Ding had been suffering with an eye problem but flew into a 5-1 lead on Leo Fernandez, only to lose his way and see Fernandez (who has not long been back from suspension) take all of the last five frames.
As for Ali Carter he was undone by the legend that is Jimmy White by a hefty 6-2 scoreline. Carter did not look at the races and quickly became frustrated. It was joy though for fans of the Whirlwind who had travelled in great numbers to show support for their hero at the York Barbican.
Mark Selby survived a scare against the bottom ranked player Basem Eltahhan. No one expected much from Basem who had only played two matches on tour prior to an outing with the defending champion, and lost both of them 4-0. However, at 5-4 to Selby a lot of people were eating their words and holding their breath to see if Selby would get over the line and a break of 63 saw him win 6-4.
Aside from those two shock defeats for Carter and Ding, the top seeds are all still in the hunt in York and have a match under their belts as the BBC coverage begins on Saturday afternoon for the beginning of the last 64.
Here in full are the results from round one:
Mark Selby 6-4 Basem Eltahhan
Scott Donaldson 6-2 John Astley
Li Hang 6-1 Gerard Greene
Robert Milkins 6-1 Chen Zhe
Mark Williams 6-0 Paul Davison
Andrew Higginson 6-0 Sam Craigie
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-5 Elliot Slessor
Ryan Day 6-0 Jamie Curtis-Barrett
Neil Robertson 6-1 Rod Lawler
Ken Doherty 6-3 Gary Wilson
Mark Joyce 6-3 Thor Chuan Leong
David Gilbert 6-4 Christopher Keogan
Lu Haotian 6-1 Anthony Hamilton
Peter Ebdon 6-2 Allan Taylor
Zhao Xintong 6-5 Rory McLeod
Marco Fu 6-2 Nigel Bond
Shaun Murphy 6-1 Hamza Akbar
Liam Highfield 6-4 Daniel Wells
Jimmy Robertson 6-1 Alex Borg
Alan McManus 6-3 Robin Hull
Kyren Wilson 6-1 Sean O'Sullivan
Yu De Lu 6-2 Ian Preece
Jamie Jones 6-3 Craig Steadman
Ricky Walden 6-1 Duane Jones
Luca Brecel 6-4 Soheil Vahedi
Aditya Mehta 6-5 Sam Baird
Mike Dunn 6-2 Fang Xiongman
Mark King 6-0 Boonyarit Kaettikun
Ben Woollaston 6-2 Li Yuan
Yan Bingtao 6-1 Zhang Yong
Cao Yupeng 6-5 Tian Pengfei
John Higgins 6-1 Chris Totten
Judd Trump 6-0 Matthew Bolton
Chris Wakelin 6-1 Lee Walker
Dominic Dale 6-0 Adam Duffy
Graeme Dott 6-2 Josh Boileau
Liang Wenbo 6-1 Sanderson Lam
Mitchell Mann 6-2 Stuart Carrington
Jak Jones 6-4 David Grace
Stephen Maguire 6-1 Yuan Sijun
Joe Perry 6-1 Billy Castle
Jack Lisowski 6-4 Wang Yuchen
Kurt Maflin 6-1 Alexander Ursenbacher
Jimmy White 6-2 Ali Carter
Peter Lines 6-5 Zhou Yuelong
Xu Si 6-5 Mark Davis
Oliver Lines 6-3 Mei Xiwen
Mark Allen 6-2 Lukas Kleckers
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-3 Jackson Page
Michael Georgiou 6-5 Alfie Burden
Matthew Selt 6-2 Ian Burns
Michael White 6-5 Ross Muir
Barry Hawkins 6-1 Kurt Dunham
Hammad Miah 6-3 Matthew Stevens
Akani Songsermswad 6-4 Fergal O'Brien
Michael Holt 6-5 Niu Zhuang
Martin Gould 6-3 Joe Swail
Robbie Williams 6-3 Martin O'Donnell
Hossein Vafei 6-4 James Wattana
Anthony McGill 6-2 Ashley Hugill
Tom Ford 6-1 Eden Sharav
Xiao Guodong 6-0 Chen Zifan
Noppon Saengkham 6-2 Zhang Anda
Leo Fernandez 6-5 Ding Junhui
This all sets up a fascinating last 64 line-up in front of the cameras and now it's time to look at the second round draw and who may be a good pick for each quarter overall.
Quarter 1
Last 64 draw: (Picks in bold)
Mark Selby Vs Scott Donaldson
Li Hang Vs Robert Milkins
Mark Williams Vs Andrew Higginson
Ryan Day Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Neil Robertson Vs Ken Doherty
David Gilbert Vs Mark Joyce
Peter Ebdon Vs Lu Haotian
Marco Fu Vs Zhao Xintong
Mark Selby may well be in for a tough game against Scott Donaldson here. Donaldson has beaten Selby in the past and came close again at the English Open. As well as that the young Scot has the monkey off his back having finally won his first match of the season. Selby does sometimes end up in difficult situations in the early rounds of tournaments though will still generally get through and have a good run in the competition.
