own way otherwise and like a number of top players, he may have perhaps run out of steam as 2017 comes to an end. Yuan Sijun scored pretty well as he came from behind to beat Fang Xiongman 5-4, and after victories this season against the likes of Shaun Murphy and Joe Perry where he scored very well, there is no reason why he will not give Trump a tough test here.
Rory McLeod and Niu Zhuang will meet for the second tournament in succession at the last 64 stage, with McLeod winning 4-0 in Glasgow on the way to making the last 16 where he only narrowly lost out to Ricky Walden. McLeod was the beneficiary of a walkover in round one while Niu scored heavily to thrash Ian Preece in round one. I think Niu will give McLeod a much closer match this time around if he continues to score well, but with McLeod looking good in Glasgow he will be tough to beat here.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made a couple of centuries in the middle of his win over Martin O'Donnell, and he now faces Mark King who overcame another Thai in Noppon Saengkham in the last 128. The trouble for Un-Nooh is his inconsistency not just between tournaments but between matches. If he plays as he did against O'Donnell he has a great chance of overcoming King as well, but if he struggles as he sometimes can, then King could come through easily once again.
Neil Robertson has a very one-sided head-to-head record against Tom Ford. He has previously overcome Ford three times in the UK Championship in 2009, 2011 and 2012 with an aggregate score of 21-5 in Robertson's favour. The Australian is back on top form after winning the Scottish Open and that will make this a very difficult evening for Ford if he is not at his absolute best.
Liang Wenbo is looking for a good run in this tournament to get into the World Grand Prix places and he certainly needs to win this match and qualify for the Tempodrome in order to keep those hopes alive. He faces Andrew Higginson in the last 64 after Higginson held on to overcome Li Hang 5-4. Higginson played well to lead 4-0 but Li came back well before eventually falling short. If Higginson scores as well as he looked to in the early stages against Li he will have a great chance against Liang though he also played nicely to come through the first round against Duane Jones.
Defending champion Anthony Hamilton still has to come through another match if he is to get back to the venue where his long-term dream came true last season. He came through 5-3 against Chen Zhe and had to come from 3-2 behind to do so, and if he still does not quite look back to his best after the back trouble he has had this season. Mitchell Mann won easily against Zhang Yong in round one and has had some good wins in recent tournaments so it would not be a surprise to see him come through here.
Fergal O'Brien ended his poor run of recent results by beating Akani Songsermsawad in round one, while Robin Hull played very well in parts of his win against Michael White. This is certainly a difficult match to call, with Hull probably having an edge when it comes to scoring and O'Brien the advantage tactically. After reaching the last 16 last year and getting a lot of support from the German crowd, Finland's finest will be determined to return to the Tempodrome, and I would fancy him to do so if he keeps up his good scoring from the first round.
Jack Lisowski and Stuart Carrington is a good looking match between two players who can score very heavily. Lisowski has been in fantastic form this season, and overcame Kyren Wilson to get this far. Carrington though has been a little hit and miss this season and I think if Lisowski gets on top early he will again prove very difficult to peg back.
Judd Trump faces Yuan Sijun in the last 64 here, after both came through tight opening round games. Trump had three quick one-visit frames to go 3-1 ahead against Duffy but did not have things all his own way otherwise and like a number of top players, he may have perhaps run out of steam as 2017 comes to an end. Yuan Sijun scored pretty well as he came from behind to beat Fang Xiongman 5-4, and after victories this season against the likes of Shaun Murphy and Joe Perry where he scored very well, there is no reason why he will not give Trump a tough test here.
Rory McLeod and Niu Zhuang will meet for the second tournament in succession at the last 64 stage, with McLeod winning 4-0 in Glasgow on the way to making the last 16 where he only narrowly lost out to Ricky Walden. McLeod was the beneficiary of a walkover in round one while Niu scored heavily to thrash Ian Preece in round one. I think Niu will give McLeod a much closer match this time around if he continues to score well, but with McLeod looking good in Glasgow he will be tough to beat here.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made a couple of centuries in the middle of his win over Martin O'Donnell, and he now faces Mark King who overcame another Thai in Noppon Saengkham in the last 128. The trouble for Un-Nooh is his inconsistency not just between tournaments but between matches. If he plays as he did against O'Donnell he has a great chance of overcoming King as well, but if he struggles as he sometimes can, then King could come through easily once again.
Neil Robertson has a very one-sided head-to-head record against Tom Ford. He has previously overcome Ford three times in the UK Championship in 2009, 2011 and 2012 with an aggregate score of 21-5 in Robertson's favour. The Australian is back on top form after winning the Scottish Open and that will make this a very difficult evening for Ford if he is not at his absolute best.
Liang Wenbo is looking for a good run in this tournament to get into the World Grand Prix places and he certainly needs to win this match and qualify for the Tempodrome in order to keep those hopes alive. He faces Andrew Higginson in the last 64 after Higginson held on to overcome Li Hang 5-4. Higginson played well to lead 4-0 but Li came back well before eventually falling short. If Higginson scores as well as he looked to in the early stages against Li he will have a great chance against Liang though he also played nicely to come through the first round against Duane Jones.
Jackson Page and Alan McManus will be another interesting tie and a clash between youth and experience. McManus came through 5-4 in the previous round against Dominic Dale, while Jackson Page scored very well in winning all of the last five frames in a 5-2 win against Sean O'Sullivan. If Page scores as well as he did there then he has every chance against McManus, though if the frames become slightly tactical or scrappy then the experience and tactical knowledge of the Scotsman could prove the difference.
Once these matches are completed, that will be it for the qualifiers as the 32 heading to Berlin at the end of January will be confirmed, and snooker for 2017 will also be complete.
Once these matches are completed, that will be it for the qualifiers as the 32 heading to Berlin at the end of January will be confirmed, and snooker for 2017 will also be complete.
Wednesday 20 December 2017
German Masters: Last 64 Preview - Thursday evening session
We're halfway into the four days of German Masters qualifying taking place this week in Barnsley and already a few of the higher seeds have exited the door, with a few last 128 matches to take place in Thursday's morning and afternoon sessions.
On Thursday evening the last 64 will get underway with the first eight games, before the remaining 24 last 64 games take place on Friday.
Featuring on Thursday evening will be 2016 German Masters champion Martin Gould after he overcame Alfie Burden 5-3 on Tuesday afternoon. One of the European hopes has been extinguished with Swiss Alexander Ursenbacher losing out 5-3 to Ken Doherty.
World Champion Mark Selby had a successful return to action following an early exit in the UK Championship, as he whitewashed Sam Baird. Shaun Murphy had a maximum attempt, missing the 13th red on 96 in frame six of his 5-2 win over Paul Davison.
Barry Hawkins won a vital frame four re-spotted black against Jamie Barrett to lead 3-1 at the interval, and would eventually come through 5-1 in that match. Josh Boileau meanwhile came from 4-2 down and 67-0 in frame seven to beat Norweigian Kurt Maflin 5-4 and now faces Mark Davis as he saw off Robert Milkins 5-3.
Cao Yupeng responded in superb style to his gutting loss from 8-4 up in Sunday's Scottish Open final, by making breaks of 87, 88 and 123 in the final three frames of his 5-2 victory against Chen Zifan. In frame four of the contest, Chen made the highest break of the first two days of qualifying meanwhile with a superb 140 but would not score a point after the interval, such is Cao's form.
Meanwhile, there has been a top 16 casualty with Anthony McGill exiting the competition, as predicted in my initial preview, with Jimmy White producing another fine performance to come through 5-3. There was to be no shock for Mark Allen, as his heavy scoring continued making three centuries and back to back tons in the final two frames of a 5-3 win against Li Yuan.
Selected last 128 results:
Jimmy Robertson 5-3 Rhys Clark
Peter Lines 5-4 Scott Donaldson
Martin Gould 5-3 Alfie Burden
Ken Doherty 5-3 Alexander Ursenbacher
Mark Allen 5-3 Li Yuan
Rod Lawler 5-1 Ross Muir
Jimmy White 5-3 Anthony McGill
Yu De Lu 5-0 Jamie Clarke
Mark Davis 5-3 Robert Milkins
Josh Boileau 5-4 Kurt Maflin
Shaun Murphy 5-2 Paul Davison
Cao Yupeng 5-2 Chen Zifan
Barry Hawkins 5-1 Jamie Barrett
Liam Highfield 5-2 Hossein Vafei
Mark Selby 5-0 Sam Baird
Jamie Jones 5-4 Zhang Anda
Thursday evening's last 64 ties: (Picks in bold)
Jimmy Robertson Vs Peter Lines
Martin Gould Vs Ken Doherty
Mark Allen Vs Rod Lawler
Yu De Lu Vs Jimmy White
Mark Davis Vs Josh Boileau
Shaun Murphy Vs Cao Yupeng
Barry Hawkins Vs Liam Highfield
Mark Selby Vs Jamie Jones
Jimmy Robertson had two centuries in his defeat of Rhys Clark on Tuesday morning, as well as a further break of 89 so he is clearly in good touch coming into his match with Peter Lines. Lines survived a huge scare in round one against Scott Donaldson. Having led 4-0, Lines had to watch Donaldson come all the way back to 4-4 before he eventually got over the line, and he will need to take his chances against Robertson if he continues to score heavily.
Former champion Martin Gould will not have an easy match here against Ken Doherty, but he has been in good form in recent weeks and with his record in Berlin he will be keen to have another crack at the title at the Tempodrome in the new year.
Yu De Lu and Jimmy White is another interesting contest. Yu had an easy 5-0 win in the last 128, and with this now being his twelfth ranking event of the season, he has only lost in the first round three times this season, but only made it beyond the last 64 stage twice so far. White meanwhile produced another excellent performance to beat Anthony McGill, and that was no surprise to me at all. He always seems to play well at or immediately after being at a tournament working with Eurosport. His form has come on in recent weeks with a couple of wins in Belfast, followed by the defeat of Carter in York, given that he lost seven straight matches after an early season last 16 appearance in Riga.
Josh Boileau's comeback victory against Kurt Maflin was a vital one given his tour situation as he is going to need some big results between now and the end of the season to have any chance of tour survival. Mark Davis had lost his last four matches in a row before Robert Milkins, and all four of those were in deciding frames so it is not as if he has been getting beaten up in that period. Given Boileau's form, Davis clearly has the edge going into this one.
Cao Yupeng's response to losing in such agonising fashion in the Scottish Open final was to produce a fine performance in his first game afterwards. He scored incredibly heavily and did not concede a single point after the mid-session break and if he keeps that up he will provide a big challenge for Shaun Murphy. Murphy lost at this stage of last year's German Masters to Yan Bingtao, and did not look at his best against Paul Davison. Despite reaching four finals this season, Murphy has also lost in the "qualifying round" for each of the Riga, European and Shanghai Masters and with Cao's form he has a challenge to avoid a fourth qualifying defeat.
Liam Highfield and Barry Hawkins presents another great match-up where the high seeded player could have a big test. Highfield came through 5-2 against a tough opponent in Hossein Vafei, making a century along the way and generally has been in good form this season. A quarter-final earlier in the year in India was nearly matched as he lost in the last 16 in Belfast, and it has taken some in-form players to beat him lately. In Scotland he lost at the last 64 stage by a fairly narrow 4-2 margin to eventual winner Neil Robertson, while he had his chances to beat UK runner-up Shaun Murphy in the last 64 stage before losing 6-5. Barry Hawkins has had his struggles this season so far, only making the last 32 in three of ten ranking events he has entered. Recent results have seen first round exits in Northern Ireland and Scotland as well as a 6-0 drubbing at the last 32 stage in York. Given that Highfield is in good form and has taken the game to some top players recently, Hawkins will need some of his best form if he is to win.
Jamie Jones has a decent record against Mark Selby. He only lost out 6-5 in the 2015 UK Championships, having thrashed Selby 5-1 earlier on that season in the last 16 of the Australian Open. Jones had to win the final two frames to overcome Zhang Anda, while Selby had a much easier route with his 5-0 whitewash of Sam Baird. Given that Selby has had a good rest coming into these qualifiers, and is a former champion in Berlin, he will be determined to get back to the Tempodrome and Jones will have to be at his absolute best to see off the world number one again.
Friday will see the conclusion of German Masters qualifying with the remaining last 64 matches, which will all be previewed on the blog when the last 128 concludes on Thursday afternoon.
On Thursday evening the last 64 will get underway with the first eight games, before the remaining 24 last 64 games take place on Friday.
Featuring on Thursday evening will be 2016 German Masters champion Martin Gould after he overcame Alfie Burden 5-3 on Tuesday afternoon. One of the European hopes has been extinguished with Swiss Alexander Ursenbacher losing out 5-3 to Ken Doherty.
World Champion Mark Selby had a successful return to action following an early exit in the UK Championship, as he whitewashed Sam Baird. Shaun Murphy had a maximum attempt, missing the 13th red on 96 in frame six of his 5-2 win over Paul Davison.
Barry Hawkins won a vital frame four re-spotted black against Jamie Barrett to lead 3-1 at the interval, and would eventually come through 5-1 in that match. Josh Boileau meanwhile came from 4-2 down and 67-0 in frame seven to beat Norweigian Kurt Maflin 5-4 and now faces Mark Davis as he saw off Robert Milkins 5-3.
Cao Yupeng responded in superb style to his gutting loss from 8-4 up in Sunday's Scottish Open final, by making breaks of 87, 88 and 123 in the final three frames of his 5-2 victory against Chen Zifan. In frame four of the contest, Chen made the highest break of the first two days of qualifying meanwhile with a superb 140 but would not score a point after the interval, such is Cao's form.
Meanwhile, there has been a top 16 casualty with Anthony McGill exiting the competition, as predicted in my initial preview, with Jimmy White producing another fine performance to come through 5-3. There was to be no shock for Mark Allen, as his heavy scoring continued making three centuries and back to back tons in the final two frames of a 5-3 win against Li Yuan.
Selected last 128 results:
Jimmy Robertson 5-3 Rhys Clark
Peter Lines 5-4 Scott Donaldson
Martin Gould 5-3 Alfie Burden
Ken Doherty 5-3 Alexander Ursenbacher
Mark Allen 5-3 Li Yuan
Rod Lawler 5-1 Ross Muir
Jimmy White 5-3 Anthony McGill
Yu De Lu 5-0 Jamie Clarke
Mark Davis 5-3 Robert Milkins
Josh Boileau 5-4 Kurt Maflin
Shaun Murphy 5-2 Paul Davison
Cao Yupeng 5-2 Chen Zifan
Barry Hawkins 5-1 Jamie Barrett
Liam Highfield 5-2 Hossein Vafei
Mark Selby 5-0 Sam Baird
Jamie Jones 5-4 Zhang Anda
Thursday evening's last 64 ties: (Picks in bold)
Jimmy Robertson Vs Peter Lines
Martin Gould Vs Ken Doherty
Mark Allen Vs Rod Lawler
Yu De Lu Vs Jimmy White
Mark Davis Vs Josh Boileau
Shaun Murphy Vs Cao Yupeng
Barry Hawkins Vs Liam Highfield
Mark Selby Vs Jamie Jones
Jimmy Robertson had two centuries in his defeat of Rhys Clark on Tuesday morning, as well as a further break of 89 so he is clearly in good touch coming into his match with Peter Lines. Lines survived a huge scare in round one against Scott Donaldson. Having led 4-0, Lines had to watch Donaldson come all the way back to 4-4 before he eventually got over the line, and he will need to take his chances against Robertson if he continues to score heavily.
Former champion Martin Gould will not have an easy match here against Ken Doherty, but he has been in good form in recent weeks and with his record in Berlin he will be keen to have another crack at the title at the Tempodrome in the new year.
Yu De Lu and Jimmy White is another interesting contest. Yu had an easy 5-0 win in the last 128, and with this now being his twelfth ranking event of the season, he has only lost in the first round three times this season, but only made it beyond the last 64 stage twice so far. White meanwhile produced another excellent performance to beat Anthony McGill, and that was no surprise to me at all. He always seems to play well at or immediately after being at a tournament working with Eurosport. His form has come on in recent weeks with a couple of wins in Belfast, followed by the defeat of Carter in York, given that he lost seven straight matches after an early season last 16 appearance in Riga.
