Gerard Greene 4-1 Chen Feilong - Some of his positional play towards the end was a little around the houses and scruffy but Gerard Greene is comfortably over the line 4-1. He did what he had to there and took his chance well at the end with Chen half-threatening a fight back. There were small signs from Chen Feilong but his nerves seemed to hamper him badly today and that will need to improve for his World Open qualifier next up. Overall, a comfortable afternoon for the Northern Irishman and a learning experience for the Chinese rookie.
Greene makes 32 before having to play safe, though it is not a good one as Chen knocks a long red in. He misses the next brown though to let Greene off and leave him right in with a match clinching chance.
Frame 5 - I don't know whether this is through nerves as well but Chen is not the quickest player, though his AST might say differently when I look later. He has the first chance in frame five and is starting to play a couple of nice shots. He's still only able to build a lead of 19 before playing safe and it would be the mother of all comebacks if he won from here, given how he started. A thick safety has now let Greene in with a decent look.
Frame Chen - Chen has actually managed to get the upper hand in this frame, but whether he can convert is an entirely different question. His lead is 6 as he plays safe on the yellow, unlucky really not to land on it, but he is soon able to pot it from distance. The green, brown and blue follow and remarkably after how he lost the last, Chen has a frame on the board. 3-1 Greene now.
Opportunity knocks once more for Chen and this is probably the best he's had so far, at least in the middle of a frame that is. He should have closed the gap a lot more than he has before missing a thin red with the rest, and Greene is still in charge.
Frame 4 - It's not getting any better for Chen out here at the start of the fourth. Greene is now on his third chance and with reds nicely open and the pink and blue open he should at least build a lead that his opponent would struggle to come back from. That is until being unlucky with a cannon, and his break ends with just a 33 point lead.
Frame Greene - Chen has had nothing short of an absolute nightmare in this third frame. Greene potted the final red but missed a thin green to leave the yellow on. Chen misses a tricky yellow but Greene then misses the brown and double kisses it to leave it on. Chen potted that but then missed the blue trying to power it in and Greene was out of his chair before the blue went in for the fluke. He wobbled the pink in the middle and then had another chance but over powered it. Greene potted pink but missed the black, leaving it safe, only for Chen to go in off and lose the frame. Somehow Greene has a 3-0 lead and must be laughing on the inside at how good a result he's had in that frame.
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| Chen would pot this red but miss the one he was stretching over soon afterwards in a dramatic third frame. |
Chen has managed to get ahead in the frame but misses the final red, trying to power it in with the rest down the side cushion. His lead is a slender 9 points, making it vital that he wins the safety on this final red, with all the colours in the open.
Greene's run comes to an end on 37 after a poorly judged positional shot for the blue leaves him a tough green with the rest which he misses, but he is still well in charge. Safety battle ongoing now where a missed long attempt by Greene has left Chen another opportunity.
Chen's break comes to an early end on 26 and a poor safety shortly after leaves Greene a chance. He plays a good red near the cushion with a nice cannon to hold for the black and is now nicely in and hoping to take any remaining danger out of this contest.
Frame 3 - A good long pot from Chen gets him the first chance in the third and one he has to take advantage of. Given the fact he's beaten good players before, you have to put the start down to nerves. They can quickly be erased though if he can focus and take this frame.
Frame Greene - Despite a couple of misses from the left hander in that frame, Chen has missed much more and may have missed the boat too. In the end a failed pot to the middle leaves a much simpler one for his opponent who, with the black over the corner pocket, is quickly able to stretch his lead. 2-0.
Now Greene has made a second error in the balls and allowed Chen another chance to get his hand on the table. After potting the black which was on the yellow spot he leaves his next red from distance, powers it in but also puts the black safe to run out of position. He still goes for it along the cushion in risky fashion, missing but leaving nothing more than an unlikely double for Greene. Chen though still trails by 34 with just two reds left.
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| Greene on the way to his break of 52 in the second frame. |
Greene does build a nice lead with a break of 52, but by that point he looked set to take frame in one visit and now the door has opened for Chen. He makes a nice plant but then misses a mid-range green to let his opponent off the hook.
Frame 2 - After a miss from long range this time by Chen, Greene has the first opening in the second frame. If he can build a good lead here then Chen will be right up against it and Greene should be able to sense that.
Frame Greene - From the chance Chen left Greene clears the remaining reds comfortably and does more than enough to take this opening frame. The Northern Irishman looks pretty sharp, but Chen needs to get the next frame and settle his nerves otherwise he'll be giving his opponent an easy afternoon.
Greene breaks down after a failed pack split and with just a 5 point lead. Chen soon plays an excellent long red, stunning round for the black but then misses his next red and letting Greene back in from close range. A nervy start for Chen.
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| The split on the reds from this blue would not work out for Greene. |
Greene soon knocks in a thundering long red only to be able to roll up to the black and try to cover the two reds over the opposite corner. He falls short though, giving away 7 points and more importantly a golden opportunity to Chen, but he misses an easy brown early in the break. Looks like some first game nerves for him.
Frame 1 - The first meaningful chance here has come to Chen after a thunderous long red and an equally good brown cueing down on the white, close to the side cushion. He's now got the reds open nicely and I thought he was on one, but he clearly was not after playing safe.
My final live blog before tonight's football (And I'll be cutting this one short if it isn't over by 6.30pm) sees Northern Ireland's Gerard Greene against new Chinese pro Chen Feilong.
When you think of new Chinese pro's you think of a young player who is in his late teens but Chen is now the oldest on the pro tour, by two days of Mei Xiwen. He does have some big name scalps in the past including John Higgins and Martin Gould, both in the same event on the Asian Tour, as well as wins against Zhang Anda and Fergal O'Brien, so he can clearly play.
Gerard Greene meanwhile is in the second year of his tour card so will be eyeing a fast start to the season, targeting a top 64 place. We know Greene is capable of big results having been a former finalist at the PTC Grand finals as well as the Paul Hunter Classic. The last time I was at an event, Greene took down Shaun Murphy 4-0 and should have gone further than the eventual last 32 exit he suffered that week in Cardiff.
All in all Greene's added experience could prove a big factor here unless Chen gets off to a fast start.
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