Mark Williams is one to watch after following his win in the Northern Ireland Open with a comfortable victory in round one here. Andrew Higginson can be very hit and miss in recent years but was certainly a hit in round one by whitewashing Sam Craigie. It has been a while since Higginson has had a win on the big stage though and I think he will find life tough again here.
Then there is the Race for the Masters battle that focuses a lot on this quarter with Ryan Day and Neil Robertson. Both had easy wins against easy opposition in round one but have much sterner tests and play at the same time which could be a distraction to them. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is an incredibly dangerous player and while he can make a lot of errors too, Day can be prone to some mistakes when not quite at his best. Robertson meanwhile faces crafty Ken Doherty who secured a nice round one win against Gary Wilson. Doherty has played well this season and with Robertson losing to a few lower ranked opponents this season an upset cannot be ruled out here given the added pressure.
Meanwhile, the in-form Lu Haotian will be looking to keep his nice run going with a win against Peter Ebdon. Another young Chinese player Zhao Xintong will be looking to cause problems for Marco Fu. However, Fu scored well in beating Nigel Bond in round one and came alive at this time last year by making the semi-finals in York and then going on to win in Scotland. I think Fu has a big opportunity in this section, given the other big names and story lines, to go slightly under the radar for a couple of rounds yet and if he continues scoring heavily he will take some beating.
Best Bet: Marco Fu
Quarter 2
Last 64 draw: (Picks in bold)
Shaun Murphy Vs Liam Highfield
Alan McManus Vs Jimmy Robertson
Kyren Wilson Vs Yu De Lu
Ricky Walden Vs Jamie Jones
Luca Brecel Vs Aditya Mehta
Mark King Vs Mike Dunn
Yan Bingtao Vs Ben Woollaston
John Higgins Vs Cao Yupeng
Luca Brecel had a bit of a scare in round one against Soheil Vahedi with Brecel relaxing a bit after the interval and Soheil playing well to get back in it. Aditya Mehta has the power to perhaps grind Brecel down a bit but may not be able to compete with the Belgian when you look at the scoring power. Even before his big breakthrough in August, Brecel has a good record in York, twice making the quarter-finals including a year ago.
Kyren Wilson has had a good season making two finals already and it has taken a few good performances to beat him, with his loss to Sam Craigie in Belfast acting as a great case study to that point. I can't see him having too many problems against Yu De Lu who is capable of beating top players, but it is very rare that he actually has a good run in an event.
Yan Bingtao's response to losing in the Northern Ireland final was to come out two days later and thrash Zhang Yong with a heavy scoring performance in the Sports Hall. Ben Woollaston is a good player in his own right but he will have to be at his very best to give Yan a challenge here. It is going to take a real off day for Yan or an incredibly good performance against him, to take him down because he must be so high on confidence with his latest results.
Cao Yupeng has had some decent results this year and been one of the most improved players, given his results from the last couple of seasons prior to this. However, a match with John Higgins presents an entirely different challenge. Higgins has had a busy schedule playing in almost every event for a few months now and getting to the latter stages in many of them. Eventually, this has to catch up on him and a couple of his performances against O'Sullivan and the loss to Yan Bingtao in the International Championship where Higgins was quite poor, suggest he may need to re-look at his schedule in the future.
Shaun Murphy of course has been a winner already in a big UK event this season as he took home the Champion of Champions title. He looked in good form in round one against Hamza Akbar, and has been in good touch almost all season scoring heavily. If his long potting matches his scoring form then we all know how tough a combination that is to overcome. Liam Highfield is Murphy's second round opponent and someone who have Murphy a good challenge in October's English Open playing well but just falling short 4-3. Highfield always looks a good player and can score heavily and will have good memories of his run in York last year to the last 16.
Best Bet: Shaun Murphy
Quarter 3
Last 64 draw: (Picks in bold)
Judd Trump Vs Chris Wakelin
Graeme Dott Vs Dominic Dale
Liang Wenbo Vs Mitchell Mann
Stephen Maguire Vs Jak Jones
Kurt Maflin Vs Jimmy White
Joe Perry Vs Jack Lisowski
Xu Si Vs Peter Lines
Mark Allen Vs Oliver Lines
Judd Trump is someone who will be looking to go deep in this tournament. If you look at his results last season he was unable to match the brilliance of the rest of the year with big results in the three Triple Crown events. They have to be the target for Trump but his draw in this quarter if by no means easy. Chris Wakelin will give him a good game in the last 64, and nearly pulled off a brilliant result against Selby in the Shanghai Masters and has beaten Ronnie O'Sullivan on TV before so he is not frightened of the big stage.