Josh Boileau's comeback victory against Kurt Maflin was a vital one given his tour situation as he is going to need some big results between now and the end of the season to have any chance of tour survival. Mark Davis had lost his last four matches in a row before Robert Milkins, and all four of those were in deciding frames so it is not as if he has been getting beaten up in that period. Given Boileau's form, Davis clearly has the edge going into this one.
Cao Yupeng's response to losing in such agonising fashion in the Scottish Open final was to produce a fine performance in his first game afterwards. He scored incredibly heavily and did not concede a single point after the mid-session break and if he keeps that up he will provide a big challenge for Shaun Murphy. Murphy lost at this stage of last year's German Masters to Yan Bingtao, and did not look at his best against Paul Davison. Despite reaching four finals this season, Murphy has also lost in the "qualifying round" for each of the Riga, European and Shanghai Masters and with Cao's form he has a challenge to avoid a fourth qualifying defeat.
Liam Highfield and Barry Hawkins presents another great match-up where the high seeded player could have a big test. Highfield came through 5-2 against a tough opponent in Hossein Vafei, making a century along the way and generally has been in good form this season. A quarter-final earlier in the year in India was nearly matched as he lost in the last 16 in Belfast, and it has taken some in-form players to beat him lately. In Scotland he lost at the last 64 stage by a fairly narrow 4-2 margin to eventual winner Neil Robertson, while he had his chances to beat UK runner-up Shaun Murphy in the last 64 stage before losing 6-5. Barry Hawkins has had his struggles this season so far, only making the last 32 in three of ten ranking events he has entered. Recent results have seen first round exits in Northern Ireland and Scotland as well as a 6-0 drubbing at the last 32 stage in York. Given that Highfield is in good form and has taken the game to some top players recently, Hawkins will need some of his best form if he is to win.
Jamie Jones has a decent record against Mark Selby. He only lost out 6-5 in the 2015 UK Championships, having thrashed Selby 5-1 earlier on that season in the last 16 of the Australian Open. Jones had to win the final two frames to overcome Zhang Anda, while Selby had a much easier route with his 5-0 whitewash of Sam Baird. Given that Selby has had a good rest coming into these qualifiers, and is a former champion in Berlin, he will be determined to get back to the Tempodrome and Jones will have to be at his absolute best to see off the world number one again.
Friday will see the conclusion of German Masters qualifying with the remaining last 64 matches, which will all be previewed on the blog when the last 128 concludes on Thursday afternoon.
Monday 18 December 2017
German Masters Qualifiers Preview
The final snooker of 2017 begins on Tuesday as 128 hopefuls will be whittled down to the 32 players who will be travelling to Berlin's Tempodrome in late January for the German Masters.
Most of the top players will be back in action again here including world champion Mark Selby, who skipped the Scottish Open and exited early on in the UK Championship. Ronnie O'Sullivan has withdrawn from the qualifiers and will therefore not be in Germany once again. Meanwhile former runner-up Marco Fu is probably one of the more notable players not to have entered from those that are heading to the Barnsley Metrodome eyeing the wins needed to book their place at the venue.
Even though there is not a full tournament being played this week, it is still a crucial few days for some players. With just the German Masters and the Shoot-Out left in the qualifying period for February's World Grand Prix it is important for those players either side of the 32 mark on the current one season money list to make it through to Berlin to keep their hopes alive.
The first section of four players vying for one of the 32 spots in Berlin features the defending champion Anthony Hamilton. It is such a shame after a poor start to the season, that Hamilton's first ever defence of a ranking title has to come in Barnsley with no guarantee of a return to the venue where his dreams finally came true early on this year. He faces Chen Zhe in round one who has been quite low on results this season and even despite some of his poor form caused by a back injury, I would still expect Hamilton to come through.
Mitchell Mann meanwhile has had a couple of good wins recently, thrashing Stuart Carrington in the first round of the UK Championship and then defeating Hossein Vafei in round last week in Glasgow. Zhang Yong has also had some decent wins this season, but right now I believe Mann is the best bet of the four in this section.
Jimmy Robertson has been consistent this season. The Scottish Open was the first time since the Indian Open that Robertson had failed to make the last 32 and I would expect him to be far too strong for Rhys Clark in round one here. Meanwhile, Scott Donaldson and Peter Lines is a tricky one to call. Donaldson was winless until York but then beat Mark Selby there which will be a massive confidence boost and after a good campaign last season he will be glad to be back to winning ways. Peter Lines though has made the last 32 of both the UK Championships and Scottish Open in recent weeks as well as having last 16's earlier in the season at the Paul Hunter Classic and European Masters so it has been a decent season for him.
Robin Hull has seen off Michael White comfortably in both of their previous meetings, the most recent coming at a similar time last year winning 4-1 in the second round of the Scottish Open. Hull has had a couple of nice victories over Zhou Yuelong this season despite a mixed time of things. He has exited at the last 128 stage in his last two tournaments, but was agonisingly close to the last 16 in Belfast before that and is more than capable of defeating White. The Welshman has been playing well before running into Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last 32 in York and the last 16 in Glasgow.
Akani Songsermsawad overcame Fergal O'Brien recently in the UK Championships, and O'Brien has lost in seven of his most recent eight last 128 matches. That is hardly the sort of form you would expect from O'Brien, while Akani Songsermsawad has been solid and will be feeling confident after making the last 16 in York.
Jimmy White overcame Perry this time last year on the way to qualifying for Berlin, and always seems to get a good result or two after being at an event with Eurosport. An example there would be his win over Ali Carter in the UK Championships which followed a couple of good wins when he was with Eurosport in Belfast. Anthony McGill had a good result in round one in Glasgow beating Ryan Day but was soon knocked out by Peter Ebdon in the last 64, after also losing in the last 64 in York so has not had the best few weeks after a strong start to the season.
Yu De Lu has been in decent form this season without doing a lot of note. He has only lost three times in the last 128 this season, but failed to get further than the last 32 in any of the other eight events where he has won his first match. Jamie Clarke has had a couple of games this season as a Q School top-up but will have to be playing well to overcome a fairly solid Yu.
Most of the top players will be back in action again here including world champion Mark Selby, who skipped the Scottish Open and exited early on in the UK Championship. Ronnie O'Sullivan has withdrawn from the qualifiers and will therefore not be in Germany once again. Meanwhile former runner-up Marco Fu is probably one of the more notable players not to have entered from those that are heading to the Barnsley Metrodome eyeing the wins needed to book their place at the venue.
Even though there is not a full tournament being played this week, it is still a crucial few days for some players. With just the German Masters and the Shoot-Out left in the qualifying period for February's World Grand Prix it is important for those players either side of the 32 mark on the current one season money list to make it through to Berlin to keep their hopes alive.
Qualifying Section 1
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Anthony Hamilton Vs Chen Zhe
Mitchell Mann Vs Zhang Yong
The first section of four players vying for one of the 32 spots in Berlin features the defending champion Anthony Hamilton. It is such a shame after a poor start to the season, that Hamilton's first ever defence of a ranking title has to come in Barnsley with no guarantee of a return to the venue where his dreams finally came true early on this year. He faces Chen Zhe in round one who has been quite low on results this season and even despite some of his poor form caused by a back injury, I would still expect Hamilton to come through.
Mitchell Mann meanwhile has had a couple of good wins recently, thrashing Stuart Carrington in the first round of the UK Championship and then defeating Hossein Vafei in round last week in Glasgow. Zhang Yong has also had some decent wins this season, but right now I believe Mann is the best bet of the four in this section.
Predicted Qualifier: Mitchell Mann
Qualifying Section 2
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Jimmy Robertson Vs Rhys Clark
Scott Donaldson Vs Peter Lines
Jimmy Robertson has been consistent this season. The Scottish Open was the first time since the Indian Open that Robertson had failed to make the last 32 and I would expect him to be far too strong for Rhys Clark in round one here. Meanwhile, Scott Donaldson and Peter Lines is a tricky one to call. Donaldson was winless until York but then beat Mark Selby there which will be a massive confidence boost and after a good campaign last season he will be glad to be back to winning ways. Peter Lines though has made the last 32 of both the UK Championships and Scottish Open in recent weeks as well as having last 16's earlier in the season at the Paul Hunter Classic and European Masters so it has been a decent season for him.
Predicted Qualifier: Jimmy Robertson
Qualifying Section 3
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Stephen Maguire Vs Gary Wilson
David Grace Vs Xu Si
David Grace overcame Xu Si 6-2 in International Championship qualifying in September and both players come into this qualifier off the back of strong weeks in the Scottish Open. David Grace reached the last 16 before losing to eventual champion Neil Robertson, while Xu Si fell at the same stage to Stephen Maguire who is also in this section.
Maguire faces Gary Wilson in round one and is in much better form now than when he lost 4-0 to Wilson in the second round of the Northern Ireland Open. Maguire was a semi-finalist in York and fell at the quarters stage in Glasgow, so with that form in mind it would be a little surprising not to see him qualify for Berlin where he also has a good record.
Maguire faces Gary Wilson in round one and is in much better form now than when he lost 4-0 to Wilson in the second round of the Northern Ireland Open. Maguire was a semi-finalist in York and fell at the quarters stage in Glasgow, so with that form in mind it would be a little surprising not to see him qualify for Berlin where he also has a good record.
Predicted Qualifier: Stephen Maguire
Qualifying Section 4
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Martin Gould Vs Alfie Burden
Ken Doherty Vs Alexander Ursenbacher
Alfie Burden reached the last 16 of the German Masters in 2015 and won his two matches required to qualify for the 2016 edition, so does not have a bad record when it comes to this event. However, he faces someone in round one who has the best recent record in the German Masters. Martin Gould was a winner in 2016 and reached the semi-finals last season as defending champion so has a real love affair with this tournament. Gould has been in good form lately reaching the UK quarter-finals, Shanghai quarter-finals and International Championship semi-finals.
After a hot start to the season, Ken Doherty is certainly one to watch here despite a comprehensive first round exit in Glasgow. He was only taken out in the last 64 in York by a sublime performance from Neil Robertson and reached the last 32 in Belfast. Alexander Ursenbacher of course had a nice run in October to reach the English Open semi-finals, but since then he has not won a single match and only picked up five frames from his last four matches played.
After a hot start to the season, Ken Doherty is certainly one to watch here despite a comprehensive first round exit in Glasgow. He was only taken out in the last 64 in York by a sublime performance from Neil Robertson and reached the last 32 in Belfast. Alexander Ursenbacher of course had a nice run in October to reach the English Open semi-finals, but since then he has not won a single match and only picked up five frames from his last four matches played.
Predicted Qualifier: Martin Gould
Qualifying Section 5
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Michael White Vs Robin Hull
Fergal O'Brien Vs Akani Songsermsawad
Robin Hull has seen off Michael White comfortably in both of their previous meetings, the most recent coming at a similar time last year winning 4-1 in the second round of the Scottish Open. Hull has had a couple of nice victories over Zhou Yuelong this season despite a mixed time of things. He has exited at the last 128 stage in his last two tournaments, but was agonisingly close to the last 16 in Belfast before that and is more than capable of defeating White. The Welshman has been playing well before running into Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last 32 in York and the last 16 in Glasgow.
Akani Songsermsawad overcame Fergal O'Brien recently in the UK Championships, and O'Brien has lost in seven of his most recent eight last 128 matches. That is hardly the sort of form you would expect from O'Brien, while Akani Songsermsawad has been solid and will be feeling confident after making the last 16 in York.
Predicted Qualifier: Akani Songsermsawad
Qualifying Section 6
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Mark Williams Vs Oliver Lines
Matthew Stevens Vs Basem Eltahhan
Stevens has lost in the last 128 of the last two tournaments to Hammad Miah, and has only won a handful of games in recent months one of which was against Leo Fernandez and the other in a decider against Fang Xiongman, and when I saw the Welshman in the UK Championships he looked a far cry from the player he once was. Basem Eltahhan meanwhile gave the opposite impression when I saw him run Mark Selby close in York, and given that he has only played four matches it is not a surprise that he is yet to win one. From the evidence shown in York it looks very much like a question of when he wins his first match, rather than a question of if as it has been with previous African champions on tour.
Mark Williams is the stand out favourite to win this qualifying section and reach Berlin. The Northern Ireland Open champion pulled out of the Scottish Open as his wife is still unwell but hopefully he will be able to compete this week in Barnsley. The form he has showed throughout the season so far provides no reason why he should not make it into the last 32.
Mark Williams is the stand out favourite to win this qualifying section and reach Berlin. The Northern Ireland Open champion pulled out of the Scottish Open as his wife is still unwell but hopefully he will be able to compete this week in Barnsley. The form he has showed throughout the season so far provides no reason why he should not make it into the last 32.
Predicted Qualifier: Mark Williams
Qualifying Section 7
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Yan Bingtao Vs Matthew Selt
Aditya Mehta Vs Ben Jones
Yan Bingtao reached the quarter-finals of the German Masters at the first attempt last season, and given the fact it often gets less attention from top players and has produced first time ranking winners in the last two stagings, you would not be surprised if he went on to win this event in February. He faces a test against Matthew Selt, though having said that I expect Yan to come through comfortably given recent form and his immense scoring at the moment.
Aditya Mehta would expect to beat Ben Jones who is one of the amateur top-ups from the Q School list but has not been called upon much this season to say that he has a large amount of match practice on the tournament tables of late. Mehta's good enough on his day to make a challenge for qualifying here but I think Yan is far too strong right now to slip up.
Aditya Mehta would expect to beat Ben Jones who is one of the amateur top-ups from the Q School list but has not been called upon much this season to say that he has a large amount of match practice on the tournament tables of late. Mehta's good enough on his day to make a challenge for qualifying here but I think Yan is far too strong right now to slip up.
Predicted Qualifier: Yan Bingtao
Qualifying Section 8
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Mark Allen Vs Li Yuan
Ross Muir Vs Rod Lawler
Rod Lawler looks all at sea this season, winning only two matches all season long. Ross Muir has not exactly been flying, winning all of five matches this term, but he should still have enough to overcome Lawler in round one here.
Li Yuan has been a bit hit and miss, though did make the quarter-finals in Belfast recently. This however was the only time he has passed the last 64 of any tournament since he joined the tour at the start of the season. Mark Allen has been in good form this season and despite a first round exit in Glasgow and second round loss in Glasgow it would be a shock if he didn't qualify for Berlin.
Li Yuan has been a bit hit and miss, though did make the quarter-finals in Belfast recently. This however was the only time he has passed the last 64 of any tournament since he joined the tour at the start of the season. Mark Allen has been in good form this season and despite a first round exit in Glasgow and second round loss in Glasgow it would be a shock if he didn't qualify for Berlin.
Predicted Qualifier: Mark Allen
Qualifying Section 9
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Ding Junhui Vs Gerard Greene
Christopher Keogan Vs Nigel Bond
Christopher Keogan overcame Nigel Bond 4-0 just last week up in Scotland and has at least been taking more frames off of players in recent weeks, as well as getting a couple of decent wins. As for Bond, he has not won a match since reaching the last 64 of the Paul Hunter Classic and will not be feeling confident coming into this one after the result in Glasgow.
Ding Junhui has hardly been setting the world alight in recent weeks, but has been suffering with an eye problem that could explain some of his recent results. You could not rule out an early exit here to a solid player in Gerard Greene who has caused problems for top players like Kyren Wilson a couple of times this season. However, if he turns up playing well you would expect the 2014 German Masters winner to make it back to the Tempodrome for another crack at the title.
Ding Junhui has hardly been setting the world alight in recent weeks, but has been suffering with an eye problem that could explain some of his recent results. You could not rule out an early exit here to a solid player in Gerard Greene who has caused problems for top players like Kyren Wilson a couple of times this season. However, if he turns up playing well you would expect the 2014 German Masters winner to make it back to the Tempodrome for another crack at the title.