Dominic Dale was in fine form in round one battering Adam Duffy and now faces Graeme Dott. The interesting point in this match will be if it is in the main arena or the sports hall. Looking at the schedule I would suggest it will end up in the latter and that for me favours Dale. Dale unlike Dott, played in the sports hall in round one and I think Dott is not always comfortable on the outside tables. It may be going back some years, but comments in his autobiography would back up that point.
Liang Wenbo still may need a win or two to book his Masters spot depending on the performances of Day, Robertson and others. Here he faces Mitchell Mann who was in impressive form beating Stuart Carrington round one and looked to be scoring quite nicely. If Liang is feeling the Masters pressure then Mann may have a good chance, although the highest ranked Chinese player now left in the competition will have happy memories of booking a Masters spot here two years ago when he made the final.
Jimmy White will be looking to back up his victory over Ali Carter when he takes on Kurt Maflin. The Norwegian though has been in good form of late and if he scores heavily it is going to be a big challenge for the Whirlwind, but you have to admire his desire to continue working hard and ability to continue pulling off these great results.
Joe Perry was in excellent form in round one against Billy Castle and has looked in good form now for a couple of weeks. He is scoring well at the moment and in the first few frames against Castle he hardly missed a ball. It was only at the start of the year that Perry was a Masters finalist, and if he can perform like he did against Castle throughout the week then he could go on a very good run. Jack Lisowski presents stiff opposition in round two though and has been in brilliant form himself. He nearly let Wang Yuchen back into their first round match though and looked to have run out of steam last week in Northern Ireland.
2011 runner-up Mark Allen is a major contender for this title if he continues to play as well as he has been. His performance and scoring in round one against Lukas Kleckers was excellent as it has been all season long. A big title is certainly coming if he continues to play like he did in making the International Championship final and World Open semis earlier this season. His second round match against Oliver Lines though sees him play someone who is not frightened off pulling off a big result. In this round last season Lines overcame Trump to match an equally big result that his Dad had in round one. Oliver also saw off Ding Junhui in the International Championship just a month ago also so Allen will not want to let his guard down in this one.
Best Bet: Mark Allen
Quarter 4
Last 64 draw: (Picks in bold)
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Michael Georgiou
Michael White Vs Matthew Selt
Barry Hawkins Vs Hammad Miah
Michael Holt Vs Akani Songsermsawad
Anthony McGill Vs Hossein Vafei
Martin Gould Vs Robbie Williams
Tom Ford Vs Xiao Guodong
Noppon Saengkham Vs Leo Fernandez
Barry Hawkins has lost in this round of the UK Championship in each of the last three years to lower ranked opposition and will be desperate to fight that trend here against Hammad Miah. Hammad played nicely to beat Matthew Stevens and would not be frightened of showing Hawkins the door either. It has not been a good start to the season for Hawkins, which is not unusual for him if you look back through recent years.
Akani Songsermsawad has continued his nice start to the season by beating Fergal O'Brien in round one here and now faces Michael Holt who has not been in the best of form. He could easily have been beaten in round one by Niu Zhuang but fought back well from 5-3 down to come through. If Holt were to lose here though it would be the eighth time in eleven events this season that he has failed to make it beyond the last 64 stage.
Anthony McGill will be one to watch this week if he plays like he did in round against Ashley Hugill. He scored superbly in that match and looked very confident after a good start to the season. He is going to be tough to beat if he keeps up his good scoring because of the good tactical game that he has to match that. Hossein Vafei does not present easy round two opposition but he will need to be at his best to have any chance against an in-form McGill.
Xiao Guodong impressed me in his round one win against Chen Zifan but faces a very tough match to call here against Tom Ford. Ford had an equally good win against Eden Sharav and both he and Xiao are scoring heavily and looking good. Xiao though has had some really nice results this season and is back on the up which makes him incredibly dangerous and I think he is more than capable of having a big run this week.
Finally, this blog would not be complete without mention of Ronnie O'Sullivan. He takes on Michael Georgiou here in the last 64 in a match you would expect O'Sullivan to win comfortably and if he brings to York the form he displayed in the Champion of Champions and Shanghai Masters recently he is going to be so tough to beat. Given how hard he works on his health and fitness you would not expect him to run out of steam despite a very busy schedule he has had on the tour, and would love to add a sixth UK title to his collection. I think the draw sets up pretty well for him this week and it will take a big performance from someone to stop him going all the way here in York.
Best Bet: Ronnie O'Sullivan
UK viewers will have a choice of TV coverage on the BBC or Eurosport to watch this tournament when the last 64 gets underway on Saturday at 1pm with these best-of-11 matches.
No comments:
Post a Comment