Predicted Qualifier: Ding Junhui
Qualifying Section 10
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Zhou Yuelong Vs Michael Georgiou
Elliot Slessor Vs Ian Burns
Zhou Yuelong has won both of his previous meetings against Michael Georgiou in full length matches, including a 4-0 whitewash of Georgiou in the last 32 of this season's European Masters. He came very close to beating Marco Fu in the last 32 in Glasgow and looked in better form there after early exits in Belfast and York.
Ian Burns has only won one match since making the Paul Hunter Classic quarter-finals in August, while Elliot Slessor has had a semi-final at the Northern Ireland Open and made the last 16 last week in Glasgow. For me, Slessor is one of the better English players lower down the rankings and has started to show that in recent weeks. If he can overcome Burns in round one as I expect him to, he would have a great chance of making it through to Berlin. Though, an in-form Zhou may just have a bit too much for him.
Ian Burns has only won one match since making the Paul Hunter Classic quarter-finals in August, while Elliot Slessor has had a semi-final at the Northern Ireland Open and made the last 16 last week in Glasgow. For me, Slessor is one of the better English players lower down the rankings and has started to show that in recent weeks. If he can overcome Burns in round one as I expect him to, he would have a great chance of making it through to Berlin. Though, an in-form Zhou may just have a bit too much for him.
Predicted Qualifier: Zhou Yuelong
Qualifying Section 11
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Kyren Wilson Vs Jack Lisowski
Stuart Carrington Vs Lee Walker
Lisowski has won three of his previous four meetings against Kyren Wilson and the left-hander has only lost twice in the last 128 this season, and one of those was last week in Glasgow to an in-form John Higgins. Kyren may have had a couple of finals this season but has also suffered a couple of early round exits and qualifying defeats so is certainly not a certainty to qualify for Berlin.
Lee Walker has already beaten Stuart Carrington once this season in the International Championship. Carrington also fell in round one of the UK Championships, but Lee Walker has not won a match since qualifying for Shanghai and has only gone beyond the last 64 once this season as he bids to qualify for Berlin here and double that tally.
Lee Walker has already beaten Stuart Carrington once this season in the International Championship. Carrington also fell in round one of the UK Championships, but Lee Walker has not won a match since qualifying for Shanghai and has only gone beyond the last 64 once this season as he bids to qualify for Berlin here and double that tally.
Predicted Qualifier: Jack Lisowski
Qualifying Section 12
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Ricky Walden Vs Boonyarit Kaettikun
Ashley Hugill Vs Leo Fernandez
Ricky Walden will be a big favourite to qualify here with his recent return to form. He has reached the last 16 of the Northern Ireland Open, UK Championships and made the Scottish Open quarter-finals last week. His form had been hit and miss and he still has not quite found his best form in my view despite those results. Boonyarit Kaettikun has only won one match all season and not entered every event along the way, so I don't think he will give Walden much of a challenge here.
Leo Fernandez has been suffering badly with a back injury, and despite beating Ding Junhui in the UK Championships, he lost convincingly in round two and then fell in round one in Glasgow to Hamza Akbar. Ashley Hugill meanwhile had a good week in Scotland reaching the last 16 and I would expect him to beat Leo Fernandez here.
Leo Fernandez has been suffering badly with a back injury, and despite beating Ding Junhui in the UK Championships, he lost convincingly in round two and then fell in round one in Glasgow to Hamza Akbar. Ashley Hugill meanwhile had a good week in Scotland reaching the last 16 and I would expect him to beat Leo Fernandez here.
Predicted Qualifier: Ricky Walden
Qualifying Section 13
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Joe Perry Vs Joe Swail
Daniel Wells Vs Thor Chuan Leong
Joe Perry has looked in good form in recent weeks making the UK Championship quarter-finals with a nice win over Mark Allen and some impressive scoring along the way. If his form has returned as I think it has then he is a clear favourite to qualify.
Daniel Wells though cannot be ruled out after beating Shaun Murphy for the second time this season in Glasgow but his form has not been as consistent as he would like. He should overcome Thor Chuan Leong in round one and he will certainly provide Perry a good test in the last 64 if things turn out that way.
Daniel Wells though cannot be ruled out after beating Shaun Murphy for the second time this season in Glasgow but his form has not been as consistent as he would like. He should overcome Thor Chuan Leong in round one and he will certainly provide Perry a good test in the last 64 if things turn out that way.
Predicted Qualifier: Joe Perry
Qualifying Section 14
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Anthony McGill Vs Jimmy White
Yu De Lu Vs Jamie Clarke
Jimmy White overcame Perry this time last year on the way to qualifying for Berlin, and always seems to get a good result or two after being at an event with Eurosport. An example there would be his win over Ali Carter in the UK Championships which followed a couple of good wins when he was with Eurosport in Belfast. Anthony McGill had a good result in round one in Glasgow beating Ryan Day but was soon knocked out by Peter Ebdon in the last 64, after also losing in the last 64 in York so has not had the best few weeks after a strong start to the season.
Yu De Lu has been in decent form this season without doing a lot of note. He has only lost three times in the last 128 this season, but failed to get further than the last 32 in any of the other eight events where he has won his first match. Jamie Clarke has had a couple of games this season as a Q School top-up but will have to be playing well to overcome a fairly solid Yu.
Predicted Qualifier: Jimmy White
Qualifying Section 15
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Ben Woollaston Vs Alex Borg
Chris Totten Vs Matthew Bolton
Ben Woollaston has reached the last 16 in Berlin in both of the last two years and would be disappointed not to qualify again given the fact he has come through these matches in the last two years and then had a big win at the venue. Alex Borg has only won two matches all season, and I think Woollaston will be fair too strong for him if he plays anywhere near as good as he did against Mark Allen in the first round of the Scottish Open.
Chris Totten will be a heavy favourite against Matthew Bolton. Bolton is yet to win a game on tour and has not looked likely to in many of the games he has played thus far. Chris Totten meanwhile had a couple of deciding frame victories to reach the last 32 of his home event last week, and his best win of the season saw him overcome Neil Robertson in Shanghai qualifying. For me though, Woollaston will be too strong in this section.
Chris Totten will be a heavy favourite against Matthew Bolton. Bolton is yet to win a game on tour and has not looked likely to in many of the games he has played thus far. Chris Totten meanwhile had a couple of deciding frame victories to reach the last 32 of his home event last week, and his best win of the season saw him overcome Neil Robertson in Shanghai qualifying. For me though, Woollaston will be too strong in this section.
Predicted Qualifier: Ben Woollaston
Qualifying Section 16
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Judd Trump Vs Adam Duffy
Yuan Sijun Vs Fang Xiongman
Adam Duffy has failed to win a frame in his last two matches, first to Dale in York and then to Mike Dunn in Scotland and in those frames he has only scored a total of 110 points. That is not the form you are looking for coming into a match with Judd Trump who will beat him easily again if he does not improve.
Fang Xiongman has only won four last 128 matches this season, and interestingly three of those were in final frame deciders. Yuan Sijun has been hit and miss, but there have been some big hits in there such as wins over Shaun Murphy and Joe Perry. Alan McManus praised Yuan in a BBC segment when he was talking about the Chinese players, and that came the tournament after McManus was beaten by Yuan in Northern Ireland. However, someone like Yuan Sijun is a streaky player so would have to be at his best to qualify over Trump in the last 64 and the former German Masters runner-up will be a big favourite to qualify here.
Fang Xiongman has only won four last 128 matches this season, and interestingly three of those were in final frame deciders. Yuan Sijun has been hit and miss, but there have been some big hits in there such as wins over Shaun Murphy and Joe Perry. Alan McManus praised Yuan in a BBC segment when he was talking about the Chinese players, and that came the tournament after McManus was beaten by Yuan in Northern Ireland. However, someone like Yuan Sijun is a streaky player so would have to be at his best to qualify over Trump in the last 64 and the former German Masters runner-up will be a big favourite to qualify here.
Predicted Qualifier: Judd Trump
Qualifying Section 17
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Rory McLeod W/O Ronnie O'Sullivan
Ian Preece Vs Niu Zhuang
In his first nine tournaments of the season, Ian Preece only lost twice in the last 128 but since then he has lost his last three opening round games. Niu Zhuang has not necessarily had much success but he has also had some tough draws, already having to play the likes of Higgins a couple of times as well Ding Junhui, Mark Allen and Mark Williams. He has also had plenty of close games coming through a couple of deciders in Northern Ireland and Glasgow but also losing a decider to Michael Holt in the UK Championship.
Rory McLeod has a bye into the last 64 after the withdrawal of Ronnie O'Sullivan from the German Masters. I would fancy McLeod against either Preece or Niu Zhuang in round two, particularly as McLeod reached the last 16 last week in Glasgow before narrowly missing out to Ricky Walden and along the way he overcame Niu Zhuang quite comfortably.
Rory McLeod has a bye into the last 64 after the withdrawal of Ronnie O'Sullivan from the German Masters. I would fancy McLeod against either Preece or Niu Zhuang in round two, particularly as McLeod reached the last 16 last week in Glasgow before narrowly missing out to Ricky Walden and along the way he overcame Niu Zhuang quite comfortably.
Predicted Qualifier: Rory McLeod
Qualifying Section 18
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Robert Milkins Vs Mark Davis
Kurt Maflin Vs Josh Boileau
Mark Davis has had a very mixed season, reaching three last 16's early on in the season, but has since suffered three first round exits on the bounce to lower ranked players and only won two matches since beating John Higgins in the last 32 of the European Masters in early October. Robert Milkins has played well and it has been taking good performances to get past him in recent weeks, particularly in Belfast where he reached the quarter-finals.
Kurt Maflin has also been in decent form, reaching the last 32 of the UK Championships after a quarter-final in Shanghai a month ago. His scoring power has been a superb and we would have a repeat of the Welsh Open quarter-final from February if he and Milkins make it through to the last 64. Josh Boileau meanwhile is seeking only his second win of the season and is almost certain to fall off of the tour at the end of the season.
Kurt Maflin has also been in decent form, reaching the last 32 of the UK Championships after a quarter-final in Shanghai a month ago. His scoring power has been a superb and we would have a repeat of the Welsh Open quarter-final from February if he and Milkins make it through to the last 64. Josh Boileau meanwhile is seeking only his second win of the season and is almost certain to fall off of the tour at the end of the season.
Predicted Qualifier: Robert Milkins
Qualifying Section 19
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Ryan Day Vs Kurt Dunham
John Astley Vs Craig Steadman
John Astley has only gotten past the last 64 twice earlier in the season, and has lost in the last 128 of his last three events so has had a mixed season this time around. Craig Steadman had a couple of nice wins himself in Glasgow to reach the last 32 but he has lost in eight out of 12 last 128 games this season so his match against Astley is a tough one to call.
Ryan Day should be too strong for Kurt Dunham who has had struggled on the tour but did collect a nice win in Glasgow against Tian Pengfei. Day was a semi-finalist in York as he booked his spot in the Masters. A first round exit in Scotland will not worry him and I think he will make it through to Berlin, a tournament where he is a former semi-finalist.
Ryan Day should be too strong for Kurt Dunham who has had struggled on the tour but did collect a nice win in Glasgow against Tian Pengfei. Day was a semi-finalist in York as he booked his spot in the Masters. A first round exit in Scotland will not worry him and I think he will make it through to Berlin, a tournament where he is a former semi-finalist.
Predicted Qualifier: Ryan Day
Qualifying Section 20
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Mark King Vs Noppon Saengkham
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Vs Martin O'Donnell
Noppon Saengkham has reached the last 32 of each of the UK Championships, Scottish Open and Northern Irish Open, before being beaten in two of those by Xiao Guodong. He scored well in particular to win 4-3 against Martin Gould in Glasgow last week and after a slow start to the season he looks to be in good form now. Mark King looked good in York but lost in round one in Glasgow to a heavy scoring Zhang Anda, and if Noppon produces his heavy scoring here I think he could well overcome King.
Fellow Thai Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is incredibly hit and miss. Just this season he has lost to a number of players that he could play off the table and beat inside an hour. With such inconsistency it is impossible to see how he can actually fulfil the huge potential that he has. Martin O'Donnell has had some good performances this season with a last 16 in the International Championship a clear highlight.
Fellow Thai Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is incredibly hit and miss. Just this season he has lost to a number of players that he could play off the table and beat inside an hour. With such inconsistency it is impossible to see how he can actually fulfil the huge potential that he has. Martin O'Donnell has had some good performances this season with a last 16 in the International Championship a clear highlight.
Predicted Qualifier: Noppon Saengkham
Qualifying Section 21
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
David Gilbert Vs Tian Pengfei
Mike Dunn Vs Eden Sharav
Eden Sharav will have to make sure that he has not been distracted in the lead up to this game by events last week and a complaint he has made against Michael Holt. Mike Dunn has been looking good recently, making the quarter-finals a few weeks ago in Belfast and he may well be too solid for Sharav here.
David Gilbert has not been in the best of form recently, losing in the last 64 of the UK Championships after struggling through in round one, before losing in round one in Glasgow to Fang Xiongman. Tian Pengfei lost in round one in Glasgow as well to Kurt Dunham and in the last 128 at the UK Championships to high flying Cao Yupeng. Before that though, Tian had been looking in strong form as he narrowly missed out on making the semi-finals in Belfast and he has a good chance here if Gilbert is not at his best.
David Gilbert has not been in the best of form recently, losing in the last 64 of the UK Championships after struggling through in round one, before losing in round one in Glasgow to Fang Xiongman. Tian Pengfei lost in round one in Glasgow as well to Kurt Dunham and in the last 128 at the UK Championships to high flying Cao Yupeng. Before that though, Tian had been looking in strong form as he narrowly missed out on making the semi-finals in Belfast and he has a good chance here if Gilbert is not at his best.
Predicted Qualifier: Mike Dunn
Qualifying Section 22
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Ali Carter Vs Wang Yuchen
Mark Joyce Vs Lu Haotian
Mark Joyce has been in good form of late, and saw off Lu Haotian well in the last 16 of the UK Championships. He was not far from reaching the semi-finals there in York and he had another nice win against Liang Wenbo in the last 64 in Glasgow in what has probably been one of the best seasons of his career so far. Lu Haotian has been in top form also, making the semi-finals in Belfast before that last 16 in the UK.
Ali Carter has had a very poor few weeks and has let his frustrations boil over on the table far too often in some of his matches. He lost in round one of the UK Championship to Jimmy White and lost his cool a bit there as he did in a last 64 exit in Glasgow. With the form Joyce and Lu Haotian have been in, it would not be a surprise to see either beat him in the last 64 here if Carter overcomes Wang Yuchen as you would expect him to.
Ali Carter has had a very poor few weeks and has let his frustrations boil over on the table far too often in some of his matches. He lost in round one of the UK Championship to Jimmy White and lost his cool a bit there as he did in a last 64 exit in Glasgow. With the form Joyce and Lu Haotian have been in, it would not be a surprise to see either beat him in the last 64 here if Carter overcomes Wang Yuchen as you would expect him to.
Predicted Qualifier: Mark Joyce
Qualifying Section 23
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Alan McManus Vs Dominic Dale
Sean O'Sullivan Vs Jackson Page
While Dominic Dale beat Alan McManus at this stage of last season's German Masters, this is one of only three wins Dale has had in 13 matches against the Scotsman, and McManus was a 5-4 winner a few weeks ago against Dale in Shanghai and looked pretty solid when I watched him beat Robin Hull in York. This has been an improved season for McManus after a poorer campaign in 2016/2017 and I like his chances of qualifying for Berlin this week.
Jackson Page has had some good experience this season as the number one Q School top-up player, taking three frames off of Ronnie O'Sullivan in round one of the UK Championships. He also featured in the Northern Ireland and Scottish Open's and I think he has a win or two up his sleeve if he keeps getting these opportunities. Sean O'Sullivan meanwhile has only won a couple of matches this season both of which came in the Indian Open, so he may be vulnerable if Jackson plays well here.
Jackson Page has had some good experience this season as the number one Q School top-up player, taking three frames off of Ronnie O'Sullivan in round one of the UK Championships. He also featured in the Northern Ireland and Scottish Open's and I think he has a win or two up his sleeve if he keeps getting these opportunities. Sean O'Sullivan meanwhile has only won a couple of matches this season both of which came in the Indian Open, so he may be vulnerable if Jackson plays well here.
Predicted Qualifier: Alan McManus
Qualifying Section 24
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Shaun Murphy Vs Paul Davison
Cao Yupeng Vs Chen Zifan
As good a season Shaun Murphy has had in reaching four finals, he has not been invincible in these early round qualifiers. He lost in qualifying for each of the Riga, European and Shanghai Masters events as well as being sent home in the last 128 at the venue in Belfast and Glasgow. However, he will be looking for a return to Berlin after reaching the final in 2015.
Cao Yupeng will be looking to respond quickly after his gutting defeat in the Scottish Open final from 8-4 ahead. He has had a great first half to the season that also featured a maximum 147 break in Scotland, a semi-final in Belgium in October and a last 16 at the World Open just before that. Chen Zifan has had some decent wins, one of which was against Belfast against Murphy where he played very nicely and another came in Barnsley against Barry Hawkins. He did not live up to my expectations in York where he lost heavily to Xiao Guodong, and not without chances and if Cao recovers from his Glasgow disappointment I think he will come through that one.
Cao Yupeng will be looking to respond quickly after his gutting defeat in the Scottish Open final from 8-4 ahead. He has had a great first half to the season that also featured a maximum 147 break in Scotland, a semi-final in Belgium in October and a last 16 at the World Open just before that. Chen Zifan has had some decent wins, one of which was against Belfast against Murphy where he played very nicely and another came in Barnsley against Barry Hawkins. He did not live up to my expectations in York where he lost heavily to Xiao Guodong, and not without chances and if Cao recovers from his Glasgow disappointment I think he will come through that one.
Predicted Qualifier: Shaun Murphy
Qualifying Section 25
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Barry Hawkins Vs Jamie Barrett
Hossein Vafei Vs Liam Highfield
Barry Hawkins will be glad to see the back of 2017 and the first half of this season in particular. In ten ranking events so far this season, he has only reached the last 32 once with a best finish of the last 16 in Shanghai. He fell 6-0 in the last 32 of the UK Championships to Akani and then fell at the first hurdle last week in Glasgow. It may be too stern a test for Jamie Barrett to challenge Hawkins, but he will receive a test whoever he faces in the last 64.
Liam Highfield has looked good recently, making the last 16 of the Northern Ireland Open with a win against Liang Wenbo along the way, and that followed September's career best finish of a quarter-final at the Indian Open. In the last two tournaments he has lost in the second round to top players that would go on to make the final in Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson and he pushed them very close and seems to raise his game for the top players and always give them a challenge. Hossein Vafei has had a decent campaign and reached the last 32 in York with a win over Anthony McGill and I expect his match with Highfield here to go close, but I have been impressed recently with Highfield.
Liam Highfield has looked good recently, making the last 16 of the Northern Ireland Open with a win against Liang Wenbo along the way, and that followed September's career best finish of a quarter-final at the Indian Open. In the last two tournaments he has lost in the second round to top players that would go on to make the final in Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson and he pushed them very close and seems to raise his game for the top players and always give them a challenge. Hossein Vafei has had a decent campaign and reached the last 32 in York with a win over Anthony McGill and I expect his match with Highfield here to go close, but I have been impressed recently with Highfield.
Predicted Qualifier: Liam Highfield
Qualifying Section 26
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Graeme Dott Vs Soheil Vahedi
Peter Ebdon Vs Jak Jones
Graeme Dott will have been disappointed to lose in the first round of his home tournament last week, and was quite frustrated not to play on the TV table there. After a run to the last 16 of the UK Championships he will be determined to play like that again this week and get back to a tournament he has played well in previously, as a former semi-finalist. Soheil Vahedi has been a bit hit and miss with his results, and that is to be expected from someone who is quite an aggressive and streaky player. He is more than capable of beating Dott and going on to qualify for Berlin, but it would be difficult to make that prediction given his recent results.
Peter Ebdon saw off Anthony McGill in Glasgow, but that was the first time he had reached the last 32 since the European Masters with five early exits in between times and a couple of disappointing results in there for differing reasons. Jak Jones may not provide his greatest challenge though, given that the Welshman he has only won four matches all season and failed to get beyond the last 64 as yet in 2017/2018.
Peter Ebdon saw off Anthony McGill in Glasgow, but that was the first time he had reached the last 32 since the European Masters with five early exits in between times and a couple of disappointing results in there for differing reasons. Jak Jones may not provide his greatest challenge though, given that the Welshman he has only won four matches all season and failed to get beyond the last 64 as yet in 2017/2018.
Predicted Qualifier: Graeme Dott
Qualifying Section 27
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Luca Brecel Vs Hammad Miah
Zhao Xintong Vs Sam Craigie
Luca Brecel will be looking to get through to another mainland European event here and back to a venue where he reached the final two years ago. He will certainly get good support out in Germany, especially given his success so far this season. The Belgian will be hoping to have recovered somewhat from a shoulder injury that he put his last 32 exit in the UK Championships and his Scottish Open withdrawal down to. Hammad Miah meanwhile has had a couple of nice victories recently against Matthew Stevens. However, he has only won another three matches besides which is slightly surprising.
Zhao Xintong and Sam Craigie is a good looking match and a tough one to call. Both are very heavy scorers and will certainly get opportunities to score in what I expect to be quite an open game. Craigie reached the last 16 in Northern Ireland and looked good there in his first event with new glasses. Both need victories this week to give themselves a chance to stay on tour, so do not be surprised either if there is a bit of nerves.
Zhao Xintong and Sam Craigie is a good looking match and a tough one to call. Both are very heavy scorers and will certainly get opportunities to score in what I expect to be quite an open game. Craigie reached the last 16 in Northern Ireland and looked good there in his first event with new glasses. Both need victories this week to give themselves a chance to stay on tour, so do not be surprised either if there is a bit of nerves.
Predicted Qualifier: Zhao Xintong
Qualifying Section 28
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Michael Holt Vs Mei Xiwen
Robbie Williams Vs Billy Castle
Michael Holt has qualified for the German Masters on five occasions and in those appearances he has reached the quarter-finals twice and made the last 16 twice on top of that so it is a venue he clearly enjoys and will be desperate to get back to again. Mei Xiwen will offer a good challenge for Holt if his scoring is as good as it can be, and the Chinese player had a good recently to reach the last 16 in Shanghai.
Robbie Williams performed well at the International Championships making the quarter-finals there rather impressively. However, he was beaten easily last week in Glasgow in round one by Michael Holt and that may give Holt an edge if the two meet again in the last 64 here.
Robbie Williams performed well at the International Championships making the quarter-finals there rather impressively. However, he was beaten easily last week in Glasgow in round one by Michael Holt and that may give Holt an edge if the two meet again in the last 64 here.
Predicted Qualifier: Michael Holt
Qualifying Section 29
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Neil Robertson Vs Chris Wakelin
Tom Ford Vs Lukas Kleckers
This weeks Scottish Open winner will be a tough man to beat in this section given the scoring he displayed as he looked back to his old self in Glasgow. Chris Wakelin may give him a good challenge as he did to Ding in Glasgow and Mark Selby in Shanghai but with nothing to show for it.
Lukas Kleckers is the man that catches the eye here as the tours lone German player looks to qualify for his home event. As draws go, a match up with a solid player in Tom Ford will be a tough one in round one and the possible last 64 match with the most recent winner on tour could not be much more difficult. If Ford can score like we know he can, he will most likely overcome Kleckers who has not had too much success in his first half year on tour, and he could well provide Robertson a challenge in round two to back up another last 16 appearance in the Scottish Open.
Lukas Kleckers is the man that catches the eye here as the tours lone German player looks to qualify for his home event. As draws go, a match up with a solid player in Tom Ford will be a tough one in round one and the possible last 64 match with the most recent winner on tour could not be much more difficult. If Ford can score like we know he can, he will most likely overcome Kleckers who has not had too much success in his first half year on tour, and he could well provide Robertson a challenge in round two to back up another last 16 appearance in the Scottish Open.
Predicted Qualifier: Neil Robertson
Qualifying Section 30
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Liang Wenbo Vs Duane Jones
Li Hang Vs Andrew Higginson
Liang Wenbo has not had the best of seasons today and has been very quiet with a number of early exits. He has only had a couple of last 16's this season, and lost in the last 64 again last week in Scotland. Duane Jones meanwhile has only three wins to his name so far this season and Liang would be disappointed not to come through this one.
While he may have a tough task against Andrew Higginson, I fancy Li Hang to have a good week in Barnsley. He has impressed me a lot this season, giving Ronnie O'Sullivan an incredibly close run in the last 32 of the Scottish Open as well as reaching the last 16 of the UK Championships before again losing a decider to Ryan Day. He has also had a semi-final and quarter-final out in China this season and risen rapidly up the rankings. If he gets past Higginson and faces Liang it would be their third meeting of the season with the scores level at one win apiece so far.
While he may have a tough task against Andrew Higginson, I fancy Li Hang to have a good week in Barnsley. He has impressed me a lot this season, giving Ronnie O'Sullivan an incredibly close run in the last 32 of the Scottish Open as well as reaching the last 16 of the UK Championships before again losing a decider to Ryan Day. He has also had a semi-final and quarter-final out in China this season and risen rapidly up the rankings. If he gets past Higginson and faces Liang it would be their third meeting of the season with the scores level at one win apiece so far.
Predicted Qualifier: Li Hang
Qualifying Section 31
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Xiao Guodong Vs Sanderson Lam
Allan Taylor Vs Hamza Akbar
For me, Xiao Guodong looks by far the strongest player in this mini section. The Chinese player has had a very solid season so far, and impressed in recent weeks making the last 16 of the UK Championships before only losing narrowly to Neil Robertson in the Scottish Open in the last eight. I would be surprised if he lost out to Sanderson Lam in round one given that Lam has only won one match so far this season.
Allan Taylor and Hamza Akbar is a tough match to call. Hamza had a nice win against Leo Fernandez to get his first one on the board this season, but he had suffered in a few close calls before that and again had not been able to play in every event. Taylor meanwhile has reached the last 32 in a couple of events this season, but has also suffered nine first round exits so there is a feeling that this one could go either way.
Allan Taylor and Hamza Akbar is a tough match to call. Hamza had a nice win against Leo Fernandez to get his first one on the board this season, but he had suffered in a few close calls before that and again had not been able to play in every event. Taylor meanwhile has reached the last 32 in a couple of events this season, but has also suffered nine first round exits so there is a feeling that this one could go either way.
Predicted Qualifier: Xiao Guodong
Qualifying Section 32
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Mark Selby Vs Sam Baird
Jamie Jones Vs Zhang Anda
Finally, Mark Selby is back in action after a last 64 exit in the UK Championships having chosen not to enter the Northern Ireland and Scottish Open's either side of events in York. So, he should be fresh coming into these qualifiers and as a former winner of this title in 2015 he will very much be looking to return to the Tempodrome. I would fancy him to qualify here without even playing at his best as he so often has done in the past. Given his number of heldover matches this season, it is actually a rarity to see Selby in a qualifier and it will be interesting to see if that has any effect but I do not expect it to. Sam Baird is in desperate need of wins as he has been dragged into a tour survival battle and is well behind the 64 mark at this stage. In all, Baird has lost his last seven last 128 matches in a row and is seriously struggling at the moment.
Given that he was a semi-finalist last time out in Germany at the Paul Hunter Classic, it is a massive surprise to see that Jamie Jones has only gotten beyond the last 64 stage in one tournament since then and that does not exactly bode well for his chances of qualifying for the last 32 with two wins this week. Zhang Anda has had an odd season in all. In 11 ranking events played this season, Zhang has lost in the last 128 of seven of those, but also reached the last 16 in the Riga Masters and the quarter-finals in India. A couple of good wins and some impressive scoring in Scotland will give him a boost coming into this and I expect a close game between him and Jones.
Given that he was a semi-finalist last time out in Germany at the Paul Hunter Classic, it is a massive surprise to see that Jamie Jones has only gotten beyond the last 64 stage in one tournament since then and that does not exactly bode well for his chances of qualifying for the last 32 with two wins this week. Zhang Anda has had an odd season in all. In 11 ranking events played this season, Zhang has lost in the last 128 of seven of those, but also reached the last 16 in the Riga Masters and the quarter-finals in India. A couple of good wins and some impressive scoring in Scotland will give him a boost coming into this and I expect a close game between him and Jones.
Predicted Qualifier: Mark Selby
Friday 15 December 2017
John Higgins thrashes Ronnie O'Sullivan to reach Scottish Open semi-finals
John Higgins is into the semi-finals of his home event after avenging his three ranking defeats of the season against Ronnie O'Sullivan, with a 5-0 whitewash of O'Sullivan in Friday evening's quarter-final.
Higgins was in unbelievable and received a standing ovation from the adoring Glasgow fans as he completely overpowered last week's UK Champion. Starting off with a 55 break to win the opener, he then fired in three successive centuries, with a 109 and a 117 being followed by a run of 105 to put him 4-0 in front at the mid-session interval in no time at all.
O'Sullivan looked like getting a frame on the board in the fifth as he went 60-0 in front, but what followed was one of the Scottish number one's trademark clearances, with a break of 72 finishing the job and seeing Higgins send O'Sullivan out at this stage of the Scottish Open for a second year running.
Higgins will now face Neil Robertson in the semi-finals, after the Australian booked his place in the last four of a ranking event for the first time in 14 months with a deciding frame success against Xiao Guodong. Despite some of the superb scoring displayed by Robertson, he could not shake off the Chinese star and there was never more than a frame between the two in this one.
Xiao opened up with a run of 63 before Robertson levelled with a break of 72. Runs of 57 and 62 in the third frame put Xiao ahead again at 2-1, but then came the first of three tons in the match for the 2010 world champion as he took them to the interval at 2-2. He was straight back in after that break and it was if he had not been off the table at all as he smashed in a brilliant 128 break to lead for the first time at 3-2. Xiao was unfazed by his opponent's brilliance though and put together a contribution of 51 in the sixth to level things up at 3-3.
Century number three for Robertson came in the seventh as he went a frame from victory at 4-3 with a great run of 118. Again Xiao's head did not go down and held strong with an excellent 73 forcing the decisive frame. However, it was Robertson who calved himself a golden chance in the decider with a stunning long red and from that he never looked like giving his opponent another chance. The vital break on this occasion totalled 79 and that was more than enough to secure his semi-final place.
Judd Trump is the leading man in the bottom half of the draw after he saw off Stephen Maguire 5-2 in front of his home fans. Breaks of 102 and 84 helped Trump into a 3-1 lead at the mid-session break but Maguire was not short of chances in the opening four frames. Again he had chances in the fifth but when that went Trump's way to make it 4-1 the match looked over. A fantastic 90 break kept Maguire in the clash and he had chances again in the seventh to really put the pressure on Trump, but he could not capitalise and Trump was over the line 5-2.
Trump will now face China's Cao Yupeng who saw off Ricky Walden in the final quarter-final of the day. Walden was not at the races in the early parts of the match and Cao had runs of 89 and 56 as he surged into a 3-0 lead. Walden took a vital fourth frame on the black to keep himself in with a chance, before taking the frame after the interval to close to within one at 2-3. However, he was left frustrated in the sixth with a few missed balls that allowed Cao to move two clear again at 2-4, and it looked for all the world like Cao would win 5-2 until he missed a red into the middle just a few pots away from winning. His error left all the balls on for Walden who cleared with 73 to keep himself in the hunt, but Cao dominated the eighth and would eventually run out a 5-3 winner.
Quarter-Final results:
Neil Robertson 5-4 Xiao Guodong
John Higgins 5-0 Ronnie O'Sullivan
Cao Yupeng 5-3 Ricky Walden
Judd Trump 5-2 Stephen Maguire
Semi-Final draw:
John Higgins Vs Neil Robertson
Judd Trump Vs Cao Yupeng
The first best-of-11 frame semi-final sees a repeat of the European Masters in October as Trump faces Cao. Baring in mind Cao's career best ranking event performance before the start of this season was a quarter-final at the 2013 Wuxi Classic, he has had a stunning season to reach what is his second semi-final of the season and push himself up to 20th on the provisional one season money list. He has been in fine form this week making a maximum 147 break in his round one whitewash of Andrew Higginson and he has overcome good players in Tom Ford and Ricky Walden since then.
Trump though was too good for Cao in Lommel running out a 6-1 winner there despite losing the opening frame and he looks to have picked up his form again this week. Despite a good start to the week, he still needed a deciding frame to see off Elliot Slessor in the last 16 and Maguire had more than enough chances to make the quarter-final a closer contest. If Cao can put his nerves to one side and play solidly as he has done this week, he should offer Trump a good challenge.
Then in the evening we have home favourite John Higgins bidding for back-to-back Scottish Open finals but he will have to continue his excellent form if he is to see off the heavy scoring Neil Robertson. The head-to-head between the two, with league matches taken out of the equation, stands at 6-6 and it looks like a match-up that could go all the way, just as it did in their last meeting when Robertson won 6-5 in the 2015 UK Championship quarter-finals. Higgins looks to have found an extra gear this week, which has possibly been brought on by playing in front of his home fans and the determination to go one better than last year.
To reach the semi-finals he has only dropped two frames in five matches and compiled a magnificent seven century breaks. Robertson has had a couple of closer games needing a decider in the quarter-finals, coming from 2-0 down in the last 16 and digging deep in the last 64 to win the final two frames of a 4-2 win against Liam Highfield, but he too looks to have taken it up a notch and is scoring superbly also. His century count for the week is one better than Higgins with an astonishing eight tons from the 21 frames the players have won to reach this point. If that sort of form continues here, it will be incredibly difficult to separate the two, but with the crowd behind him and a bit of an edge on Robertson in the safety department, Higgins will be a tough man to beat.
Whatever happens these should be two great semi-finals and it will surely be a fantastic final as well on Sunday with the cream rising to the top in Glasgow.
Higgins was in unbelievable and received a standing ovation from the adoring Glasgow fans as he completely overpowered last week's UK Champion. Starting off with a 55 break to win the opener, he then fired in three successive centuries, with a 109 and a 117 being followed by a run of 105 to put him 4-0 in front at the mid-session interval in no time at all.
O'Sullivan looked like getting a frame on the board in the fifth as he went 60-0 in front, but what followed was one of the Scottish number one's trademark clearances, with a break of 72 finishing the job and seeing Higgins send O'Sullivan out at this stage of the Scottish Open for a second year running.
Higgins will now face Neil Robertson in the semi-finals, after the Australian booked his place in the last four of a ranking event for the first time in 14 months with a deciding frame success against Xiao Guodong. Despite some of the superb scoring displayed by Robertson, he could not shake off the Chinese star and there was never more than a frame between the two in this one.
Xiao opened up with a run of 63 before Robertson levelled with a break of 72. Runs of 57 and 62 in the third frame put Xiao ahead again at 2-1, but then came the first of three tons in the match for the 2010 world champion as he took them to the interval at 2-2. He was straight back in after that break and it was if he had not been off the table at all as he smashed in a brilliant 128 break to lead for the first time at 3-2. Xiao was unfazed by his opponent's brilliance though and put together a contribution of 51 in the sixth to level things up at 3-3.
Century number three for Robertson came in the seventh as he went a frame from victory at 4-3 with a great run of 118. Again Xiao's head did not go down and held strong with an excellent 73 forcing the decisive frame. However, it was Robertson who calved himself a golden chance in the decider with a stunning long red and from that he never looked like giving his opponent another chance. The vital break on this occasion totalled 79 and that was more than enough to secure his semi-final place.
Judd Trump is the leading man in the bottom half of the draw after he saw off Stephen Maguire 5-2 in front of his home fans. Breaks of 102 and 84 helped Trump into a 3-1 lead at the mid-session break but Maguire was not short of chances in the opening four frames. Again he had chances in the fifth but when that went Trump's way to make it 4-1 the match looked over. A fantastic 90 break kept Maguire in the clash and he had chances again in the seventh to really put the pressure on Trump, but he could not capitalise and Trump was over the line 5-2.
Trump will now face China's Cao Yupeng who saw off Ricky Walden in the final quarter-final of the day. Walden was not at the races in the early parts of the match and Cao had runs of 89 and 56 as he surged into a 3-0 lead. Walden took a vital fourth frame on the black to keep himself in with a chance, before taking the frame after the interval to close to within one at 2-3. However, he was left frustrated in the sixth with a few missed balls that allowed Cao to move two clear again at 2-4, and it looked for all the world like Cao would win 5-2 until he missed a red into the middle just a few pots away from winning. His error left all the balls on for Walden who cleared with 73 to keep himself in the hunt, but Cao dominated the eighth and would eventually run out a 5-3 winner.
Quarter-Final results:
Neil Robertson 5-4 Xiao Guodong
John Higgins 5-0 Ronnie O'Sullivan
Cao Yupeng 5-3 Ricky Walden
Judd Trump 5-2 Stephen Maguire
Semi-Final draw:
John Higgins Vs Neil Robertson
Judd Trump Vs Cao Yupeng
The first best-of-11 frame semi-final sees a repeat of the European Masters in October as Trump faces Cao. Baring in mind Cao's career best ranking event performance before the start of this season was a quarter-final at the 2013 Wuxi Classic, he has had a stunning season to reach what is his second semi-final of the season and push himself up to 20th on the provisional one season money list. He has been in fine form this week making a maximum 147 break in his round one whitewash of Andrew Higginson and he has overcome good players in Tom Ford and Ricky Walden since then.
Trump though was too good for Cao in Lommel running out a 6-1 winner there despite losing the opening frame and he looks to have picked up his form again this week. Despite a good start to the week, he still needed a deciding frame to see off Elliot Slessor in the last 16 and Maguire had more than enough chances to make the quarter-final a closer contest. If Cao can put his nerves to one side and play solidly as he has done this week, he should offer Trump a good challenge.
Then in the evening we have home favourite John Higgins bidding for back-to-back Scottish Open finals but he will have to continue his excellent form if he is to see off the heavy scoring Neil Robertson. The head-to-head between the two, with league matches taken out of the equation, stands at 6-6 and it looks like a match-up that could go all the way, just as it did in their last meeting when Robertson won 6-5 in the 2015 UK Championship quarter-finals. Higgins looks to have found an extra gear this week, which has possibly been brought on by playing in front of his home fans and the determination to go one better than last year.
To reach the semi-finals he has only dropped two frames in five matches and compiled a magnificent seven century breaks. Robertson has had a couple of closer games needing a decider in the quarter-finals, coming from 2-0 down in the last 16 and digging deep in the last 64 to win the final two frames of a 4-2 win against Liam Highfield, but he too looks to have taken it up a notch and is scoring superbly also. His century count for the week is one better than Higgins with an astonishing eight tons from the 21 frames the players have won to reach this point. If that sort of form continues here, it will be incredibly difficult to separate the two, but with the crowd behind him and a bit of an edge on Robertson in the safety department, Higgins will be a tough man to beat.
Whatever happens these should be two great semi-finals and it will surely be a fantastic final as well on Sunday with the cream rising to the top in Glasgow.
Thursday 14 December 2017
Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins to meet in Scottish Open quarters
UK Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan will meet last year's Scottish Open runner-up John Higgins in a repeat of last year's quarter-final after both players came through two matches on Thursday.
O'Sullivan had to come through a decider in the last 32 against Li Hang, but still had breaks of 70, 103, 65 and 80 on the way to that 4-3 win. Then in the evening he saw off Michael White - who had impressively beaten Kyren Wilson 4-1 earlier in the day - with runs of 92 and 75 on the way to a 4-1 win.
Higgins meanwhile did not drop a frame in his two wins first against Gerard Greene and then over Ashley Hugill. Against Greene he finished strongly, having started the week with some impressive heavy scoring, and that continued with runs of 91 and 113 in the final two frames against the Northern Irishman. Hugill was in the last 16 for the first time after overcoming Peter Lines earlier in the day, but the nerves showed on the TV table against the Scottish number one and Higgins capitalised for a second whitewash of the day.
Also through to the last eight is Neil Robertson who finished off his last 16 tie against David Grace with back to back centuries, coming from 2-0 behind to win 4-2, after beating Chris Totten 4-0 in the last 32. The Australian now faces Xiao Guodong in the quarter-finals and is looking for his first ranking event semi-final in over 14 months.
Xiao was the man to see off defending champion Marco Fu. Fu was lucky to come through against Zhou Yuelong in the last 32, coming from 3-2 behind to win 4-3 and it looked like he may do the same when he came from 3-0 down to force a decider with Xiao. Fu built up a 59 point lead in the decider and was looking good until missing a blue into the middle that was virtually match ball. That left Xiao amongst them and he cleared with a 73 break, featuring a very composed final pink and black under the pressure, especially having already failed to take match winning opportunities in previous frames.
In the bottom half of the draw, Stephen Maguire made sure that there was a second home representation in the quarter-finals. He scored very well in the last 32 to overcome young Yan Bingtao 4-3 with runs of 77, 78, 78 and a deciding frame 91 to secure victory. He then faced another young Chinese player in the last 16, and ended up brushing Xu Si aside 4-1 despite losing the opening frame.
Ricky Walden is into his first ranking event quarter-final since the 2016 English Open after coming through a deciding frame with Rory McLeod to continue his return to form. McLeod had already won through in a decider to knock out Ding Junhui in the last 32, despite Ding looking good with two centuries in the contest. Walden meanwhile saw off an in-form Mark Joyce in round three completing victory in that match with a 105 break. He then took a 3-1 lead against McLeod, before the former Ruhr Open winner hit back with runs of 72 and 50 to force the decider. When he needed to though, Walden dug deep and made the vital break, with a 53 in the decider seeing him over the line.
Walden will now face Cao Yupeng who survived a decider of his own in the last 32, winning the last two frames to defeat Daniel Wells there, before thrashing Tom Ford 4-0 in the last 16.
Judd Trump completed the quarter-final line-up with a final frame victory against Elliot Slessor, who fought back well from 3-1 down but in the end Trump was too strong, just as he was earlier on Thursday against Michael Holt. Runs of 104 and 57 helped Slessor from 3-1 down back to 3-3, but unlike earlier in the day when he overcame Peter Ebdon, he could not get a foothold in the decider with Trump's early 51 break proving pivotal. For Slessor though it was another good week, following on from a semi-final in Northern Ireland.
Last 32 results:
Marco Fu 4-3 Zhou Yuelong
Xiao Guodong 4-1 Noppon Saengkham
David Grace 4-3 Zhang Anda
Neil Robertson 4-0 Chris Totten
John Higgins 4-0 Gerard Greene
Ashley Hugill 4-1 Peter Lines
Michael White 4-1 Kyren Wilson
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-3 Li Hang
Rory McLeod 4-3 Ding Junhui
Ricky Walden 4-1 Mark Joyce
Tom Ford 4-0 Stuart Carrington
Cao Yupeng 4-3 Daniel Wells
Stephen Maguire 4-3 Yan Bingtao
Xu Si 4-2 Craig Steadman
Elliot Slessor 4-3 Peter Ebdon
Judd Trump 4-0 Michael Holt
Last 16 results:
Xiao Guodong 4-3 Marco Fu
Neil Robertson 4-2 David Grace
John Higgins 4-0 Ashley Hugill
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 Michael White
Ricky Walden 4-3 Rory McLeod
Cao Yupeng 4-0 Tom Ford
Stephen Maguire 4-1 Xu Si
Judd Trump 4-3 Elliot Slessor
Quarter-Final draw: (Picks in bold)
Neil Robertson Vs Xiao Guodong
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs John Higgins
Ricky Walden Vs Cao Yupeng
Judd Trump Vs Stephen Maguire
The first best-of-9 frames quarter-final sees Neil Robertson take on Xiao Guodong. Robertson looks back to top form in terms of his high scoring but has still had to battle in a couple of matches this week to come through and is now looking for his first ranking event semi-final since the 2016 European Masters. If Xiao plays as well as he can, then this will be a tough test for Robertson and certainly his most difficult match of the week so far. Xiao is scoring well and produced a brilliant clearance to overcome Marco Fu and that is by no means the first victory he has had against a top player this season. On top of that, Xiao won the last time these two met back in the 2016 English Open, and while Robertson will be favourite, it is no foregone conclusion to say he will run out the victor.
The headline act in the evening session sees Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins meet for the fourth time already this season in a big tournament and for the second year in a row at this stage of the Scottish Open. While Higgins was a winner 12 months ago, beating O'Sullivan 5-2 on the way to making the final, the Rocket has had his revenge since, edging the Scotsman out in the last 16 in Barnsley, thrashing him 6-0 in the Champion of Champions quarter-finals and then beating him again on the way to lifting the Shanghai Masters title. Higgins has looked improved this week compared with recent tournaments, scoring well for the most part on the way to the last eight. However, O'Sullivan is playing superbly at the moment and it is going to take a seriously good performance to topple him here in Glasgow as he has just picked up from where he left off after lifting the trophy last week in York.
Ricky Walden and Cao Yupeng meanwhile is certainly a match that presents a big opportunity for both players. Cao reached his first ranking event semi-final this season at the European Masters and has played excellent snooker that currently has him sat 24th on the one year money list, a vast improvement on his two year ranking that brought him to Glasgow as the 66th seed. Walden meanwhile is making the steady climb back to form, following up a run to the last 16 in the Northern Ireland Open and a last 16 appearance at the UK Championships by making his first ranking event quarter-final in 14 months having suffered with back problems. He is certainly a far cry from the player who lost out 4-0 to Cao in the Riga Masters qualifiers, before going on to lose 5-0 in his China Championship qualifier in the same week. A victory here for Walden would be another big step in the right direction and take him into his first ranking semi-final since making the final of the 2016 China Open, his second in consecutive weeks - a spell of snooker which provides a much better demonstration of what Walden is capable of.
At the bottom of the draw we have another excellent match-up between Judd Trump and Stephen Maguire. Maguire has really come back to form in 2017, firstly having to come through the World Championship qualifiers, right through to the quarter-finals in Sheffield. That was followed up with a ranking final against Ryan Day in Riga and despite going quiet again for a while after that, he was brilliant in reaching the UK Championship semi-finals before running into O'Sullivan and now he will be hoping to make that back-to-back semi-finals. Standing in his way is a man in Trump who has beaten Maguire 5-0 recently at the Shanghai Masters and 6-0 in the 2016 China Open. Aside from those last couple of meetings, the head to head between these two is fairly even and they are both playing well this week. If Maguire performs how he did against Yan Bingtao in the last 32 then he will certainly take some stopping, and after Trump was pushed all the way in a late night last 16 finish, that may give the Scotsman a slight advantage here in front of his home fans.
Whatever way you look at it, these are four fantastic looking quarter-finals and a mouth watering Friday of action awaits in Glasgow.
O'Sullivan had to come through a decider in the last 32 against Li Hang, but still had breaks of 70, 103, 65 and 80 on the way to that 4-3 win. Then in the evening he saw off Michael White - who had impressively beaten Kyren Wilson 4-1 earlier in the day - with runs of 92 and 75 on the way to a 4-1 win.
Higgins meanwhile did not drop a frame in his two wins first against Gerard Greene and then over Ashley Hugill. Against Greene he finished strongly, having started the week with some impressive heavy scoring, and that continued with runs of 91 and 113 in the final two frames against the Northern Irishman. Hugill was in the last 16 for the first time after overcoming Peter Lines earlier in the day, but the nerves showed on the TV table against the Scottish number one and Higgins capitalised for a second whitewash of the day.
Also through to the last eight is Neil Robertson who finished off his last 16 tie against David Grace with back to back centuries, coming from 2-0 behind to win 4-2, after beating Chris Totten 4-0 in the last 32. The Australian now faces Xiao Guodong in the quarter-finals and is looking for his first ranking event semi-final in over 14 months.
Xiao was the man to see off defending champion Marco Fu. Fu was lucky to come through against Zhou Yuelong in the last 32, coming from 3-2 behind to win 4-3 and it looked like he may do the same when he came from 3-0 down to force a decider with Xiao. Fu built up a 59 point lead in the decider and was looking good until missing a blue into the middle that was virtually match ball. That left Xiao amongst them and he cleared with a 73 break, featuring a very composed final pink and black under the pressure, especially having already failed to take match winning opportunities in previous frames.
In the bottom half of the draw, Stephen Maguire made sure that there was a second home representation in the quarter-finals. He scored very well in the last 32 to overcome young Yan Bingtao 4-3 with runs of 77, 78, 78 and a deciding frame 91 to secure victory. He then faced another young Chinese player in the last 16, and ended up brushing Xu Si aside 4-1 despite losing the opening frame.
Ricky Walden is into his first ranking event quarter-final since the 2016 English Open after coming through a deciding frame with Rory McLeod to continue his return to form. McLeod had already won through in a decider to knock out Ding Junhui in the last 32, despite Ding looking good with two centuries in the contest. Walden meanwhile saw off an in-form Mark Joyce in round three completing victory in that match with a 105 break. He then took a 3-1 lead against McLeod, before the former Ruhr Open winner hit back with runs of 72 and 50 to force the decider. When he needed to though, Walden dug deep and made the vital break, with a 53 in the decider seeing him over the line.
Walden will now face Cao Yupeng who survived a decider of his own in the last 32, winning the last two frames to defeat Daniel Wells there, before thrashing Tom Ford 4-0 in the last 16.
Judd Trump completed the quarter-final line-up with a final frame victory against Elliot Slessor, who fought back well from 3-1 down but in the end Trump was too strong, just as he was earlier on Thursday against Michael Holt. Runs of 104 and 57 helped Slessor from 3-1 down back to 3-3, but unlike earlier in the day when he overcame Peter Ebdon, he could not get a foothold in the decider with Trump's early 51 break proving pivotal. For Slessor though it was another good week, following on from a semi-final in Northern Ireland.
Last 32 results:
Marco Fu 4-3 Zhou Yuelong
Xiao Guodong 4-1 Noppon Saengkham
David Grace 4-3 Zhang Anda
Neil Robertson 4-0 Chris Totten
John Higgins 4-0 Gerard Greene
Ashley Hugill 4-1 Peter Lines
Michael White 4-1 Kyren Wilson
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-3 Li Hang
Rory McLeod 4-3 Ding Junhui
Ricky Walden 4-1 Mark Joyce
Tom Ford 4-0 Stuart Carrington
Cao Yupeng 4-3 Daniel Wells
Stephen Maguire 4-3 Yan Bingtao
Xu Si 4-2 Craig Steadman
Elliot Slessor 4-3 Peter Ebdon
Judd Trump 4-0 Michael Holt
Last 16 results:
Xiao Guodong 4-3 Marco Fu
Neil Robertson 4-2 David Grace
John Higgins 4-0 Ashley Hugill
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 Michael White
Ricky Walden 4-3 Rory McLeod
Cao Yupeng 4-0 Tom Ford
Stephen Maguire 4-1 Xu Si
Judd Trump 4-3 Elliot Slessor
Quarter-Final draw: (Picks in bold)
Neil Robertson Vs Xiao Guodong
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs John Higgins
Ricky Walden Vs Cao Yupeng
Judd Trump Vs Stephen Maguire
The first best-of-9 frames quarter-final sees Neil Robertson take on Xiao Guodong. Robertson looks back to top form in terms of his high scoring but has still had to battle in a couple of matches this week to come through and is now looking for his first ranking event semi-final since the 2016 European Masters. If Xiao plays as well as he can, then this will be a tough test for Robertson and certainly his most difficult match of the week so far. Xiao is scoring well and produced a brilliant clearance to overcome Marco Fu and that is by no means the first victory he has had against a top player this season. On top of that, Xiao won the last time these two met back in the 2016 English Open, and while Robertson will be favourite, it is no foregone conclusion to say he will run out the victor.
The headline act in the evening session sees Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins meet for the fourth time already this season in a big tournament and for the second year in a row at this stage of the Scottish Open. While Higgins was a winner 12 months ago, beating O'Sullivan 5-2 on the way to making the final, the Rocket has had his revenge since, edging the Scotsman out in the last 16 in Barnsley, thrashing him 6-0 in the Champion of Champions quarter-finals and then beating him again on the way to lifting the Shanghai Masters title. Higgins has looked improved this week compared with recent tournaments, scoring well for the most part on the way to the last eight. However, O'Sullivan is playing superbly at the moment and it is going to take a seriously good performance to topple him here in Glasgow as he has just picked up from where he left off after lifting the trophy last week in York.
Ricky Walden and Cao Yupeng meanwhile is certainly a match that presents a big opportunity for both players. Cao reached his first ranking event semi-final this season at the European Masters and has played excellent snooker that currently has him sat 24th on the one year money list, a vast improvement on his two year ranking that brought him to Glasgow as the 66th seed. Walden meanwhile is making the steady climb back to form, following up a run to the last 16 in the Northern Ireland Open and a last 16 appearance at the UK Championships by making his first ranking event quarter-final in 14 months having suffered with back problems. He is certainly a far cry from the player who lost out 4-0 to Cao in the Riga Masters qualifiers, before going on to lose 5-0 in his China Championship qualifier in the same week. A victory here for Walden would be another big step in the right direction and take him into his first ranking semi-final since making the final of the 2016 China Open, his second in consecutive weeks - a spell of snooker which provides a much better demonstration of what Walden is capable of.
At the bottom of the draw we have another excellent match-up between Judd Trump and Stephen Maguire. Maguire has really come back to form in 2017, firstly having to come through the World Championship qualifiers, right through to the quarter-finals in Sheffield. That was followed up with a ranking final against Ryan Day in Riga and despite going quiet again for a while after that, he was brilliant in reaching the UK Championship semi-finals before running into O'Sullivan and now he will be hoping to make that back-to-back semi-finals. Standing in his way is a man in Trump who has beaten Maguire 5-0 recently at the Shanghai Masters and 6-0 in the 2016 China Open. Aside from those last couple of meetings, the head to head between these two is fairly even and they are both playing well this week. If Maguire performs how he did against Yan Bingtao in the last 32 then he will certainly take some stopping, and after Trump was pushed all the way in a late night last 16 finish, that may give the Scotsman a slight advantage here in front of his home fans.
Whatever way you look at it, these are four fantastic looking quarter-finals and a mouth watering Friday of action awaits in Glasgow.
Wednesday 13 December 2017
Ronnie O'Sullivan continues fine form in Glasgow
Ronnie O'Sullivan continued his fantastic recent form with another convincing victory in the the second round of the Scottish Open.
The Rocket made two centuries on the way to his second 4-1 victory of the week, this time over Robert Milkins. O'Sullivan played excellently in round one against Michael Georgiou and carried that on here taking a 2-0 lead in no time thanks to breaks of 112 and 72. Milkins got his only frame on the board in the third with his own nice effort of 79, but O'Sullivan was back into his stride closing the match out comfortably with further high contributions of 80 and 101.
It was also a superb day at the office for last year's runner-up John Higgins. Scotland's number one opened up the match with back to back total clearances of 144 and 138 before a third century of 108 in frame four and a closing 85 in his 4-1 defeat of Christopher Keogan.
Defending champion Marco Fu came from 2-0 down by winning four straight frames to see off Fang Xiongman 4-2, while there were also 4-2 wins for Neil Robertson over Liam Highfield, Ding Junhui against Chris Wakelin, Judd Trump against Sam Craigie and Stephen Maguire seeing off Hamza Akbar.
However, there were still some top 16 casualties on day three in Glasgow and these started with twelfth seed Ali Carter falling to York's Ashley Hugill. Carter was 2-0 up in the match and opened up with a match high break of 117, but saw Hugill pull back to 2-2 with runs of 67 and 62. Carter edged ahead once more but Hugill took the sixth on the black to force a deciding frame. With the help of an early contribution of 55 the tour rookie was able to score an impressive victory and book his last 32 spot.
Mark Joyce continued his fine form by defeating Liang Wenbo in a deciding frame. Both players performed well in this one, as they each compiled centuries in the contest but it was Joyce that came from 3-2 behind to take the final two frames and send the fourteenth seed home.
A 4-3 defeat for Alan McManus against David Grace added to by an impressive 4-1 win for Peter Ebdon against fifteenth seed Anthony McGill now means that only Higgins, Maguire and Chris Totten are left representing the home nation going into round three.
Last 64 results:
Marco Fu 4-2 Fang Xiongman
Zhou Yuelong 4-2 Yu De Lu
Xiao Guodong 4-3 Gary Wilson
Noppon Saengkham 4-0 Zhang Yong
Chris Totten 4-3 Mitchell Mann
Neil Robertson 4-2 Liam Highfield
David Grace 4-3 Alan McManus
Zhang Anda 4-2 Ben Woollaston
John Higgins 4-1 Christopher Keogan
Gerard Greene 4-3 Mike Dunn
Ashley Hugill 4-3 Ali Carter
Peter Lines 4-2 Kurt Dunham
Kyren Wilson 4-1 Dominic Dale
Michael White 4-2 Scott Donaldson
Li Hang 4-1 Jamie Barrett
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 Robert Milkins
Ding Junhui 4-2 Chris Wakelin
Rory McLeod 4-0 Niu Zhuang
Ricky Walden 4-2 Joe Swail
Mark Joyce 4-3 Liang Wenbo
Tom Ford 4-0 Hammad Miah
Stuart Carrington 4-2 Joe Perry
Cao Yupeng 4-3 Allan Taylor
Daniel Wells 4-1 Jimmy White
Yan Bingtao 4-0 Jamie Jones
Stephen Maguire 4-2 Hamza Akbar
Craig Steadman 4-2 Alfie Burden
Peter Ebdon 4-1 Anthony McGill
Elliot Slessor 4-1 Mei Xiwen
Michael Holt 4-3 Eden Sharav
Judd Trump 4-2 Sam Craigie
Last 32 draw: (Picks in bold)
Marco Fu Vs Zhou Yuelong
Xiao Guodong Vs Noppon Saengkham
Neil Robertson Vs Chris Totten
David Grace Vs Zhang Anda
John Higgins Vs Gerard Greene
Peter Lines Vs Ashley Hugill
Kyren Wilson Vs Michael White
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Li Hang
Ding Junhui Vs Rory McLeod
Ricky Walden Vs Mark Joyce
Tom Ford Vs Stuart Carrington
Cao Yupeng Vs Daniel Wells
Stephen Maguire Vs Yan Bingtao
Xu Si Vs Craig Steadman
Peter Ebdon Vs Elliot Slessor
Judd Trump Vs Michael Holt
Once again there is a brilliant mix of ties in the last 32, starting with defending champion Marco Fu against Zhou Yuelong. Fu had to come back from 2-0 down against Fang Xiongman in round two and has been struggling this season, while Zhou came through a tough match today against Yu De Lu and looks to be scoring well as always. If Zhou can take the game to Fu and get ahead like Fang did, then he would certainly have the defending champion on the ropes.
Xiao Guodong produced a great escape, getting the four snookers he required to win the deciding frame against Gary Wilson and he now faces Noppon Saengkham who has been firing in the big breaks in his two wins so far. The pair also met in the last 32 of the UK Championship where Xiao won 6-3 and he has won on all of the other occasions in which they have met, but with the Thai playing well this should make for a good contest.
Kyren Wilson and Michael White looks like one of the ties of the round. White has been a winner this season in Germany, while Wilson has had two finals of his own. White came through today 4-2 against Scott Donaldson with back to back centuries in frames two and three of that contest while the Warrior scored well in his win against Dale. If Wilson can get the upper hand in the safety though, that may be the decisive factor if both players score as well as they have been.
Ding Junhui certainly did not look at his best in a late finish with Chris Wakelin who was arguably the better player in the second half of that contest. He now faces Rory McLeod who has already defeated Graeme Dott this week on the outside tables and whitewashed Niu Zhuang in round two. If McLeod is able to grind Ding down then we may see a bit more weakness from Ding who has certainly not looked his best so far, and may not enjoy this match if it is selected to go on an outside table.
Mark Joyce is in great form at the moment having made the quarters in York, and only narrowly missing out on the semi's there. He backed up his win against Neil Robertson in the UK and will now be looking to back up his impressive performance against Liang with another here against Ricky Walden. It is still hard to judge where Walden is at with his form at the moment. He looked better in beating Kyren Wilson in the UK Championships but did not produce in the round after against Shaun Murphy, and does not look to have started this tournament too convincingly either. If Joyce can take his chances as well here as he did against Liang in round two and when he faced Robertson in York then he has every chance of another great result.
Tom Ford and Stuart Carrington will be a good clash between two heavy scorers that could well go close. Ford has only dropped one frame in coming through the first two rounds, while Carrington scored a nice victory in the last 64 against Joe Perry who had been looking good himself of late. That follows up a nice win for Carrington against Trump in the Northern Ireland Open last month despite a few early exits in tournaments prior to that. Ford has been decent without going on a big run yet this season, but this presents a nice opportunity for both players.
Stephen Maguire and Yan Bingtao is another fantastic looking match-up here in the last 32. Yan was sublime beating Jamie Jones 4-0 with two century breaks and two further breaks above 80 as he continues the sort of form that got him to the final in Belfast in November. Maguire meanwhile was in great touch in York to reach the semi-finals and will be desperate to go well here on home turf against someone who he has beaten this season in the China Championship. Yan has really upped his game to a new level in the last couple of months though and it is no surprise to anyone when he beats any of the top players, and it would not be a shock if he won this tournament or picked up a trophy before this season was over.
As always on Thursday of the home nations events, it will be a busy one in Glasgow with the last 32 matches of the morning and afternoon being followed by the last 16 matches in the evening, with all games on the day again being played over the best-of-7 frames.
The Rocket made two centuries on the way to his second 4-1 victory of the week, this time over Robert Milkins. O'Sullivan played excellently in round one against Michael Georgiou and carried that on here taking a 2-0 lead in no time thanks to breaks of 112 and 72. Milkins got his only frame on the board in the third with his own nice effort of 79, but O'Sullivan was back into his stride closing the match out comfortably with further high contributions of 80 and 101.
It was also a superb day at the office for last year's runner-up John Higgins. Scotland's number one opened up the match with back to back total clearances of 144 and 138 before a third century of 108 in frame four and a closing 85 in his 4-1 defeat of Christopher Keogan.
Defending champion Marco Fu came from 2-0 down by winning four straight frames to see off Fang Xiongman 4-2, while there were also 4-2 wins for Neil Robertson over Liam Highfield, Ding Junhui against Chris Wakelin, Judd Trump against Sam Craigie and Stephen Maguire seeing off Hamza Akbar.
However, there were still some top 16 casualties on day three in Glasgow and these started with twelfth seed Ali Carter falling to York's Ashley Hugill. Carter was 2-0 up in the match and opened up with a match high break of 117, but saw Hugill pull back to 2-2 with runs of 67 and 62. Carter edged ahead once more but Hugill took the sixth on the black to force a deciding frame. With the help of an early contribution of 55 the tour rookie was able to score an impressive victory and book his last 32 spot.
Mark Joyce continued his fine form by defeating Liang Wenbo in a deciding frame. Both players performed well in this one, as they each compiled centuries in the contest but it was Joyce that came from 3-2 behind to take the final two frames and send the fourteenth seed home.
A 4-3 defeat for Alan McManus against David Grace added to by an impressive 4-1 win for Peter Ebdon against fifteenth seed Anthony McGill now means that only Higgins, Maguire and Chris Totten are left representing the home nation going into round three.
Last 64 results:
Marco Fu 4-2 Fang Xiongman
Zhou Yuelong 4-2 Yu De Lu
Xiao Guodong 4-3 Gary Wilson
Noppon Saengkham 4-0 Zhang Yong
Chris Totten 4-3 Mitchell Mann
Neil Robertson 4-2 Liam Highfield
David Grace 4-3 Alan McManus
Zhang Anda 4-2 Ben Woollaston
John Higgins 4-1 Christopher Keogan
Gerard Greene 4-3 Mike Dunn
Ashley Hugill 4-3 Ali Carter
Peter Lines 4-2 Kurt Dunham
Kyren Wilson 4-1 Dominic Dale
Michael White 4-2 Scott Donaldson
Li Hang 4-1 Jamie Barrett
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 Robert Milkins
Ding Junhui 4-2 Chris Wakelin
Rory McLeod 4-0 Niu Zhuang
Ricky Walden 4-2 Joe Swail
Mark Joyce 4-3 Liang Wenbo
Tom Ford 4-0 Hammad Miah
Stuart Carrington 4-2 Joe Perry
Cao Yupeng 4-3 Allan Taylor
Daniel Wells 4-1 Jimmy White
Yan Bingtao 4-0 Jamie Jones
Stephen Maguire 4-2 Hamza Akbar
Craig Steadman 4-2 Alfie Burden
Peter Ebdon 4-1 Anthony McGill
Elliot Slessor 4-1 Mei Xiwen
Michael Holt 4-3 Eden Sharav
Judd Trump 4-2 Sam Craigie
Last 32 draw: (Picks in bold)
Marco Fu Vs Zhou Yuelong
Xiao Guodong Vs Noppon Saengkham
Neil Robertson Vs Chris Totten
David Grace Vs Zhang Anda
John Higgins Vs Gerard Greene
Peter Lines Vs Ashley Hugill
Kyren Wilson Vs Michael White
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Li Hang
Ding Junhui Vs Rory McLeod
Ricky Walden Vs Mark Joyce
Tom Ford Vs Stuart Carrington
Cao Yupeng Vs Daniel Wells
Stephen Maguire Vs Yan Bingtao
Xu Si Vs Craig Steadman
Peter Ebdon Vs Elliot Slessor
Judd Trump Vs Michael Holt
Once again there is a brilliant mix of ties in the last 32, starting with defending champion Marco Fu against Zhou Yuelong. Fu had to come back from 2-0 down against Fang Xiongman in round two and has been struggling this season, while Zhou came through a tough match today against Yu De Lu and looks to be scoring well as always. If Zhou can take the game to Fu and get ahead like Fang did, then he would certainly have the defending champion on the ropes.
Xiao Guodong produced a great escape, getting the four snookers he required to win the deciding frame against Gary Wilson and he now faces Noppon Saengkham who has been firing in the big breaks in his two wins so far. The pair also met in the last 32 of the UK Championship where Xiao won 6-3 and he has won on all of the other occasions in which they have met, but with the Thai playing well this should make for a good contest.
Kyren Wilson and Michael White looks like one of the ties of the round. White has been a winner this season in Germany, while Wilson has had two finals of his own. White came through today 4-2 against Scott Donaldson with back to back centuries in frames two and three of that contest while the Warrior scored well in his win against Dale. If Wilson can get the upper hand in the safety though, that may be the decisive factor if both players score as well as they have been.
Ding Junhui certainly did not look at his best in a late finish with Chris Wakelin who was arguably the better player in the second half of that contest. He now faces Rory McLeod who has already defeated Graeme Dott this week on the outside tables and whitewashed Niu Zhuang in round two. If McLeod is able to grind Ding down then we may see a bit more weakness from Ding who has certainly not looked his best so far, and may not enjoy this match if it is selected to go on an outside table.
Mark Joyce is in great form at the moment having made the quarters in York, and only narrowly missing out on the semi's there. He backed up his win against Neil Robertson in the UK and will now be looking to back up his impressive performance against Liang with another here against Ricky Walden. It is still hard to judge where Walden is at with his form at the moment. He looked better in beating Kyren Wilson in the UK Championships but did not produce in the round after against Shaun Murphy, and does not look to have started this tournament too convincingly either. If Joyce can take his chances as well here as he did against Liang in round two and when he faced Robertson in York then he has every chance of another great result.
Tom Ford and Stuart Carrington will be a good clash between two heavy scorers that could well go close. Ford has only dropped one frame in coming through the first two rounds, while Carrington scored a nice victory in the last 64 against Joe Perry who had been looking good himself of late. That follows up a nice win for Carrington against Trump in the Northern Ireland Open last month despite a few early exits in tournaments prior to that. Ford has been decent without going on a big run yet this season, but this presents a nice opportunity for both players.
Stephen Maguire and Yan Bingtao is another fantastic looking match-up here in the last 32. Yan was sublime beating Jamie Jones 4-0 with two century breaks and two further breaks above 80 as he continues the sort of form that got him to the final in Belfast in November. Maguire meanwhile was in great touch in York to reach the semi-finals and will be desperate to go well here on home turf against someone who he has beaten this season in the China Championship. Yan has really upped his game to a new level in the last couple of months though and it is no surprise to anyone when he beats any of the top players, and it would not be a shock if he won this tournament or picked up a trophy before this season was over.
As always on Thursday of the home nations events, it will be a busy one in Glasgow with the last 32 matches of the morning and afternoon being followed by the last 16 matches in the evening, with all games on the day again being played over the best-of-7 frames.
Tuesday 12 December 2017
Shaun Murphy suffers surprise first round exit at Scottish Open
Recent UK Championship runner-up Shaun Murphy suffered a surprise exit in the first round of the Scottish Open as Daniel Wells overcame him for the second time this season.
Having previously beaten Murphy in September's World Open before losing out to Murphy earlier in the home nations series in Barnsley, he survived match ball today to come back and win 4-3. At 3-2 ahead Murphy missed a pink to win 4-2, and Wells potted a nice pink and black to force the decider. He then missed in the final frame to leave Murphy an opening and the balls were in nice positions, but the Magician missed a simple enough red early in the break and let Wells back in to clinch the victory.
There was to be no early exit for UK Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan though, who came from behind to win the first couple of frames in his 4-1 win over Michael Georgiou. Home favourite John Higgins was also a 4-1 winner, despite losing the first frame in an impressive victory over Jack Lisowski in which the Scottish number one looked in fine form.
The tie of the round on paper featured Scotland's number two player and 15th seed Anthony McGill against 17th seed Ryan Day, but what followed was a one sided match in which McGill won 4-0, despite a few chances in the match for Day.
Stephen Maguire made sure the top three Scottish players all made it through round one in Glasgow, but there was no love on home turf for Graeme Dott, who was moved onto an outside table for his 4-2 defeat to Rory McLeod, something he later took to Facebook to express his anger on.
As well as sixth seed Murphy falling at the first hurdle, seventh seed Barry Hawkins and eighth seed Mark Allen were also sent packing. Hawkins continued his poor run of form with a 4-2 loss to Jamie Jones, while Ben Woollaston came from 3-1 behind and made a superb 110 break in a deciding frame win over Allen in the final match of round one.
Defending champion Marco Fu, second seed Judd Trump and ninth seed Neil Robertson all recorded nice 4-0 wins to start their Scottish Open campaigns, with Robertson making a high break of 143 in his win over Rod Lawler.
There was also a 4-0 win for Cao Yupeng over Andrew Higginson, which was most notable for the third frame in which Cao made a superb 147 break scooping the rolling maximum prize fund.
Last 128 results:
Marco Fu 4-0 Duane Jones
Fang Xiongman 4-3 David Gilbert
Yu De Lu 4-2 Lee Walker
Zhou Yuelong 4-1 Ian Preece
Noppon Saengkham 4-3 Martin Gould
Zhang Yong 4-1 Fergal O'Brien
Gary Wilson 4-2 Lu Haotian
Xiao Guodong 4-1 Li Yuan
Neil Robertson 4-0 Rod Lawler
Liam Highfield 4-2 John Astley
Chris Totten 4-1 Sam Baird
Mitchell Mann 4-3 Hossein Vafei
Alan McManus 4-2 Matthew Selt
David Grace 4-1 Alexander Ursenbacher
Zhang Anda 4-1 Mark King
Ben Woollaston 4-3 Mark Allen
John Higgins 4-1 Jack Lisowski
Christopher Keogan 4-0 Nigel Bond
Mike Dunn 4-0 Adam Duffy
Gerard Greene 4-2 Zhao Xintong
Ali Carter 4-0 Anthony Hamilton
Ashley Hugill 4-3 Ross Vallance
Kurt Dunham 4-2 Tian Pengfei
Peter Lines 4-0 Yuan Sijun
Kyren Wilson 4-2 Chen Zhe
Dominic Dale 4-1 Basem Eltahhan
Scott Donaldson 4-2 Josh Boileau
Michael White 4-0 James Wattana
Li Hang 4-1 Sean O'Sullivan
Jamie Barrett 4-3 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Robert Milkins 4-2 Oliver Lines
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 Michael Georgiou
Ding Junhui 4-2 Jak Jones
Chris Wakelin 4-2 Thor Chuan Leong
Rory McLeod 4-2 Graeme Dott
Niu Zhuang 4-3 Wang Yuchen
Liang Wenbo 4-2 Sanderson Lam
Mark Joyce 4-2 Martin O'Donnell
Joe Swail 4-0 Lukas Kleckers
Ricky Walden 4-2 Billy Castle
Joe Perry 4-2 Chen Zifan
Stuart Carrington 4-1 Jackson Page
Hammad Miah 4-1 Matthew Stevens
Tom Ford 4-1 Ian Burns
Allan Taylor 4-3 Soheil Vahedi
Cao Yupeng 4-0 Andrew Higginson
Jimmy White 4-1 Akani Songsermsawad
Daniel Wells 4-3 Shaun Murphy
Jamie Jones 4-2 Barry Hawkins
Yan Bingtao 4-0 Matthew Bolton
Hamza Akbar 4-1 Leo Fernandez
Stephen Maguire 4-0 Alex Borg
Xu Si W/O Mark Williams
Jimmy Robertson 4-3 Paul Davison
Craig Steadman 4-1 Ken Doherty
Alfie Burden 4-2 Ross Muir
Anthony McGill 4-0 Ryan Day
Peter Ebdon 4-2 Aditya Mehta
Mei Xiwen 4-0 Kurt Maflin
Elliot Slessor 4-2 Rhys Clark
Eden Sharav 4-3 Mark Davis
Michael Holt 4-0 Robbie Williams
Sam Craigie 4-2 Boonyarit Kaettikun
Judd Trump 4-0 Robin Hull
Last 64 draw: (Picks in bold)
Marco Fu Vs Fang Xiongman
Zhou Yuelong Vs Yu De Lu
Noppon Saengkham Vs Zhang Yong
Xiao Guodong Vs Gary Wilson
Neil Robertson Vs Liam Highfield
Mitchell Mann Vs Chris Totten
Alan McManus Vs David Grace
Ben Woollaston Vs Zhang Anda
John Higgins Vs Christopher Keogan
Mike Dunn Vs Gerard Greene
Ali Carter Vs Ashley Hugill
Peter Lines Vs Kurt Dunham
Kyren Wilson Vs Dominic Dale
Michael White Vs Scott Donaldson
Li Hang Vs Jamie Barrett
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Robert Milkins
Ding Junhui Vs Chris Wakelin
Rory McLeod Vs Niu Zhuang
Liang Wenbo Vs Mark Joyce
Ricky Walden Vs Joe Swail
Joe Perry Vs Stuart Carrington
Tom Ford Vs Hammad Miah
Cao Yupeng Vs Allan Taylor
Daniel Wells Vs Jimmy White
Yan Bingtao Vs Jamie Jones
Stephen Maguire Vs Hamza Akbar
Jimmy Robertson Vs Xu Si
Alfie Burden Vs Craig Steadman
Mei Xiwen Vs Elliot Slessor
Anthony McGill Vs Peter Ebdon
Michael Holt Vs Eden Sharav
Judd Trump Vs Sam Craigie
There are plenty of good looking ties in round two in Glasgow, including that of Trump against Sam Craigie. We all know what Craigie is capable of, especially after his high scoring victory over Kyren Wilson in Belfast, while Trump is looking to re-find his form after a couple of early exits since a heavy defeat in the Shanghai Masters final.
The Rocket Ronnie O'Sullivan faces what could be a tough match with Robert Milkins, if Milkins produces some of the form that saw him overcome Neil Robertson on the way to the quarter-finals of the Northern Ireland Open. However, O'Sullivan looked in great form in round one and looks to have carried on from where he left off at the back end of the UK Championship final.
Jimmy White scored a nice 4-1 win against in-form Akani Songsermsawad and will now face Murphy's conqueror Daniel Wells in the last 64. White has had a few nice results in recent weeks, including a last 128 victory over Ali Carter in York. Wells looked good in parts of his match with Murphy, but Shaun was unable to find anything close to the form displayed last week and White certainly has a good chance here if he keeps playing nicely himself.
Jimmy Robertson is looking to make it to the last 32 stages for the seventh event in a row as he faces Xu Si. Xu had a first round walkover after the withdrawal of Mark Williams, while Robertson survived a final frame decider against Paul Davison to book his place in round two.
Neil Robertson meanwhile will have a battle on his hands with Liam Highfield. Highfield has run Shaun Murphy very close a couple of times this season as well as beating Liang Wenbo in the last home nations event, and he seems to raise his game for the big matches against the top players. Given the Australian's inconsistent results this season, it would not surprise me at all to see Highfield come out on top.
Alan McManus will have been pleased to get through against Matthew Selt in what was a tough opening round game and things will not get any easier as he faces David Grace. Grace has not had the best of starts this season, but will take confidence from his 4-1 win over Alexander Ursenbacher that featured two centuries and some more high scoring and he certainly has a chance against McManus if he can keep that form up.
Young Scotsman Scott Donaldson will give Michael White a good game in the last 64. White has had a good season after getting a trophy under his belt in August, but Donaldson will be full of confidence after backing up his first win of the season in York with a win over Mark Selby in round two there. Perhaps now Donaldson will get back to the sort of level that saw him reach the Welsh Open semi-final in February this year.
Liang Wenbo has had a very quiet season so far, and as he takes on an in-form Mark Joyce in round two here that could well continue. Joyce comes into this off the back of another quarter-final at the UK Championships where he saw off Neil Robertson in the last 32, having already made a quarter-final at the Paul Hunter Classic and beating Luca Brecel and Anthony McGill to reach the last 16 of the International Championships.
There are plenty of other games to look forward to besides the ones mentioned above. All 32 second round matches will take place on Wednesday over the best-of-7 frames and with a few top seeds gone already, this tournament could well open up like all of these home nations events seem to.
Having previously beaten Murphy in September's World Open before losing out to Murphy earlier in the home nations series in Barnsley, he survived match ball today to come back and win 4-3. At 3-2 ahead Murphy missed a pink to win 4-2, and Wells potted a nice pink and black to force the decider. He then missed in the final frame to leave Murphy an opening and the balls were in nice positions, but the Magician missed a simple enough red early in the break and let Wells back in to clinch the victory.
There was to be no early exit for UK Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan though, who came from behind to win the first couple of frames in his 4-1 win over Michael Georgiou. Home favourite John Higgins was also a 4-1 winner, despite losing the first frame in an impressive victory over Jack Lisowski in which the Scottish number one looked in fine form.
The tie of the round on paper featured Scotland's number two player and 15th seed Anthony McGill against 17th seed Ryan Day, but what followed was a one sided match in which McGill won 4-0, despite a few chances in the match for Day.
Stephen Maguire made sure the top three Scottish players all made it through round one in Glasgow, but there was no love on home turf for Graeme Dott, who was moved onto an outside table for his 4-2 defeat to Rory McLeod, something he later took to Facebook to express his anger on.
As well as sixth seed Murphy falling at the first hurdle, seventh seed Barry Hawkins and eighth seed Mark Allen were also sent packing. Hawkins continued his poor run of form with a 4-2 loss to Jamie Jones, while Ben Woollaston came from 3-1 behind and made a superb 110 break in a deciding frame win over Allen in the final match of round one.
Defending champion Marco Fu, second seed Judd Trump and ninth seed Neil Robertson all recorded nice 4-0 wins to start their Scottish Open campaigns, with Robertson making a high break of 143 in his win over Rod Lawler.
There was also a 4-0 win for Cao Yupeng over Andrew Higginson, which was most notable for the third frame in which Cao made a superb 147 break scooping the rolling maximum prize fund.
Last 128 results:
Marco Fu 4-0 Duane Jones
Fang Xiongman 4-3 David Gilbert
Yu De Lu 4-2 Lee Walker
Zhou Yuelong 4-1 Ian Preece
Noppon Saengkham 4-3 Martin Gould
Zhang Yong 4-1 Fergal O'Brien
Gary Wilson 4-2 Lu Haotian
Xiao Guodong 4-1 Li Yuan
Neil Robertson 4-0 Rod Lawler
Liam Highfield 4-2 John Astley
Chris Totten 4-1 Sam Baird
Mitchell Mann 4-3 Hossein Vafei
Alan McManus 4-2 Matthew Selt
David Grace 4-1 Alexander Ursenbacher
Zhang Anda 4-1 Mark King
Ben Woollaston 4-3 Mark Allen
John Higgins 4-1 Jack Lisowski
Christopher Keogan 4-0 Nigel Bond
Mike Dunn 4-0 Adam Duffy
Gerard Greene 4-2 Zhao Xintong
Ali Carter 4-0 Anthony Hamilton
Ashley Hugill 4-3 Ross Vallance
Kurt Dunham 4-2 Tian Pengfei
Peter Lines 4-0 Yuan Sijun
Kyren Wilson 4-2 Chen Zhe
Dominic Dale 4-1 Basem Eltahhan
Scott Donaldson 4-2 Josh Boileau
Michael White 4-0 James Wattana
Li Hang 4-1 Sean O'Sullivan
Jamie Barrett 4-3 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Robert Milkins 4-2 Oliver Lines
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 Michael Georgiou
Ding Junhui 4-2 Jak Jones
Chris Wakelin 4-2 Thor Chuan Leong
Rory McLeod 4-2 Graeme Dott
Niu Zhuang 4-3 Wang Yuchen
Liang Wenbo 4-2 Sanderson Lam
Mark Joyce 4-2 Martin O'Donnell
Joe Swail 4-0 Lukas Kleckers
Ricky Walden 4-2 Billy Castle
Joe Perry 4-2 Chen Zifan
Stuart Carrington 4-1 Jackson Page
Hammad Miah 4-1 Matthew Stevens
Tom Ford 4-1 Ian Burns
Allan Taylor 4-3 Soheil Vahedi
Cao Yupeng 4-0 Andrew Higginson
Jimmy White 4-1 Akani Songsermsawad
Daniel Wells 4-3 Shaun Murphy
Jamie Jones 4-2 Barry Hawkins
Yan Bingtao 4-0 Matthew Bolton
Hamza Akbar 4-1 Leo Fernandez
Stephen Maguire 4-0 Alex Borg
Xu Si W/O Mark Williams
Jimmy Robertson 4-3 Paul Davison
Craig Steadman 4-1 Ken Doherty
Alfie Burden 4-2 Ross Muir
Anthony McGill 4-0 Ryan Day
Peter Ebdon 4-2 Aditya Mehta
Mei Xiwen 4-0 Kurt Maflin
Elliot Slessor 4-2 Rhys Clark
Eden Sharav 4-3 Mark Davis
Michael Holt 4-0 Robbie Williams
Sam Craigie 4-2 Boonyarit Kaettikun
Judd Trump 4-0 Robin Hull
Last 64 draw: (Picks in bold)
Marco Fu Vs Fang Xiongman
Zhou Yuelong Vs Yu De Lu
Noppon Saengkham Vs Zhang Yong
Xiao Guodong Vs Gary Wilson
Neil Robertson Vs Liam Highfield
Mitchell Mann Vs Chris Totten
Alan McManus Vs David Grace
Ben Woollaston Vs Zhang Anda
John Higgins Vs Christopher Keogan
Mike Dunn Vs Gerard Greene
Ali Carter Vs Ashley Hugill
Peter Lines Vs Kurt Dunham
Kyren Wilson Vs Dominic Dale
Michael White Vs Scott Donaldson
Li Hang Vs Jamie Barrett
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Robert Milkins
Ding Junhui Vs Chris Wakelin
Rory McLeod Vs Niu Zhuang
Liang Wenbo Vs Mark Joyce
Ricky Walden Vs Joe Swail
Joe Perry Vs Stuart Carrington
Tom Ford Vs Hammad Miah
Cao Yupeng Vs Allan Taylor
Daniel Wells Vs Jimmy White
Yan Bingtao Vs Jamie Jones
Stephen Maguire Vs Hamza Akbar
Jimmy Robertson Vs Xu Si
Alfie Burden Vs Craig Steadman
Mei Xiwen Vs Elliot Slessor
Anthony McGill Vs Peter Ebdon
Michael Holt Vs Eden Sharav
Judd Trump Vs Sam Craigie
There are plenty of good looking ties in round two in Glasgow, including that of Trump against Sam Craigie. We all know what Craigie is capable of, especially after his high scoring victory over Kyren Wilson in Belfast, while Trump is looking to re-find his form after a couple of early exits since a heavy defeat in the Shanghai Masters final.
The Rocket Ronnie O'Sullivan faces what could be a tough match with Robert Milkins, if Milkins produces some of the form that saw him overcome Neil Robertson on the way to the quarter-finals of the Northern Ireland Open. However, O'Sullivan looked in great form in round one and looks to have carried on from where he left off at the back end of the UK Championship final.
Jimmy White scored a nice 4-1 win against in-form Akani Songsermsawad and will now face Murphy's conqueror Daniel Wells in the last 64. White has had a few nice results in recent weeks, including a last 128 victory over Ali Carter in York. Wells looked good in parts of his match with Murphy, but Shaun was unable to find anything close to the form displayed last week and White certainly has a good chance here if he keeps playing nicely himself.
Jimmy Robertson is looking to make it to the last 32 stages for the seventh event in a row as he faces Xu Si. Xu had a first round walkover after the withdrawal of Mark Williams, while Robertson survived a final frame decider against Paul Davison to book his place in round two.
Neil Robertson meanwhile will have a battle on his hands with Liam Highfield. Highfield has run Shaun Murphy very close a couple of times this season as well as beating Liang Wenbo in the last home nations event, and he seems to raise his game for the big matches against the top players. Given the Australian's inconsistent results this season, it would not surprise me at all to see Highfield come out on top.
Alan McManus will have been pleased to get through against Matthew Selt in what was a tough opening round game and things will not get any easier as he faces David Grace. Grace has not had the best of starts this season, but will take confidence from his 4-1 win over Alexander Ursenbacher that featured two centuries and some more high scoring and he certainly has a chance against McManus if he can keep that form up.
Young Scotsman Scott Donaldson will give Michael White a good game in the last 64. White has had a good season after getting a trophy under his belt in August, but Donaldson will be full of confidence after backing up his first win of the season in York with a win over Mark Selby in round two there. Perhaps now Donaldson will get back to the sort of level that saw him reach the Welsh Open semi-final in February this year.
Liang Wenbo has had a very quiet season so far, and as he takes on an in-form Mark Joyce in round two here that could well continue. Joyce comes into this off the back of another quarter-final at the UK Championships where he saw off Neil Robertson in the last 32, having already made a quarter-final at the Paul Hunter Classic and beating Luca Brecel and Anthony McGill to reach the last 16 of the International Championships.
There are plenty of other games to look forward to besides the ones mentioned above. All 32 second round matches will take place on Wednesday over the best-of-7 frames and with a few top seeds gone already, this tournament could well open up like all of these home nations events seem to.
Sunday 10 December 2017
Fantasy Snooker Update: Scottish Open
Ronnie O'Sullivan's fantastic victory in the final of the UK Championship has put another trophy on his mantle, a big cheque in his pocket and a whole host of fantasy league points on to the totals of many players in this season's competition.
Only two players had losing finalist Shaun Murphy, and of those a huge mention must go to Protoursnooker who had both Murphy and O'Sullivan and has subsequently leaped up the table. Next up on the calendar is the Scottish Open which starts in just 12 hours time up in Glasgow, but first let's see what the first double points event of the season has done to the full table.
Only two players had losing finalist Shaun Murphy, and of those a huge mention must go to Protoursnooker who had both Murphy and O'Sullivan and has subsequently leaped up the table. Next up on the calendar is the Scottish Open which starts in just 12 hours time up in Glasgow, but first let's see what the first double points event of the season has done to the full table.
Couge: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie Points: 787
PPS: Williams x2, Ding x3, Murphy x3,
Gilbert, Higgins x3, Bingham, Trump x3, Selby, O’Sullivan (1 Captain
pick used)
Kellie Barker: SEASON: Jack Lisowski and Alex
Ursenbacher Points: 752
PPS: Allen x2, Fu, Murphy, Higgins, Hawkins, Ding, Trump,
Brecel, Carter, Bingtao, Selby x2, Wenbo, Williams, Robertson, O’Sullivan (1
Captain pick used)
Protoursnooker: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Cao
Yupeng Points: 715
PPS: Ding x2, Allen, Maguire, Murphy x2, Selby, Robertson,
Higgins, Hawkins, O’Sullivan x2, Wenbo, Williams, Fu, Trump, Wilson, Carter (1
Captain Pick used)
TY: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Zhang Anda Points: 661
PPS: Ding x2, Robertson x3, Higgins x2, Allen x2, Ding,
Bingham, Selby x2, Trump, Murphy x2, Brecel, O’Sullivan (1 Captain Pick used)
Daniela Reich: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie Points: 659
PPS: Ding, Fu, Murphy x2, Allen x2, Williams, K. Wilson,
Trump x2, Day, Bingham, McGill, O’Sullivan x2, Selby x2, Wenbo
Andy Brooker: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie Points: 642
PPS: Carter, Day, Maguire, Bingham, Higgins x2, Williams x2,
Trump x2, Yuelong, Hawkins, O’Sullivan x2, Ding, Allen, Robertson, Selby (1
Captain pick used)
Phil Mudd: SEASON: Jimmy Robertson and Sam Craigie Points: 627
PPS: Ding x2, Fu, Woollaston, Allen x2, Robertson, Williams
x2, Brecel, Higgins x2, O’Sullivan x2, Selby, Gould, Wenbo (1 Captain pick
used)
Colin Delaney: SEASON: Ken Doherty and Yan Bingtao Points: 626
PPS: Higgins, Maguire, McGill, Allen x2, Hawkins x2, Ding
x2, Trump x2, Brecel, Selby x2, Murphy, Gould, O’Sullivan, Lisowski (1 Captain
Pick used)
Cluster of Reds: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and John Astley Points: 626
PPS: Ding, Perry, Allen x3, Ford, Hawkins, Fu, Trump x2,
Brecel, Robertson, Williams, Gould, Murphy, O’Sullivan x2, Selby (1 Captain
pick used)
Alex Abrahams: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and John Astley Points: 624
PPS: Carter, Fu, Murphy x2, Perry, Higgins, K. Wilson, Trump
x2, Williams x2, Bingham, Ding, O’Sullivan x2, Selby x2, Wenbo (1 Captain pick
used)
FAM147: SEASON: Zhao Xintong and Xiao Guodong Points: 622
PPS: Carter, Hawkins, Woollaston, Hossein, Bingham x2, Allen
x2, Yuelong, Lisowski x2, Selby, Murphy, Trump, Akani, Robertson x2, O’Sullivan
Igor Snooker: SEASON: Matthew Stevens and Ken Doherty Points: 590
PPS: Ding, O’Sullivan, Maguire, Murphy, Fu, Selby x2,
Robertson x2, McGill, Wilson, Williams x2, Allen x2, Bingtao, Carter,
O’Sullivan (1 captain pick used)
Ben Summers: SEASON: Noppon Saengkham and Sam Craigie Points: 587
PPS: McGill x2, Day, Dott, Ding, Selby x2, Trump x3, Holt,
Allen x2, O’Sullivan, Williams x2, Yuelong, Higgins
TungstenDarts: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Sam Craigie Points: 587
PPS: Fu x3, Hawkins, McGill, Allen x2, Selby x2, Williams,
Day, Gould, Trump x2, Ding, Robertson, O’Sullivan x2 (1 Captain pick used)
Isitan Bakar: SEASON: Yan Bingtao and Scott Donaldson Points: 546
PPS: Wenbo, Robertson x2, Murphy, Bingham x2, Ding x2, M.
White, Higgins, Carter, Wilson, Allen, Trump x2, O’Sullivan
Munraj: SEASON: Jack Lisowski and Michael Georgiou Points: 539
PPS: Ding, Trump x2, Allen x2, Ford, Hawkins, Selby,
Robertson x2, McGill x2, O’Sullivan, Wilson, Murphy, Wenbo, Gould, Guodong (1
Captain pick used)
Matthew Lowson: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Alex
Ursenbacher Points: 491
PPS: Ding x2, Fu, Maguire, Bingham, Hawkins, Brecel, Wilson,
Selby x2, Higgins, Murphy x2, Trump, Williams, Bingtao, O’Sullivan x2 (1
Captain pick used)
GaryOnCue: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Sam Craigie Points: 480
PPS: Hawkins, Robertson, Maguire, Murphy x2, Ding x2, Selby
x2, Higgins, Wilson, Allen x2, O’Sullivan x2, Williams, Gould, Day (1 Captain
pick used)
LTD: SEASON: Robert Milkins and Ken Doherty Points: 468
PPS: Perry, Carter, Holt, Higgins x2, Hawkins x2, Maguire,
Perry, Wilson x2, Wenbo, Selby x2, O’Sullivan, Robertson (1 Captain pick used)
Rob Francis: SEASON: Mark Davis and Cao Yupeng Points: 462
PPS: Ding x3, Robertson, Murphy x3, Allen, Higgins x3, Wilson,
Trump x2, Wilson, Williams, Selby, O’Sullivan (1 Captain pick used)
John McBride: SEASON: Hossein Vafei and Sam Craigie Points: 447
PPS: Holt, Liang x2,
Bingham, King, Murphy, Trump x2, Allen x3, Selby x3,
Hawkins, Williams, Lisowski, Robertson
D. Muckian: SEASON: Tian Pengfei and Zhang Anda Points: 422
PPS: Ding x2, Perry, Maguire, Allen
X3, Williams x2, Lisowski, O’Sullivan, Wilson, Zhou, Gould, Selby,
Higgins (1 Captain pick used)
Mark Taylor: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Sam Craigie Points: 414
PPS: Allen x2, Robertson, Maguire, Perry, Hawkins, Higgins,
Wilson, Day, Selby x3, Trump, O’Sullivan, Murphy
(2 Captain Picks used)
Anthony: SEASON: Xiao Guodong and Michael Georgiou Points: 410
PPS: Higgins x3, Day, Maguire, Murphy, Ding, King, Trump,
Bingham, Williams, O’Sullivan, McGill, Selby x2, Allen, Wilson
Kjetil: SEASON: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and John Astley Points: 409
PPS: Carter, Perry, Woollaston, Dott, Fu, Allen x2, Xiwen,
Gould x2, Bingham, O’Sullivan, Ding, Higgins, Akani, Lisowski
Gary: SEASON: Ken Doherty and Yan Bingtao Points: 383
PPS: Carter, Robertson, Bingham, Gilbert, Fu, Higgins,
Wilson, Day, Williams, Murphy, O’Sullivan, Selby
Beat the Boss (Me):
SEASON: Hossein Vafei and Robin Hull
Points: 374
PPS: Maguire, Holt,
Allen x2, Ford, Fu, Williams, Robertson x2, Brecel, Murphy, Hawkins, Ding,
Gould, Wenbo, Selby, Trump (1 Captain pick used)
Voihelevettisua: SEASON: Xiao Guodong and John Astley Points: 310
PPS: Ding, Trump, Dott, Allen, Higgins, Murphy, Robertson,
Allen, Selby, O’Sullivan
I have already had a number of tweets and messages in with picks and tweeted my own two "Beat the Boss" picks for this week as Joe Perry and Yan Bingtao. If you are yet to get your picks in the deadline is 10am on Monday 11th December.
This is now the final event before the Christmas break, and next up will be another double points event at the Masters so why not use a captain's pick if you have been saving one up.
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